Page 72 of Beyond Redemption

Falyn seemed frozen in the same position she was in when Thomas told her the news, unmoving except for a single tear welling up in her right eye until it finally broke free and trailed down her cheek. “Unless… Is this another witness protection situation? Where the world needs to believe he’s dead, but he’s somewhere else?”

Thomas shook his head slowly. “No. He’s gone, Falyn. I’m sorry.”

“Mom,” Olive said, reaching her hand across the table, her eyes filled with empathy.

“I just don’t understand it. He has an entire security team.” Taylor insisted.

“There are no confirmed details yet,” Thomas said carefully. “We’re still waiting on—”

“Mom…” Falyn echoed Olive. She finally moved, her eyes darting up to Thomas, then she turned to me. “My mother,” she said again, the urgency cutting through. “Was she with him?”

“No,” I said, placing a soft hand on her forearm.

“Where is she?” Taylor asked. “Is she safe?”

“Yes,” Thomas said. “She’s safe.”

“She’s not safe. We have to bring her here!” Falyn insisted, her eyes pleading with everyone in the room. “To the compound, to the bunker where they can’t get to her.”

I squeezed her arm, just enough to get her attention. “Mrs. Fairchild is surrounded by agents. The President has extended Homeland Security. I assure you, she’s safe.”

“I want her here,” Falyn said immediately. “Bring her here.”

“That’s not possible right now, Falyn. I’m sorry,” Thomas said.

“Stop saying you’re sorry!” Falyn yelled, closing her eyes tight for a moment before they popped open to land sharply on him. “Whycan’t we bring her here? You said it yourself; it’s the perfect protection! She’s probably so scared!” she cried.

“For the same reason we’re down here,” Thomas said, his voice calm. “There are potentially dangerous people outside, and it would be an enormous risk—for more than just her—to have her come to the compound until those people are identified or neutralized.”

Falyn looked to Taylor, gripping his T-shirt in her hands. “I…” her breath faltered. “I want my mom.” She sucked in a sharp breath. “Please?”

The tears Olive had been holding back finally streamed down her cheek, her bottom lip trembling as she watched her mother beg for her own.

Taylor scanned his wife’s face for a few seconds, and then looked to his brother, eyes pleading. “Tommy…”

“No,” Thomas said, firm. “No one moves in or out of this compound without direct orders, and those orders will only come if it’s absolutely necessary. Marcel is trying to protect everyone inside the fences. He’s not going to change his mind for anyone. I’m sorry.”

Falyn’s hands curled over her knees, frustration and grief colliding.

“Falyn,” I said, placing a hand over one of her fists. “What if whoever is out there are the same people who murdered your father? Do you really want your mom rolling up to the compound knowing they’re so close? What if they attacked her vehicle while they were getting cleared to come inside?”

She swallowed hard, her gaze dropping briefly before lifting again. The resistance didn’t disappear, but it didn’t have anywhere to go.

Taylor tightened his hold on her slightly, kissing her temple as he closed his eyes. “I’m so sorry, baby.”

She nodded once, then reached for Taylor, letting him hold her as grief took over.

Chapter Fourteen

Thomas

Once Taylor and Falyn broke the news to the rest of the family, the resentful looks from my brothers were even sharper than they’d been before. It was my fault they’d grieved Olive. It was my fault that they’d lost so much time with her, that they were here, and now that Falyn had to grieve her father while worrying about her mother.

“You okay?” Liis asked, unpacking the few things we’d brought into the cubbies of our new room.

“I didn’t think they could hate me more, but they do.”

“They don’t hate you, they’re mad at you, and it will pass once emotion is replaced with logic.”