as they’d debriefed. “I’ve got a couple of places scoped out,” he said. “One local, one in Tahoe like you suggested, and one down on the coast.”
“Monterey?” Jackson asked, his voice rising eagerly.
“Yes. You liked it there?” Ellery asked.
“So much.” His voice dropped, and Ellery smirked as he seemed to remember that reality bites. “But maybe next summer.”
“Or did you want to do San Diego again?”
Jackson blinked. “Hm, I’ll have to think,” he said. “Balboa Park versus the aquarium….” Then he paused. “You know, we’re planning for next year.”
Ellery bit his lip. “Yeah. I know. We planned for winter holidays too.”
Jackson nodded. “This planning for the future thing—gotta tell you. Used to freak me out, but I’m starting to get into it.”
Ellery leaned in to kiss him, and Jackson opened his mouth to let the kiss linger. The mix of cold ice cream and warm man was practically irresistible, and they necked at the table for an embarrassingly long time before Jackson pulled away and covered his mouth with his hand. “Night,” he mumbled. “Getting on.”
He took what was left of the ice cream, put the lid on, and threw it in the freezer, moving with just enough stiffness to let Ellery know his stitches were hurting. Ellery stood to join him in the kitchen, fetching the ibuprofen while he was there and setting the bottle down in front of Jackson at the counter.
“Fine,” Jackson muttered, but he downed the painkillers with a quick swallow of water. “Okay. Have we covered everything?”
“Dima Siderov’s organization,” Ellery said promptly. “I was getting to that. You know Tage’s address?”
Jackson screwed up his eyes. “Mob central?”
“Yes. And James Cosgrove was Dima Siderov’s nephew.”
Jackson gasped as the implications hit him. “Wait—no, that’s not right.”
“I assure you it is. That’s what AJ pulled up. Why?”
Jackson flailed. “Because… because you do not order a hit on your eighteen-year-old nephew because he asked for mercy! I know we’ve all seen the John Wick movies, but usually there has to be some action involved before somebody takes another person out. A betrayal or something. All James Cosgrove did was ask his uncle if it was necessary to set Ty up. That’s it. That’s the end. I mean, worst-case scenario, Dima says, ‘You are a sweet adorable little summer child. Now, don’t talk to me again or I backhand you.’ But he doesn’t order Ziggy to make a hit on his nephew.”
Jackson suddenly rocked back on his heels. “Oh my God,” he said.
Ellery did the same thing. “Oh my God,” he echoed.
They both looked at each other and said it almost at the same time.
“Ziggy acted alone.”
“Dima really thinks Tage did it!”
Jackson scrubbed at his scalp with his fingertips. “That explains the kids. They kidnap the kids and then ship them off. Arrest Tage and then have him killed in prison. Don’t give the family a chance to even so much as hint that Tage didn’t do it. Ziggy did it—we’ve always assumed that. But Dima Siderov has not!”
“But why?” Ellery asked. “Why would Sergio Ivanov kill his boss’s nephew? What practical purpose would that serve?”
Jackson started to prowl the kitchen, stiff movements and sore ass notwithstanding. “Pink pills,” he muttered. “Pink pills. They’ve been bothering me. Pink pills with butterflies on them.” He paused. “What sort of drugs does Siderov deal?”
“Kitchen meth,” Ellery said promptly.
“No opioids? No shipments of anything from anywhere?”
“No. Remember the case that put you in the hospital in June?”
Jackson grunted. “Robert Sampson and Candy Cormier, yes. They held a corner on the pill and opioid trade. I’m sure that void’s been filled.”
“Well, yes, but according to Jade’s intel, Siderov only deals kitchen meth to his own community. It’s a side gig for him, not his bread and butter.”
“So what in the fuck is Ziggy doing with pretty pink tablets of X with little butterflies on them?”
Ellery sucked in a breath. He remembered that detail too. “That’s not Siderov’s MO,” he said slowly. “Ziggy is working for somebody else.”
Jackson nodded. “And Ziggy killed James to keep him from going to his uncle about Ty Townsend because that would give Ziggy away. That’s why the attempt at the entire family. He flat out didn’t want Dima Siderov to know….” Jackson trailed off, then, “Uh-oh.”
Ellery stared at him. “What?”
“When Mira called, she said Maxim and Sophie were a shipment to the big boss. Dima’s superior.”
Ellery nodded. “Yes, and…?”
“And, uhm, remember how I talked to Burton?”
Ellery’s nod was slower this time. The last time Jackson had “called Burton,” Burton