School of Fish (Fish Out of Water #6) - Amy Lane Page 0,25

They seemed pretty impressed with what we did on the Sampson case, but that may have been Jade’s driving.”

There was general laughter around the table, and Ellery took charge of the meeting again.

“So, Galen—wait! Hold on a minute.”

Galen rolled his eyes but allowed Ellery to check his phone. Ellery looked at the picture of a kid. Well, mostly a kid. He could have been anywhere from fifteen to twenty-five. His size and the delicacy of his features said teenager, but his eyes, hard and narrow, said hard-boiled ex-con. He showed the picture to Jackson, and the effect was electric.

Jackson sucked in a breath, and his jaw clenched and eyes flashed. “Fuck. Me. New plan. Henry and I drive to the police station now, and we question every cop we can find who dealt with either case. Then we meet Ellery at the jail, and then we go see Kryzynski. We need to give the cops that kid’s name, ’cause he’s the one who stabbed our favorite detective and gave Ty Townsend party favors just to lure two incompetent flatfoots away from whatever they were supposed to be doing.”

“Oh damn!” Jade said, and Ellery gaped.

“Do you think he was after the Townsend file?” Ellery asked, trying to make a picture.

“No,” Galen said, and Ellery remembered he hadn’t had a chance to contribute.

“What are you seeing?” he asked. Galen had a sharp mind. Although his focus was on corporate law, he tended to see larger patterns that might be helpful here.

“Remember, this kid was at the party of the kid killed in the other case. Lots of white kids at that party where Ty was arrested, and that’s small potatoes next to cold-blooded murder. I’m betting this is all about the Dobrevk case. In fact, if you want to do your friend Tyson a favor, maybe keep him out of it. If they know we’ve tied him to the Dobrevk case, he just became a witness—”

“And he’s in more danger than before,” Ellery said, glad AJ had moved the kid across town.

“That’s what I’m seeing,” Galen said. He eyed Jackson and Henry. “So maybe don’t mention Ty Townsend while you’re talking to the police either. The Dobrevk cops seem to be straight shooters. We should maybe only talk to them about the Dobrevk case.”

“What about getting Ty off?” Ellery asked. “Kid’s future is at stake.”

“Can you get him off just by being a stellar lawyer?” Jackson asked, batting his eyes.

“Can you maybe ask Nate Klein some questions that will help me?” Ellery retorted.

Jackson nodded. “We can do that. Nate goes on tomorrow’s list, first thing. Henry and I have to leave about thirty seconds ago if we want to do our thing at the police station in time to meet you at the jail.” He frowned. “Jade, darlin’, we have to take you home tonight, don’t we?”

“If AJ does not get his ass back with my SUV, then yes,” she said. “Did Ty make it home?”

Ellery nodded because that had been in the text. “Yes. He said he, his mom, and his dog were settling in with his sister. They got there a few minutes ago. I guess traffic was sort of a nightmare.”

Jade rolled her eyes. “Fine. Jackson, Henry, you two take the Town Car. We’ll figure out vehicular bingo while you’re gone.”

Jackson grunted. “You know, maybe I could buy another car.”

“No!” Jade and Ellery both shouted, and he grimaced. He actually had a car—a supersonically tricked-out SUV with bulletproof panels and a stripped-down interior that could bring urban assault to the finest war zones in the nation. It was not, however, fuel efficient, nor, being painted a bright pearlescent oyster color, was it inconspicuous. But Ellery couldn’t help it. Jackson hadn’t had a lot of luck with vehicles in the past year. The Tank, as they’d nicknamed it, was Ellery’s last try at buying him an SUV that he couldn’t destroy. It actually had been destroyed—and then rebuilt—and Jackson didn’t get any more cars for a while.

Besides being an expensive hobby for Ellery, it was also hard on his heart.

“Or I could continue to bum rides from everybody else,” Jackson said blandly.

Ellery regarded him with narrowed eyes. “That sounds like a fantastic idea. Doesn’t that sound like a fantastic idea, Jade?”

“Yes, Ellery. That idea sounds like it could save the universe. Henry, do you mind giving Jackson rides around town?”

Henry hadn’t been there when Jackson’s old car had been shot up, or the replacement vehicle wrecked, or the second replacement