She was beautiful and blonde. It made him think of Laurel and wonder how she was doing at the ranch. Someone called to Amber and she excused herself as Buck stayed to talk.
Buck smiled. “Do you believe this? I’m dating Amber Rose. Not only that, but I’m going to be in her new play. It’s a small part, but it’s on Broadway.”
“Good for you; how did you meet?”
“I was doing a play in an Off-Off-Broadway theater. Amber’s friend is the producer, we were introduced, and the rest is history.”
“I’m glad to see that you landed on your feet.”
“Yeah, and again, I’m sorry about Sophia. I wish I’d met her.”
Tanner said goodbye, but Buck had one last thing to tell him.
“Do you remember I warned you about Ariana O’Grady?”
Tanner nodded. He remembered. Ariana was the daughter of Hank O’Grady, a Colorado rancher he had killed months earlier.
“What about her?”
“She’s here in the city. She tracked me down to ask me about you, and she had four guys backing her up. Cindy’s father saw us together, so she wanted to know what I knew about you. I told her that you held me hostage and then let me go, but I think she knows you’re here. Tanner, the bitch wants you bad.”
Tanner smiled. “She’s at the end of a long line these days, but tell me, what’s she look like?”
“She’s got dark hair and brown eyes. She’s pretty, but I wouldn’t call her beautiful. She’s also one of the meanest bitches you’ll ever meet. If she knew I had helped you in Vegas, I think she would kill me.”
“I’ll stay on alert for her while I’m watching my back, checking my six, and sleeping with one eye open.”
Buck smiled. “It’s not easy being you, is it?”
“Take care, Buck.”
Tanner joined Pullo, who was talking to Mike Conti. He knew that Conti wanted Pullo to make peace. Like Pullo, Tanner smelled a rat.
Conti smiled at Tanner but didn’t offer to shake hands. “The last time I saw you, Tanner, you were pretending to be someone else. This might be a good time to do that again. Staying yourself might not be healthy.”
“You’re right. It’s deadly… for others.”
Conti chuckled. “Just a little friendly advice.”
“Sure,” Tanner said.
A few minutes later, everyone was back on the chopper but Bosco. Pullo was about to call his phone when he saw him come running toward them. After Bosco climbed aboard, Pullo offered him his handkerchief.
“You got lipstick all over you.”
Bosco nodded as he took the offered hanky. “I ran into a woman I know, a real hot girl from the old neighborhood. Funny thing, she never gave me a second look back in the day, and now, it’s like she can’t get enough of me. We even made plans to hook up next weekend.”
“Lucky you,” Pullo said.
Bosco shook his head. “I ain’t the lucky type, boss.” Bosco gently removed his injured arm from the sling and pointed to a dot on the underside of his bandage. “What do you think, it’s some kind of GPS tracker?”
Tanner studied it. “That’s exactly what it is.”
“This girl work for Conti?” Pullo asked.
“No,” Bosco said. “But she’s his cousin.”
“That son of a bitch. I was hoping I was wrong about him,” Pullo said.
Bosco removed the GPS tracker just as the pilot powered up the chopper.
Tanner shouted over the engine noise to be heard. “Let me have that.”
Bosco gave the tracker to Tanner, expecting him to destroy it, but instead, he placed it in his pocket.
“Aren’t you going to get rid of it?” Bosco shouted.
Pullo leaned over and spoke in his ear. “We were expecting something like this. We’re going to turn it against them.”
Bosco nodded his understanding, and before long, they were in the air.
Tanner looked back, located the fresh grave, and in his mind, he said goodbye to Sophia.
375
Take A Meeting
In the afternoon, Tanner entered the underground parking garage of a hotel in Midtown and climbed into the passenger seat of a silver BMW. Tamir Ivanov was in the driver’s seat. He nodded at Tanner and passed him a manila file folder.
“Your info was right. That’s definitely the building where Krupin and Juan Alvarado are staying. It’s owned by an alias of Alonso Alvarado. It’s ten stories tall and the bastards have it all to themselves, that is, if you don’t count the army of men guarding them.”
Tanner looked through the file and saw that Ivanov had included a list of the building’s specifications.
“General George Patton once said that fixed fortifications were a monument to the stupidity of man, because anything built by man could be destroyed by man. I don’t agree with him in all cases, but I do in this instance.”
“Does that mean that you have a plan?”
“Not yet, but I will.”
“I want in, Tanner. I swore on Justina’s grave that I would be the man who killed Krupin.”
“Do you know what you’re asking? Even if we get inside the building there’s no guarantee that we’ll ever get out alive.”
“I don’t care what happens to me, but I need to kill that man. You can have Juan Alvarado. You might be able to trade him to his father in a deal.”
Tanner shook his head. “There’s no dealing with men like that. He would just go back on his word.”
“That’s true, but if you kill his son, he won’t rest until you’re dead.”
“It doesn’t matter. Once I kill the son, he’s next. This ends one of two ways, Ivanov, I die or Alvarado dies.”
“That means going to Mexico, and the man lives in a fortress from what I’ve gathered.”
“Why are there no pictures of him?”
“The word is, he paid to have them all destroyed when he took control of Mexico City and started his own cartel.”
“I need to know what the man looks like.”
“I’m working on it. I have a friend in the DEA. He says that Alvarado came out of a town called El Posa. He’s checking there to see if there are any old mug shots of the man in the files. By joining forces with Krupin, Alvarado’s made himself a higher priority of the DEA.”
“Are the Feds moving in on Krupin and Juan Alvarado?”
Ivanov made a sound of disgust. “No, they’re not. I think it means that someone, maybe many people, have been bribed. The cartel has more money than most legitimate corporations, and that money buys a lot of corruption.”
“It also works in our favor. We don’t want them arrested, we want them dead.”
“When are you going in?”
“There’s no way to know, and my current plans depend on Krupin and Alvarado making the next move.”
Ivanov considered that and saw only one way to ensure he would be around when Tanner went for Krupin.
“From this point on I’m sticking with you; that way I won’t be left out.”
Tanner stared at the man, then sighed. “Ivanov, I didn’t know your partner, but she wouldn’t want you to risk yourself needlessly. Walk away now, take some time off, then get back to your life. Let me handle Krupin.”
“I have to do this, Tanner. I have to.”
“Fine, I’ll call Joe and tell him that I’m bringing back a guest.”
While Tanner was meeting with Ivanov, Rico was meeting with Juan Alvarado and Michael Krupin inside Alvarado’s suite. They were seated together in the living room while Rico filled them in on his progress.
“You’ve found Pullo and his men?” Juan asked.
“That’s right; Mike Conti of the Calvino Family planted a GPS tracker on one of Pullo’s people.”
Juan Alvarado’s face screwed up in confusion. “Why would this Mike Conti do that?”
Rico flicked his eyes over toward Krupin and then back at Juan. “He was promised certain things.”
“By you? Rico, have you gone mad? You’re not
authorized to speak for me.”
“This plan was begun with your father’s approval, he asked me to come up with a way to track down Pullo and I did.”
“Never mind all that,” Krupin said. “Where is Pullo?”
“They’re at the Hotel Rutherford on Randall Street.”
“What?” Krupin said. “That hotel was Bruno Heinz’s. You mean that Pullo has been there all along?”
“At least the last few days, since the attempt on his life.”
“That sneaky bastard. Damn it! It just never occurred to me to look there.”
Rico grinned. “That’s why he chose it.”
Juan slapped his hands together in triumph. “Excellent, I’ll send the men in tonight.”
“No,” Rico said.
“What do you mean, no? Of course, we go in, and by tomorrow our problems will be over.”
“No, we will wait and watch the hotel. I do not like how easy this is.”
“Why wait?”
“Listen to me, Juan; you do not want another disaster on your hands. This man Tanner is beyond clever. We’ll watch the building for a day and then we’ll go in tomorrow night if it looks good. But if I smell a trap, I’ll call the whole thing off.”
Alvarado stood and paced around the room, after leaning against the dormant fireplace, he spoke.
“Wait one day, but if Tanner slips away it will be on your head.”
“Even if everything looks right, it could still go wrong. I would not send the men in until we’re certain.”
“Speaking of things going wrong, what the hell happened to my men, Rico?”
“We still do not know, Krupin; it’s as if they’ve vanished.”
“Do you think it was Tanner?”
“I have no doubt that it was. I would love to get my hands on the bastard.”
“Forget those men, they’re dead,” Alvarado said. “And Rico, I’ll give you one day to watch that hotel. If you can’t prove it’s a trap, then I’ll send the new men in tomorrow night and wipe Pullo and Tanner from the planet.”
“A day may not be enough time.”
“Too bad, it’s all I’m giving you. Or do I have to call my father and have him explain to you which of us is in charge?”
Rico tapped down his rage and forced himself to smile. “As you say, Juan, but tell me, will you be leading the men, or would you like me to do it?”
Rico had asked the question in as innocent a tone as he could muster, but he knew, that Juan knew, that he was taunting him, even insinuating that he was a coward. After staring at Rico with a sneer forming on his lips, Juan answered him.
“I will let you lead the men; that way you can personally avenge your friend Mateo.”
“You are too gracious,” Rico said.
“Are we sure that Tanner is in that hotel too?” Krupin asked.
“No, but if he is, I will kill him,” Rico said.
“Take him alive if you can. He would make a perfect gift for my father,” Juan said.
“I’ll try,” Rico told him, but he knew Tanner was too dangerous to leave alive. In fact, he realized that he needed a way to ensure his own survival. He excused himself and went off to make a call to Mike Conti.
376
Who Watches The Watchers?
That night, Alexa approached the south wall of the Alvarado Compound by crawling through the sand on her stomach. She was covered in camouflage material that blended in with the landscape and had gone undetected when a searchlight passed over her.
She stopped thirty feet from the wall, as she waited for the perimeter guard to drive by in his Jeep.
She had watched the compound on numerous occasions and had even gotten to the wall twice before, as she gathered information about the compound’s security measures.
However, tonight she planned to go over the wall, to scale the twenty feet of reinforced concrete and gather Intel on Alvarado’s home.
She considered finding the man, tracking him down in his own home and killing him. If she did such a thing, she would surely be killed before she could escape. As much as she wanted revenge for her dead family, Alexa wanted to go on living even more.
And then there was Rodrigo. Her death would devastate him, she knew it would. She could not bring such pain upon him, not her blessed Papa.
She removed her backpack, and after taking a drink of water, she put together the homemade rope she had fashioned to get over the high wall.
The rope had knots tied every foot, while at its end, Alexa attached a U-shaped device made from PVC pipe. One end of the U was longer than the other and had burrs sticking out of it that would dig into the wall. The rest of the pipe was wrapped in a soft fabric, so it shouldn’t make any sound as it attached itself onto the wall. Alexa had tested the contraption on other walls and was so practiced with it that she could climb up the rope in a matter of seconds.
Once she was ready, she still had to wait for the van to come, the van transporting the whores for the men who guarded the compound.
When the women arrived, the guards in the tower would not only be watching the gate, but they might also be distracted by thinking of the pleasure that awaited them when they got off their shifts.
From what Alexa had seen on other occasions, the guards worked shorter shifts when the women were there, so that each man could have his time with a woman. Alvarado only allowed his men this pleasure once a month. Alexa believed it was the perfect time to strike.
Headlights cut through the blackness of the desert less than an hour later, and Alexa made her way over to the wall. It was good timing, because the outside perimeter guard had just passed the area and shouldn’t be back again. The wall surrounding the compound stretched on for thousands of meters but was checked every night.
Alexa had to get in and out and leave no trace that she had been there. She was prepared for a confrontation, but she would be vastly outnumbered. If caught, she would be tortured. Alvarado would never believe she was there on her own but would likely think she was working for his rival, Damián Sandoval.
As the gate opened, four guards stood ready to fire on anyone trying to use the opportunity to sneak in with the van. Alexa used the time to toss her rope device atop the wall. The first try failed, but the second toss was successful, and the U-shaped tubing straddled the thick wall.
Once she was satisfied that the rope was secured, Alexa climbed up. She was lying flat on the wall in seconds. After pulling the rope up and over, she refit the U to face in the opposite direction and climbed down on the other side.
When no lights flashed on, it assured her that the motion detectors had yet to be reactivated, and she sprinted for the house.
The daughter of a thief, Alexa was skilled at bypassing alarm systems and locks. She was inside the home in less than a minute. She found herself in what appeared to be the laundry room, with several washers and dryers.
Alvarado’s compound was like a small community of its own and received its food supplies by tractor-trailer. Alexa had considered entering the compound by hiding inside one of the food crates, but she nixed the idea in favor of going over the wall.
She smiled. She was inside, possibly less than a hundred feet from Alvarado. If fate smiled on her, she might even get to kill the evil bastard.
In New York City, several of Alvarado’s men were watching the Hotel Rutherford from the rooftop of a warehouse across the street. Tanner had once used the same spot when he was spying on Bruno Heinz’s men.
The four cartel members were leaning back against a brick chimney and discussing the situation.
There were obviously men moving around inside the hotel, as they had seen shadows pass before windows many times.
What they hoped to see was Tanner. If they could confirm he was in there, they would call in the rest of the troops and move in.
The men all knew that Tanner was worth half a million dollars. The thought of having that much money fueled the men’s dreams. Never mind that they nearly earned that much
money already, by reinvesting their pay in product and moving it with Alvarado, but that was work, business, while the bounty on Tanner was more like a dream.
Not only would the money be theirs, but so would the fame. Tanner’s exploits at killing were spreading throughout Mexico they all agreed, and to be the one who killed such a man would make you just as famous.
One of the men took out the artist’s rendition of Tanner and made an unkind comment about his eyes, while another claimed they looked queer. The other men laughed along, even as they all stared at the eyes in the drawing and felt unease. The artist, by using Rico’s description, had captured Tanner’s eyes perfectly.
They were the eyes of a killer, and even though the men had killed many times themselves, they knew an Alpha Predator when they saw one. Although there were many beasts in the jungle, only one could lead the pack. Tanner, if the tales were true, was a killing machine. It eased the men’s minds and bolstered their pride to demean him.
The man folded the flyer away as a last chuckle escaped his lips. “This Tanner, he’s just been lucky… that’s all it is.”
The other men agreed, and then they moved on to the far end of the roof to get a look at the windows in that section of the hotel.
Inside the chimney, seated on a platform he himself installed, Tanner thought about the men’s conversation and smiled.
377
Don’t Just Stand There…
At the Alvarado compound, Alonso Alvarado watched as his brother-in-law entered his office.
As usual, the man looked worried.
Carlos Ayala was Malena’s older brother and the head accountant for the cartel. If the cartel made or spent so much as a centavo, Carlos knew about it, and worried over it.
The recent war in New York had been nothing but a money drain. Alvarado knew it was what was on the man’s mind.
“Don’t even say it,” Alvarado said.
Carlos tried to look innocent. “Say what?”
The Tanner Series - Books 1-11: Tanner - The hit man with a heart Page 118