Ashes, Oh Ashes

chapter 11

When I told James and Henry about my idea- eluding on the details Ashley had given me, their eyes sparkled with that mischievousness that got them in trouble in the first place.

All I had to say was “We’re going to talk to Lucas,” and they were on board. Lucas was about as worse as they got- in the school boards’ eyes. A high-school dropout by choice, the twenty-four year old made himself a living with the mechanic shop he owned. And everyone had preached so hard about how he’d go nowhere in life.

He eyed us with familiarity as we approached, toothpick in mouth and wiping his hands on a greasy rag.

“Hello, boys. Haven’t seen you in awhile.” His voice was gruff- and was often compared to John Wayne’s. At one point someone tried to hire him to do John Wayne impressions, but not even his best talent would make that man look past his piercings, punk attitude and lean stature.

We waved at his fiancé Remi, a petite goth girl with more spunk than Pinkie Pie. We had only met her enough times to know bits and pieces about her- nothing more. She sat up on one of the counters, swinging her leather-booted legs gently.

“Got yourself in trouble, huh?” he grinned at me.

“Nah,” James snorted. “We’ve been hired as body guards!”

I rolled my eyes. “No, we need some advice about going incognito.”

He looked at us for a moment. “Gotcha. Come inside, why don’t ya? Crack open a few cold ones and we’ll discuss.”

We followed him inside to the small, cluttered office at the back of the garage, Remi following close behind.

We took up the available space on the three chairs and the cleared-off parts of the counters. Lucas stood against the wall, letting Remi have his seat.

“So, Matt, who is your line of threat now?” he asked, passing around beers from the mini-fridge. He handed me a whiskey instead. Even someone like Lucas could remember my hate for the horrid taste of beer.

“Some idiot douche-bag that won’t leave this chick friend of ours alone.” Henry asked, already knocking back a healthy swig.

“Oh yeah?”

James nodded. “He’s even threatening her now. So, Matt here decided to end it permanently.”

“Well, you certainly know where to go.” Lucas nodded absentmindedly.

I wondered if it would help our case if I told them about her being blackmailed. I thought better of it- one for Ashley’s privacy, two because I knew that if I told, James and Henry would be all over her about it.

So, I didn’t add any comment in for our reasons.

“You have to be careful if it’s over a girl,” Lucas stated calmly. “You can’t just go in swinging. I’m assuming this guy has lackey backups?”

“I think so,” Henry replied. “Most likely.”

“That part’s no problem. The real issue is cornering him alone. Chances are he’s so egotistical he constantly surrounds himself with others, am I correct?”

“Oh yeah.” I scowled. “Asserts himself like there’s no such thing as respect.”

Lucas watched us for a few moments, thinking over our words.”You boys normally come to me with crazy ideas, but this one tops them all. I’ve never expected you to get involved with the things I do.”

“It’s a onetime thing.” I stated assertively. “Once and only once. I need it to be where we can’t be traced.”

Lucas grinned. “She must be important.”