Page 69 of The Fix Is In (Torus Intercession 4)
“You know,” I said playfully, “shit seems to blow up around you a lot.”
He snorted. “Story of my life.”
As expected, the blaze was out in no time. Everything was simply too wet. The kitchen, living room, and half the hall bathroom were gone. The good news was, his clothes—and mine—made it through fine. His equipment, because that was in the hall before the bathroom, was destroyed.
Brasher and Rodriguez showed up along with the fire department and brought garbage bags that we were able to put Benji’s clothes in. There wasn’t anything else, no books, nothing, and only then did I ask where all of that was.
“Where is all your crap?”
“Define crap,” he asked, putting clothes into the bags.
“Your books, your albums, your comic book collection, or your Lord of the Rings figurines.”
“I will have you know I own no such items,” he said, scowling at me. “Lord of the Rings figurines,” he repeated, “I was never into––”
“Marvel?” I teased him.
Silence.
“I’m guessing Captain America.”
“I refuse to answer such ridiculous questions.”
“That’s a yes,” I said, grinning at him, and then stopped what I was doing, gathering the small number of items in his bathroom, to look at him. “Why aren’t you fetal on the floor?”
“I’m sorry?”
“If my house blew up, I’d be fetal on the floor,” I assured him. “Probably rocking back and forth.”
He had finished packing his clothes, two bags full only, and straightened up from being bent over so he could meet my gaze. “I’m okay and so are you, and I bet your house is a lot nicer than this one and it’s probably yours.”
“Well, I have a mortgage, but yeah, it’s mine.”
“I don’t have any affection or ties to this place, so while yes, I’m sorry half of it is now charred,” he explained, “the house itself isn’t what’s bothering me.”
“What is?”
“I’m trying to imagine in what century my insurance company will come through with the money to replace all my equipment.”
“Is it solely your company, or do Sian and Delly own it with you?”
“It’s mine. Even though Sian calls us partners, it’s my business, like Starfish is hers. I pay both her and Delly as contractors, and because they don’t work for me, I don’t have to cover health insurance or anything else.”
“So how does the money work?”
“Basically, we get paid, we split it three ways, and that’s it. That’s how it’s always been.”
I nodded. “Then there’s nothing in reserve for a rainy day.”
He grinned at me. “Every day in Rune is a rainy day, but no, we have about six dollars in the company coffers at the moment.”
“May I ask how you’re eating?”
He chuckled. “I’m still living off what I had in savings, and there’s stocks that do well and the interest there, and of course the trust fund my grandmother set up for me.”
“You’re telling me you’re set for life.”
“Not life,” he assured me. “But I can subsidize this venture, yes.”
“Then why not simply replace the equipment yourself?”
“Because if you blend personal and business, you can get in trouble. It’s like I carry a lot of insurance so that if Sian or Delly got hurt, they’d be taken care of. I mean, if Sian needed me to, I would have covered the cost of her having the baby.”
“But her parents have her covered; I’m guessing.”
“Yes. Like Delly’s have her on their insurance. I can’t put them on my payroll until our business is self-sustaining, and it’s never been.”
“That’s why your equipment is old and covered in duct tape,” I said, understanding how it all worked. “You can’t pay for it out of your own pocket.”
“Not if I want to call it a business,” he conceded.
“Okay,” I said, making up my mind.
“Okay what?” he questioned me, studying my face.
“Will you do me a favor?”
His face instantly brightened. “Of course. Anything.”
I smirked at him.
“Within reason,” he amended, trying to backtrack.
“Nope,” I stated flatly. “You’re going to do this for me and not argue and just go with it.”
His face scrunched up. “You’re not going to try and help me with my business, are you?”
“No.”
He huffed out a breath. “Shaw, you can’t fix my––”
“I think you know all the things you have to do to fix your business,” I assured him. “There are some real-life choices to make, just like Sian had to, but in the meantime, the fix for your present situation is obvious.”
“It is?”
I nodded.
“And this is the favor?’
“Yes.”
“I’m scared now,” he confessed, looking wary.
“You shouldn’t be,” I said huskily. “My mother’s a lovely woman.”
His gasp was loud. “You want me to meet your mother?”
I nodded.
“Oh, I… yes, please.”
And that was what I figured.
12
I was done. After nearly two days, I was sick to death of Rune, Oregon, and Benji’s situation of non-safety. I couldn’t protect him, not there. His house had been blown up after there was a new police chief in town. Everyone needed to do their thing, launch their investigations, interrogate every single suspect, and really, not one part of it needed to be done with Benji there.
