Chapter 15

15

He had a few more things to clean up, and then Wayne Pryor was going to retire. He liked that slogan: "Pryor, go retire!"

He'd spend the rest of his days coaxing Linda into enjoying life and pestering their four girls to give him loads of grandchildren. After they met men he approved of, of course. He was going to take those grandchildren fishing. And maybe even try camping. In an RV, not a tent. He would want some luxuries for his beautiful wife.

He'd had a moment or two of panic after what had happened in this inn before, but after Morris Preston's arrest and the death of that bastard's bastard son, things had cooled off. Enough that Wayne had felt confident enough telling the contacts he still had in Masterson that he was happy to clean up a few loose ends in Wyoming for them if needed.

If the price was right.

For now, the men who had hired him just wanted him to watch. Get the feel of what was happening before giving the orders to take out men who could cause problems later.

Morris Preston didn't just have the one son who was evil to his soul, after all. For now, Wayne was content to be an errand boy.

That he was operating right under the noses of some of the people who held the power to put him away for life did give him some concern, but he had operated in difficult situations before and had always triumphed. He suspected this would go just as smoothly.

His first test had been to check in to the inn under a different name and identity than he had used at the Talley Inn before. He had been born Waylon Prost, of Sublette County, Wyoming, sixty-four years ago. He had grown up on the outskirts of town, on a ranch too poor to have made it this long. Now, it was mostly under the interstate, his family's roots long forgotten.

He liked it that way.

He wasn't too fond of who Waylon Prost had been back then. Wayne Pryor was a deacon in his church, a beloved father, and a good friend, and he sang in the choir.

But for this assignment, he was Wade King, traveling businessman from Idaho. Well, he was from Idaho now. He and his wife had moved there almost eleven years ago—to get away from the trouble that was Morris Preston.

He should have known Preston, his second cousin on his father's side, would have reared his ugly head again. Time to clean that up, then "Pryor, to retire!" was going to be his plan.

He had more than enough money in the bank for that, too. Thanks to the little jobs he had taken around the country for the last ten years. Linda and the girls wanted for nothing now. Exactly as Wayne had always intended.

There was nothing he wouldn't do for his girls and his wife. Nothing.

His second task had been to see if he was recognized by Geena and Arthur Talley, their daughters, or others in their family. So far, so good.

That daughter at the front desk hadn't recognized him. He was certain of it. She was a sweet little thing, adorable. Very young. He had one around her age; his girl had that same sort of sass, too.

But she wasn't Talley's daughter that Wayne was actually worried about. There had been the one Smith-Morris had abducted. Had nearly killed, actually.

She had been in the car with Wayne long enough to have gotten a good look at him. And that concerned him. It necessitated the disguise he was currently using.

He'd dilated one pupil using eye drops and deliberately slurred his speech. He'd kept his head turned slightly. He'd brushed in dark hair chalk over the gray to give himself a salt-and-pepper look.

When he walked upstairs, he made sure to have a slight shuffle in his gait. To mimic weakness on his left side.

Wayne had utilized many disguises before.

He would say he was a master of it, actually.

He needed to know what was going on in Masterson County now.