To Serve And Protect (A Tanner Novel Book 39)

by Remington Kane

  “Flunkies for who?”

  “That’s just one of the things I don’t know. And I’m tired of not knowing things. Let’s hope that Weber can supply some answers.”

  It was just good sense to assume that Weber would be armed. That meant that they couldn’t just walk up to the door and knock. Tanner thought of a way to make Weber come to them.

  Karl Weber and his daughter, Amelie, were having coffee in the kitchen when a car alarm went off. It was Amelie’s Toyota. Weber was tall and lanky, while Amelie was petite. Weber had been over forty when she was born and busy with his work. When his wife died, Amelie was raised by a series of housekeepers. As a result, the two had not been close, and Amelie had often acted out.

  Weber was on his feet in an instant while reaching for the gun lying on the table. His breathing had sped up and his hands were shaking. He spoke to his daughter in German.

  “Go to your room and be ready to climb out the window and run away if you hear voices.”

  “Papa, I can’t leave you alone to face trouble.”

  “You must. If someone is here it will mean danger.”

  “That sounds like my car alarm. Maybe the wind set it off.”

  “Go Amelie. I’ll see what it is.”

  Amelie went to the room she was using but stood in the doorway and watched her father. Weber crept toward the door with the gun held up in one hand. When he drew near to a window, he peeked outside and was relieved to see that there were only the two cars belonging to himself and his daughter.

  He went from window to window and saw no one. As he was in the kitchen checking to see if anyone was at the rear of the house, he heard the car alarm shut off after running its course.

  Amelie met him as he went back into the living room. She was smiling.

  “See, I told you. It must have been the wind.”

  “It’s not very windy.”

  “There have been a few gusts now and then.”

  Weber sighed as he felt the tension slip away. He tensed up again when the alarm began anew.

  “Maybe I should park it along the side of the house, to cut down on the wind.”

  “Let me have your keys and I’ll do it.”

  “No. You’ll adjust my seat with those long legs of yours and I have it just the way I like it.”

  “All right, but I’ll walk outside with you. I could use a little fresh air.”

  Amelie was fishing in her purse for her keys. She stopped what she was doing and looked up at her father.

  “I’m sorry for what I’ve done. You’re in trouble because of me.”

  “We are both to blame, Liebchen. I sealed my fate when I decided to work for the people who are after me now.”

  Amelie found her keys and they stepped outside onto the small porch. She used her key fob to shut off the alarm and the day was quiet once again. After she’d walked down the steps and onto the paved area in front of the home to move her car, Henry stood up from where he had been crouched behind the vehicle. He had given the car a good shove twice to activate the anti-theft sensors. They were designed to set off the alarm if there was enough vibration detected.

  Amelie let out a short scream and dropped her keys. Her father was still holding his gun, which was a revolver. Before he could bring it up and take aim at Henry, he felt the barrel of Tanner’s gun press against the back of his head. After making an incoherent sound of fright, Weber froze, and Tanner reached around him to take the gun away.

  The older man looked as if he wanted to cry as he sank to his knees. He spoke to Tanner in a pleading tone with a German accent.

  “I beg you. Let my daughter go. I will tell you everything, but she must not be harmed.”

  Tanner grabbed Weber and pulled him to his feet. “Get in the house and sit on the sofa. Your daughter too.”

  Henry was armed as well. Amelie followed his directions and walked back toward the house. As she was walking past Tanner, he reached out and took her by the arm as he stared at her. There was a familiar object in her blonde locks. It was a silver barrette in the shape of a heart. Tanner had found the young woman from Crash’s earlier video that was taken the day of the robbery. That explained why Weber had allowed her to be near him. The people after him were the same people hunting her.

  “I think your daughter will have more answers for me than you will, Weber. She was involved with the robbery.”

  Amelie’s pretty face scrunched up as tears began to flow. “Are you going to hurt us?”

  “No.”

  Weber spoke to his daughter in German. He was telling her that he would attack Tanner and give her a chance to escape.

  Tanner spoke to Weber in German and told him that was a bad idea. He then switched back to English.

  “I’m not here to hurt you or your daughter. I want the men who robbed the festival and to get back the rare bill they’ve stolen.”

  “You know about that?” Amelie said, as she dried her eyes.

  “I do. I also know that the people your father was supposed to bring it to will do anything to get it back. They’ve killed several people already and I’m sure you two are next on their list. Tell me what you know, and I’ll keep you safe.”

  Weber frowned as he took a seat on a sofa. “Why should we trust you?”

  “I could make you talk by harming your daughter. Instead I’m offering you protection from the people who really want to hurt you. Think about that, Weber.”

  “He’s right, Papa.”

  “Who do you work for?” Weber asked.

  “I work for myself.”

  Weber looked at Henry. “And the boy?”

  “He’s not a boy. He may be young, but he can protect you too. But not here. Gather your things and come with us.”

  “What’s your name?” Amelie asked, as she sat beside her father.

  “I’m Tanner.”

  “Why do we have to leave here?” Weber asked.

  Tanner was about to answer when he heard Crash’s voice in his ear. The tech wizard was talking too loudly. Tanner saw Henry wince from the volume.

  “Can you hear me?”

  “I hear you, Crash. Talk in a normal voice.”

  Weber said, “Are you addressing me?” And Amelie gave Tanner an odd look. When he turned his head and pointed out the earbud he had, they nodded in understanding.

  “Oh, sorry about shouting,” Crash said. “I’ve got news. A helicopter just flew over the trees we’re parked under. It was a big one, Tanner. You should hear it any second; it’s headed your way.”

  “I hear it,” Tanner said. The sound grew louder, then the air trembled as the helicopter lost altitude and the blades sent currents of increased air pressure toward the ground. Tanner went to a window and looked up. The chopper was hovering over the cottage at a height of less than two-hundred feet.

  “Are they landing?” Henry asked. Tanner noted that his tone carried curiosity and not fear.

  “I think they’re just taking a look before they land, but they will land and then they’ll come for Weber.”

  Henry moved over to the window on the other side of the door and squinted upward. “It’s hard to tell from here, but I count at least four figures and the pilot.”

  “Yeah, but I’m guessing there’s more. Whoever is behind this show will want to make certain that I don’t keep getting in their way. They would send more than four,” Tanner said. He shrugged off his backpack as he talked. He did not take his eyes off the helicopter other than to swivel his head for an instant to check his surroundings.

  The helicopter rose up and veered away. It sat down moments later near the bright yellow water tower that was west of the cottage.

  “Why are they getting out so far away?” Henry asked.

  “They’re not. They’re dropping off one man with a rifle. That water tower is only thirty feet high, but it will give him a good view of the cottage and everything surrounding it. Once he’s set, the others will move in. If they don’t get us, the sniper will.”


  Amelie stood and gripped Tanner’s arm. “Are you saying that we’re trapped?”

  He smiled at her. “That’s their plan. I have a plan of my own.”

  “And what is this plan of yours,” Weber asked.

  “It’s simple. I’m going to kill them all.”

  13

  Smoke ‘Em If You Got ‘Em

  After dropping Boomer off at the water tower, Boss and the others in the helicopter rose up in the air again only to set down seconds later closer to the cottage. He’d looked through binoculars and had seen the teddy bears in the back of the Toyota. He felt reasonably sure that such a vehicle didn’t belong to Tanner, and that meant that they had arrived before the hit man.

  The Volvo belonged to Weber, Boss knew, and he had taken the shadowy figure he’d seen looking out a window to be the German. With Tanner nowhere in sight, grabbing Weber would be a piece of cake.

  Boss was tempted to tell the pilot that he’d be back in a minute, but then remembered that the impatient bastard might take him literally and lift off sixty seconds later.

  He told the pilot to head to the rendezvous point that was a short distance beyond the water tower and that they would meet up with him in an hour. He expected to be sending the chopper pilot off alone, and to tell him to stay on standby again. They weren’t going anywhere until they were certain that Tanner wasn’t coming.

  Gearhead and Rabbit were on the move before the chopper even lifted off. Gearhead went left while Rabbit sprinted to the right. They were to circle around to a point a half mile beyond the cottage then head back. If Weber or whoever owned the Toyota tried to slip out the back and get away through the forest, Gearhead and Rabbit would run them down. Every member of the team was wearing a bulletproof vest and everyone but Boomer were armed with a Glock as a sidearm and an AR-15. Boomer’s rifle of choice was a Barrett with a special scope. He also preferred to carry a SIG Sauer P-210 with a walnut grip instead of a Glock. Every member of the team was dressed in black from head to toe.

  Boss was pumped. They could grab Weber and make him talk, kill the bastard, then lay in wait for Tanner to appear. Boss’s good mood faded along with those plans when he saw something fly out an open window of the cottage. The object was followed by another, then two more. They were smoke grenades. The advantage Boomer’s sniper rifle had given them had just been nullified. As good as he was, Boomer couldn’t hit what he couldn’t see.

  Karl Weber was a sixty-six-year-old ex-banker. He was not throwing smoke grenades. Tanner was on site, and Boss knew he was in for the fight of his life. He keyed his earpiece.

  “Look alive. Tanner is here.”

  Tanner watched Boss and his remaining men approach the cottage after seeing Gearhead and Rabbit run off in opposite directions. He assumed that they’d been sent off into the trees to circle around and come up behind him.

  He’d sent Henry out the back door and into the trees with Weber and Amelie while the chopper was landing at the water tower. Henry was to get the father and daughter to the car where Crash was waiting and to get out of the area. Henry had protested. He’d wanted to stay and fight. Tanner insisted that he go with Crash and the others.

  “If they’re attacked, they’ll need you.”

  Henry nodded as he looked down at the floor. “And you don’t need me.”

  Tanner had laid a hand on his shoulder. “I need you to protect them. Will you do that?”

  Henry looked up and nodded. “I’ll keep everyone safe. Be careful, Tanner.”

  As he watched Gearhead and Rabbit, Tanner thought that Henry’s head start should be enough to keep the men from catching up to him. Doubt crept in as he saw how swiftly Rabbit moved among the trees.

  The kid will be all right, Tanner thought. He’s got what it takes.

  Turning his mind to dealing with the remaining four men converging on him, Tanner lobbed the smoke grenades out the window. They would send up a wall of smoke that would block the sniper’s view of the cottage and the immediate area in front of it, at least for a little while. It would be time enough for Tanner to leave the cottage unseen and get to work killing the men who had arrived in the helicopter.

  Tanner reached into the backpack and brought out a pair of thermal imaging goggles. After strapping them on, he tested them and found that they worked. Not much of the smoke had come in through the window, so he turned off the goggles and moved about the cottage. Smoke or not, there was a chance that the men attacking would fire on the house. They had little to lose by doing so and there was always the chance that a stray round might find a target. It was safer to leave the cottage through the rear and circle around. As he entered the bedroom that was being used by Amelie, Tanner used the same window that Weber had wanted Amelie to climb out of earlier. Tanner stepped outside and into the smoke, where he activated the goggles again. Moving quietly, he eased toward the front of the cottage until he was crouched behind Weber’s Volvo. Tanner scanned the smoke for heat signatures and saw one the size of a man moving toward him.

  Boss was impressed with Tanner’s tactics but was not unprepared. He didn’t have a pair of goggles, but he did have a rifle scope that could detect thermal images. It was in a supply pack and something that he hadn’t expected to need until nightfall. He wished he’d had the foresight to give it to Boomer before leaving him at the tower but on a clear crisp autumn day it hadn’t crossed his mind.

  Monkey was loaded down with the supply pack. Boss thought he was behind him and on his right but couldn’t see him because of the smoke.

  He whispered, “Monkey?”

  “Here, Boss,” came a reply from nearby. Boss moved in the direction of the voice and saw a shape form amid the thick smoke, then another one a few feet behind it. The first shape turned out to be Monkey. Boss noticed that his eyes were reddened from the smoke. His eyes felt fine, but the smoke was giving him a tickle in his throat.

  “Monk, I need you to run the pack out to Boomer on that water tower. There’s an infrared scope in there.”

  Monkey squinted toward the direction of the cottage. “I want to stay here and hunt down Tanner. This smoke can’t last forever.”

  “Boomer can finish this quicker than we could if he had that scope.”

  Boomer keyed his mic and spoke to Boss. He was having the same thoughts.

  “I can’t make out shit. Have Rabbit run that thermal scope out to me.”

  “Negative. Rabbit is busy hunting possible runners. I’m sending Monkey.”

  “Make it quick. I can kill Tanner and anyone else from up here. Send me that scope and don’t forget to activate your IR flashers. We don’t need to have any accidents.”

  Boss sent Monkey off toward the water tower and smiled. Once Boomer had that scope it would enable him to counteract the smoke and beat Tanner at his own game. He keyed his mic and told Turtle and Biker to stay put. There was no sense in their wandering around when they couldn’t see three feet in front of them. He also told his men to activate their IR flashers. The team wore them on the front and back of their belts. Once Boomer had the infrared scope, he’d be able to identify them by the infrared flashes the small devices emitted. Those red flashes were invisible to the naked eye but plainly seen through the scope.

  A sudden gust of wind swept in and dispersed some of the smoke. Boss hoped it would allow Boomer to acquire a target even without the special optics. No sooner did he have that thought when he heard the hiss of another smoke grenade go off. The sound had come from nearby. He froze in place and looked about intently. He hoped to catch a glimpse of Tanner amid the smoke and got his wish.

  The vague shape he’d seen standing behind Monkey hadn’t been Turtle or Biker. It had been Tanner listening in on his conversation with Boomer.

  Boss had heard of how unique and intense Tanner’s eyes were. Although he was standing face-to-face with the man, he still couldn’t see his eyes. They were covered by the goggles he wore.

  Boss was bringing up his AR when he felt three distinct blows hamm
er into his chest. He was wearing level 4 body armor beneath his shirt. It stopped the rounds from penetrating but did nothing to keep away the pain of impact that knocked him on his ass.

  Boss felt like he’d been hit by a car and was having trouble taking a full breath. The pain was incredible, but it only increased when something hard struck his left knee and made him scream.

  He heard Turtle and Biker calling to him but was unable to respond. Agony had him clenching his teeth and he wondered what had happened to his rifle.

  A shot rang out. It was followed by the sound of a body hitting the ground. The smoke was wispier near the ground. When Boss turned his head, he could see that the body that had fallen near him was dressed in black leather. He also saw the neat entry wound between Biker’s eyes. Then, a string of shots erupted. It was Turtle firing on full auto. One magazine was spent, then two, then three. Despite the pain fogging his mind, Boss wondered if Turtle had known that he was on the ground and beneath the bullets’ path, or had he just panicked and shot off the rounds blindly. No. Turtle wouldn’t panic, and he wouldn’t have risked killing a brother. He had taken a calculated risk.

  Booted feet came toward Boss. A moment later and Turtle’s face came into view as he leaned over and spoke to Boss in his distinctive drawl.

  “Are you wounded?”

  “I hurt like hell and the bastard smashed my knee with something, but my vest stopped the rounds.”

  Turtle smiled, slowly, the way he did everything. “I think I got him.”

  “Have you seen his body?”

  “Not with all this smoke floating around, but I heard someone grunt and a body hit the ground. I emptied a magazine in that direction after that.”

  “Help me up.”

  Boomer’s voice came over their ear mics. “Boss, give me a sitrep. What was all that shooting?”

  Boss touched his earbud to key his mic and answered. “Turtle has killed or wounded Tanner. And… Biker is dead.”