“I told them about Warren but not about the pregnancy. I know I should have, but I couldn’t bring myself to betray your mama’s confidence. I hoped if I pointed them toward Warren, he would lead to the killer.”
Paradise exchanged a glance with Drew. There’d been nothing in the files about an interview with Warren.
Blake parked the van in The Sanctuary lot. “I’ll find Warren.” He expected Paradise to object, but she nodded and opened her door. “He should still be in the clinic. We can all go.”
Drew climbed out of the back seat and went to stand with Paradise. “You okay, Sis?”
“Just shocked. I can’t believe Mom was pregnant and I never noticed.”
“You were a kid. We both lost a sibling that day and never knew it.”
The door to his mom’s house opened, and Isaac and Levi came running to greet them. “You were gone forever,” Isaac said, his brows drawn together.
Blake took a moment to scoop him up while Paradise hugged Levi. “I’m sorry, buddy. I can’t play right now. I need to talk to Warren.” His little brother smelled of banana.
Isaac clung to Blake’s neck. “He’s not here.”
“He left already?” Paradise asked. “It’s just after lunch.”
Blake’s mother opened the front door and stepped out. Her smile faded when her gaze landed on Blake. “Is something wrong?”
“Isaac said Warren left already, and we wanted to talk to him.”
His mom frowned. “It was very abrupt. I’d taken the boys to see King Julien, and we were talking about how the lemur was doing. I got your text saying you’d been visiting with Doris and wanted to talk to him when you were done. He said he wasn’t feeling well, then dashed off for his car. A stomach bug, I suspect.”
“It’s more than that.” Blake jerked his head toward Levi. “Little pitchers.”
She nodded. “Hey, boys, I noticed the GoodPops were frozen. You can each have two.”
“Yay!” Isaac outran his brother in the race for the door, and they tussled at the entry before they disappeared inside the house.
“What’s going on?” his mother demanded.
“Doris said Warren was the cableman who handed meThe Phantom of the Operamusic box.” Paradise went over all they’d learned from Doris. “And someone shot Bea in the head. She was still alive when the paramedics took her, but she might not make it.”
Mom put her hand to her mouth. “Poor Bea. And Doris never said a word to me in all these years. Pregnant. I was not expecting that.”
“She said she told the police about Warren,” Drew said. “But I’ve been over all those files several times and there aren’t interview notes. It either slipped through the cracks, or someone took it out of the file. I’ve begun to suspect someone in the sheriff’s department has removed evidence. It could have been Gerald Davis all those years ago or someone who works there now.”
“Who in the sheriff’s department would want to hide Warren’s involvement twenty years ago? And why?” Blake would like to suspect his nemesis, Creed Greene, but he had no reason to think the obnoxious detective had that old murder on his radar. Could it be that Sheriff Davis was ordered to hide evidence as a favor to the Collins family? Or maybe he wanted to hide his involvement with Ben Collins. Ben could have been paying him to protect Becky.
“I assume you have Warren’s address?” Drew asked. “We could try to intercept him.” He turned to Blake’s mom. “How long has he been gone?”
“About an hour.”
They’d stopped to grab food in Pelican Harbor before heading back to the refuge. Blake doubted an hour’s head start was enough for the man to clean out his apartment and escape town. Unless he headed out without taking his belongings. “Could you grab Warren’s address for us, Mom?”
“You bet. It will be in the employee files. I think he lives in Foley. You can head that direction and I can text it to you.” His mother hurried toward the office.
“I’m going to make a pit stop while she gets it.” Drew headed toward the restroom.
Blake linked arms with Paradise. She’d been quiet and withdrawn since talking with Doris. “You doing okay?”
She leaned against him. “Talking to Doris brought back some sweet memories. I used to be at her house all the time. Mom once said Doris gave her the unconditional love she’d never felt from her own mother. I never understood her comment about how cruel my grandmother was until I found out about Drew. I wish I’d stayed in touch with Doris. Maybe I wouldn’t have felt so alone.”
“You’ll never be alone again.” He pressed a kiss on top of her head and picked up her left hand. “That ring sure is pretty on your hand.”
She splayed her fingers. “I love it. Abby and your mom are going to go with me to look at dresses after the governor’s visit. I verified that Chet’s caters food, so we’re good there.”
