Shadows Redeemed (Garrison Security Innovations #4)

Chapter 1

CHAPTER ONE

“HOW ARE THINGS LOOKING at your end?”

Sage Silver held the phone up as she bent over, her elbows resting on her knees, as if she was reading something on her phone. At least, that’s what she wanted everyone who looked her way to think. They didn’t need to know she had her camera open, staring at Murphy’s Pawnshop across the street. The Biloxi sun was high overhead, beating down on her through the small palms that lined Highway 90, and her boss, Dane Garrison, was nagging her through her ear bud.

She rolled her eyes. “I’m still outside, waiting for him to make a move. However, I still don’t get why I’m even here. Isn’t this a bit under our expertise?” Glancing over the top of her phone, she stared across the street to the pawnshop, wondering what the hell Michael McGinley was doing inside that took so damn long and why Dane even cared. She was more than ready to be out of the sun and into a pub, sipping a cold ale. And she deserved it after following this jackhole around for the past couple of days. She wasn’t even sure why Dane took such a minor case. It wasn’t like him to waste their resources on things a low-life private investigator could do.

“You would think so just by looking at the surface, but that pawn shop’s a known front for stolen electronics.”

She sighed as she dropped her gaze back to the camera on her phone. “And we care that someone had their iPod stolen why?” This was so not the way she wanted to spend her hump day.

She heard him chuckle in her ear and could picture him sitting at his desk, his feet propped on top and crossed at the ankles as he cupped the back of his head with both hands. “Because someone stole a laptop from a colonel’s house on base, and he has some, um, shall we say, sensitive information on it.”

She scoffed as she looked up from her phone once more. “You mean someone stole his porn collection, and he doesn’t want anyone to know what a kinky bastard he is. What was he into? Diaper wearing? Bondage? Pony play? Come on. Give me the dish to make it seem like this is a worthwhile waste of my time.”

“You’re getting paid. That makes it worth your time. And it’s my time to waste, since I’m the one paying you.”

“So, you’re not going to tell me what the perverted colonel was into? Rude.” She leaned back in her chair, keeping her phone in front of her. “Why don’t we just bust in and get it back?”

“Oh, Elvis and Callen will do that next. However, the compromised colonel wants to make sure Mr. McGinley didn’t make a copy of what was on it. There’s a risk he could sell the colonel’s personal habits and someone could use it to blackmail him into doing something he shouldn’t. We need to make sure that doesn’t happen. Your job is to follow him and see if he goes anywhere else after the pawnshop.”

She shook her head, sighing. “I swear, if people are ashamed of what they do, they shouldn’t do it. Would keep them from getting in these types of situations.”

“Heaven forbid,” he said, laughing. “Then we’d lose a lot of contracts.”

“Truth.” She sighed once more at the Catch-22. “I’ll keep you posted.” And then she ended the call as she leaned forward once more and stared at the pawnshop door through her camera. “All right, Michael McGinley, what naughty things do you know about our dear, perverted colonel?”

She reached down for the to-go cup of sweet tea at her feet, picking it up to take a slow sip.

As she set the cup back on the ground, she said a silent offering of gratitude that at least she could work a case out in the light instead of going behind Dane’s back. A couple of weeks ago, she had been neck-deep in Blaze’s quagmire of chaos with his ex-girlfriend, Melinda, who just so happened to be his girlfriend again after the dust settled. She shook her head. The heart is a fickle thing.

The front door of Murphy’s Pawn Shop opened, and she spotted the lanky figure of Michael McGinley rushing out, swinging his head in all directions as if he expected someone to jump out and attack him. “That’s it, McGinley. Keep up that guilty look.”

She snapped a few pictures as he made his way to the side of the building and slid into a rusted out Buick. A few seconds later, he pulled out of the parking lot, his car bouncing slightly as it hit the little dip between the road and the lot as he turned west and headed down Highway 90. As he drove off, she took a few pictures of his license plate, knowing Blaze could track it, getting an address on where the man lived. Then, a couple of others from the Garrison Security Innovations team would pay the thief a visit to see what else the poor, unsuspecting Michael McGinley knew about the embarrassed colonel.

She sighed as she lowered her phone and quickly sent the photos to Blaze. They were his problem now, and she could go grab that beer she so desperately wanted.

As she stood, her legs screaming at her for being in the same position so long, she scrolled her contacts until she found Marissa’s name, and then hit CALL. Might as well have some company while she did a little day drinking.

“Hey, Sage. What’s up?”

“I’m heading to Haggerty’s Pub and thought you’d want to join me. My day is over with for now.”

“Sounds like a plan. You heading there now?”

“Yup. Be there in about ten.”

“See you then.”

Sage grabbed her drink as she stood, shoving her phone into her back pocket. However, as soon as she tucked it out of sight, it started ringing, bringing a sigh to her lips as she hoped it wasn’t Dane ruining her afternoon plans..

Pulling it out again, she gave the screen a quick glance, making sure she even wanted to answer it. Jacob Franklin. Again. She shook her head and sent the call straight to voice mail, knowing she would never listen to it. After shoving her phone back into her pocket, she headed for her car, tossing the cup into the trash bin on the sidewalk as she passed it.

Jacob had started calling her while she was helping Blaze save his girl’s ass, and she had told him then to leave her the hell alone. He had gone two weeks without reaching out again, so she had assumed he got the message. However, it seemed he had merely bided his time, probably hoping to catch her in a better mood. It didn’t matter. She still wanted nothing to do with him. Now she really needed that beer.

A few minutes later, she slid onto a barstool and flagged the bartender, Maggie, down for a drink as she set her phone on the bar. Just as Maggie placed the cold beer in front of her, Marissa entered the dim bar, pausing for a moment until she spotted Sage, and then crossing the floor to where the redhead sat.

“You look miserable.” Marissa sat down and motioned to Maggie for a rum and Coke. “What’s up?”

“Just annoyed at a rat who won’t stay in its cage.” She blew out a breath as she lifted the bottle and took a slow sip. As she lowered the bottle to the bar once more, she gave a slow shake of her head. “Remember when you asked me to help you last year when your friend died? Well, some of the mess I had dusted off my feet when I left New Orleans seems to be rearing its ugly head again.”

“Jacob? That’s kind of ballsy of him after what he put you through. You pulled his ass out of the fire once already. What does he want now?” Then the brunette leaned closer and lowered her voice. “Or does he want to, you know, heat things back up again?”

She giggled, shaking her head. “I don’t know what he wants because I never answered the phone. And I don’t intend to. I told him a couple of weeks ago to leave me alone. That should be enough.”

“When have you ever known a man to take a hint?”

Sage laughed a little harder, her shoulders bouncing slightly. “True story.”

Maggie set Marissa’s drink down in front of her, and as the bartender walked away, Sage’s phone rang once more. Jacob’s name flashed across the screen and she could only shake her head. “See what I mean? He’s a persistent bugger.” She ran a hand through her red hair as she sent the call to voice mail for the second time that day. The last time she talked to him, he told her he needed her help, but there was no way in hell she intended to give it to him this time. No. That ship had sailed. Actually, it had sunk to the bottom of the ocean.

She lifted her beer once more.

Marissa cocked a brow as she grinned over at the phone. “He’s not giving up.”

However, when Sage glanced down at her phone, she didn’t recognize the number this time. She blew out a sigh of relief. “Not him this time.” She looked over at her friend and gave a slight shrug as she picked up the phone, swiping her finger across the screen to answer it. “Silver here,” she said as she placed the phone to her ear.

“Now, before you hang up, don’t.”

She closed her eyes and growled, causing Marissa to turn and stare at her, her brows pinched in question. “Of all the bullshit tricks.” Jacob couldn’t get Sage to answer the phone, so he used his younger brother. She should have known he wouldn’t give up that easily. “Parker, look, I already told your brother I’m not interested, so don’t tell me not to hang up, because that’s exactly what I’m doing. I’m hanging up. And you two can do whatever you need to do without me.”

“Wait!” She heard him take a deep breath, heard the desperation in his voice as well. “Look, I understand how you feel, but Jacob’s in trouble again, and I need your help. I have nowhere else to turn, Sage. You’re the only one I trust.”

“I don’t care. He burned me once. I’m not letting him do it again.”

“But Sage, you don’t understand. He’s been undercover since you left to get the dirt on some crime boss who’s placed a mole in the NOPD. But they think he’s the mole now, and they’re accusing him of a bunch of other shit having to do with the Broussards.” Another deep breath, and when he spoke again, she could hear the strain in his voice. “Sage, they’ve basically got a manhunt searching for him, and if they do find him, I don’t think he’ll make it out alive. I need your help.”

She sighed as she turned on her stool to face Marissa more and rolled her eyes. “I’ve been here before, Parker, and I refuse to go there again. He didn’t do it last time, remember? Oh, but wait, it turned out he did. That bastard used me to get him out of trouble and then had the balls to tell me he screwed with evidence. Forget it. Whoever’s after him this time, I hope they get him and string him up by his family jewels.”

She didn’t wait for a reply. She merely ended the call and tossed her phone down on the wooden bar as she let out another low growl.

Marissa still stared at her, her hand wrapped around her glass as she tilted her head. “Jacob, huh?”

Sage nodded as she lifted her beer and took a long drink. “Now he’s got his brother doing his begging.”

As she set the bottle back down, she gave a quick jerk of her head, her annoyance rippling through her. “And apparently, he’s right back in the middle of some bullshit again.” She scoffed, a low barrel of noise that rumbled out of her. “Well, I don’t care. I’m done wasting my time with men and their lies. He made his mess, and he can find his way out of it. It has nothing to do with me.”

Marissa pressed her lips into a thin line and made a slow bob of her head. “All right. So that explains why the day drinking.” She lifted her glass and took a small sip, licking her lips when she finished. “So, what are you planning on doing?”

“I’m not helping him, I can tell you that. He’s on his own. I won’t do it.”

Marissa stared at the mirror behind the bar, holding her drink in front of her and saying nothing.

Sage sat there, stewing as memories of the past filled her, none of them good. “I’m not doing it.”

“I heard you. You’re not doing it.”

“Well, I’m not. He can forget it.”

“Agreed. He was nothing but trouble.”

“That he was.” She lifted her beer and took another slow sip. Lowering it back to the bar, she grumbled, “I’m not doing it,” one more time.