A Night of Redemption (The Redemption Saga Book 5)

by Kristen Banet

  “Why don’t you kids talk about something lighter? I know a bunch of you are planning on leaving the IMPO. What’s next? Where you going to go?” Charlie leaned back in his seat, throwing his hands up. “Wait for after dinner to get back to work, seriously. You all never stop, I think.”

  “Well, I’m coming to work for you,” Zander reminded him. “Remember?”

  “Really?” Sawyer’s head snapped up. “Really?”

  “Yeah, I’m going to hire him to help me train some damned IMPO agents for Thompson.”

  “You’re letting him into our gym permanently?” She faked a face of dismay, but really, she thought it was a good fit for Zander. He would enjoy it and it would give him the physical activity he always craved. And a little bit of power and responsibility he normally didn’t have on the team.

  “My gym, yes.” Charlie grinned at her. “Jealous? You can come too. I think I’m going to have you up my ass until the day I die.”

  “You think correctly.” She grinned. “That’s good, though. I like that. It means there’s going to be one more person I trust there. Help with the kids too,” she ordered her redhead.

  “Of course! So what about everyone else? Jasper, have you put any thought into it?”

  “Not really? I mean, I could go back to college.”

  “For what? The only things you’re missing at this point are a law degree and a medical license,” Elijah teased.

  “Well…” Jasper shrugged. “I was thinking law. Becoming a lawyer, you know. At least then I’ll actually have the law on my side. I can help people that way and change things.” She watched the blush begin on his cheeks. “It’s a really small idea. Seriously.”

  “You can be the good guy,” she said. “You can be change.”

  “Yeah…” Jasper nodded. “It’s not-”

  “Do it,” Vincent cut in. “I think if anyone can handle the nuance of law and not become soulless in the process, it’s you.”

  “Well, Magi law is even more difficult than non-Magi. And we don’t give a lot of rights to people, which means most of the time, we’re dishing out punishment and putting people into bad positions like…like what the WMC has done to you, Sawyer.”

  “This is the best I was ever going to get,” she reminded him softly. “We all know that.”

  “That doesn’t mean it’s good enough. Yeah, so I think I’m going to go into Magi law and become a lawyer the WMC hates. Fuck them. I’m going to bring change. Leaving the IMPO is the first step, but that’s step two. Fixing the problem.”

  “Amen,” Elijah declared, lifting his glass. “Yeah, I like that.”

  “And what about you?” Jasper asked quickly. “What are you thinking?”

  “I love blacksmithing and Magi still use weapons. Probably something with that, something I can do from home. I’m tired of all the travel, really. I like the idea of settling.”

  “What about your art?” Quinn asked. “You could do that.”

  Elijah began to cough, shaking his head, refusing to say anything else as they all prodded him. She would love to see him expand his artwork, but when this case was over, they would have decades to keep trying. It didn’t all need to happen right now.

  She was excited for it.

  “Fine, Quinn, what about you?” Elijah demanded, glaring at the feral Magi.

  “I’ll take care of home, no matter what,” he answered, shrugging. “This is going to be our place. I’ll protect it and find something to pass the time with.”

  “I think that’s the best we can expect from him,” Vincent added, directing it to the cowboy.

  “Yeah, probably,” Elijah muttered. She could see he was trying to hide a grin.

  “See, look at these lives you’ve all got ahead of you. You’re all too damned young to be where you are in the world. This is good.” Charlie nodded around at them. “And what about the last of you two? Vincent? Sawyer?”

  “I don’t know yet,” Vincent admitted. “I never thought past the IMPO. I might stay in for life, I think. If I don’t have the team, I can take a different role within the organization. It won’t be a problem. Maybe I can work with Thompson or something.”

  Sawyer didn’t answer until they were all staring at her. “I don’t think that far ahead. We’ll get to it when it comes to it.” None of them accepted that, still staring at her, now with some displeasure. “Guys, I’ve never considered anything more than what I have. When I got out of Axel’s rule the first time, I stumbled on Charlie. I got lucky. Then I spent four years living in a holding pattern, grateful for what I had and never asking for more. Then you all happened. I just don’t know. I never had a dream job. I never thought about what I really wanted to go to college for.” She brought up the final problem. “And who would hire me in some off-the-wall, strange profession? Every Magi knows who I am and any non-Magi that doesn’t would find out quickly enough. Any job I get will be headline news.”

  “Fair points,” Vincent conceded. “You can stay in the IMPO with me.”

  “It’s an idea,” she said noncommittally. She didn’t really care for that idea either, but it was the most valid option, and the IMPO knew how to use a woman of her specific skill set.

  “We’ll figure it out,” Zander promised, whispering it to Charlie. “Don’t worry.”

  “You can come back to the gym, full time,” the older man offered her.

  “No…” She sighed, shaking her head. “I think the time when I haunted that building every day is over. People like Liam need to take it over, Charlie. He’s one of them, and I’m fine leaving it with him and just visiting on occasion. Because once I go back to that gym, I go back to prowling for strays and that led to me getting back into some very illegal things.”

  “True.” Charlie patted her hand resting on the table. “Well, you always have a place, anyway. Visit often.”

  “Always,” she promised. “Enough about the future, though, please. I think I really do want to get back to work.” Work was safe ground. The future was full of unknowns. She would have her guys in it, that was certain, but nothing else was. She just had no idea what she was doing.

  They finished eating and Charlie wandered off to watch TV in their new living room. The team didn’t move, though, setting up work right in the dining room. Headsets were plugged into computers and boxes, communications issues being worked out before it all started.

  She stayed out of the way, watching it all unfold. She didn’t play with the electronics.

  They all settled back into their spots, Zander throwing a ton of snacks on the table. Sawyer was given a phone and frowned.

  “What am I doing?” she asked politely, looking up to Vincent.

  “Keeping a line open to Thompson. You like him, right? That shouldn’t be so bad.”

  She spun the cellphone on the table and nodded. She called him without complaining, and waited only one ring before he answered.

  “Director Thompson speaking.”

  “Hey.”

  “Oh. Well, that’s tonight. I’m set up, so-”

  “Vincent asked me to keep a line open,” she explained. “So, what’s going on with you? Have we been causing you enough mayhem?”

  “I have several city-based IMPO agents calling me every day, demanding we take some of the riff-raff off their hands. I’ve got high priority targets in hiding, so we can try them once you catch Axel. You know, so they don’t get murdered before the end of the case. Three more raids tonight, which means more of this, or just a lot of paperwork. Yeah, you know, I think you’ve been causing me enough mayhem. No wonder James looked like he never fucking slept.”

  Everyone in the dining room began to laugh.

  “And you have me on speaker phone. Of course. I also got an incredibly angry phone call from the prison today. Don’t worry, no one is going to get in trouble for that incident. Everything okay with you guys? You don’t call me and you’ve been bouncing around the world, it seems. To think, it hasn’t even been a week since Missy flipped
sides, and I feel like I’m a decade older.”

  “We’re all fine. Zander’s recovering exceptionally well. It’s like the idiot was never shot to begin with. Bad guys should work harder, I think.” She teasingly grinned Zander’s way, who glared at her.

  “I’ll get you for that later.”

  “Try me,” she mouthed, then continued to talk to the Director. “All in all, we’re figuring it out. We’ve had some rough patches, but I think we could all expect those.”

  “Just let me know if you need anything. Now, let’s go dark if everything is ready. I’ve got three green lights in front of me. They’re ready to go.”

  “I’m seeing the same,” Vincent called. “Send them in.”

  “Mission go,” Thompson said, sounding distant on the other end.

  Then things went silent. Sawyer shifted in her chair. This could take hours. They were in for the long haul as the teams moved in and went after the last of the targets Missy had given them.

  She knew there would be nothing and no one to catch, but they still had to try. Maybe they could get their hands on documents that would help them in the future. Maybe some lower-ranking guy forgot something or was left behind to deal with a problem.

  She just had to wait.

  Sawyer could be patient.

  With the team around her, she could be patient and comfortable. She knew whatever was found, they would make it work together.

  26

  Jasper

  Jasper waited along with the rest of the team, just hoping they got anything from this last night of raiding on Axel’s Ghosts.

  He also tried not to think about the massive blunder he’d made at dinner. He shouldn’t have said anything. It was such a tiny idea that he hadn’t truly even considered it. When Elijah mentioned law school, it was the first thing he could think to say when he knew he needed to give them a better explanation, something to shake them.

  But really, he had no idea what he wanted to do with his life other than get the fuck out of the IMPO. Get away from the WMC, at least for a few years, to get his mind right again. He was really glad the team was okay with that and he was even more glad that most of them were going to do the same.

  He just didn’t really have an idea or a real plan. He just threw that out like an idiot and now he knew they would all wait and watch him. He couldn’t go back to college unless it was for that, something Elijah had gotten right. He couldn’t just keep collecting degrees until he was old, and scientific research wasn’t his thing. Getting a job in education, tenure? Not something that appealed him. It was too inactive, too withdrawn from the world.

  A lawyer would be active, at least. Sort of. Not physically active like he was used to, but at least a missing leg wouldn’t be held against him in that profession.

  As they waited for any sort of status update, his mind continued down this path. Considering his options, finding reasons to toss them aside. Medicine wasn’t his thing, but it would put him in college for several years. Then he would need to see patients, though, and he would be constantly listening to Zander explain things he honestly didn’t enjoy. The human body did somewhat gross him out in a way that it didn’t for Zander. It was probably Zander’s healing.

  He wasn’t interested in work concerning dream-walking, and his other abilities didn’t lend themselves to any prospective jobs, not ones that suited him.

  He just had no idea what he was going to do.

  “Team B is in,” Elijah announced, making all of them jump. “Location is empty. They’re going to tread carefully, then collect anything they can from it.”

  “Damn it,” Vincent mumbled. “Waiting on Team A, still.”

  “Team C as well. No word,” Jasper added. He should have been focusing.

  “Thompson?” Sawyer tapped the cellphone in front of her on the table. “You awake?”

  “We could be here for a bit longer, but yeah, I’m still awake. My assistant made a fresh pot of coffee for me before we got started. I’m used to late nights.”

  “Of course you are.” Jasper watched her half-roll her eyes. He thought those two were odd. Thompson and Sawyer were the last people he figured would get along for any length of time, but since James’ death, she was the one who spoke the most to their new ‘handler.’ “Tell me, since we have time…how secure is this place we’re in?”

  “He won’t find you there unless he specifically catches and convinces me to give you up. I’m the Director of the IMPO because I’ve never slipped and James turned it down. I haven’t even told the WMC where you are, something they are beginning to give me heat for. They don’t like their most troublesome and important team being off the grid. Not my fault they’re too stupid to remember that place exists.”

  “They’re stupid,” she agreed, grinning up at the team. “Well, they can stay in the dark for a lot longer. I’d like to keep this place safe. I don’t want to wake up anytime soon to see a Ghost over me.”

  “Exactly, and they can’t deny there are too many leaks from their offices. They trust a guy in their office, who trusts a couple more, and eventually, everything gets out. So for now, I’m the only person who knows where you are. At least the only one who hasn’t had his memory wiped.”

  “Can you two focus?” Vincent asked, frowning at Sawyer.

  Jasper resisted the urge to snort like Sawyer always did. They were focused, just on problems and possibilities the rest of them weren’t, but it wasn’t what Vincent wanted them to be focused on. Surely their leader had thought about it, but then, he wasn’t the one who woke up with an assassin over him like she had. Jasper could understand her worry over their home security. Even with Quinn and the animals, Sombra had barely gotten Sawyer awake in time that night to save her life. Jasper had thrown words into all their dreams and had pulled the entire team awake at the same time.

  What a night that had been.

  It had begun the longest, darkest period of their lives. They weren’t done yet either.

  Jasper couldn’t wait to see the case through and leave it. It didn’t honestly matter to him what was next, just as long as they got through this now. He felt selfish that he wanted out for himself, to save himself, but he knew the team understood now, all of them.

  And Zander? He had no idea the man had been talking to Charlie about a job. That was good. Hell, it was great.

  “Special Agent Williams. Team C reporting. We’ve arrived at the location. Two bodies, shot execution-style, but nothing else. We’re going to collect what we can, then pull out.”

  Jasper jumped at the words and relayed them quickly, confirming with the team on the ground. “Roger that.”

  “Two prisoners or two people who they thought weren’t loyal?” Sawyer asked, almost to herself, looking away from them. “I want them to bring those bodies home. We’ll find out who they are and get them to their families.”

  “Who they are might lead us to a break, as well,” Vin added.

  Jasper relayed that as well, Thompson quickly agreeing through his own line into the teams’ communications.

  An hour later, both teams B and C were leaving, with backup coming in to finish cleaning up the mess. Those raids were over, and now it would shift to investigations.

  “How’s team A?” Zander asked. “Still nothing?”

  “Nothing.” Vincent was beginning to pace. Team A had taken their role for the night. They were the ones Jasper worried about. If it had been leaked that the team was going after someone, Axel could have laid a trap that another team was walking into.

  Another hour ticked by and it was midnight. In Turkey, it was well past dawn. Vincent pulled his headset off and changed some of the cords, so that anything Team A reported, they would all know.

  It was twenty minutes after that when something came through.

  “We had a hard fight,” the leader said. “We’ve captured the target and several others. They knew someone was coming for them and hunkered down. We’ve secured them, with a couple of injuries that had t
o be addressed.” There was a moment of silence. “We’re going to get out of here and let the Ankara office take over the smaller shit. Where do you want Balian?”

  Balian, the high value target, the Ghost.

  “That son of a bitch,” Sawyer mumbled from her spot. She continued louder, so the mic would pick her up. “I want that one here in New York as quickly as possible. I think I know his game.”

  “What are you thinking?” Vincent asked immediately as Team A confirmed and said he would be in New York by dawn in the city. It left them a few hours to talk and collect their nerves to see what mess awaited them from the night.

  “Balian is a super-aggro piece of shit. He probably got the call to clear out and wanted to prove he could handle it. I don’t know who leaked that was our place or if that had anything to do with it, but he’s the type who would rather go to war with the government than run from it.” She grinned. “I plan on finding out exactly what he intended personally. You’re welcome to join me.”

  “You’re not going to do to him what you did to Naseem, right?” Jasper was incredulous, hoping she wasn’t serious.

  “No. Just a chat. He’s lucky it wasn’t me tonight, though.” She snorted. “Get all of them home. Thompson, I’m going to be down there in a few hours to meet him on arrival.”

  “Oh joy,” Thompson mumbled, hanging up the phone.

  Sawyer began to chuckle as she walked out of the room.

  “I’m going with her to look over any documents they secured. Now that all of the raids are done, I might be able to put some of the pieces together.” Jasper waited for anyone to tell him otherwise or confirm it. “Guys?”

  “Yes, of course,” Vincent said, looking up from whatever he was staring at. “I’ll go with you. Elijah and Zander, stay with Sawyer. Quinn, hold down home with Charlie in it?”

  “Of course,” Quinn agreed immediately.

  “New York,” Elijah began to sing softly.

  “We spend a lot of time there now,” Zander commented. “Think that will change when we get out of the IMPO? I don’t really like that city.”