She and her husband settled on a love seat, and she folded her hands in her lap. “We’re happy to answer any questions. Taylor says you suspect Pamela’s fall was murder. Do you have any proof?”
Drew perched on the edge of a chair. “Only the fact that it’s way too coincidental that she had hired someone to find me and then died around the same time as my father and Paradise’s parents.”
Victoria spared a sympathetic glance in Paradise’s direction. “Taylor didn’t mention that part, but then, we got a very abbreviated summary of the situation. That’s all very peculiar.” Her glance settled on Fletch. “Pamela hired you to find Drew?”
“Yes, ma’am. Becky refused to give up his new family’s name though.”
Drew leaned forward. “I know these will be upsetting questions, but I have to ask. What can you tell me about my father’s death?”
Percy placed his hand on his wife’s clasped hands. “I’ll answer that.” His voice was like an orator’s, deep and resonant. “Victoria usually cries when she talks about it. She found him in the backyard, right over there by the path to the large garage at the back of the property. January 25th, 2005. A day I’ll never forget.”
Drew glanced at the garage in the distance. “I’m sorry. I know this is hard. Could you tell what weapon was used?”
“A golf club. It was beside his body. A putting green used to be there, but Victoria couldn’t bear to see it after he died, so we had the backyard redone. The club belonged to him, and he’dlikely had it in his hand when he was attacked. Blood spatter was found near his golf cart parked out here and trailed across the grass when he tried to run. He didn’t get far.”
“Did he have any enemies?”
Percy shrugged. “All politicians have enemies, but they usually don’t kill the opponent.”
“Is there anyone who would have been furious that he was leaving his wife?”
“We all were, but we loved Ben. Pamela wasn’t an easy woman to live with.” Percy glanced over at Taylor. “I’m sorry, sweet girl.”
“It’s okay, Duke. I lived with her too,” Taylor said. “She was manipulative. When she was being sweet and kind, you always knew she wanted something from you.”
Percy sighed. “For all her faults I believe Pamela loved Ben.”
Drew took a sip of his tea. “Pamela didn’t want the divorce. It would have been motive for her to kill the Aldens, but she died before they did so we’re back to square one.”
Blake ran through the possible suspects now. The list was small. Ben’s parents clearly doted on him. Neither of them would have wanted to see him dead. Someone else in the family?
Drew set his glass down. “How many siblings did my father have?”
“Just one brother, Arthur. We call him Bear. He lives in Texas, but I can give you his phone number. He wasn’t in town when Ben died, but he came immediately when his mother called.” Percy cleared his throat. “I expect you’ll want to meet your two half brothers. They don’t know about you, so we will need to inform them. They live in Texas near Bear. Gray and Parker run the business Bear founded, but they will all be here next week for Victoria’s birthday party. It would be a good time to meet the family. All of them.”
Drew’s gaze sought out Paradise’s, and her fingers tightened on Blake’s. She nodded at him. Blake was proud of the way she was handling this. She’d only just found her brother and now had to share him, but she was doing it with class.
Paradise walked with Blake toward the gazebo at Lighthouse Park. They’d dropped Fletch off at his car, then stopped to pick up the rest of the family before heading to the park to take some family pictures with good light. They probably should have done it before because the boys had beach hair and pink faces, but they would still be fun memories to go over when they were older.
The round lighthouse had been decommissioned and moved to the mainland, and it stood tall and proud against the backdrop of green lawn and trees. She imagined the cute pictures with the boys mugging it up for the camera. Blake had brought his camera with the high-powered lens. She’d have to see if Drew or Jenna could take a picture of her with Blake. She didn’t have a photo of just the two of them.
She swerved closer to Blake and slid her arm around his waist to walk in lockstep with him. “What a day.” She smiled at Isaac atop Drew’s shoulders with his small hands tightly gripping her brother’s hair. He was going to make a good dad someday.
Blake squeezed her fingers. “You okay with how today turned out? Drew’s grandparents seemed to welcome him with open arms.”
“I loved that. Taylor will warm up to him. Everyone does.” Blake always knew how she felt inside, so his real question was about fear. “I admit there’s a twinge of jealousy to think he has a whole other family when I’ve just found him, but we alreadyhave a strong bond. We love each other, and there’s never too much love.”
“You’re so right. The bond between you is unbreakable.” Blake scanned the area around the gazebo as if he was looking for something.
She turned to look too. “Did you see someone?”
“Just getting the lay of the land for good pictures.”
She stopped. “You forgot your camera.”
“You’re right. I’ll grab it and meet you at the lighthouse.” He turned and jogged back toward the van.
She hurried to catch up with Drew and fell into step beside him and Jenna. Levi had already reached the lighthouse and had his head tipped back to stare up the stairs. Seagulls pecked around his feet searching for food, and the air carried the scent of cut grass. When they reached the lighthouse, she dug in her purse for her hairbrush and tried to tame the boys’ hair.
