by C. M. Allen
Maverick's Redemption
Devil's Deviants, Volume 1
C.M. Allen
Published by C.M. Allen, 2019.
This is a work of fiction. Similarities to real people, places, or events are entirely coincidental.
MAVERICK'S REDEMPTION
First edition. September 24, 2019.
Copyright © 2019 C.M. Allen.
Written by C.M. Allen.
Table of Contents
Title Page
Copyright Page
Dedication
CHAPTER | 1 | Harper
CHAPTER | 2 | Maverick
CHAPTER | 3 | Harper
CHAPTER | 4 | Maverick
CHAPTER | 5 | Harper
CHAPTER | 6 | Maverick
CHAPTER | 7 | Harper
CHAPTER | 8 | Skull
CHAPTER | 9 | Maverick
CHAPTER | 10 | Harper
CHAPTER | 11 | Maverick
CHAPTER | 12 | Harper
CHAPTER | 13 | Dekes
CHAPTER | 14 | Maverick
CHAPTER | 15 | Harper
CHAPTER | 16 | Dekes
CHAPTER | 17 | Maverick
CHAPTER | 18 | Skull
CHAPTER | 19 | Harper
CHAPTER | 20 | Dekes
CHAPTER | 21 | Maverick
CHAPTER | 22 | Harper
CHAPTER | 23 | Maverick
CHAPTER | 24 | Harper
CHAPTER | 25 | Maverick
EPOLOGUE | 3 YEARS LATER | Harper
Turn the page for a sneak peek into Butch and Raven’s story | Coming February 2020!
PROLOGUE | Sofia/Raven
To be continued....
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Further Reading: Escaping to Love
Also By C.M. Allen
I just wanted to take a moment and thank a few individuals who have supported me unconditionally on this journey.
Mom, Dad, Amy, May Day, and My Lil Ash-B. You guys are the best!
CHAPTER
1
Harper
When I started to come out of the fog, I’d been in for who knows how long, I instantly wished I hadn’t. The smell in this room I was in was so rancid that it made me want to vomit. The first thing I felt was the throbbing pain, pounding inside my head so hard it was almost blinding. The second thing I noticed was that when I tried to move my arms, I found that my wrists and ankles were tied to the chair I sat in. Struggling, I gave up still feeling weak from whatever it was they had given me.
Hearing what sounded like a groaning noise coming from somewhere in the dimly lit room, that looked to be a basement or some kind of warehouse type building with no windows, I slowly turned my head. I was concerned that it could be Vulture and he was still alive and in need of medical help. Quietly I called out his name. “Vulture. Vulture. Is that you?”
The groaning sounds got louder just as a series of lights began to flicker to life one at a time across the ceiling of the room. When the last one lit up the area where the groans were coming from, I let out a gasp in horror at the sight before me. The first thing I saw, was that the man hanging on the wall was in fact not Vulture. The second thing I noticed was all the blood on his bare body and the floor beneath him. Taking a closer look, I could see several cuts across his chest, abdomen, and legs. Four of his toes looked as though they had been smashed as well. The only piece of clothing left on his body was his underwear, that looked as though he had urinated and defecated in them several times. Giving me the answer to the reason behind the rooms awful smell.
Just as I was getting up the nerve to ask him who he was, I heard a door creak open. “Well, there she is. Good morning, Miss Lancaster.”
The man I recognized as the one who was responsible for taking me made his way over and pulled up another chair before he sat down across from me. “Why am I here?” I asked, looking over to the man hanging on the wall. “And who is he?”
Reclining back into his chair, he folded his arms over his chest and let out a chuckle. “So full of questions still, I see.”
Glaring at him, I leaned as far forward as my restraints would allow me to go. “Well, if you would just answer my fucking questions, I might stop asking them.” I growled at him, trying not to show just how terrified I really was right now. Wondering if my fate would be like that of the man hanging on the wall.
Smirking at me, he leaned forward, almost inspecting me. “I’m pretty sure you’d just come up with more questions to ask me. It’s in that nosey nature you women have.” He sat there in silence, seemingly studying me. “You do look a lot like her. I never really noticed the resemblance until I saw you in person.” Chuckling, he says. “Hell, you even sound like her with the way you talk, so full of fire and attitude. I can almost appreciate it. Almost.”
Wondering who the hell this crazy man thought I looked and sounded like, I asked. “Who are you talking about?”
“All in good time Miss Lancaster, I assure you. First, let me tell you who I am. My name is Dekes, and the reason you are here is because you have become an unfortunate casualty of circumstance in my pursuit of taking down The Deviants and The Slayers.” Looking over at the man hanging on the wall, he looked back at me once again. “Just like Worm over there.”
Not understanding, or maybe not wanting to understand how I’m going to be a casualty in this whole mess, I couldn’t help but ask. “What are you going to do with me?”
Standing up, he buttoned up his suit jacket and began to pace the room. “You know, you are more like them than I care to think about.” Stopping in front of me, he crouched down in my face. “Ever hear of the old saying ‘curiosity killed the cat,’ Miss Lancaster?”
“What the hell is your point? All you’re doing is talking in riddles.”
“But riddles are so much fun, don’t you think?” Standing up to his full height, he straightened his coat. “It creates an electrifying mystery that is so full of possibilities you’ll do anything to solve it. But when you do, you must be prepared for the answers to those riddles. Are you ready for those answers, Miss Lancaster?”
“Fuck you!” I screamed at him, unable to hide my frustration at this shitty situation, not knowing what the hell he’s even talking about or what’s going to happen to me.
“Pity. I was hoping we could have been friends, you and I.”
“I will NEVER be your friend. Now let me go!” I sobbed. “Please, just let me go. I didn’t do anything to you!”
Suddenly his calm demeanor was ripped away and I was left facing a new darker evil. “You didn’t do anything to me? You didn’t fucking do anything to me?!” he roared, kicking the chair he was using across the room. “You fucked him you stupid fucking whore! Just like she did! So, you will face the same fate as she did! You will pay for what they did to her with your life just before I take every last one of theirs!”
Sobbing uncontrollably, I said more to myself, but still loud enough that he heard me. “I don’t understand.”
Laughing at me, he came back and leaned down to get in my face once again. “You don’t understand? Well, let me help you understand.” Reaching into his jacket he pulled out his wallet, then opened it to grab something out. Suddenly a picture was thrusted in front of my face. It was a picture of a beautiful young girl that had long dark hair like mine, with a slightly older boy, his arm wrapped around her shoulders. “This right here is what this is all about. Her! She was innocent! She was smart! She was beautiful! She could have been anything she wanted to be in this life. She could have been with any man she chose to be with! And she chose him! Trevor Reed.” Still not understanding who he’s talking about, I
just stared back at him with confusion. “The man you know as Maverick.”
Then the realization slammed into me as to who the girl in the picture was. “That’s Nicole.” I mumbled softly.
“Don’t you fucking say her name!” he shouted at me before backhanding me across my face so hard it caused my head to snap back from the force. Tears began to fall again from the excruciating pain that bloomed over my cheek. “Don’t you ever say my sister's name again! You hear me?!”
Trying to focus on anything else but the blinding pain in my jaw, I squeezed my eyes shut and pictured Maverick’s face. “See, I didn’t protect her like I should have, or at least that’s what my father told me when I came back home from serving my country in the military. It was my fault that she was even near that fucking piece of shit! I should have known that she was sneaking out to see him! I should have been there to stop her! But I wasn’t, I left! It was all my fault!” Pacing back and forth, I just watched him silently not wanting to attract any kind of attention from him again. “Those were the words I heard from my father just before he shot himself in the head because he was so distraught over losing his precious princess! I had to watch as all his brain matter sprayed over the walls in his study! Do you know what my mother said when she ran into the room, where I had just learned my sister had been killed and then watched my father kill himself? Do you?!” Shaking my head, I tried to shrink my body further into the chair and away from his face that was now extremely close to mine. “The first thing she said to me was, what did you do?! What did I do?!” Walking across the room to where the man I now knew as Worm hung on the wall, he punched him in the gut, barely drawing any reaction out of the badly beaten man.
Cringing from the abuse he was forcing on him, I couldn’t help but scream out, “Stop it! You’re hurting him!”
Getting right back in my face faster than my brain could even comprehend, he growled. “Would you rather I fuck you up then, like I did him?” Shaking my head, I kept quiet. “That’s better. Now, I’ll finish telling you all the damage those fuckers caused my family and you’ll see. You’ll see why they must die.” Taking a moment, he ran his hands over his face seemingly trying to calm down. “Not only did they kill my sister and my father, my mother now resides in a mental facility just staring blankly at the walls while she rots away.” So, you see, I have every right to avenge my family for what those two gangs did to them. The Deviants, for the reason she was even there in the first place that day. And The Satanic Slayers, for firing the bullets that killed her.” Taking another deep breath like he was trying to remain calm; he turned away from me. “Those bastards took everything from me. And I plan to do the same to them.” Were his final parting words as he switched off the lights and slammed the door behind him, leaving me to drown in a sea of fear and darkness.
“We’re... both... dead. You... might... as... well... face... that... now.” Worm barely got out before he passed back out.
CHAPTER
2
Maverick
After the doc showed up, he stabilized Vulture the best he could before the paramedics arrived. Once they had him stabilized, we followed the ambulance to the hospital. Now, here we were in the waiting room, hoping to hear that he was going to make it.
Sitting here, not able to do anything, every cell in my body was burning up with rage and fighting against the beast that demanded to be set free and destroy everything in sight. So I got up and headed towards the doors.
Vultch and I may have not always seen eye to eye, but he was still a brother, and just as we would do for any brother, we will find the motherfuckers who did this to him. And God help them if they touched a hair on Harper’s head. I would unleash a fiery hell this world had never known before.
Stepping through the automatic doors, I drew in a deep breath of the morning air, wondering if Harper was able to do the same. It was the only thing that constantly plagued my thoughts; what was she possibly enduring right this moment? And none of the things that crossed my mind were good.
She’s in this situation because of me. I did this... again.
The one thing I swore to myself I would never do again after I lost Nicole.
I took another fucking innocent’s life away.
Because, if there’s one thing I knew for a fact, it was that Harper would never look at life through the same rose-colored glasses again... if she ever made it back to me alive that was. And the biggest question of all: if she did make it back to me alive, would she still be mine?
Taking my phone out of my pocket, I made the one call I had been dreading the most, knowing it was going to cause the most pain.
The phone rang twice before I heard her voice. “Countryside Diner, how can I help you?”
“Ava?”
“Yeah, who’s this? Or should I even guess?” She asked in a snarky voice.
“Ava, I need you to go into the office and shut the door behind you if you aren’t already in there.”
“What the fuck is going on, Maverick? Did something happen to Harper?”
I could still hear the sounds of the diner buzzing around her. “Ava, just do as I’ve asked and get your fuckin՛ ass into that office and shut the God damn door!” I shouted unable to listen her bullshit right now.
Hearing nothing but a clicking sound I had no idea if she’d hung up on me or not, that was until I heard her yell at me. “I’m in the office! Now, you had better tell me what the fuck happened, Maverick!”
I swallowed past the lump in my throat. “Someone shot Vulture last night... and they took Harper from the cabin I have up in Freedom Park. We’re at the hospital now hopin՛ he pulls through so he can tell us who did this.” The only sound I was met with was silence before I heard what sounded like faint sobs. “I’m goin՛ to get her back, Ava. Even if it costs me my own life. I promise you I will get her back.”
Hearing her clear her throat, she said. “I warned you, Maverick. Now I’m doing things my way,” were all the words she offered up before disconnecting the call.
Trying to call the diner again, I was interrupted by Axle’s yell. “Hey! There you are. Been lookin՛ all over for you. Vultch is out of surgery. The doctor said he repaired the damage to his lung and his other wounds but said they won’t know if he’s goin՛ to make it for another twenty-four hours.”
Butch walked out of the doors next, heading straight for us. “I think I might have an idea on the best way to find Harper, but I don’t think you’re goin՛ to like it.”
Perking up at his words, I asked. “How?”
“Yeah, it’s not the how you’re not goin՛ to like. It’s the who.”
“Who?” I asked already knowing damn well the name he was going to say.
“I think we need to call Dekes. Maybe he can send some of his people out to the cabin and pull some fingerprints or somethin՛. I think it’s our best shot, Mav. He has all those kinds of resources and technology at his disposal.”
Thinking for a moment if I even trusted that fucker, let alone wanted to allow him into my life more than he already was, Axle added. “I know you hate that pig bastard, but I think Butch is right. We have all our contacts workin՛ on this, but maybe he can do more than them. He can go places and get his hands on information they can’t.”
Knowing they’re both right and add to that the fact that I would do anything to get Harper back in my arms where she belonged, I agreed. “You’re right. I’ll give him a call and see if he’s even willin՛ to help us out.” Both of them nodded at me then headed back into the hospital to check on Vultch, while I sucked down my pride and put Harper right where she belonged.
First.
Scrolling through my contacts, I hit the call button once I found his name, Dick sucker, the one I gave him.
It rang so many times that I thought for sure it would to go straight to his voicemail. “Dekes here.”
“Hey, It’s Maverick. I have a situation that I need your help on.”
He remained silent for so long that I
thought he’d hung up on me, so I checked my phone to make sure I still had a connection. “You want my help?” he asked flatly as though he was already bored with our conversation.
His blasé I could give a fuck about you attitude tone caused the beast, to salivate at the chance to be unleashed on this prick and rattle its cage. “Yes. Someone came onto my property last night, shot one of my men, Vulture, and then kidnapped Harper.”
“Who is this Harper?”
“She’s... she’s just someone very important to me and I want her back. So, are you goin՛ to help me?”
He chuckled. “Wow sounds like someone’s had an eventful last twenty-four hours.”
Taking a deep breath, I could feel my self-control stretching thin and beginning to shred at the seams. I couldn’t stop the horrible images of Harper from flashing through my mind and this fucking asshole was thinking it was time to play with me! “Look. Are you goin՛ to fuckin՛ help me or am I wastin՛ my God damn time here, Dekes?”
“She must be very important to you Mr. Reed for you to contact me, a lowly DEA Agent, for help. So, I tell you what. I’m going to help you out. Of course, I will need a favor from you in return when I ask for it. No matter what it is. Do we have a deal, Mr. Reed?”
Even though I hated the fact that I would owe this asshole anything, I would still do it freely if it meant he could help me get Harper back. “Deal.”
“Great! Now, where is my team headed?”
AN HOUR LATER I’D MET up with Dekes’ men and watched them as they went through the whole cabin, leaving black smudges in their wake everywhere they dusted for prints. Once they were finished and left, I couldn’t help but linger in the last space I had shared with her.
The bedroom.
Where I touched her.
Smelled her.
Tasted her.
Made love to her.