Total pages in book: 109
Estimated words: 107352 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 537(@200wpm)___ 429(@250wpm)___ 358(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 107352 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 537(@200wpm)___ 429(@250wpm)___ 358(@300wpm)
His eyes did not leave my face.
“You have questions, I have answers,” I said, while wondering why their father wasn’t being hugged. No one had embraced him in greeting, and worse, in my opinion, he didn’t seem to be missing the affection. What the hell was happening?
“A fixer? What even is that?”
Lost in thought, I didn’t answer him.
“Nash?”
“Sorry, I protect and solve problems,” I stated, glancing around at all of them. They were all busy, not one of them gazing at their father with longing. Had they missed him at all? “I have been with your kids since Sunday of last week, so nine days counting today.”
He was quiet a moment, and then his eyes got big like his daughter’s did when she had an epiphany, and because he reminded me of her, I sighed.
“You weren’t a school counselor calling about Griff.”
“No, sir. Fixer. And that Sunday turned out to be quite eventful.”
“That’s why the six or seven calls.”
“Yes.”
He took a deep, shaky breath.
“I’m sorry the house was locked when you arrived, but there are new keys, and your set is on the hooks over there,” I said, pointing to the new area we’d made right under the glass cabinets with the house phone. “The code is different now too, and both those security measures were taken because no one could tell me precisely who had keys to the house and who knew the alarm code. Without knowing specifics, I had no choice but to have a redo.”
He nodded solemnly.
“So I’ll give you everything.”
“Okay,” he whispered. “I tried to get in through the garage, but there’s a deadbolt on the door into the house now.”
“Yes. Safety protocol.”
“What’s the alarm code?” When I gave it to him, he smiled. “Like the town in Jaws?”
“Finally,” I announced to the room, and the kids laughed.
“I love that movie,” he said, his eyes back on me. “But the dog dies at the beach, and that would upset Tatum.”
“Yes, it would,” I agreed, grinning at him as Tatum put a mug of coffee in front of him, along with a spoon and a napkin.
“Pass him over the half-and-half, Nash,” she directed me. “He likes that.”
I did as I was told as Darwin set a muffin on a dessert plate in front of his father and then one for me. Both had butter on them already.
“I like more than this,” I griped at him.
“Yes, but I looked it up, and a man your age should not have a lot of foods high in saturated fat.”
When I glanced at Griff, he had his lips pressed tight together and was staring at something on the ceiling. Tatum smiled and waved.
“Is that right?” I said, refocusing on Darwin.
“Yeah,” he assured me.
My eyes flicked to Luke. “I hate this kid.”
His smile was warm. “Yes. I can tell.”
After I took a bite of the muffin, I commended Darwin and then asked Griff if the eggs would take an ice age before I had any.
“Because trying to rush me is gonna work,” he grumbled.
I went back to sipping my coffee.
“I would love to hear what happened with Griff.”
Moving to get up, I said, “I have a folder with everything you need to—”
“Yeah, that’s fine. I don’t want it right now. If you can just hit the high points for me.”
“Okay,” I replied, folding my hands. “Mr. Duchesne, I—”
“Luke, please. You’ve been taking care of my kids, and I was an ass before, and your lesson to Griff is well taken. I normally take a beat myself, as I work with big strong guys all day long, so tempers can flare.”
I nodded. “Okay, so Griff was beaten by the chief of police, Gerald Wilson. He was then taken into custody until such time as a guardian showed up to get him out.”
He did exactly as he said he would and took a breath before he spoke. “Beaten?” he rasped, and I saw the pain all over his face. “I was wondering about the bruising.”
“Yeah. All that, compliments of the ex-chief. There was some misinformation that added fuel to the fire, but as far as I can tell, and by things I’ve seen printed in the local paper as well as online, the man is a bit of a sadist.”
“Without me here, how did you—”
“As a fixer, my mandate is to take care of the kids, as well as you, and I can’t do that if I don’t have said kids in my custody.”
“So because my ex-brother-in-law hired you, you were able to get my son released from police custody?”
“Yes.”
“How? He has no rights where my kids are concerned.”
“No he does not, but as you weren’t here—I was given temporary guardianship due to an absentee parent.”
“Absentee parent,” he repeated in a whisper.
I remained silent.
After a moment he exhaled sharply. “I’m sorry but that can’t be legal.”