Wiley

by KJ Dahlen

  Moses sneered at her. “He never would have been caught if it hadn’t been for someone he’d considered a friend. All Greg had to do was keep his fucking mouth shut. The cops never would have known it was my dad. When you snitch on a friend, you don’t get away with it. Dad couldn’t get his revenge so it became my job to do that. Grandpa taught me everything I need to know. He thumped it into both our heads to get back for his son getting killed in prison.”

  “Did you ever read the prison’s report about what really happened to your dad that day?” she wanted to know.

  “I didn’t need to read their lies!” He screamed at her insanely. “My grandfather told me he was killed for standing up for his rights. He told us dad was stabbed by another inmate because he wouldn’t let the other man rape him.”

  Nix just stared at him, she had seen the report at the clubhouse. “Your grandfather was wrong. He was the aggressor that day. He was the one beating on a smaller weaker man. He thought because the other man was weaker than he was no one would miss him. Well, I guess your dad was wrong. The other man had friends that watched out for him. Your dad nearly beat the man to death before his friends got there. They broke his neck trying to get him off the smaller man.”

  “I don’t fucking care you bitch. My dad never should have gone to jail in the first damn place. If Greg had kept his mouth shut, he’d still be here. We never would have gone to our grandparents and we never would have had to endure the hell we did because dad wasn’t there to stop it.”

  “What’s to say your own dad would have been a better parent than your grandfather?”

  “You don’t know shit bitch, so keep your mouth shut.” Moses snarled. He began to pace muttering the whole time. “Where the hell is your dad? Why isn’t he here yet to protect you? He needs to be here before you die.”

  “If you feel this way why didn’t you... go after my g-grandfather?” she asked breathlessly as the rope was tight around her neck.

  “My grandfather took care of Greg Matthias,” Moses boasted. “He told me Greg was his to handle, but Stone would be mine to take out. Grandpa wanted the entire Matthias family wiped off the map.”

  “Your grandfather lied to you.” Nix shook her head. “Greg is still alive.”

  Moses glared at her. “That’s a fucking lie.”

  Nix shook her head. “I spoke to him just this morning. He’s alive and well and living in Vermont. Not far from here, actually.”

  Moses stalked over to her and gripped her jaw hard. His fingers bit down into her skin and she knew he would leave bruises in his wake. He searched her eyes for the truth and when he saw it, he swore. “That fucking liar! That motherfuckin’ liar. I hope he’s burning in hell right now.” He paced in front of her. Then he stopped and turned to face her. “Greg Matthias is still alive isn’t he?”

  Nix nodded despite the rope around her throat.

  “We were told all our lives that grandpa killed him. He made it our mission to take out Greg and any issue he had and Stone would have been his issue. Grandpa taught us how to hunt and kill and he made sure we knew it wasn’t hard to kill a man. Easy as pulling the trigger on a deer as a man he always said. He always told us he took care of Greg and it would be our job to take out his son. He said ‘a life for a life.’ He said Greg cost him a son and he would take his revenge. He lied to us and turned us into killers.”

  “He just finished what he started with your dad,” Nix told him. “He turned your dad into a killer and he continued with you and your brother. He went to his grave, knowing he set you and your brother up to fail.”

  Moses snorted. “Who says we’ll fail? I got your mother didn’t I? I got you too. I will see you die by my hands and I will see your father die, one way or the other. If I don’t kill him, I know Jack will. If I go to my grave before Stone does, I know my brother will see him dead. I know I will see my grandfather’s vow done.”

  “I guess for men like you, death is all you have left to look forward too, huh?” Nix smiled at him, despite the pain she was in she knew this man was such a fool and he would die one too.

  “What the fuck does that mean?” Moses frowned at her smiling.

  “It means that instead of embracing life and taking every day as it is intended, all you have to look forward too is being that much closer to your own death. You don’t see every day as an adventure. No, you see every day as one more day of misery on this earth. One more day before you can feel death’s embrace. One more day you have to endure this thing most people call living. That instead of craving living, all you crave is the idea of dying. You’ve already given up the life your daddy gave you and instead, you chose the idea of being a martyr on a quest your grandfather implanted in your head.” She snorted. “I guess I’d feel sorry for you but I won’t waste my breath. You deserve death, I don’t. My dad doesn’t but you and your brother do. You’ll follow your dad and granddad into hell for what you’ve done and that’s a hell of a legacy your grandfather left for you and your brother.”

  Moses snorted. “You’ve been a pain in my ass since the day you were born girl. At least before I die, I’ll get to see you die first. Save your words they don’t mean shit to me.”

  “They mean something to me,” Bam Bam called out from the shadows.

  “Me too,” another voice called out from somewhere else.

  “Me too,” voice after voice called out.

  Moses tried to pinpoint where every voice was calling from but they were coming from all over the barn. He drew his knife and scurried behind Nix. Wrapping his arm around her waist, he peeked out from behind her. His eyes searched the shadows before he called out, “Stone, where the fuck are you? Come out into the light, so I can see you.”

  “Don’t you mean so your brother can see him?” Nix taunted. “Stay where you are Dad. Turnkey is hiding, waiting to blow your head off from the loft if Moses misses you.”

  Moses growled and pulled her down a bit.

  The rope tightened around her neck and Nix began to choke.

  “I’ll kill her if you don’t come out,” he threatened. “All I have to do is kick the chair she’s standing on and the rope will break her fucking neck.”

  “You kill her and you lose your bargaining chip you fucker,” Bam Bam growled out. He was slowly making his way toward the place where he could get behind Moses and take him out. He knew his men were there as well but he wanted to be the one to take this man out.

  He paused and listened as he heard a footstep from above him. He hoped it was one of his men taking out Turnkey and not Turnkey taking a position to take him out.

  They had found this place in time to hear Moses tell his spiel of lies to Nix. He was proud of the fact that Nix didn’t look afraid and she had gone as far as to taunt him back. He hadn’t gotten around to telling her yet about his family. He had another wife and two other kids. They were safe under the protection of the Wrath MC but she didn’t know that. Not yet and he was praying for the time to tell her she wasn’t alone in this world.

  He finally got to where he needed to be. He knew Deke and his men were out there somewhere in the shadows and he knew Wiley was one of the men waiting for this to play out. So far, he’d kept quiet but if there were a threat to her life he wouldn’t keep quiet for long. He’d made his position very clear on that score.

  He searched the place Moses was hiding behind his daughter. With him being so close, he knew if he took the other man out she was be in trouble. Moses wouldn’t hesitate to take her out with him. All he could do was pray the other men with him would cut the rope around his daughter’s throat.

  He moved closer then noticed the hay above him falling through the cracks. He didn’t know if that was one of his or Turnkey. He glanced upward and saw a shadow moving around. At one point, the moonlight shows his face but it wasn’t Turnkey. It was one of Deke’s men but he didn’t know which one.

  That was all he needed to know. He stepped up and tapped Moses on the shoulder.

  Moses startled
and turned his head,

  Then Bam Bam did what he did best. He hauled his arm back and let it fly. He hit Moses so hard he flew five feet in the air before he landed in the dirt. Bam Bam rushed toward Nix as she was kicking her feet. The chair she was standing on had crashed to the ground but he hoped he got to her in time to prevent her hanging. He grabbed her and pushed her body upward.

  Wiley rushed out of the shadows with a bad ass knife in his hand and he began sawing at the rope around her neck.

  She was turning blue from lack of air before the rope snapped free and Bam Bam slowly lowered her to the ground. Wiley worked the rope lose around her neck and she was unconscious when he took the rope off her head.

  She didn’t look to be breathing for the moment and Wiley started shaking her shoulders. “Wake up baby. You need to wake up.”

  “Come on sweetheart, open them pretty brown eyes and give us both hell for waiting so long,” Bam Bam whispered brokenly.

  Raine pushed his way through the crowd of men standing in his way. Kneeling beside her, he began checking her vitals then he leaned forward, covering her mouth with his he blew gently into her mouth.

  Nix began coming around soon after that. She began thrashing but she wouldn’t open her eyes. That took her a moment or so but eventually, she did open her eyes. Her eyes looked dazed and she was gulping in air. Her face looked pained as she tried to breath.

  Slowly raising her hand, she cradled her throat and winced when she touched her bruised skin. She looked at her father with tears in her eyes then she looked at Wiley. She reached out her hands to him.

  He gathered her carefully in his arms. “I thought I’d lost you sweet girl.”

  “I thought you did too....” she could barely whisper.

  Bam Bam hung his head, mostly in relief that his daughter was still alive then he raised his head as the rage inside him took over. He glared at the man he’d knocked out just moment ago.

  Then he looked up at the rope still hung over the beam of the barn. He righted the chair then motioned for Grizzly to help him. They loosened the rope just long enough for Moses then tied the rope into a noose. He ordered one of his men to go grab a bucket of water from the well outside.

  The man brought it back in about 2 minutes. The water was almost black and smelled bad but they used it anyway. Bam Bam had tied Moses’ hands behind his back in the same way they’d done Nix’s hands.

  He threw the water in Moses’ face and watched as he came to.

  Deke’s man had come down the ladder shaking his head. “Turnkey bled out. He wouldn’t have been able to swat a fly left alone shoot a gun.”

  Moses growled and glared at Bam Bam. “Now, you killed my brother, you fucking bastard.”

  Bam Bam shook his head. “I didn’t kill him you fool. You’re the one who shot him, not me.” He grabbed the man’s shoulders and got him to his feet. He and Grizzly dragged the other man over to the chair and put the rope around his neck.

  Moses struggled to fight them as they pushed him up on the chair and tightened the rope to the point where he was standing upright, almost on his tiptoes

  . Grizzly tied off the rope.

  Bam Bam went to stand in front of the other man. “Now, it’s your turn to listen to what we found out you bastard.”

  “I know what you found,” Moses told him. “My father Travis Turner died in prison on March 14th due to a fight between him and another inmate.”

  Bam Bam shook his head. “No, that’s not the truth.”

  Moses sneered then spit at Bam Bam, “Ok asshole, suppose you tell me the truth then.”

  “First off, you’re father’s name was never Travis Turner. His legal name was Travis Paulson. Paulson was the name he went to prison under and Paulson is the name on his headstone. Michael Turner was your grandmother’s second husband. But he never legally adopted Travis when they were married when the boy was five years old. Michael Turner was a bastard of a man. He was hard on your dad and eventually, you boys. He filled your dad’s heart with so much hate he acted out, then he filled your heads with that same hate. He may have hated my dad but he never killed him. My dad is still alive.”

  “That’s a fucking lie!” Moses screamed. “My grandfather told us he forced your dad’s car off the road and he saw the crash. He was sure the other guy couldn’t have survived the crash.”

  “But I did survive it,” a voice called out from the shadows.

  An older man stepped up into the light and even Moses could see the man looked enough like Bam Bam to be his father.

  “How the hell are you still living?” Moses asked.

  The older man shook his head. “Your grandfather forced me into the ditch but the ditch wasn’t very deep. I lost consciousness but I was never in any danger of dying. If he’d stuck around a few minutes, he would have seen me climb out of my car. But Michael never was much of a man even back then.” He looked at Moses and shook his head. “Your dad almost beat an older man to death, that’s why he went to prison. He did it with the thought of robbing him and he was surprised to find the man asleep in his bed. Then when the man was unconscious, he rifled through his things and only found forty bucks. He damn near killed a man for forty bucks.” He shrugged. “Travis was nothing more than a bully and he didn’t have many friends back then. The friendship he thought we had was nonexistent. He lorded his position over everyone and he bullied everyone, not just me. When the cops came around and asked if anyone knew anything I told them what I knew. Nothing more, nothing less. I didn’t name anyone in particular and I was never asked to testify in court. How they ended up arresting Travis, no one knew but he said something to someone that led to his trial. It wasn’t me that judged him or convicted him. I just told the truth.”

  Moses frowned as he considered Greg’s words. “That’s not what we were told.”

  Greg nodded. “I know. I told you Michael was a beast of a man. He lied to you most of your life.”

  Bam Bam walked up to Moses. “We really had to dig to find out what happened when your dad died in prison. His records were blocked but we managed to find out. He was beating another prisoner. The other guy had friends that tried to stop the attack. One of them got his arm around your dad’s throat and Travis still wouldn’t stop his attack. It took three of them to get Travis off their friend. When everything was said and done your dad was dead of a broken neck.” He paused then added. “Your grandfather wanted a full press coverage review but the prison wouldn’t allow it. They didn’t want the world to know that your dad had become a rapist inside the joint. When they pointed that out to your grandfather, he about flipped.”

  “My grandfather never said a word about any of this. Not to me or my brother. All he ever said was that because of you... our father died behind bars he never should have been behind.”

  “You stupid fool.” Bam Bam shook his head. “You’ve wasted your life blaming me for something I didn’t do, you blamed my dad for lies your grandfather told you. Michael Turner laid everything he did wrong on someone else’s shoulders when it should have been on his own. You took my wife’s life and almost took my daughter’s. All over lies and misplaced hatred. It’s time to stop.”

  “You destroyed everything I built tonight.” Moses snarled. “My MC is gone. Their lives mattered to me, even if they didn’t mean anything to you.”

  “The men that died tonight followed you into hell.” Deke stepped forward. “They chose you instead of common sense. They believed in what you did but it was the wrong thing to believe in. Their deaths are no one’s fault but their own. They stood up for you and that’s on them. They would have killed us if they could have. We defended ourselves and our MC’s. You came to us man, we didn’t come to you.”

  “And now it’s my turn to die, is that what you’re saying?” Moses gritted through his teeth.

  “For every action there is a reaction. You know that. I have every right to call for your death,” Bam Bam stated. “I think we both know that you won’t stop coming afte
r me or my family because somewhere in your mind I’m still to blame for your misfortune.” He shook his head. “I have to protect my family. I have another wife now and a couple more kids. I can’t put their lives on the line for a lie. I won’t put them in danger, not from you or anyone.”

  “So I’m just supposed to accept my fate and make this easy on you huh?” Moses shook his head. “I don’t think so asshole.”

  Wiley who’d been silent this whole time, stood up and swung out his foot. Connecting with the bottom rung of the chair, he pulled it out from underneath the other man.

  Moses’ weight snapped his neck as he flopped around for a moment then was still. Swinging slightly in the air they all stared at him in silence.

  Bam Bam looked over at the other man.

  Wiley shrugged. “I got tired of the sound of his fucking voice. He hurt my woman badly and he needed to pay for it.” He looked down at the woman in his arms. “He got what he would have subjected her to. He was willing to hang her, instead he got hung. Sounds like poetic justice to me.”

  “Sounds like it to me too.” Deke agreed. “He cost a lot of men their lives tonight in a fight that never should have happened. Most of those who died were his own men.” He swung his gaze down to Nix. “Men from our MCs were wounded but not killed so that is something.” He looked up at Wiley. “All you did was save us the time of a tribunal. At a tribunal he would have been found guilty anyway.”

  Bam Bam nodded. “Now we have to step back and regroup. Allow our wounded to heal and find a way to get along with each other. I have a feeling my daughter isn’t going to come home with me and I’ve already missed her whole life, so I’m not missing any more of it. I want to know her and allow her to know us. She’s not alone in the world anymore and she needs to know that.”

  Deke nodded. “The wounded have been taken back to the clubhouse. We can bring the dead here to this barn and set it on fire. It’s far enough out of town not to burn everything. We can let their mother chapter know what happened but from what I understand, no one will miss these guys. They banished them a long time ago for the way they were acting. It went against everything the club stood for even back then. I already put in a call to their national president. I explained what was happening and what the outcome could be. He’s waiting for another call to let him know the outcome. I told him everything we uncovered before the showdown and he agreed. What Moses did was not in his best interests, not for himself or his chapter. He’d like the cuts returned, so he can notify the families and he promises not retaliation.”