Sons of Mayhem 1

Chapter 24

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

Jase

The motorcycle let out a satisfied roar as Jase gunned it hard. Quickly leaving the compound behind he headed down the quiet highway in the direction of Gauge’s place. He’d spent longer than he’d meant to at the college and now it was time to get back to work. The work of planning some serious fucking revenge.

His bike ate up the road ahead as he tore towards his destination. He loved it out there, where there was almost no traffic and little chance of being bothered by the cops. The needle crept over 100 and he lost himself in the roar of the engine and the emptiness of the road.

He couldn’t get there fast enough, but when he arrived his destination seemed to have come too quickly. I wish I could just ride forever. Keep on going. Head out east. Or west. Or, hell, anywhere.

He nosed the motorcycle down the potholed track that led to Gauge’s trailer. When he arrived at the ramshackle mobile home he was unsurprised to see Gauge waiting outside, a rifle in his hands. He’d heard him coming. It was impossible to sneak up on Gauge. Of course, it was impossible to sneak up on anyone riding a motorcycle like his.

“Boss,” he said with a nod as Jase descended from the saddle. His voice sounded like a gravel truck unloading. Years of smoke, whisky and the kind of shouting only a sergeant major knows how to do had taken its toll on his throat leaving his voice deep and thick.

Gauge had an expectant look on his weathered face as Jase grabbed his hand in greeting. This was only the second time Jase had been out there.

“Shit’s gone down.”

The ex-soldier nodded. He didn’t seem surprised. He indicated two lawn chairs and a table that sat under a tattered awning hanging from the trailer. Now a light pink color, they’d once been bright red, in another time and place. Jase sat down and watched as Gauge carefully placed the rifle on to the table between them and pulled out a flask.

As Jase recounted the events of the night before and that morning Gauge’s expression grew grim. Once or twice his hand reached up to stroke the butt of the rifle, and when Jase told him about Brodie his hand wrapped around it.

The face of the retired soldier was hard as Jase finished telling him what had happened. “Brodie was a good man.”

Jase nodded. Silence surrounded them. A dark, brooding silence; the kind of silence you can almost grab and hold, the kind of silence that forebodes unspeakable violence.

Gauge undid the top of the flask and offered it with a wave. Jase took it and filled his mouth with the burning liquor. He held it in his mouth savoring the burn before swallowing. He handed the flask back to Gauge who took a quick swig of his own.

“So you want revenge?”

“Yes.” Jase leaned forward, his eyes intense as he raised his eyebrows at Gauge. “More than revenge.”

Gauge nodded. “Destroy them?”

Jase nodded. “Something like that.”

A small smile crept across Gauge’s lips. Jase knew it wasn’t exactly a smile of pleasure though. He’d seen it once before, when they’d been working the door of a club together. A frantic waitress had called them inside where an ugly drunk was causing a scene. The drunk had laughed when Gauge had politely told him it was time to leave. Then there was the smile. And then, half a second later, maybe less, the drunk was falling to the floor, his hands beginning to raise to a nose he didn’t yet know was broken. Gauge was fast. Fast and deadly.