Page 106 of Devil and the Deep Blue Fish

“I wasn’t going to,” Ellery’s mother replied, but Ellery could hear a thousand position papers these two women must have been mentioned in about how damning rhetoric and demonization of vulnerable communities could result in real-life harm.

Ellery’s mother believed firmly that hate speech caused irrecoverable damage, and the case they’d both laid out in front of State Attorney General Maude Arthur proved her right.

“Wait a minute….” Gerald Manning cocked his head. “Does this have anything to do with the teenagers who were rescued from that weird Karen-compound in the middle of the city?”

“Moms for Clean Living,” Ellery said dryly. “Our paralegal has forbidden the use of the appellation ‘Karen’ in deference to the verynicewomen named Karen that she knows.”

“Are you that afraid of your paralegal?” Manning asked, frowning at him.

“Yes,” Ellery and his mother said in tandem.

Manning took a hasty step back, and Ellery tried to clarify. “She’s my future sister-in-law.”

Manning’s eyebrows went up. “Oh,” he said. “Then I fully understand. Is the bride working for the firm as well?”

“No,” Ellery said, hating this conversation in this moment with so much else at stake, “but the other groom is. In fact, we need to get this show on the roadnow,because he and our other PI are currently chasing down leads with a cadaver dog on the federal propertyright outsideof our target in Sonora.”

Manning stared at him. “Whoareyou people?” he asked, and there went Ellery’s last nerve.

“Us? We’re the people who took down the Dirty/Pretty killer,” he snapped. “And the guy who made him. We’re the people who helped bring in a busload of children about to be trafficked by the Russian mob. We’re the people who weeded out the choirboys, that group of corrupt police officers who tried to get an undercover agent to commit murder and then beat up a disabled man in a public park. We’re the people who found kids being abused in the name of God and got them the fuck out of there, andwe’rethe people who are perfectly willing to walk into the goddamned lion’s den to help you get your hands on some real fucking psychopaths, butnobody will get a goddamned move on!”

Manning gaped at him, and so did Maude Arthur, and so did his mother.

For a moment, all Ellery could hear was the ringing in his ears.

“Is there anybody else you needed on this little jaunt?” Manning asked, seemingly out of the blue.

“My law partner and my sister-in-law,” Ellery said grimly.

“Go arrange to have them meet us here,” Manning replied. “You can have two SUV’s in your entourage, and they will stop, as you requested, outside the grounds. We can equip you with listening devices so you’ll never be without backup. And as soonas you get what you need—or Ms. Arthur here gets a go-ahead on a warrant—we’ll get you out of there. Is that good enough?”

Ellery blinked. “Well, uhm,yes.Thank you. That’s exactly what we needed. Thank you.”

Manning shook his head in what looked like disbelief. “Am I really gonna meet the other guy who helped you take down the Dirty/Pretty Killer? Because my behavior analysis coordinator is going to think I’m a total badass.”

“He’s the guy out with the cadaver dog and its handler,” Ellery said weakly. “If you’ve got something more fitting for tramping through the wilderness than that suit, you can help him yourself. We’re meeting up before Mother and I go through the front door.”

“Is there anybody else you needed on this little jaunt?” Manners asked, seemingly out of the blue.

“My law partner and my sister-in-law,” Ellery said grimly.

“Go arrange to have them meet us here,” Manners replied. “You can have two SUV’s in your entourage, and they will stop, as you requested, outside the grounds. We can equip you with listening devices so you’ll never be without backup. And as soon as you get what you need—or Ms. Arthur here gets a go-ahead on a warrant—we’ll get you out of there. Is that good enough?”

Ellery blinked. “Well, uhm,yes.Thank you. That’s exactly what we needed. Thank you.”

Manners shook his head in what looked like disbelief. “Am I really gonna meet the other guy who helped you take down the Dirty/Pretty Killer? Because my behavior analysis coordinator is going to think I’m a total badass.”

“He’s the guy out with the cadaver dog and its handler,” Ellery said weakly. “If you’ve got something more fitting for tramping through the wilderness than that suit, you can help him yourself. We’re meeting up before Mother and I go through the front door.”

Manners—who had displayed an impressive poker face until now—perked up. “Really? Let me go alert my unit.”

—who had displayed an impressive poker face until now—perked up. “Really? Let me go alert my unit.”

He left, and Ellery tried to control the whirling of the room—and recent events—as he pulled out his phone. He was about to tag Jade and tell her what was up when he caught his mother staring at him in fascination.

“What?” he asked grumpily. “Was that too ostentatious?”

“Not at all,” she said, giving him a pleasant smile. “I’ve just never heard you list your resumé like that before. Between you and Jackson, you reallyarebadasses.”

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