Page 96 of Devil and the Deep Blue Fish

Ellery gave a short laugh. “Jackson. He, Kaden, Jade—they grew up watching old movies on an old TV. Apparently it’s one of the places he’s always wanted to visit.”

“Well,” Galen said, as though still putting that together. “That’s special. Do we know where this Gannett Hooverisin Sonora?”

“Indeed we do,” Ellery said, feeling a little smug. “Why? Because the property deed was in the stuff Jackson photographed and sent us. And why was it in the Moms for Clean Living files?”

“Please, tell me…,” Galen breathed.

“Oh yes. Because it’s deeded tothemas part of the convoluted money-laundering scheme that it’s going to take an entire platoon of forensic accountants to piece together.”

“Oh, who cares!” Galen dismissed. “What matters is the connection! You know that, right?”

“No, Galen, I was born yesterday.” Galen wasn’t the only one with a corner on the Sahara-dry commentary market.

“But you can getin,” Galen said excitedly. “You can get a warrant, and you can go in there, and you can find….” He trailed off. “What do you think you’ll find?”

And this was where the paper trail failed, because this was all hearsay. “Bodies,” Ellery said, his own voice suddenly serious. “As in more than one. Jackson suspects that this is where Moms for Clean Living has been taking… packages.”

“Packages,” Galen repeated numbly. Then, “Packagessuch as Cowboy’s friend, Caleb?”

“Yes,” Ellery told him, rubbing his stomach as it rebelled against the thought. “And some of the missing children who weren’t kept around the mansion as a sort of army of thieves, to do dirty work for the organization so they didn’t starve.”

There was a stunned silence on the other end of the line.

“And,” Ellery added while Galen was digesting, “we suspect the woman who shot Henry might be there as well. Jackson and Cody found her getting treated for the gunshot wound Henry inflicted, but she was spirited away before they could question her. They heard her captors talking about ‘packages,’ and Jackson….”

“Put it together,” Galen said, as though he had just done the same thing. “And then you found out who was funding the organization, and you came up with Sonora. I get it. It’s a serpentine mess, but I get it.” He paused. “I’m starting to get a lot of things, in fact.”

“Like what?” Ellery asked, not sure what he meant by that.

“Like why the two of you never talk about the Dirty/Pretty killer,” Galen said frankly. “I’ve read all about it—I’ve spent nearly a year wanting to ask you how that happened. But now… I can see why the two of you wouldn’t want to even remember it.”

Ellery let out a harsh bark ofsomething.Sure as shit wasn’t laughter. “Oh, Galen,” he said brokenly, remembering the way Jackson had come apart the night before, fracturing so completely it had taken Elleryandhis mother to put him back again. “There’s even more to that story than you can imagine. And I’m not sure if either of us willeverbe ready to share it.”

“Well, that is a shame,” Galen said softly. “Because I was hoping you’d have some tips on dealing with the… theawfulnessthat I’m feeling here.”

“You stop it,” Ellery said grimly. “That’s all youcando.”

“So,” Galen said after a pause, “I ask again. Do you have aplan?”

“We do,” Ellery told him. “But it all depends on Mother. She’s throwing together the brief, and she’s got a phone appointment with the AG at noon, right before the woman’s lunch. Hopefully it’s enough to get us a meeting on the property.”

“And?” Galen asked, sounding eager.

“And if we can getonthe property, we can sneak Jackson and Cody inside the perimeter. Mother’s very good at things like wording—she can make it legal for all the occupants of a vehicle to enter the premises for some preliminary fact-finding without mentioning—”

“Your fiancé and a freelancer popping out of the trunk of your vehicle,” Galen said with satisfaction. “Excellent. When do we leave?”

“I’m sorry?” Ellery asked, wondering if Galen had awoken from a full night’s sleep and thought, “Hey, yesterday was a shitshow. How am I going to freak Ellery out today?”

“Your mother, with her ties to the higher powers, will be questioning the congressman,” Galen said. “You can be her right-hand man, or you can hold back and observe and poke around. I can do the same. And I have the handy, dandy disability, which is awonderfuldistraction. Somebody looks at you oddly, and oh no, poor Mr. Henderson needs to sit down. And could you get me a glass of water while you’re at it? And do you have an appropriate men’s room?” Galen chuckled wickedly. “Trust me, Ellery. You’ll want me there. On top of everything else, I want….” His voice thickened. “I wantbloodhere. That kid—he came tome.Henry was undermyorders to watch him. And the kid was torn apart and terrified for what these people had been doing to him and his friends. I-I cannotsit idly by here at the office and pretend this has nothing to do with me.”

Ellery pulled in a breath, and then another, and thought of the space requirements to sneak two full grown men into a compound while not being seen.

“Fine,” he said after a moment. “But see if you can get the Lincoln from John, and….” He chuckled evilly, because Jade had done this before and done itwell.“And fill Jade in and ask her if she wants in on the action. The last time she played chauffer, she murdered the role.”

Galen took a surprised breath and then let loose a chuckle. “Good. Good. I like this. You tell your mother we’re in. I’ll take care of the office today while you and your mother take care of all the big scary warrants and briefs. We’re big guns this afternoon.”

“Fine,” Ellery said, rubbing the back of his neck. “We can only hope this works.”

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