The Fixes by Owen Matthews Read Free Book Online Page B

right, down a long road lined with warehouses and empty office buildings and almost zero streetlights.
    Eric tries again. “Hello?”
    Jordan slows the BMW. Peers out the window like he’s checking for an address.
    â€œGo easy on Eric,” Paige says. “It’s his first Fix.”
    â€œIt’s my Fix,” Haley says. “I’m not wasting it just because of the new guy.” She shakes her head. Mutters: “He shouldn’t even be here, if you want my opinion.”
    â€œ Fix ? What are you guys even talking about?” Eric says.
    Paige just shrugs. Jordan says nothing. Haley scowls outthe window. They’re creeping down the road. A pickup truck passes in the other direction, and then they’re alone again.
    (Eric’s starting to feel a little, you know, nervous .)
    Then Haley’s voice breaks the silence. “There it is,” she says, pointing. “There’s the spot. Get your game faces on, ladies.”
    â€œWhere the hell are we?” Eric says, squinting into the darkness. “Are you guys going to tell me, or what?”
    Jordan pulls to the side of the road. Stops the car and kills the headlights. “You’ll figure it out,” he says. “You’re a smart kid. You’ll get it eventually.”

71.
    â€œIt’s your first Fix,” Jordan tells Eric, “so we’ll bring you in easy. Just hang out with me here until the girls do their thing, cool?”
    Paige flashes Eric a crooked smile. “We won’t be gone too long,” she says. “Assuming Haley knows her shit.”
    Haley gives her the finger. “Just watch me, betch . You assholes stand guard.”
    Paige and Haley walk up the road toward a long, low-lying warehouse. Eric watches them go. Beside him, Jordan’s lighting a joint.
    â€œIt’s amazing what you can learn on YouTube these days,” he says. He blows out a smoke ring. “Like, there’s everything. How to shave. How to give a good blow job. How to build a bomb. . . .”
    It’s the blow-job line that throws Eric, but it’s just for a moment. “Why are you telling me this?”
    Jordan inhales. Tilts his head back and blows smoke. “This world is filled with hypocrites, Eric. Would you agree?”
    â€œUh, I guess so.”
    â€œCapilano, especially. Your dad’s kind of an asshole, but he’s right about this place, I’ll give him that. I knew it the moment I got here; this town has no soul. It’s all rich motherfuckers who think they can do what they want because they have money.”
    Jordan passes the joint to Eric. Eric tries to wave him off.
    â€œTake Callum Fulchrest, for instance,” Jordan is saying. “The guy has a buttload of money, and he’s still a slimy fucker.And the worst part of it is, he gets away with it too, because his family’s tight with the freaking police chief. Awful, right?”
    â€œI mean, yeah,” Eric says. “It’s pretty messed up.”
    ( What the hell are we doing here? )
    ( Where’s Haley and Paige? )
    â€œThis town’s full of shit like that, though.” Jordan leans back on the hood of his car. Blows a cloud of smoke up toward the stars. “Racist teachers. Corrupt cops. Spoiled little rich kids who can get away with murder.”
    â€œThat’s what my dad says,” Eric tells him.
    Jordan nods. “Your dad and I are on the same page.”
    (Somewhere in the darkness, a door hinge whines open.)
    (Electronic beeps follow, like punching in a keypad.)
    â€œWe just have different ways of dealing with it.”
    Eric squints toward the warehouse. “I still don’t get it. What are they doing?”
    â€œIt’s just something Haley’s been working on,” Jordan says. “A YouTube tutorial she’s trying to master.”
    Suddenly, the front door of the warehouse lights up, bright fluorescent white. The lights flash twice,