School of Fish (Fish Out of Water #6) - Amy Lane Page 0,58
his limits, who could try to overcome his flaws.
Story of Jackson’s goddamned life.
“Okay,” Ellery said, looking at the clock on the wall. “While he does that, let’s see if we can get Tage out of jail, talk to the DA’s office, and maybe question Tage’s parents while we’re at it. Are you ready, Detective?”
“Always for you, Counselor,” Jackson returned smartly. But on the way out the door, he paused. “Jade?”
“Yes?”
“I need you to do a couple of things for me. You got time?”
“Never. What do you need anyway?”
“I need you to have AJ run financials—a deep dive, Crystal has been showing him how—on a guard at the jail named J. Mayer. I’m sorry, I don’t know his first name, but I’d check John or James or something common. He’s crooked, and guys like that usually have something in their closets. A soft spot for someone to lean on.”
“I can do that,” Jade said, writing it down on a legal pad. “Or have AJ do it. What’s the other thing?”
“When Galen gets out of his office, tell him that the crappy cops have a CI with a heavy German accent. Whatever angle he’s looking up, that might figure, and right now, that piece doesn’t fit anywhere else.”
“German,” she muttered as she wrote it down. “That’s… well, interesting.”
“Right? Apparently he sounds like a real bastard, gave the two decent flatfoots the fucking willies. I’m gonna take their word for it that we should look down that rabbit hole.”
Jade gave a short laugh and wrote it down. “I’ll tell him,” she said, underlining it. Then she looked up at Jackson. “Baby?”
“Yes, ma’am?”
“Be careful.”
“I’ve done my time in the hospital. Don’t want to go back,” Jackson reassured her.
“Thank God.” Jade made a little shooing motion. “Now go. We’ve got shit to do.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
SIREN, GOOD to her word, had gotten her boss’s signature to drop the charges. She called Ellery on the way to the jail, and Ellery called the Dobrevk family, so they were waiting as Ellery and Siren Herrera escorted Tage out of the jail.
They’d brought fresh clothes because the ones he’d been arrested in were still in evidence, and nobody wanted to wander around in a onesie.
Mr. and Mrs. Dobrevk were both small. Boris stood around five foot six, and his wife, Olga, was maybe two inches shorter. They dressed plainly, Mr. Dobrevk in corduroy pants and a button-down shirt, Mrs. Dobrevk in a serviceable skirt with tights and a blouse; traditional clothes from a country they both remembered.
The expressions on their faces when their son emerged were both agonized and relieved.
“You’re okay?” Olga said, touching Tage’s face lightly with her fingertips.
“Yeah, Mom,” Tage said, capturing her hand. “It’s fine.” He smiled gamely at his father, who looked like the kind of man who was uncomfortable with emotion.
“That is good,” Boris said, swallowing hard. He sent Ellery a surreptitious look. “You told them nothing?”
Tage looked at Jackson, and a grim smile lit his eyes as he said, “My lawyers were shitty and I’m going to be in jail forever.”
Jackson nodded. “Good boy.” He looked around them and said, “So, we need you to meet us at our office. Tage, you’re going to want to shower, probably, get some food, reassure your folks, but we need to talk. Two hours enough time?”
He was thinking that if Henry was there to hear their story, the two of them could go question Ty and his friends with a little more knowledge under their belt.
Tage nodded but glanced at his father, who grimaced.
“Going back to our building with you,” Boris said apologetically. “It is not safe. If they know you are out, not just your brother and sister, but your mother and I—none of us are safe.”
Jackson’s heart hurt at the crushed expression on Tage Dobrevk’s face.
He and Ellery exchanged looks, but fortunately Jackson had a contingency plan.
“Okay then, we’re going to try to get Tage into protective custody. Would you like to come with—”
“Nyet.” Boris put his arm around Olga’s waist. “No. No, this is our community. If we can’t be part of our community, we have no lives. Tage, come with us. No one will see you. You can stay in the apartment.”
“But what about Sophie?” Tage cried. “Maxim? Dad, they’re going to—”
Boris’s face was screwed up tight. “I have one son,” he rasped. “One child. I cannot think otherwise.”
“But no!” Tage turned to Jackson and Ellery. “If I go with you, if I tell people what I know, can they help my brother