Page 124 of Get A Fix

Locryn lifted his hand. “We know. The cops have the dealers in custody.”

“This is just⁠—”

“I know what you’re thinking” Loc teased him. “It’s too early in the morning for that amount of hedonism, but according to your very annoyed neighbors, it started last night, hasn’t stopped, so really, not early.”

“More ongoing,” I offered.

“Correct.”

“Oh dear God,” Ash groaned miserably.

“It’s okay,” I soothed him. “It’s been taken care of already.”

Ash looked at me and then at Locryn, who waggled his eyebrows at him.

“You took care of it?”

“It’s what I used to do, and technically what I still do,” my friend told him. “I’m a fixer. That’s my calling.”

“I’m sorry, and I’m not trying to sound obtuse, but what exactly is it that you do now? I’m fairly certain you don’t simply live with your husband.”

“No. That could never happen. I’m a social worker. Which is why we keep that piece very private.”

“Got it. So now you fix things for…?”

“For kids, mostly, but for others too,” he said softly. “I try my very best.”

After another moment of us standing outside the terminal, not moving, I cleared my throat.

“He’s coming around,” Locryn informed me. “There’s traffic, you know.”

“Is Nick Madison about to pick us up?” Ash asked. “Because if he is, I need a second to prepare for that.”

Locryn scoffed. “Absolutely not. Nick only comes to airports when he flies in or out. Otherwise, never. And more importantly,” he said, turning to Ash, “he can’t drive.”

“He can’t drive?”

“I mean, he can. Technically. In the broad sense of yes, he understands the mechanics of it all and does, in fact, have a driver’s license.”

“I’m guessing he’s not a good driver,” I teased him.

“That would be the understatement of the year,” Locryn said just as a black Chevy Suburban stopped in front of us. A very large man got out, the kind you knew instantly not to mess with, dressed in cargo pants and a T-shirt under an open flannel shirt. He opened the back and waited for us to get in.

“This is Isaias Ortiz,” Locryn made the introduction. “He’s one of Nick’s bodyguards. Isai, this is Ash Lennox and my buddy Cooper Davis.”

He shook hands with both of us, told Ash he was a big fan, after which they took a picture together so he could show his wife later, and then we all piled into the SUV.

“They thought Nick would be driving,” Locryn told Isaias, and they shared a laugh.

“Nooo,” Isaias drew out the word. “We do not want Nick behind the wheel. He has too many things buzzing around in his brain at any given moment to concentrate on anything as mundane as the suggestion of traffic lights.”

“That’s a good way of putting it,” Locryn said, and then got up and moved back to a seat in front of Ash and me. “Okay, so about your house. It’s taken some damage, to the point where you can’t go there at the moment.”

“What?” Ash sounded winded.

Locryn grimaced. “There’s a…what is it?” he asked Isaias.

“Toyota Land Cruiser,” the bodyguard supplied.