Tanner- Year Two

by Remington Kane

  “How did you get this cut?”

  “I fell off a boulder and hit a jagged edge on the way down.”

  “It’s a deep cut; you’ll need stitches.”

  Tanner didn’t respond. He was studying Luna. She was a beautiful woman, and Tanner wished he had met her under different circumstances. When Luna realized he was staring at her, she blushed.

  “Um, that will do for a while, but you should see a doctor.”

  “Right,” Tanner said.

  A few minutes later, when he told Luna he was leaving, she looked surprised.

  “Why not stay here and wait until they leave, or for the police to show up?”

  “I’m not the hiding type and I want to stop the robbery your ex has planned.”

  “A robbery? It must be the armored car company.”

  “Where is it located?”

  Luna thought about it and pointed toward the back of the house. “It’s not far. If you take Main Street south to the end and turn right onto Hamden Road, you’ll find the building at the end of the block.”

  “I’ll leave you the truck and run back to the motel and get the motorcycle I had. If I don’t come back, wait until noon, then drive out and look for a cop. And check your phone from time to time in case the cell service comes back on.”

  Sofia had grown sleepy again. The little girl was lying on the floor with her head resting on one arm. Tanner looked down at her and remembered when his sisters were that age. Sofia also bore a slight resemblance to the late twins.

  Luna walked Tanner to the door and told him to be careful. She then leaned in and kissed him on the cheek.

  “Thank you, Tanner. If Steve ever got his hands on me… I’m not sure what he would do.”

  “He won’t be a problem after tonight.”

  Luna looked startled. “You plan to kill him?”

  “It would be best,” Tanner said, as he stepped out into the night.

  16

  A Night Of Killers

  Brandt, Daisy, and Conleth entered the diner through the rear screen door, while Sal, Julio, and Henry came through the front door, which Julio had kicked open.

  Bernard and the mercenary Piper left behind were making themselves at home. The merc had his boots off and was sitting sideways in a booth with his feet up, while Bernard was at the grill, frying hamburgers.

  Mike Walsh’s body had been wrapped in a blanket and placed in the freezer with the short-order cook and his family. The dead police officer had been dragged behind the counter and dumped next to the body of the slain teen. The cop’s blood had been mopped up by the mercenary. He had done a poor job of it and the diner’s white tile floor bore a hint of red.

  Bernard stiffened and stayed still when Brandt shouted at him from behind, but the merc reached for his gun, which was lying on the table. Sal and Julio shot the man as Henry stood stock still.

  Bernard gawked at the men in the desert camo then turned to look at the others. When he saw Daisy, he almost mistook her for Luna Grant, Steve Piper’s ex-wife. There was a resemblance between the two women, who were both blondes with green eyes.

  “Who the hell are you guys?” Bernard asked.

  “We could ask you the same thing,” Brandt said, and then he saw the body of the teen who had been murdered by Piper. Brandt went over and studied the youth. “Damn. This boy can’t be more than fifteen. What kind of assholes go around killing kids?”

  Conleth sent an elbow into the side of Bernard’s head. Bernard stumbled but didn’t go down, so Conleth kicked him in the chest. The force of the blow spun Bernard around and he instinctively put his hands out to brace his fall. Those hands landed on the hot grill, slid forward on the grease made by the burgers, and Bernard’s face struck the blistering surface.

  The scream that followed was ear-splitting. Bernard’s forehead, nose, chin, and lips had suffered burns, as well as his hands. While moaning, he slid to the floor with his back against a cabinet.

  Brandt shut off the grill, then knelt down to talk to him. “You tell us what you know, and I’ll get you something for those burns.”

  Bernard’s scorched lips parted, and he mumbled, “Robbery… we’re here to rob the armored car company.”

  “How?”

  “There’s an inside man. He’s the key to getting to the money.”

  “And how many of you are there?”

  “Eleven… or I guess nine now. You killed one of our mercenaries and that other guy shot Mike.”

  “This other guy, does he have really intense eyes?”

  “Yeah.”

  “So, he’s not one of yours?”

  “No, he wandered in here just before, um, just a little while ago.”

  Brandt laughed. “We know you killed the cop; he’s right there with the kid.”

  “We didn’t kill him. That short-order cook did it. When my boss saw that he had a Marine tattoo on his arm he asked the guy if he had ever seen any action. The cook said he had been in Vietnam when he was nineteen, just months before the war ended. Since he was a killer, Steve told him he could handle the cop for us.”

  “What did the cook say?”

  “He told Steve to go to hell, so Steve knifed his kid to prove he was serious.”

  “This Steve sounds like a real piece of work. Who is he, your leader?”

  “Steve Piper, this is his operation, and hey man, there’s no sense in us all killing each other. There’s plenty of money.”

  Sal laughed. “Yeah, right, I’m sure your buddy Steve will be happy to share with us.”

  There was a pounding sound coming from Brandt’s left. Sal and Julio went to check it out and found the freezer. When they opened it, they saw the cook, waitress, and their daughter. The three were shivering violently, while the bloody T-shirt of the cook had stiffened and appeared grotesque.

  Sal and Julio brought them over to the grill where the others were gathered.

  Daisy sent a kick into Bernard’s right shin. “You were trying to freeze these people to death?”

  “That was Steve’s idea, not mine.”

  The cook had gone to a wall phone to make a call. He held up the receiver with a puzzled expression. “The phone’s dead.”

  “Yeah, this guy and his people did that. We also think they have men keeping watch on the roads into town,” Brandt said, then he looked over at where the boy’s body lay. “That’s your son?”

  The cook nodded. “That other man, Piper… he killed our boy, then he forced me to…” the cook stopped talking and rushed over to Bernard. The first kick sent Bernard falling sideways. Before he could recover, a second kick landed against his throat, at the Adam’s apple. Bernard made a choking cry as Brandt pulled the cook away from him.

  “Listen, get your wife and daughter and go hide somewhere. We’ll deal with this guy and then lock your place up.”

  “There’s a body inside the freezer, one of these guys. The cop was named Jim Ferguson… Jim was a good man.”

  “Go hide, buddy, and take care of your wife and daughter.”

  The cook returned to his family, and they left out the front door. The compact car Tanner had noticed upon his arrival at the diner belonged to the girl. A spare set of keys for it had been hanging by the rear door; the cook used the vehicle to drive away.

  The kick to the throat had rendered Bernard speechless and made it difficult for him to breathe. He wasn’t answering any more questions and with his hands burnt he couldn’t write responses either.

  “Well, he just became useless,” Julio said. “What should we do with him?”

  “Throw his ass in the freezer,” Conleth said. “It will serve him right.”

  “Someone might let him out,” Brandt said.

  Daisy took out a knife with one hand and gripped Bernard’s hair with the other. “I’ll handle him.”

  Before anyone knew what was happening, Daisy had straddled Bernard’s back, reached around, and sliced open his throat. Bernard attempted to buck her off, but Daisy kept him p
inned to the floor as blood gushed from his throat.

  “Shit!” Conleth said, while the others gawked in silence.

  Brandt was as shocked by her actions as the rest of them and found himself more interested in Daisy than ever.

  With his lifeblood draining away onto the tiled floor beside the grill, Bernard succumbed to weakness and Daisy climbed off him. Moments later he was dead, leaving Steve Piper with one less man.

  When Daisy took in the shocked faces of her companions, it made her laugh.

  “I told you I’ve killed before. What, you didn’t believe me?”

  “I believed you,” Brandt said. “I didn’t expect you to be so efficient at it.”

  “What’s next?” Sal asked.

  “Let’s get out of here,” Brandt said. “I’m sick of smelling blood.”

  They left the diner after taking the keys for the motorcycles off the bodies of Bernard and the mercenary. By the time they’d reassembled in front of the diner, Brandt had a plan.

  “Sal and I will take these bikes and go scout out the armored car company. Julio, you and Conleth take my car and see if the roads out of town are still being guarded. And be careful about it. Henry, you stay here and watch to see who returns to the diner. It looks like these guys were using it as a base.”

  Henry swallowed hard, then asked a question. “What do you want me to do if anyone shows up?”

  “Sabotage their bikes if you get a chance but don’t get into a firefight.”

  “What about me?” Daisy asked.

  “You can do what you want. You’d probably be safest staying here with Henry.”

  “I’ll come with you,” Daisy said. “I want to get a look at the armored car company.”

  Brandt smiled. “I’ll enjoy your company.”

  “And don’t forget, we still have to find the man who killed Raul and the others. I want that bastard to pay.”

  “I haven’t forgotten, and I’m betting we’ll find our boy at the armored car company. He must have stumbled on to the robbery too. Like us, I’m thinking he’s planning to cut himself in on the money.”

  “He’ll get cut all right,” Daisy said. “Just let me near him with my knife.”

  Henry watched the others depart, with Daisy holding onto Brandt’s waist as she rode on the back of his motorcycle. When Julio and Conleth walked back to the gas station to get Brandt’s car, Henry found himself standing alone, as he hid near a shed. He was glad to have been left unaccompanied, as he needed time to gather his courage in case he was forced to act. Maybe he couldn’t bring himself to engage in a gun battle, but he could sabotage a few motorcycles if anyone showed up.

  After watching Julio and Sal take off in Brandt’s car, Henry returned to the gas station. He kept an old, red plastic gas can in his trunk along with a length of hose. After siphoning gas from his tank, he jogged back to the diner. If any of the robbers did return, he’d use the gasoline to burn their bikes.

  Henry sighed. In the old days, if someone had shown up, he would have taken them on with his gun. The mere thought of it made his hands shake. He had nearly vomited when Daisy killed Bernard, and when Sal and Julio shot the man sitting in the booth, he had just stood there, too petrified to move. It was a night of killers, and he was the odd man out.

  17

  Not Worth Killing

  Tanner had run back to the motel to claim the bike he had arrived there on. The motel office was dark, as were all the other rooms. He was glad to see that the motel clerk and the others had taken his advice to lay low.

  The bodies of the men he’d killed were still there, and as Tanner looked at the man whom he’d shot in the head, an idea came to him. The blood from the head injury had pooled away from the body, leaving the clothing fairly clean, since there had been no exit wound.

  Tanner stripped the man of his leather vest and let him keep his pants. From a distance, the black jeans he was wearing could pass for leather. If he were seen riding a motorcycle with the vest on, he’d be mistaken for one of Piper’s men. Before they realized their error, he could shoot them. After putting on the vest, he tucked the T-shirt he’d worn into Ippolito’s bug-out bag, which he still had, and which contained the hundred thousand dollars and the grenade. He imagined the grenade would come in handy before the night was over.

  With Luna and Sofia safe, Tanner’s thoughts returned to the cook and his family. There was a chance Piper hadn’t harmed them. Before heading to the armored car company, he decided to find out what had happened to the family and headed back toward the diner.

  Henry was crouched down behind a tree as he strained to listen. He was certain he’d heard a motorcycle approaching, but then the sound ended abruptly, and the night grew quiet once more.

  The guy must have turned off and taken a different street, Henry thought, then yawned. He was tired. It was past midnight and lately he’d been going to bed at ten o’clock. Now, here he was hiding behind an old shed as he waited for a murderous group of robbers to appear.

  Why am I doing this? So what if I can’t handle violence anymore? It’s not like I’m still in the army. I should get a job somewhere working in a factory and live the quiet life, instead of trying to prove I’m still a real man. Lots of real men don’t make their living carrying guns. I’ll have a talk with Brandt when all this is over.

  “What are you doing out here?”

  That question was uttered by someone standing behind Henry. He swiveled around to look so swiftly that he lost his balance and landed on his ass. When he realized the man was armed and wearing a leather vest, Henry figured he was soon to be killed. To his shock and disgrace, he began sobbing while pleading for his life.

  “Oh God, please don’t hurt me, please… I don’t want to die.”

  Tanner looked down at the camo-clad man blubbering before him and grimaced at the display of fearfulness he was witnessing. The guy was dressed like a soldier, had a gun in a holster, and had been hidden from sight behind a shed with a gas can beside him. He’d obviously been up to something. Whatever it was, Tanner didn’t think he had the stomach to pull it off.

  “Be quiet and stop crying. I won’t hurt you if you answer my questions.”

  Henry managed to get control of himself. While that was happening, Tanner had reached down and taken his weapon away. There was also a knife hanging from Henry’s belt. Tanner left it. Henry might muster up the nerve to pull a trigger, but Tanner felt the man would never be able to slip a blade into someone.

  “What’s your name?”

  “I’m Henry.”

  “Why are you here in town? Do you live here?”

  “I’m here looking for a man who killed my employer out in the desert. I didn’t know about you guys until after I came here.”

  “You’re working with Brandt?”

  Henry blinked in surprise. “How do you know about Brandt? Oh God, is he dead? And what about the others?”

  Tanner thought about the vest he was wearing and realized that Henry believed he was working for Piper.

  “I’m not with the gang planning to rob the armored car company. I’m the guy who killed your boss out in the desert.”

  “Oh, right. Daisy said you had intense eyes.”

  “Daisy? Is that the young blonde who was at the compound, the cook?”

  “Yeah. You killed her boyfriend, Raul; Daisy wants to plant a knife in you.”

  “She’s not the first one to have that desire. The others are all dead. How many of you are there?”

  “There’re six. But Brandt doesn’t really care about you anymore; he and the others want the money the robbers will steal.”

  “Where is Brandt now?”

  “He’s doing recon at the armored car company.”

  Tanner pointed at the diner. “Have you been in there?”

  “Yeah, and two of the robbers were killed.”

  “The guy that owns it was here with his wife and daughter, have you seen them?”

  “The crooks had locked them ins
ide the freezer. We let them out and they drove off.”

  “Good, maybe they’ll stay out of sight and keep safe.”

  “They will; Brandt warned them that the roads out of town were being guarded.”

  “What’s with the gas can?”

  “I was going to set fire to the crooks’ motorcycles if any of them came back here.”

  “You don’t have the balls for something like that. You would have sat here frozen into inaction wondering what would happen if they caught you.”

  Henry’s face scrunched up as the truth of Tanner’s words hit home. “I wasn’t always like this… I… I—are you going to kill me?”

  “Get on your feet and get the hell out of here. Find a place to keep out of sight and stay there until everything blows over.”

  “What about my friends, Brandt and the others?”

  “If they leave me alone; I’ll leave them alone.”

  “They won’t leave you alone.”

  “Then they’ll die. Now, get the hell out of here.”

  Henry made it to his feet and headed away from the diner. He looked back over his shoulder frequently, but Tanner had already slipped away into the shadows. Upon reaching his car, Henry sat in the seat heavily, as fresh tears stung his eyes. He had told Tanner he was part of a group hunting him down to kill him, and the assassin had shooed him away like an annoying puppy.

  “Not only am I unable to kill, but I’m not even worth killing.”

  Henry started his car and drove with the lights off as he looked for a place to stay the night. He wondered if any of his friends would be alive come morning.

  18

  Death At The Depot

  When the pair of mercenaries he sent to grab Luna didn’t bring her to Callie’s house, Piper radioed two of his other people, Vic and Roxana.

  “Go to the motel and see what’s going on there.”

  They did as Piper requested and found the two mercs lying dead in the parking lot, and Luna’s room empty. When Piper asked if the pickup truck from the diner was there, they reported that it was gone.