Broken Road

by Addison Kline

  “Are you fucking kidding me?!” Colt yelled as his eyes went wide. “Is this a joke?!”

  “Nope.”

  Colt pinched himself.

  “No seriously… Someone is playing a prank on me…”

  “Look at the document… It has the official Texas seal.”

  “What is it?!” Randy demanded to know.

  “The deed to the Devils HQ!”

  “The what?!” Cheyenne asked with surprise in her voice.

  “What do you plan to do with it?” Shelly asked.

  Colt regarded his family, looking at each member with a serious look on his face.

  “Raze it to the ground.”

  “Here…” Averi said, passing Colt another envelope.

  “What’s this? Another envelope?” Colt asked with a questioning look in his eyes.

  “Just open it,” Averi said smiling at him.

  “Alright…”

  Colt quickly opened the envelope, and pulled out a yellow piece of paper. It was an invoice from Jax’s Tattoo Parlor. Giving Averi a look of curiosity, Colt stared at her waiting for her to explain.

  “You’re getting that tattoo covered up,” Averi said referring to the double horse’s heads on his back. “It’s all paid for.”

  Colt looked happy as he asked, “And what do you propose I get to cover it up, the tattoo is huge…”

  “This…” Averi said passing Colt a sketch book.

  Colt stared down at the drawing and he didn’t know what to say. Someone had drawn a tattoo of two incredible wings. They were dark and powerful in appearance. Blended into the feathers were the names of the fallen. Everyone they loved who were taken by Black Horse and the Devils. Corinne, Nathan, Jessa, Anna, Seth, Torian, Will… they all were there. At the bottom of the page, he saw Averi’s signature.

  “You created this?” Colt asked. He was moved.

  “Yes.”

  “When’s the appointment?”

  “Tomorrow at 6. Do you love it?”

  “It’s perfect.”

  “Time to leave those bastards behind.”

  Chapter Thirty-Nine

  Two Months Later

  “Don’t forget about what we discussed,” Shawn said to Averi.

  “I know. I don’t like it, but I know.”

  “Where is everyone? We need to go.”

  “Randy is there already. He had to set up.”

  “You feeling alright… A week to go until your due date.”

  “I’m ready.”

  “Nervous?”

  “Hell yes.”

  “It’ll be alright. Please send me pictures.”

  “You know I will…”

  Colt joined them in the foyer, dressed nicely in a pair of black slacks and a white button down shirt. He passed Averi his tie and had her put it on him. Cheyenne came to the front door, dressed beautifully in a soft pink dress and a pair of ballet flats.

  “Are we ready?”

  “We’re just waiting on Shelly and Tim.”

  “Look Tim, I know you’re Mr. Hot-shot-MMA-fighter again… It doesn’t mean that I have to watch your fights. Are you trying to give me heart failure?”

  “You have no faith in me.”

  “I have the world of faith in you. It’s those idiots you fight that I don’t trust!”

  “You guys ready?” Shawn asked giving Shelly a wink.

  “We’re ready…” Tim said linking his arm with Shelly’s.

  Everyone climbed into their own vehicles, heading to Oakeley for the first time in two months to tend to a matter that was begging their attention.

  ***

  Monument Avenue was crowded with people. Citizens lined the street as if a parade was about to stroll through, only in the middle of February, a parade was the last thing these people came to see. A crane with a wrecking ball attached waited outside of the building known as the Seventy Devils Headquarters. The citizens of Oakeley had waited for this day for years, but more impatiently so since the police had announced that the operation was shut down and over three hundred thousand dollars of illegal drugs were seized from the basement of the property. The new owner had decided that the building wasn’t fit to remain standing and had ordered a construction company to tear it down. It was a momentous occasion.

  Colt honked at Randy who stood outside his crane with the wrecking ball attached. He hung out the door with a look of pure redemption. Colt couldn’t blame him. To be the one to tear down the Devil’s HQ… It was a damn good feeling. News vans had gathered at the corner, and on the pavement, there was a podium with a microphone.

  Colt and Averi emerged from the car, and while Averi joined Tim, Shelly and Cheyenne in the crowd, Shawn followed Colt straight to the podium and stood by his side. Colt tapped the microphone, making sure it was on and nervously smiled at the crowd. He gulped down his anxiety before he spoke.

  “Good morning ladies and gentlemen. Thank you for coming out today. I stand before you at the Pine Cress Steak House, also known as Headquarters for the Seventy Devils street gang. Since 1981, the Seventy Devils have waged war against the citizens of Oakeley, and I am proud to stand before you and announce that they have been defeated. Thomas “Black Horse” McClain was my biological father. Please know that I hold no allegiance to this man. He murdered my mother, my adoptive parents, and he tried to murder my wife. That is why it brings me great pride to let you know that when he passed, the ownership of this establishment passed on to me. It is important that you understand… I have no allegiance to the Seventy Devils. They are a black mark on our town and a drain on society. That is why I called you all today. This building will be torn down. A memorial garden will be put in its place. On April 15, the citizens of Oakeley will be called here to commemorate the grand opening of the Oakeley Citizens Memorial Garden. Though this garden is largely dedicated to the victims of the Seventy Devils and Black Horse, there will be no mention of their names. This garden is for our community and our fallen friends and family.”

  Colt and Shawn left the podium, while two men moved the podium across the street and out of the way, without another sound, Randy sent the wrecking ball crashing into the side of the Seventy Devils Headquarters, taking down the last piece of evidence that those bastards had even reigned in this small town.

  With his heavy metal playing in his ear, Randy was having entirely too much fun destroying the building. There was not a quiet voice in the audience. The primary reaction in the crowd was joy, mixed with relief, celebration and redemption. But there was one who was not as pleased as the rest. Cheyenne West’s strung out mother Gina, and Randy’s other ex, Stephanie Rogers, who would forever remain loyal to the Devils. A dark look crossed their eyes as they watched the building come crashing down. As Colt and Averi watched the building that acted as headquarters for their enemies, they felt like they were taking the town back. Back to the peaceful small town that Averi’s parents once spoke so fondly of. Colt had broken the public image that people saw when they ran into him. Colt was no longer an enemy but a friend; a friend who fought to bring peace to the community. As the last brick fell to the ground and a cloud of dust rose into the air, a searing pain radiated from Averi’s back and through her stomach. Sensing that the coast was clear, Baby McClain was ready to make his entrance. But Averi refused to say anything yet, because Shawn still needed to say his piece.

  As the dust cleared, the town’s police captain took center stage, ready to clear the air and tell them what they have all been wondering for the past five months.

  “For the last thirty years, I have worked diligently to bring Black Horse and the Seventy Devils to justice. Back in September, you heard about the murder of Black Horse. This community was polarized by the news. Some, who had lived in this community for the last few decades, remember the series of murders that occurred in the late 80s to early 90s… A total of nineteen murders in all. My sister was one of them. Her husband was also killed. My nephew Seth. My partner. Jessa McClain… There are more.”
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br />   Shawn paused and cast a nervous stare at the audience.

  “As I said, I spent the last thirty years bringing them to justice, and it brings me great pleasure to announce that all of the Devils are in jail or dead. With that task being accomplished, I must announce that I am stepping down as the police captain of Oakeley.”

  The crowd went nuts. Members of the media began shouting questions at Shawn.

  “Who killed Black Horse?!”

  “Who will be replacing you…?”

  “Captain?! Who killed Black Horse?”

  As a suave smile crossed his face, Shawn announced daringly, “I did. And I did it to protect my community from further blood shed. I am prepared to turn myself in to police custody, but first, I wanted to make sure you knew what your police captain was willing to do to protect the peace and the people of Oakeley. I promised my sister that if anything ever happened to her, that I would protect her children. Now with my niece about to have a baby of her own… I feel like I finally have.”

  The police officers in the crowd stared at him with shock.

  “Officers Diaz and Marone. You need to take me in now.”

  Reluctantly, they cuffed the captain and loaded him in the back of the car. The crowd screamed with emotion and shock as squad car F4 took him back to the police station to be booked. He went calmly and willingly.

  Colt and Averi went back to the car, and Averi put her hand over her belly as another contraction rolled through.

  “Are you alright?!”

  “Yeah… just wonderful.”

  “What’s going on?!”

  “I’m in labor!”

  “Are you kidding me?”

  Averi looked at Colt with an infuriated look upon her face. “Do I look like I’m joking?!”

  “Oh, God…” Colt said sounding like he was about to be sick. Immediately he hit the gas, heading straight for the hospital.

  Shelly, seeing that Colt pulled off in a hurry, said, “Where the hell are they going in such a hurry…”

  Cheyenne said, “Well she is due in three days…”

  Shelly’s eyes went wide, “My god child! Tim! Get in the car, my god child is coming!”

  Tim replied, “Don’t you remember what they said. She is having a c-section only one person can go in…”

  “Okay… so what’s the problem?!” Shelly said non-plussed.

  Randy blurted out, “I’d think Averi would want the father to be there, and not you trying to take pictures.”

  Cheyenne laughed, “We’ll go up once we hear word from Colt.”

  Shelly looked put out. But I wanted to kiss the baby first!

  Tim replied, “Pretty sure Averi will, hun…”

  “Oww! I need a baby of my own!”

  Tim looked at Shelly like she was nuts. “Don’t start!”

  ***

  When Averi arrived at the hospital they admitted her and she only needed to wait a half hour to receive her spinal block and get booked for an operating room. Colt shook as he put on his scrubs, and he appeared to be much more nervous than Averi was. So many thoughts ran through his head at once.

  Will I be a good father?

  What if I let the baby down?

  What if I let Averi down?

  What if I turn out to be a father just like my own old man?

  Just then Averi looked up at Colt from the operating table. A blue sheet divided Colt’s line of vision from the surgery on the opposite side.

  “Stop worrying. You will be an amazing father.”

  He ran his hand over her forehead and kissed her cheek. Then a sound cried out over the rest, a baby wailing from a set of healthy lungs.

  “It’s a boy!”

  A single tear streamed from each of Averi’s eyes. A boy. And she knew just what she would name him. The nurses cleared the baby’s throat, weighed him and cleaned him off.

  “Nine pounds, 2 ounces, 21 inches long,” Averi heard a nurse say.

  A nurse brought the baby to Colt and passed the bundle to him. Wrapped in a blue blanket with a striped hat on his head, Matthew Christopher Nathan McClain was born. Matthew… Averi’s eldest brother Seth’s middle name… Christopher… for the St. Christopher medallion Colt wears around his neck, the only item Colt has that used to belong to his mother… Nathan, for Averi’s father. The one man who was willing to give Colt a second chance at life. Colt didn’t want a junior. He didn’t want a son just like him, torn between the light and dark. He wanted him to have his own identity.

  Colt brought the beautiful baby to Averi as his heart soared in his chest. Averi kissed the baby’s cheek cooing over his full head of black hair, his chubby cheeks and his pair of perfectly pink lips. She was in love.

  Finally, with the threat of violence gone, and Black Horse and the Devils eradicated, Colt was no longer afraid to bring a child into this world, and here he was, his legacy, ready to change the McClain name forever.

  Epilogue

  Time doesn’t heal all wounds. Retribution does. The righting of wrongs. The mending of wounds. What good is time, if the scar tissue tears with each new injury? The broken road is not an unfixable one. Colt and Averi were brought together by a broken road. When Jessa McClain was murdered, Tom McClain brought Colton to his mother, Anna. If this had not happened, Colton would never had met Averi. The reunion between Cheyenne and Randy would not have felt so victorious had they not traveled down a broken road, themselves.

  Despite our best intentions, life doesn’t always go as planned. Life has curves, fate has its own ideas, and karma, being the bitch that she is, always manages to get in the last laugh. But even with the Devils gone and Black Horse dead, there is no such thing as perfect, especially in a town like Oakeley. While there are still some who remain loyal to the Devils, they remain quiet, blending into society, flying under the radar, undetected. After a while, you won’t be able to tell who is friend and who is foe anymore. Can the town of Oakeley continue to break free of the shadow that Black Horse cast over them? Or will the whispers of the Devils stalk the shadows like ghosts, and only rise up when they are least expected?

  Breaking Black is easier said than done, and the shadows of our past are long-reaching and toxic. When the next generation becomes infected by the sins of the past, only two options will remain. Fight or Flight. Sink or Swim. Kill or be killed.

  -The End-

  Acknowledgments

  There are so many people that I would like to thank and acknowledge that helped support Broken Road come to publication. Firstly, I’d like to thank my husband for being so patient with the writing process.

  I need to say a big thank you to my PA Tessa Burman for being such a huge help. You get my twisted sense of humor and help keep me sane by doing some of the admin duties that bog me down. Thank you so much for your help!

  I’d like to thank my beta team: Shannon, Kelly, M., Amy, Tessa, Angel, Angela, Kristi, Dawn, Crystal, Danielle, Stephanie and Cecily. Your feedback has been instrumental!

  To my street team… There are too many of you to name…. but I love you all! It is because of you that so many people now know about my books and I cannot thank you enough!

  To the fans… Thank you for making something I enjoy so much fun! I hope you enjoyed Broken Road. Shattering Chances and Breaking Black are coming soon!

  About the Author

  Addison Kline is an Amazon Best-Selling Author who resides in Philadelphia, PA with her husband and their children. She is always writing and working on a new project. Addison also enjoys long road trips to places she’s never been, reading mystery, suspense and romance novels and spending time with family.

  Addison’s next release will be a romantic suspense/mystery titled Shadow Dancer and is expected to release on September 12, 2014.

 

 

 
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