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

by Remington Kane

“Does Alexa know that?”

  Tanner turned in his seat and stared at Sara.

  “What’s your deal, Blake?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “I mean why are you here? A year ago you were a federal agent hunting me down for revenge and now you’re trying to help me. It doesn’t compute.”

  Sara gave a slight shrug.

  “I’ve changed, and despite the fact that you killed Brian, you also saved my sister’s life. If you hadn’t gone to Guambi with me... well, I think I’d be dead as well. Jake Garner also owes you his life.”

  “That may all be true, but it’s still unusual for someone to change so much in so short a period of time.”

  “It’s also unusual for a woman to lose two lovers in a matter of months, but I’ve done that as well.”

  Tanner straightened in his seat as he asked Sara a question.

  “How is your sister doing?”

  “She’s great, and she and Jake are engaged. The wedding will take place this summer.”

  Tanner smiled.

  “I assume I’m not invited.”

  “Tanner, if it weren’t for the fact that so many Feds would be attending, I think you would get an invitation. I also know what you did for Jake, by handing him that Chemzonic bust in Oklahoma City. That was huge, Tanner, and Jake’s already been promoted.”

  “It’s nice to know that if the feds ever form a task force against me, that someone I know might be running it.”

  “I don’t think you have to worry about Jake coming after you.”

  “And what about you, Blake? I really hope that this isn’t some elaborate scheme to try to kill me.”

  Sara looked offended, and then she gripped Tanner’s hand and gave it a squeeze.

  “I have no hate in my heart for you anymore,” Sara said.

  Tanner looked down at her hand, and Sara removed it.

  “Maybe it’s you who hates me. If so, I could understand it. I did try to kill you.”

  “I don’t hate you, Blake.”

  “Why?” Sara said.

  “Why don’t I hate you?”

  “No, why am I still alive after trying to kill you? Is it that you’re honoring the deal we made back in New York City... or is it something else?”

  “It’s like you said, Blake, we made a deal.”

  Tanner rose from his seat. When he looked back at Sara, he saw that she was smiling.

  “What’s that smile about?”

  “You insist on calling me Blake although I’ve told you to call me Sara, why?”

  “It keeps things on a professional level, and since all we ever personally felt for each other is animosity, keeping things professional is a good thing, no?”

  “I suppose, and anyway, I don’t even know your first name.”

  “That’s because you don’t need to.”

  Sara looked in Alexa’s direction.

  “She knows your real name though, doesn’t she?’

  “Yes.”

  “Interesting.”

  Tanner said nothing more and returned to his seat, where he was surprised to see that Alexa was awake, although her head was still resting on a pillow.

  “I overheard most of your conversation,” Alexa said.

  “And?”

  “And I want you to think about something.”

  “What’s that?”

  “Sara claims that she no longer hates you, well then, what does she feel for you?”

  “Nothing, she feels nothing for me.”

  “Nature abhors a vacuum, Tanner, remember that.”

  Tanner grew quiet, as he thought about Alexa’s words.

  CHAPTER 5 – Paint ain’t cool

  At the headquarters of the Burke Corporation in Connecticut, Sara attempted to persuade Burke CFO Sloane Lennox out of insisting that Tanner be tested.

  She was in Conrad Burke’s office along with Burke, Lennox, and Lennox’s bodyguard, a man named Brad Grant.

  Sloane Lennox had been with the Burke Corporation since graduating from Yale at twenty-one. He was now in his fifties, the father of two grown children and quite influential inside the Burke Corporation. Lennox was also a quintessential wasp and a pain in the ass.

  He had been a boyhood friend of Frank Richards, the late CEO of MegaZenith, who was also the corporate leader of The Conglomerate. Lennox was Richards’ best man when Richards was wed. However, Lennox had no inkling of Richards’ dark side or nefarious activities, and would have been aghast had he known how hungry for power his friend had become.

  A loyal employee, as well as a friend, Lennox would do whatever Conrad Burke asked of him, but he found Burke’s expansion into outsourcing assassinations for the US Government to be unwise and distasteful.

  He understood that there were people in the world that needed slaying for the greater good of all, such as brutal dictators and terrorists, but he didn’t think that they should be handled by multi-national corporations.

  Still, the government’s trained assassins were one thing. Tanner was another matter all together, and Lennox thought of him as little better than the men who would be targeted. Tanner was a hit man, not a well-trained and battlefield tested soldier, and to pay the man a million dollars, well, in Lennox’s opinion, that was just insane.

  “The ex-Navy Seals all took the test; why can’t this man Tanner do the same?” Lennox asked Sara.

  “Tanner is not like other men,” Sara said.

  “Bullshit!” said Brad Grant. He was six-foot-six and looked like an action figure come to life. He was muscular, handsome, and had perfect teeth. He was also as arrogant as Lennox was, although the trait in Grant sprang from his physical stature and not from a sense of entitlement, as in the case of Lennox.

  Brad Grant had hit on Sara more than once in the short time she’d been with the company. He thought of her as a cold bitch because she showed no interest in him. And yet, he still looked Sara over with a lustful gaze every time they crossed paths.

  “Tanner is nothing but a lowlife criminal,” Grant said. “He’s probably afraid to be shown up for the lucky bastard he is.”

  “Why do you say that he’s lucky?” Sara asked.

  “The guy killed Alonso Alvarado despite the fact that Alvarado was being guarded inside a fortress and had hundreds of armed men protecting him. No one, but no one is good enough to overcome those odds, therefore he had to be lucky.”

  Sara laughed.

  “If luck is his secret than he’s the luckiest man who ever lived, but it’s not luck, it’s skill. Tanner is as skilled an assassin as has ever lived. He’s taken the contract. That means that he’ll kill Julien Adams. Let the man be and he’ll get to work.”

  Sloane Lennox shook his head.

  “We’re paying the man the insane amount of a million dollars. He can jump through a few hoops, Miss Blake.”

  Sara walked over to where Conrad Burke sat behind his desk. The desk was an antique, and had been used by Burke’s grandfather, who had founded the company at sixteen. The multi-billion dollar Burke Corporation began as a general store over a hundred years earlier.

  “You’ve met Tanner. He won’t put up with this nonsense.”

  “Nonsense?” Lennox said, but he grew quiet when Burke raised his hand.

  Burke stood and walked around the desk to stand beside Sara.

  “Miss Blake, we will go through with the demonstration. I’m curious to see what Tanner’s reaction will be.”

  Sara smirked.

  “You must have poked beehives with a stick when you were a boy.”

  “How did you guess?” Burke said with a smile. He then led the way out of the office.

  ***

  The demonstration was to be held at the rear of the corporation’s property which was bordered by acres of trees. The Burke Corporate Headquarters was designated as a business campus and held numerous buildings that sprawled over hundreds of acres.

  There was an obstacle course on a section of land some distance from the main bui
lding, where the test was to be held. There was also a small warehouse that had been converted into a private gym for the Burke Security Department. Although Brad Grant was Sloane Lennox’s private bodyguard, he was also a member of the Burke worldwide security force and ranked high in its command structure.

  Another man was present to observe the test. His name was Deke Mercer. Mercer was an ex-Marine who was a gifted gunsmith. Deke was in his thirties, built solid, and was handsome, with short cropped dark hair. He was there to meet Tanner, whom he was to work with and assist with weapons.

  Sara had been looking at the other security guards and had taken note that they were all huge men. They were dressed in black and carrying paint guns that looked as deadly as the real thing.

  Burke’s security force had an elite division of men that worked around the world wherever Burke needed more manpower to protect his interests. The men were all highly trained, but few of them were former military.

  The guards had all moved up within the ranks and considered themselves to be as good as any soldier, something that an ex-Marine like Deke Mercer scoffed at. Deke had only been at Burke for a short time and had already had an altercation with Brad Grant, after Grant tried to bully him.

  Tanner’s test would be to survive a paintball contest against ten of Burke’s best security personnel without being marked by paint. The other men who had been subjected to the test had faced only three men.

  Burke noted the disparity.

  “Why are there so many men here for the test, Sloane?” Burke asked.

  “This criminal, this Tanner, he’s supposed to be the best assassin in the world, correct?”

  “Yes,” Burke said.

  “Well then, surviving our little contest should be a thing of ease for him. However, if he fails, then we choose someone else to fulfill the contract. Someone like that Sicilian fellow Brad mentioned.”

  Lennox’s mention of bringing in another hit man caught Sara’s attention.

  “What’s this about bringing in a Sicilian, what Sicilian?”

  “Maurice Scallato, in Sicily he’s known as, Il Fantasma, The Ghost,” Brad Grant said. “He’s a fifth generation assassin and a legend in Europe. They say that he’s even better than Lars Gruber was.”

  “Tanner killed Gruber, so it’s obvious that Tanner was also better than Gruber, but never mind that. Tanner has already agreed to take the contract. You can consider Julien Adams dead.”

  “No money has changed hands yet, young lady,” Lennox said, and Tanner won’t see a penny until I approve it.”

  “Then I suggest you approve it,” said a voice from behind Lennox, and everyone turned to see Tanner and Alexa walking out of the woods.

  Most of the men present stared at Tanner, to take in his measure, while only noticing Alexa. That was true for everyone but Deke Mercer, whose eyes flowed over Alexa with an admiring gaze. When Alexa locked eyes with him, Deke sent her a smile. Alexa didn’t smile in return, but she did acknowledge Mercer with a slight nod.

  Burke looked surprised by Tanner’s sudden appearance and pointed back towards the company campus.

  “I sent a golf cart to bring you here.”

  “We walked, and I’ll tell you right now that you can shove this test where the sun don’t shine. Pay me and I’ll kill Julien Adams. Refuse to pay me and I’ll leave now, but I won’t play the trained monkey like these rent-a-cops you have here.”

  Brad Grant moved close to Tanner. The man was six inches taller and outweighed Tanner by fifty pounds of pure muscle. He looked Tanner over and made a sound of distaste.

  “Listen little man, we’re not trained monkeys. We’re an elite group of security personnel and I think you won’t take the test because you know that you’ll fail.”

  “Kick his ass, Brad!” one of the men shouted, he was a young man named Nick Canto who was even larger than Brad Grant. Canto caressed the paint gun he held as if it were a lover, while glaring at Tanner with disdain in his eyes.

  Sara placed a hand on Burke’s arm.

  “You need to end this demonstration now before someone gets hurt. Tanner won’t play with these idiots, he’ll kill them.”

  Burke read Sara’s face and saw the concern in her eyes. He raised up a hand and spoke.

  “All right. That’s enough. The demonstration has been cancelled. Grant, have the men return to the campus.”

  Lennox scowled.

  “Conrad, I thought that we had an agreement.”

  “I changed my mind. Release Tanner’s payment and then we can get down to business. This project has had enough delays already.”

  Brad Grant leaned closer to Tanner.

  “This is your lucky day, Tanner, but then, you have a lot of lucky days, don’t you?”

  Tanner said nothing and Grant turned to walk away.

  The punk named Nick Canto, who had mouthed off before, leveled his paint gun at Tanner and fired. The red paint missed Tanner completely, but struck Alexa on the left arm, causing her to hiss in pain while ruining her dress.

  Tanner removed a small gun from its pocket holster, took aim, and blew the top of Canto’s head off.

  CHAPTER 6 – No joke

  “Oh my God!” Sloane Lennox cried out, while staring over at the dead security guard named Nick Canto. Canto had fired a paintball at Tanner and hit Alexa in the arm.

  Tanner, a man who didn’t suffer fools, gladly or otherwise, killed Canto with a shot to the head.

  With the fool dead, Tanner turned to Alexa and asked her if she was all right.

  “It stings like hell, but there’s no damage.”

  Brad Grant, Canto’s supervisor, stared down at the body of the young man and then back at Tanner.

  “What the fuck, Tanner! It was just a paintball.”

  Tanner stared back at him, and then looked at the eight other men holding paintball guns.

  “We were here for a demonstration, correct? Does anyone else want me to demonstrate what I do?”

  The men all dropped their paintball guns and began moving back towards the golf carts they had rode in from the main building.

  Grant held on to his paintball gun, but he kept the faux weapon pointed at the ground.

  Burke stepped forward while rubbing a hand over his face, and spoke to Tanner. Burke had been standing behind his two personal bodyguards, who had moved in front of him when Tanner killed Canto. The men had their guns drawn, but put them away when Burke told them to holster their weapons.

  “Was it really necessary to kill that man, Tanner?”

  “I’m not in the second chance business, Burke. If I detect a threat, I end it.” Tanner turned his gaze on Sara. “I made the mistake of giving someone a second chance once before and it nearly cost me my life. That won’t happen again.”

  Sara met Tanner’s gaze and gave a little shake of her head. There was anger in Tanner’s eyes, along with mistrust, and she was afraid that he was blaming her for what had occurred.

  Burke saw that Tanner was staring at Sara and he raised a hand.

  “Miss Blake advised against this several times. I should have listened to her.”

  Deke Mercer had walked over to Alexa and handed her the shop rag that was perpetually in his rear pocket.

  “This rag has a little gun oil on it, but it should help you clean off some of the paint.”

  Alexa looked up into Deke’s blue eyes and smiled.

  “Thank you, that’s very kind.”

  “Who are you?” Tanner asked Deke.

  “The name is Deke Mercer, Tanner. I’m the gunsmith that will be helping you.”

  Tanner studied Mercer and saw that there was a Marine Corps tattoo on the biceps of one of his muscular arms, while the man had the carriage of someone who knew how to handle himself. Mercer’s voice carried with it a Midwest accent.

  “Were you part of this test?”

  “Hell no, and you can kill as many as these wannabe soldiers as you want. You’ll be doing the world a favor.”

  Brad Gr
ant rushed over and yelled at Deke.

  “Call me a wannabe soldier to my face, jarhead.”

  Deke laughed.

  “We had this conversation once already, didn’t we? As I recall, it ended with you spending the night in the hospital.”

  “You were just lucky,” Grant said.

  “Grant, leave Deke alone before he gets lucky again,” Burke said.

  Grant moved away and stood by Lennox’s side. Lennox was staring at Tanner as if he were something alien.

  “He just killed the man, as if he were simply swatting a fly... and all over a little paint.”

  Those words were mumbled by Lennox, but heard by everyone. Tanner spoke to him.

  “Who are you?”

  The answer to that question stirred Lennox out of his shock, and he straightened his back and answered.

  “My name is Sloane Lennox and I’m the Chief Financial Officer for the Burke Corporation.”

  “You write the checks, good, then pay me and we can get started on killing Julien Adams.”

  Lennox pointed at the body of Nick Canto.

  “You have to answer for killing that man.”

  “Mr. Canto died in a training accident, Sloane,” Burke said, “Or so the police will be told.”

  “Accident? This hoodlum shot the young man in cold blood.”

  Tanner stepped towards Lennox and the CFO hid behind Brad Grant.

  “Keep him away from me.”

  “Relax, Lennox, I only kill people who are a threat. That leaves you out,” Tanner said.

  ***

  The police had been called and seemed satisfied that Canto had died in a firearms accident. One of the other security guards took responsibility for the mishap and would deal with the consequences.

  For doing so, the man would be promoted and given a company car.

  Sara had offered Alexa a change of clothes. It was just a jogging outfit that she kept in her office, but the outfit was clean. Alexa declined her offer and opted to keep wearing the dress. The garment was a total loss and Burke told her to send him the bill for its replacement.

  Tanner was in Burke’s office with Alexa, Sara, Burke, and Deke Mercer. Once the aftermath of the shooting had been settled, Tanner was ready to get to work.

  “Do you have any more bullshit you’d like to do Burke or can we get down to business?”