Fish Out of Water Read Free Page A

the little AC unit cranking away, so after he turned off the light, he kept his spot on top of the comforter. He lay back down facing her, and in whispers, like the teenagers they had been, they talked about their childhood, growing up off Del Paso Heights, going to MLK Junior High, where the prostitution and drug trade had happened on campus, in full view of the public, before school.
    The place had been cleaned up since then. It still wasn’t a great district, but at least the kids didn’t have to wade through drug deals to get to class. That didn’t change the fact that Jackson and K had fought their way through school, back-to-back sometimes, to keep themselves and the girls safe.
    They had a lot of stories, Jackson and Jade. It was good to get them out in the dark of the night so they could say good-bye.
     
     
    AT SIX o’clock in the morning, Jackson’s phone rang, and Kaden cracked their little world wide apart.

The New Fish Objects
     
     
    ELLERY CRAMER knew his tie was perfect, but he checked it anyway as he got off the elevator on the fourth floor. Pfeist, Langdon, Harrelson & Cooper was one of the best criminal defense firms in Sacramento, and it didn’t get that way because its employees neglected details.
    And Ellery wanted his name on that list of partners so bad.
    When he’d first gotten his degree, he’d dreamed of opening his own practice, but no. His sister had run numbers on that—she was an actuary—and had determined that his best chance for financial success lay with hooking up as a junior associate and working his way up to partner.
    Six years after signing on with Pfeist, Langdon, Harrelson & Cooper, he was one of their most trusted trial lawyers, and he was conscious of the honor.
    He was also conscious of his suit.
    Today he wore the silver pinstripe, which, although it didn’t complement his dark hair and eyes at all, did make him look severe and imposing, and he was all for that. He’d spent two hours cross-examining a witness that day and had enjoyed making the guy—a police officer, no less—crumble like a cookie.
    Ellery did so enjoy his petty torments.
    But as much as he enjoyed destroying police officers on the stand, he wouldn’t ever mess with Leonard Pfeist’s secretary. Nope—Ellery was very good at knowing who to toady, and the secretary was the heart of the firm.
    “Good afternoon, Jade,” he said pleasantly and was greeted with a heavy-eyed scowl in return. Ellery gaped at her, uncertain of how to respond. Granted, he and the firm’s legal secretary weren’t close. Jade was a little too rough around the edges for Ellery to really warm up to. He got that Leonard Pfeist, the most junior of the partners, did the hiring, and he seemed to rely on Jade’s street-smart, tart-mouthed presence, but Ellery had been brought up conservatively. Between Jade’s unapologetically vibrant appearance and the female sexuality that rolled off her like perfume, her whole presence made him very uneasy.
    But he’d never seen her look like she could rip someone’s head off with her bare hands, and that was the way she was looking at him now.
    “Took you long enough,” she snapped. “Did or did your schedule not say you were supposed to be in the office an hour ago?”
    “I was in court!” Ellery objected. “It went—”
    “I know when it went to. And I know you stopped for coffee and probably to schmooze that judge you’re always trying to flirt with. What you needed to do was to be here because you’ve got someone here who needs your fucking help!”
    Ellery stared at her, his mouth opening and closing in surprise. Smart-mouthed, yes, but never insubordinate—never rude . “Uh—”
    “Take it easy on him, J—he didn’t know.”
    Oh great. Him .
    Ellery stared at Jackson Rivers with a distaste that had nothing to do with the man’s looks. Dark blond hair, green eyes, and a square jaw—if the remains of an adolescent acne problem hadn’t roughened his skin, he’d