Slim nibbled at his lower lip, but then nodded. “Yeah, I’m in, but listen, before we kill her… I say we fuck her.”
Both Okie and Pug looked at Slim as if he were stupid.
“Well, hell yes, we’ll fuck her,” Pug said. “Anything else would be a goddamn shame.”
At the Parker Ranch, Cody watched with growing curiosity as his eleven-year-old twin sisters walked toward the barn carrying food and a quart of milk.
He had just entered the kitchen when he caught sight of them through the window, their braided blonde ponytails bouncing along behind them as they rushed along, while still dressed in their pajamas, robes, and slippers.
Cody followed, but walked around to the side door, where he placed an ear to it. He heard the girls talking to someone. He entered the barn and realized that the girls were up in the loft.
Cody climbed the ladder as quietly as he could. When he raised his head up above floor level, and then continued up, the girls spun around, with Jill dropping the milk bottle, which thankfully didn’t break after landing in straw.
There was a Mexican boy with them. He was a little older than Cody and wearing clothes that weren’t much more than rags. He looked as if someone had recently given him a beating. Faded bruises covered his arms and face, while his left eye was puffy. Cody saw the boy swallow hard, and he also saw the fear in his eyes.
“What’s going on here?”
Jill came over and took her brother’s hand. “This is Pablo, Cody. We found him hiding in here a few days ago. And look, somebody beat him up.”
“Why didn’t you say something about him?”
“Tonya said we should, but we were afraid. We thought that Daddy or Claire might make him leave the ranch.”
Cody walked closer and saw Pablo cringe as he if were expecting violence. “Hey, Pablo, my name is Cody. I won’t hurt you.”
“Neither will I,” said a voice from behind. When Cody turned his head, he saw Tanner climbing up from the ladder.
Pablo said something in Spanish and Cody shook his head. “I speak a little Spanish, Pablo, but I don’t know what you said.”
“He said he didn’t mean any harm and he’ll leave,” Tanner said, then he spoke to Pablo in Spanish, was answered, and after going back and forth several times, Tanner translated for Cody.
“He came across the border five days ago after both his parents drowned on their fishing boat. From what he says, it sounds like some of McKay’s men gave him that beating after they caught him hiding in a tool shed.”
Cody looked Pablo over and winced. “We’d better have a doctor look at him. He might have broken ribs, and I don’t like the look of that eye.”
“One more thing,” Tanner said. “He’s scared. He said that all he wants to do is go and… he begged not to be hurt again.”
Little Jill wiped away a tear and took Pablo’s hand. “Nobody will hurt you. Right, Cody?”
Cody smiled at Pablo, as he spoke to Tanner. “Tell him everything’s cool and that he can stay.”
Tanner relayed the message and Cody watched as Pablo visibly relaxed.
Jill and Jessie hugged their brother about the waist.
“He can really stay? What if Daddy wants him gone?” Jessie said.
“I’ll handle Daddy, but once he’s well, Pablo goes to work. We can use another hand anyway.”
Cody sent the girls back to the house to get dressed. He and Tanner followed with Pablo, after the boy had eaten the food the girls had given him.
They were taking him to the house so he could get clean and change into some of Cody’s clothes, as the boy was nearly his height.
Frank and Claire were entering the kitchen the same time that Tanner and Cody were bringing Pablo in through the back door. They stopped in their tracks and stared at them.
“Who’s he?” Frank said, as he pointed at Pablo.
“His name is Pablo, Dad. He came across the border and had the bad luck of hiding out on McKay’s ranch. Some of McKay’s men beat him up like this.”
Claire handed baby James to his father and went over to look at Pablo’s wounds. When she spoke to him in Spanish and he answered, Cody raised an eyebrow in surprise.
“Where did you learn to speak Spanish?”
“In New York. My parents had a Spanish maid, and I grew up with her daughters. They were Puerto Rican, not Mexican, but we can understand each other.”
She spoke to Pablo again and Cody saw Claire’s gaze darken with sorrow.
“He’s all alone, his parents are dead.”
“Yeah, he told Tanner that. Tanner speaks Spanish too.”
Claire looked back at her husband. “You must have something he can do on the ranch, no?”
Frank sighed. “He’s a sorry-looking thing, but yeah, we’ll keep him fed and he can sleep in the other guest room for now. But how bad off is he?”
Claire spoke to Pablo again.
“He says he’s sore, but that nothing was broken, and he can see out of that swollen eye. He’s probably right about being okay. If he had internal injuries, he wouldn’t have an appetite.”
Frank looked at his son. “He’s all yours, Cody. See that he gets straightened out. We’ll find a job for him around here after he heals up.”
Pablo still looked apprehensive, but when Claire translated, he bowed his head repeatedly toward Frank while saying, “Gracias.”
Frank smiled. “De nada, boy.”
Cody led Pablo upstairs to get clean and Tanner settled at the table beside Frank, who was still holding the baby.
“It’s good of you to take care of that boy,” Tanner said.
Frank shrugged. “I only pray that someone would return the favor if one of my children were left all alone in this world.”
“We’ll never have to worry about that,” Claire said, as she prepared the coffeemaker.
For some reason, her words sent a chill down Tanner’s spine.
201
Guilty Or Innocent?
Willis Financial Services was located on the land that had once been the McKay Ranch. That made the trip there a short one for Tanner and Maria.
Tanner had gone shopping first and was wearing a new black suit without a tie, along with a pair of new boots. He also picked up the fake ID Tim Jackson sent him and confirmed that the farm back in Ridge Creek was being attended to by an acquaintance.
Tanner had to assume that Sara Blake had not only revealed that he was still alive, but also that he had been masquerading as Romeo all along. Once he settled things in Texas, he would have to head back to New York City and deal with the fallout. On the bright side, it would give him a chance to see Sophia Verona again, a thought that pleased him.
However, the downside was that he would also be walking back into a city where he was a marked man. Although, with the info he now had concerning the Conglomerate’s financial dealings, he should have no trouble forging a truce.
He and Maria had arrived at Willis Financial without an appointment and Tanner expected to be kept waiting. He was surprised when they were ushered up to Willis’s office almost right away.
The young security guard who escorted them was a large man in a spotless white shirt, black pants, and shoes that shined as if they were new.
The man was courteous and respectful toward them. Tanner began to think that Chuck Willis was either innocent of the campaign of harassment being waged against the Reyes Ranch, or too devious to make his intentions obvious.
The guard escorted them to the top floor of the six-story building, where they were handed off to Trey Broderick, who was Willis’s executive assistant, and Tonya Jennings’ boyfriend.
Trey was in his thirties, with golden hair coiffed in that way that only Ivy League School graduates seem to have perfected.
He was about Tanner’s size, but there was a softness about him, along with the pallor he wore. Tanner wondered if the man ever went outside during daylight hours. Still, Trey Broderick was handsome. Tanner guessed it was his looks tha
t drew Tonya to him.
Chuck Willis was in his mid-forties, divorced, and turned out to be nearly as handsome as his assistant. Willis was tall and slim. He greeted Maria with a smile that would have melted most female hearts; however, Maria answered it with a cold stare.
“Mrs. Reyes, it’s good to see you again.”
“Unfortunately, I cannot say the same, Mr. Willis. As a matter of fact, I think you know why.”
“There’s been more trouble at your ranch?”
“Yes. Two of your employees have been parked outside the entrance to the ranch and intimidating anyone who attempted to seek employment with us. Or I should say almost anyone, as Mr. Tanner here drove them off twice.”
“My employees? What are their names?”
“I’m speaking about the Harvey brothers. I was told by someone that they work on the loading dock here.”
Willis’s demeanor changed, and he snorted with disgust. “Those two men no longer work for me, not since one of my security personnel discovered they were selling drugs on company property, marijuana. That was nearly six months ago, and I assure you, Mrs. Reyes, I wish you and your ranch no harm.”
Maria’s gaze softened under Willis’s seeming sincerity, but the next words out of Willis’s mouth made her raise her guard again.
“By the way, I have a new offer concerning your land; do you have time to discuss it?”
Maria turned to Tanner with a look that said, “See what a sneaky weasel this man is?” She moved toward Willis until she was standing near enough to hug him, then looked up into his eyes.
“Listen to me, you bastard. I will never sell you that land. Send the Harvey brothers to harass us, send a damn army, and my answer will be the same. No! You will never have my land.”
Willis appeared flustered, and as he opened his mouth to respond, Maria spun around and headed toward the door.
“We’re leaving, Tanner.”
“Please, wait,” Willis said, but Maria kept going, and her heels clacked loudly against the tile floor as she headed toward the elevators.
Tanner gave Willis one last look and was puzzled by the appearance of what seemed to be sincere angst on the man’s face. It was as if Maria’s words not only wounded him, but that he dreaded her disapproval.
Trey Broderick’s face displayed nothing, and Tanner wondered what part he played, if any, in what was happening at the ranch.
Tanner joined Maria by the elevators just as one opened. The last sight they saw before the doors closed was that of Willis, who walked over and gazed at Maria while once more proclaiming his innocence. His words were cut short by the closing of the doors.
“That man. Did you see how devious he was? First, he says he’s as innocent as a lamb, but not two seconds passed before he was trying to get me to sell to him again. It makes me furious!”
They returned to the parking lot and climbed back in the truck. As Tanner signaled to turn right toward the ranch, Maria pointed left.
“Let’s go into town. It’s nearly lunch time and I need a drink.”
“You’re the boss,” Tanner said, and drove toward the center of town.
202
Centavo-Wise And Peso-Foolish
MATAMOROS, MEXICO, SEPTEMBER 1997
Jack Sheer hobbled along on his crutches into a bar on Avenida Marte R. Gómez and weaved his way toward the rear, where there were several young Mexican men wearing shoulder holsters. One of the men stopped him and asked him his business, while speaking English without an accent.
Sheer pointed to where four men sat in a booth with padded seats, which were covered in black-and-red leather squares. Three of the men weren’t known to Sheer, but the fourth man, the man with his back to the wall and a clear view of the entrance was the man that Jack had come to see. The man greeted Sheer with a nod of recognition and signaled to the young man that it was acceptable to let him pass.
The man’s name was Martillo, which was the Spanish word for hammer. It was a name he had carried since killing his first man with a claw hammer when he was only nine.
He was a thick-bodied man with huge hands. His squat head sat on his shoulders with no discernible neck visible above his collar. Martillo’s dark shiny hair was worn down to his shoulders, and his eyebrows were like twin mustaches that had been placed over his dead eyes.
Martillo was an amateur chess player who liked to use the game’s terminology whenever he discussed business, on the off chance that he was being recorded or overheard.
Martillo asked the other three men to leave the table, then he gestured for Sheer to take a seat.
Sheer wedged his ample gut into the booth and smiled. “Martillo, how are you?”
“I am good, Jack, and I’ve risen in stature since our last dealings.”
Martillo’s soft voice carried with it a strong accent, but he enunciated each English word carefully, so was easily understood.
“I’m glad, Martillo, because I have need of your expertise.”
“I see, and how many pieces would you like to have removed from the board?”
“Six, and four of those are too young to play.”
Martillo raised a bushy eyebrow. “That is unusual, and it will, of course, cost extra.”
“We’re prepared to pay.”
“We?”
“I’m here for my boss.”
“Ah, your king. And does your king know the rules of the game?”
“Yes,” Sheer said.
The rules were that if any of Martillo’s men were killed or injured, it would be up to McKay to make things right with a payment. If any of the men were captured, McKay had to see that they were given bail so they could flee back across the border. McKay and Sheer would also need to establish alibis for the time Martillo’s men were performing their acts of slaughter.
“Are you certain, Jack? I will be sending four pawns to handle your problem, and I expect all four of them to return in good health, two of which will be my nephews. If anything unfortunate occurs, the penalty will be a harsh one.”
Sheer tired of speaking in code and leaned across the table to whisper. “The man your men will be facing, he and his teenage son will be armed, but with nothing more than rifles. Those silenced room brooms your men carry will clean his clock before he knows it.”
The “silenced room brooms” that Sheer spoke of were Heckler & Koch MP5 submachine guns with sound suppressors attached.
Martillo whispered back, although his face displayed annoyance that Jack broke protocol.
“I do not know this phrase concerning the clean clock, but yes, the ‘brooms’ you speak of are vastly superior to most other cleaning tools.”
The talk turned to details and money, which were written on a pad of paper and passed back and forth until the deal was set. Afterwards, Martillo once again issued a warning.
“Remember, my pawns remain in good health or your king and I will have a problem. Are you certain that all they’ll be facing is this other king and his young knight? If not, we must renegotiate, and I’ll send more pawns.”
Sheer thought of Tanner and his warning to leave the Parker family in peace, but he was certain the gun for hire had moved on and would not be a factor. And if Tanner was there, what could he do against four hardened killers with superior weapons?
Also, Martillo had charged more for his services than Sheer expected, and the more money Martillo was paid, the less there would be left as payment for setting things up.
Sheer smiled. “There won’t be any problems.”
In the days ahead, he would have cause to regret uttering those words.
203
Risky Business
Maria and Tanner had ordered lunch along with their drinks inside a restaurant that Tanner remembered from the old days, although the decor and menu had improved over the years.
Maria took a sip of her second drink, then smiled at Tanner. “My daughter has a crush on you.”
“She might, but she also has her eyes on someone else at h
er school.”
Maria sat her drink down. “Please tell me that means she’s breaking up with that boyfriend of hers.”
“It does. I take it you don’t like him?”
“Billy was a good boy, but that’s changed. I had to send him away last week when he came to the house to pick up Romina. I smelled liquor on his breath. He wasn’t drunk mind you, but he wasn’t driving my daughter anywhere intoxicated. Romina and I argued about it, but I guess she’s come to realize that she can do better.”
“The boy she’s interested in now is Willis’ son.”
“No.”
“Yes.”
“Damn.”
They finished their meal and Tanner leaned back and watched Maria.
“I have a theory about Willis,” he said.
“And what’s that?”
“I think the man wants you, not your land.”
Maria had been taking a sip of her drink as Tanner spoke. She nearly spat it out in surprise.
“You think Chuck Willis wants to be with me?”
“Yes, and I also believed him when he said he knew nothing about what the Harvey brothers were up to. If that’s true and he’s innocent, then there’s someone else pulling the strings. Who else besides Willis would want your land?”
“No one; or at least no one else has shown interest.”
“It’s just a theory, but I’m good at reading people and Willis doesn’t strike me as devious.”
Maria held up a finger. “Or, he’s very good at fooling people, even you.”
“That’s a possibility,” Tanner admitted.
Maria finished her drink and refused a third, and soon they were back on the road.
“What about you, Tanner, is there anyone in your life?”
“No, I guess you’d say I’m a loner.”
“Have you always been like that?”
“Yes.”
“You’re afraid of commitment?”
The Tanner Series - Books 1-11: Tanner - The hit man with a heart Page 64