Page 2 of Shadows Redeemed
“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 thinkhe’sthe 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 outof 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.
CHAPTER TWO
PARKER FRANKLIN SAT ON the metal bench, staring at his cell phone, which he held in both hands between his legs. He blew out a breath, wishing he knew what to do now that Sage had turned him down. He knew calling her was a long-shot, but he truly had nowhere else to go. No one in the NOPD would lift a finger to help him, because they all thought his brother Jacob was guilty as hell.
And he couldn’t blame them. He leaned back on the bench and stared up into the New Orleans sky, the humid air thick with the scent of Creole spices and the distant hum of jazz. The city had always held a special place in his heart, but now, as he gazed out at the people passing by, it seemed like a distant memory. Jacob was notorious for going rogue and crossing lines. Hell, Jacob could have easily done what everyone said he did, but somehow, Parker doubted it. Not with the Broussards involved. Not after what they did years before.
