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

by L. Wilder

  “Don’t go, Katie. I wanna play wif’ you,” he pleaded. The sound of his little voice tugged at my heart, and I wished Katie would come back to finish the game. I remember what it was like when Cassidy and I would argue over little things like our Barbie dolls and tea sets. It always killed me when she would storm out of the room, leaving me to play all alone. Dusty was ten years old, and he clearly enjoyed playing with his older sister.

  Regrettably, she was officially a teenager with a short fuse and wasn’t willing to listen to him. “We’ve been playing that stupid game for over an hour, Dusty. I need a break,” she huffed just before slamming her bedroom door. I felt certain it wasn’t just the video game that was getting to Katie, so I decided to distract Dusty in hopes of giving her some time to cool off. I walked over to him and placed my hand on top of his head, drawing his attention away from Katie.

  “Cassidy is making up some sandwiches for lunch. Are you hungry?”

  “Is it peanut butter and jelly?” Dusty asked.

  “If that’s what you want, I’m sure Cassidy will make you one.”

  “Yay! That’s what I want and wif’ lots of chips… and one of those cherry popsicles, if I clean my plate,” he declared, his eyes bright with excitement.

  “You got it,” I answered. His face lit up, and his argument with Katie was totally forgotten. He raced for the kitchen, his little feet clomping on the floor, and sat at the table. A wide smile spread across his face as he watched Cassidy fix his plate. So freaking cute. Happiness radiated off of him, making it impossible not to smile right along with him.

  “Yum,” he hummed as soon as Cassidy set his sandwich and chips down in front of him. He grabbed a few chips and shoved them in his mouth. Knowing that he was distracted, I went to go check on Katie.

  When I tapped on her door, she mumbled, “Come in.”

  “You ok?” I asked. I should’ve left her alone, especially since I didn’t know her very well, but I’ve never been the type to just leave things alone. She was lying on her bed, listening to her iPod.

  “I’m fine…. I’m sorry about earlier,” Katie whispered, pulling the headphones from her ears. “I’ve just got a lot on my mind, and there’s only so much Batman I can take.”

  “Totally understandable. You’ve had a lot to deal with over the last couple of weeks. I know it’s been hard,” I told her as I sat on the corner of the bed. “Hopefully, things will get better soon.”

  “I shouldn’t have been mean to Dusty. He’s having a hard time, too. I just get frustrated with those stupid games. He wants me to win all the time, and I just can’t.”

  “Did you know that Batman has some pretty cool cheats? It would make it a lot easier to play it, if you used them.”

  “I’ve heard about them, but I’ve never really known how to do it.”

  “It isn’t hard, and you can find most of them online. It will let you change Batman’s outfits and skins. You can even choose alternate endings. They aren’t hard to do, and if you want me to, I could show you how to do it,” I offered.

  “That’d be so cool. I’m sure Dusty would love it, and I know he could use the distraction. Daddy’s death has really been hard on him. He just doesn’t understand why he isn’t coming home. I’ve tried to explain it to him, but he just keeps expecting him to come walking through the front door,” she said, her voice cracking as tears began to pool in her eyes.

  “I’m sure it’s hard on all of you, but in time, it’ll get better. You’ll always miss him. But eventually you’ll be able to find comfort in knowing that your dad loved you both very much, and he’d be here with you if he could.”

  “It’s just hard, you know? I’m used to seeing him every single day, and now… he’s just gone. I didn’t even get to tell him goodbye. I know people say that stuff all the time, but I just wish I had five more minutes with him. I don’t know what to do anymore,” she cried with tears shimmering in her eyes.

  Seeing her in pain, the tears now streaming down her precious face, made my heart hurt for her. Her tear-soaked eyes looked up at me when I put my hand on her shoulder and said, “You move forward. It’s the only direction God really gives us.”

  She nodded with understanding and wiped the tears from her cheeks. I leaned over and gave her a quick hug before I stood up and said, “Let’s grab something to eat, and then I’ll show you some cool tricks to use the next time you play Batman with Dusty.”

  “Thanks, Henley. That’d be awesome,” she said as she followed me to the kitchen. After we ate, we spent the next hour going over the cheats I knew for the games they had. We were all sitting around the TV in Dusty’s room, cheering Katie on when Dallas came home. She stopped in his doorway and smiled when she found us huddled on the floor together.

  “Did you get it worked out?” Cassidy asked as she pulled herself up off the floor.

  “I think so. The lawyer said if nothing else comes up, I should have my check by the end of the week.”

  “That’s great, Dallas. I’m sure you’re relieved,” I told her as Cassidy reached out her hand and helped me up.

  “You have no idea. Daniel always paid all the bills, so I’m a little overwhelmed,” her eyes dropped to the ground as she got lost in the memory of her husband.

  “I could help you if you need it,” I offered. “I’m pretty good with numbers.”

  “Really? That would be great. I need all the help I can get right now, and thanks again for coming today. It really helped me out.”

  “Can they come back and play wif’ me?” Dusty interrupted, jumping up and down with excitement.

  “Of course they can, buddy. Someday real soon, but right now, I need to head over to the clubhouse for a bit. I just talked to Clutch, and he said they could fix the car if I brought it over to the garage. It’s been making that funny noise again,” she explained. I’d forgotten he was even here until she said his name. I looked out the window toward the front yard, and he was still sitting there on his bike, doing his thing, and he still didn’t look happy about being there.

  “Awesome. Can I go wif’ you?” Dusty begged.

  “You have to be a good boy… no touching anything,” she warned.

  “I pomis’.” His face lit up when he realized she was going to let him go. I was glad he still had that part of his dad. The club would always be there for him.

  “Can I stay here?” Katie asked. “I want to try the rest of these tricks Henley gave me.”

  “No, Katie. I’m not leaving you alone, at least not yet,” her mother said as she placed her arm around Katie’s shoulder, pulling her close to her chest.

  “We better get going,” I told them, heading toward the door.

  Cassidy and I gave them each a hug before we left. As we were pulling out of their driveway, I thought about how ironic today had actually been. We were there to help them out and to raise their spirits, but I left there feeling better than I had in weeks.

  Chapter 11

  Maverick

  “Dusty! Put that down,” Dallas scolded. “You know you aren’t supposed to touch anything in here.” She took the wrench from his hand and wiped the grease off of his little fingers. I’d gone out back to the garage to see Clutch. I went to ask how things went with Henley and found him with his head under the hood of Dallas’ car. He was always working on someone’s engine, and I wondered why he didn’t have a garage of his own.

  My phone chimed with a text message, but I ignored it, leaving it in my pocket. Dallas had already noticed me walking up, and she looked relieved to see me. She smiled and said, “Look, Dusty! Maverick’s here.”

  “Mav-wrick!” he shouted as he raced over in my direction with his arms spread wide. I bent down and tried to brace myself for his impact, but still almost fell backwards when he jumped into my arms.

  I lifted him up and said, “Hey, there, little brother. Are you giving your mom a hard time?” I noticed Katie sitting in the corner with her face glued to her phone, and I wondered if she even knew I w
as there.

  “No, sir,” he said, shaking his head. “I’m being good.” I looked over to Dallas, and she shrugged her shoulders and smiled as she turned back to Clutch to see what he was doing with the car.

  “You want to go to the kitchen and see if there’s any ice cream?”

  “Yes! I want cookie dough ice cream. It’s my fav-rit’,” he explained. His little body began to wiggle with excitement. I lowered him to the ground and started walking toward the back door. “We’ll be right back,” I called out to Dallas.

  “Just a little, Dusty. We haven’t had dinner yet,” she ordered.

  “Okay,” he said as he reached up and took a hold of my hand.

  Just as we were leaving the garage, Dusty shouted, “Hey, Henwey!” Lifting his free hand up high, he began waving frantically in her direction. She was helping Cassidy carry some empty boxes to the dumpster.

  She stopped with her arms loaded with cardboard boxes and shouted, “Hey, Dusty!” Her face beamed with a wide smile, and I knew right then that they’d had a good day together.

  “I’m gonna go get some ice kem’ with Mav-wrick,” he told her with the biggest grin I’d ever seen.

  Still smiling, she said, “Save some for me!”

  “I will. Momma said I can only have a little since I haven’t ate dinner yet.” His little fingers clutched tightly around my fingers as I led him into the kitchen. I reached under his arms and lifted him up onto the counter by the refrigerator. He sat there, swinging his feet out and kicking the cabinet with the back of his heels, as I dug in the freezer, looking for his cookie dough ice cream. He eagerly watched as I placed several spoonfuls into the bowl.

  “Thanks, Mav-wrick’,” Dusty said with his eyes trained on his bowl of ice cream. “Ummm, you have sprinkles?”

  “Sorry, buddy. I don’t, but I’ll make sure to get some for next time.”

  After handing him the bowl, I lifted him up and carried him over to the table. “Did you have fun today with Henley and Cassidy?”

  “Hen-wey is cool. She saved Gotham City for me,” he said, eyeing his bowl of ice cream. He grabbed his spoon and brought a big bite up to his mouth. “Yum! It’s good.”

  My phone chimed with another text message, but I continued to ignore it. When it beeped two more times, Dusty said, “Your phone beeps a lot. I think someone wants you.”

  “I’ll check it later. Eat up, mister. Your mom is waiting for us.” I already knew the messages weren’t important. I’d been getting the same ones over and over, and I was about to lose my patience.

  I watched as Dusty shoveled bite after bite into his mouth. He made all these funny little humming and grunting noises as he ate. He was obviously enjoying every damn spoonful. As soon as he finished his ice cream, I took him back to Dallas. Clutch was just about done with the car, and they were getting ready to leave.

  On my way back inside, my phone beeped again, and I went straight to Big Mike’s room. I was ready to throw the damn thing out the fucking window, and he was the only one I knew who could fix it.

  “Something is wrong with this piece of shit phone,” I told him. “I need you to look at it to see if you can fix it.”

  “What’s it doing?” Big Mike asked as he took the phone from my hand.

  “I keep getting these stupid text messages, and I can’t get them to stop,” I explained. “It must be a virus or something.”

  “These phones don’t get viruses, Mav. Let me see what you’re talking about.” I pointed to one of the messages that had been bombarding my phone over the past twenty-four hours.

  Unknown caller: Dogs are capable of understanding up to 250 words and gestures, can count up to five, and can perform simple mathematical calculations. The average dog is as intelligent as a two-year-old child.

  Thank you for signing up for All About Canines. To Unsubscribe reply “Unsubscribe”

  Me: Unsubscribe

  Unknown caller: Message unrecognized

  Unknown caller: It is a myth that dogs are color blind. They can actually see in color, just not as vividly as humans. It is similar to our vision at dusk.

  Thank you for signing up for All About Canines. To Unsubscribe reply “Unsubscribe”

  Me: Unsubscribe now!

  Unknown caller: Unable to retrieve messages at this time

  Unknown caller: A dog’s mouth exerts 150-200 pounds of pressure per square inch.

  Thank you for signing up for All About Canines. To Unsubscribe reply “Unsubscribe”

  Me: Stop fucking texting me!

  Unknown caller: Are you sure you want to stop your subscription of All About Canines. You know they are Man’s best friend.

  Me: Yes

  Unknown caller: Command not recognized.

  “See what I mean? I can’t get this shit to stop, and there are at least six different sites sending me these fucking messages,” I shouted with frustration.

  “Are you sure you didn’t sign up for something?” he asked, laughing. “There must be some reason they are sending them to you.”

  “No, I didn’t sign up for shit! Just fix it or get me a new damn phone!”

  “Give me a few minutes, and I’ll see what I can figure out,” he told me as he plugged my phone up to his computer. After a few clicks, he turned to me with a knowing smile on his face.

  “Looks like someone was messing with you, man,” he chuckled as he handed me back my phone.

  “Who the fuck was it?” I demanded to know. “I’ll wring his fucking neck!” I looked down at my phone and was tempted to throw it against the damn wall.

  “Maverick, I’m sure she didn’t mean anything by it. It was just…” he started.

  “She? Ahh… fucking hell. Henley! It was Henley, wasn’t it?” I growled, turning to leave before he responded. He didn’t have to answer. I knew it was her. Just thinking about all those damn messages about dogs and cats made my teeth hurt.

  “Henley!” I shouted as I headed down the main hall toward her room. “Hen… ley!”

  I banged on her door and continued to shout until Guardrail came up to me and said, “Hey, man, she’s out back with Cassidy. What’s going on?”

  “Nothing I can’t handle,” I snapped.

  “You got a minute? Cotton wants to see us in his office.”

  “Yeah,” I answered, just as my phone chimed with another fucking text message.

  Unknown Caller: A group of cats is called a clowder, a male cat is called a tom, a female cat is called a molly or queen, while young cats are called kittens.

  Thank you for subscribing to Funny Facts about Cats. To unsubscribe reply ‘Unsubscribe.’

  Me: Henley… knock it off!

  Unknown Caller: Response Not Recognized

  Me: You are going to pay for this shit

  “What’s that all about?” Guardrail asked as he looked down at my phone.

  “Don’t ask,” I groaned as I shoved it into my back pocket and followed him into Cotton’s office. Cotton was sitting at his desk, sorting through all the papers that were scattered around him.

  “What’s going on?” I asked.

  “We had some trouble on today’s run,” he grumbled as he dropped the papers on his desk. “The guys were ambushed. Even with the extra manpower, we almost lost the shipment.”

  “What the fuck?” I asked. “What happened?”

  “Boozer said they were loading the crates into the SUV when one of the prospects saw several men watching from one of the empty warehouses. At first, it seemed like they were just watching, taking pictures or some shit like that. But then shots were fired, and everyone scattered. Thankfully, no one was hurt,” Cotton explained.

  “Was it the same guys?” I asked.

  “Possibly. Boozer said he’d never seen them before. They were wearing all black, no patches or cuts, but several had the same snake tattoo Henley mentioned.” Cotton rubbed the back of his neck, trying to ease the tension growing in his shoulders as he continued.

  “What’s with t
he pictures?” I asked.

  “I’d say, for whatever reason, they’re gathering intel on us. I’m calling church tonight. We’re going to buckle down and find out who these fuckers are once and for all.”

  “I’ll let the guys know,” Guardrail told him. “Are you calling for a lockdown?”

  “Not yet, but I don’t want anyone taking any unnecessary chances. Until we get a better idea of who is coming at us, we need to be prepared for anything. I have a feeling these guys are just getting started,” he continued.

  After leaving Cotton’s office, I followed Guardrail out to the parking lot. He hadn’t been around much, and I wanted to see what was going on with him.

  “How are you making out with Henley?” he asked as he got on his bike.

  “She’s a pain in the ass. Nothing like I thought she’d be, but I’m getting a handle on her. What about you? How’s the new addition on the house?” He’d been remodeling one of those historical houses for over a year, and now that he and Allie were getting married, he was even more determined to finish it. He wanted it done before their wedding this fall.

  “Slow,” he grumbled. “Just haven’t had the time to work on it like I’ve wanted to. Between this mess with the club and finishing up the youth center project—hell, there’s just not enough time in the day.”

  “You’ll get it done. You always do. Besides, the wedding is still a few months away.”

  “You know I want it perfect for her. She’s been through so much, and I want her to be happy.”

  “She’s been living with you for months, and she’s crazy about the place. You don’t have to do much to make it a home, and then she’ll wanna fill it up with a bunch of rug-rats,” I laughed. A year ago, I wouldn’t have imagined Kane having kids of his own, but since he met Allie, he’s changed. Now, he wants nothing more than to fill that house with their children.

  “We will. I’ll make sure of it. Things are heating up around here. Make sure Henley understands that,” he warned. Just as the words came out of his mouth, my phone chimed with another text message. I pulled it out of my pocket and read the message.