Table of Contents
A Note about The Chosen Series
Dedication
Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Epilogue
Dedications
A Note about The Chosen Series
Welcome to the second story in The Chosen series, Rumor's Fury
It is recommended that each book be read in order; however, they are all standalones.
WARNING:
For Mature Audience 18+
Contains Adult Sexual Situations & Language
Most situations in this book are fictitious and are for story-
telling only. They might sound outlandish to you,
and that is okay. It is FICTION.
Copyright © 2019 Harlow Brown
Published by Harlow Brown
Cover designed by Judi Perkins at Concierge Literary Designs
Formatting by Cassy Roop with Pink Ink Designs
Editing by
Hot Tree Editing and
Emily Bell
Dedication
This book goes out to anyone who has lost a special person who was far too young and has been left wondering what life would be like if they were still around. It goes out to anyone with a broken heart full of grief and mourning. My family experienced this unfair catastrophe, and our lives were forever changed. We will always have a hole in our souls. The one thing this kid taught me, without even knowing what he’d done, was don’t look back. Never look back, because life is short. Live, laugh, love with no regrets. Eat the chips, buy the shoes, and take the trip.
Forever in our hearts and minds. We love you, Shithead.
~Don't Look Back~
Prologue
Four years ago
“ERIC, I'M PREGNANT," Daisy said.
"What? Since when?"
"Since about six weeks ago when you knocked me up, it appears." She looked at me with those big brown eyes and that slightly pregnant glow. Or was it nausea? Whatever it was, I wanted to see it forever.
"Marry me." A simple statement blurted out instead of a sweet romantic proposal with some thought put into it.
"Yes."
"That's it?" I said with a look of shock and disbelief.
"That’s it. It’s that simple. This is the easiest decision I’ve ever made. I love you, and despite that group of thugs you hang out with, I know you’re a good guy. I know you’ll do right by me and our child. Your friends need help, or a boot to the head, but you’re good people, Eric. You have to start seeing that you’re better than what people say you are." Her eyes went soft and she looked at me like a mother would her child when she’s reassuring them that everything will be all right, and that she loved them no matter what.
"I want to believe you, but I'm only as good as the company I keep. These guys have been with me through the good, bad, and the ugly. Then there’s you. The crazy girl who hangs with a thug trying to make him a better person. You know some of the shit I’ve done. I’m no good for you, but I'm too damn selfish to let you go, and now I have you forever. Are you sure you’re willing to take me on?"
"Positive, and I don’t care what you’ve done. Living in the past and saying, ‘Well, I did this and I did that so I'm worthless as tits on a boar and you don’t deserve me,’ isn't making this any better. Your parents taught you right from wrong, and you just need to believe in yourself that you’re better than your buddies. Find new ones. Those guys are nothing but bad news."
"They’re all right too, you just have to know them. They come from good people too. We just—"
"Hush. It doesn’t matter. I don’t care about what others think of you. I don’t care who you hang around. I know you, the real you, and I know you’ll take care of us."
"Until the end of time." I kissed her, infusing it with how much she and our unborn child meant to me.
I would take care of them, no matter the cost.
Chapter 1
Fury
A few months later
ON MY OWN in a town I didn’t know, I was lost in every way imaginable. The hustle and bustle of the street did nothing to drown out the noise in my head. Mind clouded with memories, I walked into a pub and ordered a Jack and Coke, easy on the Coke. Maybe I could drink myself over it. Maybe that ol' song was wrong and her memory wouldn’t drown the whiskey. Maybe it’d be the other way around.
Behind me, I heard, "I know we need help, damn it. I’ll find someone. I actually have a prospect in mind. A friend called in a favor, and I like to have people in my back pocket if I need them. When the time is right, I’ll approach him. I'm just waiting and watching things for now. But until I find us a replacement VP, you’re filling that title. I know you don’t want it and don’t want the weight it carries, but I don’t recall asking you. Good, I thought you’d see things my way. Talk when I get back."
Not giving two shits about what I’d heard, I downed my drink and ordered another. Then another. Then another. After five or six, I paid my tab and staggered out of the pub in search of a hotel. I found one that was less than desirable, but drunk, heartbroken guys didn’t really need much. I remembered free-falling onto the mattress and that was it, lights out. I had officially survived day one of my new life.
Three or four days later, I was walking the streets of Panama City Beach, Florida, strolling down memory lane, when a spunky-looking bastard walked up beside me and tried to take my backpack. I'd be damned if I let him take literally all I had left. As he tried to snag the backpack from me, I countered and took him off guard, flipping him to his back. All of my frustrations left my body via my fists. Ol' dude was tougher than I gave him credit for though. We scrapped back and forth for a while, drawing the attention of more and more people. In the distance, I could hear sirens, horns, and the words of encouragement from onlookers. He hit me with a force to be reckoned with and sent me for a loop.
Conveniently enough for me, I heard pipes from a motorcycle rumbling near. Then all at once, it cut to silence and the other dude immediately stopped his assault on me, giving me a chance to get the last blow. The man on the bike must’ve been some sort of god. The way the guy I was fighting stopped in his tracks at the presence of the lone biker told me something was different about this guy.
"Name's Chief. How you doin'? You lost?"
"Something like that."
"Come with me, and I'll get you some food and some coffee."
Sounded like I didn’t have a choice, and I was hungry, so I obliged. It was better than my other option of walking the streets alone.
He took me to a little diner called Flap Jacks. I ordered a stack of six pancakes, a side of three fried eggs, three pieces of bacon, and a piece of toast alongside my glass of orange juice and cup of coffee.
"How long has it been since you ate a proper meal, kid?" Chief asked.
"Couple of days."
"Listen, I'm going to cut the bullshit. I've been watching you for a few days. I'll help you out. From the looks of things, you could use a little. I want nothing in return except loyalty."
"What the fuck do you mean?"
"Just exactly what I said. It ain't hard to understand. Do y
ou want the help or not?" Annoyance seeped from his pores.
"Keep talking."
"I’ll offer you a brotherhood like you’ve never had. No worries of being stabbed in the back."
"Wait, how does this benefit you?"
"I get someone who has my back and helps run my business."
"How do you know I won't turn on you?" I asked.
"I see it in your face. You’re loyal. Seems you drew the short straw and could use the help."
"I have nothing to offer."
"Good. I don’t want anything except a loyal person. I need a good brother to assist me here at the Chosen Legion. I trust you’ll make the right choice."
Without thinking more of it, I decided I really had nothing else to lose and everything to gain. "I'm in."
"Come on. Let's go get you aquatinted with your new friends and discuss prospecting."
"Prospecting?"
"Well sure. You don’t get to just be a part of my organization. You have to earn it. You have an upper hand though. I want you to be a part of the Chosen Legion. I'm on your side, kid. Remember that. Also, it'll give you a sense of belonging. It'll be good for you."
I nodded at him and finished my coffee.
"You don’t have a place to stay, do you?"
"No, I don’t."
"You can stay in the clubhouse. It's really nice. You'll have your own room and can earn your keep there. Once you’ve been voted in, you'll start getting a cut of the profits."
I lifted my glass. "Here's to forgetting an old life."
"No," he barked at me.
"No?"
"If you forget your old life, you lose sight of who you’re trying to become, and if you do that, you could fall right back into old habits. Those habits will end up getting you killed here, kid. Remember that. Don’t look back. Never forget, but don’t look back. You can't return to your old life, so don’t spend your time in the past. Here's a card with the address to the clubhouse. You can’t miss it. I'll see you when you get there. Take your time if you need to. Don't rush this. It's kind of a big decision, not one to be taken lightly. I do look forward to you being one of us though."
He got up, grabbed the ticket off the table, and paid the cashier. Heading outside, he mounted his bike and rode off back to God knew where, to do God knew what.
Seeing as my options were pretty limited, I lit a cigarette and decided to take off in search of the clubhouse.
It wasn't lost on me how odd the last hour had been. Did the biker know something about me? How did he magically appear? Why did the other guy just stop his assault on me?
Of course, I was the one trusting him, so perhaps I needed my head examined.
I don’t have anything better right now, so I’m taking this.
The guy seemed legit enough. He looked me in the eye, never flinched or acted suspicious in any way, and he welcomed me to the clubhouse. Who did that for a stranger?
He had to know something more than he was telling me though. It just didn’t make sense. Something wasn’t adding up.
I guess my only option at this point is to watch myself and find out what exactly he knows.
Chapter 2
Fury
UPON SETTING MY eyes on this place, my mind went into overdrive. It was huge and looked like a beach house, not a clubhouse. It was so nice that I asked myself just how lucrative his business could actually be, and if it was even legal. That was one thing I was trying to get away from, part of what cost me my life as I once knew it.
"Hey, fucker, you need to be getting out of here. We ain't buyin' anything, we don’t have any use for a vacuum, we’re registered to vote and our opinion isn't going to be swayed by your input, and we aren't interested in anything you have to offer unless it’s thin mint Girl Scout cookies," I heard from the porch. When I looked to see who it was, I realized he had to be a member.
Damn. Do I really look like a door-to-door salesman?
"Chief told me to come here. I'm…."
"You're who? You got about ten seconds to explain yourself before I remove you."
I had to remember the name that was given to me. It was on my ID, but I hadn't looked at it nor needed it since I got here. I’d been living off of cash and hadn’t driven, so there wasn’t a need for my license to be pulled out.
"Five, six, seven."
"Legend. Legend Morrow."
"Come in, then, Legend. You’re a shady-looking fucker, aren't you?"
"It's none of your business, partner." This dude was full-fledged asshole, which I supposed fit the typical biker persona. Once I was face-to-face with him, I realized I’d been scuffling with him just a while ago.
"You throw a good punch. You’ll do fine here. I saw firsthand that you take no shit and you can hold your own. You did well against me, and I have registered hands. Welcome to the clubhouse," he said.
"You throw a mean punch yourself. I thought some of those moves were UFC style. Now, where do I stay, and how can I get started on learning this mystery business? And why did you try to steal my backpack? I ought to beat your ass now.” I started to fume.
"Well, I took the bag to test you. We needed to know if you were tough enough to be one of us. And for the record, I used to cage fight. Chief told me to take you and show you around, so follow me. You can unpack your bag after we’re done.”
“Uh, so you got a name, or do I just say, ‘Hey, you’?”
“Name is Magnum.”
He took me upstairs to a nice room with a bed and a TV. Nothing fancy, but nicer than I’d ever had, with a dresser, decent-sized closet, and a queen-sized bed.
I gazed around, taking in my new space, and tried to wrap my head around what had happened to me in the last week. The longer I thought about it, I realized I’d never be able to wrap my head around it. It was a shitty situation, one I didn’t see me overcoming anytime soon. It was a heartache that wouldn’t stop hurting, a wound that would never heal, a memory I couldn’t forget. Albeit one I had to live with.
I unpacked my things, which was a change of clothes and a couple of pictures of Daisy, no less. Not sure I could stand to see them daily, I tucked them away in a drawer. It was hard to have a lot of things when you’d had to leave it all behind.
In hopes of temporarily forgetting the events, I hurriedly put my few belongings away and went back downstairs to meet Magnum.
A COUPLE OF months passed and I did odd jobs for them, played bartender, and did anything else they asked of me. I had to prove I was one of them and not some imposter who was just going to take them down. Once I’d earned enough trust, they started taking me places and letting me in on more club stuff.
"You ready?" Magnum asked.
"As I'll ever be."
We went outside to load up. I didn’t know what I thought we were riding in, but for some reason, an extended cab truck wasn’t it. I was expecting more along the lines of a black utility van with only driver and passenger windows.
"You look confused."
"I just didn’t expect the truck, that’s all."
"Let's go. We need to hit up a couple of stores, so we fly under the radar. First things first, never buy all of your supplies at the same store or, if you can help it, on the same day. We’re adding to our inventory, so you’re getting in from the start, so to speak. You get to see everything from the beginning. Chief has a lot of faith in you for some reason, and he wants you to experience everything."
"He told me I was going to earn my keep around here. I guess I didn’t realize I was about to learn everything so soon. I guess you guys stay pretty busy and orders are coming in steadily?"
"We’ve started doing business with more people, yes. One of our biggest buyers is asking for more at a time, and it’s just going to be easier to own and operate three stills instead of two."
"Stills? You make moonshine?"
"Well we ain't making Kool-Aid. You okay with that? If not, you better hit the road now," Magnum snapped.
"Okay. How much does one sti
ll make?"
"One thing at a time, Legend. You’ll see, but first you need to know what it takes to make a still. We’re going in to buy the copper line from a home improvement store and a couple odds and ends that would make it look like we’re redoing some plumbing. After that, we’ll hit up another store and get the sheets of copper, plus other things that make it look like it’s a home renovation project. We can get the burners and thermostats at the local department store up the road from the house, along with some oil and seasonings so it looks like we’re frying a turkey or something."
"You’ve thought this through," I mumbled under my breath.
I thought about it for a minute and realized this was no different than what I was doing back home in Austin, only this was liquid form instead of powder. It was the same lifestyle that had ripped my world apart, and here I was in over my head again. The only two good things I could think of were that I knew how to fly under the radar and I had nothing left to lose if I went down. It was all in from here on out.
I was destined to be an outlaw. I couldn’t live by the rules. I would learn to make the best whiskey around, and I’d make the most of this new life I had.
After picking up our supplies at the three different stores, we swung into a little dive and had a bite. I figured it was going to be awkward because I just knew he was going to ask questions. I didn’t know him well enough to tell him anything, and I couldn't if I wanted to. Secrecy was the key to survival.
I ordered a double cheeseburger and large fries, and Magnum ordered a patty melt and order of onion rings. Both of us had a sweet tea. After the waitress took our order and brought our drinks, the inevitable happened.
"So, what’s your story? Why did you end up with Chief?"
"That ain't something I can discuss, nor do I know you well enough to if I wanted to talk about it. Drop it and leave it alone. I won't tell you again," I warned, anger in my eyes.
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