Page 60 of Devil and the Deep Blue Fish

“Of course,” she said. “But tomorrow morning, before I come to work, I’m going to come talk to you. I’ll only be there for a little—remember, I’ll need to leave—and you can spend the day with Geordie and Nilas again, and all the video games you want, but we need to talk, young man. Do we have a deal?”

He considered carefully, and his eyes darted to the window. He closed them and swallowed. “Will you punish me?”

“No,” she said gravely. “But we will find a way for you to work that off. Is that acceptable?”

He swallowed and nodded again. “Food?” he all but begged. “She told me she’d feed me, but I had to do a thing first. I’m sure she’s gone by now.”

“Baby,” she said frankly, “between you and me, I don’t think she ever meant to give you any food. But don’t worry. I do. Nicky, you stay here with him, Ellery’s going to get some food, and I’m going to go prep my car. What’s your name, son?”

“Otto,” he said promptly. Then, a little bit embarrassed. “Don’t laugh,” he whispered. “My parents were German.”

“Nothing to laugh about,” she said, and Ellery found himself nodding soberly with Lewis and Nicky. “It’s a fine name. Nilas’s parents are from Norway, and Geordie’s parents were from Africa. Sacramento is a pretty lively mix here—it’s not a problem.”

“Good,” he said, shooting them all a nervous smile. “I like ‘Otto.’”

“What’s not to like,” Ellery said diplomatically. “Let me get you a sandwich.”

TEN MINUTESlater Jade drove off with Otto in the back of her vehicle, and Ellery provided Nicky with generous amounts of soap and a sink in which to wash up.

“Dude,” he said plaintively to Lewis. “Could you run and get my extra T-shirt from the car? I gotta, like, shove this whole thing into a trash bag.” He indicated his jeans, sport coat, and T-shirt, all of which stretched over his muscles in alarming ways.

“I texted Killian already,” Lewis said, sitting on Jade’s counter with the sort of blissful ignorance of somebody who didn’t realize he was courting death. He glanced over at Ellery. “He’s got some plywood in his trunk for your window,” he said, “so you can keep the rain out until you get it replaced.”

Ellery—who had been contacting a glazier on Jade’s computer—glanced up gratefully.

“Thanks,” he said. “I don’t think they can get here to replace it until next week.”

“Yeah, that’s bullshit,” Lewis said. “Let me talk to my boss—he tends to motivate people.” He hopped off the counter. “I think I hear Killian now—”

“Ellery!” Jackson hollered from the base of the stairs. “Ellery, are you okay?”

“Wrong boyfriend,” Ellery said dryly. “Mine tends to—”

He must have levitated up the stairs, because Ellery barely heard a clatter.

“—freak out,” he finished as Jackson burst through the door. “Jackson, calm down. We’re fine. Everything’s fine. Nobody’s dead. Believe it or not, wecanhandle a crisis without you.”

“Who’s we?” Jackson asked suspiciously before catching sight of Lewis. “Hi, Lewis—are you and your—whoa! Hi, Nicky! Are you two ‘we’?”

“Jade helped,” Lewis said before glancing over at Nicky, who stood without his shirt, only Ellery’s towel wrapped aroundhis shoulders to ward off the chill. “God, Nicky, you could put an eye out.”

Nicky gave a good-natured chuckle. “’Cause my nipples?” he asked. “Yeah—my girlfriend likes to say they could cut glass.”

Ellery fought the urge to scrub his face with his hands.

“Heya,” came a voice behind Jackson. “’Scuse me. I’ve got clothes for my friend in there—oh my God, Nicky, your nipples—that’s amazing.”

Ellery and Jackson turned toward the tall, quietly handsome man with dark hair in a queue bearing a bag of clothes in one hand and a few planks of wood under his arm. “Mr. Rivers?” he asked. “Hey.”

“Hey, Killian,” Jackson said, stepping aside. Ellery had no idea how Jackson would know Lewis’s boyfriend, but he was not surprised either. “Here,” Jackson continued, “you make Nicky decent, me and Cody will put the window in, and Ellery will come and explaineverything. How’s that?”

“Deal,” Killian said, handing off the particle board. “I’ve got more in the car.” Then, to Ellery’s amusement, he cast a rather beleaguered glance at Lewis. “Every time,” he said, to which Lewis gave an unrepentant grin.

“Wait till I tell you how Nicky got to be a superhero.Epic.”

A FEWminutes later, after Jackson started the window thing and Killian and Cody Gabriel took over, he managed a moment of quiet conversation.

“You didn’t have to worry,” Ellery said softly. “It was just a—”

---