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

by Remington Kane

  Tanner sat on the ground and tossed the empty gun back to Volks.

  “Catch.”

  Volks, still dazed, nearly dropped the weapon, but he managed not to lose it. He was holding it in his right hand when Sammy came into view.

  “Volks!”

  Hearing Sammy call him by his old name shocked Calabrese to full alertness, and he tensed up.

  Sammy fired twice, both shots hitting Volks, one in his right shoulder, while the other hit him in the side. Volks dropped to his knees as the gun fell from his hand, and Sammy walked over and placed his weapon against Volks’ forehead.

  “Tanner, were you hit?”

  “No, but you’ve got good timing. He was just about to shoot me.”

  Sammy pressed the gun hard against Volks. “Bohdan Volkov, my name is Sammy Giacconi, Joe Giacconi’s son.”

  Volks seemed to shrink in on himself. “We were at war, kid. It wasn’t personal.”

  “This is,” Sammy said, and he pulled the trigger.

  The rear of Volks’ head exploded in a spray of gore as the body tumbled backwards.

  Sammy stood there staring down at Volks, as his face wore a look of satisfaction.

  “That was for you, Dad.”

  A moment passed before Sammy turned away from the body. Tanner gave the corpse a final look, then followed Sammy back to the farm.

  They found Bates a dozen yards away from the van. He was dead; he had bled out from his wounds.

  Sammy tossed his chin toward the interior of the van. “What should we do with the meth?”

  “Leave it. I’ll make an anonymous call to the cops.”

  After righting one of the fallen bikes, Tanner got it started, but as he straddled it, Sammy motioned for him to cut the engine.

  “Thank you, Tanner. I know that being around me was the last thing you wanted to do, because of Sophia and all, but I couldn’t have done this without you.”

  “You did good, Sammy, and I know that Joe will be proud of you. As far as Sophia, just take care of her, okay?”

  “I love her, Tanner.”

  Sammy climbed aboard his bike, and Bobby Volks became part of the past.

  351

  Death And Deceit

  WILMINGTON, DELAWARE, ELEVEN YEARS EARLIER

  At 4:19 a.m., Tanner and Pullo climbed the back stairs to Carlo Conti’s apartment.

  As Tanner stayed back, Pullo tried the doorknob, and as Conti had said it would be, it was unlocked.

  Pullo flicked his head around the doorframe and saw Conti sitting on his tattered sofa. He was dressed as he had been the day before and looked as if he had been awake all night. In his lap was an open bible. Pullo motioned for Tanner to follow, and then he approached Conti.

  Conti smiled up at him grimly. “I see you’re a good soldier.”

  Pullo looked unnerved by the words, but he did what he came there to do.

  They returned to New York City before noon and were seated in front of Sam Giacconi’s desk.

  “If you’re back, that means you’ve found him,” Giacconi said.

  “Yeah, we found him, Sam,” Pullo said. “We found Conti. The bastard is dead.”

  “Good work, and Tanner here backed you up?”

  “Yeah, Tanner is all right, and I’d use him again.”

  “Great. Now Joey, go see your mom, she called here looking for you.”

  Pullo stood, and Tanner rose with him.

  Sam Giacconi reached across the desk and shook Tanner’s hand. “Thanks for helping my boy.”

  “Anytime,” Tanner said.

  The two of them left the funeral home and walked down the alley in the rear, where a hearse was parked. Across the street, a bell rang at a red brick factory and workers streamed from the building for their lunch break.

  As a white Hummer drove by, Pullo followed the mammoth vehicle with his eyes, and there was a look of envy toward the driver.

  “I’m going to get one of those someday.”

  “You okay, Joe?”

  “Yeah, Tanner, in the end we all do what we have to do… still, I hated lying to Sam.”

  The kid who had been beaten told Tanner and Pullo about the missing black prostitute named Candy, but before they left him, he told them that Candy had two daughters.

  Pullo hadn’t wanted to believe in Tanner’s theory, while thinking about it made him want to vomit.

  “Child welfare must have them.”

  “Maybe, but I’ve got to know one way or another.”

  Pullo stared at him for long seconds and then nodded. “I’m with you.”

  “We’ll go in around four, that’s when the guard at the door will be at his lowest point.”

  “Yeah, but what if more guys show?”

  “Then we go in sooner.”

  “How do you want to do this?”

  Tanner smiled. “I have a plan.”

  At 3:58 a.m., Pullo staggered out of his motel room with a bottle in his hand, while mumbling to himself.

  He immediately caught the attention of the man across the courtyard who was guarding Room 16. The man was white, tall, and lanky, and there was the bulge of a shoulder holster beneath his jacket. The guard sat up straighter in his chair as he cleared his throat. Pullo wondered if he might have been asleep.

  Pullo walked toward him while still staggering, coming at the man from his right.

  “Go back in your room and sleep it off, dude,” the guard said.

  Pullo ignored him and drew closer.

  The man had just taken his gun out to threaten Pullo when Tanner came up behind the guard and jammed an ice pick into the back of his neck.

  The man fell to the walkway while twitching in his death throes, and Pullo caught the gun before it could hit the ground. Tanner found the keys for the lock in the man’s jacket pocket and opened the door.

  Pullo crossed himself for the first time in years as his eyes fell on the daughters of the prostitute named Candy. The two girls were six and seven years old. Hellman had been pimping them out to pedophiles for nearly a week after murdering their mother and disposing of her body.

  Conti was waiting for Pullo to take out a gun and shoot him when he spotted Tanner walking through the doorway. Tanner was carrying the two girls, whom he and Pullo had rescued after wrapping them in blankets.

  Hellman had kept the children naked and chained to a bed.

  Conti stood. “What is this?”

  Pullo explained quickly, and Conti looked as sickened by the tale as Pullo felt.

  “You’ll take care of them?” Tanner asked.

  “Of course, but I don’t have a phone. Please call an ambulance for these children. They need to see a doctor.”

  The two black girls sat on Conti’s couch in a near-catatonic state, and Tanner wondered if either of them would ever lead a normal life.

  Pullo placed a hand on Conti’s shoulder. “We were never here, and as far as we’re concerned, Carlo Conti is dead.”

  “Thank you. And please, make that call. These children need help.”

  Tanner sent Conti a nod, took one last look at the girls, and left to call the ambulance.

  Hellman arrived at the motel just after seven a.m. When he saw that the bodyguard wasn’t at his post, he went to investigate. That’s when he noticed that the door to Room 16 was sitting ajar.

  As he stepped into the room, Hellman spotted the money that had been flung across the bed. It drew him in, as Tanner knew it would.

  However, when he saw the feet of the bodyguard sticking out of the bathroom, Hellman inhaled sharply and peddled backwards.

  That’s when Tanner and Pullo entered and slammed the door shut.

  Hellman spun around and tried the fake smile. “Those girls earn a fortune; I’ll cut you both in.”

  Tanner and Pullo raised their weapons simultaneously and emptied them into Hellman.

  They were in the car and out on the highway in seconds, headed back to New York City, while bonded by death and deceit.

  �
�You didn’t lie to Giacconi. You told him we found Conti, and you told him that a bastard was dead, both of those things are true.”

  Pullo shook his head. “I still lied, but I can live with it.”

  “I’ll see you around, Joe.”

  “Yeah, Tanner, keep in touch.”

  The two men separated, not as friends, but no longer strangers.

  352

  Man Of Mystery

  Tanner found Susan wide awake and dressed in a robe. She was seated on her porch awaiting his return.

  After a kiss of greeting, she looked at him questioningly, and he answered her with only two words.

  “It’s done.”

  Susan then reached out, took Sammy’s hand, and gave it a squeeze. “How do you feel?”

  Sammy looked startled by the question, and Susan’s empathy, but after letting out a sigh, he answered her.

  “Better, I feel better.”

  “Amy volunteered to cook breakfast tomorrow because it’s her day off, so she’ll be up early.”

  “I wouldn’t count on her having the day off,” Tanner said.

  Susan understood his meaning, and the three of them went inside.

  Tanner explained to Susan what had happened without going into detail. When he told her about Garrett Bates, she seemed surprised.

  “He’s a—he was a town hero and was going to run for mayor next year. He was also Tyrone’s Boy Scout Troop Leader. He helped to bring that poison into the county? It makes you wonder about everyone.”

  “It was likely greed that drove him, and I’m sure he was paid well.”

  “Did you kill him?”

  “No. Calabrese killed him.”

  “I never liked Garrett, that way, but I did like him as a friend, and I admired him too.”

  “Then I’m sorry you lost your friend.”

  “Don’t be, and enough talk, it’s late and I want to go to bed.”

  Tanner held her as they lay in bed facing each other.

  “I’m going to miss you,” Susan said. “But right now, I’m too damn tired to show you how much.”

  “You can show me in the morning.”

  Susan snuggled closer. “You remind me of my husband. He was a man of action too. Even when he was home on leave, I could tell that he wanted to get back into battle.”

  “And it left you a young widow.”

  “Yes, but I wouldn’t trade my years with him for anything. Is that why you’ve never married? Are you afraid to leave behind a widow?”

  “There is one woman I would have married, and now she’s marrying someone else.”

  “You let her get away.”

  “No. I ran from her. I didn’t like the way she made me feel.”

  Susan sat up on one elbow and stared at Tanner. “You were afraid of her because you were beginning to depend on her.”

  Tanner ran his hand over his face. “This is what I get for sleeping with a woman as wise as you. You read me too well. I also talk too much around you.”

  Susan snuggled against him again. “Yes, and it’s because I’m safe. After tomorrow, we’ll probably never see each other again, and truthfully, I don’t even know who you are.”

  “You know more than most,” Tanner said, then the two of them drifted off to sleep.

  The next day, Tanner said goodbye to Susan as they stood by his rental.

  Sammy had left early, after saying that there was something he wanted to do, and as Tanner had predicted, Amy was called in to help with the mess out at the abandoned farm.

  Susan cupped Tanner’s face in her hands and kissed him one last time.

  “Goodbye man of mystery, and you be careful.”

  “I will, and who knows, maybe we’ll meet again someday.”

  “Maybe,” Susan said, although they both knew how unlikely it was.

  Tanner climbed in the car, said goodbye, and headed to the airport.

  Susan had eased his ache at having lost Sophia, but as he drove along, he found himself longing for more time with both of them. That brought thoughts of several other women he’d known over the years, including Laurel.

  When the melancholy threatened to swallow him, he did what he always did. He pushed it behind him into the past where it belonged.

  The world was full of women such as Susan, Sophia, and Laurel.

  At least, that’s what he told himself.

  353

  Sam The Man

  After Tanner returned his rental, he was beginning to wonder if Sammy was going to miss the flight. That’s when he spotted him walking toward him.

  Sammy had changed his look. The long hair was gone, and Tanner could see the man’s resemblance to his late grandfather and namesake more clearly.

  Sammy was also dressed in a dark suit, but like Tanner, he wore no tie. He walked up to Tanner with a small smile playing at his lips.

  “What do you think?”

  “I don’t think anyone will call you kid anymore,” Tanner said.

  “Yeah, it was time I grew up a little.”

  After they had passed through security, Sammy asked Tanner what he had done with the weapons they used.

  “I disassembled them, and then I tossed the pieces in a lake on my way to the airport.”

  “I would’ve liked to have kept that gun as a souvenir, but I don’t think the airline would have appreciated me bringing it onboard the plane.”

  “Yeah, they’re funny that way,” Tanner said.

  A short time later, they were in the air, as Sammy headed back to Sophia, and Tanner simply headed back.

  354

  Chaos

  Pullo was smiling wide.

  He had learned that Sammy had killed Bobby Volks. Pullo was leaving to meet with Tanner at The Americana Sports Bar to get details about the hit.

  He walked into the kitchen and found Laurel sipping on a cup of coffee while looking through a bridal magazine, as Big Ralphie sat to her left, eating a pizza.

  “I won’t be long, baby, but please stay inside while I’m gone.”

  Laurel stood and kissed him. “Is it really necessary for me to stay home? I’d be just as safe at the clinic.”

  “I don’t want to take a chance, and Big Ralphie will keep you safe.”

  Big Ralphie had a mouthful of pizza, but he sent Pullo a thumbs-up sign.

  Pullo was leaving Laurel’s townhouse when one of his men, Mike, pointed toward two figures getting out of a car. Mike was a big man around forty, with wide shoulders.

  Pullo looked where Mike was pointing and saw Tamir Ivanov and Justina Moretti walking toward him. The two were smiling at each other while talking quietly.

  “Those two are Feds, right, boss?”

  “Yeah, they’re Feds, Mike.”

  The other man with Pullo was named Bosco. He was as big as Mike, but younger, and he watched Justina intently as she walked toward them.

  “Fed or not, that chick is hot.”

  “That she is,” Pullo said.

  Mike and Bosco were two of three bodyguards. Bosco and Mike were always with Pullo, while Big Ralphie stayed near Laurel at all times.

  Inside the townhouse, Big Ralphie spoke to Laurel between inhaling slices of pizza.

  “You want a large wedding, don’t you?”

  Laurel nodded shyly. “I do, and I know it’s silly since I was married once before, but it is something I’ve always dreamed of having.”

  “Tell the boss. He’s crazy about you. I’m sure he’d spring for it.”

  “I know he would. But he has a lot on his mind, and a large wedding would be a distraction he doesn’t need. A small wedding will do fine.”

  “Doc Ivy, I’ve got five younger sisters and a ton of female cousins, so I know what girls are like. Talk to the boss. Joe will make it happen, and then you won’t always wish you had done it.”

  Laurel grinned. “I’ll think about it.” The grin disappeared as she remembered something and stood up. “I forgot to ask Joe to stop by the clinic and grab my laptop.”


  Laurel hurried to catch up to Pullo, and Big Ralphie raised a hand to tell her to wait for him. Laurel didn’t notice, and with his mouth full of pizza, Big Ralphie couldn’t call out.

  “We need to talk, Pullo,” Ivanov said.

  “What’s this about?” Pullo said.

  “It’s about your life,” Justina said. “The DEA caught wind of an assassination plot against you, and we’re not talking Krupin here. These are people that know what they’re doing.”

  “We’ll talk inside,” Pullo said.

  “No, not inside,” Ivanov said. “We need to get you someplace safe.”

  Pullo was about to ask him what he meant, when the door opened, and Laurel looked out at the gathering.

  “What’s going on, Joe?”

  “It’s okay, honey; they’re just here to talk.”

  Justina headed up the stairs. “Miss Ivy? I’m Agent Moretti of the FBI, please come with us, ma’am. We don’t believe it’s safe to be—”

  Justina never finished her sentence, as a bullet struck her in the side and ruptured her heart. It was the first shot fired by one of the four men who had just emerged from the underground parking garage on the opposite side of the street.

  “Justina!” Ivanov cried out to his partner, and then watched as she tumbled down the stairs backwards as limp as a rag doll. She landed at his feet face up, and he knew by her lifeless eyes that she was gone.

  Two cars had been approaching the nearby intersection. The lead driver slammed on his brakes, causing a collision. Then, the drivers of both vehicles abandoned them and ran for cover, joining the pedestrians who had already done the same while screaming in panic.