Landon: Justice Series ― Erotica Paranormal Romance (7 page)

“No, not a ghost, but then I guess I have one with me all the time. But I heard from Landon. He called me right after I talked to Ray. He said that I was to be nice to you or he’d have my liver for dinner. Never expected him to be so protective of anyone. But now that I met you, I can tell him that you were worth the threat. And as for the people trying to find you, I won’t say a word. No one will.” She didn’t look as if she believed him, but he left her anyway with that. He’d just have to work at keeping his word to prove it to her, he supposed.

As he made his way down the hall, he thought of the people in the other room. When his time came, he hoped to Christ that there were people like the ones that worked with Ray to help him along. What they did was both scary as well as a wonderful. Teddy was in the elevator when he remembered that he was supposed to tell her to call Landon when he was done. Pulling out his cell phone, he dialed the only number he had just as the doors opened wide as he got to his floor.

He had no idea who the men were. But he did know that they were trouble. And he had a feeling it was for the woman upstairs that he’d just left. He heard the phone being answered and started talking just as the men moved in to where he was. The doors were closing when he knew that Steele had figured it out. Or he hoped he had.

“Howdy.” Both men nodded but said nothing. One was tall, wearing sunglasses even in the dark elevator, and the other was rounder, not nearly as tall, with his sunglasses on his head. When round guy pushed the button for the floor that he’d just left, he chuckled out loud but felt his belly churn up. “Going up, I guess? I’m headed there too.”

Neither spoke, but he looked down at his phone. Steele had hung up but had messaged him.
Are you drunk?
Seemed like a good question when he thought of what he was about to do. Teddy laughed a little at what he wrote there, but sent back a single message.
Hide her
. As he put his phone away, praying that Steele understood him, Teddy moved to the wall and slid his gun out of the holster just as both men just stood there ahead of him. He’d almost given it up when he’d gotten here, knowing that having a gun in a place like this was a bad idea. But right now, he was thrilled to death that he’d taken it with him.

As soon as the doors opened, they moved so that he could move off. He told them that he had one more floor to go up and they nodded and moved out. Just as they were out of sight, he slipped out of the door, pulling out his phone again as he went. Calling in a possible shooting at the hospital was going to get him in deep shit if it turned out to be two guys visiting their sister. But for some reason, Teddy didn’t think so.

As quietly as he could, he told his friend in the Fed building what he was thinking. He was making his way down the other hallway when the first scream took his breath away. As he rounded the corner, Teddy had to blink several times before what he was seeing registered.

The two men were on the floor, their guns being kicked away from them by Steele. A big fucking panther was on top of the bigger man, and Dillon had a gun at the back of the head of the second. Teddy nodded at Steele when he asked him if they were the men.

“They were on the elevator with me. I don’t know why, but I had a feeling that they were coming this way.” One of the men started to lift his head and the panther snarled deep in her throat. “I guess you have this under control.”

“She does. By the way, can you watch these two? I need to go and check on my daughter. Kari is a little indisposed right now.” Teddy said he would and watched the two men, who had no doubt bitten off a good deal more than they could chew. Teddy moved toward the men but kept his eye on the panther. He had a feeling that it was Kari but wasn’t sure.

“What’s your business here?” Neither man answered, of course, but then Teddy really hadn’t expected them to. Men like these prided themselves on being what they considered unbreakable. “I’ve had a really shitty morning so far, and you pieces of shit aren’t making me all warm and fuzzy inside. So I’d answer me before I have to have that panther there tear your throats out. You can do that, can’t you, honey?”

For an answer, Kari growled low and bit down harder on her man. Dillon laughed but said nothing. He had a feeling that she’d been warned by Steele to keep her mouth shut. He told the other man to answer him.

“None of your fucking business.” The gun in Dillon’s hands hit him hard at the back of the head. “You’re fucking going to pay for that, bitch. I’m here on official business. You’ll be hearing from my boss about this.”

Teddy pulled out his badge. It hadn’t been updated yet. It still had him marked as active. But he didn’t think these yahoos would know that. As he put it in front of each man’s face, he made sure to read them his badge number as well as his name. He’d pay, he was sure, but for now it was the most fun he’d had since he’d turned in his official title three weeks ago.

“In the event that you might have missed it, my badge trumps your boss all to fuck and back.” Dillon reached into the back pocket of the man’s pants next to him and pulled out his wallet. He caught it just as the man tried to buck Kari off. As soon as he opened it, he looked at Dillon. So they’d been here for her.

“Says here that you’re an employee of Malone Enterprises. Is that right?” Again no answer, but he had the proof right in front of him. And it was scary to think the lengths that a man would go to get his daughter back to him. “Mr. Malone know what sort of work you’re doing on the side?”

“Side work? You motherfucker, we’re here to collect his daughter. We’re just messengers for him. And I can tell you right now, he’s not going to be happy about this. Not one damned bit.” The man laughed, and Teddy looked at Steele when he came out of the room holding his daughter. The man under Dillon continued before either of them could say anything. But Teddy did show him what he’d found in the wallet. “It would be in your best interest to do as you’re told. He does not like to have things go the wrong way for himself. His daughter is very precious to him.”

Dillon said nothing, but Teddy could see her fear. He had no idea what was going on, and as far as he knew, Allister Malone only had one child and it had been a boy. Or so he’d thought until now. Testing the waters a bit, he decided to see what he could find out from the idiot. While he was talking anyway.

“I thought he had a son. Hasn’t been seen in a while, but I was sure he had himself a little one of himself.” The man snorted at him. Teddy kept an eye on Dillon and wondered really what the fuck was going on. “His name is Dillon Malone, right?”

“It’s not a male, you nimrod, but a female. He named her that so that people wouldn’t try to take his child. Pretty smart, too, except the ungrateful bitch got it in her head to run. So we’re here to pick her up and take her back to her father. You work with us and I’ll make it worth your while. Tell me where she is and it could go very nicely for you.” Teddy looked through the rest of the wallet, finding a very old and blurred picture of Dillon. Taking it to his own pocket, he heard the man cursing. “I swear to fuck you are going to regret this. He’s a very powerful man, and will not like having to come here to get his property.”

“Property? Since when is a son...sorry, daughter…property?” The man just laughed. “You might want to be a little forthcoming there, buddy. You’re not going to like where you’re going any more than Mr. Malone is going to like you failing big time.”

“I’m finished talking with you. You’re a dead man anyway. And so is the rest of this bunch. See if he doesn’t get what he wants despite you’re interfering with his family business.” The man laid his head down and closed his eyes. It was a look to make them think that he was in control and not afraid, but Teddy knew that he was terrified. The man had fucked up big time.

Before the cops came, he and Steele had cuffed both men with the help of the hospital security. Dillon had left when Kari did, and it wasn’t long after that Vinnie and Beth showed up. All of them were huddled in the room when the cops arrived to take care of the men. Teddy had about three million questions popping in his head at the moment, and wanted answers to some of them right now. But Steele headed him off when the bad guys were taken away.

“She’s upset.” Teddy could understand that. Her daddy was Allister Malone. “She’ll answer your questions, but not right now. I don’t think she really believed that he’d come after her. Or that he’d send these guys to get her. She’s believed all this time that he’d just let her go about her life so long as she didn’t disrupt his. I guess she’s just coming to realize that Daddy isn’t a nice man after all.”

“You knew who she was.” Steele only shrugged. “I see. And when were you going to tell us? You think that having her in your house is going to get you in good with the men in blue? I don’t think so. Her daddy is supposed to have killed nine cops when they didn’t want to play ball in his field.”

“You do have some very colorful sayings, don’t you?” Teddy felt his face heat up. “It’s all right. I’ve heard some better ones from Carlton. You should have a conversation with him and Donny.”

“They’re dead, I’m assuming.” Steele nodded but said nothing more. “If it’s all the same to you, I’ll keep my conversations with the living. Being able to converse with the dead means I’m a part of their club. For now, I think I like being on this side of the deep sleep.”

“All right. But you should wait until Landon gets back. He should be here tomorrow. He doesn’t know who she is either. Or if he does, he’s never said anything to me.” Teddy started to ask him how they’d come to have her there. “They’re in love. Landon and Dillon are in love.”

“So he’s thinking he can keep her safe? Do you know what sort of person her father is? Or what he’s capable of?” Steele said he wasn’t worried. He had a much larger force and more money. “I can appreciate that, I can, but he does things and never gets his hands dirty. Ever. We’ve been trying to catch him for decades. And I really did think his child was a boy.”

“As does the world. But if you think that he’s never gotten his hands into any of these deaths, then you haven’t been asking the right people.” Teddy looked around the room that just the two of them were in. “Yes, that’s the people we need to talk to. They can get us information that you can only dream of.”

“I need something that will stick before I can do what you’re suggesting. Telling a court that the dead person told me that Allister killed them ain’t going to get me nothing but a strait jacket and no more pension.” Steele told him it would stick. “And what do you suppose he might do if he thinks that you have his daughter? I’m assuming as of right now, he’s got it in his head that she’s here or he’d have not sent in his goons. And let me tell you, those guys meant business.”

“So do I. And he’ll never know what hit him if he even tries to come between me and my family. I’m not one to fuck with even on a good day, Teddy. Trust me on that.” Hard words. Believable words too. Teddy, a seasoned officer and agent, felt his own balls tighten to his body. Steele Bennett was not a man that he’d fuck with. “Landon will take care of this. And when he does, you’re going to have the same respect for him that you have for me. I swear to you, no one in my family will be harmed by this. And I count you in that circle.”

Teddy left then. He had paperwork to fill out and questions to answer. For now, at the suggestion of Steele, Kerrie Logan was the only name that would be on the report for who was present. The rest...all of the other information that he had and didn’t have and more than likely never would, would have to be held back. Like the fact that Allister Malone was stretching his arms out to a little town in Ohio.

Chapter 6

Landon sat very still. He wasn’t really sure he could have moved much anyway. He knew that his knees were a little wobbly, as well as his hands. And sitting on them hadn’t done a thing to calm them. Landon looked at his grandda when he said his name.

“You all right, boy?” He said that he was, but that was a lie and they both knew it. “I’m telling you the truth, Landon. Just like I did all those years ago. You did nothing wrong, other than to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. Them idiots that were there on the stairs, they caused the fire themselves, and when they passed you on the landing, they were headed up to see about their drugs. The second blast, the one that took their lives, that’s what caused the fire to spread like it did.”

“They killed themselves, and all this time they’ve been haunting me as if I had done it to them. They played me. And you said that Mother and Father knew this? They knew all along that I didn’t have a thing to do with the fire.” Grandda nodded, his face full of sorrow. “How did they figure it out, or how did they find out? Not from me. I assumed...believed them when they told me it was my fault.”

“The police and fire marshal then, they found the lab on the upper levels. Those boys had been doing some pretty big business from there, and most of the campus knew it. Didn’t say anything because they figured it wasn’t hurting them at the time. Then when you were in the hospital, that policeman that was there with you when you were in surgery, he told your parents about the lab and the point of origin for the fire. They knew then, even before you were out of recovery, that you were as innocent as they come. They just...I’m guessing that they needed something to hold over you, and that worked out just fine for them.” Landon picked up Dillon, who was sitting next to him, and held her on his lap. He’d never been a hugger before, but needed her touch more than he did his next heartbeat. He explained to her what his grandfather was saying. “I’ve been trying to tell you this for so long, you have no idea what a relief it is to have you finally listening to me.”

Landon wasn’t sure why he was now, other than he had been asked by Steele to listen to his grandda, that things needed to be cleared up before they could deal with all the other stuff, such as Dillon’s father coming for her. He had no idea how this tied in with what had happened at the hospital today, but his feelings for his parents had gone downhill with every word his grandda had told him. Not that he’d had a great deal of respect for them before, but now, right at this moment, Landon thought for sure that he hated them both. He looked up at his grandda when he started pacing. It was sort of nauseating watching him pace. It was hard, and without regard to what he was walking through.

“There’s more, isn’t there?” His grandda paused and nodded, and Landon closed his eyes. When Dillon wrapped her arms around his neck, he told her he didn’t think he could take much more of this. “They have been holding it over my head since I was nine years old that I was a murderer. They even told me how they’d worked hard to keep my name out of the paper so that I could have a life. That I owed them. The other day, when I went to see them, Father actually told me that he would bring it all up again if I didn’t do as he said and...and marry this other woman.”

“You don’t owe them shit; you know that, right? They aren’t worth the lint in your pocket for all that they’ve done to you.” He laughed and held her tighter to him. “Landon, do you know why they did this? Why they thought to control you? They couldn’t have been planning this marriage. There has to be something...something a great deal more than just holding this over your head for shits and giggles.”

“Yes. They hated the fact that I refused to do what they wanted. It’s because I could see Grandda. I mean, from the very start, I could see him. It wasn’t until I was sent away to boarding school the first time that I realized that I was different than the other kids. I had...you should have heard my mother when I told her what I could do. She had me examined by several doctors and then put in the hospital for an extended rest. What sort of rest did she suppose would ‘cure’ me? I have no idea.” Landon looked at Connie and Aster when they joined his grandda in the room. “I have the greatest friends, did you know that? I wish you could meet them.”

“Tell me about them later. Right now you need to know everything so you can move on with this. This is going to end with these people, even if I have to hire Kari to eat them alive. I’m sure she’d do it. She’s scary when she’s a panther. And then you and I have to talk.” He knew that too. Steele had called him on the way home to give him a heads up on what had happened with Dillon and who her father was. “Landon? Are you sure you want me to stay here? I mean, my father, he’s a lot meaner and carries out what he wants with force and a bullet.”

“Yes. I love you.” He had never in all his life said that to anyone before. When Dillon shook her head at him, he nodded. “I do. I honestly do. And as soon as we’re alone, I’m going to show you how much I love your body as well.”

Connie cleared her throat and smiled at him. She had become such a dear friend to him, and someone that he’d come to enjoy talking to more and more of late. He wished he’d known her when she was alive, and thought of her like someone would a grandmother. A best friend that you could go to and would never judge you. Just as his grandda was to him.

“Allister Malone is coming here. He’s not happy with what happened to his men either. We’ve been watching him, keeping tabs on him when we figured out who Dillon was.” Landon wanted to tell Connie that he wasn’t sure he could take any more bad news, but only nodded and held Dillon. “He knows that she’s here. There was a picture of her that hit the papers the other day. Not on purpose, but it happened when someone had shot a picture of Old Things, Vinnie’s antique store, and Dillon just happened to be coming out when it was taken.”

He told Dillon and felt her stiffen in his arms. “He’s not going to get you. He won’t come close to you either. He’s a fucking moron if he tries to. Steele and I have taken all kinds of precautions to keep everyone safe. And with the network of ghosts we have helping us, he’ll never get close enough to even breathe the same air you do before we can take care of him.”

“I don’t think you understand what sort of person he is. I mean, do you have any idea who he is? What sort of things he’s done that he’s never been arrested for?” Dillon got up, and Landon looked at Aster when she said his name.

“I have two people looking into his life. And a few more keeping tabs on his movements. He won’t be able to go anywhere without one of us knowing about it, like you told her. But you should know that the people that he’s killed or had killed, they’re not going to rest until he’s on their side.” Landon told Dillon, and she said nothing to him. “Let her go, Landon. She needs to work this out her way. She’s stressed out. We all are. We have seen what he does to people who cross him. You have to find out what he has in mind for her. And why she has until now believed that he’d not hurt her.” He had an idea what the man would want with someone like Dillon…the things, the information that she could get for him with a simple touch. She was a gold mine and a liability at the same time.

“Dillon, why does he want you bad enough to send those men after you?” She paused in her pacing but never answered him. “Aster, Steele’s sister, said that in order for us to help you, we’d have to know it all. Why does your father want you home? And will go to such lengths to get you there.”

“I know where the bodies are.” He thought that she was kidding, but when she turned and looked at him, he could see that she was serious. And afraid. “All of them. I was in his office one day when I found his gun, the only one that he’s ever used since he began his career as a criminal. I only picked it up to see...I don’t know, I wanted to see what the big deal was to carry one. I had no idea until that moment what he’d been doing. No, no, that’s not quite true…I think I might have known, but didn’t want to believe it. He caught me standing there with it in my hand.”

“And since he knew what you could do, he assumed correctly that you’d found him out.” Dillon nodded but didn’t come any closer to him. “How long have you been running from him?”

“Not long, not really. About four years. It’s been easy to keep ahead of him. At least it had been. I would stay somewhere and work and move on when I got the urge to get going. It paid off well. And I’d been at your parents’ home for about two months when I got the feeling again. Just before you arrived and we met, I was ready to run again.”

Aster told him that she’d been moving ahead of her father because of the ghosts. They knew that she was afraid and had been whispering in her ear when he got too close again. They’d been protecting her because she’d been helping them with the things she could do. Landon nodded but didn’t tell Dillon just yet. He felt, and rightly so, that she’d had enough for one day.

“That day you fell against the armor; what did you feel? I’m assuming that was why you were screaming.” She nodded but looked away from him. “It’s something to do with my parents, isn’t it? They did something with that thing and you know it. I want to know. Please, I have to know.”

“Two people were killed using the sword that is attached to it. Their bodies are burnt to ash nearby. But their hearts are...they keep them in the body of the armor. In the feet of it. I could feel their pain, hear their screams like I was witnessing their deaths. I don’t know who they are, but I’m sure you can figure that out after I’m gone.” He asked her where she thought she was going. “I can’t stay here, surely you can see that. If he comes here, and I’ve no doubt that he will, you’ll all be hurt or killed and it will be my fault.”

“No one is running again.” Landon stood up and made his way to her as he continued. “There will be no more running from our problems. We’re going to face them head on and together. I’m not going to let my parents get away with shit anymore, and your father is going to have to deal with some rules from now on. We’re fucking adults, and we’re going to make a stand.”

When he was in front of her, she smiled up at him before speaking. “You sound like you should be speaking softly and carrying a big stick.” He kissed her nose. “My father, he’s not a nice person when people don’t do what he wants. I know firsthand that he’s the type to come in guns out and ready before he wants to see your side of the situation. Not that there is any other side but his own, but I think you understand.”

“I do, and fuck him.” She laughed. “I’m serious. Fuck him and my parents. I’ll contact someone tomorrow about the ghosts there, and we’ll get my parents taken care of before he gets his ass here.”

“And in the meantime, what do we do to get ready for his arrival?” Landon picked Dillon up and headed for the stairs. “This isn’t what I meant, Landon. Don’t you have ghosts here that need you?”

“No. They can go away too.” He did turn to look, and could see Aster giving him a thumbs up and Connie laughing. “They’re telling me to go for it. And to have a good time. I plan on it. Several times, as a matter of fact.”

As soon as he entered the bedroom, he knew that she’d made some changes for them. But for now, he had other things on his mind other than the decorating skills of his future wife.

~~~

Dillon bounced twice on the bed when he tossed her onto it. Before she could scramble away from him, he had her ankle in his hand and was pulling her toward him. Her pussy soaked just that quickly, and she moaned when he put her foot on his hard cock.

“I want you to touch me like this when my cock is bare.” She moved her foot while he took off his belt and opened the fly on his pants. As he pulled his pants down to his thighs, she moved her foot over him again and curled her toes around him. “Christ, do you have any idea how much I want to be buried inside of you?”

“I’d rather have you eat me. You keep telling me that you’re going to, but you get sidetracked too easily. I’m feeling a little left out.” Dillon screamed when he pushed her foot away and tore her pants off. She was naked from the waist down when her body was jerked to the side of the bed and he dropped to his knees. Sitting up on the bed enough to see him, she knew the real meaning of the word smoldering. He looked like a starved man, as well as one that was determined to get all that he could. Dillon felt her body heat just from his look. “Landon, you’re going to make me come if you keep looking at me like this.”

“Good. I want you to come so much that I get my fill of you. Then I’m going to take you, hard and fast, before I make love to you over and over again.” He leaned down and licked her inner thigh, and then nipped at her skin. When he sat up, she was nearly breathless when he lifted her legs up to his shoulders and then leaned slowly down to her pussy, watching her the entire journey. “Come for me, Dillon. Let me drink deeply of you.”

As soon as his tongue touched her clit, she came. It wasn’t fulfilling, just the opposite. It had her needing more, craving so much more than he’d given her. But when he suckled her clit into his mouth and his finger entered her, Dillon came again, her body so tense she felt every nerve ending when she came. Screaming out her release simply because she couldn’t have stopped it if she tried, Dillon opened her blouse and cupped her bare breasts.

He didn’t just eat her, but he feasted on her. She came so many times, every second it seemed like that she was beginning to think he’d never get his fill of her. Every time she thought she couldn’t take any more, he’d bring her over the edge of sanity again and again until she was sure he was trying to kill her. Then he stood up over her. Dillon knew then that she was well and truly in love with him.