Little Karmas
JADE HAD grabbed the fire extinguisher and was working on the small fire in the reception area before Ellery had even cleared the hallway. He took in the billowing drapes and shattered window with a glance, as well as a poor-man’s Molotov cocktail smoldering on their pretty blue-gray carpeting.
His vision washed red.
To his knowledge, this had only ever happened two other times in his life, and he hadn’t seen it coming now, but with a roar, he swung the door to the office open, absolutely hell-bent on finding whomever had done this thing to this office that he and Jackson and Jade had painted, carpeted, decorated, loved , and shaking them until their teeth rattled out of their teeny tiny head.
What Ellery saw when he hauled open the door brought him up short, enough of his fury draining to allow for breath, thought, and—his best weapon—words.
There was a giant standing in front of the door.
Six feet, six inches tall if he was a centimeter, with muscles on top of muscles on top of muscles, the bodybuilding menace with the blond mullet standing on his doorstep would have been terrifying enough, but struggling in his grasp was….
Well, an urchin.
Filthy dirty—his stench filled up Ellery’s entire office, and his face was a study in dirt and blotches. His hair hung to his shoulders, and as Ellery stared, he saw not one but five tiny creatures crawling across the matted locks.
His clothes were rags, and he had chafing sores at his wrists where his jacket had rubbed him raw.
On top of the stench of urine and trash and unwashed body, there was the overwhelming smell of gasoline.
“We saw him do it,” said a much smaller—thank God, familiar —man at the giant’s side. Lewis Barnard was a software engineer who worked at the headhunting agency in the corner of the upstairs complex. Five eight or so, with a mop of blond hair and an irrepressible smile, Lewis had done some piecework for Jackson and their friend Burton over Christmas.
Ellery stared at the behemoth holding the struggling urchin.
“You must be Nicky,” he said after a beat. “Thank you, by the way.”
Nicky the bouncer grimaced, still holding his charge by the scruff of the neck. “No worries, dude. I’d shake hands, but….” He shuddered. “Gonna need some soap .”
Ellery nodded grimly and noted that Jade—flustered and ruffled and a bit ash-bespeckled—had finished with the fire.
“Listen, how about if we take this young man outside while Jade finishes up? Nicky, if you could keep him contained, I’d be obliged. Lewis,” Ellery bit his lip, eyeballed the kid up and down, and then took a calculated risk. “Could you have the place next door call child services? This young man needs a good meal and a change of clothes and a place to stay. I’m sure we can do better than we’ve done to date, yes?” For the first time he made eye contact with their young reprobate.
Ellery almost expected animal noises—the boy’s eyes, a light gray, darted furiously, and his expression was terrified and angry. Feral.
But when he spoke, his words gutted Ellery like a gaffing hook.
“Don’t make me go back. You can’t make me. She promised me food. I had to do it. Don’t make me go back.”
Ellery gasped a little, and with a nod to Nicky, they moved the boy out to the front stoop, taking advantage of the breeze on the concrete walkway.
“Go back where?” he asked, keeping his voice even and direct.
The boy’s eyes darted like fish. “The place. The big house. They look pretty, and they make us be clean but….” He shook his head. “No. No, no, no. I can’t go back.” His face crumpled. “But she knows where I am, and I was so hungry….”
Ellery took a breath and another one. He was piecing this together, and he realized that as much as he wanted to glove up and shake this little monster until his teeth rattled, what he was dealing with, in its entirety, was a traumatized child.
“Lewis,” Jade said from behind him, “hold up.”
Ellery glanced at her and then at Lewis, who had paused with his hand on the door to the teacher’s union, ostensibly to ask for child’s services.
“Young man,” she said, and she didn’t have to bend down or make the kid crane his neck, because she was five three on a good day, with heels, and this kid may not have hit his growth spurt yet, but it was close.
“Yes’m,” he said, eyes big.
“Do you want to go to child services? They will treat you right there. They will give you a bath, and clothes, and find a foster service for you, and get you a lawyer to deal with this thing you just did that we’re all ignoring for the moment. It could be a good deal for you.”
“Will they make me go back?” he asked fearfully.
“To the Moms for Clean Living?” she asked and shook her head. “No. But they are going to ask you questions about it. We will ask you the same questions, baby—not gonna lie. But if you come with me, I’ve got a spot in a bed and some big brothers who will take care of you. They’ll feed you and let you get clean, and they’ve got some clothes, and they will keep you safe until you’re ready to talk.”
“Jade?” Ellery asked, and she glanced over her shoulder at him.
“We’ve got room in the duplex,” she told him. Jackson owned and operated—with Jade and Mike’s help—a small halfway house for young men who had gotten out of prison and were trying to stay out of prison. Jackson vetted most of the occupants himself, and Jade and Mike had the last word, and between the lot of them—with some help from their friends—they found jobs, helped with transportation, medical benefits, and general “adulting” skills that the young men might not have had when they first turned eighteen and found themselves without a home in the first place.
Jackson had established the place over a year earlier, and it had gone through a number of young men—including AJ’s current boyfriend—and so far the results had been encouraging.
Oddly enough, creating desperate citizens resulted in them doing desperate things. Giving them a safety net—including an emotional one, with people all striving toward workable goals and trying hard to live stable lives—resulted in fewer desperate citizens and fewer desperate actions.
Ellery gazed thoughtfully from Jade to the young man.
“If you took him to the halfway house,” he said slowly, “they wouldn’t have to contact his parents.”
“Eventually we would,” she said, making sure the young man could see her. “But not until he was ready.”
The boy closed his eyes, and tears leaked out, leaving tracks through the grime.
“Food?” he asked weakly.
“We’ve got some sandwiches in the fridge here,” she said. “Ellery can go get them. I’ll go put some tarps in the back of the car and text Geordie and Nilas so they can get ready for him.”
She looked to the young man again. “Geordie and Nilas will watch over you, make sure nobody can get to you,” she said softly. “And you will have all the food and clean laundry you need.”
The kid’s eyes went crafty. “Video games?” he asked wistfully.
“Of course,” she said. “But tomorrow morning, before I come to work, I’m going to come talk to you. I’ll only be there for a little—remember, I’ll need to leave—and you can spend the day with Geordie and Nilas again, and all the video games you want, but we need to talk, young man. Do we have a deal?”
He considered carefully, and his eyes darted to the window. He closed them and swallowed. “Will you punish me?”
“No,” she said gravely. “But we will find a way for you to work that off. Is that acceptable?”
He swallowed and nodded again. “Food?” he all but begged. “She told me she’d feed me, but I had to do a thing first. I’m sure she’s gone by now.”
“Baby,” she said frankly, “between you and me, I don’t think she ever meant to give you any food. But don’t worry. I do. Nicky, you stay here with him, Ellery’s going to get some food, and I’m going to go prep my car. What’s your name, son?”
“Otto,” he said promptly. Then, a little bit embarrassed. “Don’t laugh,” he whispered. “My parents were German.”
“Nothing to laugh about,” she said, and Ellery found himself nodding soberly with Lewis and Nicky. “It’s a fine name. Nilas’s parents are from Norway, and Geordie’s parents were from Africa. Sacramento is a pretty lively mix here—it’s not a problem.”
“Good,” he said, shooting them all a nervous smile. “I like ‘Otto.’”
“What’s not to like,” Ellery said diplomatically. “Let me get you a sandwich.”
TEN MINUTES later Jade drove off with Otto in the back of her vehicle, and Ellery provided Nicky with generous amounts of soap and a sink in which to wash up.
“Dude,” he said plaintively to Lewis. “Could you run and get my extra T-shirt from the car? I gotta, like, shove this whole thing into a trash bag.” He indicated his jeans, sport coat, and T-shirt, all of which stretched over his muscles in alarming ways.
“I texted Killian already,” Lewis said, sitting on Jade’s counter with the sort of blissful ignorance of somebody who didn’t realize he was courting death. He glanced over at Ellery. “He’s got some plywood in his trunk for your window,” he said, “so you can keep the rain out until you get it replaced.”
Ellery—who had been contacting a glazier on Jade’s computer—glanced up gratefully.
“Thanks,” he said. “I don’t think they can get here to replace it until next week.”
“Yeah, that’s bullshit,” Lewis said. “Let me talk to my boss—he tends to motivate people.” He hopped off the counter. “I think I hear Killian now—”
“Ellery!” Jackson hollered from the base of the stairs. “Ellery, are you okay?”
“Wrong boyfriend,” Ellery said dryly. “Mine tends to—”
He must have levitated up the stairs, because Ellery barely heard a clatter.
“—freak out,” he finished as Jackson burst through the door. “Jackson, calm down. We’re fine. Everything’s fine. Nobody’s dead. Believe it or not, we can handle a crisis without you.”
“Who’s we?” Jackson asked suspiciously before catching sight of Lewis. “Hi, Lewis—are you and your—whoa! Hi, Nicky! Are you two ‘we’?”
“Jade helped,” Lewis said before glancing over at Nicky, who stood without his shirt, only Ellery’s towel wrapped around his shoulders to ward off the chill. “God, Nicky, you could put an eye out.”
Nicky gave a good-natured chuckle. “’Cause my nipples?” he asked. “Yeah—my girlfriend likes to say they could cut glass.”
Ellery fought the urge to scrub his face with his hands.
“Heya,” came a voice behind Jackson. “’Scuse me. I’ve got clothes for my friend in there—oh my God, Nicky, your nipples—that’s amazing.”
Ellery and Jackson turned toward the tall, quietly handsome man with dark hair in a queue bearing a bag of clothes in one hand and a few planks of wood under his arm. “Mr. Rivers?” he asked. “Hey.”
“Hey, Killian,” Jackson said, stepping aside. Ellery had no idea how Jackson would know Lewis’s boyfriend, but he was not surprised either. “Here,” Jackson continued, “you make Nicky decent, me and Cody will put the window in, and Ellery will come and explain everything . How’s that?”
“Deal,” Killian said, handing off the particle board. “I’ve got more in the car.” Then, to Ellery’s amusement, he cast a rather beleaguered glance at Lewis. “Every time,” he said, to which Lewis gave an unrepentant grin.
“Wait till I tell you how Nicky got to be a superhero. Epic .”
A FEW minutes later, after Jackson started the window thing and Killian and Cody Gabriel took over, he managed a moment of quiet conversation.
“You didn’t have to worry,” Ellery said softly. “It was just a—”
“Brick and a Molotov cocktail,” Jackson said, indicating the two objects the boy had thrown through the window. “I think the brick was to crash through and the cocktail was to set the place on fire. Why did you let Jade park him in the duplex next door to where she lives, again?”
Ellery glared at him. “It was her idea,” he said for the umpteenth time. “And I think she did it for the same reason you turned Cowboy over to Sean and Billy—to keep the kid out of the system. This kid would have done anything not to go back to Moms for Clean Living, and I don’t know how he ended up there, but he started to tear up when Jade mentioned his parents. So like Cowboy, he needs food and a bath and a haircut, and he needs some peace, and he needs to not be badgered for a little while. Jade also offered him a chance to work off the damage, and he seemed pretty excited about that.” Ellery shrugged, some of the starch leaching from his shorts. “I don’t know what to tell you, Jackson. This kid just… needed someplace to land. I think Jade trusted the kids next door more than she trusted protective services. Given your experience in the system, I can’t say I blame her.”
Jackson grunted. “I imagine the system has cleaned up a little since I was a kid,” he said, “but I see your point. Yeah—Jade probably had the right of it. And Geordie and Nilas are good kids. They’ll probably be thrilled to have a baby to care for, and Otto—”
Jackson stopped short.
“What?” Ellery asked.
“Otto!” Jackson pulled out his phone where he’d taken notes from his day’s adventures. “Otto is one of the kids who escaped with Cowboy—Cowboy thought he’d gotten hurt and had needed to be returned to the compound. Okay, then. Let’s hope this kid is there tomorrow. I’ll go talk to him with Jade.”
“He will be,” Ellery said softly. “Jackson, he… he was almost grateful to be caught. God, what these kids are being put through—”
A darkness flickered in Jackson’s green eyes that made Ellery draw up short. “What?” he asked.
Jackson shook his head. “Nothing. A hunch. I’ve….” He let out a breath. “I’ve got a lot to tell you, but Cody and I were going to scout out the mansion first. Can you wait?”
Ellery narrowed his eyes. “Aren’t those the last words before the hero goes out and gets killed or maimed or something? Jackson, it’s nearly four in the afternoon. Aren’t you ready to quit yet?”
Jackson grimaced and nodded his chin to Cody Gabriel, who had changed into clean fitted jeans and a T-shirt and navy hoodie.
“Ellery, he cleaned up and everything. And he’s helping to fix our window—” Jackson paused. “By the way, I had no idea Killian was Lewis’s boyfriend. Aren’t they adorable?”
Ellery gave him a flat look. “And you know Killian from…?”
Jackson smiled toothily and then relented, his cheeks turning pink. “I had to fish somewhere, Ellery—Killian’s a bartender from one of my favorite fishbowls. You know, Catches?”
Ellery tried not to groan. So… many… puns…. “Yes,” he said primly. “I know the place. I’m apparently defending their friend Nick—”
“Nicky,” Jackson corrected. “Hey, don’t glare at me—he’s the bouncer.”
“—pro bono,” Ellery finished smoothly. “And I’m grateful for the help.” He sighed and was honest. “And for the company. With Jade gone, it’s only me in the office.” He sighed again. “It’s been quiet today. Yelling at that Bertha Dunkel woman was the most exciting thing that had happened—”
“Until she offered young Otto food to bomb the place,” Jackson supplied dryly before sobering.
“Well, yes.” Ellery gave him a sideways glance. “What is it? What are you thinking about?”
“Something Henry said,” Jackson told him grimly. “About Shitbag Retty having a getaway driver—that she called Bertie. Can’t prove anything but…”
Ellery looked grim. “Oh, but we’ve got one more link, don’t we.”
“There’s more,” Jackson said, “but do go on about being bored.”
Ellery gave him a half-embarrassed look at his needling tone, but he couldn’t put a front on it—not today. “I… I hadn’t realized how much richer Henry and Galen have made our lives. Can you at least tell me more about your visit to see Henry before you go?”
Jackson gave him a quick, tender touch on the cheek, one that possibly got by under the radar of the now-bustling office, and said, “He was alert enough to tell me what had happened, and to give me a description that matched Cowboy’s of Shitbag Retty. I managed to track Retty to a rehab center in North Sac—she was wounded and blackmailing the director for help. We might have to jump in and lobby for the place to get their funding, Twitty—Melanie—”
“Schnarf,” Ellery said at the same time Jackson did, and they grinned at each other.
“So we both got that little tidbit,” Jackson said, looking pleased. “Yes—well, Twitty wasn’t happy that Retty had gotten shot and let Cowboy get away. She apparently sent two goons to fetch her.”
“Oh my God!” Ellery gasped. “Seriously?”
“It’s fine,” Jackson said, waving a hand. “I got to listen to their conversation from a convenient hidey hole. It was great. Cody went to a meeting, we made a couple of new friends, and I heard something really important.”
Ellery stilled. “What?”
“They—and I don’t know who they are yet—but someone was ‘waiting for a package,’ Ellery. And now Retty is the package.”
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 that barely fit 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, and you are 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 the getaway driver for 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 a bomb , Ellery. The kid might have botched the delivery, but you do understand that’s what Molotov cocktails are, right?”
“I do,” Ellery murmured reluctantly.
“Good. So this is serious. Henry is in the hospital , and you know he’s very 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, I tag 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 I ask our clients for 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 inside and the 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?”
Nicky grinned. “Wow! I’d almost forgotten why we were here!”
“Well, I haven’t,” Killian said dryly. “Hey, so our manager at the bar says that Catches can help with Nicky’s legal fees—”
Ellery waved his hand. “Only filing fees for the motions,” he said. “The rest is my treat.” He looked meaningfully at the emergency repairs. “Overall, you all have paid for yourselves already. Now come, let’s hear about this man trying to assert you assaulted him. Was he a bad man?”
“Dude,” Nicky said sincerely, “he was the worst . Would you believe he threw cats out of a moving vehicle and then bragged about it!”
Ellery blinked at him. “That’s horrendous!”
“Yeah—they were in a crate, and they’re fine, but this guy—bad news. Popped Killian in the nose out of nowhere, man, and I had to chase him out of the bar.”
And then Nicky made a sound that Ellery knew well.
“Heh heh heh heh heh….”
And Ellery was given to know that what had happened then was the tricky part of the defense.
“I’ve heard that before,” he said pleasantly. “Let’s retire to my office. Lewis, Killian, you may want to remain here while Nicky and I conference.”
“Plausible deniability,” Nicky said soberly. Then to his friends, “See? I told you. Don’t worry. Me and Mr. Cramer got this. I’ll be out in a sec.”
And Ellery proceeded to his office, feeling strangely content about his job.