Page 1 of Skid
Prologue
Grace
When trust is destroyed, there is no rebuilding it. You can only learn from the painful lessons and move on. I thought losing my dad at four was the hardest thing I would have to survive, but my mother giving me up the following year was a blow to my self-worth. How could she throw me away like I never mattered?
The foster system was designed to help kids in need by placing them with families who wanted to help give them a better life. For years, I had it pretty good. Besides dodging judgment and scorn, I was treated fairly well.
The moment it changed, I realized I could no longer trust myself or how I perceived things. What I was taught, and how good things were twisted into depravity, made me untrusting and unsettled.
Never again will I make a wish.
It may come true, but at what cost?
Chapter 1
Skid
The night I patchedinto the Death Hounds, all my dreams came true. I was finally part of the brotherhood I longed for, but in an instant, everything changed. My younger brother was saved by a madman, and I vowed a debt to him. A life for a life.
For ten years, I lived a dual existence. Half of it was spent with the Death Hounds, fulfilling the dream I had since the first time Uncle Mick took me for a ride on his motorcycle. The other half was spent in the employment of Devlin Callahan, the madman of the Flats. Or at least he used to be. I first pledged my loyalty to him for saving my little brother Jacob’s life and was thrust into a different dark and dangerous world.
Everyone assumed he was a killer without remorse, looking to grab power and money for his own benefit. His motivations were much deeper and profound than anyone, other than his brother James, could understand. The two men met as boys and were pulled into a world so twisted and sick, I’m shocked they had any sanity between the two of them. They survived, like most people in the Flats, by using their cunning and taking opportunities as they arose.
When Devlin took control of the area from Marco, a completely demented human being, everyone assumed it would be business as usual. Slowly, Devlin changed the Flats, running the pimps and drug dealers out of town, shutting down the rampant assaults and rapes that were commonplace, and showing the citizens compassion. He was still feared and spilled blood in the streets without remorse, but his reasons only became known years later, and only to a select few people.
He worked hard throughout the years, and I learned everything I could from him. Soaking up as much knowledge as he and James would give me, I became proficient in hacking, code writing, and cyber security. It was a far cry from the life I thought I’d lead, and the more I learned, the more their trust and loyalty in me grew. When the programs we had been working on for years to enhance facial recognition and voice print analysis were sold to the government for millions of dollars, suddenly, the madman was respectable, and he started his master plan.
It wasn’t world domination, illegal activities, or anything for personal gain. Devlin’s motivation for everything was a beautiful woman named Elise, who had become his obsession years before I met him. Every move he made and every deal he brokered was done with her in mind, even if she wasn’t aware of it for years.
The afternoon he sat me down and handed me an envelope with a check for over three million dollars was the most surreal day of my life. I grew up in the Flats with my big sister, Sadie, and my younger brother, Jacob. Our mother was a useless bitch who neglected Sadie from an early age, left me alone as a little boy with my sister to look after me, and when Jacob was born, she practically disappeared. If it wasn’t for Uncle Mick, we would have been sucked up into the darkness. He helped as much as he could, and Sadie gave everything she had to raise us into semi-descent citizens. After experiencing firsthand the destruction and immorality of living in the Flats, I vowed never to let anyone experience what my sister lived through.
A few years ago, my brother-in-law and club President, Gunner, and I found out one of my sister’s rapists was still alive, and we carved him like a turkey, leaving him for the vultures to eat. It felt good to dole out justice, and soon after, I took on more personal business for Devlin. A part of me craved the rush of hurting men who thought it was okay to force women into depraved, life-altering situations. I learned to foster the darkness but never allowed it to overtake me.
James discovered he had a sister named Aubrey a few months ago, and when she was able to finally tell her story, my heart broke for her, and the monster inside of me yearned for blood. She fell for one of my good friends, Hayden, and it took time for her to be able to speak her truth. It was darker and more painful than any single person should have to live through, and I saw the same murderous look in Devlin’s and James’s eyes that I felt in mine. She not only survived but thrived after being dealt not one but two horrific blows.
We discovered what three selfish assholes had done to Aubrey when she was a teenager and killing them became a top priority. Feeding one of the rapist assholes to the alligator was a start, but there was something more I could do. One last thing before I left the employment of Callahan once and for all . . .
