“I share the spot with his mom and brothers. I’m not sure when we’ll be able to make plans for the future. There are so many problems at the park.”
“Everything doesn’t have to be perfect before you make a life together. Sometimes you have to reach the realization that plans are overrated. Things are far from perfect with us, too, but we’re bobbing in the currents as best as we can. At least we’re doing it together, just like you and Blake are. The waves might get high, but you’re holding fast to each other.”
Paradise hadn’t thought of it like that, but Savannah was right. Blake had worked at trying to make things better for all of them, and he’d made sure they had time together even in the midst of the tsunami of bad news crashing over them. He’d managed to keep them all afloat.
The guys returned with a cardboard box that Hez began to unload on the kitchen table, and Paradise followed Savannah over to join them. “I haven’t had a chance to go through the evidence yet since I picked this up two hours ago.”
There was a file of pictures, and Paradise quickly glanced away from the autopsy photos and skipped to the report. Blake handed the pictures to Hez, who leafed through them. The report was straightforward. “The coroner found an injection mark in Allen’s left antecubital fossa, a common site for meth users.”
“English?” Blake asked with a smile.
“His left elbow vein,” Hez clarified. “The coroner found no scarring though. If he was a frequent user, there should have been evidence of that. You’d think the police would have flagged that as suspicious.”
She glanced at Hez. “Anything surprising in the police report?”
“The most surprising thing is how skimpy it is. I think some pages might be missing. There’s no mention of Mary’s assertion that she told the detective she suspected foul play and nothing about her belief that Allen had been forced off the road. No record of interviews with Dean or Mary at all. Didn’t she say she even told the detective she suspected Frank?”
“That’s what she told me,” Paradise said.
“Do we know who investigated Allen’s death?” Blake asked.
Hez flipped to the first page again, and his jaw hardened. “Greene, of course. He’s completely incompetent. Or intentionally covering something,” Hez said. “There’s something about that guy that sticks in my craw. I think he’s dirty.”
Blake riffled through the papers. “But how do we prove it? Rod doesn’t see it. He thinks he’s overworked, not incompetent or on the take. Is there anything in here we can take to Rod and ask for a fresh investigation?”
Hez frowned. “Do you want to do that though? He’ll wantto know why you’re interested after five years. The fewer people who know you’re worried about a will showing up, the better. We don’t know what Dean is trying to pull behind the scenes. And with Aunt Jenna now implicated in hiding what she knew about the will, it could be problematic.”
Paradise wished she’d never said anything. Jenna would never hide something on purpose. “She didn’t really know anything. Mary assured her it was fine.”
“And Mary had something to gain from the sale. A court might believe Mary rushed it to sale and Aunt Jenna was in on it. Since Dean is looking so hard for that will, I have to believe there’s some truth behind it. He wouldn’t risk being arrested for breaking and entering if he wasn’t sure he could find the will.”
“If it was a legitimate will, wouldn’t an attorney have a copy? That’s the part I don’t understand,” Paradise said. “He could call around and try to find it that way.”
Hez put the loose papers back in the green folder. “There’s no database where wills are recorded. He would have to call every attorney in the country. It’s possible Allen used an online source and had it notarized, then hid it.”
The best they could hope for was that the will stayed hidden. If there was a will.
Chapter 28
Paradise had fallen asleep on the way to Nova Cambridge, and Blake kept stealing glances at her in the moonlight with her long lashes fanned against her cheeks. She made several soft noises and he reached over to take her hand in case she was having a nightmare. Everything lately had been about the refuge, and he hated that he hadn’t been able to help her find the person who killed her parents.
They both kept thinking things would calm and there’d be time to focus on the reason she’d come back to Alabama, but thatsomedayhadn’t yet materialized. He had to move past his problems and see to hers. He loved her too much to let her stay in limbo with all of it. She hadn’t even contacted her brother yet. Blake knew she was trying to help him first. That was love.
He parked at the side of Pawsome Pets and shut off the engine. She looked so peaceful sleeping with her head resting on the door and the light shining on her beautiful face. Someday he’d wake up in the night and find her sleeping beside him, but right now it seemed an impossible dream.
She cried out and her head thrashed back and forth. “No, no,” she moaned.
He leaned over and brushed her hair back off her cheek. “Babe, we’re home. It’s okay—I’m right here.”
She moaned again and opened her eyes. “Blake.” She bolted upright in the seat and reached for him.
He leaned over the console and pulled her to his side. “I think you were having a nightmare.”
“I remembered.” Her voice vibrated with desolation. “It was my fault. I let him in.”
He pressed his lips against the side of her head. “It was just a nightmare, my love. Let it go.”
She gulped in air. “It was the monkey. I knew there was something about the monkey that scared me. It was in my dream, but it was real.”
