“Jake?”
Garner kissed her shoulder. “Yes?”
“Are you sleeping with someone else?”
“What? No, why would you ask that?”
“Sara, she told me about your reputation. Was she exaggerating?”
Garner released her and sat up on the side of the bed. Jennifer moved behind him while standing on her knees.
“Jennifer, you’re the first woman I’ve been with since your sister shot me. I nearly died from my wounds and I had a lot of time to think while I was in the hospital. Sara didn’t exaggerate; I was living like a playboy, but… I want more now.”
“And you wanted to be with Sara, didn’t you?”
Garner turned his head and looked at her. “I was attracted to your sister, yes, but there was something else there too. In a way, I pity her, because I can understand how much she’s suffered for the loss of her lover. I understand that pain only too well.”
Jennifer pulled back on Jake’s shoulders and bid him to lay down beside her again. He did so, and they lay facing each other.
The bedroom was on the twenty-second floor and was lit only by the glow of the city’s lights, casting much of Garner’s face in shadow. Even so, Jennifer saw the pain in his eyes.
“You lost someone special once, didn’t you?”
“Three people, my wife… and my two children, my boy and my girl.”
“Oh my God, what happened?”
“My wife, Wendy, we were children ourselves when we married. We were only eighteen and she was pregnant with my son. Our age didn’t hinder us as it has some young couples. We were so in love that nothing else mattered. We both came from great homes, had supportive parents, and while Wendy raised the baby, I worked six days a week in her father’s factory while going to school at night.”
Garner paused, as thoughts of the past flooded his mind, and Jennifer saw a smile play at his lips.
“Those were good days, weren’t they?” she asked.
“They were the best, even though we had almost no money and lived with my parents. But, the days were full, we were happy, and we had plans, you know? We had our future mapped out, and thanks to our parents helping us, we were able to buy a small house by the time our daughter was born.”
“You must have still been quite young, no?”
“I was just twenty-two, but I had a wife and two kids and was entering law school. Life was good, full of family, friends, school and work. God, what I wouldn’t give to go back there for just one more day.”
They grew silent for nearly a minute, then Jennifer asked a question in a voice that was barely a whisper.
“What happened to your family, Jake?”
Garner cleared his throat. When he spoke, his voice was tight with emotion.
“Ah, our house, our house was new, a tiny place, but new, and the land developer cleared away trees and built more homes above ours after we’d been living there a year. Those homes had great views, were three times the size of ours, but the land they had been built on… they never should have been built there.”
Jennifer held her breath, as she began to suspect what was coming.
“I went out to get ice cream one night, just a quick trip to the store. It had rained hard for a week, and the ground had grown soft. There was a mudslide and the homes above ours, they, they…fifteen minutes, I was only gone for fifteen minutes. When I returned… I found my home destroyed and my family crushed to death. The house above ours, it looked like someone had picked it up and dropped it on my home, and they were gone, all dead.”
Jennifer hugged him and felt warm tears wet her shoulder, as Jake sobbed against her. After a few minutes, he regained his composure and spoke.
“I was filled with hate for the developer and the builder. They were brothers, and after that night, they both lost their businesses. The courts awarded me and the other survivors damages which bankrupted them, but I didn’t want their money, I wanted their lives.”
“You, you didn’t…?”
“No, I thought about it constantly, even while I dreamed of becoming an FBI agent. A year after my family died, one of the brothers committed suicide, while the other died in a drunken bar fight. Still, I understand what your sister is feeling, and I can sympathize with wanting revenge, but in the end, it’s yourself that’s murdered, and not the one that wronged you.”
“And all the women that came after, that was your way of not getting close to anyone, wasn’t it?”
“Yes. I was also using sex to kill the pain, but after the shooting, I knew I wanted more. I’ve even started seeing Dr. Whitaker.”
“She’s the doctor I consulted about Sara. But I thought she only treated depression?”
“She does, and she says I was using sex as a way to kill the pain of loss, and to stave off depression. I can’t ever have back what I’ve lost, but I can sure as hell have more than what I’ve got, and I can start fresh, make a new life.”
Jennifer kissed him. “Am I a part of that new life?”
Garner smiled. “The best part, and I never saw it coming.”
Jennifer sighed. “We have to tell Sara.”
“I know she’ll think that I’m just using you, but I’m not the frivolous playboy she knew. I want a relationship with you; I want to see where this leads.”
“We’ll talk to her soon, maybe even tomorrow.”
“Why so soon?”
“My trip, remember? I have to fly out on Tuesday night and won’t be back for two weeks.”
“I am going to miss you so much. Couldn’t you send someone else?”
“No, I run the charity, and I have to do the negotiations.”
“What’s to negotiate? You’re only going there to help.”
“Guambi is going through a period of political upheaval since their leader died. There is a faction there that wants nothing to do with the West, and that includes humanitarian aid.”
“It’s a third-world nation, Guambi is, so be careful down there.”
“If they weren’t poor they wouldn’t need our help. That typhoon they had devastated the country. Their people need all the help they can get.”
“I wish I could go with you, but my leave ends in a few days.”
Jennifer hugged him. “We’re both here now, so let’s make the most of it.”
Garner kissed her. “Thank you.”
“For what?”
“For giving me a chance to prove I can be trusted. I can just imagine how dire your sister’s warnings were.”
“Did you ever tell her about what happened to your family?”
“No, you’re the first person I’ve told in years.”
“Sara never really knew you, did she?”
“No, but I know her. If she doesn’t stop her quest to get revenge, it may destroy her.”
“No more talk of pain and loss,” Jennifer said, then she and Garner kissed, and the past was placed aside for the needs of the present.
232
Meet & Greet
Inside his office at the Cabaret Strip Club, Johnny had just informed Sara about the meeting he had arranged with Tanner.
They were seated on the green sofa that sat to the left side of the door and were the only ones in the club, early on a Saturday morning.
Johnny had told Sara that Pullo had arranged a truce and that it was safe to leave the apartment. Sara had agreed to do so, only because she had been going stir-crazy after staying inside for so long, but she never thought she would be coming face-to-face with Tanner.
“He’s coming here?”
“Yes. He’s coming here and the three of us are going to settle things peacefully. Joe said that the man doesn’t want to kill you if he doesn’t have to. Today, we’ll make peace and you won’t have to keep looking over your shoulder.”
Sara took out her phone. “I have a better idea. I’ll have Duke put snipers on the roof across the street. When Tanner shows, he’s dead. What time is the meeting?”
“It’s now, any
minute, I told him to come at nine.”
Sara’s mouth dropped open and she put down her phone. “Are you trying to get me killed?”
“I have Tanner’s word that he won’t hurt you, not during the meeting.”
“His word? Are you serious?”
“Yes. He’s a killer, but when he gives his word, he means it. Joe Pullo vouches for him and that means he can be trusted.”
Sara stared at him in disbelief. “Johnny, you’re a fool and you’ve just killed us both.”
And as if to punctuate her words, the office door was shredded by gunfire.
Ten minutes earlier and a block away, Tanner had spotted the hit team as he did surveillance before the meeting. His first thought was that Rossetti couldn’t be trusted, but then he realized that if Johnny had meant to double-cross him, that he would be using more than four men.
Tanner was watching the men through binoculars from the rooftop of a building that gave him a clear view of the club and both its front and side entrances.
He had seen Johnny and Sara go into the club alone, then spotted the four men checking their weapons in the rear parking lot of a building that was closed for the weekend.
The men all had machine pistols of some type and were filling the pockets of their suit jackets with spare magazines.
The club was empty except for Johnny and Sara. Tanner knew it for a fact, because he had broken in earlier and checked the building out for signs of a trap.
He would trust Joe Pullo with his life, but Johnny Rossetti was a different story. Tanner felt the need to verify that the meeting was just a meeting.
With the arrival of the four hitters, he wasn’t sure what to think. However, that changed several minutes later, as he watched the men park near the club and separate into two groups of two. While one team picked the lock and entered quietly through the front door, the other two went to work cutting the padlock on the gate that led to the alley entrance.
That’s when Tanner realized the hit was on Rossetti. After hesitating, he began his climb off the roof. He was crossing the street when the muffled sound of gunfire came from inside the club.
“It’s Tanner!” Sara said, even as her ears registered that there were at least two guns firing.
Johnny pressed her down onto the sofa and shielded her with his body, as a barrage of bullets continued to tear the wooden door to pieces.
A temporary lull came, as the men outside the door reloaded. Johnny rolled onto the floor, his weapon in hand, and fired six shots at the men, seriously wounding one, while missing the other, who was partially obscured behind the first man.
The remaining man had just reloaded, and he managed to fire a shot at Johnny, as Sara joined the battle. After missing several shots, she caught the man with a bullet to the throat that killed him. However, when she looked at Johnny, she saw he had been wounded, was unconscious, and had blood running down his face.
“Johnny!”
The back door to the office was kicked in and Sara turned her head to see two men taking aim at her.
Her gun arm was extended in the other direction, toward the hall. She knew she’d never get off a shot before they killed her.
No sooner had that thought passed through her mind when Tanner shot the men from the alley. The men crumpled to the floor, just inside the doorway to the office, each with multiple wounds.
Sara rose, took aim at the man Johnny had shot, and emptied her last round into his chest, just as the hood was reaching for his gun.
“Hello Blake,” Tanner said, and Sara swung her empty gun his way.
Tanner smiled. “I won’t fall for the empty gun trick twice, and if you try to reload, I’ll kill you.”
“You’ll kill me anyway.”
“No, I’ll honor the agreement I made. Now how is Rossetti doing? Is he alive?”
Sara startled, fearing her own death, she had forgotten that Johnny was wounded. She dropped back down beside him and saw that his head was resting in a puddle of blood.
“Oh no, Johnny! Wake up. Can you hear me?”
After dragging the dead men farther into the office and out of the doorway, Tanner walked over. When he gazed down at Johnny, he saw the wound on his scalp.
“He was hit by a bullet. Does he have a pulse?”
Sara checked, and a few seconds later, she grinned. “He’s alive, but he has to get to a doctor.”
Tanner reached down and lifted Johnny, to carry him over his left shoulder, while keeping his gun hand free.
“Where’s your car, Blake?”
Sara stepped over the bodies and followed Tanner into the alley, after closing the busted door as well as she could.
“I’m parked down here,” she said. Sara felt surreal talking to Tanner, while knowing that he likely wanted her dead as much as she wanted to kill him. But apparently, he had taken seriously his pledge not to harm her, or so it seemed. Still, in her mind, Tanner was scum and scum had no honor.
Tanner followed, moving slowly, while keeping an eye out for more trouble. They reached the car without incident, and Johnny regained consciousness as Tanner lowered him across the rear seat.
“Christ, my head—Tanner? Tanner, where’s Sara?”
“I’m here, Johnny, I’m safe, but you need to go to the hospital.”
“What happened to the two men?”
“They’re dead, and there were four of them. Tanner killed the other two.”
“Good man, Tanner. And no hospital, take me to the clinic and call Joe. He has to clean up this mess.”
“Am I working for you now, Rossetti?”
Johnny sighed. “Please, I could use your help, Romeo.”
“It’s Tanner, and lay back and rest. That’s a nasty wound you’ve got there. The bullet nearly split your head open.”
Johnny gave half a nod, then passed out again.
Sara started her car, and as Tanner settled beside her in the passenger seat, he took out his phone to call Pullo, but first he gave Sara instructions.
“Head to West 26th and 10th Avenue.”
“There’s a doctor at this clinic?”
“The best. And the last thing Rossetti needs is the police and media sniffing around, which is what would happen if he went to a hospital.”
Sara drove out the back end of the alley. After closing the gate, Tanner returned to the car and contacted Pullo to fill him in. When he was done, he put the phone away and stared at Sara.
“If you’re going to kill me, Tanner, please wait until after I get Johnny to the doctor.”
“We have a truce, remember? I gave Pullo my word that I wouldn’t harm you, not until I heard what Rossetti had to say.”
Sara made a huffing sound. “Your word, the word of a killer?”
“No, the word of a killer who just saved your life back at the club.”
“Why did you do that?”
“For Rossetti, mostly.”
“Mostly?”
“I know you hate me, Blake, but it’s never been mutual. Killing your lover was nothing personal.”
They were stopped at a light. Sara turned in her seat and slapped him. The sound was loud inside the car and the blow was delivered with force.
Tanner worked his jaw back and forth. “I don’t know what Rossetti had planned for this meeting, but you’re never going to stop coming for me, are you?”
“If it is the last thing I do in this life, Tanner, I will see you dead.”
Tanner was still holding his gun. He gripped it tightly.
“You’re a fool, Blake, but you do have guts.”
Sara said nothing more; and other than giving directions to the clinic, Tanner remained silent as well.
233
There’s A Thin Line
Laurel Ivy’s lovely face lit up in a huge grin when she saw Tanner, but a scowl of concern replaced the smile when she spotted the blood running down Johnny’s face.
“This way,” she said, and Tanner helped Johnny along. Rossetti was conscious again, but
too dizzy to stand on his own.
As they walked along, Laurel examined Johnny’s injury, then she introduced herself to Sara.
Sara took in the shapely blue-eyed blonde and thought she looked too young to have much experience as a physician.
“I’m Sara. And are you really a doctor?”
“Yes, although I’ve lost my license to practice.”
“She knows what she’s doing,” Johnny moaned.
Sara looked around the clean and well-supplied medical facility, which was hidden in the rear of a small building that had an antiques store at its front end. The clinic was separated from the store by soundproof walls.
The building was surrounded by a fence, and there was a sign on it that listed the store’s hours. In actuality, the store never opened and was just a facade for the illegal clinic at its rear.
There was a nurse working with Laurel, a young Asian woman named Maya, and both she and Laurel were dressed in white smocks.
Had she not known any better, Sara would have thought she was inside a big city emergency room, although the waiting room was smaller, as was the clientele.
After helping Johnny onto a table inside a treatment room, Tanner headed for the door.
“Don’t you dare leave,” Laurel said.
“I’ll be out front. I want to make certain we weren’t followed before I go.”
“Fine, but we have to talk.”
Tanner sent Laurel a nod and then walked off.
Johnny had a concussion. Laurel had treated his wound and her nurse was giving him an injection in preparation to getting a CAT scan. While that was being done, Laurel excused herself to speak to Tanner.
Sara followed her into the hall and asked a question. “Have you known Tanner long?”
“A few years,” Laurel said.
“And are you two close?”
The Tanner Series - Books 1-11: Tanner - The hit man with a heart Page 74