It’d been three days since I picked Wyatt up at his dad’s, and he had completely shut down. Like a turtle crawling into his shell, Wyatt had closed himself off from the world around him and as time passed, he was becoming more and more withdrawn. When I thought back to the other night at Michael’s, I couldn’t stop thinking about the look of relief on Wyatt’s face when he saw me standing in the driveway. I knew something was wrong. My little boy was scared… utterly and completely terrified and I had no doubt that Michael was the one who had frightened him. I’d tried everything I could think of to get Wyatt to talk to me about it, but he just wouldn’t open up. I knew it was partly because of his Asperger’s. He’d always had difficulty talking about things that bothered him, but it was something more than his difficulty sharing his feelings this time. I could see it in his face… he was trying to protect me, thinking that whatever happened might upset me. I tried to convince him that he didn’t need to worry, but nothing worked. Instead of just talking to me, he’d become distant, depressed, and sad. He’d even lost interest in his video games and just sat on the sofa with his eyes glued to the TV. It broke my heart to see him hurting, and I hated that I couldn’t do something more to help him. I’d racked my brain trying to figure out what Michael might have done or said, but I knew it was pointless. Unless Wyatt opened up to me, there was nothing I could do to help him.
I had ran out of ideas until I found Wyatt digging through my purse, searching for the small phone that biker had given him at the movie theater. His face lit up when he found it, smiling wide as he studied it.
“Wyatt,” I reprimanded. His head quickly turned to me, fear crossing his face as he gripped the phone tightly in his hand. “We need to talk about that phone.”
“Okay,” he answered, looking disappointed that he’d been caught.
“Wyatt, I think it’s a good idea for you to have a phone – especially when you go over to your dad’s. But I don’t think we should use this phone, buddy. It was a thoughtful gift, but…”
“But I like this one, Momma. It’s the coolest phone ever,” he pleaded. I looked down at the small phone and quickly realized that his pleas had nothing to do with that particular phone. It was about that biker… he wanted the phone that he had given him.
“Did your friend tell you why he gave you the phone?” I asked.
His little eyebrows furrowed when he fussed, “Mom… I told you. It’s in the vault.”
“Give me a hint here, buddy, or the phone is going back.”
“He said I should call him if I needed help,” he explained.
I wasn’t surprised by Wyatt’s answer. I think I’d known all along that the phone was his way of trying to help Wyatt, but he should’ve talked to me about it. The list of unspoken communication was adding up, and it was time for me to find out what was really going on. I didn’t know what his intentions were, but I planned to find out. I decided to pay Wyatt’s biker friend a visit, but there was only one problem – I had no idea how to find him. Knowing that she knew everything about Clallam County, I picked up the phone and called Rachel.
“Time for that bail money?” she chuckled.
“Ahh, no. Not quite yet, but I do have a favor to ask,” I replied.
“Shoot.”
“You know that biker you asked me about? I need to find him,” I explained.
“What exactly are you planning to do?” she asked.
“I don’t exactly know yet. I just need to know how to find him first, then I’ll decide what I’m going to do from there.”
“Seriously, Wren, these aren’t the kind of guys you wanna mess around with,” Rachel warned. “They bring badass to a whole new level.”
“I can’t worry about that right now, Rach. I have to talk to him, and find out why he’s taken such an interest in Wyatt. Every time I turn around, he’s there. I’m pretty sure I saw him at Michael’s house the other night when I picked up Wyatt.”
“Hold up… you mean this guy is stalking Wyatt?”
“No, I don’t think it’s anything like that. I think he’s just trying to look out for him, but I need to know for sure. He’s never said anything to me. I just know that Wyatt is crazy about this guy,” I explained. “You saw how he acted when he showed up at the movies the other day. Wyatt was so excited to see him.”
“Yeah, he was pretty tickled.”
“I was sort of thinking… maybe this biker guy could get Wyatt to talk about everything.”
“You’re going to ask some stranger to talk to your son? Oh, Wren, I don’t know… I don’t think this is such a good idea.”
“I know it sounds crazy, but think about how Wyatt looked at him, how excited he was to be talking to him. I’ve never seen him like that with anyone before,” I explained. “Rach, I’m desperate. At this point, I’m willing to try anything. Wyatt may never open up to me and this may be my only chance to get through to him. I have no idea how this will play out, but I have to try, Rach. I have to do something. Just tell me how to find him… please. I promise to be careful,” I pleaded.
Long seconds passed before she finally exhaled a heavy sigh and said, “He’s a member of the Satan’s Fury MC, and from the patches on his cut, it looks like your guy is one of the leaders.”
“I have no idea what any of that means. Just tell me what I need to do.”
“The clubhouse is just outside of town out on Highway 113. You’ll have to keep an eye out for it. Trees block the entrance, and they’ll have a man guarding the gate. You’ll have to get past him first. If you make it that far, you shouldn’t have any problem finding him,” she explained. I didn’t bother asking how she knew so much about these men, knowing she’d have some wild story that would only make me more nervous about going.
“I’m going to head over there now, so I’ll need you to pick up Wyatt from school.”
“Okay, just be sure to call me the minute you leave there,” she demanded. “And please, please, please be careful. Promise me!”