Page 124 of Devil and the Deep Blue Fish

Jackson told them that they were free to come home at any time, and made a mental note to ask the advocates to put a speed order on the foster care papers that would let that happen.

Then Kryzynski told him that they were going to stay two more days and sent him another picture, this one a selfie of him and Billy, their own ears perched happily on their heads, in the same spot.

The pictures were so wholesome after what had just happened, what they’d seen, heard,knew,that Jackson’s eyes stung, and he heard Ellery take a shuddering breath next to him as he peered over Jackson’s shoulder in the back seat of the Lexus.

Cody had opted to drive the minivan—alone—without Jackson, which all by itself qualified him for the job.

When they got home that night after dropping Galen off, it was to find Lance in their house, sitting on the couch with the cats, with a giant chicken casserole in the oven and a quart of ice cream in the freezer.

Jackson, Ellery, Taylor, Jade, and Cody fell upon the food like ravening wolves, while Lance explained that after Jackson had texted Dex to tell him that they’d apprehended Henry’s shooter and gotten Cowboy disentangled from any sort of witness duties, Dex had suggested—none too gently—that the lot of them had probably had a helluva day and would appreciate a gesture.

“Bobby and Reg are at John’s place,” Lance said humbly, dishing up some salad to go with the casserole. “But Henry has a key here, and….” He managed to meet their eyes. “I had some amends to make.”

“You were worried about your boy,” Jackson said kindly, but Lance shook his head.

“No. No, it was more than that. I wasjealousof all the time he spends, not just with you, but doing this job. And it wasn’tfair of me. He puts up with doctors’ hours every damned day. I just….” He smiled bitterly. “Being afraid for him is something I need to get used to. It’s worth it.” He flashed them an honest smile. “I mean, it’sHenry,right? I forgot, the other night, that everybody in this room—” He gave Cody a confused glance. “Except you—I don’t know you—but everybody else here loves Henry too.”

“I love the guy,” Cody said through a mouthful of french bread. “Trust me—good people.”

Jackson chuckled weakly. “Lance Luna, Cody Gabriel. Cody Gabriel, Lance Luna. We met during that case right before Thanksgiving.”

Lance blinked. “The… the undercover policeman,” he said softly, and if Henry had told him anything about that case, odds were good Lance knew all sorts of things about Cody’s past that he could makeveryuncomfortable right about now.

But Lance smiled at Cody instead. “Henry thought you were brave as fuck,” he said. “I didn’t know you were taking his job while he’s out. I’m glad somebody’s got Jackson’s back.” He met Jackson’s eyes then. “He’s always—always—had ours.”

CODY LEFTshortly after that, taking the minivan, which he praised affectionately on the way out. Lance offered to give Jade a ride to the duplex and to check in on the kids on the other side while he was there. It was, he said, something Henry would probably take over when he got out of the hospital in a week.

The exhalation of relief that statement caused made him smile.

Taylor, who had been quiet and exhausted—and rightfully so, because weren’t they all—had retired almost immediately after. Ellery had given his mother a long heartfelt hug before she turned to the bedroom, and Jackson, keenly conscious of all the times in the past two days Ellery’s mother had saved his lifeby saying the simple words “I love you” time and time again, stepped up before she could turn away.

“A hug?” she asked, eyes wide and glossy. “Voluntarily? Oh, my darling boy, you arespoilingme!”

Jackson engulfed her, conscious that she was smaller than he was but that her spirit was mighty. “I love you, Lucy Satan,” he whispered. “Your evil plan succeeded. Well done.”

She clung to him for an extra moment and then pulled away, wiping her eyes. “You and I have some more talking to do, young man,” she said. “But for tonight I’m going to take your poor clumsy kitten to bed and take that as the win it is.” She stood on tiptoe to kiss his cheek. “I love you too, Jackson. We’ll work at making the words easier to say.”

And with that she scooped Lucifer up from where he was complainingloudlyat her feet and stalked off to bed with dignity.

And a purring three-legged black cat who seemed absolutely besotted with her.

Lance had cleaned up before he left, so after a quick turn in the shower for each of them—and a rebandaging of Jackson’s arm, which was, given all that had befallen that day, theleastof their worries—they fell into bed.

Jackson’s need to hold Ellery to his chest and simplybe,alive, whole, and for this brief moment,still,was constricting his breath.

The moment they slid together in the dark, Billy Bob purring and kneading Jackson’s head, his lungs relaxed and he could get oxygen again.

“Ellery?” he said softly.

“Yeah?”

“This case was awful. It was… it was almost the worst thing I’ve ever seen.”

One of the three bodies pulled out of the first disposal site had been identified as Caleb Greavy before Manning had given them permission to go home. There were three more—all of which had been discovered by Preacher at the third site after Damien had taken Retty to the nearest hospital—all of them teenaged boys.

“Me too,” Ellery said softly.

“After something that awful, hugging your mother, telling her I loved her—that’s like a no-brainer. Telling Jade the same thing—God, even texting Henry—it just… I am so grateful for all of our people. I… that thing we’re doing. The one in June?”

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