Devil's Spawn: Satan's Devils MC Colorado Chapter #6

by Manda Mellett

  Only seconds have passed, it sounds like much longer and still that horn sounds and the engine’s making a throaty roar. The headlights are blazing at us, and we can’t see the driver or how many are in the car.

  “Dirt?” Prez calls once we’re outside and away from the light beams. “Open the gate on my signal. Soon as he comes in, close it and we’ll surround him. Shoot first, ask fuckin’ questions later, but if the kid’s there, make fuckin’ sure he’s not hit.”

  “Don’t fire at the trunk,” Beef says quickly.

  Yes, quite possible Cas is in there.

  “Can’t see anyone else in the vicinity.” Cad’s joined us. “Checked all the camera feeds. None seem to have been fucked with, all reporting in real-time.”

  “I got the drone up but it’s feeding back nothing but an empty road.” Paladin’s staring at his phone.

  “Out back?”

  “Nothing there,” Paladin confirms.

  “Okay, Dirt.” Prez’s hastily issued instruction gives the signal.

  Dirt operates the remote control. All of us prepared without being asked for the car to stop midway jamming the entry open so more people can come in, but that sounds unlikely from what Cad and Pal have found.

  The car comes in, a little too quickly, then the brakes are jammed on. Now we’ve a clearer view, there doesn’t appear to be anyone in it, just the driver.

  At Prez’s nod, I approach the door cautiously. Gun pointing forward, fully prepared to fire and remove the risk immediately.

  The car door opens slowly.

  “Hands up where I can see them,” I snarl.

  “Mace?” a high-pitched voice asks me warily. “Mace, it’s me. Cas.”

  Cas? “Cas!” Incredulously I rip the door fully open and pull him into my arms. “Cas?” I look down questioningly, hardly daring to believe I’m actually holding Liz’s son in my arms. I notice there’s blood on him. Lots of it.

  “Where are you hurt?” I rasp, now pushing him slightly away, checking for injuries.

  “I’m okay, It’s not mine.” His voice sounds shaky.

  At Cas’s statement, I can breathe again and then see Beef’s doing what I should have been, checking the rest of the car, but Cas is alone.

  “Mace? Can you turn off the engine? I got it started but…”

  “You hotwired it?” I breathe, then snort.

  “Give my fuckin’ son to me. Cas. Cas. Are you okay? Let me look at you. You hurt?” Lizard doesn’t seem to know whether to hug him or hold him at arm’s length.

  As I willingly let Cas got to his father, I reach in and pull apart the wires Cas had twisted together. Silence descends.

  Prez steps up and barks in Cas’s ear, “Are you in danger? Anyone follow you here?”

  Cas turns around, but Liz retains one arm around his shoulder. Intelligently, he replies, “No one following me, but they’ll guess where I’ve come.”

  “Dirt? Ditch the car somewhere no one will find it.”

  The prospect grins and tosses Prez a salute, then runs to the car and looks at the ignition, then shrugs. I’m impressed he hotwires it quickly. Someone opens the gates, and he disappears fast.

  “Church now. You too, Cas.”

  Of course the kid needs to be there. He’s the fucking star of the show. He escaped by himself. Christ, this kid has got balls.

  Inside the clubroom, Vanna shakily stands, her eyes widening in disbelief, her hands reaching forward as she yells, “Cas!”

  Pulling free of his dad, a split second later, he’s in his sobbing mom’s arms.

  “You’re hurt!” Vanna exclaims, like I’d done, seeing the blood covering her son.

  “The blood isn’t mine, Mom,” the kid explains again.

  “Sorry to break up the reunion, but we need to speak to him now,” Prez tells her firmly. “Come Cas.”

  “Not leaving me out of this,” Vanna throws at him, Cas’s reappearance seemingly the antidote to whatever Rusty had given to her. “I’ve got my son back and I’m not letting him out of my sight.” As Demon opens his mouth, her finger pokes him in his chest. “For the last few hours I’ve been thinking I might never see him again. You’re not taking him away from me now, not even for a moment.”

  Prez bows his head, then gives a quick nod. “Okay, Liz. Bring your wife.”

  “Shayla deserves to know he’s here, Prez. She might have some light to shine on shit once we learn how Cas escaped.”

  Demon looks up to the ceiling and then back down. “She can come too.”

  I take the stairs two at a time to get to her fast, barely taking the time to explain. Ignoring her startled gasp and the question I can’t yet answer, I grab one of my clean t-shirts, then take her hand and lead her back down.

  Someone’s dragged in a couple of spare chairs which Liz has appropriated and squeezed in next to his. He motions Cas to one and Vanna sits to her son’s right, both parents holding one of Cas’s hands, his dad with a challenging glare on his face as though ready to ward off any objections to the seating arrangements. I just lead Shayla along to my seat next to Thunder, slide the clean shirt down the table and pull her down on my lap.

  Prez bangs the gavel loudly, stopping the individual queries of ‘how the fuck did you get here’ to Cas.

  “Can’t tell you how fuckin’ glad I am to see you, kid,” Prez starts. “But I’d like to know how.”

  I think we all need an explanation of why he’s covered in blood, but I hold my tongue for now.

  Cas seems a little unnerved that all eyes are upon him, and with obvious pleasure he reaches for my t-shirt, grimacing as he pulls the soaked one over his head, and putting the clean one on.

  I raise my chin to Lizard, pleased to see the happy reunion, but trying to signal we need to move this on. If something’s coming in our direction, I’d rather know sooner rather than later. Lizard’s eyes catch mine, he nods, then turns to his son.

  “Just start from the beginning Cas,” Lizard gently encourages him. “We know a man called Major took you. What we don’t know is how it went down. We lost track of you after you got off the school bus.”

  Cas pulls his hands out of those of his parents and clasps them together on the table in front of him. I notice they’re shaking. “Yeah, well. I caught the bus as normal. Got off. I wasn’t sure whether I had all the shit I needed to do my homework, so I was checking to see if I’d put my notes in my bag. I was only vaguely aware that a van had pulled up alongside me, but I didn’t take any notice. Thought it was making a delivery to one of the houses around there.” He breaks off and grimaces. “They took me so quickly, I was in the back before I knew what was happening, school bag alongside me. It was a panel van, I was in the back, no handle on the inside and a partition between me and the people in the front. I shouted and kicked.”

  He looks around and sees we’re all staring at him.

  “They pulled up somewhere isolated. Tied my hands and feet and put a gag on me. Then carried on driving again.” Now he rubs at his elbows. “I kept rolling around in the back, I’ll probably have bruises. I don’t know how far, it seemed like forever. When we stopped, I was dragged out, and brought in front of a man who introduced himself as Major.”

  Shayla leans forward to look down the table at him. “Middle-aged, greying hair, with a paunch, not too much height on him?”

  “Yeah.” Cas too moves so he can catch her eye. “Short and fat.”

  There’s a ripple of laughter as Cas sums him up.

  “Anyway,” Cas resumes, “I asked him why he’d taken me, and he said it was because the Satan’s Devils had something he wanted. I played ignorant, said I didn’t know what he was talking about, that I didn’t know anything about any Devils, Satan’s or not.” Cas looks down and grimaces. “He said I better hope that wasn’t true, as you were the only hope I had, and that he hadn’t yet decided whether or not to keep me. He said something about being a new toy.” Cas shudders. “I didn’t like him at all.”

  I see Lizard t
ensing.

  “Go on, Cas,” encourages Beef.

  “He took my photo, then put me in a room. He untied my hands, but there was no way to escape. There were bars on the window and a lock on the door which I didn’t have a clue how to pick.”

  “Sounds like there are some gaps in your education, kid.” I look down at him and wink. “Guess I better teach you.”

  “Knowing how would have been useful.” Cas grins weakly. “But they had thrown my school bag in with me and hadn’t searched it or me, except for taking my phone.”

  “What d’you have in there, kid?” I prompt.

  Cas looks shiftily toward his mother. “It doesn’t matter if I tell you now, but Davie was the one who dared me to steal that car. He said I could join his gang if I proved myself. Well, after the trouble that caused, and after coming here, I told him I didn’t want to anymore. But he wouldn’t leave me alone, he kept threatening me…”

  “Should have told me,” says Liz.

  Kid could have told any of us, we’d have had his back. But he was in Denver and us two hours away. He’s grown up with a mom who’s always fought her battles by herself.

  “I’ve seen what he can do to someone who crosses him, so wanted to be able to defend myself. I got a switchblade—”

  “They’re illegal, aren’t they?” Vanna’s eyes have widened.

  “Not in Colorado at the state level,” Cad replies. “But some cities have ordinances banning them, and I’m pretty certain Denver is one.”

  “Still…”

  “Moot point,” Beef stares Vanna down, “if it saved your kid.”

  “You used it?” Again, it’s me who encourages him to continue.

  Cas looks down again. “I wasn’t going to, but I listened at the door. Heard a couple of men talking about Major planning a trade which he wasn’t going to carry through. Heard them joking about what Major could do with me. Went into some details that I don’t want to repeat, not in front of my parents. Scared the fuck out of me.”

  No one’s going to admonish him for swearing, nor ask him to expand. Not when we already have a pretty good idea what he’d be saying.

  “Go on,” urges Prez.

  “So, I knew I was going to have to escape if I could. It was either going to be them or me, and they weren’t good men. I started banging on the door. One man came in. I was ready for him.” Cas’s hands are trembling again, and he’s gone pale. “I knew I was in a bind. I told myself I had to do anything to get out of there.” He turns to his mom. “What they’d been saying was evil, Mom. They’d been laughing—”

  “You’d have done what you had to,” Liz states, his voice getting Cas to meet his eyes.

  Father and son exchange glances, it seems to give Cas the strength to start again. “I had one chance. I lunged, up. I hadn’t known his height or anything but wanted to incapacitate him. Instead… I hit his jugular. He dropped, gasping. The next man came in, not noticing immediately, so I stabbed into his stomach and upward, then while he was shocked, I got out the door and locked it with them inside.”

  His whole body is now shaking like a leaf and no fucking wonder. He’s killed at least one, if not two men. That explains the blood.

  “It was them or me,” Cas cries out.

  “No one’s criticising you, boy,” Hellfire booms. “We’re in awe of you. You did what had to be done.”

  “Fuckin’ proud of you, Son,” Liz thunders. “Those men weren’t human, they were fuckin’ scum. Animals who deserved what they got. Fuckin’ proud, you hear me?”

  Lizard’s words are echoed around the table.

  Shayla leans forward on my lap. “Cas? Those men, well, they were probably ones who hurt me.” She means raped. “I’m glad you hurt them.”

  I squeeze my fingers into her slightly.

  “What then?” Prez asks.

  Cas shrugs as if it was nothing. “I crept through the house, managed to get out. I didn’t see anyone else, but there were cars parked and I tried them all until I found one that was unlocked and that I could start, one which Mace had talked me through hotwiring. Got it started and headed out. Didn’t know where the hell I was for a while, just drove around. Then I saw a sign for Pueblo and headed this way.”

  “You can’t drive,” remarks Vanna.

  “I can now,” says Cas with a grin, followed by a frown. “Though it was a bit scary, and I didn’t want to end up in a ditch again. I knew I had one chance, and that was to get here.”

  Cas’s eyes close briefly.

  “Fuckin’ proud of you, Son.” Liz says firmly. His eyes are glistening.

  Chapter Forty-Seven

  Lizard

  I told Cas I was fucking proud of him, but words weren’t adequate to express just how impressed I was. Was I pleased he carried a switchblade? No, because whatever weapon you carry, someone’s probably got one bigger, and that’s a lesson Cas needs teaching. But if you do carry, you should be prepared to use it, and Cas has certainly shown that.

  I hate he heard what Major intended for him, hate that he had to, from the sounds of it, kill or at least cause serious injury to escape, but he’d only done what was necessary. As I’d told him, men who talk about kids like that deserve to be put down like the scum they are.

  Having told his story, the bravado he called on to make his escape seems to leave Cas, and he’s now leaning into Vanna and her arms are around him.

  Prez speaks gently, “Cas, I think your dad’s spoken for us all. A man has to do what has to be done to get out of a tricky situation. You did good, little Brother.” Words from the prez which Cas should take to heart. Especially when they’re echoed from around the table. Grown men would have hesitated to do what my kid had done. “Now,” Demon continues, “you need to get a shower and give your mom some loving as she’s been worried out of her mind. So, Cas, Vanna, and Shayla, gonna ask that you leave us now.”

  I notice Shayla stand immediately, but she looks shaky on her feet, and sitting close to the couple, hear Mace reassure her he’ll be with her as soon as he can.

  “Cas, look after your mom.” I nod pointedly at Vanna who looks like she’s about to drop, a combination of relief, and of running on adrenaline all evening before Rusty at last persuaded her to take that chill pill.

  When the three leave us, I fold my arms on the table and let my head drop onto them, breath leaves me in a shudder.

  “Fuckin’ amazing kid you’ve got there, Liz.”

  “Major thought he was dealing with a scared kid who didn’t know which way was up. Couldn’t have had any idea he’d be resourceful enough to escape. He didn’t know he was dealing with one of our boys.” Muff sums it up. My kid’s a chip off his Satan’s Devils’ Dad’s block.

  No one needs to tell me how incredible he is, I already know. He’d done what he had to do to escape, but when it catches up with him, he’ll go down hard. My mind’s still swirling around what he’d done, and it takes a moment to remember there are other things at stake. Things the enforcer is about to remind me. We’ve won round one, but not the war.

  “Major knows where Shayla is,” Mace says tersely. “Now he’s lost his bargaining chip, he’ll be coming to take her back.”

  “The man clearly doesn’t take kindly to losing his property,” Hellfire remarks.

  Demon’s rapping the table. “Major’s two men down, question is, is he ready to come at us straight away?” His fingers knock against the table again. “He’s out of his hometown, was prepared to kidnap and trade, is he geared up for a full-on attack, or does he have to prepare for it?”

  Cad’s hands are flying over his keyboard. I watch his face. He types, waits with eyes scrunched, then types again. The tap-tapping hasn’t just caught mine, but everyone’s attention.

  “Cad?” Prez asks.

  When Cad holds up his hand obviously to ask us to wait, we do. Cad wouldn’t be casually replying to a friend in church, so whatever he’s doing will have something to do with the matter in hand.

  “D
amn,” Cad swears, thumping his hand on the table. “He’s fuckin’ gone.”

  “Who?” Demon asks fast. “Who were you talking to, Cad?”

  “Fuck knows,” he replies. Which doesn’t seem helpful, until he explains, “Got a contact on the dark web who seems to have eyes on Major.”

  “Who, Cad?” Demon asks again.

  Cad shakes his head. “That’s the problem, I don’t know. We could take the info as kosher or dismiss it as someone wanting to lead us down the wrong track.”

  “Major himself? Trying to mislead us?” Bomber asks.

  Cad stares at his screen as if willing it to give him answers. “I don’t know who this is, but the IP address is in Utah. Apart from that, I can’t track it down to anything else.” He stares at Prez. “This dude has details about us, and I don’t like it. He’s mentioned Shayla and us, and that Major’s lost Cas.”

  “Not that he’s back with us?” Rusty queries fast.

  “No, I don’t think he knows that.”

  “Fucker knows too much about our business,” Wills growls.

  “Hang on, Cad. Who do we know in Utah?”

  “Snatcher?” Beef suggests, mentioning the name of the prez there. “Could it be the Satan’s Devils Utah chapter?”

  “Uh-uh.” Cad rejects the suggestion. “Utah’s the one chapter who doesn’t have a me or Mouse in it. They’re about as computer illiterate as it’s possible to get.”

  “Cad’s right,” Demon agrees. “Snatcher would offer us manpower but has never been able to help on the info side. Leaving the who aside for the moment, what’s the intel, Cad? Is he just telling us what we already know, or offering something else?”

  “Something else, Prez. Major has men who protect his business, but not ones trained to take out a compound like ours. He’s looking for guns to hire.”