by Brook Wilder
“What did you say?”
“You heard me, ass-wipe!”
Veronica panics.
“Calm down, guys. Relax.”
Lyle glances at me and turns to her.
I stumble towards him.
“Are you trying to ignore me?”
One of the Vipers, the blonde mullet dude, grabs my shoulder.
“Cool it, man. We don’t need no trouble with the law. He’s off the clock, but still… Come on.”
I nod and sit back down. I want to be respectful. I want to stay focused on doing what I came here to do. I take a deep breath and calm down a little.
Lyle walks past me to get a better look at the stripper on the stage. He bumps into me, causing my drink to spill. I’m so mad I throw my glass at him. It barely misses his head.
He reaches for his gun. A few of the women scream. Everybody is uptight. I’m so drunk off my ass, it’s all a blur. Veronica picks up the phone. It looks like she’s calling for help.
I lunge toward Lyle. I’m gonna get his ass. But before I can take the first swing, somebody stops me. It’s the blonde mullet dude. I break away from him and stumble towards Lyle.
Somebody holds me back. When I turn around, I expect to see one of the blonde-mullet dudes. I’m surprised that’s it’s Abel.
Lyle points his gun at me.
Abel shakes his head.
“Drop it. He’s cool. I got it.”
Lyle waits a moment and then lowers his gun.
I glare at Lyle as Abel slowly walks me outside. I’m dizzy. I feel like I might throw up. Abel takes me to his sheriff cruiser. He helps me sit down in the passenger’s seat. He gets behind the wheel.
“What the fuck were you thinking, Dom?”
“I... I…”
“Damn, you’re drunk.”
I slowly nod.
“You need to get your shit together.”
“I know. I’m sorry. I... I... saw him and I just lost it.”
“No matter that he’s a SOB, he still wears the badge. You’re gonna mess around get yourself killed. And then Amy is gonna have to raise the baby by herself.”
“What?”
He covers his mouth. Maybe he doesn’t realize what he just said. But I understood every word. I’m suddenly sober.
“Amy’s pregnant?”
“Fuck. I wasn’t supposed to say anything.”
I take a deep breath. Now everything makes sense. She’s worried about me for more reasons than one. In my drunken state, the news of her carrying my child still makes me happy. It’s no surprise. We weren’t careful at all. I just wish she’d told me.
“I know about you two. Amy told me everything.”
“I was waiting for the right time to tell you, but…”
“Look, it’s cool, man. Seriously.”
“I thought you would be mad.”
“It’s weird. But I’m not mad. I just don’t wanna see you fuck things up.”
“I won’t.”
“You’d better not, because I’m gonna talk to her, try to convince her to give your sorry ass a second chance.”
I smile a little.
“Thanks, man.”
“You can thank me by getting your shit together once and for all.”
“Don’t worry. I will.”
I sit there in shock. I can’t believe that I’m gonna be a father. Wow! Me and Amy starting a family! I’m excited and overwhelmed. She’s so right for me. This is all I want, and I have to get her back.
Chapter Eighteen
Dom
I sit in the passenger’s seat of Abel’s cruiser. He’s behind the steering wheel. He turns to me.
“You ready to get out of here?”
I point to my motorcycle parked a few feet away.
“What about my bike?”
“Come on, Dom. You’re drunk off your ass. You know you can’t drive.”
I laugh a little and nod. He’s right. I did have one too many at the bar, but all the sudden I don’t feel so drunk. I’m sober with a new reality. Amy is having my baby. Damn, I wish she would’ve said something.
Abel starts the engine and pulls out of the lot. He looks at me. Then, he rolls down the windows.
“You look like you could use the fresh air.”
“Is that your way of saying I look like shit?”
He tries to hold back his laughter.
“Tell you what. How about we grab some coffee? Sober you up a little.”
“Yeah. Okay.”
He takes a deep breath.
“If you’re gonna be with Amy, you gotta get your shit together. All the way.”
“I know.”
“And this is the last time I’m doing this. If you fuck up again, I’m not gonna bail you out.”
“I get it. And I’m sorry.”
“You’d better be.”
A few minutes later, he pulls into the parking lot of the diner. When Abel and I walk inside, the bright lights bring on a headache. We sit in a booth near the back.
Freda approaches us with a big pot of coffee. She smiles.
“What can I get you fellas?”
I point to the coffee.
“Plenty of that.”
She fills our cups.
“Anything to eat?”
“Scrambled eggs, bacon, and toast.”
She writes down my order and turns to Abel.
“A slice of apple pie. That would be good.”
“Okay. I’ll get that right out to you.”
She nods and walks away.
Abel watches her every step.
“When I was a kid, all I wanted to do was grow up and marry her.”
I smile. I don’t mention my own teenage crush on Freda. It’s not that it’s some sort of big secret, but I don’t think it’s a good idea to talk about other women at all around my best friend. After all, I got his sister pregnant.
I take a long sip of coffee and look out into the night. It’s late. I have no clue to the exact time, but I know I should be in bed with Amy, holding her tight. I hope I haven’t lost her for good. That would destroy me.
“So, are you really ready to settle down with Amy?”
“Hell, yeah.”
“No more girls on tours, no more wild nights with the band?”
“None of those chicks could ever compare to Amy. I love her.”
Abel’s eyes get wide. It’s the first time I’ve ever said it out loud to anyone besides Amy. He’s taken aback.
“This is serious.”
“The way I feel about Amy... I haven’t felt this way since Beth.”
He stares at me. There’s a long pause. I can tell he’s thinking back in time to Beth’s disappearance. I am too. I wonder if I said the wrong thing.
He sips his coffee and takes a deep breath. Freda walks over with our food and refills our mugs with coffee. We eat in silence mostly. Then, he looks up at me.
“Amy doesn’t want you helping me and James. That’s what this is about.”
“She’s scared something bad is gonna happen to me.”
“Well, you almost did get yourself killed, but that was just because you were being a dumbass.”
I laugh.
“But, seriously, you have to watch your back around Lyle. I never did trust him.”
“Yeah, I know.”
I drink more coffee. With each sip, the gin and tonics wear off. I feel more like my old self. I think I’m ready to talk to Amy. I hope that she’s ready to listen.
“In the middle of everything that was going on, I never got to tell you…”
“What?”
“One of the girls at the club, a dancer named Misty…”
He smiles knowingly.
“I know Misty.”
“I bet you do.”
Abel laughs.
“Anyhow, she told me something the other day and…”
“What?”
“She mentioned something about how there was a Bear who used to come around the club, trying to look for d
irt on the Vipers, just like me. And she said that he ended up dead.”
“Did she say his name?”
“Yeah. She said ‘Aiden.’ Then, she remembered it wasn’t ‘Aiden’, it was ‘Adam.’”
He takes a deep breath and nods.
“It was a mess. It just about ruined our family. And it turned Amy into a widow.”
“Yeah, she told me how hard it’s been for her these past few years. That’s one of the reasons why she didn’t want me getting mixed up in any of this shit. But Misty told me something else.”
“What?”
“She said that, one night, Lyle was at the club, drinking as usual, and he told her that he had killed Adam.”
Abel shakes his head.
“Lyle is a piece of shit. But a murderer? I don’t think he has the guts to go through with that.”
“I don’t know… Misty said he knows how to make bodies disappear.”
“You believe her?”
“I don’t know what to believe.”
“None of this makes sense to me. I mean why would he want to kill Adam? It just doesn’t add up. There’s no motive.”
“I have no clue what that bastard is capable of.”
“That sure didn’t stop you from trying to pick a fight with him.”
I nod.
“You’re right. That was stupid.”
“You’re not even packing heat, Dom. He could’ve blown you away. And it would’ve been a justified shooting, too. Lyle is just the type to pull some shit like that.”
“But you don’t think he killed Adam?”
“I doubt it. I’ve been on the force with him for years. He’s shady... But murder? That’s a whole different level.”
We finish our food. Freda approaches our table. She smiles as she takes away our empty plates.
“Can I get you guys anything else?”
Abel shakes his head.
“No, thanks.”
“You betcha. See you around.”
Freda puts the bill on the counter and walks toward the kitchen.
Abel and I both reach for our wallets. He holds up his hand and smiles.
“I got it.”
“You sure?”
He puts the cash on the table.
“You need to save your money for diapers, man.”
I laugh as we walk out of the diner. The night air is cool. We get into Abel’s cruiser. He heads for the highway.
“I hope Amy’s not pissed that I told you about the baby.”
“I hope she’s not pissed about everything. I know I have a lot of making up to do.”
“She came over to my place early this morning. I could tell something was wrong, but she didn’t go into a lot of details. She just said she needed to crash in the guest room. But I pressed her, and she told me everything. I still can’t believe the two of you kept this a secret from me.”
“It’s like I said, I didn’t know how you would feel about it. Are you sure you’re not mad at me?”
“It’s too late for all that. Besides, I’m about to be ‘Uncle Abel.’”
I laugh at the thought.
“This is so crazy. After Beth, I was jaded. I didn’t really give a damn about the girls I hung out with. I was just doing my thing, you know. But this whole thing with Amy was so unexpected.”
“Yeah. And now, you’re expecting.”
I smile.
“You’d better get on your knees and beg till she gives your sorry ass a second chance.”
“I’ll do whatever it takes, man. I love Amy. She’s the one.”
“Just like that, huh?”
“Yeah.”
“How do you know?”
“It’s hard to explain. I don’t know how to put it to words.”
“That’s weird. You being a songwriter and all.”
“The best thing I can tell you is that it’s that feeling a kid gets on Christmas Day mixed with the Fourth of July.”
“Sounds like lyrics to me.”
“But it feels like much more. When I saw that letter she wrote me, I started to rethink everything. I wanted to pull out of the Viper operation, you know. But then I got on the phone with James, and he practically begged me. So, I figured, one last time. But of course, I couldn’t focus on shit, ’cause I was too distracted, thinking about Amy.”
“All I know is that when I help get you two back together, if you end up having a boy, you’d better name him after me.”
I smile as we approach Abel’s house. Right away, I notice that Amy’s car isn’t parked in the driveway. I turn to Abel.
“She’s not here.”
“I told her to park in the garage. I figured that’s safer with everything going on.”
I nod and take a deep breath. I try to pull myself together. I’m seconds away from pleading my case with the love of my life. Hopefully, Abel can help Amy to see that I’m sincere. The words of her note still haunt me. I can’t stand the thought of being without her.
Abel unlocks the door to his house. It’s dark, but that’s to be expected. It’s very late. The clock on the wall says it’s just after two o’clock in the morning.
He puts his car keys on the hook.
“Amy? Amy?”
He turns to me.
“She’s probably asleep.”
“Yeah. I hate to wake her up, but this is kinda important.”
“Go ahead.”
I walk down the hallway to the guest room. The door is closed. I knock.
“Amy? It’s me. Hey! You awake?”
I knock again.
“Amy?”
I slowly open the door. The bed is empty. There’s no sign of her. My heart sinks.
“Shit!”
I walk out into the hallway.
“Abel, she’s not here.”
He stands in the kitchen doorway holding a note.
“I know.”
“What’s that?”
I point. I’m almost afraid to even ask what it says. Every time I see a note, it brings back all sorts of bad memories.
“It’s from Amy.”
Abel looks like he’s seen a ghost as he hands it to me.
My heart pounds as I read it:
Lyle has been stalking and molesting girls at the high school. I have proof, and I’m going to get him to confess everything. I think he may have had something to do with Beth’s disappearance. Don’t worry about me. I’ll be safe. He’ll never suspect me of anything. ~ Amy.
Abel takes a deep breath.
“I don’t know what my sister’s trying to do, but…”
“Damn!”
My hands tremble as I drop the letter. I’m scared for Amy’s safety. I get my phone out of my pocket and call her. It rings and rings. Seems like forever. Then, the ringing stops.
“Amy? Amy?”
“Guess again!”
I recognize Lyle’s voice right away.
“What the fuck did you do to her?”
“If you want to see your precious Amy, then you’d better listen good. Meet me at the end of Harris Road. And you’d better show up alone. Don’t try anything stupid, or else...”
“You bastard! You’d better not lay a hand on her!”
I’m breathing hard. It takes me a while to realize that he’s already hung up the phone. I try to call right back. It goes to voicemail.
I can see the fear in Abel’s eyes.
“What is it?”
“Lyle has her.”
“What?”
“He says to meet him at the end of Harris Road, or else.”
“Let’s go.”
“He said... He said I have to go by myself.”