One of the other runners, a woman, was staring at him from where she stood and stretched, near the fence that circled the track. As Romina ran by, the woman pointed at Tanner and said something to Romina, who nodded to the woman and kept running.
The auburn-haired woman headed toward Tanner. As she came up the steps, Tanner could see that she was in her late twenties and very attractive, with large blue eyes that seemed to sparkle in the newly risen sun.
Tanner gestured at Romina. “You asked her if she knew me, didn’t you?”
The woman smiled, and before answering, her eyes studied Tanner. “I was just making sure you weren’t a pervert checking out the high school girls. It happens more often than you’d think. By the way, my name is Tonya Jennings.”
Tonya extended her hand as she said her name, and she noticed that Tanner hesitated before shaking it. She then studied him closer, as something about him seemed familiar.
“Have we met before, Mr….?”
“Tanner, just call me Tanner. And yes, we may have met at some point, but I haven’t been in this area for nearly twenty years.”
“I was just a girl back then.”
“And what are you now?” Tanner said, while still holding her hand.
Tonya’s cheeks reddened slightly, and she gave a little laugh. “I’m all woman now, Tanner, and I think there might be a little pervert in you after all.”
“Guilty,” Tanner said, then he asked Tonya a question as she sat beside him. She was wearing a jogging outfit, which consisted of a long-sleeve white T-shirt and a flattering pair of black Spandex pants. “Are you a teacher too?”
“I am a teacher, but why did you ask it like that?”
“What do you mean?”
“It’s just that, my mother is also a teacher, retired now. Usually, people know about her when they ask if I’m a teacher too, like you did, instead of simply asking if I were a teacher.”
“Let me guess, you teach grammar?”
Tonya laughed. “I actually teach math. Now tell me something, how do you know Romina?”
Tanner explained that he had been hired on as security. When he gave the reason why, Tonya shook her head.
“I’m sorry, I know about the problems at the ranch, but I also know Chuck Willis and I find it hard to believe that he would be using such tactics. Mr. Willis is a good man who has done a lot for this town.”
“Do you know him well?”
“I do. I’m dating his executive assistant, Trey Broderick.”
“Lucky Trey, and as far as Willis goes, Maria Reyes is convinced that he wants her land.”
“I don’t know about the land, but Mr. Willis is not the ruthless type.”
Romina finished her training and bounded up the stairs, looking sweaty, but barely breathing hard after running five miles.
She kissed Tonya on the cheek and smiled at Tanner. “Ms. Jennings is my favorite teacher. She also tutors me for free.”
“Not for free,” Tonya said, as she stood. “I do it so I can enjoy Mrs. Salgado’s cooking, and I’ll be by tonight to help you study for your test.”
Tanner stood. “I guess I’ll see you later.”
Tonya nodded absently as she studied Tanner again. “I’m sure we’ve met before. What’s your first name, Tanner?”
“It’s just Tanner.”
Tonya smiled. “Just Tanner? No, I would have remembered a man with only one name. I guess you remind me of someone, it’s something about your eyes.”
“Have a good day, Tonya.”
“You too, Tanner.”
Romina watched Tanner, as he watched Tonya Jennings walk down the bleacher steps and head toward the track.
“She’s got a boyfriend.”
“So she said.”
“You like her?”
“What’s not to like?”
“She’s a great teacher; she can even make math fun.”
Tanner took out his phone and checked the time. “We should get back.”
They jogged toward the ranch along the shoulder of the road, but walked the second half so that Romina could cool down after her run.
“Would you date me if I was a little older, Tanner?”
“I might, but you’re not older.”
“I know. I just wondered if you liked me.”
“I like you fine, but you must have a boyfriend.”
“I do, but he’s changed. I think I’m going to break up with him today.”
“How has he changed?”
Romina gave a little shrug. “I’ve smoked pot, you know, but Billy, that’s my boyfriend, he’s really gotten into drugs, like coke. I think he’s even tried heroin. That’s not for me. I guess we’re just going in different directions.”
“Don’t worry; you’ll have no problem finding volunteers to replace him.”
She smiled shyly. “I’ve already become friends with a boy at school and he’s told me that he likes me a lot.”
“Good.”
“Not good.”
“Why not?”
Romina stopped walking. “His dad is Chuck Willis.”
Tanner looked at her. “Just how much do you like this Willis boy?”
“A lot, but I don’t know if I should date him, you know, with what’s going on with our parents and all.”
Tanner sighed. Guarding people was much more complicated than just killing them.
“I think I’ll go talk to Willis and find out what he wants.”
Romina kissed him on the cheek. “Thank you, Tanner. I’ll put in a good word for you with Miss Jennings. I don’t like her boyfriend.”
“Why don’t you like him?”
“He’s too pretty, and he’s always working. She’d be much better off with you.”
“I won’t be here very long though, just long enough to find out what’s going on.”
“You don’t think that Mr. Willis is behind everything?”
“I don’t know; it’s why I want to meet him.”
They continued walking back toward the ranch. As they stepped around the final curve in the road, Tanner saw that they had visitors.
The Harvey brothers were back.
198
Friends With Benefits
THE PARKER RANCH, SEPTEMBER 1997
Claire had waved Cody in, not to go shopping, but because he had a visitor. Cody’s visitor was so beautiful that Tanner envied the boy. The girl’s name was Raven, and it fit the dark-haired, dark-eyed beauty well.
Cody introduced Raven to Tanner, then the two of them headed upstairs to his room, as Claire watched them with disapproval registering on her face.
“What’s the matter, Mrs. Parker, you don’t like Cody’s girlfriend?” Tanner asked.
Claire turned and stared at him. “That’s not his girlfriend. She’s Jimmy Kyle’s girl, the kid that quarterbacks the football team.”
Tanner grinned. “So, ah, she and Cody are just friends, is that it?”
“No, that is not it. She sneaks over here to see him just for sex. I also had to end a friendship with someone I caught coming out of his room when I arrived back home unexpectedly, a grown woman in her thirties.”
Tanner’s grin widened as he ran a hand over his beard. “The kid’s got game.”
“You find Cody’s sexual escapades amusing, Mr. Tanner?”
“A little, but mostly I envy him. Raven is very beautiful.”
The look of disapproval was back in Claire’s eyes, but this time it was aimed at Tanner.
“Men. All you care about is sex.”
Tanner looked at the baby in Claire’s arms. Baby James, who was conceived while she was married to McKay and sleeping with Frank Parker behind McKay’s back.
“Well now, Mrs. Parker, we can’t all be as pure as you.”
Claire caught his meaning and her cheeks reddened.
“Shouldn’t you be doing something? Or is my husband paying you to stand around and talk?”
“Your husband is paying me to keep you safe, because y
our ex-husband has gone off the rails.”
Claire bit her lower lip and then tossed her head to the right. “Follow me to the kitchen, Mr. Tanner. I want to hear about this meeting you had with Andy.”
“I could go for a cup of java, and the name is just Tanner.”
They had coffee at the kitchen table while the baby sat in his high chair and gummed animal crackers. Tanner relayed to Claire the story he had told her husband, Frank Parker, only he left out the part about McKay wanting the children dead.
When he was done speaking, he saw Claire shudder. Her hand shook as she lowered her mug of coffee onto the kitchen table.
“He must be mad. I cheated on him, but I never rubbed it in. Once I realized I had fallen in love with Frank I asked Andy for a divorce.”
“What was his reaction at the time?”
Claire pointed at her face. “He hit me. It closed my left eye and rendered me unconscious. I woke up in the hospital, and when I was discharged, I came here to live.”
“Parker should have killed McKay right then and there for laying a hand on you.”
Claire cocked her head and stared at him. “Cody said the very same words at the time. You and my stepson are much alike. You think that violence is a cure-all for every problem.”
“It does solve many problems, but not all. And you never know when you’ll need a gun.”
“That’s ridiculous. No one needs a gun. If you ask me, there are too many people carrying them in this state.”
“Where are you from, Claire?”
“New York City, but I left there years ago.”
“Maybe, but it hasn’t left you.”
That made Claire smile. “Where are you from, Tanner?”
“Here and there. My old man was a farm equipment salesman who never stayed in the same town for more than a year. Luckily for me, I like to travel.”
“Have you been a bodyguard for long?”
“Bodyguard?”
“That’s what you do, isn’t it?”
Tanner knew the truth would frighten her and only complicate matters. He himself wasn’t sure why he was guarding this family, other than the affinity he felt with Cody Parker.
“Yeah,” Tanner said. “That’s what I do. I keep people safe.”
And as if it were a reaction to his blatant lie, baby James threw up.
199
Round Two
The Harvey brothers, Ernie and Rich, stepped from their pickup truck as Tanner and Romina approached the entrance of the Reyes Ranch.
Both men were bigger than Tanner and each one outweighed him by thirty pounds. As they walked toward him, they stood with straight backs and their arms held out slightly from their sides, in a subconscious effort to appear as huge as they could.
Tanner told Romina to head to the barn and find Doc, so that the older man could return with the shotgun. Curiosity overcame the girl, and after walking just a few steps down the driveway, she turned to see what would happen next.
If the brothers had acquired new weapons since Tanner took their guns away, they didn’t display them. By the sneers lighting their faces, Tanner could tell they just wanted to kick his ass.
His gun was secured against the small of his back. He decided to leave it there unless needed. Ernie, the one with darker hair, came at him from the left, while Rich approached from the front. Tanner raised his hands up to shoulder height and took a step backwards, as he feigned being intimidated.
It worked. After sharing a smug, knowing look with each other, the brothers relaxed and sauntered toward Tanner, who still stood with his hands up, as if to say that he didn’t want any trouble.
Had they been paying attention, the Harvey brothers might have noticed that the fingers of Tanner’s hands were straight and pressed together with the thumbs tucked in, and they might have had a chance to block his first blows.
As the men crowded in on him, and Ernie was about to take hold of his shirt, Tanner jabbed his stiff fingers into the men’s throats.
Ernie got the worst of it, as he was closer. He stumbled backwards while clutching his neck with both hands, as a raspy, guttural moan fell from his lips.
The blow hurt Rich, but after coughing once and moving away from Tanner, he was red-faced with fury and came charging in.
Tanner waited until Rich was almost upon him, then he dropped flat to the ground. Unable to halt his forward momentum, Rich tripped over Tanner and came down hard on his right knee.
He then spent the next thirty seconds hissing through his teeth in pain, as he rocked on the ground clutching his leg, with his bare knee showing. The knee was scraped and bloody beneath the torn fabric of his twill pants.
Tanner walked over and looked down at Ernie, who was lying on his back in the street and gasping for breath. His face was a bright pink and he gazed back at Tanner with frightened eyes.
“Can’t… breathe.”
Tanner called to Rich, who was just rising from the ground. “Your brother needs a doctor.”
Concern lit Rich’s face as he hobbled over with the bad knee to check out his brother.
“Oh shit, what did you do to him?”
“I taught him to never fuck with me again.”
Rich glared at Tanner, then his gaze grew less harsh. “I need help. With this knee, I’ll never get him in the truck by myself.”
Tanner reached down and grabbed Ernie beneath the left arm. After Rich took his right, they dragged the wheezing, red-faced thug to the truck and piled him onto the passenger seat.
As Rich started the engine, Tanner removed the gun from his back and pointed it at Rich’s face.
“Come at me again, or do anything to the Reyes family, and I will kill both of you.”
Rich nodded as he stared at the gun, which Tanner had taken from him in their first encounter. After Tanner stepped back, Rich put the truck in gear, hung a U-turn, and sped off.
Romina ran to Tanner with a big grin showing and hugged him. “That was awesome!”
“Thanks for getting Doc.”
“Oh, you didn’t need him. You kicked both their asses.”
“It would have been a different story if they knew what they were doing, but they’re used to everyone being intimidated by their size.”
“But you weren’t, right?”
“No, I was. They’re both bigger than I am. It’s why I asked you to get Doc.”
Romina looked abashed. “I should have gotten him, and I’m sorry, but I just couldn’t not watch.”
Tanner pointed toward the driveway entrance. “C’mon, you’ve got to get ready for school.”
Once at the house and inside the kitchen, Romina recounted Tanner’s fight with the Harvey brothers over breakfast. She did so in a very theatrical manner, which caused Maria and Doc to laugh, while Javier listened with an expression that said he found the tale to be a tall one.
“It sounds like you got lucky, Tanner,” Javier said. “If either one of them had landed a punch on you the fight would have been over.”
“That’s why I made sure that they didn’t,” Tanner said.
After grunting, Javier grabbed a motorcycle helmet from the counter and went off to ride his bike, a Harley.
As everyone else rose from the table, Maria walked over and kissed Tanner on the cheek. “Thank you for protecting my daughter. I don’t know what they would have done if she were alone.”
“You’re welcome, but we’ve spent enough time being on the defensive.”
“What do you mean?”
“I want to talk to Chuck Willis, and I want you to come with me. Maybe we can keep things from escalating.”
Maria’s eyes grew fiery. “That man just sent thugs to my home. I may not be able to control my temper.”
“I still think you should talk. Also, I want to get a feel for him.”
Romina walked over and smiled up at Tanner. “Are you going to kick his ass too?”
Tanner looked at her and then at Maria.
“I’ll do whatever
it takes to keep you safe, count on it.”
200
Pablo
STARK, TEXAS, SEPTEMBER 1997
At the McKay Ranch, three of the hands watched as Jack Sheer drove away, headed for Mexico.
The three men all went by nicknames. They were Slim, who was slim. Pug, who had a wrinkled face like a pug. And Okie, who was from Oklahoma. Okie was the biggest of the three and the other two followed him around.
Okie pointed at Sheer’s departing truck. “Jack’s going off to find someone who’ll fix McKay’s problem.”
“What problem?” Slim said. “Having too much money?”
“I’m talking about that slut ex-wife of his. Everybody knows the man wants her dead.”
Pug’s wrinkles relaxed as he smiled. “I miss seeing that girl around here, she was fine as hell.”
Okie spit tobacco juice into the dirt before he spoke. “She was a slut, sleeping around with Parker behind McKay’s back. I tell you boys, McKay will pay a pretty penny to see her dead.”
Slim narrowed his eyes. “What are you saying, Okie, you want to kill her?”
“Think about it. Somebody is gonna whack her for McKay sooner or later. If we did it, no one would suspect. When we bring McKay proof that she’s dead, he’ll pay us, and I bet he pays us good.”
Slim shook his head. “I know we beat them two fags to death that time we was drunk in Dallas, but I never killed a woman.”
“Hell, I’ll kill her,” Pug said. “What we do is, we steal a van, wear masks, and grab her while she’s out somewhere.”
Okie smiled in agreement. “Once we have her, we can take her out to that old well we found and dump her body in there.”
Okie looked at Slim. “Are you in? Either we all do this, or none of us, because one man has to drive and run interference while the other two grab her.”
The Tanner Series - Books 1-11: Tanner - The hit man with a heart Page 63