FURIOUS
GODS OF CHAOS MOTORCYCLE CLUB
BOOK SEVEN
BY HONEY PALOMINO
PROLOGUE
In the blink of an eye, everything can change…
“You killed him!”
The three teenage boys stood over the body of Bryce Sampson, looking down at the corpse with profound disbelief. Bryce’s eyes stared back at them, dead and empty as ever, but this time — really dead.
Panic set in like lightning, leaving the boys trembling with fear as they stood frozen over the body.
Rising in the distance, faint beams of sunlight threatened to expose this new, bloody secret that would forever taint this charmingly quaint town in the middle of nowhere where nothing exciting ever happened.
It small towns like this, secrets never stayed hidden.
But this secret, this dead bloody corpse, was bigger than anyone could imagine.
It would change everything for these boys.
Setting slowly on the horizon, the blood orange moon hung heavy, silent, knowing.
Watching.
Waiting…
“I didn’t mean to kill him,” Will whispered with a quivering voice, shaking his head slowly. The crowbar, that moments before lay peacefully in the bed of his old man’s ’76 Ford truck, now dangled from his right hand, dripping thick, sticky drops of crimson on his white Converse sneakers.
He dropped it at his feet, a loud metallic clang ringing through the town square that sent a murder of midnight black crows flying from the tall, white oak tree that towered over them.
“He wouldn’t have stopped until I was dead,” Ross murmured, his left eye already swelling from the blows he’d suffered from Bryce’s meaty fists.
“We gotta call someone,” Connor said. “We gotta call your dad, Ross.”
“My life is over. I’m going to jail,” Will whispered.
“No way, man,” Ross said, shaking his head. “I’m not calling my old man. And Will’s not going to jail! We can’t let that happen.”
“It’s too late,” Will replied, poking Bryce’s body with his foot. Blood poured from the back of his head and puddled around his face before seeping into the grass beneath him. His body had fallen on the lawn, directly in front of the Greenville Baptist Church. “He’s gone. We can’t bring him back to life!”
“There’s gotta be something else we can do.” Ross said. “It’s not your fault, Will! It was self-defense!”
“No, it wasn’t,” Will said, his voice falling flat. “He wasn’t hurting me, he was punching you, Ross.”
“I’ll call my Dad,” Connor said. “He’ll know what to do.”
“No!” Ross cried. “I’m not letting Will go to prison over this! It was my fault.”
“It wasn’t your fault. Bryce was an asshole! He picked on us every day. If it wasn’t you, it would have been one of us,” Will said.
“Well, he won’t be picking on us anymore,” whispered Connor.
It was early morning, minutes away from six o’clock. The park was deserted, but in just an hour or so, the bell at the top of the church’s steeple would ring out over the tiny town square of Greenville, Oregon, and the community would soon be bustling with townsfolk.
If Bryce was still lying there by the time that bell rang out, then they all might as well be dead with him.
“What are we going to…” Ross’s voice died down just as the sound of footsteps approached around the corner.
They scurried behind a bush in front of the church, huddling together with pounding hearts as the footsteps fell closer.
“Bryce!” A man’s voice called out. “Where the hell did you disappear to, man? You’re never going to believe what I just did, dude!”
“Fuck! It’s Bodhi!” Will whispered.
“Shhh!” Ross cried, pushing them deeper into the bush.
“Bryce! What are you doing in the grass, man?” Bodhi slurred. He was right in front of them now, leaning over and peering at Bryce’s body. “What the fuck! Bryce! Bryce!” he cried out.
The boys held onto each other, paralyzed by fear.
Bryce Sampson and Bodhi Green were best friends and football stars of the town, and rarely were they seen in public apart.
The boys were toast now, and they knew it.
They watched through the thorny leaves of the bushes as Bodhi jumped up and took a step back in shock.
“What the hell?” he whispered to himself, running a hand through his thick red hair. He picked up the bloody crow bar and shook his head. “My god…”
He looked around the town square, slowly searching for answers, his back to the boys.
“Who did this to you?” he whispered.
Moments ago, they’d been stumbling and laughing together, drunk and stoned, the stench of last night’s party still rolling off their letterman’s jackets as they talked about their future. They’d gotten separated for a few minutes near Jenny’s diner. Bodhi had watched over his shoulder as Bryce ran ahead and walked into the square.
That was just moments ago and now he was lying dead in front of him? How could this be?
Suddenly, he dropped the crowbar back on the ground, the clamoring sound of metal on pavement echoing through the square once again. He threw his hands over his head, stepping backwards another step.
“Fuck!” he cried out into the darkness, the moon slowly disappearing over the horizon, taking her secret with her.
Stumbling backwards, Bodhi fell right into the bush the boys were hiding in. One of them grunted in pain and he turned around, pulling the branches apart and staring at them.
“What the hell?” he whispered.
They fell out onto the sidewalk clumsily, their trembling hands held up in defense of the expected blows that were surely coming.
“Don’t hurt us!” Ross cried.
“What happened?” Bodhi cried, his voice desperate and confused.
“Shhh!” Will said, his eyes darting around. “It was an accident! I didn’t mean to kill him!”
“You did this?! What the fuck happened?” Bodhi shouted, his voice rising.
“He was beating up Ross. He wouldn’t stop. I grabbed the crowbar out of my old man’s truck and I just…I just…I hit him…just, you know…just to make him stop. I didn’t think he’d die, Bodhi, I’m so sorry…” Will said, tears falling down his cheeks.
Bodhi looked back at his best friend’s body, shaking his head.
“Are you sure he’s dead?”
“Yeah,” Connor said. “We checked his pulse.”
“Goddammit!” Bodhi shouted, his voice booming through the square.
“I’m so sorry, Bodhi, I really didn’t mean to,” Will said, placing a hand on his arm. He jerked his arm away, shaking his head.
“I can’t fucking believe this,” he said, running a hand through his hair again, as he started pacing up and down the sidewalk.
“He was always picking on us, you know that, man, you saw him, a million times,” Ross said quickly, the words rushing from his mouth. “We weren’t the only ones, you know that, too. He fucked with everyone. Why was he so fucking mean, man?”
Bodhi stared silently at the body.
“We don’t know what to do,” Connor whispered. “Will can’t go to prison over this! He’s going to Cornell in the Fall!”
He stopped pacing and turned his gaze on them, his eyes flooded with anguish.
“Did anyone else see you?” His voice was quiet and distant now as he quickly looked over the tiny, deserted park.
“No,” Will said. “Not yet.”
“What were you all doing out here this early?”
“We were looking for owls,” Connor said, holding up the camera strapped around his neck. “Northern Pygmy’s are diurnal.”
“Fucking nerds,” Bodhi muttered, before taking a deep breath.
The three boys looked over at him, the sharp realization that their futures laid in Bodhi Green’s hands hitting them with the force of a semi.
“Alright,” he said, finally. “We’ll fix this. I’ll help you.”
“You will?” Will asked, his eyes wide as saucers. Bodhi and Bryce were the two biggest stars of the Greenville High football team. They did everything together and had been best friends since first grade. They’d even been recruited together by the Oregon State football program. They’d been inseparable as long as anyone could remember.
Until now.
Half of that team now laid dead as a doornail at the foot of the pristine white steps of the church. As if to pronounce that fact officially, the church bells rang out overhead, signaling the start of the day in this tiny little pocket of life tucked into the foothills of majestic Mt. Hood.
“Yeah, man, I’ll help you,” Bodhi said, his shoulders slumping with defeat and sadness. “But we gotta move fast. I’ll bring my truck around. We can bury him in the forest behind my folk’s estate.”
“Bodhi, I’m so…” Will said, shaking his head.
“Shut up,” he said, turning away. “Just shut the hell up.”