CRASH: An Evil Dead MC Story (The Outlaw Series) (48 page)

*****

Cajun
and the two prospects finally rolled up as Wolf talked them in with directions.

Green
rattled the locked side gate, frustrated. His hands fisted around the bars, he
shook it like a pissed off gorilla in a cage.

“Quit
pounding on the thing!” Cole snapped, trying to get the key in the bottom of
the padlock.

Red
Dog twisted from his position next to Cole and spotted a squad car making the
turn onto Cemetery Road from the highway, he barked at Green, “Quit! You’re
gonna get us arrested. Goddamn. I hate handcuffs.”

“That’s
not what Mary says,” Wolf chuckled.

Red Dog whirled on him. “So
you’re
the one she got that crap from.”

Wolf just grinned.

“We share a room tonight, you better pray I fall asleep before you do,”
Red Dog threatened.

“Shut
the fuck up, both of you,” Cole snapped.

The
squad car slowed and pulled to a stop next to them. The window rolled down.
“What’s going on here?”

Luckily,
it was at that moment that Cole finally got the padlock open. “Nothing officer,
just had a little trouble with the key.”

“What’s
your business here?”

“Just
going to my storage unit.”

“Why
aren’t you using the front gate?”

Cole
nodded to one of the nearby units. “My unit’s right there. Manager told me I
could use this gate. Makes it easier to unload.” Cole held up the key. “He gave
me the key.”

The
officer nodded, his window rolled up and he drove away.

“He
swings back around to the office, this jig is up.”

“Yeah,
let’s move. Quickly.”

*****

Nicklaus Ralston picked up his phone, looked at the incoming number and
put it to his ear. “You have news for me, I hope.”

“We tracked them to Reno, sir.”

“And? Do you have her?”

“No, sir.”

“But she’s there? In Reno?”

“Well, no, sir.”

“Well, where the bloody hell is she?”

“We lost them, sir.”

Nicklaus’s eyes slid closed, and his jaw clenched.

“Do you want us to continue the search? Try and pick up their trail?”

Nicklaus took a deep breath. Dealing with incompetence wasn’t his strong
suit. “No, that won’t be necessary. I’m through wasting time.”

“What now, sir?”

“Time to implement plan B.”

“Plan B, sir?”

“Yes. When I’m through, she’s going to be walking through these doors of
her own accord.”

“Yes, sir. What do you need from us?”

“Return here. I have another job for you.”

CHAPTER TWENTY FIVE

Crash and Shannon lay in bed, his hand stroking her back, his fingers
playing with her hair when his cell went off. His eyes moved to the nightstand,
and he reached to answer it. “Yeah?”

“We’re here. We just checked in. What room you in?” Cole asked.

“1630. They put you on the same floor?”

“Yeah.” Cole disconnected.

About two minutes later there was a pounding on the door. Crash grinned
to himself thinking that didn’t take long. He got up.

“Crash!” Shannon shrieked, clutching the covers to her chest.

He leaned over her, gave her a quick kiss and ordered, “Don’t move,
baby.” He scooped up her clothes and tossed them in a chair across the room,
out of her reach.

“Crash, don’t you dare open that door!”

He just winked at her, pulled his jeans up, leaving them unbuttoned and
went to the door. His four brothers prowled into the room.

“Well, well, well. Guess we know what you’ve been up to.” Green said,
his eyes on Shannon still in the bed.

“He letting you get any sleep?” Cole asked, leaning against the corner
of the wall that jutted out separating the bathroom from the entryway by the
door, his eyes on Shannon, grinning.

“Quit teasing her,” Crash snapped, moving past him back into the room.

“What’s the matter with you, bro, get up on the wrong side of the bed?”
Red Dog asked, grinning

“Ain’t no wrong side when there’s a woman like that in it,” Wolf replied
with a grin and a wink at Shannon.

“We’re gonna get some sleep. The fight’s gonna be on in the sports bar
downstairs at nine tonight. Want to meet up around then?” Cole asked Crash.

“Yeah, sure.”

After they left, Shannon turned on Crash. “Why did you do that?”

“Do what?”

“Let them in when I’m not even dressed.”

He grinned and leaned over her, his fists in the mattress. “Because I
love to see you squirm and blush.” He dipped his head, kissing her. “I like
keeping you naked in bed.”

They took a long nap, awaking in the late afternoon.

Crash woke, and his hand moved over the sheet, reaching out for Shannon.
When his hand only encountered warm empty sheet, he twisted, looking over his
shoulder. He found her standing at the window, gazing out at the mountains.
Getting up, he moved behind her, wrapping his arms around her. “What are you doing,
sweetheart?”

She smiled and rubbed her head against his jaw. “Just watching the
sunset. Isn’t it beautiful?”

His lips moved along her neck. “Umm hmm.” His mouth moved to her ear.
“Let’s get dressed and go buy you a pretty dress to wear tonight.”

She smiled. “I
do
like to
shop.”

He chuckled. “Guessed that about you, babe.”

When they were dressed, they took the elevator down to the lobby. As
they walked through, they passed the nice restaurant that Crash had seen
earlier. He stepped over and made a reservation for seven o’clock. Then they
continued walking through the lobby. There was a bar on the right, and Crash
spotted several shops on the left. Pausing in front of a women’s boutique, he
nodded toward it and asked Shannon, “Think you could find something in there?”

Her eyes went to the display in the window. A black short cocktail dress
and a pair of heels. “Yes. I think so.”

Crash reached in his pocket and pulled out his money clip. He slid
several hundred dollar bills off and held them out to her. “Meet me in the bar
in an hour? That enough time?”

She looked from him to the bar and smiled. “Sure.”

As she turned to leave, Crash caught her hand and pulled her back. He
leaned to her ear. “Make it sexy, babe.”

“I’ll see what I can do.”

He winked at her as she turned, their joined hands dropping apart at the
last moment.

After she went inside, Crash’s eyes moved to the shop adjacent. A
jewelry store.

An hour later, Shannon walked into the bar and looked around. She found
him sitting on the end, nursing a short glass of some amber colored liquor. She
approached, her bags swinging from her hand. Crash caught her reflection in the
mirror behind the bar as she moved toward him, and he turned. His eyes fell to
the bags. “Find everything you need?”

She smiled, excitedly. “Yes. They had some beautiful things.”

He signaled the bartender over. “Have a drink with me, then we’ll take
them upstairs.”

“All right.” Shannon took the seat next to Crash, setting her packages
down.

The bartender smiled at her. “What can I get for you, miss?”

“Umm.” She turned to Crash. “I liked that drink I had last night.”

Crash laughed, refusing to order it for her. “Na-uh. You’re not getting
out of this. I want to hear you order it.”

She rolled her eyes at him and turned to the bartender. “A Screaming
Orgasm, please.”

The bartender chuckled. “Well, since you said please.” He moved off to
make her drink, and Shannon slugged Crash in the arm.

“Brat.”

“Oww.” He rubbed his bicep. “So, what kind of dress did you buy?”

She made a cute little face. “I think I’ll surprise you.”

“Is it hot?”

“Guess you’ll just have to wait and see.”

“Is it short?”

She gave him an impish grin.

“Is it sexy?”

Her drink arrived, and she took a sip, smiling at him.

“Come on, babe. You gotta give me something.”

She shook her head. “I don’t think so, this is too much fun.” He made to
grab for the bag, but she kicked it out of his reach. “Uh, uh, uh. No peeking.”

“How about lingerie? Did you buy anything sexy for under the dress?”

“That’s for me to know and you to find out,” she teased.

“Oh, I’ll be finding out, all right,” he promised, scooting closer. His
hand slid to her neck, brushing her hair back over her shoulder. Then he leaned
in and nibbled on her neck. Moving to her ear, he whispered, “How about you
don’t wear anything under it, Princess? Would you do that for me if I asked?”

“Well, now, that’s something for you to be wondering about all evening,
isn’t it?”

He toyed with a curl of her hair, his eyes roving over her face.

After she finished her drink, Crash checked the clock over the bar. “How
long’s it gonna take you to get ready, Princess?”

She shrugged. “An hour, maybe. Why?”

“It’s five-thirty.”

“Already? Where did the day go?”

Crash grinned. “We spent most of it in bed.”

She gave him a saucy smile in return. “Yes, I guess we did.”

He pulled the key card out of his pocket and handed it to her. “Why
don’t you go on up and start getting ready? I’ll be up soon.”

“All right.” She took the key and slid off her barstool.

Crash slid his hand to the back of her head and pulled her to him for a
quick kiss. She gathered her bags and left.

An hour later, Shannon was in the bathroom, leaning over the vanity,
putting her makeup on when she heard the door to their hotel room open.
“Crash?” she called out.

“Yeah.”

A moment later he appeared in the doorway.

She turned to take him in. Somewhere along the way, he had bought a new
white button-down shirt, because he had it on under his cut. “Don’t you look
nice?”

His hand came to his chest, smoothing down the front of his shirt, but
his eyes were sliding down her body. He took in the strapless red cocktail
dress. It had a sweetheart neckline with ruching across the bodice. It fell in
a form-fitting sheath that hugged her curves and fell to about six inches above
her knee. His eyes trailed down her legs to a pair of gold strappy high-heeled
sandals. Taking in the whole package, there was only one word that described
it. Bombshell. “Baby. You look gorgeous. Marilyn Monroe’s got nothing on you,
doll.”

She turned, putting the top back on her lipstick and smiled. “Thank
you.”

“You ready?”

“Yes.” She moved to pass him, but he blocked her way.

“You know, if it wasn’t your birthday, I’d have you down on that bed
already, and to hell with going out.”

“Then I wouldn’t get to wear this dress and torment you with it all
night.”

“Right. God, that’s the truth.” He took her hand. “Let’s go.”

A few minutes later they were seated in a cozy booth complete with linen
tablecloth and dim lighting. After their orders were taken and their wine was
brought to the table, they were left alone.

“This is nice,” Shannon commented, looking around the room. “Thank you
for bringing me here.”

Crash reached across the table and brushed the tops of her fingers.
“You’re welcome.” Then he reached in his pocket and pulled out a black velvet
jewelry box and slid it across the table. “Happy birthday, Shannon.”

Her eyes fell to the box. “Crash! You didn’t have to do that.”

“Open it.”

She picked it up and flipped up the hinged cover. Inside, nestled in a
white satin lining was a pendant necklace with her birthstone, a light blue,
round aquamarine framed by diamonds set in 18k white gold with a matching cable
chain.

“Oh, Crash.”

“They told me that’s this month’s birthstone.”

She nodded. “It is. Oh, Crash, it’s beautiful.” Her fingers trailed over
it.

“Here.” He held his hand out. “Let me put it on you.” She handed it over
to him, and he removed the necklace from the case. Stepping around the table he
undid the clasp. She pulled her hair up, and he fastened it around her neck,
then took his seat again.

She looked up at him, her fingers trailing over the chain. “How does it
look?”

“Beautiful. The stone matches your eyes.”

She smiled brightly at him. “Thank you. I love it.”

After their meal, the waiter brought a piece of decadent chocolate cake
with a candle stuck in it. Her eyes lit up again before she blushed. “I swear,
if you start singing, I’m going to crawl under this table.”

Crash chuckled. “Well, darlin’, you end up under the table, I can think
of something you can do while you’re down there.”

She rolled her eyes. “Get your mind out of the gutter.” She blew out the
candle and picked up her fork. Scooping up a bite, she slid it into her mouth
and moaned. “Oh, my God. This is to die for.”

“Maybe you could share.” His brows rose.

She gave him a sly grin. “
Maybe
I
could.” She forked up another bite and held it just out of his reach. “I don’t
know. Do you deserve it?”

“I don’t know. You were upstairs in that bed with me earlier. Do I?”

She grinned. “Open for me.”

Just then his cell went off. He grabbed her wrist and forced the bite
into his mouth. Smiling around the bite, he reached for his phone. Glancing
down at it, he saw the caller. Cole.

“Yeah.”

“We’re in the bar. Quit fucking, and get your ass down here.”

“We’re in the restaurant.”

“Oh, so you’re right next door. Hurry up, the fight’s about to start.”
Cole disconnected.

Crash shoved his phone back in his hip pocket. “That was Cole. The guys
are in the bar. We don’t have to go, if you don’t want to.”

“No. Let’s go. It’ll be fun.”

Crash grinned back at her and waived the waiter over for their check.

*****

 
“Damn, that girl sure was fine,”
Green said, taking a sip off his beer and leaning against the bar.

“Quit mooning over her. You had no shot with that girl,” Wolf insisted.

“I had a shot.”

“You were chasing her through the parking garage. That’s not a shot,
that’s a felony.”

“Whatever.” Green turned to Red Dog. “You think I had a shot, right?”

Red Dog looked over at him with a blank face. “I’m sorry, I got bored
and drifted off.”

Wolf snickered.

“Green, you got a better chance of drainin’ the Mississippi with a
straw,” Cole put in.

Red Dog chuckled, and then looked up, the newscast on a TV above the bar
catching his attention.

We begin with
breaking news out of Washoe County. Starks Police are investigating what they
believe could be a homicide. Investigators responded to a house on Valley View
Drive. Officers found one man dead inside the home. They aren’t revealing the
cause of death.

“I’ll tell you his cause of death…his own fucking stupidity,” Red Dog
commented under his breath.