Page 16 of Devil and the Deep Blue Fish

“I kissed a boy,” Cowboy whispered. “I’m a fag.”

Jackson breathed in carefully. “That’s not bad,” he said. “Except the name-calling. That’s bad. But the kissing a boy? Everybody in the car’s done it, kid. You’re in good company.”

Cowboy batted clotted eyelashes at him. “You’ve kissed a boy?” he asked, almost desperate.

“I kissed my fiancé tonight, before I ran into the darkness to find you,” Jackson told him. “Did this Retty person say you were bad?”

Cowboy nodded, his face streaked with tears. “She said we were all bad. It was her job to train us up so we didn’t all go to hell.”

Jackson blew out a breath. “Train you how?” he asked.

A shake of the head. “Don’t know. She scared me. I escaped before I could find out.”

“That’s notbad,” Jackson told him with feeling. “That’ssmart.Good for you, getting away like that.”

Cowboy swallowed. “I met the two men in front of the church,” he said. “And… and at first I thought they were just a trick.”

For a moment Jackson was thrown off, but he found his footing again. “They’re not like that,” he said kindly. “You’re so very young.”

The boy nodded. “But they took me to go get a burger. And I was so happy. They got me a burger and a shake and took me back to the car and….” He caught his breath. “That’s when I saw her. She… she’d been watching us from her car. Like she was there for food too and… and she justsawus. And she was playing on her phone and… and shesaw me.” His voice actually squeaked.

Jackson frowned. “Did you tell John and Galen—the two men who brought you burgers—that you saw her?”

“I said we had to go,” Cowboy said. “I… I was so scared. She stared at us and played on her phone and stared some more. Andthey asked me why I was so scared, and I… I couldn’t tell them about Caleb, how he screamed when he went back. I tried, but I… I cried a lot. And I thought we left her at the hamburger place, but Henry and I were all clean and dry on the couch, and there was a knock at the door, and it washer,and she said her name was….” He frowned, like he was going to try to reason it out, but the words took over his mouth instead. “I don’t remember!” he almost sobbed. “It was something else I don’t remember! And I told Henry it washer,thebad lady,and Henry told me and Isabelle to run, to escape out the window.”

Isabelle released the boy’s hand and wrapped her arm around his shoulders instead. “It’s okay,” she murmured.

“He… he made sure we were gone,” Cowboy said. “And then he let her in, and we were on the ground running, and we heard shots, and….” He tried to catch himself, but he was too far gone. “And I don’t know if Henry’sokay!” he wailed.

Isabelle wrapped her arm around the boy’s head protectively and gave Jackson a speaking glance.

Jackson nodded at her and turned around gratefully, his head spinning from the story and the enforced time staring backward. His stomach, which had spent the evening being gently catered to with the brothy wonton soup and the fresh bread, was suddenly pitching and weaving like a drunken sailor on a stormy deck.

But most of that, he knew, was the kid’s story.

“Okay,” he murmured. “All right, then. We know what we’re dealing with.”

“You know who hurt my brother?” Dex asked.

Jackson shook his head. “Only kind of,” he replied. “But we know how she found them. He said she kept playing with her phone. I’m going to bet that the meetup was random. She was out for a burger. Maybe she was hunting kids like Cowboy—hell, maybe she was even huntinghimsince he escaped a couple weeks ago, but suddenly he’s delivered into her lap.”

“But he’s with two men,” Dex said, like suddenly he understood the significance.

“Exactly. So I’m not great with phones and clones, but if she saw John and Galeninthe burger place and then did the phone thing—”

“How do you know she didn’t simply follow them?” Dex asked.

“Because it took her a while,” Jackson said. “It would have been easier to just grab him before they entered Isabelle’s apartment. She was armed. She could have taken them out easily—hell, all three of them. But she had tofindthem first. I need….” He sighed. “God, I need for your brother to be okay.”

Next to him, he heard Dex swallow. “You know, he served fornineyears, and the only times he’s been hurt have been here in Sacramento.”

“That you know of,” Jackson told him gently. “Dex, your brother’s tougher than you might ever know. What he did? Making sure Isabelle and Cowboy were out of the apartment building and stalling before he opened the door for this… thismonster? That was smart. He was keeping that woman engaged for as long as possible. She shot himinIsabelle’s room. He led her down the hall before slamming the door in her face and having a shootout through a wall. And hetaggedher. He got her. She was bleeding when she left. It’s the only reason she didn’t go after them. He’s smart and strong and tough enough.” Jackson’s head of steam escaped. “And God….God,I hope he’s okay.”

To his horror he heard his voice shake, and he glanced down at his hands as he pulled his phone from the pocket of his hooded sweatshirt.

Still stained a mottled, rain-washed pink.

Henry’s blood.

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