“I’m not stupid enough to get myself killed,” she retorted. “Really. This isn’t about doing anything stupid, but rather, making a neat little trap.”
“You’re invested in this more than I want you to be, and I think more than Vincent wants you to be. And probably more than the Director intended.” James crossed his arms and leaned on a dresser. “Let’s hear it.”
“They made this personal - maybe not for them, but for me. They walked into my home and tried to kill me, but that’s not why this is personal. They exposed a danger to the guys brought directly from my past. They should have known better than to take a contract on me.” She met his eyes and said it all without hesitation. “I’m not in the business anymore. Any attack on me is considered personal. Any threat to the guys is personal. I’m going to capture or kill them for it. I am.”
“What’s the plan?” he asked softly.
“I left an opening in security with the intent to make sure it’s their only opening. If they want to get paid, they have to take it or deal with soldiers at every turn - and they don’t play like that. Like me, they like the easiest, open route.” She waved a hand around, trying to dismiss the look on James’ face. “I can easily cover the hole if no one agrees with me, but it’s a solid plan, if I have backup. I had no intention of sitting here alone to catch one or more of them. Like I said, not in this to get myself killed.”
“If you can get the guys with you to agree, then I’m okay with this. If not, you plug that fucking hole and never try something like this again.” His voice was hard and left no room for argument.
But something in his eyes was impressed.
“It’s not a hard plan, but most of the IMPO wouldn’t go for it, so I’ve kept it…quiet.”
“It does put the WMC at risk. You’re using them as bait without telling them.”
“I know.” She nodded at that, unable to deny it. “And the hole I left in the security, the gap, is one they didn’t even recognize. In the end, they would have left it and more open. So, it’s not like I haven’t helped. I just plan on filling the gap unofficially myself.”
“Vincent is going to kill you.” He sounded like he was going to laugh now.
“Vincent has his own things to worry about.” She had no doubt that he would be okay with her plan, especially with what he was working on quietly behind James’ back. He couldn’t even say it out loud, for fear that someone would take him down for it. No one could incriminate a member of the WMC; that was madness.
She hoped it didn’t spell their downfall, but the two groups had different objectives. She had to trust Vincent with his investigation and he needed to trust her with this.
With the conversation over, James let them out of the room as the first WMC member showed up with little fanfare. Hushed conversation passed her as the Councilwoman was taken to her assigned bedroom, surrounded by guards. She didn’t even glance Sawyer’s way.
But Sawyer would always recognize Dina D’Angelo. She would need to ask Vincent his thoughts about her later. Maybe she would be in the running for who was behind this. She despised Sawyer working for them, even if they had somewhat of a truce at the end of the Amazon mission, something Dina could twist in her favor.
Then her eyes fell to two young boys following her.
“Lucius. Adrian. Please, boys, we must get you safe.” Dina turned and waved them closer, smiling. She looked tired, worried, but the smile was there. “I know this isn’t what you wanted for the holidays, but it’s what we have to do.”
“It’s okay, Aunty. We were just looking at shadows,” one whispered, turning to Dina and giving her a bright smile.
“Oh, were you?” she asked kindly, leaning down. One of them pointed at Sawyer, who tried to turn away before she got into more trouble than she needed.
“Sawyer. Her name is Sawyer.” Dina sounded softly chastising. “And she’s here to protect us, and herself. Don’t move.”
Sawyer had a feeling that last part was directed at her. She didn’t move, looking back to them. Sure enough, Dina was still looking at the boys, but a finger was pointed at her. Dina straightened, brushing her front off. Lucian and Adrian looked back at her as well, their eyes wide with interest. They had interesting eyes. Their curly hair was much like Henry’s, which nearly gave her a gut punch since they were the same age Henry should have been. But their eyes were gorgeous. Central heterochromia was rare, and they had smoke and fire eyes. A ring of orange around the pupil and then dark gray on the outer ring.
Sawyer felt nearly captivated by those eyes.
“You shouldn’t wear your mask. It could break, and you’ll need it again for something else.”
She felt the blood run from her head as she stopped looking into a set of those eyes and up at Dina, who carefully put a finger over her lips then continued like nothing happened. “How are you? I heard you were also attacked. You might not believe it, but I was worried until word came that you came out unharmed.”
“I’m fine. Decided that I would rather help in the protection than get put in a corner. I need to get back to work. You all have a nice day, and stay safe.”
And Sawyer was going to try and forget the thought that whispered through her head the moment she looked away from the kids, who were still staring at her strangely.
Dina had her own secrets, it seemed. Ones not even Sawyer would risk exposing. One of those children obviously had an ability that wasn’t even publicly registered. The ability to see the future was like necromancy. Sure, it was possible, but no Magi wanted to confirm with the rest of the world that it was.
“You as well, Miss Matthews. Come, boys.”
Sawyer watched them walk away, her chest too tight. She had to put away the strange occurrence, though, because now she and James, who had watched the entire encounter carefully, had to talk to the rest of the guys about her plan.
19
Jasper
Jasper tapped his pen on the table, contemplating what was going on with everything around him. The ‘investigation team’ was for show, that was certain. The IMPO was more worried about just catching the assassins than they were finding out who was behind it.
He glanced at Vincent. He had secrets, ones Jasper needed to be in on, but they hadn’t yet found a safe time to exchange thoughts on what was going on. Even in James’ condo, they were uncomfortable talking about it, thanks to James’ constant hovering. Plus, they had to address the five man and one woman elephant in that room as well, or it would have never gone away.
“Vincent? When was your last smoke break?” Jasper asked softly.
“I don’t really…” Vincent looked up to him, his reply trailing off. “I haven’t had a chance since early this morning, before breakfast.”
“Come on. We can spare ten minutes while the analysts finish compiling the information we requested.” Jasper stood up and Vincent followed him. They were out of the room in milliseconds, and hurrying to get outside and talk. They even took the stairs. “So, you’re really quitting?”
“Slower than Sawyer. I cut back a lot. Hoping I can finish it off before the end of the year, but we’ll see.”
“Big of you to quit for her.” Jasper looked over the Italian’s face.
He gave nothing away. “Not just her. It’s a bad habit. I have to say, once I didn’t care if it killed me. Now, I kind of do.”
“Understandable.”
“As much time as we can get, right?” Vincent tried to smile, but it failed. They both remembered the Amazon, certainly. Leaving her out there, maybe dead, maybe about to die. They remembered the assassin, less than forty-eight hours ago.
“As much time as we can get,” he agreed. “But I need you to keep smoking while we’re here. It’s a good chance for us to talk.”
“You’re right. I’m surprised it hadn’t crossed my mind earlier. I have a pack on me, thank god.”
They went out a back door and into an alley. As Vincent lit his cigarette, Jasper looked around, making sure there wa
sn’t so much as a homeless person hanging around. “The IMPO is treating our group like a joke,” he started the moment he knew they were alone.
“Because they don’t want to look too deep. None of them will enjoy finding a WMC Council member at the center of this.” Vincent met his eyes. “Yes. I just said that.”
Jasper blinked a couple of times. He didn’t say that.
Vincent didn’t move.
He did. “I…” Jasper tried to find some words. Vincent just went back to using telepathy. Probably for safety.
“Look at the information that would have had to get in the wrong hands for this to happen. Look at the timeline. It’s not plausible. The only person who could have known all of it from the beginning is a Council member. It’s the best bet.”
“And it’s treason to incriminate them. You know that. If you’re wrong…”
“I’m Vincent Castello, the younger brother of the maniac crime lord, Antonio ‘Axel’ Castello. They would have a very easy time pushing me to the side, arresting me, and making themselves seem like the victims of a terrible ploy. Yes, I know.”
Vincent seemed so ready for that to happen. It was in his eyes, the posture he held.
“What can I do to help?”
“Help me dig without getting caught. You’ve got a mind to look at details I don’t understand. I analyze people, but you’re better with data - and data is all we have.”
“Roger. How right do you feel about this?”
“I don’t see any other options.” He took a drag from his smoke. “Damn, Jasper. What have we gotten ourselves into?”
“Something life-threatening, which is pretty par for the course at this point.” Jasper wished the joke landed. It didn’t. It was too honest.
“When the assassin first hit and Sawyer was coming back with Quinn, I thought it was a single hit. Someone in the WMC or IMPO was trying to take her out. Fine. We could have handled that. Then the WMC members turned up dead and…” Vincent shook his head. “This reeks of something I can’t figure out. This feels deeper than I expect, but I’m not sure what lies beneath.”
“We can focus on the WMC first, then move on to whatever else might be hiding in this mess.” Jasper felt like he was getting minor whiplash from Vincent’s switching between speaking and telepathy.
“You’re right. You’ll need to help me stay focused. You know how I am. There’s something hiding, somewhere, and I need to find it.”
“I haven’t seen you like this since we met Sawyer.” There was no avoiding it. He was going back to the way he had been when they were in the midst of trying to catch Axel. It wasn’t a good look for Vincent.
“You’ll notice I’m not the only one who seems a little bit like how we were at that time.” Vincent sighed. “The only thing grounding me right now is her and you guys, all of us. Knowing I can rely on you.”
“You mean…”
“She’s focused, like she was when we met her. In her eyes is a focus. On a task, like when she was trying to get away from us. Trying to figure us out and keep moving on with her secrecy. It’s there again.”
“This hits a little close to home,” Jasper reminded him. “For her.”
“It really does, so I can’t blame her. It also falls a little too close to home for me.”
That gave Jasper pause. It did?
The more he thought about it, the more he could see it. This was the type of scheme Vincent had grown up around. Assassinating people to get certain others on top. Eliminating competition and twisting things so it didn’t look like it was the perp.
“Damn. I’m sorry.”
“Axel was always better at understanding these things than me. He would have figured this out in a couple of days, max. He’s very good at the chess board. The way he was in that last year before his capture was…extreme for him. He had an unusual focus on Sawyer and killing her - that wasn’t like him.”
“Let’s not talk about him. You’re good at this too.” Jasper swallowed. He didn’t like talking about Axel. He’d prefer the man was dead already, but that wasn’t up to the team. “We got this. Our team. You and I will dig as deep as we can until the Triad are taken care of. Maybe we’ll even crack it, but either way, this team can do it. Sawyer and our friends can handle their end.”
He didn’t know he was going to have to be the voice of reason and confidence.
Vincent’s eyes seemed hollow for a moment until he nodded and they came back to life. “Thanks,” he mumbled, putting his cigarette out on the concrete wall of the IMPO headquarters. “Let’s get in and get this done, then.”
Jasper nodded, feeling his own speech rebound on him. As they walked back into the building, he felt good about him and Vincent figuring this out, especially since he knew exactly what Vincent was thinking. He could see why the Italian was sitting on it for so long. He had probably mulled it over for hours, debating on if he should say anything. Reasonable, since even the thought could get them in trouble.
They went back into the room that had been given to the investigation team. They had a large whiteboard on the wall, which Jasper and Vincent didn’t mess with, and several boxes of paperwork lying around. It was a general meeting room, with a long table and leather chairs.
It didn’t fit the work they were doing. Just another sign that the IMPO had their priorities messed up.
“Are you two going to get anything done in here?” one of the agents asked as they retook their seats.
“Yes, when the analysts get me the information I want,” Vincent retorted, leaning back in his seat like he owned the room. Jasper liked how much Vincent put off in the gesture. He was better than the others, was his message. He was better than this job. He knew what he was doing. It was really a quiet confidence, something that couldn’t be missed but wasn’t arrogant or cocky. It wasn’t boastful.
Jasper wished he could put on that act.
“The information you want isn’t pertinent to the Code Black,” one snapped. To a woman sitting next to him, he muttered. “God damn this fucking team.”
“Put them in their place, please?”
Jasper sighed, looking back to Vincent, who nodded. Jasper reached down and pulled his pant leg up enough to remove his leg. It was itching him and he didn’t want to deal with it. He dropped it on the table in front of him, while the others watched. Some went a little wide-eyed. Jasper never made a public thing about his missing leg, or a public scene in general. It wasn’t what they knew him for.
Once his leg was off, he looked back at Vincent. Did he really want Jasper to do this?
Vincent nodded again.
“Do you know who any of them are?” he asked casually.
“No. Please tell me. I’d like to know more of my colleagues.” Vincent knew who everyone in the room was, their strengths and weaknesses. He didn’t know the numbers Jasper did though.
“Nicholai there is on a team with a startlingly bad rate of capture. At last review, I read they were considering revoking the team’s privileges and sending them back into training, or demoting all of them to a more consistent and easier role as a city-based detective, if that.” Jasper stopped for a moment for the one who made the comment to turn a little red. “Laura is from Dallas, actually. She’s not even a Special Agent. We’ll be kind to her; she’s here for an interesting time. Just transferred to this city and she’s in the middle of this. She was in Dallas while we were.” He pointed to an old guy. “Old guy there is Old Guard. He went to Academy with Jon Aguirre, and they hated each other. He’s got a competent level of success in murder cases, but don’t let him anywhere near organized crime or white-collar crime. He’s abysmal. We’re talking it takes him and his team three to four times longer to close one of those cases…if they do. His team has the longest list of open cases in the IMPO.”
“We get the point,” one of them snarled out.
“No, I don’t think you do,” Vincent whispered.
“While our team has a long open case average thanks to havi
ng Axel’s case open from the day we formed, none of our other cases have been open longer than four months. We have a one hundred percent catch rate, though I would make that higher since we’re the ones who stumbled on and caught Sawyer. What do you think, Vincent?”
“I would agree.”
Jasper grinned. He figured he would. “We’ve handled cases that cover the spectrum as well. All with a perfect capture and close rate. We’re also the two smartest people in the room based on the test scores of this organization. We’re also the most educated people in this room, and that’s from personnel files.”
“So this fucking team is going to wait until we get the data that we requested from the analysts, and if any of you have a problem with that, please show me why I should trust your judgement over my own. Or Jasper’s.” Vincent was sneering now. It wasn’t a common look, and Jasper didn’t like it on him. “And while we’re in here finding out who did this to the best of our ability, not yours, the rest of this fucking team is out there making sure the WMC lives through the fucking week.”
The silence from the other agents was deafening.
“I’ll make the quick reminder that we’re the ones who woke up with a member of the Triad in a secure home, trying to kill someone on our team. Regardless of who that was, we can all understand how very bad that is for an IMPO Special Agent.” Jasper tapped a finger on the table. “We all make enemies out there. There’s no reason to sit in here and make them. Don’t fuck with us, though; we will run you over. If there’s one thing we have a reputation of being good at it, it’s running people over.”
Eventually, the other agents got back to their own work, and it was nearly an hour before the analyst brought them the documents and data they requested.
No one asked why they had requested WMC transactions in the last month, and Jasper hoped no one would. He knew Vincent would have a good excuse if someone asked. Until that came to pass, Jasper stuck his nose in the numbers and hoped he would be able to find something, anything.
The Redemption Saga Box Set Page 122