Edge of Chaos by Brynn O'Connor Read Free Book Online

make her seize that perfect opportunity to hook up with the
Harbinger.
    Another brother
drove Luke to Jake’s house and sure enough the Harbinger’s bike was parked out
front. People are at their deepest sleep between the times of 2:30 and 5:00 am
so Luke chose to do the deed at 3:00am. He took his favorite silenced Sig Sauer
9mm and one of his favorite Emerson fixed blade knives with him. The Harbinger
would find death by a bullet; one in each knee, one in the crotch, then one
between the eyes. Amy wouldn’t be so lucky.
    The Harbinger’s
screams woke Amy from a dead sleep. At first, she didn’t know what was going on
and figured her boyfriend was having some kind of very vivid nightmare; that
was until Luke shot his other knee out and blew his dick off.
    Amy begged! That
right there was testament enough to her lack of character in Luke’s mind. She
wasn’t brave, defiant, or at least quiet. She cried and begged for her life
like a child. She was, of course, perfectly willing to throw the Harbinger
under the bus. When Luke could not take any more of her pathetic begging, he
fired one more bullet ending the Harbinger’s sorry life.
    It turned out Amy
was a fast talker and a quick liar. It was a literal blood bath before Luke was
satisfied that he knew every bit of information she had passed to the other
club. At 4:45 sharp, Luke took several pictures with a burner phone and lit the
four Molotov Cocktails he had brought with him. He stood in the front room,
tossed the flaming bottles of gas in four strategic locations and walked out
feeling really great about a job well done. He hopped into the brother’s car
and thirty minutes later, his father and other King’s brass were looking at the
photos and toasting the newest member to the Suicide Kings. That was four years
ago.

Chapter Eight
Tough Love?

     
    “You and your
father must be close,” Kayla observes one afternoon. She and Luke are kicking
back at a small diner after an exhilarating ride along highway one near Stinson
Beach.
    “Close?” Luke
replies. “What gave you that impression?”
    “Well…he’s the
president and you’re the vice president of your club, so…”
    “We’re anything
but close, Kayla, and the club would be a whole lot better off if he were to
step down and let me run things.”
    “Oh, wow…,” Kayla
breathed. “Sorry…”
    “Let me tell you a
little story here. I think it’ll help you understand why I am not particularly
close to him.”
    “I like stories.”
    “Well, this one’s
not your typical warm and fuzzy childhood tale, so don’t say I didn’t warn
you.”
    Kayla nods her
head, takes a bite of her sandwich and waits for Luke to begin. After a moment,
he starts talking and Kayla notices a strange thing. It’s like an invisible
shield just passed across his face. His eyes lose their trademark brilliance
and his face becomes an unyielding, unreadable mask.
    It can’t be
that bad , she thinks to
herself, just before Luke begins speaking.
    “It was two days
before my eighth birthday party and I was talking about it to my classmates
during lunch recess. My dad had sent out an invitation to every single one of the
twenty-three children in my second grade class, so it had seemed odd that
nobody knew anything about it. After retelling the time and day of my party to
them, I began to suspect that they hadn’t received their invitations yet. But
the more I talked about my party, the more my classmates distanced themselves
from me and by the time I got home from school, I was in tears.
    I expected to get
calls from kids confirming they would be at the party, but no one called all
day on Saturday. I woke up bright and early on Sunday morning. I was so excited
I had barely slept a wink. I couldn’t wait to see the pile of presents on the
dining room table. I wanted lots of things but mostly the Lego Millennium
Falcon set. I thought I would have so much fun putting it together with my
father.
    When I went
downstairs for