Pawn (The Pawn Duet #2) - T.M. Frazier Page 0,55

cartel boss, wait, cartel leader, cartel grand wizard, whatever they are called, meeting the leader of a drug cartel isn’t exactly how I saw any part of this plan going.

But here, I fucking am.

The hotel is on the affluent side of town. The side that puts the ‘beach’ in Logan’s Beach. It’s not far from the townhouse my family used every summer. I wonder what has happened to that place since then and remind myself to take Mickey there when all of this is over and she’s feeling up to it.

Pike told me before he left that Mindy is happy and getting healthier by the day. She spends all of her time hanging out with Thorne in the Pawn Shop and loves greeting the customers silently since her damaged voice box still hasn’t recovered. I also remind myself to take her to see a specialist when all of this is over.

I’m eager to see it for myself. To see my sister smiling and very much healthy and alive. It’s what fuels me through my fears regarding this meeting that’s about to take place and pushes me forward. Because I’m not just doing this for myself anymore. I’m doing it for Pike, for Mindy, and even though I never thought I’d even think it before, for Percy.

I park down the street so the van isn’t caught on the security cameras and sneak my way inside the towering hotel through the staff entrance, passing large washers and dryers, a kitchen bigger than I’ve ever seen before, stretching down an entire corridor the length of a football field. There’re dozens of staff members in varying uniforms and chef’s coats shouting at one another and rushing about. Pots and pans clamor. Bells ring. A rolling car whizzes by me, almost running over my foot. It’s being pushed by a man who looks like a fireman who is running toward a raging blaze and not like a waiter with a cartful of room service trays.

I find the staff elevator. The doors are about to close, but I manage to run and turn sideways, fitting in just before they shut. I find myself standing next to a man in a tuxedo holding onto the handle of a three-tiered room service tray.

When the doors open at the ninth floor, I get out and find suite 720 at the very end of the hallway. The only room with a solid oak double door entrance. The entire hotel smells like lavender, vanilla, and fresh laundry. I inhale deeply before raising my knuckles to knock .

It opens before I have a chance and I stumble as I’m caught off guard. A man wearing a Hawaiian shirt with a gold front tooth waves me inside. “Señora Lovejoy, right this way,” he says.

My heart races as I follow him through a spacious bright living room to a sitting area bigger than Pike’s entire apartment.

The man extends his hand toward a set of closed doors and opens them for me. I step inside, but he doesn’t follow, shutting the doors behind me.

This room is even bigger. Decorated with a modern grey and white pallet with a touch of silver and light wood accents scattered over shiny white tables and cabinetry. Floor to ceiling windows bath the room in bright light with dark blue sheer curtains tied on each side of the wall.

There’s a painting leaning up against the wall opposite two plush white chairs. A sheet is pushed over the top as if it’s new and recently unwrapped. The image of a woman standing in the center of what appears to be a rocky battlefield catches my eye. I walk over and crouch down to inspect it further. The painting itself was created in varying shades of grey, green, and muted gold. The only pop of color is where the artist used white to create light where they would otherwise be done.

The woman appears to be a warrior with long flowing red hair. Her fitted armor is ornate, but laughable since it doesn’t cover her shoulders or chest and has that Wonder Woman heart affect around her ample breasts. One arm is raised, pointing a massive sword toward the sky. There’s a halo effect around her head as the clouds above her open up, bathing her in light. She’s not just a warrior though, a large pair of white wings takes up the majority of the painting’s background.

“Do you like it?” a feminine voice asks. “It called to me when I entered this