School of Fish (Fish Out of Water #6) - Amy Lane Page 0,97
so loud it came across as silence over the phone, and Jackson stared at the device in his hand as though it would suddenly turn into a television monitor and show him all the things he was obviously missing.
He looked at the microwave clock, watched as a minute clicked off, and was about to hang up when Burton’s voice came over the phone again.
“I’ll kill him,” he said, growling. “I’ll kill them both. They have both obviously survived, but that wasn’t cool. If I have to watch that asshole almost die again, I’m going to come unglued. Mother. Fucker.”
Jackson heard the long, shaky sound of a cleansing breath and realized he was sweating in sympathy.
“So,” he said, his own voice not too steady. “Everybody’s okay?”
“Well, that mobster’s not,” Burton said. “But he was a scumbag anyway.”
Oh Jesus. “Was that mobster’s name Dima Siderov?” Jackson asked, because that would be too convenient.
“No,” Burton said, dashing his hopes. “It was Alexei Kovacs. But Siderov reports to him, so, uhm, consider your hornets’ nest officially kicked. Now, what about Constance?”
“He apparently has a brigadier general trying to stop him from delivering a bunch of kids he intercepted on a trafficking route—”
“Ace intercepted,” Burton said succinctly. “And Jai.” He pitched his voice to a furious whisper, obviously talking to two people who were nearing his location. “Yes, I’m talking about you two assholes! Which part of drive up and wait until I have a clear shot did you not understand?”
Jackson could hear Ace Atchison’s voice clear as a bell through Burton’s phone. “The part where there were no kids in that house and a room full of drugs and bad guys with guns.”
“And C-4,” Jai said. “Don’t forget the C-4. That part is very important.”
“Yes,” Ace confirmed. “Jai saw the C-4 and thought that maybe one guy with a sniper rifle was not what the situation called for.”
“So you two idiots thought blowing up half a city block was what the situation called for?” Burton demanded, obviously still seething.
“But Lee,” Ace protested. “There’s no city anywhere. We’re out in the middle of the fucking desert!”
Burton took another one of those cleansing breaths. “Rivers, if I tell you I can get these two bozos to Sacramento by—when do you need them?”
“Tomorrow, in front of the courthouse, 6:00 a.m.?”
“Okay, yeah. I can do that. If I can do that, can I hang up and yell?”
“Knock yourself out,” Jackson said. “He’s your CO. You know what’s best.”
“Sure. Fine. See you then.”
Burton obviously hit End Call, and Jackson was left alone in the kitchen as darkness washed over the room.
God, it was almost eight o’clock. He’d been on the phone for what felt like hours upon hours. Restlessly he went and put the thing in the charger and set about making dinner. Nothing fancy—broiled pork chops and rice—but it was done when Ellery walked through the door.
“Hey,” he said, so happy to see his Counselor that his entire body almost melted with relief. “Does Galen have a car now?”
“Yes,” Ellery said, covering a yawn. “And so do you. It should be delivered in a couple of days.” Jackson washed his hands and moved to take Ellery’s briefcase and set it under the working end of the kitchen table before moving back into his space.
He smelled like heat and a little like sweat and a little like his deodorant, which really wasn’t bad stuff.
It all added up to Ellery Cramer, and after the intensity of rearranging the world by phone call, Jackson inhaled the basic smells of sweat and man with gratitude.
“You didn’t have to get me a car,” he murmured, nuzzling Ellery’s neck.
Ellery’s shoulders and body sagged a little, and Jackson thought fondly that Ellery went through most of his life with his spine straight and his armor in place, but in Jackson’s arms, all of that melted away. His Counselor was soft and very, very improper when Jackson kissed his neck and nibbled his ear.
“Sorta did,” Ellery mumbled. “I was being stubborn.”
Jackson chuckled, moving to his other ear, sucking on the lobe a little and enjoying the salt. “You? Stubborn? No….”
“No, no.” Ellery pulled away with obvious reluctance. “I have to say this or I’m just going to turn into a puddle and blow you.”
Oh, and wasn’t that an appealing image. “Heh heh heh heh heh heh….”
“Seriously, Jackson. Let me say this. And then we can….” His mouth, which had flattened into a grim line, went slack and lopsided. “Uhm, do that other thing.”