After gagging the Russian, Tanner secured his hands and feet and then followed Joe into the stairwell.
They went slow, making as little noise as possible as they headed for the basement.
On the third floor, they heard the sound of a TV that was broadcasting a sport of some kind, and whoever was watching it seemed to be the only one still awake in the building.
Once in the basement, they brought out flashlights and looked around for what they were after. Joe spotted it first and slid his pack off.
When he reached into it, he removed a canister of compressed gas.
And while Joe readied the canisters, Tanner went to work taking off the screws on the cover of the HVAC system, the heating, ventilation and air-conditioning unit.
Ten minutes later, they had everything ready to go, and after donning filtering masks, they flooded the building with gas.
***
SIX HOURS LATER
Rico entered the building with eight other men and was surprised to find no signs of bloodshed.
He had been awakened at 6:30, after the men who were supposed to report for a shift change in Manhattan never showed up, and no one answered the phones in Brooklyn.
Tanner?
That was the first thought that passed through Rico’s mind, accompanied by images of wholesale slaughter.
After arriving at the building, Rico simply watched it for a short time, but saw no movement in any of its windows.
Then, it was time to go in and see what was what. But once he and the men with him had searched every room, the basement, and the roof, he still had no idea what had happened.
The men weren’t dead; they were simply gone, vanished.
“The man is truly a devil,” Rico said to himself.
Nineteen Russian street soldiers were gone without a trace, and there was no sign of violence or a struggle. Rico looked at the men around him and saw that they were as unnerved as he was by it all.
One of the men spread his arms out.
“Where the hell are they?”
“In a mass grave somewhere,” said one of the other men, and although he didn’t voice his opinion, Rico agreed with the man.
***
In Mexico City, Alexa was torn by two competing desires.
She wanted to find Tanner as soon as possible, but she had also spent many weeks devising a plan that would get her inside the Alvarado compound.
She couldn’t put the plan in motion until nightfall, which meant that she would lose a day’s time in finding Tanner.
She sipped on a cup of coffee as she dangled her legs from the rear of her van and watched the sunrise.
She had discovered that Alvarado brought a group of whores into the compound once a month for the men guarding him. The women were driven into the compound inside a van, and then led back towards the barracks for a night of sex.
In order to do that, the guard dogs that normally roamed the compound at night were kept inside, and motion detectors were activated.
There had to be a window of time between the dogs being brought inside and the motion detectors being activated. Alexa planned to use that gap of time to make it over the wall and into the house.
It was a risky plan, and she didn’t even hope to get close enough to kill Alvarado, but if she could learn the layout of the home and ferret out a weakness in their defenses, the information could be invaluable.
She might never get close enough to kill Alvarado by herself, but with a Tanner someday wreaking havoc in the compound, she would have a chance.
She had discovered that there was a price on Tanner’s head, and knew that the man would be hunted by many who wanted to claim it. But he was a Tanner, and so he would not die easily. He couldn’t die; she needed him alive, and together they would kill their mutual enemy.
Alexa had also seen a copy of the drawing that Rico had made of the man, and when she first saw it, something inside her stirred even more than when she had seen the crumpled picture.
Her grandmother would have said that her “little voice” was talking to her, but Alexa suspected it was her libido.
The man was hot, this Tanner, and Alexa wanted to meet him for more than one reason.
Alexa closed her eyes and listened for the “little voice.”
When she opened her eyes a minute later, she had made her decision. She would infiltrate the compound, gain as much info as possible, and then leave the following day to find Tanner.
It was a good plan, now all she had to do was survive.
CHAPTER 19 – Goodbye Sophia
Inside a hangar at LaGuardia Airport, Rico greeted the new men that Alonso Alvarado had sent him.
While he knew several of the faces, most of the men were unknown to him.
They had arrived on seven different jets, and it had taken a day for the cartel to issue them all phony credentials and identities.
The landing strip near Mt. Pleasant had been so much handier, but then, its very isolation made it a perfect killing ground for Tanner.
Rico had been unaware that Tanner had tortured one of the specialists, Manuel. Had he known that, he would have assumed that Manuel had told Tanner about the landing strip, and he would have diverted the jets and sent teams of men to the area to kill Tanner.
Juan Alvarado had known that Manuel was tortured, and if the heir apparent had any street smarts he would have had the sense not to land the jets in a place that Tanner might know about.
Rico blamed Tanner for Mateo’s death, but part of the blame landed at Juan Alvarado’s feet as well.
Outside the hanger, three buses waited to transport the men. They were all staying in Manhattan, inside the building where Krupin and Juan Alvarado were, and would add on to the already massive security guarding the men. Both Alvarado and Krupin were so fearful of Tanner that they never left the building.
However, these new men would be leaving soon, leaving to return home in a matter of days if Rico’s plans worked out, because Joe Pullo would be tracked down with help from Mike Conti. Once Pullo’s location was known, Rico would send his new army in to kill him and his men, and with luck, Tanner would be among them.
The missing Russians bothered Rico. Why take the men instead of just killing them and leaving the bodies behind?
The only answer that Rico could see was that Tanner or Pullo was playing head games, either that, or the men would start showing up in pieces.
Whichever way you looked at it, it was unnerving, and when Rico shared the story with the new men, he saw the faces of many of them grow worried.
“Whatever Tanner’s game is he will soon stop playing it, because we are going to kill him.”
The men voiced their agreement and then Rico told them to climb aboard the buses, while he wondered if Conti would be successful in planting a tracking device.
***
On Staten Island, Mike Conti looked up and watched as Joe’s helicopter landed in the cemetery parking lot.
Once on the ground, the occupants of the craft were met by a limo. The limo drove over to join the rest of Sophia’s mourners, which included Sammy, who had left the hospital against doctor’s orders.
Joe had hired a car and a nurse for Sammy, and he was there in a wheelchair surrounded by several of Joe’s men.
Bosco emerged from the limo first, followed by Joe, and then Tanner, who Conti had only seen in his Romeo guise of spiked blond hair and fake tattoos. The hair was now dark, Tanner wore a suit and tie, along with sunglasses, and Conti saw none of Romeo’s demeanor in the man.
Tanner was no joke, and to even be out in the open when there was a price on his head told you something about the man.
As the group from Manhattan joined the rest of the mourners, greetings were exchanged, and then the priest began the solemn ceremony.
***
As the priest was talking, Tanner noticed that Sammy didn’t cry even a single tear. Joe was right; Sophia’s death had hardened the man. As Tanner raised his gaze from Sammy, he sa
w a familiar face.
It was Buck, the actor, whose real name was Edwin Seevers. Buck was standing beside a blonde who Tanner knew by sight. He had seen her in person once before while dining with Sophia, and knew that the woman had been Sophia’s friend. It was Amber Rose, a renowned actress on Broadway.
When the services ended, Buck walked over with Amber Rose.
“I didn’t expect to see you, Tanner, but Amber says that you and Sophia Verona were friends.”
“Yes,” Tanner said, as he took in Amber Rose. He had never seen her on Broadway, but had watched her on various TV commercials over the years.
She was beautiful and blonde, and it made him think of Laurel and wonder how she was doing at the ranch. Someone called to Amber and she excused herself as Buck stayed to talk.
Buck smiled.
“Do you believe this? I’m dating Amber Rose, and not only that, but I’m going to be in her new play. It’s a small part, but it’s on Broadway.”
“Good for you, how did you meet?”
“I was doing a play in an Off-Off-Broadway theater. Amber’s friend is the producer, we were introduced, and the rest is history.”
“I’m glad to see that you landed on your feet.”
“Yeah, and again, I’m sorry about Sophia. I wish I’d met her.”
Tanner said goodbye, but Buck had one last thing to tell him.
“Do you remember that I warned you about Ariana O’Grady?”
Tanner nodded. He remembered. Ariana was the daughter of Hank O’Grady, a Colorado rancher he had killed months ago.
“What about her?”
“She’s here in the city. She tracked me down to ask me about you, and she had four guys backing her up. Cindy’s father saw us together, and so she wanted to know what I knew about you. I told her that you held me hostage and then let me go, but I think she knows you’re here, and Tanner, the bitch wants you bad.”
Tanner smiled.
“She’s at the end of a long line these days, but tell me, what’s she look like?”
“She’s got dark hair and brown eyes. She’s pretty, but I wouldn’t call her beautiful. She’s also one of the meanest bitches you’ll ever meet. If she knew that I had helped you in Vegas, I think she would kill me.”
“I’ll keep an eye out for her while I’m watching my back, checking my six, and sleeping with one eye open.”
Buck smiled.
“It’s not easy being you, is it?”
“Take care, Buck.”
***
Tanner joined Joe, who was talking to Mike Conti. He knew that Conti wanted Joe to make peace, and like Joe, he smelled a rat.
Conti smiled at Tanner, but didn’t offer to shake hands.
“The last time I saw you, Tanner, you were pretending to be someone else. This might be a good time to do that again. Staying yourself might not be healthy.”
“You’re right; it’s deadly... for others.”
Conti chuckled.
“Just a little friendly advice,”
“Sure,” Tanner said.
A few minutes later, everyone was back on the chopper but Bosco. Joe was about to call his phone when he saw him come running towards them.
After he climbed aboard, Joe offered him his handkerchief.
“You got lipstick all over you.”
Bosco nodded as he took the offered hanky.
“I ran into a woman I know, a real hot girl from the old neighborhood. Funny thing, she never gave me a second look back in the day, and now, it’s like she can’t get enough of me, we even made plans to hook-up next weekend.”
“Lucky you,” Joe said.
Bosco shook his head.
“I ain’t the lucky type, Boss.”
Bosco gently removed his injured arm from the sling and pointed to a dot on the underside of his bandage.
“What do you think; it’s some kind of GPS tracker?”
Tanner studied it.
“That’s exactly what it is.”
“This girl work for Conti?” Joe asked.
“No,” Bosco said. “But she’s his cousin.”
“That son of a bitch, I was hoping I was wrong about him,” Joe said.
Bosco removed the GPS tracker just as the pilot powered up the chopper.
Tanner shouted over the engine noise to be heard.
“Let me have that.”
Bosco gave the tracker to Tanner, expecting him to destroy it, but instead, he placed it in his pocket.
“Aren’t you going to get rid of it?” Bosco shouted.
Joe leaned over and spoke in his ear.
“We were expecting something like this and we’re going to turn it against them.”
Bosco nodded his understanding, and before long, they were in the air.
Tanner looked back, located the fresh grave, and in his mind, he said goodbye to Sophia.
CHAPTER 20 – Take a meeting
In the afternoon, Tanner entered the underground parking garage of a hotel in midtown and climbed into the passenger seat of a silver BMW.
Tamir Ivanov was in the driver’s seat. He nodded at Tanner and passed him a manila file folder.
“Your info was right. That’s definitely the building where Krupin and Juan Alvarado are staying. It’s owned by an alias of Alonso Alvarado. It’s ten stories tall and the bastards have it all to themselves, that is, if you don’t count the army of men guarding them.”
Tanner looked through the file and saw that Ivanov had included a list of the building’s specifications.
“General George Patton once said that fixed fortifications were a monument to the stupidity of man, because anything built by man could be destroyed by man. I don’t agree with him in all cases, but I do in this instance.”
“Does that mean that you have a plan?”
“Not yet, but I will.”
“I want in, Tanner. I swore on Justina’s grave that I would be the man who killed Krupin.”
“Do you know what you’re asking? Even if we get in the building there’s no guarantee that we’ll ever get out alive.”
“I don’t care what happens to me, but I need to kill that man. You can have Juan Alvarado. You might be able to trade him to his father in a deal.”
Tanner shook his head.
“There’s no dealing with men like that. He would just go back on his word.”
“That’s true, but if you kill his son, he won’t rest until you’re dead.”
“It doesn’t matter. Once I kill the son, he’s next. This ends one of two ways, Ivanov, I die or Alvarado dies.”
“That means going to Mexico, and the man lives in a fortress from what I’ve gathered.”
“Why are there no pictures of him?”
“The word is, he paid to have them all destroyed when he took control of Mexico City and started his own cartel.”
“I need to know what the man looks like.”
“I’m working on it. I have a friend in the DEA. He says that Alvarado came out of a town called El Posa. He’s checking there to see if there are any old mug shots of the man in the files. By joining forces with Krupin, Alvarado’s made himself a higher priority of the DEA.”
“Are the Feds moving in on Krupin and Juan Alvarado?”
Ivanov made a sound of disgust.
“No they’re not, and I think it means that someone, maybe many people, have been bribed. The cartel has more money than God, and that money buys a lot of corruption.”
“It also works in our favor. We don’t want them arrested, we want them dead.”
“When are you going in?”
“There’s no way to know, and my current plans depend on Krupin and Alvarado making the next move.”
Ivanov considered that and saw only one way to ensure that he would be around when Tanner went for Krupin.
“From this point on I’m sticking with you; that way I won’t be left out.”
Tanner stared at the man and then sighed.
“Ivanov, I didn’t know y
our partner, but she wouldn’t want you to risk yourself needlessly. Walk away now, take some time off, and then get back to your life. Let me handle Krupin.”
“I have to do this, Tanner. I have to.”
“Fine, I’ll call Joe and tell him that I’m bringing back a guest.”
***
While Tanner was meeting with Ivanov, Rico was meeting with Juan Alvarado and Michael Krupin inside Alvarado’s suite.
They were sitting together in the living room while Rico filled them in on his progress.
“You’ve found Pullo and his men?” Juan asked.
“That’s right; Mike Conti of The Calvino Family planted a GPS on one of Pullo’s people.”
Juan Alvarado’s face screwed up in confusion.
“Why would this Mike Conti do that?”
Rico flicked his eyes over towards Krupin and then back at Juan.
“He was promised certain things.”
“By you? Rico, have you gone mad? You’re not authorized to speak for me.”
“This plan was begun with your father’s approval, he asked me to come up with a way to track down Pullo and I did.”
“Nevermind all that,” Krupin said. “Where is Pullo?”
“They’re at the Hotel Rutherford on Randall Street.”
“What?” Krupin said. “That hotel was Bruno Heinz’s, and you mean that Pullo has been there all along?”
“At least the last few days, since the attempt on his life.”
“That sneaky bastard, damn it, it just never occurred to me to look there.”
Rico grinned.
“That’s why he chose it.”
Juan slapped his hands together in triumph.
“Excellent, I’ll send the men in tonight.”
“No,” Rico said.
“What do you mean, no? Of course we go in, and by tomorrow our problems will be over.”
“No, we will wait and watch the hotel. I do not like how easy this is.”
“Why wait?”
“Listen to me, Juan; you do not want another disaster on your hands. This man Tanner is beyond clever. We’ll watch the building for a day and then we’ll go in tomorrow night if it looks good, but if I smell a trap, I’ll call the whole thing off.”
Alvarado stood and paced around the room, after leaning against the dormant fireplace, he spoke.
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