Free The Long Road Home [The Final McCassey Brothers Book] by Lauren N. Sharman

distance between them, Blackie stepped forward, leaned in, and pointed a finger in Rebel's face. “Fine, Reb I get your damn point. You win. Wade and I ain't much different, so if I'm good enough to be around Georgia, than so is he.
    "I'll let him help her, but I hope to hell this don't blow up in our faces. Because if it does, we're gonna have a hell of a mess to clean up."
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    Chapter 9
    Wade Pickett's Monday mornings were usually all the same—two or three hours of sleep the night before, a few Winston's to wake up the parts of his body that strong, black coffee couldn't reach quick enough, and something sugary sweet to jump start what little energy he could muster.
    But this Monday was different.
    Before the sun was even up, he'd received a phone call from his cousin, Rebel McCassey. They'd had a shocking conversation that Wade was still trying very hard to believe.
    "Can you meet my brothers and me at the garage around seven?"
    Wade's first instinct was to say no.
    In the past, anything that had to do with a McCassey meant trouble, something Wade couldn't afford to be anywhere near these days. One brush with the law while he was still on parole, and the judge would forget about sentencing him to anymore prison time; he or she would just have Wade buried under the nearest maximum security correctional facility and save the tax payers time and money.
    "I don't know, Reb. What's this all about?"
    "I'd rather not get into it on the phone. What do you say, man? Can you be here in an hour?"
    With the exception of being busted on a few misdemeanors as a teenager, Rebel was one—quite possibly the only —McCassey who'd never really tangled with the law, and had always been well respected by both his family and friends. In fact, not only were Rebel's leadership skills the cause of him being somewhat of a local legend, it was well known that he didn't start trouble, he finished it.
    What could the brothers possibly need?
    Blackie doesn't call Rebel the Pied Piper for nothing; everyone knows that Reb's the go-to guy if you're in trouble and need help.
    So why me? What can I do for the brothers that Rebel can't?
    Although he was nearly dying of curiosity, Wade was more than a little skeptical, afraid there'd be no escaping once he walked into that garage. He wasn't necessarily convinced that he was about to be dragged into trouble, but he couldn't afford to take that chance.
    "I'm sorry, Reb,” Wade said with as much sincerity as he could muster, still being half asleep and all. “I don't think it'd be a good idea."
    The sigh on the other end of the line was something Wade hadn't expected. He'd been prepared for Rebel to hang up, cuss him out, even lecture him on the importance of family ... but he hadn't expected the man to simply sigh.
    "Look, Wade,” Rebel said in a voice sounding laced with emotional pain, “we got a situation over here that Blackie, Judd, and I can't handle. We were hoping you could lead us in the right direction."
    Wade stayed quiet and listened carefully as Rebel explained about their half-sister, Georgia. “She wants to get clean,” he assured Wade, “but she sort of hit rock bottom this morning, and we don't know what else to do. Can you help her?"
    Maybe what made Wade want to help was the thought that a young girl who was forced into prostitution and heroin addiction was now trying so desperately to clean herself up.
    Maybe it was the fact that her brother, Rebel, one of the toughest men Wade knew, had done nothing to hide his emotion as he told Georgia's story.
    Or maybe it was the realization that he wouldn't be alive today if several people hadn't gone out of their way to help him.
    Whatever the reason, Wade knew he had to do something for Georgia McCassey.
    And he knew exactly what it was.
    "I'll be there,” he told Rebel, placing the phone back on the receiver so fast that he missed his cousin's quiet, ‘thank you'.
    * * * *
    "Where the hell is he,