A Beautiful Funeral (The Maddox Brothers 5)

“I mean,” Falyn said, clearing her throat. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t tell you how to do your job. You know better than me what you’re capable of.”

“It’s fine,” Alyssa said, unaffected.

Falyn’s apology won her big points with Hollis, and he snuggled up against her again.

Alyssa exited off the highway, and I sat up, trying to see where we were. It definitely wasn’t Eakins. She drove three miles, turned down one road, and then another after another three miles, parking in a dirt driveway. She turned off the motor and tossed me the keys.

“Stay put,” she said.

“What are we doing?” Tyler asked. “This isn’t Eakins.”

A red Corolla pulled up behind us, and Alyssa unholstered her side arm. “Hadley. Hollis. Close your eyes and cover your ears.”

“What’s going on?” Hadley whined.

“Just do it.”

She stepped out and walked to the road.

“What the hell?” Ellie said. “I’m uncomfortable with this, I—”

A set of shots rang out, and I threw myself over my family. Tyler did the same. After another set of shots, the only sounds we could hear were the cicadas in the trees, and the crickets in the grass surrounding the van.

The driver’s side door opened, and Alyssa climbed back in. She held her hand out to me, and I handed her the keys.

“A little warning would have been nice,” I said.

“Did you … did you shoot the people who were following us?” Hollis asked.

“Well,” Alyssa said, starting the van, “to be fair … they shot at me first.” Hollis swallowed, and Alyssa backed out and drove toward the highway. She touched the small black apparatus in her ear. “Clean up on aisle five.” She waited for confirmation. “I got tired of waiting on you. Yes. We’re three less Carlisis. Three miles west and three miles north.” She smiled. “Thank you.”

I was worried that as we passed the Corolla, the kids would see a gruesome scene, so I covered their eyes, but each of the victims in the car had their shirts or a newspaper covering their heads. The moment we were out of range, I removed my hands from the kids’ eyes, and I patted Hollis’s shoulder and kissed the top of Hadley’s head.

“Who the fuck are the Carlisis?” Tyler asked.

“You’ll have answers when we get to our destination, I promise,” Alyssa said.

“Did that just happen?” Falyn asked, breathing hard and holding onto the door. “What the hell is going on?”

I shook my head, unable to answer. I wasn’t sure whether to be freaked out that our driver was the one-night stand who gave me full custody of my son, or that it made sense now why she’d done it, considering she was a trained killer, or that the woman I had once spent an entire night banging while she’d yelped like a dying poodle had just killed three people without blinking.

“Thank God Gavin sleeps like me and not you,” Ellie said to her husband.

Alyssa navigated the van to the on ramp, and we returned to the highway, gaining speed toward Eakins. Alyssa drove faster than she had since we’d left the airport, and I looked down at the passengers in the cars we passed. They had no idea that we’d just been involved in an execution just a few miles off the highway or that our driver was the executioner. I felt more uneasy the closer we got to Eakins.

“What’s your total now?” Hollis asked.

“Hollis!” Falyn shrieked.

“Don’t answer that, Alyssa,” I said. Falyn craned her neck toward me. That was the first time I’d uttered Alyssa’s name in years, and it obviously didn’t sit well with my wife. “Agent Davies,” I corrected, and then swallowed.

Alyssa chuckled.

“What’s funny?” I asked.

“You’re just a lot different than I remember.”

“Yes, he’s sober … and clothed,” Falyn snapped.

“Oh, my God,” Tyler said. “Is she …” he thankfully trailed off, not wanting to drop that bomb on Hollis.

“Holy fuck,” Ellie said under her breath.

I sunk back into my seat, reliving the moment I had come clean to Falyn all over again. It was even worse that she didn’t blame me since she’d been the one who’d asked for the break. Where Falyn hadn’t raked me over the coals, Ellie never missed an opportunity—not only to let me know how shitty it was that I slept with someone days after my girlfriend asked for some time to think but how ridiculous and flat-out gross it was that Falyn blamed herself.

Either way, no one could call it fault because the result was Hollis, and no one wanted to think about what life would be like without him.

I caught Alyssa stealing another glance at Hollis in the rearview mirror.

“Any updates on Tommy?” I asked.

“No,” she said, but I could tell she was holding back.

“None?” Ellie asked, suspicious.

“None that I can relay.”

“That’s messed up,” Tyler said.

“That’s the way it is.” Alyssa shrugged, unapologetic.

We sat in silence the rest of the way to Eakins, but a new energy filled the van when we pulled into the hospital parking lot. Tyler unfastened Gavin, who was finally awake, and Falyn scrambled to open the door. I met her and the kids at the back of the van, anxious to get our luggage and see our family.

Once everyone but Gavin had weighed themselves down with backpacks, bags, and roller luggage, we ran to the hospital entrance and straight for the elevator. I was the last to step in, but then Alyssa stepped in behind me.

Falyn wasn’t happy.

“I have to accompany you upstairs,” Alyssa explained. “Then you’ll be rid of me.”

Falyn blinked. “Thank you. For getting us here safe.”

Alyssa seemed genuinely touched. She looked down at Hollis and mussed his hair. “My pleasure.”

The elevator doors opened to reveal our family standing on the other side.

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

TYLER

“YOU MADE IT,” Dad said, beckoning me in for a hug. He’d picked up his cane, and I was so happy to see him, I failed to let go of all three roller bags that I’d been lugging around all day as I swung my arms around him. Dad pulled Taylor in too, shaking because he was so happy to see us.