Wiley

by KJ Dahlen

  Nix came out of the shadows and knelt down beside Wiley. She looked up at Gus and shook her head. She was dressed in her usual garb of jeans and a t shirt. Her long dark hair was braided and tucked into a beanie cap. Standing only five feet high, she looked like a kid. “Help me with him,” she whispered. “We can’t let him die. I won’t do that again, not this time.”

  Gus looked right then left and when he didn’t see anyone, he came over to where Nix and Wiley were. He knelt down and checked on Wiley. “This is Wiley and now, we are in a helluva lot of trouble. He’s hurt bad. If we call an ambulance, Deke will find out and I’ll be done in this town.”

  Nix turned rage filed eyes to the man she’d come to think of as a father. A father she never knew. “We have to help him.” She insisted. When she’d seen Turnkey again after all this time her mind had gone blank. Her mind had flipped back four years and she was a witness to a senseless act of violence. An act was forever burned into her brain as something she would never forget as long as she lived. She knew she couldn’t let it happen again. She screamed and pushed the dumpster in an attempt to disrupt the act taking place. She was lucky it had worked.

  Turnkey as always was still a coward and he’d run rather than stay and confront her. But she also knew her time here would be limited as he’d found her again.

  Gus was shaking by this time. He reached into his pocket and brought out his truck keys. “I’ll help you get him in the truck and you can take him to his MC. They can take care of him.”

  Nix snatched the keys from his hand and got up to bring the truck closer to where they were. When they loaded him into the backseat, Wiley groaned but didn’t open his eyes.

  Then Gus disappeared for a moment and when he returned, he had Wiley’s bike. He helped her load it in the back of the truck and then he looked over at Nix.

  “I need to get my things, can you watch him for a moment?”

  Gus swallowed nervously and nodded. “But please hurry, I have to get out of here.”

  Ten minutes later, she returned and threw her duffle bag in the back of the truck. She looked at Gus. “No matter where you run, you’ll never out run this. Don’t make the same mistake I made.”

  “My nephew and his friends are looking for someone and I think that someone is you. He said the name was Phoenix but I’ve only known you as Nix since you came here. If you are this Phoenix person you need to get out of town. I don’t think Turnkey wants to date you. I think he’s looking to kill you.”

  Nix nodded. “That would be about right.” She looked into Gus’s eyes. “Turnkey has done this sort of thing before. I witnessed him ambush another man four years ago. Only back then, I was too stunned to try and stop it. He beat a man to death with that fucking bat he always carries.” She looked over at the truck then back to Gus. “I have to leave town. I’ll see him safe and then I’ll call you and let you know where your truck is, but I can’t stay here anymore. If he finds me, he will kill me and as much as this life sucks, I’m not ready to die just yet.”

  Gus reached for his wallet. He removed a couple hundred bucks and handed it to her. “It isn’t much but it should at least get you out of town.” He forced the money into her hand. Then he leaned over and brushed a kiss on her forehead. “Take care and get as far away from Turnkey as you can get.”

  Nix hugged the other man then turned to climb into the truck. She took off and soon disappeared into the shadows of the night.

  Gus shook his head then went back inside the bar. A few moments later he returned with a bucket of soapy water and began scrubbing the blood off the parking lot. He didn’t need this right now, not ever but he would give her a chance to escape the city.

  He prayed she would drop Wiley off at the clubhouse so he could get medical help and then sneak away. Then he thought about closing up the bar for a while and disappearing himself. Yeah, he thought. Maybe it was time to take a vacation until this blew over. Until Turnkey and his buddies were gone.

  Gus hosed the soap and blood off the parking lot and went back inside the bar. An hour later, he closed the bar and walked the three blocks home. As the predawn light came up he went out to the garage and put his suitcase in the truck he kept out there.

  An hour later, he was leaving Troy.

  Chapter Two

  Nix drove the truck carefully through the streets. She didn’t exactly have a license and she didn’t know if Turnkey was following her or not. Driving the back road and alleys, she found her way to an abandoned warehouse.

  Driving the truck inside, she pulled to a stop and shut off the engine. She kept the lights on while she looked around the area. The place was more than just dirty, it was filthy, but she felt safe for now.

  Before she could take him out of the truck, she had to make a place for him to rest in. She found an old broom and began sweeping an area clear. Then she pulled over some pallets she’d found and put some tarps on top of that.

  Rummaging through the old office area, she found an old first aid kit and when she checked it, she found some gauze and bandages. She set them beside the space then went to the truck and helped him out. By now Wiley was semi-conscious and could walk a bit.

  He was in pain but the bleeding had stopped. She cleaned him up the best she could. While she did so, she began asking him questions to see just how scrambled his brain really was. He seemed coherent enough and when she asked him about the pain, he was in. “How are you feeling?”

  Wiley snorted. “Like somebody slapped me upside the head with a bat.”

  She shook her head. “Well, that might be because someone did slap you upside the head with a baseball bat, the fucking coward.”

  Wiley turned his head slowly and glared at her. “Did you see it happen?”

  Nix wouldn’t look at him but instead, she busied herself cleaning up the mess she’d made taking care of him.

  Wiley frowned and watched her for a moment. When she went to get to her feet, he grabbed her wrist and held her there.

  Nix lifted her eyes to his and whispered, “Please let me go.”

  Wiley studied her for a moment then let her go. He didn’t know why but this girl whoever she was had seen real pain and he wanted to show her he didn’t want to give her anymore. The pain wasn’t all he’d seen in her eyes though... he’d seen real fear. He didn’t know if she feared him or someone else. He suddenly realized that he wanted to know more about her.

  He would have to move slow though. She didn’t seem the type to just spill her own inner thoughts. He laid back on his pallet bed and closed his eyes. The pain was pounding in his head. He didn’t think she was the type to leave a man down. After all, she had gotten him out of that alley. When he opened his eyes again, he knew she would still be there.

  The sun was completely up when Wiley woke up again. His head was still pounding and now his belly was rolling and he felt like he was gonna puke. He groaned and moved to his side. Then he felt her hands on his shoulders as she rolled him over. He looked at her through narrowed eyes.

  “Are you ok?” she asked him quietly.

  Wiley shook his head then groaned. “No, I think I’m gonna puke and my head is pounding.” He groaned.

  She didn’t look surprised. She went over to her duffle and got him some aspirin and a bottle of water. Handing him the pills, she helped him to a sitting position. She held his shoulders while he swallowed the pills and then she helped him lay down again. She seemed to know that he shouldn’t guzzle the water so she made him sip just enough to wet his mouth and get the pills down.

  Wiley groaned and held his stomach. The pain abated if he kept his eyes closed.

  He fell asleep again and Nix watched over him carefully.

  She reached out to touch his forehead and he felt a little warm to her. Curling up next to him, she fell asleep as well. A while later she felt him move. As she was opening her eyes, his arm wrapped around her, so he froze and waited for the panic to set in but it never did. He pulled her close and she wanted to pull away but
she couldn’t. Every time she moved, he pulled her closer.

  Nix stiffened and expected him to take the next step. When he didn’t take it further, she relaxed enough to stay where she was. Finally, after the longest time, she was able to fall asleep again.

  The next time she opened her eyes it was early afternoon. She took a moment to study his face. She took note of his dark hair, chiseled cheeks and bearded jaw. She reached out and touched the facial hair he had and was surprised to feel its softness. The hair curled under his jaw and was dark like his hair. His eyes were closed but she remembered they were dark blue almost black.

  Nix stared at him longer than a minute and was relieved to not feel the all too familiar panic she always felt being too close to anyone. With him, she didn’t mind so much. For her to admit this, was something she’d never felt before.

  Nix had never felt the loving arms of her mother, a woman who was supposed to protect and love her. Her mother, Milly had been an MC club whore who cared more about the men in her life than the daughter she gave birth too. Then when Nix was ten, someone introduced Milly to a drug habit, she craved more than anything or anyone.

  The club her mother belonged to had been the Reckless Hellions, St Louis chapter. Nix had grown up watching her mother doing a lot of things she never should have seen but her mother didn’t care what she saw her do.

  Just before she turned thirteen, several of the brothers in the MC had started eyeing her to take her mother’s place. Nix wanted noting to do with them or her, then came the night her mom overdosed.

  Nix watched as her mother began to convulse and foam dribbled from her mouth. She’d been gasping for breath and then she stilled. Nix knew her heart had stopped beating and she just curled up the corner and wrapped a blanket around her shoulders.

  She didn’t have to wait long before someone came looking for her mother. When the MC brother found her dead, chaos ruled as everyone jammed themselves in her mother’s small room. After they carried her mom out, two of them stayed behind. They both looked at her as if they were measuring her appeal. They made her feel dirty with nothing more than just the way they looked at her.

  One of the men was the president, a man they called Moses. Moses told her she would start earning her keep the next day. When Nix asked doing what, Moues and Brick laughed and told her the same way her mother did. Moses told her she was young but they would be gentle when they broke her in.

  Then they left the room.

  Nix was left alone. When the clubhouse settled down for the night, Nix got up from her corner and began packing her things. She didn’t have much but what she had she wanted to take with her.

  Then before she left, she went to her closet and found her secret stash. She’d been babysitting for people and saving her money for the time she had to leave. It wasn’t much but she prayed it would be enough to get her the hell away from the Reckless Hellions.

  Just before the sun came up that morning, when she knew no one was awake, as despite her mother dying, they still partied through the night as usual. She let herself out the front door and she never once looked back. She might have only been thirteen but she was older by far than most thirteen year olds. She disappeared and learned to live in the shadows.

  That had been ten years ago now. She had been doing so well until the night four years ago when she’d seen Turnkey kill a man. She’d come a long way since St. Louis and the Reckless Hellions but maybe not far enough from Hell’s Wrath MC.

  Then she became aware of a warmth under her fingertips. She looked up at him and reached up to touch his forehead. He was very warm but she didn’t think too warm. She slipped away from his embrace and got more aspirin. She had to wake him to swallow the pills and when he opened his eyes, she could see they were glazed over.

  “Hey there sweet girl,” he mumbled. “Is it morning already angel?” His voice was slurred and he was running a fever. She knew she had to get him more help than what she could give him. That bat to the head had rattled his cage and she didn’t want anything to happen to him. It was all because of her. Plus, she needed to make up for the time when she’d allowed a man to die right in front of her.

  She brushed the dark silky hair hanging in his eye gently off his face. He had the most beautiful eyes she had ever seen, they were a deep almost dark blue. He’d closed his eyes again after he swallowed the pills but she couldn’t stop looking at him. He was the first man she wasn’t afraid of. He made her feel something she’d never felt before. He was bigger than a few of the men she’d grown up with but he didn’t have the cruelty in his eyes or his manner she often found in big guys.

  Nix stared at his face for a long moment as if she wanted to remember him for a long time. Then she leaned over him and she brushed her lips on his. His lips were so soft and she almost felt a spark when she touched him.

  She lifted her lips from his mouth and when she looked at his face again, she saw his eyes were open. She gasped and tried to break away from him but Wiley wouldn’t let her go. Instead he placed either hand on side of her face and brought her closer to him again.

  This time, he initiated the kiss and took her mouth. She gasped and he pushed his tongue inside. She groaned and he echoed the sound as he crushed her mouth with his own. Pure pleasure burst within her and when she closed her eyes, she saw bursts of color behind her eyelids.

  When the kiss broke, they were both panting for air. Nix kept her eyes closed and she placed her forehead in the crock of his neck. Breathing deeply, she took in his scent and it gave her comfort as it surrounded her, bathing her in excitement. An excitement she’d never felt before.

  “Who are you?” he mumbled. “Are you even old enough to kiss a man like that? Why have we never met before?”

  She lifted her head and stared at him. His beautiful eyes were a little clearer now as he studied her face. “I’m old enough,” she grumbled. “My name is Nix but that doesn’t matter right now. How are you feeling?”

  “Nix huh?” He smiled. “Well, that’s unusual. So who are you Nix and how long have you been in town?”

  “I’ve been here almost a year now I guess. Gus gave me a job and somewhere to stay. I try to keep out of sight mostly,” she admitted as she drew circles on his chest with her fingertips.

  Wiley looked down at her and frowned. “Why do you keep out of sight sweetheart?”

  She looked up at him and bit her bottom lip. She wasn’t sure how much she should tell him about herself. “Its just better that way.” She lowered her eyes to his chest. When she looked down, she could see the hint of dark chest hair peeking out of the top of his shirt. She had to wonder what his chest would look like bared to her gaze.

  At her fingers on his skin, he groaned at her touch.

  Her eyes snapped back up to his. “How are you feeling now?”

  He sighed and covered his eyes with his hand. “I got a headache from hell and I think I’m bleeding again, but I’ll live.” He frowned and opened his eyes again. “Where the hell are we anyway?” He tried to get up but flopped back down again. “Sweet Jesus, I’m so weak right now. Why is that?”

  “Hmmm, probably because you took a bat to the back of your hard head?” she suggested.

  “Yeah, I was about to ask you what train did I hit?” He groaned in pain. “When was that?”

  “You don’t remember?” she asked worriedly.

  “I remember going into Gus’s bar. I remember seeing some guys there that shouldn’t be there and then I remember nothing.”

  Nix pushed herself away from him and walked over to the truck.

  Wiley’s frown deepened. “Why do you have Gus’s truck? And why is my ride in the back of it?” He barked then winced as the sound of his own voice made his head pound.

  “Can I ask you something?” she whispered.

  “Well, since you haven’t yet answered any of my questions?” He then gave her a pained smile. “No, go ahead. An angel like you can ask me anything you want.”

  “What’s your n
ame? I mean Gus said it but I don’t think I heard him right. I was in a sort of a panic at the time.”

  He grinned and crossed his arms over his chest. “My given name is Parker James but my road name is Wiley.”

  Her eyes rounded as she stared at him. “That is what Gus said! Why Wiley? What’s wrong with Parker?”

  Wiley grinned. “Wiley after Wiley Coyote. I like speed and danger.”

  “Ok,” she whispered.

  When she didn’t say anything else, he broke the silence by asking her, “What does Nix stand for? Anything?”

  Nix drifted from the truck back to him and sat down beside him on the floor. “My mother named me Phoenix but that was all she ever did for me.” She began tugging on the hem of her jeans but wouldn’t raise her eyes to his. “She was a club whore for the Reckless Hellions out of Phoenix, Arizona. When they opened another chapter in St. Louis, she moved with them. She od’ed when I was thirteen.”

  “So why did you leave then?”

  Nix shrugged but wouldn’t tell him. “I just had to go. I mean I grew up around bikers so that life is nothing I haven’t seen before but it wasn’t what I wanted at the time.”

  Wiley watched her for a while before he stated, “You know who hit me last night don’t you? You saw his face.”

  She slowly raised her eyes and stared at him with fear. “His road name is Turnkey. He’s from the Hells’ Wrath MC. He’s been here with two of his friends, JoJo and Bailer. Turnkey is trouble big time and his friends aren’t much better. But he didn’t come here for you, he came here to find me.”

  “Why did he come here for you?” Wiley wanted to know.

  Nix didn’t say anything for the longest time, then finally answered with a broken whisper, “I-I saw him kill— a man four years ago.... the same way he would have killed you last night. I have to leave here now, but I couldn’t let you die. Not that way. I couldn’t stop the first hit but I could stop him from killing you. But now he knows I’m here and I can’t let him catch me. I can’t let him find me. So as soon as I can get you back to your friends, I’m so out of here.”