Chapter 29
Paradise wrapped her hands around the hot mug, hoping the heat would seep through the cold place inside her. “Why didn’t they
tell us Adams escaped? And what happened?”
Drew reached over and gave her forearm a squeeze. He’d left the sheriff substation to rush to the Dillard Ranch as soon as
she texted him. “It’s why Rod called me. I think he wanted to lay out what happened so I could tell you.”
“Let’s hear it.” She wished Blake were beside her. He’d rounded up the boys once Drew got here so he could run them home in
case Adams came back. He should be back in a few minutes. Savannah had taken Simon home, and Quinn was in her room.
Abby handed Drew a mug of coffee, and he thanked her. “He was being transported from the jail to prison and had a seizure.
He was taken to a small hospital for emergency treatment. Rod now thinks the seizure was faked, but he hasn’t talked to the
doctor. Two men with guns showed up and broke him out. This happened the day before yesterday.”
“And we just now heard about it? Why wasn’t it all over the news?”
Her brother shrugged. “Good question. I’m wondering why he came here first.” Drew angled a glance at Abby, who was pouring herself some coffee. “Adams was working with your dad. Did you ever see him here, Abby?”
She joined them at the breakfast bar. “I didn’t. They were cousins, but he always gave me the creeps so I avoided him. Dad
knew it too and always warned me if he planned to stop by. And remember, I lived in town until . . . until I moved here so
the ranch wasn’t empty.”
Paradise’s eyes filled with tears at the misery on Abby’s face. They hadn’t talked much about Roger’s death other than right
after the gators got him when he tried to escape from Swamp Island, where Blake had left him. Paradise had tried not to imagine
the horror he felt in his final moments.
She reached over and took Abby’s hand. “I’m sorry you’re dealing with this. I’m not sure you should be here alone with him
skulking around.”
“I’ll be fine. I’m a good shot.”
“I think Paradise is right,” Drew said. “You have a bedroom for me if I come hang out a few nights until he’s found?”
Abby’s brown eyes went wide. “The house is huge. There’s plenty of spare bedrooms. But you don’t have to do that.” Her smile
betrayed her hope.
“I want to. Blake will still be at the park protecting Paradise and the rest of the family. I don’t like the thought of you
all the way out here in isolation without anyone. I’ll grab my things and come over.”
Abby smiled. “You’re the best, Drew. Quinn might drive you crazy. She’s a talker.”
“I like kids. And Quinn.”
A car door slammed from outside. “That’s probably Blake.
” Paradise swung around at the doorbell and rose to step from the kitchen and down the hall to the living room.
She unlocked the door and let him in. His presence calmed her agitation.
Only he would understand how upset she was at the news of Adams’s escape.
Blake embraced her. “Any sign of him?”
“Not that I know of. Rod and his men are combing the area looking for him.” She raked her hands through her hair. “Why here, Blake? If he planned an escape, why not get out of the country? What could be so important he had to come here? He’d know
the cops would be all over this area looking for him. There must be something in the barn.”
Blake nodded. “I think so too. Let me ask Abby if it’s okay to search the barn.”
Paradise followed him toward the kitchen. “And we want to ask about Warren’s bank account.”
Drew released Abby’s hand when they appeared in the doorway. “Blake, I’m going to run home and grab a few things. I don’t
think Abby and Quinn should be here alone.”
“Good plan. Hey, Abbs, do you mind if we search the barn? Adams had to be out there looking for something.”
Abby nodded. “I’ll help too. I was just wondering why he’d be in the barn. Wouldn’t incriminating evidence be more likely
to be inside the house?”
“I would imagine the police extensively picked through things in here,” Drew said. “What did your dad do in the barn office?”
“Mostly he met with his old cronies out there, talking politics and selling livestock. A lot of ranch business was done in
that office. I rarely went out there though.”
Paradise took the final gulp of her coffee, tepid by now. “And we wondered if you’d taken a peek at Warren’s bank account. I know you can’t tell us anything, but do you think the police should subpoena his records?”
She hesitated, then nodded. “But you didn’t hear it from me.”
“Of course not.” Paradise rinsed her mug and placed it in the dishwasher. Abby had already done the same to hers and Drew’s
cups. “Let’s see what we can find.”
Abby called up the stairs to Quinn that they were going to the barn. The girl called back, “Okay.”
They exited into a warm, humid afternoon. Officers dotted the fields and Paradise spotted figures moving through the trees
in the woods as well. She doubted they’d find him. Once Adams knew Blake had seen him, he’d be long gone from the county.
She hurried to the barn with the others. Blake ran on ahead and left the door open for them. She found him in Roger’s office.
The walls were barnwood, but he’d tried to liven it up with pictures of Abby and Quinn through the years. There was one with
Paradise and Abby on horses. They were twelve. Her throat tightened at the memory of how good Roger had been to her over the
years.
Blake yanked open the filing cabinet and pulled out file folders that he stacked on the battered desk. He and Drew began to
go through them. Paradise picked up one also. She flipped through three pages until she realized she was looking at a list
of pictures and names along with details of crimes and amounts of money in several installments.
She showed it to Blake. “I think Roger was blackmailing people.”
Blake stood with Paradise off to one side of the Collinses’ meticulously manicured lawn dotted with roses, azaleas, and rhododendrons.
People he didn’t know mingled, and their laughter and conversation flowed around him.
Drew motioned to them from the drink table, where he stood with Abby, who had come along as his date.
Blake caught a whiff of seawater in the breeze that blew in from the beach.
“Your brother wants us to join him. The people he’s with look related.” He took her hand. “I was enjoying watching, but our
presence is required.”
They walked across the soft grass. Drew appeared relaxed and comfortable with Taylor and the two men flanking her. Taylor
wore a black cocktail dress and heels, and the men both wore sport coats. Blake felt underdressed in his khakis and polo shirt.
They reached Drew, who took Paradise’s hand and pulled her closer. “This is my sister, Paradise. We share the same mother.
Sis, this is Gray.” He indicated the blond thirtysomething man with a receding hairline who stood expressionless with his
hands in his pockets. “And this is Parker.” Parker reached out and gripped Blake’s hand. He was a shorter version of Gray
with light brown hair. His open, friendly expression was in contrast to Gray’s glower.
“I’m sure this was all a shock.”
“Our parents had a rocky relationship, so it’s not as surprising as it could have been,” Parker said.
Gray hailed a server with a tray of champagne. He gulped back the liquid before turning steely gray eyes toward Drew. “You
want money, I suppose.”
Drew inhaled, then shook his head. “I don’t want anything other than information.
My birth mother and her husband were killed within days of both of your parents.
That has to mean something. If I can figure out the connection, we might find justice for both of us.
Did you ever know of anyone who argued with your mom or dad?
Ben was running for the Senate before he was murdered, correct? ”
“Yes, but I was too young to remember any of that. You should talk to our uncle Bear.” Parker turned and hailed the portly
man standing with Victoria and Percy.
Both of Drew’s brothers resembled their uncle, but Bear’s hair was gone except for a thin stripe extending from one ear to
the other. His congenial smile was like Parker’s as he walked over to speak with them. “Ah, my parents have been regaling
me with what they know of my unknown nephew. You don’t look much like Dad or Mom, do you?”
“Nope.” Drew gave Paradise a side hug. “We both look like our mother, Becky Bartley. Have you ever heard that name?”
“Yes. Ben was head over heels for her. When Taylor was little, he was ready to get a divorce and marry Becky until the family
put the hard press on him. Mom, Dad, our grandparents—they all talked incessantly until he gave in and broke up with her.
Ben never said anything about a child at the time.”
“He didn’t know,” Drew said. “Becky never told him.”
Victoria and Percy said they’d been searching for Drew, but Bear must have been shielded from the knowledge of Drew’s existence.
Drew must have thought the same thing because his eyes widened. “Your parents were looking for me. Weren’t you and our father
close?”
Bear’s smile melted away. “Very close. Mom and Dad must have found out later, and they’re less likely to share personal details than Ben was.
I understand Becky and Ben met up again randomly, which was probably when he found out and told our parents.
I’ve been living in Texas for the past thirty years, and once I moved, Ben and I didn’t speak as often as when we were kids.
There was no falling out or anything like that.
I was glad he found success where I’d failed. ”
Drew snagged a glass of iced tea from a passing server and took a gulp. “We think it’s possible some connection with his political
aspirations led to the murders. He never mentioned an enemy?”
“Not to me.”
“Did he have a campaign manager who might know more? We’re particularly interested in who his supporters were.”
“That was twenty years ago. But if anyone knows where those records are, it would be Octavia. She’s Mom’s best friend.” Bear
motioned to a woman talking to Taylor on the patio. “Octavia, come meet Drew.”
The woman turned with a smile. She was the grandmotherly sort, softly rounded with pink cheeks. Her white hair was up in a
French twist, an old-fashioned style that suited her.
She came toward them with a questioning expression, and as she neared, she glanced from Drew to Blake. “Drew?”
He cleared his throat. “Um, I’m Drew. This is Blake, who is soon to be my brother-in-law.”
She switched her green-eyed gaze to Drew and surveyed him from head to foot. “You have your dad’s build.”
Bear gave an exasperated snort. “I’ll leave you to it. I hear sushi calling my name.” He headed for the food table with Drew’s
half brothers trailing him.
Drew crossed his arms over his chest and glanced at Abby, who moved closer to him. “Bear said if any of the campaign records
still existed, you’d know where they were.”
“I had them all backed up on an external hard drive. I still have some USB flash drives as well. I believe they should be
in my office in a box of things I cleared out after your father’s death. What possible use could they be to you now?”
He told her what Warren had said before he plummeted off the balcony. “So we’re digging into anything to do with his campaign first. It makes sense a rival would be more likely to want him dead than someone in his family.”
She lifted a thinning eyebrow. “You can have the files in my possession in case they’re useful. I was going to throw them
out anyway since I’m downsizing. Follow me to my house when this is over, and you can take them.”
Blake glanced at the faces around the yard. The afternoon was still young, and they might come away with gold.