The Tanner Series - Books 1-11: Tanner - The hit man with a heart

by Remington Kane

  “I’m not a security guard,” Doc had complained privately. When Tanner pointed out that it paid better and was easier work than mucking out stalls, Doc agreed to take the job.

  They would be off the books and paid in cash. Maria also told them they would take it a day at a time, but that Tanner was off to a good start by ridding her of the Harvey brothers, who had been a nuisance for days.

  There was no Mr. Reyes, other than Maria’s teenage son, Javier. Her husband, Diego Reyes, had died a year earlier from a heart attack. However, Maria did have her children. Along with nineteen-year-old Javier, there was a sixteen-year-old daughter named Romina.

  As far as Tanner could tell, he and Doc were the only employees who would be living on-site, other than a housekeeper and cook named Mrs. Salgado, who had her own room inside the home.

  Mrs. Salgado was an energetic woman with long white hair. She had been with the family even before they moved to the United States from Mexico, the same year Maria gave birth to Romina.

  Tanner met Mrs. Salgado as he and Doc entered the home for dinner at Maria’s request. Tanner and Doc were escorted to the living room, where they were to wait until they were called to eat.

  Doc settled in a recliner and turned on the flat screen TV that hung on the opposite wall.

  “This is a real nice place, and even bigger than the old Parker house.”

  “You knew Frank Parker?”

  “I used to play poker with him, and McKay too, but that was a long time ago. I even delivered Parker’s kids right in this house. Well, I mean the old house.”

  Tanner walked over and stared down at Doc. “You’re Dr. Richards, Graham Richards?”

  “Yeah, but how do you know that?”

  “I heard the name mentioned years ago.”

  Doc stared up at him. “Do I know you? I mean back in the old days, but no, you’d be too young. I crawled into a bottle when you were just a kid.”

  “Do you still drink?”

  Doc reached into his pocket and pulled out a bronze medallion, which Tanner recognized as being a sobriety chip.

  “I haven’t taken a drink in over five and a half years. And I’ll tell you something, I hope this job works out. I need to settle down somewhere. I’m too old to keep living hand-to-mouth.”

  Footsteps came from the hall. When Tanner looked that way, he saw a girl standing in the doorway. It was Maria’s daughter, Romina. When the beautiful sixteen-year-old spotted Tanner, her eyes widened, and she smiled.

  “Hi.”

  “Hello. Are you Romina?”

  She nodded, and Tanner thought she looked like a younger version of her mother, with the same long lustrous hair, large eyes, and smooth light brown skin.

  “Are you two the guards Mom hired?”

  “Yes.”

  Romina looked at Doc and made a face. “He looks too old to guard someone.”

  “Right now, he’s guarding the TV remote.”

  Romina laughed and pointed down the hallway. “I have to go help Mrs. Salgado.”

  “We’ll see you later,” Tanner said, and Romina sent him a wave and walked toward the kitchen.

  Doc smiled. “She thinks I’m an old geezer, but she sure took a shine to you.”

  “You are an old geezer, and she’s just a kid,” Tanner said.

  Romina seemed well behaved to Tanner, but her brother impressed him as being a punk, as he sat across from Javier at the dinner table inside the Reyes’ home.

  The tattooed, muscular, and smug-looking Javier said very little, but he eyed Tanner as if he were an intruder, rather than a guard. From what Tanner gathered, Maria’s son neither worked on the ranch nor went to school, meaning that the boy had no sense of responsibility.

  And although he didn’t say much, Javier did have questions for Tanner.

  “What’s your experience?”

  “I recently disarmed and ran off the two men blocking your driveway, if that’s any help.”

  “How do we know you’re not really working for Chuck Willis?”

  “I guess you don’t and I’ll have to prove myself.”

  “Yeah, you will,” Javier said, and then he stayed silent and sulky during the rest of the meal.

  Although, Tanner did notice that Javier bristled whenever Romina spoke to him. He wondered if the boy thought he had eyes for his sister. If that’s what Javier was thinking, the kid could relax. Romina was a beauty, but too young. Tanner spent more time admiring her mother, Maria, even if the woman was ten years his senior.

  However, Doc was right about Romina taking a liking to Tanner. The teenager sat beside him and hung on every word he said.

  But, Maria did most of the talking, as she explained that Chuck Willis, a land developer and businessman, had made several offers for a section of her property. After she turned him down repeatedly, the ranch and its workers began to suffer “accidents.”

  Willis denied his involvement, but Maria didn’t believe the man.

  “It also doesn’t help that people think the land is cursed,” Romina said.

  When Tanner asked her what she meant by that, her eyes lit up. “Some people in town say that there are ghosts here, but we’ve never seen any.”

  “Whose ghosts would they be?” Tanner asked, and Maria sat her wine glass down and cleared her throat.

  “This land has a sad history; it’s the main reason that my husband and I got such a good deal when we bought it years ago.”

  Doc spoke up. “We both know that this used to be the Parker Ranch.”

  Maria looked relieved that she wouldn’t have to explain. “Oh good. And no one has ever claimed to see a ghost here… only at the cemetery.”

  Romina turned in her seat to face Tanner. “Why don’t we go for a walk after dinner and I’ll show you the graves.”

  Doc looked perplexed. “A walk? The town cemetery is a long ways off.”

  “They’re not buried there,” Romina said. “They were buried on this land.”

  “All of them?” Doc said.

  Romina nodded. “Mm-hmm, the entire Parker family, and they were all killed on the same night, even the poor baby.”

  Tanner pushed his plate aside, as his appetite had gone away.

  The first thing Tanner noticed about the graves was that they had been cared for. The grass around them was trimmed and the picket fence surrounding the small graveyard had been recently whitewashed.

  One of the graves was older than the others were. It contained the body of Frank Parker’s first wife. He had been laid to rest beside her, while his second wife, Claire, was buried on his opposite side.

  Maria and Doc had come along with Tanner and Romina, but stood outside the fence, as Romina walked near the graves with Tanner.

  “Who’s been keeping things so neat?”

  Romina smiled. “I do. Ever since I wrote a report about the Parkers last year for history class. I don’t know, it just felt right to take care of them.”

  “You wrote about what happened here?”

  “Yeah, and I got an A too.”

  “Thank you for caring for the graves.”

  “Why are you thanking me?”

  “Someone should.”

  They moved down the line of headstones until they reached the last one, which had the name Cody Parker engraved on it.

  Tanner took several deep breaths and then sniffled. When Romina looked at him, she saw that his eyes had grown moist.

  “Are you all right?”

  Tanner nodded and gestured at the graves. “It’s sad, that’s all.”

  Romina touched him on the arm. “You’re very sensitive, aren’t you?”

  “Not usually, no.”

  Maria called her daughter’s name and Romina walked off to join her mother beyond the fence.

  Tanner sat back on his haunches and looked down the line of graves.

  “I failed you all and I’m so sorry.”

  One last look at Cody Parker’s grave and Tanner left the cemetery with a new resolve.
Whatever was going on at the Reyes Ranch, he would not let history repeat itself. Even if it cost him his life, he would protect this family.

  No, he would not fail again.

  196

  Hell Hath No Fury

  THE PARKER RANCH, SEPTEMBER 1997

  Tanner smiled in admiration of Cody Parker’s skill with a rifle.

  The two of them were in a pasture and firing at a line of soda cans that were hanging from a tree limb. They had started the shooting contest at fifty yards, with the intention that the first one to miss had to pay to replace the soda. After blowing apart nearly two dozen cans, it didn’t appear that either of them would miss.

  They had an audience, as Cody’s twin sisters and their friend, Tonya, watched the match. All three girls cheered Cody on.

  The girls had been to school earlier, while Cody worked. Although only sixteen, he was already a high school graduate after having skipped two years. Cody worked full-time on the ranch. His father paid him a salary like any other hand, and Cody was banking it all with plans to someday travel and see the world.

  Tanner backed up as far as he could and stood before a white wooden fence. There were four cans of soda left and they had moved hundreds of yards away and slightly downhill.

  Tanner sighted on the next can in line, adjusted by feel for the wind and height, and then squeezed the trigger.

  Nearly a quarter of a mile away, the soda can jerked on its string as its contents fizzed and splattered the grass below it.

  Cody took the rifle from Tanner, looked through the scope, and blasted the last three remaining cans one after the other.

  “Damn, Cody. If you’re not a natural marksman then I don’t know who is,” Tanner said.

  Tonya smiled and clapped for Cody. “He’s the best!”

  Cody smiled back at her and the little girl practically melted.

  “Say now,” Cody said to his sisters. “Don’t you girls have chores to do?”

  They answered him in stereo. “Yes.”

  “Then go on now. And don’t make Tonya work, she’s a guest here.”

  “I don’t mind helping,” Tonya said, and she sent Cody a little wave, as she followed his sisters, who were walking off toward the barn.

  “All three of those girls are gonna break hearts someday,” Tanner said. “And that Tonya already has her eye on you.”

  “She’s just a baby.”

  “Yeah, now she is, but I bet you’ll be eyeing her yourself in ten years.”

  “I won’t be here in ten years. I want to travel a bit before I come back here to stay.”

  “You could join the army or the navy for that.”

  Cody shook his head. “I wouldn’t last a day. I’m not big on taking orders from anyone.”

  “I hear you, but if you did join, they’d place you in a sniper program, because I swear, Cody, I’ve never seen anyone shoot better.”

  Cody grinned at Tanner. “You’re damn good yourself; McKay’s men won’t stand a chance.”

  Tanner looked at Cody with a serious expression. “I meant what I said yesterday. Killing a man is not like killing an animal or hitting a target. Also, if you hesitate, you’re liable to wind up dead.”

  “I hear what you’re saying. I guess I’ll find out what I’m made of when the time comes.”

  “That time won’t come for you, not as long as I’m here. If McKay sends someone, I’ll kill them.”

  Cody leaned back against the fence. “Is that really how you make your living, by killing?”

  “It is.”

  “Were you ever a military sniper?”

  “No, like you, I’m not big on following orders. It’s why I’m my own boss.”

  “As a gun for hire?”

  “More or less.”

  “It sounds better than most work, but… if it was me, I wouldn’t kill just anybody, I’d want to know they had it coming.”

  “We all got it coming, Cody. God will see to that. No matter who you are or what you do, you’ll die. I figure that when I kill someone, I really haven’t changed anything, just sped things up.”

  “I get that. It’s like when my mother died. I was sad, and I missed her, I still miss her, but it made me understand that death was real, and we don’t get second chances.”

  Tanner fed fresh shells into the rifle as he spoke. “I take it you don’t believe in an afterlife then?”

  Cody shrugged. “I don’t know if life goes on or not, but I know this, it won’t be this life. And whatever happens after you die, it won’t be happening to me. If I died and woke up somewhere else, I’d be as different to the me I am now, as I am to the baby I once was, you know? And heaven? I mean, what the hell is that? Wouldn’t heaven have to be different for everyone, or else it wouldn’t be heaven, it would just be another place, only cleaner maybe.”

  Tanner laughed. “You’re a deep thinker, but I have to say, I see things pretty much the same way.”

  A voice called out from behind them and they turned to see Claire waving them in, as she held the baby in her other arm.

  “Looks like your stepmom wants you.”

  Cody acknowledged Claire with a wave of his own. “Maybe she wants to go to the market. She doesn’t drive, do you believe that?”

  “She must be a city girl,” Tanner said.

  “She is.”

  “About that shopping.”

  “Yeah?”

  Tanner tossed a thumb back at the tree, where some of the cans were still dripping. “Don’t forget to buy more soda.”

  Cody laughed, then he and Tanner hopped over the fence and headed back toward the house.

  At the McKay Ranch, Jack Sheer hobbled into his boss’s office on a pair of crutches, while his left foot wore a cast.

  McKay sent his foreman a look of disgust. “Not only did Tanner almost kill you, but he stole your work truck too. Would you like to know where it was found?”

  “You found my truck, where is it?”

  “It was left outside the Parker Ranch with the keys in it.”

  Sheer looked down at his cast. “I can’t even drive it, it’s got a clutch, so I’ve been using my car to get around.”

  “Did you hear what I said? It was at the Parker Ranch, which means that Tanner told Parker my plans.”

  Sheer shrugged. “Those plans are no big secret. You wanted to hire Tanner to kill Parker, am I right?”

  Sheer had settled on a red leather sofa on the left side of the room. McKay walked over with a drink in his hand and stared down at him with feverish eyes.

  “I want Frank Parker dead. Hell yes, I do, and I could have paid you to do that. I also want that whore Claire dead as well, and before either of them gets it, I want Parker to see his children die. That’s what I asked Tanner to do for me, and yeah, I’d like to keep it a secret.”

  Sheer looked away from his boss, whose bloodshot eyes bordered on madness.

  McKay stared down at him for several seconds, but then walked over and plopped into the chair behind his desk, which caused the ice cubes inside his glass to clink loudly.

  When Sheer spoke again, McKay almost didn’t hear it.

  “What was that?”

  “I said I’m not up to that, not killing kids, but I know a guy, not here, down in Mexico. He’s part of a drug gang. Him and his people… they’ll do anything.”

  McKay sat up straight in his chair, as his eyes brightened with interest. “Can you get in contact with this guy?”

  “I think so, but I’ll have to go to Mexico.”

  “Then go. But how much do you think he’ll want?”

  “His men will kill anybody he tells them to, even Claire’s baby, but it won’t be cheap.”

  “What’s your guess?”

  Sheer named a figure and McKay made a derisive sound. “Hell, Tanner would have cost me a lot more than that. I’ll tell you what, Jack, I’ll give you the amount you named plus five grand more, and whatever is left, you can keep, sort of as a fee for setting things up.”

/>   Sheer smiled wide. “You got a deal, Andy. I’ll head to Mexico tomorrow.”

  “This stays between you and me, and when this shit goes down, I’ll make sure we both have an alibi.”

  Sheer chuckled.

  “What’s so funny?”

  “I was thinking about that old expression, you know the one, about hell having no fury like a woman scorned.”

  “Hell’s got nothing on me either. When Claire left me for Parker and was fucking him behind my back, I became a laughingstock. But I’ll get the last laugh and I’ll see that whore dead.”

  Sheer grabbed his crutches and stood. “I’ll leave for Mexico right after breakfast tomorrow.”

  McKay poured himself another drink. “You do that, Parker and that bitch can’t die soon enough.”

  Sheer had reached the door when McKay called to him.

  “Yeah, Andy?”

  “This Mexican, tell him to take pictures and to make sure that Claire knows I’m the one who sent him to kill her.”

  Sheer felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand up; he answered his boss with a shaky smile. “I’ll do that,” Sheer said, and then he hobbled on out of the office.

  197

  Killing Is So Much Easier

  Romina turned out to be a runner and a member of the high school track team. Although there were no meets scheduled, Romina trained year-round.

  Tanner ran with her, while a nervous Doc stayed back at the ranch with the shotgun. Tanner wasn’t crazy about leaving Doc to guard the place alone, but he thought it was less of a risk than leaving Romina unguarded, and unlike the old days, he could be reached by phone at any time.

  They had jogged to the high school track together. Tanner was happy to sit in the bleachers and watch the swift girl complete her training laps, among a few other early morning runners who were mostly kids. He was still weakened from the shooting, and his ribs hurt when he ran, so the rest felt good.

  The new high school had been built three years earlier, as the town began expanding. It looked nothing like the old one, which had been a beige brick building that resembled a prison. The whole town had changed drastically over the years, and as far as Tanner could see, the changes had all been for the better.