Fish Out of Water Read Free Page B

look like a movie star. As it was, he appeared weathered and capable—stringy, no-bullshit muscle and an uncompromising glare. Jackson was the law firm’s head PI, and while the job was not supposed to be as glamorous as television made it look, Ellery had always wondered if maybe Jackson Rivers didn’t break a few rules to be so goddamned good at what he did.
    Need a witness background? Yeah, sure, he was there. But he was there with the dirt— the stuff that made the witness unreliable, the stuff that Ellery could use to keep a client out of prison.
    But it was just not fair that he was so goddamned beautiful . That broke a rule or two that Ellery really loathed. Jackson was good-looking and personable. He and Jade had history and kinship; they seemed to speak a different language sometimes. Jackson would swagger into the office and shake hands with Leonard Pfeist and flirt with the other secretaries and face the clients, confident and unafraid….
    It made Ellery feel like he had in school. Exceptionally singular, unexceptionally alone.
    “He don’t know and he wouldn’t care if the problem didn’t end up on his lap,” Jade snarled, making Ellery wince. Well, he’d always thought she harbored sort of a dislike for him, and she certainly wasn’t bothering to hide it now. “Are you sure this is the guy we want?”
    Jackson’s gaze raked Ellery up and down, and Ellery had to remind himself that Jackson was a PI— he had no say in how the firm was run or who got which cases. Leonard Pfeist might think he walked on water, but there were three other partners who had a say in things, and Ellery was in good standing with all of them too.
    “He’s not afraid of the cops,” Jackson said, pinning Ellery hardwith a green-eyed glare. “Everyone else worked at the DA’s for a few years—they’ve got ties. This guy doesn’t give a fuck about anything but winning.”
    “Yeah, for himself .”
    Jackson’s shrug rankled. He apparently thought that was fair.
    “J, does it matter why he wants to win as long as he wins for K?”
    “Yeah,” she muttered. “Unless he thinks it’s better to cut and run. He’d better not bail on my brother—he needs us, Jacky!”
    Jackson’s jaw tightened and his glare intensified. Ellery’s hands were sweating, and he hated himself desperatelyfor wanting this man’s approval. He drew himself to his full six foot two and pulled his lips back in disdain. “Whatever your little family matter is,” he sneered, “I’m sure you can deal without me. What makes you think I even want this case?”
    Jackson snorted and rolled his eyes. “Don’t stress yourself, Pinstripes. If you’ve got the guts for it, you’re going to want it. No self-respecting shark would turn this one down.”
    “Let me be the judge of that. Do I even get an explanation?”
    “I’ll tell you on the way to the jail.”
     
     
    ELLERY’S FAMILY considered themselves liberal, but that didn’t mean they wouldn’t have pressed the locks on their doors for reassurance if a man who looked like Kaden Cameron had approached their car.
    Easily six foot five with skin of darkest brown and a head shaved bald, Kaden dominated the small bare conference room of the county jail. The bandage taped behind his ear didn’t make him look the slightest bit vulnerable either. He had craggy, ageless features, a scowl that could shake mountains, and shoulders that looked like they wouldn’t fit through a door. He appeared to be every inch a badass, from his Lakers sweatshirt to his black Converse, but his file told another story.
    That didn’t mean Ellery’s hand didn’t shake as he took a quick sip of water and set his cup back down on the plain steel table.
    “So you can put your house down for collateral,” he said, because the first order of business was always making bail.
    “My house,” Jackson said promptly. “Not his. It’s a duplex. I have a renter on the other side—”
    “That racist asshole still live