He wanted his brother dead and he was sitting next to the woman who had to do it. He had two conflicting feelings about that. One, he was furious with the WMC. He hated them with every fiber of his being for what they had said to her in their Chamber. They had given her this awful task to take on her soul. This was only going to add to every scar she’d already gotten.
But another part of him was glad it was her. He and the team could help her and if anyone else knew failure wasn’t an option, it was her.
They stopped in front of the gym and he slid out first, knowing he still couldn’t find the words. He went inside instead, looking for the clean, innocent company of the kids inside. They didn’t know the things haunting his every step, making him feel like his world was upside down.
Quinn had been right about that too. They were healing, Sawyer’s ‘strays.’ He could think he was their uncle too, in a way. He was Sawyer’s friend, and Sawyer was in charge. And that meant he could get away with anything to make them smile, since he was the adult that didn’t need to follow her rules.
He wasn’t going to tell the guys how much he was enjoying playing with toddlers, though. If that got out, he would never hear the end of it.
Kaar landed on his shoulder right before he walked inside, wanting to experience the kids as well this time. He’d let Vincent learn about them the day before, and now he wanted to be cool and special like the big animals.
Vincent chuckled. Yeah, he wanted to be big and cool like Sawyer and Quinn too. Like his raven, he was too stand-offish for most of the kids. But a few wanted to talk to him and let him read a story.
It gave him just a moment of peace. He was almost a little mad at himself for realizing who Missy was when he was playing with them the day before. He hadn’t wanted to deal with any of it, but he knew it would be on his mind for days if he didn’t confront it.
“Vincent!” one of the young girls said loudly, running for him. “Who is that?” she pointed to Kaar, who fluffed up, trying to seem impressive.
“Well, yesterday I said I also have an animal bond, remember? Kaar is my raven. He’s nervous and doesn’t like crowds or people too much. He likes to be alone, but he wanted to come meet you and everyone else today.” He lifted an arm for Kaar to jump on and he lowered down onto one knee so the girl could gently touch Kaar’s head. “Now, he’s a bit more fragile than those three.” He nodded for the two wolves and jaguar, all rolling around as kids laughed and watched them wrestle. “But I know he loves snacks.” He looked over his shoulder and saw Quinn, focusing to send a message.
“Quinn, do you have anything for Kaar to eat from the kids? And maybe bring a small fold out table or something he can stand on?”
The girl cooed things to his raven, making the bird feel showered in affection that never usually happened. In only a couple of minutes, Quinn and Zander were there, setting up a place where kids could sit in the gym with Kaar so no one had to carry the big bird around and he didn’t need to waddle around on the floor.
“How’s that, boy?” he asked, giving Kaar a seed to nibble on. He only received pleasure from the bond in return. Perfect. If Kaar was coming out of his dense and distant shell, that was good. He stood up and backed away as the kids ran for the bird, being very gentle when they got close.
“I’ll watch them all,” Quinn told him. “They’ve been very good with the animals.”
“Is it always like this?” He didn’t think Quinn knew, but he was confused by why all the kids and students were there again on a second day.
“They come for days over the holidays when their parents are at work, if their parents can’t afford daycare. We keep them busy and other…activities are normally slow during this season.” Sawyer walked up, wrapping an arm around Quinn’s waist. “No Fight Nights. Plus, they learned we were going to be here at the gym for a couple of days, which meant they all had to be here. They weren’t going to miss it.”
“Of course not,” Vincent said, chuckling. Already, back at this gym, he felt lighter. He could absolutely see why Sawyer had found her secret refuge here with them and Charlie. Why she had lived the life she had. It all made sense to see smiling faces and hear innocent questions. And no judgement. None of these children were judging him, or the team. Not like the people in the WMC did, or the IMPO.
Not like he judged himself or people judged Sawyer.
“I like it here,” he finally admitted. “Thank you for making us do this trip.”
“Of course,” she murmured, leaning over to kiss his cheek. He wanted to melt from the touch. How long had it been since he and Sawyer were together? Before this entire thing set off, certainly. Back in Georgia. Too long. He wanted her. He wanted to be with her again before everything went back to hell.
They spent the rest of the day with her students. Teaching them, playing with them. They ate bad pizza while Charlie and Sawyer had salads, trying to be healthy. But, for a moment, Vincent just let this take him away from the rest of it. He laughed with Elijah as one teenager tried to pick a play fight with the big cowboy, not realizing Elijah could just pick the kid up and render him helpless.
“I’ve had calves weigh more than you, kiddo!” Elijah teased, the rowdy youth thrown over his shoulder.
Vincent lost it, laughing harder than he had in weeks. Quinn was next to him, snickering. “I’m glad to see everyone having a good time,” the feral Magi said to him, smiling.
“Me too,” he agreed. “It won’t last.”
“No, but we needed this. A reminder that the rest of the world is alive and there’s more people that need us. James wouldn’t want us wallowing.”
Quinn’s wise words hit him in the chest. Zander and Jasper wandered over as he considered them. No, James wouldn’t want them wallowing. He’d want them at their best. He’d want them to get the job done, be safe, and get home. He’d want them to keep smiling and having these moments.
“So we head back to our new place tonight, right?” Zander asked, looking exhausted.
“Zander is officially tired of children,” Jasper informed them, smiling. “They’ve been beating him up for two days now.”
“I mean, you could have tried to help me out!” Zander groaned, throwing his head back in exasperation. Jasper only laughed without sympathy.
Vincent was glad to see that the weight of their case wasn’t breaking those around him. No, it was only him. They were all taking Sawyer’s advice. This was just another case to them, and it wasn’t moving. He wondered if, to them, this was just like before they met Sawyer. Back to the slow hunt.
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 cha
tting 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 S
awyer 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.”
The Redemption Saga Box Set Page 143