Page 70 of Beyond Redemption

Trenton took a step closer, his expression severe. “Or the only one you’re willing to give.”

“Here,” I said, answering the question Trenton had asked. “We’ll be here. With you. With our family. Where else would we be?”

The words landed the way I intended. Not defensive or reassuring, but obvious.

Trenton held my gaze for a second longer, then exhaled through his nose and stepped away.

I turned my attention to who was left standing in front of us. “You should pick rooms, beds, get settled. We could be a few hours, overnight, or it could be days. We don’t know yet. The important thing is that we’re here, together and safe.”

I caught James and Jessica trading glances with each other.

I looked back over my shoulder, then stepped aside. “You all remember Staff Sergeant Ibarra.”

Ibarra stepped forward immediately, her posture composed, familiar enough to the family to take some of the edge off. “I’m here to get you familiar with the layout, exits, galley, and supply room. You’ll find it’s actually quite comfortable. I’ll also be educating you on what to do if the doors open, where to go when the other families arrive. It’s not complicated, but it’s something you should be aware of.”

The family nodded, some offering a polite smile.

“All right,” Ibarra said, gesturing behind them. “Let’s get you all squared away. We’ll start with your quarters.”

There was a brief hesitation, a moment where no one wanted to move first, but Abby began to guide her kids to follow and the rest broke away. They followed Ibarra down a corridor, voices dropping into lower, more contained questions as they went. The kids seemed to be taking it well, even the teenagers, distracted by the unfamiliar. The adults, however, clung to the structure of being told what to do next.

I watched until the last of them disappeared from view, the noise fading with them. The bunker was even quieter than the desert at night, but the hum of systems filled in the space where voices had been.

Olive sighed behind me. Until that moment, I hadn’t realized she’d stayed behind. I reached for Stella, relieving Olive’s tired arms. “You okay?” I asked.

“Are you?” she asked.

“I’ll feel better when we have answers to give them,” I said.

“Do you think the people out there are the same ones who want to hurt Liv… Olive?” Bodhi asked.

“I honestly don’t know,” I said.

“The militia is stationed out here for a reason,” Thomas said. “Cartel, traffickers… it could be anyone.”

“But Marcel thinks it’s the Carlisis, doesn’t he?” Olive said, years old exhaustion lingering in her eyes. “He’d know if it weren’t. If he thought it was anyone else, he wouldn’t have put us down here.”

“Not necessarily,” I said, rubbing her arm for reassurance.

A low grind of metal sounded behind us as the lock released, followed by the long hiss of hydraulics. The blast door opened, and Naomi stepped through alone. Her expression made it clear she wasn’t there just to check on us this time. She looked as if she were weighing different ways to deliver what she was about to say. Whatever she’d come to tell us, it was going to leave a mark.

“Hey, where’s Zeke?” Thomas asked. “Everything all right?”

She forced a smile. “He, uh… he doesn’t come down here. Reminds him too much of his time inside the Cheyenne Mountain complex.” She shot a glance at Olive and Bodhi, and then her gaze landed on me. “Walk with me.”

I handed Stella to Bodhi this time, joining Naomi and Thomas as we walked several feet away.

Naomi spoke low as we walked. “I… I’ll be honest. I don’t know how to say this.” She stopped, and we waited. Her gaze flicked briefly over my shoulder, toward the corridor where the family had gone, and then back to me. “Governor Fairchild wentmissing yesterday.” She said the words quickly, as if she were ripping off a Band-Aid.

“What?” Thomas hissed, keeping his voice low. The family was nowhere near, but he turned his back to their general direction, just in case. “You didn’t think that was information we’d need to know?”

Naomi lifted a hand, stopping him. “He missed a scheduled event, along with two of his staff. Their bodies were found this morning, Thomas. Unfortunately, the governor is dead.” She didn’t rush the next part. “The condition of the scene suggests he didn’t die immediately. We do have good news, though. Mrs. Fairchild is safe. They were friends of the President, as you know, and he sent a small army of Bureau and DHS agents to protect her.”

The words settled without impact at first, as if my mind refused to attach meaning to them until it had to. Then, it landed all at once. Falyn was going to lose her shit. Underground. And somehow try to grieve her father in a way that didn’t terrify her already unsettled children.

Thomas’s jaw tightened. “You’re sure?”

“One hundred percent,” Naomi said. “It’s all over the damn news. I’m just glad Falyn isn’t able to hear what they’re reporting. His end was… gruesome.”