School of Fish (Fish Out of Water #6) - Amy Lane Page 0,67
didn’t even get an application.”
Ellery rolled his eyes. As. If. “Decided to start my own firm,” he said. “I like the risk.”
“Not a good quality in an attorney,” Ambrose murmured. “Still—what can I do for you?”
Carefully, being as coy as possible, Ellery explained the situation.
“Oh dear,” Ambrose murmured. “Are you asking me to sabotage their cases, Ellery? That’s beneath you.”
“No, sir,” Ellery said. “I just need leverage, even if it’s a delay or a bluff. We are working to get this boy’s brother and sister away from the mob, sir, and these two witnesses are key. They are particularly vulnerable if they are convicted. The tiniest bit of fear could be a very good thing.”
“Indeed,” Ambrose said, and Ellery could hear the wheels turning and even smell a little bit of burning rubber over the phone. “I’ll talk to Mr. Mayer’s attorney and make sure I pick Mrs. Mayer’s representation myself. Is the DA’s office ready to deal?”
“I’ll ask, sir. It’s Arizona Brooks.”
“Pfaugh!” Ambrose burst out. “If you can get the teeniest concession from that woman, my clients might not end up on death row. You do what you can on your end, I’ll do what I can here.” He paused. “I can see why you might not have worked out at my brother’s firm, Mr. Cramer, but I do think I’m going to enjoy working with you from here on out.” He paused. “You wouldn’t happen to be available for drinks, would you?”
Ellery actually felt all his circuits blow at the same time.
“Mr. Cramer?” Ambrose’s voice had the urgent tone of someone who had called his name repeatedly. “Are you quite okay?”
“I’m fine, Mr. Pfeist,” Ellery said. “I’m, uhm, in a relationship. I’m not sure drinks would be appropriate.”
“Oh, that’s a shame.” To his surprise Pfeist sounded genuinely sad about that, although in all their interactions, Ellery would never have guessed the man had been interested. “My brother says you had a thing for that detective—Rivers, was that his name? This can’t be the same man. That man was… not worthy of your talents, Mr. Cramer.”
Ellery dug his knuckle into his forehead to try to loosen the tension headache forming right there. “I’m afraid it is, and he’s quite worthy, sir. You just have to know how to look.”
“Well, you let me know if you’re free. I would enjoy… drinks.”
“Yessir. I’ll do that. I’ll talk to Arizona about making a deal. Let’s see what I can do to put the fear of the California penal system into our leaky bailiff.”
“You do that, sir. I’ll enjoy hearing the results.”
Ellery hit End Call and held a hand up to the back of his neck, not even wanting to look at Jackson.
When he did, he wanted to smack the smirk off of Jackson’s face.
“Was that nice man hitting on you?” Jackson asked. “You can tell me. I can take it. Do I have competition?”
“Shut up,” Ellery muttered.
“Hunh.” Oh! And there was the sound Ellery and Jade had missed when Galen had said something sane.
“What? You know how I feel about that sound.” As in, he was apparently starting to secretly love it.
“I was just wondering—do I need flowers? Chocolates? Should I bulk up? What’s the other guy look like?”
“He’s got warts and halitosis and diaphoresis,” Ellery said, which was all, unfortunately, true. But not the main reason Ellery hadn’t thought about dating him even when he’d been single. “He’s also incredibly boring. I once watched his date fall asleep into his drink at a fundraiser, and Ambrose didn’t even pause for breath.”
Jackson all but puffed out his chest. “At least I’m not boring,” he said smugly.
“No, you are not. But you have to blend into the woodwork when we go in here. Kryzynski’s partner is on his way over to make this official, and Mayer is law enforcement, so it does need to be official.”
“I’ll keep my highly interesting, troublemaking mouth completely shut,” Jackson said dutifully.
“No, you won’t.” Ellery sighed. “But if you could wait for Christie to get here, it might not bite us in the ass at the end.”
“Heh heh heh….”
“What?”
“Isn’t that redundant? If you’re getting bitten in the ass, isn’t it always in the end?”
“I could call him back and have drinks after all,” Ellery told him, eyes narrowed.
Jackson blew out a breath. “Whoooooooo. See? Minty fresh.”
“Stop it.”
Then he flapped his arms.
“I will beat you,” Ellery snapped.
“Really? But I have information on our mob-boss scumbag. Don’t you maybe want to seduce it out of me first?”