Clutch: Satan's Fury MC

by L. Wilder

  “It was just a dream, sweetie. I’m not going to let anything happen to you or your brother.”

  “I know,” she whispered. Her little body trembled in my arms as she began to cry, making my heart ache for her. As hard as I was trying, I knew it wasn’t enough. She’d been through so much, and with all the changes in our lives, she hadn’t had a chance to mourn the loss of our parents. None of us had, and with all of my hours at work, I hadn’t been there for her like I’d needed to be. I was too busy just trying to keep us afloat, and I hadn’t been able to spend time with her or Charlie. I had to figure something out—and soon. I gently ran my fingers through her hair and kissed her lightly on the back of her head, quietly holding her as she continued to cry. “I miss them so much.”

  “I miss them, too. Very much.”

  “I miss the way Mom would braid my hair every morning. And the way she made her eggs. She used to worry that she loved on us too much … too many hugs and kisses, but I liked that she did that. I loved all of her hugs … and now I miss them more than ever. I miss everything about her. I even miss the way she smelled.”

  “I miss her, too. I miss her smile, and the way she was always singing in the car. And her laugh … she was always so happy. And Daddy, too. He was so goofy sometimes. I remember the year we went to Florida for summer vacation. It was such a long drive, and when we finally got there, he got out of the car and started dancing in the middle of the road. I thought I would die of embarrassment at the time, but now … I’d give anything to have him dancing in the road again,” I told her as tears started to trickle down my cheek.

  “It’s just not fair. I want them back. I want my momma and daddy back,” she cried.

  “I know you do. We all do. It’s just hard right now, but it won’t be like this forever, Hadley. The police are working hard, and when they catch the guys that hurt Mom and Dad, we’ll go back home. You’ll get to see your friends again, and …”

  “No. I don’t want to go back home,” she cut me off. “Ever.”

  Her reaction surprised me. I thought she’d be eager to get back home. “Why not?”

  “I don’t want to go back there if Mom and Dad aren’t going to be there. It wouldn’t be the same, and it’d make me miss them even more,” she sniffled. “When things are safe again, maybe we can stay here or move somewhere else. I don’t care. I just don’t want to go back there.”

  “Okay … we’ll figure it out. For now, you need to get some sleep. Do you want me to go lay down with you in your room?” I offered.

  She tossed the covers back and sat up as she said, “No, that’s okay. I’m feeling a little better now.”

  “Okay. I’m here if you need me.”

  I pulled the covers back over me and tried to fall back asleep, but it was useless. Mom and Dad were on my mind, and I couldn’t stop wondering if the police had come up with any leads on their case. After tossing our cell phones, I’d called to give the lead detective my new number, but he hadn’t called in weeks. I was beginning to think they’d never find the men who killed my parents, and the kids and I would be on the run forever. I couldn’t let that happen. I needed to get in touch with him and push him to work harder so we could start to find some normalcy in our lives.

  I eventually found sleep, but it wasn’t enough. I woke up with tired eyes and a throbbing headache. I still had a few minutes before I needed to get the kids up, so I headed into the kitchen and started a pot of coffee. I’d just finished filling the pot with water when I heard my neighbor tapping lightly on the wall. When it stopped, I stood there staring at the blank wall in front of me and wondered what the hell he was doing. When he knocked a second time, I said, “What?”

  He shouted back, “You want a shower?”

  “What?” I’d heard what he’d said, but my brain wasn’t quite awake and I didn’t know what else to say.

  “Do you want to use my shower,” he asked louder than before.

  A hot shower sounded wonderful, just what I needed to wake me up after a long night, but I was hesitant about going next door to use a stranger’s bathroom.

  When I didn’t answer, he continued. “I’m about to leave, so you’ll have the place to yourself.”

  The offer was too good to refuse, so I shouted, “Yes! I’ll be right over.”

  I quickly gathered a change of clothes and a clean towel and headed out into the hallway. I hadn’t even had time to knock when his door flew open. He was wearing his leather jacket with a pair of worn blue jeans and boots, and even with his shaggy hair falling down around his brow, I could still see those gorgeous green eyes staring back at me. With a friendly smile, he motioned for me to come inside. “I’m headed out. Just lock up when you leave.”

  I stepped inside. I didn’t even have time to thank him before the door shut behind me. With him gone, I took a moment to glance around his apartment, and I was astounded at how nice his place was compared to ours. It was freshly painted, and it even had a few pictures hanging on the wall. It smelled so clean, and the furniture didn’t look like it had come from some secondhand store. I stepped into the kitchen and saw that he even had a washer and dryer. It was hard not to be a little jealous, but as soon as I stepped into that hot shower, all of my negative thoughts started to slip away. I was able to let my worries go and just enjoy the warmth of the water against my skin. Unfortunately, the clock was ticking, so my moment of peace and quiet didn’t last long. Once I was dressed, I quickly cleaned up my mess and, after locking his front door, I headed back to my apartment. To my surprise, the kids were already up and getting dressed, giving me a few extra minutes to finish up my morning routine.

  Once Charlie and Hadley finished getting ready, they followed me downstairs. Charlie started out back to meet up with Louise, but before Hadley followed, she came over to me and said, “You look really pretty today.”

  “Thanks, squirt. That was sweet of you.” I smiled and gave her a quick hug.

  Her eyebrows furrowed into a serious look when she said, “And I didn’t think you sounded like a hyena when you were screaming last night.”

  I shook my head and groaned, “Oh, sweetie. Don’t even give it a second thought. Let’s just forget any of that ever happened.”

  “Okay,” she smiled and rushed out back to meet up with her brother.

  Once they were both gone, I started my shift and didn’t stop until my afternoon break. I decided to use the time to call Detective Brakeman to see if there had been any changes in the case. I’d bought a cheap phone with a pay as you go plan, hoping that no one would be able to trace my calls. I grabbed it out of my purse and headed out into the alley to dial his number. It took me several tries, but I finally managed to get him to answer.

  “It’s good to hear from you, Olivia. How is Memphis treating you?” he asked in a much too friendly tone.

  “Memphis is great. There’s never a dull moment,” I said with a dry laugh. “I had a few minutes, so I thought I’d check with you to see if you’d had any leads on the case.”

  He covered the phone while he cleared his throat, then said, “There’s been a few things that have come to our attention over the last couple of days, Olivia. Maybe you should come in so we can discuss what we’ve found.”

  “I’m over twenty hours away, Detective. If there is something you need to tell me, then tell me,” I pushed.

  “Your father’s business partner, Mr. Perry, committed suicide last week. Upon further investigation, we discovered that he might have been involved with your father’s murder.”

  “Mr. Perry? No … that isn’t possible. Mr. Perry loved my parents. He’d never do anything to harm them!” When my father started his real estate company, Mr. Perry was the first person he hired. Over the years, they’d become close friends. We were always doing things with their family, like weekend cookouts, and we even vacationed together. When we were younger, his son Daniel and I were close, but things changed as we got older. His dad sent him away to some prep school for boys, a
nd after that, he wasn’t around as much. We were all like family. There’s no way Mr. Perry was involved.

  “I’m afraid the evidence says otherwise, but the investigation is still underway. There are several leads we are looking into, so it’s just a matter of time before we find out who is responsible. Just hang tight and let us do our jobs.”

  “Yeah, well, that’s easier said than done,” I groaned.

  “How so? Have you run into any trouble since you left?”

  “No. We haven’t had any of that kind of trouble. So far, I haven’t noticed anyone following us or even looking for us. Hopefully it will stay that way.”

  “If anything changes, call me.”

  “Thanks, Detective Brakeman. If something changes, you’ll be the first to know. I’ll be in touch soon to see if you found out anything more about Mr. Perry.”

  “Stay safe, Olivia,” he commanded before hanging up the phone.

  Knowing I only had a few minutes left of my break, I stayed outside and took a minute to myself to think. I tried to remember my father’s partnership with Mr. Perry and how they worked together—the good and the bad—but no red flags came to my mind. My father had trusted him. So did the rest of my family, and just the thought of him being involved with my parents’ murder sent chills down my spine. As desperate as I was to find out who had been responsible for my parents’ death, I prayed that we all hadn’t been wrong about Mr. Perry.

  While most people were just getting up to pour their morning’s first cup of coffee, I was on my bike and on my way to the warehouse. It was colder than I’d expected and the chill in the air clung to me like a wet blanket. Ignoring my freezing balls, I followed Gus’s directions to the clubhouse. As I pulled up to the gate, one of the prospects came rushing towards me, but as soon as he noticed my Satan’s Fury patch, he stopped and motioned me through. I pulled my bike up front, and after I parked, I went inside to look for Gus.

  I hadn’t gotten far when Lowball, one of the brothers, approached me. He was young, maybe in his early twenties, but he was a big dude with broad round shoulders like a linebacker and was covered from head to toe with tattoos and piercings. When I told him why I was there, he led me down a long hall to Gus’s office. He knocked, and once Gus answered, Lowball opened the door, letting me know it was okay to step inside.

  When I entered the small room, Gus, a muscled-up older man with a long full beard, was sitting behind his desk. He was talking a mile a minute on his cellphone, and without stopping his conversation, he greeted me with a quick chin-lift and then nodded his head towards the chair in front of him. By the time I’d taken my seat, he was off the phone and said, “So, you’re the Clutch that Cotton has been telling me about. You know, I expected you to be bigger.”

  I was six-three and two-forty. I laughed and said, “Yeah, well … I’ve missed a few meals while I was out on the road.”

  “Glad you made it here alright. Was the apartment okay? You need anything over there?”

  “Nah, it’s all good. The place is just right. I appreciate you putting me up.”

  Gus was in his late sixties, older than most in his rank, but it was obvious by his thick, burly build that the man was still holding his own. He was tough. There was a hardness behind his eyes, and anyone could see that he’d be one to reckon with if there was ever any trouble with the club. As president of the Memphis Chapter, he’d have to be harder and smarter than most. The gang problem in the area was no secret, so not only did they have issues with localized competition, they also had to deal with the cops. With all the crime in the area, someone was always watching, and it only took one slip to fuck everything up. The smile dropped from his face as he leaned forward and said, “You got something to show me?”

  I reached into my jacket pocket and said, “Yeah, I got it.” I pulled out the map, and, as soon as I started to unroll it, he got busy clearing off his desk. Once he was done, I laid it out before him. “It’ll involve four of our club chapters: Salt Lake, Denver, Topeka, and Oklahoma City.”

  His shoulders relaxed a bit and he eased back in his chair. He crossed his arms and began nodding in approval. “Good strong chapters. Shouldn’t be any problems working with them.”

  “Agreed. They’ll do their part to make sure everything goes as planned. To get things rolling, our club will pick up our part of the delivery at Port Angeles and get it down to the brothers at Salt Lake. Then, they’ll add to it and get it to Denver, and so on, until everything gets down here to you.”

  “We’ll be ready. I’ve got us barge access lined up, so we won’t have any problem getting the shipment down to Baton Rouge. As long as that river doesn’t flood, we’re covered.”

  “Good deal. I’ll let Cotton know. He said you needed a hand in the garage while I was here.”

  “My lead mechanic got pretty mangled when his bike got away from him. He was on his way home when he hit a curve covered with loose sand. With all the rain we’ve been having, he should’ve known better. Now the garage is backed up.”

  “I’ll do what I can to help you out,” I offered.

  “Much appreciated. Cotton said that you were one of the best.”

  “Yeah. I know my way around an engine, especially the classics,” I added with a smile.

  He stood and started for the door. “Then you should be as happy as a pig in shit when you see the garage. I’ll have one of the boys take you over.” I nodded and followed him down the hall to the back door. After talking to one of the prospects, he came back over to me and held out his hand. “Crow is gonna take you over to the garage. Just follow him. And remember… call me if you need anything.”

  I shook his hand. “Will do, Boss.”

  After the prospect got on his bike, I followed him over to the club’s garage. It was just a few blocks from the diner, and there was a huge blue sign with the name Lou’s Restorations hanging just beneath the roof. It wasn’t a new shop, but it was in decent condition. Crow parked his bike and led me inside to meet Blaze, the guy in charge of the garage until their lead guy got back on his feet. When he saw us approaching, a curious look crossed his face and I could see that he was sizing me up, questioning if I was there to take over his job. He wasn’t a small guy, but like most, he was several inches shorter than me. With his blonde hair and unruly beard, he reminded me of that guy from that chick flick—I think it was called The Notebook or something. I should’ve been able to remember the guy’s name. Cass made me watch that shit four or five times, and after seeing Blaze, my mind went straight to them out in that boat around all those damn swans.

  He pulled me from my thoughts when he asked, “You Clutch?”

  “That’d be me,” I answered. “Guess you’re the man in charge.”

  “Yeah, that’d be me … at least for now,” he answered. “Duggar will be back in a couple of weeks.”

  “Gus sent me over to see if I could help out, maybe get y’all caught back up. Where do you want me to start?” I asked, even though I’d do what I’d always done. First, I’d do a thorough inspection of each car, going over the entire vehicle one section at a time. Then, I’d take stock of the condition of all the body parts—interior, electrical, engine, exhaust, suspension, and frame. Once I had a list of what needed to be done, then I’d get to work.

  “Dive right in, brother. We’ve got three in the main garage, and there are two more out back. And we’ll have another one coming in later today,” Blaze explained. “I’ll be working in the back on the Chevy if you need anything.”

  He started towards the rear of the garage, and for the first time, I realized there was only one other mechanic working. I called out to him and asked, “Hey, where is everybody?”

  “You’re looking at it, brother … at least for today. I have a couple of guys that will be coming in tomorrow.”

  “What the hell? Two guys running the entire garage?”

  “Yeah … it sucks. Right now, the garage makes the least amount of money, so we get the least amount of help.
A good bit of the body detailing, sandblasting and chrome, is sent out. All interior work is done around the corner at Lenny’s Upholstery.”

  “Fuck.”

  “Yep.”

  Hell. No wonder they were so fucking behind. There wasn’t much I could do about it, so I shook it off and said, “Guess I’ll get started.”

  Without even stopping for a lunch break, I spent the next seven hours working my ass off in the garage. I’d dismantled the first engine and would have gotten more done, but I couldn’t get Hazel out of my head. The longer I worked, the more distracted I became with images of her in that wet t-shirt. I decided to call it a day, convincing myself that I had to leave early so I could make a stop at the hardware store before it closed. I wanted to get that shower fixed before Hazel got off work, hoping that I wouldn’t spend another day tormented with thoughts of the mysterious brunette.

  Before leaving, I grabbed a few tools and headed over to Blaze. He’d already finished up with the Chevy and was working in the office when I walked up. I tapped on the glass window and said, “Calling it a day. I borrowed a few tools for the night. Have a little project to work on back at the apartment.

  “No problem.”

  “I’ll be back in the morning.”

  He looked up at me and, with sincerity in his voice, he said, “Appreciated your help today.”

  “Anytime,” I told him as I went to the side door and walked over to my bike. I made a stop at the hardware store around the block and gathered up everything I needed to fix the shower. I quickly realized that I couldn’t carry everything I needed on my bike. Thankfully, the kid behind the counter offered to deliver it since he was on his way home. I helped him load everything into the bed of his truck and led him back to the apartment.

  Once he was parked, he rolled down his window and asked, “You want a hand getting it all inside?”

  “Nah, I got it.” Once I’d gotten everything out of the back of the truck, I closed the tailgate and walked over to the driver’s side window and handed him a twenty. “Thanks, man.”