CRASH: An Evil Dead MC Story (The Outlaw Series) (17 page)

Nicklaus
flipped it open and studied the bank printout inside. A lot of it was encoded,
but the amount and date were clear enough. “This transfer—where did it end up?”

“I’m
not a miracle worker, Mr. Ralston. The only ones that have access to that
information is the bank or Shannon herself. And even I can’t get past bank
encryption.”

Nicklaus
dropped the file on his desk. He leaned back in his chair, his elbow on the
armrest, his hand to his mouth, rubbing his lip as he considered the situation.
After a long moment, he looked over at the private investigator. “Thank you,
Mr. Abbott. I’ll be in touch.”

CHAPTER TWELVE

Crash
took Shannon by the arm and pulled her through the room to a back hallway. As soon
as they turned a corner out of sight, he backed her up against the wall, his left
palm landing flat on the plaster next to her head, his body moving into her
space. His eyes searched hers. “What did Cole and Angel tell you?”

“Cole
told me Mack is making you bring me here Friday night. Angel told me it’s to a
party that you have after a meeting you call ‘church’, and that ‘old ladies’
aren’t allowed, and it gets pretty wild.”

He
stared at her. “What else?”

“She
said strippers from Sonny’s might be there.”

His
brows rose. “Anything else?”

“Well,
I don’t think you want to hear about how horny Cole is when he gets home Friday
nights or how Friday is now Angel’s favorite day of the week,” she snapped
sarcastically.

A
half smile pulled at the corner of his mouth. “Nope. Could have lived without
that visual.” His right hand lifted to her face, his palm cupping her jaw. “You
okay?”

“Do
I really have to go?”

His
eyes searched hers. “Yeah, babe. You do.”

“Will
you be with me?”

“Every
minute.”

“Promise?”

“Promise.”

“Then
I’ll be fine, right?”

He
smiled. “Right.”

Her
eyes dropped to his mouth.

He
drew in a ragged breath. “Don’t do that, Princess.”

“Why
not?”

His
eyes skated down her body. “Cause you look hot as shit, sweetheart, and you
looking at my mouth is making me want to kiss you. And if I start kissing you,
I’m not gonna stop at just kissing.”

“Just
one. Just so we’ll know,” she whispered in a breathy voice, and he felt his
dick get hard.

“I
think I already know.” His thumb dragged across her lower lip. She opened her
mouth and drew the tip of her tongue over the pad of his thumb.

“Christ,
baby.” And then her hands were framing his face, pulling his mouth down to hers
as she rose up to meet him. Her lips were soft under his, and suddenly he
couldn’t stop himself from delving inside. His tongue swept over hers. His
hands dropped to her hips, pulling her forward, needing to feel her pressed up
against his erection. Her head tilted back, inviting him in further. He heard
her moan deep in her throat and felt the vibration in his mouth. An answering
tingle started at the base of his spin, and he knew in a minute he’d have her
lifted in his arms and pinned to the wall, before unfastening his pants and
plunging inside her.

Boots
pounded on the floor, dragging their attention. Crash broke off the kiss, his
breathing labored, and he twisted his head to see Green standing there.

“I
knew you were lying about hittin’ that,” he taunted on his way down the hall to
the restroom.

Crash
grabbed Shannon’s hand and pulled her back toward the common room, his shoulder
slamming Green into the wall as he passed him.

When
he got back to the bar, he looked over at Jake and Shane. “If you guys are
ready, I’ll take you back to my place now.”

“You’ll
like the Batcave,” Cole assured.

“The
Batcave?” Shane questioned, his brows furrowed.

“Yeah,
place looks like a small two-story run down manufacturing building on the
outside. On the inside it’s a high-tech fortress with state-of-the-art
security,” Wolf put in.

“Well,
you
do
install primo security systems,
Wolf,” Crash smiled at him.

Wolf
took a bow and replied in his best Elvis impression, “Thank you. Thank you very
much.”

“You
install security systems?” Jake asked.

Cole
answered for him. “Yep. Has his own business. And when he’s not doing that, he’s
following around some cheating spouses, getting the dirt for divorce cases.”

“Really?
You lookin’ to hire? That sounds like it might be right up our alley.” Shane
motioned between himself and Jake. “Did a little tracking and recon ourselves.”

“Maybe.
You boys stickin’ around?”

“We’d
like to, if it all works out.”

Wolf
nodded. “We’ll talk.”

Crash
jerked his head toward the door. “Let’s roll.” They followed him out to the
bikes. Jake and Shane moved towards theirs, and Crash led Shannon back to his
bike.

“They’re
coming back to your place?” she asked.

He
handed her helmet to her. “Yeah. They served with my brother. Don’t have a
place to stay. Told ‘em they could stay with me. You got a problem with that?”

“No.
Of course not. It’s your place, not mine. I don’t have any say who you invite.”

“That’s
right.”

“Where
are they going to sleep?”

“Got
a big sectional couch.”

“But…you’re
sleeping on it.”

“We’ll
figure it out.” He climbed on his bike and watched Shannon look back toward
Jake and Shane, who had now fired their bikes up. “You comin’?”

She
climbed on.

Angel,
Cole, and Wolf had come outside and were standing by the door when they pulled
out. Angel waived them off. Crash nodded in their direction and hit the
throttle. He felt Shannon’s hands wrap around his waist as he rolled out onto
the street and gunned the engine, two bikes pulling out behind him.

“What
the hell?” Angel whirled on Cole. “She’s riding the fender, Cole!”

Cole
couldn’t help the grin that pulled at his mouth. “Yeah, baby. She is.”

“Why
is she riding the fender, Cole?”

“Because
Crash runs a solo seat, Angel.”

His
wife got right up in his face. “You’re bringing her a seat tomorrow.”

He
stared down at her a second, knowing there were some battles not worth
fighting. “Yes, ma’am.” She shook her head at him and stalked off into the
clubhouse. Cole turned to Wolf. “You hear that? You’re bringing her a seat
tomorrow.”

“Me?”

“And
you know Crash ain’t drillin’ no holes in that pretty shiny fender of his, so
figure it out.”

“Son
of a bitch,” Wolf growled, his shoulders slumping.

About
an hour later, Crash rolled into the lower level of his loft, Jake and Shane
following him in. Shutting the bikes off, they all dismounted.

“Grab
your gear,” Crash nodded toward the duffle-bags they each had strapped to the
back of their bikes. They made quick work of unstrapping them.

Jake
and Shane glanced around the place as they followed Crash and Shannon into the
freight elevator. As the elevator began its ascent, Jake grinned. “This is cool
as shit.”

Crash
smiled back.

Shannon
looked up at Crash. “Are you going to introduce us?”

Shit.
He hadn’t realized he’d overlooked that. “Shannon, this is Jake Webber and
Shane Murphy. They were in my brother’s unit.”

Jake
stuck his hand out. “Pleased to meet you, ma’am.”

Shane
did the same. “Ma’am.”

“Nice
to meet you,” Shannon replied, shaking both their hands.

The
elevator reached the upper level, and Crash threw the metal gate open. His hand
still holding Shannon’s, he paused at the security panel and punched in the
code to lock up the building. He turned back as Shannon tugged free of his
hand. His eyes followed her as she moved toward the bathroom.

Jake
and Shane took in the place, their eyes going everywhere. “Wow,” Shane
exclaimed. “This place is awesome.”

Crash
grinned. “Thanks.” He moved toward the kitchen. “You boys want a beer?”

They
both indicated in the positive, and he opened the refrigerator, pulling out
three bottles. When he carried them back, Jake was standing near the pool table
looking at the picture of Crash and Trevor. Shane was standing next to him,
looking up at the flag

“Is
that…?” Shane motioned toward the flag.

Crash
nodded, knowing he was asking if that was the flag that had draped Trevor’s
casket. “Yeah.” He handed him a beer.

Jake
set the photo down and looked at Crash. “You sure we’re not intruding on you
and your ol’ lady?”

Crash
shook his head. “You’re fine. Wouldn’t have invited you back otherwise. And
she’s not my ol’ lady.”

“Girlfriend?”

“Nope.”

They
just stared at him.

“She’s
been having some trouble with an ex-boyfriend. I’m just…providing her shelter,
I guess.” They nodded, but he could see they really didn’t understand. “Come
on.” Crash motioned for them to follow, and he led them out onto the roof.

As
they passed the bedroom, Shane made a comment. “Wow, those chains are fierce.”

“Fuck
the chains, check out the size of that bed,” Jake put in.

Crash
grinned. “Go big or go home, I say.”

They
laughed and followed him out onto the roof.

“Whoa!
Check this out, Shane.”

“Man,
this pad is killer. Bet you have some great parties in this place,” Shane
remarked, taking in the view.

Crash
sat on the wooden crate, leaving the two Adirondack chairs for his guests.
“Never really been one to throw a big party. Guess I don’t much care for a
bunch of drunk motherfuckers trashing my stuff.”

“I
can see your point,” Jake agreed.

“If
its parties you want, the club has more than its fair share of those,” Crash
informed them.

“Sounding
better all the time,” Shane put in with a smile, taking a pull off his beer.

“Any
night action around this area?”

Crash
grinned. “Makin’ up for lost time?”

“Jake’s
been doing that since the day we got back.”

“Yeah,
asshole. And you’ve been right there with me, hittin’ on anything with tits.”

Shane
grinned, not denying it.

“So,
I got a couple of dawgs stayin’ with me, is that what I’m hearin’?”

Jake
lifted his hands, his best aw-shucks expression. “Come on, man. You gotta
understand we were in the godforsaken desert a long time.”

Crash
chuckled, raising his beer to his lips. “Guess it’s my civic duty to my country
to take you out tonight and see you get laid.”

“Hot
damn. Show us the way,” Shane replied.

*****

Later
that night, they were standing around a small pub table in a very crowded
Lucky’s Bar, Crash’s bar of choice. The dance floor was packed. They’d just
arrived.

Crash
snagged a stool from another table and offered it to Shannon. His eyes ran over
her legs as she scooted up onto it. She’d wanted to change into something else
from the pile Angel and Crystal had brought over, but Crash wouldn’t let her.
He’d made an excuse about the guys being anxious to get out and none of them
wanting to wait while she picked out an outfit. But secretly, he’d wanted her
to keep this outfit on. It looked sexy as hell. And while he didn’t
particularly care for her wearing it around his brothers, he had no qualms
about showing her off in it in this bar. He wanted guys to check her out and
know she was with him. She was classy as hell, and it made him feel good to
know people would think he was capable of landing that quality of female.

A
waitress came over, and they all ordered. A couple of minutes later, she
delivered their drinks. Crash noticed they were already drawing attention, and
it wasn’t just guys checking out Shannon. There were a number of women gazing
their way. He was sure the fact that two good looking ex-military boys were at
their table had a lot to do with it. Yeah, those two were going to have no
problem getting laid tonight. He looked over at them and grinned. “You boys
hook up tonight, you’d better be taking it to her place. Understood?”

“Roger,
that.” Shane grinned back at him.

Shannon
looked from Crash on her right to Shane on her left. “So, what’s your favorite
type? Blondes? Brunettes? Redheads?”

Shane
scanned the room and turned back to her with a grin. “All of the above.”

She
laughed and turned to Jake. “And you?”

“I’m
not picky. As long as she’s hot.”

“Well,
maybe I could pick one for you.” She scanned the room.

Crash
swirled the ice in his glass. “This should be good.”

Shannon
turned back to Jake. “The brunette in the silver top.”

Jake
leaned to the right, looking around Shane, who also turned to look. Jake
straightened, looking at Shannon. “Oh, yeah.”

“I’ll
take her friend,” Shane stated, his eyes still on their table.