A Beautiful Funeral (The Maddox Brothers 5)

“They should be finished soon,” I said. “Everything okay?”

“He’s grown so much,” Falyn whispered, walking over to my son sprawled out on the sofa. She kneeled beside him, smiling as she took a closer look. “Gavin looks identical to Taylor and Tyler when they were his age.”

“He misses you,” I said. “He asks about you a lot.”

Her expression fell. “I miss him, too. And you.” She stood. “Taylor got a call from Trent.”

“We’re going home,” Taylor said.

“To Eakins? When?”

“Tomorrow,” Falyn said. “You and Tyler, too.”

“We are?” I asked, touching my chest. “What’s going on? Is it Jim?” I knew Dad’s health wasn’t the greatest. He was overweight, ate bacon every morning for breakfast, and smoked cigars. By the look on Taylor’s face, I knew something terrible had happened.

Taylor opened his mouth to explain but couldn’t.

Falyn continued for him. “It’s Thomas.”

“Thomas?” He’d just become a father. “Oh, God. The baby?”

“No,” Falyn said. “Thomas was shot.”

“Shot?” I said, my voice going up an octave. The room began to spin.

“We don’t know many details.”

“Oh, Liis,” I said, covering my mouth with my hand. My heart instantly broke for her. My gaze drifted to Taylor. I felt bad, knowing he would have to hear the story again when we broke the news to Tyler. I closed my eyes, feeling hot tears streaming down my cheeks. My heart broke for my husband.

“You should sit down,” Falyn said, trying to keep her composure.

I lumbered to Tyler’s recliner and collapsed. “Fuck. Fuck. This doesn’t make sense. Did they catch the shooter?”

“We’re not sure,” Taylor said. He clenched his teeth, his jaw muscles dancing under his skin.

“Liis is flying into Eakins in the morning,” Falyn said.

I lifted my head. “She’s not staying with Thomas?”

Falyn shook her head. “It … it sounds like it’s pretty bad. Her flying to Eakins …” she trailed off.

Bile rose in my throat. He wasn’t going to make it. Liis was flying home to be with his family.

“I already booked the tickets,” Falyn said.

“For us, too?” I asked. She nodded, and I stood, looking around, my mind already filling with packing lists and who would care for the animals while we were gone. I paused and then walked the few steps to where Taylor stood, hugging him to me. He felt a little limp in my arms.

“I fucking knew it,” he said. “I had a bad feeling when I left the fire earlier, but I thought it was Tyler. I should have called home.”

Taylor knew as well as I did that calling home wouldn’t have helped anything, but he was doing what Tyler was going to do when he heard the news: blame himself. I let him go and walked back to the sofa, picking up my phone from the end table and disconnecting the charger.

I texted Tyler to call me, and then we all waited. Within three minutes, my phone rang. I answered immediately.

“Hi baby,” he said, sounding tired and out of breath, but happy. “Just getting in the truck.”

“I … need you to come home,” I said. It just occurred to me that he would want to know why, and I didn’t want to tell him over the phone.

“What happened?” he asked, already suspicious.

“Taylor and Falyn are here. Just come home, okay? As soon as you can get here.”

“On my way,” he said. I heard the sirens in the background, and then the line went silent.

I breathed out a long breath, knowing within a few minutes, those sirens would be blaring in the distance, getting closer until they turned off when Tyler entered the neighborhood. I tried not to think about him speeding home to hear what he already knew was bad news. He just didn’t know how bad—or who.

CHAPTER TEN

CAMILLE

AS EVERYONE ELSE WAS SETTLING IN for the night, I was leaving for work. I started at Skin Deep Tattoo as the receptionist, but now, I was the business manager. I hired and fired, kept books, and worked the business side that Calvin, turns out, wasn’t doing. The shop nearly closed down, but I navigated an agreement with the IRS, and we were finally making enough profit to hire a couple of new artists. Tonight, though, I was heading to The Red Door. I filled in when they needed me to cover the east bar. Very few could handle it, and Raegan and Blia had left years ago when they graduated college. Hank and Jorie had been so good to me; I couldn’t tell them no.

The federal agents asked that I not leave, but I’d promised Hank I’d cover a shift for one of his newer bartenders. The house was overfilling, anyway. Olive was sleeping on the sofa in Jim’s living room, and Shepley’s parents were even spending the night. Travis felt it was safer if everyone was under the same roof until Liis arrived in the morning—apparently with more agents.

Agent Perkins was on watch, staring out the window when I left with Trenton. He dropped me off at the side of the building, as close to the door as he could get. He was unhappy about me going to work, too.

I leaned over to kiss him. “I’ll be fine. Drew is in there. He’s a beast.”

“I’ll be here waiting at two.”

“It’ll be two-thirty,” I said.

“I’ll be here at two.”

He looked worried, so I didn’t argue.

A few years past thirty, my clothes covered more, but I found that fast service made just as many tips as tits and ass. I waved to Drew as I made my way to the door. He jogged to meet me, twisting the knob and pulling before I could. He held the door open with a smile.

“Thanks, Drew,” I said, patting his bicep. I would have had to reach up to pat his shoulder. Drew was a sophomore at Eastern State, six-foot-seven, with arms as big around as my head. His father was a champion weightlifter, and Drew was on his way. The moment he stepped into Hank’s office to apply for the bouncer job, he was hired. The only problem—if you could call it that—was Drew being so polite that he sometimes wasn’t as aggressive as Hank wanted. He was an awe-shuck, rock-kicking cowboy, but he could hold two men apart while they were swinging and yelling, asking them to please get along. Admittedly, it was always entertaining, but Hank wanted a bouncer, not a peacekeeper. Lucky for Drew, his presence was usually enough.