“That’s what Rod says. Maybe Warren had the leopard. We’ll never know since he’s dead, but it’s worth checking out any property he owns. He was renting his house, but he could have owned land somewhere and kept animals out there. If he did, they could be in a bad way if they’re not being fed and watered.”
Blake hit the brakes at an accident ahead. There was no road to get around it, and they were stuck.
Chapter 38
Paradise backed away from the woman illuminated by the sunlight through the open door. “Angela? I—I can explain. I found the car when we came to return the iPad, and I wanted another look at it.” Angela moved her hand, and the gun Paradise hadn’t noticed glinted in the sun. “W-what’s going on?”
Angela left the door open and advanced into the room. “I knew from the start you’d be the problem. You were an inquisitive child too. We should have taken care of you right from the start, but we were too softhearted.” She smiled when Paradise gulped. “You thought it was Amelia, didn’t you?” Her tone held self-satisfaction. “If you and your squad thought that, everyone else will too. With you gone we’ll be able to put this behind us. We’ve laid a careful trail right to the governor’s door.”
“Why implicate her?”
Angela brushed her white hair out of her eyes. “She was another of Ben’s conquests. She needs to be punished just like your mother. Like Pamela.”
“You wanted Ben?”
“He wantedme, but floozies always focused on him. He hadno backbone. We were engaged once, but I asked no one to mention it once it was over, and even his family honored my request. He was mine first.”
This was obsession on full display. Paradise gestured to the gun. “I wouldn’t have known you were the murderer if you didn’t have that.”
“You saw me that day. You would have remembered.”
“But I didn’t see you at the house. A man killed my mother, though I didn’t see his face.”
“You would have told the police, and they would have figured it out. But you’re going to suffer a tragic accident.” She gestured with the gun toward the phone in Paradise’s hand. “Give me your phone.”
Paradise handed it over. It was still on, and she watched Angela launch the Notes app. “What are you doing?”
“Adding to your notes. I knew you’d have notes about your investigation. I’m going to add a clue that you’re going to investigate a caged black panther. They won’t know where to look until it’s too late.” Angela dropped the phone onto the floor and kicked it under the car. “That will take them a while to find.” She stepped out of the path and gestured to the door. “Let’s go.”
Paradise saw no weapons handy, not even a piece of wood or a metal tool. She exited the garage and was about to dart for her car when another figure blocked her way.
Bear.
Paradise took a step back. “You killed your own brother?”
“Shut up,” Angela snapped. “Took you long enough, Bear.”
“How’d you know I was here?” Paradise asked.
He gave her a cold smile. “Cameras, of course. You don’t think we’d leave a car this valuable out here with no security, do you?”
He grabbed her upper arm in a tight grip and pushed her toward a panel van parked behind her car. He opened the back. “Get in.”
If she complied, she was as good as dead. She jerked her arm out of his grip and took two steps before a dart zinged into her thigh. She gasped and turned to see that Angela had grabbed a tranquilizer gun from the front passenger seat. Paradise tried to move, but her actions felt slow and awkward. Tranqs took a while to work. What had they given her?
“It’s not a tranquilizer. It’s a little stronger than that.” Bear’s smile held triumph. He grabbed her and shoved her into the back of the van.
Stay awake.Her mental order didn’t stop her vision from blurring and her lids from drooping. When she opened her eyes again, she was face down on the dirty carpet of the old van smelling of big cat. “Blake?” she murmured. She was still groggy, but when she turned her head and saw her surroundings, she snapped awake.
She was in the back of the van. The outlines of two figures in the front seats moved across her blurry vision.
“We have to wait until the drug is out of her system,” Angela said from the passenger seat.
They didn’t know she was awake yet. Paradise closed her eyes and forced her breathing to slow while she thought about how to escape. They planned to hold her somewhere. The stench of big cat made her heart race as she tried to figure out why they would have a van with that kind of odor. Wait, they’d never discovered the owner of the leopard stalking her. Bear had said he loved big cats. Was this his vehicle?
The van bottomed out in a pothole and made a sharp turn that rolled her against the van’s side wall. A cold metal item was at her hand, and she quickly tucked it into the pocket of her denimshorts without identifying it. Whatever it was might come in handy. The vehicle lurched down an unpaved track with looming trees that cast deep shadows outside. Paradise kept her eyes slitted enough to glance around for another weapon. There was a collar that might fit a golden retriever.
Or a big cat.
