“I can put them back,” Tanner said.
After staring at each other for a moment, Alexa grabbed the condoms from his hand and tossed them in the cart.
“What else do we need?” she asked while walking away, and behind her, Tanner grinned.
“I think we’re good, but when we get back we’ve a lot of work ahead of us, and I doubt we’ll finish early.”
“Once we get back to the house, I want you to explain everything to me.”
“I will, but I’m hoping to not need most of this. Still, it’s better to have it than not have it.”
“I still want to know.”
Tanner nodded at Alexa. He wasn’t used to having a partner, but she deserved to know their plans. He had also liked that she hadn’t pestered him about every item he bought.
“I’ll explain everything when we get back, but you should know, Alexa, you might be safer staying on your own.”
“Alvarado wants us both dead, and it’s mutual. We stay together and kill the bastard, or we die together.”
Tanner looked her over. She was all woman, but she had the heart of a fighter.
“Why are you staring at me?”
“Two reasons?”
“And they are?”
“One, I’m impressed by your courage.”
“And the other reason?”
Tanner smiled and then his gaze fell upon the boxes of condoms.
Alexa laughed and laid a hand on his chest. “If we survive this, we’ll explore that second reason.”
Tanner took the hand that was placed on his chest and gave it a gentle squeeze. “We’ll survive.”
Alexa had smiled in agreement. Tanner released her hand, and they left the store and went off to prepare for war.
Spenser was getting set to go to Oklahoma when Amy came driving in from the road. After their earlier conversation, Spenser wondered if he would ever see Amy again.
When she left her vehicle, Amy was carrying a suitcase. Spenser first feared she had brought an empty bag along to have something to pack her things in, but no, he could tell by the way she was handling the suitcase that it already had weight inside it.
“I’m coming with you, Spenser.”
Spenser met her several feet from his truck and took the bag from her.
“That means you’re sticking with me?”
Amy smiled, and then she kissed him. “I love you, and I’ll take you as you are, all of you, your past included.”
They hugged, then Spenser gestured at her bag. “I’m glad you’re with me, but I don’t think you should go on this trip. It will be dangerous.”
“Yes, it will, for you, and I’m not going to let you face that alone.”
“All right. I know better than to try to talk you out of something.”
As they were about to leave, Amy asked how long a drive it was to Oklahoma City.
“About seventeen hours. I want to do most of it today, but we’re not going that far south.”
“Where are we going?”
“We’re going where Tanner believes he’ll be safe.”
“And you’re sure he’ll be there?”
“Time will tell,” Spenser said, and then he drove toward Tanner.
410
Respect For The Dead
Tanner had agreed to bury the body found in the basement. After digging a hole, he went down there with a sheet to wrap up the corpse. The man had been very old, Tanner could tell, and there were no rings or other jewelry on the body.
When Alexa came down to help, Tanner was surprised, as most people were squeamish around the dead. However, Alexa put on a pair of gloves and helped Tanner to wrap the dead man in the sheet.
“I found some things last night that belonged to him,” Alexa said. “His name was Ralph Harper, he was eighty-seven when he died, and he won several motorcycle races back in the sixties. There is a box of trophies in the back of the bedroom closet.”
“I guess that old motorcycle in the shed meant something to him,” Tanner said.
Alexa nodded. “Yes, I found a box of pictures as well. In several of them he appeared to be riding that green and yellow motorcycle. He had also been married, but his wife and his teenage daughter died in a fire in Chicago in 1974.”
Tanner stared at Alexa. “How do you know all that? Did you feel it, sense it somehow?”
Alexa laughed. “No, of course not.”
“It wouldn’t be any stranger than you finding me the way you did.”
“I’ve always been psychic, but trust me, finding you that way was the most amazing thing I’ve ever experienced. What I call my ‘little voice’ has never spoken to me as clearly as it did when I was searching for you.”
“Why do you think that is?” Tanner said.
Alexa smiled at him. “We were meant to be together, to join forces, and soon the two of us will make Alvarado pay.”
Tanner just stared at Alexa without speaking. He wanted to trust her and could use an ally, but he just didn’t know what to think of her yet. One second, he was certain she was legit, and in the next instant, he would have doubts about her. Tanner lowered his gaze and went back to taping his end of the sheet closed.
“I found some papers,” Alexa said. “They were in the closet and they had to do with the deaths of his wife and daughter. A lawsuit followed the fire; it was something about a faulty oven. This house and some money were left to him by his mother, she passed away not long after his family died, and… it looks like he just dropped out of life then.”
Once they had the body wrapped, Alexa offered to help Tanner carry it up the basement stairs. Tanner assured her he could carry the bundle alone, and soon they were on the right side of the home, where they had decided to bury the body.
Tanner had made the hole deep. He and Alexa lowered the corpse in the grave, covered it up, then sat an old wooden bench over the spot. It had begun to rain, but the forecast called for more of it to fall throughout the day, and to be heavy at times.
“I want to say a few words,” Alexa said.
“Like what, a prayer?” Tanner said.
“Yes, it’s one of my grandmother’s favorites.”
Alexa recited the prayer, in Spanish, as Tanner stood by silently. When she was finished, Tanner noticed that she wiped away a tear.
“Why are you crying?”
“This man, Ralph Harper, he suffered a great loss and then he just gave up. And this was a man who once embraced life. He was a racer, a competitor, and a winner; I was just thinking how terrible his loss must have been to cause him to just give up that way.”
“Yes, but you lost far more than he did, and you never gave up.”
“I had Rodrigo, my Papa… without his love… I may have turned inside and hidden myself away too.”
Tanner reached over and touched her on the cheek. “Never give up; we all die soon enough.”
Alexa took his hand. “Is that the Tanner motto?”
He smiled. “I guess it could be, and I also think we’d better get to work on our security precautions. Maybe we can finish before this rain gets too heavy.”
He released her hand, but Alexa reached out and took it again. “Tanner.”
“Yeah?”
“You’re not what I expected.”
“In what way?”
“You’re… nicer than I’d thought you’d be, you know, for a hired killer.”
“I chose my profession because I’m good at it, but I’ve been so busy the last few months defending myself and helping out others that I haven’t had a chance to take a real contract. Once Alvarado is dead and the past is behind me, I’m going to get back to basics, and that means taking a contract on a target. I am a killer, Alexa, and I won’t apologize for it.”
Alexa moved closer. “I wasn’t criticizing you; it was actually the opposite.”
Tanner was leaning in to kiss her when the sky opened up and the rain increased tenfold. Alexa screamed, then laughed, and while still holding Tanner’s hand, she
ran for the porch, while pulling him along.
Once they were beneath the cover of the roof, they stood together watching the rain, as flashes of lightning could be seen in the distance, followed by the rumble of thunder.
Alexa still gripped Tanner’s hand, and as he looked out at the rain, he smiled.
411
With Friends Like Yours…
The huge coordinated raids on the Chemzonic chemical plants took place the next morning, and by noon, there were over thirty arrests in the United States and Mexico.
Jack Rockford’s information was of incalculable value and it led Jake Garner to another source, one of Chemzonic’s Vice-presidents. That Vice-President, the woman who Tanner had thought was losing her hair, also made a deal.
The woman looked relieved when Garner showed up at her home. She told him that the stress was killing her. Garner’s superiors agreed to place her inside the witness protection program, and she revealed how Chemzonic had gotten in bed with the Alvarado Cartel.
It was simple. Chemzonic and the Alvarado Cartel were one and the same and had been since Chemzonic’s founding in 2001.
The cartel owned several ancillary businesses as well, such as a chemical drum manufacturer and two trucking firms. They had also bribed or threatened over two dozen people to keep their secrets safe.
Within an hour of the raids, the killings began, as Alvarado tried to stop the damage and punish those who betrayed him. But all the key witnesses and their families had been placed on planes to unknown destinations before the raids began. The harm they caused to Alvarado’s drug pipeline was epic.
The cartel could recover from it, eventually, and at great expense, but in the meantime, their customers in the western half of The United States would be supplied by others, such as Damián Sandoval, who was already making inroads into Alvarado’s Mexico City territory.
Malena stood beside her husband’s chair as they watched the press conference begin. Alvarado’s office television took up most of one wall and was a hundred inches across diagonally. It made the people on the screen look life-size.
Special Agent Jake Garner was flanked by local agents from the FBI’s Oklahoma City office, and he explained in general how the raids were carried out. When one of the reporters asked if their original informant had a code name, Garner stared into the cameras and smiled.
“His name is Tanner; at least, that’s what he calls himself.”
Alvarado’s face went white, which lasted only a second before it turned crimson. He reached into the top drawer on his desk, removed a gun, and fired at the TV until the gun was empty and the television destroyed.
Malena knelt beside her husband’s chair and took his hand. “It has to be a coincidence; our Tanner couldn’t be behind the raids on the plants… could he?”
Alvarado’s breathing was ragged from the exertion caused by rage, but he calmed himself enough to speak.
“Rico said it best. Tanner is a devil. I believe it, and I believe something else.”
“What, Alonso?”
“The devil is coming here. Tanner will make it past Martinez’ men, past the multitude hunting him for the bounty, and he will be outside our walls. It is just a matter of time.”
“Then we’ll leave,” Malena said, and even as the words left her lips, she knew her husband would never run.
Alvarado leaned over and kissed her. “I will stay, but you will go. I want you somewhere where you’ll be safe.”
“No Alonso, we stay together, and we work together, just as we did when we took over Mexico City.”
Alvarado let out a sigh, and then nodded, as he drifted off into memory, the memory of his second rise to power.
MEXICO CITY 1998
Malena Alvarado smiled with genuine pleasure as she was greeted by her best friend, Ari Deleon. Ari was the wife of Juan Deleon, and Juan was Alonso Alvarado’s best friend, and a former associate in the defunct Mercoto Cartel.
Ari and Juan’s home was spectacular and sat on over fifty acres. Malena had been their frequent guest. That is, whenever she wasn’t visiting her husband at the rehabilitative facility where he was recovering from his injuries, the ones he had received at the hands of Tanner Six.
Juan had been one of Alvarado’s top men in Matamoras, one of his Knights as he liked to call them, another of his Knights had been Damián Sandoval, but Sandoval had staged a coup when Alonso had been injured, and Juan was forced to make a choice. Either he followed Sandoval, who was also a friend of his, or he would be killed.
Not a tough decision for most, and Juan had been no exception.
Although he did what he could for Malena and Alonso, they were considered persona non grata. If Sandoval knew that Juan was still in touch with Alvarado, he would have had him killed.
Ari looked out at the van Malena arrived in. “Why such a big boxy vehicle, Malena? Did you have to sell your cute little sports car?”
Malena kept the smile on her face, but it took effort. “Alonso and I are not peasants, Ari. The van is new. It was equipped for Alonso.”
“For Alonso? I don’t understand; I thought he was a cripple now.”
The side door on the van slid open at the push of a button and revealed Alonso Alvarado. Alvarado was seated in a wheelchair, but he had a pair of crutches across his lap. The chair lowered to the ground mechanically, and although it seemed a struggle, Alonso stood with the aid of the crutches.
Ari’s hand flew to her mouth and she told one of the servants to fetch her husband.
“What’s wrong, Ari? You don’t look happy to see me,” Alvarado said.
Juan appeared. He had been Alvarado’s best friend since they were children and Alonso and Malena had named their only son after him, but when Juan saw Alvarado standing in his courtyard, he looked as upset as his wife.
“Good Lord, Alonso, are you trying to get all of us killed, man? Do you know what would happen if Sandoval knew you were here?”
Alonso smiled. “Aren’t you going to invite me inside, Juan?”
“Yes, yes, get in here, but you cannot stay.”
It took over a minute, but Alvarado made it up the stairs and into the house on his own power, but once inside, he fell into a thickly cushioned chair in the foyer.
The house was massive, and the foyer alone was as big as some homes. A chandelier hung from the thirty-foot ceiling, and above it, a skylight gave a view of the stars.
Juan looked distressed that Alvarado had sat. He stood before him pleading.
“It is so good to see you up and about, Alonso, but you really cannot stay here. We were taking a chance letting Malena visit us. Sandoval might accept her presence in his territory, but never yours.”
Alvarado made a face of disgust. “Look at you! You’ve become Sandoval’s dog. That traitorous bastard took advantage of my being attacked and killed Hector. Hector Mercoto was a friend, Juan, not just the head of our cartel, and the second he’s dead you bow down to Sandoval. Tell me, do you lick the man’s balls as well?”
Juan’s arm shot out as he pointed toward the door. “Leave, or so help me I’ll kill you myself and give you to Sandoval as a gift. You have no right to talk to me this way. Consider me a friend no more.”
Alvarado held out one of the crutches and pointed its tip at Juan’s chest. “I stopped thinking of you as a friend the day you became Sandoval’s lapdog.”
After sliding down a lever on the side of it, Alvarado gripped the middle section of his right crutch and squeezed it as hard as his injured elbow joint allowed. It was enough, and the small charge at the tip of the crutch went off, to discharge six metal pellets.
Their impact staggered Juan. He looked down at his chest as six distinct red splotches appeared on his white shirt. The splotches expanded, met, and became one huge bloody stain. Juan looked up as if he were gazing through the skylight, then he fell forward and smacked the green marble floor like so much dead meat, which is what he was.
Ari had opened her mouth to scream when Malena j
ammed a knife in her back, then twisted it.
The scream died in Ari’s lovely throat. She fell to her knees, where, after making a strangled cry, she collapsed beside her husband.
Juan’s second-in-command walked over and stood to the side of Alonso’s chair. He was named Cesare, and he too had known Alonso since they were children, but unlike Juan, he had never betrayed Alonso, he had simply played along and built alliances.
Most of Sandoval’s people in Mexico City were still loyal to the old Mercoto Cartel, even if Sandoval had killed its leader. They would follow Alonso Alvarado, who they knew as a man of strength.
Cesare looked over at the two stunned servants, who in turn looked around for Ari and Juan’s bodyguards. When they saw that the bodyguards weren’t present, they knew the attack had been well planned.
Cesare smiled at the servants. “Bring in the belongings from the van. the Alvarado Cartel has begun.”
412
Take A Message
After the press conference ended, Jake Garner was asked to join the head of the FBI’s Oklahoma City Division. Her name was Jacqueline Thornton, and when Jake stepped into her office, he saw that she was not alone.
There was a man seated before her desk. He was about forty-five, short, and looked as if he could blend in anywhere. On the street, Jake wouldn’t have sent him a second glance, but given where he was, he assumed the man was a spy.
Thornton stood and grabbed her laptop case from the desk. “Special Agent Jake Garner, this is Dan Matthews, and I will let you two gentlemen talk in private.”
“Thank you, Jackie,” Matthews said. He then stood and walked over to Jake to shake hands. “That was excellent work you did today. It’ll cripple the Alvarado Cartel for months.”
“Thank you, but it was all handed to me by our informant.”
The Tanner Series - Books 1-11: Tanner - The hit man with a heart Page 131