Pawn (The Pawn Duet #2) - T.M. Frazier Page 0,35

quiet, that’s for sure. Think there’s something wrong with her vocal chords. Her name is Mindy.”

“As in Mickey’s dead sister?” I ask, surprised.

“Yeah,” he croaks. “The very one.”

Said coyote’s ears must have been ringing because Pancakes, who belongs to Bear, decides to make his entrance.

“See! I told you!” Percy says, pointing at Pancakes who strolls into King’s studio and sniffs the air and then sniffs at Mindy. He decides that whatever is taking place isn’t worth his time or effort, so he turns around and stalks off into the night.

“He’s domesticated,” King tells Percy.

There’s a shriek in the distance, the echo of a small animal that sounds like it’s being mauled to death. The sound becomes a muffled yelp before there’s no noise at all.

King walks over and kicks the door shut before resuming guard over Percy. “For the most part,” he adds. King picks up Mindy carefully and places her gently on the couch. She turns toward the back cushions, pressing herself against them while trembling in fear.

“Fuck, she’s fucked up,” King points out.

“Can we talk now?” Percy asks. “You can still kill me after. Just hear me out first.”

As much as I’d like to shut him up by way of bullet in his fucking mouth, the need to hear what the fuck is going on wins out. I nod to King who pulls Percy off the floor by his shoulder and shoves him into a chair, standing guard over him.

My gun might be pointed to the floor, but my finger massages the fucking trigger while I look from Mindy to Percy.

“So, fucking talk.”

9

Mickey

Percy’s been gone all night. His trailer is empty. My continued search for my sister has gotten me a whole lot of nowhere. And today, I have to find a recruit for the Reich and bring whoever the unfortunate soul winds up being, back to the compound for the barbecue later on this afternoon.

But first, there’s one more place I haven’t checked for Mindy. A place that’s off limits to everyone in The Reich, including Percy.

Darius’s office.

Mud cakes the small path that leads from the portable classroom trailers through a thick patch of woods to a small outbuilding that used to be some sort of hunter’s cabin that Darius has claimed as his office and where he reigns over The Reich.

The muddy path isn’t the route I take. I don’t want to be seen heading toward his office plus, I don’t want to raise suspicions with a trail of muddy footprints leading up to his door. Instead, I enter the wooded area by way of the open field, weaving my way through long wet grass. Ankle deep water sloshes all around me. I slow my movements so as to not cause any noticeable wake or sound. I move painfully slow, but it works. The only sound is the buzzing of mosquitoes and the occasional croaking frog.

The cabin itself isn’t more than a one room log shack with a rickety front porch surrounded by an overgrowth of brush. I make my way around to the back of the building and peer into the windows. Because it’s only one room it’s easy to see that it’s empty of all occupants. Mindy is nowhere to be found. My heart sinks, but there’s a possibility that there is something in there that will lead me to her so I press on. The steps creak and groan as I make my way up to the backdoor.

Of course, it’s locked, but I came prepared. Twenty minutes watching a YouTube video has given me the skills I need to pick a lock. I take out my tools, two long metal pieces I made out of a coat hanger. One straight and one with a hook at the end. It takes a few minutes longer than I expect. I’m sweating by the time the lock gives and the door sways open with a long groan.

Darius’s desk takes up the majority of the room. Surprisingly there are no Fourth Reich symbols or metals like those that hang in the main building. The walls are blank for the exception of an old photograph of Darius and my father. The one Nine had showed me on the computer when we discovered that my dad and Darius had started The Reich together.

What kind of sick bastard keeps a picture in his private office of the man he is responsible for killing?

Darius. That’s fucking who.

I pad over to the desk and duck behind it. The drawers are unlocked and