Page 147 of End Game

There were other targets, other ways to get the money for his daughter’s tuition.

From the moment Jozi bellowed her way into the world, he and Naomi had put every extra cent into a college fund for their daughter. But his wife’s medical bills had ripped through their savings, and Mason had joined the millions of Americans mired in devastating medical debt.

Once he’d clawed his way out, he started building Jozi’s college fund again. He’d done what he could on a single salary, and Jozi received a few grants from essays she’d written, but they had only managed to cover the first two years of her undergrad degree.

Now, he was without a steady job and had only a short time to come up with the money for her junior and senior years. Once he got her settled into her dorm, he’d have the freedom to take higher paying contract jobs overseas.

Mason pushed away from the boulder and retrieved the bag of bullet casings he’d picked up in the forest and around the burning guest house, dropping them into his rucksack.

Once the ruck was situated on his back, he shouldered his rifle, grabbed a shovel from the toolshed, and slipped back into the shadows.

Epilogue

Three weeks later

The moment Kayla and Ash entered the Friary’s foyer, Liv greeted them with enthusiastic hugs.

“What did you think of the streamers and lighting along the path leading up to the Friary?” Liv asked.

“Absolutely gorgeous,” Kayla said. “Great way to get everyone in a festive mood.”

“I thought so, too. Alejandro and Neuman outdid themselves. Wait until you see how they decorated the back patio.”

Alejandro Rios was Clay Neuman’s stepdad and managed the maintenance on the estate’s grounds and buildings.

Liv reached for the present Ash held in the crook of his arm. “I’ll put this with the others. Gorgeous wrapping, by the way.”

“Can’t take the credit.” Ash smiled at Kayla and lifted their entwined hands to his lips.

Kayla’s heart warmed. That’s all it took, these days. Just one loving glance, and she turned into melted butter at this man’s feet.

“Wait until you see the Great Hall.” Liv guided them into the expansive room. “Zeke, Rohan, and Phin came up with the idea to honor Grams’s Diné heritage.” She glanced at Kayla.

“Also known as Navajo,” she offered, having done a bit of research after first meeting the Blackwell matriarch.

Liv nodded. “Lynette, Henri, and Clara worked on the menu. Cilla, Lena, and I figured out the decorations. Maddy and Sadie supervised the guys while they hung them.”

Clara was Alejandro’s wife and Clay’s mom. She homeschooled her daughter Sadie and set up scenario rooms in the shoot house the guys used when fine-tuning their recovery plans.

White, blue, yellow, and black balloons filled each corner of the Hall, representing the four sacred mountains surrounding Dinétah, homeland to the Navajo, also known as the Four Corners in the southwestern region of the United States.

A giant rainbow arced across the entire room, from one fireplace to the other, a symbol of Diné’s sovereignty, the tribal nation’s right to govern themselves. Incongruously, music from the fifties—Grams’s favorite—played over hidden speakers.

“How beautiful,” Kayla said. “Did you manage to surprise Grams?”

“Believe it or not, yes. But it took curtaining off the entire Great Hall and watching her every minute. Who knew Grams hated surprises?” Liv smiled at them, then raised a brow at Ash. “Girl time.”

He groaned, eyeing Zeke across the room. “Don’t leave me.”

“Grams will protect you,” Kayla said, grinning. “Go give her a kiss.”

Without another word, Liv whisked her away, leaving Ash to fend for himself. She added their birthday present to the pile of others on the way to what Kayla had begun to think of as the Wolf’s Den, the side of the Hall housing Lupos.

Maddy, Lena, and Cilla jumped up from the plush, leather couches to offer more hugs and kisses. Once they’d all refilled their beverages and resettled around the fireplace, Liv demanded, “Tell us everything.”

Kayla frowned. “About what?”

“Mason, mercenaries, and murders. What else?”

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