“Today, we’re splitting up again. Sawyer, you’ll be going to look over the safe houses, right?”
“Yup. With all of you.” She pointed to the four coming with her, including James. “You can throw your rank around for me. Thanks for that.”
“Of course.” James shrugged, dropping a massive plate of eggs down in the middle of the table. Zander sat on one side of her and Elijah on the other. He glared between the two of them. “You two need to find other seats. I trust Quinn, Vincent, and Jasper more than you.”
“Damn,” Zander mumbled, his hand leaving her thigh as he stood up.
She knew they were all just messing with James, and it was childish good fun in the middle of a mess. Elijah didn’t move though, leaning back and putting his arm around the back of her chair.
“Make me,” he taunted.
James narrowed his eyes, but just shook his head after a moment and walked away.
“Y’all be nice,” she told them. “He’s trying.”
“He’s weirded out and it’s hilarious.”
“We have more important things to deal with than messing with James,” Vincent countered, walking in finally. He looked so put together.
Except he hadn’t shaved. He leaned down and gave her a swift kiss, letting his stubble run over her cheek. From his smile, she knew he didn’t shave since she liked it, and that he was also looking to mess around.
Jasper took the place next to her, and he reached out to take her hand. “I’m going to miss you today. Be safe?”
“As safe as I ever am,” she promised. He pulled her hand up and kissed it, keeping a hold on it until all the food was on the table, Quinn helping James.
They ate breakfast like a family, like they did every morning, just this time under the watchful eye of a man who was trying to be their father in a weird way. He made sure they ate enough, pushing the plates at them. She held back a grin when he narrowed his eyes at Vincent, who was just nibbling on toast with his coffee. Finally, Vincent sighed, loading his plate with eggs, bacon, and hash browns.
The mood went as they loaded up to leave. Vincent released Kaar into the city for the day, his little ankle tag back. Sawyer gave Sombra a blanket to sleep with and she hunkered down with the wolves on either side of her.
They loaded up, this time with her group cramming into the SUV. James took his own car, while Vincent and Jasper took the smaller rental.
“I’ll drive,” she told Elijah only once. “I know New York better than you.”
“Fine,” he sighed, handing her the keys.
The drive to the first safe house wasn’t a long one. Really, they didn’t pick safe houses that far from the WMC building, since the Councilmembers still needed to get to work. That situation was being handled by IMAS, who knew how to securely transport people around better than the IMPO.
“I’m thinking, once I clear that these places will work with the amount of guards chosen, I’m going to start putting myself on night watch here,” she told them. “Are you all okay with that?”
“So we would sleep at James’ during the day, then get here for the nights. You want to be in the middle of this.” Elijah crossed his arms in the passenger seat. “Vincent won’t like it.”
“I do, because I have a bone to pick with the Triad now,” she admitted. “But it’s not just that. The night watches always tend to get lax at places. They think it’s dark and no one is watching. They can slack off. I want to be there to make sure.”
“We’ll be there with you,” Zander cut in. “I personally like it. It means we can make doubly sure all this shit actually works and if anyone is going to catch the Triad in the act, it’s us.”
“It’s Sawyer,” Quinn corrected. “But yes, we should make sure.”
“What if they hit during the day?” Elijah asked the obvious question.
“They would do one of the transports to or from the WMC building at the beginning or end of the day. There’s nothing I can do to stop that. And they won’t just hit the main WMC building. It’s always been too heavily guarded.” She was certain of that. If the Triad hit a transport, she was effectively useless. She didn’t do moving vehicles. That was just too dangerous. She could only account for the safe houses, and she had a trick up her sleeve to make sure it all went according to her plan.
But she couldn’t tell the guys that yet, not until later in the day. They would kill her - and somewhat justifiably.
Not that it was a bad plan, either. They wouldn’t like it because it was putting her not just in the middle of things, but in the direct path of the Triad. She knew they were going to come back for her eventually. She was just speeding up the process.
When they arrived at the first safe house, she jumped out without saying anything else, knowing she couldn’t give too much away.
It was just a hotel, but not like the one where the IMPO were staying. It catered to Magi, but it didn’t have the magic-enchanted walls, since those would interfere with the ability of the agents and guards on duty. It was securable, but not in the same way like the big fancy-ass place was.
She walked the halls, looking over the rooms. They were good enough to please the rich shits of the WMC. She would have been fine with a cheap-ass motel as long as she didn’t get killed in it, but she was fine playing around the tastes of the WMC Council as long as she got what she wanted in the end.
She ignored murmured comments from others as she walked past without a word. They took over the entire second floor. Some were close and easy to run out of in case of emergency. It had its drawbacks, though, being close to the ground level, but that’s why she had so many people in the building. If they were all doing their jobs, nothing would get missed.
“Sawyer?” A soft Russian accent.
“Varya?” Sawyer spun and grinned at the blonde. “How have you been?”
“Good, and you?” she asked back, walking closer. People looked at them like they were crazy - mostly Varya, though. Who was this soldier who smiled at the infamous Shadow?
“Busy, but you can see why.”
“Yes, and I saw the news. My new unit was very interested in hearing about my time with you. I told them the truth. You are a dedicated soldier who can throw a good right hook.” The grin Varya had matched Sawyer’s. “My unit was brought here last night to assist in the protection of the WMC. We were assigned to this building and will be sleeping on the fourth floor. I still have your dagger, by the way. I didn’t know how to send it back to you.”
Sure enough, Varya pulled the dagger at her belt and it wasn’t standard issue. Black and sharp, well cared for. One of Sawyer’s blades.
“It’s good someone thought to buy out the entire hotel. That keeps civilians out of the way.” Sawyer nodded wisely, considering that. Then she considered the last part of what Varya had said and the dagger in front of her. She just ignored it as Varya kept talking.
“Oh, you must have missed it. Every Magi who isn’t a part of the Code Black has run from the city. They don’t want to be in the middle of this. That includes civilians.”
Sawyer had a feeling Varya was right, except in one case. Charlie was probably still sitting in his gym, his arms crossed. He would be glaring at nothing as he listened to the radio over the gym’s speakers. He would be paying attention, but he wouldn’t leave his home or those that relied on it.
“Of course they did,” she replied. “I have to finish my review of security here. I hope to see you around…” With a deep breath, she pushed the dagger towards Varya. “Keep it. Tell your grandkids about it one day, if you have any. Scare the assholes you work with. If it keeps you alive, it’s doing better work than it ever did for me.”
“Thank you. You stay safe as well.” Varya waved as she backed away and turned towards her unit.
Something about the interaction brought a bit of happiness to Sawyer. She was glad that Varya was also recovered from the Amazon trip and healthy, back on track with the IMAS. And now, separated from the awful place, she liked
the blonde a bit more.
“How are the soliders’ floors?” she asked Zander when she saw him in the lobby.
“They’ll live. They’ll be doubling up, but it’s all we can do about the space.”
“The lobby is too open,” Elijah said quietly, looking between them. “You need more guards down here.”
“No, I don’t. They won’t come through the lobby, and the staff of the building is still here. They’ll be wandering through. I wish I could get them all out of here, too, since they expose possible ins for the Triad, but the WMC requires amenities I can’t convince anyone to take away from them.”
“Spoiled children,” Quinn growled. “On to the second place?”
“Let’s go.” She waved them to follow until Elijah asked the obvious again.
“Where’s James?”
She narrowed her eyes on their handler, who she could see talking to one of the soldiers, an attractive man around the same age. And there was something about his body language that made Sawyer pause.
Was he flirting?
“My god. Is James gay?” she asked, her eyebrows going up as it hit her.
“Took you long enough,” Zander muttered.
“No fucking way.” She crossed her arms and watched the soldier write something down and hand it to James, who gave an award-winning, shit-eating grin.
“No,” Elijah clarified, rolling his eyes at Zander. “He’s not gay. He’s good at playing people, though. He knows body language and how to play off other people’s emotions thanks to his empathy. That guy probably thought he was attractive and he’s using it.”
“So our handler is…manipulative.”
“I mean, have you met Vincent? We live in a world of manipulative people, little lady.”
He had a point. She didn’t say anything to argue with it.
“Plus, James isn’t out to get anyone. He’s a good politician, in a weird way. He just likes having contacts in the different organizations. It helps him help us.”
James saw them watching and winked. She held back a sigh of disappointment. He was supposed to be the old, mature one, but he always did weird shit where he could have been a stupid-ass teenager. Then he would turn concerned old man on them.
It took nearly twenty minutes for James to get to them.
“He’s the officer in charge of the soldiers. You’ll want his name, rank, and number,” he whispered as he walked past her. “You’re welcome.”
“Thanks.” She hadn’t planned on messing too much with the soldiers, thinking they would be best served if they just did their jobs.
“After the Amazon? I’m not letting any of us just ignore them. We’ll need to make sure they are doing their jobs, and therefore, you need the names of their superiors in case anything happens.” James waved the phone number at her.
“And you had to hit on him to do that?” she asked.
“You thought I was…” James brought his eyebrows together. “I’m happily divorced and I’m not interested in people for that anymore.”
“But you-”
“I wasn’t flirting. I knew him already. He was IMPO before he went to IMAS, looking for something different.” James sighed, shaking his head.
She filed that all away. New things about James. Interesting things. She decided not to press for more though, even though her curiosity was getting the best of her. “We’re going to head to the second location. Also, I saw Varya,” she said, pointing the second part out to the guys and not James.
“Really? How is she?” Quinn asked her that, smiling. “Good female. Strong bear.”
“She’s good. Her unit is assigned to this building. I’m glad for it. I hope Anya is ready to fuck some assassins up that…aren’t me.”
She would never forget the fear that had hit the moment that bear broke the shield around her in the Amazon. Then the fist that slammed into her face a second later.
Quinn chuckled at her the entire way back to the vehicles. She glared at him. She knew why he was chuckling. The time in that hole in the dirt with her in the Amazon. He’d heard all of it. He hadn’t witnessed the fight, but she was certain someone told him about it later.
Varya also threw a mean right hook.
“I read reports of the time out there. Varya and you had a fight?” James looked at her with interest as they walked out to their rides. “I mean, I know you did, but other than reports, none of you ever tell me anything important.”
Sawyer eyed the rest of the team with her. “It was nothing. In the end, I think I made a somewhat friend that I’ll never really like.” She didn’t really have much else to say. Varya Petrov was a Russian-born IMAS soldier who had been rescued from the labs that were infamous in that country. She was a hard-ass, by the book type of woman that had nearly zero personality and a very large stick up her ass.
But damn, she threw a mean right hook.
And down in that hole, Sawyer found somewhat of a connection. They were just two sides of the same coin. Two women who outstripped the men around them. Two women who lived a hard life and had to be tough as nails to get through it.
“Well, let’s get to the second location. We’ve only got a couple more hours until the WMC start being brought in by IMAS.” James waved them all to load up, but Sawyer was way ahead of him, already halfway in the SUV, getting behind the wheel.
She waited patiently and the moment seat belts were on, she got them moving, her mind on the second location.
The location of her plan.
It wasn’t that she was keeping the guys in the dark to do something stupid. Instead, she wanted the groundwork in place before telling them her idea. If they hated it, she could easily wipe the plan away without a trace before the end of the day. She just needed to see the safe house to make sure it was as viable in person as it had looked on the blueprints.
When they arrived, they made quick work of running through guard positions and logistics. She didn’t care much for how the soldiers got it done, only that they got it done the way she wanted. The only way any of this worked was if they listened to her and followed orders. Nothing she’d suggested was impossible by any stretch, and if they were smart, they would see she only had the WMC’s best interests at heart.
Seriously. She did.
She had to remind herself of that, but she really did. She didn’t like a world where only the criminal existed, and while the WMC wasn’t the most forthcoming or nice government, they were needed to maintain the balance of the Magi community. Without them, their world would be mayhem.
And she thought of Dina. That woman pissed her off, but in the end, wasn’t she just trying to do what was best for the Magi at large? Sure, Sawyer could be pissed at how Dina did it, trying to get her behind bars, but in the end, that was actually the least corrupt move the WMC could have pulled.
Sawyer was a murderer. Murdering for the right people didn’t make it any better, only different. Killing others to protect loved ones was still killing, but Sawyer felt much less guilty over it now than she once had.
She was changing, she realized. Sawyer looked down at her hands as she stopped in one of the bedrooms. When had this happened? There was a time she had been wracked with guilt over killing, no matter what it was. It had been the right way to feel.
But somewhere in the jungle, something shifted, and this was the first time she’d realized it. Truly realized it. Something had changed. Some of the guilt felt unnecessary. Elijah had been right every time they ever talked about it. She had always killed for others, not to serve them, but protect them, to be with them, to love them another day.
The road to hell was paved in good intentions, and she consciously decided she was fine with hell. She would kill to protect those she loved, those she respected, and those who needed her that she didn’t see. Maybe someone like Dina was a great mom. She obviously just wanted to make their people better than the criminals that they combatted. Maybe saving Dina would change someone else’s life.
And with that stra
nge realization, Sawyer looked back up and turned to see James watching her. “What are you planning?” he asked softly.
“I’ll tell you and the guys in a moment,” she promised, smiling. “James? Is it possible for an assassin to be good and still be an assassin?”
“I think if there’s anyone who can answer that question, it would be you. Why do you ask?” He frowned at her, stepping in and closing the door.
“Because I remembered…I’ve remembered that I enjoy this work. The details, the perfection. I’m on the other side of it, but it’s the same. I stayed a thief because that was a job I had…enjoyed, and it involved less death. It’s the thrill of the hunt in this urban world.” She chuckled. “It’s the idea that I make a plan, and they make a plan, and those two forces clash and one remains victorious. Whether it’s me stealing and them trying to stop me, or me trying to stop them from doing something. I missed this. And here I am, thinking about how I fully intend to kill Naseem if I run across him, and I don’t feel bad for it. I didn’t feel bad about Camila.” She shrugged. “I was wondering if something was wrong with me or if maybe…Maybe I can use the more dangerous set of my skills for good. The idea that if I kill Naseem, someone like Dina remains alive and she’s better for this world than he is.”
“Sounds like you might be playing god, and we both know where that leads people.”
Megalomaniacs like Axel Castello.
“No, not like that, but…maybe.”
“I’ll say that soldiers kill every day, and to them, it’s their duty, orders, and they are just extensions of the finger pointing them in a direction. You’ve been the soldier before, and it didn’t work for you. I’ve had more than one case in my time with the IMPO where ending a criminal’s life saved others, in direct harm and maybe in the future. Those are decisions made in a split second. I don’t carry them around. I think I ended an evil that walked on this earth. And if you do it right, then yes, maybe an assassin can be…good.” He smiled gently at her. “Now tell me right now what you’re planning so I can shut it down before you get yourself killed.”
The Redemption Saga Box Set Page 121