Page 125 of Devil and the Deep Blue Fish

“The wedding thing?” Ellery said, sounding amused—and tired, but also amused.

“Yeah. I tried to make that not such a big deal today. I was talking to kids who’d been victimized, terrorized, who had seen their friend die. And one of them got so mad. He said we wereimportant.They had to see that a happy ever after was possible. They had to see that people like them could be a family, could have a day to celebrate, could have love.”

Ellery rubbed his cheek against Jackson’s chest, and Jackson could feel the dampness of tears. “What did you say?”

Jackson smiled in the dark. “I said you weren’t a troll, for starters.”

Ellery chuckled weakly. “What else?”

“I said I was so looking forward to marrying you. God, Ellery, we see some of the worst shit. But we have so many good people in our lives. It makes dealing with the worst shit possible, you know?”

“I do,” Ellery said, and he sounded so sleepy that for a moment Jackson thought that was it. It was okay, he figured, because they would wake up like this too. They would work quietly in the office together, like they did, and they wouldget the grunt work that usually they hated out of the way and appreciate the paperwork for a chance to give them some peace.

Then Ellery said, “By the way, Galen wants us to hire Arizona Brooks as our third partner, and Mother would like to share the office with her when she’s in town so she can help us.”

Jackson’s eyes shot open in the dark. “I’m sorry?”

“And I think we’re renting the offices next door—Galen and Mother say you need an entire room for the PI end of the business—one to meet clients and keep computers and clothes and all that other stuff you’re currently shoving into Jade’s space.”

“But—” Jacksontreasuredthose quiet moments they worked together in Ellery’s office.

“Apparently Galen already checked out the space. It would be right across the hall from my office, once the separating wall is broken down. You’d have the room for you and Henry and Cody and AJ, and then when it’s time for you and me to work, we’d still have our space.”

“Oh my God,” Jackson said, his mind racing. “You… you saidyesto this?”

“It was the damnedest thing,” Ellery said, sounding truly lost. “I called Arizona to apologize to her for leaving her out of the loop, and the next thing I knew, she was agreeing to be a partner, and her part of the buy-in will help cover the cost of a remodel. I… I guess we’re expanding, you know? We need two more associates, by the way. And two more paralegals.”

Jackson chuckled at the mention of paralegal secretaries. “Jade will have people to boss around,” he mumbled. “And new challenges herself. She’ll be over the moon.”

His sister and Taylor and Galen and Henry and Cody and AJ and even Arizona Brooks, who had been an adversary and was now a friend.

The thought of all of them, working together, doing good—it released the final bit of tension from his chest.

“Wow,” he said, falling into sleep. “Ellery, we have so much to do.”

“And so many people to help,” Ellery said, obviously sinking into his own sleep.

“I never knew what a difference love could make in my life,” he whispered, and Ellery snuggled just a little bit closer, and then they were both clutching each other in dreams.

Good dreams, for once. For all the horrors they’d seen, for the physical discomfort in Jackson’s arm and the stupid inevitable fever growing in his bones, for the stress and fears of the day, Jackson’s demons finally gave him some peace.

Although he was well aware there would be future battles to come.

THE NEXTmorning, he was the first one up, making coffee and starting a breakfast frittata even before Ellery’s mother arose. Yes, he was feverish, but he’d taken his medication without badgering from Ellery today. Too much to do. Taking care of himself had to be a no-brainer, not a struggle.

When Lucy Satan finally came out of her room, disconcertingly dressed in a classy leisure suit in winter white with dark blue accents, she had left her makeup off and was wearing her thick black hair in a disarming ponytail.

He realized that she was perhaps in her mid-fifties. Her promise to be part of their firm held teeth—she would be whipcrack smart and vigorous for many years to come.

“Coffee?” she said. “How kind.” She took her mug to the table and sat for a moment—just sat—and inhaled the steam of a giant mug of coffee with cream and raw sugar.

He was sure that for her this was like dessert in the morning.

“Jackson,” she said after a moment, as he fried the vegan sausage for the frittata. “Have you given any thought to what happened to your sister since we last spoke of that?”

Jackson fumbled the spatula, picked it up off the floor and turned the water on it while he wiped the mess up with a paper towel. “I’m sorry?”

She gave him a faint smile. “Don’t panic, young man. It’s just when she was taken away from your mother, you were a child. I know… I know your life has been such that it probably hasn’t occurred to you, but you are very much an adult now. In fact you’re an adult with a very select set of skills that might help you find some answers.”

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