He turned on the small TV in the kitchen and watched the news channel while he made coffee.
Amy didn’t rise as early as he did, but she still rose earlier than most, and so Spenser knew that she’d be down soon. He wasn’t a great cook, but he did know how to make buttermilk biscuits and cook bacon.
He had just placed the biscuits in the oven when the story came on about the grenade blast in an Oklahoma City motel room. According to the report, five men had died, and they had been identified as being involved in organized crime. The police there were speculating that a rival gang was to blame, possibly even a biker gang, since several men on motorcycles were spotted leaving the scene after the explosion.
Spenser turned off the TV. It wasn’t a mob hit, or bikers, it was Tanner. He was in Oklahoma, and soon, Spenser would be there too.
Amy came downstairs a short time later dressed in a nightgown. After she and Spenser kissed good morning, Spenser pointed at her.
“You already keep clothes here, why not move them all in?”
Amy lowered her head and stared up at him. “Is that your way of proposing marriage?”
“No, but it makes sense, doesn’t it?”
Amy said nothing more as she walked over to the counter and poured a cup of coffee. After looking through the cabinet and finding the honey, she sat at the counter and spread some on a biscuit.
“Is it because you don’t trust me, or because you don’t trust anyone?” she said.
“I don’t get your meaning?”
“Trust, Spenser, you have trouble trusting people, or maybe it’s just me.”
“What do you mean? You know what I do for a living; doesn’t that show you that I trust you?”
“Many people know what you do for a living. Every one of your former clients knows what you do… that doesn’t make me special.”
Spenser left his seat and walked around the table to stand beside her. “Hey?”
Amy looked up at him and he leaned over and kissed her.
“You are special to me; I thought you knew that?”
“All right, then tell me why you want to go after such a dangerous man like this Tanner? Is it a macho thing? Do you want to prove that you’re tougher than this Tanner guy? It’s not the money, I know that much; you’re not the materialistic type.”
“One million is a lot of money, can’t that be the only reason I want to find him?”
“No, not in this case, because I can tell that there’s something personal about this for you. My Spanish isn’t as good as yours is, but I saw the word, asesino, on that flyer. That means assassin. Did this Tanner kill someone you loved?”
“No, it’s nothing like that, but I knew Tanner when he was younger and went by a different name, Xavier Zane. That’s an advantage I have over everyone else looking for him. I even think I know where he might hide out.”
“How did you know him? You never talk about your past.”
“It doesn’t matter; all that matters is now.”
Amy tossed the half-eaten biscuit on her plate and stood. “Keep your damn secrets to yourself then!”
She marched up the stairs and returned with everything on but her shoes. When she sat on an arm of the sofa to put them on, Spenser called to her.
“Why are you rushing off?”
“Because I don’t stay where I’m not wanted.”
“Who said you weren’t wanted?”
“Trust! You don’t trust me.”
“Amy don’t go. Just stay and we’ll talk.”
“All right, talk. Why do you want to risk your life needlessly? You do that enough, you know? But at least when you’re working you’re helping people who have nowhere else to turn, but this, this manhunt, it’s…it’s beneath you.”
Amy finished with her shoes, grabbed her purse from the entry table, and opened the door.
Spenser came up behind her and slammed it shut.
When Amy turned and glared up at him, he stroked her hair.
“I’ll tell you everything.”
“Promise?”
“Yes, and then you’ll probably never want to see me again.”
Amy hugged him. “I can handle truth, Spenser. It’s lies I can’t stand.”
Spenser led her back over to the sofa and began talking. He spoke for over an hour as Amy mostly listened. When he finished, she said she needed some time to think about everything he’d said.
As Amy was about to drive off, she asked a question. “When are you going off to find Tanner?”
“I’ll leave around noon.”
“Why so soon?”
“It’s a long drive,” Spenser said, and stared at her, and something suddenly seemed so clear to him. “I love you, Amy. I really do.”
“I love you too, but I need time to think. Do you understand that?”
“Yes.”
Amy drove off, and Spenser wondered if he’d ever see her again.
408
Friend Or Foe?
The strike team from Hexalcorp was in the air and headed for Oklahoma City. Simms was a chopper pilot. He was speeding them along as fast as he could.
They wanted Tanner as bad as anyone, but unlike the men who were hunting Tanner for money, they were hunting him as a matter of pride. Tanner was a mission to these men, and they had never failed to accomplish a mission.
Their team leader, Bennett, had a plan to engage Tanner only when he was worn down by other, and lesser, opponents. Then, and only then would they strike.
To ensure that Tanner faced many, they had put the word out that he was in Oklahoma City. They had also asked Martinez to have Alvarado raise the bounty. Alvarado did so gladly, and Tanner was now worth two million dollars. As the strike team moved toward Oklahoma, so did scores of other men.
Tanner could run, he could hide, but he could not stay hidden, and once he was worn out from the chase and the fighting, the Hexalcorp strike team would make their move. It was a good plan, and someone else had the same idea.
Ariana O’Grady watched the news reports coming out of Oklahoma City on her iPad. Tanner had killed five mobsters who had been looking to cash in on the bounty, a bounty that had recently been raised to two million.
Ariana smiled. It looked like Tanner would be a dead man one way or another with so many people out to kill him, and that pleased Ariana just fine.
She was in the passenger seat, as Brick drove, and to say that the man wasn’t much of a conversationalist was an understatement. He barely spoke even when asked a question.
“Tanner is worth two million dollars now, Brick, but don’t worry, I’ll double your pay. As much as I’d like to be the one to kill him, I’d be just as happy if someone else did the deed, as long as he’s dead in the end.”
“What else?”
“Excuse me?”
“You said ‘dead in the end,’ we’re all dead in the end. What else is there?”
Ariana turned in her seat and smiled at Brick. “Well, well, you’re a philosopher, and that’s also more words than you’ve spoken since I’ve known you.”
Brick shrugged, and then he turned his head and smiled at Ariana. “I like you.”
“I ah, I like you too, Brick,” Ariana said, as she wondered what Brick meant by “like.” Was it like as in friendship, admiration, or could he have meant…? She straightened up in her seat until she was facing front again. The man was three times her size and hardly what one would call attractive. After they had driven a mile in silence, Ariana decided to try to clarify things.
“That woman back in New York City, the one you got in the fight over, was she your girlfriend?”
“No, she was my employer. I liked her too.”
“I see, and you two became close?”
“Yes, I left her no choice.”
“What?”
“If she didn’t sleep with me, I promised her that I would kill her, understand?”
Ariana did understand, and she suddenly wished that her luggage wasn’t in the rear of the v
ehicle, because her gun was in her suitcase.
Without warning, Brick elbowed her in the ribs and laughed. “It’s a joke, Ariana; you’re not my type, too skinny.”
Ariana was relieved, but also angry. “You have a weird sense of humor, Brick.”
“Yeah, but I like it.”
Before going to sleep the previous night, Tanner had checked his email on his laptop. He was relieved to see a message from Tanner Six. After several emails sent back and forth, they finally decided to meet in person at a rendezvous point.
Tanner Six was stunned to learn that Martillo was alive, and he had no idea how Martillo could have possibly survived.
Tanner also informed his mentor that he too was a wanted man and that there was a sketch of his face being passed around.
Tanner also mentioned Alexa, but he told Tanner Six he didn’t know what to make of her yet.
Over the last few days, Tanner had spent hours coming up with various plans to avoid the people hunting him for the bounty, including his usual plan to just kill anyone that tried to kill him.
Tanner Six told Tanner that Alvarado would be sending men to kill him as well, and they would likely be more highly trained than the street soldiers he’d been using.
“The man is many things, but foolish isn’t one of them.” Tanner Six had written in an email. “He’ll likely hire outside help, trained mercenaries, or possibly another hit man. You won’t be able to outgun them, but you can outthink them.”
Tanner hadn’t considered that Alvarado would hire professional help, because the man had hundreds, if not thousands of men working for him. But it made sense, and yeah, if they were good, they would be trouble.
“You’ve grown wiser over the years.” Tanner typed back in an email, as he teased his mentor.
“I still know a trick or two that you don’t.” Tanner Six had responded. “And Cody, be careful, you’ll be going up against a bunch of yahoos, yes, but Alvarado will be upping his game, count on it.”
After writing back and forth, Tanner Six suggested a plan. Tanner liked it and wrote back.
“I’m going with your plan. I’ve grown a little wiser too.”
When Alexa came downstairs the following morning, she had placed her laptop on the kitchen table and showed Tanner the news story about the motel, where he had killed Georgie and his men.
“It’s being blamed on those bikers right now, but I did see where they interviewed a bounty hunter who said he was looking for you.”
“Fortunately, half the people out there think I’m a myth, even segments of the law enforcement community don’t take me seriously.”
“I grew up hearing the myth,” Alexa said. “But my Tanner was Tanner Five.”
Tanner headed over to the back door in the kitchen. “Come with me; I want to see what the outside looks like in daylight.”
Alexa followed, and they were both surprised to see that the home’s lawn looked well groomed.
“I guess the lawn service gets paid automatically as well,” Tanner said.
They walked out to the shed and found an ancient motorcycle with flat tires. The bike looked like something from the sixties, and some small creature had once nested inside its leather seat. Besides the ancient green and yellow striped bike and a few yard tools, there wasn’t much to see. The shed itself looked like a stiff breeze could knock it over.
Out past the shed, the land soon ended and there was a road with traffic going in both directions. Beyond that was a chain-link fence, and then the rear of a bowling alley.
They walked out front by using the driveway and traveled both ways along the quiet street. There wasn’t much to look at but trees. When they walked back the way they had driven in the night before they noticed a stream on the other side, which sat at the bottom of a short hill.
The nearest home was around a curve and on the opposite side. To reach it required driving over a small wooden bridge that had been built above the stream, and beyond that, the home sat back from the road.
In the opposite direction, the road dead-ended where the stream curved westward, and beyond a rusty wire fence was the roadway seen from the field. Tanner walked over to the thick overgrown hedges on the right side of the road, and when he stood on his toes, he could see the dilapidated shed sitting a dozen yards to the right.
When they returned to the house, Alexa gestured out at the wide field. “This must have been a farm at one time.”
“Yes,” Tanner said, “and now it’ll be the place I make my stand.”
“You want to stay here, why?”
“If I move I’ll be pursued and have no option but to fight wherever I’m attacked, but here, I can control things, and the only way to survive superior numbers is to be prepared.”
They walked out into the field again, and once more, Tanner asked Alexa how she had found him.
“I explained that. I simply followed my, well, you would call them hunches.”
“That’s beyond a hunch, and it makes me think you’re hiding something.”
Alexa stopped walking and held out her right hand. “Take my hand.”
“Why?”
“Just do it. It doesn’t always work, but sometimes when I touch someone, I get… impressions. If it works with you, I’ll be able to tell you something that I have no way of knowing.”
Tanner shrugged and took her hand. He didn’t know if she was feeling anything, but he was, and he had to resist the urge to pull her closer.
Alexa had shut her eyes, and after nearly a minute passed, she said something that shocked Tanner.
“Cody? Does that mean anything to you? I also see the word… Buffalo? Or maybe it’s the animal that you’re thinking—”
Tanner had jerked his hand free and was grabbing his gun from under his jacket, but as he was bringing it up, Alexa kicked at his hand and sent the gun flying into the air. She then dived for the weapon and caught it before it hit the ground.
The act had placed her on her knees, and she sensed Tanner coming up behind her. She kicked out once again, and just barely managed to catch Tanner with a sweep kick that took his legs out from under him. She then stood and pointed the gun at Tanner where he lay on the ground.
She had his gun and had thought him defenseless, but he was a Tanner she reminded herself, and she gazed with trepidation at the grenade clutched in his hand.
The grenade was in Tanner’s right hand, while its pin was held in his left. If Alexa shot him, he would release the spoon, the safety lever, drop the grenade, and take her with him.
“What the hell is wrong with you, Tanner? Why did you try to shoot me?”
“What you said, there’s no way you could know that, that is, unless you were working for Alvarado.”
Alexa turned red with rage at the accusation. “I would die before helping that man, and what was so special about what I said?”
Tanner gazed up at her. “You said, ‘Cody’ and then the word ‘Buffalo’ what were you talking about?”
“I don’t know why I said those words, but they were there in your mind.”
Tanner hissed through his teeth. He wanted to trust this woman, and he did believe in a sixth sense. He himself had displayed such a nature at times, even though he thought of it as following his gut. There was also Nadya, Romeo’s wife, who had exhibited a talent for seeing the future on more than one occasion.
“If you’re the real deal, lady, you have a scary gift.”
Alexa sat the gun on the ground beside Tanner.
“You can trust me, and there’s no one on earth who wants to kill Alonso Alvarado more than I do.”
Tanner carefully placed the pin back in the grenade. He then picked up the gun, slid it into its holster, and stood. He walked over to Alexa and saw that she appeared nervous, but unafraid.
“Tell me something else,” Tanner said.
Alexa raised her chin up. “If I can, I will. What would you like to know?”
Tanner smiled. “Where would you like to go for break
fast?”
409
Essential Items
Alexa and Tanner had agreed it was best to grab breakfast from a drive-thru window, and after they ate, Tanner went shopping inside a superstore that carried nearly everything.
Alexa followed along and was both fascinated and puzzled by many of the items he bought, such as the matching set of work clothes that came in a hideous green color, and the clipboard and cheap calculator.
While they walked through the aisles, Alexa went about the market loading a cart with food and other household supplies. She was a decent cook and was tired of eating fast food.
In the cleaning aisle, Tanner gathered soap, bottles of ammonia, and other chemical cleaners.
She assumed he would use the items to make a bomb of some sort if needed, and when they entered the home improvement department and bought galvanized pipe, a hacksaw, and boxes of nails, she was sure her hunch had been correct. She hadn’t asked any questions.
Tanner wore a baseball cap with a long bill to block his face from the cameras most stores had, while Alexa had donned a hood.
When they entered the electronics department, it intrigued Alexa. When Tanner loaded security cameras into the cart, she assumed they would be setting up video surveillance, although she had expected him to be gathering items that were more of an offensive than defensive nature. Still, she said nothing.
However, when he grabbed three packs of condoms off a rack, Alexa felt the need to ask a question.
“Do you have plans that I should know about?”
“There’s no plan, but I live in hope.”
Alexa laughed as she shook her head in wonder. “Do you have any idea how many people want to kill you, and this is what you’re thinking of?”
The Tanner Series - Books 1-11: Tanner - The hit man with a heart Page 130