by Chiah Wilder
“What’s your maiden name?”
“Why do you want to know that?”
Wheelie jumped up and paced. “Just fuckin’ tell me.”
“Elmore.” The way his face crumbled, it looked like she’d shot him. “What’s the matter? Why are you so upset?”
“Your fuckin’ brother murdered my sister.” Wheelie scrubbed his face. “Why didn’t you tell me your last name was Elmore?”
Confusion rushed through her. “Why would I tell you that? Anyway, you’re wrong. My brother’s wife is alive and well. He’s working hard to make sure she has enough money after he dies.”
“I fuckin’ know who killed my sister. I recognize the sonofabitch! I can’t fuckin’ believe you’re his sister.” Wheelie stopped in front of her, his eyes flashing, his nostrils flaring.
“You’re mistaken. We’re not the only Elmores in Colorado. Russ told me—”
“I don’t give a fuck what that asshole told you!” He kicked over the side table. “He killed Kendra.”
Sofia jumped in her seat when the glass table top crashed on the brick floor, shattering in a million pieces like her heart was doing at that moment. Kendra? Russ told me his wife’s name is Kendra, but he said she was alive. Why would he lie to me? This isn’t making any sense. And why is Wheelie looking at me like he hates me?
“Where is the motherfucker?” Wheelie’s voice sliced through her musings.
“Uh … he said he’s in Campo working on a farm.”
“Bullshit! That loser would rather scam women outta their money than get his hands dirty.”
“Russ isn’t like that. This must be a terrible mistake.”
“There’s no mistake. And you don’t know him at all. You haven’t spoken to him since you were a kid, so you don’t know shit about him. I do, and he’s just like your old man and Tigger—he likes to beat up women, only he went too far with Kendra and killed her. I should’ve beat his ass and made her leave him. I was the man of the house and I fuckin’ blew it. I’m not gonna do that now.”
Fear seized her. “What do you mean? You’re not going to hurt Russ, are you?”
“His damn ass should’ve been in prison for life. Nine years is all he’s done and Kendra’s life ended when she was only twenty-four. A year younger than you. Can you imagine that, Sofia? That’s what your brother did. I’m gonna hurt him. Real. Bad.”
“But he’s going to die.” Sofia wrung her hands.
“Then a few months before his scheduled check out won’t matter.” Wheelie stormed into the house and slammed the sliding door.
Sofia rubbed her throbbing temples. What the hell is going on? I still don’t believe he’s the one who killed Wheelie’s sister. This must be a mistake. Sofia held her breath when the sliding door opened. Wheelie came out with a bunch of newspapers. He threw them at her and they landed on the love seat and the floor.
“You believe him over me? Go ahead and read about the brother you trust and love so much.” He spun around and stalked back into the house.
For a long time, Sofia read the clippings as tears streamed down her cheeks. How could Russ do this? Then images of her mother cowering in different corners of their house, pleading for Sofia’s dad to stop the assault ran through her mind. He learned from Dad. She stared at a picture of Kendra; it looked like it was a school picture. Sofia could see Wheelie in Kendra’s features. Her heart twisted: hatred replaced gentleness in Wheelie’s eyes. How can we go on? Every time he looks at me, I’ll remind him of Kendra’s murder. I can’t believe Russ lied to me. Maybe he was afraid I wouldn’t want to reconnect with him.
Sofia gathered all the newspaper articles and went inside. Wheelie sat on the couch staring at the muted television, a drink in his hand and a bottle of Jack on the table. She padded over and put the clippings down on the coffee table. He didn’t even look at her. The tension stretched even tighter between them. She walked away and went to the closet and took out a broom and dustpan.
Cutting through the family room, his coolly impersonal tone broke the stillness. She froze in her tracks.
“Leave it. I’ll clean it up.” He brought the drink to his mouth.
“That’s okay. I don’t mind.”
“I said to fuckin’ leave it alone.”
Irked by his coolness, Sofia threw the broom and dustpan on the floor. “I’m sorry about Kendra, and it makes me sick to my stomach that Russ did this to her. I can’t believe it, but then I can since all we ever knew as kids was violence.” His stare drilled into her. She licked her dry lips and shook her head. “I’m not making excuses for him. I’m just saying that Russ … really all of us should’ve gone to therapy. Anyway, I feel so horrible about all this, but I didn’t do it to Kendra. I had no part in this and no one knows what he did.”
“Your mom does.”
“No, she doesn’t. She would’ve told me.”
Wheelie took a sip of Jack and cradled the glass in his hand. “She wrote a letter to the judge saying some bullshit about the fucker’s background and that it was an accident.”
“Why didn’t she tell me?”
Wheelie quirked his lips then his eyes narrowed. “I guess dishonesty runs in your family.”
Sofia’s stomach churned. “What do you mean?”
There was a long, brittle silence.
Wheelie cocked his head. “The asshole lied to you. Your mother lied to you. And you fucked me behind Tigger’s back.”
If he would’ve stabbed her through the heart it wouldn’t have hurt as much as his words. She swallowed hard and bit back tears. “That’s so unfair! I didn’t have the affair alone. Anyway, you pursued me.”
“I wasn’t married, and if you wanna think I did all the chasing, go right ahead. Remembering shit different from what really happened seems to be another trait that runs in your family.”
“Why are you being so mean to me? I didn’t kill your sister!”
The chill between them seemed to grow.
“I didn’t say you did.” Wheelie reached over and poured more whiskey into the glass.
“You’re acting like it. How can you blame me for what my brother did?”
“I’m not blaming you.” He took a sip.
Sofia clenched her hand until her nails dug into her palm. “If you knew I was Russ’ sister would you have pursued me?”
Wheelie stared at her stone-faced and she shriveled a little at his expression. Her heart thumped against her ribcage as the seconds turned into minutes. She felt the nauseating sinking of despair. His silence spoke louder than any words he could utter. Spinning around, she fled from the room and ran upstairs.
Sofia packed as much as she could in her suitcase, hope still coursing through her that at any minute Wheelie would burst through the door and hold her close, telling her he loved her and that was all that mattered. But the door stayed closed.
When she went downstairs, Wheelie sat in the same position, doing a good job of killing the bottle of Jack on the table. Glancing at him, she fought the urge to go over and smother him in kisses and apologize for being Russ’ sister, but she realized that was ridiculous, so she walked past him; he never even glanced at her.
Sofia pulled out of the garage in her SUV and headed to Colorado Springs, the tears she’d been holding in for the last hour streaming down her face.
Chapter Nineteen
Coming home from work, Wheelie’s bitter words from the night before kept echoing in his ears. When he opened the garage door, disappointment gnawed at him when he didn’t see Sofia’s car. He turned off his bike and took out his phone hoping she sent him a text while he was riding, but all that greeted him was a blank screen. Wheelie pressed his lips together and walked into the kitchen.
The stillness in the house enveloped him; it was suffocating and stifling. Wheelie threw his keys on the counter and trudged up the stairs. Many of Sofia’s clothes still hung in the walk-in closet, and he buried his face in her tops, breathing in her scent. His insides twisted and the hole he had
in his heart since the night before ached like hell.
I was so pissed off last night that I said shit I didn’t mean. I gotta make this right. Sofia was very important to him, and he’d wanted her for a very long time. It had just shocked the shit out of Wheelie when he’d learned that the fucker who destroyed his mother and his life was her brother. “What the hell are the chances of that? It’s like one of those fucked up talk shows the club girls are crazy about,” he said out loud, his voice sounded tinny in the empty house.
When Sofia had asked him if he would’ve gone after her had he known, he didn’t know what to answer. He’d still been reeling from the fact that she was Elmore’s sister, but now that Wheelie was used to the idea, the fact that the asshole was Sofia’s brother didn’t change the way Wheelie felt about her. I love her. Sofia was the woman who filled the cracks in his life, the one he wanted to hold tight every night and wake up to every morning, and the one who not only captured his heart but his mind and soul as well. He loved her with a fire that could never be extinguished. And I fuckin’ blew it by saying shit I didn’t mean.
In the distance, the rumble of the sanitation truck reminded him he needed to put the trash out. After collecting it upstairs, he went into the guest bathroom and picked up the trash bin and a big spider scurried across the floor. Startled, Wheelie dropped the can then, cursing up a storm, he squashed the arachnid. Picking up the spilled trashed, he saw what looked like a digital thermometer and picked it up. He stared at it for a long time, recognition then surprise spreading through him. Sofia’s pregnant! Suddenly the fancy table setting and lit candles the night before made sense. Wheelie remembered she’d said she had good and bad news, but they never got to the good news. She was gonna tell me about the baby. In that moment he didn’t think it was possible to love another person as much as he loved her. Fuck, I’m gonna be a dad. His face split into a wide grin.
Wheelie took out his phone just as it rang. Hoping it was Sofia, he glanced down and saw Breaker’s name flashing. A tinge of disappointment wove through him as he put the phone to his ear.
“Yo, dude. What’s happening?” Wheelie asked.
“Just chillin’. Panther said you’re all coming in a couple of days.” Breaker broke into a coughing fit.
“You okay?”
“Yeah,” Breaker choked. “Just swallowed funny.”
“Bullshit. I know you, bro. You’ve been smoking too much weed now that’s it’s legal,” Wheelie said.
Breaker chuckled which brought on another coughing spell. “You know me too well, brother.”
“Did the fires get close to your parents’ place?” Wheelie heard Breaker guzzling what he figured was beer.
“Nah, it missed their community, but the other places around the area were hard hit. The brothers and me were covered in soot for the last couple of weeks.”
“You’re drinking beer right?” Wheelie asked.
“You know it. I gotta keep my throat lubricated.” Breaker burst out laughing. “Speaking of lubrication, I got some chicks lined up for you and your brothers that are gonna deep throat your cocks. Chrissy is one of them and she used to do porn movies. You get first dibs on her.”
“I got a woman, so I’m outta commission. Animal and Smokey will be chomping at the bit for that one.”
“You got a woman? Shit, man, you’re the last one I thought would get caught. I hope she treats you better than my ex who turned into Frankenstein’s bride a year after we got married. Nag, nag, nag. Won’t do that shit again.”
Wheelie laughed. “When you married Dina, you were thinking with your dick. You only knew her for a couple of weeks before she was wearing your patch.”
“Yeah, but she was a looker, and she knew how to fuck. If she could’ve kept her mouth shut after we fucked, we’d still be together.” Breaker guffawed. “These chicks want the big bad biker and his wild lifestyle and then when they got us, they try and change us. Fuck that. I like women who know the score. I’m done with the whole get serious shit.”
“Sofia’s not like that. She knows the biker life real well and she’s cool with it. I was just ready to call her.”
“I’ll let you go then, but I just wanted to update you about Elmore. I had one of the prospects, Popeye, keep an eye on him while I was helping out with the fires. Anyway, he said the fucker’s rich lady threw his ass out and he’s in some shit motel in El Cajon. I watched him today and he’s got another girl with him. She doesn’t look like a whore and she came with a suitcase, so I’m thinking she’s family or something.”
Wheelie stiffened. “Is she petite with long dark brown hair?”
“Yep. You know her?”
“Yeah. You say she came this morning?”
“Yep. In a cab. Damn, I forgot to mention that one of your brothers has been hanging around Elmore for the past couple of weeks. I saw him at the party we were at back in June.”
“A brother with Elmore? I can’t imagine who the hell it would be. Do you remember his name?”
“Nope, but you were fighting with him. It’s the dude with the shaved head.”
Fear and anger knotted inside him. Tigger’s there. This is fuckin’ bad. “I’ll be in San Diego soon. The woman’s Sofia and she’s in grave danger. Watch her for me, dude. The sonofabitch isn’t a brother anymore. He got kicked out for beating on Sofia. I didn’t know he knew Elmore, but I’m thinking Elmore lured Sofia to get me.” Wheelie clenched his fists. “And’s he’s gonna fuckin’ have me.”
Breaker chuckled. “And half of the brotherhood. Goddamn I love a good fight.”
“Tigger also stole from the club, so Banger will wanna deal with him when he comes to your club in a couple of days.”
“It’ll be our pleasure to keep the fucker’s traitorous ass on ice until you all get here.”
“I’m taking the first plane I can get. I’ll call you when I get there.” Wheelie dashed upstairs, grabbed a duffel bag, and started throwing clothes and toiletries in it. “Watch my woman until I get there. I can’t have anything happen to her.”
“I’m on it, bro. We’ll keep your woman safe until you get here and kick Elmore’s pussy ass.”
“Thanks, bro. Later.”
Wheelie ran out of the house and sped over to the clubhouse. In less than an hour, he was on a small plane he’d hired to take him to the Denver airport to catch a flight to San Diego. Banger told him they’d be there in two days since they were leaving early the next morning; they were making the trip on their bikes. Banger told him he couldn’t wait to get his hands on Tigger that “fuckin’ thief.”
Wheelie had called Sofia several times but she hadn’t picked up. It would take four hours total until he arrived in San Diego, and it seemed like an eternity.
As he looked at the aerial view of pine and evergreen forests, the only thing he could focus on was Sofia.
“Hang on, baby. I’m coming for you,” he muttered under his breath.
There was no way Wheelie was going to let Tigger hurt her or the baby. He’d do whatever it took, but this time he wouldn’t let Sofia down.
He had to make it right.
Chapter Twenty
“You don’t need to lie to me. I know that you killed Kendra,” Sophia said softly as she glanced around the shabby room.
Russ sat on the edge of the bed smoking a cigarette. “How did you find out?”
“Wheelie showed me the newspaper articles. Do you want to tell me what happened?”
“I told you not to tell him about me.” Russ jumped up from the bed and stood over her menacingly. “Can’t you get one thing right, you stupid bitch.”
Sofia flinched at his words. “What is your fucking problem? You sound just like Dad. I don’t lie.”
“That’s not the way Tigger tells it.”
Sheer, black fright swept through her, and she stirred in the chair. “You know Tigger?”
Russ sneered. “Yeah, and he’s real anxious to see you. Seems like you and Wheelie were fucking behind his bac
k and he didn’t appreciate it. He’ll be joining us in a bit.”
“I don’t want to see him. I came to see you, and you look pretty damn healthy to me. Are you even sick?”
He stubbed out his cigarette and lit another one and sat back down on the mattress. “You always were gullible, just like Mom. She still believes all the shit Dad tells her. Unbelievable.”
“Why all the lies about you being sick? Why didn’t you just tell me you wanted me to come out and visit?”
“Because you wouldn’t have come right away, and I’m sick of looking over my shoulder all the time.” Russ stretched his legs out in front of him. “Don’t look so confused. Your man is gunning for me. He’s gonna kill me, so I thought I’d kill him first.” He took a puff and blew smoke in her face.
Sofia coughed and moved the chair away from him. “So I’m the bait?”
“You got it. Tigger would do anything to get you back and to kill Wheelie. He’s actually paying me for the pleasure of killing the bastard.”
“The joke’s on you.” She scowled and crossed her arms over her chest. “We broke up last night. There’s no way he’s coming. Once he found out I was your sister, he couldn’t stand the sight of me.” Sofia’s voice broke.
A chill black silence surrounded them.
“I told you not to fuckin’ tell him,” Russ gritted. “You’ve ruined everything.”
The ringing of the phone stopped Sofia’s response. Russ stood up and went over to the window, parting the blinds to look out.
“Yeah, she’s here.” A pause. “She just told me her and Wheelie broke up last night. There’s no way he’s gonna come. Dammit!” The glass rattled as Russ pounded on it; Sofia was sure it would shatter.
“No, you don’t get her until Wheelie’s dead. That was the fuckin’ deal.” Russ pushed away from the window and paced. “I don’t give a shit what you want. I told you I’d get Sofia here and you told me you’d kill the sonofabitch. Well, Sofia’s here and the asshole is still standing.”
All the talk of killing Wheelie made her heart shatter. She couldn’t just sit here waiting for Tigger to kill the man she loved. Even after all the mean things Wheelie had said to her, Sofia’s heart and body still ached to be in his arms and wrapped in the heat of his body. In the light of day, she could think more clearly, and she knew the knowledge that the murderer of his sister was Sofia’s brother had shocked him. It’d shocked her, so how could she blame Wheelie for the things he said in anger, surprise, and bitterness?