Page 86 of Devil and the Deep Blue Fish

Jackson had to admit the smell and taste of a freshly buttered blueberry muffin really did sustain a man, both in body and soul.

The sex helped—and so did the coffee.

And so did the sleep.

That last one was something he didn’t want to think about. The open wound in his chest may have been purged and dressed, but it was still raw and red, and Jackson knew from experience that some wounds had to be healed again and again and again before the scar tissue formed.

“I managed some rest last night,” Jackson admitted, piloting Jennifer toward his old duplex on Elvas. “After forty hours ofnotsleeping, it’s like I opened a whole new dimensional plane.”

“Ouch,” Cody said. “But then, you know. Job well done.”

Cody sounded damned proud of himself, and Jackson cast him a sideways glance. The former undercover cop appeared happy and eager to roll, and a little like an Australian shepherd, face turned toward the sun and the wind, looking forward to going out and harassing the sheep until they fell in line.

“Yeah,” Jackson said, trying to remember what theyhadaccomplished last night and not what he feared had happened long before they’d been brought in on this in the most awful of ways. “Can’t let my demons get in the way,” he said.

Cody grunted. “I got me some of those,” he admitted. “Living on the streets—the things I did for a fix. God, all of it.” He shook his head. “I wake up screaming more times than I want to admit.”

Jackson’s breath caught justhearingthat.

“Same,” he admitted, and something about admitting it to somebody else who had been there… it mattered. “Sometimes the shit we cannot control, the things we should have done but couldn’t—it’scrushing.”

Cody may have been a happy puppy, but he also had a shepherd’s sensitive hearing.

“What’s got your panties in a twist, boss?” he asked.

Jackson blew out a breath. “Well, my past stuff is a massive tangle you do not want to—”

“Sure I do,” Cody said, not even batting an eyelash. “I mean, we’re partners on this gig, right?”

“Yeah,” Jackson said, bemused. It had taken him and Henrymonthsbefore he’d realized they were partners, and how awesome it was to have somebody who had your back but who didn’t have all of those…tanglingemotions that a lover did.

“Aw, c’mon, Rivers. I haven’t had a partner in crimefighting foryears—tell me we’re partners!” And then, to reaffirm every instinct Jackson had about him being an Australian shepherd, Cody held his hands in front of him like paws and panted. “Please, please, please, please,please….”

Jackson had to laugh. “Okay!” he confessed. “Okay, okay. You and me are partners.”

Cody sighed. “Until Henry’s okay, it’ll do.”

Jackson’s heart gave a twist. The wistfulness in his tone had been unmistakable. “Listen,” he said, matter-of-factly, “like I told you, someday we’ll have a third law partner in our office and we can afford to throw you more work—”

“Really?” Cody asked, so excited Jackson almost felt bad for saying it.

“Well,yeah,” Jackson said with a laugh. “Right now it’s Ellery and Galen. They each carry about thirty cases at any given time. Some of them are easy come, easy go, and some of them are, you know—”

“Like this one,” Cody said. “All hands on deck.”

“Yeah,” Jackson confirmed. “In most firms the PI to lawyer ratio isn’t quite this high but?”

“But you guys are more interested in the truth than the payout,” Cody filled in, and Jackson had to give it to the guy. He got it.

“Yes. We were going to make AJ another PI, but he’s really more comfortable as our tech guy, and we borrow Crystal sometimes—”

“Why borrow?” Cody asked.

“She works for our old firm.” Jackson lowered his voice and glanced around, which was stupid because they were in the car, but he still felt like it should be hush-hush. “They have resources we don’t always,” he said. “Access to some of the crime databases, easy entry to do financial runs. AJ can get that stuff done—hell,Ican get that stuff done—but if we want it quick and deep and dirty….”

“Gotcha,” Cody said, nodding. “She’s your gal.”

“Yeah,” Jackson said. “But we can’t afford her, really, although she keeps promising that we’ll have the perfect employment opportunity for her. We just don’t know it yet.”

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