Page 62 of Devil and the Deep Blue Fish

Ellery’s heart thundered in his ears, and he had to remind himself that not only was there no danger anymore, he and Jackson were surrounded by able folk willing to help.

“And last night—” he began.

“Cowboy was the package,” Jackson finished. “This isn’t done yet. So it’s important that Cody and I go do some spy shit.” He glanced around. “Have you talked to Nicky yet?”

The giant man had emerged from behind the receptionist’s desk wearing cargo shorts that fit, as well as a short-sleeved polo shirt thatbarelyfit and a hooded sweatshirt that looked like it was size 4X just to accommodate Nicky’s arms and shoulders.

“No,” Ellery said. “He was on his way in when he caught our second wayward boy.”

Jackson nodded. “Don’t get mad. I’m going to have him and Lewis walk you to your car, andyouare going to drive to Mike and Jade’s and stay there until you hear from me, okay?”

“Jackson—” he said, irritated, but Jackson cut him off.

“No. This is serious. Bertha Dunkel—aka Piper Lutz—was thegetaway driverfor Shitbag Retty. These people got nothing if not commitment. And then you were shitty to Piper Lutz/Bertha Dunkel, and they retaliated by sending one of their rejected boys here with abomb,Ellery. The kid might have botched the delivery, but youdounderstand that’s what Molotov cocktails are, right?”

“I do,” Ellery murmured reluctantly.

“Good. So this is serious. Henry isin the hospital, and you know he’svery capable.Yes, I know you have a weapon, and yes, I know you’re not stupid, but….” Jackson gave him a pleading look. “Just do this for me, okay? I do all your stupid crap—I eat, Itag you between runs, I try to sleep. It’s your job to pony up and go somewhere safe while I’m doing my thing. You understand?”

Ellery bristled. “It’s not ‘stupid crap,’ as you so eloquently put it??”

Jackson cocked his head, and that’s all it took. Ellery was a lawyer. Logic was his forte. If what he asked Jackson to do wasn’t “stupid crap” then Jackson was making a perfectly reasonable request.

“Fine,” Ellery muttered with little grace. “Fine. You and Cody go out and skulk around corners. I understand. But before you go, you should know my mother was talking seriously about buying property along the coast, the better to be here with five hours’ notice, and as it is, she and my father are flying out in two days to visit Henry. So enjoy knowing that while Iask our clientsfor protection.”

Jackson scowled at hm. “You are a petty, savage little man, do you know that?”

“And you love me,” Ellery told him smugly. Then he made little fluttering motions with his fingers. “Now go. Scoot. Vamoose. You and Cody have ‘things’ to do.”

Jackson swooped in for a hard kiss, but then, at the last moment, he softened. Pulling back a little, he smiled and tapped Ellery on the cheek.

“Stay safe, Counselor,” he said, meeting Ellery’s eyes with his own glass-green gaze.

“Same goes for you, Detective,” Ellery said softly. He glanced over Jackson’s shoulder. “Mr. Gabriel?”

Cody was in the middle of sweeping up the last of the available mess, and he paused. “Yeah?”

“You got one job to do. You understand that, right?”

Cody snorted. “Better men than me,” he said, giving Jackson a meaningful look. “But I’ll give it a go.”

“It’s all I can ask for.” Ellery sighed. “You’ll eat?”

“I’m still full from lunch!” Jackson protested.

“You’ll call or text?”

“Whenever I can.”

“Take care.”

“Will do.”

And he was gone.

Ellery was left staring at the plywood neatly duct-taped to the broken window on both the insideandthe outside, and the duct-tape-and-towel “patch” that Killian and Cody had put down on the burned spot on the rug.

He turned toward Nicky, Lewis, and Killian and said, “Well. That was some unexpected excitement. Nicky, what am I doing for you again?”

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