by London Casey
“Better than the last time I saw you.”
“Time’s up, right?”
Jace stepped forward, but Miller shot an arm out and stopped him. “I don’t think we’re here to hash out old feelings. You had bodies?”
“Yeah. Haven’t called it in yet. Wanted you guys to see it first.”
“Why?” Miller asked.
“Execution hits,” the chief said. “One bullet between the eyes. Hands tied behind their backs. Their throats were slit, but it happened after they were shot.”
“Why’s that?”
“Because of where the blood is,” Chief Jerry said. “None on their shirts. It's only on the ground. Come on, take a look.”
The chief walked off the road and everyone followed willingly except for Jace. He kept his eyes open and looking. It bothered him to think for a second that the chief would be involved in anything crooked, but then again, Back Down Devil had been letting the club pay him off for years. He even married his wife with the money the club gave him. And every high end baby item came from the MC.
When they stopped walking, they all looked down. Sure enough, there were two dead bodies on the ground. Everything was just as the chief described.
“Fuck,” Griffin said. “That’s hardcore right there. That’s not what we’re used to seeing.”
“Agreed,” Miller said. “That’s not a club thing. We didn’t do it.”
“I know that,” Chief Jerry said. “But it’s an outside thing.”
“Looks that way,” Jace said.
“No. It is. Want to get really fucking pissed off?”
“Sure,” Gaige said.
Chief Jerry took a pen from his pocket and bent down. He used it to open the jackets on both guys. He poked around and baggies of white powder fell from their inside pockets.
“No fucking way,” Jace said.
“Drugs,” Miller said.
“Yeah,” Chief Jerry said. He stood up, tucked the pen away, and put his hands to his hips. “Now, if I call this in legit, what do you think will happen?”
“It’ll probably be a big investigation,” Blaine said.
“Coast Road,” Jace said. “I fucking told you about this. They’re dealing, man. Right here. Look at this. Someone took these guys out…”
“Not my fucking problem,” Chief Jerry said. “Here’s what I’m going to do. I’m going to take the baggies and get rid of them. That way this is just a double homicide. Since it’s near the edge of Frelen and connects with a nice pile of shithole people not that far away, it’ll be a simple murder. I’ll send some of my guys into that shithole to poke around. They’ll find nothing and life moves forward.”
“So why get us involved?” Gaige asked.
“Simple,” the chief said. “I want this cleaned up. I’m not letting drugs into my town. This is… my town.”
“It’s our town,” Miller said. “Don’t forget the silent justice we provide for you, Chief.”
“Fuck you, Miller. My badge. My gun. My town.”
“You know,” Miller said, “we could take care of that pain in the ass wife of yours… and that whining shithead kid…”
“Go ahead and threaten me,” Chief Jerry said. “We’ve done this dance for years, Miller. You push, I pull. I push, you pull. The same bullshit. I know enough to bury you forever.”
“We could bury you a whole lot faster,” Gaige said.
“So we have a deal then,” the chief said.
Jace watched this all go down. It was cold and tense. Nothing calm and enjoyable anymore. Jace grabbed one of the baggies and tucked it into his pocket.
He turned and started to walk away.
“Good seeing you, Jace,” the chief yelled. “Hope to see you soon.”
Jace stopped. He wondered what would happen if he punched the chief, just once, right in the face. Before Jace could determine the risk versus reward, Blaine was next to him.
“Let it go,” Blaine whispered. “He’s got shit on us. He’s just afraid. We’ll fix this.”
Back Down Devil got back on their motorcycles and started back toward the clubhouse. The ride was fast and Jace’s thoughts were even faster. He knew what he saw and now it was proven true.
Coast Road MC was dealing smack too close to Frelen. They were probably using those shitty back roads to get into the rundown towns and then traveling the interstate for distribution. No matter what, it was complete bullshit. Even if drugs weren’t being sold directly in Frelen, it was still something Back Down Devil didn’t stand for.
Once they arrived back at the clubhouse, Miller jumped off his ride and put his hands out, instructing Jace and the guys to stay on their rides.
“We need to talk about this,” Miller said. “This is serious shit.”
“I said it,” Jace said. “That day I got taken in. Coast Road was getting a delivery from that boat.”
“Then I guess we start cruising along the coast,” Miller said.
“Right into enemy territory,” Griffin said. “Again.”
“We have to make it known we know,” Gaige said. “They won’t know how we know. And if they find out about those bodies, it’s going to rattle them.”
“We’re trading one war for another,” Griffin said.
“What’s the choice then?” Miller asked. “Tell me, Griffin.”
“There is no choice,” Blaine said. “I think Jace is right on with this. There’s a connection between the drugs, Coast Road, that judge, and Strokner.”
“Easy now,” Miller said. “One piece at a time.”
Miller turned and walked away and the rest of the guys followed. Blaine patted Jace on the back and kept moving.
“You know,” Gaige said, when he and Jace were alone outside, “you took a hit for me, man. To protect Emily from Strokner. He wanted her. He wanted to do to her what’s happening now to Jordyn.”
“Yeah. And you’re okay with it.”
“I’m not okay with it,” Gaige said. “But I have to fix what’s wrong. And I have to keep my club in order.”
“All this my talk,” Jace said. “Last time I checked, your patch still read Vice President.”
Gaige smirked. “Yeah, it does. I trust you, Jace. When you say something, I listen. You brought Jordyn to us as though we could use her. But then I saw the way you looked at her. That’s the way I look at Emily, bro. You get that?”
“I’m not having this conversation,” Jace said. “I just don’t want her to get hurt. I’m sick of innocent people getting hurt. After seeing so much shit in prison. Shit on the street. Fuck, this Strokner thing started because his daughter was somewhere she didn't realize she shouldn't be. I’m done with it, Gaige.”
Gaige touched Jace’s shoulder. “You’re only done with it because you found something else to care about. There’s nothing wrong with that. Just like you didn’t hurt the judge’s kid. You could have though, right?”
“He was already getting the shit beat out of him, man. The work was being done for me.”
“Fuck that,” Gaige said. “You didn’t do it because you had something else to care for. Dude, it’s not a bad thing.”
“And how does it end?” Jace asked. “Tell me. How does it fucking end? With us getting sent away? Getting killed? And you want to drag Emily through that?”
“She’s here because she wants to be here. And she knows I’ll give her every second and breath I have.” Gaige let go of Jace’s shoulder. “I trust in what you say, Jace. We’re going to find out what the fuck is going on and take care of it. We’ve been through a lot and I'm sorry it’s not slowing down. But when you're the most feared and the best at what you do, there’s always going to be someone wanting us dead.”
Gaige started to walk away. Jace gritted his teeth. “I did it for the same reasons I am now.”
Gaige stopped. “What?”
“What I did for Emily. I couldn’t imagine her being ripped away and taken advantage of by Strokner. I knew she meant something to you. But now I have to sit
back and watch Jordyn walk away right into his arms.”
“It hurts, doesn’t it?”
“What if I say it does?”
“Then I’d say you care more in your heart than your dumb mind will admit.”
“I promised to protect her, Gaige.”
“So then protect her,” Gaige said. “And thank you, for what you did with Emily. You saved her, bro. I trust you will keep Jordyn safe.”
The night settled in and darkness swept over. Jace stood outside alone for a while. He had no interest in drinking. No need to shoot pool, make jokes, or even fucking laugh. He wasn't even sure he wanted to see Jordyn.
Jace forced himself to go into the clubhouse. As he passed the bar, he was handed two cold beers. His plan was to sit and talk with Jordyn. Tell her what had just happened with Gaige. It couldn’t hurt to open up a little more. Tell her he cared about her. Maybe that would get her to stop this. To refuse to go back to Strokner. The only way he knew he could protect her was if she was right there with him at the clubhouse.
Jordyn was asleep on top of the covers in the same clothes from before. She looked beautiful with her hair sprawled out behind her. Like a peaceful angel resting on the devil’s bed.
Jace put the beers on the nightstand and stepped out of his boots. He reached down to scoop her up and then climbed onto bed, kicking the covers down. Gently, he placed Jordyn back on the bed and covered her. He walked back to the door and turned off the main light. He sat down on the bed next to Jordyn and turned on a small lamp next to him. He grabbed a beer and twisted the cap off. He stared ahead, thinking.
I care about her. I shouldn’t. I don’t want to. I want her to be safe. Happy. Gone from this goddamn clubhouse. And gone from this goddamn life.
Jace looked over at Jordyn and for the first time since getting taken to prison, he feared for his own life. If the alleged evidence against him was actually brought to light, it was all over for him.
Jace squeezed his eyes shut.
He couldn’t face this right now.
When he opened his eyes, Jordyn rolled over. She threw an arm around him and smiled with a sighed. She climbed up him and put her head to his chest.
“You made it back,” she whispered.
“Always,” Jace whispered.
He kissed the top of Jordyn’s head and finished the beer. He dropped the empty bottle to the floor and reached for the second one.
Jordyn was making it impossible for Jace not to want to spend forever with her. Something had to be done.
fourteen.
Jordyn stood in the mirror in the same bathroom in the same building. This time tears built up in her eyes. She wiped them away and let out a shaky sigh. For the past three nights she spent her time in Jace's bed … his body against hers, her body rocking at him, taking, accepting, Jace eager to love her body. And, yes, Jace eager to fuck her when she needed it most.
But each morning, Jace gave her a ride to her apartment where she dressed and got ready for another day of hell with Mr. Strokner.
Mr. Strokner had been eerily quiet and normal for the past few days, but that changed this morning. In the hall, Mr. Strokner stopped Jordyn and put his lips to her ear.
“I want those panties… meeting at two… I’m going to have those panties with me during the entire meeting. And you’ll be there too.”
Jordyn wanted to throw up. But she managed to nod and move on with her morning and early afternoon. Her stomach couldn’t handle lunch and right now, her emotions couldn’t handle standing in this damn bathroom to take her panties off.
But that’s what she needed to do.
Jordyn shut her eyes and managed to take her panties off without looking at her reflection in the mirror. She balled the panties up in her hand and squeezed them tight, wishing they would disappear.
She then left the bathroom and walked to the conference room.
Mr. Strokner had three private conference rooms on his floor. They were for the most important and pressing business matters. This meeting was taking place in the conference room closest to his office.
Jordyn checked Mr. Strokner’s office first and he wasn’t there. She found him in the conference room, already setup and waiting for her.
“There she is,” Mr. Strokner whispered. “All mine.”
“Hello, sir,” Jordyn said.
“Do you have something for me?”
“Yes, sir.”
Jordyn opened her hand and showed Mr. Strokner her panties. They were all black with a lacy trim. Mr. Strokner grabbed them and smiled. He smelled them, just like he had done with the others. He squeezed them tight in his left hand for a few seconds before slipping them into his pocket.
“I want you here for this,” Mr. Strokner said. “I want you to observe and then I want you to ask a question when it’s over. If it’s the right question, you’ll be rewarded. If it’s the wrong question, you’ll be punished.”
Punished?
Jordyn had never heard the word punished used before by Mr. Strokner. Hearing it and seeing the look on his face when he said it horrified her. But she kept her composure and simply stood in place and looked at Mr. Strokner.
“I can see you understand me,” he said. “Now, please go to the end of the table and sit.”
Jordyn went to the last chair and sat down. A few minutes later, Mr. Strokner’s personal secretary brought three men into the room. They were all dressed in suits, carrying briefcases. They looked very nervous to be near Mr. Strokner. Bold and maybe even a little callous, Mr. Strokner refused to stand to greet the men.
The business meeting got right down to business. The men started to rattle off numbers, interest rates, and something about special financing provided by the county and even on a state level.
Mr. Strokner laughed. “Financing? Do you know who I am?”
“Well, Mr. Strokner, if there were an issue with funds being tied in other investments…”
“I can finance myself and half this damn town. If I wanted the land, I would take it,” Mr. Strokner said with a cocky smirk.
“We feel that the problem will only grow,” one of the men said. “It’s risky and we need the right man to make it happen. That man is you. We have the muscle and manpower to support you.”
“I love how I’m going to steal land, but yet I have to purchase it.”
“Well, for all legality purposes,” another man said. “You could understand that. We’re not the outlaws here.”
Everyone shared a laugh. When Mr. Strokner stopped laughing, the men hurried to do the same. Jordyn realized then that Mr. Strokner was enjoying this power he had over the these men.
“We’re all working together here,” one of the man said.
“Bullshit,” Mr. Strokner yelled. “You need me. You want me. I have the money. I have the power and the lawyers you don’t. You’re afraid to take those guys on."
“It’s not the image we are concerned about,” another man said. “It’s a long history. Plenty of respectable people have taken up with them in one way or another.”
“Just like me?”
“You’re on a different mindset, Mr. Strokner.”
“That I am.” Mr. Strokner made a fist and slammed it to the table. “But I have no interest in getting involved. I prefer to hold my position. Let them have it. They know I’m sniffing. I’ve made that very clear. That alone is enough fear, correct?”
The room was quiet for a few seconds.
“Well, it certainly helps…”
“And because it doesn’t cost me a dime, it’s a win for all of us,” Mr. Strokner said. “Right now, gentlemen…” Mr. Strokner stood and adjusted his tie. “Right now, I have some pressing matters at hand here. There are several business propositions on my table that I cannot ignore. This, sadly, isn’t one of them. I don’t like doing business with cowards. I'm sorry.”
“We're not cowards…”
“You are. You can leave now.”
The men stood. One of the men crept clos
er to Mr. Strokner. “This isn’t right. You know it isn’t right.”
“But it doesn’t affect me. This is your problem, Steve. Not mine. Maybe it'll become mine. But right now, I’m going to hold out. Take it easy, guys.”
The men left the room and Jordyn hurried to her feet. She really wasn’t sure what she had just been part of.
Mr. Strokner stood and shook his head. He then pointed to the door and told Jordyn to lock it. He was closer to the door, but he had the power so people listened when he spoke.
Jordyn hated it. So much. She locked the door and then paused for a few seconds, preparing herself for Mr. Strokner to touch her. But he didn’t. Instead, he leaned close to her and whispered, “You’re so loyal. I like that. Now come sit with me, so we can have a meeting ourselves.”
Jordyn nodded. She turned and sat down at the table again. Mr. Strokner put his briefcase on the table next to her and opened it. He pulled out another folder. He then reached into his pocket and took out Jordyn’s panties. He smelled them again before tossing them into the briefcase. He closed it and opened the folder in front of him.
“Those men are desperate for me to purchase a piece of land,” Mr. Strokner said. “Do you know why?”
“No, sir.”
He took out the listing of the land with a detailed picture of it. He pushed the folder away and turned the paper for Jordyn to see.
“Looks like a serene, quiet piece of land in Frelen away from everything, right?”
“Sure.”
“Other people see it as a huge opportunity to develop for commercial use and turn massive profits. They want me to buy this. But not develop it.”
“So you can turn it when the market stabilizes?” Jordyn asked.
“Oh, look at that beautiful mind of yours working. That would be a nice play, wouldn’t it? Grab it cheap, hold it for a few years, let it sit on my books, write off the taxes and other measly expenses, and then develop it, sure. The problem is that it’s not for sale. Someone owns it.”
“Who?”
“Back Down Devil MC,” Mr. Strokner said with contempt in his voice. “Those pricks own it. It’s all theirs.”
“That’s why they’re afraid?” Jordyn asked.
