Page 36 of Fish in a Barrel

“Henry says thank you,” Jackson told Ellery, trying hard to keep his breathing even.

“So where are you?”

“Right outside of Redding. Our four buddies on the force rounded up half the homeless encampment by the station. Cody pointed out that they didn’t take the families, only the singles, mostly the men. Apparently children and families are tracked a little better than individuals. We were in city Department of Corrections buses, and they ran like shit. I’m gonna be coughing diesel for a week, and we were herded out of the buses to Whiskeytown Lake. The buses left without the cops, but I think one or two of the cops may have taken an SUV up to drive everybody back.”

Ellery sucked in a breath. “You said it sounds practiced. Was Whiskeytown vacant?”

“No. There were other people there. I didn’t get to hear any of the responses, but there was a whole encampment there. Mostly by the lake, but we were running toward the darkest part of the campgrounds.”

“Why?” And Ellery simply sounded curious. “You were running for your lives—why there?”

“Cover.” Jackson shuddered. “It was like the moon was pointing right toward us.”

Another deep breath, and when Ellery spoke this time, his “lawyer” voice had flaked away like old paint, and his tender voice, the one he used for Jackson only, was very much in evidence. “Baby, you make sure you go get checked,” he said. “You get washed and irrigated and stitched—don’t worry about court. I’ll call the Federal Marshals Service if I have to.”

“Ellery, I promised Annette and Cody I’d be there. Don’t worry about the hospital—they’ll be happy to kick me out early. Once tomorrow’s done, I’ll crawl back into my hole and lick my wounds, promise.”

He heard the quaver in Ellery’s breath. “I’ll hold you to that. Make Henry keep you safe.”

“Will do.”

“Love you.”

“Love you too.”

And Ellery ended the call.

Cody spoke into the ensuing silence, his voice shaking with the beginnings of withdrawal. “You… you a bad patient or something?”

Jackson grunted, in too much pain to laugh. “Or something. Why?”

“Why’s the hospital gonna kick you out?”

Jackson searched his memory to see when he’d said that. Oh yeah. To comfort Ellery. “I’m loud,” he lied. “Flirt with all the nurses. Drinkin’, sexin’, carrying on—it’s terrible. Should be a law.”

Cody gave a disbelieving snort, and Henry said flatly, “He’s got a heart condition, and the longer he stays in the hospital the more his blood pressure goes up.”

“Henry!” Jackson whined. “Do we need to take out an ad?”

“No, boss,” Henry said. “We need to let your rookie partner go in sometimes. If you think I’mhappyabout being the guy in the car with the dog, you’re fooling yourself.”

“Guy in the car with the dog saved my life tonight,” Jackson retorted. “Nothing wrong with being that guy.” The car hit a rough spot in the pavement, and Jackson winced as his back got bounced against the chair seat.

“You and me are gonna have a talk when this is over,” Henry said mildly. “But first things first.” He signaled and pulled on the wheel, checking his rearview and his front view to make sure nobody was following. In short order, he’d pulled off the freeway and had parked in the shadows of a small mom-and-pop hotel.

“Well chosen,” Jackson said, leaning his head back. “Go get us a room. And some sodas if you can find them—”

“Please,” Cody begged. Sugar and caffeine weren’t substitutes for heroin, but they were definitely a craving when someone was coming down from a high.

“Groovy. Let’s get respectable.”

The Other Front

“BABY, WAKEup.”

Ellery yawned and stretched, uncomfortable on the couch, and squinted through the light from the television. He hadn’t wanted to go to bed without Jackson there but hadn’t been able to worry for another minute, either, so this had split the difference. He’d slept shitty, but he hadn’t stayed awake.

“Jackson?” God, he’d been waiting. He knew they’d had a long night ahead of them after Jackson had hung up, and even after the text saying they were approaching Hwy 50 and nearing Med Center, sometime around 2:00 a.m., he was almost afraid Jackson was a fever dream.