Free Crash and Burn by London Casey Page B

on, bro. This isn ’ t war here. ”
    “ Yes,
that ’ s right, ” Strokner said. “ There is no war here. ” He stepped forward as Landon
drew down and stepped back to Gaige. “ But
there is war all around us. Wars you men fight and wars that I fight. I think
that ’ s what makes us both
so intriguing, isn ’ t it?
Your leather and your motorcycles are your suit and tie, if you can believe it. ”
    “ What ’ s wrong? ” Gaige asked. “ I
was under the impression that once you received your promise, our relationship
would be settled. ”
    “ Oh, the
eyes? ” Strokner asked. “ The eyes … they were a wonderful tribute, Gaige. Now, tell
me, did you do that yourself? ”
    “ Yes. ”
    “ That ’ s amazing. Such dedication to my
beautiful daughter. I bet if she were alive you ’ d
have ended up with her instead of her best friend. ”
    Landon now sensed Gaige getting tense. If Gaige lost his
cool, there would be no stopping whatever would come next. Landon felt like a
bomb ready to go off as it was.
    “ If we
are all at war, ” Landon
said, “ then why are we
wasting time like this? Shouldn ’ t
we both be fighting our wars? ”
    “ We are, ” Strokner said. “ And we need each other right
now. ”
    “ How so? ”
    “ I ’ ve got eyes in a jar in my
office, ” Strokner said. “ Eyes that could be traced back
to a body …”
    “ Don ’ t you fucking blackmail me, ” Gaige said. “ I ’ ll
fucking tear everything apart in your life …”
    Strokner simply smiled. The man with the machine gun made a
move toward Gaige and Landon had to spring into action. He threw himself back
and slammed into the guy, knocking him down. Landon spun and smashed his gun
off the man ’ s face before
the man could shoot him. The dumb fuck still pulled the trigger though and sent
bullets spraying into the air and into the windshield of the SUV. Landon turned
and saw the deer in the headlights look on Strokner ’ s face. This idiot was going to
end up getting killed. Landon grabbed Strokner and saved his life by getting
him behind the SUV. When the gunfire stopped, Landon emerged to find Gaige with
his gun at the man ’ s head.
    “ I ’ m going to fucking kill everyone
soon, ” Gaige said.
    “ He ’ s right, ” Landon said to Strokner.
    They both walked along the SUV and then Landon saw the
driver holding his shoulder, crying in pain. Two bullets had gone through the
windshield, one hitting the driver.
    Just perfect.
    At least it wasn ’ t
a bullet from a Back Down Devil gun.
    “ Holy
fuck, ” Strokner yelled. He looked
out the man with the machine gun. “ You
dumb fuck. ” Strokner looked
at Gaige. “ Kill him. Right
now. And I ’ ll pretend none
of this happened. ”
    Landon pointed his gun and took a single shot. Right between
the eyes.
    Done.
    Gaige and Strokner looked at Landon. They didn ’ t quite understand just how
great that fucking felt to do.
    “ Now
that that ’ s taken care of, ” Strokner said, “ can we all calm down and fucking
talk? ”
    “ Sure, ” Gaige said.
    “ Yeah, ” Landon said.
    “ Good.
Now whether you guys realize it or not, my life is pretty cutthroat. Everyone
wants a piece of me and is ready to take a knife and ram it into my back. I ’ ve had employees steal
information and try to mess with me. I ’ ve
had deals fall through because pockets were lined without me looking. It ’ s honestly nonstop. I ’ m envious of you guys because
when there ’ s a problem you
can address it the proper way. You can use your fists, or your weapons. That ’ s what I need from you. ”
    “ Our
fists and weapons? ” Landon
asked.
    Strokner nodded. “ I ’ m at the helm of this land deal.
I can easily get this land from your group. Nothing is ever secure. Do I want
the fucking piece of land? No. But there ’ s
others who do. There ’ s a
guy named Charles that ’ s sniffing
around like the fat piece of shit he is, trying to swipe the deal behind my
back. If he does