The Inheritance Games, #3
The Final Gambit
by Jennifer Lynn Barnes
Contents
CHAPTER 37
Overview
Avery and Jameson question Nan about Tobias Hawthorne’s origins, hoping to uncover a hidden family connection behind the kidnapper’s clue. Nan reveals that Tobias had no siblings and was orphaned young, but she also admits his rise to power involved things he was not proud of.
The chapter shifts Avery’s theory: the revenge plot may be aimed at Tobias himself rather than at Avery or Toby. Nan’s refusal to explain Tobias’s dirty deeds deepens the mystery around the Hawthorne empire and suggests the family has more enemies than Avery understands.
Summary
After Avery and Grayson report back, Jameson concludes that Nan may be the only living person who can clarify whether Tobias Hawthorne had unknown family. Xander tries to lighten Eve’s mood by joking about how difficult Nan is to find, while Nash notes that it is Tuesday morning. Jameson realizes Nan is likely in the chapel and asks Avery to come with him.
Avery and Jameson find Nan in the Hawthorne chapel, a beautiful building Tobias constructed for her. Nan immediately scolds them for interrupting and reminds Avery that Avery missed their weekly poker game. Nan says she is not praying so much as giving God a piece of her mind, and Jameson explains that Tobias built the chapel so Nan would have a place to yell at God.
Avery uses Nan’s mention of Tobias as an opening and asks whether Tobias had family. Nan says Tobias had older parents who did not know what to do with him, but no siblings. Tobias’s father died of a heart attack when Tobias was a teenager, and his mother died about a year later, leaving Tobias alone by the time he met Alice.
Jameson asks whether Tobias had mentors, father figures, or friends, but Nan says Tobias was not a man who made friends; he made money. Nan describes Tobias as single-minded, wily, and brutal, but also says he was good to Alice, to Nan, and to the Hawthorne boys. Nan admits Tobias’s hands were not always clean, though she insists he never brought violence home.
Nan’s phrase makes Avery rethink the kidnapping and the early message about revenge. Avery considers that the true target may not be Avery or Toby, but Tobias Hawthorne himself, with Avery chosen by Tobias and Toby used as Tobias’s lost son. When Avery asks what Tobias did to make his hands unclean, Nan refuses to answer directly. Jameson frames the matter as someone seeking revenge against the Hawthorne family, and Nan dryly replies that such a person should get in line.
Who Appears
- Avery Kylie GrambsQuestions Nan and rethinks the kidnapper’s revenge as possibly aimed at Tobias.
- Jameson HawthorneLeads Avery to Nan and gently presses for information about Tobias’s past.
- NanReveals Tobias had no siblings and hints his empire involved morally dirty acts.
- Tobias HawthorneAbsent but central; described as orphaned, ruthless in business, and protective at home.
- Grayson HawthorneReturns with Avery before the group decides Nan may know Tobias’s family history.
- Xander HawthorneTries to cheer Eve with a joke about Nan’s elusive habits.
- EvePresent with the group as Xander attempts to lift her spirits.
- Nash HawthornePoints out the day, helping Jameson identify Nan’s likely location.