Page 115 of End Game

“Thank you, Grams.”

“Is there anything else we should know?” Lynette asked. “Any other people of interest we should look into?”

There was another name that hovered on the tip of her tongue, but Kayla couldn’t bring herself to say it. Not even in this circle of trust.

56

“You want the tech version or the short version?” Rohan asked.

“Dazzle me with your brilliance later,” Ash said. “Give it to me short.”

“I followed the convoluted trail of hit money to Seb Grimball.”

“How convoluted could it be, going to Marion, North Carolina?” Phin asked, referring to the bank account Grimball’s so-called brother had opened.

“Marion was the final destination. Getting there was like taking a grand tour through the worldwide banking system.”

Impatience pounded through Ash’s blood. “Who hired Grimball?”

“A company called Gradient Enterprises.”

Recognition flickered in the back of Ash’s mind, but he couldn’t make the connection.

“The security firm?” Phin asked.

“Among other things,” Rohan said.

“Why would Gradient contract a killer with a signature?” Cruz asked. “That’s the height of stupidity.”

“They knew law enforcement would find the earring, attach it to a known serial killer, and case closed,” Zeke said. “They’d say Grimball acted on compulsion. No reason to look any further or excavate his finances, like Rohan did.”

Ash clenched his teeth. “We’re not all a bunch of bungling idiots, grasping at the first bit of evidence we find.”

“If you have such respect for those in your profession, why did you ask for Rohan’s help? Why not involve your colleagues?”

“I did, dammit. But the Bureau only has so many analysts and I’m one request in a long queue.” He refocused on Rohan. “Who owns Gradient?”

“Evan Barclay.”

“Barclay?”

“You know him?” Zeke asked.

His mind whisked back to the night of the governor’s murder.

Mr. No-Neck. A friend of the family.

Shit, shit, shit.

Ash closed his eyes and pictured Kayla’s expression at the moment she learned one of her beloved aunties was linked to her godmother’s murder.

Devastation.

Opening his eyes, he pinned Rohan in place. “You’re absolutely certain?”

His brother nodded.

“Sybil Barclay’s son. He tried to recruit me the night Stokes was assassinated.”

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