Clutch: Satan's Fury MC

by L. Wilder

“Holy shit. Are you sure?”

  “Yeah, I’m sure.” I knew that he’d started to really like being in Memphis and he’d made a lot of new friends, and I hated that he had to leave it all behind again. “I’m sorry, buddy.”

  “Where are we gonna go?”

  “I don’t know. Clutch just told me to pack us up and he’s taking care of the rest. And, Charlie … we need to be careful how we tell Hadley. I don’t want to scare her.”

  “I already heard,” she whispered.

  I turned around and found her standing in the hallway with tears trickling down her face. I rushed over to her and wrapped my arms around her, hugging her tightly as I promised, “We’re going to be okay, sweetheart. We just need to get our things and get downstairs. Clutch is waiting for us.”

  “So … Clutch is going to help us?” she asked.

  “Yeah, he is. He’ll do whatever it takes to keep us safe. You know that,” I assured her.

  She stepped back and headed for her room as she said, “Let’s get to packing, then.”

  My little sister was a brave one, and I couldn’t have been more proud. It didn’t take us long to pack, and with our hands piled high with everything we could shove in our duffle bags, we met Clutch downstairs. When I looked around, I saw that the stranger was nowhere to be found, and Clutch was talking to Blaze. I’d only met him once, but Clutch talked about him all the time. I knew he thought a lot of him, so I wasn’t surprised that he’d asked him to come. When we walked up, Clutch told Charlie, “You and Hadley put the bags in the back of the black SUV while I talk to your sister for a minute.”

  Once they were gone, I asked, “Where are you taking us?”

  “I’m not taking you, Liv. Blaze and T-Bone are going to get you to Casper, Wyoming where you’re going to meet up with Smokey. From there, Smokey and Maverick will get you back to my clubhouse in Washington. It’s going to take a couple of days, but once you get there, you’ll be safe. They’ll take care of you until I can get there,” he explained.

  “What do you mean you aren’t going?”

  He took a step closer and placed his hands on my shoulders as he said, “I’ve got to stay here so I can take care of all of this. It’s the only way.”

  “Why can’t I just take my car? Why do we have to go in that SUV?” I asked.

  “They may know your car. Don’t want them to be able to track you, and besides … it’s better if they still think you are here.”

  “Clutch, this is all just too much. What are your brothers going to think when I just show up at your clubhouse with two kids?”

  “I meant it when I said you are mine. I claimed you, Liv, in every way that matters. My brothers know that. They’ll treat you like family and will do whatever needs to be done to make sure you are safe and comfortable. And I’ll be there as soon as I can.”

  I could see that he wanted me to go along with his plan, but I was scared out of my mind. I wanted him to be with me and the kids, not dealing with the psycho who killed my parents. If something happened to him, I wouldn’t be able to live with myself. I loved him, so I pleaded, “Please come with us, Clutch. I don’t want to leave here without you.”

  “I know that, and if I could go with you, I would. But I can’t be in two places at once, and I’ve gotta be here to see this thing through. I love you and I love those kids, and I wouldn’t do this if I didn’t think it was the best way to protect you, Liv.”

  “What about you? Who’s going to keep you safe?” I asked, but before he responded, I got my answer. Eight motorcycles came barreling into the parking lot with men wearing the same kind of leather jacket that Clutch was always wearing. In any other situation, I would’ve been intimidated by the stream of burly bikers approaching us, but these men were there to help Clutch … to help us … and it meant the world to me.

  The biggest one of the bunch came up to Clutch and asked, “Where’s her apartment?”

  “It’s upstairs. The first one on the left,” Clutch answered. When the man started for the door, Clutch called out, “Hey, Runt. Here are the keys.” Clutch tossed him my keys, and then several of the men followed him, carrying a variety of boxes and tools.

  “What are they going to do?” I asked.

  “Just setting up surveillance,” Gus answered as he walked up behind us. “We’re gonna take care of all of this for you, doll. You just get those kids to Washington safe and sound and leave the rest to us.”

  I knew he was the president of the club and not a man to be questioned, but I had to ask, “Why are you doing all of this?”

  Clutch looked at me and answered for him by saying, “I already told you, Liv. When you’re part of the club, you’re family, and our family looks after their own. You and those kids are my family now, so the club is going to do whatever it takes to keep you all safe,” he explained. “It’s just how it works.”

  I turned to Gus and said, “Thank you.”

  “No need for thanks, doll. It’s what we do. Now, it’s time for you to get on the road. You’ve got a long drive ahead,” Gus replied.

  Clutch followed me over to the SUV, and once I’d placed my bags in the trunk, he slipped his hands around my waist, pulling me over to him. He pressed his lips against mine, kissing me softly, before he said, “Keep your eyes open. Blaze and T-Bone will make sure you get there without any problems, but if you need me, I’m just a phone call away.”

  “I love you, Shaggy Thomas. No matter what happens, don’t forget that,” I told him.

  “I love you, too, Olivia. Now get your ass in that truck,” he told me as he gave my rear a quick pop. “I’ll call you in a couple of hours to check on you.”

  I got in the passenger side of the SUV and Blaze drove us out onto the main road. I tried my best to hide my nerves as I told the kids, “I guess we’re in for a little adventure.”

  “Where are we going?” Hadley asked.

  “We’re headed to Washington. We’re going to Clutch’s clubhouse to stay for a few days.”

  “The clubhouse? That will be so cool,” Charlie grinned.

  I wish I could’ve been as optimistic as my younger brother, but I was a mess. I couldn’t believe all of this was happening. It was all so surreal. We’d come so far since the day we packed up our things and moved from Boston. It wasn’t easy … none of it. The kids and I struggled every day trying to accept the fact that our parents were gone, but we were getting there. Each day got a little easier, and I was actually feeling good about things, especially when Clutch came into the picture. I was starting to believe that we could truly have a normal life. I couldn’t have been more wrong. I felt like my world had been rocked on its axis all over again, and I knew the kids were feeling the same way.

  My mind was bombarded with a whirlwind of uncertainty, but there was one thing I knew for sure: Clutch would see us through the storm. He had to, because without him, we’d have no second chance.

  So much had changed over the past few months, making me realize that when I decided to take a break from the club, I wasn’t walking away from what I really wanted; I was walking towards it.

  I’d found the life I’d always wanted with Olivia, and watching her pull out of the parking lot with Charlie and Hadley was one of the hardest things I’ve ever done. Everything I cared about was in that car, and even though I wanted to keep them close, I knew sending them to the club was the only way to ensure their safety. I couldn’t risk anything happening to them, even if that meant being away from them. I just had to remind myself that the sooner I dealt with the men who were after Olivia and the kids, the sooner I’d be able to get back to them, so I got on my bike and followed Gus back to the clubhouse.

  By the time we got there, their club’s enforcer, Bic, had already taken the fucker to the back warehouse. Apparently, Bic had gotten his road name because of his fascination with razor blades, which came in handy when he needed to extract information. Knowing I was eager, Gus led me straight to the back. When we walked in, the first thing I noti
ced was the room was nothing like ours. This room reminded me of an operating room with its strange smell and assortment of needles and blades lined along the butcher block counter. Everything about it was vastly different from the room we had back at home. Stitch, our club enforcer, had a more recognizable assortment of tools he used to work on our enemies. When I stepped further into the room, I spotted a man I figured was Bic sitting in a chair smoking a cigarette. He had a long burly beard and was wearing a white wife-beater with a pair of light blue scrubs. He seemed completely relaxed while our guy was bound to an old gurney, blubbering and crying under his breath. I was surprised to find that, other than the bump on his head, he didn’t have a mark on him.

  I walked over to Bic and asked, “Something holding you up?”

  “Yeah, you,” he grumbled. “Figured you’d want to be here for the show. Ask the questions you wanted to ask.”

  “Appreciate that, brother. Let’s get this thing started,” I told him.

  He got up from his seat and, as soon as he started walking over to his table of tools, our guy started pleading, “Please … there must be some misunderstanding here.”

  Bic ignored him as he walked over to his table and picked up a long, pointed blade and, without speaking, he took the blade and used it to cut away the man’s shirt, exposing the bare skin of his chest, causing him to come completely undone.

  “Please! I don’t know anything,” he wailed.

  “Now, I have a hard time believing that,” Bic snickered, “but we’ll find out soon enough.”

  He took the sharp end of the blade and raked it across the man’s collarbone, causing a deep gash down to the bone. Then, with a gleam in his eye, Bic picked up a bottle of liquid and slowly poured it into the cut. An explosion of screams roared through the room as the man writhed beneath his restraints. A familiar aroma of bleach filled the room as he continued to cry out in pain, and I had no doubt that it hurt like a motherfucker.

  When the guy finally stopped screaming, I approached the table and asked, “What’s your name, asshole?”

  “Rick … Michaels,” he stammered.

  “What do you know about Olivia Turner?” I pushed.

  “I was hired … to find … her … and her brother and sister.”

  “Who hired you?” Bic asked.

  With his eyes glued to the bottle of bleach Bic was still holding in his hand, Rick answered, “I don’t know. He didn’t give me his name … just a phone number.” When Bic tilted the bottle over his chest, he squealed, “I swear! He didn’t give me a name, but the guy was loaded. Paid me a hundred grand to start looking, and promised another hundred when I located them. Even sent an extra ten grand to cover my traveling expenses.”

  I could tell he was being honest about not knowing the man’s name, but that didn’t stop Bic from slicing him once again. He took the bottle in his hand as he asked, “What’s the number?”

  Pure panic washed over him as he cried out, “It’s in my phone listed under ‘Payday’. You can see for yourself. Just get my phone and look.”

  “What did you tell him about her?” I growled.

  “Just what I knew … where she was living and where she worked. And I also told him where the kids were going to school.”

  “What else?” I shouted.

  “I gave him the addresses and that’s it. It was all I was paid to do!”

  “How did you get your money?” Bic asked.

  “He sent it straight to my bank account. I never even laid eyes on the guy,” he confessed.

  “Gonna need more than that, Rick,” Bic warned.

  He quickly added, “My account information is in my wallet. Maybe you can find out something from that. I tried to find it myself, but just kept finding dead ends.”

  I took a step closer. “What did you tell him about me and the club?”

  “I didn’t say anything about you, I swear. Didn’t see any reason to. He was only concerned with the girl and the siblings.”

  “How did you find them?”

  “You know how stupid kids are, always posting shit on all their social media sites. I used my facial recognition software. It took some time, but I finally got a hit when some kid posted a bunch of pictures of the sister and one of her friends doing some project at school.”

  “Something’s not adding up here, Rick,” Bic told him as he took the blade in his hand and carved another deep line down his chest, filling the room with gut-wrenching screams once again. When Rick settled down, Bic continued, “Seems you’re pretty fucking good at that computer shit. Guy like you wouldn’t have a problem finding out who deposited all that money into your account.”

  He reached for the bottle, and before Rick could answer, he covered his chest with the liquid, causing him to bellow out and squirm like a worm in hot ashes. When he started to pour it once again, Rick howled, “I never even tried to find him. Didn’t give a fuck who the guy was. I just needed the cash!”

  Gus walked over to me and said, “We’ll get Crow to see what he can find out using the account information, but before we move forward, you need to be thinking about how you want this thing to play out. I think this guy might turn out to be useful.”

  “Whatcha got in mind?”

  “Use the fucker as bait. Have him make a call or two to lure your guy in so we can get him exactly where you want,” Gus suggested.

  “I’ll do whatever you want,” Rick cried. “I got the number. I can call him anytime. Just please stop with the torture.”

  Bic stepped over to him, grabbing a handful of his hair as he placed the blade at his throat and growled, “You make one wrong move, say one wrong word, and you’ll be right back in this spot, Little Ricky. And I’ll spend hours slicing and dicing every fucking inch of you. You got that?”

  “I get it. I get it. Like I said, I’ll do whatever you guys tell me to,” he promised.

  Gus turned to Bic and said, “Lock him up out back until we need him.”

  “On it,” he answered.

  “Thanks, brother,” I told him.

  After we collected Rick’s phone and wallet, I followed Gus back into the clubhouse and down the long hall to Crow’s room. He tapped on the door, and as soon as Crow stuck his head out, Gus said, “Need your help with something, brother.”

  “Whatcha got?” he asked.

  “Need you to do a search on a deposit made to this account a few weeks ago. See if you can find out who made the deposit. Also got a phone number. Need anything you can find, and make it fast. No time to waste,” Gus ordered.

  “Give me an hour,” he replied as he took the phone and account information from Gus. “I’ll see what I can find.”

  Gus and I spent the next hour discussing the best way to handle the situation with Rick and the man who paid him to find Olivia and the kids. There was no doubt that Rick would lead us to the man who’d been pursuing them since the night their parents were killed. My blood boiled when I thought about the hell he’d put them through over the past few months. Olivia had busted her ass trying to protect those kids and give them a semblance of a normal life, and I’d be damned if this motherfucker was going to come in and take that away from them. He’d killed their parents, and if he thought he was going to do the same to them, he had another thing coming: me.

  One mile marker blurred into the next as Blaze continued down the interstate. He was quiet, which was good. My mind was in a complete fog, and I just didn’t have it in me to have some idle conversation with him. I was too lost in my own thoughts. My mind was bombarded with memories of the night my parents were killed and how scared we all were when we had to pack up what little we could and leave so much behind. I’d never been so scared and heartbroken, and the more I thought about it, I realized I’d never really had the time to mourn my parents’ death. There was no time; I was too busy trying to survive and provide some kind of normal life for my brother and sister. I tried so hard, but I had no idea what I was doing. I didn’t know how to be a parent, much less be
a mother and a father to two children in the crazy circumstances we were living in, but I was figuring it out. When Clutch came into our lives with his sexy little smirk and leather jacket, I fought the pull I felt towards him. I fought it with everything I had. I thought he was trouble, and I didn’t need a man like that in my life. I couldn’t have been more wrong. With him at our side, we’d found a way to get through the chaos, and we were doing pretty well until Sam found that man in the alley. I couldn’t help but wonder what would have happened if Sam hadn’t overheard him talking about us. Everything we’d done would have all been in vain if he hadn’t been there.

  My stomach was in knots as I glanced back in the rearview mirror to see if T-Bone was still there. Just like every time I’d looked before, he was trailing close behind us. It was almost two in the morning before Blaze found us a motel and got us a couple of rooms. I grabbed our bags and led the kids up to our room. They looked like little zombies as they crawled into their beds, and within minutes, they were both sound asleep. Once I’d taken a long, hot shower, I curled up next to Hadley and closed my eyes, quickly giving in to my own exhaustion.

  Unfortunately, it was short-lived. After only a few hours of sleep, I was jolted awake by a terrible nightmare. When I couldn’t shake off the eerie feeling I’d gotten from the dream, I got out of bed and grabbed my jacket. As soon as I stepped outside, the chill of the early morning air snapped me out of my fog. It was still fairly dark and I was surprised to find Blaze standing out by the SUV smoking a cigarette.

  I walked over to him and, seeing that he was fully dressed, I asked, “Couldn’t sleep?”

  “I got a few hours in.” He yawned. “Enough to get me by. What are you doing up so early?”

  “Had a bad dream. Thought I’d come out for a little fresh air.”

  His eyebrows furrowed with concern as he said, “We’ve got a long drive ahead, Olivia. You need to get some sleep.”

  “I will in a second. Just need a minute to clear my head.” I watched as he flicked his cigarette butt across the lot, then immediately lit another one and took a long drag. As the smoke billowed from his lips, I asked, “How’s your son? I … hope you don’t mind me asking. I just remember Clutch telling me that he was worried about him,” I explained.