Mistaken Identity Ch. 02

(Author's Note: This is a 'what if' side story for The Perfect Pussy series. I never felt that I really had a chance to let Waylon talk about his feelings for Keni and think over what drove him over the edge. A lot of you have suggested that for his crimes he be locked up or sent to a mental hospital, maybe he will agree with you, but let him speak for himself and then decide from there okay, after all this is still America and the process of being innocent until proven guilty is still a part of our freedom...God Bless America...!)

*

Waylon sat on the front porch of Noreen's house and felt the girls shift with the impatience of waiting. Noreen had sent them outside to wait while she was busy packing up their rooms. He had offered to help, but she had passed on it, telling him instead to go wait for his brother and try to relax. As if he could. The more he thought about what was ahead, the more he wanted to get up and just start running. His stomach had been in knots all day, barely letting him eat and feeling as if it would all come back up once he was able to swallow it. Which was a bummer, Noreen was almost as good a cook as his mom.

He was still in knots too about taking Noreen and the girls back to Crossroads. They weren't going to hear much good about him, what if they began to hate him, he didn't want that. Not from them. For the first time he began to wonder if Harley had ever had such doubts about going home...but even as he wondered, he knew it was a foolish thing to think. Harley had never been afraid of anything in his life, neither had Dean.

It was Leigh who saw the truck first. "Waylon, is that them?"

Following her line of vision he nodded. "That's them..."

"Your brother has a pretty truck..."

Yes he did, Waylon could remember all the long hours Harley had spent on it, and the times he had let his little brother help. As they pulled up to the curb, he saw that Keni was sitting next to Harley, and she looked perfectly content. "Maybe you girls should go inside. This may not be something you two should see or hear..."

Both of them clutched at his arm. "No, we want to meet them...we won't let them hurt you Waylon, you been hurt enough..."

The screen door closed behind them. "Yes you have...my girls are just as stubborn as I am, or haven't you figured that out yet Waylon..."

Looking over his shoulder, he grinned. "I guess I should have by now..."

Harley and Keni came up the walk, and Waylon saw the protective way his brother kept Keni close to him. When they came to a stop, Harley looked at the girls and at Noreen. "Never knew you to hide behind women and kids Waylon..."

"He isn't hiding..." Hannah spoke up. "Waylon doesn't need us to protect him either. He can protect himself..."

Both Harley and Keni smiled. "Wow, tough one isn't she. There something you never told us little brother...?"

Waylon looked at the two girls. "No, but I wish there was. This is Hannah and Leigh Wilson, and the lady standing behind me, glaring at you is Noreen, their mother..."

"Before we get too involved in this, why don't we go inside...too public out here," Noreen spoke up.

Harley and Keni nodded. "That might be a good idea, there's some serious stuff going on and in all honesty, we're all damn confused about it."

* * *

In the house, Noreen sent the girls up to play then perched on the arm of the chair he sat in. Keni and Harley sat on the couch that was acting as his bed. He looked at his brother and wondered why they both looked so serious. "So what is going on...?"

That made Harley and Keni exchange glances. Finally Keni spoke. "Noreen said you were in the hospital and here in Dallas for the last three months. Can you prove it?"

That sounded ominous. "Yeah, there are records and the police reports and all. Keni, what's going on...?"

She swallowed hard and pulled a yellow folder from her bag. "We stopped off on the way here to talk to Sheriff Jones and get this, it explains things better then we can. Now, if you can prove you have been here for the last three months, then all the better, but if you can't, then I suggest you run as far south as you can get because right now you are the most wanted man in Oklahoma, Montana and Idaho." Her bright green eyes moved to Noreen. "You working in a hospital, you might be able to handle the pictures better then I did...but some of them are pretty graphic and I admit they made me sick to my stomach the first time I saw them...hell I still can't look at them without wanting to throw up..." She handed the folder to Waylon. "The first one is Davia Montoya; they found her on the freeway up near Tulsa. The details are in the folder. She'll live but the next three weren't so lucky. The man is Luke Norton; they found him near a line cabin in Montana, the girl is one who disappeared from Billings about fifty miles away, she was found in the cabin near his body. And the last one is Randall Marshall. They found him on a dirt road near McCall, Idaho. They also found Anita's car about twenty miles from there. With a man named Max Connor's finger prints all over it. Randall's girlfriend is still missing. This is her..." She took a color photograph from her bag.

Waylon noticed the resemblance instantly. "She looks like you Keni..."

Keni nodded. "To quote my mom and sister, a dead ringer...it did not lighten the mood." She visibly shivered. "Waylon, how did you get in contact with Max Connor...?"

He sighed. "Met him in a bar in Oklahoma City, me and Anita went there just for a change. She got totally confused when she came out of the bathroom and sat down with him by mistake. He came over and sat down acting all surprised about how much he and I looked alike. I never connected that he might be the same Max Connor you wrote mom and dad about, I guess I should have. You told us how you thought it was me in that cell. We had a few drinks with him, and he offered to drive us back to Crossroads since we were both too drunk to do it ourselves. Like fools we let him do it. God, I can't believe I was that dumb..."

Harley smiled. "Well, you never did have much brains little brother...the first was trying to be as bad as me. You might have come close, but you really don't have it in you..."

No, he didn't. "I just loved you so damn much Keni, and to see you pick him over me...it was like my whole life was falling apart." He looked at her and swallowed hard. "I...I couldn't help myself, I just wanted you so damn bad..."

Keni got to her feet and came to the chair, kneeling before him; she reached out and touched his face. "The main thing you screwed up was not telling me Waylon. I know those times you tried to kiss me, I thought you were just teasing me, the way Dean did. I never thought you were serious...if I had, I would have told you I was in love with Harley and had been forever it seems, and not because he was a bad boy type. I never have seen him that way. I just knew the first time I looked at him that he was important to me and I would always want him more then any other man in my life..." She was close to crying and he hated to see it. "We just should have been more open and honest with each other Waylon...that's all..."

He nodded and reached out to cup her cheek. "All I care about is you being happy and he's not hurting you in any way..." His voice dropped as he spoke the last part. He could see Harley glaring at him, but he didn't care, she had meant so much to him for so long...

She answered him just as quietly, knowing that it was a private matter between them. "He's great to me Waylon, and what we share, I never thought I would ever find anyone who makes me feel the way he does. Not physically, mentally, or emotionally. We're getting married New Years Eve, so we got to get this all worked out so you can come home to be there, okay?"

Waylon grinned, and felt a little amazed by her treatment of him. Gone was the anger and fear he had seen too often. It felt as if a huge weight had been taken off his shoulders that he hadn't even known he was carrying. "Can you really forgive me so easy for all I did and said...?"

Keni gave him a mischievous smile. "Oh, maybe not all, but just knowing that you didn't try to kill the man I love, well, that makes up for part of it, but if you ever slap me again, I will kick your ass all the way back to Oregon...okay?"

"You got a deal little sister..." They hugged and he found that he didn't feel the sexual need he had always felt around her before. If anything a part of him felt more at peace then he had ever felt in his life. Harley had lost his glaring expression now, and he smiled. "Relax big brother, I got a woman who is willing to put up with me as much as Keni is you, so no hassles there, which reminds me, I want to take her home with us. She knows I may end up in jail until this is all worked out, but she's willing to stand by me...you think mom and dad would mind her staying with them?" He was a little worried that they might think she was like the others he had been with before.

Harley shook his head. "Not a bit, they wanted to come down with us, but with the wedding only a couple days away, mom was in no shape to make the trip. Oh, shit, you didn't know, Heather and Mike are getting married on Saturday, our little sister went and got herself in the family way...on purpose, in my opinion, but they both say it was an accident...speaking of which, I got to call and let them know we made it okay..."

Watching as his brother pulled a cell phone from his jacket, Waylon looked at Keni, "A cell phone?" He had a hard time to think of his brother ever needing a cell phone.

"He needs it for work, he and Scooter are doing great at the shop and we like to keep in contact with Kate since Dean is working at the lumber mill besides working the farm." She smiled and reached in her bag, "more photos, but these I think you will like...your new niece and nephew..."

They were beautiful. "Twins, Kate had twins..." He wished he had been there, but now he looked at the photo and saw two small babies, a little boy in a sleeper fashioned to look like over alls and a straw hat, while the little girl was dressed in pink and a bonnet. "They're beautiful...is Kate okay?"

"She's fine, but that is it for her and Dean, doctor told her no more, so they both went and got taken care of. So, how long will it take you to get copies of the hospital records and police reports, the sheriff figures you will have to go into custody for a while, but just until we can prove where you were..." Harley hung up his phone, "mom and dad say get your ass home as soon as you can, and bring the new part of the family..." He grinned at Noreen. "I do have to warn you, this family is something else. We stick our noses where it doesn't belong, but we look after our own. If you're serious about Way, then we'll back you and your girls up to the end. If not..."

Noreen nodded. "I decided the minute I met him, I wanted this man in my life, good, bad or indifferent. My girls love him crazy, and I do too, so unless you honestly think you can pry me from him, we're in this for the long haul..."

Keni looked at Harley over her shoulder. "I like her...sounds like she might have some James blood in her..." She got up and moved over to the couch, sitting so she was straddling Harley's lap and facing him. "Any of that sound familiar lover mine?"

Waylon heard Harley laugh. "All of it baby, are you ever going to forgive me for wanting you out of the line of fire, literally..."

"Not a chance in hell honey, and once I get that ring through your nose come New Years, you can be even surer of it."

They kissed then and Waylon heard Noreen's deep intake of breath. "Oh my, are they always like that Waylon?"

Reaching up, he pulled her down on his lap and she put her arms up around his neck. "That is mild for those two. Sometimes I wondered if they weren't going to set the world on fire when they were together." He looked at his brother. "Hey Harley, come up for air big brother, we still got things to talk about and there are two young girls in this house who don't need to see you and Keni trying to molest each other in public view."

Harley gave him a lazy smile, "hmm, go to hell little brother, I won't apologize for loving on my woman...as for the girls, better for them to see real affection then some things I know they could be seeing, but if Noreen wants me to apologize I will..."

Noreen shook her head. "No, he's right Waylon, they could see things a lot worse, and I'd rather they see love then I would some of the things they have seen in their lives..." Her voice was life. "They've seen enough bad, let them see some good for a change."

He knew she was right, and he nodded. "You're right babe, they have seen enough."

Keni looked at Noreen with a curious look as she moved off Harley's lap. "So, what you all want for dinner? Noreen looks tired and if she has been packing all day, the last thing she wants to do is cook for us, so if you will tell me where the phone is, I'll see if I can find a decent pizza parlor that delivers..."

Noreen looked surprise but voices from the top of the stairs told Waylon the girls had been listening. "Yeah, pizza..." They came running down and flew into the room. "Pizza mom, we haven't had...can we mom, can we...?"

Noreen looked around then up at Keni, finally nodding almost gratefully. "I was...but no, pizza is fine. Hannah will show you where the phone and yellow pages are." When the girls had dragged Keni off, she shifted a little on Waylon's lap. "She doesn't need to..."

Harley took on a soft smile. "Yes she does, Keni looks and worries about everyone, it's in her nature, when I got shot, she came to the hospital and spent the night with me, which got us both yelled at, but we didn't care. Even when the sheriff came and talked to us the next day, she refused to talk, shower or even change clothes until after I was settled in...you should have seen the worry she went through with her sister...and I think she's been more worried about Waylon then any of us know. A part of me really thinks that she never believed he was capable of the stuff in Montana and Idaho."

Waylon remembered the photos, shivered with a cold finger running down his spine, and nodded. "I guess that's one of the things I always loved about her, she does care about people, she wants to help everyone...I remember that time I tried to kiss her, she was hot and sweaty and had straw in her hair, and I thought how sexy she looked. I guess she was right, maybe if we had talked about it then, instead of me letting it fester all these years..."

"Yeah, it would have helped." Harley nodded in agreement. "I know it would have, but let me tell you, it threw me a real curve when she told me how much she had been in love with me all these years. I mean, it was like she had to be mistaking me for someone else, and I hated thinking that in the end I would hurt her so bad...but you know me I never much cared about people's feelings before her. She's changed all that, now all I can think of is how good the idea of spending the rest of my life with her feels. That and knowing she loves me as I am, if I slip, she won't run at the first move, she'll wait for me to get my act together or else."

"You really have changed haven't you Harley?" Waylon spoke softly.

"So everyone tells me, Keni says it would have happened sooner or later, but I really don't think I would have if she hadn't been there to get me on the right road. Hell, odds are if she hadn't come down this summer, I'd probably be back in prison again and this time I wouldn't be getting out..."

Waylon swallowed hard as he made an admission he hated to make. "I...I thought it was all an act, that in the end you would treat her just like all the others and cast her aside. That made me so mad...thinking of her being like the others. It might not have bothered me with some, but not Keni..."

Noreen moved off his lap. "I think I'll go see how Keni and the girls are getting along. Sounds like you two really need to talk alone..."

They both watched her walk off and Harley nodded. "Hey, there a store near by, I could use a beer, and it'll be a while before the pizza gets here..."

Waylon nodded. "Actually there's a nice little bar right down the street, let's go have a beer..."

Harley called to Keni that they were going, but she only waved her hand and shooed them off. Noreen smiled as well as she listened to the order.

* * *

The bar was a small, semi dark local place that was quiet and peaceful. Getting two beers from a tired looking old man, they found a table in the back and settled back. There was a lot that needed said, but neither of them seemed ready to jump into the water. Instead they talked about Scooter's repair shop, and about the time he had been in the hospital, and about Noreen, and the girls. They talked about their folks and the new twins and about Kate and Dean. It upset Waylon to think of one of them needing to work to actually support the farm.

"We get all this cleared up, you going to stay at home Waylon, or come back here...I mean Noreen..."

Waylon shook his head. "This is the last place she wants to be Harley, her family, they're all up north..." He told his brother about her ex and what she and the girls had been through. Even as he talked he saw his brother's face turn dark and evil. "Yeah, that was my reaction too. She's a good woman Harley, and the girls are great. I want to be there for her if that son of a bitch ever gets out and comes looking for them..."

"Well, he comes looking for her or those girls, he's going to have one hell of a welcoming party, just like Max will if I ever get my fucking hands on him...it had to have been him who shot at me and Keni that day, you never were that good of a shot..."

"Just what the hell happened...?"

He listened intently as Harley told him all the events leading up to the day someone had shot his brother as they talked on the porch. Finally he nodded. "Had to be Max, he stuck around Anita's for a couple days, not that I remember much of them. He kept me pretty drunk, and talking about you and Keni. God, when I try and remember to what the fuck I told him...I do know he worked Anita over more then once when she tried to get away. And that rifle sounds like the one had at the apartment, high ballistic, scope...the whole nine yards. I remember thinking it wasn't something you used for deer hunting the way he claimed it was. What the hell did you do to him to make him hate you so much...?"

Harley frowned. "Let's just say that he and I did not agree on jailhouse etiquette...there are some things cell-mates don't pull on each other..." His lips had become a thin line and Waylon knew it was time to shut up.

"I never knew bro..." It was hard to imagine his big brother being in such a situation.

"No one but Keni does...I been having nightmares since the Sheriff told me whose finger prints were found in Anita's car. She finally got it out of me, and it wasn't easy to talk about believe me..."

His cell phone rang and again Waylon felt surprised to think of his brother carrying one. He saw Harley smile and nod. "We'll be back in a few, just let us finish our beers...two, swear to god...ah honey, would I lie to you...?" He laughed. "Okay, we're on our third one...happy now? Damn, you just wait until we get to the motel tonight...and no that ain't any damn threat, that sugar is a promise..." He hung up and looked at Waylon. "Damn, maybe I should have let you have that woman; I swear to god she does that to me just to make sure the sex is extra hot..." He downed his beer and they left the bar.

* * *

At the house, they found Noreen and the girls helping Keni bring in a bag and their sleeping bags. He saw his future sister in law give Harley a grin. "Sorry sweetheart, no motel tonight, Noreen has a spare room upstairs she said we could use. And Waylon, that blue bag is from your mom and dad. They figured you might need a few extra clothes and I think there is a letter in there from your mom. She was crying the whole time she packed it for you so I'm not sure what all is in there." She took the sleeping bags and the other bag up stairs with the girls leading the way.