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  At the far end was a door, a concrete door that looked like it was pretty solidly jammed into place. Jason looked at it skeptically. “Think we’re going to manage to open it?”

  “No problem,” I grinned, pointing at the door. “Patefioroa.”

  The concrete door creaked open, unveiling a large, black hole. Taking out my phone, I turned on the flashlight, and made my way towards it while Jason did the same.

  “This is the creepiest thing I’ve ever done,” Jason admitted as we made our way inside the bunker. It was musty and smelled like no one had been here in a long time, but as I pointed my phone down at the ground, I couldn’t help but notice that some of the moss on the ground looked like it had been trampled on at some point.

  Twelve years ago, probably.

  “Look,” Jason said suddenly, grabbing me by the arm. I looked over to where his light shone, and it landed on a large hockey bag, sitting in the middle of the bunker about ten feet away. I wasn’t 100% sure, but I was fairly certain CCM wasn’t making modern-looking hockey bags back during WWII. This was definitely what we were after.

  I strode forward and grabbed the bag, hoisting it over my shoulder and making my way back to Jason.

  “Let’s get out of here,” I said. “This hole is creepy.”

  “Agreed,” Jason nodded. We went back into the clearing, where I dropped the bag onto the ground and Jason reached down and opened it.

  Inside were a whole bunch of wrapped black garbage bags, tied together with packing tape. Jason tore one of them open to reveal a pile of hundreds. This was definitely the missing money.

  He looked at me and grinned. “Here’s our missing treasure.”

  “Francis and Chuck’s half of it,” I nodded. “Wow.”

  “Let’s get this home,” Jason said. “After all, I don’t think Chief Gary is going to want to come out here to have a look at it.”

  I nodded and helped Jason back the bag back up before the doe led us back towards town, Jason hauling the bag on his shoulder.

  “I assume the bag means you found what you were looking for?” the doe asked.

  “Yes, definitely. We’ve finally solved the last piece of the puzzle in a twelve-year-old mystery.”

  “Well, good for you, I’m glad to hear it,” the doe said. She led us right back to where we had started, and after thanking her again, Jason and I walked the rest of the way back home, leaving the bag of money in the garage. I figured Chief Gary would be ok with us waiting for a more reasonable hour before we called him.

  As we stepped into the house, adrenaline coursed through my veins. We had done it. We found the lost money. We had gotten the killer. Buster and Gloria were safe now. And I was going to marry the man of my dreams.

  Could life possibly get any better?

  Epilogue

  The discovery of the missing money launched us into the spotlight. Jason’s article about the case was rumored to be earning him a nomination for a Pulitzer Prize in journalism. The FBI, thanks to our tip, managed to get the rest of the money from Michael Carlton’s account in the Cayman Islands, after the bank’s owners were alerted that the owner was dead and had died intestate with no heirs.

  We were given the reward offered by the bank – $5 million – for leading the police to the man who had robbed them all those years ago, and for the recovery of the lost money. It was almost all there; Michael Carlton had used some of it to pay off his mortgage and buy some toys, but he’d barely spent 10% of the total. I assumed he was afraid of any red flags that might come from him spending far above what his means should have been.

  In the end, the reward was split five ways – Jason got a fifth, I got a fifth, Sophie got a fifth, Charlotte got a fifth and we gave Gloria the other fifth. She wanted to refuse, but we insisted. After all, she had been a victim of Charles Green, and if her husband had told her about his secret hiding spot she would have gotten a lot more than a million dollars.

  I was definitely going to spend my money helping animals. That was what I did, and what I was going to keep doing. One hundred percent.

  Three weeks after it had all ended, and we’d been given the money, Jason and I were sitting at home, eating dinner by ourselves while Charlotte was down in San Francisco apartment hunting. Bee sat on the kitchen floor, happily munching away at a piece of sushi I’d brought home for her while Jason and I shared a veggie supreme pizza.

  “You have some cheese on your nose,” Jason laughed.

  I stuck my tongue out at him, then raised it to try and get at the cheese, making him laugh even harder.

  “You know, some women can’t do that elegantly,” he teased.

  “Careful, or I’ll steal some of your half of the pizza,” I retorted, leading to Jason covering up his plate with his arms to protect it.

  “Never come between a man and his pizza!”

  As I laughed, I couldn’t help but think that this was absolutely a perfect moment: my fiancé, my cat and I eating dinner, laughing, and enjoying each other’s company. This was perfect. My life was perfect. And I couldn’t wait to see where life was going to take me from here.

  Also by Samantha Silver

  First of all, I wanted to thank you for reading this series. I absolutely loved writing it, and as my first ever series, it holds a really special place in my heart.

  If you did enjoy Busy as a Beaver I’d really appreciate it if you could take a moment and leave a review for the book on Amazon, to help other readers find the book as well.

  You can also sign up to my newsletter to receive an email every time I release a new book. To sign up for my newsletter, click here now.

  While Angela’s story is now complete, I do have plenty of other paranormal (and non-paranormal) mystery series for you to read as well. Feel free to check out the list of all my books below, and as always, happy reading!

  Other Willow Bay Witches Mysteries

  Barking up the Wrong Tree (Willow Bay Witches #2)

  Just Horsing Around (Willow Bay Witches #3)

  Lipstick on a Pig (Willow Bay Witches #4)

  A Grizzly Discovery (Willow Bay Witches #5)

  Sleeping with the Fishes (Willow Bay Witches #6)

  Get your Ducks in a Row (Willow Bay Witches #7)

  Western Woods Mysteries

  Back to Spell One (Western Woods Mystery #1)

  Two Peas in a Potion (Western Woods Mystery #2)

  Three’s a Coven (Western Woods Mystery #3)

  Magical Bookshop Mysteries

  Alice in Murderland (Magical Bookshop Mystery #1)

  Murder on the Oregon Express (Magical Bookshop Mystery #2)

  The Very Killer Caterpillar (Magical Bookshop Mystery #3)

  Death Quixote (Magical Bookshop Mystery #4)

  Pride and Premeditation (Magical Bookshop Mystery #5)

  Cassie Coburn Mysteries

  Poison in Paddington (Cassie Coburn Mystery #1)

  Bombing in Belgravia (Cassie Coburn Mystery #2)

  Whacked in Whitechapel (Cassie Coburn Mystery #3)

  Strangled in Soho (Cassie Coburn Mystery #4)

  Stabbed in Shoreditch (Cassie Coburn Mystery #5)

  Killed in King’s Cross (Cassie Coburn Mystery #6)

  Ruby Bay Mysteries

  Death Down Under (Ruby Bay Mystery #1)

  Arson in Australia (Ruby Bay Mystery #2)

  The Killer Kangaroo (Ruby Bay Mystery #3)

  Moonlight Cove Mysteries

  Witching Aint’s Easy (Moonlight Cove Mystery #1)

  Witching for the Best (Moonlight Cove Mystery #2)

  Thank your Lucky Spells (Moonlight Cove Mystery #3)

  California Witching Mysteries

  Witches and Wine (California Witching Mystery #1)

  Poison and Pinot (California Witching Mystery #2)

  Merlot and Murder (California Witching Mystery #3)

  About the Author

  Samantha Silver lives in British Columbia, Canada, along with her husband and a little old doggie named T
erra. She loves animals, skiing and of course, writing cozy mysteries.

  You can connect with Samantha online here:

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