“Probably.” Drew swallowed as if he struggled with emotion too. “I can’t leave you now, and I’d work with just about anyone to stay nearby.”
“You’ll need a place to stay,” Blake said. “Consider the apartment your permanent abode until you decide you want a bigger place. Paradise and I are getting married next month, and—”
Squeals from his mother interrupted the rest of his sentence. “August?” Jenna clapped her hands. “We have to get to work on the wedding. And yes, of course, Drew, you can stay as long as you like. It’s been wonderful having you here.”
He grinned. “Nothing like a warm welcome to cement the idea. I’ll keep you posted.” He gave Paradise a final hug and headed for his apartment.
Jenna began to clear away the plates. “I’d like to hear what went on today, the full story.”
Paradise grabbed plates too and began to tell her about finding Bea, seeing Doris, and barely missing Warren at his house. “You mentioned we should talk to you about Doris since you know her well too. Did you and my mother go to see her together?”
“We did, yes. She called us ‘her girls.’ Since she never had kidsof her own, she spread her love around the neighborhood and at church.” Jenna opened the dishwasher and began to load it.
“Did you know Warren back then?”
“That’s why I hired him. He used to cut our grass when he was a teenager, and I’d always liked him. It’s hard to wrap my head around Doris’s belief that he might have something to do with the murders. He got that job with the cable company working under her husband.”
“What did he do there?”
“He installed equipment. I’m not sure what he was doing at your house that day. Doris said she sawThe Phantom of the Operamusic box in his hands?”
“She couldn’t tell what it was, but she saw him hand something to me. What exactly did you say to him before he ran?”
“I got that text about you guys needing to talk to him after meeting with Doris. That was all. But he clearly realized she knew something.”
“How did he make the leap from cable installer to vet tech?” Blake asked.
“He went to school five years ago, supposedly because he wanted to work with animals.”
“He’s a good tech,” Paradise admitted. “He’s kind and gentle with the animals and has always listened to me. I don’t think he’s coming back though. He looked panicked.”
“Rod checked out his apartment,” Blake said. “It was a furnished apartment, but he took most of his things. He must not have had a lot.”
“Did Warren ever mention friends or family who lived in the area?” Jenna asked. “His mom left when he was twelve, and his dad died a few years ago.”
“He never mentioned a wife, and I didn’t question him abouthis family. He applied for the job after Lacey Armstrong went to jail for killing Danielle Mason. Do you think he wanted to work here to find out if we were getting close to finding who killed my parents?”
“It does feel as if he intentionally applied to replace her,” Blake said. “Doris saw him running from the house the morning of the murders. Why would he be running unless something was wrong?”
Paradise wiped down the stove and counters. “I think we need to dig more and find out who he associated with.”
Blake poured himself a glass of sweet tea from the fridge. “Maybe we could canvas his neighborhood and see if anyone knew him personally. I’m going to call Rod and see if he can dig up some information.”
“We could ask our employees,” Jenna said. “He might have opened up to some of them.”
Paradise rinsed out the cloth. “Good idea. He’s about forty, isn’t he? We could start with Evan. He’s been here the longest and might have talked to Warren on occasion. Warren sometimes helped him feed the animals at night before he left. They might have chatted about personal things.”
After a dearth of clues to follow, it felt like floodgates were opening.
Blake stood in the shade of a large oak tree with Paradise and waited for Evan to finish the night feeding with Zach, the giraffe keeper. He planned to talk to both of them before moving on to other employees tomorrow. The lions roared their approval of being fed, and the tigers chuffed as well. The monkeys screecheddeeper into the refuge, and their cacophony riled up the birds nearby.
Paradise stretched her arm around his waist and leaned against him. “It’s a wonderful sound, isn’t it? Contented animals sounding off. It’s a special place, Blake. I’m so thankful I found it. And you.” She turned her face up.
“It’s amazing. We’re blessed all the way around.” He kissed her, lingering over the softness of her lips and her warmth against his side. He buried his face in her sweet-smelling hair. “I’m a lucky man.”
A gate clanged, and he reluctantly released her as Evan and Zach, talking animatedly, came their way. “Hey, guys, glad we caught you.”
Evan’s brown eyes lost their mirth. “Something wrong, Boss? We did a head count, and all the animals are safe and happy. Even King Julien.”
