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

by Remington Kane

  “Read it, Mateo; this Tanner may be for real.”

  Mateo gestured around the cabin. “There are sixteen of us, and sixteen more on the first plane, I think we got it, Rico. Tanner don’t stand a chance.”

  “Read the report, and make sure the other men do too.”

  “Shit man, half of them can’t read, but they can shoot, and they all want that reward, the 50K in American dollars.”

  “Right,” Rico said.

  He turned off his computer, checked his watch, and saw that they should be on the ground in fifteen minutes.

  He tried to put his mind on other things, but the report kept coming back to him. If Tanner was as good as the report made him appear, things could go bad quickly. Rico tightened his seat belt and tried to think about the nightlife of New York City. He only hoped he would live long enough to enjoy it.

  364

  Old Friends And New Enemies

  SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS

  Laurel grabbed her suitcase off the baggage carousel inside Terminal B.

  When she looked up, she saw an old man holding a sign aloft with her name written on it. It was the name she had been born with, Laurel Carter. The old man looked her way, and she smiled nervously and nodded.

  The man had deep wrinkles around his blue eyes, sported a full head of white hair, and was tanned from being outdoors. As Laurel walked toward him, he was joined by a middle-aged woman and a teenage girl. The girl smiled at her while speaking to her mother.

  “I told you she would be beautiful.”

  Laurel gave a nervous laugh and offered her hand to the woman. “I’m Laurel Carter. Thank you for taking me in for a few days.”

  The woman smiled brilliantly. “I’m Maria Reyes, this is my daughter, Romina, and the gentleman’s name is Doc.”

  “It’s nice to meet you all.”

  “Any friend of Tanner’s is a friend of ours,” Maria said. The four of them headed for the Reyes Ranch, the former Parker Ranch and boyhood home of Cody Parker.

  When the bus drove up the hill and parked beside the pickup truck, Tanner wondered just how many men were coming to kill him. However many it was, they needed a bus to drive them all into the city.

  After receiving another call, the first two men started up the generator and powered the lights. It wasn’t dark yet, but night was coming, Tanner assumed that the planes were as well.

  He killed the driver of the bus first, a fat man with bad acne scars. The man had been sitting in one of the folding chairs and draining the last can of beer when Tanner came up from behind and slit his throat.

  The man fell from the chair while gagging, to thrash on the ground. His death went unnoticed by the other two men, as the sound of it was drowned out by the throbbing noise of the generator. They also had their backs turned as they looked up and toward the south, so when Tanner emptied both barrels of a sawed-off shotgun into them, surprise mixed with pain on their faces. Two more blasts ended their lives, then Tanner went to work disabling the vehicles.

  By the time the first jet appeared, he had the rocket launcher ready to fire, but held off until the jet touched down. Tanner cocked the rocket launcher, pulled the trigger, and the grenade took off.

  It reached the Gulfstream jet in less than a second and blew it to pieces, large pieces, one of which destroyed the generator, while another chunk headed his way. Tanner dropped the rocket launcher and dove to the ground.

  The chunk of flaming debris sailed over his head and hit the dirt behind him. When he stood and looked at it, he saw that it was actually two bodies still strapped into their row of seats. The entire thing was ablaze like a torch.

  The main section of the jet had rolled down the west bank of the hill and into a stand of trees. From that same direction, there came the sound of a man screaming.

  Tanner found the poor devil still smoldering with burns over most of his body. He ended his suffering with a mercy round to the head. Afterwards, the world grew quiet, except for the crackling of the numerous fires. That peace was short-lived, as the second jet appeared in the sky and flew over his head at less than two-hundred feet.

  Tanner assumed they would fly on to land somewhere else, but as he headed back to his car, he saw that the jet was returning. Someone on board had guts and wanted to spill his.

  “Come on down, you bastard,” Tanner whispered, then he headed for the trail while hoping that his precautions would prove to be enough.

  Rico had spotted the lone figure on the ground as the jet whizzed over the scene of the crash.

  Tanner!

  The pilot was gaining altitude and Rico assumed that they were heading somewhere else to land. He rushed to the cockpit door and found it locked. After Rico pounded on it, the co-pilot opened the door.

  “Turn this plane around now!”

  The pilot shook his head without even bothering to look back at Rico. “The other jet was downed by a rocket. I won’t risk going back.”

  Rico leaned over and spoke softly into the pilot’s ear. “We may die from a rocket, but if you don’t turn this plane around and land, I promise that I will kill you.”

  That made the pilot swivel his head. Rico locked eyes with the man, then heard him speak to the co-pilot.

  “Jorge, prepare to land. We’re going back.”

  Tanner watched the second jet land. When it turned to come back toward him, he looked down the hill. In his mind, he went over the meandering trail he had created, a trail that was the only safe way down. He had to assume that there were more than a dozen men aboard the jet. If he hoped to survive, he had to lead them into his trap.

  When the jet came to a hard stop, the door popped open and the stairway descended. Before Tanner had made it even halfway down the hill, he heard the rowdy voices of his pursuers.

  Mateo had been ready to lead the charge after Tanner, but Rico grabbed his arm and held him back.

  “What the hell are you doing? He’s right there.”

  “I know, but I also think he has a way out of here. I memorized the terrain as we flew over and there’s a dirt road down there.” Rico pointed behind them and began moving that way. “The road leads south, if we go this way we can ambush him as he drives by.”

  Mateo looked at the hoard of men disappearing down the hill.

  “What if they get him first?”

  “They won’t. This devil is tricky. Now come, we have to hurry.”

  Tanner made it to the car as his first pursuer became entangled in the fishing line. The rest soon followed, and the ultra-thin but strong filament cut into them. Three men kept coming. All three had knives and had used their blades to cut themselves free.

  Still, parts of the fishing line had wrapped itself around them and they had trampled through the surrounding weeds. That would prove to be their undoing.

  Tanner grabbed a lighter from the front seat of the car. It was the long-handled type used to light barbeque grills.

  Prior to stringing up the fishing line, Tanner had soaked the thin wire in a mixture of gasoline and soap, which when combined properly made for a poor man’s napalm. He then spread the remaining fluid in strategic spots along the hill.

  A single line of flame appeared, rushed up the slope, then ignited the wire and spread to a dozen different areas. The men with the knives suddenly found their pants and shoes aflame, while the other men caught and trapped by the wire were being burned alive.

  When the gas drenched weeds caught fire, all the men were screaming. The men who had cut themselves free were shucking off their flaming clothes. Tanner grimaced as he watched sections of their skin come off with the fabric.

  If the three men had somewhere to go where they could escape the blaze they might have lived, but fire was all around them, and they would soon burn to death like the others. The trap had worked so well that not a single shot had been fired at Tanner.

  It made him wary. Fate was seldom so kind. However, it had all been due to his preparedness, something that was key when one faced superior odd
s.

  He turned his back on the carnage and got behind the wheel. The smoke from the crash would bring the nearby authorities. He needed to get out of sight.

  As the screams of the dying filled his ears, Tanner drove away and headed toward the road that led back to the highway.

  Rico and Mateo looked at each other in dismay as they heard the horrific screams coming from their comrades. The sounds were faint as they drifted from the other side of the hill, but the agony imbued in them was unmistakable.

  “What the hell?” Mateo said.

  “The man’s a devil, this Tanner, but he won’t get away this time.”

  They reached the road and Rico rushed toward a point where it bent around a curve.

  “Here! This is a blind spot. When we hear his vehicle coming we’ll blast it with everything we have.”

  Mateo looked around and nodded in agreement. There were trees near the road they could use for cover, and the curve would take away Tanner’s line of sight.

  The two of them had just crouched behind a tree when they heard the approaching sound of a car engine.

  “He’ll have to slow to take that curve, Mateo. He’ll be an easy kill.”

  Mateo smiled and rested his shotgun on a small branch, and the sound of the engine grew louder.

  365

  Baby Talk

  Pullo was greeted by FBI Agent Tamir Ivanov and two doctors as he approached Sammy Giacconi’s hospital room.

  Six men surrounded Pullo, they were his bodyguards. He told them to stay back as he spoke to Ivanov and the doctors.

  “He’s awake?”

  “Yeah, Pullo,” Ivanov said, and then the doctors filled Pullo in on Sammy’s condition.

  Sammy had been told that he had an accident, but little else. He didn’t know that Sophia was gone. Pullo told the doctors he would deliver the news.

  Once the doctors had left, Ivanov and Pullo spoke alone.

  “I see that our mutual friend has been busy,” Ivanov said, referring to Tanner.

  “Yeah, and he’s just getting started. What I want to know is where is Krupin? He’s the bastard that began this nightmare.”

  “I’m working on it, Pullo, but the Bureau has placed me on temporary leave. If I press my sources inside the Bureau too hard, someone may grow suspicious.”

  Pullo stared at the man and thought that Ivanov had aged since his partner’s death. He then thought about how close he had come to losing Laurel. The thought of it sickened him.

  “You’re walking a thin line, Ivanov, but I want you to know something. Anything you give us stays between us. When this is over, I won’t expect anything else from you. I know you’re only helping me because of what happened to your partner.”

  Ivanov sent Pullo a bittersweet smile. “I’m leaving the Bureau after this; I can no longer do the job. If I was on a case and came across another Michael Krupin, I’d shoot the bastard instead of arresting him.”

  Pullo took a deep breath, then he stepped into Sammy’s hospital room to deliver the news about Sophia.

  Tanner saw the curve coming up. He had scouted the area well and knew the curve’s potential as a place to set up an ambush. He smirked, there was likely no one left alive but the pilots of the second plane.

  Still, he had not remained among the living by being careless. He reached down and grabbed an item that was part of his preparations, even as he slowed the car while going around the curve.

  Rico had his shotgun aimed at the spot just past the bend in the road, as the engine sounds grew nearer.

  “Any second now, Mateo,” Rico said, but then he heard Tanner’s voice come from behind them.

  “Drop those guns or die!”

  Both men froze, and an instant later the car came around the curve. Rico and Tanner locked eyes, and then the car sped up and rocketed away.

  “I said drop the guns!”

  Rico was about to comply when Mateo spun around and fired several shots. When Rico turned to face what he thought would be answering gunfire, he saw that no one was there.

  “Where’d they go?” Mateo said.

  That’s when the laughter began, it soon became laced with static, and then ended. The laughter had come from a small clump of bushes. When Mateo pushed several branches aside, they saw the pink baby monitor.

  Mateo seethed with anger and reached down to grab the unit. “Tanner, you sonofabitch, I’m going to—aaarrghh!”

  The unit had been attached to a pipe bomb. Mateo’s stout body had taken most of the blast and dozens of nails embedded themselves in his face, neck, and chest.

  Rico had received only two nails. One had ripped its way through his left hand, while the other one was stuck in his skull. The nail was above his left eye, with its bloody tip protruding at an upward angle. It looked like a ragged piercing. The pain it caused was exceptional.

  The ache paled compared to the agony experienced by Mateo. He lay on his back wailing and thrashing about as blood leaked from numerous wounds. There were nails in his tongue, his throat, nose, and even his eyes.

  Rico stared down at his friend and saw that he was blinded and bleeding to death. With one blast from the shotgun he put him out of his misery.

  The nail in his own head refused to budge and Rico decided to just leave it be. His left eye was blinded by the blood constantly leaking into it, but Rico made it back up the hill. He found the two pilots standing by the jet and vomiting, as the stink of burning flesh permeated the air.

  Both men startled when they saw the projectile embedded in Rico’s head, then the co-pilot produced a first-aid kit and offered to bandage his hand.

  “Are the rest of the men back on the jet?” Rico asked.

  The pilot looked green from nausea. He shook his head and pointed toward the edge of the hill.

  “They’re down there… all dead… burning.”

  When Rico began laughing, the two pilots backed away, but he held up a hand, as if to assure them he was still sane.

  “My phone doesn’t work, what about yours?”

  “There’s a satellite phone in the jet. It should work,” the pilot said.

  “Bring it to me at my seat. I have bad news to deliver.”

  The three men climbed back aboard the jet. Like Tanner, they had to leave before the authorities arrived. Rico eased into his seat and looked about the quiet cabin, which earlier had been filled with boisterous men eager to bag Tanner’s bounty. When he glanced over at Mateo’s empty seat, he remembered what his friend had said about Tanner.

  “There are sixteen of us, and sixteen more on the first plane, I think we got it, Rico. Tanner don’t stand a chance.”

  Rico began laughing again, it was either that or cry.

  366

  There’s No Place Nicer

  Rico fought to maintain his cool as Juan Alvarado asked him the same question for the third time.

  Keeping calm was more difficult than it should have been because Rico’s head was pounding.

  A doctor had seen to his hand injury and removed the damn nail, but Rico’s face was puffy, and the wound had been closed with surgical staples. He looked hideous and would doubtlessly have a scar above his eye when it healed. Something else he owed Tanner.

  Rico was in an empty office building whose top floors had been converted into apartments. It was where Alvarado and Krupin were hiding out since the failed attempt on Tanner’s life.

  Juan had entered with Krupin at his side. Rico’s assessment of Krupin was that the man was another young punk with too much power and not enough common sense.

  “Everybody else is dead?”

  “That’s right.”

  “My father said he was sending thirty-two men, and you’re telling me that Tanner killed them all?”

  “We flew into a trap, Juan. The men are dead, along with the ground crew and bus driver. One jet was destroyed as well. I was lucky to escape at all.”

  “Escape? You were sent here to kill him, Rico. The man has made you look like a fool.”


  Rico stared at Juan. “If I’m a fool, I’m in line behind you.”

  Alvarado’s face reddened. “Be careful how you talk to me; I’m the future, Rico. I’ll be running things someday.”

  Michael Krupin stepped forward. “What’s our next move? We have to kill Tanner, or he’ll kill us.”

  Juan sighed. “I have to call my father. I’ll tell him to send more men, and this time they’ll drive in from an airport. It’ll be a pain in the ass to do things officially, but Tanner wouldn’t try anything at an airport.”

  “I put nothing past the man,” Rico said.

  After delivering the news about Sophia’s death, Pullo had sat with Sammy all evening. Sammy’s head was bandaged, and his broken right leg was in a cast. He also had numerous scrapes and cuts all over his body. The young man was devastated by the news. It wounded Pullo to see the light dim in Sammy’s eyes.

  Pullo had known Sammy since birth. Even the death of his father hadn’t taken the twinkle out of the young man’s eyes, and he had always had a playful and carefree nature. That had changed, Pullo could see it, and although Sammy might someday love again, for now, his heart held only hate.

  “Uncle Joe, I want to get out of here as soon as possible.”

  “The docs say they want to keep you for observation for a few days. They say you took quite a whack on the head.”

  “I’ll give them one day, and then I want out of here.”

  “The truth is, this is probably the safest place for you right now, Sammy. You’ve got a cop guarding your door along with our people, but we don’t think you were a target.”

  “They mistook me for Tanner, didn’t they?”