Page 64 of Devil and the Deep Blue Fish

“Yes,” Cody said. “Turn right at the next intersection, my treat. It’s not Starbucks, but it’s close and independently operated.”

“Fair,” Jackson said. “So I’m making sense?”

“If I was still on the force, with an entire department at my disposal and the DA on speed dial?” Cody prefaced.

“Yeah?”

“I’d be giving out assignments in a briefing room and having search warrants started. Why haven’t you contacted the po-po again?”

“Because Cowboy would have to testify,” Jackson said grimly. “And once a kid hits the system like that….”

“Gotcha. And now it’s not just Cowboy, is it?”

“No. It’s anybody these monster-twats have ever touched. I want to find out what they’re doing and who they’re doing it for. I want them wrapped up and arrested and in cuffs and put away where they don’t have a chance to even see where we got ourinformation before our witnesses talk to a single person with a badge.”

He didn’t ask if he was making himself clear now, because he didn’t care. Goddammit, he knew who he worked for.

Cowboy. Otto. Isabelle.

And Henry. Who would fight to the death for any of them—and almost had.

“Wow,” Cody said with a sigh.

“What?”

“A year ago, I would have argued with you until you kicked me out of the car. But then, a year ago….”

His brothers hadn’t turned on him and used him as a scapegoat to mask their own corruption.

“It’s a shitty lesson,” Jackson admitted, pulling into the queue at a kiosk that had a big placard on the front announcing the Midnight Bean. “But lucky me, it means tonight I’ve got somebody riding shotgun who knows about a brand-new coffee place. I’m stoked.”

“Are you stoked enough to get one of their sausage/egg empanadas?” Cody asked hopefully. “Because it’s teatime. You know, not dinner, but still….”

“You’re feeling a little peckish,” Jackson said dryly. “I hear you.” His headache throbbed behind his eyes with his pulse, and he thought about Ellery asking if he’d eaten again. “I might join you,” he conceded. “It might be our last chance to eat for a few. We should take it.”

Oh my God. I must be a grown-up. I didn’t even have to fight withmyself!

Besides, sometimes carbs could substitute for sleep when one was desperate enough.

A few minutes later, a jumbo-sized sugar caramel pistachio latte with some coffee in it in the drink holder, he munched atthe flaky crust of the breakfast pastry at five in the afternoon and decided Cody had good instincts for this kind of thing.

“I’ve never been there before,” he said through a full mouth. “I’m gonna have to….” He trailed off before he could say “take Henry there” because it felt rude and also like he might jinx Henry’s recovery just suggesting it.

But Cody wasn’t stupid. “Don’t worry about it. He’ll be fine, and I’ll be benched in no time.”

“No reason to be benched,” Jackson said. “I mean,we’retapped out at present, but you know. We’re not the only game in town.”

Cody shook his head. “I don’t know if I could do cheating spouses and workman’s comp fraud. It feels so….”

Jackson blew out a breath, because he was well aware that he’d lucked out. Jade had been a paralegal for Lyle Langdon, and she’d talked Jackson up after he’d gotten his license. Since Pfeist, Langdon, Harrelson, and Cooper had been one of the premiere criminal defense firms in the area, Jackson had been able to cut his teeth on more action as a PI than he might have gotten as a flatfoot, if he hadn’t been given to a corrupt trainer.

But then… “There’s more than one criminal defense firm out there,” he said. “And Fingerling, Loser, Hamster, and Cottonmouth might take a recommendation from Ellery.”

“Didn’t they, like,firehim?” Cody asked uncertainly.

“Well, yes,” Jackson said. “But reluctantly. Jade and I, on the other hand, left sort of an impression upon exiting.”

Cody snickered. “I saw the picture behind Jade’s desk when I changed. Jade’s ass is, of course, fabulous, but it’s good to see you’ve put on a little weight since then.”

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