Page 20 of Devil and the Deep Blue Fish

And a shudder.

God, Ellery knew how much Jackson hated hospitals.

“We need to talk to John and Galen,” he said after a moment, before peering around. “Where’s Lance?”

Ellery grimaced. “Trying to find somebody to come in for him and work his shift,” he said, not wanting to tell Jackson about Lance’s real state of mind. “And probably—”

“Freaking the fuck out,” Jackson muttered.

Ellery gave a little laugh. “Never stopped you from doing your job.” He took a deep breath and gave one last hand squeeze. “Come on. Let’s update.”

John had stopped his manic pacing, and Galen was standing, going through a set of stretches that appeared to be a familiar regimen. Both men were wearing sweats and hoodies, and Ellery was surprised to see Jackson pull out his phone and snap a picture.

“What in thehell?” Galen demanded, honestly surprised.

“It’s for Henry,” Jackson said, only a muscle in his cheek betraying his worry. “Because if I tell him you were wearingsweatsand not a suit, he’ll think I’m lying. He told me once hewas pretty sure you had cotton suits made, complete with vests and jackets, to sleep in.”

Galen’s surprised snort of laughter was followed by an immediate panicked expression of horror.

“It’s okay if you laugh,” John said dryly, coming up behind him and putting a gentle hand on his hip. “He wouldn’t have told you that if he wasn’t trying to lighten the mood.”

Galen swallowed and then nodded. “I… I am most upset,” he said, obviously tamping down on a great deal more than “upset.” “To take a simple job of babysitting and use it to become a hero? Rude.” Galen faked a disgusted sniff. “Had to make it all about saving the nice lady and the kid. Not a thought for the rest of us. How could he?”

“That’s my boy,” John murmured quietly, and Galen nodded, obviously calmed down enough to assume his favorite mantle of disdain.

“Good,” Jackson said. “I need you both here in mindandspirit. I assume Crystal has taken care of your phones?”

“Yes,” Galen said, disgruntled. “Apparently mine was the culprit—it had been cloned, I assume, when I was sitting at one of the tables under the eaves while John and Cowboy went in to get food.”

“So she must have seen you all go in,” Jackson said, nodding. “Okay. Good. I think it was a really shitty accident that had Retty there—”

“Cowboy confirmed her name?” Ellery asked, and Jackson made a face.

“And gave me another one—sort of,” he said. “And an idea about power structure. I’m going tomorrow to talk to them again, after the kid’s had a good night’s sleep and feels safe, and then they’re all vamoosing.”

“Wait—who all?” John asked.

When Jackson spoke next, Ellery could tell he still didn’t entirely trust that they weren’t being bugged. “K-Ski and his boyfriend.”

John and Galen glanced at each other. “Oh,” John said carefully, his eyes darting around. “I think it’s safe to talk, Jackson. Are they okay with the situation?”

This time Ellery actually saw his shoulders twitch. “You’re right,” Jackson muttered. “Dammit. It’s me and hospitals. Ramps up my paranoia. You wouldn’t believehow bad. Anyway, yeah. Dex’ll tell you the details, though. He offered to pony up the money.” Jackson had spent, quite literally, years of his life recovering from injuries he’d incurred on the job. The more he came in, the worse his fear of hospitals got. He hadn’t said a word until now, but he was sure John knew how much Jackson hated it here.

He loved Ellery—and Henry—more.

“Course,” John said with a shrug. “Whatever they need.” Then he asked the obvious question. “We’re not trusting them in protective custody?”

Jackson and Ellery both shook their heads. “Not until we get a better idea of what’s going on,” Jackson said. “I can tell you what I know, and then tomorrow, when we’re doing research and running down leads, you’ll have an idea of where to go with this.”

“These women wield a lot of power,” Ellery said quietly. “Still. You know that. And for better or worse, if Cowboy comes forward to testify, he’s not the one who’s going to be exposed.”

“I can handle it,” John said staunchly, but Ellery found himself, surprisingly enough, shaking his head.

“You and Galen do far too much good,” he said. “And if you ever tell my mother I said that, I’ll deny it. But you protect a lot of vulnerable young men with your businesses, and they would be exposed too. No. Let’s see if we can run down someinformation that will allow the DA to build a case without exposing Cowboy or Henry to having to testify.” He glanced at Galen, who, he had to admit, had become to him what Henry had become to Jackson in the last year. “You know how these things work, Galen. You know that the people who end up hurt are very often the ones in the spotlight, not the ones who committed the crime.”

Galen grunted and nodded. “I find your keenness of intellect quite disturbing sometimes,” he said at last.

“I’ve heard worse,” Ellery returned, in what Jackson liked to call his “prissy” voice. “Jackson, give us some details before this room gets very crowded and Lance gets here.”

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