Free Crash and Burn by London Casey Page A

let him look into the eyes of the guy that killed his daughter. ”
    “ What
does that mean? ” Landon
asked.
    Nate put his hands to his eyes and made a POP sound. “ Took out his eyes. ”
    “ Damn, ” Landon said. “ That ’ s sick, brother. ”
    “ Yeah, ” Gaige said. “ I sent him the eyes to prove we
were on his side and to calm him from his plan to buy all that land to fuck us
over. He called me and said he needs help with something. ”
    “ Calling
in a favor, ” Miller said.
    “ This
guy ’ s so fucking rich, ” Blaine said, “ he should give us the money for
Jonesy. ”
    “ That ’ s what I was thinking, ” Miller said.
    “ No, ” Landon said. “ No favors and debts and
bullshit. It ’ ll never end. ”
    “ Which
is what Gaige said, ” Miller
added.
    “ Hey, I
thought by sending this guy those eyeballs it would scare him a little. Make
him realize we mean business. ”
    “ Now he
wants to enjoy our business, huh? ” Landon asked.
    “ That ’ s why we ’ re meeting him, ” Miller said. “ I want you
and Gaige to meet him. I need to go meet with Jonsey and I ’ m taking Nate and Blaine with
me. Griffin, Shay, and Jace are at the hospital to check on Erik. I want
everyone to be in pairs or groups, got it? Just in case these Eight Under
assholes pull anymore shit. ”
    “ Okay, ” Landon said. “ Let ’ s get moving then. ”
    Gaige nodded and the group broke up. They all walked outside
and got on their motorcycles. The sun was high, the sky was clear and blue, and
it was a perfect day for hitting the open road and settling scores. It was the
greatest life Landon could ever imagine living … yet in the back of his mind he thought about Avery. He regretted not fucking
her last night.
    The roar of Landon ’ s
engine shut his mind up, which was nice.
    The crew moved out of the lot, following Miller. When it
came to split up, they all waved and were set off on their own missions.
    Landon caught up alongside Gaige and the two rode through
Frelen. Judging by the quiet roads Gaige was heading toward, Landon knew they
were meeting Strokner in a secret location. It made sense since there was no
purpose in meeting such a wealthy businessman at one of his buildings. Back
Down Devil and suits and ties really didn ’ t
mix well.
    Sure enough, about twenty minutes away there was a long,
black SUV on the side of the road. The windows were tinted black and for a
moment, Landon scanned their surroundings wondering if it was some kind of
setup. He ’ d been around
long enough to know there were no such things as friends in this life, just
enemies.
    They stopped in front of the SUV and when Gaige reached for
his gun, Landon followed suit. The driver of the SUV put up his hands and said
something. The driver side back door opened and someone got out and rushed
around to the other side. He opened the passenger side back door and Landon
watched a pair of shiny black shoes hit the dirt. A man stepped into the open,
adjusting his suit jacket.
    “ It ’ s good, ” Gaige said to Landon.
    They lowered their weapons as Strokner walked toward them.
    “ Aren ’ t we on edge? ” Strokner asked with a grin.
    “ It ’ s the life, ” Gaige said.
    Strokner opened his suit jacket and Landon lifted his gun
again. He took a step and ignored Gaige ’ s
plea to stop. Strokner seemed to not fear the gun, which pissed Landon off. It
didn ’ t matter how rich a
man was, a bullet could still rip through any man ’ s
head and take his life. Strokner took a cigar from his suit jacket and lit it.
    “ Would
you like one? ” he asked
Landon.
    “ No, ” Landon said.
    “ Can you
perhaps not point a firearm at me? ”
    Landon heard a metal click sound and turned his head to see
someone at the front of Strokner ’ s
SUV with a small machine gun.
    “ Christ, ” Gaige said. “ Can we all just take a deep
fucking breath for a second? ”
    “ I ’ m fine, ” Strokner said.
    “ Landon, ” Gaige said. “ Come