Page 51 of Beyond Redemption

“It’s settled, Ew,” Trenton said. “We’re leaving in the morning, and you’re coming with us.”

Thomas and I traded glances, then he handed Stella back to me. He didn’t raise his voice. He didn’t need to. “That’s not happening, Trent.”

Trenton turned toward him. “You’re done deciding everything for everyone. That ship has sailed.”

“We’re in a fortified compound for a reason,” Thomas reminded him. “This isn’t about comfort or feelings. It’s about security—about Olive’s life. Yes, we’re a tough family, but hear me when I say this… outside those gates, you can’t protect her. You can’t. Not from an adversary operating at that level.”

Travis scoffed, his eyes narrowing. “Have they gotten significantly more organized since I was involved?”

“Do you really think I brought her here to avoid a glorified bookie playing gangster?” Thomas said. “This isn’t the same group that ran a sloppy drive-by, leaving two bodies behind in the open. The second-gen Carlisis are older now. They’re more disciplined, better funded, and better connected. When we took Benny out, the entire operation lost their internal compass and adapted by studying the Yakuza—an organization that’s far more methodical, patient, and ruthless than Benny ever was.”

“So, we should’ve been on guard this whole time and you didn’t warn us?” Travis asked. “Tommy, what the fuck? You feel you had your reasons for Olive.” Travis was angry. “But we deserved to know the Carlisis had regrouped, and the second the Bureau knew we were in play.”

“You know you were protected in Illinois,” Thomas said, referring to our imbedded agent in Eakins, Lachlan Kostas. “We also had eyes in Colorado.”

Taylor turned to look at his wife. Falyn’s face drained of color, and she began to nervously fidget with the loose strands of her hair.

Thomas narrowed his eyes. “You knew, didn’t you?”

She froze, then glanced around with a small, confused smile. “Me?”

“Falyn,” Thomas warned.

Her shoulders fell, and then she nodded, the movement nearly imperceptible.

Taylor frowned, confused. “What did you know?”

“When did you realize we had eyes on you?” Thomas asked.

Falyn seemed to feel caught. “Deacon?” She scoffed. “I don’t know. A while ago.”

Thomas frowned. “He failed to brief me on that.”

“What’s he talking about?” Taylor turned to Falyn, then back to Thomas, his gaze hardening. “What the fuck are you talking about? Who’s Deacon? Is he the guy—”

Falyn began to scramble, touching Taylor’s arm. “My father learned about corruption of state officials getting kickbacks from the Carlisis. He was going to blow it wide open. The Carlisis looked into family they could target; they found me. That led them to you, to your family, then Olive. I was so stupid… so incredibly stu—I posted pictures with her on social media. I even tagged her. They’d basically hit the lottery. They could take out all their adversaries at once. That’s when they came to Jim’s. And that’s when they shot Olive.”

A dozen emotions scrolled across Taylor’s face. “So, you… uh”—he looked to us—“you took Olive and put an agent on my wife? Letting someone else follow her around to protect her, without tellingmeshe might be in danger?” He laughed once, indignant, then pointed at Thomas in disbelief. “You slimy motherfu—”

“We were all there under one roof,” Thomas interjected, holding his free hand up.

Bodhi swept in to take Stella from her father, turning his back to us and lightly bouncing her as he walked across the room.

Thomas continued. “They came to clean house, but Dad and Olive counted as a win to them and Fairchild retreated. They shifted focus to their Colorado corridor. So yes, I had an undercover agent assigned to Falyn the day after Olive’s funeral.”

Taylor turned sharply to Falyn. “So, you knew about this?”

“I only knew the FBI had assigned an agent to protect me. I thought it was because of my father challenging the Carlisis. I didn’t know Olive was alive,” Falyn pleaded.

“So, who’s this Deacon guy? Have you met him? Is that how you know?”

“I—” she started. Her mouth moved, but nothing else came out.

Taylor rubbed the back of his head and began to pace, holding his hand palm out, begging her not to answer.

Trenton reached out to Taylor, but he smacked his hand away, continuing to pace.

I swallowed, recognizing that Thomas had just pulled at a thread he hadn’t meant to unravel, something Falyn had kept secret, and now everyone, especially Taylor, would want to know why.