A look passed between Tim and Madison, then Tim asked a question.
“That pile of bodies they found, was that you?”
“Yes, that was Richie Sullivan and his crew.”
“And this morning, those men downtown?”
“That was me as well, but I had help there, and that was just the beginning. the Conglomerate has declared war on me and I’m going to make them sorry they did.”
“Thank God I’m on your good side, and I will get into Richards’ office. Madison and I have a plan.”
“The sooner the better, and be careful. The Conglomerate doesn’t play games; if you’re caught, you’ll be killed.”
“Tanner,” Madison said and when Tanner looked at her, he saw she appeared anxious.
“What is it?”
“Did you, I mean, you didn’t kill my mother, did you?”
“No. I don’t do that sort of work. If I had to guess, I’d say your father gave the job to someone he knew he could trust, probably an amateur. If Johnny R knew about it, he could use it for blackmail; your father would know that.”
Madison looked as if a light had just come on in her mind.
“Al Trent, it was Al Trent. He’s Daddy’s assistant and he worships Daddy.”
“It’s possible,” Tanner said.
“Are you going to kill him too?”
“Only if he gets in my way.”
Madison sat up straighter, as mixed emotions danced across her face.
“I don’t give a damn about Al, but his Sister Marci and I were best friends all through high school, and his mother’s a sweetheart too. If he died, it would destroy them.”
“He should pay for killing your mother,” Tim said.
“You’re damn right he should, and maybe we’ll find proof in my father’s files that will put him away for it.”
“That’s not very likely,” Tanner said. “But I’ll try to come up with a plan that will make him accountable for your mother’s death. It will be payment for you helping Tim, but understand something, this doesn’t end until we get the Conglomerate’s files and break their encryption. That’s when we’ll be able to blackmail them.”
“I’ve been working on that,” Tim said. “And once we get the records, we’ll leave New York.”
“And go where?” Tanner said.
“I’ve got a place, a farm near the New Jersey/Pennsylvania border with lots of land; it’s where I was headed to when I was forced to hide in that warehouse.”
“I hope it’s safe and untraceable.”
“It is, and remote as hell.”
Tanner stared at him. “Get those files. I’m good and I’m hard to kill, but everyone’s luck runs out, and I’m going to push mine to the limit.”
“You can count on me, Tanner; you can count on us. Madison is going to run interference while I break into her father’s office.”
Tanner spoke as he climbed out of the car.
“This night supervisor, Carl Reese? Don’t underestimate him.”
“We won’t, and Tanner, stay safe, man.”
Tanner nodded at both of them, went to his vehicle and drove off.
Madison joined Tim in the front seat and let out a long breath.
“That was a little scary, but I think I like him, and I didn’t expect him to be so hot.”
Tim opened his mouth in shock. “Tanner?”
“He’s sexy, scary, but sexy.”
“And what about me?”
Madison reached over and took Tim in her arms. After a long kiss, they parted, but Tim wrapped his arms around her, as Madison leaned back against him.
“Tim, I’m scared. Are you sure drugging Reese will work?”
“Yeah, but remember, you have to drug him after he opens up your father’s office.”
“I know, but I worry about being alone with him. He really is a pig.”
“Be nice to him for one more night and we’ll be home free.”
“And Tanner?”
“Tanner won’t stop until he kills everyone that wants him dead.”
“Like my father?”
“Yes.”
Madison grew quiet, as tears rolled down her cheeks.
82
I Know Just The Guys
In a midtown pub, Sara greeted her sister Jennifer with a kiss and a hug.
The two sisters looked much alike, but Jennifer was a natural blonde and her eyes were an ice blue. She was six years older than Sara, had been married briefly, and ran a nonprofit that helped to fund clinics in third world countries.
Sara was not alone. She was seated at the bar with a burly man of fifty whose nose had obviously been broken many times. Before her sister arrived, Sara had passed the man an envelope. The envelope held money, money for a certain… service.
“You understand what I want done, correct?”
The man smiled. It was not a pleasant smile. “Don’t worry, I know just the guys.”
“How soon will it happen?”
“As soon as possible.”
“Thank you, Duke, and goodnight.”
“Goodbye, ladies.”
The man walked off and Jennifer pointed after him.
“Who was that?”
“Just an old acquaintance from my days with the Bureau.”
“You were rude. You forgot to introduce us.”
“No, I didn’t, and you’re early.”
Jennifer kissed her on the cheek again. “I’m early because I couldn’t wait to see you, and have you eaten dinner yet?”
“No, actually I’ve eaten very little and I’m hungry.”
Jennifer smiled. “We’ll get a table.”
Sara had slept most of the day and awoke feeling better, but her mouth was still sore from Vince’s punch, so she ordered a pasta dish.
They spoke of family during the meal, but as they considered what to have for dessert, Jennifer asked Sara about herself.
“Do you miss being an FBI agent?”
“Some, but I think the newspaper will keep me busy.”
“I’m surprised you don’t want to practice law like Daddy.”
“I think that would bore me to death.”
“You never did say why you were fired.”
“I don’t want to talk about that. Why don’t we just have a pleasant evening?”
“Are you dating anyone?”
“No… I’m still not ready for that.”
“I didn’t know Brian very well, but I could tell he loved you and I think he would want you to move on.”
“Maybe someday, but what about you? Are you seeing anyone?”
“I was dating a co-worker for a while, but he took a job in Washington, D.C., and I didn’t want a long-distance relationship.”
A few seconds later, Jennifer gasped in the middle of a sentence, as she stared over at the bar.
“Oh my God, that is one handsome man, and he’s looking this way.”
Sara turned her head to the left and saw her old partner staring at her, FBI Special Agent Jake Garner.
83
No Lube
Seven blocks west of the pub where Sara was dining with her sister, there was a restaurant named Jangles, which was owned and frequented by members of the Conglomerate.
Dante Celso stepped out of his limo in front of the eatery and headed toward the front door with two bodyguards flanking him.
Dante was a cousin of Johnny R and the man who ran the Conglomerate’s massage parlors.
He was aware of Tanner and knew that the man had caused havoc and made threats against his cousin and others, but Dante thought that it had nothing to do with him.
He was wrong.
Dante Celso’s dead body was falling toward the ground even as the shot that killed him echoed among the city’s concrete canyons, signaling the beginning of Tanner’s terror spree. By morning, there wouldn’t be a Conglomerate member in the city that felt safe.
Rafe Green returned to his hotel room and limped over to the bed.
; He’d been wounded twice while in the army and, illegal or not, Laurel Ivy was a good doctor. The stitches she put in his leg were sewn tight and whatever she’d given him for the pain was working, because his leg wound felt pleasantly numb.
After a shower, he ordered room service and then just sat on the side of the bed reliving the events of the day. He had killed two of the men that had attacked his brother, while the other three were either dead or injured.
Joe Pullo was still alive, and Tanner had asked Rafe to let him be, with the promise that he would deal with Pullo’s boss, Johnny R.
Rafe had agreed, grudgingly, but if his brother died—his cell phone rang.
When he looked at the caller ID, he felt apprehensive. It was his sister calling. Had Jerome passed away?
After taking a deep breath, Rafe answered.
“Hey Debby… is there news?”
“He’s awake! Jerome is awake and he seems fine. Oh Rafe, Jerome is back!”
Rafe let out a laugh of relief and wiped at tears of joy, the pain, stress, and horror of the day forgotten.
Sara frowned as she watched her sister touch Jake Garner once again.
The handsome FBI agent had charmed Jennifer within moments of meeting her, and the three of them had been chatting for some time, through dessert and several drinks.
Despite having once shot him, Sara liked Garner, but he was the last man she would want her sister to get involved with. Jennifer wasn’t frivolous when it came to love, while Garner was a world-class Lothario.
“Didn’t you say you had to work tomorrow, Jenny?” Sara said.
Jennifer sent her sister a wink. “You don’t fool me, Sara, you want Jake all to yourself, but you’re right, I do have to get up early, so I’ll say goodnight.”
“You didn’t drive here, did you?”
“No honey, don’t worry, I’m taking a cab, and you do the same. You drank as much as I did.”
Garner rose as her sister stood and Jennifer gave him a peck on the cheek.
“I hope to see you again, Jake.”
“I would like that as well,” Garner said.
Sara gave her sister a kiss and a hug goodbye and after Jennifer departed, she stared at Garner.
“No.”
“No what?”
“Not my sister. She’s not going to be one of your conquests.”
“That would be up to her, wouldn’t it?”
“There are plenty of other women in this city, or have you already had them all? At the rate you go through women, I wouldn’t be surprised.”
Garner laughed, but then his face turned serious and he reached over and took Sara’s hand.
“How are you? I mean how are you really?”
“I haven’t given up on finding Tanner if that’s what you mean.”
He released her hand and touched her cheek tenderly.
“Does that bruise have something to do with Tanner?”
Sara looked surprise and took out a makeup compact to check her face in the mirror.
“I didn’t think it was noticeable, Jenny never mentioned it.”
“Jenny isn’t a trained observer, but I am, and you haven’t answered my question.”
“Yes, it did have something to do with Tanner, although it wasn’t caused by him.”
Garner stared at her while shaking his head. “I wish you could let Tanner go, but live and let live just isn’t part of your DNA, is it?”
Sara smiled. It was a smile much like the one on the face of the man she’d been meeting with when her sister showed, a smile devoid of all warmth.
“I don’t do forgive and forget, a fact the man who gave me this bruise will learn the hard way.”
On Mulberry Street, Vince Maggio, Sara’s would-be rapist, awoke with a start as a gag was shoved into his mouth and secured with a length of duct tape.
When he tried to sit up, two sets of powerful hands pushed him to lay flat atop his bed, before flipping him over to secure his wrists behind his back.
His boxer shorts were yanked off, leaving him naked; then, his ankles were spread and secured to the footboard by coarse rope. Afterwards, pillows were wedged beneath his midsection, causing his ass to rise, and become more accessible.
Vince bellowed behind the tape, but the pleas and protests came out unintelligible, and would not carry beyond the walls of his apartment.
As one masked man held him down, the other stepped out of his pants, and soon he was positioned on the bed behind Vince, who was shedding tears born of dread.
The man smacked Vince hard on the ass and began screwing the top off a tube.
The second man spoke up. He was smaller than the first man, even though he was six-foot-four and weighed three hundred pounds. However, their anatomy would be only one of Vince’s concerns, they also brought along… toys, extra-wide, extra-long… toys.
“No lube, man. Remember, the lady wants it to hurt.”
The other man shrugged, took aim, and gave Vince cause to scream.
From that night forward, even hearing the word rape made Vince Maggio want to vomit.
84
Stone Cold Sober
Tanner killed two men inside a Conglomerate drug warehouse before the other bodyguards could pinpoint where the shooting was coming from.
He then used one man as a shield, as he tossed an incendiary grenade beneath a long table where money was stacked high.
The grenade was a dud Tanner had rigged, but it smoked, sizzled, and caused everyone to head for the exits, including the bodyguards, who shoved and trampled their unarmed co-workers who were there to count the money.
Tanner found himself alone within seconds. He used an arm to swipe piles of cash into a knapsack, while wincing at the pain in his side. He’d been hit in the vest and the rib beneath it hurt like hell.
With the sack full of cash, he tossed a live grenade beside the dud he had thrown. This grenade was also specially rigged, with a longer than normal fuse.
Tanner went neither to the front nor the back, but to the roof, where he had earlier killed the two guards positioned there.
As he stepped out into the night, he could hear the bodyguards rushing back into the room, some cursing vehemently at having been deceived.
Tanner closed the door to the roof behind him just as a blast emanated from below, followed by the screams of his enemies.
The Conglomerate, in the person of Frank Richards, declared war on Tanner, and Tanner was waging war in return.
Within seconds, he was four roofs away and climbing back down a rope he had used to climb up with. Then, he drove off in the vehicle of a bookie he had killed earlier, his night of death not yet done.
Sara wondered where the time went, as she and Garner left the pub at closing time, which was two a.m. When he mentioned that he knew a nearby jazz club that stayed open until four, she gave him a sly smile.
“Are you trying to get me drunk?”
“I think we’re both nearly there, but I really just want the night to continue. I enjoy your company, Sara.”
Sara laid a hand on his cheek. “I had a good time too, Jake. You’re more interesting than I would have thought, but I think I should be getting home.”
“I’ll escort you.”
Sara opened her mouth to say no, but as she looked up into Garner’s face, she uttered the word, “Fine.”
They were standing before her apartment door a short time later and Sara could feel the alcohol seeping into her bloodstream. She realized she hadn’t been drunk in a long time and couldn’t remember the last time she had enjoyed an evening out.
Garner bent to kiss her, but she pressed a hand against his chest.
“I’m not inviting you in. I like you and you’re every bit as good-looking as you think you are, but I’ll be damned if I’ll be just another conquest for you to brag about.”
Garner looked abashed and took a step backwards. To Sara’s surprise, she felt disappointment over him giving up so easily.
Her resolve w
as weakening. She hadn’t been with a man since Brian Ames, and like most young women, she had her needs.
Garner gazed into her eyes. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have done that. You’ve made your feelings about me plain and I should respect that.”
“I don’t dislike you, Jake. In fact, the more I see of you, the more I like.”
“Then may I see you again?”
She blinked in surprise. “What? You mean like a date?”
“On any terms you want, but I’d like to stay in contact.”
Suspicion seeped into her gaze. “You accused me earlier of holding a grudge, but what about you? After all, I did shoot you once.”
“Actually, you shot me three times, and I don’t hold that against you. Well, not much anyway. You have my number and… I hope to hear from you.”
He kissed her, but it was just a quick peck on the cheek and then he was walking off toward the elevator.
Sara watched him go as mixed emotions roiled within her, and she nearly called him back.
After Garner disappeared onto the elevator with a wave goodbye, Sara fumbled with her keys and entered her apartment.
She hit the light switch as she closed the door, and when she turned around, she saw Tanner standing in her living room and pointing a shotgun at her.
The sight sobered her instantly.
85
Mama’s Boy
Tim Jackson could hardly believe his luck as he slid in behind Frank Richards’ desk at MegaZenith.
He and Madison had come up with a plan to drug Carl Reese by putting the date rape drug, Rohypnol, in Reese’s coffee at break time, and had bought several of the pills from a pot dealer in the East Village.
The plan proved to be unnecessary, because after entering the security code and unlocking the door, Reese was called away to deal with a crisis of some sort on a lower floor and failed to secure the office when he left.
The Tanner Series - Books 1-11: Tanner - The hit man with a heart Page 24