“You were wondering what would happen if we were caught together, no?”
“Yes.”
“You would be tortured, horribly, and your death would not be quick.”
“Oh Jesus,” Krupin said, and then he said it again in a different tone, as Maria eased down along his body and settled her mouth upon him.
He gave in to the pleasure. He knew he had no choice. If he refused her, she would likely take offense and have him killed anyway.
By the time Maria left his room at the first light of day, Krupin knew without doubt that he had made a deal with the devil. However, he was no longer certain if the devil was Alvarado, or the man’s wife.
***
Krupin had fallen back to sleep after Maria departed, as he was satisfied, but tired.
He had never been with a woman old enough to be his mother, but found it made little difference, as the woman was as beautiful as many women half her age.
She certainly was more energetic than any woman he’d ever been with, and when the alarm at his bedside went off at eight o’clock, he estimated that he had only slept a total of three hours.
When he left his room, still yawning, he discovered that one of Alvarado’s men was positioned outside the door, and he wondered if the man had seen Mrs. Alvarado leave his room. If so, it meant one of two things. He was about to be killed, or Maria Alvarado had the men’s loyalty, because he was certain that if either Alvarado, father or son, knew that he had slept with Maria, he was a dead man.
When the silent guard escorted him to the dining room, he found the elder Alvarado seated at the head of the table and eating.
When Krupin sat to the left of him, a plate of huevos rancheros was placed before him, and the aroma made him realize how hungry he was.
He thought it rude that he was not given a choice of what to eat, but the dish was a favorite of his. He wondered if Alvarado had somehow discovered that fact, or if it was just coincidence.
“Did you sleep well, my friend?”
“Um, yes, very well, thank you.”
“That is good, and after we have eaten, we will work out some details.”
“I thought I would be leaving early?”
“Don’t worry; I will have you returned to Mexico City by tonight, and you can fly back the following day.”
“I’ll have to tell my men about the change in plans, but when will your men be coming to New York to help me take care of Pullo and Tanner?”
“Very soon, and my son, Juan, will be accompanying you on your trip back.”
“Really? That’s good, but tell me, how many men are you sending?”
“About a dozen,”
Krupin’s fork stopped while halfway to his mouth.
“That’s all? I think you’re underestimating Tanner.”
Alvarado smiled.
“Two of the men I’m sending along are experts of a sort. They will deal with Tanner, trust me.”
“Okay, but if they don’t, it could mean the death of me, and your son as well. Tanner is merciless.”
“So I’ve heard, and if I thought I could, I would recruit him.”
Krupin opened his mouth to speak, but then noticed the manila folder on the table in front of his plate.
Alvarado saw that he had spotted it, and instructed Krupin to open it.
When he did, he found an artist’s rendition of a bearded young man.
“What is this?”
“Does that man look familiar to you?”
“No.”
“Look at the drawings beneath the first one, they show him older, and with and without the beard.”
Krupin looked, but still didn’t recognize the man, who in all honesty, appeared unremarkable.
“I’ve been looking for that man for many years, and when I find him, I will give a whole new meaning to the word, torture.”
“Thank God I’m not him,” Krupin said.
***
When it was time to leave, Maria stood beside her husband and wished Krupin a safe trip. He thanked her for her hospitality and saw just the hint of a smile on her face.
Although annoying, he wasn’t surprised when he was blindfolded again, and then, Juan Alvarado guided him into the rear of the limo and they headed back to Mexico City.
CHAPTER 16 – Goodbyes and farewells
Inside LaGuardia Airport in Queens, New York, Laurel gave both her brothers a kiss on the cheek, and then wished them a good flight.
“It’s real nice of you to pay for our airfare, Mr. Pullo, and Earl and me will be back in a few days, don’t you worry.”
“Don’t rush, Merle, in fact, why don’t you boys move back there?”
Laurel elbowed Joe in the stomach as she frowned at him.
“Don’t listen to Joe. You two come back here. You have to walk me down the aisle soon.”
Earl smiled.
“I can’t wait until we’re uncles.”
Merle and Earl said goodbye, and Laurel looked like a mother sending her kids off to their first day at school.
With the boys on their way to Arkansas, she and Joe then traveled to an adjoining terminal, where Tanner and Sammy were waiting to board their flight to Tennessee.
Joe took Sammy’s face in his hands and stared into his eyes.
“You take care of business.”
“Absolutely,” Sammy said, and Joe saw a steely determination in the young man’s eyes.
Laurel kissed Tanner on the cheek.
“I’m sorry about you and Sophia.”
“I have a habit of losing great women.”
“You’ll find the right one someday, I know you will.”
“Maybe there’s no such creature.”
“Nonsense.”
“Have you chosen a wedding date yet?”
“No, but it will be soon, and we’ll be keeping it small, but of course, you’re invited.”
“Maybe I’ll catch the bouquet.”
Movement alerted Tanner that someone was approaching from the right, and he saw Sophia walking towards them in an emerald dress that matched her eyes. Laurel excused herself to give them privacy.
“Good morning, Sophia.”
“Hello, Tanner; I know this is awkward, but I wanted to see Sammy off on his flight.”
“I’m sure he’d like that.”
Sophia ducked her head and looked up at him.
“Try not to hate me, okay?”
“We’re friends, Sophia. Nothing changes that. I learned a long time ago to follow my gut, and that’s what you did when you broke up with me. You followed your gut.”
Sophia smiled.
“Gut? Are you calling me fat?”
“Go see Sammy.”
Sophia kissed him lightly on the lips.
“Thanks, Tanner, and yes, we’ll always be friends.”
Tanner watched her greet Sammy with a passionate kiss, then, he looked over at Laurel with Joe, and recalled what she said about him finding the right woman someday. If such a woman existed, he knew that she’d have to have a heart as tough as his own.
Moments later, it was time to go. Tanner accompanied Sammy onto the plane and they began the young man’s quest for revenge.
CHAPTER 17 – Red, white, and black and blue
WILMINGTON, DELAWARE, TEN YEARS EARLIER
Tanner and Joe had asked around separately and several cabbies had directed them both to a secluded house in the community of Chatham.
The house was a large two-story colonial and they were told that its favors didn’t come cheaply. When Joe checked with Sam, he learned that the brothel was run by a different syndicate than theirs.
“High-priced whores means heavy muscle, and if they’re any good, they would spot the bulge of a weapon,” Joe said.
“Then it looks like we go in empty and acquire weapons if we need them.”
Joe looked sideways at Tanner.
“You say that like it’s easy.”
“It’s not impossible, and I’ve done something like it before.”
Joe studied him.
“We don’t know each other, Tanner, and if we had to make a move in there to get answers, I’d be trusting in you to hold your own.”
“Same here, Pullo, but who knows, maybe we’ll spot Carlo Conti the second we walk in, and then there will be no need to ask questions.”
“If that’s the case, we just follow the bastard and whack him when he gets out of his car.”
“Deal,” Tanner said. “So, are we doing this or what?”
Joe studied Tanner for several more seconds and then nodded.
“If you hear me say the word, ‘expensive,’ it’ll mean it’s time to take out the security, but don’t kill them unless you have to.”
“Right, and don’t worry, Pullo, I can handle myself.”
“Same here,”
***
The guy who opened the door was about as big as Tanner and Joe combined.
He was a black man with a shaved head, and he had one gold tooth showing in his front teeth.
After passing the man’s visual inspection, they were ushered inside a huge sunken living room that was decorated entirely in red, while the seven women lounging on the sofas all wore white lingerie.
The women were beautiful without exception, and Tanner began wishing he were there for purposes other than to obtain information.
A middle-aged blonde approached them from a doorway on the left, and although she was beautiful enough to entice, she wore a long dress of red instead of the white lingerie.
The madam, Tanner thought, and had it confirmed when the woman greeted them with a huge empty smile.
“Look at you two fine, fine young men, and you’ve come here to have a good time, now didn’t you?”
“Yes ma’am,” Joe said enthusiastically, and Tanner watched as he walked over to a loveseat where two redheads were sitting together. The women’s breasts were straining at the white bras they wore, but Tanner saw that Joe’s eyes were trained towards a second bodyguard, who was leaning back against the wall beside the fireplace.
A third bodyguard sat in a chair on the left, and Tanner drifted that way, while pretending interest in the beautiful Asian woman who sat at the end of the sofa.
“You boys are new, so let me tell you our prices, now, for—”
Joe interrupted the madam, as he lifted a glass ashtray off the coffee table. The thing was heavy, and colored red, like the rest of the room.
“Hey, how much did you pay for this thing? It looks expensive.”
Before Joe had even finished speaking, Tanner had swung his foot around and buried it into the throat of the guard sitting in the chair.
Meanwhile, Joe had flung the heavy ashtray and hit the guard by the fireplace in the center of his forehead, causing the man to collapse to the floor.
The women screamed and ran for the stairs, but not the madam. She freed a small gun from a holster buried beneath the folds of her dress.
As she brought it up to fire at Joe, Tanner backhanded her and sent her sprawling onto the carpet, and then he removed the gun from the holster of the man he kicked.
Joe had also claimed a gun from the guard he’d hit with the ashtray, and he was pointing it at the room’s entryway, when the giant from the front door appeared holding a sawed-off shotgun.
“Drop it or die!” Joe said.
The man looked at Joe, then at Tanner on the opposite side of the room, and knew that he’d never get both of them.
He tossed the shotgun onto a chair and sneered.
“You gonna regret this shit.”
“Sure,” Joe said. “Now help this guy up and go sit over there by your other friend.”
The hookers had all run upstairs, but Tanner detected the thump of heavy footsteps coming from above, and they were growing louder.
He rushed to the side of the staircase, stripped a tall lamp of its shade, and jammed it between two spindles on the wooden railing.
A fourth guard appeared, and he was a large black man liked the others. He had been in the upstairs hallway when the trouble began.
The man tripped over the lamp as he left the landing, and tumbled down the stairs, to crash hard onto his right shoulder. The shoulder was clearly dislocated, and he moaned loudly in his distress.
Tanner scooped up the thug’s gun and then pocketed the small pistol that the madam had dropped. Afterwards, he helped her to stand and fall atop the sofa.
The side of her mouth was puffing up, but she managed to slur out a few words.
“Take the money and leave, pricks.”
Joe unfolded the picture of Carlo Conti and held it up in front of her face while Tanner kept watch over the guards.
“This man, where can we find him?”
The madam squinted at the photo, then, she looked up at Joe.
“You’re not robbing us?”
Joe shook the paper.
“Where is he?”
The woman sighed, reached her hand into a pocket slowly, and brought out an eyeglass case. When she had her glasses on, she looked at the picture once again, and then frowned at Joe.
“What the hell are you playing at?”
“What do you mean? You do know where he is, right?”
She did, and when she told them, they knew that it was the last place they ever would have looked for him.
CHAPTER 18 – Mirror image
Tanner and Sammy landed at Tennessee International Airport. After grabbing their bags, the two prepared to split up.
They had barely spoken on the flight, and if not for Joe, Tanner wouldn’t want anything to do with Sammy. However, the kid meant a lot to Pullo, and so Tanner would make sure that he came back in one piece.
Inside a coffee shop in the terminal, they went over the plan one more time.
“We split up here and arrive in town separately. They only have one hotel, and once we’re both booked in, I’ll make contact.”
“I got it, Tanner, but what if I spot Bobby Volks first?”
“Do nothing. Once we know the situation we’ll plan the hit together.”
“Alright, but I pull the trigger, not you. That bastard killed my father.”
“I know, but we can’t just rush in. Volks has had plenty of time to make friends down here, and we also want to steer clear of the law.”
Sammy didn’t have a suitcase, but instead, he had packed his things in a backpack. He hefted it onto his back, and held out his hand.
“I want to thank you for helping me, and I’ve got to believe that it’s the last thing you want to do.”
Tanner sighed as he shook Sammy’s hand.
“Sophia made her choice and I have to live with it. You just make sure that you treat her well.”
“I will, and I’ll see you in Rainberry.”
***
Ten minutes later, Sammy was looking at a yellow SUV and frowning. The vehicle had soccer mom written all over it.
“Is that really the only thing you have here?”
The car rental agent, a young black man in jeans and a white dress shirt, sent Sammy an apologetic smile.
“As I said, sir, the sports car you reserved was in an accident.”
Sammy looked across the lot where Tanner was getting a car from another rental agency. They had reserved cars at different agencies so that they wouldn’t be tied together, but Sammy was willing to risk it rather than drive a mommy-mobile.
“Do you think they’ll have one over there?”
“I actually checked before you came in, and no they don’t, I’m sorry.”
Sammy looked at the SUV, and then an idea came to him. When he asked the clerk about it, the man smiled.
“I’ll call and check for you.”
An hour later, Sammy was headed for Rainberry while riding a rented Harley.
***
In Sawyer’s Creek, Arkansas, Merle and Earl were gazing at their long-abandoned farm with eyes full of wonder.
Earl lifted an arm and pointed.
“It’s, it’s..
. it’s beautiful.”
“Yeah,” Merle said. “But how?”
They had parked on the side of the road after spotting the farmhouse.
When they left the farm years ago to find their fortune, the land had been full of weeds and the house was a dilapidated mess with a porch blackened from a recent fire.
Laurel had reported seeing the same thing. However, the home was not only in good repair and painted pink and white, but the yard was filled with flowers, and beyond the house, the barn looked renewed as well, while the fields were full of fall crops ready to be harvested, such as cabbages, cauliflower, and beets.
Earl turned in a circle.
“Are we in the right place?”
“Of course, look over there, there’s that sassafras tree we tied the tire to so that Laurel Lee could have a swing, and across the road is the pond we used to fish in. We’re home, Earl.”
“Yeah, but it ain’t never looked this good.”
They returned to the car, and when they reached the driveway, they saw a new mailbox that had the name, COLE written on it. They shrugged at each other and drove on.
After parking at the side of the house near an old motorhome, they went up the front steps, where there were identical porch swings hanging on either side of the wide front door. Stained glass was set in the new oak door and it sparkled and reflected light in dazzling colors.
“What the hell is going on?” Merle said, and Earl just shook his head in confusion.
Although he felt foolish doing it, Merle reached out and rang the bell of his own home. No one answered, and after trying the doorknob and finding that the door was unlocked, he and Earl entered.
The interior matched the outside of the home, as the furniture in the living room looked well cared for and polished, while the rug was new, and logs laid beside the fireplace in a neat stack. There was also an upright piano in one corner, with a guitar case leaned up against it.
A line of pictures sat on the mantle above the fireplace, and Merle was about to walk over and look at them when he felt the barrel of a shotgun dig into his ribs.
“Around here, we kill trespassers.”
Merle turned his head slowly, and when he saw the face of the woman holding the shotgun, he smiled.
“Wow, you’re pretty.”
The woman blushed, and when Merle looked over at his brother, he saw another woman, but where the first one was blond, her sister’s hair was redder, or a strawberry color, other than that, the two women could pass for twins, and looked to be about thirty-five.
The TANNER Series - Books 7-9 (Tanner Box Set Book 3) Page 18