Twisted Pieces

by London Casey

  It was a frame. Jordyn nodded. “I see. It’s empty, sir.”

  “It’s for us,” Mr. Strokner said. “Our picture will be in here soon. Then I can forget about my wife and daughter.”

  Jordyn thought she heard something at the door. She swore she saw the door handle move. Her eyes were focused, hoping the door would open and Back Down Devil would come charging in, guns blazing to save her.

  But then there was a loud thud and a scream.

  Jace…

  Jordyn shook her head. “No… no… no…”

  “I’m sorry,” Mr. Strokner said. “They’re tough, yes. But I have money. And money is power.”

  Mr. Strokner was so calm. He put the empty frame on his desk. He reached for a bottle of scotch. It had to be the tenth drink, if not more. More than half the bottle was gone. The scotch kept Mr. Strokner calm. Jordyn was anything but.

  Jace let out another scream and tears filled her eyes. If Jace was dead…

  Then I want to die.

  “Kill me,” Jordyn said. “You piece of shit! I’ll never love you. I fucking hate you.”

  Mr. Strokner looked at Jordyn. He started to stand just as the door busted open. Jordyn cried as Miller, Gaige, and Blaine came rushing into the room. Blaine had his gun drawn and pointed it at Mr. Strokner.

  “Motherfucker,” Blaine said.

  “What is this?” Mr. Strokner asked.

  “This is the end,” another voice said.

  Jace walked into the room. His right leg looked torn up really bad. The left side of his face was bleeding. He had a gun in his hand.

  “Keep him alive,” Jace said. He ran over to Jordyn and touched her face. “Fuck, babe, I can’t believe…”

  “Shut up,” Jordyn said. “Kill him. Kill him, Jace."

  Jace nodded. He kissed Jordyn’s forehead.

  He nodded to Miller. “Can you untie her?”

  “Of course, brother,” Miller said. “Take care of business.”

  “You’re all fucking dead,” Mr. Strokner yelled. “All dead! You don’t know what I have…”

  “Shut up,” Gaige said. “You know what you did. You know you tried to set us up. We didn’t kill your daughter, asshole. We only tried to make it up to you.”

  “She’s gone!” Mr. Strokner cried out.

  “And you tried to sell us out,” Blaine said. “The land. The pictures. Sending Jace to prison. The judge…”

  “I had nothing to do with him!” Mr. Strokner yelled. “He’s got something else on the side. Trust me, guys.” He stood up and put his hands out. “Listen to me. I had the evidence for muscle. For me. For protection. You got to get out of here. Listen to me.”

  Miller untied Jordyn and she stepped forward. She couldn’t look away.

  Jace walked up behind Mr. Strokner and put a hand to his shoulder. Mr. Strokner sat down. Slowly, Jace placed the gun into Mr. Strokner’s hand and placed it under Mr. Strokner’s chin.

  “This is how it ends,” Jace said. “With a sad, lonely businessman killing himself. With a picture of his wife and daughter on his desk. A half empty bottle of booze. Tragic. So fucking tragic.”

  Mr. Strokner closed his eyes and swallowed.

  That was all Jordyn could handle.

  She closed her eyes too.

  The gunshot thundered in the room and it was over. Just like that.

  Jordyn opened her eyes and she turned her head to avoid the grisly sight.

  Everyone started to race around. Miller barked orders but Jordyn couldn’t hear them. Her ears were ringing from the gunshot. Jace wrapped his arms around Jordyn and lifted her. He carried her out of the office and rushed her to his motorcycle

  “Babe, I need you to hold on,” he yelled.

  Jordyn blinked and looked at Jace’s leg. “Is your leg okay?”

  “It’ll be fine. It’ll heal.” Jace looked back at Jordyn and lifted his sunglasses. His blue eyes were gorgeous. “Everything will heal, babe. I promise.”

  Jace started his motorcycle and sped away from the secret building. Away from hell. Away from death. Away from a memory that Jordyn knew she would never forget.

  Once they were back at the clubhouse, Jace tried to help Jordyn off the motorcycle. She swatted him away and climbed off herself. When she turned around, there was a wall of motorcycles behind her. Miller throttled his ride once and then everyone else did the same. The door to the clubhouse opened and more people piled out. More members. Prospects. Even the old ladies as Jace called them.

  Jordyn felt Jace’s hands touch her waist.

  “You did it, babe,” he said into her ear. “You helped us kill that scum. You were perfect.”

  Jordyn turned around and put her arms around Jace’s neck. “What happens now? With him…?”

  “Miller will make the calls,” Jace said. “You have nothing else to worry about. I’m here, right now, and forever. I’ll take my last breath one day loving you and protecting you. And I don’t care if it’s today, tomorrow, or a hundred years from now. I’m going to love you the same… with such fucking intensity… I’m going to give you everything.”

  Jordyn leaned up onto her toes and kissed Jace once. “And I will do the same."

  Behind them the line of motorcycles rumbled. A growling call that was as sweet and even soothing as waves crashing to a shore.

  *

  Nate had what some would call a silent meeting. The club was celebrating their current victory and Nate planned on doing the same damn thing shortly. Blaine had already made a call for some extra entertainment on top of the usual relievers that hung around the clubhouse. That was just fine with Nate. He could use the company and the attention. Hell, he desperately needed the distraction.

  Time was the worst enemy Nate ever encountered. If he didn’t have the MC riding with him, he’d have nothing. He'd be dead. He should have been dead a long time. The scars on his chest were evidence of that.

  Now, the sun was starting to set in front of him. Day turning to night. He thought about the people that were coming home from work. Dinner on the table. Sharing stories of their day with their loved ones and kids. Maybe having a playful fight to get homework done, because it was so important to do…

  That wasn’t Nate’s life. That was never his life. He never did homework. He cruised through school, worked dumb jobs for cash, and bought a motorcycle before he could legally ride it. Nothing stopped Nate. Not life, love, death. Or bullets.

  Nate wasn't dumb though. He knew he wasn’t invincible. Nobody was. He had gotten lucky a few times and nothing more. Eventually time would catch up to him, grab him by the throat, and rip him away. But for right now, with a smoke in his mouth and the blazing colors of the sunset against the ocean, it was good to be alive.

  When Nate saw a white van down under the boardwalk, he cursed under his breath. It looked like the van that Coast Road had been seen using. The van that Chief Jerry said was just used for seafood and nothing more.

  Things lately had gotten so real that there was no way anyone could be trusted. Nate killed the engine on his ride and stepped off. He took a drag of his smoke and walked to get a better view of the white van. Nate noticed a black car waiting next to the van, facing the road. Someone got out of the passenger seat of the car and walked to the back. They looked around, opened their suit jacket to show a gun, and then opened the backdoor.

  Out stepped a man that Nate knew all too well.

  “Holy fuck,” he whispered.

  It was the judge. Everyone called him Judge Jake. A big prick. An asshole who hated the MC. The guy who ignored Jace and left him sit in prison for weeks.

  Out of the van came two men. One from Coast Road MC, and one Nate didn’t know. The guy from Coast Road's crew gave a nod to Judge Jake and then the other man offered his hand. The judge took it and it was obvious a deal was done.

  Nate took a deep drag and then threw his smoke down in the sand. He stepped, twisted his boot, and took a couple steps.

  The guy from Coast Road an
d the unidentified man got back in the white van and drove down the beach until they had a clearing to get back onto the road. Judge Jake walked to the front of his car with his arms crossed. Nate waited to see what happened next.

  He didn't have to wait long.

  Another vehicle pulled up. It was a big green SUV.

  “No fucking way,” he whispered.

  The SUV stopped and the driver’s window went down. Judge Jake walked to the window and said something, then nodded his head. Out of the window came a hand. Judge Jake and the driver shook hands.

  Chief Jerry.

  He was shaking hands with Judge Jake. And Judge Jake just shook hands with the man driving the white van that was moving drugs through Frelen.

  Nate regretted putting his smoke out too soon. This was going to put a damper on the celebration for sure.

  “Motherfuckers,” he said.

  There was one thing in the MC life that always proved true. When one war ended, another waited right behind it. Some were easier than others. If what Nate just saw made any sense at all, this next one… was going to be the most dangerous one yet.

  Nate shook his head and reached for his pack of smokes. He thought about how to tell Miller all this without having the President of Back Down Devil go off the deep end.

  Before Nate could finish his thought, something metal cracked against the side of his head. Everything went dark… but not silent…

  “You’re fucking dead… and so is your entire club…”

  Thanks for reading!

  More of the Back Down Devil MC romance series will be coming soon!

  Nate is under attack… and so is the entire club. His head might hurt, but he can’t forget what he saw. There’s betrayal in the air and it shakes the MC right to its very core. As table meetings heat up, so does Nate’s eyes for a woman who doesn’t belong trapped in the middle of a war. But she might be his only chance to survive…

  Stay up to date with London Casey & Karolyn James!

  www.KarolynWrites.com

  @KarolynWrites

  https://www.facebook.com/KarolynJamesAuthor

  Stay up to date with Karolyn’s mailing list!

  tinyurl.com/KJSignup

  This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real locales are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  First electronic edition February 2015

  Copyright © 2014 by London Casey

  All rights reserved, including the right of reproduction in whole or in part of any form.