“You know,” Elijah continued as Vincent parked them. “Maybe there is a pattern.”
“Excuse me?” Vincent frowned and narrowed his eyes on his second in command.
“Think about it,” Elijah chuckled. “These things only really happen when it’s Axel and a woman.”
Good lord. Elijah would assume they were fucking. There was no evidence of Axel ever taking a long-term lover before in his life, and Vincent was the world’s leading expert of Axel. Vincent rolled his eyes as he shook his head.
“Come on,” Elijah laughed when Vincent didn’t even bother giving a response. “You can’t tell me that it doesn’t work! Hot woman turns him down or breaks off the relationship. He’s a control freak with a complex. It would make him furious in a way that nothing else could.”
“You make a lot of assumptions about him by entertaining that,” Vincent sighed. “He’s never had a girlfriend. He doesn’t care enough. And if he did take a lover and they left he would…”
“Kill them.” Elijah pointed at Vincent and walked past him.
Damn it all to hell, the cowboy was probably right. Vincent shoved the theory out of his mind and followed Elijah onto the elevator. It was a stupid theory. Axel was well known for keeping clean prostitutes and slaves for those types of relationships. He didn’t do lovers.
When they stepped off the elevator on the third floor, they moved quietly and as a unit to the room that security and the IMPO had taken over for their investigation.
“Special Agent Castello, Special Agent Grant,” an agent held out his hand for Vincent. “Detective Robins.”
“Nice to meet you, Detective,” Vincent shook his hand and then did the same introduction with other agents around the room. When it was all over, he looked back to Detective Robins and pointed at the computers they had set up. “What do you have?”
“Well, we called you in since your team is point on the Ghosts.” Robins grabbed a remote and started up a projector, so they wouldn’t be huddled around a laptop. “He was here, Castello. Right in this building, raging at her when she got away. Tore up several floors.”
Good Lord, Axel was slipping. This was personal, but how? He had no evidence that these two had been in contact before. He was missing something important, and it sat on the edges of his mind where he was unable to reach it.
“Play the tapes,” he mumbled. Robins nodded and got the security tape started. The fact that there was no sound bothered Vincent, but he’d have to deal. This was the first time they had gotten Axel on camera in a year, and that was a blessing on its own.
They watched the tall thief run out of the server room. They saw her mask get knocked off, and Vincent heard Elijah mumble, “What the fuck?” as the scene continued to play out. Vincent quickly realized that this thief knew exactly how to get away from Axel. Axel was losing his temper the entire recording, and she had to know what he could do. She had to know what any of the Ghosts could do, since she outplayed all of them at every turn.
When the tape ended, Vincent held up a hand at Robins to stop him from playing the next video.
“Elijah, you got something?” He turned to his second. Elijah was frowning.
“Call Jasper or Zander. Have them send a picture of that girl they grew up with,” Elijah mumbled.
“They’re on vacation,” Vincent reminded him. “I can’t bring them in. They are required by law to take the next month to themselves.”
“A phone call won’t get anyone in trouble, Vin,” Elijah crossed his arms and waited. Vincent sighed, pulled out his phone, and made the call.
Zander answered on the second ring, sounding pissed.
“What the fuck, Vincent?” He was cranky, but Vincent would be too if his vacation was interrupted for even a second by a call from the boss. Zander had two moods. Reckless or cranky. There was no in-between for him.
“Elijah would like one of you two to send a picture to him of that missing person case you’ve been secretly, not-so-secretly, working on for the past six years,” Vincent looked over to the projection and frowned. The woman was beautiful, but since he never got involved in the weird manhunt the guys had been up to, he didn’t recognize her. He had never seen a picture of her, and his team knew they had other shit going on, so their personal missions needed to stay personal and off the company dime.
“Why?”
“Just send it,” Vincent groaned, rubbing a temple. Vincent waited for Elijah’s phone to go off, ignoring Zander’s grumbling. “Thank you.”
“I’ll see you in a month, Vincent. Not a day sooner,” Zander growled, hanging up on him.
“He was cranky,” Vincent commented mildly, putting his phone away as Elijah compared whatever photo he had to the woman Axel had tried to grab.
“You probably ruined some pick-up line he was trying out,” Elijah chuckled, but the chuckle was dark, and Vincent frowned. “Call him back.”
“Why?” Vincent crossed his arms. “Do any of you remember that I’m in charge of this team and I outrank you, therefore I don’t take orders?”
Elijah held up his phone, and Vincent noticed his hand was shaking. Vincent looked at the picture. Younger versions of his team members, Jasper and Zander with a younger woman between them. They must have all been teens.
“How old is this picture?” Vincent whispered.
“Nine years. The guys are seventeen and eighteen, and she was fifteen. They grew up together,” Elijah informed him. Vincent remembered, wondering how he had forgotten the story. Zander and Jasper were both orphans for different reasons. Magi had a small population and had very few kids who didn’t have anyone looking out for them. They didn’t allow Magi children in foster care, instead, putting them all into one of two orphanages in North America. A friend who was there since her birth, Sawyer Matthews, was adopted and then went missing about eight months after the guys joined the IMAS. When Vincent recruited them into the IMPO, they started looking for her.
He looked from the photo to the woman on the screen. They had found her. Staring at Axel in what Vincent could only describe as unadulterated disgust, was Sawyer Cambrie Matthews. He hit play, watched her spit at Axel’s feet and then drop through the floor. Ballsy and reckless. He was astounded that her body wasn’t in the building somewhere.
His team members’ long-lost friend was being hunted by Axel of all fucking people. It was already a small world for Magi, and Vincent felt it become a lot smaller.
“I’ll call him back,” Vincent whispered. “Shut this down. I want all the tapes in our possession. No copies. We’re taking over. We aren’t going to be able to catch Axel from here, but,” he pointed at Sawyer on the screen, “I have a feeling we can catch him with her.”
“Find her, find him.” Elijah nodded slowly. “Good call, boss.”
“You know her?” Robins finally spoke up. “And what about what happened here? We need resolutions.”
“No. You don’t,” Vincent told the Detective. “Like every other Magi incident, there’s a payout system. The damages will be taken care of. When you called me in, didn’t you think I was going to completely take over this case?”
“I…” Robins trailed off, and Vincent gave him a wry smile.
“Thought so,” Vincent sighed and hit call for Zander. Vincent rarely felt nervous, but this phone call made him more anxious than he had felt in years. “Elijah, handle all of this while I figure out what we’re going to do about Jasper and Zander’s vacation.”
4
SAWYER
“Liam,” Sawyer called out as her ragged band of kids wandered around the training room. She watched them as Liam walked over to her. She saw a couple joke around, the teenagers. One young woman was helping the youngest ones with their pads. Sawyer had them all here, ages nine to eighteen.
“Sawyer,” Liam greeted her tentatively.
“I’ve heard things, and I’ve only been back for two days. Care to elaborate on the rumors, or do I need to go digging for myself?” She met his eyes and w
atched him look down at the floor after only a couple of seconds. “We’ve known each other for four years this month, Liam, and we’ve been through a lot together. Now isn’t the time to start keeping secrets from me.”
“My brother showed up,” Liam shrugged. “He’s a dick.”
“He knows you can fight,” Sawyer whispered. She looked back to the group and sighed. “You all can take some time to warm and stretch together. Jessie, you’re in charge!”
“Aye, aye, Sawyer!” The teenage girl helping the younger kids gave Sawyer a mock salute. Jessie, a seventeen-year-old from the same neighborhood that Charlie grew up in, was a sweet girl with a bite. She was easy to get along with if you didn’t step on her toes, which made her one of Sawyer’s favorite people to leave in charge of the class. No one could push her around, and that kept the peace while Sawyer was dealing with other things.
“Come with me, Liam.” Sawyer waved him to follow her. When they were alone in Charlie’s office on the second floor, she locked him in with her and glared at him. “What the fuck, Liam?”
“He’s back, and it’s okay!” Liam scrambled to tell her. “He’s a prick, and he’s got a few friends that like to mess with me, but I can handle it. I’m still going to school and getting here for work. I’m not letting him impact my life.”
“Where’s he staying?” Sawyer asked softly.
“On my couch,” Liam mumbled, playing with his hand wraps. Sawyer crossed her arms and waited. “So are a few of his friends. They’ve taken to partying at my place and smoking a fuck load of weed because I have a nice place.”
“I know you have a nice place,” Sawyer reminded him. “I fucking pay for it.”
“I know,” Liam whispered, nodding his head. “I’ve tried to kick them out, but there’s like five of them. Carson knows I can fight because one got really drunk and tried to start some shit. I ended it. I told him about the gym since I work here. He put it all together and started bothering Charlie.”
“God damn it,” Sawyer shook her head. “Pull up your shirt.”
“What?” Liam frowned at her, but she also saw the fear in his eyes. The shame.
She knew why.
“Liam. You heard me.”
He closed his eyes and pulled up his tee. He normally worked out shirtless so him even having a shirt on in the gym was a dead giveaway.
Sure enough, Sawyer wanted to rage at the amount of bruising he had.
“How many?” She asked in the most flat tone she could summon.
“All of them,” Liam whispered. “A week ago, when I tried to throw them out.”
“Including your brother?”
“Yeah,” he sighed, swallowing. His voice was tight, and she took a long breath to remain calm. “He told them not to mess with my face like…”
“Like your dad used to say,” Sawyer finished for him. “Well, that apple didn’t fall far from the tree.”
“No, I guess not,” Liam whispered. “Sawyer, Charlie said you-”
“I’m injured, but I’m not an invalid,” Sawyer snarled at him. “I’m not letting you live in that place until I clear those mother fuckers out. I just got a friend out of the guest room, it’s yours again. I’ll get you back in your place by tomorrow.”
“Sawyer,” Liam tried to argue with her.
“No,” she snapped. “Damn it, Liam!” She slammed a hand on the wall in frustration. “You don’t go it alone. You don’t put on the tough face and pretend it’s okay. It’s not.”
“It’s what you do!” Liam yelled at her. “What happened in LA, Sawyer? I know you’re a thief, but Charlie said this has never happened before. In the four years I’ve known you, you’ve never gotten hurt like this. But there you are, putting on a tough face and trying to protect the rest of us.”
“You have no idea what you’re talking about,” Sawyer growled. “You’re a kid, and I’m not letting you turn this back on me.”
“Two years ago, I would have bought that,” Liam glared at her. “But I’m nineteen, Sawyer. I’m not the fifteen-year-old you dragged here when I had nowhere else to go. I’ve got four years of training from you. To not only protect myself, but them.” He pointed towards the door, and she knew he meant the other teens and children in the class. “I’m going to college, so I have the education to take your place. Remember?”
She winced. Damn him.
“What do you want?” She asked him, looking away from him this time.
“I want to be there when you clear them out. I’m not a Magi like you, but I want to be there.”
“It’s assault,” Sawyer reminded him. “As a Magi, that low-level crime is generally ignored, but it wouldn’t be for you.”
“I don’t care,” Liam’s jaw clenched, and Sawyer sighed. Two days ago, she had nearly died, and now Liam was getting older and more independent. She could feel the shift in her life, and it bothered her on a deep level. She had a foreboding feeling in the pit of her stomach from the swift change storming through her life.
But swift change meant she needed to prepare herself for anything. She didn’t know if she was going to live through the year, now that Axel knew she was alive. Liam needed to know why only she could do what she did, and that he was only taking over the legal parts and the gym one day. Nothing more.
“Stay in the guest room,” she whispered. “I need to talk to Charlie about something… I’ll see you at dinner.”
“That’s it?” Liam looked shocked.
She only nodded, opening the door and letting him leave. She closed the door behind him, knowing he would run the class in her absence.
Three months after she and Charlie met, she found a teenager getting the shit kicked out of him by his dad. She’d lost it. Liam was left an orphan because she couldn’t stop herself from killing his dad. He was the last man she’d killed. The last. Liam’s father was also the one she felt the least guilty about.
She got rid of the body with a terrified, lanky kid following her around. He’d been smart enough not ask questions that night. The questions surfaced later. How did she know where to hide the body? How could she kill him without blinking an eye? Where did she learn to fight? She’d always told him she would explain when he was older. She would tell him why she did it when he was older.
He was older now, and he wasn’t a terrified kid anymore.
She stewed for a long time, waiting for Charlie. Jessie told her when class let out, and Liam let her know he would make dinner in the apartment. She just waited.
“Sawyer,” Charlie greeted her as he finally walked in. Three hours. He had been avoiding her, she knew that.
“I don’t want to do it,” she told him without preamble. “I don’t want to ruin the way he looks at me.”
“He’s done nothing but love you like a sister, even after seeing you kill his dad,” Charlie sighed. “I don’t think that will change now.”
“Axel tried to kill me, and now this,” Sawyer covered her face with her hands, leaning on the desk. “He’s my ‘heir apparent’ in some fucked up way. We all know it. I don’t want him to…”
“I know.” Charlie sat down on the desk and rubbed her shoulder. “You want him to know, just in case you don’t survive the next encounter.”
“Yeah.” She didn’t uncover her face. “I’m going to fill his life with my shadows and secrets, and damn it, I don’t want to.”
“I’ll tell him,” Charlie whispered, continuing to rub her uninjured shoulder. “He needs to know. Not only so he can decide if he really wants it, but also for his own safety. People may come asking questions one day, and he needs to know why.”
“I know,” Sawyer moaned desperately. “You’ll tell him?”
“I’ll tell him. Tonight, after dinner. Go for a run after dinner, and I’ll get it taken care of.”
“I hate this.” Sawyer stood up and shook her head. “I hate that he needs to know. I hate that I did it. I hate that, after all this time, I thought it was over, and now it’s blowing up in my fucking
face. Why did Axel have to show up after all this time? How the fuck did he find out I was alive?”
“It’s the life you have,” Charlie reminded her gently.
“Dick.” Sawyer told him with a bit of snark. “You think he’ll stick around?”
“You think anything will ever convince him to leave? Because I didn’t sign up to become a father for every pup you bring home.” Charlie smiled at her, and some little weight lifted off her shoulders. “He going to help you deal with his brother?”
“Yeah,” Sawyer sighed with a nod, giving Charlie a smirk. “He won’t be as helpful as he thinks he will be, but it might be time to show him why I can get away with it and he can’t.”
“It is definitely time for that,” Charlie chuckled. “None of them have any idea what your magic is, and that astounds me. I’m not sure how you’ve done it.”
“Easy,” Sawyer shrugged as she spoke, “I just don’t use my powers in front of them. Not hard, and they know better than to ask.”
“You’ll be a great mom one day.” Charlie kept chuckling. “You keep them all in line so well.”
“Ew.” Sawyer felt a lip curl. “Much too young for that. I’m only five years older than Liam. That sounds awful.”
“Yeah, and you would need to find someone who can put up with your ass,” Charlie began to fully laugh, and she glared at him.
“My ass is just fine,” Sawyer pointed at it as she spoke.
“That’s right,” Charlie howled with laughter. “It’s your attitude they’ll need to get over.”
She couldn’t stop the smile that broke out on her face. It was that easy for Charlie and her to lighten the mood. He had taught her that a laugh eases the soul and to never feel guilty for a smile.
“Get up there and help the poor kid with dinner.” Charlie waved her away. “And Travis called. He’s agreed to sober up for a little while and stay in the apartment without causing any problems, but I recommend you check on him every couple of days.”
A Life Of Shadows Page 4
