Chapter 19
Chapter Nineteen
Elton had barely closed the brewery door when Nic’s raised voice echoed down the hallway. “No! I will not staff any of my attorneys on that matter.”
In the silence that followed, Elton made his way into Gravity’s tasting room and event space.
Co-owned by Nic and one of his former SEAL teammates, Gravity Craft Brewery was, in Elton’s opinion and in the opinion of many critics, one of the best craft breweries in the country.
And as Gravity’s popularity had grown, so had their operation, expanding into the warehouse buildings on either side of the original property.
Yes, Nic had a co-owner, but Elton had no idea how he managed any of this and his day job at the US Attorney’s Office, which had become even more demanding than his and Aidan’s with the Bureau.
Speaking of Aidan, the Irishman was behind the bar, pulling a pint. “Don’t mind him,” he said, flicking his hand toward Nic. “He’s just arguing with his new bestie in LA.”
Nic threw a middle finger in his actual best friend’s direction while his other hand white-knuckled the cell phone at his ear. “Your boss said Justice was going to release them, so release them.”
“Pint?” Aidan asked as Elton claimed a stool.
“Stout,” he answered, then resumed eavesdropping.
“In name only,” Nic said, no doubt in response to an assertion that they worked for the same boss. Elton had heard that a lot lately too; it had never felt less true. “And it’s not my staff’s responsibility to teach you how to do basic tasks. Figure it out and leave us the fuck alone.”
He ended the call, silencing the squawking on the other end, then hung back his head. “Fucking hell.”
“How’s it feel to be the only adult in the room?” Elton asked.
“Exhausting.” He righted his head and trudged behind the bar, claiming the pint of pilsner Aidan had ready for him. “Before, there was a buffer keeping the chaos somewhat contained. Now, it’s just—”
“Gone,” Elton finished for him, the feeling mutual.
“So,” Aidan said, “to quote my niblings, maybe it’s time we nope out too.”
Nic’s ice-blue eyes went hot. “We can’t just—”
“I wouldn’t ask you or any of us who pledged to protect and serve to turn our backs. That’s not who any of us are. But think about that phone call you just had. We’re not who our bosses are asking us to be either.”
“This the pitch Mel mentioned?” Elton said, recalling her words and putting the pieces and people together in his head. “Something about a 501c3?”
“More than that, I hope.” He went on to explain his family’s vision for the Talley Foundation, a nonprofit that would assist immigrants like his family had been but also more generally support the democratic ideals that had underpinned America for the past two hundred and fifty years.
Freedom—of speech, choice, love, and identity.
On equal terms. “We need a chief legal counsel,” Aidan said, throwing a pointed look at Nic.
“Someone with insider knowledge who can marshal a legal staff.” And then his gaze shifted to Elton.
“And an executive director who can marshal it all.”
“Why’s that not you?” Elton asked.
“Same reason it’s never been me at the FBI or the US Attorney’s Office,” he said without resentment or regret.
“I’m a prickly son of a bitch who’s more well-known as Whiskey Walker’s husband.
You have the charm and the disposition to rub elbows.
” He swung his gaze back to Nic. “And you are the best lawyer I’ve ever known—and the most levelheaded adult among us all. ”
“He’s not wrong,” Elton said. He’d worked with Nic for years, had admired and trusted him for all of them, especially how he’d handled matters with Duncan Vaughn.
He was the right pick to dismantle any criminal empire, and they could only get so far from the inside.
But how did they get to the outside unscathed?
He could only see one way out. “This doesn’t work unless we all go, all at once.
Otherwise, someone gets stuck holding the bag and taking the blame. ”
“I know,” Aidan said. “We all have to agree when we pull the trigger, and I’m first coming to you two as the other highest ranking Justice officials in Northern California.
I won’t make a move and won’t ask anyone we know or on your respective staffs to move without your buy-in.
The Talley Foundation can continue to operate below the radar as we are now, but I know we can do so much more out in the open with everyone on board. ”
Out in the open.
Which he could be with Archer too. The partner Archer deserved and that Elton wanted to be.
While still doing what he did best.
For good.
The knot that had been living heavy in his chest whenever he wasn’t with Archer began to loosen.
Relief.
Beside him, Nic lifted his pint. “I’m in.”
Elton lifted his too. “Let’s make it happen.”