Crash and Burn

by London Casey

  By the time Jerry arrived back to let Landon free, the man was dead.

  “Holy fuck,” Jerry said when he saw the blood.

  “What did you think I would do?” Landon asked. “Poison him?”

  “Look at this fucking mess,” Jerry said. “What am I…”

  Landon walked to the door and waited. Jerry opened it and Landon grabbed the chief’s hand and put the bloody shank into his hand.

  “Thanks,” Landon said. “But I have to get going.”

  “Christ,” Jerry said. “Let me sneak you out of here.”

  “Hurry.”

  Jerry took Landon to the back hall of the station and pointed to an emergency exit door.

  “That will sound…,” Landon started to say.

  “It’s disabled,” Jerry said. “Get the fuck out of here.”

  Landon stepped out into the darkness and made it down the side steps when he saw a light shining at him.

  It was Miller on his motorcycle.

  “You did it,” Miller said.

  “He’s dead,” Landon said. “No big deal.”

  Miller pointed to another motorcycle. It was Landon’s.

  “How the fuck…?”

  “Don’t worry about it,” Miller said. “Look at me. You’ve done a lot for the MC. What happened today was a little out of line, but you paid your dues for it. I appreciate that, Landon. I get it, you love that woman. That’s good. But don’t let your heart or cock fuck with your mind, okay?”

  “It’s done,” Landon said. “Okay? Let’s move on. We need to take care of the Strokner problem and then get a hold of Jonesy and find some revenge for Erik.”

  “Half of that is already in motion.”

  “Fuck,” Landon said. “You sent Avery out there without me?”

  “It’s okay,” Miller said. “I talked to her…”

  Landon heard enough. He ran to his motorcycle, put on his helmet, and was riding before he could take a full breath of air. He couldn’t picture Avery out there alone with some horny business guy. Landon needed to be there. He needed to be close to make sure she didn’t get hurt.

  As Landon sped along the dark roads of Frelen, he heard someone next to him. The faster Landon rode, the faster Miller kept with him. There was no way for Landon to get really close to Avery, not without blowing the cover. Miller cut toward Landon and motioned to pull to the side of the road. Landon told himself he needed to trust Miller and the MC, so he followed Miller to the side of the road.

  They pulled off into the woods and hid their motorcycles.

  “What is this?” Landon asked.

  “About a hundred feet up the road is where Shay is going to stop the car.”

  The rumble of a motorcycle echoed and Landon watched the silhouette of the motorcycle appear and pull to the side of the road.

  It was Griffin.

  He hurried off his motorcycle and dropped a bag to the ground.

  “Griffin,” Landon said, “what’s happening?”

  “It’s all set,” Griffin said. “I barely had time to do it. Charles took one look at Avery and demanded she not even work. It was beautiful.”

  Landon made fists.

  What if this asshole was touching her?

  “Where are they now?” Landon asked.

  “Don’t worry, bro. Shay is driving and it’s all good.”

  “I need her here, now,” Landon said.

  Griffin handed Landon a small black box with a button in the middle. “Here. You press the button then. Obviously make sure that Shay and Avery are out of the car and far enough away. Got it?”

  “Yeah. Thanks.”

  The three stood in silence and waited. For Landon, each second felt like an hour. There was no way they could blow the cover on this so there was a chance that Charles was doing more to Avery than necessary.

  A set of headlights appeared in the distance and Landon’s body stiffened.

  “This is it,” Miller said.

  “Just wait and watch,” Griffin said.

  The car suddenly pulled to the side of the road, slightly turned. Shay jumped out of the car with a gun in his hand. Then came the sounds of screaming. Avery screaming. Charles screaming. Landon took a step and Griffin put a hand out.

  “She’s fine, man,” he whispered. “She’s playing along.”

  Shay pulled Avery from the car as she screamed.

  “I’m taking her!” Shay yelled. “The whore is mine, got that?”

  “Fine,” Charles voice said. “Take her. I’ll call someone to get me. Christ, man, just put the gun away.”

  “Fuck you, fat man,” Shay said.

  Shay backed away with his arm around Avery. He then turned and pushed at Avery, still holding the gun out. Avery ran toward Landon. Shay was right behind her, and when he caught up, he grabbed her hand, and pulled her faster.

  “Do it,” Griffin said.

  “Wait,” Landon said. “They’re not…”

  “I said fucking do it,” Griffin bellowed.

  Landon pressed the button.

  On his end, nothing happened. There was no click or pop sound.

  The car, however, instantly blew up. Landon watched a billowing fireball lift into the sky. Then it turned into a black cloud, matching the night sky.

  Landon dropped the black box and ran to Avery. They hugged and he scooped her up.

  “All good, brother,” Shay said, punching Landon as he kept running by.

  Landon squeezed Avery tight, inhaling the scent of her hair and feeling her grip on him.

  “What did he do to you?” Landon asked.

  “Nothing,” Avery said. “I kept him on a string.”

  “Fuck, Avery, I love you.”

  “I love you,” Avery said.

  Landon put her feet on the ground and stared at her. The car on fire casted dancing shadows on Avery’s beautiful face.

  “You killed that other man, didn’t you?” Avery asked.

  “Yes,” Landon said. “It’s done. He and Bry will disappear forever and nobody will care. You’re safe now, Avery.”

  “I’ve been safe from the moment I landed in your arms, Landon.”

  “You did amazing for the MC,” Landon said.

  “I did it for you.”

  “Let’s get out of here. I want to take you to the clubhouse and fuck you.”

  “That’s the best thing I’ve heard all night.”

  Miller and Griffin stayed to clean up the scene a little and get Shay to his motorcycle. Then they all came to the clubhouse to celebrate being alive. And now, they were at the table.

  The door opened and Erik walked in.

  One by one, the guys all stood and cheered.

  The table was finally going to be complete again.

  “What a fucking sight,” Blaine said.

  “Welcome back, brother,” Miller said.

  Erik walked to his chair and pulled it out. He stared at it and nodded.

  Landon noted how somber Erik’s face and eyes were. The guy was more beaten up on the inside. That was the hardest shit to deal with.

  “I have to admit,” Blaine said, “this is starting to make me hard. Seeing this. You know?’

  “No, nobody knows what the fuck that means,” Shay said. “Just sit down.”

  The table laughed and they all took their seats.

  Miller looked around the table for a few seconds. “To say it first… we welcome back to our brother, Erik.”

  Everyone clapped and whistled again. Blaine started to bang his beer bottle on the table and soon everyone else did to. Miller waved his hands.

  “Now that we’re back together,” Miller said, “we can finish something someone else started. But I’ll get to that in a second. I want to talk about tonight. We voted on a favor for Strokner. That’s all done now. The impact on the club directly isn’t much right now. What it does is provide protection to our land. I know we don’t want to share space with this guy, but for now, what’s done is done. I have to give a hand to La
ndon’s woman, Avery, for playing along perfectly.”

  Landon nodded. “Thanks. I appreciate everyone putting their trust in Avery. She belongs here. With us.”

  “She’s fucking beautiful,” Blaine said.

  “Not going to happen,” Landon said.

  “Back to business,” Miller said. “Now with that behind us, we are going to find the group that tried to take one of our brothers out. Only Erik didn’t die. He fought and beat death. We’re close. I can feel it.”

  “Have we heard from Jonesy?” Landon asked.

  “We have some information,” Griffin said. “I expect more soon.”

  “We will get this,” Miller said. “For you, Erik.”

  “Thanks,” Erik said. “Thank you all for welcoming me back. But I want to get out there and do something.”

  “Just hang,” Miller said. “Rest and recover. Enjoy it.”

  Miller looked around the table again and then called the meeting.

  While everyone stuck around to talk, Landon slipped away and charged out of the room. Nothing mattered more than getting to Avery.

  He unlocked the door to his room, but Avery wasn’t in the bed. It took a couple seconds for Landon to pick up on the sound of water running. Then he noticed the clothing leading to the bathroom. The pants. The shirt. The bra. the panties.

  “Yes,” he whispered.

  He locked the door.

  Landon walked to the bathroom and slowly opened the door. Steam hit him and he found Avery standing at the shower with the door open, one hand under the water. His eyes studied the amazing curves of her body. He knew he was taking a chance at scaring her, but he didn’t give a fuck.

  He touched her hips and said, “Naked without me… is unacceptable.”

  Avery jumped and then she smiled. “I wanted to clean up…”

  “I’ll be the judge of that,” Landon said. “Turn that fucking water off.”

  Avery turned the water off and stood before Landon, fully nude. He touched her face and then moved down to her shoulders. His fingers traced lines to her breasts where he cupped her. His thumbs flicked her hard nipples and she jumped. Landon slid his hands down her stomach, feeling her fast breathing. Finally, he cupped her ass with his left hand and allowed his right hand between her legs. His middle and ring fingers cut between her wet lips and he slipped his fingers in her warm, welcoming body.

  “Mmm…,” Avery groaned and gripped Landon’s shoulders.

  “Still tight,” he said with a smile.

  Landon lifted Avery and carried her to the bed. He dropped her on it and couldn’t get his clothes off fast enough. To make things hotter, Avery slipped a hand between her legs and began to play.

  By the time Landon was naked, he was hard and throbbing. He climbed the bed, put his hands to Avery’s legs, spread her wide, and offered himself. This time, there was nothing gentle. He thrust hard, fast, and deep, stealing Avery’s breath, forcing her back to arch, and causing her to claw at his chest so hard that she drew bloodHe fucked Avery with all the passion he had to offer. He lowered his body to hers and held her. He actually held her as he fucked her. Their mouths came together, again and again, the kissing as hot as the sex.

  Avery locked her ankles behind Landon and kept him moving, even when he wanted to slow it down so he didn’t come too quickly. But he couldn’t help himself once he felt Avery clenching at him as she came. It was too much for Landon to hold back so he let it all go. He drove deep inside her and held there as he came. His mouth found the comfort of Avery’s mouth and they kissed for a long time.

  When they finally stopped kissing and Landon pulled back for some air, he stared at Avery and fell for her again. Avery put a hand to Landon’s chest to feel his heartbeat.

  “It’s racing,” she whispered.

  “The only time a woman has done that to me,” Landon said.

  Avery smiled and pulled with her feet, forcing Landon to move while he was still inside her. “I’m still…”

  “Fuck, sweetheart, you have no idea what I’m going to do to you tonight,” Landon said.

  He wrapped his arms around Avery and moved from the bed, making sure his cock didn’t leave her body. Avery cried out and bit at Landon’s shoulder.

  “We’re going to start in the shower and end up in bed,” Landon said. “Don’t plan on walking at all tomorrow.”

  “I’ve got nowhere to go,” Avery said. “I’m right where I want to be.”

  Landon kissed her and walked to the bathroom. He caught the reflection of himself carrying Avery’s perfect, naked body. He then saw the smile on his face.

  He never knew being happy could feel so good.

  twenty-six.

  Miller sat with Griffin as they reviewed the bullshit stuff of the MC. The dues owed and paid. The bills and expenses for the business. All the normal stuff that needed to be done on a weekly basis.

  “It would have been nice to take money from Strokner,” Griffin remarked as he flipped through a notebook that contained the real financial documents for the MC.

  “Money always leads to trouble,” Miller said. “You of all people should know that, Griffin. I don’t want to be traced to that asshole anymore than we already are.”

  “What’s the plan with him? You think he’ll go away?”

  Miller drank from his beer. “Probably not. But time will give us our options there. I’m getting a little pissed off at Jonesy. Erik is going to be here any minute and we have dick to offer him.”

  “I know,” Griffin said. “I have two calls into him and two calls into close associates. He’s digging deep for us on this. It has me wondering just exactly who tried to take out Shay.”

  “Yeah,” Miller said. “Seems something bigger is on the horizon.”

  A knocked sounded at the door.

  “Open it,” Miller called.

  The door opened and one of the bar backs stood there, knowing better than to cross the threshold to the meeting room.

  “What?” Miller asked.

  “There was a package outside.”

  “Give it to the front,” Miller said.

  “It’s addressed to you, Miller,” the guy said.

  “Go get it,” Miller said to Griffin.

  Griffin went to the door and grabbed the small box. He then slammed the door on the guy’s face and shook his head.

  “Fucking assholes,” he whispered. “They’ll do anything to get a peek in here.”

  Miller smiled. “It’s where the cool guys hang.”

  “Fuck that,” Griffin said. “They don’t get it.”

  “Sit down.”

  Griffin tossed the box to Miller and sat down. “Expecting something?”

  “No,” Miller said.

  Miller looked at the return address and raised an eyebrow. “Well, this is interesting…”

  “What is it?” Griffin asked.

  “The return address just says Jonesy.”

  “What?”

  Miller took out a knife and cut the tape on the box. He opened the box slowly and at the last second, he realized he should have maybe done it outside. It could have been a fucking bomb for all he knew.

  But it wasn’t a bomb.

  “Jesus fucking Christ,” Miller said as he pushed the box away.

  The box tipped over and out rolled a severed human finger.

  “Shit,” Griffin yelled as he stood up. “What the fuck…”

  Miller stared at the finger and then curled his lip. “Motherfucker.”

  Miller reached for the finger and lifted it off the table. There was a big gold ring on the finger. On the center of the ring was a big letter J.

  “Whose is it?” Griffin asked.

  Miller showed Griffin the ring. “Take a fucking guess.”

  “Christ. That’s… that’s Jonesy’s finger.”

  Miller nodded.

  This was bad.

  Really bad.

  twenty-seven.

  Erik looked in the mirror at himself. A lot of
the cuts were healed, the scabs either picked off or washed off. He touched his face and felt the bumps of the fresh scars. The scars wouldn’t peel away. They would be there forever as jagged flesh.

  He looked liked shit.

  Erik closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

  When I open my eyes, they’ll be gone. It’s not that bad…

  Erik opened his eyes and the scars were still there. His arms were still achy and his right leg hurt most of the day, leaving him with a limp. He hadn’t been able to ride a motorcycle in weeks and according to Miller, his job was to rest and relax while the rest of the MC was out there, doing something.

  Rest meant nothing to Erik. He wanted to be on his motorcycle and he wanted to be out there, doing something. He wanted to fight. He wanted to kill. He needed to get all this anger out of his body before something bad happened.

  Erik reached down and felt for his gun. He lifted the gun and looked at its reflection in the mirror. Then he put the gun under his chin.

  One fucking pull…

  Erik’s pointer finger could end all the pain. End the need to stare at the scars on his face. End the wondering and anger of who did this to him.

  Erik’s hand shook as he tempted himself to do it.

  If he committed suicide, Erik wasn’t sure what would happen to his body. Would he buried in his leather cut? Would he be honored as a member of the MC? Would he be laid to rest with the rest of his fallen brothers?

  “Fuck,” Erik whispered.

  He moved the gun from his chin and put it back on the sink.

  He’d been like this for over an hour now. Debating whether live or die. If he was dead, he would feel nothing. If he was alive, he felt like death. The cycle spun inside his body and soul ever since he woke up in a fucking hospital and pieced together what had happened.

  Erik turned on the cold water and splashed some on his face. He calmed himself with a reminder that he was going to meet with Miller and Griffin to talk about what they knew. Erik reminded himself of what Landon had done for him. He fought three rounds in one night - even taking down a guy who kept his rings on - all to pay for the service of Jonesy to get revenge for Erik.

  As much as Erik wanted to kill himself and finish what someone else started, he needed to be respectful to his brothers. Erik tucked the gun away and left his bathroom and his room. He walked the hall slowly, listening to the sounds of the clubhouse. At the meeting room, he paused and then opened the doors. Entering, he found Miller and Griffin looking pissed off and flustered.