Page 103 of Devil and the Deep Blue Fish

“Wow,” Cody said. “That was intense. You have those conversations a lot?”

Jackson grunted. “You spend enough time in the CCU, for yourselfandothers, getting hurt on the job becomes a real possibility. It’s rough to live with.”

Cody looked stricken for a moment, and then he seemed to shake himself out of it. “It was good,” he said after a moment. “What you two said. You made it clear why we had to go hauling ass out of there. You two are quick.” He let out an almost melancholy sigh. “I was never that quick. I mean, I could think on my feet undercover, but you two, digging up information, putting it together—it would have taken me weeks to get what you’ve gotten in, what? Two days?”

“It’s not only me,” Jackson told him, feeling this in his stomach. “You haven’t met the whole team, but we’ve got people running down leads on computers, and we’ve got Ellery and his mother—and they’ve both got more brain power than I could even think of, andshe’sgot connections out the yang. We’ve got Jade, who is keeping our world running while we go off and try to find out why our friend got hurt. I mean, everything from the people taking care of our first witness to Ellery’s child advocate army—that’s, you know, pulling out all the stops, calling in all the favors, going balls to the walls, and leaving nothing behind. Henry was hurt. The guy’s my partner—I need to have his back.”

Cody let out a sigh. “Man, I would give ungodly parts of my soul to work with your operation full time.”

“Enjoy it now,” Jackson said, giving a wolfish grin. “I mean, I was lying my balls off to Ellery. For all I know, we won’t even make it through the day.”

Cody perked up. “That’s the spirit. I’m totally in.”

Fish on the Surface

“ELLERY,” HISmother asked as he was piloting the Lexus through traffic, “did you forget product in your hair?”

It took every bit of concentration Ellery had to not wreck the car. “Did I do what?”

“I’m simply saying,” she told him as though commenting on the weather. “You’re usually impeccably groomed, and while you’ve shaved and plucked and bathed and combed and done all the usual things, your hair appears… unruly.”

Ellery actually felt a little sick. He and Jackson had emerged from the shower, and he’d done the usual things, but… but… he’d been planning to put on casual clothes afterward, and he’dforgottento put product in his hair. It had been water-combed, but not… notsealedto his head.

“My God,” he said, shaken. “It’s like I’m wearing mismatched shoes.”

She laughed a little and pulled something from her purse. “Don’t worry, dear. I have some. You can comb it through when we park.”

“Thanks, Mother,” he said, feeling humble.

“You’re nervous,” she said, as usual cutting through to the heart of things.

“I’m scared,” he amended. “Jackson is out there doing scary things, we’re talking to the DOJ and getting the FBI involved, for God’s sakes, and we have”—his voice trembled—“no idea. No idea how far this goes or how bad this is.” Which was why they’d discussed the FBI’s involvement after Jackson had hung up. No, Jackson didn’t know about it—and he probably wouldn’t approve. But this was kidnapping, and it spread across morethan one county, and the FBI had a claim on jurisdiction. Add in the prominence of Gannett Hoover—and the ex-con who’d been paroled in Ohio and turned up in California with a different name—and the FBI was their best bet for law enforcement.

But that didn’t mean getting their approval or their help would be easy—or timely.

His mother let out a long breath. “I… I don’t know if this will help to know, Ellery, but this particular case is a special sort of awful. I know you and Jackson have dealt with some bad guys—the Dirty/Pretty killer brought you together, for sweet heaven’s sakes. But this…. There is a heartbreaking sort of evil here, the kind that preys on children, that seeks to break all the bones in their soul and rebuild them, like how in some cultures, women were required to bind their feet, starting at a very young age. This is the same thing, but worse somehow. They’re requiring young people to bind their identities.” She took another breath. “All I can tell you is that this started when you and Jackson wouldn’t stand by and just let things happen when your friend got hurt. And when you discovered he was collateral damage in a larger war, you didn’t just hunt down your one soldier. From what I can see, Jackson had a chance to bring in Henry’s assailant, and he didn’t. You never questioned him on it either.”

“We needed to see where the kids were being kept, like Cowboy said, and we needed to see if Caleb was really dead, and if he was the only one, and—”

“And you needed to stand for people whom nobody knew about, because they had nobody else to stand for them,” she said with a small, pained smile. “Is it any wonder I want to work in your office, son? That I love throwing myself so much into your battles? I am averygood lawyer, Ellery. I have done some things I amveryproud of. But you and Jackson, working in concert, are a true and mighty force, and yes. I will stick my unwanted mother-in-law nose into anything you’ll let me so I can be a partof it, because I have done things working with the two of you that feel almost magical. Don’t be nervous, Ellery. You walk in there and own the room, because the state’s attorney general and the FBI are here to protect the public, and your tiny law firm has been doing their goddamned job for them. It’s time they pony up.”

Ellery felt his spine stiffen and his chin lift as his mother spoke, and just in time because parking was full in front of the DOJ and he had to negotiate the parking by the levy. First, though, he dropped his mother off so she could start the meeting on time if he couldn’t find any, and as she stepped out of the vehicle, he leaned over so she could hear him.

“Mother?”

“Yes, dear?”

“I love you dearly, which you know. But you should also know that Jackson adores you and is secretly grateful for every moment you spend embroiled in our cases.”

She thew her head back and laughed as she was slamming the door behind her.

He was in no way discouraged—it had needed to be said.

Parking reallywasa bear midday, and Ellery hustled up in time to be ushered into the AG’s office along with his mother, and he tried to control his breathing.

“You’re barely out of breath,” his mother remarked.

“I have to run in the morning with Jackson,” he reminded her, keeping his voice low. “Keeps us both in shape.”

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