by Simone Elise
“I’ll meet you in the bar. Just give me a minute. I need to get someone else.”
He waved for me to get lost and I headed up the hall. Taking the stairs two at a time, my eyes were on the end door.
He thought he could judge and wipe his hands of this? He was wrong. Thought I wouldn’t make much of a father. Questioned everything I fucking did. Well, he wasn’t the mother charter president anymore. I was.
I twisted his doorknob. It was locked.
One swift kick to the door and it splintered, letting me in.
“WHAT THE FUCK!”
Roach sat bolt upright in bed.
“YOU, old man. I’m done with your shit.” I flicked the lights on and pointed a finger at him. The control I normally had over my temper was gone. I wasn’t furious. I was beyond it.
“Who do you think you are? Bursting in here!” Roach scrambled to the edge of the bed, getting up and heading for me.
My fist connected with his jaw as soon as he was within range. While I was on the road, taking care of this threats, he had been busy threatening Abby that he would take my kid from me.
I knew he didn’t think much of me right now. I knew he blamed me for all this. It was my fault and I was wearing that.
He stayed on the floor, spitting out blood.
“That’s for putting Abby through shit while I was gone.”
“What the fuck are you talking about, Reaper?”
“You threatened to take Tyson from me if something happened to her.”
He looked up at me with amazement. “How the hell did you know that? Have you spoken with Abby?” He went to get up. I couldn’t stop myself or my temper from sending a quick kick to his stomach. He collapsed on the ground.
I kneeled down beside him. “You’re a member. I’m the president. You follow my command, old man. And right now I need your ass on your bike, getting a message out for me. Understand?”
“I’m no shit kicker!” He went for me, but I stood up.
“You do what I say. And right now.” I grabbed him by the neck as he lunged for me again, pushing him up against his bedroom wall. He struggled, but gave in when my grip got tighter. My jaw clenched as I hissed, “Your daughter is thinking of committing suicide. And you’re going to help me stop it.”
***
Kim
I flicked on the television and scrolled through the channels till I was on Sprout and put Tyson in the crib in front of it. For some reason, he would always nap around eleven watching Elmo. I walked out of the living room and into the bar. That’s when I froze, seeing someone who was very unwelcome.
“What the fuck are you doing here?”
Kaylee turned on a stool and dared to smiled at me. “Hi, Kim. Heard Abby was missing? Shame really.”
“Don’t worry. I’m still here to keep her threat alive.” I glared at her as she slipped off the barstool.
“Is that Tyson? Guess I should meet him.”
I stepped in her way. “Go near him and I’ll personally rip your hair out.” I guarded the entry to the living room. “He is Abby’s son and it is Abby’s man you are after.”
“Funny,” she stepped into my face, “’cause I don’t see Abby around to claim either.”
I don’t remember the last time it was I punched someone. But my fist was already clenched just seeing her. So as soon as the words left her lips, my fist connected with her nose.
She dropped to the floor easily. I pounced. All my built-up rage about what was happening to Abby came out. I just kept punching. Her hands were blocking direct access to her face. But I was still getting a few good shots in.
The clubhouse door burst open and I knew my time with her was limited.
“KIM, WHAT THE HELL?”
Reaper. He shouldn’t be here. Not near her. I felt his arms wrap around me as he pulled me off her.
“Put me down!” I yelled and pushed at his stupid, large tattooed arms while kicking. “I’m not finished with her!”
“What the hell are you thinking, Kim?” Reaper put me down and pushed me into the living room. “You can’t just deck girls!”
I fumed and pointed a finger behind him. “Is she the reason you left last night? Leaving me with Tyson?” I wanted answers. Suddenly his late night last night made sense. He ran off to be with her. I wanted to kill him, but first, her.
Reaper didn’t have his vest on. But had his holster on, with a gun on each side. He wasn’t expecting me to move as quickly as I did. I grabbed a gun and darted around him.
“KIM!” Reaper spun around after me. But again I was quicker.
Brad was helping Kaylee up. She might have had a bloody nose but I wasn’t finished with her.
I pointed and I shot. Pity I missed her head and got the liquor bottles in the bar behind her. Abby had always been a better shot than me.
She squealed and went to hide behind Brad.
I went for a second shot. Reaper’s hand wrapped around the top half of the gun and ripped it from my hand.
“KIM!”
He was furious. But I was breathing fire at this point. “I WANT HER DEAD!” I yelled. “You’re the Reaper. Reap!”
I was his wife’s sister. I had some pull. If I wanted someone dead, he should at least consider it! I glared at her frightened face as she clung to Brad. I should have taken some shooting lessons from Abby. Fuck me for never listening to her.
Reaper stepped into my view, blocking my view of Kaylee. He was more like a tank than ever, towering over me. He looked nearly as pissed off as I felt. I was breathing heavily but he was glaring at me, like I was the one in the wrong.
“Brad, get Kaylee a first aid kit,” Reaper said over his shoulder.
I scoffed. “You have to be kidding me!” I threw my hands in the air and stormed off. I was not standing there getting a lecture from him. He had taken her side. And I saw the smirk she gave me as she walked off to the kitchen with Brad.
She was fucking playing the victim and Reaper was buying into it.
“I had one fucking long-ass night, Kim, and I come back to this shit.” Reaper followed me, yelling. Always yelling.
“I don’t care how your night was,” I snapped over my shoulder and walked to Tyson, who was still awake. I flung around, my hand hitting his chest. God, why was he so close?
“Reel your shit in, Kim. I can’t have you shooting girls!” he fired down at me. He was expecting me to be pulled back into this invisible line he had drawn for me. He was always expecting me to ‘be in line.’
Well, I was out of line. Fuck the line. Fuck his rules. If he wasn’t going to handle the threat, I would.
“Did you sleep with her?” I yelled up at his furious face.
“No! I haven’t even been here!”
“So she just so happened to appear today? And you had NO idea she was coming?”
“Believe it or not, Kim, yes.”
“Bullshit,” I coughed. I pushed a hand into his rock hard abs. “You never deserved Abby.”
I had pissed him off by shooting at Kaylee and now I had just pushed him over the edge.
He whacked my hand off him. “I’m not cheating on Abby.”
“Oh really! How about when you’re drunk at a club party? Maybe Kaylee will look appealing then. When your wife isn’t here to stop you.” I was angry. I was angry at him. I was angry at Kaylee. I was pissed off at Abby for not being here. She wouldn’t have missed Kaylee’s head.
Reaper pushed me backward. “I don’t know if you noticed, but I’m not drinking or partying and I won’t be cheating on Abby.”
A bitter smile crept across my face. “You’re right. I guess it won’t be cheating once she is dead.” He wasn’t expecting me to say that. He was expecting me to back down. I shouldered past him. “I’m going out. You look after Tyson.”
I picked up my bag and keys from the bar and headed outside. He didn’t follow me and he didn’t say anything.
Good, be
cause I only had mean things to say to him right now.
Chapter 12
Reaper
It was after dinner. Kim had reappeared but wouldn’t speak to me. I didn’t understand her hormones. I swear Abby and her twin were going to be the death of me. The party following dinner was in full swing downstairs. But Tyson and I were more interested in something upstairs.
I cracked open Abby’s bedroom door. It smelt like her.
I closed the door after me. The noise from downstairs was muffled. I laid Tyson in the middle of her bed and headed for the dresser.
Bottom drawer, she had said.
I pulled it out. She must have used it as a junk drawer. It was filled with old phones and chargers and all kinds of shit.
Then I saw what she was talking about. I picked up the cash and threw it aside. Picking up a manila file, I flicked it open.
Eight words sent a sucker punch to my guts.
Last Will and Testament of Abigail Rose Wilson.
I read it, though it was exactly as she’d said it was. She had left everything to me with a special mention of the care of Tyson. But he was referred to as our living child. And in case I was not willing to or able to provide care for Tyson, care of him was to go to Kim.
She had her funeral details written down, her headstone picked, what was to be written on it. She had even bought a plot, right next to Matthew’s. I was feeling sick. This was all too much. Why had she put so much thought into this? She had planned this down to the last detail. So I didn’t have to do anything. It was paid for. It was ordered. It just needed to be confirmed.
Fuck it. I was going to be sick.
I just made it to her toilet before I emptied my stomach of dinner. Meat was the worst to spew up.
I flushed the toilet and washed my hands, ignoring my reflection in the mirror.
Tyson was still in the middle of the bed. I sighed, running a hand through my hair and looking at the abandoned paperwork.
Fuck it.
I picked it up and put it on the bed.
That’s when I noticed what else was in there. I had been so focused on the will I hadn’t paid attention to what else was in there.
I pulled out a scrapbook and a phone. It had a sticky note on it. I picked if off. It was in Abby’s handwriting.
“Turn on. Our Anniversary.”
I held the button in and the iPhone turned on.
It had a PIN.
Our anniversary? Was she talking our wedding? I typed that in. Nope, it wasn’t that. Then it hit me. 0312. The day I took her from that club party. It was also the PIN to our bank account.
I had told her that was our anniversary.
It unlocked the phone.
She’d told me I was romantic for that. I remembered her reaction when I told her. It was when I gave her her first car. Well, her first car from me.
No messages. No contacts. No apps. I pressed the photos. Bam. It was filled.
I’d look at that later. I picked up the book and paperwork and shoved the phone in my pocket.
“Come on, Tyson. Time for your dinner.” I picked him up. He had started blowing spit bubbles. It felt like every day he was doing something different, something new.
I was closing the bedroom door when Kaylee walked straight into me.
I held Tyson away from me, taking the blow on my body.
“Shit. Sorry, Reaper! I didn’t see you,” she quickly started apologizing. “You have your hands full. Do you want a hand?”
I wasn’t keen on handing her Abby’s will or Tyson.
“I’m good.” I looked at her swollen lip and bruised eye. “How you feeling?”
“I’m OK. Take more than a few punches to kill me.”
“Yeah, well, if Kim could shoot straight, you wouldn’t be saying that.” I started to walk up the hallway. And to my surprise, she followed me.
“So, is this Tyson?”
“Yeah.”
“He is adorable,” she gushed.
“That he is.” I stopped at my door and she hovered. “You alright, Kaylee?” I arched my eyebrows as I asked her. She was rocking on her feet and looked scared.
“Sure.”
“You’re lying. What’s wrong?”
“Well, Kim was supposed to get me somewhere to stay and I kind of can’t go downstairs and hook up with one of the men with her around.”
Kim causing fucking trouble. Well, I was the president. This was a problem. How did I fix it?
“Can I come in here with you and Tyson? Not to sleep, but just to hide for a bit? Till Kim goes away at least?” She was nervous.
“Sure.” Would I regret this? I unlocked the door and swung it open, letting her walk in.
“Thanks, Reaper.”
I closed the door behind her. “No worries.” I opened my bedside drawer and put in Abby’s will and my scrapbook.
“Here, let me take Tyson.” She held her hands out.
Why did it feel like I was about to make a big decision? I slowly handed her Tyson.
She took him with open arms.
Chapter 13
Reaper
What was Abby doing? Fuck, I had to get to her before she did something stupid. What did she mean by a game they played? She said it was sick and twisted. But she didn’t tell me what. And my mind hadn’t stopped running with possibilities. How could a game cause her to end her life?
Tyson giggled, causing me to looked over my shoulder. They were sitting on the couch. Kaylee was flicking through channels.
“What’s his favorite show?”
I turned, taking my eyes off the boiling kettle. Her eyes darted from me to the television screen.
“Elmo puts him to sleep. He gets cranky if you put Thomas on. But he likes Bob,” I riddled off the knowledge I had learned from Tyson and the late night hours I had spent watching television with him.
“What time does he normally go to sleep?”
“Nine.”
“Well that means Bob then, ’cause we still have two hours,” she said, sitting him on her chest and turning him to look at the television screen. She highlighted Netflix and the cartoon started playing.
Fuck that theme song. It got stuck in your head, going over and over. I swear I knew more about construction than I ever wanted to know. The kettle boiled. Right. Bottle.
I mixed the formula, added cold water and checked the temperature.
“You’re good at that.”
I looked up. Why was she looking at me like that? “Thanks.”
“Never thought you would make a good father.”
I walked over with the bottle. Nobody thought I would make a good father. I sure as hell never wanted the responsibility. But Abby saw something in me I didn’t even know was there. She knew somehow. Abby knew I would make a good father. And I guess I wasn’t doing a terrible job. But I had failed as a husband and that wiped the small smile from my face.
“Here, I’ll do it.” Kaylee took the bottle from me. “You should go downstairs or something.” Kaylee gave Tyson his bottle and turned her attention back to the television. “I’m sure the boys are just starting the party.”
“I’m not leaving Tyson.”
“Then join us.” She took her legs off the ottoman and moved down the couch.
There was a knock on my door and then it opened. “Reaper, can we talk?” Kim walked in, sounding upset. I watched her grip on the door handle tighten when she saw Kaylee. “You got to be kidding me.” Her eyes narrowed and I wasn’t surprised when the look of disbelief turned into fury.
“Can you organize Kaylee a room?” I knew what she was thinking but it wasn’t like that.
“Why? When she has yours?” Kim spat and pointed an arm at Kaylee. “Because you’re the mother charter president I have to keep what I think of you to myself. But I’m warning you, keep her away from me.” She spun around, slamming the door.
“She has some serious issues,” Kaylee sai
d, and turned back to television, not looking the least bit scared. She should be. Kim was a loose cannon when it came to her temper.
“Yeah, and I have to deal with them. Can you watch him for a minute?” I asked, heading for my door.
“Sure. No worries.”
I opened the door and saw her walking down the passage.
“KIM!”
I picked up my pace.
“Fucking stop, would you!”
She came to a grinding halt and spun around. “You have some nerve, Reaper.”
“It isn’t what it looks like.”
She scoffed, shaking her head. “I tried to see what Abby saw in you and you know what? I thought I saw the real you. But clearly I was wrong because this is the type of guy you are.”
“Kim, stop.” Why the fuck wasn’t she listening to me?
“You want to know something?” She stepped forward. I knew that look. “I won’t let Tyson be brought up by some two-bit tramp. You hear me, Reaper. If Abby dies, I’m coming for Tyson. I know she has a will and I know it states if you are FIT to care for him. I wonder who the courts will side with? A man with a lengthy criminal history and known criminal activity or a straight-cut citizen. You and she can rot in hell, but you won’t be taking my nephew with you.”
She spun around and took off. Normally, as a president, you deal with threats every day. I knew threats against me would increase, being the mother charter president. But Kim had dealt me a low blow. Taking Tyson from me. Like fuck would I let that happen.
He and Abby meant everything to me. Why the fuck did people think they could take my family from me? Kim was just pissed off and protecting her sister’s son. I knew that. That was what was stopping me from tearing down those stairs and going after her.
If Kaylee was the problem, I’d sort it out. Didn’t anyone realize Abby wasn’t replaceable? Even Abby thought she was replaceable. Fuck, she was wrong. So wrong. If something happened to her... screw that. It wasn’t going to happen. I’d get to her in time.
I opened my bedroom door.
Kaylee wasn’t on the couch. No, she was lying on my bed.
“Where’s Tyson?” I scanned the room.
