No. He couldn’t do this slowly this time. He couldn’t let his brother gain power and wander around the globe like he owned it.
The need to catch Axel gripped him again. The anger, the exhaustion, the pain. He couldn’t do this again. This had to end.
“We should load up so we can get home before night falls,” he said, not quite an order. A strong suggestion. And tomorrow they were going to sit down and focus on the case. They had to.
“Good idea,” Jasper agreed, still smiling.
“And tomorrow we’re going to talk about the future of our case against Axel. We can’t put this off,” he added softer.
“Of course,” Zander mumbled, kicking his feet around.
Vincent looked over his team in the new meeting room at their new home. It was familiar, but different. He felt familiar, but different. He was the same leader of the same team, but in the time they had Sawyer with them, it had all changed. This was finally a physical representation of it.
“We’ve had time to heal and grieve over James. Now we need to get started on this case with Axel,” he started, firm and unmovable, his eyes falling on Sawyer, who just gave him a small shrug. He figured she would fight to the bitter end over getting them off until the New Year. It was still a few days away.
“I don’t disagree, but finding where to start isn’t exactly easy, Vincent.” She sighed. “I’ve been over everything with a fine tooth comb. No one is chatting about Axel right now. They’re all keeping low profiles. They know we’re hunting. It might not be public knowledge, but word travels. Paid off staff of the WMC probably let it slip to one of their contacts, who spread it far and wide.”
“I know all of this.” He knew where she was coming from. She had spent weeks digging through the same things he had and found the same thing. Nothing. Evidence of what Axel had done but not what he was doing now.
“What would change the game?” Jasper asked, looking up from his laptop.
“Getting someone to flip,” she answered instantly. “Missy, Talyn, anyone. If we can get a flip, we rattle him. He’s used to complete loyalty. The problem? None of them will think we can win, so they will make deals to save themselves but not help us or hurt Axel. Because if Axel wins…”
“They’re dead.” Vincent finished that. “Yeah, that’s been the status quo for a long time. It’s just something we need to tolerate.”
“I’ve looked over everything I knew about his old organizations. I have nothing. Everything I ever touched, everywhere I visited or lived that had to do with his dealings, is no longer connected to him in even the smallest of ways. He’s wiped me clean out of the game.” Sawyer groaned. “This is why I was hoping for the holidays. I wanted more time to try and find a place for us to start.”
By the way she said it, he believed her. This was big for her. She had to succeed if she wanted a future. A normal, bright future.
“What about raiding his old places?” Zander asked, frowning. “Why can’t we just stir up trouble?”
“I’m already having other teams in the IMPO do that,” she said, smiling. “Sorry. If Axel is ten steps ahead of Vincent and I, we’re ten steps ahead of the rest of you.”
“You couldn’t tell us that?” Elijah grumbled and groaned.
“I wanted you to focus on this,” she reminded him. “Big baby. I would have told you when we had this meeting. Like I just did.”
Everyone except Vincent began to chuckle. None of them were mad at her for doing these things and keeping them from the team. She wasn’t putting herself at risk. She wasn’t out trying to finish the job without them. She just handled some legwork. It took a good teammate to do that while the rest were being pulled in different directions, cleaning up messes and putting out fires.
Vincent took a deep breath. He was annoyed with their attitude already. His team was scattered all over the room, nonchalant and relaxed. Jasper had his leg off, cleaning it. Elijah and Quinn were leaning on each other in their seats. Sawyer had her legs kicked up, right next to Zander’s. That pushed his last button.
This was supposed to be serious.
“You two, get your damned feet off the desk,” he ordered with a bite. This was not play time at the gym anymore.
Zander’s feet fell immediately. Sawyer’s were slower as her eyes narrowed on him. She didn’t say anything, though, and he took that as a bad sign. He was already regretting snapping at them.
“We can try to root out the contacts he has in the WMC, but that could take months,” Elijah said, obviously uncomfortable now. “And I don’t think it’s a viable plan. Find one, there’s five more, and Axel handles the problem.”
“So that takes it out of the equation.” Jasper sighed. “What about digging up all his shell companies? We can track him through the money.”
“Would take longer than finding a pawn.” Sawyer shook her head. “No, we need a break. We need something big to start with. He’s got miles on us now. He knows the entire board and where the pieces are. We’re playing blind.”
Vincent frowned. “Excuse me?”
“Think of the board, Vincent,” she whispered. “You can’t beat Axel at his own game. It’s never going to happen, but you can imagine his side of things. Then you start breaking the rules of the game. You need to surprise him. It’s the only way to knock him off his game and regain the ground we’re missing.”
“What do you mean?” one of the team asked, confused.
Vincent got it. Know the board. Play the game. Then break the rules by making moves that he could never expect. They needed to know the board. But how were they going to learn it?
He kept the eye contact with her.
“How would Shadow hunt him?” he asked softly. “How do you want to do this?”
Pain lanced him with every word. He wanted to do this as an IMPO team. He wanted to do this right. He didn’t want to ask this of her.
But, through the pain, he was still grateful it was her.
She didn’t answer immediately, concentrating. He knew she was lost in thought at his question. It took several long silent moments for her to say anything.
“I knew everything. It’s how I did my job. I knew every movement they made, I knew where they slept. I knew what meetings they had coming up. The problem is, this isn’t any old hit. This is much bigger. I’ve never done big like this. I’ve also never had to hunt quite like this. I was always at least pointed in the direction of my target. I don’t know where Axel is and no one here will ever be able to get close to him without him knowing. He probably knows everything about each of us. He knows the board and I don’t.”
“So, with everything we know, we’re starting from scratch.” Zander groaned. “We could be hunting him for another four years.”
“We’ll leave it there for the night. Tomorrow morning, we’ll meet back down here and put our heads together. Think of ideas. List pros and cons. We can work this out.” Vincent was mad that this was where he had to stop the meeting, but there was nothing else any of them could do. But now they all knew that Axel was their focus and needed to stay their focus.
He turned to leave the room, ignoring how Sawyer jumped up to follow him, but stopped, suddenly hesitant. He knew he was a mess. There was no doubt about it. He wanted blood, and yet, he also wanted to finally get a good night’s sleep.
Having neither was killing him.
He went up into his room and began to pace. He needed a break. Sawyer said flipping someone could do it. She was right.
But could he do it?
And who?
“Missy…” he whispered into the dark.
It was ballsy. He wouldn’t be able to take Sawyer, not this time. He would need to be his brother. He would need to manipulate her into falling for him and leaving Axel’s suicidal idea of loyalty behind.
He checked the time, looking at his phone. It was nearly midnight. He couldn’t do this with the team, but they would never let him leave the house without them. Not with everything going on.
He dressed for the bitter cold and checked the hallway. Quinn would realize he was gone first, if he was awake. That meant he would need to move fast.
He pulled on his boots.
He could do this.
He was in his car without anyone trying to stop him. He was off the property when he dared to light a cigarette. He dialed the prison, hoping one of the guards on graveyard would pick up. The moment he heard the other line pick up, he started.
“I’m Special Agent Vincent Castello. I’m heading to the prison. I need to speak with Missy immediately.”
“Yes sir - though, come in through the East lot.”
“Why?” He frowned at the directions. That wasn’t the normal parking lot for visitors.
“Missy was taken to medical earlier. We sent word to Director Thompson and he said that he would let you know what happened when her condition was stable.”
Vincent ground his teeth. “What happened?”
“From my understanding? The meeting with you and, uh…Agent Matthews upset her.”
Of course it had. He hadn’t been particularly kind. Now he was going to need to repair the damage of that. This was his fault.
“I’ll be there shortly.” He hung up with one hand and tossed his phone across the car into the passenger’s seat. Damn. Sawyer had warned him, but he couldn’t stop the guilt that threatened to crush him.
He’d seen one man kill himself. Now he and Sawyer had nearly driven another to it.
And that thought stayed with him until he pulled up and parked in front of the East entrance to the prison. His phone was going off and he ignored it, leaving it there.
He was just like Axel. Willing to push people to the breaking point to get the answers he wanted. He’d done it to Jon when they first had Sawyer in their custody. That man had blown his brains out in a hospital room.
He wondered what he would find with Missy. Would she even be healthy enough to talk?
It didn’t matter. If he could do this, then he could have an in on catching his brother.
“I’m looking for Missy,” he told the first guard he saw. The guard just pointed down the hall to a sign for the medical wing. Vincent didn’t even lose a step, storming into the medical wing and seeing her immediately.
The massive head wound, the bruising over her face. They were so prominent that he finally stumbled on his entire plan, his focus breaking.
“What…” He slowed down, looking for a nurse. “What did she do?”
“She started bashing her head against the wall, screaming he had to come for her. That she loved him and he had to come.” The nurse shook her head. “It was crazy. She nearly spread her brain matter all over the wall.”
Vincent swallowed bitterness as he walked closer. He sat down next to her quietly. When he touched her hand, it jumped and she grabbed his. Held it tightly. Her eyes cracked open, barely.
“Axel? You came for me?” Every word was hoarse and a struggle for her. He knew with healers she would live, but the recovery would be a mess. There was a small smile on her face that made him confused.
And then he registered what she said.
“No. I’m Vincent,” he whispered. He wouldn’t pretend to be his brother. He couldn’t allow her that illusion. The small smile died. She tried to pull her hand away and he let her.
“Why?”
“I heard what happened and I wanted to see you. You don’t need to do this for him, Missy.”
“He’ll come,” she said stubbornly. “I’ve been hurt. He’ll come.”
“You know better, Missy.” He had to break her belief in him. It hurt him to do it. It hurt him to use her own pain against her. He hated this, but he needed to catch his brother.
“He said I was his best friend.”
“He said I was his brother,” he murmured.
That made Missy go still, a small gasp leaving her lips.
They sat in silence as the realization settled in on Missy. Axel would kill his father, his brother, his son, his best friend, and his most loyal to get what he wanted. Any loyalty to him was never returned.
“Pawns. That’s what she called us,” Missy whispered. “I never thought I would go from trusted confidant to pawn.”
“I never thought I would go from brother to pawn.”
She lifted a hand and hit her forehead right in the middle of the mess. He grabbed her wrist and pulled it away, stopping her from trying again. He was thankful she didn’t have all her unnatural strength.
“Missy, stop. Stop.”
“I loved him,” she cried. “And he never loved me!”
“Don’t hurt yourself, please,” he whispered. He couldn’t manipulate her anymore. He couldn’t even try. The idea of trying to get information from her disgusted him. Everything he said now was from the heart. “It’s going to be okay. He hurts people, Missy. That’s what he’s always done. It’s what he’ll always do. You’re just another victim, but you don’t need to hurt for him.”
“I gave him everything. I gave him Felix and Talyn, and connections, and everything I had spent centuries building up for the perfect man. And he’s thrown me away like a PAWN!” The last word was a screech. “Like HER!”
Vincent winced at her pain and anger, but he just kept saying what he would tell anyone in this position. He didn’t think about what Missy had ever done for Axel. He didn’t think about any of her past or her behavior.
“Don’t hurt yourself.” He slid on the bed next to her. “He manipulated me into killing my father, remember? Then he and I fought, and he tried to kill me. Remember? And you know what? I didn’t let him defeat me. And you hate her, but Sawyer didn’t let him defeat her either. If you do this, he wins. He gets away with hurting you this bad.”
He slid an arm carefully over Missy’s shoulder as the half-baked crazy doppelganger began to bawl and curled up in the fetal position. He just held on to her. He hadn’t expected this. He hadn’t expected this to be what he walked into.
Missy had really wanted him to be Axel there to take her away and be with her. She had been loyal…to a point. She had loved Axel more.
His heart couldn’t handle how his brother drove people to this. Vincent couldn’t do it, couldn’t use this in his favor. He just held a woman who had been his enemy for so long, fed by his brother into the crazed monster she could be. He thought of Sawyer too.
Axel had a way with women, that was obvious.
The bitter, sarcastic humor was the only thing in that moment that kept Vincent from falling down a dark hole of despair. This wasn’t how he planned on the night going.
Missy finally cried herself into a deep sleep. Vincent untangled himself from her, feeling weak. What had he been thinking, coming here and trying to use her? Why had he done this?
“How long until she’s healthy?” he asked the nurse, keeping his voice down so he didn’t wake her.
“She’s not going to heal quickly,” the nurse said quietly, walking closer.
“Why not? There are healers here.”
“The tissue…It’s not responding to healers.” The nurse sounded disturbed and Vincent looked away from Missy to find the nurse.
“Excuse me?”
“The reason we told Thompson is because she wasn’t healing. It’s like someone had just pumped so much magic into her that her body can’t accept any more to use for healing. Which doesn’t make any sense. She hasn’t been healed that extremely any time she’s been in our care.”
Vincent’s heart began to race. Elijah had a similar problem. There came a point where magic couldn’t do anything else and the body just needed to work it out on its own since there could only be so much magic in the vessel.
But what had done it to Missy?
As he was lost in thought, Sawyer walked through the door with Sombra, glaring at him, pain in her eyes, like she was a wounded animal looking to lash out. The pain in her eyes echoed what he’d just seen in Missy. This was the sort of pain Axel loved to inflict on people. He’d seen
it in those dark eyes before. He knew it was always there with her, even while he and the guys tried to heal it, love her, care for her. The pain had been dragged back up from where she had laid it to rest because of the WMC and Axel. Because his brother had decided he wouldn’t be defeated yet.
In that moment, he knew what he needed to do, and everything settled into place.
He had promised her anything. He’d meant it.
Now he had even more people to fight for. Missy in the hospital bed. The woman he loved standing in the doorway, reasonably angry with him. Both women, like so many other people, who had once cared for a man who only left them for dead.
12
Sawyer
“It’s hard enough dealing with this case,” Sawyer hissed as she walked in, “without you wandering off without telling anyone.”
Sombra had yanked her awake. The wolves were scampering around. Quinn had looked frenzied and upset. It had only taken seconds for the entire team to be awake, trying to find him. She had never felt more terrified. Had he been taken? Had he been hurt? Was he running? Did he have a break and decide to go deal with it himself?
“I had several moments wondering if you were driving into a trap set up by your brother. That you were out there, about to die.” She was over the fear already. She had gotten over it the moment she called the prison and found out he had already contacted them and was on his way.
Now she was just angry.
“I’m sorry. I had wanted to talk to Missy alone, but-”
“But you knew none of us would ever allow you to go out and do this by yourself!” She wanted to strangle him. “Because it’s not safe, Vincent! Because we don’t know if he’s going to target us or when!” She glanced at Missy, trying to not wince at the state of the doppelganger. “You could have been anywhere and we would have never known.” She looked back at him, trying to find anything on his face that could tell her why he did this and if he understood the pain he’d caused her. She’d left the team outside, saying she would deal with this.
A Night of Redemption (The Redemption Saga Book 5) Page 12