Page 76 of End Game

“Correct.”

Kayla recalled Seb Grimball’s battered face before someone blew off the top of his head. Swallowing, she twisted around to face Ash, propping her feet on the cushion between them. “Seb looked as though he’d been in a recent fight.”

Ash closed a hand over her right ankle, as if sensing her distress. “Further confirming our hypothesis of a second assailant.”

“I could understand having a backup assassin, but why would they have fought?”

“Good question.” He anchored his forearms on his knees and clasped his hands together. “Now that you’ve had time to consider it, can you think of anyone who would want the governor dead?”

“A lot of people are settling differences of opinion with extreme violence, these days. Her killer could be anyone who didn’t agree with a bill she signed into law or didn’t share her ideology or?—”

“Yes,” he interrupted her, “but who could’ve guessed she’d visit the gazebo?”

“Maybe they got lucky—” Kayla’s heart dumped into her stomach. “That came out wrong. I d-didn’t mean?—”

“Easy.” He brushed a thumb over the top of her foot. “I got your meaning.”

Kayla drew in a breath and released it slowly. “You visited the spot where the shooter set up?”

He nodded.

“Could you see the veranda?”

His eyes unfocused for a moment. “Yes.”

“No matter what time of the year, guests always step outside to escape the noise from the masses. I’m sure it’s the same for any large gathering.” She stared into her tea. “The shooter simply waited for her to appear. Vicky’s visit to the gazebo was like hitting the lottery, I’m sure.”

Releasing her ankle, Ash scrubbed a hand over his face and settled his back into the V of the sofa. “What can you tell me about her security detail that night?”

“I don’t know what else I can tell you.”

“Why’d they leave the garden?”

“I’m sure they were following orders. If she said scoot, they scooted.”

“They could’ve given her some privacy and still kept her in sight.”

“ I can’t see Glenn and Ford being a party to her murder. They were devoted to her. ”

“You know better than anyone that money and power are the Great Motivators. All someone had to do was find a weak link in the governor’s circle. A guard with a gambling problem or drug habit. Or maybe an assistant with medical bills stacking up, a chief of staff with an eye on a federal appointment, a lieutenant governor with more ambition than patience?—”

Kayla held up her hand. “I see your point.” Every sinew in her chest tightened as another possibility rose in her mind.

Eerily attuned to the slightest shift in her mood, Ash asked, “You’ve thought of someone else?”

“Maybe,” she hedged.

“Someone you care about?”

She nodded. “Though I doubt she could kill a spider.”

“But could she get someone else to step on it?”

“What are you going to do if I give you a name?”

“Have a chat.”

“A civil chat? Or a bad cop interrogation?”

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