“They’ve accepted you into the organization this soon?”
“Why not? I’ve already proven I’m willing to kill cops and my face didn’t show up in their database of police and espionage personnel.”
“This should have taken weeks.”
“I don’t have weeks. I plan to finish this contract as soon as possible.”
“I’m still your handler on this.”
“Sure, Benedetti, keep telling yourself that.”
“You’re an asshole,” Benedetti said, “and a lucky asshole at that. Go through with the robbery and do what you can to climb higher. Andrew might be Vinchanzo’s superior, however he’s still far below Owen Bishop.”
“Once the robbery goes down I’m sure they’ll have more work for me, and if things stall, I’ll think of something.”
“No. I’ll think of something. No more playing it by ear.”
“That’s how it’s done in the real world, you improvise and overcome.”
“Call me as soon as you can after the robbery, and not so damn late. I need my sleep.”
“I’ll call,” Tanner said, then he heard the connection end. After disposing of the phone, he went about getting some rest. When he drifted off to sleep, he was thinking of Sara.
Sara entered a nightclub in Washington D.C. with Durand at her side.
It was only about eight p.m., and so the crowd was thin, and the live band had yet to take the stage. They spotted Tiffany Austen when she emerged from a rear office. As she walked toward the bar, Tiffany was tying a small flowered apron around her waist.
“She’s a beauty,” Durand said. “I would bet she does quite well with tips.”
Sara nodded in agreement. Tiffany Austen’s legs were long and shapely, and her auburn hair hung down her back. When she smiled at one of her fellow bartenders, her white teeth gleamed beneath the lights.
Sara and Durand moved up to the bar and ordered drinks from one of the other bartenders who was working the growing crowd. Meanwhile, Tiffany had begun slicing lemons in preparation for the night ahead.
Sara called her name and Tiffany turned to look at her.
“Hi, have we met?”
“No, but I’d like to talk to you if you have a few minutes.”
A half-smile crossed Tiffany’s face as she looked between Sara and Durand.
“What’s this about?”
“It concerns Lyle Hanover.”
The knife Tiffany had been holding slipped from her hand and onto the floor.
“Are you two reporters? If you are, I have nothing to say to you.”
“We’re not reporters, and I’m no fan of Lyle Hanover. I’m here because I’m searching for a way to hurt him.”
Tiffany laughed.
“Hurt him? How? That bastard is untouchable. I learned that the hard way, believe me.”
“I do believe you, and whether you help me or not I’m going to bring that man down.”
“If only that were possible,” Tiffany said. “Oh, you don’t know how much I hate that man. If I could, I would kill him.”
“I understand,” Sara said.
The noise level in the nightclub increased as a large group of men and women in their twenties entered. Tiffany bent over to pick up the knife she had dropped. When she straightened up again, she put the knife down, and gestured out at the club.
“We’re about to get slammed and I’ll be too busy to talk. We close at two. If you hang around or come back near closing we can talk then, okay?”
Sara smiled at Tiffany. “Thank you, and no matter what you decide to do, not a word will get back to Hanover.”
Tiffany crossed her arms over her chest and hugged herself.
“If he knew we had this conversation, he’d have us both killed.”
13
Relentless
After a few hours of sleep, Tanner went to look over the area where the bank robbery was to take place.
The bank was in a massive stone building located on a wide avenue near a traffic circle. Andrew said that calls would be made by other members of the organization that would lure the police away from the area while the robbery was going down.
Their getaway driver, Enzo, was a former race car driver and mechanic. He had done two other jobs in which he proved he had good nerves. Ever since he learned Tanner had attempted to murder two cops, Enzo had been looking at Tanner as if he were a rock star.
While Tanner had no great love for the police, he never hated them. In fact, he regretted having to shoot at the two officers inside the patrol car. If he could have thought of another way to gain Vinchanzo’s attention he would have used it. Avoiding cops came with being a Tanner. He thought most of them were just doing a job others wouldn’t or couldn’t do. Politics in general held no attraction for Tanner, but then, that was true of most things considered normal.
Andrew hadn’t told him every detail about the bank job. Tanner was certain of that and was sure the man was holding back something vital. Perhaps they planned to kill him when the job was done, however, he didn’t think so. They needed men like the man he was pretending to be, Steve Ryan. If he made no errors and did his part, they’d have no reason not to keep him around.
Tanner walked the area surrounding the bank while looking at a map on his phone. If the cops were lured away from the scene all should go well, and their escape would be easy. Things seldom went as they were outlined on paper, so Tanner hoped Andrew had a back-up plan in place. Not that it mattered since Tanner had come up with two of his own and would use them if needed.
He wouldn’t be armed with anything more than a knife, although he could have Benedetti supply him with another weapon. Firearms were strictly controlled in Italy, as were their ammunition. Coming up with one gun was understandable. If he showed up with a second, it would raise suspicions.
The knife would be enough if needed, and Tanner could kill just as easily with his bare hands. He left the plaza and headed back to the boarding house as the sun climbed higher in the sky.
WASHINGTON D.C. 2:17 a.m.
Tiffany sat at a table with Sara and Durand and told them firsthand how Lyle Hanover had used her and lied to her.
“I was a young idiot and I know it. I thought I had that man wrapped around my little finger. I was no virgin at sixteen, far from it, and I had a wild streak too.”
“You were still underaged,” Durand said.
“That’s right, not that Hanover cared, and I thought, why not? I believed my mother would get a promotion, and back then my dad had just died the year before and we were struggling to pay the mortgage. I made a little money by modeling, although most of that went to pay for clothes and acting lessons. My mother wanted me to be an actress.”
“What about the drugs they found in your house?” Sara asked.
Tiffany’s hands curled into fists.
“They were planted. My mother would never deal drugs, and yeah, I smoked pot sometimes, but I never had a damn pound of weed in the house. I did have a few joints stashed in my underwear drawer though, and they were never found. The reason they weren’t discovered is because the house was never really searched. They just claimed to have found the drugs they themselves planted.”
“You’re saying the police were involved?” Durand asked.
“Damn right I am. A crooked cop is a crooked cop. If they’ll take money from criminals, they’ll take money from the so-called good guys too.”
“They were hoping you would back down and say that you were lying,” Sara said.
Tiffany nodded her head emphatically.
“I wanted to, but my mother was so pissed at being framed. She said we were going to take Hanover down, and that’s when she called that reporter. Not long after… Mom was stabbed to death.”
Sara reached over and patted Tiffany’s hand.
“I haven’t suffered nearly as much as you have, and yet, Hanover did threaten me with imprisonment. I’m only free right now because my fiancé agreed to help Hanover with som
ething.”
“Don’t trust Hanover, that man is a snake,” Tiffany said.
“I’m working on a way to pay him back. Would you be willing to help me with that?”
“Yes… but I won’t risk myself. I enjoy my life now, and as much as I despise that man, getting back at him is not worth dying over.”
“I understand, and I may not even need you. I’ve another woman to talk to before I come up with a course of action.”
“He’s done something like this before?”
“No, not that I know of, however he’s committed acts that are just as bad.”
“He had my mom killed and tried to frame me for her murder. What could be worse than that?” Tiffany said.
When they were back outside the nightclub, Durand stretched while yawning.
“I’m glad we had the foresight to take rooms in town, Sara. I need sleep.”
“I’m tired as well, but tell me, how soon can you arrange a flight to Alaska?”
“It’s all set up for tomorrow evening, although, we’ll first have to return to New York.”
“Good, and Jacques, thank you. Once I’ve spoken to Alyona Petrov I’ll have a better idea where I stand.”
“Tiffany may be correct, you know? Lyle Hanover may be untouchable. If that’s the conclusion you reach, will you give up your vendetta?”
“I won’t do anything foolish if that’s what you’re asking.”
Durand smiled. “It was. I don’t want to see you get hurt.”
“I’ve already been hurt, now it’s time to get even.”
“You are relentless.”
“So I’ve been told,” Sara said.
14
Show Time
Tanner stood in his position outside the bank as Andrew and Vinchanzo prepared to go inside. They were waiting for a call that would tell them the police had been lured to other areas.
Enzo was driving a van with a modified engine and suspension that he assured everyone made the vehicle twice as fast. As Tanner watched the traffic and the few pedestrians in the area, he was leaning back against a wall while holding a newspaper.
Sunglasses hid Tanner’s eyes and a cap was pulled down low on his head. There was a Bluetooth earbud in his right ear that allowed him to communicate with the others, who wore similar devices. Andrew and Vinchanzo, still sitting in the car, would be the only ones going into the bank.
Bishop’s organization had a source inside the bank’s European office who let it be known that three-hundred thousand euros were in the bank’s vault awaiting an armored car pick up. The armored car wasn’t scheduled to be at the bank until the afternoon, while the bank opened at nine a.m.
That left a short window of opportunity available and Andrew planned to make the most of it. Vinchanzo would incapacitate the guard while Andrew threatened the bank manager with a gun and led him over to the safe. Their source said the money was being held in two canvas sacks that could be carted away easily.
Tanner’s role was to keep watch for the police and to let Andrew know if anyone tried to enter the bank. If someone did approach, he was to let them enter, once inside, Vinchanzo would take care of them.
They had their earbuds set to four-way communication so that anything said by any one of them would be heard by all of them. Tanner had thought Andrew was keeping something from him. He discovered what that something was when Enzo spoke in English to Andrew. The young man made a joking comment that was anything but funny.
“Try to pick a cute hostage to take along, Andrew. Maybe we can have some fun with her before we kill her.”
“What’s this about a hostage?” Tanner said.
“A bit of insurance, Mr. Ryan,” Andrew said. “If the police close in on us a female hostage will come in handy. Oh, and Enzo was just joking about raping her.”
“That depends on how good she looks,” Enzo said with a laugh.
Tanner’s mind was racing as he tried to come up with a reason he could give Andrew to forget about grabbing a hostage. Nothing he thought of would sway the man. From Andrew’s perspective, taking a hostage was a good idea, as would be killing her after she got a look at their faces.
Tanner pushed the subject from his mind and went back to scanning the street. He would deal with the problem when the time came. There was no point in dwelling on or worrying about how it would affect his mission to kill Owen Bishop and obtain the data drive the man had.
No doubt existed in Tanner’s mind concerning his eventual success. The path to get there might twist and turn and occasionally dead end, but there could be only one outcome. Although killing Bishop wasn’t a contract per se, Tanner considered it one. No Tanner had ever failed to fulfill a contract. That such an event was even a possibility didn’t enter into Tanner’s consciousness. Failure was simply unthinkable.
Andrew’s phone made a sound indicating he had a text. There was a pause, then Tanner heard him say, “It’s show time.”
“You’re clear,” Tanner said. “The nearest pedestrian is a block away and headed in the opposite direction.”
The van started up from where it was parked and drove a little over two-hundred meters to settle on the corner nearest the front of the bank. After pulling nylons down over their faces, Andrew and Vinchanzo stepped out of the van and headed inside.
As he kept watch, Tanner saw Enzo slide open the side door of the small van from the inside to make it easier for everyone to pile in when the time came. From where he was parked, Enzo had a view of a side street that Tanner couldn’t see down, he was also monitoring the police while switching between UHF and VHF channels on a dual-band radio. The receiver was a good one, and yet it had a range of less than two kilometers.
A minute passed, and Tanner spoke a status report to Andrew.
“No problems out here.”
“The same,” Enzo said.
In response, Andrew coughed once, which meant that all was going as planned inside the bank. If he had answered verbally, the bank personnel would remember he had been in contact with someone. As things stood, the police would be looking for two bank robbers and a getaway driver. Why broadcast that they were possibly a four-man team or sophisticated enough to have communication equipment if you didn’t have to?
If an alarm had been activated it was a silent alarm, however, there was no sign of the police. As the two-minute mark approached, Andrew and Vinchanzo rushed through the doors and back out onto the street.
Vinchanzo was carrying the two canvas sacks with the money and was breathing hard beneath the nylon mask he wore. Andrew hustled a woman along in front of him while pressing a gun into her back. She was young, blonde, and looked frightened. She was also a cop. The woman was dressed in dark-blue slacks with red stripes on the side and a matching blue jacket, with a white blouse. The word Polizei was written on the jacket.
Tanner followed behind Andrew and his hostage. No one driving by on the street took notice of them and Andrew’s gun was hidden from sight behind the officer’s body. The cop had to know there was a good chance she would be killed if she got inside the van. As they neared the vehicle, she spun around and attempted to plant a knee in Andrew’s crotch but managed to hit him on the upper thigh instead.
Tanner gave her a hard shove and she went tumbling backwards into the van. If he had thought she had a chance of getting away he wouldn’t have intervened. She had seen their faces and so she couldn’t be allowed to live. By aiding Andrew, Tanner had bought her more time and likely saved her from a bullet in the back.
Vinchanzo tossed the canvas sacks on top of the cop and climbed inside the van. Tanner was next, followed by Andrew, who slammed the sliding door shut.
When Enzo saw how good looking their hostage was he let out a giggle, stepped on the gas, and drove away from the bank.
15
Back To Zero
As Enzo drove them to their destination in the Italian countryside, Vinchanzo cuffed the cop’s wrists behind her back by using her own handcuffs. They had broug
ht along duct tape, which was used to bind her ankles and tape her mouth shut. Once she’d been handled, the woman gazed at them with a glare that was half hate and half fear.
Andrew had her purse and her gun. He had already handed her cell phone to Enzo, who had tossed it out the window. While rummaging through the purse Andrew discovered a foil packet that contained a condom.
“Look at this,” Andrew said. “The little cop whore carries condoms around in her purse.”
“Maybe I’ll fuck her after all,” Enzo said.
After opening her wallet, Andrew read from an ID card.
“This is officer Jemma Ricci, gentlemen. Another fascist pig willing to oppress her own people. Well, Officer Ricci, some people won’t be oppressed, and this is going to be the worst day of your short life.”
Jemma Ricci’s eyes widened at Andrew’s words and Tanner saw the hate in them give way to full fear. They were out of the city in minutes and the landscape became crowded with fields of various crops, some of which Tanner recognized as artichoke and celery.
They met no roadblocks, and Andrew said he would be informed if any were placed on the route they were taking.
Tanner was impressed by the ease in which the robbery went off and gained more respect for Bishop’s organization. They had successfully diverted the police and were capable of giving a warning if there was danger ahead. Andrew hadn’t told him about the backup they would have in case of trouble. Like the plan to take a hostage, he had withheld that information. They trusted him enough to use him, but only so far. With the robbery a success and capture unlikely, there was no reason not to reveal everything.
“This group is more organized than I realized,” Tanner said, while hoping to prompt a response.
The Spy Game Page 7