“Things are going well over at the Dillard Ranch at night?”
“It’s no surprise to you that I like Abby. We’ve had a lot of good chats in the evenings. She’s been hurt and so have I, so we’re taking it slow.”
It didn’t seem all that slow to Paradise, but she hid her pleased smile. Nothing would make her happier than having Abby for a sister-in-law.
Nothing smelled as good as his mom’s lasagna. Blake leaned back in his chair on the deck and groaned. “I should have stopped at two pieces. That third one did me in.”
Drew eyed the remnants on his plate. “Dude, you should have warned me. I was doing what you did. And those breadsticks... wow.”
“Paradise made those.” Isaac slipped out of his chair with his brother. “Hey, Quinn, want to play Sorry?”
Quinn pushed back her chair. “Sure, I haven’t played that in a long time.”
Blake’s mom got up. “I’ll get the game down for you kids. Frank, would you mind bringing in the lasagna pan? We’ll clean up and watch a movie.”
Frank’s expression brightened, and he followed with the rest of the lasagna. Blake loved seeing his mom light up around Frank Ellis. It seemed the feeling was mutual.
Blake watched Quinn go inside too. “Quinn is being kind with the boys. You raised her right, Abby.”
Abby leaned her elbows on the table. “She loves kids. She’s alreadyasking when she can babysit, and I told her I was twelve when I had my first babysitting gig. You’d have thought I told her she couldn’t have candy for two years.” Abby glanced around the circle of people. “Something is up. I can smell it under the scent of lasagna.”
Paradise chuckled. “You always were perceptive. There’s something we want to show you. Blake?” She took out her phone. “I want to see what I can find out about the governor’s background.” She tapped out a query.
He reached under the table and grabbed the folder leaning against his chair, then slid it to Abby, who was sitting next to Drew. “It looks like your dad was blackmailing people. It’s a long shot since Ben isn’t mentioned in the file, but I wondered if you might have seen him or any of his family at the ranch, meeting with your dad.”
“Not that I know of. And we were just at the birthday party with the whole family. It’s odd they didn’t know me.” She stopped and shook her head. “No, wait. Drew introduced me as McClellan, not Dillard. If they’d ever been there when I was a kid, they wouldn’t recognize me now anyway.” She scowled at Drew. “You thought I was keeping something from you?”
He took her hand. “Of course not. You’re the same age as Paradise. I wouldn’t expect you to have thought anything about it when you were nine, but I wondered if we jogged your memory, something might swim to the surface. I have a picture of him on my phone.” He released her and grabbed his phone, then turned it around to show her the photo of Ben Collins.
Blake stared at it. He hadn’t seen a picture of the man. His daughter, Taylor, had his blond hair and fair skin. In the picture he stood beside a yellow muscle car with the convertible top down. “That’s the Hemi Barracuda Fletch mentioned. It was missing from the garage and has never been found.”
The irritation ebbed from Abby’s face, and she leaned forward to stare at the picture. “He doesn’t look familiar, but the car does. My dad and I were supposed to go to town to pick up feed, and this yellow car pulled up. The engine was super loud, and my dad slapped the guy on the back like they were old friends. They stood and talked so long we never got to the store. I asked him who he was when he left, and Dad said he was the brother of an old friend.”
“So Roger knew Bear?” Drew asked.
“He didn’t mention his friend’s name that I recall, but it’s possible.”
“It might be a way to get Bear to talk to us again.” Drew tapped on his phone. “I asked Taylor if her uncle is still in town.” A message sounded, and he glanced at the screen. “She said he’s in town for another week. I think I’d better have a chat with him.”
Blake drummed his fingers on the tabletop. “How did a car like that vanish without a trace? If someone took it because it was valuable, why didn’t they sell it? It’s puzzling.”
“Let’s ask how Ben acquired it,” Paradise said. “Getting its history might be helpful. Didn’t Fletch say it was a 1970? Maybe it was his dad’s first vehicle.” She sighed and dropped her phone to her lap. “Nothing problematic about the governor. Raised in a political family, she’s never been involved in any controversy that I can see.”
Blake stared at the picture on Drew’s phone again. “Fletch said Ben collected classic cars. He might have bought it because he liked it.”
Drew turned the phone around to examine the car more closely. “I’d like to find out if they searched for the car. I’d think its VIN number would be listed as stolen so it would pop up if someone tried to register it to drive on the road.” He tapped onhis phone again. “Wow, those things sell for a million bucks and more.”
Drew frowned as he read through the article. “Only fourteen of these E-bodies were made so they’re very rare, which is why they cost the earth when they get to auction. I wish it was still around. I’d like to see it.”
Drew put his phone away. “Enough about work. I need to rest my brain.” He rose and held out his hand to Abby. “Want to take a walk by the pond in the moonlight?”
“It’s not dark yet,” she pointed out, smiling as she stood.
“We’ll take our time.” He waggled his brows at Blake as the two of them walked away.
Paradise’s soft chuckle expanded Blake’s grin. “Your brother is on the hunt.”
“I’d love to see him happy, and it would be incredible to have Abby as a sister.” Paradise hopped out of her chair and took his hand. “Let me gather the plates, and we’ll take a walk ourselves. In the opposite direction.”
