Elowen tucked a lock of blonde hair behind her ear, and her blue eyes filled with tears. “I know, but he’d be so angry if he found out what Dean wanted.”
“And what was that?” Paradise asked in a gentle voice.
“He wanted me to forge Allen’s signature on a will Dean drew up.”
Paradise took a quick peek at Tessa, who had a bunny on her lap, before turning back to Elowen. “That seems a strange request.”
“I—I did some forgeries for him when we were together. I’m so ashamed of it, but I was afraid of him. He needed money for drugs, and he had me forge some checks of Allen and Mary’s.They passed right through the bank, so he thought this would be easy for me.”
“Did he have access to meth?”
“He cooked it and sold it, so he had plenty of opportunity to use it. He was always so angry when he was high.”
Paradise had to tread carefully here. “Did he ever talk about Allen’s death? You were together after that, right?”
Elowen sank onto a nearby bench and stared down at the ground. “He killed him. He told me he slid a needle in his elbow, and the expression on Allen’s face went from anger to surprise and then to contentment. He thought he did a good thing because Allen had cancer. Mary didn’t know, so Dean never told her. It was pancreatic cancer, and he didn’t have long. Dean claimed he was only helping him out, but I think he believed Mary would let him move back in and he’d have access to her money again. She didn’t.”
“Would you testify to this?”
Elowen put her head in her hands. “I don’t want Wade to know. I wish I’d never told you.”
Paradise gripped the younger woman’s forearm. “He’ll still love you, Elowen. I could see that he’s a good man.”
Tears pooled in Elowen’s blue eyes. “But even a good man would recoil at what I’ve done.”
Tessa ran back toward them with pink cheeks. “Lemurs!”
Elowen nodded and scooped her up. “I don’t know what I’m going to do.”
Paradise showered and washed her hair, then wrapped it in a towel. Snug in a tan terry robe, she stretched out on her bedwith the kittens beside her and grabbed her laptop. Her hands trembled as she lifted the lid and went to the genealogy site.
Tonight was the night. She might not hear back from Drew tonight, but she could start the dialogue and see what happened. Not everyone who looked for their heritage wanted to hear from relatives, so it was possible he wouldn’t respond at all. She had to keep that possibility in mind.
She inhaled. “This is it, Luna.” The kitten pricked her ears at the sound of her name, then went back to playing with her toy mouse.
The cursor blinked on her screen, and she opened her message app. A bolded message caught her attention. She had something from a match. Was it Drew? The app allowed matches to correspond without giving out names and addresses until both parties felt safe. Maybe it was someone else, but she allowed the hope to settle a moment before she opened the message.
The title readMatchand her mouth went dry.
Hi, my name is Andrew James Bartley, but my friends call me Drew. I think we might share the same mother. I hope this isn’t too much of a shock to you. I always knew I was adopted, and I sometimes got letters from our mother with your picture, so I always knew about you too. But my existence might be a shock to you, and if that’s so, I apologize for the intrusion. I’d like to come see you on a matter that’s very urgent. Would that be possible?
An urgent matter? Alarm bells began to go off at the phrase, and she snatched back her hands. She’d always heard these things progressed slowly, but this man was ready to hop a plane and get here right away. Was it a scam of some kind? There had beenenough trouble getting her results that caution was in order. This could be whoever kept deleting the results of her test.
The blinking cursor seemed to mock her as her indecision rose. Cowardice wouldn’t get her any closer to the truth, and she’d moved a lot of rocks in her quest so far. She inhaled and put her hands back on the keyboard.
My name is Paradise Alden. I only found out I had a brother a couple of months ago when I discovered a box in the attic where I used to live. It belonged to our mother, and the information about you was in the box. That is why I had my DNA done. I was hoping to find you. I live in Alabama. Where are you?
She clicked Send and swallowed down a bitter taste in her mouth. Had this been a colossal mistake? She stared at the inbox. Would she be able to tell when it had been read? Maybe the app didn’t have that capability. To kill time, she took the towel off her head and combed out the tangles before braiding it. There was still no answer, so she put on sweats and a tee and went in search of something to drink. She was already too wired for more caffeine, so she opted for orange juice and headed back to her bedroom.
Both cats were on the bed staring at the computer screen. Had it made a sound? Heart in her throat, she plopped onto the bed and saw another bolded message. She nearly spilled her juice in her eagerness to open and read what Drew had to say. If it even was Drew. She had to stay cautious.
I’m glad I haven’t shocked you. I’m sure you’re worried about some complete stranger wanting to comesee you, but I really am your brother. Our mom’s name was Becky, and she had a tiny tattoo of a hummingbird on her left shoulder. I’d heard she loved Hawaii. Is that why she named you Paradise?
To answer your question, I live in Atlanta, but I could be there tomorrow. Can you give me your location? We could meet at whatever safe place you want. I don’t have to know your home address if you’re cautious. And you should be, by the way. I make no judgment on caution. I’m a police detective, and I’ve seen what happens when women don’t listen to their inner warning signals. So you pick the place.
She stared at the flow of information he’d given. Blake would tell her not to do it yet. He’d advise her to talk on the phone first and get a sense of who Drew was. But she couldn’t let this chance slide by without embracing it. She had abrother. It seemed impossibly surreal. He knew about her mother’s tattoo and her love of Hawaii. He’d even guessed why her parents had given her such a ridiculous name. And he was a police detective! That was a welcome piece of news. Maybe he would help her figure out what happened to their mother and her father. And she longed to know who his father was as well. It was all a piece of her mother’s history Paradise knew nothing about.
I’m in the Gulf Shores area. Let’s meet at the animal park where I work as a vet. It’s called The Sanctuary Wildlife Preserve on Vernant Park Road.
