Page 48 of Out Of A Fix

“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.”

“As I was unable to reach you, and your ex-wife is in WITSEC and therefore, cannot be contacted, and no one was stipulated as caretaker in case of emergency—guardianship fell to Mr. Roarke as the person who hired us.”

“I––”

“As part of our standard paperwork, Mr. Roarke signed a waiver with Torus that then gave me temporary guardianship.”

“That doesn’t seem right.”