Page 89 of Devil and the Deep Blue Fish

“He checks in on us all the time,” Nilas said. “Just so you know.”

“Thanks,” Jackson said, smiling at the kid. It was nice to have backup. Then he turned his attention to the young people around the table and pulled up a seat. “So here’s the thing. We’re trying to bring down the shitheads. We need your help.”

“Bring them down?” muttered Danny, who seemed to be the kid who could hold on to a grudge with two fists. “What the hell do you mean bring them down? Youfoundus in there. Isn’t having us all there not bad enough?”

“We need proof,” Aileen said. “Specific incidents, examples of behavior modification and child abuse.” She sat down next to Jackson. “And we need it corroborated by the other kids from the place.”

Jackson grunted. “That’s what Miss Aileen needs. And that’s going to bring down the whole house of cards that held you guys—make no mistake. But I’m trying to bring down the money men. The guys that funded that nightmare. The guys that put them up to it—”

“Nobody had to put Retty up tonothin’,” Danny muttered, eyes narrowed. “That bitch was on us every day. Liked to administer punishments, loved to take away rations. And when anybody made a break for it, she would fucking run you down. She wouldn’t even always take you in, you know?” He gave a chin jerk to Otto. “Sometimes she’d just stalk kids, let them know sheknew where you were. Then when she needed something, she’d throw them scraps of food and have them go do shit. Pick some guy’s pocket. Put out for somebody. Whatever it was that you got poor Otto here on.”

Jackson caught Otto’s eye and winked. He was going to make this kid a legend.

“Molotov cocktail through a lawyer’s window,” he said boldly, just to watch Danny and Enrique’s impressed expressions. “Fortunately, I know the guy, and he’s not pressing charges.”

“Knows the guy.” Geordie chuckled. “Look at him, getting all modest. Knows the guy.”

“What do you mean?” Danny asked, suddenly suspicious.

“They’reengaged,” Geordie told him patiently, popping the last of the sausages in his mouth. “They’re, like, made of good works, these people. Knows a guy.”

“Anyway,” Jackson said, rolling his eyes, “I need more dirt. Who gave Retty her orders?”

“Engaged?” said Danny, obviously stuck on this point. “Like, to a guy?”

Jackson grimaced. “Thanks, Geordie, for totally derailing this conversation.”

“It’s important,” Danny said, his voice rising, and suddenly Jackson had nowhere to focus but on this kid.

“It is to me,” Jackson said softly. “It is to Ellery—the, uhm, guy.”

“It’s important,” Danny said again, like he was struggling for purchase, emotions windmilling.

“Okay,” Jackson said, exchanging glances with Aileen. “You’re right. It’s important. I know why it’s important tome,Danny. Why is it important to you?”

“Because we spentweeksin that place. Where they didn’t give us food unless we said their stupid prayers. Where theythreatened to cut off our dicks if we liked who we liked. Where we weren’t allowed to talk to each other because theylistened,but they could walk into our rooms any damned time they wanted, just to check to see if we had boners or not. And you—you’re going tomarrya guy, and you’re not ashamed of it, and you’re kickass and not stupid.You’rewho we all want to be, and you gottafront,man, like, wear that shit! We gottaseeyou’re fronting, and you’re wearing that shit, and it’snotevil, and it’snotsomething that should get your dick put in a clothespin, and it’snotthe fuckin’ devil. I don’t give a shit if your guy’s a fuckin’troll,man—you fuckin’front.”

Jackson slow blinked and swallowed, suddenly seeing how self-deprecation, self-annihilation—all of the painful, twisting his guts shit that he put himself through on a regular basis, up to and including his memories of that terrible night when he and Kaden had called child services, could be offensive to this kid.

As far as Danny and Enrique and Otto were concerned, Jackson hadmade it.He hadn’t just “made it out,” he wasdoingthe thing they’d just been tortured for, and getting married in a park on a sunny day in June—which had been his only requirement for a wedding—was the dream they’d dared not dream.

It was his job to make it a worthwhile dream, until they had their own Ellery to cling to.

He managed a little bit of swagger and a wink. “Do youthinkI’d be marrying a troll?”

Danny, who had been on the verge of tears, stopped on a gulp, and next to him, Enrique snickered.

“You saw him last night,” Aileen said softly. “He came in with the rest of my team, remember?”

“Flannel-shirt guy?” Enrique asked dubiously.

“He usually wears a suit,” Jackson said, keeping his voice firm. “And he’s kickass enough to pull Aileen and her team out of their, uhm, pajamas—”

“Oh, they know about bra o’clock,” Aileen said dryly.

“Okay,” Jackson said, sending her a grin. “He managed to pull five professionals to the hospital after bra o’clock. And he did it for you.” He sobered. “How kickass is that?”

“This place ain’t bad,” Enrique said. Then, his voice aching, “How long can we stay?”

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