A Night of Redemption (The Redemption Saga Book 5)

by Kristen Banet

  “Not for you, since Charlie’s gym is smack-dab in the middle of the Bronx.” Elijah laughed, which made Vincent glare, and Jasper raised his hands, leaving the room. The night could have gone worse, which he knew was why the guys were in a good mood. The night could have gone much worse. He was fine with everyone joking around and he knew Vincent would be too in a few moments.

  That didn’t mean Jasper wanted to get wrapped up in the mess, so he retreated and didn’t stop until he made it to his room to get in a nap before dawn. He could pull off a few hours of sleep and a shower.

  Jasper didn’t allow himself to keep thinking about the future as he sat down in front of the stacks of papers. This was his job for the day. Vincent was with him, and they were going to dig through all of it, every piece of paper taken from every single office over the last week. Jasper was good at finding and organizing data, Vincent was good at finding the pattern. Together, they were hoping to come up with something.

  He didn’t think about Sawyer, Elijah, and Zander. Those three were off to make trouble for Balian that he wanted no part in, even if it was just a talk. He would rather deal with paperwork any day.

  “Where do we even start?” He groaned, waving a hand around to point out all the crap in front of them. “Should we pull someone else in, some admin? The extra pair of hands would be nice.”

  “They could also be a leak,” Vincent reminded him softly, looking over the top sheet of one pile. “This is going to be a nightmare, but I have some advice. Locations. We want to know where business is done and where money goes, even goods. Shipment records and the like. Those are probably the most helpful.”

  “Of course, but we’ve looked through all this sort of stuff before.”

  “Never from this many sources.” Vincent leaned back, watching him. “Jasper, this is the closest we’ve ever gotten to having the complete picture of Axel’s organization, documents included. Before this, we’ve been lucky to take half of this sort of information from a location, and then we could never put it together.”

  “Because we didn’t have enough of the pieces.” He figured that’s where Vincent was going.

  “Exactly. So, while you look through, do two different stacks at once.”

  “Compare and contrast. Find similarities, not differences.” Jasper nodded. That could possibly expedite the process. “Not bad. Still, this is going to take us hours.”

  “We have the hours to spend. We have nothing but time on this.” Vincent sat down, pointing to a chair across the large boardroom table from him. “Let’s get started.”

  Without anything else to say, Jasper took a seat. Vincent was right. This was all they had, all they would ever have. They weren’t taking another case and letting this one slip away, not with so much riding on it. The future came when they put it all together, and they had time.

  Jasper dove into Alfie’s paperwork, comparing it to another set from a raid the team hadn’t done. It was one of the ones they did the same night, though, which meant none of the Ghosts had even known they were coming. If that meant anything, it was that those would hold the most sensitive information, since they didn’t have a chance to hide any of it.

  Shipments and payments. Addresses from around the world, to others in the organization, and even some that he was genuinely concerned with. He didn’t like payments going to an address right next to the San Diego office. He would mark that for someone else to deal with. It was obviously a sign of some corruption in that office.

  And it pissed him off. Just the idea of it made him nearly want to stay in the IMPO to flush it out. He was tired, really fucking tired, of hearing of IMPO agents, IMAS soldiers, and the WMC aides and staff being paid off. And so blatantly. He’d always known it existed, but it seemed so systematic and accepted. It infuriated him. The WMC would be the place to solve the problem, if they opened up and allowed others to truly investigate their offices, but since they didn’t want to have that happen, none of the agencies were going to be that bold.

  The Magi world followed the tone and pattern set by their leaders. He hated them.

  Shoving the thought aside, he continued to pull pieces of paper off his stacks, looking between them, and highlighting anything of interest.

  It took an hour for him to begin to hate it, to truly hate it. Another piece of evidence that some non-Magi government was being bought out by Axel to do his business. Non-Magi governments were supposed to work with the WMC, but this one was openly hostile to Magi.

  They would take Axel’s money, though.

  He ground his teeth in frustration, continuing to highlight.

  These people. He hated all of them. If he could, he’d see them arrested and put behind bars for a very long time.

  And his mind wandered back to that idea he’d accidentally said during dinner the night before.

  A lawyer would be able to do it without always being in danger. He could help define the fluid and incomprehensible Magi law that no one really understood. The laws that gave the WMC so many rights, but none to the actual Magi. He could protect those who spoke out against their government and those abused by it, while also dealing with the members of their society who abused it to their advantage and broke the laws when it was convenient. Including the WMC.

  “I’m going to do it,” he announced, looking at Vincent. Vin just looked confused. “I’m going to become a Magi lawyer.”

  “Then you’ll join the ranks of fifty-three active Magi lawyers in the world, not including the fifteen that sit on the WMC. Of those fifty-three, only twenty aren’t prior Councilmembers or aspiring Councilmembers.” Vincent shrugged. “It would suit you.”

  “I didn’t…know that.” Jasper frowned, letting that in. “How did you?”

  “Because my father was one, once. A long time ago. He thought an education in law was the best way to get around it.” Vincent smiled. “Magi law is also one of the hardest things to get an education in. They are very selective. Do you understand?”

  “Meaning…?” He figured he would just apply to a college.

  “One hundred applicants a year. They must be a Magi, so any non-Magi is immediately disqualified. From there, those with the best education. From there, who has the most money. Magi law is taught by a school run by the WMC. Only a few people apply every year, nowhere near the one hundred allowed. Fewer can afford it. Even fewer succeed. I considered it, growing up, but then my life exploded.” Vincent sighed. “Also, the WMC is the board that confirms or denies someone their license. If they don’t like you, they’ll find a reason to deny it. That’s happened quite a lot. If you work against them, they pull your credentials.”

  “Why didn’t you say any of this last night?” he demanded.

  “Do you still want the job?” he asked.

  Not at all. It was just as deep in the corruption as everything else. Thanks to his silence, he gave Vincent the answer he hadn’t wanted to voice.

  “This is why I didn’t tell you last night, with the entire team listening in.” Vincent pushed away his papers, a sign to Jasper that the discussion was far from over. “But I still think you should take it.”

  “Why? If I can’t change-”

  “But you can,” Vincent pressed. “Of everyone on this planet, you are the best person for it, I think. Let me tell you the game I see before it even begins. We’re going to catch my brother. Me, you, Sawyer, all of us. We’re going to do it and end one of the most violent periods in the history of the Magi caused by another Magi. We haven’t had anyone ascend like Axel has since the time of the Romans, where, before Christianity took over, Magi were pretending to be gods. And Axel? He’s the closest thing to that since, especially with his abilities.”

  “That doesn’t-”

  “You will be a hero, Jasper. If the WMC works against you trying to become a Magi lawyer, they will earn a bad rap and they have a serious image problem right now. Money isn’t an issue and they won’t be able to find one aside from that without looking bad.”

&nbs
p; “They’ll let me through to protect themselves.”

  Vincent grinned. “They’ll have to, even if you proclaim every day that you’re going to go after them with the education they’re going to provide you. And the people will love you for it, don’t forget that. I could never do it. Not with my family history. No matter how much I show the world I’m the good guy, I’m still a Castello. I would be turning a powerful criminal family into a powerful legal one.”

  “How did your dad do it?” he asked.

  “A lot of money and a good portion of blackmail on the part of my grandfather and great-grandfather. They couldn’t deny him unless they wanted to lose everything they had.” Vincent chuckled. “But you? A disabled hero of the IMPO? Why stop at becoming a lawyer in Magi law, Jasper? Why not go straight to the top and be the change you want to see?”

  “Are you mad?” Jasper sputtered. “Run for the WMC? I hate it, but we all know those fifteen seats have been filled by the same families for the last…thousand years. An upstart like me…”

  “Has the best chance at changing the game than anyone else.” Vincent shrugged. “Just a spur of the moment idea on my part. You know how my mind is. I like to look out and see all the possibilities. Or you can just be a lawyer and help people on small-time cases and try for bigger fish as your reputation grows. Your choice.”

  “Let’s get back to this,” Jasper said suddenly, hoping the conversation could drop. He wasn’t even ready to think about any of that.

  But Vincent had some solid points, like always. Jasper knew all of them would weigh on his mind for a long time.

  They went back to toiling over the paperwork, looking for connections and patterns. Piece by piece, Jasper highlighted and sorted by importance, or rather, what he thought would be important.

  Some locations kept popping up. San Diego was obvious and apparent for Alfie’s, along with other major cities on the west coast.

  But even fewer locations showed up on both. They each did business with other Ghosts, so those places popped up. Then there was the last one.

  Italy. Somewhere in Italy.

  Never an address. Just the Villa. They were going to visit the Villa. They had to send word to the Villa. They sent money and samples of every good to the place. The Villa in fucking Italy.

  “He’s not stupid,” Jasper said softly. “Axel. He’s insanely intelligent. I’m not wrong about that, right?”

  “He’s also immensely arrogant,” Vincent replied. “Why?”

  “Has he really kept his base of operations in Italy after all this time?” Jasper turned his papers towards Vin, pointing at his highlights. “Nothing more than some villa in Italy?”

  Vincent took the papers, pulling them closer. “These aren’t shipment reports.”

  Jasper winced. He hadn’t realized he was working so fast that he was off on the wrong stack of papers now. “No, they’re emails, I think. Notes, correspondence. I never saw Italy mentioned in any of the real reports.”

  “No, they would have destroyed anything with an address, but they would need a way to talk to each other about the main hub.”

  “They never thought we would know they all spoke about the same place.”

  Vincent shook his head. “One of them on my side doesn’t say the Villa.” Vincent dropped Jasper’s papers and looked through his own. “Here. The vineyard. Italy. I figured it was somewhere they bought his favorite wine from or something. He loves things from home.”

  “Any other mentions of Italy?” Jasper began shuffling through papers. Another email mentioning Rome. There was even a mention of a small olive grove, though it didn’t seem small based on the acreage mentioned.

  “I can’t believe him.” Vincent pushed away from the table, running a hand through his hair.

  “Do you think?” Jasper couldn’t believe it. “I mean…”

  “He loves home,” Vincent said softly. “And he could be hiding anywhere in it, since we don’t have an address. But yeah, if he thought he could get away with it, he would go back. Hell, he would never leave. Sometimes I wonder if he’s somehow more Italian than me.”

  “You are pretty Italian.” Jasper snorted, shaking his head. “So what? We focus on Italy?”

  “Yeah. We’re going to focus on Italy. God damn him. I should have known.”

  “Think Sawyer will have any insight?” Jasper was still mentally fumbling. Axel wouldn’t be that arrogant, right? Sure, they had never caught him working there, never caught him living there. They only knew of the few locations in Italy they did because of Sawyer.

  “I think she will. We’ll keep going here and hope to uncover something. Anything to do with Italy, we mark and keep.” Vincent sat back down. “She’s probably still with Balian.”

  “Most likely,” Jasper agreed, going back to his papers.

  Italy.

  Sawyer burst into the room five minutes later, pale. Jasper jumped up. He had a feeling he knew where this was going.

  27

  Sawyer

  Sawyer walked towards the interrogation room with her two shadows on her heels. Elijah and Zander weren’t going to give her even a second alone with Balian, and she was thankful for it. She didn’t need it, but she was thankful. After yesterday, she knew they were going to watch her carefully - and she couldn’t blame them.

  She had no intention of hurting the Ghost. Just chat. She didn’t know Balian well, but she did know of him well enough to know how to play him.

  “Sawyer, before you go in, can we talk about this?” Zander’s question made her stop.

  “It’ll be okay. Nothing is going to happen,” she promised, smiling back at him as she reached out to the door. “This isn’t yesterday. Balian will break. He stuck around to get into trouble for a reason. I think I know what it is.”

  “Okay,” Elijah agreed, shrugging. “You’ll play the lead. We’ll just support.”

  “Thanks.” She schooled her face and walked into the interrogation room first. Balian was sitting like she had seen so many others sit now. A steel table, steel chairs designed to be uncomfortable for those who had to stay in them for a long period of time, and a bare room meant to feel lonely and dark. Oppressive. Classic interrogation room.

  “I didn’t know I was important enough to get a visit from you, Shadow!” Balian threw up his hands in excitement, grinning. “You didn’t show up last night. I thought you would.”

  “I could have been at any of the raids last night.” She raised an eyebrow, sitting down across from him. Zander stayed out of the room, but Elijah leaned on the wall behind Balian. It was a good move. “Sounds like you were expecting me.”

  “I was! Axel…” Balian snorted, a look of distaste appearing on his face. His posture shifted to something more aggressive. He leaned forward to get closer to her. “I never knew he was a coward, but he seems to have run away. Little school boy decided to go home. He asked me and I said no. I was going to fight for what is mine.”

  “You know if he ever learns you called him a coward, he’ll have you killed, right?” This was why she decided to talk to Balian. He was macho, arrogant, and not the brightest bulb in the box. He was loyal to Axel, sort of. He judged people harshly and once someone didn’t live up to his standards, he saw no reason to follow them. Somehow, he’d survived quite a long time in Axel’s employment, maybe because of his attitude. He was a good judge of strength and loyalty.

  “Coward,” the Ghost spit out. “I bet he won’t do it himself.”

  “Not wrong there,” she agreed. “So, you got yourself captured because you didn’t want to follow orders.”

  “No. I got captured because I decided to stand up and fight for what was mine against a tyrannical government and their dogs. I disobeyed Axel as a sign I was leaving his organization because he’s a coward. I will not pay a coward portions of my money. I will not work for one.” Balian grinned. “Not when he’s just running from a little girl.”

  “Be careful who you call little,” she warned. Only one
man was allowed to and he was standing behind the criminal. “He’s running scared because I scare him, and for good reason. But it’s interesting that you wouldn’t try to protect your future by going with him. He commands loyalty to the fullest extent.”

  “Well, I’ll admit to some ulterior motives.” The Turkish man shrugged. “If I could kill you, I would be a hero. He would treat me with more respect.”

  She tried not to laugh at that, or give away how ridiculous the concept of it was. Balian didn’t have the training, abilities, or raw power to defeat her. There was no competition.

  “And yet here you are, and Axel has run off…home. You are much braver than him, I’ll give you that.” She smiled kindly. “Balian, do you want to make a deal?”

  “No. I know what happened to Missy.” The Magi shifted uncomfortably in his chair.

  “I thought you said you weren’t going to work for him. Balian…you’re already a dead man.”

  The room shifted as Balian slowly realized what he’d done to himself. Disobeying a direct order was already a death sentence. By failing to win his little battle against the IMPO, Axel would see him as a failure and his actions would be seen as betrayal.

  Sawyer had some sympathy. Balian wasn’t smart. He was overconfident and ridiculous. He was more action and less thought in a world of people who had the tendency to think too much. Working for Axel, he was considered just muscle, constantly hiring thugs and sending them where they needed to be.

  “But it’s okay. I don’t need you to make a deal with me.” She stood slowly, nodding to Elijah. The cowboy moved around to her side of the table. “You gave me one thing I didn’t know, but should have.”

  “And what was that?” Balian’s eyes went wide in some mix of shock and fear.

  “You told me he went home,” she murmured sweetly. It had been an offhand comment and she knew it. ‘Little school boy decided to go home.’

  Balian had been part of the Castello operation long before Axel took over and turned everything on its head. That had been a shocker to Sawyer and Vincent, but it was something she could use.