Chapter 10
ten
. . .
Jameson
E ven angry as I feel, I can't pull my gaze away from Indi as she walks past the shed and down the long gravel drive to the road. It seems there is no way for us to be civil to each other. We are both constantly on defense. Too much shit has passed between us, and she still hates me—as much as ever. And that thought makes me feel like pure shit. There were times when we were teens that I stupidly thought I might have a chance with Indi, that if I could get her to see me in a different light, she'd see that we belonged together, but I was delusional back then and it seems I haven't grown up much in that respect.
I walk back to the old dirt bike. It's still missing a chunk of the front fender from that day, another one of those notorious Wilde family episodes that made the community turn against us even more. But they didn't know the whole story, and of course, they never asked to hear it. Everyone was always quick to judge us. If there was trouble, we caused it, and for no good reason—just to ruin everyone's fun—as Indi seemed to see it. And in some ways, they weren't wrong. My dad's lifestyle and shady connections brought plenty of trouble to Rockhurst, and that day was no different. That day could have been much worse. Even though that day ended in total catastrophe, it could have been so much worse.
Then
R onan and Colin are throwing cereal at each other as I step into the kitchen. My bare feet crunch the thrown pieces into dust.
"Fuck. You pigs." I pick up one foot, wipe it off, then step clear of the mess and wipe clean the other foot. I pick up the box of cereal on the counter and give it a shake. "Did you throw all of it on the floor, assholes?"
Ronan and Colin point at each other. They're twins, but they look nothing alike, and they're different in every way except they're both idiots. I grab a piece of bread out of the bag and shove it in the toaster.
Nate walks in next and follows the same cereal trail as me. "What the fuck?"
This time it's my turn to point—at the twins.
"Assholes," Nate mumbles and reaches for the cereal box.
"Don't bother," I say.
"Well, shit."
Ronan laughs. "Maybe you can sweep up the crumbs and put them in a bowl."
Zander walks in next. He's only wearing a pair of jeans, and he hasn't bothered to button them up. His hair is standing up in spikes. He yawns and scratches his stomach.
"Rough night, Z?" Colin asks.
A pretty face peers around his naked shoulder. "Morning." It's Roxi, a girl he's been seeing off and on, mostly off. They start things up, then she gets "too clingy" according to my big brother and then he gives her the brush off. It seems they're back on now.
"Hey, Roxi, hope you weren't expecting any cereal," Ronan says and points to the floor. "Colin and I had a little disagreement this morning on who got the prize ring in the box." Ronan lifts his hand. A green plastic dragon ring is jammed on his finger. "As usual, I won."
Colin rolls his eyes and gets up from the table. "Who's up for a little motocross out on the track? I'm feeling pretty fucking unbeatable this morning."
"I'm up for it," I say and pull the toast out of the toaster.
Roxi sits at the table while Zander gets her a glass of orange juice. "I hear the cheer squad will be doing cheers on top of a float. You guys going to watch the parade?"
"Told you, babe, no interest in that stupid fucking parade." Zander sets the juice in front of her.
Roxi squirms on the chair and sits taller. "Well, you don't have to be such a grump about it. Anyway, I was asking Jameson. His friends, Weston and Zach, will be on the football float." She looks hopefully my direction.
I shake my head. "Not really into parades."
Dad always manages to make his footsteps sound like thunder, only this morning it's fast and furious thunder. He steps into the kitchen wearing an expression that causes all the conversation and movement in the room to stop. His uptight gaze falls on Roxi.
"Zander, I need you to give Roxi a ride back to town." His tone sends a chill through the room.
Zander looks my way. I shrug. Very little rattles our dad, but something is definitely up, and as usual, it's not good. Roxi stands up quickly and looks close to tears. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have stayed."
Dad shakes his head. "No, sweetheart, you're all right. Just need you to get on home now." He looks at Zander, and the faint smile is gone. "What the hell are you waiting for?"
Zander hurries out to grab his shoes and shirt. Roxi follows close at his heels.
I'm the first one to ask the question that's hanging over all our heads. "What the fuck is going on, Dad?"
He doesn't answer but instead walks out of the kitchen to the front room. Colin gets up quietly and looks around the corner. "He's staring out the window, and here's another little detail—he's got his handgun shoved in the back of his waistband."
"Shit." I set down the piece of toast. I only managed to take one bite before Dad came in and blew away the casual Saturday morning.
I march out of the room. Zander steps out from the hallway with Roxi in tow. She clutches his hand tightly, and it's hard to blame her. I'm feeling pretty off-balance myself.
"Dad, what's going—" My question is interrupted by the loud roar of motorcycles.
Dad ducks away from the window. He spins around with a fierce expression. "She's still here?" he asks.
Zander holds up his hands to let him know there's nothing he could do to get out faster. Roxi tucks herself behind Zander. "Who's that on the bikes?" he asks. "Thought you paid that debt to Braxton."
"Not all of it. The asshole never finished the job." Dad pulls his gun out from his back.
"Great, so we're all going to die because you like to stand on principal?" Zander says. Roxi sobs behind him.
Nate comes through, takes Roxi by the hand and leads her to the back bedroom. No sooner has Nate disappeared down the hallway with Roxi when a gunshot cracks the air outside. We fall to the floor. The kitchen chairs scrape the floor as Ronan and Colin drop from the table.
More bullets fly at the house. I can hear them snap against the wood. The thickly stacked logs are as good a shield as any from bullets. I catch a quick glimpse through the window and count four of Braxton's thugs, all on dirt bikes and armed. We're not outnumbered but we're definitely out gunned. Zander and I crouch low and run toward Dad's study, and to the gun safe.
The motorcycles slow and the noise drops to a low vibration. "Where's the money, Finn? We're waiting. Just toss it out, and we'll be on our way."
"Stupid, fucking old man." Zander opens the safe and hands me one of the rifles. It's been a while since I've fired a gun and the feel of it, cold and hard in my hands does nothing to slow my rapid heartbeat. Zander grabs the handgun. We return to the front room. The twins are still on the floor, peeking around the doorway from the kitchen. I motion for them to stay down. Zander and I stay stooped as we reach Dad.
He pushes the front window slightly open. "Not getting your money. You never finished the job. Ingram didn't get his delivery, and he's not going to pay me, so you guys aren't getting yours."
Zander rolls his eyes. "How much is it?"
"Two grand," Dad hisses between his teeth.
"Just fucking pay them," I say, but I know he won't.
We duck instinctively as more shots are fired. This time they hit the front window. We cover our heads as the glass shatters.
"Well, that's gonna cost you more than two grand," I say.
Dad scowls at me. His scowls are the kind that can make the hair stand up on the back of your neck. "Shut the hell up."
"All right, Wilde!" one of the bikers yells. "Then I guess we'll go stir up some trouble in town courtesy of the Wilde boys. I hear there's a sweet little parade going on right now." They turn their bikes and rev the motors. Four rooster tails of dust follow them as they take off.
"Shit. They're going to town," Zander says. "Let's get the bikes."
"Dad, give that gun to Colin. He's the best shot," I say.
Colin is already there taking the gun. Zander shoves his in the back of his waistband. There's no way to carry the rifle along, so I leave it for Dad in case they come back. We've been riding a lot on a homemade track, so the bikes are ready to go. We don't even wait to roll them out of the shed and instead start them up inside.
The motors are deafening in the shed, so it's hard to talk. I look over at Zander and motion to the gun behind his back. "Z," I say loudly. "Try not to use it."
He nods in agreement. Dad has put the five of us in terrible situations, dangerous situations plenty of times, but this is by far the worst.
I blast out first. Colin might be the best shot, but I'm the best rider. The four of us are nearly exploding with adrenaline by the time we leave the ranch.
I wave toward the wilderness area across from the ranch. It's mostly shrubs and tall grass, but it's a shortcut to town. The bikes—and the riders—will be thrashed, but Braxton's thugs have a head start. We need to cut that down if we're going to have any chance of stopping them.
The tires leave the ground as I jump the bike off the road and into the tall grass. Birds and creatures who aren't expecting an army of dirt bikes, take off and jump out of the way as I plow through the overgrown landscape. Sharp branches claw at my arms. Blood trickles down my forearms. The unruly landscape doesn't allow much opportunity to look around, but I glance back briefly. Ronan is following the path I'm mowing down, but Colin and Zander are making their own parallel path next to us. There is no right or wrong way across. You just have to twist the throttle, keep your face down and plow through.
We reach the place that gives a view of Harbor Avenue, the long, curved road that intersects with Main Street. I can hear the brassy sound of the school marching band ahead. Zander releases one of his eardrum breaking whistles. He circles his arm in the air to show that we've caught up to the assholes on bikes. He makes a sharp turn right and the rest of us follow.
It's the shittiest terrain to ride through, but we trample the grasses and shrub with our fat tires. Dad's shady business dealings rarely spill past his own personal space, but this time he's dragged the whole damn town into it. And the parade—Indi is in the parade.
I lower myself down and grab the throttle. I blast right through a spidery looking shrub and am the first to hit pavement. My brothers are right behind.
Zander pulls up next to me and tells me to drop back. I'm unarmed but that doesn't hold me back. I'm ready to pound some faces. Zander reaches back for his gun and tells us, even Colin, to stay back. Zander is fiercely protective of all of us. As the oldest brother, he was thrown into a sort of protective, fatherly position because our own dad was useless in the job. But we're together in this today. The twins and I are not letting him go it alone. We ride up next to him. Zander looks mad at first, but he knows we're staying right there next to him.
The asshole on the slowest bike, a big dude who probably outweighs the bike by fifty pounds, is the first to hear us coming up from behind. He leans down and tries to hurry to catch up to the others, but his bike can't handle his weight coupled with the speed. Smoke shoots out from the motor, and the bike slows way down. Ronan circles the guy, who is in a full panic. He seems to be unarmed. He lays the bike down and takes off at a slow, plodding run. Ronan takes off after him. The guy is fucking toast, and we're down to three.
Zander pulls up next to the guy at the back of the pack and swerves his bike toward him. The guy overcompensates and loses control of the bike for a second before regaining it. His gun is still in his belt. They weren't expecting the ambush, and that works in our favor. They don't have their weapons ready. The guy swings his fist out at Zander. Zander ducks out of the way and then drives the guy off the road. He chases him down.
We're down to two and the element of surprise is over. I see the glint of a gun and yell to Colin. "He's gonna shoot!" The gun goes off as Colin and I part. He misses. It's hard to shoot a moving target, especially when you're moving too.
My heart is racing so fast, it's hard to catch a decent breath. Colin and I pull back together and speed up. The two remaining bikers reach Main Street. My hopes that they'll just take off because they're down two guys are dimmed when they continue toward the activity. The town isn't big, but it seems everyone is lined up on Main Street to cheer on the floats and band.
The second biker takes off and swoops right in front of the hardware store's slow-moving float, then he starts to slalom through the rest of them. The float drivers panic. Some speed up and crash into the next float while others veer off toward the spectators. The fastest biker is now racing along the parade route. People are jumping out of the way and screaming. It's full chaos. I chase him down, unsure if it's the right decision or not. Then I see the guy go for his gun. I have to stop him.
Behind us the parade has come to a dead stop. Sirens are approaching in the distance. People are grabbing their kids and running from the parade route. I'm on the rider's tail. He's heading for the high school float. Indi and her cheer squad are all hanging on to each other and anything stable on the float as the driver tries to make a getaway with a giant unwieldy float on his back. The rider lifts his gun in the air and fires a shot. The girls scream and drop to their stomachs. In the chaos, Indi's gaze finds me. It's filled with terror and rage.
I lower myself down and head straight for the rider. My front tire just passes his back tire, and I turn the bike hard. We both go down. My shoulder cracks as I hit the asphalt. Skin shreds off my arm and face. The float veers off the road and the tires of the car holding it hit a curb, jarring the whole thing so hard, the cheerleaders are tossed off. The asshole hit the pavement hard. He pushes to his feet and stumbles a few steps. The gun dangles from his hand. I kick the gun out of his grasp, and it flies through the air and smacks into the drugstore window.
I grab the guy's shirt, and before he can react, I plow my fist into his face. He drops in a heap. I hurry around the float to make sure Indi and her friends are all right. Indi is limping as she walks around to help a few of her friends. Zach and some of his teammates are already at the float to help. He hugs Indi. She peeks up over his shoulder at me, and the look she gives me pierces straight through me. It's far more painful than my broken collarbone.
"On your knees and hands on your head, Wilde." It's Officer Towne. I know his angry voice well. I drop to my knees and put my hands on my head. Once again, my brothers and I are going to have to take the fall for our dad's shitty fucking choices.
Now
" D ad, did you see? We took a jump?" Rio's excited tone snaps me from my thoughts.
"You took a jump?" I ask, looking straight at Zander.
"It was a small jump," he assures me and looks at Rio. "What happened to keeping that part secret?"
Rio holds out her arms. "Can't keep something like that secret." She pulls out her phone. "Wait until I tell my friends." She runs off to send a flurry of texts.
"So, what do you say? Up for a little racing? It's been a long time," Zander says.
I look back at the bike and think about the last few tense minutes with Indi. "Yeah, you know what? That sounds good. Haven't thrown dirt in my big brother's face in a long time."