Chapter 5

Holding his pistol in his right hand, he pulled out his universal key card with his left and placed it over the door sensor. He got a green light, put the card back in his pocket and very gently turned the door handle. Again, the slower the quieter. He pushed the door open gently, relieved that Infante hadn’t put the security latch on. But it made sense that he didn’t. If he called for his boys for some reason, he wouldn’t want to have to get up to let them in. He would want to maintain his dignity. Lawton very gently and quietly closed the door. He stood still, letting his eyes adjust to the dimness. He was in the living area of the suite. Moonlight through the drapes provided enough illumination for him to see. The suite was large, of course, with a full sofa and three easy chairs arranged around a large coffee table. Plus a desk, and a small dining table with four chairs. The door to the bedroom was to the left, slightly ajar.

Lawton moved silently across the suite and entered the bedroom. It was darker, but he could still see. He heard a mild snoring, coming from the left side of the king-sized bed. That would be his target. He lined up the pistol sights on the center of the bulk under the covers. He fired twice into the center of mass, then moved closer and made a kill shot to the head. The suppressor did its job and the “chuff” sound wouldn’t be heard outside the room.

After the third shot, there was a sudden movement from the other side of the bed. Before Lawton could react, a figure sat up and turned on the side table lamp. He blinked at the sudden light, but he wasn’t blinded. In fact, after a few seconds he got a very clear view of the unexpected figure.

It was a woman. Lawton chided himself. He should have expected that. Infante was sure to have a mistress, and this hotel visit would be a chance to mix business with pleasure. What surprised Lawton was the appearance of the woman. She was gorgeous. But not just gorgeous. She was a Big Beautiful Woman. A BBW. She had long auburn hair, green eyes, and a generous mouth. Sitting up, her covers had fallen revealing large breasts resting on a round belly. Even under the covers he could see the shape of thick hips and long legs. She had a tall sitting height and with the long legs he guessed her at five foot ten, maybe a little more and easily 220 pounds. Probably late twenties, maybe early thirties. It turned out that Infante had tastes similar to his own.

The voluptuous beauty looked over at the corpse next to her. To her credit, she didn’t scream. Which was good because Lawton would have had to shoot her immediately. But now, what the hell to do with her? Shooting her would have been the safest for him, but he hesitated to pull the trigger on such a beautiful woman.

“Don’t leave me here,” she pleaded. “When Salvadore’s men find him, they’ll think I had something to do with it. They’ll kill me.”
Lawton was mentally reviewing his options. Kill her to be safe, but that would be such a waste. Leave her behind. But that meant that she would probably die anyway, but not before giving a description of him. Or take her with him. That would break so many of his careful rules, but it would also give him some time to figure out what to do with her. And maybe lead to an opportunity for him to bed her…

“You’ve got two minutes to get dressed and grab your purse. Nothing more.” She didn’t hesitate. She jumped out of bed, giving him a view of her body as it jiggled in front of him. Her body was even better naked than what he had discerned under the covers. She grabbed panties, bra and a green formal gown from a chair and put them on.
“That’s the only clothing you’ve got?” he asked, thinking about how she would stand out.

“This is what Salvadore likes, I mean liked me to wear.”

“Go ahead, hurry up.” She finished dressing, including high heels that raised her height to over six feet. Lawton wasn’t used to looking up at a woman, but he realized that he liked it. He moved to the exit door, with her following him. Pistol still out, he opened the door, and checked for anyone in the hallway. All clear. They went to the elevators and pushed the down button. In seconds the doors opened, they got in and Lawton pushed the button for the second floor.

“We’re not going all the way down?” she asked.

“We’ll get off at the second floor and take the stairs down. What’s your name?”

“Lisa,” she answered. No last name. Well, he really didn’t need to know it right now, he just needed to know what to call her. He told her to call him Charlie. Lawton put his pistol back in the holster. It wasn’t likely that someone random would get on the elevator at this hour, but if they did, he didn’t want them to walk in with him holding a pistol. They reached the second floor, entered the hallway and he led her to the stairway exit. One flight of stairs down and they were on the first floor. He put his hand on the pistol and quietly opened the door. No one around. He led her out the side exit and to his car. They got in and he drove her to his hotel.