“You’re the best one to answer that—you know what he’s capable of.”
She tried to rid her memories of the man’s soulless eyes. “I think it’s all scare tactics. He’s a weasel at heart. Stand up to him and he backs off. That’s why I knew I could handle him when I was a teenager. He was never violent—and he didn’t hurt Levi physically.”
“Dean would have no compunction about hurting a kid, not when he seems to have killed his own uncle.”
She pulled the brownies out of the oven and set them down to cool. “I haven’t had a minute to tell you about talking to Elowen yesterday. I didn’t want to bring it up in front of the boys with allof us riding to Bamahenge together. She said Dean told her he killed his uncle.” She told him about the meth and the way Dean had rationalized his actions. “And Dean asked Elowen to forge Allen’s signature on the will. That was a few weeks ago, which proves the will isn’t an original, just like Hez’s program showed.”
“I’ll tell Jane all about this. Maybe she’ll talk to Dean and get to the truth.”
Paradise listened to him tell Jane what they’d found out, but she didn’t have his hope that this would end it.
Chapter 39
Paradise slipped Isaac’s arm off her neck and eased out of bed at ten thirty. He didn’t move a muscle. He’d clutched her tightly until sleep finally loosened his grip. Tonight had badly frightened him.
She tiptoed out of the room and went to the kitchen to find her purse. It wasn’t in the kitchen or the living room, and she got a clear memory of seeing it on the floor of Blake’s truck. She’d probably left it in their haste to get the boys inside to some semblance of normalcy. She could wait until morning, but she wanted to check her phone for any emergency vet messages from Pawsome Pets.
Blake kept his keys on a hook in the kitchen, so she found them and unlocked the front door to head to the truck. She stood on the porch for a moment and listened to the familiar night sounds of the park. Even the tigers chuffing in the distance didn’t make her heart seize in her chest, and she let herself hope the fear that had plagued her was finally easing.
Keys in hand, she went down the steps to the vague outlineof Blake’s truck in the moonlight. She clicked the unlock button and quickly found her purse and withdrew her phone. No messages.
A movement came from the left, and she turned that direction. A figure bent over her back bumper. When he straightened, she saw the same dark hoodie they’d seen in Mason’s videos.
Mr. Adams.
Without thinking, she dove her hand into her purse and extracted her small gun before marching to intercept him. For fifteen years she’d waited for this moment. There’d been no resolution to the anger and hatred she felt for this man.
She walked forward until she stood a foot away from his bent form. Was that atrackerunder her bumper? Her fingers tightened on the gun’s grip and she restrained a mad impulse to aim the barrel at him and pull the trigger.
He turned around, then froze when he saw her blocking his escape. “Paradise,” he croaked.
Her tongue stuck to the roof of her mouth, and she swallowed, then licked her lips. Her pulse thumped in her ears, and nausea roiled in her belly. She could do this. “Mr. Adams.” Her voice sounded creaky and weak to her ears, but her strength began to rise with the release of the first syllables.
He was trapped between her and the car. The only way to escape would be to brush her out of the way, but his gaze dropped to the gun in her hand and he didn’t move. She was close enough to smell the overpowering stench of his Old Spice cologne. He used to practically bathe in the stuff, and he evidently hadn’t changed that habit.
She swallowed the urge to gag. “Trying to frighten me again? You lost that power long ago. I’m not a kid anymore.”
She saw him clearly for the first time—small, mean, weak of spirit, with the desire to make himself feel bigger by hurting others. With this realization strength flooded through her body along her muscles and tendons. She straightened to her full height, and he shrank back as if he sensed the power rising in her.
“You are despicable. It wasn’t enough to try to terrorize me—you had to traumatize a little boy. But that’s what you’re good at, isn’t it? What did you hope to gain here? Were you afraid if I stayed around, I’d tell more people what you did when I was a kid?”
“I didn’t do anything to you. It’s all lies.”
“Gaslighting. You can’t make me forget by denying it.” She poked the gun toward him. “Leave this family alone. You can’t break them no matter what you do.” She studied his frightened expression. “You’re not smart enough to be the mastermind. I want you to go back to your boss and tell him it didn’t work, that it will never work. There’s nothing you can do to drive me away. You’ve failed.”
He wet his lips. “You need to leave town or things will get worse. I didn’t hurt the kid, but I can’t promise he won’t.”
Fear tried to grip her, but she pushed it away. She was done with that. “You’ve both lost. It’s over. I won’t be ruled by fear, and neither will the Lawsons.”
His gaze darted from side to side, but he didn’t look at her directly. “I didn’t do anything really bad. The kid is fine. You’re fine.”
She glared at him. “You’re small and cruel, but I want you to know you didn’t break me. If you’d tried to enter my room again, I would have hit you with a chair or the lamp. I would havescreamed and fought. You wouldn’t have walked out unscathed. And that’s why you’re still trying to frighten me, isn’t it? I didn’t cave to fear, and you can’t have that.”
Intent didn’t matter to him. Pity stirred for the first time. He was blind and weak and pathetic. She could talk about his misdeeds all day long and he’d never admit to anything. He’d never be able to process his wrongdoing to himself. Did that mean he was past help? Maybe. She could release the hatred that still muddied her heart, or she could be like him and hold tight to pride and self-righteousness.
She didn’t need the gun when she had the ultimate weapon. “You can’t scare me any longer, Lloyd.” She said his first name deliberately rather than give him any status with the titleMr.“I’ve learned something important in the past few weeks—something that is stronger than you, stronger than anything. What you meant for evil, God worked for good. What I went through didn’t break me. It made me stronger.”
His hazel eyes widened, and he tried to step away but only succeeded in becoming more trapped between her and the car. “I don’t even know what that means.”
