By the time Andrea had circled around and reentered the house, Kent Mead had left for the day.
“That was good,” Tanner said. “By the time we strike, the guards will think of you as the sexy jogger lady in the neighborhood.”
“How many days do I have to do that? I felt like an exhibitionist, and it’s chilly outside too.”
“We’ll let them see you again tomorrow while I make sure Mead keeps a morning routine. On the third morning we’ll grab Mead.”
“Are you going to kill the guards along with Cord?”
“I’m not planning on it, but that depends on you.”
“How so?”
“I want you to lure the guards down to street level after I handle Cord inside the garage. After that, we’ll disarm them and take off with Mead.”
“Won’t the guards see that you’re not Cord?”
“I’ll be wearing his cowboy hat and sunglasses, and they’ll be watching you anyway.”
“It sounds risky.”
“It is risky, but you don’t have to be a part of it. Say the word and I’ll grab Mead by myself.”
“By killing the guards?”
“I won’t kill them unless I’m forced to, but I will hurt them if I’m working alone; I would have to do that in order to be quick.”
“I still want to help. Let me change out of this outfit and we’ll leave.”
Tanner looked her over and Andrea noticed.
“Do you like what you see?”
“I do. You’re beautiful, Andrea.”
She smiled.
“It’s nice to know you noticed.”
24
Boundaries
PHOENIX, ARIZONA, APRIL 1999
Farnsworth sidled up to the open driver’s side window of the boys’ red sports car and smiled down at Cody, who was behind the wheel. There was a baseball magazine sitting open on Cody’s lap. Farnsworth figured he had snuck up on Cody while he was reading.
“Hello there, sonny.”
Cody looked up at him and Farnsworth smiled.
“Those are some eyes you got there, kid. Are you an intense young man?”
“What’s going on?” Romeo said. It was after midnight. Romeo had been sleeping while Cody kept watch for Roscoe.
“This old man wants to talk about something. Isn’t that right?” Cody said.
Farnsworth rested his elbows on the window and peered inside.
“I’ll speak plainly. You two are here looking for Pete Roscoe, but I’ll tell you right now that he’s mine. Phoenix is my turf, and I don’t like competition.”
“You’re after Roscoe too?” Romeo said.
“That’s right. That three-thousand-dollar bounty is mine.”
“What are you talking about?” Cody asked.
“Don’t play dumb, son. You wouldn’t be sitting out here if you didn’t know Roscoe was wanted for missing his child support payments.”
“You’re a bounty hunter?” Romeo asked. “An old dude like you?”
“Watch your mouth, boy, or this ‘old dude’ will kick your ass.”
“Chill, man. I didn’t mean anything by it.”
Cody was shaking his head in disgust. First the two girls had seen them in the apartment building and now this old man was on to the fact that they were looking for Roscoe. They might as well have taken out a full-page ad.
“You do your thing and we’ll do ours,” Cody said, “and we’ll see who gets to Roscoe first.”
“It’ll be me, boy. I’m better at this then you’ll ever be, and one more thing.”
“Yeah?”
“You best keep your eyes open. If I had been Pete Roscoe I could have killed both of you. You never saw me coming.”
Cody brought up the gun he’d been hiding beneath the magazine and showed it to Farnsworth.
“I spotted you when you crossed the street two blocks back, and don’t call me boy.”
Farnsworth laughed.
“Well hell, you two might be some competition after all. Let the games begin.”
Farnsworth walked away, to head back to his van by an indirect route. Romeo was watching him and made an observation.
“He doesn’t walk like an old dude, and look, he keeps his head on a swivel as he moves.”
“We can’t let him get to Roscoe first. If Roscoe doesn’t show up here by noon tomorrow I say we check out our next lead.”
“Yeah,” Romeo said. “I think this is looking like a bust here.”
Two hours later, a car parked in front of the apartment house. Both boys were awake, and they readied themselves in case Pete Roscoe emerged from the car. It wasn’t Roscoe, but one of the car’s occupants was his ex-girlfriend, the stripper named Janna. Janna was with a guy in his thirties. They began kissing at the door of the apartment house then disappeared inside.
“That wasn’t Pete Roscoe,” Romeo said.
“No, and it looks like Janna has a new boyfriend.”
“That’s that then, we’ll keep watch until noon and then take off.”
Cody agreed, then told Romeo to wake him in four hours.
Three blocks away in the other direction, Farnsworth was lowering his binoculars.
“That Janna is a looker, but the man wasn’t Pete Roscoe.”
Zoe was still awake, while Kayla was asleep on an air mattress in the rear of the van. Zoe was staring through her own binoculars.
“I can just make out the bumper of the sports car. It looks like those guys aren’t going away.”
“They will sooner or later. When they do, I want you and Kayla to slow them down.”
“How?”
“You’ll think of something, honey. You girls both inherited my devious nature.”
Zoe laughed, then she kissed her grandfather on the cheek.
“I’m glad we’re working together. Kayla and I missed you all those years you were on the move.”
“I only wish I had spent more time with your dad.”
“He understood. He said you changed after Grandma died. I wish I had known her.”
“You and your sister resemble her, and yeah, I changed. Your father was better off being raised by my sister and her family.”
“What did you do all those years? Were you a bounty hunter then too?”
“Yeah, I guess you could say I’ve always been a hunter.”
Kayla slid up front and sat beside Zoe. After yawning, she asked a question.
“Did I miss anything while I was napping?”
“Roscoe’s girlfriend has a new boyfriend,” Farnsworth said. “I think we’re wasting our time here.”
“Are those two boys still hanging around?”
“Yeah,” Zoe said. “Granddad says we get to have some fun with them tomorrow. He wants us to slow them down.”
Kayla smiled. “The dark-haired one is mine.”
“Don’t be getting all sweet on those boys. We’ll be putting them through their paces,” Farnsworth said.
“Don’t worry, Granddad. Zoe and I will show no mercy.”
“That’s what I like to hear,” Farnsworth said.
25
You’re A Vegetable
STATEN ISLAND, NEW YORK, MARCH 2018
Tanner and Andrea made their move on Kent Mead as planned.
Andrea, while wearing yet another revealing outfit, ran toward the home after Cord entered the garage to bring out the limo. Tanner was waiting for him in there, having broken into the garage minutes earlier. While the garage had been locked securely, its doors and windows weren’t monitored as the entryways of the home were. Tanner got inside the garage with ease, to await Cord’s arrival.
He knocked Cord unconscious with a leather blackjack, then donned the man’s white cowboy hat and dark sunglasses. Like Cord, Tanner was wearing a black suit. He eased the limo out of the garage just as Andrea went jogging past. Tanner sent her a nod and she went into the act they’d rehearsed.
Andrea let out a yelp of pain, then sat on the bottom step of Kent Mead’
s home. The two bodyguards came down the stairs to see what was ailing her.
“I think I twisted my ankle,” Andrea said. She was leaning over as she spoke, causing both guards to look down at her enhanced breasts, which were half exposed beneath her small top.
Meanwhile, Tanner had parked the limo in front of the home. He exited the vehicle and walked toward the guards and Andrea. Tanner’s head was down, like he was checking his phone, and with the cowboy hat and sunglasses, his face was largely hidden. One of the guards glanced at him, but then looked back at Andrea.
“The lady twisted her ankle, Cord. Call for an ambulance.”
When Tanner was three feet away, Andrea jumped up and ran toward the limo.
“Hey!” one of the guards said. While he was speaking, Tanner was using the leather sap on the back of his partner’s head. Tanner followed the movement up by catching the other guard under the chin with the sap. The first man was out cold, but the other needed another whack. When it was done, both men lay at the top of the driveway, senseless.
Andrea was behind the wheel of the limo. When Tanner looked her way, she signified with a smile that she was okay, and ready for the next part of their plan.
Still wearing Cord’s cowboy hat, Tanner was about to enter the house when Kent Mead stepped out the front door. Mead was staring down at a computer tablet while issuing instructions to Tanner, who he had assumed was one of his guards.
“Tell Cord we’ll be stopping by the bank this morning. I’ve a meeting to attend.”
“You’re not going to make it,” Tanner said.
Mead raised his head and opened his mouth in shock. Tanner showed him the gun he was holding.
“Stay quiet and walk toward the limo,” Tanner said. When Mead simply stood there in shock, Tanner added. “Start walking or I’ll toss you down the stairs.”
Mead broke out of his trance and began moving.
“Are you working for the union?”
“My name is Tanner. You might remember me.”
Mead spun around so fast that he nearly lost his balance on the steps. He stared at Tanner, then he caught sight of his two bodyguards, who were lying in a heap.
“Are they dead?”
“Get in the limo… Mr. Jones.”
There was movement in a window across the street. When Tanner gazed up, he saw a woman in her underwear talking on a phone. Mead’s neighbor must have been in the middle of getting dressed for work when she glanced out the window and saw Tanner’s activities. It was not unexpected, and Tanner was prepared to avoid the cops.
After Mead entered the limo, Tanner closed the door and told Andrea to drive. Tanner took away Mead’s tablet, then demanded his phone. Once he had the phone, Tanner removed the battery. Mead was staring at the back of Andrea’s head.
“Driver, this man is a criminal and he plans to kill me. If you don’t want to become an accessory to murder I suggest you call the police.”
Andrea grabbed the wig off her head, then stared at Mead in the rear-view mirror.
“I’m Andrea Barker, you piece of shit. Do you remember me?”
Mead looked puzzled for a moment, then recalled the name.
“Herb Barker’s daughter… oh no.”
“Oh yes,” Andrea said.
After traveling for only a few minutes, Andrea drove the limo down an alleyway. Unaccustomed to driving a vehicle so large, she scraped the front bumper once along the wall.
“Sorry, Tanner, but this thing is a beast of a vehicle.”
“You’re doing fine,” Tanner said.
At the rear of a restaurant they prepared to transfer Mead into a green SUV. Mead looked horrified when he saw the duct tape come out. He opened his mouth to protest. Andrea kicked him in the stomach and he shut his mouth and moaned.
“What’s wrong, Mead? You liked it when my father was hit in the stomach. It’s a bit different when it’s happening to you, hmm?”
Mead was gagged, and his hands and feet bound. Tanner threw him over a shoulder, then tossed him into the vehicle without care. As Tanner walked to the limo, Andrea grabbed his arm.
“Did you kill Cord?”
“No.”
“Why not? You know that bastard was as guilty as Mead and Mr. Smith?”
Tanner opened the trunk on the limo. Inside was an unconscious Cord. He was bound and gagged like Mead, only Cord’s hands were cuffed behind his back.
“Cord will be useful when we confront Smith.”
Andrea laughed. “You have another plan?”
“Always,” Tanner said.
Thirty-six minutes later they were off the island and in an abandoned warehouse in Perth Amboy, New Jersey.
Cord was still out cold and lying in the rear of the SUV, while Mead’s eyes revealed the terror he was feeling. Tanner had sat him on the warehouse’s filthy floor, so that he and Andrea could stare down at the man. As Tanner had driven, Andrea had thrown a modest dress on over her jogging outfit.
The moment Tanner removed the gag from Mead’s mouth, the man started talking to make a deal.
“I’ll give you Smith’s real name if you’ll release me.”
There were several pieces of old pipe laying on the floor. Tanner picked one up, judged its heft, then used it to deliver a solid whack to Mead’s right knee.
Kent Mead bellowed in pain as tears flowed from his eyes.
“You’re not dealing with a union lawyer, Mead. You’ll tell me everything I want to know, or you’ll die after suffering great pain.”
“Dalton Geary,” Mead said between gasps. “Smith’s real name is Dalton Geary.”
“How do I find him?”
“I don’t know.”
Tanner hit the knee again. The second blow seemed to make Mead go weak and he fell flat on his back and moaned in agony.
“Tell me how to find him.”
“I don’t know! I swear it, but I know someone who will. His ex-wife Cynthia. She’s the one who started this whole thing.”
Tanner cocked his head.
“Geary’s ex-wife hired Herb Barker?”
“Yes.”
“You’re lying. Barker didn’t handle domestic situations and he damn sure knew I didn’t go around killing cheating spouses.”
“Don’t hit me again. I’m not lying. Barker took the contract after Cynthia proved to him what a monster Geary is. Dalton Geary wasn’t just married to Cynthia. He owned Cynthia. He married the girl when she was only sixteen and he was forty, then he made her a slave to his needs. Cynthia went to the police, but they did nothing… so, she reached out to Herb Barker.”
“Why didn’t she just run away?” Tanner asked.
“She did, twice, but never made it very far. Dalton hired people to kidnap her and drag her back to him.”
“How do you know all this?”
Mead had gone pale, but a bit of color returned to his cheeks. He was sitting up again and had pulled up his pant leg to examine his knee, which was bruised and bloodied.
“Cynthia and I were lovers for a time. After returning from the desert, Geary moved Cynthia to New York and I became his liaison between himself and Cynthia. The sex sort of just happened.”
“Are you still sleeping with her?” Andrea asked.
“It ended years ago… Cynthia is a little strange.”
“Give me her address?” Tanner said, and Mead gave him a street address in Mount Vernon, New York.
“Why move her to New York State? Does Geary have interests there?” Tanner asked.
“He conducts all business through surrogates these days, but he did mention once that he had a sister in Manhattan.”
“Why wouldn’t a man like Smith, or rather, Geary, have had this Cynthia murdered,” Andrea asked. “After all, she tried to have him killed.”
“Dalton thinks he loves Cynthia, but he doesn’t. He’s just obsessed with her.”
“He’s close by, isn’t he?” Tanner said.
“I don’t know, but I know he visits her once in a whil
e. Maybe he flies in from somewhere. He’s become very careful over the years and rarely meets in person.”
“He uses lackeys like you as front men to do his dirty work.”
“Call me names if you want, Tanner, but I made over a million helping Geary to raid that union pension fund.”
“You robbed a bunch of decent hard-working people, you bastard,” Andrea said.
“It’s not my fault that there were loopholes I could exploit. And those hard-working people are fools. They get what they deserve, and so did I, for being smart enough to see the possibilities.”
Andrea made a sound of disgust as she heard the pride in Mead’s voice. The man had helped to rob the pockets of thousands of innocent people and was pleased with himself. She picked up a piece of pipe and whacked Mead across the face with it.
The pipe was heavy, and the blow delivered with brutal force. Mead’s eyes rolled back in his head. A moment later, one eye looked downward, while the other looked right. Mead soiled himself, then began babbling nonsense.
“I hope he gave us the right address for Dalton Geary’s ex, because we won’t be getting anything else out of him,” Tanner said.
Andrea dropped the pipe. She looked aghast at what she had done.
“I didn’t…I mean. Oh God, we can’t leave him like that. I hate him, but I didn’t mean to turn him into a… a vegetable.”
“Get in the car. I’ll take care of him.”
“No, Tanner. I want to watch him die. I waited years for this.”
“Suit yourself.”
Tanner removed a small pistol from a pocket, pressed it against Mead’s head, then pulled the trigger. The small gun made a mighty sound as it sent forth a bullet into Mead’s skull, but the .25 slug lacked the force to create an exit wound. Mead collapsed onto his back and was still.
“That… that was so quick,” Andrea said.
“And better than he deserved,” Tanner said.
They left the body where it lay and went to find Cynthia Geary.
Young Guns 3Beyond Limits Page 9