Muck Swimming
“ARE WE just not running a business anymore?” Galen asked crossly when Ellery answered his phone. “Is that why Jade and I are the only ones here?”
Ellery grimaced and excused himself from the kitchen table where he and his mother were sorting frantically through the documents Jackson had sent and putting together a brief for the ADA on the fly.
“I usually don’t have appointments on Thursdays,” he said. “And since I don’t have court, I’m working from home.”
“I know you are,” Galen said. “You’re working on Henry’s case, and not once has either of you two assholes filled me in.”
Ellery winced. “Apologies,” he said sincerely. “There was—”
“Chaos,” Galen said with satisfaction. “Jade has updated me on the chaos.” He chuckled. “So you sent Jackson into the ether, and he rescued a hundred kids? Is that how it went?”
“Eight,” Ellery told him. “And he had Cody’s help. And Jade rescued the one who threw a Molotov cocktail through our window.”
“You should know that the Thornton kid—”
“Killian?” Killian had been at least thirty, Ellery thought in bemusement.
“Yes. Anyway, somebody somewhere is missing a fixer, because he has hired a glazier and repaired our carpet. He said it was in payment for keeping his friend out of jail, but I’m saying, if he doesn’t mind working for the mob, he could find a whole different profession.”
“I think he’d mind,” Ellery said dryly. “He and Lewis seem very earnest.”
“More’s the pity.” And like that, Galen switched topics. “Who are we hiring as our third member?”
“What?” Ellery asked, a little surprised. “You’re worried about that now ?”
“Yes,” Galen said. “Yes, I am. Because Jade just made four appointments for you for next week and three for me. I’m thinking we don’t need a new partner—we need a partner and two new associates. They can share an office. That way while you and Jackson are using the law firm’s resources to save the world on a grand scale, we can have backup to bring in the money.”
Ellery grunted. “I thought that’s what you were for?”
“And I do my part,” Galen informed him. “But truthfully, your ADA friend called me to make sure Henry was okay—”
“Arizona?” Ellery asked in surprise. Arizona Brooks was in her early fifties and one of Ellery’s fiercest adversaries in the courtroom.
But she was also fair-minded and had gone to bat for Jackson and Ellery more than once in the name of what was right as opposed to what politicians thought they could get away with.
“Yes,” Galen said. “And she sounded… hurt. I’ll say it. She sounded hurt that she hadn’t been notified beforehand. And if you people are on that kind of ground with your nemesis—”
“I thought only superheroes got a nemesis,” Ellery said, his mind racing.
“Sure, you think that like you’re not. Anyway, call her up, tell her Henry looks like he may live—”
“Does he?” Ellery asked, because Galen’s sudden topic switches had almost twisted past the thing he’d needed most to know.
Galen slowed down. “Yes,” he said gently. “He does. He’s got a mild fever, but they’re pumping him full of antibiotics, and he seems to be responding. His insides do not seem to be springing any leaks, and things are looking good.”
“Thank God,” Ellery said with feeling. “Okay. I didn’t mean to hurt Arizona’s feelings. I’ll call her—”
“And offer her a job as an associate.”
“She won’t take anything less than full partner,” Ellery told him, surprised. “She shouldn’t!”
“I know that, and you know that, but she’ll be suspicious if you offer it to her off the bat. Anyway—”
“But you said we should have two associates!” he protested. “To share an office.”
“Oh, yes,” Galen said. “The teachers union told Jade they’re moving quarters.”
Ellery’s brain bounced off the floorboards for a moment while he tried to put that together. “I sleep in for one day —”
“Oh, sleep in my ass ,” Galen retorted. “I know you, Ellery Cramer, and you and Jackson were probably working on the case all fucking night.”
Ellery thought about how they’d really spent their night and said, “You got me,” because he did not want to talk about that right now.
“Or not?” Galen said, curiosity tinting his voice.
Ellery fought the temptation to bury his face in his hands. “Galen, you are a very good friend, and I will never regret making you my law partner, but you are making me dizzy . Can we stick to a subject—one subject? I’m starting not to care which one.”
Galen’s evil chuckle slowed the conversation down a little, and Ellery took a breath.
“Okay, then,” he said. “First things first. The teacher’s union is moving to a new office building closer to the state office of education. They told Jade so we could put a bid in for the property, which I have.”
“You have?” Ellery asked, his voice squeaking. “Galen, we are hardly in the black—”
“You worry too much,” Galen said breezily. “We’ve been making our nut since I joined the practice last year. It’s fine. So we have added offices now. We don’t just have the spare in this corner, but we have three smaller ones in the old teachers’ union. It’s a much smaller space, but do you see?”
“Two associates,” Ellery said slowly, “and what’s the third office for—”
“Our private detectives,” Galen said, as though Ellery was an idiot to miss it. “Think about it, okay?”
“They get their own office?” Ellery asked, surprised. He and Jackson had always worked quietly in the same space, which was something they’d done since they’d gotten together.
“Your boy,” Galen said patiently, “needs a place to change, a place to organize, and a place to hold all that weird paraphernalia he keeps showing Henry how to use. It’s shoved back behind the reception counter right now, but….” Galen’s voice shifted, and Ellery had a sudden sense that this man would be devastating in the courtroom. “You must admit that Jade deserves an entire space to herself, as well as an aide. If we put a connecting door in from your office to the last one in the hallway of the new space, you can work together, and he can have a place to store stuff and computers for Henry and AJ and anybody else he wants to employ to use.”
“And Arizona is a partner,” Ellery said, feeling a little numb from all this planning. “Gotcha.”
“Good,” Galen said. “Make it so.”
Ellery burst into hysterical laughter, because it was such a grand plan, when they’d all been cruising along just fine, and Galen jumped in and saved him from being overwhelmed.
“But before you call Arizona, tell me everything.” Suddenly he was laser focused. “I am dying to hear about the case.”
Ellery told him everything, including what Jackson had guessed about and had relayed that morning about the former inhabitants of what Ellery now knew was called the At Risk Youth Prayer Group, which was the term on the paperwork that the parents had signed when they’d given Moms for Clean Living custody of their children.
“Is the paperwork legal?” Galen asked.
“Not in California law,” Ellery replied with grim satisfaction. “The paperwork promised schooling, and according to the child advocates who conducted the first interviews and placements, there were no regular classes. Withholding food as punishment as well as corporal punishment as a matter of written policy are both enough to get a place claiming to be a school shut down, not to mention the other offenses….”
His fading voice said it all.
“Of which I take it there were many?” Galen asked, sounding angry.
“There were,” Ellery told him, feeling that same anger in his gut. The more he took in the statements taken by the advocates, the more he knew where that terrible nightmare had come from, the one that had clawed Jackson apart.
Yes, the resulting wound may have cleansed some of the festering sickness from Jackson’s soul, but the wound itself was so huge. Ellery’s own hands shook thinking about it. He couldn’t imagine the strength it would take for somebody with Jackson’s past to walk around bleeding like that.
“So,” Galen said, his voice icy with control, “what are we doing about it?”
“Well, Mother and I are still scanning the paperwork,” Ellery said. “Mother is trying to assemble a brief on the fly to present to the state attorney general—she’s got more than enough for a full investigation and warrants. However….” He sighed, knowing full well the limits of the system they were working within.
“That could take months,” Galen answered for him.
“Yes,” Ellery acknowledged. “And Jackson suspects the most damning evidence will have disappeared by then. In fact, Mother and I were discussing it, and I’m not sure if it will be there by the end of the day.”
“Where do you think it will be?”
Ellery explained the connection between the Moms for Clean Living, one very shady politician, and a Machiavellian ex-preacher man currently named Newton Dwayne.
“Sonora?” Galen asked, sounding puzzled. “I’ve heard of the place, but I’m afraid I haven’t lived in your fair state long enough to really know all its venues.”
Ellery snorted. “It’s… well, from what I understand, there’s a lot of trees, it’s ungodly hot in the summertime, and there’s a railroad museum and tour that can take you on a route that’s been seen in over one hundred television shows and movies.”
“Really?” For once Galen was neither dry nor sardonic. “How do you know this?”
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 Hoover is in 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 to them as 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 get in ,” 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, “ Packages such 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 of something . 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 Ellery and his 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 will ever be 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… the awfulness that I’m feeling here.”
“You stop it,” Ellery said grimly. “That’s all you can do.”
“So,” Galen said after a pause, “I ask again. Do you have a plan ?”
“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 get on the 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 a wonderful distraction. 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 want blood here. That kid—he came to me . Henry was under my orders 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 can not sit 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 it well . “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.”
“Not a doubt in the world,” Galen said grandly, and Ellery was reminded that, with a few blithe words that morning, Galen had pretty much changed the entire direction of a business he and Jackson had built from the ground up.
But it hadn’t been a bad thing, either.
“Sure,” he said, feeling weak.
“You worry too much,” Galen said, his usual arid condescension back in place. “I, for one, am looking forward to the outing. It’s going to be quite… stimulating.”
“Sure.”
HIS MOTHER found him a few minutes later, sitting on the edge of his and Jackson’s bed, staring into space. Billy Bob was on his lap, and Lucifer was trying gamely not to slide off the bed next to his hips.
“Stop that,” his mother said tenderly to the black cat. “And come here.” With an almost absurd gentleness she lifted the sleek black cat into her arms. “Aren’t you getting chonky, yes? These boys need to feed you two something less fatty.”
Ellery stared at her. “Chonky?”
“Rebekah’s children use the word frequently,” she said, sitting next to him and, disconcertingly, resting her head on his shoulder. “What are you thinking?”
Ellery let out a small laugh. “Galen has completely rewritten our business plan, and he wishes to caravan up to Sonora so he can be a distraction once we get inside.”
“Which one of these things bothers you more?” she asked, with nothing more than curiosity.
“The trip to Sonora,” Ellery said with a small smile. “Businesses fail—or succeed. I think he’s right. Ours has potential to grow. But what we’re going to do in Sonora is—”
“Dangerous,” she said, apparently not bothered. With a sweet smile, she allowed Lucifer to rub his whiskers against her nose. “This cat is a charming creature,” she said, using her opposite hand to scritch the base of his tail. With a stern scowl, she chastised Billy Bob, who was currently drooling and nursing on Ellery’s shawl-collared sweater, which he was wearing over his pajama bottoms. “Why can you not take lessons?”
The battered Siamese mix’s purring filled the room.
“It would help,” Ellery said, smoothing Billy Bob’s whiskers back with his thumb, “if Jackson wouldn’t call him terrible names.”
“Like what?”
“Like no-thumbs-having motherfucker,” Ellery replied, smiling a little.
As if recognizing those words for the terms of endearment they were, Billy Bob’s purring amped up a little.
“You and Jackson,” she said, “have created a good life together.”
He glanced at her, surprised. “I think so,” he said.
“I think expanding your business is a good idea. While not every case is as large as this one,” she gestured with her chin toward his dining room table, where their laptops both sat in a sea of scanned copies and paperwork, “I think even the small ones you take on help change people’s lives.”
Ellery thought of Killian and Lewis’s friend Nicky, who seemed like three hundred pounds of muscle with an extra twenty of pure good will.
“I hope so,” he said.
“A law firm based on helping people and finding the truth is a good thing,” she said.
“Well, yes,” he agreed.
“Who were you thinking of as your third partner?” she asked, almost idly.
“Galen suggested ADA Arizona Brooks.”
“Hmm….” She stood, Lucifer still cradled in her arms. “A decent suggestion. Make sure she wouldn’t mind sharing an office. Your kitchen table is impossibly small, Ellery, and if I’m going to be bicoastal, I would like a place to work.”
And with that, his mother exited his room, back into the paperwork fray that might help stop a couple of monsters, and Ellery stared after her.
And then he picked up his phone again and called ADA Arizona Brooks to fill her in on Henry—and ask her if she wanted to switch sides.