The TANNER Series - Books 10 -12 (Tanner Box Set Book 4)

by Remington Kane

  “Who sent you?” Bosco asked the man.

  “Dante Cardoso, but I am here on behalf of Tanner.”

  “Tanner?”

  “Yes, you know this name?”

  “Yeah,” Bosco said, and this time when he looked at the box, there was a smile spreading across his face. “Get on in here and wait in the lobby. I gotta call my boss.”

  ***

  Twenty minutes later, Joe Pullo, Bosco, and Sammy Giacconi entered Rico Nazario’s office.

  Rico was holding his phone to his ear and had a confused look on his face.

  He had heard nothing from Mexico in nearly a week, which he normally would consider to be a good thing, but he had just spent the last five minutes trying to get in contact with Alonso Alvarado, and had no success, nor would he, unless he knew a truly gifted spirit medium.

  Bosco leaned in the doorway, while Sammy lowered himself onto a white leather sofa, where he stretched out his broken leg with the cast on it.

  Joe Pullo walked over to the desk and sat the still unopened box on top of it.

  Rico looked around the room, and didn’t like the little smile Bosco wore, nor the gaze of Sammy’s cold eyes.

  “What is this, Joe, a gift?”

  “Yeah, and it’s from Tanner.”

  Rico looked confused.

  “The last I heard of Tanner, he had been seriously wounded in Oklahoma City, likely as he tried to flee into Canada to escape Alonso.”

  Joe grinned.

  “Your info is old. Tanner made it to Mexico.”

  “He did?”

  “Um-hmm, now why don’t you open that box?”

  Rico stared at the box for a few moments and then he stood and slid the carton closer.

  “It’s almost cold,” Rico said.

  “I’m guessing that’s dry ice,” Bosco said. “It keeps things from spoiling.”

  Rico swallowed, and then carefully undid the ribbon. After slitting the tape on the box with a gold letter opener, he opened it and looked inside.

  There was a foam container within, and after a long moment of hesitation, Rico removed the lid from the container and stared down at the severed head of Alonso Alvarado.

  Rico fell into his seat and the impact caused the office chair to slide backwards, where it bumped into the wall behind him.

  Rico muttered to himself.

  “A devil, the man is an absolute devil.”

  After catching his breath, Rico sent Joe a shaky smile.

  “You were right, Joe. That Tanner... the man is unstoppable.”

  “You know what this means, don’t you, Rico?” Joe said.

  And when Rico looked over at Bosco and Sammy, he saw that they were both holding weapons.

  ***

  PANAMA, CENTRAL AMERICA

  Dan Matthews was laid out on a king size bed inside a luxurious beachfront cabana. The sun was setting, and through the window, Matthews could see it slowly drop towards the blue water.

  The cabana, as well as the entire island was rented.

  Matthews was in the process of finding the right parcel of waterfront property to buy, and although the island was small, he liked it a great deal, and thanks to the money he had received from Alonso Alvarado, he could afford to buy it.

  He was still waiting for a second payment to be deposited into his account, but had assumed from the beginning that Alvarado would cheat him. It was why he’d asked for most of the three million dollars upfront, when he sold-out and betrayed Tanner.

  Matthews had no doubts about Tanner being dead, since Alvarado knew the assassin’s plans to infiltrate the compound. Matthews also felt no guilt over the matter.

  Tanner was a dirt bag as far as Matthews was concerned. Just a common criminal and a gun for hire, and to think that the U.S. Government was considering using the man to carry out what would essentially be missions to protect national interests.

  It irked Matthews that the government was outsourcing wet work. Why have trained military snipers and espionage organizations if you were going to hand all the tough jobs to street thugs?

  Matthews sighed heavily. That was all behind him now and the government and Conrad Burke could play their games without him. He was retired and would be living a life of leisure until there was no more life to live.

  Matthews drifted off to sleep while watching the sunset; it was just another day in paradise.

  ***

  Paradise ended when the two burly men woke Matthews with a hard slap and tied him to the bed.

  The men were strangers, but Matthews knew the woman who had come with them; she had been his colleague at the Burke Corporation.

  She was also the one who convinced Burke that he needed to hire Tanner.

  Matthews had betrayed Burke, while also selling out Tanner and giving Alonso Alvarado vital information. He figured that the woman wanted payback for Tanner’s death.

  When she informed Matthews that not only was Tanner still alive, but that the man had killed Alvarado, Matthews looked astonished, and then he asked a question from a mouth that had suddenly gone dry.

  “Is Tanner coming here?”

  “No, Mr. Burke told Tanner that he would handle you. He sent me after you to keep that promise. Now why not make it easy on yourself and tell me where you’ve deposited the money?”

  “That money is mine, and these two goons can do their worst to me, but remember something, I’m a trained spy, and they taught me at Langley how to endure pain.”

  The woman sighed and spoke to the two men who came with her.

  “Get started.”

  Matthews was gagged by one man, as the other man lowered the blinds on the windows and checked to see that all the doors were locked. They were on a private island without another soul around for miles, but why take chances that someone might see them or walk in?

  The woman watched as Matthews was beaten, and although she hated to admit it, it fascinated her.

  She had expected the men to begin their torture of Matthews by breaking or severing Matthews’ fingers or toes. However, after putting on gloves, they started pounding Matthews’ face. A short time later, his features were covered in blood and appeared lopsided and swollen.

  Matthews only lasted for about forty hard blows; the final six, the ones that broke his resolve, they were given after he had been revived with smelling salts.

  It was quite a bit less punishment than the woman would have liked to see him suffer, but Matthews gave up the money, and so she ordered the men to cease beating him.

  When the men confirmed that the money was where Matthews claimed it to be, they initiated a transfer of the funds into an account owned by the Burke Corporation.

  The woman smirked as she looked down at Matthews.

  So much for all that bullshit about having been trained to withstand torture.

  And although Matthews’ face was a wreck, she figured that he might even look normal again someday, what with all the advances that medical science had made in the field of plastic surgery.

  As she was leaving, the woman assured Matthews that she would send medical help, and gave him a bit of news.

  “Expect more visitors. Your friends from Langley will be coming to speak to you. They figure that if you betrayed us, you may have betrayed them too.”

  After spitting out bloody chunks from several broken teeth, Matthews spoke in a hoarse voice.

  “Never... I love my country.”

  The woman, former FBI agent Sara Blake, sent him a doubtful look.

  “Goodbye Matthews. You’d better hope that Tanner doesn’t decide to pay you a visit of his own someday.”

  ***

  CODY, WYOMING

  Amy laughed after tossing a Frisbee that bounced off Scar’s head, and as she made the throw, her diamond engagement ring sparkled in the sun.

  After leaving Mexico, the Tin Horsemen flew to Oklahoma City and reclaimed their motorcycles from the gas station where they had left them in storage, and then rode to Spenser’s house. />
  With Alvarado dead and everyone safe, Spenser decided to throw a party.

  Abrasion accompanied Amy to her store in town to bring back food and supplies, and that was where he met a young lady named Deedee, who worked for Amy at the store.

  Deedee was twenty, blonde, and just loved motorcycles. By the time Abrasion left the store, his crush on Amy was over, and when Deedee came to the party, she and Abrasion were inseparable.

  The boys actually hugged Spenser when he told them that the money given to Abrasion by Alvarado was theirs to keep. They had been hoping that Spenser might give them part of it, and to have the whole amount blew their minds.

  They now had plans to buy new motorcycles. “Some big muthas,” Scar said.

  When Bruise suggested that they give a chunk of the money to Scar’s mother, “You know, for all the food and shit she gave us since we moved in,” the boys all agreed. Bruise also planned to see a dentist about his missing tooth.

  Spenser picked up the Frisbee and handed it to Scar.

  “We have to go soon, Johnny, or Amy and I will miss our plane to New Orleans.”

  “Okay, and we should get on the road too. It’s a long ride back home.”

  Amy walked over and they all looked out at the generator shed, where Abrasion was saying goodbye to Deedee.

  “I really thought Lionel might stay in the area now that he’s met Deedee,” Amy said.

  “Oh, we’ll be back,” Scar said. “We can’t live with my mom forever, and when I told her about the money, she said she might sell the house and move to Texas to be with my Aunt Patty, since my Uncle Bob died a few weeks ago.”

  Spenser didn’t hear a word about Scar’s mother, his Aunt Patty, or the recently deceased Uncle Bob, all he heard was that the Tin Horsemen were staying in Cody.

  “You’re all moving here?” Spenser said.

  “Uh-huh, Deedee says her brother has a house for rent cheap, and hey dude, whenever you need help on a case, just let us know.”

  Amy saw the look on Spenser’s face and laughed.

  ***

  Tanner loaded a duffle bag into the rear of Alexa’s van, and then it was time to say goodbye.

  Tanner had retrieved the van from the nearby airfield they had left it at when they’d flown to Texas.

  He had come back to Wyoming alone, as Alexa wanted to spend time with Rodrigo and Emilio. She would be joining him in Los Angeles when her visit was done.

  While Spenser and Amy were headed to New Orleans, Tanner was taking Alexa to Hawaii, where the two of them would relax and figure out what came next.

  As Amy stood by watching, the two Tanners shared a hug, as they prepared to part from each other.

  “I’m not sure that I could have killed Alvarado without you, Spenser,” Tanner said.

  As the hug ended, Spenser looked at Tanner while smiling.

  “Since when do you doubt yourself?”

  “I’ll always be your apprentice, and I’ve learned from you once again.”

  Spenser gave him a serious look, and there was a gleam of pride in his eyes.

  “Who are you?”

  Cody Parker stood just a little straighter as he gave the answer to that question.

  “I’m Tanner.”

  The grin came back to Spenser’s face.

  “You’re goddamn right you are.”

  OCCUPATION: DEATH

  By

  REMINGTON KANE

  CHAPTER 1 – It’s time to go to work

  HONOLULU, HAWAII

  Tanner and Alexa were staying at a luxury hotel, but had spent most of their time either on the beach or off exploring the other islands.

  Alexa told Tanner that she was as happy as she had ever been. She also remarked that she had never seen him look so mellow.

  They made love often, and had done so at sunrise on a deserted stretch of beach. Tanner had seldom spent so much time with one woman, but he found himself wanting more of Alexa each day.

  A year ago, he would have been guarded with Alexa, as he distrusted the emotion of romantic love. However, admitting his love for Laurel Ivy had made him less wary, because they had been able to stay close and hadn’t ended in disaster.

  The fact that Laurel married Joe Pullo made him glad, not angry, because he knew himself well enough to know that he could never have given Laurel the life she wanted. He liked New York City a great deal, but he wasn’t ready to settle down or retire from being an assassin, and he hadn’t known anything approaching a normal life since he was a boy of sixteen.

  ***

  They were reclining in lounge chairs out by the pool when Alexa sat up and grabbed her beach robe.

  “I’ll be right back. I’m out of lotion. If you see a waiter, tell him to bring me another drink.”

  “Will do,” Tanner said.

  He was enjoying Hawaii, but Conrad Burke had gotten in touch with him that morning via an email account and Tanner agreed that he would consider taking a contract.

  The man who had survived despite the best efforts of the U.S. government had yet to resurface, but Burke wanted Tanner brought up to speed on the target in case an opportunity arose to take the man out.

  Tanner told Burke that he would consider accepting the contract once he knew all the facts and Burke said that he would be sending one of his people to see him sometime that day.

  Earlier, when Tanner passed through the lobby on the way back to his hotel room, he expected to find a message waiting for him when he checked with the front desk.

  Tanner was looking forward to finding out who the target was that had proven so difficult to kill, and he was ready to leave paradise and get back to work.

  Tanner smiled inwardly. The words, “It’s time to go to work.” was the code phrase Burke had given him to remember. Burke said that when his employee made contact, that they would use that phrase to identify themselves, afterwards, Tanner would be given the details of the contract they wanted him to fulfill.

  While in the lobby that morning, a man had approached him and Tanner thought that maybe he was Burke’s representative coming to make contact, and that he would give him details about the hit they wanted him to perform.

  When the man spoke and the first words out of his mouth were, “It’s time to go...” Tanner was certain it was Burke’s man and that he was saying the identifying phrase, “It’s time to go to work.” But no, instead, the man said, “It’s time to go to the meeting. Do you know what conference room it’s in?”

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Tanner told the man.

  “The meeting of regional managers for Kirby Vacuums, aren’t you the guy that runs the Seattle Division?”

  “No,” Tanner said.

  “Oh,” the man said, as he took a pair of thick glasses from his pocket and put them on. When he got a good look at Tanner, he gave him a weak smile. “Sorry, but there was this hot girl at the bar and I took my glasses off when I went to talk to her, you know how it is.”

  “Goodbye,” Tanner said, and the man moved away in a hurry.

  ***

  After Alexa left to get more lotion, Tanner shut his eyes for just a few moments, but when he sensed movement, he opened them and saw a woman taking Alexa’s place beside him, as the beauty stretched out atop a chaise lounge.

  It was Sara Blake, the same woman who had seen to Dan Matthews’ torture and interrogation a week earlier, although Tanner had no knowledge of her involvement.

  Sara looked sexy with her long raven hair shining and blue eyes sparkling with mischief. The red bikini she wore was not only small, but daringly so, and she definitely had the body for it.

  She smiled at Tanner.

  “Aren’t you going to say hello?”

  “I’m hoping it’s a bad dream and I’ll wake up soon.”

  Sara laughed.

  “I’m real, and I think it’s plain to see that I’m not concealing any weapons.”

  Tanner took off his sunglasses and gave her a long measuring look.


  “What are you doing here, Blake?”

  Sara’s smile widened.

  “It’s time to go to work.”

  CHAPTER 2 – Normal

  At poolside, in Honolulu, Hawaii, Tanner looked over at Sara Blake, who was wearing a revealing red bikini, and asked her a question.

  “Would you say that again?”

  “I said, ‘It’s time to go to work.’”

  “Work?”

  “I believe Mr. Burke explained that he wanted to use your services, although he never went into details. I’m here to give you those details.”

  Tanner sat up and swung his legs around until his feet touched the floor.

  “Both Matthews and Burke said that I had a fan in his organization, that was you?”

  “It was me. By the way, Dan Matthews has been handled. I took care of it myself in Panama.”

  “Took care of it how, is he dead?”

  “No, that’s your specialty, although he was tortured, and I hear there’s a possibility that he’ll be imprisoned for espionage soon.”

  “Why are you working for Burke?”

  “If you’ll remember, Mr. Burke gave Jenny, Jake, and myself a ride home on his jet. It was a long flight and Mr. Burke and I talked on the plane. He wanted fresh blood in his company and I needed a new start. I went to work for Conrad Burke shortly after we returned from Guambi, and when the U.S. Government came to the Burke corporation wanting to outsource assassinations, you naturally came to mind.”

  “And what’s your part in all this?”

  “I’ll be acting as a liaison between you and the Burke corporation. Once you agree to take a contract, it will be up to me to see that you get all the help you need, including materials, travel arrangements, and logistics.”

  Tanner seldom displayed surprise or amazement, but both those emotions were appearing on his face as he processed Sara’s words.

  “You want to help me carry out contracts? You?”

  Sara laughed and then stretched out on the chaise lounge with her arms above her head.

  “I’m not the same woman you knew in New York.”

  Tanner heard her words, but his eyes were busy taking in her body. He didn’t know how long she’d been in Honolulu, but she was tanned, and goddamn delectable.