"He's still in the closet, Billy," I explained.
Billy just groaned. "That's going to stick, isn't it?"
"What is?" Because he just completely lost me.
"Billy," he explained. "I haven't used that since I turned eighteen."
Maybe it was wrong, but I kinda liked that it bothered him. I also liked that Billy didn't sound like the name of some terrifyingly imposing man. Billy was the name of some punk-ass kid who thought he was tough, but would end up crying to his mommy if anything went wrong. Billy couldn't be scary. Blaze, however, could be, so I preferred the more childish version of his name.
"Too bad," I decided. "You introduced yourself to me as Billy, so you're stuck with it."
His lips curled as a tiny little smile broke through. "Okay, I can be Billy at Southwind. You know, Gran was the one who started calling me that. She said that this was a fresh start, so I needed a fresh version of my name."
"So…" I said, deciding that this was the best chance I was ever going to get to bring it up. "Is that why you decided to meddle in Luke's custody case?"
Luke's head whipped around to look at me. "What?"
My words were enough to make Cy head over. "I thought we hadn't involved him in that."
I just looked at Billy and lifted a brow. "We didn't need to, but I can't think of any other reason why things worked out the way they did."
Billy let his head drop down to his chest. "How did you figure it out, Vi?"
"A liberal-minded judge in Fannin County, Texas, who didn't have any problems with an affair that should've destabilized the 'stable relationship' which his case depended on," I explained. "Am I wrong?"
Billy let out a heavy sigh. "He's actually not liberal-minded." He looked up and met my eyes. "I simply reminded the man of his own indiscretions and how that might affect the custody ofhiskids. I may have mentioned that things that disappear can come back at the worst of times. I did not tell him how to rule on the case, but I made it clear that he needed to choose in the child's best interest."
"Mine?" Faith asked.
Billy looked over at her and nodded. "Yours. You see, adults with power often use it to get the things they want and forget that being young doesn't make a person into a possession. I may not have been able to do much about my own childhood, but that doesn't mean I can't help with yours."
"Pretty sure you aren't a fan of kids, Blaze," Cy pointed out.
Billy made a little noise and tilted his head to the side as if dismissing that. "I'm not. She's also a teenager, not a kid." He leaned back as if he was done talking about this, and then sighed. "The whole time I was here, Gran only asked me for one thing. That woman did nothing to change me. She never asked me to apologize. Gran didn't want me to clean up my act, dress differently, or become anyone other than who I was. The only thing she ever asked of me is that I take care of Southwind." He paused to lick his lips. "So I do. Always. Even when no one asks for it."
"And what does that cost?" Luke asked. "I've been warned that asking you for a favor can be very expensive."
Billy nodded slowly. "The price is on a sliding scale. The more you want to ruin someone else's life, the more it's gonna cost. The caveat to that is that if you don't ask, then I can't charge."
"Like, money?" Faith asked.
"No," I told her. "The things Billy does aren't always paid for with dollars. Sometimes it's a favor. Sometimes it's worse."
So Faith turned around and looked at him intently. "What do you do?"
"I make the problems go away," Billy told her. "My official title is ‘political fixer.’ I work in Washington, D.C., where all the politicians want to make sure that they look as good as possible. That's most of my clients. I also work with lobbyists, billionaires, celebrities, and other people who might find their face on the news for something embarrassing. My job is to make sure that they aren't embarrassed."
"Is it legal?" Faith asked.
Billy's answer was a chuckle. "Sometimes. I don't personally do the illegal stuff, though. I just make sure that the right people end up talking. If they want to commit a crime after that, then that's their decision."
Faith looked between all of us. "Does everyone know this?"
"Everyone in the rainbow," I assured her.
"And you're in the rainbow," Billy reminded her, "which means you get to know too."
"This is one of those things you shouldn't tell most people," Luke explained to her. "If anyone asks you what your Uncle Billy does, then just tell them he works in Washington, D.C."
