Drew nudged her with his shoulder. “You mean I don’t have to watch everything you fix me to eat and drink? That’s a relief. I’ve been awake a lot at night worrying about what you’ll do next.”
She chuckled and nudged him back. “You can never be too sure.”
He hugged her. “I’m glad we found each other, kiddo. That’s just like God to give you what you weren’t quite sure you needed.”
“Oh, I always knew I needed a brother.” Her voice wobbled.
Blake loved watching them interact. His brothers brought such joy to his life, and Drew was helping provide that firm foundation for her. He waited until Paradise pulled away and stared out at the moon glimmering on the water. “What’s our next move?”
“Jane should have the pictures developed by tomorrow.” Drew’s phone sounded and he stared at the screen. “It’s Jane. Adams has been captured. He’s not talking yet though.”
“And Abby is safe,” Paradise said. “You don’t have to stay out there any longer.”
Drew turned off his phone. “That too.”
Blake knew the lack of elation in his voice was only about the thought of those evenings with Abby ending. “We’re shorthanded in the morning so I have to work. We can get the pictures in the afternoon.”
“I can get the pictures first thing tomorrow,” Paradise said. “We can reconvene after lunch and see if they hold the key to what happened. I’m trying not to get my hopes up though. I’d like to think that Bea would have told us if it’s clear proof of who killed our parents.”
Paradise always kept her expectations low, and it hurt Blake’s heart to know she had been taught to expect the second shoe to drop. Her life had been one of such turmoil that she might never get over that inclination. He hoped eventually she’d learn to rest on God’s promises and begin to look for the silver lining.
Chapter 37
Jane smiled when Paradise arrived at her office door. “That was fast. I only texted you fifteen minutes ago.”
Paradise shut the door behind her and followed Jane to her desk. She spotted the envelope of pictures beside Jane’s keyboard. “I was already on the way here. I thought I’d hang out until they were ready.” She sniffed the aroma of Costa Rican coffee. “That smells fresh.”
“It’s still brewing. I texted you, then started a fresh pot.” Jane stepped past Paradise and picked up the pictures. “I haven’t examined them yet. I meant to have a peek first, but I got called to the interrogation room to try to shake information out of Adams. It was an interesting conversation.”
“What was he looking for at the Dillard Ranch? Do we know if he and Roger played any role in the murders of my parents?”
“It was totally unrelated. Roger had a folder of people who owed him ‘favors.’” Jane used air quotes on the last word. “Adams was desperate to get ahold of it and see if he could find someone to help him disappear by using the information in the folder.”
“That’s what he was looking for at the ranch?”
Jane nodded and gestured to the chair before she reached for the prints. “You can look these over and hand them to me as you finish.”
“I hope there’s something we can use.”
The coffeepot beeped, and Jane turned toward the sound. “I’ll get us coffee. Want anything in yours? I have all kinds of flavors and heavy whipping cream.”
“You have peppermint mocha creamer?”
“I do.” Jane stepped to the pot and poured them both steaming mugs. She handed one to Paradise, then settled in her chair. “The report said there were fifteen pictures.”
A shiver of excitement settled along Paradise’s spine. She opened the envelope’s flap and slid out fifteen eight-by-ten glossies. “Thanks for getting them so large.”
The first one was a close-up of the Barracuda. The cover was gone, and a bright overhead light illuminated the gleaming seats with the convertible top down. The car looked like new, and maybe it was. “No date or location on these?”
“No, the tech thinks they came from an older 35-millimeter camera. A time stamp was common in the eighties but not everyone replaced cameras all that often unless they were photographers.”
Paradise studied the photo. The floor and seats were empty, and the close-up didn’t reveal much about the surroundings other than the concrete floor. It could have been in the garage where they’d found it, but she couldn’t be sure. She handed it to Jane and picked up the next picture. It was more distant and caught the car in all its glory plus the back wall. “It’s at Governor George’s garage. I recognize the picture hanging behind it.”
And that picture in the background was what had nagged at her. She carried the photo to the window and wished she had aclose-up of just that. It appeared to be a photograph of woods with buildings situated nearby. She squinted to try to see the structures. One looked suspiciously like an animal pen of some kind similar to the way The Sanctuary held big cats. The view wasn’t good enough to say anything to Jane about it, because it could have been a fence that held in anything—cattle, sheep. The detail was blurry that far out.
Why did it draw her? It could be anywhere, but it felt so familiar. There were some woods around The Sanctuary. Could it be one of those areas? That might explain its familiarity, but she couldn’t be sure.
The trees were loblolly pine so the location could be anywhere in the South from East Texas to Florida. There were no identifying markers. She passed the photo to Jane without comment and picked up the third picture. This one was someone’s hand over the frame with very little detail around it. She tried to make out anything on the sides but could identify nothing. The rest of the pictures offered no better view of that photograph on the wall she wanted to see. Only the car from various angles.
