Chapter 14 Dreamcatcher
Jake knocked twice before he opened the French doors to Nicki’s office.
Tyler was a statue; sitting at her desk with his head buried, propped up by his hands. Frozen solid.
The sun touched the shady green of the trees across the lake as it rose.
“Hey, buddy, brought you some coffee,” Jake offered, placing the mug of black next to him.
Tyler’s face finally retreated from its cave and looked up at Jake. Unshaven. His eyes were red and the dark circles under them were a first.
“Jeez. Have you gotten any sleep?”
“What do you think…”
Tyler took the mug and drank a sip, which warmed his icy lips.
“Thanks, buddy,” he murmured. “I found her phone. It was deep inside her desk drawer. On silent.”
Jake’s face lit up. “It was?”
Tyler passed the phone to Jake, and a hint of a smile pierced above his quivering chin.
“Look, she even unlocked it. Look at the missed calls.”
Missed Call MY LOVE
Missed Call MY LOVE
Missed Call MY LOVE
Missed Call MY LOVE
Missed Call MY LOVE
Missed Call MY LOVE
Missed Call Tanisha
Missed Call MY LOVE
Missed Call MY LOVE
Missed Call Tanisha
Missed Call Mom
Missed Call MY LOVE
Missed Call MY LOVE
“That’s me. I’m in her phone as My Love,” Tyler said with hope in his voice.
“Of course you are, buddy, she loves you so much,” Jake offered.
Tyler nodded, taking the phone back.
He then handed Jake a note.
My darling Lion,
If you found this note that means you are frantically looking for me, and I need you to know that I am fine.
I’m sorry that I left the way I did, but I needed to in order to find your brother and bring him home.
I know where he is. Please, allow me a couple of days to bring him back. If I can’t, I promise I will call.
Don’t worry, my love, I’ll be back soon.
I love you
I love you
I love you
XO Nicki
“Hey, this is great!” Jake exclaimed.
Tyler ripped the note out of his hands. “You know who else left a fucking note saying she’ll be back?”
Jake saw the tears pour out of Tyler’s eyes. A sight he had never seen before.
“But you know? It’s only been 23 years. Maybe if I wait just a little bit longer, she’ll come back too.”
Jake grabbed a chair from the seating area and dragged it beside Tyler.
“Brother. Nicki doesn’t know about the note from your mom—”
Tyler grabbed Jake’s shirt and spoke into his ear. “You know what else Nicki doesn’t know? That all of fucking Montana is Leeman territory.”
He released his grip and went back to burying his head in his hands.
“Tyler. Listen to me. She was only trying to fix Tommy’s mistake and bring him back. It’s not the same with him gone and she sees your pain without him. We all see it, bro.”
“Fuck Tommy. I’m going to fucking kill him when I see him, I swear to God, Jake.”
“I agree that he needs a good ass whooping. But let’s just focus on the positives right now, OK? Nicki will be fine. She’s a smart girl.”
“Yeah, well the only thing that’s helping me right now is that if she does find Tommy, then at least she’ll be safe with him.”
Jake paused for a moment and ran his hand through his reddish-blonde Ken-doll hair.
“Ummm, well, yeah…you’re right about that. Tommy wouldn’t let anything happen to Nicki, that’s for sure. So, let’s just hope she’s with him now and we’ll meet them there later and this whole thing will be over.”
Tyler glanced back over to Jake. “What? What whole thing?”
Jake shook his head. “Nothing.”
“Out with it, Jake!” Tyler quipped.
“I, it’s nothing… nothing happened. I just… I think with Tommy running away… he didn’t do it to you. I think he did it for you, bro.”
“What the fuck is that supposed to mean?” Tyler asked, now raising his voice.
Jake scanned his brain for the words. “I think… I think he’s been crushin’ on Nicki, man. And I think he’s punishing himself and staying out of the way because of it. For you.”
Tyler turned his face up to the ceiling as he swivelled on the office chair, collecting his hands onto his head.
“That fucking explains what Nicki was talking about…Tommy being confused by some feelings. I didn’t know what the fuck she was saying.”
Tyler shook his head and scoffed. “Punishing himself… he’s about to get the punishment of his life. If he even survives it,” Tyler added.
Jake moved his chair closer to the desk.
“Buddy, go easy on him. You know he would never betray you,” Jake said.
“No, I don’t know…not anymore. Everything is so fucked, Jake. I finally get the woman I want, at the cost of my business. And now apparently my own brother.”
“I don’t think it’s as simple as that, Tyler. I saw a note Tommy wrote to Nicki in the Bahamas. He wanted to talk to her before you two got together. And he’s been mopey ever since—”
“What fucking note, Jake? Nicki didn’t tell me anything about a fucking note!” Tyler shouted.
“That’s because she never got it. I intercepted it. I told Tommy to get his head straight.”
Tyler nodded. “Yeah, you should have fucking told me.”
“I know. I should have. But I wanted to give him a chance,” Jake explained.
“Tommy would never betray me,” Tyler grumbled, hoping it was true.
“Would Nicki?” Jake asked.
Now Tyler got mad.
“Never! She would never fucking do anything like that. She’s loyal. More loyal than fucking Tommy is. She didn’t even have a boyfriend before me. I’m the first and I’ll be the fucking last!”
“Alright then, good! Let’s go get them and set Tommy straight. He just needs to get back on track, he needs his older brother,” Jake offered.
Tyler kicked the garbage can beside the desk, then stood up to walk over to the window.
“He needs a beat down from his brother is what he needs. He needs my fist against his jaw to straighten him out. Any update on the plane?”
“The pilot is still pushing a 1:00 PM departure, man. We tried to pay him, but he can’t fly earlier than that after flying in from Mexico. And I don’t think we should be fucking around with aviation laws right now, bro. We’re already catching too much heat.”
Tyler wiped the last of his tears from his red, swollen face and nodded.
A man in a canoe paddled across the glass lake in the distance.
“We can still make the commercial noon flight to Billings from Seattle,” Jake suggested.
“No. I need our plane there. If Tommy moves, I need to follow him.”
Tyler cleared his throat, hoping his exterior could fall back into default lion mode when he did. But the thought of Nicki in danger prevented his usual form to take shape yet. His hands leaned on the windowsill and his head dropped forward between his shoulders.
“She asked me, like, so many fucking times to look for him and to go with her to get him. She suggested Montana. She asked me to go with her and I fucking told her to knock it off. If something happens to her, it’ll be all my fault. Again!”
“You’re not the only one, buddy. She asked us too. We told her we’re not going without your go-ahead. We all fucked up.”
“Jake, you know she can’t swim very well. What if she turned over in that fucking kayak?”
“She didn’t, bro! Vinnie found it at the neighbors. Please, Tyler, stop making up worst case scenarios in your head! Enough of this!”
Jake took back the half full coffee mug from the desk.
“I’ll be back with a proper drink. Instead of obsessively worrying about Nicki, you should be thankful she loves you so much that she would want to bring Tommy back all by herself.
Cause you’re too stubborn to do it! And we’re too scared of you to!
But Nicki is smarter and has more balls than all of us combined.
And it’s about fucking time! Now shut the fuck up, and get your shit together.
Alpha better be sitting at that desk when I get back in two minutes, and not you, you pussy ass bitch! ”
Jake slammed the office door shut and did a Sign of the Cross on the other side.
When he returned to the office with an unopened bottle of whiskey, Tyler was standing at the doorway, looking like new life had gotten into him.
He pulled Jake in close and gave him a hug.
“Thank you, brother,” Tyler said quietly, taking the bottle.
“Alright, brother, let’s kill some time, grab some breakfast at Nancy’s and get our energy back, huh?”
Tyler even let out a tiny smile before he drowned it with the whiskey straight out of the bottle.
“That a boy! Drink up! Boys’ trip to Montana! We’re going to get Nicki and Tommy back, then piss all over Leeman’s ground, how ‘bout that?” Jake offered, now smiling wide. “Give me that!” he quipped, taking the bottle from Tyler and gulped some whiskey down himself.
“Breakfast of champions,” Tyler said with a chuckle.
“Breakfast of champions!” Nicki exclaimed, lifting up a big box over her head as she jumped out of Ron’s rusty red pickup truck.
Ron chuckled behind her with a few more groceries.
“I told you! She hijacked that truck and made Ron drive her into town to pick up breakfast!” Marge yelled out to Tommy, sipping coffee on the front porch.
His eyes feasted on Nicki in a white summer dress that overpowered her scars, and made her look radiant.
“What do you got in there, honey?” Tommy asked, taking another sip of coffee to hide his smile.
Nicki placed the big box in the middle of the table and opened it slowly. “Just the most delicious pastries from the sweetest little bakery I’ve ever seen! Dig in!”
“Wow, why so many?” Marge asked, helping herself to a blueberry filled sweet bun.
“Just in case we get more guests today,” Nicki said, looking over at Tommy.
His smile faded.
“Well, that’s very nice of you, dear,” Marge said in between blueberry bites.
“Oh, it’s the least I can do for being such a nuisance.”
Nicki grabbed a strawberry something.
The four indulged in the fresh pastries and morning coffee as the sun rose over the house.
A sun beam shone through the hanging dreamcatcher, gently dancing in the warm breeze. It was made of white wood and ivory leather ties, with turquoise beads and little metal chimes. White feathers fluttered through it.
Nicki stared at it and smiled. Her admiration of the pretty chime was interrupted by Tommy’s head, blocking her view as he leaned over the table to collect the dishes.