The TANNER Series - Books 7-9 (Tanner Box Set Book 3)
Author: Kane, Remington
Date: 2015-10-17
Keywords: Crime; Suspense; Thriller; Mystery
Description: From REMINGTON KANE - The author of The TAKEN! Series The TANNER Series - Books 7-9 With a SPECIAL BONUS - The first four chapters of Book 10 - MORE DANGEROUS THAN MAN SUICIDE OR DEATH - A Tanner Novel - Book 7 Sara Blake offers Tanner a no-win proposition. TWO FOR THE KILL - A Tanner Novel - Book 8 Tanner and Sammy go on a quest for revenge. BALLET OF DEATH - A Tanner Novel - Book 9 Mexican cartel members make a move to control New York City and only Tanner stands in their way. The TANNER Series in order INEVITABLE I - A Tanner Novel - Book 1 KILL IN PLAIN SIGHT - A Tanner Novel - Book 2 MAKI

THE TANNER SERIES – BOOKS 7-9

By

REMINGTON KANE

This is a work of fiction. Similarities to real people, places, or events are entirely coincidental.

THE TANNER SERIES - BOOKS 7-9

First edition. October 17, 2015.

Copyright © 2015 Remington Kane.

Written by Remington Kane.

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Table of Contents

Title Page

Copyright Page

LEARN ABOUT NEW RELEASES FROM | REMINGTON KANE

SUICIDE OR DEATH | By | REMINGTON KANE

CHAPTER 1 - A man with a plan

CHAPTER 2 - Suicide or death

CHAPTER 3 - Surreal

CHAPTER 4 - When it rains...

CHAPTER 5 - In the jungle, the mighty jungle

CHAPTER 6 - Extremist makeover

CHAPTER 7 - At last

CHAPTER 8 - Girl Talk

CHAPTER 9 - The one and only

CHAPTER 10 - Hope

Chapter 11 - Bro

CHAPTER 12 - Deep

CHAPTER 13 - Dad

CHAPTER 14 - To have and have not

CHAPTER 15 - Don Pullo

CHAPTER 16 - A familiar face

CHAPTER 17 - An army of one

CHAPTER 18 - What goes up...

CHAPTER 19 - Call me Sara

CHAPTER 20 - Weapons of mass proportion

CHAPTER 21 - Weird

CHAPTER 22 - Junior

CHAPTER 23 - Deny, deny, deny

CHAPTER 24 - Violated

CHAPTER 25 - The right boy

CHAPTER 26 - Temptation

CHAPTER 27 - Desperation and despair

CHAPTER 28 - Up close and personal

CHAPTER 29 - The Rookie

CHAPTER 30 - You’re with him?

CHAPTER 31 - Nobody’s perfect

CHAPTER 32 - Trust me

CHAPTER 33 - Listen and learn

CHAPTER 34 - Welcome to hell

CHAPTER 35 - Kill and kill again

CHAPTER 36 - Geronimo!

CHAPTER 37 - Change of plans?

CHAPTER 38 - The many, outnumbered by the one

CHAPTER 39 - The kiss of life

CHAPTER 40 - Goodbye

CHAPTER 41 - The hottest club in town

CHAPTER 42 - Hello and goodbye

TWO FOR THE KILL | By | REMINGTON KANE

CHAPTER 1 - Bones

CHAPTER 2 – Friends?

CHAPTER 3 – Gut feeling

CHAPTER 4 – The big boys

CHAPTER 5 – Bobby Volks

CHAPTER 6 – Sarcasm is costly

CHAPTER 7 – Testing 1, 2, 3

CHAPTER 8 – Travel plans

CHAPTER 9 – A cynical bastard

CHAPTER 10 – Talk to me

CHAPTER 11 – Be cool, stay in school

CHAPTER 12 – Endings and beginnings

CHAPTER 13 – What’s in a name?

CHAPTER 14 - Curious

CHAPTER 15 – El Diablo o La Diabla?

CHAPTER 16 – Goodbyes and farewells

CHAPTER 17 – Red, white, and black and blue

CHAPTER 18 – Mirror image

CHAPTER 19 – Yippee-ki-yay

CHAPTER 20 – Welcome to Rainberry

CHAPTER 21 – Dumb and dumber meet blonde and blonder

CHAPTER 22 – Dirty boy

CHAPTER 23 – Sinner or saint?

CHAPTER 24 – No way to treat a lady

CHAPTER 25 – Angels and bad boys

CHAPTER 26 – Oops!

CHAPTER 27 – Bees do it, birds do it

CHAPTER 28 – Easy rider

CHAPTER 29 – A changed man

CHAPTER 30 – The man himself

CHAPTER 31 – The offer of a lifetime

CHAPTER 32 - ...Nor iron bars a cage

CHAPTER 33 – One call does it all

CHAPTER 34 – A very bad man

CHAPTER 35 – Soulless Joe

CHAPTER 36 – Money or love?

CHAPTER 37 – Paper, mister?

CHAPTER 38 – The dance of joy

CHAPTER 39 – Hunting at night

CHAPTER 40 – Personal business

CHAPTER 41 – Death and deceit

CHAPTER 42 – Man of mystery

CHAPTER 43 – Sam the man

CHAPTER 44 - Chaos

CHAPTER 45 – Strange bedfellows

BALLET OF DEATH | By | REMINGTON KANE

CHAPTER 1 – The problem solver

CHAPTER 2 – A man of his word

CHAPTER 3 – Rings a bell

CHAPTER 4 – A safe place

CHAPTER 5 – Gathering and scattering

CHAPTER 6 – The man, the myth

CHAPTER 7 – Memories of Sophia

CHAPTER 8 – The report

CHAPTER 9 – Old friends and new enemies

CHAPTER 10 – Baby talk

CHAPTER 11 – There’s no place nicer

CHAPTER 12 – You can’t run, but you can hide

CHAPTER 13 - Pony

CHAPTER 14 – An ally

CHAPTER 15 – The sky’s the limit

CHAPTER 16 – Boy Cody

CHAPTER 17 – A new record

CHAPTER 18 – Missing in action

CHAPTER 19 – Goodbye Sophia

CHAPTER 20 – Take a meeting

CHAPTER 21 – Who watches the watchers?

CHAPTER 22 – Don’t just stand there...

CHAPTER 23 – Woof!

CHAPTER 24 – The right woman

CHAPTER 25 – The spy who loved me

CHAPTER 26 – Betrayal

CHAPTER 27 – You don’t have to thank me

CHAPTER 28 - Sandoval

CHAPTER 29 – Red meat

CHAPTER 30 - Delivered

CHAPTER 31 – Farewell my love

CHAPTER 32 – Pay day

CHAPTER 33 – Enough is enough

CHAPTER 34 – Two graves, one heart

CHAPTER 35 - Revelations

BONUS!

CHAPTER 1 – Surprise!

CHAPTER 2 – Job openings

CHAPTER 3 – Inevitable

CHAPTER 4 – Closing in

A PLEA

ALSO BY REMINGTON KANE

LEARN ABOUT NEW RELEASES FROM | REMINGTON KANE

TO CONTACT:

Further Reading: More Dangerous Than Man

LEARN ABOUT NEW RELEASES FROM

REMINGTON KANE
http://www.remingtonkane.com/contact.html

SUICIDE OR DEATH

By

REMINGTON KANE

CHAPTER 1 - A man with a plan

Tanner could feel the stitches in his side strain against the wounded flesh they held together, but ignored the pain and just kept working on the bolts.

He was in the basement of a restaurant that had been closed for many years and he’d been taken there after surrendering to Sara Blake, in order to save the life of Laurel Ivy.

After wallowing in unaccustomed melancholy and despair for a time, Tanner went to work doing what he did best and thought up a way to kill his captor, namely, Sara Blake.

He wasn’t in a room, but was on the inside of a huge walk-in freezer that still retained the faint scent of raw meat, although, he would guess that none had been stored there for years.

There was a long metal table just feet from him that was attached to the opposite wall of the freezer and someone had welded wrist and ankle restraints at its corners, which could be swung closed on hinges and secured with padlocks.

Beneath the table was a drain that was already stained red from the years of butchered meat that had dripped blood, and it would act as a drain for human blood if so needed.

Despite Sara’s earlier assertion that she wouldn’t torture him, Tanner still didn’t like the look of that table and had spent hours trying to ignore it, while working on a plan of escape.

He had come up empty.

The handcuffs he had been wearing were connected to a chain that ran down from the ceiling and they had been no problem, not once he managed to maneuver his hands from behind his back.

Sara Blake’s lackey, a man named Duke, had checked him over for weapons but had failed to find the handcuff key he had hidden on his person.

The key was part of the shoelaces of his boots. It sat at the tip of the lace and was hidden by a black rubber cap.

The laces were acquired from a spy shop on the Internet, had cost him $15, and Tanner considered it some of the best money he had ever spent.

Once his hands were free, he went to work on the leg irons, but found that the handcuff key was useless in opening them.

Still, with the cuffs off, he was free of the chain and could move around, although, due to the leg irons, his movement was restricted to a hesitant shuffling gait, but he had made his way to the door to see if he could breach it.

It was useless.

The door was thick, made of metal, and he had seen on his way inside the freezer that there were two iron bars slid across its width to keep it from opening.

He would not break out, but he would also not give up.

That was why he was clinging to a pipe after having climbed up the chain hand over hand, to investigate what the ceiling had to offer and in particular, he was interested in the large cooling fan attached there, which sat above the door.

The chain he climbed was padlocked to the length of metal strut that supported the heavy machine and he felt the whole structure shake with every pull he gave.

Tanner guessed that the machine weighed over three-hundred pounds and despite the fact that sixteen separate screws, washers, and nuts held it to its support strut, the strut itself was attached to the ceiling by only eight long bolts, two of which were ready to fall out, while three of the remaining six were loose.

Not too surprising, Tanner thought, because he had been listening to the frequent rumble of subway cars since entering the room and had surmised that train tracks laid on the other side of the basement wall.

Years, and possibly decades, of day and night vibration generated by the trains had caused the bolts to loosen and several years more would likely cause the machine to come loose and fall from its perch.

Tanner went to work accelerating that process and was blessed with a bit of luck, when he discovered that the inside diameter of the chain links fit snugly over the hexagon-shaped heads of the bolts and could be used like a wrench.

And although it took hours and left his fingertips raw, when he climbed back down the chain he was no longer just a beaten man awaiting his execution, but rather, he was a man with a plan.

CHAPTER 2 - Suicide or death

Tanner had been locked inside the freezer for the better part of a day, when Sara returned and peered through the tempered glass, which was set at eye-level in the door.

Tanner had considered breaking the glass earlier, but the slot was too small to reach an arm through and the glass was reinforced with a wire mesh.

During her absence, Tanner had relieved his bladder and watched the liquid flow down the drain beneath the long table, but with no food or water, he had wondered if Sara had simply left him alone to die of thirst.

When he finally heard the door that led down to the basement squeak upon opening, he got into position and was standing back against the opposite wall where she had previously seen him, and except for the handcuffs laying open on the floor, he looked as defenseless as the last time she saw him.

Sara’s eyes widened when she noticed that his hands were free, but she entered without hesitation and Tanner saw that she was holding a gun.

He was about to kill her when she did something that made him stay his hand.

After opening the door and stepping into the room, Sara leaned down and slid her gun across the floor to him.

“I know you have no reason to trust me, Tanner, but I’m hoping that you’ll at least let me talk, that you’ll hear me out and... I’m hoping that you won’t kill me.”

Tanner stared down at the gun and then back up at her face. She looked like hell and he wondered if Johnny Rossetti’s death was the cause of it, or... was there something else?

Tanner was standing with his arms up and was grasping the chain. He tightened his grip and spoke.

“What’s going on, Blake?”

Sara looked down at the gun and her face showed surprise that he hadn’t reached for it, but then she met his eyes.

“I want to make a deal.”

“What deal and why should I ever trust you again?”

“I could have opened the door and shot you to death or just left you here to die, but instead, I gave you my gun. Doesn’t that tell you that I’m serious, desperate even?”

“Alright, what’s the deal?”

“Your life in exchange for your help, my sister, Jenny, she’s being held for ransom by a group of religious extremists and I want you to get her back, to free her. If anyone could do it, it would be you.”

Tanner adjusted his grip on the chain again, as he pondered her words.

“Where is she being held?”

“She’s... she’s in Guambi.”

“Guambi?”

“It’s a small country located—”

“—near Indonesia, I know and these aren’t normal kidnappers, are they?”

“No, they call themselves the RRK, but it translates to the People’s Freedom Fighters and there are estimated to be hundreds of them.”

“You want me to travel halfway around the world, fight hundreds of armed men and free your sister. Is that the deal you’re offering? It sounds more like a suicide mission, and anyway, isn’t it something the government should be handling?”

“The State Department is in talks with the government there, or rather, what’s left of the government, but the people that have Jenny, my sister, they’ve already killed two hostages, they hacked them to death with machetes and time is running out.”

“Why should I care what happens to your sister? And you’ve already proven that you can’t be trusted.”

Sara stared at him with defiance in her eyes.

“I could have killed you and I didn’t, and I also gave you my gun as proof of my sincerity. I love my sister, Tanner, and you’re the only one I know who would even have a chance of getting her back. If you want me to beg, I’ll do it.”

“Come here.”

“Why?”

“I’ll consider the deal, but I want you to come over here now.”

Sara hesitated for just a second and then walked over and stood before Tanner with a questioning look in her eyes.

He let go of the chain and the massive cooling fan swung down from the ceiling and smashed the spot that Sara had been standing on.

The sudden noise and crash of metal frightened her and she grabbed onto Tanner’s arm without realizing it.

“Good God! That could have crushed me.”

“That was the plan,” Tanner said, as he picked up the gun with one hand and grabbed Sara by the neck with the other.

Sara swallowed a cold lump of fear, as she looked into Tanner’s eyes.

“You’re going to kill me anyway, aren’t you?”

“You stuck a gun in Laurel’s mouth and your own lying lips got Johnny killed.”

Sara’s legs gave out as she began to sob. Tanner released her and then watched as she slid down to the floor.

Her crying was harsh and made of her face an ugly mask, as she fell over onto her side while gripping her hair, as if she meant to rip it from her head.

Tanner stared down at her in bewilderment.

Sara Blake was one of the toughest people he had ever known and the only one ever to best him, even if her method to accomplish the task was unconventional. To see her fall apart was unnerving and he found his hatred for her dissipating, to be replaced by pity.

Nearly a minute passed before Sara sat up against the wall. She wiped away tears and mucus with the sleeve of her blouse, and after swallowing several times to clear her throat, she gazed up at Tanner with a sorrowful expression.

“I loved him, Tanner. I loved Johnny and because of me, he’s dead. My sister, Jenny, she always said that my hate for you would destroy me and she was so right, but it destroyed Johnny as well and I’m not sure that I can live with that, so if you want to kill me, just kill me... it’s what I deserve.”

Ten full seconds passed before Tanner spoke and they were seconds in which his finger twitched twice upon the gun’s trigger, but did not squeeze it.

He nodded towards the cooling fan.

“We’ll have to crawl over that thing to get out of here, so I hope you have the key for these leg irons.”

Sara stared up at him for a moment, before reaching into a pocket of her jeans. She then removed the key, leaned over, and freed Tanner from the shackles.

When she stood, she touched Tanner on the arm.

“Will you help me get my sister back? I’ll pay you anything you want.”

“All I want right now is food and a shower, but you can tell me everything you know about what happened to your sister after that.”

Sara headed for the door.

“I have a car outside; we’ll go to my apartment.”

Before he could comment, Sara had climbed over the fallen cooling fan and was headed for the basement steps. Tanner followed, but looked back at the place he thought he might die in, had expected to die in, even after rigging the machine to fall, because Sara could have shot him the instant the door opened, or, simply never have returned and left him to die.

Tanner took a final look, and then he followed Sara up into the fading light of a day he thought might be his last.

CHAPTER 3 - Surreal

Tanner stayed in Sara’s shower a long time, as he washed away the grime of the freezer.

While on the way to her apartment, she had ordered food from a favorite restaurant of hers that offered delivery, and Tanner had eaten steak, along with a salad and baked potato, after first downing four bottles of water.

Sara had left him alone after the food arrived, and he had eaten while gazing about at her apartment and asking himself why he agreed to help her, why he hadn’t just killed her and escaped his prison. He had no answers for himself, but the image returned to his mind of her sliding her gun towards him and he knew that the act had taken courage, but must have been fueled by desperation.

There were family photos all along the hallway leading to the bedroom and he spotted several where Sara and a woman with blond hair were smiling together, and surmised from the strong resemblance that this was the sister she hoped to save.

He had failed to save his own sisters, but like Sara, he had risked his life to save someone he loved, to save Laurel Ivy, and also like Sara, he had given up his weapon and surrendered to an enemy he knew would kill him.

That they were both still alive was against the odds, but the odds seemed greater still that her sister could be found inside a vast jungle and then rescued, but he had beaten the odds his entire life and hoped to do so once again.

In the bedroom, atop a side table, there was an unframed photo of Sara with Johnny Rossetti and yes, they appeared to be in love. Yet, it was her hate that had caused Johnny’s death, and Tanner knew that the woman blamed herself for his demise, and rightfully so.

After taking a long, hot shower, Tanner left Sara’s bathroom wearing only a towel around his waist and she entered moments later carrying packages.

When she spied the stitched-up wound on his left side, she made a face.

“I heard you’d been shot. That’s not infected, is it?”

“No, only reddened from the hot water, but I should cover it with a fresh bandage.”

“I have some in the bathroom,” Sara said and after walking into the room that was still steamy from Tanner’s shower, she returned and told him to raise his arm.

While applying ointment and a bandage to his wound, Sara stared up into Tanner’s eyes and saw that he was giving her a strange look.

“This is all a bit surreal, isn’t it?” she said, and Tanner grunted his agreement.

When she finished with the bandage, she pointed at the bags she had piled atop the bed.

“The small bag contains a toiletry kit, while the big bag contains new clothing. Everything is in the sizes you asked for and they’ll be delivering the suitcase and the rest of the supplies to the airport within the next hour.”

“When will the plane be ready?”

“It’s a private jet and it will be taking off for Jakarta in three hours.”

“It’s a long flight, how many stops will we make?”

“Just one before we land in Jakarta, we’ll be refueling in South Korea and after that, we’ll have to spend the night in Jakarta.”

“And from there we go to Guambi?”

“No, the airport there is closed, but the resort we’ll be staying at in the neighboring country of Telunas will fly us from Jakarta on their plane. It’s a tight schedule, but we should make it.”

“I see.”

Tanner opened a bag and took out a pair of jeans.

Sara spoke from the doorway.

“I’ll be out on the balcony.”

Tanner answered her with a nod and Sara left the room.

When he joined her twenty minutes later, he was wearing the new jeans along with a black long-sleeved T-shirt and had shaved as well.

The city was a blaze of artificial lights and the cacophony of sounds it produced drifted up to them from the busy streets below.

Tanner poured wine into a glass and sat across from Sara in a wicker chair.

“Tell me everything you know about what happened to your sister.”

After sipping her own wine, Sara spoke.

“Jenny runs a non-profit organization and was there on a humanitarian mission. The government had recently stabilized, or so it seemed, but rebels still loyal to the old leader killed the new president and plunged the country back into civil war.”

“You said that they were religious extremists?”

“Yes and it’s the extremists who were responsible for the anarchy and assassination, but the US State Department informed my father that they weren’t certain if that core group was behind all the kidnappings.”

“Why the doubt?”

“The group is fractured, most of them are driven by their idea of religion and practice it fanatically, but then, there are those committing kidnappings as a way to enrich themselves.”

Tanner nodded.

“I see, both groups ask for money, one to get rich and the other to fund their ideals. If that’s true, then there’s probably no way to know who has her.”

“Yes, but I pray that the extremists have her. Their religion is very strict in matters dealing with sex... which means that she’s less likely to have been raped.”

“How much is the ransom?”

“Ten million.”

Tanner cocked an eyebrow at the figure.

“Your family has that kind of money?”

“We can raise it, yes, but it will take time and during the last conflict in the country, it sometimes took months before they released the hostages, even after the ransom had been paid. They were also known to arbitrarily kill hostages for reasons only they understood, but it was usually when the hostage had offended them somehow, such as the men whose bodies were found. They were gay.”

“And once the ransom is paid, they ask for more, right?”

“Yes, and again, sometimes, they just, just kill their hostage.”

The doorbell rang and Sara stood.

“That’s Duke, please don’t harm him; he was only following my orders.”

Sara waited for Tanner to reply, but he said nothing, and after sighing, Sara went to open the door.

Duke’s eyes grew wide with fear as the door opened and Tanner reached past Sara and pulled the older man into the apartment, tripped him, and as Duke fell onto his back, Tanner placed his gun against Duke’s forehead, right above the broken nose he had inflicted upon him in their previous encounter.

“Please don’t kill him, Tanner,” Sara said.

Tanner ignored her and spoke to Duke.

“You do things for her, from now on, you’ll also do things for me. Do you understand?”

“I do,” Duke said and Tanner was impressed that there was no tremor in the man’s voice.

Tanner put the gun away and Sara helped Duke from the floor.

“I’d much rather work with you than against you, Tanner,” Duke said.

Tanner raised up a finger.

“For me, you’ll work for me, not with me.”

“Whatever you say, I’m just glad that you two aren’t still trying to kill each other.”

Sara suggested that they move back onto the balcony and, once there, Duke told them what little he knew.

“As you can guess, Guambi isn’t exactly a place where I have a lot of contacts and so the two of you will be going in blind.”

Tanner stared at Sara.

“The two of us? You’re not planning on coming along after we get there, are you?”

“Of course I am. This is my sister we’re talking about and I think you know that I can take care of myself.”

“Yes you can, here in the city, but the jungle is different and as a woman you won’t be able to keep up.”

Sara’s eyes blazed.

“That’s sexist!”

“No, that’s a fact and simple physiology. I’m faster than you, Blake; my legs are longer and I have greater stamina. I may need to cover long distances quickly without resting and if I do, you won’t be able to keep up.”

Sara made a face of displeasure, followed by a nod of assent.

“That’s all true and I may lag behind, but I’m still coming with you to find my sister, and I’ll be responsible for myself. Your only job is to find Jenny and get her to safety, agreed?”

Tanner didn’t appear pleased, but he nodded in agreement and spoke to Duke.

“Fine, now what about weapons?”

Duke grimaced.

“I do have contacts in Jakarta through an old friend and he says that the con artists and thieves in the region outnumber the legitimate gun dealers. So be advised, my friend says that this arms dealer in Telunas can be trusted, but not always and that you’ll have to check your weapons carefully to make sure that he’s not trying to sell you junk.”

“That’s not reassuring,” Tanner said.

Duke shrugged.

“It is what it is.”

“How well armed are the rebels?”

Duke brightened, as he rubbed his palms together.

“There’s one piece of good news there. When they attacked the capital, they were unable to breach the armory and the military there remains loyal to the government. Few of the rebels will have guns and most of them will be armed with machetes or knives.”

“What about the passports?” Sara said.

Duke reached into an inside pocket of his suit coat and his hand emerged with an envelope that contained two complete sets of phony ID’s.

He laid them out on a glass-top coffee table before Sara and Tanner and after reading them, they both jerked their heads up and asked Duke the same question.

“We’re supposed to be married?”

Duke grinned.

“It will arouse less suspicion.”

His hand went into a side pocket and this time it emerged with two gold bands.

“I guessed on the sizes; I hope that they fit.”

They tried the rings on and saw that they were about the right size and then they both removed them until they would be needed.

Duke typed on Sara’s laptop for a few moments and brought up a map of Guambi. Afterwards, he pointed towards a large section of the northwestern part of the nation, which was bordered on two sides by the Indian Ocean and the country of Telunas.

“It’s believed by some that most of the rebels are based in this area, although satellites have been unable to verify that and they’ll likely move their camp frequently. Aside from the kidnappings, they’re also suspected of pirating small pleasure craft. The area is just a mess right now.”

“How do we get to Guambi, by plane?” Tanner asked.

“The airfield is still closed and the State Department is advising all Americans to stay away, so you’ll have to travel in on foot. This chaos all broke out while Sara’s sister was in the air, and if she had left a day later, her flight would have been cancelled.”

Duke looked up from the screen and stared at both of them.

“What you two are planning to do is hopeless. A native of the country would have a problem locating the rebels and if you did find a group of them, there’s no guarantee that they would be the ones that took Sara’s sister.”

“What do you think Jenny’s odds are, Duke?”

Duke sighed loudly.

“The truth, fifty-fifty, and that’s only because your father is willing and able to pay. Most of the time, the negotiations fall apart because the rebels ask too much, but luckily for your sister, your old man is loaded.”

“I’m not willing to sit back and just hope for the best,” Sara said, and looked at Tanner. “I studied you when I was tracking you down and over the last few weeks I’ve seen you do some incredible things, including today inside that freezer. If anyone can find and free my sister, it’s you.”

Duke looked at Tanner and then Sara.

“What happened inside the freezer?”

“Tanner got free from the cuffs and rigged a trap. Once I stepped inside, he could have killed me.”

“And she could have stayed outside the freezer and shot me to death, but she didn’t,” Tanner said. “Instead, she gave me her gun.”

Sara leaned towards him.

“I need you to trust me again. I really think you’re the only chance my sister has.”

“I’ll do my best, Blake, but honestly, a team of Mercs might be a better option.”

Duke cleared his throat.

“Not so, I heard a news report on the way here. The father of one of the other hostages is Conrad Burke, as in Burke, the multi-national, the defense contractor. He allegedly assembled a team of ten men and sent them in after his youngest daughter. One of them stumbled out of the jungle today with third-degree burns and said that they were ambushed and slaughtered, as far as they know, he was the only survivor.”

“An ambush that was set up that quickly tells me that they have eyes everywhere,” Tanner said.

Duke nodded in agreement.

“Yeah, Burke’s group had been headquartered in the neighboring country of Telunas, which is where you’ll be staying after your night in Jakarta, at their resort area, and the extremists are gaining ground there as well. Someone on the hotel staff, a taxi driver, or even someone at the airfield could have tipped the rebels. Trust no one.”

Tanner pointed at the map.

“From what part of the country was Blake’s sister kidnapped?”

“She and two other hostages were at a relief center in the eastern part of Guambi,” Duke said.

“How certain are you that she and the other hostages are being marched northward?”

“I’m not certain at all. This is all just extrapolation from known facts, but the mercenaries were attacked north of the area where the hostages were taken, which does indicate that they’re moving in that direction.”

“That’s good; it means that we’ll have a chance of intercepting them.”

***

Duke wished them luck before leaving, and soon after, Tanner and Sara left the apartment and climbed into the limo that would take them to the airport.

Sara offered Tanner her phone.

“Do you want to call someone, maybe Laurel?”

“No.”

“Why not? You should let her know that you’re alive.”

“I’ll do that if I live through this, otherwise, what’s the point?”

Sara turned in her seat until she was facing him.

“You’ll find my sister and then we’ll go our separate ways. I hated you for a long time, Tanner, but I never doubted your abilities. I locked you in a room with your feet shackled and your hands cuffed behind your back and I returned to a death trap. Most men would have surrendered, one or two might have gotten free of the cuffs, but only you could turn the tables like that. Use that devious brain of yours to find my sister and bring her home.”

Tanner said nothing in return and Sara shifted back in her seat until she was staring forward once more. Five minutes passed before she spoke again.

“I don’t hate you, not anymore. I don’t have the strength for it and it was my hatred for you that caused Johnny’s death. I have to live with that.”

She cried softly, as Tanner watched her impassively, but as the taxi drove onto the Grand Central Parkway, he offered some advice.

“You’ve stopped hating me, now stop hating yourself.”

“That’s easier said than done,” Sara said.

“Yes, but then, what isn’t?”

Sara pondered those words, and despite her somber mood, she smiled.

CHAPTER 4 - When it rains...

Laurel Ivy opened her front door before Joe Pullo could ring the bell.

After Pullo entered, they hugged each other in greeting and Laurel noticed that Joe hugged her longer than usual.

When they separated, she searched his face.

“How was your day?”

“Insane, with Johnny gone, I’m running things and there’s a lot I don’t know. I spent most of my life on the streets. I’m not a manager.”

“Has there been more trouble?”

“No, which I find odd, but I’ll take the break.”

Laurel took his hand and began leading him towards the kitchen.

“I’ll heat up some food for you.”

Joe pulled her back and searched her eyes.

“How are you doing? I mean, we have to assume that Sara killed Tanner and I know you loved him.”

Laurel looked away for a moment, as her eyes grew moist, but when she looked back at Joe, she gave his hand a squeeze.

“I don’t know if Tanner is dead, but I do know that he loved me, loves me, and knowing that... it’s freed me from the past.”

“What do you mean?”

“For years I thought that maybe I had fooled myself into thinking he loved me, but now that I know he did, I also know that we never would have lasted, not if he could feel that way about me and still leave me.”

“And if he’s alive... if he wants you?”

Laurel smiled, and kissed Joe.

“I’m with you now, Joe. Tanner is part of my past.”

Joe hugged her again.

“I don’t know what I’d do if I lost you too. First Johnny and now Tanner, Laurel, do you think Tanner could really still be alive?”

“I do. He’s already come back from the dead once and until I know differently, I’ll assume he’s out there somewhere.”

Joe looked towards the kitchen.

“I’m not really hungry.”

Laurel smiled.

“Let’s go to bed.”

Joe’s phone rang and when he looked at the caller ID, his face paled two shades.

“This can’t be good news.”

“Who is it?”

“Sam’s nursing home,”

Joe answered the phone and as the caller spoke, Joe’s shoulders sagged and he lowered himself to take a seat on the stairs.

“I understand, yes, thank you and... um, I’ll be there in the morning.”

When he put away the phone, Laurel saw that he looked utterly lost.

“Joe?”

“Sam’s dead, they say he died in his sleep. Oh Jesus, Laurel, I’m losing everyone.”

Laurel sat beside him and hugged him, as Pullo cried fresh tears of grief.

***

Duke stepped out of his van in front of his home in the Park Slope section of Brooklyn and felt the barrel of a gun as it was jammed against his ribs.

“Take the wallet, hell, take the van, the damn thing isn’t worth my life.”

“Is he dead?”

The female voice surprised Duke and when he turned his head, he saw Sophia.

“Tanner is alive, I swear.”

“Where is he?”

Duke turned to face her and smiled.

“Right now, I’d say he’s cruising at about 40,000 ft.”

***

Inside the private jet, Tanner, his own eyelids heavy from lack of sleep, stared across the aisle at Sara’s slumbering form.

As young as she was, she had already lost two lovers and now there was a good chance that she would lose her sister as well.

He believed her when she said that she no longer hated him and assumed that her passion for revenge had died along with Johnny Rossetti.

He kept staring at her and asked himself again why he hadn’t killed her, and the only answer he could come up with, was that he respected her.

She had bested him, pure and simple, despite the method employed and he was only still alive because she had decided not to end his life.

He would find her sister, free her from her captors and then consider the slate clean between them.

Tanner drifted off to the first sleep he’d had in nearly forty-eight hours, as the jet he rode in drew ever nearer to danger and possibly the greatest challenge of his life.

CHAPTER 5 - In the jungle, the mighty jungle

In the jungle region of Guambi, Jennifer Blake looked up at the noon sun and thought that she would pass out if they didn’t stop to rest.

She was one of six hostages being held by a group of nearly three dozen men, most of whom were armed only with machetes, or goloks, as the locals called them, and they had already proven that they would use them, because when they started out, there were two more hostages.

The men had been a couple on vacation at the resort in Telunas, a gay couple named Philip and Lawrence, who were well educated, and both Australians in their thirties.

When the so-called freedom fighters realized that they were homosexuals, they had beaten them mercilessly before hacking them to death with the machetes.

It was the most horrific and inhumane sight that Jennifer had ever witnessed and it made her vomit what little food she had in her stomach.

The brutality had sickened and dispirited her fellow remaining hostages as well, for it had shown them that their lives could end at any moment, ransom demands or not.

Philip and Lawrence had been successful businessmen and their lawyer, or solicitor, would have gathered the ransom money and paid for their release within a day or two.

However, their captors found the men’s obvious love for each other an affront to their religious beliefs, and forfeited the ransom for the opportunity to “cleanse the world of them” and would simply increase their ransom demands for the remaining hostages.

Besides Jennifer, there was a young woman named Melissa Burke, who was only eighteen and the daughter of Conrad Burke, whose mercenaries were bested earlier that day.

Burke’s men had been expected and had walked right into a trap near a stream, where nets were dropped upon them and then set ablaze. The men fought back by emptying their guns in all directions but they couldn’t fight the flames and soon succumbed to the fire.

Jennifer had hugged the ground along with the other hostages when the fighting began and wondered if any of them would survive the rescue attempt.

When the conflict ended, they were all herded away through the jungle as fast as they could move, which wasn’t very fast, because they were paired off and lashed together at the ankles.

Jennifer was bound to Melissa with a piece of coarse rope, while the other four hostages were likewise tied together.

There was a married couple from Florida named George and Reba Hough, who had been on their honeymoon in Telunas, when they were kidnapped while shopping at the marketplace in Guambi.

The final two hostages were both men, a man of Asian heritage with the improbable name of Juan Rio, who was also a native-born Brit and reverted to a Cockney accent when agitated. While the other man was a pediatrician, Dr. Bill Washburn, who was black and a Canadian citizen,

Juan Rio was an engineer, who had been working in the area, but both Melissa and Dr. Washburn had accompanied Jennifer to the country as volunteer workers for the charity she ran and she felt responsible for their safety, even though none of what was transpiring was her fault.

The leader of their captors was named Firman and he was a very thin man with wiry limbs and lots of dark hair, a beard, and bushy eyebrows.

His religious zeal seemed evident, but Jennifer knew that some of the men serving beneath him were more interested in the money the ransoms would bring and had hopes of somehow getting their hands on it.

Dr. Washburn was an army veteran, who had served in East Timor during the turn of the century and he had learned enough of the area’s local languages to understand snatches of conversation between the men guarding them.

They were being marched towards the group’s main camp, where they would likely be placed in a pit until their ransoms were paid.

From one of those conversations, Washburn learned that at least two of the men believed that they should keep the money for themselves and not pass it along to fuel their cause of a separate nation.

Firman raised a thin arm in the air and gave the signal to rest, as they came upon one of the many streams that ran through the jungle.

Jennifer and her companions all sighed with relief and then they lowered their faces to the water and drank as well as they could by using one hand to brace themselves, while the other was cupped and brought water to their lips.

When they were done, they all stepped into the stream to cool off and bathe, while assuming that the break would be a brief one, since they had lost time the day before, when they had to seek shelter from an afternoon storm.

The men removed their shirts, but the women had to wash while keeping their clothes on. Firman grew angry over any exposure of their bodies and, at a previous stop, he had given the order that Mrs. Hough be beaten for removing her blouse, when she tried to make it easier to clean herself.

When Mr. Hough charged at the man who had struck his wife, he received his own beating and both husband and wife bore bruises.

Most of the rebels were young and the youngest of the separatists, a boy who appeared to be no more than sixteen, was named Prendy.

Prendy had taken a liking to the petite and beautiful, raven-haired Melissa and as she and Jennifer stepped from the water, he handed her a piece of durian, a fruit that was native to the area.

Melissa thanked him with a smile and Prendy nodded shyly and moved away. Melissa then handed half of the fruit to Jennifer.

“Thank you, honey,” Jennifer said, as she eyed Prendy.

Jennifer ate the small piece of fruit quickly, for although she loved the sweet taste and crisp texture, she found the fruit’s odor unpleasant.

“Don’t trust that boy, Melissa.”

“Prendy? He’s not like the others and he has a crush on me.”

“Just be careful.”

Melissa sat next to Jennifer on the grass.

“Do you think we’ll be rescued soon?”

“I don’t know, but I’m certain that both our families are busy making arrangements to pay our ransoms.”

George and Reba both lay on their backs beside them, while Juan and Dr. Washburn sat across from them, and Juan asked Melissa what Prendy had given her to eat.

When she told him, he nodded and smiled.

“That’s good; you ladies eat as much as you can. All this bloody marching through the jungle can leave a person knackered. But Melissa, you watch that little bastard, he can’t be trusted any more than the rest of these arseholes.”

“Yes Dad,” Melissa said and Jennifer and the others laughed.

Juan Rio was the father of four teenage girls and he had been looking out for Melissa since their ordeal began.

“I’m not your bleeding dad, but I know a thing or two about the world, young lady and that boy isn’t giving you something for nothing, believe it.”

“He won’t... try anything. It’s against their beliefs, right?”

The others said nothing and Melissa suddenly looked worried.

CHAPTER 6 - Extremist makeover

Firman, the leader of the men holding Jennifer hostage, rose up from his prayer rug and sat on a straw mat beneath the shade of a tall tree.

As he turned his head to the left, his eyes fell upon the western hostages as they rested near the stream, and a glare of distaste lit his features as he took in Jennifer’s long blond hair blowing in the breeze.

He then gazed about at his men and saw that many of them were eyeing Jennifer and Melissa.

One in particular, the boy named Prendy, was eyeing the young girl as if he were a starving man and she was his only food.

After rising up, Firman called over four of the men who he knew were fervent in their religious beliefs and as driven to rid their country of infidels as he was.

Once he reached the hostages, he studied Reba Hough, deemed her mouse brown hair to be short enough, and instructed the men who had been guarding the hostages to drag her and the males away.

That left Jennifer and Melissa alone, and Melissa clung to Jennifer like a toddler clinging to its mother.

Firman barked orders at the four men he had arrived with and they pulled the women apart, as they each grabbed an arm and held them still.

As Jennifer and Melissa stood on their knees before Firman, he very slowly and dramatically removed his machete from its scabbard.

Jennifer was the first victim of the blade, as Firman yanked at her hair while hacking away like a madman.

When he was done with her, her hair was no longer than any of the men’s and she had suffered several superficial cuts across her scalp.

Juan Rio called Firman a slew of names and although the leader of the rebels didn’t understand the Brit’s words, he understood their meaning and with just a look in that direction, one of the guards smashed the flat of his machete across the back of Juan’s head, which stunned the small man into silence.

Then, Firman went to work on Melissa and she too was shorn of her locks and humiliated.

As the two women lay at his feet crying, Firman had to keep himself from hacking away at them.

As despicable as the creatures were, they would bring in a rich bounty from their families and then he and his brothers would be able to arm themselves with more than mere machetes.

He spat upon the women as a way to vent his hatred, barked out the order for his men to be ready to move in ten minutes, and strode back to settle upon his mat, while whispering the words of a prayer he learned as a child.

CHAPTER 7 - At last

Tanner had been awake for an hour when Sara stirred and opened her eyes, and when she looked over and spotted him, she startled, and he saw a look of fear expressed for a moment before she became fully awake.

She sent him a weak smile.

“I have to get used to being near you.”

“Without wanting to kill me, you mean?” Tanner said.

“Or fear being killed by you,” she said.

They sat in silence for twenty minutes, until Sara broke it.

“My sister was like a second mother to me as I was growing up and I love her more than anything.”

“She’s older than you?”

“Yes, by six years and she’s always been the wiser of us and the most kind.” Sara stared at Tanner. “Do you have siblings?”

“They’re dead.”

“They must have died young.”

Tanner nodded and Sara saw that it was not a subject he was willing to talk about.

“The last time I spoke to my sister I called her a liar, because she told me that Brian once made a pass at her. I couldn’t accept that she was telling the truth then, but I see that I was idealizing him. I loved him, still love him, but he had his faults and... his actions were partly to blame for his death. Had he never gotten involved with Richards, you two would have never crossed paths.”

Surprise registered on Tanner’s face and when Sara saw it, she curled her lips in a smile.

“Yes, I actually said that.”

“Then, I’ll say this, I’m sorry that things went the way they did, although, if I hadn’t killed him, someone else would have.”

“Is that how you justify what you do?”

“No, Blake, I don’t need to justify what I do. I kill for money, for those who can’t or won’t do their own killing and I consider it work like any other profession.”

“But you could do other things, Tanner; you’re certainly intelligent enough, why kill for money?”

“We all do what we’re driven to do, and I’m the best at what I do, not many people can say that.”

“And you enjoy it, the violence, the killing?”

“I’m not a sadist, nor does it sexually arouse me, but I’ve a natural proclivity for the work, and yes, I do enjoy it. It’s often challenging, even demanding, and what you’ve asked me to do is the greatest challenge yet.”

“I haven’t hired you to kill anyone.”

“Haven’t you? Or do you really believe that we can free your sister without taking a single life? You may not know their names, but there are men alive right now in Guambi who will be dead when we leave there and they’ll be dead because you’ve hired me to kill them, even if you are only paying me with my life and not money.”

Sara thought that over, saw the truth of it and even took it one step further.

“Some of those men may have women who love them and I’m bringing you there to kill them, which will cause those women grief... the same as your killing of Brian caused me grief.”

“If that bothers you, we can turn the plane around and go back to New York.”

Sara shook her head.

“No, kill as many as you need to, but I want my sister free and safe.”

“And Frank Richards wanted to stay free and safe when he asked me to kill Brian Ames. I’m a tool, Blake. A gun for hire, and now I’m working for you.”

They were silent again, but Sara soon shattered it by voicing an observation.

“It’s a shitty world where a man can make a career of killing other men for money.”

Tanner smiled.

“At last, we finally agree on something.”

CHAPTER 8 - Girl Talk

Laurel lit up in a huge grin as Sophia delivered the news.

Joe had been getting ready to go to Sam Giacconi’s care facility when Sophia called and he asked her to come by Laurel’s townhouse. She told them her news over coffee taken at the kitchen table.

Tanner was alive.

“This guy Duke says that Tanner and Blake made a new deal. She lets him live and he saves her sister from the rebels in Guambi.”

Joe scratched his chin as he digested the news.

“That sounds like it could take a while. He could probably search that jungle for weeks and never find her.”

Sophia smiled.

“This is Tanner we’re talking about, he’ll find her.”

Laurel let out a deep breath.

“This is such a relief; I was so afraid that he had sacrificed himself to save me, but Sara must have come to her senses.”

“That bitch doesn’t have any sense,” Sophia said. “She just needs Tanner’s help more than she needs to see him dead, but no matter the reason, it means he’ll be coming back someday.”

“I hope it’s soon,” Joe said, and there was such despondency in his voice that it caused Sophia to look at him carefully.

“Something else has happened, hasn’t it?”

“Yeah, Sam Giacconi died.”

“Oh, Joe, I’m so sorry.”

“Thanks, but now it means that I have two funerals to plan, for two Dons, and God, I miss both of them more than you know.”

Sophia smiled.

“When Johnny and I first started going out he was intimidated by you, and then he told me a couple of weeks ago that you were his best friend.”

Pullo looked startled.

“He said I intimidated him, why?”

“You had a rep as a hard ass, still do and Sam was always praising you. Johnny looked up to you and wanted to be like you.”

“Hell, he surpassed me and he was twice as smart as I’ll ever be.”

Laurel leaned over and kissed him on the cheek.

“Don’t underestimate yourself, Johnny didn’t, and it was why he made you his advisor.”

Sophia shook her head sadly.

“We lose a lot of good people too soon in this life.”

Joe nodded in agreement, while fearing that there would be more losses in the coming days.

When he offered to walk Sophia out, she declined, while saying that she wanted to stay and visit with Laurel.

“A visit?” Joe asked.

“Yeah, girl talk, you know?”

Joe looked at Laurel.

“Is that alright with you?”

Laurel smiled at Sophia.

“Yes, I think we should get to know each other better.”

Joe left after giving Laurel a kiss goodbye and Laurel asked Sophia to follow her back into the kitchen, where they settled at the table over more coffee, along with chocolate croissants.

Sophia, not one to beat around the bush, came right to the point.

“Tanner was willing to sacrifice himself for you and I know you’ve got the hots for him, so tell me, what’s going to happen when he comes back?”

Laurel sipped her coffee before answering, and after placing her cup down atop the table, she leaned back in her seat and stared across at Sophia.

“I love Tanner and have since the moment I first laid eyes on him, and at the time, I cheated on my husband to be with him, but that was then and I’m a different person now.”

“So you’re saying that you don’t want him?”

“I love him, but I can’t have him and I’m not sure any woman can, because I think there’s just something in Tanner that won’t allow him to be intimate. He fears love, you should understand that if you’re serious about him, but I also think that he has feelings for you.”

“Why do you say he has feelings for me?”

Laurel gave a little shrug.

“I’ve seen you two together and I hope it works out for you, I really do, but I’m with Joe now and although I’ll always love him, Tanner and I will never be together again.”

“Does Joe know that? Because I have to think that he’s as worried as I am about what happens between you two when Tanner returns.”

“We’ve talked about it. I told him that I don’t want Tanner and that I want him.”

“Talk is cheap and with all he’s lost lately, I’m sure he wouldn’t mind a little extra reassurance that he’s not losing you too.”

Laurel gave that some thought and nodded.

“You’re right; I should leave no doubts in his mind.”

Sophia stared at her and made a face.

“Damn.”

“What’s wrong?”

“I like you, Laurel, and I didn’t want to.”

Laurel grinned.

“That makes two of us,”

CHAPTER 9 - The one and only

After refueling in South Korea took longer than expected, due to an instrument in the cockpit needing to be replaced, the accommodations at the hotel in Jakarta had been given away to a foreign news crew covering the story in Guambi, and Sara realized that she and Tanner had nowhere to stay once they landed.

To make matters worse, a new storm was blowing into the region and would be going strong by midnight.

Sara had received the news about the lost hotel rooms after they made their stop for fuel and she became busy making calls to find a solution, but came up empty.

She kept trying, but when they were minutes from landing, she admitted defeat.

“I don’t know what to do and one of the people I talked to said that the planes were being grounded tonight, that’s how bad the storm will be. I suppose we’ll just have to sleep in the airport terminal.”

Tanner held out his hand.

“Let me have your phone.”

Sara gave it to him, but asked a question.

“You know a place where we can stay?”

“I do, but you have to behave while we’re there.”

“What’s that mean?”

“It means that you keep your remarks about me to yourself. If you insult me in front of these people, they’ll toss you overboard.”

“Overboard? So they have a boat?”

“Yes, a cabin cruiser,”

“Who are these people?”

Tanner had put in the number and was about to press send, when he looked up and stared into Sara’s eyes.

“They’re the closest thing I have to family.”

***

After landing, they waited over an hour for the taxi to arrive and then spent nearly two hours navigating through traffic that made rush hour in New York City look tame by comparison.

By the time they reached the dock it was past noon and they were both tired and hungry.

Sara saw her first. She was a small brown woman with a wide smiling face and glittering dark eyes and she was running at Tanner at full speed. When she reached them, Tanner opened his arms and the young woman leapt into them as if she were a child.

“Xavier! You’ve come home!”

“It’s good to see you, Nadya,” Tanner said and the smile on his face was wide and genuine.

As her feet touched the ground again, Nadya smiled at Sara.

“This is your friend, Xavier?”

“Her name is Sara Blake.”

Nadya stared at Sara, then, back at Tanner, and a sly grin came across her face. She then hugged Sara as if she were a long lost sister, and so genuine was her affection that Sara hugged her back, even as she mouthed a question to Tanner.

“Xavier?”

He nodded.

A man came towards them with a smile as wide as Nadya’s had been. He was white, about six-feet tall and his blond hair was receding. His skin told you that he had spent a lot of time outdoors, for while he was not as naturally dark as his wife, Nadya, his hide was still bronzed from the sun.

As he drew closer, Sara could see that beneath the tan there were faded tattoos on his arms and when he reached them, he and Tanner hugged like brothers.

The man lowered his sunglasses and Sara saw a pair of brilliant blue eyes, she also saw that the man was looking her over as if he were taking inventory.

“Shit, Xavier, she’s too damn hot for a mutt like you.”

“She’s... just a friend, and her name is Sara Blake. Sara, this is Romeo.”

“Romeo?”

Romeo grinned.

“The one and only, baby,”

CHAPTER 10 - Hope

Jennifer thought that the breeze felt odd as it blew across her shorn scalp, even as the sun burned patches of flesh that had never before felt its hot caress.

She and Melissa both looked like the victims of a mad hairstylist and both bore bald patches along with scabs, where Firman’s careless cutting had left a nick.

Melissa’s shorter hair hadn’t seemed to dull Prendy’s fascination with the girl, and the young rebel still eyed her as if she were the loveliest thing he’d ever seen, despite the grime covering her face and the filthy twill pants and sweat-stained blouse she wore.

Jennifer trudged along with Melissa at her side in synchronized steps that were becoming second nature, as the two women were still bound together at the ankle with rope.

The coarse cord had caused both their ankles to redden and then bleed, but after so many miles, there was just an awareness of pain there that bordered on numbness, like a minor headache that irritates but doesn’t disable you.

They were in the middle, with Juan Rio and Dr. Washburn in front of them and the Houghs behind them.

Jennifer had tried to keep track of what direction they were traveling in, but what trail existed meandered and they would frequently move east or west to pick up a new one, often, in an effort to avoid an army patrol that one of the advance scouts had seen.

Wherever they were being taken, she expected it to be no better, and wondered if her father had arranged for her release.

Would she be set free, or, would Firman simply kill her once the money was paid?

They came to a sudden stop, Jennifer heard Melissa inhale sharply, and when she followed her gaze, she saw the three dead bodies sprawled across the trail.

The dead men looked like rebels, with their well-worn khaki pants and baggy tunics, and when Firman turned one over, Jennifer realized that they were the men sent forward as scouts and that her captors now numbered three less.

A second later and Firman was shouting orders to his remaining men, and while a dozen of the men paired off and went to search the surrounding jungle, Prendy and the others that remained herded them over to a group of trees and kept guard over them.

Juan Rio whispered.

“It looks like they have trouble and hopefully this is another rescue attempt.”

Dr. Washburn looked doubtful.

“One of those men was stabbed from behind, while the other two were slashed across their throats. I can’t be certain, but it looks like one man killed them.”

One of the guards turned and screamed at them to be quiet and they complied. They knew from experience that there would be no second warning, only violent reinforcement of the command.

Still, they all looked at each other with emerging smiles, as they dared to hope that a rescue was forthcoming.

Chapter 11 - Bro

Phoenix, Arizona September 1998

––––––––

Cody Parker, going by the name of Xavier Zane, sat on the edge of his motel room bed and fought back tears as he thought about his slain family, who had been murdered one year ago to the day.

His best friend and mentor, Tanner, had offered to stay with him and talk, but Cody declined the offer while saying that he’d be fine.

But he wasn’t fine and despite his inherent toughness and stoical nature, he found himself becoming lost amid dark thoughts, memories of the final moments of his loved ones’ lives, and was feeling more than a touch of survivor’s guilt.

The three loud knocks on the door roused him from his despair and after wiping away a stray tear, he rose, looked through the peephole, and sighed.

The door opened to reveal the smiling face of Romeo, who was holding a bottle of liquor and the mellow and carefree boy wasn’t alone.

There were two girls with him, both young and beautiful and after looking Cody over, the one on the right sent him a huge grin.

“Xavier, say hello to Carla and Alicia.”

Before Cody could say anything, Romeo brushed past him while holding Carla’s hand. Alicia, the girl who had been on the right, was now standing alone in the doorway and Cody ushered her in with a sweep of his arm.

“I’m Xavier.”

“I’m Alicia.”

The girl was a blond with huge green eyes, and when she walked into the room as if floating on air, Cody intuited by her lissomness and grace that she was a dancer.

Romeo draped an arm over Cody’s shoulders and held up the bottle.

“We’re going to have a drink or two, get to know each other and then go out and light up the town, what do you say?”

Cody managed to break free of Alicia’s gaze, and after turning his head, he whispered to Romeo.

“Didn’t Tanner tell you that I wanted to be alone?”

“Yeah, but he didn’t tell me why,” Romeo whispered back, “But hey, Bro, nobody wants to be alone, not really, and I’m just looking out for you.”

Cody sent him a small smile. “Bro?”

“Hell yeah, we’re like brothers aren’t we? And Tanner, he’s like our old man.”

Cody’s smile widened, he then looked back at Alicia and the beauty sitting on his bed grinned again.

“Romeo, I owe you one, Bro.”

“Alright, now let’s get this party started.”

***

Sara and Romeo’s wife, Nadya, became fast friends as the foursome ate and relaxed in the lounge of the cabin cruiser, and when Sara realized that Tanner was known to them by the name, Xavier Zane, a light of recognition dawned in her eyes.

At one point, Nadya and Romeo went into the galley, leaving Tanner and Sara alone.

“There was a hired killer out West years ago that went by the name of Xavier Zane; I’m going to assume that it’s not a coincidence.”

“It was me,” Tanner admitted.

“And is that your real name?”

“No.”

Sara gave a little shake of her head.

“How young did you start?”

“It doesn’t matter,” Tanner said and there was a touch of anger in his voice.

Sara said, “I was just curious,” and then Nadya slid into the booth and sat beside her again.

“I want you to come shopping with me, Sara, and then these two can catch up.”

“Okay and there are a few items I need.”

Nadya smiled at Tanner.

“I like her, Xavier. You have good taste.”

“You’re way off base, Nadya, there’s nothing between us.”

Nadya waved that off.

“You forget my gift; I know these things.”

“Gift?” Sara said.

Romeo took a swig of beer and then smiled at his wife.

“Nadya is psychic.”

“Really?” Sara said, and the doubt in her voice was plain to hear.

Romeo laughed.

“Don’t believe, I didn’t at first, but I’ll tell you this, she told me last week that Xavier here was coming to visit soon and now here he is, and she does shit like that all the time. It’s spooky.”

“Interesting,” Sara said, but the doubt was still evident in her tone.

***

With the women gone, Tanner and Romeo moved above deck and drank beer beneath a sky that was growing dark with the approaching storm.

“Are you really not sleeping with Sara? Because that is one beautiful woman, Brother,”

Tanner told Romeo about the history between him and Sara, and Romeo shook his head.

“You always did have a way with women, and hey, what about the old man, have you gone to see him lately?”

“No, I haven’t seen him, why, is there a problem?”

“Nah and we’ll be visiting him next year... after the baby is born.”

Tanner had been raising his beer bottle to his lips, but paused halfway.

“Baby?”

“Nadya’s pregnant, Bro, three months, you’re going to be an uncle.”

Tanner reached over and shook Romeo’s hand.

“I’m happy for you.”

“And what about you, you ever think about settling down?”

Tanner shook his head.

“It’s not for me.”

“I said the same shit for years and now here I am with Nadya. Who knows, maybe someday you’ll fall in love.”

Tanner said nothing, but his thoughts turned to Laurel Ivy.

CHAPTER 12 - Deep

Ten-thousand miles away from where Tanner sat with Romeo enjoying an evening drink, Laurel Ivy was in her kitchen preparing coffee to start the day.

Joe came down the stairs and Laurel greeted him with a kiss.

“Have breakfast before you leave.”

“I should get going; I’ve got a long day ahead of me.”

Laurel took him by the hand.

“All the more reason to have a good breakfast,”

Joe let her pull him along towards the kitchen. With Sam Giacconi dying on the heels of Johnny Rossetti’s murder, he had decided to hold both funerals on the same day, but now faced the chore of having to arrange two burials, while also running the day-to-day affairs of a crime syndicate and preparing for the possibility of war with the Russian mob.

Once they were in the kitchen, Joe just stood there with his brow creased in worry.

Laurel gave his hand a squeeze.

“You’ve got a lot on your mind, don’t you?”

“That’s an understatement and I’m not sure that I’m cut out to be Don. I was fine running crews, but now I run everything.”

“Isn’t there someone that you trust and who you can delegate some of your responsibilities to?”

“Maybe, I’ll have to give that some thought, but right now I’ve got to make sure we’re prepared for war, because the Russians will be making a move soon, I just know it.”

Laurel kissed him on the lips.

“Have faith in yourself. I do, and I know that you’ll come out on top.”

“Thanks, baby, I hope you’re right.”

As Laurel began cooking, she spoke over her shoulder.

“While you’re at the club, I’ll be meeting with the funeral director this morning and making arrangements, but I’ll call you if I need your help in making a decision about something, oh and Sophia said that she would come along and help me. Wasn’t that nice of her?”

Joe turned around in his seat.

“You’ll really do that? There are a lot of details and it’s not exactly fun.”

Laurel leaned over and kissed him.

“I’m here for you, baby, you know that.”

No, Joe didn’t know that, and despite what she had said the other night, he had been fearing that their relationship would be ending soon, now that Tanner had confessed his love for her and would likely return in the near future.

Joe gazed up at Laurel and spoke in a hoarse voice.

“Thank you, that will really help.”

Laurel reached in her pocket and took out a key.

“That’s for the front door. I think it’s time you had one, don’t you?”

Joe took the key and as he stared at it, he sat straighter and his chin lifted. He then stood, took Laurel in his arms, and as the embrace ended, he touched her on the cheek.

“You’re sticking with me, even though you know that Tanner loves you?”

Laurel smiled.

“I love Tanner, you know that, but what we had, that’s in the past... and I love you now and I think that we can have a future, don’t you?”

Joe grinned.

“I love you too, Laurel, and yeah baby, you’re the only one I want to be with.”

***

They had just finished eating when the doorbell rang.

It was Merle and Earl, and Laurel greeted her brothers with a hug.

Pullo sent the boys a nod and then noticed that they were wearing suits.

“You guys came in the limo?”

“Yes sir and we’ll take you anywhere you want to go,” Earl said.

“You were Johnny’s drivers, not mine.”

Merle walked over and stood before Joe.

“We’re yours now and since you and Laurel Lee are together, we’ll help you any way we can. You don’t even have to pay us or nuthin’.”

Joe studied the brothers while he came to a decision.

“Alright, but I’ll keep you on the payroll, and I think I see now why Johnny liked you so much; there’s more to you two than I thought.”

Merle nodded in agreement.

“Earl and me, we’re deep.”

CHAPTER 13 - Dad

Half a world away from New York City, beneath an evening sky growing dark with rain clouds, Jennifer huddled together with Melissa and the rest of the hostages beneath a plastic tarp with holes in it.

Despite the fact that they were sitting on its edges, the tarp threatened to blow away at any moment, as a storm raged around them and the ground became muddy.

The women still had shoes, but not the men, because the rebels had taken them for their own use on the first day and George Hough, Juan Rio, and Dr. Washburn all had feet that bore many fresh scars and abrasions.

Their captors had built a series of lean-tos that sheltered themselves from the rain, but Jennifer and the others had to make do with the tarp and would soon be in total darkness when the last of the day’s light faded away.

Melissa shivered despite the humidity and when Juan Rio removed his shirt and draped it around her shoulders, she thanked him profusely while assuring him that it helped.

The Asian man with the Hispanic name and the cockney accent was as different from her father as a man could get, but Melissa appreciated the fact that he was looking out for her as if she were his own daughter, and she gave him a peck on the cheek.

“Thanks, Dad, and do your daughters know how lucky they are?”

“Those four are all teenagers; they won’t appreciate me and their mum until they have kids of their own.”

One of the guards pulled up a corner of the tarp and stuck his head under, then, slid a piece of cardboard towards them that had brown rice piled atop it.

Everyone dug in like it was a gourmet feast, because it was the first food they had seen in nearly a day. There were no utensils and so they had to eat with their hands.

Once the food had been devoured, Juan Rio began talking, telling stories about his girls and their mother, and at one point, he had everyone laughing so that the guard outside shouted at them and kicked at the tarp.

Dr. Washburn wasn’t married, but he and his only sister were close, and he knew that she was probably worrying herself sick over what had happened to him.

That caused Jennifer to think of Sara and she told the group that she regretted arguing with her sister the last time they were together.

The Houghs had children, a son each from their first marriages and both of the boys were away at college.

“We don’t have any money, just a mortgage, along with tuition and car payments, but because we’re Americans these devils think we’re rich,” George Hough said.

They all agreed that the ransom amounts were outrageous and except for Jennifer and Melissa, there was no way the other families could raise such funds.

“Someone will rescue us,” Dr. Washburn said, but there seemed to be no conviction behind the words.

A commotion began outside the tarp and George Hough lifted up a corner to peek out and see what was going on.

Dr. Washburn listened intently and as he caught the gist of several conversations between their captors, he smiled.

“One of the men failed to return after going off to have a bowel movement and they found him dead. It seems that someone is stalking them.”

The tarp was ripped away and the group was herded through the heavy rain and into one of the lean-tos, then, guarded over by several men, and although no one spoke of it, they all had hope in their eyes.

CHAPTER 14 - To have and have not

Romeo’s cabin cruiser had two staterooms, both with bathrooms, but Nadya insisted that Sara use the bathroom in the main stateroom, because it had a tub that she could soak in.

When Sara returned to the guest stateroom, she knew from the sounds coming from beyond the bathroom door that Tanner was showering.

When Tanner emerged two minutes later, he was bare-chested and wearing a pair of faded denim shorts that he had borrowed from Romeo.

Sara looked at him and then over at the narrow bed.

“Um, about the sleeping arrangements...”

Tanner laughed.

“Relax, Blake, I’ll be sleeping in the lounge.”

Sara sighed.

“Good.”

Tanner turned to leave, but Sara called to him to relay the news that she was able to confirm their accommodations at the luxury resort in Telunas, but because of the storm, everything would be pushed back a day. The hotel in Telunas was apologetic, but couldn’t give them a room until a day later, because the storm would delay the departure of their current guests

“Do you think that Romeo and Nadya will mind if we stay another day?”

“No, they both seem to like you.”

“They love you and you seem more human around them. Romeo calls you brother, but you’re not related, are you?”

“Not by blood, no, and speaking of blood, it’s a shame that we’re being delayed, I know that you’re worried about your sister and that you want to find her as soon as possible.”

Sara looked shocked by his remarks.

“Thank you, yes, I am angry at the delay, but there’s little I can do about it and I’m surprised that you’re sympathetic enough to know how it would affect me.”

“We scumbags have our moments,” Tanner said, as he referenced the term she recently used to describe him.

Sara was about to respond, but Tanner turned and left the room before she could speak.

***

The following morning dawned cloudy, but free of heavy rain, as the storm moved slowly out of the area.

With their trip to Telunas delayed, Tanner went to work after breakfast and helped Romeo replace the carpet in the lounge and, to his surprise, Sara helped Nadya clean and even polished the boat’s brass railings and fittings.

By working together and skipping lunch, they had finished in time to enjoy an early dinner out, and after returning to the boat, Romeo introduced Sara to a native beverage called arrack, which was Indonesian rum.

“It’s very good,” Sara said, after taking a sip.

“I have a buddy that makes this himself, and don’t be fooled, it’s strong stuff.”

After talking for a while, Romeo and Nadya retired early, as they had volunteered to take Sara and Tanner to the airport in the morning and had to get an early start.

After they left, Sara excused herself and Tanner was alone above decks. He awoke not realizing that he had fallen asleep and noticed two things.

One, it was dark, and two, he was no longer alone.

Sara sat across from him with a nearly empty bottle of arrack and she was smiling at him.

“You were snoring, but just a little.”

“Did you drink that whole bottle, Blake?”

“Um-hmm, I like it a lot.”

Tanner took a good look at her and noticed that her eyes were red, as if she’d been crying. She was still wearing the shorts and sleeveless top that she wore earlier, but was barefoot.

“What’s wrong, did you get news about your sister?”

Sara hugged the bottle.

“I called home and Duke said that Johnny’s funeral is today. It’s probably taking place right now.”

She began to cry again, as she tilted the bottle up and drank the last few sips that remained.

Tanner stood, took the bottle from her and beckoned her to follow him, Sara did so, but when she stumbled and nearly fell, he caught her.

“Everything’s spinning.”

“I know that feeling,” Tanner said.

He led her past the galley and into the guest stateroom, pulled back the covers on the bed and gestured for her to lie atop it.

Sara fell back atop the mattress with her head on the pillow and stared up at him.

“Stay, I don’t want to be alone.”

“How many bottles of that rum did you drink?”

Sara’s face scrunched up in confusion, but then she got it.

“No! I meant stay and talk, not, not here in bed.”

“I know what you meant, Blake.”

“Oh... but will you stay?”

Tanner settled into a chair.

“I’ll stay here until you fall asleep.”

Sara began crying again.

“I loved Johnny, Tanner. I loved him and I killed him. They say when you seek revenge, to dig two graves and I hated you so much that I would have died to see you dead, but I never would have traded Johnny’s life for yours, my hate wasn’t that strong. Jenny was right; I’ve screwed up my whole life by seeking revenge, now I have no career, no hope... and no Johnny.”

A few minutes later, Sara had cried herself to sleep.

Tanner sighed.

“Ain’t love grand?”

CHAPTER 15 - Don Pullo

Robert Vance listened as Michael Krupin spoke to the crew leaders who would head the assault on The Giacconi Family’s enterprises.

They were poised to attack and takeover the Giacconi drug distribution centers and chop shops, and it would all take place simultaneously while most of The Giacconi Family’s key players were at the cemetery mourning their two former Dons.

The Russians were holding the meeting inside a warehouse in Lower Manhattan, not far from the restaurant Krupin owned, and above which, he kept an office.

All across the city, hundreds of Krupin’s men waited to receive orders before heading to their targets.

The plan was to assault ten key locations with overwhelming force before moving on to the smaller targets and taking control of those as well.

Vance knew that the Media would be full of headlines and broadcasts screaming about a mob war, but by hitting hard and fast, the war would be over in a day and with the Giacconi leadership all gathered for funeral services, they would be taken wholly unaware.

Michael Krupin finished with his men and then he and Vance climbed back inside his limo.

“Everything’s ready?” Vance asked.

“Yes, but I still have a concern.”

“You’re talking about Tanner, but as I told you, he’s missing in action and from what little I’ve been able to learn, it had something to do with the same incident that killed Rossetti.”

“Fine, and this Joe Pullo, you don’t have any concerns about him?”

Vance laughed.

“Pullo spent most of his life as a button man for old Sam Giacconi, he’s only in charge because he’s next in line, and after the disaster he’ll have today, it wouldn’t surprise me if one of his own people kill him and take over.”

Krupin checked the time on his Rolex.

“In less than an hour, the city will be mine.”

***

The funerals were being held inside a venerable church, which was so crowded that many were forced to stand.

In an alcove, Joe and Sophia were speaking with some of the leaders of the other families, when Sammy Giacconi approached.

Sammy was wearing a suit, but had his long hair tied together and hanging down his back. When he spotted Sophia, he froze in his tracks and stared at her while smiling.

“What are you looking at, kid?” Sophia said, even as her eyes roamed over Sammy in return.

“I’m looking at a dream come true,” Sammy said.

Sophia smiled.

“I see you have your grandfather’s silver tongue, but I’m a little old for you and too much woman.”

“You look just right to me,” Sammy replied and then he walked up to Joe.

Joe had seen Sammy earlier after entering the church, but he hugged the young man again and asked him how he was holding up.

“I’m good, Uncle Joe, but I do have a concern.”

“Speak your mind.”

Sammy gestured out towards the gathered mourners.

“Is this a good idea, I mean to have everyone here like this? What if the Russians attack us today?”

Joe sent Sammy a reassuring smile as he reached over and straightened the young man’s tie.

“It’s alright, Sammy. Things are under control.”

Sammy shrugged.

“Okay, but it makes me nervous.”

***

Sammy’s concerns were proven valid while they were at the cemetery, because as the burial services for Johnny Rossetti and Sam Giacconi came to a close, Pullo looked around and saw that most of his lieutenants were answering their vibrating phones.

Each of the men was in charge of a division of The Giacconi Crime Family and had come to pay their respects to two of its former leaders.

Security was tight and the Press was being kept back, but were still visible beyond the police barricades.

Joe gestured for the other men to follow him as he walked towards a tent he had ordered be erected, so that he could assure some level of privacy away from telephoto lens and the eyes of the authorities.

Sammy came over, but two bodyguards at the tent’s entrance told him to leave. He looked past them and called to Joe.

“Uncle Joe?”

“Let him in, boys.”

Sammy entered the tent and looked around at all the men studying their phones.

“What’s going on?”

“The Russians are attacking,” Joe said.

Sammy’s eyes brightened with alarm.

“What do we do? What about our people? Where are they attacking?”

Joe smiled.

“Calm down, Sammy; I’m not the sharpest knife you’ll ever find, but I did learn a few things from your grandfather and we were ready for this.”

“What’s that mean?”

“It means that those locations are empty. Vance, the man behind the Russians, he had knowledge about us from another man named Heinz. If he had moved on us sooner, he could have hurt us badly, but he wanted to be slick and hit us today while we were at the cemetery. It made sense because so many of us are here and would have trouble responding to an attack, but Sam taught me a long time ago to think like my enemy and like you, I saw this coming.”

Joe called over one of the men who was staring alternately at his phone and the second hand on his watch. He was a burly man with gray at his temples.

“Let Sammy take a look, Al.”

Al angled his phone so that Joe and Sammy could see what was playing on it. It was a soundless video feed from what just hours earlier had been a drug distribution warehouse, but was now an empty building.

There were over a dozen men with guns wandering around inside the building and one of them was talking into a phone.

***

Inside his limo, Michael Krupin was speaking to the man on the other end of that phone and learning that they had been outmaneuvered. It was the third such call he had taken in the last thirty seconds.

Krupin looked over at Vance.

“Another location found empty. It looks like Joe Pullo isn’t the simpleton you thought he was.”

Vance cursed wildly in Russian, but stopped in the midst of his rant as a thought came to him.

“Get everybody out of those buildings, do it now!”

***

Back at the cemetery, Sammy listened as Al counted down from ten and noticed that most of the other men were doing the same thing, as they looked at the feeds coming from other locations.

“Three, two, one,” Al said and when Sammy stared down at the phone, he saw a bright flash before the video feed ended.

The other men were all smiles and many laughed, before all of them looked over at Pullo with eyes full of respect.

Sammy let out a little laugh of his own, as he realized what had just happened.

“You blew them up, didn’t you?”

Pullo looked at him with a solemn expression.

“The Russians wanted war, they’ve got one.”

Al put his phone away, dropped to one knee and spoke two words.

“Don Pullo.”

The other men followed suit and as Sammy began to lower himself, Joe took him by the elbow and stopped him.

Joe spoke to his men.

“This was just the first battle, and we’ll not only win this war, but I plan to take back the territory we lost in the last one. The Russians are going to learn that no one fucks with The Giacconi Family.”

The men rose to their feet while cheering as Joe turned and spoke to Sammy.

“Johnny once told me that he thought you were the future of the family, and I think he was right. I want you by my side from now on. What do you think of that?”

Sammy’s grin was as wide as any Joe had ever seen.

“Yes, Don Pullo, and those Russian bastards will wish that they were never born.”

CHAPTER 16 - A familiar face

Tanner and Sara arrived in Telunas and checked in to the hotel as Mr. and Mrs. Robert and Linda Coleman.

Their suite was large, but had only one bed, and Sara stared down at it as they entered the bedroom to unpack their bags.

“I guess it’s my turn to sleep on the sofa,” she said.

“Suit yourself,” Tanner said, “But that is a large bed.”

“You mean share it?”

“I won’t touch your goodies, Blake. I’m not a rapist.”

Sara thought about the sofa she’d seen in the other room and then stared down at the king-size bed.

Although she had been in the area for days, she was still feeling the effects of jet lag and thought that the sofa wouldn’t be nearly as comfortable as the bed.

“We’ll try it, and I never thought you were a rapist.”

“Just a scumbag, hmm?”

“Yes... but, maybe I was wrong about that.”

Tanner cocked his head.

“What have you done with the real Sara Blake?”

Sara attempted a smile, but it faltered before it could even form.

“I’m not sure who I am anymore. A part of me died with Brian and another part has died with Johnny. My whole life is now about getting my sister back and after that, well, I don’t know.”

“It gets easier,” Tanner said.

“What does?”

“Surviving loss, but the key is to keep moving forward.”

Tanner’s words intrigued Sara and she gazed up into his eyes.

“Who have you lost?”

Tanner broke eye contact and walked over to the phone.

“I’m hungry, what about you?”

Sara accepted the abrupt change of subject and shook her head no.

“I will take coffee though, and maybe a croissant if they have them.”

Tanner called room service and then the two of them unpacked their things in silence.

***

Jennifer’s group had paused in their trek towards the rebel camp as Firman sent his men out to find and kill whoever was stalking them, after more men failed to return from a patrol.

The clouds had dissipated by first light, allowing the blazing sun to return and bake them, and Jennifer was grateful that Firman had moved them near the edge of a stream where they had ready access to water.

There were three guards keeping watch over them, with the young Prendy being one of them, and Jennifer had caught him staring at Melissa several times as if he were imagining her naked.

The boy wanted Melissa, that was obvious and Jennifer worried that he would attempt to take what he wanted, whether such an act was against his religion or not, for in truth, they were all little more than slaves to their captors and certainly at their mercy.

Juan Rio wiped the sweat from his brow.

“It’s hot here, but I could use the rest. I’m not used to walking this much.”

Both of the Houghs nodded in agreement. They were about the same age as Juan and Dr. Washburn, but not as fit, and the rugged daily march towards the rebel camp had been toughest of all on the newlywed middle school teachers.

Juan leaned in and spoke softly.

“Who do you think is out there? I think it’s one or more of those Mercs that tried to rescue us the other day.”

“I pray it’s the Marines,” George Hough said.

“It’s one man, that’s my guess,” Dr. Washburn said, and the rest of them nodded in agreement, because they knew that he had combat experience.

“So what do you think, mate?” Juan Rio said. “You think he’ll just keep pecking away at them until only one is left?”

The doctor had opened his mouth to answer when the guard to their left cried out in pain, and Melissa screamed when she saw the knife handle protruding from the rear of the man’s neck, as he fell to the ground at their feet and twitched violently.

Prendy must have seen where the knife had come from, because he fumbled at the pistol on his belt before firing wildly into the trees on the left, where a figure had turned and darted back into the shadows.

Jennifer had caught a fleeting glimpse of the man before he dove for cover, and her mouth dropped open in shock as she realized it was a face she knew very well.

The man had been Jake Garner, her lover, and he was doing his damnedest to save her.

CHAPTER 17 - An army of one

Jake Garner ran as fast as his legs would allow, as a smile lit his face with joy.

He had spotted Jennifer, had seen that she appeared relatively unharmed and had also managed to kill or seriously wound another one of the men holding her for ransom.

If he could stay alive and free for another day, he felt as if he would have a chance to rescue her.

He heard the sounds of at least three men behind him and swerved towards the trap he had set-up.

The country of Guambi is riddled with streams, has several rivers and is bordered on one side by the Indian Ocean,

Many of those streams only gain life during the rainy season, which can last for months some years, but when that season ends and the streams run dry once more, they still leave their traces behind in the form of long sandy troughs.

Jake had spent time before the attack on setting up a trap, by sharpening the ends of branches with a machete, and then burying them in the bottom of a trough with their pointy ends facing up. When he was done, he covered the hand-made spears with palm fronds to obscure them.

Jake had used this same trick to kill three other men and he was using it again, but with a twist.

After coming to the trap, Jake made a long leap, ducked low, and then lay on his stomach to hide among a collection of thick plants that gave him cover.

When the three guards came rushing along in his wake, Jake watched as they slowed to a skidding halt in front of the scattered palm fronds.

Apparently, they had heard of the way in which their compatriots had been wounded for slaughter.

One of the men crouched down while the others looked about and when the man brushed aside the fronds, he saw the sharp spikes sticking up from the bottom of the trough.

All three men let out a laugh and when their friend had stood again, they backed up, took a running start, and jumped over the spikes. Unfortunately, for them, upon landing on the other side, they broke a thin, almost invisible thread of fishing line, which freed several tree branches with still more spikes tied to them, and when the branches whipped around, they embedded their spikes into the men’s faces, necks, and backs.

As the men cried out in agony and shock, Jake sprang up, rushed towards them and began hacking away with his machete.

He tried his best to make each blow a fatal one, however, one of the men struggled and thrashed around so much that Jake had to inflict over a score of wounds, until the blade finally slashed across the man’s throat and he bled to death.

Jake looked at the horror he had wrought on the rebels and dropped to his knees and vomited the spare bits of raw fish and roots he’d been sustaining himself on.

He had never killed anyone before coming to Guambi, but knew that he would slaughter as many men as it took to free Jennifer. Still, he would never get used to it and the violence sickened him each time he employed it.

Before leaving the scene, Jake reached over and freed the gun hanging low on a man who had taken spikes to the left eye and jugular vein. When he checked the revolver, he saw that it was fully loaded, and then he ran towards the nearby river as fast as he could, as the shouts of yet more rebels filled the jungle air.

CHAPTER 18 - What goes up...

Tanner and Sara had changed clothes and walked about the resort in an effort to blend in as tourists, while hoping to learn if there had been any new developments.

After calling home, Sara learned that the rebels had made contact with her father and increased the amount they demanded for Jennifer’s release and Sara’s fear for her sister’s welfare also increased.

Soldiers seemed to be everywhere in their gray uniforms, in an effort to comfort fears and keep the tourists dollars flowing in Telunas, which really was a beautiful place.

The resort was painted in blue, green, and pink pastel colors, beautifully landscaped and offered over a mile of white sand beach with turquoise water and an awesome view of sunrise each morning.

After hanging around the hotel bar, Tanner had uncovered a piece of news that the resort management was trying to keep under wraps. An American staying at the hotel had gone missing, but was assumed to be lost, rather than kidnapped, at least, that was the story being offered.

Sara had been upset by the news that another American had gone missing, surprised when informed that the man was an FBI agent, but outright flabbergasted when she heard the man’s name.

“Jake Garner? Are you certain?”

“Yes,” Tanner said. “That’s what the bartender said, and wasn’t he your partner, the one you shot?”

“He and Jenny are dating and I accused him of using her as a way to get back at me. I thought that he would break her heart, but if he’s here, then... he must actually love her, to risk his life this way. My God, have I ever been right about anything?”

“You think he’s out there trying to rescue her?”

“Yes, Jake is much too smart to get lost. He’s either out searching for Jennifer... or he’s been captured too.”

“Maybe we can make contact with him, or even call him if he’s carrying his cell phone and is near a cell tower, but I’ve heard that the typhoon that passed through the area recently destroyed many of them.”

“I still have his number on my phone. I’ll try calling when we go back to the room.”

“There’s one more thing. The army is placing troops at the border between Telunas and Guambi, which will make it more difficult for us to leave the country.”

“That’s an understatement, but we have to find a way around it.”

“First, we’ll need weapons; do you have the money and the directions to where the meeting will take place?”

“Yes and it shouldn’t take us long to get there.”

“I want to make a stop at the hotel gift shop.”

Sara looked surprised.

“The gift shop, why? Are you buying something for Romeo and Nadya?”

Tanner smiled.

“Not exactly,”

***

While there were army troops keeping people away from the Guambi border, no one spotted Tanner and Sara as they left the resort grounds and moved farther down the shoreline, where a huge sign written in over twenty languages warned that leaving the resort area was not a good idea.

Sara walked along at his side empty handed, but Tanner carried a white cardboard carton under one arm that was about the size of a hatbox, and was sealed on the top and bottom with a wide strip of clear tape.

As they came around a curve in the shoreline, they saw the other face of Telunas, as miles of shacks, shanties, and downright hovels went on for as far as the eye could see, with only a short line of homes in the distance that looked new.

The people wore little clothing and what they owned was faded and tattered. Young children ran about naked and there was smoke rising in the air from numerous cook fires.

“This is horrible,” Sara whispered.

“As bad as it is, it was worse before the resort was built.”

“You’ve been here before?”

“Yes, I passed through a long time ago, but there were no houses at all then and no chance to make a real living. Still, like every other business, I’m sure that the resort doesn’t pay their people any more than they need to.”

Three men walked towards them from the shacks. All three were shirtless, looked tough, and long-handled goloks hung in sheaths fastened around their waists by rope.

Tanner sighed as he realized they weren’t carrying anything.

“This was a waste of time; they don’t have any weapons.”

“Maybe they’re in the waistbands of their pants, behind their backs.”

“Possibly, but not likely,”

Sara looked at the box Tanner carried.

“It’s a good thing you came prepared.”

“Yes and be ready.”

As the men reached them, the one in the middle, the smallest of the three, spoke to them in English with a strong Dutch accent, while pointing at the box Tanner carried.

“You bring money, good.”

“Where are the weapons?” Sara asked.

The man laughed at her and spoke to Tanner.

“You let woman speak for you?”

“She’s not my woman; I’m working for her.”

The man swiveled his head to take in his companions and saw that they were laughing as hard as he was, he then called Tanner a name that would roughly translate to the English word, wimp.

Tanner waited until the laughter died down and then spoke.

“Give us the weapons and we’ll give you the money.”

“Why is money in a box?”

“It’s for the weapons, we’ll need something to carry it all in. We’re buying four handguns and two boxes of ammo, no?”

The man’s smiled widened, and he slid out his machete as he and the other two men drew closer.

“No, give me box.”

“You’re robbing us?” Tanner said, and his tone was one of incredulity.

The punk called him a name that insulted not only his intelligence but also his manhood and grabbed the box. After shaking it and hearing the sound of paper rustling, he sat it atop the sand, then, kneeled down and tore the box open.

When the multi-colored balloon flew up into the air, all three men followed its ascent with their eyes and that gave Tanner and Sara the opportunity they needed to strike.

While Tanner kicked the kneeling man hard in the mouth with his booted foot, Sara connected with the crotch of a second man.

The third man had his machete free and was raising it to strike, when Tanner dropped to the sand and rolled into him, which caused the man to fall face forward.

By the time he hit the sand, Sara had gathered up the machete that belonged to the group’s leader, and was holding the blade against the throat of the man she had kicked in the balls.

As the man who had fallen got back up, Tanner tossed sand into his face and blinded him, then wrested his machete away.

The leader rose up as well, and his mouth was covered in blood.

After mumbling curses at them from lips that hurt more than his wounded pride, the man and his companions followed Sara’s orders and trudged back towards the shantytown, minus their machetes.

Tanner plucked the bundles of cash that were laying loose inside the box, handed them to Sara, and then the two of them walked away without the guns they needed.

“We’ll have to come up with a plan that doesn’t involve weapons,” Tanner said.

Sara turned her head and smiled at him.

“That trick with the balloon, did you learn that at hit man school?”

“Why, they don’t teach that at Quantico?”

Sara laughed as Tanner smiled, and they walked the rest of the way back to the resort in companionable silence.

CHAPTER 19 - Call me Sara

“I have an idea,” Tanner said, as he and Sara sat at a table inside the hotel’s bar.

“What’s your idea?”

“Instead of going to the rebels, why not let them come to us?”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean we’ll play the part of the rich American couple and let everyone know that we have money. It’ll be like sending up a flare to the rebels and once they kidnap us, we’ll eventually wind up at their camp.”

Sara smiled.

“And Jenny will be there too, but we’ll still be hostages.”

“And I’ll still be me, and being me I’ll find a way to get us free.”

“I don’t know; it won’t be easy.”

“No, it never is, but we could wander the jungle for weeks and never find that camp, this way, we’ll be taken right to it. You brought me here because I’m good at surviving long odds and I don’t intend to die here, but it’s your decision.”

Sara considered things for a moment and had a question.

“Even if the rebels come for us, they’ll have the same problem that we have. They’ll have to get past the soldiers guarding the border.”

“They’ll find a way. This is their turf, their people and then, there’s always the option of a well-placed bribe, in a region this poor, corruption is a certainty if you know the right people.”

“Alright then, what do we do?”

Tanner smiled.

“We act like a couple of rich assholes. In other words, just be yourself.”

Sara scowled.

“Just because I come from money doesn’t mean that I’m a—”

She stopped talking when she realized that Tanner had been teasing her, and then she laughed.

“Tanner?”

“Yes, Blake?”

“Call me, Sara; after all, we are married.”

“Whatever you say,”

“And don’t you have a name, a real name?”

“I did at one time, but now, I’m just Tanner.”

Sara’s face darkened.

“Tanner, the killer,”

“Yes and the men who took your sister will be making my acquaintance very soon.”

“I hope you kill them all.”

Tanner smirked at her.

“What?” Sara said.

“I think you’re getting your fire back, that’s good, you’ll need it.”

“I still feel empty inside and I miss Johnny more than I would have imagined. And what do you think is happening in New York? Is Pullo capable of running The Giacconi Family?”

Tanner grinned.

“Joe is more intelligent than he lets on, and Vance and the Russians are probably licking their wounds by now.”

***

Michael Krupin was one angry young man.

The twenty-three-year-old was used to getting his way and suffering a massive setback was not an event he coped well with.

Vance, who was known to Krupin as Rurik Varanov, watched the young man as he paced about the room and occasionally stopped to hurl something at the door, and it occurred to Vance that Krupin wasn’t fit to lead and that the situation would have to be remedied soon.

There was another man in the room. He was nearing sixty and his hair had begun to gray, but he still had a young man’s build and a military bearing. His name was Fedor, and he didn’t bother to hide his disdain for Vance.

“Michael, I warned you that listening to this fool was a bad idea, maybe now you’ll take heed of what I say the way your father did.”

Krupin pointed at Fedor.

“I don’t want to hear ‘I told you so’s,’”

Krupin paced back and forth once more and then spoke to Vance.

“Eighty-two! Eighty-two men dead, over a hundred wounded, and you can bet that they’ll try to trace them directly back to me. The Feds are getting involved, did you know that? And, they say that they can’t tie any of it to The Giacconi Family.”

“I underestimated Pullo. I admit that, Michael, but I promise you that I won’t do it again.”

Krupin walked over to where Vance sat and screamed down at him.

“We had one huge advantage over them; we had more men, but not after today. God, this has made me look like nothing but a fool. You have to fix this, Rurik, and you have to fix this soon.”

Vance stood suddenly, which caused Krupin to step backwards so quickly that he nearly fell down. Standing to his left, Fedor placed his hand on the gun in his holster.

“I will fix this, Michael.”

“How?”

“I’ll kill Joe Pullo and then I’ll work my way through their ranks until there’s nothing left of The Giacconi Family but memories.”

Krupin straightened his tie and calmed himself.

“I think I like your plan.”

Vance smiled.

“I knew you would, and I’ll start on it right now.”

Vance left the office and Krupin settled behind his desk.

“Fedor.”

“Yes, Michael?”

“If Rurik fails to kill Pullo, I want you to kill Rurik.”

“Fine, but it would be better if I killed him in any event, no?”

Krupin gave that some thought, Vance had been a friend of his father and he had known the man since he was a boy, known him and liked him.

“Michael?”

“Yes, kill him.”

Outside the office, Vance removed his ear from the door and slipped away down the stairs soundlessly, as a look of hatred tainted his face.

CHAPTER 20 - Weapons of mass proportion

As Tanner and Sara passed the front desk on the way to their room, the clerk informed them that the hotel manager wanted to see them in his office.

The subject of the meeting was described as “A minor problem with their accommodations,” but after entering the room and being confronted with guns, Tanner realized that the problem they faced was a major one.

Two men held weapons on them while a third sat behind the hotel manager’s desk. He was not the hotel manager; his name was Conrad Burke.

Burke was around sixty, looked fit and had intense brown eyes. Those eyes studied both of them with suspicion and curiosity.

Tanner and Sara recognized Burke from his recent televised visits to give testimony before the United States Congress about charges leveled against his company, which was one of the largest multinationals in the world, and bore his name, Burke.

Burke gestured for his men to bring them forward and soon they were seated in two chairs in front of the desk, but only after a pat down.

Sara had found the search for weapons invasive, as one of the men fondled her.

“Those are my breasts, not weapons,” Sara said, and the lecherous guard just smiled at her.

The other man had detected the bandage on Tanner’s left side and he tore open his shirt to inspect it, saw what it was, and grunted.

Once settled in his seat, Tanner spoke.

“What do you want, Burke?”

“I want to know who you two really are.”

Tanner looked over at Sara. This was her operation, but he saw no reason to hide their identities or intent from the father of one of the hostages, and the man could prove useful.

Sara sent Tanner a nod and then revealed the truth to Burke.

When she was finished speaking, Burke tapped a few times at a tablet computer, before looking down at it and then up at Sara.

“Yes, I see the strong resemblance between you and the other Ms. Blake.” He then looked over at Tanner, who was wincing in pain while rubbing a hand over his bandaged wound. “She said your name was Tanner, but what’s your first name?”

“It’s just one name.”

Burke studied him through squinted eyes.

“My father once hired a man named Tanner to handle a problem for him, but that was over thirty years ago and I happen to know that that man is dead, so what does that make you, Tanner number six?”

Tanner held back his surprise at Burke’s knowledge and answered the question.

“I’m the seventh Tanner.”

Burke made a face.

“You don’t deserve the name. The other Tanner never would have been taken and controlled so easily.”

“You’re probably right,” Tanner said, and launched himself atop the desk while freeing a slim blade he kept hidden in the folds of the bandage.

The weapon had a ring on one end that slipped over a finger and an inch long blade with a razor-like edge, it was flexible, but sharp, and Tanner laid it against Conrad Burke’s throat as he wrapped an arm around the man’s neck.

Sara was as surprised as everyone else in the room, but when she saw that the guards were bringing up their guns, she grabbed the bottom of her seat, lifted it up and placed a chair leg back down atop the instep of the man who had fondled her.

The man howled in agony as he instinctively dropped his weapon and grabbed for the chair, but Sara had already left it, to dive to the floor and retrieve the fallen gun.

The other guard had his weapon trained on Tanner, but Sara was pointing his partner’s gun up at him and the man knew that no matter what happened, if violence came, he would die.

“Tell your man to drop his gun, Burke,” Tanner said.

Burke was swallowing hard, but had otherwise stayed calm.

“Wilson, holster your weapon.”

Wilson did as commanded, but he kept a wary eye on Sara, who was rising to her feet.

Meanwhile, the other guard had taken Sara’s vacated seat and was removing his shoe to check on his damaged foot.

“Mr. Tanner?” Burke said.

“What?”

“I apologize for doubting your abilities and I do believe that we all want the same thing, yes? We want to see the hostages freed?”

Tanner slid off the desk and stood.

“We should work together and I have an idea how we can do that.”

“I’m listening,” Burke said.

“You have resources we don’t. Can you get your hands on a small GPS tracking device, something that can be embedded beneath the skin?”

“I could have such a device here in hours.”

Sara spoke to Tanner.

“You want him to be able to track our movements so that he can send help when we reach the rebel camp?”

“Yes, of course that presupposes that we’ll be taken as hostages like the others were.”

Burke nodded.

“It’s a good idea, and if it works I’ll send in more men to back you up. But, tell me something Tanner, without that help, what exactly were you planning to do against what must be over a hundred men?”

“I was going to do my best, Burke, and up until now, it’s always been enough.”

Burke laughed.

“You’re a cocky bastard; I like that, and you Ms. Sara Blake, you are one brave woman to risk yourself this way.”

“Not brave, desperate, I have to get my sister back.”

“We will, by working together, we’ll get her and Melissa back safely.”

They made plans to meet again, but as they turned to leave, Tanner looked down at the man sitting in the chair, whose foot Sara had damaged, and who was also the man who had fondled her in the guise of checking for weapons.

“Let me see your hands.”

The man gave Tanner an odd look, but raised his hands up tentatively.

As they were still rising up, Tanner gripped the fingers of both hands and twisted viciously, which caused several digits to become dislocated.

The man howled in fresh agony as hot tears fell unbidden from his eyes and Tanner glared down at him.

“That will teach you to keep them to yourself.”

Tanner left the room and Sara followed with a wide grin on her face, while fighting the urge to laugh.

CHAPTER 21 - Weird

That night, Tanner had showered first and was lying in bed wearing only a pair of black boxers, when Sara walked out of the bathroom dressed in silk pajamas, which bore a floral print.

The bed was large enough to accommodate three or four people if needed, and Tanner was perched on the far side, near the windows that overlooked the pool.

Sara walked over to the bed, looked down, and shook her head.

“This is too weird.”

“I won’t touch you, Blake, I promise.”

Sara kicked off her slippers, lay down, and the soft bed felt so good that most of the tension left her body.

“I am tired, and still a little jet-lagged, goodnight Tanner.”

“Goodnight, Blake.”

Sara turned off the light, but despite being exhausted, she just lay there staring at the dark ceiling while listening to the sound of the central air unit and the infrequent footfalls and muffled voices, as someone passed by in the hallway.

She looked to her right and could just make out the shadowy shape that was Tanner. She recalled her hatred for him, the blind rage of vengeance she carried around night and day as she sought the man’s death, and now, he was likely the only one who could find and rescue her sister.

“Are you asleep?” she whispered.

“No,” Tanner said.

“Why didn’t you kill me? I mean when we were inside the freezer, I know that you wanted to, so what stopped you?”

“I guess I let you live because you gave up your gun.”

“Is that all?”

“Yes.”

“I thought that maybe you felt sorry for me.”

“You did look pathetic.”

“Oh, thank you, that makes me feel better.”

They were silent again, but Tanner broke it with a question.

“Will you be coming back to New York when we free your sister?”

“No, I need to get away and my apartment holds too many memories, memories of Brian, and now Johnny, and I need to figure out what to do with the rest of my life.”

“That’s simple; just take it one day at a time.”

Sara smiled in the dark.

“That’s easier said than done, but then, what isn’t, right?”

“Exactly,”

“Goodnight again, Tanner.”

“Goodnight, Blake.”

“It’s Sara; after all, we are sharing a bed.”

“Goodnight, Sara.”

Sara laughed.

“This is so weird.”

“Yes.”

***

Sara awoke the next morning to find herself alone in the bed, but there was a note propped up on Tanner’s pillow telling her that he would be back by ten a.m.

When he reentered the room at 9:46, Sara was dressed and on the phone with her father.

“I have to go, Daddy, but I’ll call again soon.”

After she ended the call, Tanner gestured at her phone.

“Your family doesn’t know that you’re here, do they?”

“No, but if Duke doesn’t hear from me for more than a month he’ll let them know what I tried to do... and that I likely failed.”

“I was out looking for a way to get past the border and into Guambi, but had no luck since they doubled the number of guards on patrol, so I guess it’s time that Mr. and Mrs. Coleman made themselves very noticeable.”

“And how do you suggest we do that?”

***

The bartender at the pool was working as fast as he could and was still having difficulty keeping up with the drink orders, as Tanner, in the guise of rich American Robert Coleman, was buying drinks for everyone.

He was also telling an endless parade of stories about his travels around the world and had caught the eye of several young ladies, despite the fact that his wife, Sara, known as Linda, was seated beside him in a chaise lounge.

One particular lovely was a French woman named Nicole, who carried on a conversation with Tanner in her native language, and giggled when she realized that he had once eaten at her father’s bistro.

Before leaving the table, Nicole whispered something in Tanner’s ear, before sending a guilty glance towards Sara.

“You speak French very well,” Sara said. “And did I also hear you speaking Italian?”

“Yes.”

“You must have spent time in Europe.”

“And so have you, I heard you telling that bodybuilder type about the German ski resort you liked so much; it sounded as if you had been there more than once.”

“So, the Roberts are both well-traveled, flirts, and big spenders. That should attract attention. By the way, what did that French tart whisper in your ear?”

“She was letting me know what room she was staying in and that her friend would be out all evening.”

“And will you be taking her up on that offer?”

“No, we shouldn’t separate, or there’s a chance that you’ll be taken alone and I’ll return to find a ransom demand.”

“I hadn’t thought of that, too bad for you.”

Tanner’s eyes flowed over Sara in her red bikini.

“Any man with a wife that looks like you would be staying in at night anyway.”

Sara lowered her head and stared over the tops of her sunglasses.

“Don’t forget that this is all pretend, Mr. Roberts.”

Tanner didn’t respond, but there was a smile on his face.

CHAPTER 22 - Junior

Michael Krupin kept an office atop the restaurant he owned in Manhattan and it was there that he met with FBI agents, Tamir Ivanov and Justina Moretti.

Ivanov was the lead agent of the pair and was forty-two, while his young female partner was only twenty-seven. They were both in shape and dressed in well-tailored conservative suits that made them look more like businesspeople and less like the Feds they were.

Despite the Russian name, Tamir Ivanov was as American as could be and the Brooklyn born former New York City cop spoke his mind plainly, often too plainly, as the numerous reprimands inside his personnel folder could attest.

Tamir stood just short of six feet tall, had trimmed brown hair, and his ice-blue eyes seemed to look right through you.

Justina Moretti appeared haughty and just had that look that said bitch, although it was not her way and she was actually kind and unpretentious. However, nature had seen fit to have the beautiful woman with the lustrous dark hair broadcast that impression, and it did have its advantages in her line of work. She was also not averse to displaying a sharp tongue if provoked.

Fedor stared at Justina’s ass as he followed them up the stairs to Krupin’s office. Vance was leading the way, and when he opened the door, Ivanov and Moretti saw that Krupin had no less than six lawyers present, and that the men were all lined up behind him, where the young would-be King of New York sat at his desk with his palms laying flat atop the surface.

The agents also noticed that there were no other chairs in the room, except for the loveseat against the right wall, and Vance and Fedor promptly occupied it.

Tamir smiled at Michael Krupin.

“Hey there, Junior, I bet wearing the Daddy pants isn’t as much fun as you thought it would be, hmm?”

Michael Krupin’s brow furrowed.

“Are you talking to me?”

“Yeah, and as far as I know, you’re the only junior here. Mikhail Krupin Jr., son of Mikhail Krupin Sr., who was a former dirtbag commie and KGB agent who came here and went into the drug trade, and, who recently received payback in the form of a stroke, which I understand has left him a drooling vegetable.”

Five of the six lawyers opened their mouths to protest, but Tamir raised a hand.

“You’re right; I’m sorry, I should have said, allegedly went into the drug trade, but we all know that there’s no doubt that the kid’s father was a former KGB agent and a dirtbag, and I bet he drools on himself too.”

Krupin’s face reddened,

“Who the hell do you think you’re talking to?”

“He’s talking to you,” Justina said, and Krupin stared at her as if she had just appeared.

“What’s your name? And what’s his name? All I know is that you two are Feds.”

Tamir told Krupin their names and the young man stared back at him in shock.

“You’re Russian?”

“I’m an American, and like you, I was born in Brooklyn.”

“You’re still Russian.”

“No boy, I’m a Special Agent with the FBI and I would like to know what you know about the men who got killed in those warehouses.”

“I don’t know anything.”

“You’re telling us that you don’t know anything about those eighty-four men?”

“I thought there were eighty-two?”

“Ah, so you do know something.”

One of Krupin’s lawyers bent over and spoke in his ear.

“My lawyer has advised me to remain silent and I think I’ll take his advice.”

‘That’s fine,” Tamir said, as he walked over and stared down at Vance and Fedor. “You two have anything you want to say?”

“We don’t know a thing,” Vance said.

“I know something,” Fedor said, and Krupin squirmed behind his desk.

“What is it you know?” Tamir asked.

Fedor pointed towards Justina.

“I know that she is one fine piece of Italian ass and I’d like to see her naked.”

Krupin laughed nervously at that, but stopped when Tamir stared at him with his blue eyes of ice.

“Justina?”

“Yes, Tamir?”

“This old goat here would like to see you naked. What are the odds of that happening?”

“About the same odds as him getting hard without the help of a pill, it’s always the ones with the limp dicks that talk the most.”

This time Vance laughed, while Fedor cursed under his breath.

Tamir turned back to look at Krupin.

“Okay Junior, you don’t want to talk to us like a man and so I’ll do the talking. We know that many of the dead men were employed by a security firm and although we can’t yet prove that you own the firm, we both know that it’s true. All of the dead men were of Russian descent and most of them had arrest records, overall, I’d say the city is a safer place. Still, it’s my job to stop the violence from escalating and so I’m here to tell you to end the war and make peace with The Giacconi Family.”

The most senior of the lawyers spoke up, like Justina, the man gave off an air of haughtiness, but unlike Justina, his was well earned and practiced.

“My client knows nothing about the explosions, the warehouses, or the dead men and he certainly has no knowledge about a ‘mob war’. If you have nothing else to say, I suggest you take your leave.”

“Your client is a punk who is in over his head and will likely be eaten alive if he continues to mess around with the big boys, and yeah, I think I’ll go. Justina, do you have anything else you want to say?”

“Nah, as usual, you said it all.”

They were at the door when Krupin called out to Tamir.

“Hey Fed, why don’t you go harass Joe Pullo?”

Tamir turned back around and smiled at Krupin.

“I’ll be speaking to Mr. Pullo very soon.”

“Mr. Pullo? Don’t you have any cute names for him? Aren’t you going to insult him the way you’ve insulted me?”

Tamir shrugged.

“I doubt it. Unlike you, Joe Pullo actually has a pair of balls, and while I still think the man is a criminal, he’s not a namby-pamby little Daddy’s boy like you are. Then again, you never know, the guy might rub me the wrong way.”

Krupin’s hands were still laying atop the desk, but they were balled into fists and shaking with rage.

“If you weren’t a Fed...”

Tamir laughed.

“Anytime Junior, bring it on anytime man to man and I promise you I’ll leave my badge out of it. Hell kid, you must be twenty years younger than me, that might help you, but I doubt it.”

Fedor stood, held the door open, and the sound of conversation and the tinkle of silverware drifted up from the restaurant below.

“It’s time you two left.”

“Whatever you say, gramps, and don’t forget to burp the kid after you feed him. Oh and change his diaper will you? It smells like shit in here.”

Tamir left with a laughing Justina at his side, as the sound of Krupin cursing in Russian filled the air.

CHAPTER 23 - Deny, deny, deny

Tanner excused himself from the card game he was in, as Sara pretended to nag him about his drinking, and afterwards, they returned to their suite after a day spent playing rich and clueless tourists.

Sara locked the door and let out a sigh.

“I think the guests and the staff certainly know we’re here, but what do you really think the odds are that we’ll be kidnapped?”

“I’m not sure of the odds, but I say we give this some time before trying something else.”

“Fine, but Jenny has been gone for days and I can only imagine what she’s going through.”

“It’s the best I could think of, but there are no guarantees.”

Sara stifled a yawn.

“I’m tired, do you mind if I shower first?”

“No, and I’ll be out on the balcony enjoying the quiet. Today was noisier than I’m used to.”

Sara smiled.

“I don’t think you stopped talking for more than a minute.”

“Yes, Robert Coleman is a big mouth with too many dollars and not enough sense.”

“And what part was I playing?”

“You’re my trophy wife.”

Sara made a face.

“I suppose that’s better than being called the old ball and chain.”

***

Sleep eluded both of them for a time, as they waited to see if their playacting would bear fruit. If it did, that meant that they might be attacked and abducted at any moment.

“Tanner.”

“Yeah?”

“Remember, don’t fight back, just let them take us.”

“Don’t worry, and try to appear afraid.”

“I won’t have to act, trust me.”

“You’re the bravest woman I know, Blake, and you’re smart, if you weren’t, I’d have killed you the first time I tried.”

“I was just driven by hate and it made me too stupid to be afraid.”

“We should get some sleep.”

“Right, goodnight,”

They became silent, but neither of them would fall asleep until more than another hour had passed.

***

After their visit to see Krupin, Tamir and Justina visited the Cabaret Strip Club, where Sammy Giacconi escorted the FBI agents into the office and offered them seats in front of Joe’s desk.

Sammy was about to leave when Joe told him to stay, and the young man grabbed a folding chair and sat beside Joe behind the desk.

Tamir made a show of looking around.

“Where are your lawyers, Pullo?”

Joe smiled.

“Knowing those bums, they’re probably out playing golf.”

“Michael Krupin had six lawyers with him, what do you think of that?”

“I think I should have went to law school with suckers like Krupin around.”

“I did go to law school and let me tell you, you didn’t miss anything. Now, as you probably know, I’m here to ask you about the pipe bombs that went off inside the warehouses earlier this week, because we have reason to believe that you were behind it. That also makes you responsible for the deaths of eighty-two men.”

Joe said nothing and Tamir and Justina looked at each other.

“What do you think, Justina?”

“I think that Mr. Pullo is too smart to open his mouth and he doesn’t need a lawyer to tell him to keep it shut.”

“I agree.”

Joe smiled at them.

“You two want a drink?”

Tamir waved the offer off.

“Since you won’t talk, I will. It’s believed that you and the Russians are involved in a turf war and that it was Little Mikey Krupin that started it. We also believe, but have yet to prove that you were behind those bombings and the deaths of those men. That said, let it be known that this sort of shit won’t be tolerated by the Federal government and that if this war, vendetta, or whatever you want to call it continues, every effort will be employed to stop it.”

Sammy spoke up.

“How would you stop something like that?”

Tamir pointed at him, but looked at Pullo.

“Is he your kid?”

“This is Sammy Giacconi.”

“The grandson? Well hell kid, it looks like you’ve joined the family business.”

“You haven’t answered my question,” Sammy said. “How would you stop a mob war? Because if you can stop it, why not do it now?”

Tamir looked at him for several moments and saw that the ice-blue stare wasn’t working on Sammy the way it did on Michael Krupin. He leaned forward and spoke in a whisper.

“That’s the kind of shit that they teach us to say, but you and I both know that the war will end when one side wins.”

Sammy smiled at him and Tamir leaned back in his seat.

“Our main concern is that no civilians get hurt,” Justina said. “It’s bad for the tourist trade, you know?”

Joe nodded.

“My guess is that the only people who will be hurt are the ones that deserve it, but again, that would just be a guess on my part.”

Tamir smiled at that before turning to his partner.

“Anything else, Justina?”

“Nah, Joe there knows the score and he also knows that we’ll be back.”

Tamir stood along with Justina, but turned in the doorway, as Sammy held it open for them. He gestured around at the office.

“You’re a Don now, Pullo. Why not get fancier digs?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about; I’m just a manager here.”

“I hear you, deny, deny, deny, see you around, boys.”

***

Once they were out on the street and back in their car, Justina laughed.

“I know I’m Italian and it might sound biased, but I still say that The Giacconi Family will win the war.”

“Hell, I’m a distant relation to Vladimir Lenin and I know that Krupin will lose. The spoiled little punk won’t know what hit him either.”

“That Sammy kid was cute, but I don’t like long hair on men.”

“Why don’t we go have lunch?”

“Italian?”

Tamir laughed.

“I sure as hell don’t want any borscht.”

CHAPTER 24 - Violated

Tanner woke with a start, as an arm fell across his throat.

As he blinked against the daylight filtering in past the edge of the drapes, he looked down and saw that Sara had rolled over in her sleep and had placed her left arm over him. When she moved again, her arm lowered and was now laying on his bare chest, while her face was just inches from his own.

He stared down along her body. She was wearing a set of silk pajamas that did little to hide her curves, while the front of her shirt was parted enough to allow him a view of the tops of her breasts.

Sara Blake had been a target of his gun, had been an enemy, and, without doubt, an enormous pain in the ass, but Tanner never once lost sight of the fact that she was a beautiful woman, and he envied any man who had found his way into her bed.

He then realized that he was one of those men, since he was actually lying in her bed at that very moment and the thought made him let out a laugh.

Sara stirred at the sound, but instead of waking, she snuggled closer and buried her face in his neck, as her breasts pressed against his arm.

“Blake?”

Sara mumbled in her sleep.

“Blake!”

Her eyes opened and her hand caressed his chest, as she was still halfway in and out of sleep.

She then lifted her head up, and as she saw Tanner smiling at her, she scurried back over to her side of the bed with an embarrassed expression on her face.

“Sorry, I guess I moved around in my sleep.”

Tanner grabbed the blanket and pulled it up to his chin.

“You were touching me, Blake. I feel so violated.”

Sara stared at him for a moment and then laughed out loud.

“You have a good sense of humor, Tanner, and that’s the last thing I expected from you.”

“You have your moments as well and it looks like the rebels ignored us last night.”

Tanner went to the bathroom to relieve his bladder and brush his teeth, and when he returned, he found Sara sitting up on the edge of the bed and yawning.

“I’m tired; I kept thinking that every little noise was a rebel breaking into the room.”

“I don’t mind the lack of sleep, but I dread having to play Robert Coleman again.”

Sara rose from the bed and stretched.

“I’m going to take a shower. Would you please call room service and have them send up coffee and eggs Benedict? I’m hungry this morning.”

“You got it.”

After grabbing fresh clothes to put on, Sara turned in the threshold to the bathroom and looked back at Tanner.

“Thank you, for not misinterpreting my... what happened in bed. It really was accidental.”

“I know that. If anything, you’d be more inclined to strangle me in your sleep than caress me.”

Sara shook her head vehemently.

“No, I’m done with hate. I just want to get my sister, go home, and try to build a new life. Once this is over, you’ll never have to worry about me again. I swear it, although, I guess that you have no reason to trust my word.”

“I do trust you. What happened back in New York was driven by paranoia and I don’t think you’ll make that mistake again.”

Sara’s eyes saddened.

“That mistake cost me too much to learn.”

Tanner held up the phone to distract her. He could see that she was about to drift back into despair and feelings of guilt over Rossetti’s death and he wanted to keep that from happening.

“I’ll call for the food, and how about some orange juice?”

“Make it pineapple,” Sara said, before disappearing into the bathroom.

***

They were riding down in the elevator with Tanner dreading another day of playacting, when he realized that the machine was descending without making a single stop on the lower floors, something that was very unusual in a busy hotel.

He whispered to Sara.

“I think something is up.”

“We’re not stopping.”

“Exactly,”

Not only did the machine not stop, but it also failed to open its doors at the lobby level and continued on to the basement.

Tanner and Sara braced themselves as the doors slid open and then they both felt the stinging barbs of a Taser, as they were blasted with enough electricity to drop them to the floor of the elevator car.

Tanner felt himself being lifted up by two pairs of strong hands, then, he was dropped atop something soft.

He had been deposited into a laundry cart and assumed that Sara was experiencing the same, and he stifled his instinct to fight back as a damp rag was pressed over his nose and mouth.

His last conscious thought was recognition that he was being rolled onto a truck and then the feeling of movement, as the truck was placed in gear.

As much as he despised not being in control, he was thankful that the rebels had struck early, because it saved him the trouble of having to pretend to be bigmouth Robert Coleman again, and that was worth a Taser blast any day.

CHAPTER 25 - The right boy

Jennifer watched as rebels returned from their search of the jungle and she could tell by their faces that they had once again failed to find Jake.

She and the other hostages were down at the edge of a stream, but their pairings had been separated, so that she and Melissa were seated several feet away from Juan Rio and Dr. Washburn.

When Melissa saw the smile on Jennifer’s face, she asked her what had caused it.

Jennifer leaned in and whispered to her.

“The man that’s been attacking them, he’s my boyfriend. His name is Jake Garner and he’s an FBI agent.”

Melissa almost squealed in excitement, but fought the impulse.

“Oh my God, are you serious? Oh, that’s so romantic.”

“It’s incredibly dangerous is what it is. I knew he was here, because he had changed his plans at the last second and took a later flight to join me, but I assumed that he had either flown back home or was waiting at the resort in Telunas for news.”

Melissa’s eyes shone bright.

“But he’s here and he’s trying to rescue you. He must be so brave and he must really love you.”

Jennifer smiled.

“Yes and I think I love him too, even if we haven’t been together very long.”

“You must have started as friends.”

“We did, how did you know?”

“Just a guess and I have a friend back home that I wish was more than a friend.”

“What’s his name?”

“Drake Harper and even Daddy likes him... and I want him to be my first.”

Jennifer was surprised by that last statement.

“You’re still a virgin?”

Melissa nodded.

“I’ve been waiting for the right boy, and now, I may never live long enough to be with him.”

Jennifer hugged the girl.

“Don’t think that way. We’ll be rescued and you’ll live a long life.”

“Yeah, you’re right and it will be your Jake who rescues us.”

Jennifer smiled, but her heart was sick with worry for Jake, as she watched a new patrol go off to search for him.

CHAPTER 26 - Temptation

Back in New York City, the sky was growing dark and a meeting was ending inside the Cabaret Strip Club, as new Don of The Giacconi Family, Joe Pullo, finished discussing business with his Capos.

Sophia was at the club, sitting at the bar with Laurel, as the two women had surprised themselves by becoming friends, and although as a woman, Sophia could never be considered a made member of her family, she was still acting as a liaison between The Calvino Crime Family and The Giacconi Family.

As the other men left the club, Sammy Giacconi leaned on the bar and stared down its length at Sophia.

“You like Sophia, don’t ya?”

Sammy turned around and saw Merle and Earl smiling at him. It was Merle who had spoken, and Sammy grinned at him.

“Hell yeah, I like her, and she’s so beautiful she takes my breath away.”

“That’s Tanner’s girl; do you know who he is?” Earl asked.

Sammy nodded.

“Everybody has heard of Tanner, but I’ve never met him.”

“We know that,” Merle said. “Because you’re still breathing, but you might not be if he catches you staring at his girl that way.”

Sammy frowned.

“I’m not scared of Tanner, and besides, it’s not like they’re married.”

Earl shrugged.

“It’s your funeral.”

***

At the other end of the bar, Sophia asked Laurel a question.

“Is he still staring at me?”

“Yes, and I think my brothers are teasing him.”

“He is a hot one, but hell, I must be ten years older than him.”

“And there’s Tanner to consider, no?”

“It would do Tanner good to see me with another guy, maybe then he wouldn’t take me for granted.”

“Does he do that?”

“Yeah, but it’s my fault, I got a thing for him and he knows it,”

“If you’re looking for a commitment, don’t look to Tanner. It frightens him.”

“And if it didn’t, then you two would be together, right?”

“I think so, but the chance for that to happen is in the past, and now Joe is the only man I want to be with.”

Sophia saw movement from the corner of her eye and smiled.

“Here he comes.”

Sammy said hello to Laurel and then spoke to Sophia.

“Why don’t you and I go have dinner and then you can tell me all about yourself.”

“Maybe I’m not hungry, did you think of that?”

Laurel stood up.

“I have to see Joe about something, so long you two.”

Sophia sent her a mock look of annoyance and watched as Sammy took Laurel’s empty seat.

“So, what will it be? Italian? Thai? Or maybe you’re into sushi?”

Sophia scowled at Sammy.

“If you’re looking for an easy lay, kid, you got the wrong woman, and I emphasize the word, woman.”

“You’re not that much older than me and I’m not a kid.”

Sophia sighed as she tilted her head slightly.

“I actually could go for some grilled sea bass.”

Sammy jumped to his feet.

“I’m ready when you are, and this is just dinner and conversation, okay?”

“Okay.”

As they headed for the door, Sammy looked back at Merle and Earl and sent them a wink.

***

Vance watched Sammy and Sophia leave the club from a hidden observation post on a nearby rooftop, and reconsidered his plans to shoot Joe Pullo when he exited the club.

He had seen the group of men leave the club earlier and realized that it was being used for meetings of The Giacconi Family’s hierarchy.

Vance smiled to himself.

Why kill one man when you can kill twenty?

Vance eased away from the observation post and made his way back to his vehicle with plans to return, and the next time, he wouldn’t be alone.

CHAPTER 27 - Desperation and despair

When Tanner came to, he realized that he was hanging suspended while also moving backwards, and that there was burning pain in his wrists and ankles.

As he moved his head up to look around, he saw that he was lashed to a pole and that two rebels were toting him along. Sara was also being carried, but by the way her head lolled, Tanner assumed that she had yet to awaken.

When one of the men realized that he was conscious, they stopped their procession and lowered them to the ground in a small clearing, slid the poles free, and left them with their wrists and ankles bound together by rope.

Tanner called to Sara, hoping to stir her to consciousness.

“Blake, wake up!”

Tanner’s head snapped back as one of the rebels backhanded him. He glared up at the man and saw the face of a thug looking back at him, as the man shouted for him to be quiet.

The four men huddled together and Tanner realized that he could understand almost every word, but was disturbed by the topic of their conversation.

They were deciding who would rape Sara first.

That simple fact told Tanner that these weren’t the religious extremists that were behind the assassination and quest for independence, but rather, opportunists looking to get rich by collecting ransoms.

Still, the men might know how to reach the rebel camp, since they appeared to be headed towards their own jungle hideout, and Tanner needed to keep one alive to interrogate.

There was good news as well, since he spotted no guns, although each man was armed with a machete.

Sara let out a moan as she awakened and Tanner saw that the men seemed pleased by it. They likely enjoyed the act of rape more when the woman was aware and screaming in terror.

“Blake, wake up, you’ve got trouble coming. These men want to hurt you.”

Sara shook her head as her eyes opened wide.

“What’s going on?”

“They want to rape you, all of them.”

“Oh God!”

“Listen to me. I’ll stop them, but it might take—”

Tanner was interrupted as a booted foot kicked him on the chin, and as he lay in the dirt recovering from the blow, he realized that the boot was one of his own and that the man had confiscated them for his own use.

Sara screamed as the other three men grabbed at her and began ripping her dress open.

She fought them as best she could, but Tanner knew it was a losing battle.

He made it to his bound feet and wobbled atop the uneven ground, then, he made a promise to the man guarding him.

“You’re all going to die.”

The man didn’t understand the words, but took their meaning, and his laughter mixed with Sara’s screams.

***

Jennifer’s mood darkened in direct proportion to the width of the smile spreading on Firman’s face, as the leader of their rebel captors received good news from a man who had rushed back from patrol to deliver it.

When Jennifer saw that Dr. Washburn looked crestfallen, she knew that he had overheard at least part of Firman’s conversation, and that it was bad news. She nudged Melissa, who was still attached to her, to move towards the doctor and Juan Rio and then asked Washburn what he knew.

“They have the man who’s been stalking them trapped a mile or two from here and think it’s just a matter of time until they capture him.”

Jennifer was saddened by the news, but at least it meant that she would be seeing Jake soon, when she wondered aloud how soon he would be joining them, Juan shook his head.

“The doc here says that Firman gave the rebel orders to tell the other men to capture the bloke alive, but only so they could torture him for information... and then kill him. After that, they’re to stand watch along the trail for a day in case anyone else shows. It also sounds like we’ll be on the march again.”

Jennifer collapsed in tears, as Melissa hugged her.

Washburn patted her on the shoulder.

“Yes, it is upsetting. I think that man may have been our last hope.”

“It’s worse than that,” Melissa said. “That man is Jennifer’s boyfriend; he was trying to rescue her.”

“Oh no,” Washburn sighed.

Jennifer’s grieving was cut short, as she and the other prisoners were ordered to get to their feet and start moving north again, and although she tried to fight it, a steady stream of tears fell down her cheeks.

CHAPTER 28 - Up close and personal

Tanner cursed at the man guarding him in a language the thug understood, and saw anger well up in the kidnapper’s dark eyes.

After doubling down on the invectives, he sent a gob of spit that landed on the man’s face and got the reaction he was hoping for, as the man raised his machete to strike.

Tanner did his best to judge the angle of the blow as he leaned back while thrusting his bound wrists upwards towards the blade, and attempted to meet it just as it returned from reaching the apex of the swing.

If he placed his hands in the wrong position, he could easily lose a finger or bleed to death from a severed artery or vein.

The blade cut through the bonds and took a chunk out of the pad of skin beneath Tanner’s right thumb.

He ignored the pain and even the impulse to look at the wound, as he focused his attention on gaining possession of the machete.

While the blade was still at the bottom of its arc, Tanner bent his knees, leapt up, and sent his bound feet into the man’s face. The thug tumbled backwards to the ground, while Tanner, who was also flat on his back, rolled over and trapped the arm still holding the machete, to then deliver an elbow into the man’s throat.

As the man made a gurgled cry of pain, the men attempting to rape Sara turned their heads and saw what was going on.

One of the men was laying atop of Sara, as he had just torn away her underwear, and with her hands still bound together and her feet trapped, she used another weapon at her disposal, her mouth. She brought her head up, clamped her teeth over the man’s ear, and bit the damn thing off.

Meanwhile, Tanner had gotten his hands on the first man’s machete and raised it as if to cut the bindings on his ankles.

The move was just a feint, and as two of the men left Sara and ran towards him, he fell on his back, made a wide swooping motion with the machete, and placed vicious cuts on the ankles of the men running towards him.

Both men stumbled and as they moved past him, Tanner caught them from behind with a slash to their thighs, which severed the hamstrings of one man, while slicing open the femoral artery of the other man, who had just turned back around.

Tanner watched them moan in agony and whimper in fear for their lives, as he cut through the rope on his ankles, and then left them to finish off the last man.

He found that he was hardly needed, because after she had bitten off her attacker’s ear, Sara had kneed the man in the groin, gained control of his machete, and was holding it by its handle, after having embedded the first six inches of it into the man’s abdomen.

The would-be rapist was staring down at the protruding blade with wide, unbelieving eyes, as Tanner walked over and sliced through Sara’s bonds.

He kept his eyes to the task, as her body was exposed beneath her torn garments, and as he freed her, he asked if she was all right.

“I’ll be fine... thanks to you.”

He whispered in her ear.

“Keep him alive for now; we may need him to gain information.”

Sara answered him with a slight nod and Tanner went to finish off the other men, but before he left, he removed his shirt and draped it around Sara’s shoulders.

The man he had hit in the throat with his elbow was already dead, and the thug’s tanned face was still bright red from the lack of oxygen that was the cause of his demise.

The man with the cut hamstrings was writhing in the dirt and Tanner left him to follow the trail of the man with the severed artery. He didn’t have far to go, and found the dead man lying beside a tree.

He gathered up the machetes, checked the men for anything of use and retrieved his stolen boots. Afterwards, he dragged the man with the injured hamstrings closer to Sara and left him beside the man with the severe stomach wound.

Both men forgot their pain for a moment, as shock filled their eyes when they realized that Tanner spoke their language, even though he did so badly and with a horrible accent.

Sara stood beside Tanner and went to work wrapping cloth around the wound on his right palm, which was dripping blood. She had covered herself as best she could, but Tanner’s shirt fell to just above her knees and she was naked beneath it, as her undergarments had all been ripped or cut away.

“What did you say to them?” she asked.

“I told them that the first one to give me directions to the rebel camp wouldn’t be harmed again.”

The man with the damaged legs pushed back his pain and let loose a string of vitriol at Tanner, with an added insult thrown in towards Sara.

Tanner made a casual movement with the machete and sliced open the man’s chest, bisecting the nipples and causing blood to flow freely.

Sara turned away from the disturbing wound, but heard the man with one ear begin to jabber away, as he gave Tanner directions to the rebel camp.

Tanner went back and forth with the man as he attempted to understand him. When he was certain that he understood where the camp was located, he told Sara that it was time to move on.

Sara pointed down at the two men, both of whom were moaning from their injuries.

“What about them?”

“They’ll both be dead of blood loss by nightfall, or possibly get attacked and devoured by animals.”

“It’s better than they deserve.”

Tanner stopped at the body of the man who had died by asphyxiation and began stripping him of his clothes, while he spoke to Sara.

“If I cut the bottoms off his pants we can use some of the rope to make a belt for you, otherwise, your legs will be eaten by mosquitoes.”

A minute later, and Sara had a pair of baggy pants to go with Tanner’s shirt, while he claimed the man’s tunic for himself.

Sara looked around at the dead and dying men and then gripped Tanner’s good hand in a show of gratitude.

“I don’t want to think about what would have happened to me if you were anyone else.”

Tanner gestured back towards the man she had wounded.

“I had help, and did you spit the ear out or swallow it?”

Sara’s eyes twinkled with mischief.

“Spit or swallow? Don’t you think that’s a little personal?”

And as she walked away laughing, Tanner cleared his throat and then jogged to catch up to her.

CHAPTER 29 - The Rookie

Jake Garner came to the edge of the cliff and realized that he was trapped.

The drop below looked to be about sixty feet and the stream at the bottom was too shallow to jump into without breaking a leg, or worse, his neck.

The distinct sounds of at least two men was drawing closer, one from each side, but after turning and running back the way he had come, Jake was felled by a rifle butt to the side of his head.

As he lay on his back and the world around him began to fade away, Jake silently cursed himself for failing Jennifer, and wondered if he would ever wake again.

***

In New York City, Sophia laughed aloud once more as Sammy told her one of his many stories.

Sammy had talked her into going for a ride in a horse-drawn Hansom cab, after Sophia scoffed that they were strictly for tourists, but afterwards, she admitted that she loved the experience and would definitely do it again.

After the cab ride, they took a booth inside a bar and Sammy listened as Sophia talked about her father and brother, and he later mentioned that he had met Jackie Verona once when he was a child, and his grandfather, Sam, was still running The Family.

Before Sammy could launch into another tale, Sophia reached across and took his hand.

“I’m having a good time, thanks. I needed to laugh; it’s been a rough week.”

“Are you worried about Tanner?”

“A little, but there’s no one tougher,”

“That’s what Uncle Joe says too.”

“He’s not really your uncle, is he?”

“No, but he’s looked out for me ever since my father died in the last war we had with the Russians, and my grandfather thought of him as a son.”

***

Sammy insisted on seeing Sophia all the way home to Staten Island, and as they stood outside her door, she gave him a peck on the cheek.

“I don’t know if you expected more, but I am kind of seeing someone.”

“You mean Tanner?”

“Yeah,”

Sammy stared into her eyes.

“If that doesn’t work out for you; I want you to know that I’m interested.”

“You don’t think I’m too old for you?”

“Hell no, and I’m not too young for you, so what do you say, can I at least live on hope?”

Sophia giggled.

“Do you know baseball?”

“Of course and I’m a die-hard Yankees fan.”

“Then you’ll know what I mean when I say that you can stand in the on deck circle.”

“Awesome, and if you ever let me up to bat, I plan to make rookie of the year.”

Sophia laughed again.

“Goodnight Sammy, I had fun.”

“Goodnight Sophia.”

Sophia gave Sammy a smile and then she unlocked her door and went inside.

Sammy held it in until he believed he was far enough away that Sophia wouldn’t hear it, and then he let out a shout of glee.

Inside the house, Sophia had been leaning back against her door and when she heard Sammy’s boyish howl of joy, she shook her head and laughed once again.

CHAPTER 30 - You’re with him?

Sara surprised Tanner by keeping pace with him, as he alternately ran and then stopped to listen for any sound that would tell them they were not alone.

Listening to discern the movement of humans was not an easy task. The jungle was alive with sounds, and while most of it came from the numerous birds that chittered about, there was often the murmur of running water, the rustle of movement made by small mammals, and the occasional squeal from above, as long-tailed monkeys climbed and played among the tree branches.

Swarms of gnats were encountered often, as mosquitoes buzzed and bit, and when Sara leaned against the wrong tree, Tanner informed her that dozens of small red spiders had crawled onto her and she cringed while he swatted the insects off her back.

The only weapons they carried were the machetes taken from the men who abducted them, and if they ran into anyone with a gun, they would be in trouble.

When the faint cry of pain came from their left, it was Sara who heard it, but after they moved towards the source, Tanner heard it as well.

Afterwards, they agreed that the wailing sounded as if it were coming from a man and they moved stealthily through the trees to find the origin of the sound.

The task became difficult when the cries of pain ceased for a time, but when another one came again and was intoned with pure agony, they headed directly towards the sound and found the source of it nearly a mile away.

***

When Jake Garner regained consciousness, it came slowly, but when the first of his fingernails was pried up with the tip of a knife and then yanked off, he came fully awake in an agonizing instant.

He was strung up between two trees with the toes of his bare feet just able to touch the ground beneath him, and while one man gripped his fingers, another tore off his nails, and a third man looked on with a happy expression, while laughing like a child.

The torture ceased for a time, as one of the men questioned him by using bad English and Jake stalled and lied as well as he was able, but eventually the torture resumed.

The agony was cumulative and as the fourth nail was ripped from his left hand, he felt as if he were about to pass out again. However, Jake staved off the darkness as hope dawned, because the man who was about to pry up his thumbnail suddenly went rigid with shock, as the bloody tip of a machete poked out of his throat.

Jake filled with hope, only to have it dashed when he saw that the man who killed his tormentor was Tanner.

I must be hallucinating. Garner thought and then assumed it confirmed, because next, he spotted Sara Blake fighting beside Tanner and he knew that if the two of them were ever within reach of each other while brandishing machetes, they would be using them on each other.

Sara dispatched the man who found Garner’s pain humorous by slicing him open at the middle, and as he lay in the dirt dying, his own cries of agony left him joyless.

After plunging his blade through the torturer’s neck, Tanner withdrew it and shoved it past the ribs of the man who had been holding Jake’s hand in place, which punctured the man’s heart and left him to drop like a stone.

Tanner slapped Jake lightly on the cheek to revive him and issued a command.

“Hold still!”

Two quick chops with a machete and Garner was freed from his bonds and collapsed to his knees, with Sara kneeling beside him.

“Is this real?”

Sara smiled.

“Yes and you’re safe now.”

As Sara gathered up the rifle and lone revolver that belonged to the men they’d slain, Tanner helped Garner walk to a stream that was fifty yards away, and after they’d all drank their fill of water, Garner gingerly washed his damaged hand in the stream.

They were all seated on the ground and as Sara looked over Garner’s wounds, Tanner inspected the rifle and gun. Both were fully loaded and appeared to be in firing condition. Tanner kept the rifle, but passed the gun to Sara.

Jake looked first at Tanner, and then at Sara.

“You two working together has got to be one hell of a story, but right now I’m more concerned about Jennifer. Please tell me there’s more help on the way?”

“There is,” Tanner said. “Conrad Burke is waiting for us to signal him and then he’ll send in a group of men.”

Jake made a grim face at that news.

“I came across the bodies of the last men he sent; I hope he has better luck this time, and Tanner, Sara, thank you. If you hadn’t come along I’d be dead.”

Tanner stood.

“Are you good to travel?”

“I am, but my left hand may be almost useless for a while.”

“Were they torturing you for fun, or did they want information?”

“It was both, but the man who had been holding my wrist spoke a little English and he asked me if I was, ‘Here on my lonesome,’ I lied and said that I wasn’t, but they saw through it.”

“It’s a good thing that they did,” Sara said. “Otherwise they might have searched and come across us.”

Jake smiled.

“I’ve seen her, Sara. I saw Jennifer and she seemed to be all right. There are also five other hostages, two women and three men.”

“Did she see you?”

Jake’s smile turned to a  frown.

“I think she saw me, but by now she probably believes I’m dead.”

***

The only thing that slowed Jennifer’s tears was the frantic pace that Firman insisted the party keep to, as they finally neared the rebel camp.

George and Reba were having a difficult time keeping up, and when Jennifer looked back at George, she feared that the red-faced man was on the verge of having a heart attack.

Another hour passed, an hour in which even the young rebels began to appear fatigued, and at last, Firman directed them towards a riverbank where they would rest and eat.

Juan wiped at his brow and pulled at the sweat-drenched shirt that clung to his skin.

“My wife has been after me to lose ten pounds. No need to now, I must have lost at least that the last few days.”

“This is torture,” George rasped out, as his wife lay beside him on her back, while still gulping in air.

Then, everyone looked over at Jennifer and saw the tears in her eyes.

Melissa gave her hand a squeeze.

“Those screams we heard might have come from someone else.”

Jennifer wiped at her eyes.

“It was Jake. They tortured him and now he’s probably dead because he tried to help me.”

They were given food, which consisted of raw fish and gummy rice, just as the sun was sinking in the sky, and Dr. Washburn insisted that Jennifer eat, but she declined, knowing that it would never stay down.

She was deep in despair, unaware that not only was Jake alive, but that he had gained two very capable allies.

CHAPTER 31 - Nobody’s perfect

Tanner fashioned a lean-to between two trees, after gathering branches and hacking at smaller trees with one of the machetes.

Sara had helped him, while an exhausted Jake rested, and by nightfall, they were beneath the flimsy shelter and eating cured meat, which Tanner had taken from the pack of one of the men he killed earlier.

When Sara asked him what sort of meat the jerky was made from, he just told her to keep eating and to try not to think about it.

When Jake awoke, he and Sara took the first watch, and while Tanner slept, Sara filled Jake in on what had happened to her over the last few days, while speaking in whispers.

When she told him about Johnny Rossetti, he placed an arm around her shoulders.

“I’m sorry, Sara. I know that he meant something to you.”

“I loved him, Jake, and it’s my fault that he’s dead.”

Jake glanced over at the lean-to, where Tanner slept.

“His presence here tells me how much you’ve changed, but why is he here?”

“I could have killed him and I didn’t, on the condition that he help me find and rescue Jenny.”

“So, he’s here against his will?”

Sara’s face scrunched up as she considered the question.

“No, despite our agreement, he’s here of his own free will and I might be dead if he weren’t helping me.”

“Does that have anything to do with those rags you’re wearing?”

“These pants, yes, four men tried to rape me, but Tanner stopped them. He really is remarkable, and so are you. I’m so sorry that I doubted your feelings for Jenny.”

“I love her, I mean I must. My only thought is to find her and hold on to her forever.”

***

As the first rays of sunlight lit the jungle, Tanner reached into the lean-to and shook Sara’s shoulder.

“We should get an early start.”

Sara yawned.

“Oh, I ache all over and it feels like I barely slept.”

“If our information is correct, the camp is only a few hours away and once we reach it, we’ll send a message to Burke.”

Jake sat up and rubbed a hand over his face.

“How are you going to make contact?”

Tanner rolled up a sleeve on the tunic he was wearing and showed Jake the tiny bump on his forearm.

“This is a GPS tracker, when we find Blake’s sister, I’ll cut it out and destroy it. Then, Burke will send a team of men to our last known coordinates.”

“I hope his men do a better job this time around.”

“I spoke to him about that as his people were putting the GPS chip in my arm,” Tanner said. “Burke promised me that he would rain down hell upon them this time, and from what I overheard when they were putting in the tracker, he’s bought an old helicopter for the mission. Once we find the camp, it shouldn’t take very long for help to arrive.”

Sara walked off towards the stream to wash and prepare for the day and when she was out of sight, Jake grabbed Tanner’s arm.

“I don’t know why you’re doing this, but thank you.”

“You’re welcome, but Blake and I have a deal, and once her sister is safe, the two of us will be done with each other.”

“She explained to me how she got the better of you, by threatening the woman you love, and I have to say, I’m surprised to learn that you have a heart.”

Tanner sighed.

“Nobody’s perfect.”

CHAPTER 32 - Trust me

In New York City, Laurel returned from a day at the clinic to find a candlelight dinner waiting for her, and after a quick shower, she joined Joe at her dining room table.

“This is unexpected, what’s the occasion?” Laurel said.

Joe wiped his sweaty palms on his pants and moved the napkin that had been hiding the ring box.

Laurel’s mouth dropped open in shock and widened still more when Joe opened the box and revealed a huge diamond ring.

“Before you say anything, I just want you to know that I’m aware I’m moving fast here, but after watching Johnny die when he least expected it, I know that life can end at any time, and I’ll be damned if I’m going to die without at least taking a shot at getting you to marry me. So, what do you say?”

Laurel beamed at him.

“Ask me properly.”

Joe got down on one knee in front of Laurel and held up the ring box.

“Will you marry me, baby? I love you more than anything.”

“Yes. I’ll marry you and I love you too, I love you so much.”

Joe rose to his feet as Laurel stood, and the two of them kissed and embraced. When Laurel began pulling him towards the stairs, Joe pointed back at the table.

“What about the food?”

“It can wait; I want to be in your arms and know that we’ll always be together.”

“That sounds like heaven to me,” Joe said, and he swooped Laurel up and headed for the bedroom.

***

In another part of the city, other plans were being made, plans that involved causing Joe Pullo’s death.

Vance was in Michael Krupin’s office along with the young leader of the Russian mob, who was seated behind his desk, and Fedor was also present, as Vance told them his latest plan to gain the upper hand in the war.

“How sure are you that they’ll meet again at that club?”

“Very sure, I followed one of the men who had attended the meeting and tortured him. The club is closed due to Rossetti’s death and the fact that Pullo is fearful that we might have attacked it while it was full of customers.”

Krupin grimaced at the very thought.

“That’s the last thing I would do. I have enough scrutiny on me now after the slaughter the other day, and killing civilians would really bring down the hammer.”

“In any event, Pullo is using the place as a headquarters and when he holds his next meeting, it will be a golden opportunity to wipe out the Giacconi’s top men, Pullo included.”

“How many men will you need?” Krupin asked.

“Four men and, I’ll also want Fedor with me.”

Fedor had been sitting on a loveseat at the right side of the room, but he stood and walked over to Vance.

“Why do you want me there?”

“I’ll need someone who is good with a rifle and I hear that you’re a decent shot.”

“I’m the best there is, and I understand that you’re a marksman too, but I guess you’ll need me to cover one of the exits from the club, no?”

“Exactly, although I doubt anyone will make it out alive.”

Fedor stared at Vance for several seconds and then looked over at Krupin.

“I have to say, it is a sound plan and I see little risk to our men.”

“Our men?” Krupin said, while raising one eyebrow.

“As they say here, a figure of speech, but I too keep the men’s concern in my mind, especially after having lost so many of them recently.”

Krupin made a sour face at those words and then drummed his fingers on the desktop as he thought things over.

The street sounds of a city drifted up from outside the second story windows and they could hear someone shouting for a taxi to stop, while the constant hum of traffic only paused when an equal stream of pedestrians needed to cross, as they continued along their seemingly endless journeys.

After nearly a minute had passed, Krupin nodded once at Vance.

“We’ll do it, but Rurik, if this plan fails you won’t get any more chances, understood?”

Vance smiled. Yes, he understood, and after killing Pullo, he planned to kill Krupin as well and then take control of his empire.

“Everything will work out, Michael, trust me.”

CHAPTER 33 - Listen and learn

Jennifer gazed down a steep drop at the small valley below and saw scores of men moving about.

There was an actual building, although it appeared to be prefabricated, along with camouflaged-colored tents, which were lined up in neat rows, while a structure that resembled a giant birdcage hung from a tree branch, with figures lying inside it.

It was the cage where the rebels held their hostages and it was about to become Jennifer’s new home.

Juan Rio had been gazing up at the latticework of pond fronds, rope, and camouflage material that had been rigged between the trees surrounding the camp, placing most of it in the shade, while also obscuring the rebel base from satellite surveillance.

“I bet this place is hard to find,” Juan said.

There were men stationed along the trail here, and they had encountered them as they walked the last mile of their trek.

Salt air wafted on the breeze and Jennifer and the other hostages agreed that they must be close to the Indian Ocean, and that the base must receive most of its supplies by sea.

Firman issued a set of orders to his men and the hostages began the short hike into the valley, while wondering if it would become a valley of death.

***

Not far away, Tanner returned from scouting ahead and informed Sara that there were men guarding the trail.

“That’s a good sign, isn’t it? It must mean that we’re growing closer to where the camp is.”

“That’s true, but it also means that our odds of being discovered are greater, and we can’t use the guns, or we’ll alert the camp that we’re nearby.”

“We’ll have to sneak up on the guards and kill them by hand,” Jake said, and Tanner nodded in agreement.

“How many are there?” Sara asked.

“I came across four, two pairs of two, but they were scattered over a long stretch of the trail and once we kill them, it’s just a matter of time until they’re missed, or until they change the guards. I suggest that we wait and watch before making a move.”

Sara shifted from foot to foot as she shook her head in disagreement.

“I don’t want to wait. God only knows what Jenny is going through.”

“Tanner is right,” Jake said. “We should wait and gain Intel, that way, we can kill the guards right after they change shifts and allow ourselves the maximum amount of time to get in and out.”

Sara paced for a moment before speaking.

“Okay, as much as I hate to wait another second, I see that you’re right.”

“There’s something else,” Tanner said. “I think that these are only the first few guards, there are probably more of them closer to camp.”

Sara studied his face,

“You have a plan to deal with them?”

“Yes, I’ll move ahead alone until I reach the camp and after they change the guards, I’ll work my way back to you, even as you two are working your way towards me.”

“By working, you mean killing, right, hit man?” Jake said.

“That’s right, Special Agent Garner and I’ll be killing in a cause to free your woman.”

Jake held up a hand as if to say he was sorry.

“I apologize, Tanner, and I don’t think we’d have a chance without your help.”

“You may not have one with me, but I’ll do my best to help you.”

Sara placed a hand on his arm.

“We’ll watch and wait, and after they change the guards, we’ll meet you in the middle.”

“Kill as quietly as you can,” Tanner said, and then he moved into the trees on his left and disappeared from sight.

“Your attitude towards him has certainly changed,” Jake said.

Sara gazed at the spot where Tanner disappeared and then looked back at Jake.

“I’ve come to see that sometimes killing is necessary, and not just under the law or for self-defense, and there’s no one better at killing than Tanner.”

“So you’re just using him? And what happens when we get Jennifer back, will you try to kill him?”

“No. Jake, I really have made peace with the man and I don’t have it in me to hate anymore. I can’t even bring myself to hate the men who took Jenny; I just want her back and then I’ll somehow get on with my life.”

“It’s good to hear you talk that way, and if he helps us get Jennifer back, Tanner has earned a pass on anything as far as I’m concerned. Now come on, let’s get into position.”

Sara and Jake moved on, as behind them and hidden from view, Tanner moved on as well. Sara Blake appeared to be telling the truth this time and Tanner was glad.

After the events of the last few days, it would have hurt him to kill her, and that’s not something he could say about many people.

Tanner moved towards the camp, machete in hand, prepared to do what he did best, as death walked by his side.

CHAPTER 34 - Welcome to hell

Firman got down on his knees and bowed before his superior, a man in his sixties who was wearing robes and sandals and had a mane of white hair.

The man gestured for Firman to rise, and when he looked over at the hostages he made a face of disgust, as if the very sight of the westerners sickened him.

His name was Raden Soekemi, but he was respectfully referred to as Gus Soe by his subordinates, a name that was uttered only with reverence and respect.

Raden Soekemi was born the son of a wealthy banker in Jakarta and was raised learning the language of money.

However, the intricacies of money handling such as fractional-reserve banking and hypothecation filled him with boredom, and as a young man, he drifted into the arena of law.

The rich had power, of that, there was no doubt, but the power of the law and the deference given towards lawyers drew him in and he became one of them.

And as he had learned the secret language and ways of finance at his father’s knee, Raden also learned the ways and language of the law from his professors and went on to practice it for years.

Having found success as a lawyer, Raden then turned his attention towards becoming a lawmaker, a policy baron, and he went on to learn yet another language and set of customs, the terminology and rules of politics.

With his power and esteem at a height far beyond any his father had ever attained, Raden became fascinated by the sway that the religious leaders held over the people, and once again, he learned new ways and customs as he reinvented himself, then, surprised himself and became a true believer of his religion, and later, grew militant in his beliefs.

But Raden, who was now the venerable Gus Soe, sought to climb even higher by becoming the leader of a separatist movement, whose true goal was to take power.

It was he who had ordered the assassination of President Urray, his guiding hand behind the kidnappings, and his holy wisdom would guide his adopted country of Guambi, and someday he would be acknowledged as the country’s leader.

***

Raden smiled at Firman. The man was as fanatical as he, soon to be named his second in the cause, and had proven himself worthy, by not only overseeing the assassination of the president, but Firman had also delivered the valuable hostages, as he had promised.

Raden watched as one of his aides took pictures of the captives, photographs that would be sent to their families as proof of life, and it was the only proof that they would ever receive.

With the photos taken, the hostages became worthless, although Raden would release one or two of them as incentive for the other families to pay.

When he spotted Jennifer, he eyed her with contempt, for she reminded him of a woman whom he had known in his youth.

The woman had been a slut who would have sex with anyone for as little as a free meal, but the witch had always made snide comments about the size of his manhood.

Raden had killed that woman, quite by accident while in a fit of rage, and disposed of her corpse with no more thought than he would have given a dead rat.

He had desired her body, longed to caress her blond hair, and now the sight of that same color on Jennifer brought back the feelings of inadequacy that the wanton woman of his youth had made him feel so long ago. It was not a sensation Raden enjoyed.

***

With the photos taken, Firman issued orders to his men. Prendy and the other rebels began herding the hostages towards the cage at the other end of the compound, which hung about a foot off the ground.

The odor hit Jennifer before they had even drawn near.

It was a foulness of feces, urine, and fetid water joined together, and it was emanating from the hole dug beneath the cage, but worse of all, was the stench of rotted flesh, and as they peered down into the pit, two corpses were visible.

Melissa cried as Mrs. Hough gagged, and then the door on the cage was opened, and they were all herded up and inside the swaying contraption at the point of machetes.

There were already four prisoners in the cage, all Australian, three men and a woman, who Jennifer thought looked as if they had been there for months, and when they told her that they had only been there two days, she briefly wondered what toll the ordeal was taking on her own appearance.

There was a tight weave of rope along the bottom of the cage, save for a corner, where one went to do their business, with zero privacy, and the waste would fall down into the pit atop the corpses.

“This is bloody inhumane!” Juan shouted and his words rewarded him with a jab in the back from a stick the guards kept on the ground for disciplinary purposes.

Juan winced in pain, then fell down and settled on his ass, while rubbing the place where he was struck.

One of the men who had already been there when they arrived looked around at the newcomers and sent them a grim smile.

“Welcome to hell.”

***

Later, with most of the men in the camp inside the largest tent and eating a meal, the young rebel Prendy paid the cage a visit.

He had just collected money from a bet he’d won and could think of no better use for it than to bribe the guards to give him access to the American girl.

At fourteen, Prendy was even younger than he appeared to be, and so hard had his short life been, that the demanding trek through the jungle had been a huge improvement over his normal existence, which had consisted of scrounging for food in the dumpsters of the resort hotels, avoiding violent gangs, and sleeping on the beach at night.

When Firman first began spouting his beliefs about a God that loved everyone like a father, Prendy thought the man insane, and still did, but by joining up with the skinny man’s cause, he had gained a feeling of fellowship and had even been given a gun to hold while guarding the hostages.

As he approached the cage, Prendy rubbed his crotch in anticipation, he had only been with one girl and she had been a skinny thing of twelve years without breasts. He longed to touch Melissa’s breasts and ached to be inside her, even knowing that if he were caught with her, he would be in huge trouble.

But, he had been nice to her, hadn’t he? He had even fed her and so he hoped that she would give in to his desires and not make him have to hurt her.

If she did cry out, he’d have to kill her and move on to the tall one, the one with the golden hair. Prendy grinned while thinking of the tall one’s breasts, which were even larger than the girl’s.

Maybe he would have them both.

***

Jennifer saw Prendy approach the cage with a grinning face and watched as he passed something to the two men who were standing guard over them.

After looking around furtively, the men came over and opened the cage.

Prendy pointed at Melissa, and if not for the lecherous glint in the boy’s eyes, Jennifer might have thought that he was doing her a kindness by removing her from the nightmare that was the cage, even if only for a short time.

“Something’s not right here,” Juan said and when Jennifer looked over at Melissa, she saw that the girl was frightened.

One of the guards gestured for Melissa to come out of the cage, but she shook her head as tears began to flow.

Prendy spoke to her in a loud whisper, then, he unsheathed his machete and entered the cage. When Juan stood up, Prendy swung the machete at him and just missed slicing open his face, and then he grabbed Melissa by the wrist and began pulling her towards the cage opening.

Melissa cried and thrashed about, which made Prendy even angrier and caused the guards to look back towards the mess tent.

One of the guards said something to Prendy and the boy slapped Melissa on the side of her head. The blow stunned her, she fell upon her back, and Prendy reached down and stuck his free hand inside her blouse, to fondle her.

Juan was red with anger and cursing at Prendy with everything he had, even as a guard was repeatedly poking him in the ribs with a stick, and Jennifer feared that the father of four girls was about to lose his life in a vain attempt to save Melissa from rape.

A glazed look came over Prendy’s face as he felt the girl’s breasts and Jennifer knew that he planned to rape Melissa, and possibly kill her if she regained her senses and resisted.

“Hey!”

Prendy turned towards her with his machete poised to strike and then licked his lips as Jennifer opened her blouse to give Prendy a view of her cleavage.

“Leave her alone and I’ll go with you.”

Prendy stared at her, then, he reached out and touched her short blond hair.

“That’s right, take me and leave her, don’t hurt her.”

Prendy jumped down from the cage and gestured for Jennifer to follow, he was so engrossed with the thought of having her that he never noticed Firman leaving the tent and walking his way.

No sooner had Jennifer stepped out of the cage in order to sacrifice herself to save the virginal Melissa, when Firman cried out in anger and called back into the tent.

Men flooded from the tent, among them their leader garbed in robes, and when Firman reached Prendy, he knocked the boy to the ground with a hard slap across the face, as he let loose a long string of words in his native language.

The guards were questioned and then escorted away for disciplinary training, which would take the form of a severe beating, and although Jennifer didn’t understand a word that was being said, she knew that Prendy was in serious trouble for going against the tenets of his religion, by seeking to have sex with her.

When Prendy was dragged off, Jennifer was relieved, but then the white-haired man wearing the robes leaned over and spoke into Firman’s ear.

Whatever the man had whispered, it pleased Firman, who turned and pointed at her, and soon she was being dragged away as well.

“I didn’t do anything! I was only trying to protect my friend.”

Her words were ignored, if they were even understood, and although she couldn’t know it, Jennifer had been marked for death, death by beheading.

CHAPTER 35 - Kill and kill again

Tanner waited until the guards farthest from the camp came walking along the trail and passed him, before springing into action.

The men were talking to each other about a game of chance, and seemed happy to be returning to camp and done with their workday.

Tanner had gazed down upon the rebel compound from a position not far from the place where Jennifer had stood earlier, and he estimated that there were well over a hundred men present between the ones guarding the trail and those in the camp.

He had also taken note of the cage and knew it wouldn’t be easy to free anyone from it, as it was in plain sight, with the cliff wall at its back,

The weave of rope and hodgepodge of camouflage materials overhead interested him, and he determined that it had to be destroyed if Burke’s men were to have any chance at a successful raid.

However, that would come later, after he killed his share of the men guarding the trail.

The first man died easily, because the fool had actually been laughing and talking to the second man, who died only an instant later, as Tanner slashed his blade across their necks, thus, opening their throats, and rendering them speechless at the same time he delivered injuries that would kill them.

He watched them thrash on the ground and die by exsanguination, then, he listened carefully in case another rebel had drawn near.

There was no need to hide the bodies from view, because the copious amount of blood spilled would speak of their demise anyway, and so Tanner moved on.

There were ten men on patrol along the trail, and he found his third man looking alert and ready. Tanner stepped into view, took careful aim and hit the man in the face with a stone. He had been aiming for a spot between the man’s eyes, but the stone smashed the area high atop the man’s forehead, and caused him to weave about like a drunk.

Tanner managed to reach him before he recovered, grabbed the rock from the ground and used it to smash the guard’s face repeatedly.

The struggle made little noise, unfortunately, the fourth man must have been nearby, because Tanner heard someone running along the trail and coming his way.

After switching the machete to his left hand, Tanner ran towards the sound with his blade up and at the ready, and as he and the fourth man met at a bend in the trail, Tanner sliced deep along the ribs of a man holding a rifle, and watched him crumple onto the dirt.

He walked back to the man, took away the rifle, and delivered a killing stroke with his blade, ending the man’s cries of pain, which had been gaining in volume.

He was rounding the bend in the trail when he became aware of the footfalls coming up from behind, and had just enough time to duck.

A blade whooshed over his head, and when he looked up, he saw a face so damaged that he marveled its owner still had sight.

It was the third guard, the one he had smashed with the rock, and the man was speaking gibberish from a mouth whose teeth were freshly broken.

Tanner tripped him with the rifle barrel, even as the man attempted to swing the machete, and then he finished the job of killing the man by thrusting a blade into his heart.

Guards five and six suffered from the belief that, being the guards in the middle, they would have sufficient time to be alerted if there was any trouble along either end of the trail, and so they sat with their backs against a tree while smoking and sharpening their blades.

Tanner crawled over to them on the side of the tree that was directly behind them and with a machete in each hand, he reached around and sliced open their throats. One man died almost instantly, as the blade had bitten deep, while the other man managed to stand and take several steps before falling face first, and died after suffering a spasm.

Tanner had just hidden behind the same tree when he saw Sara and Garner moving along the edge of the trail while keeping to the shadows. He stepped out, raised his hand to grab their attention and saw that their work had left them as bloody as had his own. He also noticed that Jake looked sickened by the violence.

“If I never have to kill with a blade again, it will be too soon,” Sara said.

“It does get messy, and personal,” Tanner agreed, and after they took a quick stop at a stream to wash off what blood they could, he led them to the view that overlooked the camp.

Sara cried as she took in the cage.

“They’re keeping her like an animal.”

Jake pointed up at the web of camouflage.

“That’s going to be a problem for the helicopter.”

“I can deal with that,” Tanner said. “And when I do, all hell will break loose.”

When he finished speaking, he dug a fingernail into the skin of his opposite arm and freed the tiny GPS tracker that had been placed there, causing a small trickle of blood to flow.

He held the device up.

“Once I destroy this, Burke’s people will be on their way here, so why don’t we make a plan first?”

“Fine,” Sara said. “How will you handle that camouflage tarp above us?”

Tanner removed a lighter and a pack of matches that he had found near the bodies of the two guards that had been smoking.

“I’ll set fire to it, which will cause chaos and alert the troops of trouble.”

“Won’t that endanger Jenny and the other hostages?” Sara said.

“It’s a possibility, which is why we’ll be freeing them when the fire reaches its peak.”

Jake blew out a long breath.

“That sounds like suicide.”

“Not for you two, because you’ll be up here with those rifles and killing any guard that gets in the way.”

Sara’s face scrunched up in confusion.

“How are you going to start the fire and get down there before it burns out of control?”

“I’ll manage, trust me.”

Sara stared into Tanner’s eyes.

“I do trust you; I’m trusting you with my sister’s life.”

“I’ll find her and I’ll get her to safety, but while I’m doing that you two will be on your own.”

“I told you before we started that getting Jenny to safety was your only job; Jake and I will take care of ourselves.”

“Fine, but for this to work, you both have to be good shots with a rifle, are you?”

“I’m better than decent,” Sara said. “And if I’m not mistaken, Jake has won contests.”

Jake shook his head.

“I came in second two years in a row, but yes, I can shoot.”

“What about the bad hand?”

“It hurts like hell, but it’s good enough to grip the rifle.”

“Alright, and make every shot count, there’s not much ammo.”

Tanner placed the GPS chip on the ground and smashed it with a rock.

He looked up.

“The countdown has begun.”

CHAPTER 36 - Geronimo!

Many of the tall trees in the area had few branches on the lower section of their trunks, and so Tanner climbed up one of them by using two machetes as if they were claws, and then moved over to where a corner of the huge camouflage net was fastened with thick rope.

His hands were on fire with pain, as the web of flesh on one had been previously wounded by gunfire, while the other had a chunk removed from its palm by the descending blade of a machete, just a day earlier.

No stranger to pain, he pushed it aside and put his mind to the task at hand, freeing Jennifer Blake.

Tanner wasn’t certain of just what it was that Burke had planned, but assumed that the man would send as large a force as he could gather to wipe out the rebels.

What that would cost the businessman in terms of new government scrutiny and more hearings concerning his company was anyone’s guess, but Burke wanted his daughter back as much as Sara wanted her sister returned safely, and even in a third-world nation like Guambi, Burke had the connections and resources to get it done.

After giving up on cutting through the many ropes that secured the canopy, Tanner sliced at two of the pieces used and after shaking them and seeing how long the ropes were, he looked down through a small hole he’d made and estimated the distance to the ground.

An idea occurred to him at that point, one that made him smile and Tanner hoped that he wouldn’t make a fool of himself when he put it into action, or worse, get himself killed by breaking his neck.

However, he had been a long-range shooter for most of his life and had a keen eye for estimating distances, and so he was confident that he could guess the distance to the ground.

Tanner crawled out into the center of the tarp while dragging the ropes behind him, and when he reached the middle, he broke open the lighter, spilling its flammable fluid atop dry leaves, and used the book of matches to light it.

The liquid immediately caught fire, the leaves burned, and Tanner waited for his chance to play Tarzan.

***

Down below, on the lip of the cliff overlooking the camp, Sara and Jake lay on their stomachs and gazed down at the sudden flurry of activity taking place.

“What do you think is going on, could they know we’re here?” Sara asked.

Jake shook his head.

“No, if that were the case, they’d be staring up here, no it’s not us, but something has everyone down there excited.”

Sara looked up at the canopy and noticed that there was a black spot at its center, and as she kept looking, she caught the glow of embers.

“Look, he’s done it. Tanner has started the fire.”

“Good, but that thing is a massive patchwork and may take a while to burn.”

Down below, someone let out a cry of joy and when she looked, Sara saw a small figure being dragged from a tent. The figure was male, but not very big, and he was brought out to the rear of the compound with his hands tied behind him, and then forced to his knees.

An instant later, Sara spotted another figure being dragged towards the first, and as soon as she spotted the cropped blond hair, she knew.

“Jenny, oh my God, that’s Jenny.”

Jake leaned farther over the rim of the cliff as if another few inches would help him see her better, but he didn’t need to see her face clearly, for like Sara, he knew.

Jennifer also had her hands tied behind her back and was driven down to her knees by two rough hands.

Moments later, Firman appeared, and as he sharpened a long Katana-style sword, his intent became clear.

“Oh... oh good God, they’re going to execute her,” Sara said, and both she and Jake knew that the odds had just risen against Jennifer ever seeing another day.

***

Tanner had moved away from the fire at the center of the canopy and had cut another hole to see through. When he spotted Sara’s sister being readied for execution, he knew that Burke’s men might not reach the area in time to stop it; he also realized that the plan he had made with Sara was now obsolete.

After removing his boots and securing the ropes around his ankles, Tanner hacked at the hole until it was large enough to fit through.

Then, he found himself coughing violently, as the wind shifted and blew the smoke of the fire his way, while also feeding it and causing it to grow.

Tanner readied himself, while hoping that Sara and Jake wouldn’t act too soon, and prepared to leap literally into the fray.

***

Sara was lining up her shot on Firman when Jake pressed a hand on the barrel of her rifle.

“Don’t fire unless there’s no other choice, with these rifles, at this distance, we could just as easily hit Jennifer as the man with the sword.”

Sara groaned in frustration.

“You’re right, but we’ll soon have to take that risk. Look, he’s moving up behind them.”

Jake pulled at his hair.

“Where are those men of Burke’s?”

Down below, Firman began speaking as he paced behind Prendy and Jennifer. His fiery speech was a sermon about the evil of promiscuity, the lasciviousness of western women, and the dire consequences of giving in to the appetites of the flesh.

When he stopped and stared at the crowd, most of the men gathered believed that he was doing so solely for dramatic effect, but then, Firman shifted his feet, raised the sword high, and brought it down against the side of Prendy’s neck.

Blood sprayed a dozen feet and the boy’s head, now just barely attached, lolled over to settle upon the right shoulder and even as the body was falling forward, Firman reversed the sword’s trajectory and sliced between the shoulder and the head, an act that severed the head from the body and sent it tumbling off to the side.

Jennifer let out screams of pure terror as she tried to make it to her feet, but she was pressed back down upon her knees by two of Firman’s men.

Both Sara and Jake had been frozen by the barbarity of the act and numbed with apprehension, but after giving himself a shake, Jake raised his rifle and aimed through the iron sights.

“We’ve just run out of options; I’ll have to take a chance on hitting her.”

“Look!”

Sara pointed upward, and when Jake followed her gaze, he saw Tanner’s head and shoulders emerge from a hole in the canopy.

“What is Tanner doing? Is he getting ready to jump?”

“No, that would be suicide,” Sara said, and then watched as the fire at the middle of the tarp suddenly expanded, and hot ash began to rain down.

When she looked back at the camp, she saw that the men below had taken notice and that many were pointing up.

That’s when Tanner jumped out of the hole head first, fell over eighty feet, and the ropes holding him came to a violent stop less than a meter above the ground, before recoiling, and placing him in the midst of where Jennifer knelt on her knees.

While still upside down and swinging, Tanner took a hack at Firman with one of the two machetes he wielded. The religious fanatic ducked so quickly that he fell backwards and landed on his bony ass, while losing the sword.

Tanner’s blade missed Firman, but bit deep into the venerable white head of the holy one, Gus Soe, who had been standing beside him, became lodged inside Gus Soe’s holy brain, and sent him to his holy heaven, where he would doubtlessly have to learn the ways and customs of the dead.

Tanner raised his upper body as if he were performing an upside down sit-up, took a mighty swing at the complex knot that secured the ropes to his ankles, and cut himself loose. Then, after turning over in midair, he landed on his feet in the midst of over a hundred armed men.

Firman, along with the two men who were guarding Jennifer, backed away with her and disappeared beyond the crowd, and Tanner reached down and grabbed up the bloody sword.

And as the rebels closed in upon him, Tanner turned in a circle, intense eyes ablaze, and spoke to the men in their own language.

“Who dies first?”

CHAPTER 37 - Change of plans?

Vance tried to look as if he were taking the news in stride, while also noticing the pleasure Fedor took from delivering it.

The meeting at the Cabaret Strip Club was cancelled and it was Fedor’s belief that the reason for the cancellation was because one of the men who attended the last meeting had vanished.

Fedor crossed his legs as he sat on the loveseat in Michael Krupin’s office, and there was a self-satisfied grin on his face.

“It was stupid of you to kill that man for information when you could have simply bribed one of his soldiers and learned the same things he told you. But now, now Pullo is suspicious and has wisely changed his plans.”

“I don’t answer to you, Fedor, and there’s any number of reasons that Pullo might have postponed the meeting.”

Fedor grinned.

“You screwed up yet again, admit it, Rurik.”

“Fuck you.”

Krupin rose from behind his desk and then took a seat on a corner of it.

“Can you fix this? Pullo still needs to die.”

Vance sent him a reassuring smile.

“Of course I can fix it. The meeting was just the best of all possible outcomes, but Pullo is still using that club as his office, just as Rossetti did. I’ll just use the same plan and soon he’ll be history.”

Krupin paced about as he thought things over. When he stopped in mid-stride, he pointed at Vance.

“Stick with the plan, but we’ll give it a couple of more days and if there’s no meeting, then put it into action, and I still want you to take Fedor with you as backup.”

Vance nodded in agreement.

“Of course, I’ll still need another man who is good with a rifle.”

“Not good,” Fedor said. “I am the best.”

Vance shrugged.

“That’s even better, the club has two exits, while I stand watch over the alley exit, you’ll be watching the front, and if by some miracle someone escapes the trap, we shoot them dead.”

Fedor grinned.

“It sounds like fun.”

“Is everything ready? And have you picked out the other men you’ll use?” Krupin asked.

“The men are ready; their part in it shouldn’t take much more than a minute.”

“Who are you using?”

Fedor answered.

“It is my Nephew Anton and his boys; they are all good men.”

Krupin sighed.

“I guess I can look forward to that Fed showing up again.”

“No doubt, but you’ll have an airtight alibi and there will be no way to trace it back to us.”

“Still, I hate that Fed.”

“I just hope he brings that little Italian сука with him,” Fedor said. “I like looking at her, and what do you think, is he doing her, his own partner?”

Krupin spun around and smiled at Fedor.

“You’ve just given me an idea, but one thing at a time, and first, you two will kill Pullo.”

Vance patted the holster beneath his jacket.

“He’s as good as dead.”

CHAPTER 38 - The many, outnumbered by the one

Baja California, Mexico July 1999

––––––––

Beneath the heat of a desert sun, the man calling himself Tanner put his two protégés through their paces as he trained them to one day be the best at what they do, which was killing.

However, there were times that one first had to survive in order to kill, and so, he also trained them in ways to do that... with varying results.

Romeo stepped out of the contraption that Tanner called The Gauntlet and tossed a pair of knives to the ground in frustration.

The Gauntlet was made up of five rotating poles, each with five arms set at various and adjustable heights, and each arm was tipped with a generous smear of red lipstick. The poles were connected by a system of pulleys at their base and would rotate at the spinning of a handle,

The five poles with their five arms represented twenty-five men with knives, and if you were marked by one, it would leave a trace in the form of red lipstick, red for blood.

Romeo emerged from the gauntlet covered with over three dozen marks, many that would have been fatal injuries if they were truly the wounds they represented.

“Shit, man, who the hell could face that many men in a knife fight and live?”

“I’m standing here in front of you and I once faced over a dozen, I was also trained on The Gauntlet until I could emerge without a mark on me. Tanner Five said that I was the only one who ever did that.”

Romeo looked at Tanner as if he were crazy.

“Dude, why didn’t you just shoot the fuckers?”

“I was out of bullets, but I did have two knives. Now enough talk, it’s Xavier’s turn.”

Xavier plucked the knives from the ground and stood in the center of the five poles. In order to do so, he had to bend one knee, hold one arm over his head, and lean backwards slightly. This was the only position in which a smear of lipstick wasn’t close enough to touch him.

Tanner shouted, “Here we go!” as he cranked the handle that controlled the pulleys.

Xavier emerged at the end of the cycle with even more streaks than Romeo wore.

He looked over at Tanner.

“This is tough.”

“That it is,” Tanner agreed. “But if you get really good at it, you’ll have no fear in a knife fight.”

***

Two weeks later, Tanner returned from a supply run to find Romeo and Xavier working with The Gauntlet.

He smiled as he rubbed a hand across his beard.

Xavier had practically lived inside the poles, as he was determined to best the contraption, and even Romeo had improved dramatically.

Tanner watched as Xavier ducked, sidestepped and skipped over the flailing poles, and it reminded him of a ballet he once saw. One by one, the boy knocked the lipstick tips off the poles, until the ground around his feet was littered with them.

When Xavier emerged from the machine after a full ten minutes, he was exhausted, sweaty... and bore only one red mark of lipstick.

Tanner looked at the young man who was far too close to his own age to be considered a son, and yet, nevertheless, he felt the swell of paternal pride.

“That was awesome, Xavier, simply awesome.”

The boy who would someday surpass his mentor, shook his head in disagreement as he pointed to the lone mark on his shoulder.

“I won’t quit at this until I’m perfect, and someday I’ll be the best, just like you.”

Tanner nodded. It was all he could do, because he was too choked up to speak.

***

Tanner recalled his training with The Gauntlet as he found himself surrounded by over a hundred men with machetes and knives.

He had no doubt that there were firearms carried by some of the rebels, but there were none in evidence amongst the men facing him from the front of the crowd.

When the first man lunged at him, he sliced a red line across the man’s stomach with the machete, and saw him retreat into the crowd.

He would kill some of these men, but that was not his main objective. The goal was to survive, and a superficial wound often served to dissuade an opponent as well as a serious injury would.

Two more men came at him, one from behind, one from the left. Tanner slashed over his shoulder with the sword and impaled an eye, while the machete swung left and bit deep into a rebel’s chest. He then went on the offensive, and as he brought the sword back around, he sliced open the faces of three men, even as the machete ripped apart the throat of a fourth man.

The crowd of rebels reacted as one and moved back a step.

They had thought they faced a man, just an average man, but Tanner wasn’t average, not when it came to killing, and for more than a dozen men in the crowd that lesson would be learned at the cost of their lives.

***

Atop the hill, Sara and Jake watched in awe as Tanner faced off against a multitude of opponents, but then broke free of their wonderment and sprang into action.

Sara’s first shot hit a man at the rear of the crowd and sent him tumbling forward into his fellow rebels.

The sound of the shot made the entire crowd turn their heads, and down below, Tanner used the distraction to slash the sword across four throats.

Jake’s first shot passed through the mouth of one man and hit the rebel behind him in the side of the head, while Sara’s second shot tore apart a man’s midsection.

The men in the crowd who did have weapons pushed their way to the rear, and fired up at Sara and Jake, even as Tanner continued to hack away at their machete wielding brethren, and all the while, hot ash rained down, as the canopy overhead was consumed by fire.

***

Firman fled towards safety, as two of his followers dragged Jennifer along.

As soon as he saw that the canopy that shielded them from surveillance was on fire, Firman realized that they were being attacked, and when the white devil descended from the sky like an outcast angel, his worst fears were realized.

He wiped away a tear as he recalled the death of Gus Soe, and prayed the men in the camp had sent the devil that killed the holy one to the fiery bowels of hell.

With the venerable one passed on, the mantle fell to Firman to keep the cause alive and with his lone remaining hostage, he would raise enough capital to see Gus Soe’s dream come true, by trading her for an exorbitant ransom.

When they reached the ATV used to shuttle supplies from the shore, Firman ordered the men to place Jennifer inside it, and then they were on their way to the small boat that would take them to the yacht anchored farther along the coastline. The yacht had belonged to the Australian captives, and Gus Soe had confiscated it for his own use.

Now, the luxury craft would be Firman’s base of operations, as he took Gus Soe’s place as leader, and as the ATV bumped along towards the shore, Firman daydreamed about future glories.

***

Back at the rebel camp, inside the cage holding the prisoners, Juan Rio let out a yelp of pain as he managed to squeeze his hips through the small hole in the corner of the cage, and as his feet sank into the accumulated urine, feces, and foul water below, he fought against the impulse to vomit.

Dr. Washburn called out encouragement to the Brit, as Juan attempted escape so that he could undo the lock on the cage door.

“You’re doing it, Juan, and the rebels are still distracted.”

Juan held onto the rope weaved across the cage’s bottom and began moving towards the edge of the pit he dangled above.

At one point, a hand slipped and he nearly lost hold with the other, but regained his grip by using one of the floating corpses for purchase.

When he made it to the end, it took three tries to swing his legs up high enough, but soon he was lying on the ground at the side of the cage and trying to catch his breath.

“Look out!”

The cry of warning came from Melissa, and when Juan turned his head, he saw one of the rebels rushing towards him with a machete held high.

In the next instant, there came a loud crackle from overhead, as two of the corners holding the camouflage tarp aloft gave way, and a huge swatch of flaming debris fell from the sky. The edge settled atop the charging rebel, while most of the debris fell on the men behind him.

Juan ignored the screams of the burning rebels and went to work freeing his friends.

***

At the same moment that Juan had been stepping atop the corpse, Tanner was tackled low from behind, and fell on his back among the score of dead and mortally wounded he had created.

The men at the front of the crowd smiled and rushed forward, and that’s when Tanner freed the revolver from beneath the tunic he wore and shot the two closest men in the face.

That caused the crowd to surge backwards, and moments later, as the flaming debris fell, it covered most of them, while scattering the rest.

Tanner jumped to his feet amidst the confusion and chaos and followed the trail that the fleeing Firman had taken.

He told Sara Blake that he would free her sister, and he intended to keep his word.

***

After the debris fell, Sara and Jake rushed down into the valley to free the prisoners, only to find that they had freed themselves.

Several of the rebels had recovered their wits and were poking at the smoking debris to gather up the guns of their fallen comrades so that they could start the fight anew, while Sara and Jake were both down to their last rounds.

A helicopter appeared overhead, and within seconds, death rained down from above as the men in the chopper fired at the rebels.

The chopper soon veered off, as the wind shifted and the smoke on the ground obscured their view.

The stench of burning flesh was thick in the air, as the rebels who were trapped beneath the flaming camouflage tarp were burned alive, but their screams were fading away.

Jake fired his last round at a rebel as the man bent over to retrieve a pistol, and then Jake plucked the gun from the ground and handed it to Sara, before also grabbing up a different rifle.

After inspecting the pistol and finding it loaded, Sara passed the gun along to the hostages that followed behind them, and Juan smiled at the weight of the weapon, although he had never held one before in his life.

Sara’s final round wounded a man in the thigh and she claimed the rifle he had pointed at her, which had only two rounds left.

Afterwards, they left the camp and entered the trees, as they skirted around the fire, with Jake leading the way.

“Have you seen Tanner?” Sara said, and Jake shook his head no, while wearing a grim expression.

“All I know is that Jennifer was dragged off in this direction and there were only a handful of men around her.”

The sound of the chopper seemed to come from everywhere at once and competed with the crackling sounds of the fire, but after walking only fifty yards, they were free of the smoke and could make out a patch of blue in the distance.

They heard automatic gunfire and something that sounded like a muffled explosion, only to be followed by the whine of an engine, and when Sara and the group with her moved a dozen more yards, they caught sight of the helicopter as it spiraled towards the water.

They ran, and seconds later, they had a full view of the beach, and Sara felt her heart sink as she fell to her knees.

The chopper was partially submerged in the water, as the men who had been inside it scrambled onto the shore, while farther down the coastline, a boat sped away, and Sara could just make out the short blond hair of her sister, and wondered if she would ever see her again.

CHAPTER 39 - The kiss of life

After leaving the camp, Tanner heard the ATV before he saw it, and followed the sound to the beach.

He had no idea who Firman was and just thought of him as the skinny man who had been about to execute Sara’s sister.

After topping a rise that led down to the beach, Tanner saw that Firman was walking towards the shore, where a skiff with an outboard motor sat just past the waterline. Behind Firman, two rebels dragged Sara’s sister along, as the woman tried her best to get away.

There had been a man standing near the boat who was armed with an assault rifle of some type, possibly an AK-47. As Firman approached him, the man looked around the rebel leader, as if searching for someone, and Tanner guessed that the boat belonged to the white-haired man who had died first, and that the man guarding the boat wasn’t happy about anyone else using it.

The man at the boat was talking loudly and in a complaining tone, but the words were drowned out as Tanner heard a helicopter pass overhead.

When the rebels became aware of the chopper, they looked up, and that’s when Firman jammed a knife into the chest of the man guarding the boat.

As the man fell backwards atop the wet sand, the gun he was holding fired off thirty rounds on full auto and, unfortunately, for the men on the helicopter, several of the bullets had a devastating effect on the craft’s tail rotor.

For just a moment, Tanner thought the helicopter had been unaffected, as the pilot soared upward in an effort to get out of range, but when the ancient Sikorsky helicopter began spiraling in an ever-tightening circle, Tanner saw that the big bird was coming down.

It landed flat, but hard, in the surf, and the men aboard began stumbling out into the chest deep water and while they were doing that, Firman was getting away in the boat with Sara’s sister.

Tanner took in the scene, weighed his options, and jumped into the ATV to go in pursuit. If Firman stayed close to the shoreline for just a little longer, he would still have an outside chance at saving Jennifer.

With the ATV at full throttle, Tanner sped over the sand and headed for the outcropping of rock just ahead.

***

When Jake pointed out the ATV to Sara, she felt her heart swell with renewed hope.

“That’s Tanner!”

The two of them watched along with the hostages as Tanner kept pace and then passed the boat, as he drove parallel to it along the beach.

When he reached the outcropping of rock, Tanner slowed the machine to lessen the impact, and as the front wheels began ascending the craggy surface, it looked for just an instant as if the vehicle might flip backwards, as it climbed up at better than a 45° angle.

The vehicle reached the top of the outcropping, and after making a left turn, Tanner pushed the vehicle towards its top speed again, and just before it reached the edge that hung out over the waves, Tanner jumped up on the seat and followed the vehicle into the water.

The ATV landed forty feet in front of Firman’s boat, and a skilled seaman could have easily avoided a collision, and while the rebel piloting the boat did avoid colliding with the ATV, he overcompensated by turning too hard to the left, which caused the small boat to flip on its side and dump its passengers into the sea.

***

After hitting the water, Tanner surfaced, took several deep breaths, dived, and swam towards where he’d last seen the boat. The water wasn’t deep, felt warm, and it was clear enough so that when he opened his eyes, he could see.

The tunic was slowing his progress and he used precious moments to remove the garment, while mentally chastising himself for not thinking of it sooner.

Seconds later, he passed two of the rebels; one man was unconscious and floated down towards the bottom, while the second one was headed towards the surface.

Tanner unsheathed the machete and jabbed the man in the back, at the base of the spine. The man went rigid, bubbles drifted from his lips and blood flowed from his wound.

Tanner left him, then, dropped the blade to swim even faster, as a flash of blond hair caught his eye.

It was Jennifer, kicking away frantically, with her hands still bound behind her back. Her face was a study in panic, as the lone breath she had taken before going under was about to run out.

Tanner swam up to her, took her by the shoulders and kissed her.

Wide blue eyes stared back at him in shock, but then she understood, and he passed along to her a portion of the air remaining in his lungs.

When the kiss ended, she nodded, and the two of them moved towards the surface, where Jennifer floated on her back and gulped in the fresh sea air.

Tanner had managed to take only one breath when he saw movement beneath the water. It was Firman and he was moving towards them with a machete gripped in his hand.

Tanner drew the revolver out from behind his back and fired it underwater without aiming, because he had no time to do otherwise.

Firman gave him one of the most peculiar looks he had ever seen, before the machete slipped from his grasp, and a line of red escaped out from a hole atop his head. Then, the rebel leader drifted down towards the bottom to join his men.

After removing the small blade he kept hidden inside his bandage, Tanner used it to cut Jennifer’s hands free, and as they swam towards shore, she asked him a question.

“Who are you?”

“My name is Tanner.”

“Tanner? Sara’s Tanner?”

“Yes... I suppose.”

Jennifer looked confused, but then her face crumbled and she stopped swimming.

“Is my sister... I mean did you, did you hurt her?”

“She’s the reason I’m here. We’ve made peace and she asked me to help save you.”

“Oh, but Jake, Jake Garner, have you seen him?”

A cry came from the shore, and when Jennifer followed the sound, she saw not only Sara and Jake, but also her fellow hostages. While farther down the beach, the mercenaries from the helicopter jogged towards them.

The two sisters came together in the surf and embraced tightly, while making little cooing sounds of joy.

After releasing Sara, Jennifer flew into Jake’s arms and the couple cried and laughed at their reunion.

Sara had been watching them with tears of relief flowing freely down her cheeks, but when she turned to look for Tanner, she saw that he was seated alone on a flat portion at the base of the outcropping.

Sara walked over and settled beside him.

“Thank you, Tanner; my sister is safe because of you.”

“You’re welcome, Blake, and this makes us even, yes?”

“No.”

“No?”

“I owe you one; you went above and beyond, even for you.”

Tanner pointed towards one of the mercenaries from the downed chopper.

“That man has a satellite phone and he said that transportation and medical help is on the way.”

Sara stood and began walking towards her sister, but then turned around and went back to Tanner.

“There’s one more thing,”

“Yes?”

Sara removed the phony wedding ring from her finger and handed it to him.

“I’m leaving you.”

Tanner smiled.

“I knew we’d never last.”

“At least we didn’t kill each other.”

“Not for lack of trying,” Tanner said.

Sara nodded, touched him gently on the cheek, and walked away.

CHAPTER 40 - Goodbye

Sara, Jennifer, and Jake, had taken Conrad Burke up on his offer to fly home on his jet, since the plane would be landing at Bradley International Airport in Connecticut, which was just a short drive from the estate owned by Sara’s father.

That meant that Tanner would be flying home alone, and so Sara joined him outside the jet to say a final farewell.

“My sister told me about that kiss you gave her.”

“It was strictly in an effort to save her, although, I will admit that I enjoyed it.”

Sara grinned, and before the silence could become uncomfortable, she asked a question.

“So, what’s next for you?”

“I’ll see if Joe needs my help with the Russians, and after that... I’m not sure, and you?”

Sara slowly shook her head.

“I have no idea. I’ve burned my bridges with the FBI, New York City holds too many memories and, other than my time with Johnny, it feels like the last year of my life has been a waste.”

“You’ll think of something, Blake; you’re too tough to be down for long.”

They stared at each other. Neither one knowing what to say, because a simple goodbye felt somehow inadequate,

Sara stepped towards him with her hands leaving her sides, and for a moment, Tanner thought that she might hug him, but after stopping in mid stride, she extended her right hand, and Tanner reached out and shook it.

“Goodbye, Sara Blake. It’s been... interesting.”

Sara smiled, gave his hand a squeeze before releasing it, and then turned and walked over to Burke’s jet.

Twenty minutes later, Tanner was in the air and headed back to New York City.

CHAPTER 41 - The hottest club in town

It was just after dark and inside the Cabaret Strip Club, Sophia, Laurel, Merle and Earl all laughed along with several of Joe’s street soldiers, as they watched Sammy Giacconi pantomime his version of a stripper, as he clung upside down to a pole on stage.

The act was even funnier because Sammy had loosened his long dark hair, and he flung it about in sync with the music that was playing.

When he was finished, he left the stage to applause and laughter, as well as the arms of Sophia Verona.

Sophia had hugged Sammy on an impulse, but quickly released him and stepped back.

Sammy smiled.

“I don’t think the patrons are allowed to touch the dancers, but I won’t tell if you don’t.”

“And who would we be telling?” Sophia said.

Sammy’s smile left his lips.

“I think his name is Tanner.”

Sophia sighed.

“Yeah, that’s his name.”

“Has he even called you in all the time he’s been gone?”

“No.”

“I would treat you better than that.”

“Tanner is... different.”

“So I hear, but I want you to know something. I’m not afraid of him.”

“That’s because you don’t know him, but he’d have no reason to hurt you anyway.”

Sammy waggled his eyebrows.

“Maybe we should give him one.”

Sophia laughed and pointed towards the bar, where Laurel sat drinking coffee.

“I’m going to talk to Laurel. Why don’t you work on your act while I’m gone.”

Sammy gestured at the lone one-dollar bill that Merle had tossed on stage as a gag.

“I think I’m retiring; the tips are terrible.”

***

Outside the club, and across the narrow street in back, Vance lay on his stomach with a sniper rifle at the ready.

He was settled on the roof of a red brick building that was an unused warehouse, and his position gave him a clear view of the club’s rear exit, which was located in the alley, along with a view of the small windows set high in the walls of the bathrooms.

After raising up a pair of binoculars, he saw that Fedor had also gotten into position on a roof overlooking the club’s front entrance, and he too was armed with a high-powered rifle with a scope.

Vance smiled.

It was time.

He made a call, and when it was answered, he said only one word.

“Go!”

***

Laurel was grinning, as Sophia took a seat beside her.

“You’re weakening.”

Sophia took a swig from her beer.

“Tanner better get back here soon or I’m going to declare him legally dead and move on.”

“You really like Sammy, don’t you?”

“Too much, and he’s so damn young.”

“Speaking as a doctor, it’s a proven fact that men are most virile at his age.”

“Stop it.”

“They also have amazing stamina and recuperative abilities.”

“I don’t like you anymore,” Sophia said, and then both she and Laurel laughed.

***

Joe was seated behind the desk in the office when the shooting began. By the time he stood, his gun was in his hand and he went racing down the hallway.

“Laurel?”

“I’m okay, Joe,” Laurel said and Joe was pleased to see that two of his soldiers had moved in front of her to guard her.

One of the other men went to the front door and called out.

“Victor? Sal?”

There was no answer, and then the man jumped backwards while looking at the base of the door.

“Gas! Gasoline,”

A moment went by before a whooshing sound was heard and the gas ignited and began to spread flames.

Joe grabbed Laurel’s hand.

“Everybody head to the back door in the office. Mike, you take point, and Sophia, are you armed?”

“Damn right,” Sophia said, and her hand left her purse holding a gun.

The new office door was designed to close automatically and was constructed using ballistic glass that was mirrored on the hallway side. However, Joe and the others didn’t have to see through it to know that the office was on fire, as heat was emanating from beyond the door and they could hear the crackle of flames, as smoke leaked out around the seams of the doorframe.

One of Joe’s men spoke up, as he ran back towards the bar.

“We can leave through the blacked-out windows up front.”

The man was carrying a sawed-off shotgun, and he fired it low at the glass set at the left of the doors. The glass shattered and a gust of wind sent flames licking in at the club’s interior.

The man with the shotgun had his sleeve catch fire, but one of the other men quickly smothered the flames with his suit coat.

“We’re trapped!” Merle said.

Joe swiveled his head around, while desperately trying to think of a way out, and wondered if for once in his life, Merle was right.

CHAPTER 42 - Hello and goodbye

Outside the club, the four young men who had killed the guards and started the fire drove off with their part in the slaughter completed, and Vance stood and stared down at the club.

The building was surrounded by flames that were high enough to lick at the bathroom windowpanes, and Vance felt certain that his plan had been successful and that no one would escape.

He took out his phone and called Fedor.

“Is there a chance of anyone making it out of the front?”

Fedor laughed.

“Not a chance and the smoke will probably kill them before the flames do.”

“You’re absolutely certain that no one will make it out that way?”

“Da, the fire is too intense. Anyone inside that building is dead.”

“That’s what I wanted to hear.”

Vance dropped the phone and raised up the rifle, sighted through the night vision scope at a spot in the center of Fedor’s forehead, and fired. On the other side of the club, Fedor collapsed atop the roof he was standing on, and Vance laughed to celebrate the ending of a second obstacle.

Once he was certain that Pullo was dead, Vance planned to return to Michael Krupin and execute the young leader of the Russian mob, and then take his place. He was through with being Robert Vance the lackey, and soon, it would be Rurik Varanov’s time to lead.

***

The smoke inside the club was thickening and everyone ducked down to suck in the diminishing usable air.

Merle and Earl were huddled around their sister, Laurel, as if their bodies could protect her from the growing flames, and the mood among those present was moving swiftly towards panic.

When Sammy snapped his fingers, everyone but Joe jumped at the sound, but they all wondered about the smile spreading across Sammy’s face.

“There’s a tunnel! Uncle Joe, there’s a tunnel. Granddad showed it to me years ago when he used to own the building and it was a funeral home.”

“A tunnel?” Joe said, but then his eyes lit up as well. “Right, this place used to be a speakeasy back in the 1920s, but Sammy, where is it?”

Sammy ran towards the rear of the building while bent over to avoid the smoke, and went down the hallway that ran alongside the kitchen.

“This way!”

There was a supply closet positioned between the bathrooms, and when Sammy opened it, it was found to be filled with toilet paper, hand towels, and cleaning supplies. The items were stacked upon a gray metal shelf, while two snow shovels, a spade for digging, and a broom were hanging from hooks on the right wall.

“There are steps under the floor.”

Sammy tossed out everything he could grab, and cursed when he saw that the shelving was bolted to the rear wall.

He tugged at it and the metal only creaked.

One of Joe’s bodyguards moved beside Sammy.

“We got this kid, Bosco, give me a hand.”

Sammy stepped out and one of the other big men squeezed into the small space beside his friend, and they ripped the shelving away from the wall with ease.

Once they had stepped back outside with the rack of shelves, Sammy got down on his knees in the doorway, reached in, and pulled up a piece of stained and dirty carpet to reveal a wooden door set in the floorboards, with a recessed brass ring as a handle.

The club was filling with acrid black smoke, and when Sammy pulled up on the door and released the musty air from below, it smelled sweet compared to the air above it.

“Where does it go?” Laurel asked, and Sammy answered her.

“It goes under the street and up inside that old warehouse over there, but listen, it’s just wide enough to walk single file and the other side is covered over with a hardwood floor, we’ll have to break through.”

Joe grabbed the metal spade from off its hook and handed it to the largest of his men.

“Big Ralphie, once we get over there use this on the wood, and everybody turn on your phones, we’ll use them as flashlights.”

Big Ralphie went down the narrow stone steps first and then Joe took Laurel by the hand and helped her to step down, next went Sophia, and then Joe, followed by the rest of them.

Earl was the last man in the tunnel and he reached up and brought the door down in an effort to keep out the smoke, which had grown so thick that only three feet of space separated it from the floor.

The tunnel was surprisingly deep, about a hundred feet long, smelled of dirt, and was littered with debris from its crumbling brick walls and ceiling,

The narrowness of the passage engendered claustrophobic feelings and Big Ralphie’s wide shoulders became wedged in twice before he made it to the other side and started up the second set of moss covered stone steps.

Laurel began to walk up the steps, but Joe reached past Sophia and held her back.

“Big Ralphie’s going to need some room to swing that spade.”

He was right, as the huge man stood hunched over six steps from the top and repeatedly swung the tip of the shovel at the wood blocking their exit.

It took over a dozen good whacks before a hole appeared between two boards, and six more before the gap widened a few inches.

That was when the wooden handle of the spade broke and rendered it useless.

Big Ralphie appeared to Joe as if he were about to cry, as he took in the broken tool, but then anger lit his round face.

After practically lying down atop the steps, Big Ralphie managed to turn himself around until he was facing the others and after climbing up the steps backwards and hunched over, he pressed his wide back against the floorboards and strained to stand up.

The big man’s face looked scarlet in the light from Laurel’s phone, as he pushed with all he had, and when the wood broke, it was like the shattering of a window and Big Ralphie stood triumphant, with his smiling face above floor level.

Less than a minute later, everyone had scrambled up into the vacant warehouse and were grinning at each other in relief.

A metal gate could be viewed through the glass of the front door, making that exit unfeasible, and everyone stared across the street at the flaming building they had just escaped from and realized how lucky they were to be alive.

Joe led everyone to the rear, and with one mighty kick, Big Ralphie opened a small door, and the group piled out into the trash-strewn parking lot under the light of a full moon.

Joe smiled at Sammy.

“Way to go kid, we’d be toast if not for you.”

Sophia spun Sammy around, leaned against him, and raised her head to kiss him.

“My hero,”

Sammy took her in his arms, but the kiss lasted just a second, as everyone looked up at the man standing halfway down the metal fire escape. The man was laughing, had a long rifle slung over his back and was pointing an AR-15 at them.

“Vance,” Pullo spat out.

“Everyone take out the guns nice and slow and place them at your feet.”

The men complied, and as they did so, Sophia eased her hand inside her purse.

Vance clucked his tongue at her.

“Sophia Verona, it’s so nice to finally meet you, now drop the purse or I’ll blow your head off.”

Sophia let go of the purse and it hit the ground just as a shot went off, and for an instant, she thought that her gun had somehow fired from its impact with the pavement.

That thought fled from her mind as Vance let out a cry of pain, bent over in agony, and tumbled off the fire escape.

That’s when the figure in black appeared holding a gun at arm’s length, and walked over to stand above Vance.

Vance stared up at the man who shot him and knew he was about to die.

“Hello Vance, I was wondering who fired that shot from the rooftop.”

“Tanner? But I heard you were—”

“Goodbye Vance.”

The shot that followed was nearly drowned out by the blaring sounds coming from two arriving fire trucks.

Tanner holstered his gun as he walked over to join the group, noticed the sparkle of Laurel’s engagement ring, and then looked at Sophia, who was still in Sammy’s arms.

He sighed.

“Whenever I go on vacation everything changes.”

Sophia went to him, and as they kissed, Sammy hung his head.

“Tanner?”

“Yeah, Joe?”

“Are you ready to get back to work, buddy?”

Tanner gazed over at Vance’s corpse.

“I’ve already started.”

TWO FOR THE KILL

By

REMINGTON KANE

CHAPTER 1 - Bones

Brooklyn, New York

––––––––

Tanner fired three silenced shots at the punk playing video games and watched him tumble off the side of the bed and onto the floor.

The man’s two companions were in the living room at the end of the hall. They were oblivious to their friend’s death, because one of them was asleep with the aid of whiskey, and the other had his eyes closed while wearing headphones.

The man who was asleep died without ever waking, as Tanner jammed a knife past his ribs and into his heart.

The eyes stayed closed, although the man shuddered, and seconds later, the body voided its bowels and bladder.

The stench reached the man wearing the headphones, and he whipped them off and looked about the room.

The man with the knife wound to the heart looked to be asleep, and what little blood seeped from the wound blended in with the maroon shirt he wore.

“Hey, Yuri, wake up. Did you shit yourself? How much did you drink?”

“He can’t hear you; he’s dead.”

The words came from behind, and as they were spoken, the man felt the tip of a silencer press against the back of his head. He was young like the others, but wore a good suit.

“What do you want, money?”

“I want to know where Michael Krupin is,” Tanner said.

“I don’t know where he is; I swear.”

“Too bad for you,”

“Wait! I don’t know where the boss is, but I know where a guy named Bohdan Volkov can be found.”

“Why would I care about him?”

“You work for Joe Pullo?”

“I work for myself. Are you saying that Joe Pullo would care about this man, Volkov?”

“Hell yeah, my uncle says Pullo hates him.”

“What’s your name?”

“I’m Anton.”

“You’ve just made yourself useful, Anton.”

Tanner flipped the gun over and smashed it on the side of the punk’s head. The kid groaned, went limp, and slid down in his seat.

After binding his wrists and ankles with zip ties, Tanner heaved Anton onto a shoulder and headed out the back door.

There was a car sitting in the driveway with its trunk open, and behind it, another body, which was lying near four 5-gallon gas cans.

Tanner had killed the man before entering the house, which Pullo had told him was a known residence of several Russian street soldiers.

The dead man had actually been removing the gas cans from the trunk of the car when Tanner came upon him. They were the same gas cans that had been used to start the fire at the Cabaret Strip Club.

Tanner dropped the unconscious Anton into the trunk, slammed the lid shut, and then climbed behind the wheel.

Once he reached Bedford Avenue, he gave Joe a call.

“Give me some good news, Tanner.”

“Krupin is in the wind, but tell me, does the name Bohdan Volkov mean anything to you?”

There was a pause on the line, and then Pullo spoke one word.

“Yes.”

“I have a kid here who says he knows where you can find him. He’s also one of the crew that killed your men and set fire to the club.”

“He wants to deal, after trying to burn me to death?”

“Yeah,”

“Take him to the clinic; Laurel is there treating one of my guys who burnt his arm. Sophia is there too, and I’ll be along once I deal with this fire.”

“The club is gone?”

“It’s ashes, and it makes me miss Johnny even more.”

“I’ll keep the kid on ice until you get to the clinic.”

“Hey Tanner,”

“Yeah, Joe?”

“We still need to talk... about you and Laurel.”

“That’s all in the past.”

“I love her as much as you do.”

“No, Joe, you love her more. It’s why she chose you.”

“Alright, enough hearts and flowers, just tell Laurel that I’ll be there as soon as I can.”

“Right, but who is this Bohdan Volkov?”

“He killed a friend of mine, Sam Giacconi’s son.”

“Yeah, I remember hearing about him, but Bohdan Volkov called himself Bobby, Bobby Volks?”

“That’s him, and once I find out where he is, he’s a dead man.”

“That’s something I could help you with, unless you’d like to do it yourself?”

“I’ve got something else in mind. I think it’s time Sammy earned his bones.”

“The kid? Does he have it in him?”

“That’s what I need to find out.”

“Right, see you soon.”

Tanner ended the call and headed for the clinic, and Laurel.

CHAPTER 2 – Friends?

Tanner strapped Anton onto a gurney and then watched as Laurel examined the punk’s head wound.

“What did you do to him? The capillaries in his left eye have burst.”

“I slammed him on the side of the head with a gun, but he’ll wake up soon.”

Once Laurel finished with Anton, Tanner reached out and took her hand, the hand with the engagement ring.

“That is a very big diamond.”

Laurel moved closer.

“Say it. Say the words when there’s no gun in your face.”

Tanner sighed.

“I love you, Laurel Ivy.”

Laurel grinned.

“Do you love me enough to be happy for me?”

“Are you talking about you and Joe?”

“I love him, Tanner. I love you too, but with Joe, I know he’ll always be there.”

“And I ran away?”

“Yes.”

Laurel removed her hand from his and took a step backwards.

“This won’t cause trouble between you and Joe, will it?”

Tanner leaned over and kissed her on the cheek.

“He’s a good man; you couldn’t do better.”

“How long have you two been friends?”

“Friends?”

“He’s your friend and you know it. I think either one of you would risk your life for the other.”

“Maybe so, but it wasn’t too long ago that he tried to kill me.”

“He told me about that; and he was only following orders.”

“He’d have killed me all the same.”

Laurel shook her head.

“I don’t think so. I think he would have wounded you the way you wounded him.”

“I was having an off day.”

“Liar; why is it so hard for you to admit your feelings?”

Tanner broke eye contact and looked down at the floor.

“I’ve known Joe for about ten years.”

“How did you meet?”

“I handed him a box with a head in it.”

Laurel made a pained expression.

“I hope you’re kidding.”

“Actually, Joe and I got to know each other when old Sam Giacconi sent the two of us on a road trip.”

“A road trip, where to?”

“Wilmington, Delaware.”

CHAPTER 3 – Gut feeling

NEW YORK CITY, TEN YEARS EARLIER

––––––––

Inside the Giacconi Funeral Home, Tanner entered the office with Joe Pullo and met with Sam Giacconi.

Tanner thought the silver-haired old man was impressive looking in a well-tailored black suit with a maroon tie, and he waited, as Giacconi looked him over as well.

Tanner was also wearing a black suit, but he had no tie and the collar of his white shirt was unfastened. There was a holster on his right hip, but only a discerning eye would have noticed the bulge beneath the tailored suit coat.

Sam offered Tanner his hand, and they shook.

“Tanner, that was good work you did in finding Vincenzo Righettleto, and placing his head in a box was a nice touch. I was tempted to mount the damn thing and hang it over my fireplace.”

“Now that you know my work, I hope that you have more for me.”

“I do, and I’m glad Joey was able to find you.”

Pullo frowned at Tanner.

“Actually, he found me. I came out of my place this morning and saw him leaning on my car.”

Sam laughed.

“You’re a pip, Tanner, but if I was you, I wouldn’t piss Joey off. My boy here is no one to mess with.”

Tanner looked at the two men.

“Your boy, are you related?”

“Joey’s as much a son to me as my own, but no, we’re not related. Still, that’s partly why you’re here. I want to hire you to back up Joey on a hit.”

Tanner shook his head.

“I work alone.”

“It’s four grand whether you make the kill or not, but the bastard I’m sending you after is too dangerous for one man to handle.”

“That depends on the man,” Tanner and Joe said at the same time, and then afterwards they looked at each other in surprise.

Sam laughed.

“Yeah, I’ve got the right two guys. You’re both ready to take on anything alone, but I’m telling you, Carlo Conti is no punk.”

Joe straightened in his seat.

“Carlo Conti, is that who I’m going after?”

“That’s right, do you remember him?”

“Hell yeah, I was just a kid when he left here, but I remember him, and I also remember all the stories. If they’re true, then yeah, Conti won’t be an easy kill.”

“Who is this Conti?” Tanner asked, as curiosity peaked his interest. He liked working alone, but he also loved a challenge.

“Conti was an enforcer for The Calvino Family out on Staten Island. We’ve gotten along well with them ever since Joey here planted old Albertino Calvino, and put them in their place, oh, and Tanner, Joey was only fifteen when he made his bones.”

“Some start early,” Tanner said, and he himself had first killed while only sixteen.

“Anyway,” Sam said. “We were at peace, but Carlo Conti didn’t like that, and so he went on a one-man war against us. Before he finally stopped, he had killed over a dozen of my guys, and when he left, he left with money he’d taken off a civilian. Some guy who was stupid enough to keep lots of cash in his house and then go around blabbing about it.”

“How much did Conti get?” Tanner asked.

“Does it matter?” Sam said, and Joe answered him.

“The more money he had, the farther he could run.”

Tanner looked at Joe and nodded. Pullo was sharp; he liked that.

Sam sighed.

“The cops figured he got about thirty grand, but remember, this was back in 1989, so that money could buy more then. And anyway, it doesn’t matter, because I know where the bastard is.”

“How?” Tanner said.

“One of my guys, a kid named Rossetti; he spotted Conti walking down the street while he was in Delaware on business. He said that he was sure it was him, but by the time he turned the car around, Conti was gone.”

Joe looked doubtful.

“How could Johnny R be sure it was Conti? He had to be only about ten-years-old when Conti skipped.”

“Carlo Conti and Johnny’s Uncle Al were tight before Al moved out to Vegas. The kid grew up seeing Conti a lot. He’d know him, and Johnny’s a smart one, like you, Joey.”

“How old would Conti be now?” Tanner asked.

Sam looked thoughtful as he spoke.

“Let’s see, it’s been about oh, fifteen, sixteen years? Carlo was thirty-something back then, so late-forties, early-fifties. But if I had to guess, I’d bet he’s still the same hard case he always was.”

“Why not farm the work out?” Tanner said. “You must know people in Delaware.”

Sam leaned forward and locked eyes with Tanner.

“This bastard killed my men. We’re going to be the ones to put him down.”

Joe looked over at Tanner.

“Are you in or out?”

Tanner spoke to Sam.

“Just so I’m clear on this. You want me as backup, right?”

“Yeah, Tanner, you watch Joey’s back and he calls the shots, but if you get the chance to put that animal Conti down, do it. That civilian he killed, he killed him in bed along with the guy’s wife. I want that sonofabitch dead.”

The answer was no.

Tanner wasn’t backup, he was a Tanner now, and Tanners worked alone. But then, he remembered something that Tanner Six often said, and had said to him the day he passed the name on to him.

“Trust your gut, Cody. Your eyes will play tricks on you, your heart will lead you astray, and your mind wants to believe whatever it’s told, but your gut, your gut always knows what to do.”

Tanner turned his head and stared at Joe Pullo.

“When do we leave?”

CHAPTER 4 – The big boys

FBI Agent Tamir Ivanov made his way past the barricades surrounding the smoldering remains of the Cabaret Strip Club.

After Joe signaled his men to let him pass, Ivanov walked over to stand beside him.

“I hear you had a close call tonight.”

“Too close,” Joe said. “And I’ve already given a statement to the cops.”

“Chill, Pullo; I’m not here to hassle you. I just came to see what the damage was and to look at the two stiffs with the rifles. I recognized both of them. They worked for Krupin.”

“You wouldn’t happen to know where I might find the kid, would you?”

Ivanov laughed.

“I don’t, and I wouldn’t be for sale if I did. But my guess is that Mikey Krupin is in the wind, at least for now.”

Joe looked around.

“Where’s that partner of yours? She’s easy on the eyes.”

“That she is, and she’s also busy. It seems that someone wasted a Russian crew in Brooklyn, and Agent Moretti is handling that scene. Would you happen to know anything about that, Pullo?”

“Not a thing.”

“Uh-huh, that’s what I thought you’d say. I bet you also don’t know anything about the Italian hoods who are overrunning Krupin’s territory as we speak.”

“I know that when the boss is away and his top two lieutenants are dead, that it’s a good time to strike.”

“Mm-hmm, and it looks like you’re about to win this war.”

Joe sighed deeply as he watched an ambulance drive away.

“That’s right; you lost two men, didn’t you?”

“Yeah, Victor and Sal,”

“My condolences, and as I said the other day, this war has to end, so win it and end it.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Ivanov moved to stand in front of Joe.

“Enough of the denial bullshit, Pullo, I’m talking to you as one man to another. End this war, and if you have to waste Krupin to do it, then so be it. This shit is getting out of hand.”

Joe smiled.

“I’d offer you a drink, but as you can see, we’re closed for renovations.”

“You’re going to rebuild?”

“Damn right, and bigger and better, and this time it will be called Johnny R’s.”

“For Rossetti? I’d heard you two were friends. You got class, Pullo, thug or not.”

“You’re not so bad yourself for a Fed, and as far as what you were talking about before, consider it done.”

“All right, but don’t underestimate Krupin. He’s a weasel, and weasels have a way of being tough to kill.”

Joe thought of Tanner.

“I know a good exterminator.”

***

At that moment, Michael Krupin was in a hotel suite in Miami.

He had flown down there so that he would have an alibi when the Cabaret Strip Club went up in flames.

When he couldn’t get ahold of either Vance or Fedor, he knew there had been trouble, but when the crew who had set the blaze also didn’t answer, that was when he started to sweat.

After calling one of his other men and waking him, he waited for the man to report back, and when the call came, Krupin felt like crying.

Both Fedor and Vance were dead, while Pullo had survived the fire. Of the four young men who set the blaze, three were dead, and one, Fedor’s nephew, Anton, was missing.

Pullo’s men had also taken over half of his territory, and if he didn’t do something soon, he’d have nothing to return to.

Krupin plopped onto the sofa in the suite’s living room.

As he thought about his options, he heard the words of FBI Agent Tamir Ivanov float through his mind, Ivanov, who had warned him that he’d be eaten alive if he kept playing with the big boys.

“I’m as big as anyone,” Krupin said to himself, and the words tasted like a lie.

Then, he remembered an incident from his childhood.

There was a kid at school during the fifth grade named Bruce who used to pick on Krupin mercilessly. The kid was a foot taller than Krupin was and outweighed him by twenty pounds.

When young Michael had come home with a black eye and told his father what had happened, the elder Krupin merely shrugged.

“Kick his ass.”

“But Dad, Bruce is bigger than me.”

“Then find someone bigger than him and pay them to kick his ass, but just make sure that he learns never to touch you again.”

Krupin followed the advice, and two days later, Bruce was rushed to the hospital with three broken ribs and a dislocated shoulder.

Krupin had paid a friend’s high school age brother fifty dollars to do the deed, and it had been worth every penny. From that day forward, Bruce ran in the opposite direction whenever he saw Krupin coming his way.

“Pullo might be a big boy, but there are bigger.”

Michael Krupin grabbed his laptop and booked a flight. He was going to Mexico.

CHAPTER 5 – Bobby Volks

Joe arrived at the clinic, and after kissing Laurel, he eyed Tanner.

“Have you two talked?”

“Yeah, Joe, and I told Laurel that she couldn’t do better.”

“That’s a lie, but she’s stuck with me now that she took the ring.”

“So, when is the wedding?”

“As soon as the Russians are handled,”

“Speaking of that, let’s go see if our guest is awake.”

They went into the examination room, where Anton was still strapped to a gurney. Tanner slapped his face, which caused his eyes to flutter.

Joe saw that Laurel had followed them into the room, and he asked her to leave.

Laurel stared down at Anton with cold eyes.

“He’s one of the men who set the fire and killed Victor and Sal, isn’t he?”

“Yeah,” Tanner said.

“You do what you want with him, but don’t make a mess in here.”

“Yes ma’am,” Tanner said, and after Laurel walked out, he smiled at Joe. “She’s tougher than she looks.”

“Tell me about it,” Joe said, and when he stared down at Anton, he saw that the kid was awake.

“My head hurts.”

“It could be worse,” Joe said.

“You’re Joe Pullo?”

“That’s right.”

“Who killed my crew?”

“That would be me,” Tanner said.

“Bobby Volks, where can I find him?” Joe asked.

“Who?”

“Bohdan Volkov, he used to call himself Bobby Volks.”

“Oh, well hey man, I just know the name Bohdan Volkov because my uncle once mentioned it while he was drunk. He said he helped him to get away when you were looking for him.”

“Who’s your uncle?”

“Fedor Tarnow.”

“He’s dead; Vance killed him,” Joe said.

Anton’s breathing had been rapid due to fear, but it increased even more as his eyes grew moist.

“I’m gonna kill that damn Rurik.”

“You’re too late,” Tanner said.

“He’s dead? Good! And hey, we can make a deal, right? I tell you where to find this Bobby Volks and you let me go?”

Joe leaned over and locked eyes with Anton.

“You tell me or you die slowly, and I’m talking weeks.”

“What the hell, Pullo? Why you being such a prick about it?”

“You nearly killed my fiancée with that fire you set.”

Anton tried to shrug, but with the restraints upon him, it looked more like a twitch.

“Shit, it wasn’t personal, man. Didn’t you ever follow orders that you didn’t like?”

Joe straightened up at those words and looked across the gurney at Tanner, knowing that like himself, Anton’s words had made Tanner recall the past.

CHAPTER 6 – Sarcasm is costly

THE NEW JERSEY TURNPIKE, 10 YEARS EARLIER

––––––––

After spending an hour in a car with Tanner, without either of them saying a word, Joe decided to break the silence.

“I guess neither one of us is big on small talk, hmm?”

Tanner glanced over at Pullo and smiled.

“You’ve been with Giacconi a long time?”

“I was born into it, and Sam came up with my grandfather.”

“I hear you. The family business sort of thing,”

“And what about you, you come up in one of the families?”

“I’m not Italian.”

“No? Too bad,”

“What’s our first move when we reach Wilmington?”

“We’ll get rooms in a motel that takes cash. The guy that spotted Conti says the place is a dump, but the owner minds his own business and doesn’t ask any questions.”

“I assume the motel is close to where this guy spotted Conti?”

“Yeah, Rossetti said that Conti was on foot, so that sounds like he lives in the area. With a little luck, we’ll spot him quick and be back in New York by tomorrow night.”

Tanner took a piece of paper out of his pocket and studied it. It was a blown-up picture of Carlo Conti’s New York State driver’s license photo. It showed a man with mean eyes scowling at the camera.

“His license says that he’s six-foot-six and two-eighty. I hope you brought a cannon along.”

Pullo laughed.

“The bigger they are...”

“...the harder they fall,” Tanner finished, and then he and Pullo lapsed back into silence.

***

The motel in Wilmington turned out to be not only a dump, but also a marketplace, and Tanner spotted drug dealing and prostitution going on.

“Lovely,” Pullo said, as he looked around.

The motel sat off Route 2 and its parking lot had weeds growing through its numerous cracks. The building was U-shaped, with the office on the left side of the U, while sixteen small rooms wrapped around to the other side, two of which had broken windows, while the one across from the office had a man standing guard.

“He’s got a gun under that jacket,” Tanner said.

Pullo nodded.

“And there’s a knife stuck down his right boot.”

Tanner took a second look, and this time he spotted the tip of a knife handle. Pullo had good eyes.

“So, Joe, this is your party, but personally, I wouldn’t flash Conti’s photo around.”

“Because it’s his turf and someone might tell him about us and warn him, right?”

“Yeah,”

“This isn’t my first day on the job, Tanner.”

“I can see that, and I think Giacconi wasted money sending me down here.”

“He looks out for me, and Conti is a mean bastard. It won’t hurt to have you watch my back.”

“I’ll earn my money, don’t worry.”

They entered the motel office and could smell marijuana in the air. There was a fat man with thinning hair seated behind the counter, but he had his eyes closed tight, and looked to be having a fit of some type.

When the small blonde stood up from behind the counter, she looked at Pullo and Tanner with dead eyes.

“You want me to suck these guys off too, Mr. Hellman?”

“What?” the man at the counter said, and then he looked over and saw Tanner and Joe. “Who are you?”

“Customers,” Joe said. “Give us rooms.”

The blonde walked out from behind the counter as Hellman zipped up. When she reached Tanner, she gazed up at him. She was on the wrong side of forty and looked even older.

“I’m in Room 4, and it’s fifty bucks for the full ride.”

“I’ll remember that,” Tanner said.

“Get on out of here now, Carol,” Hellman told the woman. Hellman was fat, going bald, and had beady green eyes that stared out from a face of thick jowls.

Carol opened the door, as across the way, three men in business suits pulled up in a red convertible. One of the men handed the big man guarding the door a wad of money, and he opened the door to the room for them to enter. The room was Number 16.

Tanner looked at Joe.

“What do you suppose is going on over there?”

“I don’t know; maybe the girl in that room is even hotter than Carol here.”

Carol looked back at Pullo with narrowed eyes.

“I understand sarcasm.”

“I meant no offense,” Joe said.

“Um-hmm, it’s fifty for your friend, for you, seventy-five.”

Joe ignored her and moved closer to the counter.

“I want two rooms as far away from everyone else as you can make them.”

Hellman’s smile was completely without warmth.

“Eighty a night each, and that’s cash.”

Joe laid money on the counter and received two keys, real keys.

“I guess you haven’t upgraded to electronic locks yet, hmm?”

“What are those?”

“Nevermind,”

“Hey boys, if you want anything I can get it for you, you know, and I’m not talking about Carol, there’s better pussy than that here.”

Tanner pointed across the lot.

“Is that what’s going on over there?”

“That’s private business, but like I said, I can get anything.”

“We’ll let you know,” Pullo said.

Minutes later, they had opened the doors and were looking in at their rooms.

Tanner made an observation.

“I’ve slept in abandoned buildings that had more class.”

“Think of it as an incentive, the sooner we whack Carlo Conti, the sooner we get out of here.”

“All right, then let’s start looking after we unpack.”

“Sounds good to me, Tanner,”

“But first we eat.”

Joe grinned.

“Are you sure you’re not Italian?”

CHAPTER 7 – Testing 1, 2, 3

Sophia placed her hands on Sammy’s chest to push him away, but did so, only after the kiss had lasted several seconds.

“Don’t do that again; I’m with Tanner.”

“Are you telling me that you felt nothing just then?”

They were at the rear of Laurel’s clinic, inside her office. The door was open, but Sophia felt as if the walls were closing in on her.

“I like you, Sammy. You know that, but I don’t cheat.”

“You’re cheating yourself. Listen, I don’t know Tanner, but if he cared for you, he would have called you while he was away. Instead, all you got was silence.”

“I told you, Tanner is different.”

Sammy took her in his arms.

“You tell me to leave you alone and I’ll never bother you again. I swear it.”

Sophia stared into Sammy’s eyes, and found that she had lost her voice.

When Laurel cleared her throat, Sophia and Sammy looked at the doorway and saw her standing there, along with Tanner and Joe.

“This is the second time I’ve found you in this kid’s arms, Sophia. Is there something you want to tell me?”

Sammy released her and spoke to Tanner.

“We’ve gotten to know each other while you were gone, Tanner, and I’ll tell you right now, I want to be with her.”

“And what do you want, Sophia?”

Sophia looked at Tanner, then Sammy, and then back at Tanner.

“I want to go home and I want you to come with me.”

“Let’s go,” Tanner said.

Sammy let out a great sigh.

“Sophia?”

“Goodnight, Sammy.”

Tanner told Laurel and Joe goodbye, and then left with Sophia.

“Sammy,” Joe said softly, and when Sammy met his eyes, he saw the hurt in them. “Let her go, kid. Sophia’s made her choice.”

“I’m not sure I can do that, Uncle Joe.”

“You love her, don’t you?” Laurel said.

Sammy didn’t answer her, but looked at Joe instead.

“I need something to do or I’ll go nuts.”

“I’ve got just the thing,” Joe said.

***

A short time later, Joe and Sammy were pushing Anton ahead of them in a secluded area near the east bank of the Harlem River.

Anton’s wrists were bound behind his back, and he was begging for his life.

“Aw c’mon man, I told you everything I know. It wasn’t my idea to torch the club; it was Krupin’s. He’s the boss and I had to do what the boss wanted, ya know?”

Joe took out a gun and handed it to Sammy.

“This is one of the men that tried to fry us. He passed along some info that was useful, but I’ll leave it up to you if he should die or not.”

Sammy looked down at the gun in his hand.

“I’ve never killed anyone before.”

“I know that, Sammy, and if you can’t pull the trigger you can’t. Not everyone can, and come what may, kid... you know I’ll still love you.”

After saying those words, Joe stepped back a few feet, leaving Sammy alone with Anton.

“Hey! Hey dude, you don’t have to shoot me, you let me go and I swear you’ll never see my ass—”

Sammy pointed the gun at Anton’s chest and pulled the trigger three times. Nothing happened.

Anton laughed.

“Oh man, oh you guys were just fucking with me huh? That’s cool I—”

The sound of five shots filled the air as Joe fired into Anton’s midsection. Anton fell backwards into a patch of weeds, let out a wheezing sigh, and stopped moving.

Sammy spun around and gawked at Joe. Afterwards, he checked the gun he’d been given and discovered that it held no rounds.

“What the hell?”

“Not here,” Joe said, and moved back towards the car. As they walked, Joe removed the magazine from the gun he used on Anton, along with its chambered round. With the gun empty, he turned and flung it into the river.

***

Once they were safely away from the scene, Joe pulled to the curb.

“I didn’t want that piece of shit back there to be the man you made your bones on, still, I had to know if you could pull the trigger.”

Sammy studied Joe’s face.

“You’ve got somebody else in mind, don’t you?”

“Yeah, and Sammy, it’s Bobby Volks.”

“The sonofabitch who killed my father?”

“Yeah, it turns out that he’s been down in Tennessee.”

“Tennessee? When do I leave?”

“Soon, but you’re not going alone.”

“You’re coming with me?”

“No.”

“Then who am I going with?”

***

“Tanner.”

“Yes, Sophia?”

“I never slept with Sammy.”

“I believe you.”

“You don’t sound like you care one way or the other.”

“I don’t own you.”

They were in Sophia’s car with Tanner driving. Tanner had been quiet after leaving the clinic, and Sophia had mistaken it for anger or jealousy. After coming to the conclusion that she was wrong, she grew angry herself.

“What am I to you, Tanner?”

“I don’t know what you mean.”

“Pull the damn car over.”

Tanner did as she said, and Sophia turned in her seat and stared at him.

“Why didn’t you call me while you were gone?”

“Most of the time I was gone I didn’t know if I’d make it back, and on the trip home, I just figured that I’d wait to see you in person.”

“You love Laurel?”

Tanner sighed.

“Yes, but we’re over and we’ve been over for a long time.”

“Do you love me?”

Tanner reached across and stroked her cheek.

“I have feelings for you, yes, but Sophia, if you’re looking for a husband, I’m not the type.”

“I just need to know that I’m more than a piece of ass to you.”

Tanner leaned over and kissed her. When they separated, he smiled.

“Of course you’re more than a piece of ass; you’ve got a great rack too.”

Sophia punched him in the stomach.

“You’re such an asshole.”

“Can I drive now?”

“Yes, take me home.”

They were back in traffic when Sophia asked her next question.

“Exactly what went on with you and Sara Blake?”

“We made peace, and for real this time.”

“She’s a crazy bitch, but she is good looking; just how friendly did you two get?”

“We slept together twice.”

“What?”

Tanner grinned.

“I’ll tell you the whole story, after.”

Sophia smiled.

“Oh, you think that’s going to happen tonight, do you?”

“I live in hope.”

“Dream on. And the first thing I’m going to do is take a shower. My hair smells like smoke from that damn fire.”

“That was a very close call, wasn’t it?”

“If Sammy hadn’t known about that tunnel...” Sophia said, and then trailed off as a shiver passed through her.

“I guess that means I owe the kid one for saving you.”

“If anything had happened between us, would you have hurt him?”

“I’m not the jealous type.”

“That’s good to know,” Sophia said.

Tanner stared over at her, but Sophia had turned away.

CHAPTER 8 – Travel plans

The following morning, Sammy arrived at Laurel’s place and parked across the street, inside the underground parking garage.

As he emerged from the darkness of the garage, he saw that there were men guarding the brick townhouse.

They were three of the men who had been at the club the night before, including Big Ralphy. After climbing up the stone steps, Sammy was greeted by all three men with smiles, and they thanked him once again for saving their lives during the fire of the night before.

Once inside, Sammy found that Merle and Earl were there. He had only seen the brothers wearing suits and chauffeur caps, and was surprised to see them in jeans and T-shirts.

Joe sat across from them at the table, while reading the newspaper, and after letting Sammy inside, Laurel had gone upstairs.

Sammy smiled at Merle and Earl.

“What’s with the long faces, guys?”

“That fire damaged the limo; it was just the paint job and tires, but now we’ve got nothing to do.”

“I think Uncle Joe has plans for you, right Uncle Joe?”

Joe lowered the paper.

“What plans?”

“Tennessee, you said that you were sending someone with me.”

“These two?”

Merle smiled.

“I’ll go. Earl and me love Tennessee; it’s almost like being home in Arkansas.”

Joe shook his head.

“I had someone else in mind, Sammy.”

“Who?”

“Tanner.”

“What?”

“You couldn’t ask for better backup, but first I have to see if he’ll do it.”

“I don’t need Tanner to hold my hand, Uncle Joe.”

The doorbell rang, and Merle and Earl went to answer it.

Joe folded the paper up and leaned towards Sammy.

“I believe you can handle yourself, but Bobby Volks is serious business and I’d feel better if you had Tanner backing you up.”

“Why him?”

“There’s no one better, but like I said, I still have to ask him.”

“I don’t like it.”

“You don’t have to,” Joe said.

Tanner walked into the kitchen with Sophia at his side. Sammy took one look at them and excused himself.

“I’ll be in the living room.”

Tanner watched him go, and then turned to look at Pullo.

“You said you had something to ask me?”

“Yeah, but do you two want coffee?”

“No thanks, we’re going to lunch when we leave here,” Sophia said, and then she pointed towards the hall. “Is Laurel here?”

“She’s upstairs, go on up.”

“All right,”

After Sophia left, Joe asked Tanner if he’d back up Sammy.

“If we find Volks, will the kid pull the trigger?”

“Yeah, I gave him a little test last night on Anton and he passed. He also hates Bobby Volks.”

“That’s right, Volks killed his father.”

“Yeah, so it’s personal, and I know it’s not your normal thing, but I’m hoping you’ll say yes.”

“Why not just send me alone? If what I heard about him was true, Volks was a handful; there’s always the chance that the kid won’t make it back.”

“He needs this, Tanner. Plus, if he makes his bones on Volks it’ll give him a rep, you know?”

Tanner smiled.

“You’re grooming the kid, aren’t you?”

“I won’t live forever, and he is Sam’s grandson.”

“He means a lot to you?”

“Yeah, like blood.”

“I’m in, and I won’t interfere unless it looks like the kid is in trouble.”

“His name is Sammy.”

“Right, Sammy, Sammy who wants my girl.”

“Is that going to be a problem for you?”

“Yeah, I think it is, but not the way you mean.”

“I don’t get you?”

“I think Sophia wants him too.”

“Oh.”

“Yeah,”

***

Upstairs, Sophia lay back across the bed and spoke to Laurel, who was seated at a vanity table and applying red polish to her nails.

“I don’t know what to do.”

“I thought you chose Tanner?”

“I did, but I can’t get Sammy out of my mind.”

“I can’t tell you what to do, but I will say that Tanner is not likely to ever settle down.”  “He said as much last night, so it’s not like he’s stringing me along, and Sammy, why does he have to be so damn young?”

“That’s not a bad thing, is it?”

“Maybe not now, but what happens when I’m fifty and he’s still in his thirties?”

Laurel grinned.

“I see you’ve given this some thought.”

“What should I do?”

“Follow your heart.”

“That’s no help.”

“I know, but it’s what people say.”

***

Sammy wasn’t pleased that Tanner had agreed to come along on his quest for vengeance, and Merle and Earl looked even less so.

“Who said you two were going anywhere?” Joe said.

“We could help,” Merle said.

Tanner smirked at the brothers.

“You two really want to be around me? That hasn’t worked out very well for you in the past, you know?”

“We just wanted to take the trip down so we could check on our farm in Sawyer’s Creek. Arkansas is just across the Mississippi.”

“You two own land?” Joe said.

Earl nodded.

“It’s only about fifty acres, but it’s ours, ours and Laurel Lee’s.”

“What’s ours,” Laurel asked, as she and Sophia came downstairs.

“Daddy’s farm, we still own it.”

“I didn’t know that. When I went back to look for you two, the place appeared abandoned, and the house was damaged by a fire.”

“Lightning burnt the front porch, “Merle said. “But the land is still ours, ours and yours, and with the limo down, this would be a good time to go home and take a look.”

“If you two want some time off, take it,” Joe said. “I’ll even pay your airfare.”

Merle and Earl thanked Joe, and then asked Laurel if she wanted to come with them.

“I can’t just now, but you have a good time back home.”

“Okay, that takes care of pleasure,” Joe said. “Now, on to business, Tanner, how soon can you go?”

“We’ll leave in two days; I have preparations to make.”

“Go where?” Sophia said. “You just came back.”

“Joe asked me to lend Sammy a hand.”

Sophia stared at Sammy.

“Is it dangerous?”

“It won’t be for me,” Sammy said.

Sophia spoke to Tanner while still staring at Sammy.

“I want to talk to Sammy alone.”

“Fine, I’ll be in the kitchen.”

“We’ll all be in the kitchen,” Joe said, and gestured for Merle and Earl to follow.

When they were alone, Sophia moved closer to Sammy.

“What’s going on?”

“I’m going after the man who killed my father.”

“The Russian, Bobby Volks?”

“Yeah, did you ever meet him?”

“No, but I know his reputation. Is that why Joe is sending Tanner with you?”

“Yeah, but Sophia, what do you care? I’m sure that no matter what happens Tanner will come back to you in one piece.”

“I want you to come back, Sammy. Kill Volks, but you come back here.”

“Again, what’s it to you? You made your choice last night, you chose Tanner.”

“That doesn’t mean that I don’t care what happens to you.”

Sammy reached out and pulled Sophia closer.

“Don’t do that,” she said.

Sammy kissed her, and this time, Sophia kissed him back.

CHAPTER 9 – A cynical bastard

Laurel’s townhouse had a small wooden porch at its rear. It looked down on a minuscule patch of grass that the real estate agent had called a backyard.

Although the area was smaller than most rooms, Laurel had beautified it with flowers and an ornate bird feeder.

Tanner sat with Joe on the porch and discussed business.

“What are these preparations you have to make, Tanner?”

“I’m going to get phony ID’s for Sammy and me. I also think that once we land, we should separate.”

“The ID’s are a good idea, but why separate?”

“This town we’re going to in Tennessee, Rainberry? We don’t know what we’ll be walking into. It’ll be best if we don’t advertise that we’re together, and Volks will be less wary of us separately than if we came as a pair.”

“Yeah, I see your thinking, and the town only has a population of about 2,000.”

“Volks picked a good place to hide, but he should have cut all ties, by staying in contact with that man, Fedor, he screwed himself.”

“I appreciate you doing this, and no matter what happens, make sure Sammy stays safe.”

“I will, Joe,” Tanner said, and then he turned and looked through the screen door and into the kitchen. Laurel was there with Merle and Earl, but there was no sign of Sammy and Sophia.

“Something wrong?” Joe said.

“I’m not sure.”

“Sophia and Sammy?”

Tanner shrugged.

“Is that going to be a problem?”

“No. I’ll keep the kid safe.”

“You’re not exactly lucky in love, are you?”

“Is anyone?”

“You’re a cynical bastard.”

“So I’ve been told.”

***

Sophia broke away from Sammy as his hand moved beneath her blouse, and then she gazed at him with tears forming in her eyes.

“That shouldn’t have happened.”

“But it did, and it happened because you wanted it to, face it, Sophia, you want me as much as I want you.”

Sophia held her hands up as if she were signaling someone to stop.

“I need time to think. Can you understand that?”

“I understand, will Tanner?”

“I don’t know, but I’ll talk to him when we leave here.”

“Okay, at least I know that I still have a chance.”

Sophia hugged herself.

“Oh God, I’m so confused.”

“I’m not. I want to be with you and no one else for as long as you’ll have me. Can Tanner say the same?”

“I doubt it.”

“Uh-huh, think about that while I’m gone.”

Sophia wiped away a tear.

“I doubt I’ll think about anything else.”

CHAPTER 10 – Talk to me

MEXICO CITY

––––––––

Michael Krupin arrived at Mexico City International Airport with two of his men.

The airport was massive and extremely busy, and Krupin and his bodyguards weaved their way among the throngs of passengers and made it upstairs to the Hilton Hotel.

As planned, they entered the Carlo’s Place bar, where they took in the stunning view of the runways, and watched flights take-off and land.

They were soon joined by a group of five men, only one of whom talked, and the handsome young Mexican said that his name was Juan Alvarado.

“My father was intrigued by your offer Mr. Krupin, and he has asked me to escort you to a meeting place.”

Alvarado’s English was excellent, if accented, and he carried himself like someone who was born to power.

“My men and I are ready when you are,” Krupin said.

“Your men will not be coming along, but we’ve arranged accommodations for them in the hotel.”

Krupin swallowed hard.

“You want me to come alone?”

“Yes, I’m sure you understand.”

Krupin didn’t understand, but he also saw no reason why Alvarado or his father would want to hurt him, and after all, he needed an ally.

“I’ll go with you alone, no problem.”

Within minutes, Krupin was climbing into the rear of a limo with Alvarado and two of his thugs, as Alvarado’s other two men rode up front. When the blindfold came out, Krupin squirmed.

“Is that necessary?”

“It is, or you can go back to New York City empty-handed.”

“All right,”

The blindfold went on, the limo roared to life, and Michael Krupin went off to meet his new partner.

***

Sophia and Sammy walked into the kitchen just as Tanner and Joe were coming in from the porch.

Laurel sensed the tension, and asked Merle and Earl to join her in the living room, on the pretense of discussing their trip home to Arkansas.

After Laurel left with her brothers, Tanner looked at Sophia and saw that she wouldn’t meet his eyes.

He then looked at Sammy and found that he was already staring at him.

“We’ll leave the day after tomorrow on an early flight, but meet me at—.” Tanner looked at Joe. “Where will you be working out of now that the club is gone?”

“I own part of a sports bar. I’ll be using the back room temporarily.”

“Fine, give us the address, and I’ll meet Sammy there tomorrow night to go over things.”

“If we fly down, what will we do for weapons?” Sammy asked.

“I’ll handle that,” Joe said. “The Family has got contacts all over the country.”

Tanner caught Sophia’s eye.

“Ready to go, or has there been a change in plans?”

“Yes, I’m ready.”

Tanner and Sophia said goodbye to everyone, and after driving only a few blocks, Sophia pointed out a restaurant that she liked. Tanner placed the car in a parking lot that was nearby, and they walked back to the restaurant in silence.

When the food came, it all looked delicious, but Tanner couldn’t help but notice that Sophia barely tasted it.

He reached across the table, took her hand, and gave it a gentle squeeze.

“Talk to me.”

CHAPTER 11 – Be cool, stay in school

Later that day, when Joe arrived at the ruins of The Cabaret Strip Club, he spotted two familiar faces.

Carl, the club’s lead bartender, stood beside the club’s best stripper, Skye, and Joe was surprised to see that they were holding hands.

“Hello, you two.”

When they turned to look at him, Joe saw that Skye had tears in her eyes.

“I spent a lot of time in that building.”

“Don’t feel too bad, Skye. I plan to rebuild.”

Skye managed a smile.

“That’s good, Joe, but I’m retiring; I’m getting my real estate license.”

Joe looked at their clasped hands.

“Are you two dating?”

“Can you believe it?” Carl said. “She likes me, a woman who looks like this.”

“Skye’s got good taste, Carl, and so do you. By the way, if you’re looking for work, drop by The Americana Sports Bar on Sixth Avenue. Tell a guy named Jonesy that I sent you. They can always use a good bartender.”

“Really? The Americana? Great, I’ll do that, and thanks.”

Joe left the couple and went to talk to the insurance man who was estimating the damage to the building. Joe had two bodyguards with him, but they hung back while keeping an eye out.

When he was done getting the bad news about the insurance coverage, Joe turned to find FBI Agents Tamir Ivanov and Justina Moretti walking towards him.

“Give me some good news; I could use it.”

“Too bad,” Ivanov said. “We dropped by to let you know that Michael Krupin is in Mexico, and if I had to guess, he’s not there for the tequila.”

Joe grimaced.

“He’s looking to hook up with a cartel.”

“That’s what we think too,” Justina said.

“I know you’re winning, but make peace, Pullo; make peace before this city becomes a war zone.”

“You said it yourself the first time we met, Ivanov; the war will end when somebody wins.”

Justina moved closer to Joe.

“These cartel people play in a whole different league. If they want you gone, they can make it happen, and they’ve been known to wipe out entire families. Put your ego aside and make peace with Krupin, if not for yourself, then do it for those you love.”

“I hear you,” Joe said. “But if Krupin is in Mexico it’s already too late.”

***

Krupin guessed that they had been on the road for well over three hours by the time the limo stopped and parked.

They were out in the desert somewhere; he was sure of it, because once the engine shut off, the silence was unnerving.

Alvarado removed the blindfold and Krupin blinked against the stark daylight, but as his eyes adjusted, he saw that he was in a courtyard covered in flagstones, with a large fountain at its center. The entire compound was surrounded by a twenty-foot high wall and there were actual guard towers spaced along it.

Several structures were visible. Nearby was a huge house, a beautiful home that was two-stories high, and he could see a barn and a garage as well.

All the buildings were done in the same Pueblo style architecture, with rounded corners and projecting roof beams. The beams were called vigas, Krupin recalled, a fact remembered from the architectural engineering classes he took in college.

There were times that Krupin wished he had toughed out the trigonometry classes, acquired his degree, and told his father to find another successor.

However, it was too late for that now, and the time had come to forge new alliances.

Alvarado’s father came out of the home with great difficulty, as the man balanced his thick, hairy body on dual crutches.

There were braces on both knees, and one of his arms, although useful, was set crooked, as if the bones of the elbow were malformed.

The crutches gave him the aura of old age, but a closer look and Krupin guessed that the man was likely in his mid-fifties. He wore his black hair long, and there were streaks of white running through it, but the eyes, the dark eyes were young, like the eyes of a baby shark.

“Mr. Mikhail Krupin Jr., you’ve come a long way to see me. Does that mean you are desperate?”

After hearing the son talk English, the elder Alvarado’s fluent use didn’t throw Krupin off, and he answered right away.

“Not at all, Mr. Alvarado; I’m simply looking for a partner to help me with a problem.”

“You’re saying that you can defeat this Joe Pullo on your own?”

“Given time, yes,”

“And does the name, Tanner, mean anything to you?”

“Tanner? What about him?”

“Certain friends of mine have contacts in your city, and they tell me that it was Tanner who killed your men.”

“I thought he was dead.”

“He is very much alive, and if he is as good as his reputation, then I would say that you need help.”

Krupin sighed wearily.

“How much?”

“Fifty percent of all profit,”

Krupin’s mouth dropped open in shock before he said, “Are you crazy?” and took a step towards Alvarado.

Five guns came out, including the one belonging to Alvarado’s son, and Krupin backed up with his hands held in the air.

“I meant no disrespect, but really, fifty percent?”

A woman stepped out onto the porch. She was beautiful, and regal, the way only a mature woman can be, and her long flowing black hair billowed about her in the breeze. A man wearing glasses followed behind her, and looked enough like her to be a brother, but he bore none of her grace, and appeared to be older.

“Alonso, why are you conducting business out here in the heat? Bring that man inside and feed him.”

The elder Alvarado smiled at the woman, and then spoke to Krupin.

“As you can see, my wife is determined to civilize me. Come inside, Krupin, and we’ll talk over a meal.”

Krupin nodded in agreement and thanked Alvarado’s wife, a woman who was more than twice his age. And as he walked by her, he saw the woman look him over, and in her eyes was the glint of sexual interest.

Yes, he definitely should have become an architect.

CHAPTER 12 – Endings and beginnings

Inside a deli in Midtown Manhattan, FBI Agent Tamir Ivanov was standing at a tall round table, as he watched his partner, Justina Moretti, fend off the attentions of a handsome young man.

Ivanov smiled at the sight.

He was in love with Justina, and had been ever since he first laid eyes on his young partner. She was a mature-minded woman, even at twenty-seven. However, Ivanov was forty-two, and he felt the age difference to be too much.

He assumed that Justina would look upon him as a middle-age fool if she knew of his longing for her.

And so he never said a word about his feelings to her, or made a move that could be considered flirtatious. He believed that it would result in rejection, and that he would lose her as a partner as well.

When they first met, Justina was dating a young doctor, but the idiot spent more time on the golf course than with Justina, and she had broken up with him months ago. Why she still didn’t have a boyfriend, Ivanov couldn’t imagine, but then, perhaps she had a lover that she never mentioned to him.

Justina saw Ivanov’s smile as she rejoined him at their table, and sent him a smile of her own.

“You were watching me, weren’t you?”

“Yes, you’re my partner and I look out for you.”

“Is that the only reason?”

“Joe Pullo said that you were easy on the eyes; I agree with him.”

Justina moved closer to Ivanov. She then looked around the busy deli and frowned.

“This isn’t exactly the right time or place to have this conversation, but I want you to tell me something.”

Ivanov was staring into her eyes, while thinking that she never looked more beautiful.

“What is it you want to know?”

“Do you like me, that way, the way a man likes a woman?”

“Justina, I’m much older than... and I... I mean, you’re very... um,”

She laughed.

“Oh my God, Tamir Ivanov is tongue-tied, that’s a first.”

Ivanov laughed along with her and then he laid a hand against her cheek.

“Of course I like you that way. You’re the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen, and you’re smart to boot.”

To Ivanov’s shock, Justina leaned in and kissed him. When the kiss ended, Justina smiled.

“I knew you’d be a good kisser, and I have feelings for you too, Tamir. To hell with our age difference.”

Ivanov stroked her hair.

“I’ll be good to you, count on it.”

“You’d better, don’t forget, I carry a gun.”

Ivanov laughed, and then he kissed her again.

***

After shaking Tim’s hand, Tanner was surprised when Madison gave him a hug and kissed him on the cheek.

He had called Tim to arrange the phony ID’s, and discovered that they were in the city.

They met in Central Park, near the Central Park Carousel, and the happy sounds of children filled the air to the accompaniment of music.

“Despite all that talk about disowning me, Daddy didn’t even have a will. Can you believe that?” Madison said.

Tanner could, and quite easily. He had killed Madison’s father, Frank Richards, and even while wounded and lying in a puddle of blood, the man had denied his fate, telling Tanner that he couldn’t kill him. A man like that would be too arrogant to consider his own death a reality.

“What’s that mean? You get everything?”

“Not all, the corporation was a separate entity and the IRS took a good chunk, but I will inherit money, along with several properties, including the estate in Katonah.”

Tim handed him an envelope.

“There are your ID’s.”

Tanner opened the envelope and found two sets of fake ID’s, including credit cards and various other things that people carry in their wallets, such as a card for a road service plan.

“How did you get a picture of Sammy Giacconi?”

“Easy, I hacked into the computers for the New York State Motor Vehicle Agency.”

“And people say I’m scary. This is good work, Tim. What do I owe you?”

“We’ve had this discussion before, Tanner. You don’t owe me a thing. You not only saved my life, but because of you, I also met Madison.”

“All right, but if you ever need me, call that number I gave you.”

Madison stared at him, while cocking her head.

“Tanner, is something wrong?”

“What do you mean?”

“I don’t know; you just look a little sad.”

Tanner smiled at her perceptiveness.

“It’s nothing.”

***

Sammy stepped off the elevator in his apartment building and found Sophia sitting in front of his door.

“Sophia?”

She jumped to her feet and ran a hand through her hair nervously.

“Hi.”

“Why are you here? Is something wrong?”

“Tanner and I broke up.”

Sammy let out a yell of joy and Sophia giggled.

“I see that makes you happy.”

Sammy took her in his arms and kissed her. When their lips parted, he searched her face.

“How bad was it?”

“There was no scene. Tanner isn’t stupid, and he could see that I had feelings for you.”

Sammy stared into her eyes.

“Is this for real?”

Sophia smiled.

“I want to be with you, Sammy. You’re so goddamn young but I still want to be with you.”

Sammy unlocked the door to his apartment, and the two of them disappeared inside.

CHAPTER 13 – What’s in a name?

The Americana Sports Bar on Sixth Avenue was doing a lively business when Tanner walked in, and to his surprise, there was a familiar face among the bartenders.

“Hello, Carl; I see you’ve found a new job.”

“Yeah, Tanner; thanks to Joe, and he’s waiting for you in the back room there, down that hallway on the left.”

“Has that kid Sammy arrived yet?”

“No, I haven’t seen him.”

“Send him back when you do.”

“You got it.”

The back room was at the end of a short corridor. When Tanner approached two of Joe’s men, Mike and Bosco, Bosco knocked on the door.

“Tanner is here, Boss.”

Joe opened the door and gestured for Tanner to enter.

The room was large, and appeared to be set-up for private parties. There was a bar on the right side of the room, and a giant flat screen television took up most of the rear wall. The Americana Sports Bar catered to affluent sports fans, and everything had to be first-class.

Joe sat at the bar and Tanner took a seat beside him, but facing the door.

“You own this place?”

“Just five percent of it, I loaned a high school buddy a few grand twenty years ago to buy a neighborhood bar. He turned it into this.”

“Impressive.”

“Sammy called me this morning.”

“So you know.”

“Yeah, and I have to ask again, is it going to be a problem?”

“No, Joe. I’ll keep the kid safe. I swear it.”

“You want a drink?”

“No.”

“I’ve had news about Krupin. He’s in Mexico.”

Tanner raised an eyebrow.

“That’s not good; he could be looking for a partner.”

“Yeah, so listen, take care of this Bobby Volks thing and get back here. I’m going to need you, buddy.”

“If Krupin comes back with a load of cartel muscle then this war will be red hot.”

Joe nodded, and then smiled.

“Why the smile?”

“This trip you’re taking with Sammy, it’s reminded me of the one we took to Delaware to hunt down Carlo Conti.”

“I was thinking that myself.”

“We learned a lot about each other on that trip, and it’s why I trust you to look out for Sammy, and I wouldn’t say that about anybody else.”

There came a knock on the door, and when Joe opened it, Sammy walked in. He looked over at Tanner, opened his mouth, closed it, and then shook his head in confusion.

“I... have absolutely no idea what to say to you, Tanner.”

“Try saying hello, kid, and come take a seat, we’ve business to discuss.”

Sammy walked around the bar and then leaned atop it. Tanner removed the phony ID’s from the envelope Tim had handed him the day before, and separated them.

He would be going under the name of Tom Myers, and his driver’s license declared him a citizen of Florida. He slid across the fake ID that he had Tim make for Sammy, and watched as Sammy studied it.

“An Ohio driver’s license for... Jack Koff? Seriously, Tanner, Jack Koff?”

Joe grabbed the license from Sammy, read it, and then broke out in laughter.

Tanner shrugged.

“I couldn’t resist.”

CHAPTER 14 - Curious

WILMINGTON, DELAWARE, TEN YEARS EARLIER

––––––––

Tanner and Joe had searched the bars, nightclubs, gambling dens, and strip clubs within a five-mile radius of where Carlo Conti had last been spotted, and they came up empty.

By the third day, they were running out of places to look, and decided to return to the motel and think things over.

Again, there were men at the door to the room being guarded across the way, Room 16, and Tanner admitted to himself that he was curious.

Joe laughed.

“It’s probably another Carol.”

“I don’t know. There’s something strange there.”

“Hellman said that it was private business; maybe it has something to do with drugs, or they’re filming a porn movie.”

Tanner rubbed a hand across the back of his neck, as he gazed out the window of Joe’s room at the man guarding the door of Room 16.

“It’s still curious.”

“No, I’ll tell you what’s curious, Tanner, Carlo Conti. How could a guy as big as he is stay hidden?”

“Could he know that we’re looking for him?”

“I don’t see how, of course, there’s always the chance that he was just passing through here.”

“Maybe we’re going about this all wrong. Instead of looking for places where Conti would party, why don’t we look for places where he would work? He was an enforcer, right?”

“Yeah, a button man,” Joe said.

“All right, but he’s a little old for that now. So what was he before that?”

“I don’t know. Let me give Sam a call. I’ll use the payphone by the office.”

On the way to the phone, they passed a room where two women were snorting coke. One of them was Carol. When she saw Joe, she slammed the door in his face, and Tanner chuckled.

“I think you lost your chance with Carol, that is, unless you pay her.”

“I’d rather screw a goat.”

A door opened behind them, and Tanner saw Hellman leave another room.

“Here’s the zookeeper of this place.”

Hellman was with a teenage boy who was no more than nineteen. The boy was stuffing money in his pocket, and Hellman was fastening his belt.

“It looks like his gate swings both ways,” Joe told Tanner.

When Hellman reached them, he smiled his big phony grin.

Tanner pointed at the room across the way.

“How much do you charge for the girls in that room?”

Hellman’s smile faltered.

“Who told you there were girls in that room?”

“You did, just now,” Tanner said.

Hellman smiled the phony smile again.

“You’re a tricky one, but those girls are very special; I promise you, you’ve never seen two more beautiful girls. However, I would need someone to vouch for you.”

Joe had picked up the phone to make his call, but he placed it back in the receiver, as curiosity took a hold of him as well.

“What do you mean, ‘vouch?’”

Hellman smiled again.

“It’s one of those things where you either know or you don’t. But forget about those girls, I can hook you up with whatever you want.”

Joe picked the phone up again.

“No thanks.”

Hellman looked at Tanner.

“What about you, young man?”

“I’ll pass.”

“Well, if you change your minds, you know where I’ll be.”

***

When Joe finished his call with Sam, he told Tanner what he had learned.

“Carlo Conti started as a leg breaker for a loan shark, but for a while he was also a pimp.”

“And maybe he’s gone back into his old line of work?”

“Could be, but I don’t see a guy like that still hustling girls on street corners.”

“No,” Tanner said. “But if Conti is in the trade, we’ll find him running one of the local whorehouses.”

Joe headed for the car.

“We’ll grab dinner, and plan our next move.”

They walked to the car and Tanner opened the door to get in, but then he paused and stared over at the door to Room 16, while feeling a strange sense of unease. After a long moment passed, he climbed into the car and Joe drove away.

CHAPTER 15 – El Diablo o La Diabla?

Krupin had locked the door to his guestroom, but he woke from a fitful sleep, when he heard a key turning in the lock.

He was at Alvarado’s desert fortress, after the man’s wife, Maria, insisted that he stay the night and not travel in the desert after dark.

Krupin had called his men and told them of his change in plans, and that they were to arrange to leave Mexico on the following day.

Getting rid of Bruce the schoolyard bully had only cost Krupin fifty dollars, but getting rid of Joe Pullo would cost him fifty percent of all profits.

Krupin had made a deal with the devil, but fifty percent of New York City was better than what he had now. Had he gone back without Alvarado as a partner and the backing of the man’s cartel, he likely would have been gunned downed by Joe Pullo.

With the cartel, he felt that his fortunes could only rise.

The lithe form slipped into the room as quiet as a shadow, and its silhouette read female.

It was Alvarado’s wife, Maria, and Krupin shivered just from the thought of what would happen if he were caught with her.

“You would be tortured,” she said, as she slipped out of her robe and slid her naked body beneath the blanket.

“What?”

“You were wondering what would happen if we were caught together, no?”

“Yes.”

“You would be tortured, horribly, and your death would not be quick.”

“Oh Jesus,” Krupin said, and then he said it again in a different tone, as Maria eased down along his body and settled her mouth upon him.

He gave in to the pleasure. He knew he had no choice. If he refused her, she would likely take offense and have him killed anyway.

By the time Maria left his room at the first light of day, Krupin knew without doubt that he had made a deal with the devil. However, he was no longer certain if the devil was Alvarado, or the man’s wife.

***

Krupin had fallen back to sleep after Maria departed, as he was satisfied, but tired.

He had never been with a woman old enough to be his mother, but found it made little difference, as the woman was as beautiful as many women half her age.

She certainly was more energetic than any woman he’d ever been with, and when the alarm at his bedside went off at eight o’clock, he estimated that he had only slept a total of three hours.

When he left his room, still yawning, he discovered that one of Alvarado’s men was positioned outside the door, and he wondered if the man had seen Mrs. Alvarado leave his room. If so, it meant one of two things. He was about to be killed, or Maria Alvarado had the men’s loyalty, because he was certain that if either Alvarado, father or son, knew that he had slept with Maria, he was a dead man.

When the silent guard escorted him to the dining room, he found the elder Alvarado seated at the head of the table and eating.

When Krupin sat to the left of him, a plate of huevos rancheros was placed before him, and the aroma made him realize how hungry he was.

He thought it rude that he was not given a choice of what to eat, but the dish was a favorite of his. He wondered if Alvarado had somehow discovered that fact, or if it was just coincidence.

“Did you sleep well, my friend?”

“Um, yes, very well, thank you.”

“That is good, and after we have eaten, we will work out some details.”

“I thought I would be leaving early?”

“Don’t worry; I will have you returned to Mexico City by tonight, and you can fly back the following day.”

“I’ll have to tell my men about the change in plans, but when will your men be coming to New York to help me take care of Pullo and Tanner?”

“Very soon, and my son, Juan, will be accompanying you on your trip back.”

“Really? That’s good, but tell me, how many men are you sending?”

“About a dozen,”

Krupin’s fork stopped while halfway to his mouth.

“That’s all? I think you’re underestimating Tanner.”

Alvarado smiled.

“Two of the men I’m sending along are experts of a sort. They will deal with Tanner, trust me.”

“Okay, but if they don’t, it could mean the death of me, and your son as well. Tanner is merciless.”

“So I’ve heard, and if I thought I could, I would recruit him.”

Krupin opened his mouth to speak, but then noticed the manila folder on the table in front of his plate.

Alvarado saw that he had spotted it, and instructed Krupin to open it.

When he did, he found an artist’s rendition of a bearded young man.

“What is this?”

“Does that man look familiar to you?”

“No.”

“Look at the drawings beneath the first one, they show him older, and with and without the beard.”

Krupin looked, but still didn’t recognize the man, who in all honesty, appeared unremarkable.

“I’ve been looking for that man for many years, and when I find him, I will give a whole new meaning to the word, torture.”

“Thank God I’m not him,” Krupin said.

***

When it was time to leave, Maria stood beside her husband and wished Krupin a safe trip. He thanked her for her hospitality and saw just the hint of a smile on her face.

Although annoying, he wasn’t surprised when he was blindfolded again, and then, Juan Alvarado guided him into the rear of the limo and they headed back to Mexico City.

CHAPTER 16 – Goodbyes and farewells

Inside LaGuardia Airport in Queens, New York, Laurel gave both her brothers a kiss on the cheek, and then wished them a good flight.

“It’s real nice of you to pay for our airfare, Mr. Pullo, and Earl and me will be back in a few days, don’t you worry.”

“Don’t rush, Merle, in fact, why don’t you boys move back there?”

Laurel elbowed Joe in the stomach as she frowned at him.

“Don’t listen to Joe. You two come back here. You have to walk me down the aisle soon.”

Earl smiled.

“I can’t wait until we’re uncles.”

Merle and Earl said goodbye, and Laurel looked like a mother sending her kids off to their first day at school.

With the boys on their way to Arkansas, she and Joe then traveled to an adjoining terminal, where Tanner and Sammy were waiting to board their flight to Tennessee.

Joe took Sammy’s face in his hands and stared into his eyes.

“You take care of business.”

“Absolutely,” Sammy said, and Joe saw a steely determination in the young man’s eyes.

Laurel kissed Tanner on the cheek.

“I’m sorry about you and Sophia.”

“I have a habit of losing great women.”

“You’ll find the right one someday, I know you will.”

“Maybe there’s no such creature.”

“Nonsense.”

“Have you chosen a wedding date yet?”

“No, but it will be soon, and we’ll be keeping it small, but of course, you’re invited.”

“Maybe I’ll catch the bouquet.”

Movement alerted Tanner that someone was approaching from the right, and he saw Sophia walking towards them in an emerald dress that matched her eyes. Laurel excused herself to give them privacy.

“Good morning, Sophia.”

“Hello, Tanner; I know this is awkward, but I wanted to see Sammy off on his flight.”

“I’m sure he’d like that.”

Sophia ducked her head and looked up at him.

“Try not to hate me, okay?”

“We’re friends, Sophia. Nothing changes that. I learned a long time ago to follow my gut, and that’s what you did when you broke up with me. You followed your gut.”

Sophia smiled.

“Gut? Are you calling me fat?”

“Go see Sammy.”

Sophia kissed him lightly on the lips.

“Thanks, Tanner, and yes, we’ll always be friends.”

Tanner watched her greet Sammy with a passionate kiss, then, he looked over at Laurel with Joe, and recalled what she said about him finding the right woman someday. If such a woman existed, he knew that she’d have to have a heart as tough as his own.

Moments later, it was time to go. Tanner accompanied Sammy onto the plane and they began the young man’s quest for revenge.

CHAPTER 17 – Red, white, and black and blue

WILMINGTON, DELAWARE, TEN YEARS EARLIER

––––––––

Tanner and Joe had asked around separately and several cabbies had directed them both to a secluded house in the community of Chatham.

The house was a large two-story colonial and they were told that its favors didn’t come cheaply. When Joe checked with Sam, he learned that the brothel was run by a different syndicate than theirs.

“High-priced whores means heavy muscle, and if they’re any good, they would spot the bulge of a weapon,” Joe said.

“Then it looks like we go in empty and acquire weapons if we need them.”

Joe looked sideways at Tanner.

“You say that like it’s easy.”

“It’s not impossible, and I’ve done something like it before.”

Joe studied him.

“We don’t know each other, Tanner, and if we had to make a move in there to get answers, I’d be trusting in you to hold your own.”

“Same here, Pullo, but who knows, maybe we’ll spot Carlo Conti the second we walk in, and then there will be no need to ask questions.”

“If that’s the case, we just follow the bastard and whack him when he gets out of his car.”

“Deal,” Tanner said. “So, are we doing this or what?”

Joe studied Tanner for several more seconds and then nodded.

“If you hear me say the word, ‘expensive,’ it’ll mean it’s time to take out the security, but don’t kill them unless you have to.”

“Right, and don’t worry, Pullo, I can handle myself.”

“Same here,”

***

The guy who opened the door was about as big as Tanner and Joe combined.

He was a black man with a shaved head, and he had one gold tooth showing in his front teeth.

After passing the man’s visual inspection, they were ushered inside a huge sunken living room that was decorated entirely in red, while the seven women lounging on the sofas all wore white lingerie.

The women were beautiful without exception, and Tanner began wishing he were there for purposes other than to obtain information.

A middle-aged blonde approached them from a doorway on the left, and although she was beautiful enough to entice, she wore a long dress of red instead of the white lingerie.

The madam, Tanner thought, and had it confirmed when the woman greeted them with a huge empty smile.

“Look at you two fine, fine young men, and you’ve come here to have a good time, now didn’t you?”

“Yes ma’am,” Joe said enthusiastically, and Tanner watched as he walked over to a loveseat where two redheads were sitting together. The women’s breasts were straining at the white bras they wore, but Tanner saw that Joe’s eyes were trained towards a second bodyguard, who was leaning back against the wall beside the fireplace.

A third bodyguard sat in a chair on the left, and Tanner drifted that way, while pretending interest in the beautiful Asian woman who sat at the end of the sofa.

“You boys are new, so let me tell you our prices, now, for—”

Joe interrupted the madam, as he lifted a glass ashtray off the coffee table. The thing was heavy, and colored red, like the rest of the room.

“Hey, how much did you pay for this thing? It looks expensive.”

Before Joe had even finished speaking, Tanner had swung his foot around and buried it into the throat of the guard sitting in the chair.

Meanwhile, Joe had flung the heavy ashtray and hit the guard by the fireplace in the center of his forehead, causing the man to collapse to the floor.

The women screamed and ran for the stairs, but not the madam. She freed a small gun from a holster buried beneath the folds of her dress.

As she brought it up to fire at Joe, Tanner backhanded her and sent her sprawling onto the carpet, and then he removed the gun from the holster of the man he kicked.

Joe had also claimed a gun from the guard he’d hit with the ashtray, and he was pointing it at the room’s entryway, when the giant from the front door appeared holding a sawed-off shotgun.

“Drop it or die!” Joe said.

The man looked at Joe, then at Tanner on the opposite side of the room, and knew that he’d never get both of them.

He tossed the shotgun onto a chair and sneered.

“You gonna regret this shit.”

“Sure,” Joe said. “Now help this guy up and go sit over there by your other friend.”

The hookers had all run upstairs, but Tanner detected the thump of heavy footsteps coming from above, and they were growing louder.

He rushed to the side of the staircase, stripped a tall lamp of its shade, and jammed it between two spindles on the wooden railing.

A fourth guard appeared, and he was a large black man liked the others. He had been in the upstairs hallway when the trouble began.

The man tripped over the lamp as he left the landing, and tumbled down the stairs, to crash hard onto his right shoulder. The shoulder was clearly dislocated, and he moaned loudly in his distress.

Tanner scooped up the thug’s gun and then pocketed the small pistol that the madam had dropped. Afterwards, he helped her to stand and fall atop the sofa.

The side of her mouth was puffing up, but she managed to slur out a few words.

“Take the money and leave, pricks.”

Joe unfolded the picture of Carlo Conti and held it up in front of her face while Tanner kept watch over the guards.

“This man, where can we find him?”

The madam squinted at the photo, then, she looked up at Joe.

“You’re not robbing us?”

Joe shook the paper.

“Where is he?”

The woman sighed, reached her hand into a pocket slowly, and brought out an eyeglass case. When she had her glasses on, she looked at the picture once again, and then frowned at Joe.

“What the hell are you playing at?”

“What do you mean? You do know where he is, right?”

She did, and when she told them, they knew that it was the last place they ever would have looked for him.

CHAPTER 18 – Mirror image

Tanner and Sammy landed at Tennessee International Airport. After grabbing their bags, the two prepared to split up.

They had barely spoken on the flight, and if not for Joe, Tanner wouldn’t want anything to do with Sammy. However, the kid meant a lot to Pullo, and so Tanner would make sure that he came back in one piece.

Inside a coffee shop in the terminal, they went over the plan one more time.

“We split up here and arrive in town separately. They only have one hotel, and once we’re both booked in, I’ll make contact.”

“I got it, Tanner, but what if I spot Bobby Volks first?”

“Do nothing. Once we know the situation we’ll plan the hit together.”

“Alright, but I pull the trigger, not you. That bastard killed my father.”

“I know, but we can’t just rush in. Volks has had plenty of time to make friends down here, and we also want to steer clear of the law.”

Sammy didn’t have a suitcase, but instead, he had packed his things in a backpack. He hefted it onto his back, and held out his hand.

“I want to thank you for helping me, and I’ve got to believe that it’s the last thing you want to do.”

Tanner sighed as he shook Sammy’s hand.

“Sophia made her choice and I have to live with it. You just make sure that you treat her well.”

“I will, and I’ll see you in Rainberry.”

***

Ten minutes later, Sammy was looking at a yellow SUV and frowning. The vehicle had soccer mom written all over it.

“Is that really the only thing you have here?”

The car rental agent, a young black man in jeans and a white dress shirt, sent Sammy an apologetic smile.

“As I said, sir, the sports car you reserved was in an accident.”

Sammy looked across the lot where Tanner was getting a car from another rental agency. They had reserved cars at different agencies so that they wouldn’t be tied together, but Sammy was willing to risk it rather than drive a mommy-mobile.

“Do you think they’ll have one over there?”

“I actually checked before you came in, and no they don’t, I’m sorry.”

Sammy looked at the SUV, and then an idea came to him. When he asked the clerk about it, the man smiled.

“I’ll call and check for you.”

An hour later, Sammy was headed for Rainberry while riding a rented Harley.

***

In Sawyer’s Creek, Arkansas, Merle and Earl were gazing at their long-abandoned farm with eyes full of wonder.

Earl lifted an arm and pointed.

“It’s, it’s... it’s beautiful.”

“Yeah,” Merle said. “But how?”

They had parked on the side of the road after spotting the farmhouse.

When they left the farm years ago to find their fortune, the land had been full of weeds and the house was a dilapidated mess with a porch blackened from a recent fire.

Laurel had reported seeing the same thing. However, the home was not only in good repair and painted pink and white, but the yard was filled with flowers, and beyond the house, the barn looked renewed as well, while the fields were full of fall crops ready to be harvested, such as cabbages, cauliflower, and beets.

Earl turned in a circle.

“Are we in the right place?”

“Of course, look over there, there’s that sassafras tree we tied the tire to so that Laurel Lee could have a swing, and across the road is the pond we used to fish in. We’re home, Earl.”

“Yeah, but it ain’t never looked this good.”

They returned to the car, and when they reached the driveway, they saw a new mailbox that had the name, COLE written on it. They shrugged at each other and drove on.

After parking at the side of the house near an old motorhome, they went up the front steps, where there were identical porch swings hanging on either side of the wide front door. Stained glass was set in the new oak door and it sparkled and reflected light in dazzling colors.

“What the hell is going on?” Merle said, and Earl just shook his head in confusion.

Although he felt foolish doing it, Merle reached out and rang the bell of his own home. No one answered, and after trying the doorknob and finding that the door was unlocked, he and Earl entered.

The interior matched the outside of the home, as the furniture in the living room looked well cared for and polished, while the rug was new, and logs laid beside the fireplace in a neat stack. There was also an upright piano in one corner, with a guitar case leaned up against it.

A line of pictures sat on the mantle above the fireplace, and Merle was about to walk over and look at them when he felt the barrel of a shotgun dig into his ribs.

“Around here, we kill trespassers.”

Merle turned his head slowly, and when he saw the face of the woman holding the shotgun, he smiled.

“Wow, you’re pretty.”

The woman blushed, and when Merle looked over at his brother, he saw another woman, but where the first one was blond, her sister’s hair was redder, or a strawberry color, other than that, the two women could pass for twins, and looked to be about thirty-five.

Merle’s assessment of “pretty” was accurate enough, and although the sisters would never win a beauty pageant, they were cute, and stood only five-foot-two.

The strawberry-blond was holding a revolver on Earl, but Earl was gazing at her as if she were offering him flowers.

“Who are you ladies?” Merle said.

“You’re in our house, that’s who we are,” said the woman holding the revolver.

“Un-uh,” Merle said. “This is our house. We’re Merle and Earl Carter. I’m Merle and that there is Earl.”

The sisters looked at each other, and then the one with the shotgun spoke to Merle.

“You used to live here, didn’t you?”

“We grew up here.”

“I know that; there’s markings on the pantry door in the kitchen showing how tall you were at different ages. We always figured you two for midgets since the markings stopped at about four-feet.”

Merle’s expression saddened.

“Our mama did that, and that’s how tall we were when she died.”

The woman with the revolver lowered it.

“Oh, that’s so sad.”

“Sad or not,” said her sister, “It don’t give them the right to just walk in here.”

“What’s your name?” Merle said.

“I’m Hanna and she’s Savannah; we’re the Cole sisters.”

“Well, Miss Hanna, this here is Earl and me’s home, and you two are the ones trespassin’.”

Hanna squinted her eyes.

“Savannah, call the cops.”

CHAPTER 19 – Yippee-ki-yay

Tanner parked at a rest stop on I-40 West.

After tucking an envelope full of cash under the passenger seat, he left his rented car unlocked, and before walking away from the car with the keys in hand, he tied a yellow bandana around the side view mirror.

He went inside to use the bathroom, and then strolled about the interior of the rest stop, casually observing the other people, before heading back out to the car fifteen minutes later.

The bandana was gone along with the envelope full of cash, while the car was locked, and on the floor in front of the passenger seat was a plain cardboard box.

Tanner pulled back onto the highway, took the first exit, and drove randomly. When he was certain he wasn’t being followed, he parked in the back corner of a Walmart parking lot.

After getting out of the car, he got down on the ground to check the vehicle’s undercarriage for a tracking device. He found none, then checked the trunk, as well as the car’s interior, and then finally opened the box.

Inside, were two Glock 19’s, and as he had asked, they had been modified with laser enhanced guide rods. The guns had spare magazines, cleaning kits, and there were two flip-top 100 round ammo boxes of 9mm bullets.

Besides the guns and ammo, there were two knives with sheaths, and Tanner slid one down into his boot. Feeling better now that he was armed, he started the car and headed back to the highway.

***

Rainberry, Tennessee wasn’t the quiet little town that Tanner thought it would be.

By the time he reached the town’s center, he saw a drug deal go down on a street corner and two men engaged in a fistfight.

Other than that, the place did look quiet, even picturesque, and maybe the two scenes he witnessed were anomalies.

Tanner was in a bad mood, as his mind had been preoccupied by thoughts of Laurel and Sophia, and he didn’t like it.

He might not be the one pulling the trigger, but he was still on a hit, still out to fulfill a contract, and he needed to keep his mind on the task.

Laurel was better off with Joe, and if Sophia wanted Sammy, then, she could have him. There was no shortage of women in the world, and his lifestyle was hardly conducive to wedded life.

He stepped out of the car in front of the Rainberry Hotel, but then spotted the pub across the way.

Checking into the hotel could wait. He was hungry and a beer would hit the spot as well.

The pub was called, The Roundup, and the theme was western, with the walls decorated with movie posters of films about the old west.

There was a bar on the right past a few scattered tables; while on the left side was a line of booths.

Tanner took the stool farthest from the door and gazed up at the menu above the bar.

The bartender, a tall pleasant man with a red face, poured his beer and took his order, but when the food came, it was delivered by a woman who caught Tanner’s eye.

The woman looked to be in her mid-thirties, with straight hair that hung past her shoulders. She was beautiful, black, and her huge brown eyes flowed over Tanner, as his own eyes devoured her as well.

When she smiled, she displayed straight white teeth, and when she spoke, it was in a lyrical southern accent.

“You’re not from around here, because I would remember you.”

“And I’ll never forget you,” Tanner said, and saw her smile widen.

“I’m Susan Holmes, and welcome to my place.”

“I’m Tom Myers,” Tanner said, and then he pointed at the posters adorning the walls. “Are those yours?”

“They sure are, and I’ll give you a free meal if you can name the years they were released.”

Tanner not only told her what year each film came out, but he also gave a brief synopsis of all the movies. When he was done, he saw Susan grinning at him.

“You’re too young to know that.”

“So are you.”

“My granddaddy was a western movie stuntman in Hollywood before he met my grandma and moved here. He was in about half of those pictures, and before you ask, yes, he was white.”

“I wasn’t going to ask.”

“Okay, but how do you know so much about old westerns?”

Tanner looked lost in thought for a moment before answering.

“My father loved those movies. I used to watch them with him on Saturday afternoons when I was a kid.”

Susan took the stool beside him.

“You say that wistfully, is your daddy dead?”

“Yeah,”

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to stir up bad memories.”

“Actually, you did the opposite; I haven’t thought about those Saturday afternoons for years.”

“Are you staying in town, Tom, or passing through?”

“I’m staying for a day or two.”

“At the Rainberry across the street?”

“Yeah, but I haven’t checked in yet.”

“Don’t, I also own a Bed & Breakfast, it’s empty right now because it’s the off-season, but I’m the best cook in town.”

“Sounds good to me,”

“Don’t you want to know how much I charge?”

“No, I just want to spend more time with you.”

Susan laughed and stood up.

“I’ll go get you another beer.”

Tanner watched her go, liking the view, and his bad mood vanished like smoke in a breeze.

CHAPTER 20 – Welcome to Rainberry

Sammy had been having so much fun on his rented Harley that he hadn’t realized he’d been speeding, that is, until he spotted the flashing lights in the mirror, which were soon joined by a siren.

He pulled over while cursing his stupidity.

He was in Tennessee under a phony name for the purpose of committing murder, and before he even reached his destination he was coming to the attention of the police.

After removing his helmet, he took out his fake license and cursed Tanner once again for choosing the name, Jack Koff.

To his shock, the cop opened her door and leveled her weapon at him.

“Get down on the ground, now!”

A dozen different thoughts passed through Sammy’s mind, including a scenario that involved Tanner setting him up. However, he pushed his paranoia aside and did as the cop said, to lay flat on the roadway with his arms held out in front of him.

When a tractor-trailer passed by coming the other way, it blew up a storm of grit that blinded Sammy.

The cop was on him while he was still blinking his eyes free of the debris, and before he realized it, she had cuffed his hands behind his back.

“What’s going on? All I did was speed a little.”

“Be quiet,” the cop said, and then she went through his saddlebags and backpack.

Sammy studied her while she did so, and saw that she was a young blond woman with a no-nonsense expression. The seriousness of her demeanor didn’t take away from her beauty however, nor did her mannish uniform hide her curves.

Sammy had dropped the driver’s license, and when the woman read it, she seemed to relax a bit.

“Mr. ...Koff? What is the purpose for your visit to Rainberry?”

“I’m here to meet a friend, why?”

“Are you a member of The Calabrese Motorcycle Club?”

“No, and the bike is rented.”

The cop studied the bike, and when she spotted the sticker denoting the name of the rental company in Nashville, she looked abashed.

The cuffs came off even quicker than they went on, and when she handed Sammy back his license, he saw that her cheeks were red.

“I apologize for the treatment, sir, but we’ve a group of bikers raising a ruckus around here lately.”

“What kind of ruckus?”

“We suspect them of being involved with drug running, but never mind that, you just get on your way, and I apologize again for the cuffs.”

Sammy blinked.

“Wow, you’re a lot nicer than most cops. Where I come from, you’d never hear a cop apologize for anything.”

The cop shrugged.

“I was wrong.”

Sammy saw that her nametag read Sawyer, but asked her first name.

“It’s Amy... and are you hitting on me?”

“I was just curious, and I have a girlfriend.”

“Lucky girl, and now you slow down too, you hear?”

“I hear, and be careful with those bikers.”

Sammy watched Amy climb into her patrol car and then rode along behind her on his bike.

One of the things Joe had told him before he left was that Bobby Volks always rode a motorcycle, even during the winter.

Maybe Volks was part of The Calabrese Motorcycle Club, if so; they would soon be short one member.

CHAPTER 21 – Dumb and dumber meet blonde and blonder

“Phony? What do you mean that it’s phony?” Hanna Cole said.

Chief of Police Wilbur Meadows looked as if he swallowed something bad, and after burping, the lanky, gray-haired gentleman settled behind his desk.

He then asked Hanna and Savannah to take seats in front of it, as Merle and Earl stood to their right.

“The state records department shows that these two here are the rightful owners of that property. They may not have been living there, but they kept up the taxes, and so it’s theirs.”

“We paid taxes too.” Hanna said. “We pre-paid ahead for two years. Our real estate lady handled it.”

Chief Meadows leaned forward.

“Who sold you that property and when?”

“She was a nice woman. Her name was Mrs. Loyola Smith. We ran into her when we were lookin’ for a place to buy and she pointed us at that land.”

“Oh Lordy, I was afraid of that. Mrs. Loyola Smith was a con woman named Lois Simmons. She’s dead now, killed by one of her partners. She used that real estate woman act to identify houses for her partners to rob. You two are the first I’ve heard of that bought a house from her.”

Savannah wiped at her eyes.

“Our deed is really a fake?”

“Yes ma’am, I’m afraid so.”

Hanna sniffled, and wiped at her own tears.

“But we paid for it and then we put a lot of money into that place too. I’ve got a little garden in the back, the crops are doin’ nicely—do we at least get to keep the crops?”

“I’m no lawyer, but my guess is that it would be up to the two Mr. Carters here.”

Hanna gazed over at Merle and Earl with eyes full of sorrow.

“We’re sorry; we didn’t know the property was really yours.”

“You two hungry?” Merle asked.

“What?” Hanna said.

“Food, Earl and me are starvin’ and there’s a McDonalds right down the road. Why don’t we go there and talk things over.”

“You ain’t mad at us?” Hanna asked.

Merle let out a sigh.

“Me and Earl been tricked a time or two, so we know how it feels. Hell, we’ll think of somethin’, but let’s go eat.”

Hanna looked at her sister and saw that Savannah was smiling at Earl.

“Alright, we’ll go eat, but we pay,” Hanna said.

They told the chief goodbye and headed for the door. As they were walking out, a female deputy entered the chief’s office. Once the foursome had departed, the deputy asked a question.

“Were those two sets of twins that just left here?”

The chief laughed.

“No, but they’re darn close aren’t they?”

“I’ll say.”

***

After calling Laurel and getting her opinion, Merle and Earl offered the Cole sisters a deal while they ate.

“Our sister, Laurel Lee, she agreed with us that it wouldn’t be right to kick you out of the house, so why don’t you two stay there while me and Earl live in that old motorhome I saw?”

“That’s fine for now, Merle, but what about the future and all the money we put in that house?” Hanna said.

“You could rent it from us cheap.”

“I don’t wanna rent, it’s why I bought a house,” Hanna said.

Savannah smiled at Earl.

“You don’t talk much, do you?”

“Sometimes,” Earl said, and then he smiled back at her.

After swallowing the last of her French fries, Hanna asked Merle a question.

“Could we buy the house from you, you know, real cheap? After all, we put all the work and money into it.”

“I don’t wanna sell. Me and Earl were born there, and so was our daddy.”

“I don’t know what to do,” Hanna said.

“I do,” said Savannah. “I wanna go to the movies.”

“How’s that going to help?” her sister asked.

“It’ll take our minds off of things. Do you wanna go, Earl?”

Earl nodded as he grinned stupidly at Savannah.

“Alright, then let’s go, the picture should be starting soon.”

“We’ll follow you,” Merle said.

Once they were in their car, Savannah grabbed her sister’s arm.

“Earl is mine, do you hear me?”

“You can have him; Merle’s cuter.”

“Un-uh,”

“Um-hmm,”

“Un-uh,”

“Um-hmm,”

“Un-uh,”

“Um-hmm,”

***

Inside the boys’ rented car, a similar exchange was taking place.

“Savannah is cute,” Earl said.

“You can keep her; I like the blond one.”

“They’s both blond, Merle.”

“Yeah, but Hanna’s hotter.”

“Un-uh,”

“Um-hmm,”

“Un-uh,”

“Um-hmm,”

“Un-uh,”

“Um-hmm,”

And so it went.

CHAPTER 22 – Dirty boy

Susan Holmes Bed & Breakfast was quaint and sat near a small stream.

There was a clearing behind the house, and way off in the distance, Tanner could see a section of the Great Smoky Mountains.

When she took him inside to see his room, he found the space clean, homey looking, and the bathroom was equipped with an old-fashioned clawfoot bathtub. There was also a fireplace, although the weather was temperate.

“What do you think?” Susan said.

“Beautiful,” Tanner said, as his eyes locked on hers.

Susan smiled.

“I was talking about the room.”

“It’s very nice, and much better than a hotel room.”

“I hope you like lasagna, because that’s what I’m serving tonight.”

“That sounds good.”

“And oh yes, there’s one other guest, but she’s long-term. I’ll introduce you two over dinner.”

“What time is dinner?”

“Six-thirty, and you don’t have to watch that small TV; there’s a wide flat screen in the living room.”

“Thanks, but I’m more of a reader than a watcher.”

“Me too, and I’ll see you around.”

“Thank you.”

After Susan left, Tanner took off his jacket and tie, and then sat on the side of the bed to call Sammy.

***

“Where are you, Tanner?”

“There’s been a change of plans. I’m staying at a Bed & Breakfast on Hooper Avenue.”

“Why?”

“Better food,” Tanner said, although he was hoping to appease other appetites with Susan Holmes.

“Should I come there?”

“You haven’t checked in yet?”

“No, I ah, got delayed.”

“Fine, then come here, and just say that someone recommended the place to you,” Tanner told Sammy, and then Sammy relayed the news about the biker club.

“I can see Bobby Volks as a drug dealer, so yeah, I’ll check it out.”

“Maybe I should go; I am the one with the motorcycle.”

“Show up on a rented bike? You might as well ride a tricycle.”

“Alright, but remember why we’re here. Volks is mine.”

“I hear you, Sammy, and I’ll see you soon.”

Tanner put away the phone and headed for the shower. On the way there, he spotted the door that connected his room to the one on the left. He opened it and found another door, which was locked.

He wondered if the room beyond the door belonged to Susan, and if so, would she make use of it to pay him a visit.

After leaving the door on his side unlocked, Tanner headed into the bathroom to get clean, while thinking dirty thoughts.

CHAPTER 23 – Sinner or saint?

WILMINGTON, DELAWARE, TEN YEARS EARLIER

––––––––

“It’s a con, it’s got to be,” Joe Pullo said, as he and Tanner watched Reverend Carlo Conti enter the women’s shelter on Bennett Street. There was also a soup kitchen at the other end of the building, and a group of people were lined up outside for a free breakfast.

Tanner read from the shelter’s brochure.

“‘The mission of the Teresa R. Rowen women’s shelter is to prevent abuse, change families, and save lives.’ How do you build a con out of that?”

“I don’t know. Maybe he’s turning the women out somehow.”

“That’s not what that madam said, she said Conti was the biggest pain in the ass she’s ever known, and that he actually talked three of her girls into giving up the life.”

Joe rubbed a hand over his chin.

“People don’t change, Tanner, and Conti, he killed an innocent woman, remember?”

“Yeah, so what do you want to do?”

Pullo said nothing for several seconds as he stared across the street. Conti had come back outside with a woman and child, and the child was hugging him around the neck as if he were Santa Claus.

“I need to think about this... figure the con out.”

“Why don’t we talk to some of the other people who work there?”

“Nah, it might tip him off.”

“I have another idea then, but it will cost you lunch at a good restaurant this afternoon.”

“It’s on Sam’s dime, so what’s your idea?”

***

The reporter turned out to be a tall blond named Cassidy, and she was giving Tanner ideas, but she seemed to have eyes only for Pullo, who she smiled at frequently.

They had contacted her with the story that they represented a family trust that was looking for worthy charities to donate to in the Wilmington area.

“That women’s shelter has done wonderful things,” Cassidy told them. “I worked the crime beat in this city for three years, and I saw them save more than a few girls.”

“The Reverend Conti, what do you know about him?”

“The girls working the streets love him. He beat up a pimp once and the cops looked the other way. I personally know a girl that he talked into going back home. After she graduated high school she went to work in the shelter, and at night she studies to be a lawyer.”

“Still,” Pullo said. “It seems odd, a man working inside a women’s shelter. Doesn’t it bother the women who come there?”

Cassidy grinned.

“You obviously haven’t met Reverend Carlo; he’s like a big teddy bear.”

“Un-huh, anything else you can tell us?”

Cassidy leaned across the table.

“I could tell you more over dinner, but just us, no offense to your friend.”

“None taken,” Tanner said, as he envied Pullo.

“Where should I pick you up?” Pullo asked, and Cassidy gave him her address.

After she left, Pullo saluted Tanner with his beer bottle.

“You’re on your own tonight; I’ll be pumping Cassidy.”

“For information?” Tanner asked.

Pullo just smiled.

CHAPTER 24 – No way to treat a lady

WILMINGTON, DELAWARE, TEN YEARS EARLIER

––––––––

With nothing else to do, Tanner staked out the women’s shelter that night.

Joe had the car, and so Tanner was on foot. He was wearing dark clothes with a hood, and he stayed back in the shadows of a burned-out building.

He saw Conti twice, and each time there was a child nearby who hugged the big man as if he were a kindly old grandfather. The shelter was located in a bad neighborhood, but Tanner noticed that everyone who walked past Conti greeted him with a smile or showed respect, even the gangbangers.

If Conti were running a con, Tanner didn’t know what it was.

After growing bored, he moved onto the sidewalk and began the trek back to the motel. When the same car drove past him twice and parked up ahead, he assumed it meant trouble.

He was carrying a gun, but he had seen at least two silhouettes in the car, and if there were as many as four, Tanner wanted to even the odds by using the element of surprise.

When the sidewalk curved and placed him in a blind spot to the men in the car, he left the street and began cutting through backyards as fast as he could.

After traveling two houses farther down from where the car was parked, Tanner moved back towards the street and spotted two of the bodyguards from the whorehouse. They were both turned around in their seats and looking for him.

The driver was the man Pullo had struck with the ashtray, while the passenger had his right arm in a sling, and was likely the man who had tumbled down the stairs and dislocated his shoulder.

Tanner cursed silently. This was a complication they didn’t need. They had obviously followed him from the shelter and had plans for him. But had they just followed him, or had they followed both he and Pullo earlier?

Tanner slipped from the shadows and spoke when he was six feet away from the car.

“If either of you moves I’ll light you up.”

Both men twitched, but it was from surprise, and not an attempt to use their weapons. Afterwards, they slowly turned their heads to look at him.

“We just wanted to talk,” said the driver, and Tanner saw the huge lump on his forehead that resulted from the ashtray hitting him.

“Let me see your hands.”

The hands went up slowly, and Tanner saw that the man in the passenger seat held a sawed-off shotgun in his left hand, while the driver carried a Beretta.

“I see how you were going to talk. Toss the weapons in the back seat, and then I want the driver to get out.”

“Why just me?”

“Toss the guns. Do it now,” Tanner said.

The men followed instructions because they had little choice. By the time they turned to face Tanner, they would be dead.

Once the driver was out, Tanner had him stand in front of an overgrown hedge. Both men were dressed as he was, in dark clothing with a hood.

The traffic was sporadic and there was no one in sight but the three of them; it wasn’t the sort of neighborhood where many people traveled on foot at night.

“Are there men after my partner too?”

“We only saw you,” said the man still sitting in the car.

He seemed to be telling the truth, which meant that they had just picked up his trail. It also meant that Pullo was in the clear.

Tanner glanced into the car, saw the keys dangling in the ignition, and then shot the man in the passenger seat twice in the chest.

When he swiveled around, he saw that the driver had run to his left, but the man couldn’t outrun a bullet, nor three of them.

Tanner was headed for the driver’s side door before the punk’s body had even settled, and after checking to see that the other man had died, he pointed the car in the direction of the whorehouse.

***

The big man who had previously greeted Tanner and Joe at the door came outside onto the home’s porch, after having heard the car pull into the driveway.

Tanner was still in the car with the window rolled down, while his hood was up over his head. The face of the dead man propped up beside him was lost in shadow, but the coppery scent of his blood was cloying in the confines of the car.

When the huge thug walked over to the car, Tanner was leaning over as if he were trying to get something out of the glove compartment, and with no white skin showing, the man mistook him for one of the other guards.

The man leaned on the windowsill, and Tanner felt the car sink towards the ground from his weight.

“Yo, brothers, did you find them two assholes?”

“They found one of them,” Tanner said, even as he used his left hand to jam a long knife up under the man’s chin, through the soft palate of his mouth, and into his brain.

The man made a high-pitched sound that was incongruous with his huge frame, toppled backwards onto the lawn, rolled, and finally settled at the base of a rose bush.

Tanner never even bothered to check if he was dead, but left the car to walk up the stairs and lean beside the door.

It took nearly five minutes, but then the door opened and the madam stuck her head out. She was dressed all in red again, and Tanner idly wondered if it was the only color she ever wore.

When she spotted Tanner, a look of recognition lighted her face, before Tanner smashed his gun against her forehead

She staggered out onto the porch, spun around once, and fell on her ass.

There came the sound of heavy footfalls, followed by a hoarse voice filled with surprise.

“Emily, what happened?”

It was the fourth guard, the one he had kicked in the throat.

The man rushed outside, bent over to help the madam up, but then spotted Tanner.

“Oh shit.”

“Oh yeah,” Tanner said, and shot the man in the head.

The madam looked up at him, her eyes still glassy.

“You wouldn’t hurt a lady, would you?”

Tanner shot her between the eyes.

“No, not a lady,”

After pulling the body from the passenger seat, he got back behind the wheel and drove off.

CHAPTER 25 – Angels and bad boys

Hanna apologized for how rundown the motorhome was, but Merle and Earl told her that it was better than most of the places they had stayed at over the years.

That started a conversation about traveling, and the boys discovered that the girls were as well traveled as they were.

“Oh yeah, we’ve been all over the country. See, Savannah and me are singers and musicians, well, we were, but we got tired of the road and came home to settle down. We grew up right down the road in Kellyville.”

“Let’s hear you sing,” Earl said.

The girls looked bashful for a moment, but then began singing a familiar country song. They had good voices, and Merle and Earl were enraptured.

“You two should be on stage at the Grand Ole Opry.”

Hanna giggled.

“Oh Merle, you’re so easy to please.”

The four of them looked at each other silently, and then Hanna pointed back towards the house.

“It’s gettin’ late; we’ll see you boys in the mornin’,”

Savannah leaned over and kissed Earl on the cheek.

“Sweet dreams.”

“You too, Miss Cole.”

When the girls were gone, Earl turned to look at his brother.

“I think I’m fallin’ in love.”

“I don’t blame you, and let me tell ya, I like that Hanna too.”

“Merle, we have to think of some way to help them. I don’t mean give them the house, but we can’t send ‘em packin’ either.”

“Yeah, let me sleep on it.”

The boys lay down for the night, but were too excited to fall asleep right away.

“Merle, you awake?”

“Yeah,”

“They sang like angels, didn’t they?”

“Better,” Merle said.

***

In Tennessee, Susan’s other guest turned out to be Amy, the cop who had pulled Sammy over.

She was surprised to see Sammy, but also looked pleased.

Over dinner, they told the story of how they met, as Tanner and Sammy pretended to be strangers.

Tanner showed interest in her story about the drug dealing bikers, and when he asked her what Calabrese looked like, the description fit Bobby Volks.

“Calabrese sounds Italian,” Tanner remarked, and Susan shook her head.

“He has a slight accent, but it’s not Italian; I’d say it’s more Slavic.”

“I thought that meth would be a big city problem,” Sammy said. “How long has this been going on?”

“The meth dealing is new,” Amy said. “But the chief says that Calabrese has been a problem for years. He owns The Iron Horse; it’s a bar on the west end of town that used to be a small warehouse. Those bikers have taken the place over.”

“Calabrese wants my pub too,” Susan said. “He made me an offer just last week, but it wasn’t even half what the business is worth.”

After dinner, Sammy went out on the front porch to call Sophia while Amy went to see her boyfriend, and Tanner joined Susan in the kitchen for coffee.

“What sort of work do you do, Tom?”

“I’m a freelance researcher.”

Susan laughed.

“What’s so funny?”

“I had you pegged as a Federal Agent working undercover.”

“If I was, a researcher would be a good cover.”

“No fair, now I don’t know what to think.”

After another few sips of coffee, Susan asked a question.

“Were you recently divorced?”

“No, why?”

“I don’t know; you just have that look, like you’re a bit adrift.”

“I guess I am, but being around new scenery helps, and I’m enjoying your company.”

Susan was a widow whose husband had been a Marine, and the active-duty officer had died in a training accident three years earlier.

Tanner talked with her about books for a while, and found that Susan was well-read. She also spoke Spanish and French, and had taught both languages while a high school teacher,

“You must have been a young teacher.”

Susan smiled.

“I was twenty-eight, and that was eighteen years ago.”

“You do not look your age.”

“I stay busy and it keeps me young.”

They moved into the living room and Susan put on an old western, Winchester ’73 with Jimmy Stewart.

Five minutes into the movie, Tanner leaned over and kissed Susan. She kissed him back, and by the time Stewart got his man, Tanner had gotten his woman, and spent the rest of the night in Susan’s arms.

CHAPTER 26 – Oops!

Susan ran a hand over Tanner’s chest. They were both naked, and had just made love again after waking.

“My late husband had been wounded in combat twice, and he had less scars than you. Exactly what sort of research do you do?”

“The dangerous kind,”

Susan stared into his eyes.

“Your name is not really Tom Myers, is it?”

“Susan, if I was what you think I am, then I wouldn’t be able to answer that question, would I?”

She kissed him.

“You just did.”

She rose from the bed and Tanner enjoyed the sight of her nakedness. He had been with older women before and always found them less inhibited than their younger counterparts. Susan wasn’t without flaws, but she knew they didn’t define or detract from her overall beauty, and that self-confidence was arousing in its own right.

“I’m going to shower. Would you like to save water?”

Tanner answered her by standing, and when Susan looked down, she smiled.

“Whoever you are, you have great recuperative powers.”

Tanner placed his hands on her hips.

“You inspire me.”

Susan pushed him back onto the bed, and then climbed aboard.

“We’ll shower later.”

***

By the time they made it downstairs, Amy had already cooked breakfast, and she greeted the two of them with a knowing smile.

Sammy was seated at the table eating, and he sent Susan and Tanner a wave while his mouth was full of buttermilk biscuit.

“Amy, you’re a guest here, remember?”

“I don’t mind cooking sometimes, Susan, and you and I both know that you could charge me more than you do.”

Susan kissed Amy on the cheek.

“I like your company, and thank you for cooking.”

Susan’s phone rang while she was doing the dishes. As she listened to her caller, her expression grew worried.

“That was Millie; she opened up The Roundup today for the breakfast crowd. She told me that there are two bikers scaring away the customers.”

“What are they doing?” Amy asked.

“Nothing, they’re just parked out front on those bikes of theirs, but you know how most of them look, they’re scary looking.”

Amy grabbed her gun belt and strapped it on.

“I’ll come with you, Susan.”

“I’ll come along too,” Tanner said.

Susan spoke to Sammy.

“Oh Jack, there’s an older woman named Carrie who watches the B&B for me during the day. She should be here any minute, if you need something while I’m at bar.”

Sammy thanked her, but said that he’d tag along to get a look at the bikers. As they were leaving, he whispered to Tanner.

“Are we going to need the guns?”

“I doubt it,” Tanner whispered back. “There are only two of them.”

“Amy’s the law; maybe she’ll scare them off.”

Tanner nodded, but law or not, Amy was a small woman. She also had rules of conduct she had to adhere to, Tanner had no such restrictions.

***

Amy had left first, with Sammy following behind on his bike, and so when Tanner and Susan arrived, Amy was already talking to the bikers, as Sammy stood by and watched.

The bikers were a scruffy pair, with long dirty beards and wild hair. They both wore leather jackets even though the day was warm.

They ignored Amy after they pointed out to her that they were legally parked in front of meters, and had paid for their time. If they wanted to, they could sit there all day.

Tanner decided to make that option seem less appealing.

After telling Sammy to distract Amy, he walked past the men to the rear of the second bike and kicked it hard. The bike toppled over onto the sidewalk and cracked the mirror on that side.

As Amy spun around to see what had happened, Tanner smiled at the bikers.

“Oops, sorry guys; I must have bumped into it.”

Tanner was dressed in chinos and a blue polo shirt. He was clean-shaven, had the look of a tourist, and the bikers didn’t consider him a threat.

The man whose bike was damaged moved towards him, and as he drew near, he reached out for Tanner.

Tanner grabbed the man’s wrist with both hands, turned, and flipped the biker onto his back. The man landed on the ground hard, with his skull taking much of the impact.

When Tanner turned to face the second man, he saw him bringing out a knife.

A quick kick disarmed him, and it was followed by a sweep kick that took the man’s feet out from under him.

Amy stood above the man with her gun drawn and told him to stay down, while Sammy pointed at the bikers and used Tanner’s phony name.

“They tried to assault Mr. Myers.”

“That’s how I see it too,” Amy said.

“I won’t press charges if they leave,” Tanner told her. When he looked over at Susan, he saw that she had her arms folded across her chest and was smiling at him.

The second biker helped his companion up, and although the man appeared a bit dazed, he was able to mount his bike and ride away.

After Amy drove off to the police station, and Sammy rode away on his bike, Susan gave Tanner a kiss on the lips.

“You’re here for Calabrese, aren’t you?”

“I’ll just say this; by the time I leave here he’ll no longer be a problem.”

Susan took Tanner by the hand, and they went inside the pub.

CHAPTER 27 – Bees do it, birds do it

Merle and Earl were working harder than they had in a good long time, as they helped Hanna and Savannah around the farm.

The chores were familiar ones, milking a cow, feeding chickens, weeding the garden, and mending a fence. However, they were both worn out by the end of the afternoon, and Earl asked if it’d be all right if he took a soak in the tub.

“It’s really your house, Earl, and you boys were a lot of help today,” Hanna said.

While Earl went up to soak, Merle showered in the RV. After changing into fresh clothes, he walked back to the house to sit on a porch swing.

Hanna came out onto the porch, and after taking a seat beside him, she handed Merle a can of beer.

“Dinner is ready, and we can eat anytime you want.”

“What are we havin’? It smells great.”

“Fried chicken, yams, cornbread stuffing, spinach, and Savannah baked a peach cobbler.”

“Lordy, my mouth’s waterin’ just hearin’ about it.”

“Have you figured out what you wanna do with us yet?”

“Whaddya mean?”

“I mean are you kickin’ us off the property?”

“No! Hell no, you got taken, and yeah, the place isn’t really yours, but me and Earl can see all the work and money you ladies put into it. It would be just plain mean to kick you out.”

“Were you two thinkin’ of moving back here?”

Merle smiled.

“We weren’t, but when I look at this view, enjoyin’ the quiet, I wonder why we ever left.”

“I um, I wouldn’t mind if you stayed. It’s nice havin’ men around, and Savannah has a thing for your brother.”

“Is that a fact?”

“It is.”

“Now that’s funny.”

“Why?”

“Cause I got a thing for her sister.”

Hanna grinned, and Merle leaned over and kissed her.

***

Earl had been lying back in the tub enjoying his warm soapy bath, when the door opened and Savannah stepped in.

“Miss Cole?”

“Call me Savannah, Earl.”

After swallowing, Earl said, “Alright, Savannah.”

He had brought clean clothes into the bath with him. They sat atop the closed lid of the toilet. Savannah scooped them up and turned to leave.

“Where are you goin’ with my clothes?”

“You got a button loose on your shirt. I’ll take it to my bedroom and mend it.”

“Oh, okay, but why take the pants?”

Savannah tugged hard on a belt loop and tore it loose.

“I gotta fix this here too.”

Earl swallowed again, and it was followed by a smile.

“If you want your clothes back, my bedroom is the door on the right.”

“Um, okay.”

“Don’t be long now.”

He wasn’t, he dried himself faster than he ever had before and left the bathroom wearing only a towel, and a smile.

CHAPTER 28 – Easy rider

Tanner knew Sammy was growing restless, but if Bobby Volks was Calabrese, he had a group of bikers around him.

That meant they had to separate him from his men and get him alone, as it would be their best chance to kill him.

Tanner had stayed at Susan’s pub all day in case more trouble came. She worked there until five o’clock, and was headed home to cook dinner, when she spotted a friend.

The man’s name was Garrett Bates. He was bald, black, about fifty, and ran the town newspaper. Tanner had actually read several back issues of the paper, The Rainberry Gazette, while he waited for Susan, and knew that Bates was no fan of Calabrese.

The front page story the week before had been about Calabrese’s bar and all the trouble the place bred for the town. He also insinuated that Calabrese was behind the area’s growing meth problem.

Bates had a firm grip, and he used it when he shook Tanner’s hand.

“Mr. Myers, it’s good to meet you, and you’re a lucky man to be enjoying Susan’s... cooking.”

Tanner studied Bates and saw a hint of jealousy. If he had detected that Tanner was Susan’s lover, he was perceptive.

“She’s a great cook.”

“Yes, indeed, and I also heard that you got into a scuffle with a pair of bikers, is that true?”

“They overacted when I bumped into one of their bikes.”

“You must be clumsy,” Bates said, and after saying goodbye, he went inside the pub.

“I sense that there’s history between you two,” Tanner told Susan.

“As friends only, although, he often asks for more.”

“I don’t blame him.”

There was a green panel van parked at the curb with the name of the town’s newspaper painted on the side in yellow. The van had no windows in the rear and the rest were heavily tinted.

“He delivers his own newspapers I see,” Tanner said.

“The paper only comes out once a week. The latest copy I have is last week’s news.”

Tanner sighed.

“I guess that means I missed the bake sale at the church.”

***

They returned to the house, where they found Sammy coming back from a run. Sammy wore gray shorts and a red sleeveless T-shirt, with blue & white sneakers.

As Susan went inside to cook dinner, Tanner talked to Sammy.

“If I know my thugs, Calabrese won’t let what happened this morning go by without trying to retaliate, so stay sharp.”

“I will, but we need to find out if Calabrese is really Bobby Volks.”

“I was going to do that tonight.”

“Without me?”

“No, you’ll be coming along to create a diversion, and then I’ll—”

The rumble of motorcycles filled the air.

The three bikes turned the corner and headed towards them. The rider of the first motorcycle was huge, and after rounding the corner, the two men with him stayed back, and the lead rider pulled up in front of Susan’s house.

“Be cool,” Tanner whispered, knowing what was coming next.

And when the man removed his helmet, the face revealed belonged to Bobby Volks.

CHAPTER 29 – A changed man

WILMINGTON, DELAWARE, TEN YEARS EARLIER

––––––––

The morning after the attack on the brothel, Pullo looked impressed by Tanner’s news.

“You killed them all?”

“I had to, Joe; otherwise they would have kept coming.”

“Yeah, they knew we were interested in Conti, and so they staked out the shelter, but Tanner, you took a risk doing it alone.”

“I’ve killed more than that by myself before, but did you learn anything new about Conti last night?”

“Yeah, the man’s a saint now, or so it seems.”

“What’s our next move?”

“I want to confront him and see how he reacts.”

“If he’s a fake running a con of some kind, he’ll run.”

“Yeah, but he won’t get far.”

“He walks to that shelter, so he must live nearby,” Tanner said.

“He does, somewhere three or four blocks east of it, according to Cassidy.”

“Do you want to go look for him now?”

“Yeah, and maybe we can end things and head back to New York.”

They left Pullo’s room, and Tanner stared over at the man guarding the door across the way. It was a different man than the first, and he eyed Tanner and Joe with suspicion.

“Before we leave here, I want to know what’s in that room,” Tanner said.

“I don’t blame you; they’ve got me curious too.”

***

They were on their way to find Carlo Conti’s apartment when they spotted him walking down the street towards the shelter.

Joe circled around, and when Conti reached the next corner, Tanner approached Conti from the front, as Joe came up behind him and spoke.

“Carlo, Sam Giacconi sends his regards.”

Carlo Conti was huge. Tanner thought he looked taller than the six-foot-six he was reported to be.

The big man sighed.

“I guess the Lord is calling me home now, but please, not here in the street, not where the children can see.”

Tanner and Joe exchanged glances. The man didn’t seem afraid to die, but was only concerned that a child might view the violence.

Before they could say another word, two teenage boys came out of the hallway of an apartment house, and one of them was carrying a knife.

“Reverend Conti, are these two bothering you?”

Conti’s face grew red with anger.

“Hakeem, what are you doing with that knife?”

The boy looked down at his hand and then pointed at Joe and Tanner.

“They look like trouble.”

“There will be trouble if I catch you with a knife again.”

“I’m sorry, Rev.”

“Alright then, but you and Randy go inside and eat breakfast, school starts in an hour.”

Hakeem hung his head.

“My moms is drunk again, Rev.”

“Go down to the soup kitchen and tell Kelli I sent you, she’ll feed you boys,” Conti said, and then he looked at Joe and Tanner. “And let her know that I might be late.”

Hakeem handed Conti the knife and the big man broke the cheap blade in two and tossed the pieces down the sewer drain.

“Could we take this back to my apartment? Boys like those two don’t need to see more violence.”

“We’re just talking,” Joe said. “We want to know what the con is.”

Carlo Conti laughed, and the booming sound of it filled the air.

“There’s no con, friend. The Carlo Conti they sent you to kill is gone. He died the day he killed Theresa Silva.”

Joe cocked his head.

“That’s the woman you murdered, Tony Silva’s wife.”

“Before she married Tony Silva, she was Teresa Bondi, and Teresa Bondi was the only woman I ever loved.”

“I don’t get it,” Joe said.

“Teresa and I grew up in the same neighborhood and she was my girlfriend, but, she came to despise my violent streak and she refused to marry me. That only made me meaner, although I never stopped loving her.”

“Then why did you kill her?” Tanner asked.

Conti looked skyward, as tears filled his eyes.

“I was all coked up and full of hate that day. Tony Silva wasn’t even a hood, he was a jeweler, but the rumor was that he kept cash in the house. I broke in there and fired at the bed without even looking at them, and when... when I, oh God, Teresa. I didn’t even notice that it was Teresa, not until I had filled my pockets with money and jewelry from a lock box Silva kept atop his dresser. I killed her, I killed the only person I ever loved and as God is my witness, it drove me mad.”

“Is that what you call this Father Flanagan act, madness?” Joe said.

Conti wiped the tears from his eyes.

“Think what you want, but it’s no act.”

A young black woman called out Conti’s name from across the street and waved with a smile. She then crossed over with her two little girls, and the kids ran to Conti. When the big man bent over, the little girls each kissed him on the cheek.

“Good morning, Reverend; I wish I could stop and talk, but I have to drop these two off at daycare and then get to work.”

“I understand, Gloria, but stop by the shelter sometime soon.”

“I’ll do that, goodbye.”

After the woman moved on with her children, Conti continued his story.

“I crawled into a bottle and lived like a bum on the streets of Philly for five years before coming down here, and that’s when I met a man who changed my life. He got me help, sobered me up, and he told me that I could change, that I didn’t have to stay who I was, that I could help others, and that I could be forgiven any sin.”

“I guess he never met Sam Giacconi, because Sam is not the forgiving type.”

Conti smiled.

“You can’t scare me, so don’t even try. If it’s my time, so be it.”

After saying that, Conti walked off towards the clinic.

Joe stared at Tanner.

“What the hell do you make of that?”

“I think he’s for real.”

“He’s still Carlo Conti, and Sam sent us here to kill him.”

“No, Joe. Sam sent you here to kill Conti. He sent me here to back you up, and I will, no matter what call you make.”

Joe hung his head.

“There’s only one call, Tanner. I do what Sam asks me to do.”

“He asked you to kill an animal, a son of a bitch, and that’s not Conti, not anymore.”

“We’ll watch him and see if he runs.”

“And if he doesn’t?”

Joe grimaced and started walking.

“The car is back this way.”

Tanner followed without a word, and waited to see what Pullo would do.

CHAPTER 30 – The man himself

“You’re Myers, hmm? I thought you’d be bigger.”

“I hear that a lot,” Tanner said.

Calabrese, who was really Bobby Volks, was a large man dressed all in leather. He wore a full beard that showed hints of gray, and his brown hair was as long as Sammy’s raven hair, but it looked greasy and uncombed. When his flinty eyes left Tanner, he stared over at Sammy and spoke to him with his gravelly voice.

“Who are you?”

“You can call me Sammy.”

“Well, Sammy, why don’t you run along, kid?”

“Why don’t you make me?”

Tanner shot Sammy a warning look. This was neither the time nor place to kill Volks, and provoking him might make him aggressive.

Volks laughed at Sammy.

“I remember being your age. I thought I could kick anybody’s ass, but I couldn’t, kid, and neither can you.”

“Why are you here?” Tanner said.

“Let me introduce myself, I’m Johnny Calabrese. I’m always looking for good men, and anybody who could take on two of my guys and not get a scratch is a good man.”

“The two at the restaurant this morning were trying to get by on ugly. It works with most people, but not with me.”

“Goddamn if I don’t like you, Myers, and with those clean good looks you can go places my other guys can’t. I’ll pay you two grand a week, what do you say?”

“Why don’t I come out to that bar of yours and talk? It’s somewhat public here, you know?”

“I hear you, come by at ten.”

“Sammy comes too.”

“Is he old enough to drink?”

“Does it matter?”

“Not at my place, hell, we had these two high school girls there last week, and you should see the things they’ll do with the right incentive.”

“Such as free meth?”

Volks grinned.

“We’re getting ahead of ourselves; we’ll talk business tonight.”

Volks jammed his helmet on his hairy head, revved up his bike, and peeled away.

Sammy spit on the ground.

“If I had my gun I would have killed him.”

“And then you would be sitting in a jail cell. We do this smart or not at all. Do you understand me?”

“I get you, but I don’t like it.”

“You will, because in the end, Volks dies.”

Susan came running out of the house.

“Was that Calabrese?”

“Yeah, and he invited Jack and me to his bar.”

“What? You’re not going are you?”

“I’m going, and I’ll be fine.”

Susan looked back and forth at Tanner and Sammy.

“Could you two stop playacting for a moment and at least tell me your real names?”

Sammy stared at Tanner with a surprised expression.

“You told her that we were working together?”

“I didn’t have to; Susan is smart. My name is Tanner, he’s Sammy.”

Susan studied Tanner.

“Yes, that name fits you better, and there’s no first name either, is there?”

“He’s like Cher or Madonna,” Sammy said.

Susan kissed Tanner on the cheek and then turned to go inside.

“I have to get back to my food, and I’ll keep your secret.”

They watched her go, and then Tanner asked Sammy about Amy.

“What about her? There’s nothing going on between us if that’s what you’re asking? I wouldn’t cheat on Sophia.”

“Relax, that’s not what I meant. But I do want you to talk to Amy and find out more about the meth business, particularly about how difficult it’s been to discover how Calabrese is transporting it. I got the impression that the cops think it’s the bikers.”

“They do; it’s why she was so rough on me when she pulled me over, but every time they check one of them, they’re clean. Amy said that before meth hit the streets, their biggest problem was home-grown pot.”

Tanner stared at Sammy.

“Tonight is just reconnaissance. I want to see the inside of that bar. Susan said that Volks lives there, and maybe that’s where we’ll kill him.”

“What if it’s a trap and he just wants payback for what you did to his guys?”

“I’ll change his mind.”

“You’re a cocky bastard, Tanner.”

“Yes, I hear that a lot too.”

***

As they ate dinner, Tanner asked Amy about Calabrese.

“Understand something, the man has been charged with no crimes and everything I tell you is just hearsay and guesswork.”

“I’m not a judge and this isn’t a courtroom; I just want to get a better sense of the man.”

“Why?” Amy said.

Susan answered her.

“Tom’s a researcher, and I guess it just makes him naturally nosey.”

“Oh, but you might not want to stick your nose into Calabrese’s business. It’s not healthy.”

“He’s hurt someone?”

“Nothing we can prove, but before Calabrese came to town the local thugs were three brothers named Dobbs. They ran the pot trade, some cocaine maybe, and definitely some girls. Allegedly, Calabrese tried to buy his way in and was refused, and no one has seen the Dobbs brothers since, and now we think that Calabrese is running things.”

“Tell them about Kevin Ryan, Amy,” Susan said.

“Kevin Ryan was a town council member and a part-time preacher. He was determined to run Calabrese and his bikers out of town and he would badmouth them to everyone. One day after church, Mr. Ryan just disappeared.”

“Like the Dobbs brothers disappeared?” Sammy said.

“There have been others too; it seems that Calabrese doesn’t like to be criticized,” Susan said.

“What about Garrett Bates?” Tanner asked. “He seems to be going after Calabrese in that paper of his.”

Amy lit up in a smile.

“He’s a brave man, Mr. Bates is, and the chief has asked all of us deputies to watch out for him.”

“I see,” Tanner said.

***

When it was time for him to visit Calabrese, Susan kissed Tanner goodbye.

“Try not to acquire any new scars, okay?”

“Don’t wait up; I don’t know how long this might take.”

“I won’t be able to sleep until you get back, and you’ll find me in your bed.”

“Talk about in-room amenities.”

Susan laughed, and then grew serious.

“Be safe, Tanner.”

“Count on it.”

As they were driving away, Sammy made an observation.

“Susan really likes you, and she’s a good woman.”

“That she is,” Tanner said, and they went off to see Bobby Volks.

CHAPTER 31 – The offer of a lifetime

After eating a late dinner, Savannah brought out a Twister mat, and she, Earl, Hanna, and Merle played the game until they collapsed atop each other in a pile, while laughing.

The two couples then sat around talking, and the girls asked about New York. When they learned that Merle and Earl had driven for Johnny Rossetti, they seemed impressed.

“He was famous,” Hanna said. “I remember hearing about him.”

Earl sniffled.

“I liked him a lot. He let us both drive him around even though he only needed one chauffeur.”

“And you say your sister is marryin’ this other fella, Joe?”

“Yeah, and he’s not as nice as Johnny was, but he treats Laurel Lee like a queen and that’s all that matters,” Merle said.

“Hanna and me went to New York about five years ago, and Lordy was it ever a busy place. I couldn’t live there, not for always. I like farm life better.”

“Merle,” Hanna said. “Why did you and Earl leave here?”

“We were gonna get rich, but instead, we just drifted around.”

“You could stay here, for awhile at least.”

Merle looked over at his brother.

“What do you think, Earl?”

Earl reached over and took Savannah’s hand.

“I can’t think of anywhere else I’d rather be.”

Hanna smiled.

“Alrighty then,”

The sound of a car came from outside, and they all rose and looked out the window. It was the chief of police; he was dressed in civilian clothes and was stepping out of a blue SUV. There was a man with him; the man wore a suit and carried a laptop case.

They strolled out onto the porch and Hanna greeted the men.

“Hey there, Chief, is somethin’ up?”

The chief smiled and gestured at the other man, who was trim, with a scalp going bald in the middle.

“Hi folks, sorry to call so late, but it’s good news. This here is Mr. Wilson, and he represents some people that would like to buy the farm from you.”

“Buy it? How much?” Merle said.

Mr. Wilson mentioned a number that made the Carter brothers and Cole sisters gape at him in surprise.

“That’s a lot of money,” Savannah said.

“The people I represent are looking to build new housing and a shopping center, and this is a good area for the project.”

Hanna shook her head.

“Some folks tried that last year. They bought up that swampland to the north and took to drainin’ it, but it cost more than they thought, and by the time they got the swamp drained, they wound up goin’ broke.”

Wilson smiled.

“I’m well aware of that, because I acquired that land for a song after they did all the work. They quit too early because they ran out of financial backing, but a little more effort will make that parcel viable. If we add your farm to it, we’ll be able to proceed right away.”

Wilson walked up the steps and handed out cards with the amount he was willing to pay written on the back.

“Think about it for a day or two and then let me know.”

Hanna took a card and smiled at Wilson.

“Would you like to come inside and have some ice tea or coffee?”

“No ma’am, but thank you. I’ve taken enough of your time.”

They all said goodnight to Wilson and the chief, and then stood looking at each other.

“Merle, are you gonna sell?” Hanna asked.

“I don’t know, but if we did, we could give you back all the money you lost and still have a bundle.”

“But then we’d have no farm and no place to live,” Savannah said.

Merle looked at his brother.

“What do you think?”

“I think we should sleep on it, and besides, we gotta call Laurel Lee and ask her about it too.”

“Yeah,” Merle said.

Hanna looked sad as she opened the screen door, but then she looked back at Merle.

“You would really give us our money back?”

“Sure, it be fair with all the work you did here.”

Hanna let the screen door shut and went to Merle.

“You’re a good man, do you know that?”

Merle thought about it a second and said, “No.”

Hanna laughed as she took Merle’s hand.

“No more sleeping in the RV for you.”

Merle sent her a silly grin, and then he followed her inside, as Earl walked along with Savannah.

CHAPTER 32 - ...Nor iron bars a cage

A biker roughly the size of a refrigerator greeted Tanner and Sammy as they walked into The Iron Horse bar, and Calabrese called over and told the man to let them pass.

Both Tanner and Sammy were armed, but then, so were the bikers.

The interior of the bar was better lit than Tanner would have guessed. There were a dozen or more fluorescent light fixtures hanging from the ceiling of the A-frame building, which had once been a carpet warehouse. Windows lined the walls on each side, but they were high up off the floor, and several showed cracks, while the bar itself smelled of spilt beer and sour sweat.

There were several women in the bar. They were all wearing short skirts and plunging necklines, and one particular beauty with a front tooth missing flicked her tongue at Sammy as they walked by.

“I think she likes you.”

“I’m taken,” Sammy told Tanner, and then winced.

Tanner ignored the remark, knowing that Sammy meant no harm by it, and then he concentrated on filing away details about the bar’s interior.

Calabrese left his barstool and gestured for them to follow him, as he headed towards the rear of the rectangular building with two of his biggest men flanking him.

The floor of the old building creaked beneath their feet with each step, however, the creaking was felt and not heard, as the jukebox blasted country music, and raucous voices echoed off the walls.

As they walked down a short hallway, Tanner saw a windowless room with a brass bed in it. There was a blonde girl lying on the bed. She was topless, even younger than Sammy, and when Tanner looked into her blue eyes, he saw that she was high on something.

“That’s Sissy; if you want a piece I can arrange it.”

“I’ll pass,” Tanner said.

At the end of the hall was a door. There were crates full of empty bottles piled in front of it, which blocked the exit, and Calabrese turned right just before reaching it, and entered an office.

There was an old wooden desk and a green metal filing cabinet, while a bare incandescent bulb hung from the ceiling, and bars were bolted across the room’s lone window.

Calabrese, who was really Bobby Volks, sat in the chair behind the desk, as his two soldiers took positions in front of the window and leaned back against the bars.

Tanner stood to the left of the desk and gestured for Sammy to stand to the right of it. Sammy was perplexed by Tanner’s request, but complied.

Volks smiled up at them.

“No offense, but lift your shirts and turn around so I can see if you’re wired.”

They both complied, and Volks took note of the puckered wound on Tanner’s chest.

“Somebody came close to putting you down, didn’t they?”

“Close doesn’t count.”

“True, now here’s the deal, two grand a week and you help me get rid of the competition. There’s a group the next town over that’s proving to be difficult. Real hillbillies, like a clan, and even their damn women and kids know how to shoot.”

“They sell meth?”

“They grow and sell pot, and they must be doing two million a year easy. I don’t know what they spend the money on, but it’s not dental work, I can tell you that.”

“I’ll pass, and two grand a week is chump change.”

Volks spread his arms wide.

“Name a number.”

“A hundred percent, you see, I’d rather take you down and run my own meth through here.”

Volks pounded the desk with a fist, and Tanner was pleased to see that Sammy didn’t flinch.

“Who are you working for, Myers?”

“You’ll find out when the time comes.”

Volks smiled.

“Or maybe I’ll find out when they send the next guy... after I kill you.”

Tanner tossed his head towards the two leaning back against the bars.

“By the time those two clear their weapons I’ll kill them, and if you reach for the shotgun bolted beneath the desk I’ll feed it to you.”

Volks cursed and pointed at the desktop, where the tops of two bolts were visible.

“It is sloppy work, isn’t it? But you’re the first one to spot the bolts.”

Sammy nodded. He hadn’t noticed them, and if not for Tanner, he’d be standing directly in front of the gun.

Tanner tossed a thumb back at the doorway.

“What’s the deal? You have a signal to let the men in the bar know that we can leave?”

Volks grinned.

“God damn I wished you worked for me.”

One of the men leaning at the window straightened up, and both Sammy and Tanner drew their guns.

“Don’t try it, and Calabrese, why don’t you stand up. Sammy, get their guns and then check the hall.”

Sammy collected the weapons, ducked low, and peered around the doorframe with one eye.

“It’s clear.”

“It’s also the only way out of here,” Volks said. “If you try moving those crates away from the back door someone will spot you.”

Sammy whispered to Tanner.

“Why don’t I kill him now?”

“Too many witnesses,” Tanner whispered back.

“You have a plan to get out of here?”

“We’re leaving by the window.”

“What about the bars?”

“Calabrese,” Tanner said in a normal voice. ‘Tell your gorillas to tear those bars off the window.”

“They’re bolted into the wall.”

Tanner grinned.

“If those bars aren’t off in one minute I start shooting.”

“You’re bluffing. That would bring the others running back here.”

Tanner walked around the desk and placed his gun beneath Volks’ chin.

“Look in my eyes and tell me again that I’m bluffing.”

Several seconds passed, and then Volks spoke to his men.

“Jake, Ronny, tear those damn bars off the window.”

“One side at a time,” Tanner said. “It’ll go easier.”

The bikers did as they were told and the bars came off the window with much grunting and straining, and while they were doing that, Tanner and Volks stared at each other without blinking.

Once the window was opened, Sammy climbed out, followed by the bikers, then Volks, and Tanner.

They walked together towards the front and found the parking lot empty. Everyone was inside waiting to hear the blast of the shotgun beneath the desk, or to see the emergence of the group from the office.

Once they reached Tanner’s rental, he put his gun away and spoke to Volks.

“Thanks for the hospitality.”

“This is my territory and I won’t give it up without a fight.”

Sammy started the car and sped away as if he were being chased by demons.

“What if they follow us?”

“It’s too public for him; he likes to make people disappear like magic, but keep an eye out anyway.”

“So what’s our next move?”

“Tomorrow night we rob their meth shipment.”

“What? How?”

“By playing a hunch, and if I’m right, we’ll have Volks right where we want him.”

“And then he’ll be the one that disappears?”

“By your hand, are you up to it?”

Sammy turned his head and Tanner saw the murder in his eyes.

“Good man.”

CHAPTER 33 – One call does it all

In Manhattan, Krupin looked out at the lights of the city from a penthouse suite, which was rented by Juan Alvarado under an alias.

Alvarado was on the phone with his father, and although Krupin didn’t speak Spanish, he had heard his name mentioned twice.

When the call ended, Juan Alvarado joined him on the balcony.

“The specialists were delayed, but they will be arriving soon, and then your troubles will be over.”

“These specialists, they’re going to kill Pullo and Tanner?”

“No, Tanner only, Pullo will be handled by more traditional methods.”

“Such as?”

Alvarado smiled.

“We’re going to shoot him down like a dog in the street.”

“I wish I could be there. I don’t know how the hell he survived that fire.”

“Before the call came through, you were telling me about a federal agent.”

“His name is Ivanov, and my people tell me that he and his partner discovered that I went to Mexico. If that’s true, they might also know that you’re here.”

Juan smiled.

“Many people were given money so that your government won’t know I’m here, and yet, leaks still happen, so perhaps we can pay this FBI man of yours to go away.”

“He’s not the type, he likes to bust balls, and I was thinking about another option. His partner is young and beautiful, maybe we could frame him for her murder, you know, make it look like a lover’s quarrel.”

“Are they lovers?”

“I have no idea, but an older man, younger woman, people would buy it. And I would love to see him put in his place.”

Juan patted Krupin on the shoulder.

“I like you, Michael; you’re a man who knows how to hate creatively. Perhaps we’ll visit that plan someday, but for now, let’s concentrate on Pullo and Tanner.”

“Okay, but man I hate that Fed.”

They sat and looked out at the skyline as they drank. When Juan stared at Krupin, the Russian felt the weight of the Mexican’s gaze.

“Why are you staring?”

“My father is taking a risk in backing you, you do understand that, correct?”

“I understand that he’ll be getting fifty percent for his trouble.”

“The money is nothing compared to the risk. He’s doing this behind the backs of the other cartels. If we fail here, this will give our enemies ammunition against us, but if we succeed, then we’ll be able to dictate terms for future American cities.”

“I thought you were already in America. I know you guys are supplying drugs everywhere.”

“True, but it’s... what’s the word, underground? By backing you openly we’ll be sending up a flag.”

“New York City is worth the risk. Controlling the ports alone is worth billions over the long haul.”

“Yes, and you and I, we are both young men, and it’s the young men who usher in new ages. Once we have a strong grip on New York, then we move across the sea to Europe and make alliances there, and after that, Asia.”

Krupin grinned.

“You’re ambitious, that’s good, so am I, and I never thought that Pullo would be so hard to kill.”

Juan waved a dismissive hand.

“He will die soon enough. Pullo isn’t old, but he’s not young either. It’s time for him to go.”

“I’m more worried about Tanner.”

“That one intrigues my father, and I know that he would like to own him, but since you say that he and Pullo are friends, it would be too dangerous to keep him around.”

“You have to kill him, and I don’t know who these specialists are that you have coming here, but they better not fail.”

“They never have, and in the end, no matter how highly skilled he may be, Tanner is just a man, and a man can be killed. But now enough talk of men, why don’t you order up some women? After all, this is your city.”

Krupin grinned.

“I just have to make a call, any preference?”

“Blonde, I love natural blondes, my friend.”

“I’ll get two for you,” Krupin said, and wondered how friendly the man would be if he knew he had slept with his mother.

CHAPTER 34 – A very bad man

Tanner decided that it would be a good idea to keep watch, and so he and Sammy took turns.

Tanner had taken the first shift, and after Sammy came down to relieve him at three a.m., he went up, took a quick shower, and crawled into bed beside Susan.

“Oohh, you’re cold.”

“Sorry,” Tanner said. “And I was trying not to wake you.”

Susan took him in her arms.

“Come here and let me warm you up.”

Tanner felt the softness of her curves against him, and he reached up and caressed her face.

“That might do more than warm me up.”

Susan smiled.

“That’s the plan.”

They made love, and when it was over, Susan lay back in his arms.

“I know this won’t last, and that you’ll be leaving, but I want you to know that it’s more than just sex to me. I’m too old for just sex; I need a little feeling behind it.”

“It’s more than purely physical for me too, although, I have nothing against that either.”

Susan laughed.

“You are an honest man, Tanner; I’ll say that for you.”

***

Susan had breakfast on the table when Tanner asked about Amy.

“Oh, she spent the night at her boyfriend’s place. I think I’ll be losing a guest soon, because that boy is going to pop the question any day now if I had to guess.”

“I’ll spend the day with you at the restaurant, but tonight, Sammy and I have to go out again.”

Susan sat down her coffee cup and looked at both of them.

“Will it be dangerous?”

“Only for Calabrese,” Tanner said.

Susan’s phone rang. When she looked at the caller ID, she saw that it was Amy calling.

She was smiling when she answered the phone, but as she listened, she became solemn, and tears formed in her eyes.

“Oh God, Amy, I feel so bad for her. Yes honey, I’ll see you later.”

When the call ended, Susan pushed her plate away and wiped at her tears.

“What’s wrong, Susan?” Tanner asked.

“A friend of mine, her son, Tyrone... he died last night after taking meth.”

“Did he overdose?” Sammy asked.

“Amy said that the doctors think he had an undiagnosed heart condition, but if he hadn’t taken the meth, it may have never bothered him.”

Susan stood.

“I’ve got to give Maggie a call. That’s Tyrone’s mother. Tanner, Tyrone was only sixteen, and I used to babysit him when he was a toddler. Oh God, what a waste, what a waste,”

Susan drifted out of the room and Tanner saw that Sammy had grown angry.

“I know we just came down here to kill Volks, but maybe we can destroy his drug pipeline too.”

“Yeah, but someone else will take Volks place a week later.”

“I know, and this is why my grandfather passed on the meth trade. He was all about giving people what they wanted, legal or not, but not that shit.”

“Your grandfather wasn’t good, but he was a good man.”

“How well did you know him, Tanner?”

“Not well, but it’s because of him that Joe and I are... close.”

“How so?”

“He sent us out on a job once, and we got to know each other.”

“This job, did you get it done?”

Tanner broke eye contact and looked off into space.

“Yeah, we did what your grandfather asked, and that’s when I knew that Joe wasn’t just another hood, and that he had a sense of honor.”

“Who died?” Sammy asked.

Tanner sighed.

“A very bad man,”

“Good, then the world was better off without him.”

Sammy went back to eating, but like Susan, Tanner found that his appetite had fled.

CHAPTER 35 – Soulless Joe

WILMINGTON, DELAWARE, TEN YEARS EARLIER

––––––––

They watched Conti all that day, waiting to see if he’d run, but the good reverend only traveled between the shelter and the soup kitchen, and appeared to be going about his regular duties.

Tanner and Joe also kept an eye out for any more retaliation because of what they’d done at the brothel, but it looked like no more trouble was coming from that direction.

Tanner had assumed that there wouldn’t be. The madam would have been reluctant to admit to the people above her that two unarmed men had taken over her house.

He and Joe had stolen no money, and so she didn’t have to come clean. Still, the madam or the men working for her wanted payback, and so they had to go.

And despite the hookers having seen their faces, the madam and her bodyguards were the only ones who could tie them to Conti. Now that they were gone, no one would know where to look for them.

Tanner saw that Joe was becoming increasingly agitated as the day went on and Conti didn’t budge.

When Conti emerged late in the evening and headed for home, they fell in beside him.

“Like I said earlier, guys, Do it at my apartment, that way the kids won’t see.”

“We’re just walking with you for now,” Joe said.

Conti chuckled.

“At least the shelter will be all right. I always knew that men like you would find me someday, and I took out a life insurance policy. After they find me, the shelter will have enough to keep running.”

“Shut up,” Joe said. “I’m tired of hearing about how good you are now. You’re still Carlo Conti and Carlo Conti is a scumbag.”

“We’re all sinners,” Conti said.

***

Conti’s apartment was on the third floor of an old house that had started its existence as a single-family home, but which had been converted into ten separate dwellings. Tanner and Joe followed Conti up a set of exterior back steps and into the tiny space.

It was one room with a bathroom the size of a closet, and other than a radio and a hot plate, Conti had few possessions.

“Monks live better than this,” Joe said.

Conti shrugged.

“I eat most of my meals at the soup kitchen, and TV is nothing but crap.”

Joe looked at Tanner.

“What the hell should I do here?”

“It’s your move, Joe. I’m backup, remember?”

Joe paced for a few seconds, and then spun and pointed at Conti, who was seated on a ratty couch.

“I’m going to spend the night thinking things over, but one of us will be watching at all times. If you try to run, we’ll make it hurt bad before we put you down.”

Conti shrugged again.

“You’ll do what you have to do. I know your type and you lost your soul a long time ago. This delay is just your way of easing what’s left of your conscience.”

Joe grunted and headed for the door.

“I’ll leave that door unlocked for you,” Conti called out.

***

When they reached the bottom of the stairs, Tanner asked Joe if he wanted him to take the first watch.

“We’re not watching him. I just said that. You saw him, he won’t run, and the bastard is almost looking forward to it.”

“Why are you so angry?”

“Because this was supposed to be simple, Tanner, we were to find Carlo Conti and kill him. Now, instead of Conti, we’ve found a damn saint. C’mon, I’m going back to the motel to think.”

***

They were two blocks from the motel when Tanner shouted for Joe to pull the car to the curb.

When they were parked, Tanner opened his door.

“I think I saw someone lying back there in the bushes.”

Joe followed, and soon they were standing over the kid they had seen coming out of the motel room with Hellman. The boy was badly beaten and barely conscious, and when he moved, he grabbed his ribs, as if they were broken.

Tanner bent down and spoke to him.

“Hey kid, who did this to you?”

“Some guy I don’t know, but I think he was paid by Mr. Hellman. Hellman got real pissed when I asked him about Candy.”

Joe ran towards the payphone on the corner.

“I’ll call for an ambulance.”

“Who’s Candy?”

“She’s a friend, and a black hooker,” the kid said, but the words were slurred, and it appeared painful to talk.

“This girl Candy went missing?”

“Yeah, I can’t find her anywhere.”

Joe came back, and he and Tanner waited until they heard the ambulance approaching.

“Help is coming, kid, but we’ve got to go,” Tanner said.

“Wait, there’s one more thing.”

Tanner bent down to listen, and what he heard gave him a very bad feeling.

CHAPTER 36 – Money or love?

Merle and Earl sat on a porch swing together as they each stared down at one of the cards Mr. Wilson had left them.

“This is a whole mess of money, Merle.”

“That it is, even after we give Hanna and Savannah their share, it’d still be a lot.”

“And farmin’ is hard work.”

“Yep,”

“If we did sell, do you think the girls would come back with us to New York?”

“No. You heard them last night. They don’t like it there.”

“Yeah, but I don’t wanna lose Savannah. She’s pretty as can be and she likes me. When’s the last time that happened?”

Merle gave it some thought.

“Back in third grade, the Harper twins, Sissy Harper liked you.”

“I don’t want Sissy Harper. I want Savannah.”

“I want Hanna.”

The boys looked at each other and tossed the cards away.

***

Inside the house, Hanna and Savannah sat at the kitchen table and talked about the offer.

“You think they’ll take it?” Savannah asked.

“That’s a lot of money, and it’s sure nice of them to pay us back for what we lost.”

“We’d still never find a place like this again.”

“No.”

“If they sell, do you think they’ll go back to New York?”

“Probably, and that Rossetti they worked for, he owned a titty bar, and you can just bet that those two had women crawlin’ all over them night and day.”

“I don’t care what Earl used to do. He’s nice to me and I’m fallin’ for him.”

“If they go back to New York we could go with them.”

“I don’t wanna live in New York, Hanna.”

“Yeah, but you might have to if you wanna keep Earl.”

Savannah picked up one of Mr. Wilson’s cards and tore it in half.

“Stupid shoppin’ center, and I miss the swamp too.”

***

In Tennessee, Sammy was following Garrett Bates’ van while driving Tanner’s rental.

If Tanner’s hunch was right, the newspaperman was involved with Volks.

Sammy followed Bates to a small warehouse just outside Brentwood, which housed a commercial printer.

He couldn’t get close enough to see what was going on without being spotted, but assumed that Bates was picking up the newest addition of his weekly newspaper.

From there, Bates drove to another warehouse in a less affluent area, where two men dressed like bikers opened a gate and let him drive inside the parking lot.

Sammy smiled.

It looked like Tanner was right, and if so, they would soon have Volks where they wanted him.

CHAPTER 37 – Paper, mister?

Tanner suggested to Susan that she and Amy go to the movies, just in case any of Calabrese’s bikers decided to pay the house a visit while he and Sammy were gone.

Amy agreed to meet Susan in town later, and with Sammy out following Bates around, that left Tanner and Susan alone.

They ate dinner and then made love, and as Susan lay facing him, she asked questions.

“You’re not the law, are you?”

“No.”

“You’re here to kill Calabrese?”

“Yes.”

“What’s his real name?”

“You’re better off not knowing, but the reason I’m here is personal. He killed Sammy’s father years ago when Sammy was just a boy.”

“Oh, that is personal.”

“I think this will all end tonight, and that means I’ll be leaving tomorrow.”

“Take me with you,” Susan said, and then she laughed and pointed at Tanner. “Oh, you should have seen your face. I was joking, Tanner. I’m not some lovesick schoolgirl, but you have left me with some good memories.”

Tanner guided her onto her back.

“Why don’t we make one more?”

Susan giggled.

“Good Lord but you recover quickly.”

“It’s all the clean living I do,” Tanner said.

***

Tanner followed Susan into town while riding Sammy’s motorcycle, and after watching her meet Amy in front of the movie theater, he rode three blocks south and met up with Sammy.

“He’s still in there, and he’s alone as far as I can tell.”

“Let’s do this.”

They left their vehicles, walked across the street, and down a driveway that ran alongside the newspaper office.

There was a wooden door at the rear of the building with a roll-up metal door at its left, and when Tanner tried them, he found that they both were locked.

He looked over at Sammy.

“Did you bring what I told you to bring?”

“Yeah, I bought it while Bates was stopped for lunch.”

Sammy reached behind his back and came out with a small crowbar.

“Once I pop this door, he might go for a weapon, so be ready.”

Sammy nodded, and this time he took out a gun.

Tanner looked about to see if anyone was watching, but there was fencing separating the building from the one behind it, while the bakery to its left and the bank to its right had both closed for the day and had empty parking lots.

Tanner jammed the tip of the crowbar between the door and its frame, just above the lock. After wedging it in as far as he could, he began working it back and forth slowly, which gave him more room to jam it deeper inside, and with a violent jerk, the door popped open.

It had made less noise than Tanner would have guessed, but it was still enough to alert Bates.

The newspaperman had been in the back of his panel van, and when he peeked his bald head out of the rear, he saw Tanner walking towards him with a gun.

“Don’t shoot me, Myers! I’m not armed.”

Sammy looked inside the van and saw dozens of plastic bags containing white crystalline powder. There were also stacks of newspapers, and an old cigar box full of red rubber bands.

On the left side of the van were several rolled up newspapers. When Tanner freed one from its rubber band, a baggie fell out.

Bates had been sitting on the floor of the van as he worked at concealing the baggies inside the newspapers, but had gotten on his hands and knees to look out the back.

He was shaking violently, and his eyes never left Tanner’s gun.

“Are you going to kill me?”

Tanner answered the man by slamming the gun across the side of his head and stunning him. He then held out his left hand, and Sammy handed him several zip ties.

Minutes later, Bates was bound up in the rear of the van with Tanner driving, as Sammy followed behind on the motorcycle.

CHAPTER 38 – The dance of joy

Merle and Earl had dinner with the girls, but none of them seemed very hungry.

After playing cards for a while, they went out and sat on the porch swings, but Earl sat with Merle, while Savannah settled beside her sister.

“Merle?”

“Yeah, Hanna?”

“When you sell the farm, Savannah and I wanna go to New York with you.”

“You do?”

“Yeah, I mean, if you want us to come along.”

Earl leaned forward and looked past his brother.

“I guess you’d rather have the money than the farm, hmm?”

Savannah leaned forward too, as she looked past Hanna.

“I don’t want the damn money. I wanna be with you, dope.”

Earl smiled and stood up.

“Well, what about the farm?”

“I love the farm, but if you’re goin’ back to New York, well then, I’ll go with you.”

Hanna walked over and sat beside Merle.

“Would you stay here? I know it ain’t New York City and that I’m not some fancy stripper, but I think we could do alright together, don’t you?”

Merle smiled at Hanna while speaking to Earl.

“We’re stayin’ little brother; the Carter boys are back home to stay.”

Earl let out a whoop of joy, and Savannah flew into his arms.

***

In New York, Joe was at Laurel’s townhouse and playing cards with three of his men, Mike, Bosco, and Big Ralphy, and he suspected that they were letting him win.

It didn’t surprise him. He remembered doing the same with Sam Giacconi. Still, it took the thrill out of the game and so he folded his cards.

When the phone rang, Joe wondered who was calling, but he didn’t think much of it, and Laurel answered the call in the kitchen.

When she appeared in the doorway a few minutes later, he could tell that something had saddened her.

“What’s up, baby?”

“That was Merle and Earl. They’ve decided to stay in Arkansas, but they said that they would be back for the wedding.”

“I guess they were homesick.”

“Yes, but I’ll still miss them, and I also want to meet these two women they keep talking about.”

As Laurel went upstairs, Joe contained his glee at the news until he was certain she was out of sight, and then he let it out.

Big Ralphy looked at Joe in amazement.

“Wow, boss, I’ve known you for years and that’s the first time I’ve ever seen you dance.”

CHAPTER 39 – Hunting at night

Tanner pulled the van to a stop on the side of a dirt road, before climbing into the rear of the vehicle, where he knelt beside Garrett Bates.

When Sammy pulled up on the bike, Tanner switched the dome light off before leaning over and opening the rear doors.

Bates was looking up at Tanner with eyes white with fear, and a sheen of sweat coated the man’s bald head.

“Where and when do you meet Calabrese?”

“What?”

“He must talk to you in person sometime.”

“Oh, yeah, there’s a farm, an old deserted farm out on County Road West, but he doesn’t come alone.”

“How many guys does he have with him?”

“Two, and they’re all armed, but listen, Myers, I’m cooperating, right? There’s no reason to kill me.”

Tanner whipped out a knife and cut Bates’ hands free.

“You’re driving us to this farm.”

“How did you know I was involved? Everyone thinks I hate Calabrese.”

“Yeah, and you’re still breathing, which made me wonder why he would put up with you and your paper. The cops would also never check your van because they trust you.”

“The two guys coming with Volks, I bet they’ll be the same two from the bar last night,” Sammy said.

“Who’s Volks?” Bates said.

“Nevermind, just take us to this farm, and when we get there, you’ll call Calabrese.”

“Are you going to kill me?”

“Not if you do as I say.”

“How can I trust you?”

“Bates, in about three seconds I’m going to smash you in the face if you don’t stop talking; you can trust that.”

Bates shut his mouth and Tanner freed his ankles from the zip ties.

***

Calabrese showed two hours later, and as Sammy thought he would, he had the same two bruisers from the night before with him.

Bates was leaning back against the van casually. The rear doors were open a crack, and Sammy lay flat on his stomach with a gun pressed against the base of Bates’ spine.

As they rode towards Bates, Calabrese and his men passed an old rusted Ford pickup on their left, which was sitting up on cinder blocks.

As the bikes rumbled by, Tanner sat up and then jumped out of the truck bed. He was running at full speed to catch up to the motorcycles, which began to slow as they neared the van.

One of the men must have caught sight of him in his mirror, because the bike swerved and then made to turn around. Tanner stopped running, dropped to one knee, and took aim at the dark shape of the rider’s helmet, with help from the gun’s laser sight.

The man was fumbling for a weapon beneath his jacket when the faceplate on the helmet shattered, and Tanner watched as the bike toppled over onto its side.

Knowing he’d been set-up, Calabrese fired at the van and struck Bates twice in the chest, then revved up his bike to flee. Sammy exploded from the rear of the van and rolled to the ground, and while lying on his stomach, he released several shots at Calabrese.

The shots missed Calabrese, but one of them wounded his other man. The man was hit in the back and it caused him to swerve.

When his front tire hit the rear of Calabrese’s bike, both men lost control and went tumbling, as their motorcycles skidded off into the weeds bordering the surrounding forest.

Sammy was ahead of Tanner’s position, and he made it to his feet and went after Calabrese. He was so intent on catching the man that he ignored the biker he had wounded, and ran right past him.

The biker pulled himself up to one elbow and took aim at Sammy with a long barreled revolver. Before the man could pull the trigger, Tanner shot him in the back twice.

“Sammy! Slow down!”

There was no answer.

They had talked about this while waiting for Calabrese to show. Tanner had warned Sammy about the dangers of running into the woods at night, telling him that Calabrese could easily lay in wait or circle back.

The light was bad as well, for although there was moonlight, clouds filled the sky and could render the forest pitch black without notice.

Tanner cursed, grabbed the dead man’s fallen revolver, and went running into the shadows of the trees.

CHAPTER 40 – Personal business

Sammy knew that he was being stupid, but he couldn’t imagine letting Volks just slip away.

He had been fourteen when Volks killed his father, Joseph Giacconi, and he still remembered the anguished look on his grandfather’s face when he told him of his father’s death.

From that day on, his grandfather tried to protect him and keep him out of the life, but he knew where he belonged even while he was in college, and it was the main reason he had returned to New York.

Sophia’s face flashed across his consciousness and he smiled.

She had been a surprise.

He hadn’t been in love since he had a crush on a girl in high school, and figured that he would never fall that hard again, but after one look at Sophia Verona, he knew he couldn’t forget her.

“I have to make it back to her,” he whispered to himself, and a second later, he heard the crunch of leaves to his right.

Sammy dropped and rolled behind a tree, just as three rounds passed through the space where his chest had been an instant before.

***

Tanner saw the muzzle flashes coming from up ahead and to his left.

When there was no accompanying cry of pain, he knew that the shots either had been fatal or had missed. What he didn’t know was who had fired them, but suspected it was Calabrese given the gun’s sound, and he hoped that Sammy had the presence of mind to turn off the laser sight on his weapon.

Tanner moved as soundlessly as possible through the trees and heard someone approaching.

Calabrese, who was Bobby Volks, was tall and outweighed Sammy by a good fifty pounds. Tanner waited for whoever was coming to get closer. If he could see their silhouette, he’d know who it was.

When the lumbering shape came towards him, he knew it was Volks. He raised his gun to fire, but then thought of Sammy.

The kid needed to put Volks down.

Tanner hid behind a tree and waited.

Volks appeared seconds later holding a gun in his right hand while he fumbled with a phone in his left. He was about to call in reinforcements, but he’d never get the chance.

As Volks passed him, Tanner smashed the revolver he’d taken off the dead man against the back of Volks’ head.

The big man tumbled to the ground, and Tanner rushed over and snatched his weapon away, before crushing the phone with the heel of his boot.

Volks looked up at him with dazed eyes, but had stayed conscious, as Tanner hoped he would.

Sounds came from behind them, and Tanner realized that Sammy was growing nearer. He emptied the remaining rounds from Volks’ gun into his hand, just as the man stood up on unsteady legs.

Tanner sat on the ground and tossed the empty gun back to Volks.

“Catch.”

Volks, still dazed, nearly dropped the weapon, but he managed not to lose it, and was holding it in his right hand when Sammy came into view.

“Volks!”

Hearing Sammy call him by his old name shocked Calabrese to full alertness, and he tensed up.

Sammy fired twice, both shots hitting Volks, one in his right shoulder, while the other hit him in the side.

Volks dropped to his knees as the gun fell from his hand, and Sammy walked over and placed his weapon against Volks’ forehead.

“Tanner, were you hit?”

“No, but you’ve got good timing. He was just about to shoot me.”

Sammy pressed the gun hard against Volks.

“Bohdan Volkov, my name is Sammy Giacconi, and I’m Joe Giacconi’s son.”

Volks seemed to shrink in on himself.

“We were at war, kid. It wasn’t personal.”

“This is,” Sammy said, and he pulled the trigger.

The rear of Volks’ head exploded in a spray of gore as the body tumbled backwards.

Sammy stood there staring down at Volks, as his face wore a look of satisfaction.

“That was for you, Dad.”

A moment passed, and then Sammy turned away from the body. Tanner gave the corpse a final look and followed Sammy back to the farm.

They found Bates a dozen yards away from the van. He was dead; he had bled out from his wounds.

Sammy tossed his chin towards the interior of the van.

“What should we do with the meth?”

“Leave it. I’ll make an anonymous call to the cops.”

After righting one of the fallen bikes, Tanner got it started, but as he straddled it, Sammy motioned for him to cut the engine.

“Thank you, Tanner. I know that being around me was the last thing you wanted to do, because of Sophia and all, but I couldn’t have done this without you.”

“You did good, Sammy, and I know that Joe will be proud of you, and as far as Sophia, just take care of her, okay?”

“I love her, Tanner.”

Sammy climbed aboard his bike, and Bobby Volks became part of the past.

CHAPTER 41 – Death and deceit

WILMINGTON, DELAWARE, TEN YEARS EARLIER

––––––––

At 4:19 a.m., Tanner and Joe climbed the back stairs to Carlo Conti’s apartment.

As Tanner stayed back, Joe tried the doorknob, and as Conti had said it would be, it was unlocked.

Joe flicked his head around the doorframe and saw Conti sitting on his tattered sofa. He was dressed as he had been the day before and looked as if he had been awake all night. In his lap was an open bible.

Pullo motioned for Tanner to follow, and then he approached Conti.

Conti smiled up at him grimly.

“I see you’re a good soldier.”

Pullo looked unnerved by the words, but he did what he came there to do.

***

They returned to New York City before noon and were sitting in front of Sam Giacconi’s desk.

“If you’re back, that means you’ve found him,” Giacconi said.

“Yeah, we found him, Sam,” Joe said. “We found Conti. The bastard is dead.”

“Good work, and Tanner here backed you up?”

“Yeah, Tanner is all right, and I’d use him again.”

“Great. Now Joey, go see your mom, she called here looking for you.”

Joe stood and Tanner rose with him.

Sam Giacconi reached across the desk and shook Tanner’s hand.

“Thanks for helping my boy.”

“Anytime,” Tanner said.

The two of them left the funeral home and walked down the alley in the rear, where a hearse was parked. Across the street, a bell rang at a red brick factory and workers streamed from the building for their lunch break.

As a white Hummer drove by, Pullo followed the mammoth vehicle with his eyes, and there was a look of envy towards the driver.

“I’m going to get one of those someday.”

“You okay, Joe?”

“Yeah, Tanner, in the end, we all do what we have to do... still, I hated lying to Sam.”

***

The kid who had been beaten told Tanner and Joe about the missing black prostitute named Candy, but before they left him, he told them that Candy had two daughters.

Joe didn’t want to believe in Tanner’s theory, and thinking about it made him want to vomit.

“Child welfare must have them.”

“Maybe, but I’ve got to know one way or another.”

Joe stared at him for long seconds and then nodded.

“I’m with you.”

“We’ll go in around four, that’s when the guard at the door will be at his lowest point.”

“Yeah, but what if more guys show?”

“Then we go in sooner.”

“How do you want to do this?”

Tanner smiled.

“I have a plan.”

***

At 3:58 a.m., Joe staggered out of his motel room with a bottle in his hand, while mumbling to himself.

He immediately caught the attention of the man across the courtyard who was guarding Room 16. The man was white, tall, and lanky, and there was the bulge of a shoulder holster beneath his jacket.

The man sat up straighter in his chair as he cleared his throat, and Joe wondered if he might have been asleep.

Joe walked towards him while still staggering, coming at the man from his right.

“Go back in your room and sleep it off, dude,” the guard said.

Joe ignored him and drew closer.

The man had just taken his gun out to threaten Joe, when Tanner came up behind the guard and jammed an ice pick into the back of his neck.

The man fell to the walkway while twitching in his death throes, and Joe caught the gun before it could hit the ground. Tanner found the keys for the lock in the man’s jacket pocket and opened the door.

Pullo crossed himself for the first time in years as his eyes fell on the daughters of the prostitute named Candy.

The two girls were six and seven-years-old. Hellman had been pimping them out to pedophiles for nearly a week after murdering their mother and disposing of her body.

***

Conti was waiting for Joe to take out a gun and shoot him, when he spotted Tanner walking through the doorway. Tanner was carrying the two girls, whom he and Joe had rescued after wrapping them in blankets.

Hellman had kept the children naked and chained to a bed.

Conti stood. “What is this?”

Joe explained quickly and Conti looked as sickened by the tale as Joe felt.

“You’ll take care of them?” Tanner asked.

“Of course, but I don’t have a phone. Please call an ambulance for these children. They need to see a doctor.”

The two black girls sat on Conti’s couch in a near-catatonic state, and Tanner wondered if either of them would ever lead a normal life.

Joe placed a hand on Conti’s shoulder.

“We were never here, and as far as we’re concerned, Carlo Conti is dead.”

“Thank you, and please, make that call. These children need help.”

Tanner sent Conti a nod, took one last look at the girls, and left to call the ambulance.

***

Hellman arrived at the motel just after seven a.m.

When he saw that the bodyguard wasn’t at his post, he went to investigate, and that’s when he noticed that the door to Room 16 was sitting ajar.

As he stepped into the room, Hellman spotted the money that had been flung across the bed. It drew him in, as Tanner knew it would.

However, when he saw the feet of the bodyguard sticking out of the bathroom, Hellman inhaled sharply and peddled backwards.

That’s when Tanner and Joe entered and slammed the door shut.

Hellman spun around and tried the fake smile.

“Those girls earn a fortune; I’ll cut you both in.”

Tanner and Joe raised their weapons simultaneously and emptied them into Hellman.

They were in the car and out on the highway in seconds, headed back to New York City, and bonded by death and deceit.

***

“You didn’t lie to Giacconi. You told him we found Conti, and you told him that a bastard was dead, both of those things are true.”

Joe shook his head.

“I still lied, but I can live with it.”

“I’ll see you around, Joe.”

“Yeah, Tanner, keep in touch.”

The two men separated, not as friends, but no longer strangers.

CHAPTER 42 – Man of mystery

Tanner found Susan wide-awake and dressed in a robe. She was seated on her porch awaiting his return.

After a kiss of greeting, she looked at him questioningly, and he answered her with only two words.

“It’s done.”

Susan then reached out, took Sammy’s hand, and gave it a squeeze.

“How do you feel?”

Sammy looked startled by the question, and Susan’s empathy, but after letting out a sigh, he answered her.

“Better, I feel better.”

“Amy volunteered to cook breakfast tomorrow because it’s her day off, so she’ll be up early.”

“I wouldn’t count on her having the day off,” Tanner said.

Susan understood his meaning, and the three of them went inside.

***

Tanner explained to Susan what had happened without going into detail.

When he told her about Garrett Bates, she seemed surprised.

“He’s a—he was a town hero and was going to run for mayor next year. He was also Tyrone’s Boy Scout Troop Leader, and he actually helped to bring that poison into the county? It makes you wonder about everyone.”

“It was likely greed that drove him, and I’m sure he was paid well.”

“Did you kill him?”

“No. Calabrese killed him.”

“I never liked Garrett, that way, but I did like him as a friend, and I admired him too.”

“Then, I’m sorry you lost your friend.”

“Don’t be, and enough talk, it’s late and I want to go to bed.”

Tanner held her as they lay in bed facing each other.

“I’m going to miss you,” Susan said. “But right now I’m too damn tired to show you how much.”

“You can show me in the morning.”

Susan snuggled closer.

“You remind me of my husband. He was a man of action too, and even when he was home on leave, I could tell that he wanted to get back into battle.”

“And it left you a young widow.”

“Yes, but I wouldn’t trade my years with him for anything. Is that why you’ve never married? Are you afraid to leave behind a widow?”

“There is one woman I would have married, and now she’s marrying someone else.”

“You let her get away.”

“No. I ran from her. I didn’t like the way she made me feel.”

Susan sat up on one elbow and stared at Tanner.

“You were afraid of her because you were beginning to depend on her.”

Tanner ran his hand over his face.

“This is what I get for sleeping with a woman as wise as you. You read me too well. I also talk too much around you.”

Susan snuggled against him again.

“Yes, and it’s because I’m safe. After tomorrow, we’ll probably never see each other again, and truthfully, I don’t even know who you are.”

“You know more than most,” Tanner said, and then the two of them drifted off to sleep.

***

The next day, Tanner said goodbye to Susan as they stood by his rental.

Sammy had left early, after saying that there was something he wanted to do, and as Tanner had predicted, Amy was called in to help with the mess out at the abandoned farm.

Susan cupped Tanner’s face in her hands and kissed him one last time.

“Goodbye man of mystery, and you be careful.”

“I will, and who knows, maybe we’ll meet again someday.”

“Maybe,” Susan said, although they both knew how unlikely it was.

Tanner climbed in the car, said goodbye, and headed to the airport.

Susan had eased his ache at having lost Sophia, but as he drove along, he found himself longing for more time with both of them. That brought thoughts of several other women he’d known over the years, including Laurel.

When the melancholy threatened to swallow him, he did what he always did. He pushed it behind him into the past where it belonged.

The world was full of women such as Susan, Sophia, and Laurel.

At least, that’s what he told himself.

CHAPTER 43 – Sam the man

After Tanner returned his rental, he was beginning to wonder if Sammy was going to miss the flight, and that’s when he spotted him walking towards him.

Sammy had changed his look.

The long hair was gone, and Tanner could see the man’s resemblance to his late grandfather and namesake more clearly.

Sammy was also dressed in a dark suit, but like Tanner, he wore no tie.

He walked up to Tanner with a small smile playing at his lips.

“What do you think?”

“I don’t think anyone will call you kid anymore,” Tanner said.

“Yeah, it was time I grew up a little.”

After they had passed through security, Sammy asked Tanner what he had done with the weapons they used.

“I disassembled them, and then I tossed the pieces in a lake on my way to the airport.”

“I would like to have kept that gun as a souvenir, but I don’t think the airline would have appreciated me bringing it onboard the plane.”

“Yeah, they’re funny that way,” Tanner said.

A short time later, they were in the air, as Sammy headed back to Sophia, and Tanner simply headed back.

CHAPTER 44 - Chaos

Joe was smiling wide.

He had learned that Sammy had killed Bobby Volks, and was leaving to meet with Tanner at The Americana Sports Bar to get details about the hit.

He walked into the kitchen and found Laurel sipping on a cup of coffee while looking through a bridal magazine, as Big Ralphy sat to her left, eating a pizza.

“I won’t be long, baby, but please stay inside while I’m gone.”

Laurel stood and kissed him.

“Is it really necessary for me to stay home? I’d be just as safe at the clinic.”

“I don’t want to take a chance, and Big Ralphy will keep you safe.”

Big Ralphy had a mouthful of pizza, but he sent Joe a thumbs up sign.

***

Joe was leaving Laurel’s townhouse when one of his men, Mike, pointed towards two figures getting out of a car. Mike was a big man around forty, with wide shoulders.

Joe looked where Mike was pointing and saw Tamir Ivanov and Justina Moretti walking towards him. The two were smiling at each other while talking quietly.

“Those two are Feds, right, Boss?”

“Yeah, they’re Feds, Mike.”

The other man with Joe was named Bosco, he was as big as Mike, but younger, and he watched Justina intently as she walked towards them.

“Fed or not, that chick is hot.”

“That she is,” Joe said.

Mike and Bosco were two of three bodyguards. Bosco and Mike were always with Joe, while Big Ralphy stayed near Laurel at all times.

***

Inside the townhouse, Big Ralphy spoke to Laurel between inhaling slices of pizza.

“You want a large wedding, don’t you?”

Laurel nodded shyly.

“I do, and I know it’s silly since I was married once before, but it is something I’ve always dreamed of having.”

“Tell the boss. He’s crazy about you. I’m sure he’d spring for it.”

“I know he would. But he has a lot on his mind, and a large wedding would be a distraction he doesn’t need. A small wedding will do fine.”

“Doc Ivy, I’ve got five younger sisters and a ton of female cousins, so I know what girls are like. Talk to the boss. Joe will make it happen, and then you won’t always wish you had done it.”

Laurel grinned.

“I’ll think about it.”

The grin disappeared as she remembered something and stood up.

“I forgot to ask Joe to stop by the clinic and grab my laptop.”

Laurel hurried to catch up to Joe, and Big Ralphy raised a hand to tell her to wait for him. Laurel didn’t notice, and with his mouth full of pizza, Big Ralphy couldn’t call out.

***

“We need to talk, Pullo,” Ivanov said.

“What’s this about?” Joe said.

“It’s about your life,” Justina said. “The DEA caught wind of an assassination plot against you, and we’re not talking Krupin here. These are people that know what they’re doing.”

“We’ll talk inside,” Joe said.

“No, not inside,” Ivanov said. “We need to get you someplace safe.”

Joe was about to ask him what he meant, when the door opened and Laurel looked out at the gathering.

“What’s going on, Joe?”

“It’s okay, honey; they’re just here to talk.”

Justina headed up the stairs.

“Ms. Ivy? I’m Agent Moretti of the FBI, please come with us ma’am. We don’t believe it’s safe to be—”

Justina never finished her sentence, as a bullet struck her in the side and ruptured her heart.

It was the first shot fired by one of the four men who had just emerged from the underground parking garage on the opposite side of the street.

“Justina!” Ivanov cried out to his partner, and then watched as she tumbled down the stairs backwards as limp as a rag doll.

She landed at his feet face up, and he knew by her lifeless eyes that she was gone.

Two cars had been approaching the nearby intersection, and the lead driver slammed on his brakes, causing a collision. Then, the drivers of both vehicles abandoned them and ran for cover, joining the pedestrians who had already done the same while screaming in panic.

The first bullet was followed by dozens, and as Joe moved towards the stairs to get to Laurel, Mike tackled him to the ground.

“Down Boss!”

Joe hit the ground hard, looked up, and saw several bullets break windows and chip at the stone surrounding Laurel, who had frozen in place from fear.

Then Big Ralphy was there. He grabbed Laurel around the waist and turned with her, using his massive body to shield her, and as he did so, he was struck three times. Still, he managed to shove Laurel back inside the townhouse before collapsing in the doorway.

“Get off me!” Joe shouted, as he pushed Mike aside, and only then did he see the fatal wound.

Mike had been struck in the right temple by a ricochet off the stone steps, and the back of his head was gone.

Joe looked around and saw that Bosco was wounded in the left arm, but still able to fight, while Ivanov was on his knees and crying over his partner’s body.

The only thing that had saved the federal agent was the fact that he was aligned with the Hummer’s rear wheel well, and the shots couldn’t penetrate the steel.

Joe lunged over, pushed him to the ground, and slapped him hard across the face.

“Help me kill these bastards!”

Ivanov grunted and took out his gun, as tears still fell from his eyes.

The barrage of shots seemed unending because the shooters were pros. While two of them fired, the other two reloaded, and there seemed no end to their ammo.

Joe left the cover of the Hummer’s wheel well and crawled beneath the vehicle. It was a tight fit, as two of the tires were flat.

He could see the men, and what looked like a thousand shell casings were sprinkled at their feet. He took aim at those feet and fired, just as Ivanov crawled up beside him.

The first man fell to his knees as Ivanov shot a second man in the shin. The third man realized what was happening, turned, and ran, while the fourth man dropped flat while firing.

It did him no good, as Joe and Ivanov had kept up a barrage of their own, and they killed the three men where they fell.

Meanwhile, Bosco fired at the man who had fled and struck him in the right calf muscle, causing the man to stumble and fall.

After crawling out from under the car, Joe was horrified to see Laurel return outside, and he ran to her and met her on the steps.

“It’s not safe yet; get back in.”

“Are you all right, Joe?”

“I’m good, baby, and thank God for Big Ralphy.”

Laurel turned and stared at Big Ralphy.

“Oh my God,”

Joe had thought Big Ralphy dead, but the huge man was simply unconscious, and had just rolled onto his side. His face looked as purple as a plumb.

“He can’t breathe,” Laurel said. “He was eating when this all started and I think he’s choking on the food he had in his mouth.”

Laurel slammed her hand hard against Big Ralphy’s back to try to dislodge the obstruction, and her palm came away wet with blood from his wounds. With the big man unconscious and lying on his side, the Heimlich maneuver was out, and Big Ralphy was running out of time.

“Joe, hand me your knife, and I’ll also need a pen.”

“Laurel, you’re not safe out here.”

“Joe, he saved me, and I can save him, but I need your knife.”

Joe passed her his knife as he looked around for new threats. There were none, but Ivanov and Bosco had the surviving shooter up and hopping along on one leg.

“I need that pen, or some kind of tube,” Laurel said.

Joe didn’t have a pen, but Ivanov did, and he passed it over.

“A tracheotomy?” he asked Laurel.

“Yes,” Laurel said, as she took the pen apart. She then felt along Big Ralphy’s neck, near his Adam’s apple, as she searched for the cricothyroid membrane.

When she located it, she made a small incision with the knife, and then another into the membrane beneath it. With that done, she carefully inserted the empty casing of Ivanov’s pen, and then blew several short breaths into it.

When she felt air coming from the tube, she looked at Big Ralphy’s chest and saw it moving. He was breathing on his own.

Laurel laughed with relief.

“He’s getting air.”

Joe smiled at her.

“Good baby, but now go back inside.”

With Big Ralphy breathing and the emergency ended, Laurel looked about at the carnage scattered around Joe’s Hummer, which had more holes than a cheese grater.

Justina lay atop the sidewalk like a broken doll, where mere moments earlier, she was speaking to Laurel. Three of the shooters, all stout and swarthy men, were lying in the street dead, each with multiple wounds, while Mike was also dead, and Bosco winced from the wound in his left arm.

Laurel stepped towards Bosco to offer aid, but Joe took her by the shoulders.

“Baby, please go back inside; I’d die if anything happened to you.”

“I should help Bosco.”

Bosco sent her a smile.

“I’m good, Doc, just take cover.”

“See, he’s good,” Joe said.

Laurel wiped away tears.

“Come with me.”

“I’ll be right in, now please go.”

Laurel pointed down at Big Ralphy.

“That’s a temporary measure, he needs an ER, and he’s wounded besides.”

“There’s help coming, hear it?” Joe said, and Laurel smiled when she listened and heard the sirens in the distance.

After Laurel went back inside, Joe stared down at the surviving cartel hitman.

He spoke to the punk in Spanish, and saw him sneer.

“Your Spanish sucks, Pullo.”

“Good, you speak English.”

“Yeah, I should, I grew up in El Paso, and don’t think you’ve won. They’ll send more guys, and you don’t have Tanner to cover your ass anymore either.”

“What’s that mean?”

“It means he’s dead, cabrón. Your boy is dead.”

Joe grabbed the punk by his collar and the man winced from the pain in his leg.

“You’re lying!”

“Hey man, his ass got blown up in a house. Tanner is dead man, and you’re next.”

Joe fell back against the wall just as two police cruisers came into view. They were followed by an ambulance, and there were more flashing lights in the distance.

“Tanner can’t be dead, he—wait a second. What house are you talking about?”

“Out on Staten Island, where that slut of his lives,”

Joe reached up and grabbed the sides of his head with both hands.

“Oh God, you’re talking about Sammy and Sophia.”

The man pointed down at Justina’s body, as he had just noticed the badge on her belt.

“Oh shit, that one was a cop? Good for the bitch!”

Ivanov grabbed the man by the hair and tossed him down the stone steps. There was a loud cracking noise, and when the punk landed, he screamed in pain and held his broken left kneecap.

Ivanov spit at the thug and then looked over at Joe and Bosco.

“We didn’t see shit,” Joe said. He took out his phone and began dialing, as Ivanov lofted his credentials in the air and went to talk to the arriving cops.

There was no answer, by either Sammy or Sophia.

“His cab got lost. He never made it to the house. It was somebody else,” Joe said, as he tried to convince himself of a lie.

***

When Ivanov was able to confirm the punk’s story, Joe learned the truth.

“It happened while we were being attacked, Pullo. They’re still putting out the fire, but they say the house is gone. It’s why we wanted to move you, the cartel plays hardball.”

“Tell me where Krupin is.”

“You want to kill him?”

“You’re goddamn right,” Joe said.

Ivanov looked over to where a pair of workers from the coroners’ office were zipping Justina into a body bag.

“You’re going to have to get in line, Pullo. Krupin is mine.”

CHAPTER 45 – Strange bedfellows

Midnight on Staten Island

––––––––

Joe told his men to stay back as he walked over to the pile of rubble that had been the home of Sophia Verona.

Tanner was there, standing before the thick web of red ARSON INVESTIGATION tape left by the fire department. He was staring at the debris with eyes of ice.

Joe stood beside him.

“How is Sammy?” Tanner said.

“He’s alive, which is a miracle, but he’s still in a coma, and one leg is badly broken.”

The fire department discovered Sammy’s naked battered body lying beneath the bathtub. The explosion had blown it out of the house and into a neighbor’s yard.

As near as they could tell with a preliminary investigation, the bomb had been left beneath the bed, a bed Sophia had been lying upon as she waited for Sammy to finish his bath.

Tanner turned and looked at Joe.

“You said on the phone that this was the work of a cartel. That means they won’t stop coming.”

“Yeah, Krupin went and got himself some heavy hitters.”

“I’ll need details, Joe, as many as you can get me. A list of the key players, what they look like, where they are, and I don’t just mean here, but Mexico too.”

“You can’t kill them all, Tanner. There are too many.”

Tanner shook his head.

“No, not too many, just one, and then another, and another, and another, and by the time I’m done with them, there will be none left.”

Another car pulled up and Joe’s men went on high alert.

Bosco was one of them, with his wounded arm in a sling, and when he saw that it was Ivanov, he gave the all clear.

“Who’s that?” Tanner said.

“He’s the Fed I told you about.”

Ivanov walked over and stood beside Pullo, then, he looked past him.

“Are you Tanner?”

“Yes.”

“Are you as good as they say you are?”

“No. I’m better.”

Ivanov was still wearing a suit, and there was a white envelope sticking out of the breast pocket. He removed it, leaned past Pullo, and handed it to Tanner.

“What is this?” Tanner said.

“That’s a copy of the latest intelligence we have, names, locations, and pictures. There are over thirty men there, and they’re a mix of Russian mob and cartel members. We haven’t located Krupin yet, but we will.”

“I thought you weren’t dirty, Ivanov?” Joe said.

“I don’t want your money, Pullo. I want blood for Justina.”

“That was his partner,” Joe told Tanner, although he was beginning to suspect that there had been more than that between them.

Tanner held up the envelope.

“I’ll put this to good use.”

“I was never here,” Ivanov said, and headed back to his car.

Joe watched him leave.

“Krupin pissed off the wrong Fed.”

“Do you remember how we met, Joe?”

“You handed me Vincenzo Righettleto’s head in a box.”

“This time, the head will be Krupin’s.”

Tanner walked to a car and drove off, to begin his reign of death.

BALLET OF DEATH

By

REMINGTON KANE

CHAPTER 1 – The problem solver

Ossining, New York 8:31 a.m.

––––––––

After spending hours watching the secluded house on Rue Lane, Tanner made his move.

The house was of average size, but rundown, with missing shingles and a leaking roof. Its best feature was its location, which was far away from other dwellings. The seclusion was something much prized by the cartel hit team members staying within its walls.

There were four men inside, and two of them were the men who had placed a bomb beneath Sophia Verona’s bed, a bomb that killed her.

Tanner parked in front of the home and stepped out of his car while holding a clipboard, as he pretended to talk on a cellphone.

He was dressed in a cheap suit with a bright red tie, wore glasses, and had his hair combed forward.

A face peaked out of a front window, but Tanner ignored it as he pretended to be engaged in a phone call.

“I know Marge, but what do you want me to do? Pearson says that I have to work this weekend.”

Tanner went around to the other side of the car, where he turned his back on the house as he reached inside the open passenger window, to grab a well-worn sample case. The bag had a strap, and Tanner slung it over his head so that the case rested on his right hip.

Although his back was turned, Tanner could still see the front of the home, because he had previously angled the side view mirror in such a way that he would be able to keep it in sight. At the window, the first man was joined by a second man, and the second man was pointing at him.

As he left the car, Tanner spoke into the phone again.

“Marge? Marge? Can I talk please? Good, now I didn’t say that we wouldn’t go see your mother, it’s just that we can’t do it this weekend.”

Tanner paused at the foot of the steps as if he were listening to someone on the phone. From the corner of his eye, he saw the door open and watched as a man came outside to stare at him. The man had one hand hidden behind his back, and Tanner was certain that the hand held a gun.

“Yes, next weekend, sure... I know, but you know how Pearson is, but listen, I’m with a client now so I’ll see you later... I love you too, bye bye now.”

Tanner lowered the phone with a sigh and smiled up at the man.

“Hey there, sorry to be rude, but that was my wife and you know how that is, if I didn’t answer when she called I’d hear about it for weeks.”

The man was stout and swarthy. He gazed at Tanner with suspicion, as he spoke with a thick Spanish accent.

“Who are you?”

“I’m with Acme Home Renovations, we specialize in beautifying properties.”

“You are a salesman?”

Tanner’s grin was brighter than the sun.

“No sir, I am a problem solver. If you’ll just give me a few minutes I’ll make you glad that you did.”

As Tanner spoke, he pushed a button on the side of the phone.

The man pointed at the car.

“I don’t like salesmen. Get back in your car and leave.”

The phone rang, and after glancing at the screen, Tanner looked up at the man.

“Hey, it’s for you.”

He tossed the “phone” at the man and saw him react with surprise. On reflex, the man reached out and grabbed the phone with his left hand. When the phone rang for the third time, it detonated, obliterating the man’s hand while nearly severing his head.

The second man from the window appeared in the doorway and tried to slam the door shut, but his partner’s corpse was in the way.

Tanner had freed a gun from behind his back. He fired at the man, missing him, but managed to drive him back inside.

Tanner then charged up the porch steps, and as he did so, he removed two fragmentation grenades from the sample bag slung over his shoulder.

The grenades sailed through the open doorway, one landed on the floor and rolled down a hallway, while the other bounced off a sofa, to land at the base of a flight of stairs. By the time the grenades exploded, Tanner was already moving around towards the rear of the home, and it pleased him to hear the second man’s screams of agony.

Tanner had to wait only seconds before the rear door opened, as he was standing with his back pressed against the side of the house.

He could hear the sound of two men whispering in Spanish, and he risked peeking around the corner. One of the men was holding a phone, a real phone, and he was speaking to someone in a hushed, but panicked tone.

It took them several seconds, but the men gathered their courage and ran down the back steps. They were headed for the woods at the rear of the property.

Tanner took careful aim and shot each man in the buttocks. He needed at least one of them to stay alive.

Both of the men let out screams, stumbled, and fell to the ground. One of them had lost his weapon, but the other fired his in panic back at the house. The wild shots shattered two windows on the second floor, while one even went over the house entirely.

Tanner stayed where he was until he saw that the man had run out of rounds, and then he sprinted over to them.

The two Mexicans looked alike and were both tall and skinny. According to the files Ivanov had given him, these were the men known as the specialists. They had been sent by the Alvarado Cartel to kill him, and had killed Sophia instead.

Tanner was about to speak to them in their own language when the one on the right spoke English with a slight accent.

“Don’t kill me!”

“Give me a reason not to.”

“Don’t tell this bastard anything, Manuel,” said the other man. He spoke through teeth gritted in pain from the wound he’d suffered.

Tanner shot him in the head. The remaining man, the one named Manuel let out a scream, and then he cursed Tanner with a string of Spanish profanity.

Tanner placed the gun against his head.

“Tell me what I want to know or I’ll kill you right now.”

“You’ll kill me anyway... just like you killed my cousin.”

Tanner removed a knife.

“No, I’ll just make you wish you were dead.”

Tanner moved the knife towards the man’s right eye.

“I’ll talk! Goddamn it I’ll talk.”

Tanner pulled the man to his feet.

“Who did you call?”

“Juan Alvarado.”

“He’s the son, correct, the son of Alonso Alvarado?”

“Yes, and he won’t come here himself; he’ll send men.”

“Where can I find Juan Alvarado? Is he in New York City?”

“I think so, but I don’t know where he is, I swear, and I’m answering your questions, please let me live.”

“You and your cousin killed a friend of mine.”

The man’s legs gave out and he sank to his knees and cried.

“I just do what they tell me, oh God, I don’t want to die.”

Tanner jerked the man’s head up by pulling his hair.

“How much time is left until help arrives?”

It took Manuel a moment to compose himself, but soon he answered.

“They are all in New York City.”

Tanner nodded, that was good; it meant he still had time.

“Tell me everything I want to know and I’ll let you live.”

“You’re lying. You said I killed your friend.”

“Look at me,” Tanner said, and Manuel met his eyes.

“I will let you live, but you have to answer every question.”

Manuel saw that Tanner was telling the truth. He nodded his head wildly.

“I’ll tell you anything. I want to live.”

Tanner leaned closer.

“Tell me about Alonso Alvarado, and I mean everything you know.”

CHAPTER 2 – A man of his word

Ossining, New York 9:49 a.m.

––––––––

Roberto Simone stepped on a pair of broken eyeglasses that were laying next to a clipboard at the foot of the porch steps.

After walking up the steps, he looked down at the body lying in the doorway and grimaced with disgust.

Something had blown the man’s left hand off and had taken most of his head with it.

Roberto had been born in San Diego, but after his parents divorced, his mother moved back to Mexico with Roberto and his sister when he was eleven.

He became a Mexico City cop after college, but was lured into the drug business while still a rookie. He stayed a cop for ten years, but grew tired of the charade and took a position as one of Juan Alvarado’s bodyguards.

When the call came in from the home in Ossining, Alvarado sent Roberto to check it out. The only call they had received said that it was one man attacking them, and Roberto knew that it likely meant that Tanner had paid the home a visit.

How Tanner knew where to find the home was another matter, and one that needed looking into.

He had heard the rumors that Tanner was a killing machine and assumed it was all bullshit. Tanner was a man like any other man, and that meant that he could be killed.

Roberto and his men had faced other men with vaunted reputations and those men were all dead. Tanner would join them when they caught up to the man.

Roberto turned and signaled to two of the three men with him, telling them to go around to the rear. The men took his meaning and headed towards the back while keeping space between them, and as they were doing that, the third man moved closer to Roberto and whispered.

“I hear something. It sounds like someone moaning.”

Roberto listened, and then nodded in agreement.

“I hear it too; someone must have lived through the attack, and it’s coming from deeper inside the house. When we go in, I’ll take the left and you take the right.”

They entered with their guns up and ready, and found a second corpse. The man had been caught by the blast from a grenade. He was lying in a puddle of congealing blood with the lower portion of his right leg blown off.

The moaning was coming from the kitchen.

It was Manuel.

He was lying on the floor near the stove.

Tanner had kept his word and let the man live, of course, he had never defined the term “living.”

Manuel had no eyes, was deafened, and Tanner had removed his tongue. The injury to his spine might be treated by medical science, but for now, the man’s back was broken.

Tanner had told Manuel that he would leave him alive; he never said he would enjoy it.

The other two men entered the kitchen from the rear of the home and gasped at the horror of Manuel’s condition.

“Madre de Dios, why would someone do this to Manuel?” one of the men asked.

Roberto leaned down closer to Manuel. Manuel was shirtless, and there were words carved on his torso. Roberto read them.

“It’s hard to tell with all the blood, but I think it says, ‘This is for Sophia Verona!’”

The man who had entered with Roberto pointed over at the body slumped in the corner. There was brain matter and drying blood down the front of its shirt, and its head hung down.

“Who is that?”

Roberto shrugged.

“Manuel’s cousin, I guess. We found Pedro and Savion up front.”

One of the other men shook his head.

“That’s not Manuel’s cousin. Hector is out in the yard.”

And as Roberto looked back at the mystery corpse, he saw it bring up a gun and fire.

***

Tanner emptied his weapon before any of the men could return fire.

He had killed two of the men outright, but Roberto and one of the men who had entered from the rear still lived.

Both of them were severely wounded, but Roberto was able to reach for a weapon. He had just closed his hand around it when Tanner walked over and kicked him in the face.

The gun slipped from Roberto’s hand and Tanner picked it up and shot the other survivor twice in the back of the head.

Manuel moaned louder from his place on the floor, but Tanner ignored him and went to Roberto. He reached into the man’s pockets and removed his car keys, wallet, and phone. After looking through the phone, he found a number for Juan Alvarado.

Roberto stared up at him, and after he managed to push aside his pain, he spoke.

“You’re Tanner?”

“Yeah,”

“They were right about you... you are good.”

“Good enough,” Tanner said, as he shot Roberto in the face.

He then dialed the number for Juan Alvarado.

“Roberto, what’s going on there?”

The voice sounded younger than Tanner thought it would.

“This is Tanner, Alvarado. I’m coming for you.”

There was silence, but then Alvarado spoke.

“You’re nothing, Tanner. You’re just one man. I’ll send an army after you, a fucking army. Do you hear me?”

“I’m coming. Tell your father. Once I kill you and Krupin, he’s next.”

Juan Alvarado’s laughter was pure amusement.

“You’re really insane, aren’t you? You don’t stand a chance, and that bastard Pullo will die too, count on it.”

“I’m coming, Alvarado.”

Tanner ended the call, but then dialed 9-1-1.

When the operator answered, he fired a shot into the wall and then laid the phone near Manuel.

Help would come, Manuel would live, and he will have kept his word.

Tanner went up the back staircase to the home’s bathroom, stripped naked, and washed away his disgusting disguise of blood and brains. He had removed a fresh set of clothes from the car he arrived in before pushing it down a hill and into a nearby pond, and so, after cleaning up, he changed, and walked outside to Roberto’s car.

Manuel’s moaning was loud enough to carry through the open doorway and be heard outside, but Tanner felt no pity for the man. He and his cousin had killed Sophia, and so the bastard couldn’t suffer enough.

Tanner climbed behind the wheel of Roberto’s car, a rented Range Rover, and headed back to New York City.

His day of death dealing was just beginning.

CHAPTER 3 – Rings a bell

MEXICO, several miles outside the city of Acatlán de Osorio

––––––––

Alonso Alvarado put down his phone after talking to his son, Juan.

Juan had just informed him about Tanner’s rampage on the home in Ossining, while also relaying Tanner’s threat to kill them both.

Alvarado was in his office at the desert compound that Michael Krupin had visited. His crutches were leaning against the wall, while he sat in a special chair behind his desk. The chair alleviated the pain of his damaged joints and had a laptop attached on a small table.

Alvarado swiveled the laptop into position in front of him and stared at a photo of Tanner. It was the mugshot taken by Mexican authorities, and Alvarado found the face familiar.

When his wife, Malena, walked in, she leaned on the back of the chair and gazed down at the photo on the laptop screen.

“The man is handsome, but those eyes are filled with danger.”

“Does he look familiar to you, Malena?”

“No, why, do you know him?”

Alvarado scratched at his nose, and then shook his head.

“I don’t know, but there’s something familiar about that face.”

“Who is he?”

“Tanner.”

“The assassin? I thought he’d be dead by now. Didn’t you send Manuel and Hector to kill him?”

“The fools killed his woman instead, and today Tanner killed Hector and seriously wounded Manuel. He also murdered Roberto and his team.”

“Oh no,” Malena said. She cared nothing for Manuel and Hector, but Roberto had been one of her many lovers.

Malena had been with scores of men during her marriage to Alvarado, but still considered herself faithful, because she never slept with the same man more than once. Her husband knew nothing about her assignations.

Despite her odd view on monogamy, Malena went to great pains to keep her affairs a secret, and every staff member in the house knew better than to cross her.

“This Tanner,” Alvarado said. “He threatened Juan, and for that alone I will see him dead.”

Malena moved around to the front of the chair to stare down at her husband.

“Bring Juan home now. It is too dangerous for him to stay in New York.”

“Our son is a man, and a man does not run from other men. I’ll send a jet to New York with enough of our people to handle Tanner.”

“How many men?”

“The jet can seat sixteen.”

“Then send two jets, make sure that our son is protected.”

Alvarado sighed.

“It’s overkill, but I’ll do it.”

“How soon can they be there?”

“They’ll be on the ground in New York by tonight, at the private airfield we use for drug shipments.”

Malena seemed appeased by the doubling of forces. She kissed her husband on the cheek, and as she was leaving the office, she called back over her shoulder.

“This man Tanner, could he somehow have something to do with what’s been happening in Mexico City?”

“No. Whoever is killing our men there must be working for someone else.”

Malena turned in the doorway.

“Sandoval?”

“No, that traitorous pig wouldn’t dare attack me.”

“Let me know when Tanner is dead. I’ll rest easier then.”

“You worry too much; he’s one man.”

Malena left, and Alvarado picked up his phone to order the deployment of his men. While speaking to the man who would manage the operation, he kept staring at Tanner’s picture.

“Jose?”

“Yes sir?”

“Send only the best men.”

“Yes sir, I’ll send Rico and his crew.”

“He’s available? I thought he was still handling that problem in Vera Cruz?”

“He just called and said that he was on his way back. The men who were causing you grief were put in their place.”

Alvarado smiled.

“That means they’re in the ground.”

“Anything else, sir?”

“Yes, I’ll pay fifty-thousand American to the man who kills Tanner.”

“Fifty-thousand dollars?”

“Absolutely, that is how badly I want this man dead.”

“I’ll spread the word.”

“Do that.”

Alvarado ended the call, but he kept staring at Tanner’s photo, as an old memory tickled the back of his mind.

CHAPTER 4 – A safe place

On Randall Street in Manhattan, Joe nodded to the men guarding the door as he entered his suite.

He and Laurel were staying at the Rutherford Hotel along with over fifty of his men. The hotel was the property of the late Bruno Heinz and Joe and his people had taken it over.

It had been Tanner’s idea, and Joe had agreed that it might be the last place Krupin would look for them. But just in case, Joe had men stationed on the roof, on each floor, and even in the basement and nearby alleyways.

Laurel looked up at him from where she sat on the side of the bed, and Joe could tell that she had been crying.

Laurel stood and went to Joe, and he opened his arms for her to fall into.

“You’ve been thinking about Sophia again, haven’t you?”

“Yes, she was so happy, Joe. She had just fallen in love with Sammy and it was like her life was beginning again, and now... now she’s dead.”

“That’s why I want you to leave the city. It’s too dangerous for you to be around me.”

“I don’t want to leave you.”

“Baby, I don’t want you to leave either, but it would give me peace of mind to know that you’re safe.”

Laurel wiped away tears as she separated from Joe.

“I guess I could visit Merle and Earl.”

Joe shook his head.

“That’s no good, it’s too obvious.”

“Then where do you want me to go?”

“I’m not sure, but I’ll decide after I talk to Tanner.”

“Why Tanner?”

“Unlike everyone else I know, he can’t be bought.”

“You don’t trust your men?”

“I do, but the cartel could offer them millions or threaten their families to get them to betray me. Tanner has no family and he can’t be bribed. There’s one more thing too.”

“What?”

“He loves you, Laurel. He’s already risked his life once to save yours; if he knows a place to put you, I know it will be safe.”

“I’ll be safe, but what about you?”

Joe stared into her eyes.

“Nothing will keep me from marrying you. Do you believe that?”

Laurel hugged him.

“I believe you, and there’s something I have to tell you.”

“What’s that?”

“I know I said that I wanted a small wedding, but, oh I feel stupid bringing this up now.”

Joe caressed her cheek.

“You would really like a large wedding, right?”

“It’s foolish, I know.”

Joe kissed her.

“It’s not foolish, and I’ll make it happen.”

There was a knock on the door.

“What is it?” Joe said.

“It’s me, Boss, Bosco. Tanner just came in.”

“Right, I’ll be out in a minute,” Joe called through the door, and then he spoke to Laurel. “Pack up a few things. You’ll be leaving soon.”

“All right, but where will I be going?”

“I don’t know, but I promise you you’ll be safe.”

***

Joe joined Tanner at a corner booth in the hotel’s bar. There were picture windows along the wall that faced the street, but they had all been painted black so no one could see inside.

“How’s Sammy doing, Joe?”

“The doctors think he’ll awaken soon.”

“That’s the only good news I’ve heard.”

Joe leaned towards Tanner.

“I have a favor to ask. I need you to find somewhere to stash Laurel. She’s not safe here.”

“There’s nowhere you can put her?” Tanner asked.

“I trust my men, but we both know that most people can be bought, and money is something that the cartel has a lot of.”

Tanner thought of Romeo and Nadya, but then nixed the idea because of the travel distance involved. He then thought of someone else.

“I’ll need to make a call to someone. If they agree, we’ll send Laurel there.”

“You trust this person?”

“There’s more than one, and yes, I trust them. Laurel will be safe with them.”

“Can you make it happen today?”

“If they agree, yes,”

Joe let out a sigh of relief.

“Thanks Tanner; I won’t be able to think straight until I know Laurel is safe.”

“I hear you,” Tanner said, as he took out a phone.

Joe rose from the table to give him privacy.

“I have to check on my men. Let me know what your friends say.”

Tanner paused for a moment to recall a number, and then dialed.

A friendly female voice answered.

“Hello?”

“It’s Tanner.”

“It’s about time you called me, Tanner. I’m always the one who calls you.”

“How are you?”

“I’m good, what’s up?”

“I need a favor.”

CHAPTER 5 – Gathering and scattering

Tanner left the hotel soon after making the call. He had to meet someone at a bar in Lower Manhattan.

The bar was on a side street and struggling for business, which was fine with Tanner, less business meant fewer people. The street was also narrow and offered scant places of concealment for a sniper.

After scouting out the area for the meet, he watched as the man he was meeting arrived alone in an old car.

Tanner entered the bar a few minutes later and sat across from the man at a back table. The man was about fifty, and his nose had been broken many times. The last time it was broken by Tanner.

“Did you get it, Duke?”

“I did, and the price was high, but I still managed to walk away with over a thousand dollars.”

“Keep it as a bonus.”

Duke smiled.

“I knew I’d like working for you, and I won’t ask what you need that item for.”

“It will be used as intended.”

Duke let out a huff.

“I’m so glad we’re on the same side now, speaking of which, have you heard from our mutual acquaintance?”

“Sara Blake? No I haven’t, and I don’t expect to.”

“I always liked her, and she tipped as well as you do.”

“Where’s the item?”

Duke pointed across the street.

“It’s in the trunk of the car I arrived in. If you need instruction in its use, there’s a video with it.”

“I’ve used one before.”

“Why does that not surprise me?”

Tanner walked over to the car with Duke and had him start it up before opening the trunk.

“What? You think I rigged it to blow up?”

“Trust will come with time, Duke.”

“I hear you, but I’m too smart to double-cross a man like you, Tanner, also, I have no reason to.”

“What about the car, is it hot?”

“It’s clean and reliable. Just park it when you’re done and send me a text where I can pick it up.”

Tanner inspected the item in the trunk without removing it, and found that it was of good quality.

“This will do.”

“Watch your back, Tanner; I hear the Alvarado Cartel is gunning for you.”

“You got it all wrong, I’m gunning for them.”

“I’m serious, Tanner.”

Tanner studied Duke for a moment before slamming the trunk shut.

“Sit in the car with me for a few minutes. I need to place another order.”

***

After leaving Duke, Tanner drove to a home improvement store. He had left his own car in the store’s back lot, and he transferred the item he received from Duke into it. Afterwards, he checked his watch and saw that it was time to take Laurel to the airport.

***

Tanner drove in aimless circles around the airport parking lot until he was certain that they hadn’t been followed.

Joe had stayed behind at the hotel with his people, and only he, Tanner, and Laurel, knew where she was headed.

Once inside the terminal, Tanner waited with Laurel until her plane was boarding.

“These people I’m staying with, they’re friends of yours?”

“I guess you can say that.”

“I wish I could stay here; I’m so worried about Joe.”

“He’s worried about you, and I hear that if it weren’t for the man he had guarding you, that you might be dead.”

“Yes, Big Ralphy saved me, and I haven’t even been able to visit him in the hospital.”

“You can see him when you come back.”

“Tanner?”

“Yeah?”

“I’m so sorry about Sophia. I know you two broke up, but I also know that you had feelings for her.”

“Despite everything, we were friends, and the people who killed her will pay.”

Laurel stared into his eyes.

“I love you, Tanner, please be careful, and please watch out for Joe. It would kill me if I lost either one of you.”

“The best thing I can do for Joe is to kill his enemies, that is, after making certain that you’re safe.”

Laurel sighed.

“I feel like I’m running away just when Joe needs me.”

“It’s best, Laurel.” Tanner took out a phone and handed it to her along with a strip of paper. “Joe will call you on that every day from one of the numbers on that paper. If the phone rings and displays a number that doesn’t match, don’t answer it, remove the battery, and wait until midnight to activate it again. If you get a text, it won’t be Joe, no matter what it says.”

“It’s so cloak and dagger.”

“It’s just to be cautious.”

Laurel’s flight was ready and Tanner watched her walk off with emotion stirring in his chest.

He loved her, would always love her, and he was as worried for her as Joe was.

“She’ll be safe,” he whispered to himself.

When he was certain her flight was in the air, he returned to his vehicle and headed north of the city. He had another flight to meet, and more men to kill.

CHAPTER 6 – The man, the myth

MEXICO CITY

––––––––

Alexa Lucia watched as nearly three dozen of Alvarado’s men boarded a pair of private jets.

She had been tracking three of the men to kill them, but held off on her attack after they climbed into a limo.

Alexa had followed the three men to the airport, where she recognized more of Alvarado’s men. Something was happening somewhere that was causing Alvarado to send a small army to handle it, and Alexa was going to find out what that something was.

Alexa was a beautiful Mexican woman of high intelligence and unique skills. She had light-brown skin with the Anglo features of her grandmother, who, as a teenager from Detroit, had gone to Mexico in 1946, fallen in love with Alexa’s musician grandfather, and settled there to raise six children.

Her grandmother was gone now. Her entire family was gone, and they had been murdered by Alonso Alvarado.

Alexa followed the limo her three targets had taken as it exited the airport. Although he would be on a low level, the driver would be a member of the cartel, as were the rest of the men. It was likely that the driver had overheard some of the men’s conversation, and would at least know their destination.

Alexa wanted that info; she wanted anything that she thought might help her kill Alonso Alvarado.

When the limo parked in front of a Mexico City bar on a quiet street, Alexa watched the driver emerge and enter the dimly lit tavern.

She was in her van, a Ford Transit. The vehicle was white, had tinted windows and a raised roof. These days, it was often Alexa’s home as well as her transportation, and where the rear seats would normally be, she kept an air mattress.

The driver of the limo appeared to be about forty. The man looked as if he might have been handsome when younger, but too much alcohol and food had softened his features and rounded his body.

However, certain of his appetites would likely be going unfulfilled, and Alexa intended to play to those appetites, in particular, lust.

Alexa moved into the rear of the van to change into something more appropriate, and when she emerged, she headed into the bar.

***

The limo driver, Felipe, had just ordered his second beer when he saw the woman in the tight dress enter.

As she headed towards him, he realized that his mouth had dropped open. He closed it and cleared his throat.

Good God, but the woman is hot.

Felipe watched her take a seat two stools to the right of his own. When she smiled at him, he actually felt his heartrate speed up.

“Hi, is that your limo outside?”

“Yes, well, I drive it.”

“I love limos; some of the hottest sex I’ve ever had has been in the back of a limo.”

Felipe simply blinked and nodded, as her mention of sex had made him lose his voice.

The bartender came over. He was an old man, but not so old that he didn’t appreciate the loveliness of his newest customer. Felipe heard him ask the woman what she wanted and noticed that the old guy never took his eyes off her breasts.

She ordered white wine, and when it came, Felipe insisted on paying for it. That made the woman smile again, and she moved over to take the stool next to Felipe. After offering her hand, she told him that her name was Anna.

Felipe found her not only beautiful, but charming, and she seemed interested in everything he had to say. He was about to order her another glass of wine when she asked him if she could see the inside of his limousine.

***

Alexa climbed into the rear of the limo while making sure that Felipe got a good look at her ass.

The man was practically drooling when she turned to him, and she smiled and patted the seat beside her.

“Come here.”

Felipe moved towards her so fast that he bumped his head on the doorframe, and Alexa had to fight the urge to laugh.

Once he was seated beside her with the door closed, Felipe’s eyes wandered over her body, and Alexa knew that the fool was expecting sex.

She hadn’t lured him alone into the back of the limo for pleasure, but for pain.

When she brought the knives out, she held one over his crotch and the other one against his throat, Felipe froze, but after swallowing and releasing a short breath, he spoke.

“I don’t have any money.”

“Maybe I want the limo.”

Felipe composed himself a bit and a small smile appeared.

“This limousine belongs to The Alvarado Cartel; if you take it they’ll kill you.”

“The narcos you dropped at the airport, where are they going?”

“What?”

“You heard me, Felipe.”

“I can’t tell you that.”

Alexa sank the tip of a knife into the flesh beneath Felipe’s chin.

He hissed from the pain, and Alexa watched a line of blood race down his throat and onto his white shirt.

“You will tell me what I want to know or I will kill you right now. It’s your choice.”

Felipe’s breathing had quickened, but he stared at Alexa with a look of defiance.

“You’re lying. You won’t kill me, not a woman like you.”

Alexa smiled. If he only knew how many of his kind she had killed,

She pushed down on the blade positioned above Felipe’s crotch and it sliced through his pants and into the flesh beneath his pubic hair.

Felipe cried out in shock, attempted to move, and cut his chin on the other blade.

“Strike out at me and I’ll slit your throat,” Alexa told him. “Stay absolutely still and answer my questions.”

“All right; just don’t cut me again, oh God; my pants are filling with blood.”

“Where were those men headed?”

“To New York City, there’s a man there killing our people.”

“A man? One man?”

“His name is Tanner.”

“What’s his first name?”

“There is none. He is just called Tanner,” Felipe said, and saw in Alexa’s eyes that she knew the name.

“You know Tanner?” he asked.

“Not the man, no, but I’ve heard the myth.”

“What myth?”

“If this Tanner is a Tanner, the men who left here are all dead.”

Felipe made a derisive sound.

“Alvarado sent over thirty men to New York City. You think one man can kill thirty?”

“I don’t know, but I do know one thing.”

“What’s that?”

“Your usefulness has come to an end.”

Alexa’s hands moved in a blur and she embedded the knives in Felipe’s torso. She watched him die, and as always, it brought to mind the death of her blessed abuela, her grandmother.

She was about to leave the limo when, what she called her, “little voice”, spoke to her. It was telling her that there was something of interest for her in the limo.

Alexa looked about and found it stuffed into a compartment on the door. It was a flyer with a mugshot displayed, and it had the name Tanner written beneath the photo.

Alexa studied the wrinkled photo with great interest, while paying particular attention to the eyes, which she found to be sexy.

“A Tanner,” she whispered, and then she left the limo with the photo clutched in her hand.

CHAPTER 7 – Memories of Sophia

Several miles outside Mt Pleasant, New York

––––––––

While he was at the house in Ossining, Manuel had told Tanner about the landing strip the cartel had used to fly them in. It was one of the key pieces of information Tanner needed, and he planned to profit from the knowledge.

He had located the strip atop a hill in the center of secluded acreage, and was busy at work preparing for the arrival of Alvarado’s men. That Alvarado would send more men, Tanner had no doubt. He had not only killed the man’s troops, but had threatened his only son.

More men would come, and when they did, they would die.

His vehicle was hidden beneath brush at the foot of the hill and he had marked a path back to it. He doubted anyone would be in pursuit when it came time to leave, but he prepared for pursuit anyway.

Better to be safe than dead.

Tanner was moving down the hill while weaving fishing line among the bushes and small trees that grew upon the slanted land. The fishing line was so thin that it was nearly invisible, and anyone not following the same path as Tanner would become tangled in it.

As he worked, his thoughts turned to Sophia, and he drifted into a memory of her.

***

Sophia opened her front door, saw Tanner, and crossed her arms over her chest.

Tanner pointed to his right cheek.

“If you’re planning on slapping me, hit me on this side, the left is getting a little tender.”

“Are you going by Romeo these days, or Tanner?”

“It’s Tanner, now should I stay or go?”

Sophia grabbed a handful of his shirt and pulled him towards her.

“Get your ass in here.”

Tanner smiled as they came together, but after sharing a kiss, Sophia held him at arm’s length and studied him.

“You’ve been with someone else since the last time I saw you.”

“Yes,” Tanner said, and was once again amazed at the perception of women. Sophia knew he had been with someone, not guessed it, and he wondered what sort of sixth sense was at work.

She tilted her head.

“You son of a bitch, there was more than one, wasn’t there?”

“Uh-huh,”

“How many?”

He sighed.

“Three, and one was an old friend that I don’t expect to see again.”

“What about the other two, are you still seeing them?”

“No, their names were Amber and Brittany, and if I had to guess, they’re in Philly right now opening a hair salon.”

Sophia scowled.

“Amber and Brittany? How old were they, sixteen?”

“They were young, but not that young.”

Sophia moved closer.

“I don’t need a commitment, but I’m not looking for a one-night stand either.”

“I get that,” Tanner said.

“What’s the longest you’ve ever been with one woman?”

Tanner looked lost in memory for a moment, but then answered.

“A little over two years.”

“When was this?”

“Some time ago.”

“So you can be with just one girl then?”

Tanner took Sophia in his arms.

“The right girl, yes,”

Sophia stared into his eyes as a huge grin spread across her face.

“The way I see it, you’ll be too weak to even think about other women.”

They had kissed again, and then headed to her bedroom.

***

The engine sound from a pickup truck stirred Tanner from his memories, and he quickly finished stringing the fishing line.

The sound had come from the top of the hill, and when Tanner returned and looked out past a row of wild bushes, he saw two men removing a generator from the bed of the pickup, an old white Ford, an F150.

They added two strings of lights to a set of extension cords, filled the generator with fuel and fired it up, to light the runway.

With the test done, the men shut down the generator and settled into a pair of folding chairs with a six-pack of beer.

The routine looked like old hat to the two men, and probably was, since the landing strip was used regularly as a drop point for illegal drugs.

Tanner smiled. The plane would be coming soon, that was good, as he had been prepared to wait for as long as a day.

However, when one of the men answered a phone call, Tanner eavesdropped and learned that they were expecting not one, but two planeloads of cartel hitters.

He went silently back to his car and eased the trunk open, to stare down at the RPG-7.

He’d procured the shoulder-launched, rocket-propelled grenade weapon through Duke.

He had only one missile because he hadn’t thought he would need more than that. It would destroy one jet. The men on the second plane would have to be dealt with the hard way.

Tanner removed his canteen from his belt, sipped at his water, and prepared himself for wholesale slaughter.

CHAPTER 8 – The report

Forty-four thousand feet above New Jersey, Rico Nazario was in a bad mood, as he gazed out at the darkening sky.

Rico was tall and handsome with bronze skin and dark wavy hair. He looked like a former athlete, but had been a part of one gang or another since he was six-years-old.

The veteran member of the Alvarado Cartel felt like his time was being wasted, and couldn’t believe that he and his team were being sent so far to kill just one man.

He’d been assured that the mess in Vera Cruz would be his last field assignment, and was promised that he would be moved up to manage Mexico City, now that Juan Alvarado was expanding into New York.

That was the problem with doing your job better than anyone else, it made you the go-to guy whenever a crisis popped up. Rico was sick of the streets, tired of killing, and just wanted to sit back and run things.

If not for Juan Alvarado, Rico would be next in line for the throne.

Juan Alvarado, Rico sneered as he thought about the young man.

The punk strutted around as if he were a king, but without his last name, he would be just another no-name hood.

His father, Alonso Alvarado, now there was a man, and he had come up from the slums just as Rico would do years later, and the two of them shared a rapport because of it.

But now, once again, Rico was being sent in to save Juan’s ass, and all because the punk couldn’t handle one man.

Rico smiled. It wasn’t all bad. He liked New York City, loved the variety and seemingly endless number of women and restaurants. He would kill Tanner within a couple of days and then take some time off to enjoy Manhattan, and possibly even take in a Broadway show.

Despite his upbringing in the streets, Rico had acquired an education and earned a degree in finance, knowledge he used to handle his own financial affairs. Along with his native Spanish, he also spoke English and French.

He sighed in annoyance and clicked opened the new file on his laptop.

Even The Alvarado Cartel had nerds working for them, and the office gnomes had cobbled together a case file on the man known as Tanner. The cover page warned that the material was a mixture of fact and conjecture, but stated that it gave an accurate view of the man and his abilities.

Rico began reading. By the time he reached the second page of the report, he realized that he might have underestimated the situation.

When he arrived at the part where the recently deceased Robert Vance had stated that Tanner single-handedly killed twenty men, he sat up straighter and called over to the man seated across the aisle from him.

“Mateo, have you read the report on Tanner?”

Mateo shook his head, which caused the black mop he called hair to fly in all directions. He was a short man with a shorter temper, and he had killed both young and old since he was a boy. If you pointed him at someone, he killed them.

“Read it, Mateo; this Tanner may be for real.”

Mateo gestured around the cabin.

“There are sixteen of us, and sixteen more on the first plane, I think we got it, Rico. Tanner don’t stand a chance.”

“Read the report, and make sure the other men do too.”

“Shit man, half of them can’t read, but they can shoot, and they all want that reward, the 50K in American dollars.”

“Right,” Rico said.

He turned off his computer, checked his watch, and saw that they should be on the ground in fifteen minutes.

He tried to put his mind on other things, but the report kept coming back to him. If Tanner was as good as the report made him appear, things could go bad quickly.

Rico tightened his seat belt and tried to think about the nightlife of New York City.

He only hoped that he would live long enough to enjoy it.

CHAPTER 9 – Old friends and new enemies

San Antonio, Texas

––––––––

Laurel grabbed her suitcase off the baggage carousel inside Terminal B.

When she looked up, she saw an old man holding a sign aloft with her name written on it.

It was the name she had been born with, Laurel Carter.

The old man looked her way, and she smiled nervously and nodded.

The man had deep wrinkles around his blue eyes, sported a full head of white hair, and was tanned from being outdoors.

As Laurel walked towards him, he was joined by a middle-aged woman and a teenage girl. The girl smiled at her while speaking to her mother.

“I told you she would be beautiful.”

Laurel gave a nervous laugh and offered her hand to the woman.

“I’m Laurel Carter, and thank you for taking me in for a few days.”

The woman smiled brilliantly.

“I’m Maria Reyes, this is my daughter, Romina, and the gentleman’s name is Doc.”

“It’s nice to meet you all.”

“Any friend of Tanner’s is a friend of ours,” Maria said, and the four of them headed for the Reyes Ranch, the former Parker Ranch and boyhood home of Cody Parker.

***

When the bus drove up the hill and parked beside the pickup truck, Tanner wondered just how many men were coming to kill him. However many it was, they needed a bus to drive them all into the city.

After receiving another call, the first two men started up the generator and powered the lights. It wasn’t dark yet, but night was coming, and Tanner assumed that the planes were as well.

He killed the driver of the bus first, a fat man with bad acne scars. The man had been sitting in one of the folding chairs and draining the last can of beer, when Tanner came up from behind and slit his throat.

The man fell from the chair while gagging, to thrash on the ground, but his death went unnoticed by the other two men, as the sound of it was drowned out by the throbbing noise of the generator.

They also had their backs turned as they looked up and towards the south, and so when Tanner emptied both barrels of a sawed-off shotgun into them, surprise mixed with pain on their faces. Two more blasts ended their lives, and then Tanner went to work disabling the vehicles.

By the time the first jet appeared, he had the rocket launcher ready to fire, but held off until the jet touched down. Tanner cocked the rocket launcher, pulled the trigger, and the grenade took off.

It reached the Gulfstream jet in less than a second and blew it to pieces, large pieces, one of which destroyed the generator, while another chunk headed his way. Tanner dropped the rocket launcher and dove to the ground.

The chunk of flaming debris sailed over his head and hit the dirt behind him. When he stood and looked at it, he saw that it was actually two bodies still strapped into their row of seats, and the entire thing was ablaze like a torch.

The main section of the jet had rolled down the west bank of the hill and into a stand of trees. From that same direction, there came the sound of a man screaming.

Tanner found the poor devil still smoldering with burns over most of his body, and he ended his suffering with a mercy round to the head.

Afterwards, the world grew quiet, except for the crackling of the numerous fires. That peace was short-lived, as the second jet appeared in the sky and flew over his head at less than two-hundred feet.

Tanner assumed that they would fly on to land somewhere else, but as he headed back to his car, he saw that the jet was returning.

Someone on board had guts and wanted to spill his.

“Come on down, you bastard,” Tanner whispered, and then he headed for the trail while hoping that his precautions would prove to be enough.

***

Rico had spotted the lone figure on the ground as the jet whizzed over the scene of the crash.

Tanner!

The pilot was gaining altitude and Rico assumed that they were heading somewhere else to land. He rushed to the cockpit door and found it locked. After Rico pounded on it, the co-pilot opened the door.

“Turn this plane around now!”

The pilot shook his head without even bothering to look back at Rico.

“The other jet was downed by a rocket. I won’t risk going back.”

Rico leaned over and spoke softly into the pilot’s ear.

“We may die from a rocket, but if you don’t turn this plane around and land I promise that I will kill you.”

That made the pilot swivel his head. Rico locked eyes with the man, and then heard him speak to the co-pilot.

“Jorge, prepare to land. We’re going back.”

***

Tanner watched the second jet land, and when it turned to come back towards him, he looked down the hill. In his mind, he went over the meandering trail he had created, a trail that was the only safe way down.

He had to assume that there were more than a dozen men on board the jet, and if he hoped to survive, he had to lead them into his trap.

When the jet came to a hard stop, the door popped open and the stairway descended, and before Tanner had made it even halfway down the hill, he heard the rowdy voices of his pursuers.

***

Mateo had been ready to lead the charge after Tanner, but Rico grabbed his arm and held him back.

“What the hell are you doing? He’s right there.”

“I know, but I also think that he has a way out of here. I memorized the terrain as we flew over and there’s a dirt road down there.” Rico pointed behind them and began moving that way. “The road leads south, if we go this way we can ambush him as he drives by.”

Mateo looked at the hoard of men disappearing down the hill.

“What if they get him first?”

“They won’t. This devil is tricky. Now come, we have to hurry.”

***

Tanner made it to the car as his first pursuer became entangled in the fishing line.

The rest soon followed, and the ultra-thin, but strong, filament cut into them. Three men kept coming; all three had knives, and had used their blades to cut themselves free.

Still, parts of the fishing line had wrapped itself around them and they had trampled through the surrounding weeds. That would prove to be their undoing.

Tanner grabbed a lighter from the front seat of the car. It was the long-handled type used to light barbeque grills.

Prior to stringing up the fishing line, Tanner had soaked the thin wire in a mixture of gasoline and soap, which when combined properly make for a poor man’s napalm. He then spread the remaining fluid in strategic spots along the hill.

A single line of flame appeared, rushed up the slope, and then ignited the wire and spread to a dozen different areas. The men with the knives suddenly found their pants and shoes aflame, while the other men caught and trapped by the wire were now being burned alive.

When the gas drenched weeds caught fire, all of the men were screaming. The men who had cut themselves free were shucking off their flaming clothes, and Tanner grimaced as he watched sections of their skin come off with the fabric.

If the three men had somewhere to go where they could escape the blaze they might have lived, but fire was all around them, and they would soon burn to death like the others. The trap had worked so well that not a single shot had been fired at Tanner.

It made him wary. Fate was seldom so kind. However, it had all been due to his preparedness, something that was key when one faced superior odds.

He turned his back on the carnage and got behind the wheel. The smoke from the crash would bring the nearby authorities, and he needed to get out of sight.

As the screams of the dying filled his ears, Tanner drove away and headed towards the road that led back to the highway.

***

Rico and Mateo looked at each other in dismay as they heard the horrific screams coming from their comrades. The sounds were faint as they drifted from the other side of the hill, but the agony imbued in them was unmistakable.

“What the hell?” Mateo said.

“The man’s a devil, this Tanner, but he won’t get away this time.”

They reached the road and Rico rushed towards a point where it bent around a curve.

“Here! This is a blind spot. When we hear his vehicle coming we’ll blast it with everything we have.”

Mateo looked around and nodded in agreement. There were trees near the road that they could use for cover, and the curve would take away Tanner’s line of sight.

The two of them had just crouched behind a tree when they heard the approaching sound of a car engine.

“He’ll have to slow to take that curve, Mateo. He’ll be an easy kill.”

Mateo smiled and rested his shotgun atop a small branch, and the sound of the engine grew louder.

CHAPTER 10 – Baby talk

Joe was greeted by FBI Agent Tamir Ivanov and two doctors as he approached Sammy Giacconi’s hospital room.

Six men surrounded Joe, they were his bodyguards, but he told them to stay back as he spoke to Ivanov and the doctors.

“He’s awake?”

“Yeah, Pullo,” Ivanov said, and then the doctors filled Joe in on Sammy’s condition.

Sammy had been told that he had an accident, but little else. He didn’t know that Sophia was gone, and Joe told the doctors that he would deliver the news.

Once the doctor’s had left, Ivanov and Joe spoke alone.

“I see that our mutual friend has been busy,” Ivanov said, referring to Tanner.

“Yeah, and he’s just getting started, but what I want to know is where is Krupin? He’s the bastard that began this nightmare.”

“I’m working on it, Pullo, but the Bureau has placed me on temporary leave, and if I press my sources inside the Bureau too hard, someone may grow suspicious.”

Joe stared at the man and thought that Ivanov had aged since his partner’s death. He then thought about how close he had come to losing Laurel, and the thought of it sickened him.

“You’re walking a thin line, Ivanov, but I want you to know something. Anything you give us stays between us. When this is over, I won’t expect anything else from you, and I know you’re only helping me because of what happened to your partner.”

Ivanov sent Joe a bittersweet smile.

“I’m leaving the Bureau after this; I can no longer do the job. If I was on a case and came across another Michael Krupin, I’d shoot the bastard instead of arresting him.”

Joe took a deep breath, and then he stepped into Sammy’s hospital room to deliver the news about Sophia.

***

Tanner saw the curve coming up. He had scouted the area well and knew the curve’s potential as a place to set up an ambush. He smirked, there was likely no one left alive but the pilots of the second plane.

Still, he had not remained among the living by being careless, and so he reached down and grabbed an item that was part of his preparations, even as he slowed the car while going around the curve.

***

Rico had his shotgun aimed at the spot just past the bend in the road, as the engine sounds grew nearer.

“Any second now, Mateo,” Rico said, and then he heard Tanner’s voice come from behind them.

“Drop those guns or die!”

Both men froze, and an instant later, the car came around the curve. Rico and Tanner locked eyes, and then the car sped up and rocketed away.

“I said drop the guns!”

Rico was about to comply when Mateo spun around and fired several shots.

When Rico turned to face what he thought would be answering gunfire, he saw that no one was there.

“Where’d they go?” Mateo said.

That’s when the laughter began, it soon became laced with static, and then ended.

The laughter had come from a small clump of bushes, and when Mateo pushed several branches aside, they saw the pink baby monitor.

Mateo seethed with anger and reached down to grab the unit.

“Tanner, you sonofabitch, I’m going to—aaarrghh!”

The unit had been attached to a pipe bomb. Mateo’s stout body had taken most of the blast and dozens of nails embedded themselves in his face, neck, and chest.

Rico had received only two nails. One had ripped its way through his left hand, while the other one was stuck in his skull. The nail was above his left eye, with its bloody tip protruding at an upward angle. It looked like a ragged piercing, and the pain it caused was exceptional.

The pain paled compared to the agony experienced by Mateo, who lay on his back wailing and thrashing about, as blood leaked from numerous wounds. There were nails in his tongue, his throat, nose, and even his eyes.

Rico stared down at his friend, saw that he was blinded and bleeding to death, and with one blast from the shotgun, he put him out of his misery.

The nail in his own head refused to budge and Rico decided to just leave it be.

His left eye was blinded by the blood constantly leaking into it, but Rico made it back up the hill, where he found the two pilots standing by the jet and vomiting, as the stink of burning flesh permeated the air.

Both men startled when they saw the projectile embedded in Rico’s head, and the co-pilot produced a first-aid kit and offered to bandage his hand.

“Are the rest of the men back on the jet?” Rico asked.

The pilot looked green from nausea. He shook his head and pointed towards the edge of the hill.

“They’re down there... all dead... burning.”

When Rico began laughing, the two pilots backed away, but he held up a hand, as if to assure them he was still sane.

“My phone doesn’t work, what about yours?”

“There’s a satellite phone in the jet. It should work,” the pilot said.

“Bring it to me at my seat. I have bad news to deliver.”

The three men climbed back aboard the jet. Like Tanner, they had to leave before the authorities arrived. Rico eased into his seat and looked about the quiet cabin, which earlier had been filled with boisterous men eager to bag Tanner’s bounty.

When he looked over at Mateo’s empty seat, he remembered what his friend had said about Tanner.

“There are sixteen of us, and sixteen more on the first plane, I think we got it, Rico. Tanner don’t stand a chance.”

Rico began laughing again, it was either that or cry.

CHAPTER 11 – There’s no place nicer

Rico fought to maintain his cool as Juan Alvarado asked him the same question for the third time.

It was more difficult than it should have been, because Rico’s head was pounding.

A doctor had seen to his hand, and removed the damn nail, but Rico’s face was puffy and the wound had been closed with surgical staples. He looked hideous and would doubtlessly have a scar above his eye when it healed. Something else he owed Tanner.

Rico was in an empty office building whose top floors had been converted into apartments. It was where Alvarado and Krupin were hiding out since the failed attempt on Tanner’s life.

Juan had entered with Krupin at his side. Rico’s assessment of Krupin was that the man was another young punk with too much power and not enough common sense.

“Everybody else is dead?”

“That’s right.”

“My father said he was sending thirty-two men, and you’re telling me that Tanner killed them all?”

“We flew into a trap, Juan. The men are dead, along with the ground crew and bus driver. One jet was destroyed as well, and I was lucky to escape at all.”

“Escape? You were sent here to kill him, Rico. The man has made you look like a fool.”

Rico stared at Juan.

“If I’m a fool, I’m in line behind you.”

Alvarado’s face reddened.

“Be careful how you talk to me; I’m the future, Rico. I’ll be running things someday.”

Michael Krupin stepped forward.

“What’s our next move? We have to kill Tanner or he’ll kill us.”

Juan sighed.

“I have to call my father. I’ll tell him to send more men, and this time they’ll drive in from an airport. It’ll be a pain in the ass to do things officially, but Tanner wouldn’t try anything at an airport.”

“I put nothing past the man,” Rico said.

***

After delivering the news about Sophia’s death, Joe had sat with Sammy all evening.

Sammy’s head was bandaged and his broken right leg was in a cast. He also had numerous scrapes and cuts all over his body.

The young man was devastated by the news, and it wounded Joe to see the light dim in Sammy’s eyes.

Joe had known Sammy since birth. Even the death of his father hadn’t taken the twinkle out of the young man’s eyes, and he had always had a playful and carefree nature.

That had changed, Joe could see it, and although Sammy might someday love again, for now, his heart held only hate.

“Uncle Joe, I want to get out of here as soon as possible.”

“The docs say that they want to keep you for observation for a few days. They say you took quite a whack on the head.”

“I’ll give them one day, and then I want out of here.”

“The truth is, this is probably the safest place for you right now, Sammy. You’ve got a policeman guarding your door, but, we don’t think you were a target.”

“They mistook me for Tanner, didn’t they?”

“Yeah,”

“He’s still alive isn’t he?”

“Alive and kicking. He’s been killing cartel members all day.”

“He didn’t love Sophia, but I think he’s killing partly for her, and I wish I could join him.”

Joe leaned closer to the bed and spoke in a low voice.

“If I don’t come through this I want you to make certain that Laurel is taken care of, give her half of the money in those offshore accounts I showed you, but keep the other half for yourself. If things go bad, you’ll be able to relocate and start a new life.”

“Nothing will happen to you, Uncle Joe, but you can trust me to take care of Laurel.”

Joe shrugged.

“It had to be said.”

“Where is Laurel, is she safe?”

Joe smiled.

“Yeah, she’s safe.”

***

Laurel laughed aloud as Romina told her the story of how Tanner beat up the Harvey brothers.

Laurel was seated on the front porch with Maria, Doc, and Romina. Maria’s son, Javier, was off at college, and from what little Tanner had said about Javier, Laurel believed Tanner disliked the boy.

Laurel liked Romina very much, and she could tell that the girl had a crush on Tanner, while also hero-worshipping him. Despite his profession, there was a streak of decency in Tanner that Laurel had always loved; it was nice to know that she wasn’t the only one who saw it.

“Not to pry,” Maria said. “But how long have you known Tanner?”

“Oh, I guess about six years, of course, he comes and goes.”

“Are you his lover?” Romina asked.

“Romina! That was a rude question,” Maria said.

Laurel smiled at the girl.

“At one time we were close, yes.”

“Oh, so you’re just friends now?”

Laurel looked down at her left hand. She had removed her engagement ring to avoid questions about Joe, but she saw no harm in sharing with these people. If Tanner trusted them, then so could she.

“I’m actually engaged to a friend of Tanner’s, and the two of them thought that I’d be safer here.”

“Tanner said that on the phone,” Romina said. “But he didn’t say why.”

“Romina, what did I say to you before Ms. Carter arrived?”

“Don’t pry into her business,” Romina whispered.

“That’s right.”

“I’m sorry, Laurel.”

“Don’t be, honey, it’s only natural to be curious... and this is an odd situation.”

Doc stood up and stretched.

“I think I’ll turn in, and Romina, I’ll have your horse saddled in the morning.”

“Thanks Doc, and hey, Laurel, do you ride?”

“I haven’t in years, but I owned a horse when I was young.” Laurel smiled. “My brothers bought it for me on my tenth birthday.”

“Would you like to go riding with me after breakfast? We’ll just ride around the ranch and check the fences.”

Laurel grinned.

“That sounds like fun.”

“I’ll saddle up Sally for her; she’s a nice gentle mare,” Doc said.

Laurel grinned.

“Thank you. Tanner couldn’t have sent me to a nicer place.”

CHAPTER 12 – You can’t run, but you can hide

“Bring him home, Alonso, and I mean tonight.”

Alonso Alvarado shook his head slowly as he looked at his wife. Malena was worried about their son, and with good reason, but if Juan ran away from Tanner, he would never stop running, and Alvarado’s enemies, such as rival cartel leader Damián Sandoval would hear about it and grow emboldened.

They were outside on the home’s wide front porch, and Alvarado was standing with the help of his crutches.

“He has to stay in New York, Malena. Our son has to stand and fight, in this life, to run is to die.”

Malena threw her hands in the air in a gesture of frustration.

“How could this man Tanner kill so many of our people with impunity?”

“Rico says that the man is a devil, but it’s just luck, and eventually that luck will abandon him and he will die.”

“Will his luck run out before he kills our son?”

Alvarado knitted his bushy eyebrows together as he grimaced.

“I don’t know the future. I only know that Juan can’t run from this man, or any man.”

“All right, he can’t run, but he can damn well hide. Tell him to leave that apartment on Fifth Avenue and to keep moving around.”

“That’s already been handled. Our people and Krupin’s men are guarding them in an office building we own. If Tanner dared attack there, he’d be killed. It’s the reason Juan’s there in the first place; it’s impenetrable.”

“I suppose you’re right, but you must do something.”

“I’ll send another fifty men and raise the price on Tanner’s head to a quarter of a million.”

“Send a hundred men and raise the price to half a million. This is our son we’re talking about.”

Alvarado smiled at his wife.

“Come here.”

Malena went to him and hugged him.

“I’ll do as you say and double the manpower and the reward.”

“Thank you, Alonso.”

Alvarado sighed.

“Damn Michael Krupin; I should have sent him back to New York empty-handed.”

“You risked much to gain much, and Krupin is an ideal pawn.”

Alvarado kissed the top of his wife’s head.

“And you are my Queen.”

“Alonso.”

“Yes?”

“If anything happens to our son, I want Michael Krupin to share his fate. I don’t care how useful he is.”

“I’ve already given Rico that order.”

Malena smiled.

“Good.”

CHAPTER 13 - Pony

MEXICO

––––––––

Alexa parked her van in the driveway of an upscale home in San Juan del Río. A city approximately two hours northwest of Mexico City

The door flew open before she could even ring the bell, and Rodrigo Lucia, the man who had raised her, took her in his arms and hugged her.

“Hello, Daughter, I love you.”

Alexa smiled as she hugged him in return.

“I love you too, Papa.”

***

MATAMOROS, MEXICO, 1995

––––––––

Seven-year-old Alexa Cazares pointed at the huge birthday present that had just been delivered to her aunt’s bedroom.

Her eyes were wide with wonder at the gaily-wrapped gift, even as her mind pondered what could be inside it. The gift was half the size of a refrigerator, and its brilliant colors of blue, red, green, and orange sparkled in the light coming through the bedroom windows.

“It’s so big, Grandma. What do you think is in there?”

“I don’t know, baby,” Jennifer Cazares said. “But, my little voice is telling me that it was sent here for you, and not your aunt.”

“Little voice” was the name that Jennifer gave her sixth sense. She had always considered herself psychic, and over the years, she had predicted many things that later came true.

Her very life in Mexico was a result of her following her “little voice” back in 1946.

During autumn of that year, Jennifer had begun getting the urge to go to Mexico soon after she turned eighteen and would dream about the country often. She had always followed her urges, her psychic feelings, but she ignored the urge to go to Mexico for six weeks, because to just drop out of college and travel to Mexico was an insane idea.

Insane or not, there came a day when she could no longer ignore her feelings, and despite her parents vociferous objections, Jennifer Grainger of Detroit, Michigan dropped out of school and headed south in her 1941 Mercury Coupe.

She traveled by feel and wound up in Matamoras, and as soon as she entered the vibrant city, she knew she had come to the right place.

She spoke Spanish because she had learned it from her parents’ maid as she grew up, and her first day in Matamoras she made fast friends with two young sisters who owned a clothing store.

The women needed help in the store and were also looking for someone to rent the small apartment above it. Jennifer took the job, liked the apartment, and only hours after arriving in the city, she had a job, a place to live, and two new friends.

The sisters were leaving for a party that night, and Jennifer begged off joining them, as she was tired and still had to unpack her things.

After they left her, she had one of the strongest feelings she had ever experienced, and it was telling her to go to the party. Jennifer caught up to them as they were getting in their car.

The party took place at a ranch on the edge of the desert, which was owned by the sisters’ cousin. Jennifer had been there for an hour and wondering why, when Thiago Cazares walked in the door.

Love at first sight is an inadequate phrase for what she felt when she looked at him, and by the expression on his handsome face, Thiago Cazares was feeling the same emotions.

Thiago walked up to her and told her his name, but before she could respond, he spoke again.

“Jennifer, your name is Jennifer.”

She laughed.

“How do you know that?”

“I told him,” said a woman standing to her left. The woman was tall and beautiful; she was also Thiago’s mother and a greater psychic than Jennifer would ever be.

She studied Jennifer from head to toe and then said something that blew her away.

“You are late. You should have been here six weeks ago.”

***

Little Alexa smiled up at her abuela, her grandmother, Jennifer.

“That gift can’t be for me; it’s not my birthday. It’s Tía Margo’s birthday.”

“The gift is addressed to your aunt, yes, but I can feel that what’s inside is for you. Don’t you feel it too?”

Alexa shook her head. She too had the gift of the “little voice”, but hers had not fully developed.

“You’ll see I’m right, and your voice will grow stronger soon too. Mine didn’t really get strong until I turned ten.”

“And bisabuela, how old was she when her voice spoke to her?”

Jennifer laughed.

“Oh, your great-grandmother was born knowing things, but even she said that the gift took time to mature.”

Alexa reached out and touched the present.

“Maybe it’s a pony.”

Jennifer laughed.

“The box is not quite that big.”

***

When he was certain that the old woman and the child had left the bedroom, Rodrigo Lucia looked out once more through the air hole to make certain. After seeing no one around, he undid the latches inside the box and stood while lifting the top with him.

Rodrigo was a skilled thief, and he had used the ruse of the giant gift to gain entry to the home. The note attached to the box instructed that it was to be placed in the master bedroom, and so it had been, just feet from the wall safe.

Rodrigo was in his mid-thirties, wore a beard, and was taller than most Mexican men were. Being inside the box for hours had made his back ache, and so he stretched to limber up.

Rodrigo had no idea what the old woman and the cute child had been prattling on about, and didn’t care. All that concerned Rodrigo was the safe, and the jewelry and cash stored within it. He removed the picture hanging over it and went to work on the combination.

***

Jennifer returned downstairs with Alexa and headed outside to the patio.

The old ranch home was looking beautiful. Her oldest son, Alejandro, had done well in the car business and had refurbished the home in style. There was even a new swimming pool, and it heartened Jennifer to see the entire family gathered together for a reunion.

All six of her children were there along with their spouses, and Jennifer’s twenty-three grandchildren. Jennifer reminded herself to spend time with each child over the weekend. She had such an affinity for Alexa that she often spent too much time with her at the neglect of the others.

When the feeling hit, it was like nothing she had ever felt before, and when Jennifer looked down at Alexa, she saw that the child had sensed it as well.

“Ooh, my head, Grandma, what is happening?”

Jennifer looked about as she tried to catch her breath. Her mind was filled with fear and her heart was racing as if she’d run a mile, but as she gazed around, she saw that all was well.

“I don’t know what’s happening, baby, but... I’m suddenly so scared... so afraid.”

That’s when they heard the sound, the sound of the trucks. The two massive vehicles came around the curve that led to the driveway and kept going until they had trampled a small picket fence and entered the pool area. The trucks looked like farm vehicles and there were men riding in the back of the trucks, many men.

Jennifer grabbed Alexa by the shoulders, turned her small body around, and shoved her back towards the house.

“Run baby, run and hide now!”

Alexa had just made it past the glass doors of the patio when the men jumped from the trucks, well over a dozen men, and each one was holding a gun or rifle. They spread out among the crowd and kept anyone from leaving.

Everyone at the party had been waiting for Alexa’s Uncle Alejandro to show up. He had just arrived.

Alejandro had been beaten to death. One eye was closed and his jaw sat crooked. A man with long dark hair and bushy eyebrows tossed his body from the cab of the first truck and onto the patio tiles.

One of Alejandro’s brothers went towards the body. He was Alexa’s father. He made it within three feet of Alejandro before the man in the truck shot him five times.

The shooter was Alonso Alvarado.

The partygoers erupted in screams and turned to flee, but when they saw the men with the rifles behind them, they all froze in place.

“Herd them into the pool,” Alvarado said.

As he spoke, Alejandro’s wife, Margo, the birthday girl, lowered herself beside her husband’s battered body and wept. Alvarado shot her in the head and watched as she fell backwards into the spreading overflow of water leaving the pool.

By the time everyone had jumped or been herded into the water, the displaced pool water had spread across the patio, and those packed into the pool were standing in water barely waist-high. Two of the women held babies in their arms, and they cradled the screaming infants while trying to comfort them.

The patio doors burst open and more of Alvarado’s men came out. They had been dropped off at the front, and then went through the house to gather anyone found inside.

They had seven people with them. Three of them were cousins of Jennifer’s late husband, while the other four were older boys from the family that had been in the den playing video games. They were all pushed into the pool with the others.

Jennifer saw with great relief that they had missed Alexa, and she assumed that the girl’s “little voice” had guided her to safety.

When Alvarado looked about, he spotted Jennifer Cazares still standing by the patio doors.

“Come here, old woman.”

Jennifer did go to him, with her eyes full of tears, and when she reached him, she slapped his face.

Alvarado laughed, and looked down at Jennifer’s son, Alejandro.

“You have more guts than your son, but no more brains. He thought that he could just walk in and take over my territory, but he was wrong.”

“What are you talking about you monster?” Jennifer asked.

Alvarado looked towards the crowd in the pool.

“What I do today lies at the feet of Alejandro Cazares, and it will let any other man as foolish as he know that I am not someone to be messed with.”

One of Jennifer’s other sons spoke up from where he stood in the pool.

“You’ve proved your point, Alonso, now just leave, man.”

Jennifer gazed at her son, as an awful realization struck her.

“Valentino... is this about drugs?”

Valentino wiped at tears.

“Yes, Mama, we were transporting drugs, Alejandro and I... the car dealership was just a cover for it.”

“Oh Lord, oh dear Lord, how did I not feel this?”

Alvarado laughed.

“Ah, you are the so-called psychic I heard so much about, the North American, and you say that you get feelings? Well...”

Alvarado walked back to one of the trucks and fished around in the toolbox beneath the front seats. When he returned to Jennifer, he was holding a hammer.

“Let’s see if you can feel this, old lady.”

Alvarado smashed Jennifer across the face and pieces from several of her teeth exploded from her mouth. He managed to hit her again, even as she was falling towards the ground.

Every woman present screamed, as Valentino scrambled out of the pool to defend his mother, but he was smashed across the face with a rifle butt and shoved back into the water.

By the time Alvarado finished with Jennifer, the face on her corpse was nothing more than a scrambled blob of torn flesh, and he himself was covered in her blood.

He had been kneeling beside her as he killed her, and when he stood, wild-eyed and bloody, he pointed at the people in the pool.

“Kill them; kill them all!”

And as the guns and rifles roared, Alexa screamed.

***

After entering the house, Alexa had run into the kitchen and shouted for the women to hide. When they tried to question the child, there came the sound of the front door being kicked in.

Despite her begging them not to go, all three women ran from the kitchen when they heard the rough male voices shouting at the boys in the den.

When the women screamed and the first shots came from outside, Alexa climbed inside a broom closet to hide.

She emerged after peering out and seeing the men herd her cousins onto the patio. Afterwards, she climbed up the back stairs and looked down on the nightmare from the window on the landing.

Her screams mixed with the screams of the others as she witnessed the brutal death of her grandmother, her beloved abuela.

When the men opened fire on the pool, she felt as if she would die herself, as she watched everyone she ever loved be murdered.

***

As the roar from the guns finally died down, Alvarado became aware of the scream and realized that it was coming from behind him, but when he turned to look at the house, he saw no one.

Still, he knew what he heard, and called to his best friend.

“Juan!”

“Yes Alonso?”

“There are still men out front?”

“Yes, and no one can get by them.”

“I think there’s someone in the house. Find them and kill them—hurry!”

***

Inside the house, on the rear staircase, Rodrigo lay atop the floor of the landing with Alexa wrapped in his arms. He had grabbed the child and covered her mouth just as Alvarado turned to look up at the window.

“Shh, you must be quiet, child. If they find us, they will kill us.”

Alexa nodded her small head, and Rodrigo let her go.

She rolled over on the floor and stared at him.

“Who are you?”

Rodrigo wiped gently at her tears.

“I am your pony. Now come, we have to hide.”

***

“No one?”

“No one is inside,” Juan said. “We checked the attic, every closet, looked under the beds, and peeked above the drop ceiling in the basement. Hell, Alonso, I even checked inside the refrigerator.”

Alvarado nibbled at his bottom lip, and then mumbled.

“I know I heard something.”

“We have to go,” Juan said.

“We’ll go, but have the men burn this house to the ground.”

The men drained fuel from the tanks of the trucks and used it to encircle the home. After lighting a corner of the structure, the fire spread quickly, and Alvarado was satisfied that if anyone remained hidden inside, that they would soon wish they had taken a bullet rather than burn. The men climbed back into the trucks and headed away from the flames, assured that no one else would be foolish enough to cross them.

***

Rodrigo unlatched the top of the phony gift box. He and Alexa had hidden within it as the cartel troops had searched for them.

Rodrigo sniffed at the air. Yes, he had smelled smoke.

While holding Alexa’s tiny hand, he crept into the hall and listened. Fire, the crackling sounds of numerous flames, and the sound seemed to be coming from everywhere.

After picking up Alexa, Rodrigo rushed from room to room and discovered that the fire was on all sides. He returned to the hallway. The men had searched the attic for them and had left the pulldown stairs in the down position.

After rushing up the steps, Rodrigo sat Alexa down and kicked out the glass in the attic window, he climbed up onto the roof of the home and then reached back inside to grab up the tearful Alexa. The poor child had been through hell and now feared her own death by fire.

Rodrigo would not let that happen, and thanks to a set of old skills, they would soon be safe.

A thick cable, a power line, stretched from the roof of the house to a pole near the side fence. Rodrigo considered hanging from it and going hand-over-hand, but the cable was entwined with other cables, and their combined circumference was too thick to ensure a tight grip.

Fortunately, having been born into a family of tightrope walkers, Rodrigo saw another way to use the cable as their path to safety.

“We’re trapped,” Alexa whispered, as the flames ate at the house.

Rodrigo bent down and told her to climb on his back.

“I’ll keep you safe, little girl, I swear it, but you have to hold on tight and stay as still as possible.”

Alexa climbed on, but when Rodrigo went to step on the wire, she shouted.

“We’ll fall!”

Rodrigo turned his head and stared into her eyes.

“Trust me.”

Alexa stared back, and felt herself grow calmer. She nodded, and Rodrigo tested the cable with his right foot.

Rodrigo said a silent curse. The damn thing had too much give and would sway wildly. Rodrigo called on the spirits of all his circus ancestors, and stepped out onto the cable.

It took him twenty patient careful minutes to travel thirty-eight feet, and he was forced to dive for the pole at the end, because the fire had reached the section of the house the cable had been attached to, and was burning through the wood.

Once on the ground, both he and Alexa were drenched in sweat from the heat of the flames, and the child clung to him as if he were life itself.

He looked down at her as she watched the fire, and realized that if she were known to be alive, she wouldn’t be for very long, like himself, she had witnessed a massacre and knew the face of the man who had ordered it.

“Come on, child, we have to go.”

“But what about the policia?”

“They can’t help you.”

Alexa’s face crumpled and her small body shook from her sobs.

Rodrigo picked her up and hugged her.

“I will protect you until the day I die. You have my word.”

The crying continued, and Rodrigo walked through the trees to the place he’d hidden his car, while carrying the sole surviving member of the Cazares Family.

CHAPTER 14 – An ally

Tanner returned to the hotel and found Joe sitting in the bar alone and drinking a beer, although there were four men guarding the entrance.

He saw the weariness in Joe’s eyes; it matched the fatigue he felt.

Joe spoke as Tanner grabbed a beer from a refrigerated case.

“I saw on the news where there was a plane crash and a fire up north. They seem to think that the plane was brought down by a rocket. You know anything about that?”

“I know that I should have brought two rockets with me. Things would have gone easier.”

Joe shook his head in amazement.

“I thought you gave us hell when you were fighting The Conglomerate, but you were kissing us compared to what you’ve done to The Alvarado Cartel. How many men have you killed today?”

Tanner stared at Joe.

“Not nearly enough.”

“I hear you, and I’ve got good news, Sammy’s awake.”

“I guess I don’t have to ask how he’s doing.”

“He’s gutted, Tanner, and... he’s just not the same. This has changed him forever.”

“Yes, death will do that, and so will surviving it.”

Joe sipped at his beer and then sighed.

“They’ll send more men, and the word on the street is that there’s a heavy price on your head.”

“I’ll watch my back, but we need to plan for these new men.”

“You’ve got something in mind?”

Tanner grinned behind his beer bottle.

“Oh yeah, I’ve thought of something.”

***

In San Juan del Río, Alexa entered the home and saw Emilio seated at his piano.

Emilio was Rodrigo’s long-time lover, and he had recently lost his sight due to an illness. He had come into Alexa’s life when she was only eleven, and she thought of him like a second father.

He knew the tragic and horrific tale that had united her and Rodrigo, but he was the only one either of them had ever trusted with the truth.

Alexa walked over and kissed Emilio on the cheek while hugging him, and he patted the piano bench, telling her to sit beside him.

Like Rodrigo, Emilio had also grown up in the circus, and had done many things. He had been a master with knives as a younger man, and had trained Alexa in the arts of knife throwing and acrobatics.

Rodrigo looked at the flyer with Tanner’s face on it.

“A Tanner? If so, he’s the sixth or seventh, the fifth Tanner would have died years ago, but perhaps he’s just a man going by that name.”

“No Papa, I checked the Internet when I stopped for gas and there’s a report that one of Alvarado’s jets crashed in New York State. The report also said that numerous bodies were found burned, far too many for one jet. The authorities there are calling it a mystery, but there’s no mystery, it was Tanner.”

Emilio laughed as he adjusted the dark glasses he wore.

“It looks like that bastard Alvarado may have angered the wrong man.”

“Yes,” Alexa said. “And I’ve just found an ally.”

Rodrigo had been sitting on a sofa. He stood and marched over to Alexa.

“I thought you had given up this insane idea of killing Alvarado. The man is too well protected in that fortress of his. No one has even seen him outside its walls in years.”

“It’s not insane. He nearly died once; it’s how he was so badly injured.”

“Yes, and now he hunts that man night and day. Another useless endeavor, that man could be anyone his face is so common.” Rodrigo took Alexa’s hands in his. “I love you, and it would kill me to lose you. Having you to raise and protect gave my life meaning. Please don’t throw your life away.”

“I’m not throwing it away; I’m living it, and I’ll have no peace until that bastard is dead by my hand.”

Rodrigo gave her a pleading look.

“He’ll kill you. That bastard will kill you the way he wiped out your family.”

Alexa sighed, and then kissed Rodrigo gently on the lips. He had no idea that she had already begun her quest and had been killing Alvarado’s men. If he knew how dangerously she’d been living, he would never get a wink of sleep.

She had sold her jewelry shop and abandoned her career as a businesswoman, and afterwards, she had spent months learning all she could about The Alvarado Cartel. She knew the names and addresses of over a hundred of Alvarado’s men, and had recently begun hunting them. Killing Alvarado’s men was just practice. She would someday kill the man that destroyed her family, but only after she told him who she really was, the last survivor of the Cazares family.

“I will kill Alvarado, Papa. This I know.”

Rodrigo released her hands and began pacing.

“You and that ‘little voice’ nonsense, it drives me crazy.”

Alexa smiled.

“It’s never been wrong, and it brought you and Emilio together.”

Rodrigo’s face softened and he laughed at the memory.

***

When she was eleven, Alexa dragged Rodrigo to the park every day for a week. He had been suffering from allergies, and the park was the last place he wanted to be.

On the seventh day, Alexa pointed to a man sitting alone on a bench and reading a newspaper. It had been Emilio.

“Go talk to that man.”

“What?”

“The man on the bench, go talk to him, I don’t know his name, but it starts with an E.”

“You are a very strange child, have I told you that?”

Alexa giggled.

“Every day, Papa, now go talk to him.”

Rodrigo did talk to Emilio, and they had been together ever since.

***

Rodrigo walked back over to Alexa and gestured for her to stand, when she did, he embraced her.

“You do what you have to do.”

“Thank you, Papa.”

“It serves me right for raising you to think for yourself.”

“Alexa?”

“Yes, Emilio?”

“This man, Tanner, you say that he’ll be an ally, but how will you find him?”

Alexa looked thoughtful, and then she spoke.

“We will find each other.”

CHAPTER 15 – The sky’s the limit

Rico was fighting sleep by the time the artist finished the drawing, but he smiled with delight when the man showed him his work.

“How’s that look, Mr. Nazario?”

“Excellent, that is him. That is Tanner. Make copies of that and send them out everywhere, and don’t forget, the price on his head is now half a million dollars.”

Juan Alvarado entered the room just as the artist was leaving. Rico had spotted the guard drawing while the man was on his break, and asked him if he could draw someone if they were described to him. The guard turned out to be a talented artist, and now Rico had a better rendition of Tanner’s face than the one seen in the mugshot.

The guard sent the picture to Rico’s laptop, and Juan stared at it.

“That’s a lot better than that blurry mugshot. But Tanner doesn’t look like much, and his eyes are weird.”

“Those are the eyes of the devil,” Rico said. He then smiled at Juan, as he tried to avoid having him grow suspicious.

“I’d like to know more about the local players. Do you have files on them?”

Juan rolled his eyes.

“I’ve got files on everything. The Cartel becomes more like Microsoft every day, do you know how many office workers and accountants we employ, it’s insane.”

“I’d like to see those files if you don’t mind. It’ll help me pass the time until the new men arrive.”

“I’ll send them to you,” Juan said, and then he made a face as he looked at the staples in Rico’s head. “They look painful.”

“They are, but I’ll make Tanner pay for it.”

Juan left, and ten minutes later, Rico had the files he wanted. When he came to a photo of Sophia Verona, he sighed.

“What a waste, she was beautiful.”

His eyes were very near to closing on their own when Rico found what he’d been looking for. It revitalized him, and after pouring a cup of strong coffee, he sat back on the sofa and came up with a plan. It was going to be a long night.

***

Staten Island, New York, 1:28 a.m.

––––––––

Mike Conti, the leader of The Calvino Crime Family stirred awake.

Someone was calling his name.

Mike reached out, turned on the light beside the bed, and saw Rico Nazario seated in the chair he kept by the dresser, and Rico was pointing a gun at him.

“Who are you?” Mike said in a scratchy voice, the sleep still evident in his tone.

“My name is Rico. I’m a member of The Alvarado Cartel.”

“Oh shit,” Mike said, and this time his voice was clear. He kept a gun in the table beside the bed, but knew he’d never reach it before being shot.

“I’m not here to hurt you; I’ve come to talk.”

Mike let out the breath he hadn’t known he’d been holding, and sat up straight in bed.

“I’m listening.”

***

Minutes later, they were in the kitchen.

Rico had rendered the two men watching the house unconscious. One had been sleeping when he came upon them, while the other was listening to earphones. He assured Conti that they would recover, but likely not awaken for another hour or more.

Conti slid a beer across the kitchen table to Rico and then sat opposite him with a glass of milk.

“All right, so what you’re offering me is a chance to step in if things go to hell?”

“Yes. Although your Family is much smaller than Michael Krupin’s mob, and since your war with the Giacconi Family in the ‘80’s you’ve been relegated to the minor league.”

Conti bristled at that characterization, but before he could protest, Rico held up a hand.

“I meant no offense, but it is a fact that The Giacconi Family runs New York, but with the Alvarado Cartel behind you, you would rule.”

Conti glared at Rico.

“Your people killed a friend of mine, Sophia Verona.”

“That was unfortunate, and Tanner was the true target.”

“Ah, is that what this is about? You expect me to hand over Tanner? If so, you’ve got the wrong guy. I barely know him and he wouldn’t trust me.”

“I don’t want you to hand us Tanner, but I do want you to give us Pullo.”

“A double-cross?”

Rico appeared perplexed.

“I understood that while still a boy, Pullo killed the founder of your Family, Albertino Calvino. It seems to me that you would simply be repaying him for that.”

Mike Conti laughed.

“You know your mob history, but that was a long time ago, and Joe is a friend.”

“Pullo is your boss, whether you admit it or not. What I’m offering is a chance for you to be your own boss.”

Conti downed the last of his milk as he thought things over. He then had a question.

“What if I hand you Pullo and Krupin stays in control; what do I get then?”

“We’ll let you handle distribution for the Giacconi’s pot business. That’s worth many millions.”

Conti ran a hand over his face.

“I could get to Joe, but the second I shot him, his men would kill me.”

“I’m not talking about a suicide mission. We just need to know where he’s hiding out.”

“Hmm, I could do that, and I know he’ll be at Sophia’s funeral.”

“That’s no good. Federal Agents will be there just waiting for something to happen, and I have to believe that Pullo will have his troops there as well.”

“I know, and I also know he won’t allow himself to be followed, but... I could probably slip a GPS device on him or one of his men. Would that work?”

Rico held up his beer bottle as if to make a toast.

“That’s perfect.”

“Hey listen, if I did take Krupin’s place in this deal, what kind of money are we talking about?”

“We would instantly double your Family’s wealth, power, and influence, and after that, the sky’s the limit.”

Conti grinned.

“I hope Tanner rips the kid apart.”

And although he didn’t say it, Rico wished the same fate for Juan Alvarado.

CHAPTER 16 – Boy Cody

The following morning in Texas found Laurel riding a horse for the first time in years.

She was a little nervous in the beginning, but she had ridden often as a girl and the skills returned quickly.

By the time she and Romina had covered two miles along the ranch’s perimeter, it felt natural for her to be in the saddle.

They found one section of fence that needed repair and Romina stopped to send a text off to the ranch foreman.

As she was doing that, Laurel looked around and spied something odd.

“Romina, what’s that fencing over there at the edge of the pasture?”

“Oh, that’s a family cemetery, but not ours... it’s the Parker family.”

“Someone named Parker owned the land at one time?”

“Yeah, um, I’ll tell you the story while we ride over.”

***

Laurel stood looking down at the graves of the Parker family as she wiped at tears.

“That story is so incredibly sad, and what kind of monster would kill a baby?”

“It is sad, even Tanner teared up a little.”

“What?”

“Tanner, he was touched by this.”

“Really?”

“Um-hmm, and he came here just before he left us. I guess he wanted to say goodbye.”

Laurel reached out and touched the tombstone engraved with Cody Parker’s name.

“That doesn’t sound like Tanner, but tell me, are there any pictures of the Parkers?”

“No, they were all destroyed with the house, oh but wait; there is one picture of Cody Parker.”

“Can I see it?”

“It’s at the library, inside a new display they just put up; someone came across it in their family photos and realized who was in the picture.”

Laurel cocked her head as she stared down at Cody Parker’s tombstone. Years ago, while they were still lovers, Tanner had told her that he had grown-up on a ranch in Texas.

“I think I’ll stop by the library later.”

***

While at the hospital, Ivanov had passed along the location of more than a dozen Russian street soldiers.

They all lived together in an apartment building that Krupin owned.

Tanner watched it from the roof of a nearby building and noticed that the men seemed complacent. They were not expecting to be attacked, because they thought that all the focus would be on their boss, Michael Krupin.

Still, they took precautions when they traveled, by staying in packs. Tanner had seen that strategy before. By always leaving the building as part of a group, it made them harder to kill or capture, and if one or two of them were going off to guard Krupin, the pack could cover them against being followed, by watching in every direction for a tail.

After observing the building for several hours, Tanner knew that there were at least eighteen men living inside it; he also knew that they would not be living much longer.

***

Laurel entered the Stark Texas Public Library with Romina, who led her over to a glass display case.

There were words written above the case: THE HISTORY OF STARK — 1865 to Present.

Romina leaned over and looked at the old photos displayed behind the case, after a few seconds of searching, she pointed to a photo that was in the lower right-hand corner.

“There he is; that’s Cody Parker.”

Laurel bent down and squinted through the glass.

The faded Polaroid picture showed a little boy of eight standing beside a girl of the same age who was wearing a birthday hat. Someone had scribbled words on the photos white border. CODY AND GINNY ON GINNY’S EIGHTH BIRTHDAY

The birthday girl, Ginny, was standing to Cody’s left on what looked like a front porch, and she was holding Cody’s hand. On Cody’s right, there was a blonde woman, and a dog was laying at the boy’s feet.

The boy resembled Tanner, but he was so young that his features had yet to form fully. The woman was another matter. The face was most definitely feminine, but she looked like Tanner, so much so that Laurel said the words aloud.

“His mother...”

Romina nodded.

“Um-hmm, that’s Cody’s mother, and they say she died not long after that picture was taken. The woman that died during the massacre, Claire, she was Cody’s stepmother. But hey, Laurel, I see a friend over there by the computers, so just come find me when you’re ready to leave.”

“I will, and thank you.”

Laurel continued to stare at the picture, as she struggled to understand the mystery behind Tanner. Was he really Cody Parker, and if so, how had he survived?

“Can I help you?”

The pleasant voice startled Laurel from her reverie, and she turned to see an older woman smiling at her. The woman wore a pin that had the word STAFF printed on it.

“Hi, um yes, I was interested in that photo of Cody Parker and his mother. Are there any other photos of them?”

“I’m afraid not, but that photo has been digitized. Would you like a copy?”

“Yes, absolutely.”

When Laurel left the library, she was carrying a piece of Tanner’s past.

CHAPTER 17 – A new record

Tanner met with Duke at the same bar they were at the day before, and he noticed that the man seemed nervous.

“Why the jitters, Duke?”

“No offense, Tanner, but being near you is not exactly a safe place to be. Did you know that The Alvarado Cartel has placed a half a million bounty on your head?”

Tanner smirked.

“That’s a new record.”

“Yeah, well I hope you’ll understand if I stay away from you after this. I have my health to worry about.”

“I don’t blame you, but did you get what I need?”

“I did; they’re in the same car I put the rocket in, and did you ever put that to use, I saw the scenes of that jet crash on the news.”

“Yeah, and I’ll put the new items to good use as well.”

“Be careful with that stuff, and remember, the blue ones are harmless, but the red ones cause death.”

“Blue and red? That reminds me of a movie.”

“What movie?” Duke said.

“Nevermind.”

Tanner made Duke start the engine and open the trunk again. When he was certain the car was all right, he handed Duke an envelope.

“What’s this?”

“A bonus, and it comes with advice. Leave the city until things cool down.”

Duke peeked inside the envelope.

“Nice, and you watch your back, Tanner; I know guys that would kill for half a buck, nevermind half a mil.”

“Yeah,” Tanner said. “But it feels good to be wanted by so many.”

***

Joe was in the hotel bar and talking on the phone with Mike Conti. Conti had ostensibly called to discuss Sophia’s funeral, which would be held the next day on Staten Island. However, his real intention was to get a feel for how Joe was thinking.

“I’ll be there, and so will Sammy Giacconi.”

“I never met the kid. I still thought Sophia was with Tanner.”

“Yeah, so did the cartel.”

“Does Tanner blame himself for Sophia dying?”

“No, Mike, he blames The Alvarado Cartel, and they’re going to wish they stayed in Mexico.”

“Joe, be realistic. You can’t win this war. The cartel has ten times the men you have and a hundred times the money.”

“They don’t have as many men as they had yesterday, and tomorrow they’ll have even less.”

“Listen to yourself, you sound crazy. There’s no way you can win a war against them, and your boy, Tanner, he’ll be dead soon.”

“Never count Tanner out.”

“Again, be realistic. The man is worth half a mil dead. Someone will collect that money; it’s just a matter of time.”

“So what are you saying?”

“Make peace. Give them whatever they want and walk away while you still can.”

There was silence on the line. It lasted so long that Conti broke it.

“Joe? You still there?”

“Yeah, Mike, I’m here, and I’m staying.”

Conti sighed.

“They’ll kill you, Joe. These bastards will kill you.”

“Thanks for the advice, Mike. I’ll see you at the funeral.”

Joe ended the call and sat staring off into space.

Bosco, his wounded arm still in a sling, was sitting at the bar nursing a beer. He called over to his boss.

“Is something wrong?”

“Yeah, I think I smell a rat. Are you sure the limo will be ready by tomorrow?”

“It’s ready now. I sent Tony and Benny to get it.”

“They know what to do?”

“Yeah, don’t worry; they’re not stupid enough to park the thing out front.”

Joe picked up the phone again.

“I need to make a change with our travel arrangements.”

Bosco stood.

“You need me to leave?”

Joe pointed to the chair that sat across from him.

“Have a seat.”

Bosco smiled as he sat down.

“You can trust me, Joe, you know?”

“It’s why you’re still here.”

“So what are these new plans?”

“Mike Conti knows we’re coming to Sophia’s funeral.”

“Yeah, and the cartel can probably guess the same thing.”

“Right, so it wouldn’t be too smart to just drive up to the cemetery.”

Bosco pulled at his collar.

“There’s a toll booth too, and I think of that scene in The Godfather every time I drive through one.”

Joe laughed.

“Yeah, well, I don’t plan to wind up the same way.”

Joe had dialed, and when his party answered, he spoke into the phone.

“Yes, Anywhere Air, I need to rent a helicopter.”

When Joe looked across the table, he saw Bosco give him the thumbs up sign.

CHAPTER 18 – Missing in action

Brooklyn, 1:41 a.m.

––––––––

Tanner made just enough noise to make the Russian take notice and turn his attention to the left.

Tanner was on the roof of the apartment building where Krupin’s troops were housed, and he needed to take out the man guarding the door to the stairway. Normally, he would do the deed himself, but he was not alone.

As the man peered into the gloom on the left side of the roof, Joe Pullo came up on his right. The Russian felt a stab of pain at the base of his skull, and then his world faded to black.

Tanner walked over, smiling.

“I see you haven’t lost your touch with a blackjack.”

“Some things you never forget,” Joe said.

Like Tanner, Joe was dressed all in black. Also like Tanner, there was a small pack strapped to his back. The packs contained two of the items they had procured through Duke.

After gagging the Russian, Tanner secured his hands and feet and then followed Joe into the stairwell.

They went slow, making as little noise as possible as they headed for the basement.

On the third floor, they heard the sound of a TV that was broadcasting a sport of some kind, and whoever was watching it seemed to be the only one still awake in the building.

Once in the basement, they brought out flashlights and looked around for what they were after. Joe spotted it first and slid his pack off.

When he reached into it, he removed a canister of compressed gas.

And while Joe readied the canisters, Tanner went to work taking off the screws on the cover of the HVAC system, the heating, ventilation and air-conditioning unit.

Ten minutes later, they had everything ready to go, and after donning filtering masks, they flooded the building with gas.

***

SIX HOURS LATER

––––––––

Rico entered the building with eight other men and was surprised to find no signs of bloodshed.

He had been awakened at 6:30, after the men who were supposed to report for a shift change in Manhattan never showed up, and no one answered the phones in Brooklyn.

Tanner?

That was the first thought that passed through Rico’s mind, accompanied by images of wholesale slaughter.

After arriving at the building, Rico simply watched it for a short time, but saw no movement in any of its windows.

Then, it was time to go in and see what was what. But once he and the men with him had searched every room, the basement, and the roof, he still had no idea what had happened.

The men weren’t dead; they were simply gone, vanished.

“The man is truly a devil,” Rico said to himself.

Nineteen Russian street soldiers were gone without a trace, and there was no sign of violence or a struggle. Rico looked at the men around him and saw that they were as unnerved as he was by it all.

One of the men spread his arms out.

“Where the hell are they?”

“In a mass grave somewhere,” said one of the other men, and although he didn’t voice his opinion, Rico agreed with the man.

***

In Mexico City, Alexa was torn by two competing desires.

She wanted to find Tanner as soon as possible, but she had also spent many weeks devising a plan that would get her inside the Alvarado compound.

She couldn’t put the plan in motion until nightfall, which meant that she would lose a day’s time in finding Tanner.

She sipped on a cup of coffee as she dangled her legs from the rear of her van and watched the sunrise.

She had discovered that Alvarado brought a group of whores into the compound once a month for the men guarding him. The women were driven into the compound inside a van, and then led back towards the barracks for a night of sex.

In order to do that, the guard dogs that normally roamed the compound at night were kept inside, and motion detectors were activated.

There had to be a window of time between the dogs being brought inside and the motion detectors being activated. Alexa planned to use that gap of time to make it over the wall and into the house.

It was a risky plan, and she didn’t even hope to get close enough to kill Alvarado, but if she could learn the layout of the home and ferret out a weakness in their defenses, the information could be invaluable.

She might never get close enough to kill Alvarado by herself, but with a Tanner someday wreaking havoc in the compound, she would have a chance.

She had discovered that there was a price on Tanner’s head, and knew that the man would be hunted by many who wanted to claim it. But he was a Tanner, and so he would not die easily. He couldn’t die; she needed him alive, and together they would kill their mutual enemy.

Alexa had also seen a copy of the drawing that Rico had made of the man, and when she first saw it, something inside her stirred even more than when she had seen the crumpled picture.

Her grandmother would have said that her “little voice” was talking to her, but Alexa suspected it was her libido.

The man was hot, this Tanner, and Alexa wanted to meet him for more than one reason.

Alexa closed her eyes and listened for the “little voice.”

When she opened her eyes a minute later, she had made her decision. She would infiltrate the compound, gain as much info as possible, and then leave the following day to find Tanner.

It was a good plan, now all she had to do was survive.

CHAPTER 19 – Goodbye Sophia

Inside a hangar at LaGuardia Airport, Rico greeted the new men that Alonso Alvarado had sent him.

While he knew several of the faces, most of the men were unknown to him.

They had arrived on seven different jets, and it had taken a day for the cartel to issue them all phony credentials and identities.

The landing strip near Mt. Pleasant had been so much handier, but then, its very isolation made it a perfect killing ground for Tanner.

Rico had been unaware that Tanner had tortured one of the specialists, Manuel. Had he known that, he would have assumed that Manuel had told Tanner about the landing strip, and he would have diverted the jets and sent teams of men to the area to kill Tanner.

Juan Alvarado had known that Manuel was tortured, and if the heir apparent had any street smarts he would have had the sense not to land the jets in a place that Tanner might know about.

Rico blamed Tanner for Mateo’s death, but part of the blame landed at Juan Alvarado’s feet as well.

Outside the hanger, three buses waited to transport the men. They were all staying in Manhattan, inside the building where Krupin and Juan Alvarado were, and would add on to the already massive security guarding the men. Both Alvarado and Krupin were so fearful of Tanner that they never left the building.

However, these new men would be leaving soon, leaving to return home in a matter of days if Rico’s plans worked out, because Joe Pullo would be tracked down with help from Mike Conti. Once Pullo’s location was known, Rico would send his new army in to kill him and his men, and with luck, Tanner would be among them.

The missing Russians bothered Rico. Why take the men instead of just killing them and leaving the bodies behind?

The only answer that Rico could see was that Tanner or Pullo was playing head games, either that, or the men would start showing up in pieces.

Whichever way you looked at it, it was unnerving, and when Rico shared the story with the new men, he saw the faces of many of them grow worried.

“Whatever Tanner’s game is he will soon stop playing it, because we are going to kill him.”

The men voiced their agreement and then Rico told them to climb aboard the buses, while he wondered if Conti would be successful in planting a tracking device.

***

On Staten Island, Mike Conti looked up and watched as Joe’s helicopter landed in the cemetery parking lot.

Once on the ground, the occupants of the craft were met by a limo. The limo drove over to join the rest of Sophia’s mourners, which included Sammy, who had left the hospital against doctor’s orders.

Joe had hired a car and a nurse for Sammy, and he was there in a wheelchair surrounded by several of Joe’s men.

Bosco emerged from the limo first, followed by Joe, and then Tanner, who Conti had only seen in his Romeo guise of spiked blond hair and fake tattoos. The hair was now dark, Tanner wore a suit and tie, along with sunglasses, and Conti saw none of Romeo’s demeanor in the man.

Tanner was no joke, and to even be out in the open when there was a price on his head told you something about the man.

As the group from Manhattan joined the rest of the mourners, greetings were exchanged, and then the priest began the solemn ceremony.

***

As the priest was talking, Tanner noticed that Sammy didn’t cry even a single tear. Joe was right; Sophia’s death had hardened the man. As Tanner raised his gaze from Sammy, he saw a familiar face.

It was Buck, the actor, whose real name was Edwin Seevers. Buck was standing beside a blonde who Tanner knew by sight. He had seen her in person once before while dining with Sophia, and knew that the woman had been Sophia’s friend. It was Amber Rose, a renowned actress on Broadway.

When the services ended, Buck walked over with Amber Rose.

“I didn’t expect to see you, Tanner, but Amber says that you and Sophia Verona were friends.”

“Yes,” Tanner said, as he took in Amber Rose. He had never seen her on Broadway, but had watched her on various TV commercials over the years.

She was beautiful and blonde, and it made him think of Laurel and wonder how she was doing at the ranch. Someone called to Amber and she excused herself as Buck stayed to talk.

Buck smiled.

“Do you believe this? I’m dating Amber Rose, and not only that, but I’m going to be in her new play. It’s a small part, but it’s on Broadway.”

“Good for you, how did you meet?”

“I was doing a play in an Off-Off-Broadway theater. Amber’s friend is the producer, we were introduced, and the rest is history.”

“I’m glad to see that you landed on your feet.”

“Yeah, and again, I’m sorry about Sophia. I wish I’d met her.”

Tanner said goodbye, but Buck had one last thing to tell him.

“Do you remember that I warned you about Ariana O’Grady?”

Tanner nodded. He remembered. Ariana was the daughter of Hank O’Grady, a Colorado rancher he had killed months ago.

“What about her?”

“She’s here in the city. She tracked me down to ask me about you, and she had four guys backing her up. Cindy’s father saw us together, and so she wanted to know what I knew about you. I told her that you held me hostage and then let me go, but I think she knows you’re here, and Tanner, the bitch wants you bad.”

Tanner smiled.

“She’s at the end of a long line these days, but tell me, what’s she look like?”

“She’s got dark hair and brown eyes. She’s pretty, but I wouldn’t call her beautiful. She’s also one of the meanest bitches you’ll ever meet. If she knew that I had helped you in Vegas, I think she would kill me.”

“I’ll keep an eye out for her while I’m watching my back, checking my six, and sleeping with one eye open.”

Buck smiled.

“It’s not easy being you, is it?”

“Take care, Buck.”

***

Tanner joined Joe, who was talking to Mike Conti. He knew that Conti wanted Joe to make peace, and like Joe, he smelled a rat.

Conti smiled at Tanner, but didn’t offer to shake hands.

“The last time I saw you, Tanner, you were pretending to be someone else. This might be a good time to do that again. Staying yourself might not be healthy.”

“You’re right; it’s deadly... for others.”

Conti chuckled.

“Just a little friendly advice,”

“Sure,” Tanner said.

A few minutes later, everyone was back on the chopper but Bosco. Joe was about to call his phone when he saw him come running towards them.

After he climbed aboard, Joe offered him his handkerchief.

“You got lipstick all over you.”

Bosco nodded as he took the offered hanky.

“I ran into a woman I know, a real hot girl from the old neighborhood. Funny thing, she never gave me a second look back in the day, and now, it’s like she can’t get enough of me, we even made plans to hook-up next weekend.”

“Lucky you,” Joe said.

Bosco shook his head.

“I ain’t the lucky type, Boss.”

Bosco gently removed his injured arm from the sling and pointed to a dot on the underside of his bandage.

“What do you think; it’s some kind of GPS tracker?”

Tanner studied it.

“That’s exactly what it is.”

“This girl work for Conti?” Joe asked.

“No,” Bosco said. “But she’s his cousin.”

“That son of a bitch, I was hoping I was wrong about him,” Joe said.

Bosco removed the GPS tracker just as the pilot powered up the chopper.

Tanner shouted over the engine noise to be heard.

“Let me have that.”

Bosco gave the tracker to Tanner, expecting him to destroy it, but instead, he placed it in his pocket.

“Aren’t you going to get rid of it?” Bosco shouted.

Joe leaned over and spoke in his ear.

“We were expecting something like this and we’re going to turn it against them.”

Bosco nodded his understanding, and before long, they were in the air.

Tanner looked back, located the fresh grave, and in his mind, he said goodbye to Sophia.

CHAPTER 20 – Take a meeting

In the afternoon, Tanner entered the underground parking garage of a hotel in midtown and climbed into the passenger seat of a silver BMW.

Tamir Ivanov was in the driver’s seat. He nodded at Tanner and passed him a manila file folder.

“Your info was right. That’s definitely the building where Krupin and Juan Alvarado are staying. It’s owned by an alias of Alonso Alvarado. It’s ten stories tall and the bastards have it all to themselves, that is, if you don’t count the army of men guarding them.”

Tanner looked through the file and saw that Ivanov had included a list of the building’s specifications.

“General George Patton once said that fixed fortifications were a monument to the stupidity of man, because anything built by man could be destroyed by man. I don’t agree with him in all cases, but I do in this instance.”

“Does that mean that you have a plan?”

“Not yet, but I will.”

“I want in, Tanner. I swore on Justina’s grave that I would be the man who killed Krupin.”

“Do you know what you’re asking? Even if we get in the building there’s no guarantee that we’ll ever get out alive.”

“I don’t care what happens to me, but I need to kill that man. You can have Juan Alvarado. You might be able to trade him to his father in a deal.”

Tanner shook his head.

“There’s no dealing with men like that. He would just go back on his word.”

“That’s true, but if you kill his son, he won’t rest until you’re dead.”

“It doesn’t matter. Once I kill the son, he’s next. This ends one of two ways, Ivanov, I die or Alvarado dies.”

“That means going to Mexico, and the man lives in a fortress from what I’ve gathered.”

“Why are there no pictures of him?”

“The word is, he paid to have them all destroyed when he took control of Mexico City and started his own cartel.”

“I need to know what the man looks like.”

“I’m working on it. I have a friend in the DEA. He says that Alvarado came out of a town called El Posa. He’s checking there to see if there are any old mug shots of the man in the files. By joining forces with Krupin, Alvarado’s made himself a higher priority of the DEA.”

“Are the Feds moving in on Krupin and Juan Alvarado?”

Ivanov made a sound of disgust.

“No they’re not, and I think it means that someone, maybe many people, have been bribed. The cartel has more money than God, and that money buys a lot of corruption.”

“It also works in our favor. We don’t want them arrested, we want them dead.”

“When are you going in?”

“There’s no way to know, and my current plans depend on Krupin and Alvarado making the next move.”

Ivanov considered that and saw only one way to ensure that he would be around when Tanner went for Krupin.

“From this point on I’m sticking with you; that way I won’t be left out.”

Tanner stared at the man and then sighed.

“Ivanov, I didn’t know your partner, but she wouldn’t want you to risk yourself needlessly. Walk away now, take some time off, and then get back to your life. Let me handle Krupin.”

“I have to do this, Tanner. I have to.”

“Fine, I’ll call Joe and tell him that I’m bringing back a guest.”

***

While Tanner was meeting with Ivanov, Rico was meeting with Juan Alvarado and Michael Krupin inside Alvarado’s suite.

They were sitting together in the living room while Rico filled them in on his progress.

“You’ve found Pullo and his men?” Juan asked.

“That’s right; Mike Conti of The Calvino Family planted a GPS on one of Pullo’s people.”

Juan Alvarado’s face screwed up in confusion.

“Why would this Mike Conti do that?”

Rico flicked his eyes over towards Krupin and then back at Juan.

“He was promised certain things.”

“By you? Rico, have you gone mad? You’re not authorized to speak for me.”

“This plan was begun with your father’s approval, he asked me to come up with a way to track down Pullo and I did.”

“Nevermind all that,” Krupin said. “Where is Pullo?”

“They’re at the Hotel Rutherford on Randall Street.”

“What?” Krupin said. “That hotel was Bruno Heinz’s, and you mean that Pullo has been there all along?”

“At least the last few days, since the attempt on his life.”

“That sneaky bastard, damn it, it just never occurred to me to look there.”

Rico grinned.

“That’s why he chose it.”

Juan slapped his hands together in triumph.

“Excellent, I’ll send the men in tonight.”

“No,” Rico said.

“What do you mean, no? Of course we go in, and by tomorrow our problems will be over.”

“No, we will wait and watch the hotel. I do not like how easy this is.”

“Why wait?”

“Listen to me, Juan; you do not want another disaster on your hands. This man Tanner is beyond clever. We’ll watch the building for a day and then we’ll go in tomorrow night if it looks good, but if I smell a trap, I’ll call the whole thing off.”

Alvarado stood and paced around the room, after leaning against the dormant fireplace, he spoke.

“Wait one day, but if Tanner slips away it will be on your head.”

“Even if everything looks right, it could still go wrong. I would not send the men in until we’re certain.”

“Speaking of things going wrong, what the hell happened to my men, Rico?”

“We still do not know, Krupin; it’s as if they’ve vanished.”

“Do you think it was Tanner?”

“I have no doubt that it was, and I would love to get my hands on the bastard.”

“Forget those men, they’re dead,” Alvarado said. “And Rico, I’ll give you one day to watch that hotel. If you can’t prove it’s a trap then I’ll send the new men in tomorrow night and wipe Pullo and Tanner from the planet.”

“A day may not be enough time.”

“Too bad, it’s all I’m giving you, or do I have to call my father and have him explain to you which of us is in charge?”

Rico tapped down his rage and forced himself to smile.

“As you say, Juan, but tell me, will you be leading the men or would you like me to do it?”

Rico had asked the question in as innocent a tone as he could muster, but he knew, that Juan knew, that he was taunting him, even insinuating that he was a coward. After staring at Rico with a sneer forming on his lips, Juan answered him.

“I will let you lead the men; that way you can personally avenge your friend, Mateo.”

“You are too gracious,” Rico said.

“Are we sure that Tanner is in that hotel too?” Krupin asked.

“No, but if he is, I will kill him,” Rico said.

“Take him alive if you can; he would make a perfect gift for my father.”

“I’ll try,” Rico said, but he knew that Tanner was too dangerous to leave alive, and in fact, he realized that he needed a way to ensure his own survival. He excused himself and went off to make a call to Mike Conti.

CHAPTER 21 – Who watches the watchers?

That night, Alexa approached the south wall of the Alvarado Compound by crawling through the sand on her stomach.

She was covered in camouflage material that blended in with the landscape, and had gone undetected when a searchlight passed over her.

She stopped thirty feet from the wall, as she waited for the perimeter guard to drive by in his jeep.

She had watched the compound on numerous occasions and had even gotten to the wall twice before, as she gathered information about the compound’s security measures.

However, tonight she planned to go over the wall, to scale the twenty feet of reinforced concrete and gather Intel on Alvarado’s home.

She considered finding the man, tracking him down in his own home and killing him. If she did such a thing, she would surely be killed before she could escape, and as much as she wanted revenge for her dead family, Alexa wanted to go on living even more.

And then there was Rodrigo. Her death would devastate him, she knew it would, and she could not bring such pain upon him, not her blessed Papa.

She removed her backpack, and after taking a drink of water, she put together the homemade rope she had fashioned to get over the twenty-foot high wall.

The rope had knots tied every foot, while at its end, Alexa attached a U-shaped device made from PVC pipe. One end of the U was longer than the other was and had burrs sticking out of it that would dig into the wall. The rest of the pipe was wrapped in a soft fabric, and so it shouldn’t make any sound as it attached itself atop the wall.

Alexa had tested the contraption on other walls, and was so practiced with it that she could climb up the rope in a matter of seconds.

Once she was ready, she still had to wait for the van to come, the van transporting the whores for the men who guarded the compound.

When the women arrived, the guards in the tower would not only be watching the gate, but might also be distracted by thinking of the pleasure that awaited them when they got off their shifts.

From what Alexa had seen on other occasions, the guards worked shorter shifts when the women were there, so that each man could have his time with a woman. Alvarado only allowed his men this pleasure once a month, and Alexa believed it was the perfect time to strike.

Headlights cut through the blackness of the desert less than an hour later, and Alexa made her way over to the wall.

It was good timing, because the outside perimeter guard had just passed the area and shouldn’t be back again. The wall surrounding the compound was miles long but was checked every night.

Alexa had to get in and out and leave no trace that she had been there. She was prepared for a confrontation, but she would be vastly outnumbered, and if caught, she would be tortured.

Alvarado would never believe that she was there on her own, but would likely think that she was working for his rival, Damián Sandoval.

As the gate opened, four guards stood ready to fire on anyone trying to use the opportunity to sneak in with the van.

Alexa used the time to toss her rope device atop the wall. The first try failed, but the second toss was successful, and the U-shaped tubing straddled the thick wall.

Once she was satisfied that the rope was secured, Alexa climbed up. She was lying flat atop the wall in seconds, and after pulling the rope up and over, she refit the U to face in the opposite direction and climbed down on the other side.

When no lights flashed on, it assured her that the motion detectors had yet to be reactivated, and she sprinted for the house.

The daughter of a thief, Alexa was skilled at bypassing alarm systems and locks, and so she was inside the home in less than a minute, where she found herself in what appeared to be the laundry room, with several washers and dryers.

Alvarado’s compound was like a small community of its own, and received its food supplies by tractor-trailer. Alexa had considered entering the compound by hiding inside one of the food crates, but nixed the idea in favor of going over the wall.

She smiled. She was inside, possibly less than a hundred feet from Alvarado, and if fate smiled on her, she might even get to kill the evil bastard.

***

In New York City, several of Alvarado’s men were watching the Hotel Rutherford from the rooftop of a warehouse across the street. Tanner had once used the same spot when he was spying on Bruno Heinz’s men.

The four cartel members were leaning back against a brick chimney and discussing the situation.

There were obviously men moving around inside the hotel, as they had seen shadows pass before windows many times.

What they hoped to see was Tanner. If they could confirm that he was in there, they would call in the rest of the troops and move in.

The men all knew that Tanner was worth half a million dollars and the thought of having that much money fueled the men’s dreams. Nevermind that they nearly earned that much money already, by reinvesting their pay in product and moving it with Alvarado, but that was work, business, while the bounty on Tanner was more like a dream.

Not only would the money be theirs, but so would the fame. Tanner’s exploits at killing were spreading throughout Mexico they all agreed, and to be the one who killed such a man would make you just as famous.

One of the men took out the artist’s rendition of Tanner and made an unkind comment about his eyes, while another claimed that they looked queer.

The other men laughed along, even as they all stared at the eyes in the drawing and felt unease. The artist, by using Rico’s description, had captured Tanner’s eyes perfectly.

They were the eyes of a killer, and even though the men had killed many times themselves, they knew an Alpha Predator when they saw one, and although there are many beasts in the jungle, only one can lead the pack.

Tanner, if the tales were true, was a killing machine, and it eased the men’s minds and bolstered their pride to demean him.

The man folded the flyer away as a last chuckle escaped his lips.

“This Tanner, he’s just been lucky... that’s all it is.”

The other men agreed, and then they moved on to the far end of the roof to get a look at the windows in that section of the hotel.

Inside the chimney, sitting atop a platform he himself installed, Tanner thought about the men’s conversation, and smiled.

CHAPTER 22 – Don’t just stand there...

At the Alvarado compound, Alonso Alvarado watched as his brother-in-law entered his office.

As usual, the man looked worried.

Carlos Ayala was Malena’s older brother and the head accountant for the cartel. If the cartel made or spent so much as a centavo, Carlos knew about it, and worried over it.

The recent war in New York had been nothing but a money drain, and Alvarado knew it was what was on the man’s mind.

“Don’t even say it,” Alvarado said.

Carlos tried to look innocent.

“Say what?”

“You were going to tell me how much money the New York expansion has cost us so far, correct?”

Carlos gave a little shrug.

“I may have brought it up.”

Alvarado grinned. He liked his brother-in-law, trusted him, and the man had once saved his life while risking his own.

“Don’t worry, Carlos, things are improving in New York; I have Juan’s assurance.”

“Juan is still a boy. Are you sure that he can handle the responsibility?”

“He is a man, and also my son, there is nothing he can’t do.”

Carlos shook his head sadly.

“The jet that was destroyed, do you know how much that thing cost?”

“No, but I know that the cartel has already earned enough to buy one to replace it three times over, and, there’s something else you should consider.”

“What’s that?”

“The men that died on that jet all had money in our keeping, to buy and sell product for them.”

Carlos demeanor brightened.

“Yes, and now the cartel gets to keep those funds. Still, it likely won’t add up to enough to replace the jet, and so we’ve still lost money.”

“As usual, you worry too much.”

“And what about you? You can’t tell me that you’re not worried about Juan, and I know that Malena is. Maybe Juan should come home; Rico is more than qualified to handle things there.”

“Ah, so that’s why you’re really here. Malena asked you to talk to me, didn’t she?”

“No, but she is worried and so am I. This man Tanner, he’s too unpredictable. He reminds me of the man who attacked you years ago.”

Alvarado sat up straighter, as he just remembered something. He handed a copy of Tanner’s flyer across the desk to Carlos.

“That is Tanner; does he look familiar to you?”

Carlos took out a pair of glasses and studied the artist’s sketch.

“No, not really, why, do you know him?”

“I have seen that face before, but I’ll be damned if I can remember where or when.”

“It will come to you when you stop thinking about it, you know how that goes.”

Alvarado tossed the flyer into a drawer of the desk.

“I guess you’re right. By the way, the whores are here, would you like one sent to your room?”

Carlos sighed.

“No, I suppose not, and I guess that means I’m growing old. It’s been months since I’ve felt the urge.”

Alvarado smiled.

“That’s not old my friend, that’s dead.”

***

Alexa shed her camouflage outfit and stuffed it inside one of the dryers. Afterwards, she went back outside, on the assumption that it would be a safer way to travel to the front end of the house, rather than risk being seen inside.

As long as she stayed close to the walls, she should be clear of the motion detectors, which were likely reactivated, because she had seen no sign of the guard dogs that normally prowled the compound at night.

She made it towards the front of the home where she came upon a side door. The door had a small window in it, and she could see what looked like a narrow staircase. Once inside, she could use that staircase to explore upstairs.

She had just placed her hand on the doorknob, to see if perhaps it was unlocked before she kneeled down to pick it, and that’s when a voice called to her.

“You! Stay right where you are or I’ll shoot you dead.”

Alexa turned her head and saw a guard aiming a rifle at her, and she knew that if she reached for her weapons, she’d be killed.

***

In New York City, Tanner left his perch inside the chimney and made it back to street level.

Mike Conti had informed Krupin and Alvarado of their location inside the Hotel Rutherford, and now it was only a matter of time until they were attacked.

That was good. It meant that all was going according to plan.

Still, Alvarado and Krupin were being cautious, and that had to end.

Tanner moved towards the hotel while staying in the shadows. From an alleyway, he looked up and saw the men from earlier discussing something passionately.

Although he couldn’t make out their words, he could hear their whispered voices all the way down to the street, and had he wanted to kill them earlier on the roof, they would have gone easy.

He left the shadows and headed for the Rutherford’s front doors, after stepping inside the building, Tanner made certain to look in the men’s general direction while his face was lit by the light in the hotel’s lobby. One of the men had been carrying binoculars, and should have gotten a good look at him.

Tanner locked the doors and went to get into position. They would be coming soon, and they would be an army. He idly wondered who would be digging all their graves.

***

Alexa tried to look vacant, as a smile spread across her pretty face.

“I’m sorry, I just got lost, that’s all.”

The guard lowered his rifle as he took in her appearance. Beneath the camouflage, Alexa had dressed so that she would appear to be one of the whores that had been shipped in. She wore a skirt that was so short it was barely there, along with a blouse that gapped to reveal her breasts.

The guard shook his head at her. He was a tall man with a scraggly beard and bloodshot eyes.

“You’re not supposed to leave the barracks area, didn’t they tell you?”

Alexa giggled.

“No, and it’s my first time here. I just wanted to get a look at the house.”

The guard smiled at her, as he slung his rifle across his back to free his hands. He then stepped towards her and fondled her breasts.

“I don’t get off for another few hours, but there’s no harm in me getting a preview of things to come.”

Alexa kept the grin plastered on her face even as the urge to kill the pig was rising inside her. The skirt she wore had less material than most scarves, but it was adorned with a thick white belt, and the belt held her knives.

As the man was feeling her up, she slipped her hand down to the belt, and was about free a knife when the side door opened.

It was Carlos, Alvarado’s friend and brother-in law. Alexa recognized him from photos she had seen and thought that the man looked old.

“What’s happening here?”

The guard released Alexa and came to attention.

“Hello sir, I was just telling the girl that she belonged back at the barracks; I’ll take her there now.”

The guard gripped Alexa’s right wrist and began pulling her along, but they had only gone a few steps when Carlos called them back.

***

Carlos remembered Alvarado’s offer to take one of the girls as he looked at Alexa. He hadn’t felt the urge for sex, but seeing Alexa had... stirred things.

She was definitely the type he liked with her long legs, light brown skin, and large luminous eyes.

After calling the guard back, he spoke to Alexa.

“You haven’t been used tonight yet, have you?”

“No sir, I am clean, very clean,” Alexa said.

Carlos licked his lips in anticipation as he stepped back inside the house.

“Guard, bring the girl to my room.”

The three of them climbed up the staircase Alexa had seen earlier. When they reached the top, they traveled left, and then made a quick right into an alcove that had double doors at the end of it. When Carlos opened the doors, Alexa saw his room.

Carlos’ living quarters were huge. It had seating up front, like a living room, and there was even a fireplace. She could see the bathroom through a doorway. It had a shower, bathtub, and a Jacuzzi, while the bedroom doubled as an office. There was an L-shaped desk in one corner with several laptops spread atop it, while in another corner was a seating area with an enormous television on the wall.

Carlos had told the guard to stand outside, and after the man left, he escorted Alexa to his bedroom. Specifically, he led her to stand beside his king-size bed.

When she simply stood looking about, he gestured at her.

“Don’t just stand there, get naked.”

Alexa smiled at Carlos as her hands freed the knives from her belt.

CHAPTER 23 – Woof!

Laurel checked the sheet that Tanner had given her, and when she saw that the number displayed on the phone matched one of the numbers on the sheet, she grinned and answered the call.

“Joe?”

“Hi baby, how’s life on the ranch?”

“It’s nice here, but I really miss you. When can I come back?”

“It’s in the works, and if all goes well, you’ll be back in a day or two.”

“Really, that’s great, and is everyone okay?”

“We’re all good, Tanner included, but I’m a little worried about Sammy. The kid just isn’t the same.”

“He suffered a loss, was injured, and received quite a shock; it’s bound to have affected him.”

“I know, there’s just... I don’t know, it’s like the kid has lost his heart. I think if he hadn’t broken his leg he’d be out there looking for revenge.”

“He’ll be his old self someday; he just needs time to heal.”

“Yeah, I hope that’s it, but listen baby, I can’t talk for long. I’m in the middle of a meeting.”

“Okay, but call back tomorrow.”

“I will, I love you, Laurel.”

“I love you too, Joe.”

***

In Mexico, Alexa was straddling Carlos atop his bed, as she questioned him about Alonso Alvarado.

She had already cut the old accountant twice on his face, and he seemed to realize that she was serious and would brook no lies.

“The door from the hall is the only way into his office?”

“No, there are a set of patio doors, but they’re bulletproof and only open by Alonso’s thumbprint.”

“And how many men are guarding the office door?”

“Two at all times, with another two within hearing range, but the guards don’t have a keycard to open the door.”

Alexa pressed one of her knives harder against Carlos’ neck while she thought things over.

Getting past the lock on the door would be no problem for her, but the heavily armed guards was another matter. She then cocked her head and stared down at Carlos.

“Why only two guards at the door?”

“Only? Two guards is sufficient; after all, we’re inside a compound.”

“No, two guards is not nearly enough, what are you not telling me?”

Carlos’ eyes shifted left, then right, and Alexa took her other knife and held it close to his face.

“Do not hold back, old man, or I’ll blind you.”

“Body monitors! The guards at the door wear body monitors. If they become excited, lose consciousness, or are killed, an alert goes off in several areas around the compound. Over a dozen men will head towards the office. Alonso has a safe room in there as well, behind the bathroom wall. Now please, I’m begging, do not blind me.”

Alexa eased off of Carlos and backed away from the bed.

She saw the old man give a sigh of relief, and then he opened his mouth to call for the guard. Instead of sound issuing forth, razor-sharp steel entered, as Alexa flung a knife into Carlo’s open mouth.

It hit with such force that its tip was sticking out from the base of his neck. Alexa watched the bastard die, and smiled. Alonso Alvarado had killed her entire family, by killing his brother-in-law and oldest friend, she had just given him a taste of what that was like.

After pulling her knife free, she checked herself for signs of blood and found only three small specks on her white belt. She cleaned them off in the bathroom and headed for the door. She still had to get past the guard.

When she stepped from the room, she saw the guard give her a humorous look, and after she closed the door behind her, the man whispered conspiratorially to her.

“The old bastard doesn’t have much stamina; you were only in there for a short time.”

Alexa pouted.

“I’m still horny; could you help me with that?”

The guard looked around.

“Here, in the hall?”

“The old guy is asleep, and there’s no one near, right?”

“Not close, no.”

Alexa stepped forward and began unbuckling the man’s belt with one hand, as the other hand freed a knife.

The smile left the guard’s face an instant after the knife slipped between his ribs and nicked an artery leading to his heart.

He backed away while unslinging his rifle, but collapsed to the floor before he could do anything else.

Alexa opened the bedroom door and dragged the man inside, and then cursed as she saw the blood on the hallway carpet. She had hoped to keep both bodies hidden and undetected for as long as possible, but if anyone so much as glanced down the corridor, they would spot the blood.

She went into the bathroom and grabbed a blue bathmat, this, she laid over the bloodstain. It looked totally out of place atop the white carpet, but might buy her time. And she needed time, because she still had to get out of the house and back over the wall.

Before leaving, she reentered the bedroom and gathered up the laptops. There were five altogether, some obviously old, but she took them all into the bathroom and smashed them open upon the lip of the tub, to remove the hard drives.

Carlos Ayala had been with Alvarado for decades as his chief money man, and Alexa was willing to bet that the information in the laptops was pure gold.

She considered taking the dead guard’s rifle with her, but decided against it. She would need speed more than an arsenal, and the clunky rifle would only slow her down.

She made it back outside without incident and headed for the laundry room where she had left her camouflage suit. She would need it, because she was about to set off the motion detectors, and if she could just go unseen by the guards in the tower long enough, she might make it to her rope and back over the wall before being shot.

She left the house by the rear door and listened carefully. When she was certain that she heard nothing, she sprinted for the wall.

When her movements didn’t trigger the lights, it perplexed her, but then she heard a growl come from behind and understood.

The dogs were loose again, and if the one chasing her caught her, she’d die from a ripped throat.

Alexa kept running as the wall drew closer, but she saw no sign of her rope. However, she did see something rushing towards her from the left. It was another dog, no, two more dogs, and the canine killers were moving at twice her speed.

Alexa silently asked for help from her beloved deceased abuela, her grandmother, while hoping that she would not soon be joining her and the rest of the family in heaven.

CHAPTER 24 – The right woman

After talking to Joe, Laurel went out onto the porch and found that Maria was already enjoying the night air.

“You’re smiling; you must have had good news,” Maria said.

“Yes, my fiancé says that I may be able to return in a day or two, but that’s not to say that I haven’t enjoyed being here, and Mrs. Salgado may be the best cook in the world.”

Maria smiled.

“She might be. If I didn’t watch my weight I could easily grow fat eating her cooking.”

“I want to thank you again, Maria. It was beyond nice of you to have me here.”

“Nonsense, it was my pleasure, and not just because it gave us a chance to meet, but it allowed me to repay Tanner just a little bit.”

“Romina told me how he saved her from that crazy ex-boyfriend, and she looks very happy with Chaz.”

“Yes, although it’s a little odd that I’m seeing the father of the boy she’s dating, we’re all happy, and we owe some of that to Tanner.”

The two women grew quiet for a time, but then Maria broke it with a question.

“Is there a chance that Tanner could come here?”

“No, I don’t think so.”

“Too bad, I would love to see him again.”

“When Tanner was here, did you two become... very close?”

Maria smiled.

“Are you asking if I slept with him?”

“I was, and forget I asked. It’s none of my business.”

“I considered it, and at the time; I hadn’t been with a man since my husband died. And if not for Romina, I might have asked Tanner to my bed, but bedding the man would not have sent a good signal to my daughter.”

“Why, because you knew that Tanner wasn’t the type to stick around?”

“Yes, and it would have been a bit too casual for myself as well, but I take it that you’re the same way, or else you and Tanner would have stayed close. That was the term you used, wasn’t it? That you and he were once close.”

“Yes, and part of me still loves him.”

“I can see that, but I know Tanner well enough to know that he’s scared of commitment. I think he may also fear abandonment. Perhaps someone he loved left him or died suddenly, like a mother, those scars can run very deep.”

“Yes,” Laurel said, as she thought about the boy, Cody Parker, the child who lost his mother at a young age, and later lost everyone else. If such a boy had survived a tragedy like the horror that befell the Parkers, he would likely fear commitment and avoid loss.

“Tanner will find the right woman someday,” Maria said. “But she had better be as tough as he is.”

***

When she was ten feet from the wall, a breeze blew across the courtyard and caused her rope to sway slightly. Alexa had matched its color so perfectly to that of the gray wall that she had been unable to distinguish it until it moved.

She leapt up as high as she could and gripped the rope tightly, even as the wall behind it scraped the skin from her knuckles.

Two of the dogs missed her as they leapt up, but the third dog, a massive Rottweiler, sank his teeth into the hem of her camouflage. It was the part of the disguise she wore like a cape over her head. The dog’s weight was pulling on it, so that one edge of it was yanked tight against her neck.

Alexa reached down to her belt while holding the rope with one hand and, after gripping a knife, she sliced at the fabric. It caused the piece clamped in the dog’s mouth to tear free, and the hound fell backwards to the ground.

The searchlight came on, and it was so bright that just the edge of its beam blinded Alexa.

The guard manning the light had aimed it at the base of the wall. When the man saw that the dogs were all looking up, he turned the beam that way, and Alexa was lit brilliantly as she topped the wall.

She had just managed to flip the rope onto the other side of the wall when the rifle retort sounded, and she felt something tug at her camouflage cape.

Before the tower guard could take another shot, she was heading down the rope away from his view, but before she reached the bottom, lights blazed on and an alarm began blaring.

The lights lit the darkness out to fifty feet from the wall before the night reclaimed the desert. Despite knowing that the guards in the towers would be looking for her, Alexa ran out into the light.

Two tower guards had a view of the area she ran in and either of them might cut her down, but she had to risk it, because their guns would soon be joined by many others, and then she would die for sure.

She weaved about as she ran, trying to make herself harder to hit. She had prepared for this, for the eventuality that she might have to flee under pursuit, but to activate the precautions she had taken Alexa first had to make it away from the wall.

One round actually passed between her legs a second before the blessed darkness swallowed her. She kept weaving as the guards kept firing, but their shots were going wide as she veered right, to stay parallel with the wall.

They would be expecting her to run away, to get distance, and so their shots sailed far over her head.

She was looking back at the wall as she ran, and using it as a guidepost. Lightning had struck it at some point and scarred a section forty feet from the center tower.

In one of her many prior excursions to the compound, Alexa had set up several traps. They were all hidden beneath the sand and covered by more camouflage material, and they had taken her many nights of hard work to complete.

When she was in position and lined up with the scar on the wall, she turned and ran deeper into the darkness. There were no plants to trip over, no cacti to run into, not if she was running in the right direction.

Alexa counted as she ran, knowing that time wasn’t on her side. When she reached the count of fifty, she got down and began to crawl.

She had been crawling forward for several seconds and starting to fear that she was in the wrong area, when her hand dipped into something soft. It was the camouflage she’d left in place over her first trap.

She skirted around it, and had just made it to the other side when the dogs came, as she knew they would.

There were four of them altogether, each a great slobbering beast weighing over a hundred pounds, and as they ran onto the camouflage netting, it sank into the ground. The tapered pit was ten feet deep and the dogs went down into it, even as the weighted netting followed and covered them up.

Their growling became fierce and mixed with whimpering, but Alexa had placed no stakes at the pit’s bottom. The dogs were pawns. They needed to be handled, but she hadn’t the heart to kill them.

However, the men approaching in the jeeps were another matter.

Alexa positioned herself behind a cactus and became nearly invisible within her camouflage cape.

Two jeeps came towards her, with one in the lead and two more that were just leaving the compound. When she was at the very edge of the first jeep’s headlights, she dropped the hood on the cape and let them glimpse her face, which must have looked as if it were floating alone in the dark atop her camouflaged body.

She caught the attention of the driver of the nearest jeep and then let the hood swallow her up again. Someone in the jeep fired several shots, but Alexa had already dived to the right and lay flat, so the bullets passed overhead.

The driver had lost sight of her, but he stayed on course for her last position, and although the ditch he drove into wasn’t nearly as deep as the one the dogs were trapped in, it still bogged down the vehicle’s front tires and caused the men inside to slam their heads against the windshield.

Alexa raced towards the vehicle and killed the stunned men before they knew what was happening, as she slashed open their throats.

She took one of the men’s guns, an AR-15, and raced off as the second jeep approached. It sped past the disabled jeep for twenty feet before its right front tire found another ditch and fell into it.

Alexa opened fire with the AR-15 and killed both men.

She then turned and ran as fast as she dared in the scant moonlight, as the other two jeeps came on.

As she hoped they would, the men stopped to assess what had happened to their comrades. They would see the ditches, the dead bodies, and would think twice about continuing their pursuit.

That had been the plan, but the bastards in the jeeps weren’t willing to play by her rules.

The last two jeeps came on, and fast.

Alexa shook her head. Were they fools? Had they not seen the ditches? But then she realized that they feared losing her more than they feared crashing.

If she escaped, they would likely be killed for their failure to capture her, while the ditches might only break their arms and grant them an excuse.

But there were no more ditches, just open desert, and Alexa’s van was still far away.

The sound of the jeeps grew louder, as Alexa ran for all she was worth.

CHAPTER 25 – The spy who loved me

Juan Alvarado screamed in Rico’s face. They were inside Juan’s suite and had just received word that Tanner had been spotted at the Hotel Rutherford.

“Take the men there now!”

“Was the man certain it was Tanner?”

“He swears it was, and we’ll never get another chance like this, take every available man, storm that hotel from all sides, and kill anything that moves.”

“What if it’s a trap?”

“It’s no damn trap. What’s wrong with you, Rico, are you scared of Tanner?”

“I don’t fear him; I respect him.”

Juan’s phone rang, when he looked at it, he saw that his father was calling.

“Hello Father, I’ve got more great news.”

Juan listened to the phone for a moment as his father told him the compound had been breached.

“How many men? And was this an attack by Sandoval?”

“We don’t know yet,” Alonso told his son. “But the guards will find them.”

“Oh, so the guards are tracking them down, that’s good, but listen, we know where Tanner is. I’m sending Rico and the men after him, so soon all our worries will be over.”

“Excellent, Juan, I knew you could handle things there.”

Rico held out his hand.

“Let me speak to him.”

Juan made a face.

“Rico wants to talk to you, Father; I think he’s afraid to face Tanner again.”

Juan handed Rico the phone, and he spoke to Alvarado.

“I am not afraid. You know me better than that Alonso, but this Tanner is a devil. I do not trust how easy this is.”

Rico listened for a moment, and then sighed.

“As you wish, but remember that I wanted to wait and check things out further. Yes, here’s Juan again.”

Juan took the phone, and then glared at Rico.

“What are you waiting for? Take the men and kill Tanner.”

“Yes sir,” Rico said, and he held in the curses until he was sure that Juan couldn’t hear them.

***

Alexa dived behind a cactus and laid flat before the headlights of the pursuing jeeps could spot her. Although they knew she was in the vicinity, they didn’t know where, or else they would have fired on her.

As the jeeps grew closer, they slowed, almost as if the men inside them sensed her.

That’s when the searchlight came on from the jeep on the left. Whether it was luck or the man had spotted her, whoever had control of the light hit her square in the eyes with it and blinded her.

Alexa fired the remaining rounds in the AR-15 even as she rolled to her left. Luck was with her as well, as she heard a man scream above the sound of breaking glass.

The light was out, but then the shooting began, and Alexa braced herself for the impact of the bullets.

“Stop firing!”

It was a deep voice giving the order and it came from the jeep on the right.

“We know where you are. If you want to live, walk towards us slowly with your hands in the air.”

Alexa wanted to tell the man to go to hell, but she also wanted to live. She stood slowly from where she lay, her hood had fallen back, and she saw the surprise on the men’s faces when they saw that she was a woman.

The deep voice spoke again, and this time Alexa could see its owner’s face.

He was a large man in his forties with a bushy mustache, and his gun was pointed at her middle.

“You’re the one who went over the wall?”

“Yes,” Alexa said.

“Why? Who are you working for?”

The driver from the other jeep stepped out of his vehicle and walked over to stand by the other men.

“Dante, what the hell are you doing? Let’s take the bitch back to the compound and let Alvarado interrogate her.”

The man with the mustache, the one the other driver called Dante, ignored the man and spoke to Alexa again.

“I asked you who you’re working for.”

“I work for myself!” Alexa screamed. “That bastard Alvarado killed my family.”

Dante cocked his head.

“You’re the one who’s been killing Alvarado’s men in Mexico City, aren’t you?”

Alexa kept quiet. If she had killed one of the man’s friends, it would be stupid to admit to it.

“You killed all those men by yourself and even infiltrated the compound; that’s impressive.”

The other driver spoke up again.

“Dante, stop screwing around and let’s take her—”

The driver stopped talking as three bullets entered his chest and exited amid a spray of gore from his back.

Alexa’s brain was telling her to run, but she was too shocked and curious to respond to the command.

The man in the passenger seat gawked at Dante, who had his gun pointed at the man’s head. He was a young man, with the tattoo of a cross on his neck.

“Joaquin, I’ve come to like you, and so I’ll let you live. Toss your gun as far away as you can and then start walking back towards the compound.”

“What the hell is wrong with you, Dante?”

“I’m a spy, Joaquin. I work for Sandoval.”

“What?”

“Toss the gun. Don’t make me kill you.”

Joaquin did as ordered. Once he was unarmed, Dante shot out the tires on the other jeep.

“Start walking, Joaquin. Alvarado won’t harm you, not when you tell him you uncovered a spy.”

Joaquin looked betrayed and angry.

“God damn it, Dante, I liked you.”

“Nothing’s changed, amigo, and if you’re still around when Sandoval takes over I’ll put in a good word for you.”

“Fuck you, Dante,” Joaquin said, but the voice sounded more hurt than angry, and then Joaquin ran towards the lights of the compound.

Dante called to Alexa.

“Would you like a ride, or are you waiting for a bus?”

Alexa moved towards the jeep cautiously, and once she had climbed in, Dante headed out across the desert.

“What’s your name, beautiful?”

“You can call me Anna.”

“Well Anna, I spent seven months in that shithole trying to get assigned to be one of Alvarado’s private guards, and tonight I threw it all away to save you. I so hope you know something that makes it worthwhile.”

Alexa brought her hand up from beneath the camouflage. She was holding the hard drives from the laptops.

“I took these from the computers belonging to Carlos Ayala.”

Dante stopped the jeep and looked at the drives by using the glow from the dashboard lights.

“You have the accountant’s files, and what about Carlos?”

“I killed the old pig.”

Dante laughed loudly as he put the jeep in gear again.

“Oh honey, I just earned a promotion.”

“Where are we going, to see Sandoval?”

“That’s right.”

“All the way to Matamoras?”

“No, Sandoval is in Mexico City, right under Alvarado’s nose.”

“He’s no better than Alvarado.”

“Not true, Sandoval pays better.”

“There’s more to life than money,” Alexa said, and Dante laughed once more.

CHAPTER 26 – Betrayal

The Hotel Rutherford had been closed to guests for months and sat surrounded by warehouses that were dormant in the evening, while the street itself, Randall Street, usually saw little traffic at night.

However, if anyone had been around to see the three busloads of men disembark and rush towards the front doors of the Rutherford, they might have thought that a convention was in town, when in fact, it was a cartel army on the hunt for its enemies.

Rico led the assault on the hotel as the men beside him smashed the front doors open with a battering ram. As that was happening, more men were pouring into the building through a rear entrance.

Because most of these men still didn’t recognize each other on sight, everyone was wearing a white headband with a number written on the front and back in black magic marker. If they came across anyone not wearing such a headband, that someone died.

Rico’s headband had the number 1 written on it, and somewhere among the horde of men, there was a headband with 103 scribbled on its front and back.

Two men were standing near the hotel’s front desk, and there were two rifles in sight and leaning up against the desk. Eight different men shot the pair as the men had raised their hands in protest, while from the rear of the building more gunfire sounded off.

Rico’s men flowed into the building, swept up the stairs like a reverse wave, and killed anything in their path. More than a dozen men were found inside the hotel’s rooms, and each one died from multiple wounds, which had been inflicted upon them without mercy.

“You’re going to die, Tanner!” shouted one of the men in Spanish, and it caused the others to laugh. They knew that he was in the building, and they believed he was hiding, cowering somewhere and likely pissing his pants as he contemplated the fate that would soon befall him.

After entering the building, Rico ordered four men directly up to the top floor of the sixth-story building, while the others were to search each room.

The top floor was where the suites were, and where a man had recently seen a shadow pass by a window. Juan thought that the shadow was Tanner, and he had instructed Rico to send a team to try to capture him as a gift for his father.

The men reached the top, and one of them opened the stairway door cautiously while another man peered down the corridor both ways. The conference room across the hall was brightly lit, and it was clear to see that no one was inside.

After exiting the stairwell, two of the men went to check out the bathrooms, while the other two went to search the suites.

In the suite that had once been occupied by the late Bruno Heinz, they saw a man sitting on the side of a bed with a gun in his hand. The man’s hair was dark, and before he could even turn his head, the men blasted him with full magazines, shredding the man’s body with their rounds and shattering the window in front of him.

They thought they had found Tanner, and fear had overridden their orders to take him alive.

The men let out shouts of pure glee, as they believed they had killed Tanner and would share in the reward money. The other two men returned from the bathroom, and when they saw the corpse lying on the side of the bed, they moaned, for they believed that they had lost their chance to claim the bounty on Tanner’s head.

One of the men walked over to the body and flipped it onto its back. It was not Tanner, the man was older and there was white at his temples. Then, the cartel hood noticed something else, something peculiar; the dead man had been chained to the bed by his ankle, while the gun in his hand was actually glued onto it.

“Look at this,” the man said, as he gazed back at his friends.

Another man appeared in the doorway. The new man pointed at the chain on the dead man.

“Hey, that’s what I came to tell Rico, all of the men were chained, and the guns they had, they were all empty and most of them were glued in place.”

“Rico’s not here,” said one of the men, and then he made a face as if he had just tasted something nasty.

The other men wore similar expressions, and within seconds, they were all on the floor gasping for breath.

Rico appeared in the doorway wearing a gas mask. He had carried it into the building inside a bag, a bag that he had told the men contained spare ammo.

“The men you killed were the missing Russians,” Rico said. “And there were trip wires placed throughout the building to set off the gas.”

The five men in the room all stared up at him with various decrees of distress showing on their faces, and then their expressions became blank. They weren’t dead, not yet, but only because the gas they unknowingly inhaled took sixty seconds to fully shut down the body’s nervous system.

Rico left the room, entered the hall, and went down the stairs. He encountered other dead men on his trip out of the building, while one man, one of the men he didn’t know, came rushing down the stairs. He was headed for the lobby doors, fresh air, and life.

The man was holding his breath and his eyes and cheeks were bulging from the effort.

Rico tripped him, the man went sprawling, and the gas entered his lungs. He lay near the lobby doors gasping, as he stretched a hand towards Rico in an imploring gesture, asking for help.

Rico reached down and grabbed the man’s ankles to drag him away from the door, away from the scant breeze of fresh air blowing in, and then he watched without expression as the gas took full effect and killed the man.

There were 19 dead Russians in the building and 102 Mexicans to go with them.

They had all been betrayed by Rico Nazario, but if his plan worked, he would soon be running New York City alongside Joe Pullo.

CHAPTER 27 – You don’t have to thank me

Rico left the hotel, removed his gas mask, and marched over to where Tanner was leaning against a car.

“You are a son of a bitch, Tanner! Why did you let Juan believe that you were in the building?”

“It seemed a good move,” Tanner said.

“You’re a bastard, but then again, this failure will fall on Juan’s shoulders and will make me look even better for warning against charging in.”

“He won’t have to bear the disgrace for long though, will he?”

Rico smiled.

“Oh no, I fear that Juan will die a young man.”

“Just remember the deal with Krupin; he’s mine.”

“Yes, as we said earlier.”

***

Seven hours ago, in the rear parking lot of an abandoned storefront in Brooklyn

––––––––

Rico stepped from his car with his hands in the air. He was naked except for a pair of black boxer shorts and his socks and shoes.

His car was parked sideways, and he opened the doors so that it was plain to see that no one was inside. He then opened the trunk, lifted a square mirror out of it and angled it so that it displayed the empty trunk upon its surface.

The car across the parking lot drove closer and then parked a dozen feet away. A moment later, Joe Pullo, Tanner, and Bosco emerged from the car, to walk towards Rico with their guns drawn.

Bosco went over the car, just in case, and stabbed at the rear seats with a knife.

Rico laughed.

“What? You think I hid a midget with an Uzi inside the seats?”

“It pays to be careful,” Bosco said.

Joe held his gun down in front of him and stared at Rico.

“Your boy Conti said you wanted to talk, so talk.”

Rico did, and Joe and Tanner listened carefully.

Rico came to Joe with a plan to end the war. It would mean that Joe would take Krupin’s role as Juan Alvarado’s partner, but it would also mean that he would be co-ruler of New York City.

“Who authorized this, Alonso Alvarado?” Tanner asked.

Rico answered as he began putting his clothes back on.

“Alonso knows nothing about this, but I know that he would go for this plan. He despises you Tanner, but he could work with Pullo here.”

Joe shook his head no.

“I’m no one’s pawn, and we’ve been doing well in this war.”

Rico laughed.

“I’ll grant you that Tanner here has given us holy hell, but Pullo, think about it, we have thousands more men than you do, and we also have the money to recruit thousands more right here. If you anger Alonso enough he will literally wipe you from the planet. What I’m offering you is a chance to survive.”

Tanner raised up a hand.

“Let’s hear him out, but first, what do you get from this, Nazario?”

“Pullo will be taking Krupin’s place at the table, and I will be taking Juan Alvarado’s spot.”

“You plan to kill him?”

“I was hoping you would beat me to it, but yes, I will kill him and I will blame his death on Michael Krupin. Alonso will believe me when I tell him that Krupin went mad when he discovered that he was being cut out of the deal. I will blame Juan’s death on Krupin, and then Pullo and I will be in charge of New York. It is a good plan, and it will end the violence.”

“And if I say no, what then? You’ll keep coming?”

“I won’t like it, Pullo, but Alonso will order your death, and he is not above killing your loved ones as well.”

“What about Mike Conti,” Tanner said. “Where does he fit in to all this?”

“Conti sold Pullo out, as you must have realized when he reluctantly arranged this meeting. He will wind up with nothing.”

“You know where we’re staying?” Tanner said.

“You are at the Hotel Rutherford; Conti placed a GPS device on one of you and tracked you there. He sold you out; if you want to kill him for it I will have no problem with that.”

Tanner stared at Rico for several seconds and then smiled.

“And what is my role in all this?”

“Unfortunately Tanner, you will have to be sacrificed, but in all honesty, you’ve brought it on yourself.”

“Sacrificed in what way?”

“Pullo has to cut ties with you, and the sooner the better. I will tell Alonso that it was Pullo who came to me, that he saw how unwinnable his situation was and that he considered you a... what’s the phrase? A loose cannon, yes? Once Pullo is no longer tied to you, I can get Alonso to accept him, in fact, he would much rather deal with The Giacconi Family than Krupin, and at this point, Krupin barely has an organization left.”

Joe shook his head again.

“Take this deal of yours and hit the road.”

Tanner moved in front of Joe to face him.

“We need to talk alone.”

“I’m not taking this deal.”

“Will you talk?”

Joe let out a sigh.

“We’ll talk, Bosco, keep a close eye on this guy.”

“Right, Boss.”

Tanner and Joe walked back to stand near the trunk of their car.

“Take the deal, Joe. It will end the war and keep Laurel safe.”

“Are you crazy? They want me to cut you loose. Do you know what that means? It means that my guys will be gunning for you along with the cartel.”

“No, it doesn’t, because I won’t be here. I meant what I said the other day. I won’t rest until The Alvarado Cartel is destroyed, and that means chopping off the head, Alonso Alvarado. Take the deal, and when I kill Alvarado, Rico there will be a king without an army to back him up, but you’ll still control New York City, all of New York City.”

“Or,” Joe said. “You’ll be gunned down somewhere and I’ll be stuck with this dirtbag and the cartel as partners.”

“I won’t fail, but you’re right, if they kill me, you’ll be stuck with them, but you’ll be alive, Laurel will be alive, and there will be peace. What Rico said, it’s true, if Alonso Alvarado really wanted to, he could wipe The Giacconi Family off the planet. Take the deal, tell them we’re through, and bring Laurel home.”

Joe reached out and gripped Tanner’s arm.

“They’ll kill you, buddy, you might last a while, you might even kill hundreds, but the cartel will kill you.”

Tanner’s intense eyes blazed.

“I’ll make it to Mexico and kill Alvarado.”

“And if you die?”

Tanner reached out and gripped Joe’s other arm.

“Then I’ll die knowing that you and Laurel are safe, and that’s not a bad way to go... saving your friends. Take the deal, Joe. Take the deal.”

They walked back over and Joe sent Rico a curt nod.

“I’ll take the deal.”

Rico grinned.

“Excellent!”

“There’s one condition,” Tanner said.

“What’s that?” Rico asked.

“Juan Alvarado thinks we’re at the Hotel Rutherford, correct?”

“Yes.”

“And you have men watching the building now, right?”

Rico held up a hand.

“I see where you are going with this, and yes, the men you have in that building will be allowed to leave, that is, once Juan and Pullo have made an agreement.”

“The men in that building aren’t Joe’s men, they’re Krupin’s.”

“The missing Russians?” Rico said, and then he got it. “Ah, you were setting up a trap. What was it, a bomb?”

“Gas, a type of homemade nerve gas, we moved the Russians after knocking them all out with a harmless gas and then chained them inside the Rutherford. But you, you were going to walk your men right into a death trap, and once you killed the Russians for us, then the nerve gas would be released.”

“I might have fallen for it, but I was suspicious from the start.”

“One more thing, Joe and I didn’t place those men in there. Mike Conti and I did it, understand?”

Rico laughed.

“You’re setting Conti up. He’s the one that said you were in that hotel, but Pullo will say that he was never there.”

“Right, Joe will claim that we argued at Sophia’s funeral because he decided to make peace and I wanted to keep waging war. That’s when Conti and I joined forces to lead you into a trap.”

Rico stood quietly for a moment as he considered things, and as a realization struck him, he looked sickened.

“Oh God,”

“What is it?” Joe said.

“Juan Alvarado, that fool will send me inside the hotel even though he suspects a trap.”

“He won’t,” Tanner said. “Not once he knows that Joe’s not there and that Conti was trying to betray him.”

“Yes, he will. I know the men inside that building are the Russians, but I can’t tell him that, and neither can Pullo, not if he wants Juan to trust that he really wants peace. Juan will order me to lead an army of men into that building even if he suspects a trap, because the simple fool will believe our sheer numbers will be enough.”

“Tough break,” Joe said, although he didn’t care if the men lived or died.

“I’ll talk him out of it, somehow,” Rico said.

“Sure,” Tanner said. “But for now, you let him know that Joe is ready to make peace.”

“And what about you, Tanner, where will you run to?”

“I’ll be leaving for Mexico. I’m going to kill Alonso Alvarado.”

Rico laughed so hard that it made the staples in his head hurt.

“Oh God, you’re either a madman or a fool. There’s no way into that compound, and even if you made it inside, you’d never get to Alonso. Also, there is a price on your head, and you can be sure that every punk in Mexico will be looking to cash in.”

Tanner shrugged.

“You asked me my plans and I told you.”

The meeting ended and Rico called Juan to set up a get-together with Joe.

“The man is ecstatic. This will make him look big in his father’s eyes.”

“He’ll die happy,” Tanner said. “But when do you plan to kill him?”

“I’ll do it when we break the news to Krupin that he’s out and Pullo is in. Then, I’ll frame Krupin for Juan’s death, and afterwards, I will have to give Alonso the bad news.”

“And you’re certain he’ll leave you here to run things?”

“I am; I was being groomed for such a position already. It’s only natural that I step in and take Juan’s place.”

“So you’re saying that Alonso Alvarado trusts you?” Tanner said.

“Yes he does.”

Tanner smiled.

“It’s good to know the man’s a fool; it will make him that much easier to kill.”

***

Outside the Hotel Rutherford, seven hours later

––––––––

“I would wish you good luck, Tanner, but the truth is, I hope you die.”

“Same here, Nazario, but tell me, what will Alvarado think when you go back and tell him you survived a gas attack. Your eyes aren’t even red.”

Rico cursed.

“I hadn’t thought of that.”

“You’re in luck, I did.”

Tanner sprayed Rico in the face with pepper spray. Rico let out a yell and began rubbing at his eyes.

“It’s pepper spray, Rico, and now you look like the survivor of a gas attack.”

Tanner got in his car and started the engine.

“You don’t have to thank me,” Tanner said, as he drove away from the scene of yet another massacre.

CHAPTER 28 - Sandoval

Damián Sandoval was an average-looking man wearing an expensive suit and sitting inside an armored limo in Mexico City.

Dante held the door open as Alexa slid in to sit across from Sandoval, and then he sat beside her and closed the door.

When Sandoval held out his hand, Dante passed over the hard drives Alexa had stolen from Alvarado’s compound.

Alexa was dressed in jeans and a dark-green T-shirt, because she had Dante stop to retrieve her van. Had they not stopped, she would have been forced to meet Sandoval dressed in her blood speckled camouflage cape, or sit across from the man while half naked and dressed in her whore’s disguise.

Neither would have been acceptable to her, but given the way Sandoval was eyeing her, he might have preferred the whore clothes.

Damián Sandoval was still handsome and trim at forty-nine, and had started life in the drug trade as a simple street soldier. He had worked his way up in the old Mercoto Cartel, which had control of the state of Tamaulipas. He had taken over after killing Hector Mercoto in a bold move that made him a legend.

Now, it was known that he wanted Mexico City, wanted it back actually, and that meant that Alonso Alvarado, a man he once worked for, had to go.

“You are a very beautiful woman, Anna, and of course, that is not your real name.”

“Does my name matter?”

“No, not at this point, but you are as lucky as you are beautiful. If Dante here hadn’t been one of the men sent to track you down, Alvarado would be torturing you at this very moment.”

“I know, and I’m grateful.”

“You are also brave, I know of only one man who would have risked going into that compound alone, and you’re just a woman. You should be rewarded for your bravery. I will give you ten-thousand dollars for the hard drives.”

“Thank you,” Alexa said. She hadn’t expected any reward, but by talking to Sandoval, she hoped to learn something of value. She also let his, “just a woman” comment pass, since there was no point in angering the man. “Tell me, Mr. Sandoval, are you planning to attack Alvarado anytime soon?”

“No, I placed Dante inside simply to gather information. However, any attack would not have happened for months.”

“Would you change your mind if you had an ally?”

Sandoval smiled.

“Are you talking about yourself?”

“I am, but I’m also talking about the man named Tanner.”

“The American? I hear he is causing Alonso much grief in New York City, but what does he have to do with what’s happening here?”

“Nothing yet, but he’s a Tanner, and I believe he’ll be coming for Alonso Alvarado.”

“No, young lady, that man Tanner will soon be dead.”

Alexa shrugged.

“You may be right, but if that man comes here, will you help us?”

“Us? You know this man?”

“No, but I’m going to look for him, and I will find him.”

Sandoval cocked his head as he studied her.

“You are a strange woman, do you know that?”

“So I’ve been told, but will you help us?”

“If such a miracle occurred I would consider giving assistance, but here is my advice to you. Take the money I’m paying you for the hard drives and head to the United States. I will even help you to travel under a new identity, but once you’re there, find a nice place to hide, because believe me, Alonso Alvarado will be looking to flay you alive.”

***

At that very moment inside Alvarado’s compound, the man himself was in a state of rage.

“A woman! One goddamn woman manages to breach our security and kill several men. How is such a thing possible?”

The man he was screaming at was his head of security, and the man was wise enough to bow his head and speak in a quiet tone.

“I will investigate, but she must have had help from that guard, Dante. Joaquin tells us that Dante helped the girl escape.”

Alvarado was standing on his crutches, but the rage was making him shake, and so he sat in his special chair.

“Leave me, and don’t come back here until you’ve searched the entire compound.”

“Yes sir.”

“Wait! There’s one more thing. The whores and the men that brought them here, kill them all.”

“Sir?”

“I can’t have word of this getting out. People must believe that this compound is impenetrable.”

The man looked like he wanted to say something in defense of the women; instead, he simply nodded.

“I’ll see to it myself.”

“Do that, and check this damn compound, every square inch.”

***

The compound was searched as Alvarado demanded, and it became apparent that a guard was missing.

When another guard walked over to look down the alcove that led to Carlos Ayala’s bedroom, he spotted the blue bath rug and bent over to pick it up.

One minute after that, the body of Carlos “the accountant” Ayala was found, and Alexa soon had a price on her head as well.

CHAPTER 29 – Red meat

When Rico returned to the office building where Juan Alvarado made his home, his eyes were still burning from the pepper spray.

As painful as it had been, Tanner had actually helped him, because one look in the mirror told Rico that he truly looked like someone who had survived a gas attack. So much the better, he needed Juan to trust him.

He was let into the suite by one of Juan’s guards, where he saw that Juan and Joe Pullo were dining on a late night meal of steak, while laughing together over something.

Rico had been worried that Juan and Pullo might not get along, but Joe had adopted just the right amount of fawning to stroke Juan’s ego and make him feel in control. The meal itself was part of Rico’s plan, and Rico was glad to see that Pullo had played along.

Juan stared at Rico in amazement after Rico explained what had happened.

“They’re all dead?”

“Yes, one other man made it and was running for the doors with me... but he tripped, and then I was alone.”

“But... Tanner was in there, right?”

“No, Juan, the whole thing was a trick. Mike Conti must be working with Tanner; the two of them set this up.”

Joe steeled himself and then uttered words he hated saying.

“Now you know why I broke things off with Tanner. The man is a maniac. If not for him, I would have made peace with Krupin a week ago.”

Juan sank back down in his seat at the table, in front of his half-eaten steak.

“Oh God, all those men; and my father will blame this on me, you’ll see, but you remember Rico. It was my father that insisted we go into that building.”

Rico tried to hide his disgust. Tanner had lured them into the building, yes, but it was Juan who had given the order to rush in after the man.

“Listen,” Joe said. “Don’t you think it’s time we broke the news to Krupin? I want to see his face when he finds out he’s lost everything.”

Juan sighed.

“Poor Michael, but you’re wrong, Joe, he hasn’t lost everything. I will let him work for me, like a flunky. And at least he gets to live, which is more than can be said for Tanner. I’m going to ask my father to raise the reward for Tanner. That should ensure his death.”

Joe forced a smile, even as he wanted to reach out and strangle Juan. If Rico didn’t kill the punk soon, Joe would beat him to it.

Juan grabbed a phone from his pocket and called a guard.

“Bring Michael Krupin to my suite; I have some news to tell him.”

As they waited, Juan issued Rico an order.

“I want you to kill Mike Conti for his betrayal.”

“He’s probably hiding,” Joe said. “He’d have to know that you’d come looking for him.”

“Can you help with that, Joe?” Rico asked. “You know the man, where he would hide.”

Joe nodded, as he took Rico’s meaning. Rico was going to let him decide Conti’s fate.

“Yeah, don’t worry, I’ll find Conti and take care of him.”

The door opened and Michael Krupin was let into the room by one of the guards. Krupin was wearing Jeans, a white T-shirt, and bedroom slippers. He also looked as though he had just been woken up.

As the door closed behind him, he blinked several times as he stared at the three men, and then rubbed his eyes as if he didn’t believe what he was seeing.

“Pullo?”

Joe stood and walked over to him.

“It’s me, Krupin.”

Krupin cringed as if he expected Joe to attack him, but instead, Joe offered his hand.

The gesture went unanswered, and Juan called over to Krupin.

“Shake his hand, Michael; we’re all friends now.”

“What?”

“Joe has made peace.”

“And where’s that leave me?”

Before Juan could answer, Joe spoke to Rico.

“Why don’t we do it now?”

Rico reached over and grabbed a steak knife.

“Yes, now is a good time.”

He moved swiftly behind Juan’s chair and jammed the steak knife into the man’s throat, severing the jugular and sending blood spurting onto the T-bone steaks atop the table.

As that was happening, Joe freed a leather sap and struck Krupin on the back of the head. After Krupin collapsed to the floor, Joe took out a knife, jammed it a half inch into Krupin’s chest and then twisted it, which made the minor wound bleed freely, while also making it look as if Krupin had been shot.

When Rico took out his gun, Joe tensed up, even though he had expected it, and after sending Joe a wink, Rico fired a harmless round into a black leather sofa.

Juan was bleeding out, but was still alive. He stared at Rico with eyes full of disbelief at what was happening, and when the guards entered the room, Rico was cradling Juan’s head in his lap.

“Michael Krupin stabbed Juan! Get a doctor now!”

Juan tried to speak, but he was already going into shock. He was trembling, and breathing rapidly, as his body tried to compensate for the sudden loss of blood.

With his back turned to the guards, Rico smiled down at Juan, and then whispered to him.

“Your future is now mine, bitch.”

Juan opened his mouth to speak, but the words were garbled by his rapid breathing. He shuddered once, twice, and then was gone.

A phone began ringing. It was Juan’s cell phone.

Rico pulled it from the pocket of the fresh corpse and saw that the call was coming from one of Alonso Alvarado’s aliases.

“Alonso, this is Rico.”

When Alvarado spoke, Rico could hear the weariness and shock in his voice.

“Rico, put Juan on the phone. I have bad news about his Uncle Carlos.”

“Alonso, oh my friend... I too have bad news.”

CHAPTER 30 - Delivered

As Rico predicted, Alvarado trusted him enough to believe his account of events.

It took time to get away, but Rico left the building with a still unconscious Michael Krupin. After calling Tanner and following his directions to a restaurant that had been closed for years, he handed Krupin off to Tanner.

It was the same abandoned building where Sara Blake had once locked Tanner inside.

Rico looked around with distaste.

“Where did you find this dump?”

“An acquaintance introduced me to it.”

They carried Krupin down into the basement and laid him on the filthy floor of an old walk-in freezer. Rico had bound Krupin’s hands and feet with rope.

“Did you have trouble getting Krupin out of the office building?”

“No, after all, I am in charge now, plus, the guards believed he was dead. I told them that he would be added to the pile of bodies at the hotel. By the way, Pullo is going to bury those men in a mass grave, something about a friend in the construction business.”

“Yeah, The Giacconi Family is well-practiced at burying their enemies; it’s something you should keep in mind.”

“I’m not the one with the price on his head, Tanner, keep that in mind.”

One last look around and Tanner headed for the stairs.

Rico called to him.

“This door won’t close with that fan thing there on the floor.”

Tanner smiled.

“Don’t worry; Krupin won’t be leaving the room, at least not alive.”

They returned upstairs and Tanner gave Rico a word of advice.

“Treat Joe well. If you do, maybe he’ll let you live once I kill Alvarado.”

“I’ll say one thing for you, Tanner, you don’t lack confidence.”

The two men parted without another word and Tanner watched Rico drive away. After Rico’s car turned a corner, Tanner spoke.

“You can come out now.”

Tamir Ivanov stepped out of a doorway and walked towards Tanner.

“That bastard Krupin is in the basement?”

“He is, and I have one request.”

“What’s that?”

“Leave him recognizable.”

“I’ll try,” Ivanov said.

Tanner watched Ivanov march into the building, and then he went for a walk.

He would have to leave New York City; otherwise, he would be hunted for the rest of his life by Alonso Alvarado and his cartel. Tanner would leave; leave the city, leave the country, and travel south to kill Alvarado.

But for now, in the subdued, dark streets of a Manhattan night, Tanner would walk the city and take in the sights and sounds it had to offer, and he swore to himself that someday he would return.

***

In the basement of the abandoned building, Michael Krupin began to stir awake.

He opened his eyes, but then closed them again, as the light from a nearby lantern blinded him. His head was throbbing, pounding, and for some reason, his chest hurt.

When he went to touch the wound on his chest he realized that his hands were bound behind him, and after opening his eyes again, he saw that his ankles were tied together as well.

“What happened?” he mumbled, even as he sensed that someone else was in the room. When Krupin looked up, he saw the shadowy face of Tamir Ivanov staring down at him.

Ivanov smiled.

“Hello there, Junior, remember me?”

Michael Krupin died six hours later. It was not an easy death.

CHAPTER 31 – Farewell my love

Route I-87 North in New York State

––––––––

Laurel was getting nervous.

Bosco had picked her up from the airport by himself while explaining that Joe was unable to make the trip.

That was odd enough, but after leaving the airport, Bosco merged onto the Major Deegan Expressway, and now they were headed north to God only knew where. She was riding in the rear of the limo and she spoke to Bosco through the open divider.

“Bosco, why didn’t Joe pick me up?”

“Like I said, Doc, he’s busy, but don’t worry. I’m taking you straight to him.”

Laurel took out her phone and tried dialing Joe. When the call was answered, she breathed a sigh of relief, but then realized that it was just the phone’s answering system.

She left a message, telling Joe to call her back as soon as possible.

“Where are you taking me?”

“It’s a secret, Doc; but don’t worry, you’ll like it.”

Laurel nibbled at her bottom lip.

“Bosco... am I in trouble?”

“Trouble? What do you mean?”

“Are you really taking me to Joe... or somewhere else?”

Bosco peered at Laurel by using the rear view mirror, after seeing the apprehension in her eyes; he pulled the limo over to the side of the road. Once they were stopped, Bosco got out and then walked around to open the rear door for Laurel. When she looked up at him, he handed her the keys.

“You’re free to go. I’m not up to something and this really is supposed to be a secret, like a surprise, but, I guess it is a little weird.”

Laurel breathed a sigh of relief.

“Joe has really planned a surprise for me?”

“Yeah, Doc, and it’s a doozy.”

Laurel stepped out of the car.

“Can I ride up front with you? It feels odd being back there by myself.”

“Hey, you got the keys, why don’t you drive and I’ll give you directions.”

Laurel grinned as she climbed behind the wheel of the limo.

“How is Big Ralphy doing?”

“He’s great, Doc, he’s home already and getting his strength back.”

“That’s good. He saved my life by risking his own and I’ll never forget it.”

“Big Ralphy’s the best, but now listen, drive slow, we just got this thing back from the body shop.”

Laurel sent Bosco a bright smile. She then floored the gas pedal and propelled the limo back into traffic as if it had been shot out of a cannon.

***

When they reached their destination, Laurel’s mouth parted in an expression of wonder at the size of the estate in Katonah, New York.

The beautiful home was situated on the bank of the Cross River Reservoir and had 35 acres of land around it. It had once belonged to the late Frank Richards.

Madison Richards now owned it, and she was more than happy to have it host a wedding after Tanner made the request.

Joe came out of the home to greet Laurel, and he laughed when he saw that she had been driving.

Laurel flew into Joe’s open arms and the two of them embraced for long moments, as Bosco quietly drifted into the home.

“Why are we here?” Laurel asked.

Joe grinned.

“You wanted a big wedding and this is where we’ll be having it.”

Laurel craned her neck and took in the home.

“Here?”

“You can thank Tanner, he’s got connections.”

“Oh Joe, it’s so beautiful, but come on, I want to see the inside of the house.”

Laurel took Joe by the hand and dragged him inside.

The home was magnificent, and Joe took pleasure in Laurel’s joy.

“Oh my God, you couldn’t have picked a better place, but you know, setting up a wedding takes time, and I still have to book a wedding planner.”

Joe shook his head.

“You forget who you’re marrying. There’s a wedding planner and her assistant roaming around here somewhere, and they’re dying to meet you.”

Laurel grinned.

“I can see that being the wife of Don Pullo will have advantages, but who did you get? I hope she’s good.”

“Her name is Camren Allston; I got her name out of one of those wedding magazines you’ve been looking at.”

Laurel’s mouth dropped open.

“Camren Allston isn’t a wedding planner, Joe, she’s the wedding planner.”

Joe took Laurel in his arms.

“Well, the wedding planner costs a mint and a half, so make sure that you get exactly what you want.”

“I love you,” Laurel said, and then they kissed.

When the kiss ended, Joe grew serious.

“Tanner is here, baby, and he has something to tell you.”

“Oh good, because I wanted to talk to him about something as well.”

“He’s out in the back looking at the water; why don’t you go see him and I’ll meet you back here.”

“All right.”

***

Laurel made her way to the rear of the home and took in the beautiful view of the water. Tanner was standing at the end of a small pier, and when he saw her, he smiled.

“Mrs. Pullo.”

“Not yet, but very soon,” Laurel said. “And I understand that we have you to thank for the use of this house.”

“Think of it as my wedding gift... and I won’t be able to be here when you marry.”

Laurel stepped closer.

“Why not?”

“The war has ended with the Russians, but Joe had to make peace with the Mexican cartel, The Alvarado Cartel. There’s also a man named Rico Nazario who you’ll be meeting soon, he’s the representative of the cartel and he’ll be Joe’s new partner.”

“I see that a lot has happened since I left, but what does that have to do with you not coming to the wedding?”

“There’s a price on my head, Laurel, and it’s been placed there by the leader of the cartel, a man named Alonso Alvarado. I have to leave the city or I’ll make you and Joe targets too.”

Laurel took his hand.

“You’ll just go on the run forever? That’s no life, Tanner.”

Tanner gave her hand a squeeze.

“You’re right, which is why I’m going to Mexico and kill Alvarado. Once he’s dead, the price on my head ends, and his cartel will be taken over by others. That will also free Joe from his partnership with Rico.”

Laurel wiped away a tear.

“That all sounds incredibly dangerous.”

Tanner placed a gentle hand beneath her chin and tilted her head up until their eyes were meeting.

“I’ll survive, I’ll kill Alonso Alvarado, and someday we’ll see each other again. Do you believe me?”

Laurel gazed into his eyes and saw the truth and conviction in them.

“I believe you, and I know that above all else, you’re a survivor.”

Laurel released Tanner’s hand and reached into her pocketbook, which was hanging off her shoulder. She removed the picture of young Cody Parker she had discovered in Texas, and handed it to Tanner.

“This was recently discovered by the Stark Texas Historical Society... and I thought you might want it.”

Tanner gave her a perplexed look, and then he gazed down at the picture of his younger self, standing beside his mother.

At first, his features remained the same, but as Laurel watched, she saw recognition dawn on his face, as his lips parted slightly, and his eyes, eyes that were normally such beacons of intensity, softened, and then grew moist.

Tanner swallowed once, twice, and then whispered two words.

“You know?”

“I do, but I don’t know how you survived that nightmare, but you did, and I also know that you’ll survive in Mexico.”

Tanner ran a finger over the face of the woman in the picture.

“My mother, oh Laurel, I’d nearly forgotten what she looked like.”

After taking a deep breath, Tanner handed the photo back.

“Hold on to that for me; you can give it back to me the next time I see you.”

Laurel took the photo and then hugged Tanner. As they stood embracing, she whispered in his ear.

“I love you, Cody Parker.”

When the embrace ended, Laurel kissed him gently on the lips, before heading back towards the house.

Tanner watched her walk away until he could no longer see her, and then he turned to gaze out upon the tranquil water.

Yes, he was Cody Parker, but he was also Tanner, and Tanner would see Cody through his Mexican nightmare and bring him back to New York City someday.

He was a Tanner, no goddamn it, he was The Tanner, and he’d been trained and given the combined knowledge and skills of the six men who had come before him.

The Alvarado Cartel was going to regret the day they ever heard of him, and God help anyone who stood in his way.

CHAPTER 32 – Pay day

Joe was standing with Tanner near his car, as Tanner prepared to leave.

“Rico has decided to keep Juan Alvarado’s old digs and I’ll be running things out of there too, that is, until I get the club rebuilt.”

“Are you really going to name the place Johnny R’s?”

“You’re damn right, and the new place is going to be much bigger than the old one. I bought the land that old factory sits on and I’m putting a pedestrian bridge over the road to connect the two properties. There will still be a strip club where the old place sat, but the rest will be a restaurant and nightclub.”

“It sounds ambitious and I look forward to seeing it. By the way, how’s Sammy?”

“He’s stronger and moving around on crutches, but the kid’s not the same, Tanner. He’s lost his spark.”

“He’s lost Sophia, and if he really did love her, it’ll take him time to heal.”

Joe nodded, and then he just looked at Tanner.

Both men knew the odds against them ever seeing each other again, and the weight of it felt nearly physical.

Joe sighed wearily.

“I’m stuck with Rico Nazario for a partner and you’ve got a price on your head. This is not how I wanted this war to end.”

“You won’t have to put up with Rico forever. Once I kill his boss, he’ll be a paper tiger.”

Joe shook his head in disgust.

“I’ve got bad news.”

“What is it?”

“Alonso Alvarado has raised the price on your head. You’re now worth a cool mil.”

Tanner smiled, and then laughed.

“I’ve finally made it to the big leagues.”

“It’s no joke, Tanner; do you know how many lowlifes will come after you for that kind of green?”

“I know, Joe, but none of it really matters. This ends one way, with Alvarado dead and me alive.”

“You damn well better make sure of that... I’ve lost enough friends lately; I don’t need you dying too.”

Tanner offered his hand.

Joe took his hand, and then pulled him closer, to stare into Tanner’s eyes.

“You go down to Mexico and show those bastards what you’re made of, you hear me?”

“I hear you,” Tanner said.

When the two men separated, Joe reached into a pocket of his suit coat and took out an envelope, which he handed to Tanner.

Tanner opened the envelope and found a bank card and a list of numbers on a piece of paper.

“What’s this?”

“It’s pay day, and since I can’t count that high, I don’t know how many guys you killed since the day Johnny signed you on, but I think that will cover it. That account is worth two million.”

“I think you’ve overpaid me.”

“No buddy, I can’t thank you enough. You were right to have me take this deal. It brought Laurel home and will keep her safe, that’s worth dealing with Rico any day.”

Tanner put the envelope away and stepped into his car. After starting the engine, he looked up at Joe.

“Take care of Laurel.”

“I will, and I’ll see you around.”

Tanner grinned.

“That you will, that you will.”

The car rolled away, and Tanner headed for Mexico.

CHAPTER 33 – Enough is enough

That night, after leaving the estate, Joe met with Mike Conti inside one of The Giacconi Family’s chop shops.

The place was closed down for the day, and only Joe, Conti, Bosco, and Sammy were there.

Conti had made contact with Joe in an attempt to make peace and to clear his name.

Alvarado had also placed a price on Conti’s head, and while fifty grand was a pittance compared to the amount placed on Tanner, it still made Conti a target and a pariah.

“Joe, you know that I had nothing to do with setting up the massacre at that hotel.”

“I don’t know about that, Mike, if you hadn’t sold out and planted a tracker on Bosco here, you wouldn’t have a problem. The way I look at it, this is all on you.”

Sammy eased down into a desk chair, and then leaned his crutches up against the rear of a new Mustang that was partially disassembled.

“Conti, Sophia told me that you were a friend of hers, and then you turn around and help the bastards that killed her?”

Conti let out a sigh.

“Listen kid, it’s—”

“Don’t call me kid, or son, or boy. Do you understand me?” Sammy said.

Conti shrugged.

“I didn’t mean any offense, and I’m obviously here to beg forgiveness.”

Joe chuckled.

“Mike, you tried to have me whacked.”

“I was just looking out for my Family, Joe, you know? The way things were going, I thought The Giacconi Family would soon be history, and it only made sense to try to have The Calvino Family step into the vacuum, right?”

Bosco made a derisive sound.

“Why did you use your Cousin Denise to plant that tracker on me? The girl teased me something awful.”

Conti’s eyes brightened.

“You want Denise? Hell, you can have her, all three of you. She’ll do what I tell her, every penny she gets comes from me since her husband left her high and dry.”

Bosco looked over at Joe.

“Do you believe this pig? He’s willing to pimp out his own cousin.”

Joe chuckled again and then spoke to Conti.

“What do you want, Mike? Why are we here?”

Conti shrugged helplessly.

“I need money. The little I was able to grab before leaving won’t last me more than a few months, and with this price on my head I’ll need to put some distance between myself and the city.”

“Are you serious?” Joe said. “Why would I give you a dime?”

“For old times’ sake, Joe, we were friends.”

“Enough of this,” Sammy said. He pulled out his gun and shot Conti five times, before sending a wad of spit at his body.

Joe and Bosco stared over at him in shock and Sammy calmly put his gun away.

“Can we leave now? My leg is killing me.”

Joe pointed at Conti’s corpse.

“I make those kinds of decision, Sammy, not you.”

“I’m sorry, Uncle Joe, and you’re right, but enough is enough, hmm?”

Joe turned and headed for the door.

“Bosco, call some guys and have Mike dumped in Jersey.”

“Right, Boss, I’ll handle it.”

Sammy made it onto his crutches and the three of them left the building.

CHAPTER 34 – Two graves, one heart

Wedding Day, at the estate in Katonah, New York

––––––––

Laurel laughed with pure joy as she watched her brothers walk towards her all decked out in tuxedos and top hats.

They had arrived the day before and had been present at the rehearsal dinner, and both Merle and Earl would be walking her down the aisle.

She then scrutinized the women that adorned her brothers’ arms. It was Hanna and Savannah, who hadn’t flown in until early that morning so that they could take care of things at the farm, and so they were meeting Laurel for the first time.

Hanna and Savannah were wearing formal dresses, and they both sent Laurel a nervous smile, which Laurel answered with one of her own.

She then greeted Merle and Earl with hugs and kisses, before turning to be introduced to their companions.

“My brothers said that you ladies were beautiful, and now I see that they were right.”

Hanna and Savannah curtsied to Laurel and offered their hands.

“It’s so nice to finally meet you, Laurel Lee,” the women said in unison, and Laurel giggled.

“Oh my God, you two look alike and you talk at the same time. That reminds me so much of Merle and Earl.”

“They talk about you all the time,” the women said in stereo, and Laurel shook her head in wonder, while thinking that there really was someone out there for everyone.

***

The wedding went flawlessly, and Laurel Ivy became Laurel Pullo.

When it came time to toss the wedding bouquet, Hanna and Savannah knocked each other over while trying to catch it, but it was Skye who snagged it from the air.

Carl the bartender looked nervous when Skye showed it to him while beaming, but he actually saw the bouquet as a good omen.

Later, when Laurel insisted that Big Ralphy join her on the dance floor, the big man amazed everyone by being light on his feet, but he was so huge compared to Laurel that she looked like a little girl dancing with her father.

Sammy had the excuse of his broken leg to keep him off the dance floor, and the sullen best man stayed mostly to himself, as he still grieved the loss of Sophia.

However, as Joe’s best man, he did make a toast, one that was short and poignant.

“To Joe and Laurel, may you make every day count and never take a single one of them for granted.”

Joe thanked him, and then wondered if Sammy regretted leaving Sophia in order to seek revenge against Bobby Volks, the man who had murdered his father.

That revenge had come at a dear price, in that it lessened the already short time that Sammy and Sophia had spent together.

Had he not gone to Tennessee, they would have shared a few more precious days together.

The saying goes that you should dig two graves when seeking revenge. Bobby Volks filled one of those graves, and Joe prayed that Sammy’s heart wasn’t buried in the other.

***

Joe’s new partner, Rico Nazario was at the wedding, and he spoke to Joe while Laurel was on the dance floor with Bosco.

“Your bride is exceptionally lovely; you are a lucky man.”

“You’re right, but you’re lucky too. Your plan worked and Alvarado has given you his son’s job.”

“Yes, and when you return from your honeymoon we will get back to business and run this city the way it should be run.”

Joe reached over and straightened Rico’s tie.

“Would you like a word of advice?”

“Normally, no, but since it’s your wedding day I will indulge you.”

“Don’t get too comfortable, Rico. Once Tanner whacks your boss you’ll be out in the cold.”

“Ah, Pullo, I know you have affection for the man, but Tanner is a walking corpse. I predict that by the time you return from your honeymoon, he will have had his funeral.”

“I guess we’ll see,” Joe said, as Bosco walked over to him.

“Can I have a moment, Boss?”

“Yeah, and Bosco, just call me Joe from now on, okay?”

Bosco smiled.

“You got it, Joe.”

Joe excused himself to Rico, and followed Bosco into a room off the kitchen that was used for the storage of paper products, such as napkins, paper towels, and tissues. There was a small butcher-block table in the center of the room, and atop it sat a white box with a bright red ribbon.

Bosco gestured at it.

“It’s a wedding gift... from Tanner.”

Joe walked over and touched the side of the box.

“It’s cold.”

“That’s dry ice, so that the eh, contents, won’t spoil.”

“The contents, huh?” Joe said, as he suspected what lay inside.

When he opened the box, his suspicions were confirmed, as he looked down upon the severed head of Michael Krupin.

Joe broke out in laughter and Bosco joined him.

“You know, Boss, I mean Joe, I’m awful damn glad I’m not Alonso Alvarado.”

Joe closed up the box.

“You and me both, Bosco.”

Joe rejoined his bride and the celebration went on into the night.

CHAPTER 35 - Revelations

As the wedding was taking place, Tanner was driving south through Georgia, as he headed for Mexico and Alvarado.

Plane travel was out, because the cartel would have eyes at every major airport, and if he were identified by someone while onboard a flight, Alvarado could have an army of killers waiting for him whenever he landed.

Tanner had driven on a less direct path than would be normal, as a precaution against anyone looking to cash in on the million-dollar bounty.

When hunger struck, he pulled into the parking lot of a diner. His waitress, a young redhead who had a gang insignia tattooed on her wrist, kept giving him odd looks, and later, she was slow in bringing his food.

Tanner began to wonder if perhaps she had recognized him from one of the flyers going around in the underworld, and if so, was she being slow to delay his departure.

He became convinced of it when she wouldn’t meet his eyes as she finally sat down his plate, and his gut was telling him to leave, to flee.

He left his food untouched on the table and headed for his car. As he unlocked the door, he was chastising himself for being paranoid, that is, until the three men in the pickup truck came roaring into the parking lot and headed for him.

Tanner ran several feet to his left, where a green dumpster sat against the side of the building. After moving around to the rear end of it, he waited for the truck to stop, and for the men to climb out of it.

They did so mere seconds later, and Tanner fired a shot that destroyed the right kneecap of the driver, who had fired a shotgun at him. The metal pellets penetrated one side of the dumpster but didn’t make it through the second side.

One of the other men ran to his right to get a better angle, and Tanner fired a round that entered the man’s ear and exited in a spray of brains and blood. The third man was a fool wielding only a baseball bat. When he saw what had happened to his friends, he dropped the bat and climbed back into the truck.

The driver must have taken the keys when he left it, because after sliding over behind the wheel, the man made a panicked sound before leaping from the truck and sprinting towards the front of the diner.

Tanner let him go. He needed to leave, or else he risked facing the cops.

He walked over to the punk with the shattered knee and picked up his fallen shotgun, which appeared to be a new Mossberg, a Tactical 930.

The man begged Tanner not to kill him. Tanner ignored him, and after tossing the shotgun on the seat, he climbed in his car and left.

As he drove away, he saw the waitress in the rear view mirror. She was sitting on the ground and weeping beside the man he’d shot in the head.

The men had come when she called them and now one was wounded with another dead. Tanner felt no sympathy for them or their stupidity.

He would feel neither mercy nor forgiveness towards anyone who hunted him, and they would all find that million dollars impossible to claim.

He drove only a mile after leaving the diner and stole a car inside the parking lot of a Cineplex, after transferring his few belongings into it.

The Mexican border was growing closer, and by the next day, he would enter the country.

“I’m coming, Alvarado.”

***

In Louisiana, Alexa could feel that she was growing nearer to Tanner.

She had no idea how she would find the man or what she would say to convince him to help her, she only knew what she had known since she was a child, and it was that she had to follow her inner urgings. They had never steered her wrong.

A few minutes later, while stopped for gas, she began to doubt her “little voice” for the first time in years, because she suddenly had the urge, no, the need, the absolute need to head north, and not northeast, a direction Tanner should be coming from, but she felt a great desire to drive west, northwest.

It made not one lick of sense to her rational mind, but she knew from her own experience and the stories of her grandmother that the “little voice” was never wrong.

Alexa filled her tank, got back on the highway, and as soon as the opportunity arose, she headed west, northwest, but only God knew why.

***

At his compound in Mexico, Alonso Alvarado stood by the grave of his son, Juan, and grieved as much as his black heart was able.

Other than those born of physical pain, he hadn’t cried a tear since he was a boy, but he was capable of hate, oh yes, and he was a man who knew how to deal with his enemies.

He pulled the drawings from his pocket and unfolded them. For years, there had been only one, the one depicting the man who had crippled him, but now, now there were three, and along with the first man, he held a portrait of Tanner, and a sketch of Alexa.

Alonso stared down at them and felt the hate rise in his every fiber, a hate that he would someday vent on the three people he despised most in the world.

“We shall have revenge, Juan, this I swear.”

Alvarado’s special chair had been carried from the home and placed by the grave. He lowered himself into it and stared blankly at the tombstone.

After more than a minute had passed, Alonso jerked his head up suddenly.

He remembered!

He finally remembered where he had seen Tanner before; he took out the flyer showing Tanner’s face and stared at it in stark amazement.

“It is him, but it’s not possible... he’s dead.”

Alonso kept studying Tanner’s face, and the longer he did so, the more certain he was of his identity.

“You won’t escape me this time. This time I will see you dead for certain.”

***

Tanner left his stolen car in the parking lot of a fast food restaurant where he finally had a meal. After walking a block south to a car rental agency, he rented a vehicle under a phony name and continued on south.

He had only driven a few miles when he pulled to the side of the road. He had meant to check for messages while he ate and had forgotten to do so.

Once the laptop was connected to the Internet, he checked for new messages inside an email account.

There was one message. It was from Tamir Ivanov.

––––––––

Tanner,

––––––––

My friend in the DEA finally located pictures of Alonso Alvarado. They were found among things that Alvarado had left in the basement of a bar he used to own in Matamoras, Mexico.

I’ve included them as attachments, and I pray that this letter finds you in good health.

––––––––

Happy hunting,

T.I.

––––––––

Tanner opened the attachments, looked at the photos, and felt the world turn upside down.

The man in the photos could not be Alonso Alvarado, because the man in the photos was dead, long dead. He wrote back and told Ivanov of his error, and he was just about to shut down the laptop when he received a reply.

––––––––

Tanner,

––––––––

There’s no mistake. The man in those photos is Alonso Alvarado. If you think he’s dead, you’re wrong.

There’s something else too, Alvarado used to go by a nickname. My friend says that he’ll get back to me when he learns what it was.

––––––––

Best of luck,

T.I.

––––––––

Tanner stared at the photos in wonder.

Could the bastard still be alive somehow?

He needed answers, and only one man could give them to him. He had to see his mentor, Tanner Six, because he already knew the nickname of the man in Ivanov’s photos.

His name was Martillo, and he was the man who had killed his family.

Tanner got back on the road, but this time he was headed west, northwest, to see the man he loved like a father, Tanner Six.

BONUS!

THE FIRST FOUR CHAPTERS

OF

MORE DANGEROUS THAN MAN – TANNER BOOK 10

By

REMINGTON KANE

CHAPTER 1 – Surprise!

OKLAHOMA CITY, OKLAHOMA

––––––––

Tanner realized he was being followed after he left the drive-thru lane of a fast food restaurant.

One of the cars in line behind him pulled out without getting their food, and the unusual behavior caught Tanner’s attention.

Whoever was driving wasn’t a complete idiot, because he allowed several cars to come between them, so that he wasn’t driving directly behind Tanner.

There were two men in the car, and from the brief glimpse Tanner got of them as they passed beneath a street light, they appeared to be about his age.

They were likely just two more punks looking to cash in on the million-dollar bounty that Alonso Alvarado had placed on his head.

Tanner drove in a pattern that left no doubt he was being followed, and then he headed straight for his motel. When he got there, he parked in front of his room, Room 4, and entered just as the two men parked several spaces away.

He made certain to look in their direction, so that they could get a good look at him.

If they thought they had made a mistake and followed the wrong man they might leave, and Tanner didn’t want them to leave, because he needed information.

***

The two men following Tanner were named Derrick and Bobby. They were locals, and Bobby had spotted Tanner while stopped at a traffic light.

Derrick was the more aggressive of the two and a former boxer. His nose and ears spoke of his losses in the ring, but he retained the good looks he was born with.

Bobby was a follower, skinny as a reed, and had thinning blond hair. He had been a fair basketball player in high school, but when he failed to get a college scholarship, he joined the army, and that’s where he and Derrick met.

After parking in the motel lot, Derrick took another look at the drawing of Tanner’s face.

“Yeah, I wasn’t sure until he looked this way, but there can’t be two guys with eyes like his.”

Bobby checked to see if his gun was loaded for the third time since spotting Tanner, and while he did that, Derrick pumped a shell into his shotgun and told Bobby how they would do it.

“You go around back and make sure he doesn’t sneak out, I think the bathrooms here have a small window in them.”

“You’ve stayed here?”

Derrick smiled as he cut off the car’s engine.

“That waitress at Elmo’s Bar, you know the one with the long legs? I nailed her here about a year ago.”

“Get out of here! You slept with Mindy?”

“Yeah, but just once, she said it was her way of paying her husband back for something or other.”

“Damn Derrick, that girl’s hot.”

“Yeah, but she sucked in bed. But nevermind that, you go head around back, wait a full minute, and then you’ll hear me kick the door in. If this Tanner dude tries to leave through the bathroom window, he’s yours, and if he don’t, he’s mine.”

“All right,” Bobby said, and then he took in several deep breaths. “I haven’t killed anyone since we were in the army, you know? But that was in wartime and it didn’t count.”

“What do you mean killing in a war don’t count?”

Bobby raised his eyes skyward.

“I’m talking about God, Derrick. Killing is wrong.”

“Hell, Bobby, the price on the dude’s head is a million bucks, that’s worth a little sin.”

“Right, okay, I’ll head around back.”

Bobby left the car with his gun tucked against his leg, and ran right, to head around to the rear of the L-shaped building. After gathering his courage, Derrick left the car and went over to stand outside Tanner’s door.

When what felt like a minute had passed, Derrick was readying himself to kick in the door, but then he caught sight of Bobby, who was running back towards him.

When Bobby reached him, Derrick pulled him aside and whispered.

“Why aren’t you watching the window?”

Bobby grinned before he whispered back at Derrick.

“I don’t need to watch it. There’s a window in the bathroom, yeah, but it’s up high and a single piece of glass, stained glass too. There’s no way he can get out of there quickly, and if he tries, we’ll just shoot him.”

“All right, good, good, I feel better about both of us going in anyway. Now, I’ll kick the door in on three, one, two, three!”

Derrick laid a work boot hard against the doorjamb and the cheap motel room lock broke free, causing the door to fly open and bounce off the wall to the side of it.

They saw no one.

Derrick leaned down with the shotgun at the ready and looked under the bed. While he was doing that, Bobby checked the room’s only closet and found it empty of all but a few clothes hangers.

When they were certain that there were no other places to hide, Derrick pointed at the bathroom door, which was sitting ajar and showed a dark room beyond.

“We know you’re in there, dude,” Derrick called out, but there was no answer.

The two men crept towards the bathroom with their guns at the ready, as both sets of eyes were locked on the slight opening between the bathroom door and the jamb, searching for any movement.

Derrick whispered to Bobby while never taking his eyes from the door.

“I’m gonna push the door open, when I do, reach around inside and hit the light switch.”

Bobby whispered back at him. “It sounds good, but be ready.”

Derrick stood to the left side of the door, as Bobby moved over to the right.

After silently counting down from three, Derrick shoved the bathroom door open with the end of his shotgun, while at the same time, Bobby reached inside and flicked the light on.

When nothing happened other than the light coming on, Derrick moved into the bathroom while keeping his finger ready on the shotgun’s trigger.

The bathroom was empty.

Derrick and Bobby looked at the empty shower stall, and then up at the intact stain glass window above the toilet. There was no other way out of the room, and yet, Tanner wasn’t there.

When Tanner cleared his throat, it caused both men to jerk their heads around.

Tanner was holding a pair of Tasers. He fired them simultaneously, striking both Derrick and Bobby in the face with the electrified prongs. He then watched them fall to the bathroom’s tiled floor and twitch from the shock they each received.

Within minutes, he had them gagged and bound and was backing their vehicle up to the motel room door.

After throwing a blanket over Derrick, he carried him outside and dumped the man into the trunk of his own car, he then repeated the procedure with Bobby, got behind the wheel of Derrick’s car, and went looking for a secluded spot.

Tanner needed information, and before they died, Derrick and Bobby would tell him what he needed to know.

CHAPTER 2 – Job openings

Inside the remains of a burnt hulk that was once a home, Tanner removed Derrick’s gag.

Derrick worked his mouth a little, wet his lips, and then asked a question that had been driving him crazy.

“Where the hell were you hiding in that room?”

Tanner ignored him while he removed Bobby’s gag.

“How did you two find me?”

“We just spotted you,” Bobby said. “And it surprised me; they say that you’re supposed to be in Texas or Mexico.”

“Who else knows I’m here?”

“Just us,” Bobby said.

“You said that they think I’m in Texas or Mexico, who’s ‘they?’”

“Don’t answer him, Bobby. Don’t tell him shit,” Derrick said.

Tanner reached back, grabbed the shotgun, and then pointed it at Derrick.

“Interrupt again and I’ll kill you.”

“It was on the website! Don’t shoot! It was on the website,” Derrick said.

“What website?”

“At Chemzonic,” Bobby said, “It’s where we work. It’s a chemical plant, and there was an alert for you in the secure area of the website.”

“My picture was on an official company website?”

“It’s a special website that we’re not supposed to know about, but the head of security does. I saw him punch in the code once, and so I go on there to take a look every now and then. It didn’t do me any good; most of what’s on there is encoded. But they had that drawing of you and a one followed by six zeros, so I didn’t need to decode what that meant.”

“Was it all encoded?”

“Mostly, but under your picture it said something like, se busca vivo o muerto. Consuela in the cafeteria told me that it translated into, ‘wanted dead or alive’ and that it mentioned a reward, so we figured you were worth a million dollars.”

Tanner went quiet as he thought things over.

The company where Derrick and Bobby worked, Chemzonic, must be linked to the Alvarado Cartel somehow, and in fact, it made perfect sense. The Alvarado Cartel was one of the biggest suppliers of meth. Meth needs precursor chemicals to be manufactured, and what could be better than owning your own chemical plant?

Tanner reached behind him and grabbed an iPad from a duffle bag.

After signing on, he asked Derrick how to access the area he was talking about. It was a website that seemed unconnected to the Chemzonic Chemical Company.

“Which link do I hit?”

“Where it says, Members Only,” Bobby said.

Tanner hit the link, and a sign-in window came up.

“What’s the sign-in?”

Bobby gave it to him and Tanner saw the drawing with his face on it. The figure $1,000,000.00 was written below it, along with the words, EXTREMLY DANGEROUS!, which was written in several languages. The rest of the page was a gobbledygook of scrambled text that made no sense.

“What’s the name of the head of security?”

Derrick answered.

“He’s Jack Rockford, a real pretty-boy prick too.”

“They wouldn’t be hiring on, would they?”

“Maybe,” Derrick said. “But Tanner, that’s your name right, Tanner?”

“That’s my name.”

“Seriously man, where were you hiding in that room?”

“I wasn’t in the room. I left it right after I entered. I cut out the window in the bathroom when I rented the room and then glued it in place with cheap paste. It pops right out and fits right back in.”

“Shit, we should have thought of that.”

“Why?”

“Huh?”

“Why would you think of that?”

“You did.”

“Yeah, but it’s my business to stay alive and that will no longer be a problem you’ll face.”

Tanner fired the shotgun twice, and there were two new openings at the Chemzonic Chemical plant.

CHAPTER 3 – Inevitable

In Mexico, Alonso Alvarado put down his phone after getting updates from the men he had stationed at every border crossing between The United States and Mexico.

He would call the men he placed at the airports next, but he didn’t expect Tanner to board an airplane, at least not a commercial jet.

He had thrown over a hundred of his best men at Tanner in New York City, and now those men were dead and Tanner had vowed to travel to Mexico to kill him.

Juan, his only son, had died, and if Tanner made it behind the walls of his compound, Alvarado knew that he would join him in death.

Cody Parker, that was Tanner’s true name. However, it did Alvarado little good to know it, because Cody Parker had no one left in the world that Alvarado could threaten to use against him. He had already killed the man’s loved ones when he thought he had also murdered him.

Tanner was coming to kill him, to avenge the woman he lost in New York and for the family he lost years ago. Tanner was coming and Alvarado didn’t doubt it for a second.

He had put the word out about the million-dollar reward for Tanner. The man would be hunted by hundreds of lowlifes, dreamers, and even a few genuinely competent killers.

He hoped that one of them might get lucky, or that their combined numbers might overwhelm Tanner, but deep down, he realized that Tanner wouldn’t be stopped by such men.

No, Tanner was coming, and he was coming for him.

Alvarado had done something a day earlier that he had never done before, or had ever needed to do. He had hired outside help, professional help, in the form of a company that specialized in security, among other things.

The company was named Hexalcorp, and they were supply contractors with several governments, including The United States of America.

Hexalcorp was rated second in their field, but their top competitor, the corporation, Burke, had refused to do business with him.

That slight would not go unanswered, and Alvarado would send grief towards Conrad Burke, the Burke Corporation owner, but for now, Tanner was the main concern.

Hexalcorp was sending a top representative to the compound to enhance the security, and had dispatched a group of men they called a “Strike Team” to find and eliminate Tanner.

Alvarado hoped that the men would succeed, but he was far more interested in increasing the compound’s security, because Tanner was coming. Alvarado knew with everything in him that Tanner was coming, and the bastard Cody Parker was as inevitable as death.

CHAPTER 4 – Closing in

Tanner left the hapless Derrick and Bobby inside the burnt-out house.

They would be discovered in the coming days, but not soon enough for it to interfere in his plans.

He dumped Derrick’s car in long-term parking at the airport and then took a cab back to the motel, where he apologized for the busted door and paid for its repair.

He had enough people after him; he didn’t need the cops looking for him over a busted motel room door, and the phony ID he was using was still good.

He drove to a different motel, just in case, and after spending an hour coming up with a revised plan, he sent an email off to Tim Jackson. If anyone could decode what was on Chemzonic’s secret website, it would be Tim.

Tanner fell asleep with Derrick’s shotgun propped up against the side of the bed, and would sleep until the sun woke him.

***

The following morning in Mississippi, Alexa was sitting inside her van, watching the sunrise, as she wondered where Tanner was.

Her mind told her that he was probably in Mexico by now, but her “little voice”, her sixth sense said that he was heading west, northwest.

She was parked outside a motel, and had checked in the day before under the name Anna Sanchez, with a fake ID and credit card courtesy of Damián Sandoval, Alonso Alvarado’s rival.

Without doubt, Sandoval was as big a dirtbag as Alvarado was, but his assistance had proven useful, and his man Dante had saved her life.

As she checked in to the motel the night before, Alexa had showed the clerk the drawing of Tanner. The night clerk hadn’t recognized him, and Alexa was waiting to ask the day clerk the same question when the new person came on shift.

She took the drawing out and looked at it yet again, and wondered what sort of man Tanner was. He was a killer for hire, of that she was certain, but he was also a Tanner.

Alexa’s adopted father, her Papa Rodrigo, had known Tanner Five.

Rodrigo had still been a boy of fifteen and living with his widowed mother while Tanner Five had been middle-aged, but he had become friends with the man before he knew who and what he was.

Rodrigo was gay, and he and his friends from the circus had been attacked by a gang of local kids from the town where they were performing. After Rodrigo had been spotted holding another boy’s hand, the two of them were thrown to the ground and kicked.

Tanner Five had stopped the beating before Rodrigo and his friend were seriously injured, or possibly worse.

Tanner Five had later traveled with the circus and stayed with Rodrigo and his mother for months after that, and although Rodrigo had never come out and said as much, Alexa always got the impression that Tanner and Rodrigo’s mother became more than friends.

In any event, Tanner Five had taught young Rodrigo to fight, at least enough to defend himself, and he had also impressed Rodrigo as being a man of honor.

It wasn’t until years later that the two of them met again, and by that time, Rodrigo had become an accomplished young thief. Accomplished, but not perfect, and he was caught in the act of emptying a safe by the man he was trying to rob.

Rodrigo told Alexa that after he heard the sound of a shotgun racking a shell, he knew he was dead, but to his surprise and joy, when the blast came, it was the owner of the shotgun who perished, because he had been shot by Tanner Five, who had been hired to kill the man.

The two fled the scene and went where they could talk, and that’s when Rodrigo learned the truth about his Tanner.

More trouble ensued shortly thereafter, and Rodrigo recounted how Tanner Five went up against incredible odds on several occasions and came out on top every time. He said that Tanner Five told him that he had been trained by his predecessor, the fourth Tanner, who in turn had been trained by his own mentor.

A Tanner was an assassin, yes, but they were trained to be more than that, they were trained to be the best, to survive anywhere, and to never give up until the target was dead.

Now, some thirty-odd years later, Alexa searched for her Tanner, and she prayed that he was someone who could help her, and not just some mindless killer.

A car pulled up and parked in front of the motel office. When a man got out holding a paper sack and a thermos, Alexa assumed he was the day clerk starting his shift. She left her van holding Tanner’s picture, and went to see if the man knew his face.

***

Alexa lit up when the desk clerk nodded his head affirmatively.

“Yeah, this guy, he was here; it was the night before last. I wasn’t working that night, but I was here talking to my boss when he checked in.”

“What name did he go by?”

“Oh, I’m sorry, we’re not allowed to give out that kind of information, but he checked in alone if that’s what you’re worried about.”

“I’m not involved with him; I’m just looking for him.”

The clerk leaned on the counter. He was a young white guy with curly brown hair and gray eyes. He looked Alexa over and smiled.

“He’s a lucky guy to have you looking for him, but what are you, some kind of bounty hunter?”

Alexa returned the man’s smile and wondered if he was about to hit on her. She would love to know what name Tanner was traveling under, but in truth, it would do her little good. She had no way to track him down electronically and a man like Tanner would change identities the way other men changed clothes.

“I’m not a bounty hunter or a cop, but the man I’m looking for, well, we have something in common, and I want to find him to see if we could help each other.”

The man straightened up, tapped at the computer keyboard for a moment, and then shook his head.

“He checked out yesterday morning and left no forwarding address, sorry.”

“That’s okay, and thank you for your help.”

“You’re welcome.”

Alexa opened her purse.

“I’ll be checking out.”

“Oh, too bad, I was going to ask you if you’d have dinner with me tonight.”

“I might have,” Alexa said. “But I should keep moving.”

“To find the man you asked about?”

“Yes.”

“It’s really important to you, isn’t it?”

“Yes.”

The clerk handed her back her credit card. After a moment’s hesitation, he shrugged and gave Alexa more information.

“He checked in under the name of Clay Drake, and I saw him driving away in a black Ford, a newer model.”

Alexa gestured for the man to lean forward, when he did so; she kissed him on the cheek.

“Thank you so much.”

“You’re welcome, and if you pass through here again, come find me and we’ll have that dinner.”

“I will.”

Alexa left the office and headed for her van. If Tanner had come this far west than he wasn’t headed south anymore, which meant she was on the right track. She mentally chastised herself for ever doubting her instincts, and when she got back on the highway, she continued to head northwest, towards Oklahoma.

––––––––

END OF SAMPLE

THANKS FOR READING!

A PLEA

Thank you, precious reader, for spending time with Tanner. I hope you enjoyed the book. If you did, please consider writing a review. Without reviews, an author's books are virtually invisible on the retail sites. Let other readers know what you thought! You can leave a review by visiting the book's page and I will greatly appreciate it.

Thank you!

—Remington Kane

ALSO BY REMINGTON KANE

The TANNER Series in order

- INEVITABLE I - A Tanner Novel - Book 1

- KILL IN PLAIN SIGHT - A Tanner Novel - Book 2

- MAKING A KILLING ON WALL STREET - A Tanner Novel - Book 3

- THE FIRST ONE TO DIE LOSES - A Tanner Novel - Book 4

- THE LIFE & DEATH OF CODY PARKER - A Tanner Novel - Book 5

- WAR - A Tanner Novel - Book 6
- SUICIDE OR DEATH – A Tanner Novel – Book 7
- TWO FOR THE KILL – A Tanner Novel – Book 8
- BALLET OF DEATH – A Tanner Novel – Book 9

- MORE DANGEROUS THAN MAN – A Tanner Novel – Book 10

Also

- DESOLATION LAKE

And written as Donald Wells

- TAKEN! - LOVE CONQUERS ALL
- TAKEN! - SECRETS & LIES
- TAKEN! - STALKER
- TAKEN! - BREAKOUT!
- TAKEN! - THE THIRTY-NINE
- TAKEN! - KIDNAPPING THE DEVIL
- TAKEN! - HIT SQUAD
- TAKEN! - MASQUERADE
- TAKEN! - SERIOUS BUSINESS
- TAKEN! - THE COUPLE THAT SLAYS TOGETHER
- TAKEN! - PUT ASUNDER
- TAKEN! - LIKE BOND, ONLY BETTER
- TAKEN! - MEDIEVAL
- TAKEN! - RISEN!
- TAKEN! - VACATION

- TAKEN! - MICHAEL – Available October 31, 2015

- REDEMPTION... Someone's taken her

LEARN ABOUT NEW RELEASES FROM

REMINGTON KANE
http://www.remingtonkane.com/contact.html

TO CONTACT:

www.remingtonkane.com
tannerseries@gmail.com

Did you love The TANNER Series - Books 7-9? Then you should read More Dangerous Than Man by Remington Kane!

Tanner makes his way across the country to see an old friend, as he seeks answers about his past.

Meanwhile, female assassin Alexa Lucia is searching for Tanner, but is she an ally or an enemy?

Read more at Remington Kane’s site.