The Long Road Home [The Final McCassey Brothers Book]

by Lauren N. Sharman

  Blackie flashed Judd a dirty look, but didn't touch Jay. In fact, when Judd took a better look at Blackie, he realized the expression on his brother's face had softened. Maybe Blackie hadn't intended to go after Jay at all.

  "Jay—” Judd started, but his son abruptly cut him off.

  "I don't want to hear anything you have to say either, Dad! How could you?” he asked bitterly, “how could you not help Georgia? I saw her look at you. I heard her plead for your help. She loves you, Dad! She loves you the best out of everyone, and you know that! We all know that! She needed you, and you let her down!"

  Judd couldn't believe he'd just been chewed out by his own kid. And the worst part was that Jay had been right. Judd hadn't wanted to confront Georgia until they'd talked to Wade, but Blackie was so hell-bent on finding out what was going on, that he'd gone along against his better judgment.

  "What were you and Georgia doing here for two hours, Jay?” Judd asked, hoping it was something simple like watching TV.

  Obviously extremely angry, Jay drew his arm back and threw Georgia's softball glove in his dad's face. “You don't deserve to know!” Then he turned and left the kitchen the same way he'd come in, allowing the door to slam shut behind him.

  Judd caught the sweaty, well-worn, broken-in leather glove just before it smacked him in the face. After a close inspection, he saw that although the name scribbled on the back of the glove was McCassey, there was also a small flower drawn next to the ‘M’ in blue ink. Jay loved nature and being outdoors, but Judd knew his son would never have drawn a flower on anything.

  Curiosity got the best of him. Judd walked to the screen door and looked outside, catching sight of Jay running toward the woods—carrying his own baseball glove.

  "This is Georgia's glove,” Judd said to no one in particular. Then he turned around and faced Blackie, who was standing silently next to Rebel. “And it's sweaty. She and Jay were just playing catch."

  Blackie suddenly let out a guttural growl, giving Judd and Rebel just enough warning to get out of the way as he lifted the entire kitchen table and threw it across the room. Then, without a single word to either of his brothers, he ripped open the screen door, nearly tearing it off its hinges, and walked outside.

  Less than a minute later, the entire house shook as Blackie fired up his Harley and drove out of the yard.

  Judd looked at Rebel, who hadn't said anything for a good five minutes. “This is bad, isn't it?"

  Rebel looked around the kitchen, taking in the nearly destroyed screen door, upside down table, broken glass, and worst of all, Georgia's blood on the kitchen wall. “Very."

  "We need to find Georgia before it gets dark, Reb. She was only wearing a sleeveless shirt, and she's got to be freezing."

  Rebel nodded to let Judd know he agreed, then bent down and picked up a chair. “Let's get this shit cleaned up first,” he suggested as he picked up another one. “That'll give Georgia a few more minutes to cool off, save Angel the trouble of tackling the mess herself when she gets home. Something tells me it's going to be a while before we see Blackie again."

  Rebel was right. Judd went to the closet for a broom and dustpan with the intention of cleaning up the broken glass.

  The two men worked in complete silence for the ten minutes it took them to put the kitchen back together. Judd had no idea what was running through Rebel's mind, but he was having trouble coming up with answers to the questions that were running through his.

  Why had Blackie been so fired up about what was going on with Georgia that he had to confront her without having all the facts? Normally, that wasn't how his brother handled things.

  And why, after accusing her of lying and going behind their backs, hadn't he let her explain herself?

  But neither one of those things were bothering him half as much as the fact that Blackie had lost control and gone after Georgia. He'd actually hit her and drawn blood. That wasn't like their brother. He'd never laid a hand on a woman, no matter how much she'd pissed him off. Yet he'd gone after Georgia with a vengeance.

  Judd had admired the way Georgia had fought back against Blackie, but it'd been obvious that she was terrified.

  When they'd first left the garage, Judd had been more than a little apprehensive about confronting Georgia and accusing her of using heroin without proof. Then, after catching the tail end of her conversation with Bert, Judd had felt bad for doubting Blackie. It had certainly appeared that she was, indeed, using drugs again. But in the end, Judd knew that Blackie had been wrong. And, he had a feeling, so did Blackie.

  "I feel like such a bastard,” he said to Rebel as the two of them lifted the table and set it back on its feet. “Georgia's not using again, is she?"

  "I doubt it,” Rebel told him. “I never thought she was in the first place. If we'd waited and talked to Wade, he probably would've told us the same thing."

  "I wasn't going to let Blackie come over here and confront Georgia by himself, Reb. Look at what happened between the two of them with us here! Lord knows how far Blackie would've gone if you and I hadn't put a stop to his rage."

  "That's why I came along, too, Judd. Something's eating at him, but I'll be damned if I know what it is."

  "Yeah, well, what's eating at me is the fact that my sister begged for my help and I just stood there not doing a damn thing. I failed her, Reb."

  "We both did, Judd."

  "You think Blackie's out looking for her?"

  Rebel shook his head. “No, I think he's probably halfway to Virginia in search of that dealer, Bert. He needs someone to unleash his anger on, and that guy is the obvious target."

  Judd hadn't thought of that, but it made perfect sense. He reached for the phone, but was stopped by Rebel's voice. “Who are you calling?"

  "Jessie and Church. Maybe Church can find Dragon, and together they can find Blackie before he kills Bert ... or someone else."

  "Good idea."

  Rebel finished cleaning the kitchen while Judd explained the details of what happened to Church, who promised to go out in search of Blackie. “I know Virginia's a big state,” Judd told Church, “but maybe you could just keep your eyes open."

  "Blackie never rode more than three or four hours without getting thirsty,” Church explained to Judd. “Once he hits a bar and someone spots ‘The Devil', news that he's riding through Virginia will travel like wildfire. He won't be hard to find."

  Judd should've known that. As ‘The Devil’ who used to ride with the Renegades, his brother was infamous up and down the east coast. “Thanks, man, I owe you one."

  "Forget it, Judd, we're family. Let us know when you find Georgia."

  "Will do.” When Judd heard a click on the other end of the line, he hung up the receiver. Rebel wanted to know what he'd said.

  "Church said he'd find Blackie and personally escort him back here so he stays out of trouble."

  "Good."

  "Yeah, that should make Angel happy. But right now, Blackie's the least of my concern. I want to find Georgia. She's barely dressed and it's supposed to get back down into the twenties tonight."

  "Where do you think we should start?"

  Judd shrugged. “How about the obvious? Maybe she went to my house."

  "No,” Rebel disagreed. “One of the girls would've called if she'd shown up there. Maybe she went to Wade's."

  "Good thought, let's go check there."

  Even though it stung his pride a little, Judd hoped that his sister had run to Wade ... because he just didn't want to think about the alternative.

  [Back to Table of Contents]

  Chapter 23

  From her seat on the rock deep in the woods behind Blackie and Angel's house, Georgia shivered against the slight breeze that had picked up.

  She should've been smarter than to run off in a sweaty, sleeveless shirt without grabbing her sweatshirt, and Georgia wondered exactly how long it would take for hypothermia to set in. The sun hadn't even set yet, but she could feel the temperature falling, and sh
e was already shivering.

  Still, the cold was only one of her problems.

  The biggest one was that she couldn't seem to stop crying.

  Using the bottom of her shirt to wipe at her tears, only gingerly touching the sore, swollen, left side of her face where Blackie had slapped her, Georgia tried desperately to get herself under control.

  Why? Why did her brothers think she was using heroin again? What had she done to give them the idea that she was sneaking around behind their backs doing drugs after she'd promised not to?

  What hurt the most was that she'd fought her demons and the urge to get high everyday for nearly four months. She'd lived up to her end of the bargain and kept her word, but they'd betrayed her by not keeping theirs.

  She didn't even care that Blackie had hit her. When it came down to it, she had gone after him first. So, in truth, she'd deserved his retaliation. She guessed she was probably lucky he didn't kill her. But it did hurt that Judd, the brother that Georgia had thought understood her the most, hadn't stepped up to defend her. He hadn't even offered her a chance to explain. Instead, he'd just gone along with Blackie, assuming the worst.

  Maybe he'd just been too afraid to speak up against Blackie. Their oldest brother had been enraged; so angry that Georgia doubted even Angel, if she'd been there, would've been able to get him calmed down.

  But after thinking about it, Georgia shook her head. That couldn't be it. Judd was braver and tougher than most people realized. He had to be in order to kill their father.

  The bottom line was that now, nobody wanted her.

  The place she thought she'd found in a family that had, at first, accepted her with no questions asked, was gone. It was obvious that her brothers didn't want anything to do with her, which meant their wives wouldn't, either.

  Georgia was on her own again. This time, for good.

  It was nearly dark by the time she'd cried all the tears her body would allow. Then her sadness and feelings of betrayal took a backseat to sudden, intense hopelessness and panic.

  What was she was supposed to do now?

  Where was she supposed to go?

  With nothing but the clothes on her back, Georgia wasn't going to be able to get very far. Especially since she didn't have any money.

  She could call Bert. He would probably wire her some cash, no questions asked. But she decided that was out of the question. Bert had indirectly done enough damage for one day; it was better that she stayed away from him.

  I could go to Wade.

  But Georgia pushed that thought from her mind almost immediately. Even as much as she missed seeing him every day, missed his offbeat sense of humor and—for some reason—the intense way he looked at her each time she smiled, going to him wouldn't do her any good. He'd probably just try and talk some sense into her; try and talk her into going back to Blackie's to work things out.

  "Forget that,” she said out loud. “It'll be a cold day in hell before I beg forgiveness for something I didn't even do."

  Still shivering, Georgia laughed at the irony. It was a cold day, and at this moment, she was definitely in hell.

  Joining the McCassey family had been her last chance at a normal life. Then, in a matter of fifteen minutes, she'd lost everything ... all because she'd been trying to do something nice for someone she loved.

  Georgia stood, wrapped her arms around herself in an effort to keep warm, and started walking. She knew where to go to get warm, a place where she could erase all her problems and lose the feelings of hurt and betrayal that had left her in tears ... or at least numb them.

  * * * *

  As Blackie had expected, nearly every light in his house was shining bright when he turned the corner and pulled his bike into the driveway.

  It didn't matter that it was almost midnight. Blackie knew that Angel would be up waiting for him.

  He didn't know what he'd been thinking when he jumped on his Harley and took off after his fight with Georgia. He'd only known that for both his and Georgia's sakes, he'd needed to get the hell out of the house before he did something else he was going to regret.

  The pain of knowing he'd broken a promise and betrayed his sister had settled in his chest, causing it to tighten every time he thought about what he'd done.

  He couldn't believe he'd hit her.

  As angry as he'd been at both of his brothers in the past ... even as infuriated as he was with Angel when she refused to listen to reason about her brother's murder, he'd never gone after any of them the way he'd gone after Georgia.

  Why had he done it? What the hell was wrong with him that he had to go after a scrawny little girl he outweighed by two hundred pounds? Even as he was reaching for Georgia, he'd known that he could've killed her with one simple swing of his arm. Yet, he still hadn't been able to stop himself.

  The line he'd crossed today was unforgivable.

  Deep down, Blackie had always felt that he was unfit to keep company with decent people, and today, he'd proven it was true.

  Now he had to figure out what to do about it.

  Halfway up the driveway, Blackie shut down his engine. Gripping the handlebars tightly, he swung his right leg over the seat, then began pushing the bike up toward the house. He'd be a fool to think that Angel was sleeping. Most likely, she was sitting in the living room with a loaded gun, waiting to blow his head off for acting like such a stupid ass. But his kids—if Angel hadn't left them with Judd and Dusty—were probably asleep, and he didn't want to wake them.

  After parking his bike on the front sidewalk, Blackie walked the steps to the front door and turned the knob, pushing the heavy wooden door open as quietly as possible. Its hinges creaked, as usual, but he barely noticed. He was too busy staring at his wife, whose red-rimmed eyes gave away the fact that she'd been crying.

  He entered the kitchen slowly. Blackie noticed that the room had been put back together, and the mess he'd made during his fight with Georgia had been cleaned up; the tiny smear of blood on the wall was the only evidence that anything had been amiss in the room.

  His sister's blood.

  The blood he'd drawn when he slapped her across the face and cut her lip.

  Shaking his head, he removed his leather jacket and draped it over a chair.

  "It's late,” he told Angel solemnly. “You should be sleepin'."

  She ignored him.

  Cringing, Blackie was expecting a full-on attack, which he was prepared for. She knew. She knew everything that had happened. He could see it on her face.

  What he wasn't prepared for was his wife pushing her chair away from the table and launching herself into his arms.

  He caught her against his chest, his heart breaking for the second time that day as he felt her silent sobs.

  He didn't deserve her ... he didn't deserve anyone.

  "I'm sorry, Angel Face,” he whispered into her hair. “I fucked up, and I'm so damn sorry."

  "I'm just glad Church found you."

  "How—” he started to ask, but he already knew. Church had found him in a bar just over the Virginia state line. He'd explained that he'd gotten a call from Judd.

  Blackie and his old friend had nursed a couple of beers and talked for a good two hours before he'd turned around and headed back home. He'd been wrong to leave town. As much as he'd needed to step away from the situation, he should've fled down to the basement and beaten on his heavy bag for a few hours instead of abandoning his family and leaving his brothers to clean up his mess.

  "I'll fix it, Angel, I'll fix everything, I promise."

  Angel backed away from him, wiped her eyes, and sniffed. “She's gone, Blackie. Judd and Rebel looked everywhere, but they couldn't find her. Even Jay was out searching. Georgia's gone."

  Swearing that his heart had momentarily stopped beating, Blackie took a second to compose himself. “What the hell do you mean, they couldn't find her? This is Hagerstown, for Christ's sake. It's a small place and Georgia don't have many places to go. Did they check the garage?"r />
  She nodded. “They checked everywhere. The garage, Rebel's house, the woods, the bus station, even Wade's."

  Blackie stomach flipped violently. His first thought when Angel said his brothers hadn't been able to find Georgia was that she'd probably run to their cousin. “Wade ain't seen her, either?"

  "He wasn't home when they stopped by, so they left a note on his door. They haven't heard from him."

  Relieved, Blackie sighed. “Then the two of them are probably together, Angel. It ain't no secret that I don't like the guy, but I have to admit, I do trust him. Durin’ the time he was stayin’ at the garage helpin’ Georgia, he proved he's worthy of at least that much."

  "You really think she's with him?"

  He hoped so, because the alternative—the only other place she could possibly be—was a place where she'd find nothing but trouble. “I really don't know, Angel Face, but I intend to find out."

  When Blackie reached for his leather jacket, Angel reached out and covered his hand with hers. “Wait!"

  He stopped and turned to look at her.

  "I'm glad you came home. I was worried."

  Momentarily abandoning his jacket, Blackie drew his wife into his arms once again. “Ain't no way I woulda left for good, Angel. I love you too much to hurt you like that. The babies, too. I took off earlier because it was too dangerous for me not to. I was so goddamn angry that I couldn't see straight. I lost control and did somethin’ I swore I'd never do, and will be lucky if Georgia forgives me."

  "Why, Blackie,” Angel asked, tightening her hold around his waist, “why'd you go after her? She's just a kid."

  "When I thought she was usin’ again, all I could think about was how she'd lied to us, broken her promise not to touch heroin again. All of us gave up so much for her in the past few months, and then to have her turn on us like that pissed me off."

  "Is that the only reason?"

  "Probably not. But I'm still so fuckin’ angry that I ain't had time to put my thoughts together."

  "Do you really think she broke her promise?"

  "I did,” he said slowly. “All the signs pointed to it."