The Long Road Home: A Devil Chaser's MC Novella

by L. Wilder

  “I’m fine, Cass. I really do need to study. I’ll go with you next time… promise. Go have a good time. I’ll be here when you get back.”

  “Ok. Have it your way, but you know you’ve got this. You’ve been studying for weeks,” she said as she reached for her purse. “You know where to find me if you need me.”

  “Try to behave,” I told her playfully.

  “Always,” she said, giving me a wink.

  I watched her walk out the door. Silence quickly filled the apartment as soon as the door closed behind her. Questioning my choice to stay home, I took a deep breath and tried to focus on my notes. Studying right now was pointless; it was just too freaking quiet. Every little noise became a distraction, and I couldn’t concentrate. Deciding it was time for a break, I reached for the remote and started scrolling through all the endless channels of sitcoms and infomercials. I finally stopped on some detective show my dad always liked to watch. I couldn’t help but feel a little homesick when I saw his favorite character appear on the screen, so I grabbed my phone and called him.

  He picked up on the first ring, “Hey, there, sweetheart. How’s it going?” Just hearing his voice brought a big smile to my face.

  “Hey, daddy. Everything’s great. I have my last final tomorrow, and then I have some time off before the summer semester starts.”

  “Why don’t you just take the summer off? Take Cassidy and go to the beach for a few days… or come home for a visit. You know I’d love to see you.” I felt a twinge of guilt when I thought about him being there all alone. Even though it’d been several years since mom left, he was still having a hard time adjusting to not having her there.

  “You know I’d love that, but I’ve got a lot going on. I’ll see what I can work out,” I told him.

  “You need to get out and see the world. You’re only young once, you know.”

  “I’ll see plenty once I graduate. Promise,” I answered. “You worry too much.”

  “That’s what fathers do. What about your sister? What’s she up to these days?” he asked apprehensively. Dad wasn’t exactly happy about her working as a bartender at an MC’s clubhouse, but he’d given up trying to talk to her about it. Actually, they barely talked at all anymore, and I could tell it bothered him.

  “She’s doing great. Just left for work a few minutes ago.”

  “Ok… well, keep an eye on her. You know I worry,” he said softly.

  “I will, daddy. She’s happy… really.” I waited a few seconds for him to say something else, but he remained quiet. Finally, I said, “Well… I guess I better get back to studying.”

  “Ok, sweetheart. Call me later and let me know how you did on your exams. And think about what I said. It would do you some good to take the summer off. You’ve worked really hard. You deserve to go out and have some fun.”

  “Ok. I’ll think about it. Talk to you soon,” I told him as I hung up the phone.

  I tried to get back to studying, but searching through the endless pages of notes was making me stir crazy, and my growling stomach was making it hard to focus. I hadn’t stopped studying long enough to eat dinner, and it was finally catching up with me. I grabbed the bag of chips Cassidy left on the coffee table, and when I put my hand in the bag, I only found a mound of crumbs. I tossed the bag into the garbage and went to the kitchen to search for something to eat. We were down to milk, eggs, and an old veggie tray. That wasn’t going to work. It was time to make a snack run.

  Chapter 3

  Maverick

  With a twist of my wrist, I throttled the accelerator and the sound of the engine roared to life around me. The wind whipped against my face as I sped down the long, curvy road to nowhere. Nothing helped me clear my head like the feel of the raw power radiating from the machine beneath me. The wind. The open road. The freedom. It was just a matter of time, but I knew that it was out there waiting for me. Peace.

  I’d gotten to know this highway pretty well over the past few months. He’d never admit it, but I knew these runs were Cotton’s way of keeping me busy. He knew it was what I needed right now. Giving up John Warren had almost broken me, and focusing all of my attention on the club was helping me reconcile with some of my demons. Today, he sent me to meet up with Nitro to handle the payment for this month’s shipment. He was waiting for me in the upstairs loft of an old warehouse. Each time we met, it was somewhere different… a bar, an apartment, or the back of an SUV. Nitro always made sure he covered his tracks, and Cotton trusted him. He was the only one we dealt with when it came to the gun trafficking side of our club. He was older and had been around the block long enough to know a good deal when he saw it.

  “You again? I’m beginning to think you like coming to see me,” he said with a smirk, his dark eyes peering at me. His sarcasm didn’t go unnoticed, but I decided to ignore it. I learned a long time ago that Nitro was a smartass, and it was best to keep things short. The last thing I needed was to have words with him today.

  “Cotton wants the shipment doubled for next month. Is that going to be a problem?” I asked.

  “Nope. Not a problem at all. I’ll take care of it,” he answered as he wrote himself a note and then shoved it into the back pocket of his jeans.

  “I’ll let him know,” I said as I handed him the thick envelope full of cash. “This should settle us up for now.”

  “Right on, brother. I’m sure I’ll be seeing you soon.”

  I gave him a quick nod and headed back to my bike. As the miles heading home blurred into one another, I found myself thinking about my younger brother, Gavin. I had been thinking about him a lot lately. It just hasn’t been the same since the day he left for Tennessee. I couldn’t stop thinking about the conversation we’d had about him leaving. It was a talk I hadn’t been looking forward to having, but I knew it was inevitable. It was something we’d discussed several times over the past year. Gavin was bound and determined to follow my footsteps into the club life. It was getting harder and harder to put him off. Gavin is a good kid, and any club would be lucky to have him. But if he truly wanted to prospect for Satan’s Fury, he would have to wait until things settled down at the club. He’d need to have time to adjust before all hell broke loose, and rest assured—all hell would break loose.

  When I pulled up in his driveway that day, he was in his workshop. As usual, he was covered in grease while he worked on his bike. Restoring old Harleys was his passion, and he’d spent every free minute he had out in his garage. For a twenty-year-old, he had a talent like no one I had ever known. He could take a piece of junk and turn it into a work of art in a matter of a few days.

  “I was beginning to think you were going to blow me off again,” Gavin whispered under his breath as he continued to disassemble the engine.

  “Told you I’d be here. I had some things to take care of first.”

  “Yeah…well, I’ve heard that before,” he grunted.

  “You going to tell me what you wanted to talk about?” I asked as I walked over to the mini-refrigerator and got us both a beer. I twisted off the tops and placed one on the table next to him.

  “Been thinking about a few things,” he said.

  “This ought to be good,” I grumbled under my breath.

  “Why do you do that? You know what… just forget it. I don’t need this shit from you right now. Just go,” he barked as he motioned toward the door.

  “Just tell me what the hell you’ve been thinking about, Gavin.” I grabbed a wrench and started helping him remove the different screws that were corroded with rust and grime from the old engine.

  He glared at me for a few seconds before he finally said, “I want to move to Tennessee.”

  “What the hell are you talking about?” He’d caught me off-guard. That was the last thing I expected to hear from him right now.

  “I want to go prospect for the Devil Chasers.”

  “Gavin,” I barked.

  “Just hear me out before you fly off the handle. You told me that you did
n’t want me prospecting for your club right now because of all the shit that’s going on. I get that, but I’ve heard you talk about Goliath and his club. You’ve said yourself that you liked being there. I’ve always wanted to have a place where I could work on bikes, and they’re known all over the country for the restorations they do. Prospecting for them makes sense,” he said, sounding hopeful. “Besides, if I prospected at your club, I’d always be following under your shadow. I want a chance to make a name for myself… without all the bullshit.”

  “It wouldn’t be like that, Gavin.”

  “It would, and you know it. You’ve already made your mark on the club. I want to be able to do the same. Besides, being in Tennessee would also give me a chance to keep an eye on John Warren.”

  “What makes you think they’ll even take you on? They don’t know a damn thing about you.”

  “I was hoping that you’d talk to Goliath. Put in a good word for me.”

  Fuck. I couldn’t believe what he was asking. The very thought of him prospecting for another club was difficult to digest, but one so far away made it impossible to comprehend. How the hell was I supposed to help him leave? Deep down, I knew it was the perfect place for him to prospect, but the thought of losing him—my brother, the only link to my life before the club—was hard for me to accept. “You have to give me some time to think about this.”

  “Fuck, Maverick! You need to stop thinking so damn much. Since we lost Hailey, you’ve been …” he started.

  “We? What the fuck are you talking about?” I shouted, stepping closer to him. “We didn’t lose Hailey. I’m the one who loved her, and I’m the one who lost her. Hell, I’m the one who got fucked over by all of her damn lies!”

  “You weren’t the only one who lost her, Maverick. You know I cared for her, too. More than you know.” His eyes flickered with a hurt I didn’t quite understand.

  “What are you trying to say here, Gavin?”

  “I’m saying get your head out of your ass and realize that you weren’t the only one who got hurt by everything that happened with Hailey. It was hard on all of us to lose her, but it’s time to move on. You’re twenty-six years old, but you’re acting like your life is over,” he explained as he dropped his tools on the table. “It’s time for both of us to move on. Moving to Tennessee …”

  “I said I’d think about it, Gavin. That’s all I’m willing to give you right now.”

  We spent the next few hours working in the garage in silence. I thought about everything he said, and I honestly couldn’t find a reason for him not to go. Working with the Devil Chasers would be a great opportunity for him, and I knew they’d take care of him. I hated that it really was the best option for him. I wasn’t ready to let him go, but I couldn’t hold him back.

  Once we’d finished disassembling the engine, I turned to him and said, “I’ll call Goliath in the morning and see what he thinks about you coming down.”

  “Thanks, Maverick. I’ll do my best to make you proud…”

  “Gavin, I can’t remember a time when I wasn’t proud of you.”

  I’ve talked to him several times since the day he packed his bags and left. He truly seemed happy. As hard as it was to admit, he was right. He was already making a name for himself in their garage, and I was proud of him for taking the risk. That didn’t mean I didn’t miss him.

  Chapter 4

  Henley

  When I pulled up at the convenience store, it was already almost midnight and there were no other cars in the parking lot. Even with my shorts on, the heat of the night instantly brought a light sheen of sweat on my skin when I got out of my car. A chime rang out when I opened the store door, and the cashier briefly looked up from her magazine as she watched me walk inside. Once she’d acknowledged my presence with an unappreciative sneer, she looked back down at her magazine. When I reached into the refrigerator for my soda, the bite of the cold air from the freezer brought goosebumps to my skin. I quickly closed the door, and tried to shake off the chill by rubbing my hand up and down my arm.

  I walked down each and every aisle, looking for something decent to eat. When I couldn’t make up my mind, I just started filling my arms with anything and everything that looked like it might curb my growing hunger. By the time I made it up to the counter, my hands were loaded with an embarrassing amount of drinks, chips, and chocolate.

  “Did you find everything you need?” the lady asked without ever really looking up at me. She obviously wasn’t happy I was interrupting her reading time.

  “Yeah, I think so,” I told her as I looked around the store, feeling slightly ashamed at the enormous amount of junk food sitting in front of me.

  After an excruciating amount of time, she finally said, “That’ll be $24.96.”

  I swiped my debit card, and when the receipt printed, I quickly grabbed my heavy bag of goodies and headed out into the empty parking lot. As I walked toward my car and started to open the door, I heard a loud thud coming from the side of the store. At first I ignored it, but then I heard it again… louder. I knew I should have just gotten in my car and left, but my curiosity got the best of me. I threw my bag in the front seat and crept quietly over to the dark side of the building. I knew dumb shit like this was what got people into trouble, but I honestly hoped there’d be nothing to it. I just kept thinking that the sales clerk must have decided to pull herself away from her magazine long enough to take out the trash. Little did I know, I was wrong… terribly wrong.

  As soon as I made it to the edge of the building, there was another loud crash followed by the sounds of feet scuffling against the concrete. I couldn’t see anything. It was just too damn dark. So I quietly stepped into the shadows and waited for my eyes to adjust to the lack of light. Shit! Suddenly it wasn’t just noise as the sounds of a man’s grunts and anguished cries echoed along the wall of the building, making my heart nearly jump out of my chest. A feeling of terror washed over me as I realized someone was in trouble. I took one step closer, and my world instantly stopped moving. A man was standing with his back to me, and even though I had no idea who he was, I instantly recognized his black vest with the dark red embroidery scrolled on the back. He was a member of the Satan’s Fury MC, and something was wrong… very wrong.

  I was turning to go for help when I heard, “We’re done playing games with you, asshole.”

  “Fuck you. I’m not telling you a goddamn thing.”

  “Then your time is up, brother.” Two gunshots rang out and my heart stopped as I watched his head jerk back when the bullets slammed into his chest. As I watched his limp body drop to the ground, I felt like someone punched me in the stomach, knocking the wind out of me. I couldn’t breathe… couldn’t move. I was absolutely frozen with fear. I looked behind me, praying for someone to be there—a car driving by, or someone walking down the street, anyone to help me escape this nightmare—but there was no one. The darkness of the night engulfed me as I realized I was completely alone, except for these monsters standing just a few feet away from me that had just killed a member of the Satan’s Fury club. The hairs on the back of my neck prickled against my skin as I listened to the dying man gasping for breath… then there was nothing, just deafening silence. He was lying dead just a few feet from me, and there was nothing I could do to help him. An overwhelming sense of panic surged through my body as I realized how bad this really was. A small whimper escaped my lips as my chest tightened, and my legs began to tremble beneath me.

  I was about to completely lose it when I heard, “HEY!”

  One of the men had spotted me, the sound of his voice startling me back to reality. Before I had time to think, a massive shadow began stalking toward me.

  “I… uh… I… shit!” I screeched as I twirled around and raced toward my car. My legs felt like jelly as I ran, making me feel like I was moving in slow motion. Behind me, the sounds of boots hitting the pavement filled me with pure terror. I was freaking out. The footsteps were getting closer, and I just knew they we
re going to get me. I was going to die in the middle of a convenience store parking lot! I ran with everything I had and was relieved when I saw that my car door was still open. My entire body was shaking as I jumped inside and locked the doors. I started the engine, threw it in reverse, and stomped on the gas. I heard one of them hit the back of my car as I sped toward the main road. When I looked in my rear view mirror, two large men were standing under the light of the convenience store… staring at the back of my vehicle with pure rage in their eyes. They were after more blood… mine.

  When they were finally out of sight, I reached down in my purse for my phone. I quickly dialed Cassidy’s number.

  “Come on… come on. Answer the damn phone!” I shouted. After calling three times without an answer, I gave up. Everything that happened kept racing through my mind. I had to tell someone. Cassidy told me that the club didn’t do cops, but I didn’t know what else to do.

  “This is 911. State your emergency,” the operator calmly said.

  My hands were shaking, and I was finding it difficult to speak. I took a deep breath and said, “I just witnessed a shooting behind the S&K Quick Mart! There were these two guys, and they shot a man in the alley. I didn’t know what to do and … and… those men… oh my god, I… I think they saw me! They were…”

  “Miss, I need you to try to calm down. I am sending an officer to that location now. I will need your name and a phone number where you can be reached,” she answered.

  “My name is Henley Gray.” I stammered. I could barely tell the operator my phone number. My hands were shaking so badly I could hardly hold on to the phone.

  “Ma’am, as soon as the officers check the location of the shooting, they will call you to make a report. It shouldn’t take long. Please stay close to your phone. I’m sure they will want to talk to you.”

  “Okay. I will. Thank you,” I told her.