187|Path Of No Return—Part 1

They all dispersed and returned to the barn after the Van Staden boys had finished burying Friar John. Austin, though, hung back at the burial site for a few minutes, staring morosely at the consigliere's grave, his heart splintering into a million little pieces when he realised the man would never have a headstone or even a homemade cross to mark his final resting place.

Austin knew he was going to die someday. Maybe even sooner than he'd prefer. After all, nothing was as certain as death. But when it was his time, he hoped he'd have something a little fancier than an unmarked grave, and he prayed Marybeth would visit him from time to time and place flowers on his grave.

The mere thought of his wife filled Austin with a yearning so intense he didn't realise he'd pulled out his phone and called her until he heard her groggy greeting, "Hello?"

"Were you sleeping?" he asked, stuffing his free hand in his pocket as he gazed at the crescent moon looming bright and proud in the night sky.

"