The TANNER Series - Books 4-6 (Tanner Box Set Book 2)

by Remington Kane

  Jennifer kissed him.

  “Am I a part of that new life?”

  Garner smiled.

  “The best part, and I never saw it coming.”

  Jennifer sighed.

  “We have to tell Sara.”

  “I know she’ll think that I’m just using you, but I’m not the frivolous playboy she knew. I want a relationship with you; I want to see where this leads.”

  “We’ll talk to her soon, maybe even tomorrow.”

  “Why so soon?”

  “My trip, remember? I have to fly out on Tuesday night and won’t be back for two weeks.”

  “I am so going to miss you, couldn’t you send someone else?”

  “No, I run the charity and I have to do the negotiations.”

  “What’s to negotiate? You’re only going there to help.”

  “Guambi is going through a period of political upheaval since their leader died, and there is a faction there that wants nothing to do with the West, and that includes humanitarian aid.”

  “It’s a third-world nation, Guambi is, so be careful down there.”

  “If they weren’t poor they wouldn’t need our help. That typhoon they had devastated the country. Their people need all the help they can get.”

  “I wish I could go with you, but my leave ends in a few days.”

  Jennifer hugged him.

  “We’re both here now, so let’s make the most of it.”

  Garner kissed her.

  “Thank you.”

  “For what?”

  “For giving me a chance to prove I can be trusted, I can just imagine how dire your sister’s warnings were.”

  “Did you ever tell her about what happened to your family?”

  “No, you’re the first person I’ve told in years.”

  “Then, Sara never really knew you, did she?”

  “No, but I know her, and if she doesn’t stop her quest to get revenge, it may destroy her,”

  “No more talk of pain and loss,” Jennifer said, and then she and Garner kissed, and the past was placed aside for the needs of the present.

  CHAPTER 4 - Meet & Greet

  Inside his office at the Cabaret Strip Club, Johnny had just informed Sara about the meeting he had arranged with Tanner.

  They were seated on the green sofa that sat to the left side of the door and were the only ones in the club, early on a Saturday morning.

  He had told her that Pullo had arranged a truce and that it was safe to leave the apartment. Sara had agreed to do so, only because she had been going stir-crazy after staying inside for so long, but she never thought that she would be coming face-to-face with Tanner.

  “He’s coming here?” she said.

  “Yes. He’s coming here and the three of us are going to settle things peacefully. Joe said that the man doesn’t want to kill you if he doesn’t have to. Today we’ll make peace and you won’t have to keep looking over your shoulder.”

  Sara took out her phone.

  “I have a better idea. I’ll have Duke put snipers on the roof across the street. When Tanner shows, he’s dead. What time is the meeting?”

  “It’s now, any minute, I told him to come at nine.”

  Sara’s mouth dropped open and she put down her phone.

  “Are you trying to get me killed?”

  “I have Tanner’s word that he won’t hurt you, not during the meeting.”

  “His word? Are you serious?”

  “Yes. He’s a killer, but when he gives his word, he means it. Joe Pullo vouches for him and that means he can be trusted.”

  Sara stared at him in disbelief.

  “Johnny, you’re a fool and you’ve just killed us both.”

  And as if to punctuate her words, the office door was shredded by gunfire.

  ***

  Ten minutes earlier and a block away, Tanner had spotted the hit team as he did surveillance before the meeting.

  His first thought was that Rossetti couldn’t be trusted, but then realized that if Johnny had meant to double-cross him, that he would be using more than four men.

  Tanner was watching the men through binoculars from the rooftop of a building that gave him a clear view of the club and both its front and side entrances.

  He had seen Johnny and Sara go into the club alone, and then spotted the four men checking their weapons in the rear parking lot of a building that was closed for the weekend.

  The men all had machine pistols of some type, and were filling the pockets of their suit jackets with spare magazines.

  The club was empty except for Johnny and Sara; Tanner knew it for a fact, because he had broken in earlier and checked the building out for signs of a trap.

  He would trust Joe Pullo with his life, but Johnny Rossetti was a different story, and so Tanner felt the need to verify that the meeting was just a meeting.

  With the arrival of the four hitters, he wasn’t sure what to think. However, that changed several minutes later, as he watched the men park near the club and separate into two groups of two.

  While one team picked the lock and entered quietly through the front door, the other two went to work cutting the padlock on the gate that led to the alley entrance.

  That’s when Tanner realized that the hit was on Rossetti. After hesitating, he began his climb off the roof. He crossing the street when the muffled sound of gunfire came from inside the club.

  ***

  “It’s Tanner!” Sara said, even as her ears registered that there were at least two guns firing.

  Johnny pressed her down atop the sofa and shielded her with his body, as a barrage of bullets continued to tear the wooden door to pieces.

  A temporary lull came, as the men outside the door reloaded. Johnny rolled onto the floor, his weapon in hand, and fired six shots at the men, seriously wounding one, while missing the other, who was partially obscured behind the first man.

  The remaining man had just reloaded, and he managed to fire a shot at Johnny, even as Sara joined the battle. After missing several shots, she caught the man with a bullet to the throat that killed him. However, when she looked at Johnny, she saw he had been wounded, was unconscious, and had blood running down his face.

  “Johnny!”

  The back door to the office was kicked in and Sara turned her head to see two men taking aim at her.

  Her gun arm was extended in the other direction, towards the hall, and she knew that she’d never get off a shot before they killed her.

  No sooner had that thought passed through her mind when Tanner shot the men from the alley. The men crumpled to the floor, just inside the doorway to the office, each with multiple wounds.

  Sara rose up, took aim at the man Johnny had shot, and emptied her last round into his chest, just as the hood was reaching for his gun.

  “Hello Blake,” Tanner said and Sara swung her empty gun his way.

  Tanner smiled.

  “I won’t fall for the empty gun trick twice, and if you try to reload, I’ll kill you.”

  “You’ll kill me anyway,”

  “No, I’ll honor the agreement I made, now how is Rossetti doing? Is he alive?”

  Sara startled, fearing her own death, she had forgotten that Johnny was wounded. She dropped back down beside him and saw that his head was resting in a puddle of blood.

  “Oh no, Johnny! Wake up, can you hear me?”

  After dragging the dead men farther into the office and out of the doorway, Tanner walked over, and when he gazed down at Johnny, he saw the wound on his scalp.

  “He was hit by a bullet. Does he have a pulse?”

  Sara checked and a few seconds later, she grinned.

  “He’s alive, but he has to get to a doctor.”

  Tanner reached down and lifted Johnny, to carry him over his left shoulder, while keeping his gun hand free.

  “Where’s your car, Blake?”

  Sara stepped over the bodies and followed Tanner into the alley, after closing the busted door as well as she coul
d.

  “I’m parked down here,” she said, and felt surreal talking to Tanner, while knowing that he likely wanted her dead as much as she wanted to kill him, but apparently, he had taken seriously his pledge not to harm her, or so it seemed. Still, in her mind, Tanner was scum and scum had no honor.

  Tanner followed, moving slowly, while keeping an eye out for more trouble.

  They reached the car without incident, and Johnny regained consciousness as Tanner lowered him across the rear seat.

  “Christ, my head—Tanner? Tanner, where’s Sara?”

  “I’m here, Johnny, I’m safe, but you need to go to the hospital.”

  “What happened to the two men?”

  “They’re dead, and there were four of them. Tanner killed the other two.”

  “Good man, Tanner, and no hospital, take me to the clinic and call Joe. He has to clean up this mess.”

  “Am I working for you now, Rossetti?”

  Johnny sighed.

  “Please, I could use your help, Romeo.”

  “It’s Tanner, and lay back and rest, that’s a nasty wound you’ve got there. The bullet nearly split your head open.”

  Johnny gave half a nod and passed out again.

  Sara started her car, and as Tanner sat beside her in the passenger seat, he took out his phone to call Pullo, but first he gave Sara instructions.

  “Head to West 26th and 10th Avenue.”

  “There’s a doctor at this clinic?”

  “The best and the last thing Rossetti needs is the police and press sniffing around, which is what would happen if he went to a hospital.”

  Sara drove out the back end of the alley. After closing the gate, Tanner returned to the car and made contact with Pullo, to fill him in. When he was done, he put the phone away and stared at Sara.

  “If you’re going to kill me, Tanner, please wait until after I get Johnny to the doctor.”

  “We have a truce, remember? I gave Pullo my word that I wouldn’t harm you, not until I heard what Rossetti had to say.”

  Sara made a huffing sound.

  “Your word, the word of a killer?”

  “The word of a killer who just saved your life back at the club,”

  “Why did you do that?”

  “For Rossetti, mostly,”

  “Mostly?”

  “I know you hate me, Blake, but it’s never been mutual. Killing your lover was nothing personal.”

  They were stopped at a light, and Sara turned in her seat and slapped him. The sound was loud inside the car and the blow was delivered with force.

  Tanner worked his jaw back and forth.

  “I don’t know what Rossetti had planned for this meeting, but you’re never going to stop coming for me, are you?”

  “If it is the last thing I do in this life, Tanner, I will see you dead.”

  Tanner was still holding his gun and he gripped it tightly.

  “You’re a fool, Blake, but you do have guts.”

  Sara said nothing more; and other then giving directions to the clinic, Tanner remained silent as well.

  CHAPTER 5 - There’s a thin line...

  Laurel Ivy’s lovely face lit up in a huge grin when she saw Tanner, but a scowl of concern replaced the smile when she spotted the blood running down Johnny’s face.

  “This way,” she said, and Tanner helped Johnny along. Rossetti was conscious again, but too dizzy to stand on his own.

  As they walked along, Laurel examined Johnny’s injury and then introduced herself to Sara.

  Sara took in the shapely, blue-eyed blonde and thought that she looked too young to have much experience as a physician.

  “I’m Sara, and are you really a doctor?”

  “Yes, although I’ve lost my license to practice.”

  “She knows what she’s doing,” Johnny moaned.

  Sara looked around the clean and well-supplied medical facility, which was hidden in the rear of a small building that had an antiques store at its front end, while the clinic was separated by soundproof walls.

  The building was surrounded by a fence, and there was a sign on it that listed the store’s hours, but in actuality, the store never opened and was just a facade for the illegal clinic at its rear.

  There was a nurse working with Laurel, a young Asian woman named Maya, and both she and Laurel were dressed in white smocks.

  Had she not known any better, Sara would have thought she was inside a big city emergency room, although the waiting room was smaller, as was the clientele.

  After helping Johnny onto a table inside a treatment room, Tanner headed for the door.

  “Don’t you dare leave,” Laurel said.

  “I’ll be out front. I want to make certain that we weren’t followed before I go.”

  “Fine, but we have to talk.”

  Tanner sent Laurel a nod and then walked off.

  ***

  Johnny had a concussion. Laurel had treated his wound and her nurse was giving him an injection, in preparation to getting a CAT Scan. While that was being done, Laurel excused herself to speak to Tanner.

  Sara followed her into the hall and asked a question.

  “Have you known Tanner long?”

  “A few years,” Laurel said.

  “And are you two close?”

  Laurel cocked her head.

  “Are you and Tanner dating? Because I got the impression that you were with Johnny.”

  “I am with Johnny, but right now I’m asking about Tanner.”

  “Tanner and I, we have a history, but it’s over and I’m with Joe Pullo, do you know Joe?”

  “Yes, we’ve met recently, but tell me, just how close were you and Tanner?”

  Laurel took a step back, and when she spoke again, her slight Southern accent seemed more pronounced.

  “I’m not going to answer that, and maybe you should show more concern for Johnny. Now excuse me.”

  Laurel went outside and found Tanner leaning against Sara’s car. She walked up to him smiling, but slapped him across the face when she reached him.

  “That was for letting me believe you were dead.”

  Tanner shook his head in an effort to clear it.

  He had been slapped twice in the last hour. Once by a woman that hated him and now by Laurel, who supposedly loved him. The love slap hurt more.

  “Knowing I was alive might have put you in danger.”

  Laurel wiped at tears.

  “It broke my heart when I thought I might never see you again.”

  “Does Joe know that?”

  “As a matter of fact, he does, he also knows that I love you and he knows that you don’t love me back. That’s right, isn’t it, that you have no feelings for me?”

  Tanner sighed.

  “Laurel, we had this discussion already, a long time ago.”

  Laurel wiped away more tears, took a deep breath, and straightened her shoulders.

  “I’m going to stop making a fool of myself.”

  “How is Rossetti?”

  “He’ll be fine, but I’m giving him a CT scan just to be sure. Now tell me, what’s with that woman, Sara, are you sleeping with her behind Johnny’s back?”

  Tanner laughed.

  “That is the absolute last woman on the planet that would sleep with me. She despises me and wants me dead.”

  “Some say that there’s a thin line between love and hate. I think I know what they mean by that when it comes to you.”

  “Joe’s a good man, Laurel. He’ll treat you right.”

  Laurel’s gaze grew icy.

  “Thank you for that advice about my love life, goodbye Tanner.”

  She turned to walk back inside and Tanner felt the impulse to reached out and grab her arm, to pull her back, but he stopped himself.

  What else was there to say?

  Laurel wanted a relationship and that was something Tanner couldn’t give. He didn’t need emotional complications, and in his experience, love only ended in disaster.

&
nbsp; Laurel disappeared inside and Sara stepped from the bathroom to gaze out at Tanner, who was walking away. She had seen the entire scene between Laurel and Tanner, before ducking out of sight, and once again, she wondered if Johnny was wrong about Tanner having no weaknesses.

  CHAPTER 6 - Pets or Pests

  At the Cabaret Strip Club, Carl the bartender stayed near the front gate to the alley and kept watch in case anyone tried to enter it.

  The clean up of the earlier firefight was going on, and Carl was glad to be nowhere near the bodies.

  Carl was nervous, and his eyes roamed the street, as he paced in front of the gate while tapping a hand against his thigh.

  After pivoting to make a turn back the way he’d just come, he nearly collided into Tanner.

  “Oh man, Tanner, please don’t kill me.”

  Tanner reached out a hand and held Carl up, as the bartender’s legs had grown weak.

  “Relax Carl; I’m not here to cause trouble.”

  Carl began breathing again and stood under his own power.

  “Christ, how did you sneak up on me?”

  “It’s part of my job description, now where’s Joe?”

  “He’s in the alley. There was a... thing here this morning.”

  “Four things actually and I killed two of them, now let me by.”

  Carl opened the gate and Tanner walked in.

  “It’s me, Joe, Tanner.”

  “Back here!” Pullo called out.

  Tanner found Pullo standing near four body bags. When he saw Merle and Earl standing off to the side near a white van, he sent them a nod.

  “What’s up, boys?”

  The two brothers swallowed hard but said nothing.

  Pullo spoke to them.

  “Why don’t you two say hello? He’s a friend of yours, isn’t he? Isn’t that right?”

  Merle gestured at Tanner.

  “He, we, I mean I...”

  “Forget it,” Pullo said, and pointed at the bodies. “Load those in the back of the van and then wait inside.”

  Merle and Earl shoved the bodies into the van and then slunk inside the club through the back door.

  When Sara informed Johnny that Tanner had been masquerading as Romeo, Merle and Earl’s deception became clear.