Chapter 1
WELCOME TO LONG BEACH. I pull up my bike and stare at the sign in front of me. It’s worn and faded, some fucker’s graffitied their gang’s symbol over the state flag in the corner, and I gotta question what the hell I’m doin’ back here. I made a promise to myself ten years ago that I’d never see this place again. That all the memories and guilt I had would stay here with it, and yet here I am ready to dig up old bones and split open healed wounds.
When my friend, and founder of my club, Jimmer Carson, asked me to come here and take over the shit show that Cliff Adams has been running, my first response was to tell him to screw himself. I may still call myself a Dirty Soul but I learned a long time ago that the nomad’s life is the only one for me. I’m no fuckin’ leader. For a start, I don’t like people all too much, and I sure as hell don’t want no one relying on me. It ain’t Jimmer who’s to blame for me sitting here doubting myself. It was a phone call I got from an ATF agent last week. A phone call that changed everything, and gave me a whole new purpose and a chance to right all the things that I got wrong.
I kick-start my bike and drive on, past the sign, inhaling that salty air that brings a surprising comfort with it. The sun warms my skin as I ride familiar streets and take in all that”s new surrounding them.
I’ve been on the road for eight hours straight and I’m not too sure about the reception I”m gonna get when I step into the Long Beach clubhouse. I know from what Jimmer told me that there”s a lot to repair here. Cliff somehow managed to sever every decent connection the club had. The Long Beach members are either untrustworthy or downbeat and I’m fully aware that I’m stepping onto a sinking ship. It’s why I refused to come back here without the man who is equally as determined to see Cliff Adams fall as I am.
Wrath may not be very old but the hate he has for his father is as deep-rooted and unhinged as mine is. He grew up right here in Long Beach and left the same day he passed his prospect probation and earned his cut. Like myself, he chose to go nomad, and if I’m gonna take this club and turn it into what it’s supposed to be, he’s the man who should be at my side.
I pull into the diner that’s just over a mile from the club. I used to be a regular when I lived here but ain’t nobody gonna know me here now. I like that, it enables me to think straight. Something tells me that I’m in over my head here and I’ve come too far now to start having regrets.
I nod the waitress’ thanks’ when she’s finished pouring me a black coffee, then pulling out my cell I scroll straight to Wrath”s number and wait for him to pick up.
“ Raze?” he answers, sounding like he’s in the middle of something.
“Where ya at?” I question him.
“I’m on my way, just had to take a little detour.” I hear what sounds like a kick, followed by a loud groan of pain.
Wrath has the same kinda taste for violence that I do. His comes from anger and what he’s suffered over the years. Mine was bred into me. My father, Vex, was the club’s original enforcer, and to be an enforcer you have to have something in your brain that either switches off or comes alive when you take care of business. My father has trained many men to switch it off. His training methods were brutal, but to do what’s required needs that level of brutality. For me, I never had to switch off a damn thing. I know right from wrong and I know bad from good. The men I’ve hurt have deserved what was dealt to them.
“You really gonna make me walk into that lion’s den by myself?” I question. I still haven’t told him about the information Agent Consuela gave me yet. I’m not entirely sure how he”ll react to it. And right now I need his head screwed on. I have no idea how many of the Long Beach charter men are loyal to the club and despite what me and Wrath have been through in the past, he is the one man whose loyalty I know I can rely on.
I drain my coffee and look at the ring that’s on my finger. The original Dirty Dozen all had one of these when the club first came together and my father passed his down to me through Jimmer. I guess he figured for himself that he”d never see me again. And it’s not outta hate that I haven’t been up to that mountain to visit him myself, not outta hate for him, anyway. The only hate I got is for myself for what I did, and the secrets I’ve kept. I”ll never be able to look that man in his eyes.
“You want a top-up sweetheart?” The waitress bats her lashes at me and I shake my head before slamming a couple of bills on the table.
“Not today,” I tell her, heading out the door and keeping the phone pressed to my ear.
“Look Raze, you got this, I’ve spoken to Ruckus a lot over the past few weeks. Your presence is gonna be welcomed. The club is a mess it needs leadership and whether you believe it or not you’re the man for the job.”
“Shit. Oh fuck!” I hear a woman on the other side of the parking lot and notice her hopping from foot to foot as I step out of the diner. When I notice my bike on the ground I suddenly realize why she looks so scared.
“Wrath, I gotta go. Just hurry up and get here.” I hang up the phone and rush over.
“What the fuck?” I look at my bike and the back end of the car that’s clearly just reversed into it.
“Is this… Is it yours?” The girl looks up at me, biting her lip nervously.
“Damn straight it’s mine. How the fuck did you miss it?” I start assessing it for damage but get too distracted by the fact that the girl who crashed into it is as stunning as she is flustered.
“Shit, I’m sorry. I must have been distracted and then I heard a crunch. Is it bad?” She starts looking my bike over, herself. There’s a few scratches, nothing major, and the bag I got tied up on the back with my clothes in still seems intact.
“I’m so sor?—”
“Hold it.” I hold my hand out to silence her when I notice a Jeep pull up by the diner door. Three kids, no older than eighteen, hop out and I notice the gun that the driver’s got tucked in his pants when his shirt slightly lifts up.
“Excuse me.” The girl sounds offended, but I’m too busy watching the three boys lift up their hoods and raise bandanas over their faces to care. It’s obvious what’s about to go down here. I’m not officially the charter’s president yet, so technically these ain’t my streets. But they will be, and things around here will change. I figure this is as good a time as any for folk to start realizing that.
“Get in your car and get outta here,” I tell the girl, reaching down into my holdall and taking out my cut. I watch her eyes widen as I shrug it onto my shoulders.
“Oh shit, you”re a… I’m so sorry. I...”
“Are you still here?” I stare at her blankly as I reach back into my holdall and grab my gun, checking the slide is loaded before clicking it back into place.
“It was an accident. I’m?—”
“Seriously.” I walk around my bike and open her driver’s door for her. “Get in your car and get out of here,” I repeat, starting to lose my patience.
She nods her head as she gets behind the wheel, fumbling with her keys in the ignition as she tries to start the engine.
I leave her to it, placing my gun in the back of my jeans and heading back inside the diner.
The waitress who served me looks panicked when I step through the door. One of the hooded thugs has a gun pointed in her face while she empties out the cash register. The other two are working around the booths getting people to empty their belongings into a rucksack and waving their knives around.
The waitress shakes her head and looks like she’s saying a prayer when the guy, who had the gun on her, redirects it toward me.
“Sit down over there,” he orders and I shake my head and laugh at him.
“Sorry kid, I ain’t about to do that. How about you take your buddies, you get back in your Jeep and you drive yourself away from this situation?” I give him an option that’s better than the one that’s going through my head.
“You hear that, Slade? Biker boy thinks we should leave.” He chuckles.
I don’t rise to it, just scratch the back of my neck while I wait for him to make his choice.
“What do you think we should do?” He reaches across the counter and grabs the waitress by her hair, dragging her down to its surface and pointing his gun to her temple.
I shake my head impatiently and start stepping toward him.
“Son, I’m pretty sure from the way your hands are tremblin’ and that top lip of yours is sweatin’ that you ain’t ever pulled a trigger before.” I causally light myself a smoke. “Take it from someone who has, that it ain’t about havin’ the guts to do it. Pullin’ the trigger is the easy part. But to do it you gotta be numb inside. Empty of all emotion.” I note from the corner of his eyes that the other two have stopped what they’re doing and have lowered their knives in confusion.
“What the fuck you talking about?” He stares back at me, shaking his head and looking unnerved.
“I mean, you probably got the guts to shoot her, it sure would help your street cred. Your friends here will call you a badass, you’ll probably end yourself up in jail, get yourself one of them pretty tattoos on your face to show you”re really hard. But let me tell ya when the lights go out in that prison cell and it”s just you and the black, it’s her face you’ll see when you close your eyes. It’s her blood that you won’t ever be able to wash off your skin and it’ll be her voice that rattles through ya skull” I watch him swallow thickly as he takes in what I’m saying, not seeming to notice how close I’ve gotten.
“This woman…” I take the gun outta his hand and wrap my other hand around the wrist he has her pinned down with. “She’s just a lady lookin’ to make a livin’, probably wants to feed her kids. You really wanna be the reason she don’t go home to them tonight?”
“I…” He frowns at me and shakes his head as his grip on her slowly releases and I guide his hand away. She straightens herself up and takes a step back, breathing heavily and looking petrified.
“Good choice,” I tell the kid calmly, before grabbing the back of his head and slamming him face-first into the counter, his nose busts open and sprays blood all over the clean white surface and I hear the gasps of everyone behind me as he slumps to the floor. I turn my attention to his friends who are now standing on guard with their blades in front of them. I can see from the fear in their eyes that they didn’t come here to tear up flesh. They’re just boys, probably ones who never got much attention when they were younger.
“You really wanna do this?” I check with each one of them and when neither of them back down I shrug and go for the bigger of the two, first. Stepping sideways into his body to avoid the blade I grab the arm he’s holding it with and force it uncomfortably behind his back, making sure I hear his bones break and the knife clang to the floor before I throw him forward onto one of the tables. Turning around I feel a slash across the top of my arm when his buddy decides to be a man and use that weapon in his hand. I look at the blood as it seeps from the wound then back to him and I laugh when I notice how scared he looks as he backs away from me.
“Where ya goin’?” I ask, moving with him until his shoulder hits the wall and he’s got no place to go.
“Don’t come any closer.” He waves the weapon in front of him like it’s got the potential to save him “I’ll…I’ll hurt you.” He threatens and I slowly shake my head as I step up to the knife and let the tip of it touch my chest.
“Do your worst.” I wink at the guy, before sliding my hand up over his wrist and putting pressure on the points that I know will instantly make him drop the knife from his hand and fall to his knees.
“Now, get your friends, and get the fuck outta here, before you find yourself in some real trouble.” I lean over him and whisper, taking the rucksack from the floor and slinging it onto the counter. He keeps his eyes on me as he helps the one who had the gun onto his feet and scurries out the door after the other one.
“Thank you.” The waitress sighs with relief once they’ve sped off out the parking lot, and the rest of the place clap their hands and cheer. “You know this is the third time in two months that this place has been held up like that.” She informs me as she starts clearing up the mess I’ve made of her counter. “Towns full of kids like them all trying to make their mark.” She smiles after I’ve crouched down to lift one of the sugar shakers that’s on the floor.
“Wait. You”re a Soul?” She narrows her eyes as she studies the cut I’m wearing.
“I am, and the Souls are under new leadership now. Be ready for some changes.” I assure her as I walk out the door, head over to my bike, and lift it off the ground. The blood’s still pouring from my arm but it ain’t too deep, but before I deal with that it’s time to face up to why I’m here.
* * *
The kid who’s sitting on the club compound gate stands up from his stool and looks shocked to see me when I pull up in front of ‘em.
He nods his head enthusiastically and quickly starts to open them so I can pull through and I park my bike up along with all the others. Untying my holdall off the back I throw it over my shoulder and start heading toward the clubhouse. For the first time in a long time, I’m feeling nervous. But I ain’t about to let that show.
“Raze, you”re here. I’m Rocco, Davey’s boy.” The kid holds out his hand for me to shake as I pass through the arch that leads to the yard. The motel is still standing three stories high, and the same old yellow it was when I left, only now it’s worn from age and too much sun.
“Rocco.” I nod my head so he knows I’ve taken it in.
“The boys are gonna be glad to see ya, it’s been a long time coming.” He smiles as I move on, passing the empty pool that”s used as a fighting pit and noticing the blood stains on the bottom. The galvanized building on the opposite side of the yard to the motel that’s used as the clubhouse is practically shaking from the bass of the music inside. Nothing much has changed around here, the place still looks like it’s about to crumble and fall. I take a breath before I step through the door, and when I do I’m met with fuckin’ carnage.
There’s a five-man brawl happening in the middle of the floor. Two whores are tearing the hair outta each other and the music is so loud I can barely hear myself think.
I head straight for the speaker and tear the cable outta the damn wall, turning the room silent and making everyone freeze in shock.
“What in the hell is goin’ down here?” I stare at all the shocked faces in front of me, the only sound audible now is the clock ticking on the wall and the beer dripping from the tap.
“Raze.” Ruckus climbs himself outta the five-man maul, managing to stand on his feet. “Pleased you’re here.” He smiles. I take a look around the clubhouse and all its broken parts.
“Clean this place the fuck up.” I look at the men I’ve been sent here to lead and question my sanity. I had a peaceful life back in Wyoming. I owned a bar no one drank in, in a town where no one knew me. Life was lonely and it was fuckin’ good.
“We got a church meetin’ 9 am tomorrow.” I walk on, past all the stunned faces toward the side door that leads out onto the balcony.
“9 am!” I hear someone comment, and when I turn my head back around the culprit immediately drops his head. “I’ll be there, boss,” he tells me sheepishly, and I quickly move on, stepping out onto the decked balcony and taking in the view of the ocean.
There’s more people out here hanging down on the beach and sitting around the fire pit, all of ‘em look outta their heads. I don’t know what Cliff Adams’ vision for this club was, but strung teenage girls and wasted wreck-heads sure as hell wasn’t what Jimmer wanted when he sent him out here to set this charter up. There was a time I saw the beauty in this place. A time when all my dreams and plans for the future were planned around it but dreams fade and futures get crushed. Some of us are sadistic enough to let ourselves be reminded of that.
I rest my elbows on the wooden railings that look out over the beach and take in more of that air. I don’t have my own vision yet, and that scares me. When I get into something, I like to have a plan and all this has been suddenly dumped on me from a great fuckin’ height.
“Raze.” I look over my shoulder when Ruckus comes to stand beside me.
“You want me to get one of the girls to make ya up a room? I could get ‘em to look at that too, Polly’s good with a needle.” He frowns when he notices the slash on my arm but he doesn’t question it.
“Nah, I got somewhere to stay.” At least, I think I do.
I leave him on the balcony and take the steps down to the beach, passing all the hangouts that are here having fun as I head toward the lifeguard tower that marks the start of our territory. The state don’t guard these waters. We own this patch of beach. When Jimmer Carson bought the motel he made a promise to the chief of police and the mayor that the Souls would keep this side of town clean, in return he asked for us to have our privacy. I can already see, from the short time I’ve been in town, that Cliff Adams hasn’t seen Jimmer’s promise through.
I veer away from the water and toward the beachside hut that used to be my home, wondering what will be left of it. I’m sure many a storm has passed through here over the years, along with curious teenagers and folk sleeping rough. So, I”m surprised to find the place still standing strong. The chains I bolted the door with are still holding up and although the porch needs fixing the rest of the place looks as if it’s still watertight. I find the key to the bolt on my keyring and have to be firm with the lock since it’s rusted over the years, but eventually, I get it busted and manage to open the doors to the place I called home when I was a member here.
It’s only a small space but I had everything I needed, and when I look at all the dust that’s collected on my furniture over the years I can’t help thinking back to how I felt when I left. This dust has built up over time, much like my hatred, and I know Cliff Adams’ soul was promised to Wrath but I will make sure I’m there to watch his suffering. I head for the bathroom and reach into the cupboard above the basin so I can take out the first aid box, then moving back outside to the porch where it’s light, I take the bottle of Jack outta my holdall and take a seat on the bench.
“Here’s to being home.” I raise the bottle toward the ocean before knocking it back, then taking the needle and thread from the first aid box I set to sewing up the gash in my arm. I’m sure Polly’s work is neat, but I don’t trust anyone but myself right now.
Raze will be releasing June 28, 2024