A flash of irritation surprised her. She’d done life on her own for so many years, it feltwrongto let someone else carry a burden. If she handled things, she was always in control and had no one to blame but herself if something went wrong. Blake was a caring guy and just wanted to help, but he didn’t seem to understand that she wanted to stand on her own two feet.
She swallowed back the anger before it could take control of her tone. “That’s okay. I have to face this anyway. Besides, I want to know, even if it’s bad.”
Could her brother know she was looking for him? Maybe he didn’t want to be found. She hadn’t thought of that before. He could be the one involved in erasing the first results and the efforts to scare her off.
There was only one way to find out. She opened the file, and the results filled her screen. Her gaze landed on the table listing Immediate Family. One name only was listed, a male. Drew Bartley. She’d been looking for Andrew Bartley, but he’d used the abbreviated name. There were matches in the Close Family column as well, and she spotted her cousin Molly’s name. Lily’s and Rod’s names were there too.
She took a deep breath and moved the cursor to the link for a secure message. “I’m going to message him now.” But nothinghappened when she clicked the link. She punched the button again. “It’s not working to message him.”
“Probably because the results were erased. It’s no longer connected to the database. Try copying the file to your Results tab on the database and see if it will link up.”
There was a plus sign for adding documents in her personal file on the database, so she clicked it and added the document. It appeared in her files, and she clicked the message button again. This time a secure message box popped up. Her pulse stuttered in her chest and she paused.
Blake moved close enough that she caught his eucalyptus scent. “What’s wrong?”
“What if I’m putting him in danger by contacting him? Someone doesn’t want us to talk.”
“You could wait and talk to the guy who called from the DNA company. Maybe with the weird circumstances we could get him to tell us where he’s living so we could approach him personally. Someone is monitoring the database.”
The thought made her delete the file she’d just uploaded. “Good point. We don’t want whoever is doing these things to know I have those results. I’ll try calling in the morning.”
“We could ask Jane or one of the detectives to do it. They might get more action.”
Patience wasn’t in her personality, but she wouldn’t be able to live with herself if something happened to Drew. She closed her laptop. “You’re right.” She smiled into his weary blue eyes. “It’s nearly midnight. I’ll walk you to the door and lock up.”
“Let me text Jane first and ask her to talk to the genealogy company.” He patted the sofa. “I think I’ll bunk right here. After what happened tonight, I don’t think you should be alone.”
That flash of irritation reared its head again and she jumped up. “You’re smothering me again, Blake. I want you to go home and get some rest. I’ll be fine. I’ve got a tranq gun and the real one. There’s a dead bolt on the door.”
He rose slowly with his lips pressed together. She caught the flash of hurt on his face and nearly backed down, but this was a disagreement that needed to be addressed. They both had to figure out the parameters of their relationship or it wouldn’t work.
Chapter 11
“I wanted to come sooner to offer condolences,” Blake said as he parked on the street in front of the modest mid-seventies brick home in Foley where Ivy’s grandmother lived. The landscaping was meticulous, and Karen Cook seemed especially fond of azaleas and rhododendrons. “Mom said she called Karen once she was notified of Ivy’s death, and Karen wouldn’t talk to her. She thought we’d skirted safety procedures. I’m hoping she’ll talk to us when we show up on her doorstep. Especially now that we know Ivy was murdered.”
Paradise studied the property. “No vehicles in the driveway. Maybe she’s not home.”
“Only one way to find out.” Blake opened his door and got out, and Paradise did the same. He took her hand as they walked to the door. “You sure you want to handle asking the questions?”
“She has probably heard by now that Ivy was being paid to find out info about me. I think Karen is more likely to tell me than someone else since I was the one being targeted.”
She might be right, but Blake didn’t have to like it. He pressed the doorbell and heard it peal from inside. The breeze rustled thehanging basket of ferns on the porch as they waited. The door opened and Mrs. Cook’s welcoming smile vanished.
Her lips flattened and she said nothing, so Blake hurried to fill the silence. “We’re sorry to bother you in your grief, Mrs. Cook, but we really need your help. I assume you know by now Ivy was shot with a tranquilizer gun? Some strange things are happening at the park, and we’d like to talk to you.”
She regarded them through narrowed eyes for a long moment before she stepped out of the way to allow them to enter. Karen was in her late fifties. She normally wore her blonde hair in a sleek bob and usually was well dressed. Today her hair was flat on one side, and the yoga pants and tee she wore had food stains on them like she’d worn them for days. Maybe she had. Blake had looked for her at church today, but she hadn’t shown up.
The curtains and blinds were all closed, and it took a moment for Blake’s vision to adjust to the darkened space. She led them past the dining area and kitchen to a family room at the back of the house. The television was off, and the house echoed with silence. An orange cat scuttled off to hide when it saw them. A flickering candle pushed the scent of vanilla into the room.
“Have a seat.”
He and Paradise settled on the beige sofa. The hardwood floors were dusty, and so were the tabletops. Grief had hit the poor woman hard.
Paradise glanced at Blake and leaned forward. “Mrs. Cook, I’m Paradise Alden.”
The woman’s hazel eyes flickered. “The vet.”
“That’s right. I’m so sorry for your loss.”
