She moved closer to where they stood talking quietly. “The authorities will know you did this. You own the property, Bear. What will you gain by killing me?”
The gun was in Bear’s possession now, stuffed in his belt. He stared back at Paradise impassively. “Neither of us own this property. You will have simply vanished.”
“You paid Warren? Is this his property?”
“I told you she was too smart for her own good,” Angela said.
“How did you even know him?”
Angela shrugged. “He mowed lawns for your parents when he was a teenager, and I paid him to keep an eye on Becky for years. He was useful when it was time to end it.”
Paradise managed to swallow down the ball of terror forming. “Why kill my parents? They did nothing to you or Bear. They were innocent.”
Angela’s fists clenched and her face reddened. “Nothing? Your mother was just a whore. She was married yet she still got in Ben’s head and confused him. Ben and I were finally going to be together like it should have been all along untilshecame back into his life.”
Paradise saw it all in the woman’s twisted mouth and angry eyes. That final rejection had snapped her sanity. “This was all you, wasn’t it, Angela? He rejected you and if you couldn’t have him, then no one could, right? You drugged him, then bludgeoned him with the golf club.” She stared at Bear. “She couldn’t kill both my parents alone. How did she talk you into doing her dirty work? And how did you even know Warren, Bear?”
He shrugged. “I thought a cable guy would seem innocent enough. I saw Warren a few streets over one day and offered him five grand if he’d do a couple of things for me. He thought the music box was a surprise birthday present for you, and I convinced him to leave the door unlocked for a surprise party. After the murders he was too scared to go to the police. I kept feeding him money through the years to keep him quiet.”
She hated his arrogant expression. “There was missing evidence on the murders, but with your power, you could get it removed. Did you threaten Sheriff Davis and he felt he had no choice but to hide it? Was he your mole inside the department? And how did you know the music box was something I would want?”
He shrugged. “Ben had bought it for you before he died. He would know what you liked.”
“Enough!” Angela took a step closer. “The drugs are out of her system, Bear. It’s time to shut her up for good. Shoot her and let the panther have the remains.”
His jaw flexed. “The murders were a long time ago, Ang. Why commit another one now and make it worse?”
“We’ll be long gone before her remains are ever found. No one will know what happened to her. The investigation will die with her. She’s the one driving it all.”
Paradise gripped the fence with both hands. “You’re wrong. Ben was Drew’s father. He’ll keep pushing for the truth. Taking him down will be a lot harder than killing me. He has the entire police force to help him.”
Bear moved restlessly. “She might be right. I can’t just shoot her. Let’s hop on our plane and leave her here and get out of the country.”
“And then what? She’ll die without food or water anyway.”
“If she’s ever found, the police will think she got trapped in here and the panther got to her. You left the note about her following a lead on a black panther. She came in here to check out the cat and got trapped. I thought letting the cat kill her was the plan.”
“You’re being ridiculous. Shoot her and get it over with.”
“I thought it was all behind us. The guilt has eaten at me.” Bear’s tone turned coaxing. “We’ll be on the beach sipping piña coladas. We can spend the rest of our lives forgetting about what happened. I still can’t believe after it was all over, we found each other.”
Paradise had to know everything. How had Angela convinced Bear to help her? And how had Pamela died? She thought throughthe sequence of events. “You found out my mother was pregnant, didn’t you? You finally realized Ben was never going to be with you, so you drugged him and killed him. Did Pamela figure out you killed him? Or did she think it was Bear?”
Bear and Angela exchanged a dismayed glance, and she knew she was right. “She accused Bear and he spilled the truth, didn’t he?”
“I didn’t touch her,” Bear said.
“But Angela did. She went back to the house and took care of her since you couldn’t do it, right? You’re not a killer, Bear. Don’t let her do this.”
“Shut up!” Angela’s face reddened. “Shoot her, Bear.”
But he didn’t raise the gun in his hand. “Let’s go, Angela. A bullet will be proof we killed her. Let’s be smart about it.”
“Why did you help Angela kill my parents? What was in it for you?” Paradise had to ask the questions aloud to think through them on her own, and then it all clicked into place. “At least part of it was quid pro quo, wasn’t it? You wanted his Senate seat. Ben had to die for his infidelity, and if she killed him, you’d kill my mother. Only Dad came home unexpectedly, and you had to kill them both.”
Angela’s agitation grew with every question. “Ben led me on, for years and years. He was always going to leave Pamela, and then when he finally told her he was leaving, it was for Becky. And she was having the baby that should have beenmine.”
Paradise took a step back. Obsession was an ugly thing, so hideous that it had led to the murders of four people.
