Page 31 of Shadows Redeemed
“What evidence?” Elvis scoffed. “They never produced even a hill, nevertheless the mountain they claimed to have on him.”
Dane nodded, his expression grave. “I picked up on that, too. They seemed awfully eager to pin everything on Jacob without exploring other angles. I wish we could get our hands on his handler’s notes. There could be something there to guide us.”
“I’m sure those things are long gone. And it’s like they’ve already decided our man’s guilty.” Elvis bounced his gaze between the others. “Makes you wonder what they’re not telling us.”
Dane paused at the driver’s door. “Or like someone they’re making guilty.” He leaned on the car. “Look at this in a different way. What if they know he’s innocent, but need to make it look like he’s not? What if they’re working for the Broussards?”
As if on cue, Dane’s phone buzzed in his pocket. He fished it out, gave a curt nod, and then answered it, setting it on the roof of his car after hitting the speaker button. “What do you have for us?”
Blaze’s voice crackled through the speaker, excitement clear in his tone. “You guys won’t believe this. I’ve been digging into your detectives’ financials—don’t ask how, it’s better if you don’t know—and I found some seriously sketchy shit.”
Dean leaned in, his interest obviously piqued. “Define ‘sketchy’.”
“We’re talking unexplained deposits, offshore accounts, the works. I had to do some creative digging to find it all, but it’s there. And that’s not all. Melinda dug into their case files just to see if these guys actually did their jobs. I’m telling you, these detectives have a habit of cutting corners, losing evidence, witnesses suddenly changing their stories. It’s a pattern, and it stinks worse than week-old gumbo.”
Sage felt her brows rise. “You eat gumbo?”
“No way, but you get what I’m saying. I’m surprised no one’s picked up on this before.”
Sage felt a chill run down her spine, despite the oppressive heat. “So they’re dirty.”
“Dirtier than the French Quarter after Mardi Gras,” Blaze confirmed.
“Where the hell have you come up with all these new phrases?” She bounced her gaze back and forth between Dane and Elvis, her brows pinched.
“I Googled them. Just wanted to fit in.” She could almost hear the pride in his voice. “Anyway, whatever’s going on with Jacob, I’d bet my last moon pie that your detectives are in it up to their necks.”
As Blaze continued to rattle off details, Sage’s mind raced. The pieces were falling into place—the detectives’ eagerness to pin everything on Jacob, their rehearsed responses, the feeling that they were hiding something. It all pointed to a conspiracy far larger and more insidious than they’d initially suspected.
“Holy shit,” Elvis breathed, voicing what they were all thinking.
Dane’s expression hardened, his jaw set in a determined line. “All right, it looks like we’ve stumbled into something bigger than we expected. The question is, did Jacob know about this?” He gave Sage a pointed look, but she could only shrug. Sighing, Dane gave her a curt nod. “Blaze, dig deeper. Find out everything you can about these two and what they’ve been doing over the past year. Leave no stone unturned.”
“You got it,” Blaze assured him before ending the call.
Sage felt a familiar fire ignite in her belly—the same pasion that drove her to become a PI in the first place. “So, what’s our next move? We can’t just sit on this information.”
Dane’s eyes met hers, and she saw the same determination reflected there. “You know the rules—once we start a case, we finish it no matter what. So, we’ll keep digging. If Blake and his partner are dirty, it means the entire investigation into Jacobcould be compromised. We need to find out who they’re working for and why they’re so intent on framing Jacob.”
“And if the Broussards are involved?” Elvis asked, voicing the concern they all shared.
“Then we’ve stumbled into a hornet’s nest,” Dane replied grimly. “But we’ve come too far to back down now. We’ve dealt with corrupt officials before. As well as crime families. We can handle this.”
Sage nodded, as she clamped down on her resolve. This wasn’t just about clearing Jacob’s name anymore. It was about exposing corruption in the NOPD, seeking justice, and maybe—just maybe—making a dent in the Broussards’ stranglehold on New Orleans.
She stared over her shoulder at the police department building. The imposing structure loomed behind them, its windows reflecting the late afternoon sun like a thousand accusing eyes. She couldn’t shake the feeling that they’d just declared war on forces far more powerful and insidious than they’d initially believed.
As she turned and opened the car door, she felt a surge of determination. Luckily, the best team in the world surrounded her. They were in this together, come hell or high water. And in New Orleans, there was always plenty of both to go around.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
THE NIGHT AIR HUNG heavy over the bayou, thick with humidity and the drone of insects. Shifting the backpack over his shoulder, Parker trudged through the murky darkness, his boots squelching on the soft earth. The beam of his flashlight carved a narrow path ahead, barely penetrating the dense foliage that crowded in on all sides, but it didn’t matter. He grew up out here and knew the bayou like the back of his hand.
He’d been walking for over an hour, having parked his truck well off the main road and hiked the rest of the way. Part of him knew it was overkill—Luc Broussard and his goons weren’t actually looking for him as much as his brother. At least, he hoped they weren’t. But after everything that had happened earlier, Parker couldn’t shake the feeling of being hunted.
The events of the afternoon played on repeat in his mind. Again, he saw the determination on Jacob’s face as he told him to back off the case. The way Sage had gone along with his brother, clearly agreeing with him, thinking him incapable of handling himself. His chest tightened at the memory. He’d thought Sage was on his side, that she understood his need to be involved in proving his brother’s innocence. Then to have her turn on him like that…
He shook his head, trying to dislodge the painful thoughts. It didn’t matter now. He was on his own, just like always.
