Pike (The Pawn Duet #1) - T.M. Frazier Page 0,48

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The man is huge and dressed in all black. There are belts wrapped around his muscular forearms. He stares up at the truck and then at Pike. His bright green eyes blazing with fury.

“What’s going on?” I whisper to Thorne. Her eyes are wide and she presses a finger over her mouth, indicating that I should shut mine.

The man jerks his chin to the truck. “Care to explain why I got a mysterious phone call suggesting I should check your fucking garage and how when I do I find you standin’ out here with the truck that you told me got jacked?” He turns suspicious green eyes on Pike. “We need to fucking talk.”

Thorne leads me back to Pike’s room and makes sure I again have everything I need for a shower. When I ask her who the man in the garage is, she simply says, “King.”

I know the name. I’ve heard it before, but never in a context that would give me enough info to classify him as enemy or friend or associate.

I wrap a towel around my body and sit at the edge of the bed. There’s a laptop open on the dresser. I walk over to it, and press a key. The screen comes to life. It’s not password protected. “Idiot,” I mutter. The screen has several squares of black and white videos. The upper right-hand corner is the garage. I rewind it until I see familiar men in skull masks pulling the truck in before racing into an awaiting van and speeding off.

I fast forward it to now, when King and Pike are deep in conversation. I wish the video had sound so I can hear what they’re discussing. But something else draws my attention inside the open truck gate. I zoom in on the contents and compare it with the memory of the night we’d taken it, searching for a difference I know is there.

The locks clicks open. Instinctively, I tighten the towel around my body. Pike stalks in and notices what I’ve been watching. “Care to explain?” he asks.

“I wish I could,” I answer honestly.

“You need to explain, or this isn’t going to end fucking well for you,” Pike grates. It’s not quite a warning, but an explanation, a plea for the truth I can never give him. “This isn’t a fucking game, Mic, and I’m done fucking playing. Talk now.”

“You…you’d kill me,” I reply. It’s not a question.

“Mic, I’m running out of fucking patience, and yes, I’d kill anyone who crosses me. I don’t discriminate. Not only did your buddies steal from me, but they returned my shit to frame me and make it look like I was trying to keep all the profits for myself. Whoever is behind this is out to fucking destroy my life. Everything I’ve worked for. I had to talk King off a fucking ledge, and he’s still not satisfied with my answer of I don’t know how the fuck it got here or why the fuck it’s back.”

I don’t know what to tell him that could take the pain and anger from his face and not destroy everything I’ve been working so hard for. I take a deep breath. “It’s the fifth day. What are you going to do?”

He eyes me suspiciously. “Jesus Christ! I’m not following those fucking rules. I’m just trying to protect what’s mine and hurt the people who are fucking hurting my business. My friends.” He stares at me; his eyes are daggers being thrown into my heart. “But you wouldn’t know about protecting people. You’re too selfish and caught up in some bullshit you think is more important. You may be smart, but you’re also fucking selfish.”

His words cut a cavern within my chest. An empty place once only filled with hate and sorrow not an expanse of pain. Because he isn’t wrong, but he also isn’t right. “You’re right. My intentions are selfish. But don’t think for one fucking second that you own the rights on protecting those you love because you don’t know shit about what I’ve been through or why I do what I do.”

“Because you won’t fucking tell me!” he screams.

Pike stalks over to me and grabs me by the throat. A sharp pang of fear expands in my chest. I glance around for a weapon but only find the computer screen. Suddenly, what I was looking for earlier becomes obvious. “Wait!” I cry, pushing against his chest. “The barrels. They have white packaging with a piece of