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

by Remington Kane

  “I’ll get right on that,” Martinez said, as he hoped that was all Alvarado wanted to discuss. It wasn’t, and Alvarado asked him another question.

  “Tell me, have you heard any news from your strike team?”

  “No sir, but I am expecting some soon. With Tanner laying low, I’ve instructed them to follow another lead. It concerns the man who attacked you years ago.”

  “That bastard! I think I still want him more than I want Tanner. Deliver that man to me, Martinez, and I’ll give you anything you want.”

  “I hope to do so, along with Tanner and the woman.”

  “The woman, is she really working with Tanner?”

  “It appears so.”

  “Find them, Martinez, my patience is growing short.”

  “Yes sir.”

  When the call ended, Martinez pulled up the sketch of Alexa on his phone. Tanner had no one who could be threatened to make him come forth, but what about the woman? If they could find out who she was, they could then find her family and use them to draw her out, and possibly force her to choose between her loved ones and Tanner.

  Tanner trusted the woman, or he wouldn’t be working with her. That trust made him vulnerable. If they could find out who she was, they might have a way to control her, to make her betray Tanner.

  Martinez headed toward the house to talk to Alvarado in person. He had just thought of a way to kill two birds with one stone.

  3

  Break-In

  Once they were certain that no one was at home, Scar, Bruise, Wound, and Abrasion went around Spenser’s house looking for an unlocked door or window.

  They found that everything was locked up tight, but while walking along the roof that sat over the wraparound porch, Scar gazed through a bedroom window and saw a picture on a nightstand that caught his attention.

  It was a photo of Spenser and Amy, and when Scar compared it to the drawing he had, he realized that Spenser was a good match. He also remembered where and when he had seen Spenser before.

  Knowing that he had to be sure he was right, Scar climbed down from the roof, walked to the rear door that led into the kitchen, and smashed a pane of glass by using his elbow. As he reached in through the hole to undo the lock on the door, Bruise, Abrasion, and Wound gawked at him.

  “Dude, what are you doing?” Bruise said.

  Scar ignored him, opened the door, and moved through the house. The others followed him upstairs to the bedroom, where he lifted up the picture of Spenser and Amy and studied it.

  “It’s him,” Scar said. “It’s really him.”

  Miles away, Spenser pulled his truck over to the side of the road as his phone emitted a strange tone.

  “What’s that noise?” Amy asked.

  “It’s the burglar alarm for my house. I think someone may have broken in.”

  “Your alarm sends a signal to your phone?”

  “Yeah, and it’s new. Roger Trask installed the alarm system just a week ago.”

  “Trask? He was a client, wasn’t he?”

  “Yes, and he installed new alarms as a way of saying thank you, and now I wish I had let him install cameras as well. For all I know a tree branch could have broken a window.”

  “What do you want to do?”

  Spenser put his truck in gear and pulled back into traffic. “We’re almost there, so I’ll check it out.”

  “But if someone has broken in, they’ll hear the truck before we reach the house. You know how well sound carries out there.”

  “I do, which is why you’ll stay with the truck while I go in on foot.”

  “Maybe we should call Tanner and Alexa and wait for them to catch up to us.”

  “They’re probably too far back, and I can handle anything I find.”

  Amy let out a worried sigh. “It’s times like this that I feel useless.”

  “You’re far from useless, and when we get to Mexico we’ll be counting on you.”

  “You really think that plan of yours will work?”

  “I do, honey, and then Cody and Alexa will be safe.”

  “You’re wanted by that man Alvarado too. Do you think this break-in could have something to do with that?”

  “I don’t know,” Spenser said, as he pressed down harder on the truck’s gas pedal.

  At the house, Scar and his men had moved down to the living room, where he took a seat on a leather sofa with Bruise, as Abrasion and Wound sat across from them on a matching love seat.

  Scar held up the picture of Spenser and Amy, then he looked at each of the others in turn.

  “This guy in the picture, he’s the one that saved my mom and me after my dad was killed.”

  “Seriously?” Wound said.

  “No shit,” Scar said. “And I know he’s worth a lot of money if we tell Martinez where he is, but I ain’t gonna do it.”

  “Dude, he’s worth a lot of money,” Abrasion said.

  Scar looked over at him with an uncharacteristic steely gaze, then stood to walk over and glare down at him. “This dude is off-limits. Do you hear me?”

  Abrasion nodded in agreement. “I get it. You owe him; I was just sayin’, that’s all.”

  Bruise raised a hand in the air as if he were in school and trying to get a teacher’s attention. When Scar looked at him, he spoke.

  “You didn’t tell us much back when all that shit went down, but dude, if we’re gonna pass up the kind of money this guy is worth, I want to know why.”

  When both Abrasion and Wound echoed Bruise’s request, Scar began pacing in front of the fireplace.

  “I’ll tell you, but you can’t tell anyone else.”

  The boys agreed, and Scar began telling them about Spenser Hawke.

  Spenser left the truck a short time later and grabbed a rifle from the rear. He was parked along the side of the road about a mile from his house. Before leaving, he spoke to Amy.

  “I’ll call you when I know it’s safe to come up. If you don’t get that call, do not come near the house.”

  “Maybe I should come with you.”

  “No, honey, it may be dangerous.”

  “But how long should I wait?”

  “Let’s say an hour, and then you drive into town, and call Cody and Alexa too.”

  Amy kissed Spenser. “Be careful.”

  “I will.”

  Spenser cut through the trees and began jogging toward his home in a direction that would let him come upon it from the right side. The house sat in the open with only a few trees strategically planted to give shade. There was no way to approach it without the risk of being spotted.

  While still some distance away, Spenser moved forward in a crouch. He soon dropped down and lay flat, as he brought up the rifle and peered through the scope. Through a living room window, he could see Scar as he stood by the fireplace talking, but he couldn’t get a clear view of his face.

  Spenser stayed like that for several minutes and wondered just how many men were in the house. Unless Scar was prone to talking to himself, he knew it had to be at least two, but given how Scar’s gaze swiveled right, then left, he thought it a safer bet to assume that there were three or four people inside.

  Having only one eye, Spenser had developed the habit of checking any reflective surface in his immediate area that could reveal movement on his blind side, his left side. That’s why he spotted the shapes coming up behind him. They were reflected on the surface of the wide silver band he wore on his wrist.

  Spenser released the unwieldy rifle, rolled to his right, and reached for the gun beneath his jacket.

  4

  Turn Around

  “It was back when we were thirteen, remember?” Scar said. “That was the year my dad walked in on that bank robbery.”

  Bruise, Abrasion, and Wound nodded. They had been friends with Scar since the third grade, and they remembered well the period that Scar spoke of.

  “The cops never caught those guys, did they?” Bruise said.

  Scar shook his head.
“The cops didn’t get them, but the guy in the picture did.”

  Bruise held up the photo of Spenser and Amy. “This guy? He helped you and your mom?”

  “Yeah, and I never said anything to you guys because I knew you would talk. I mean, we were kids, and I knew you would’ve told everyone in school… if you knew what really happened.”

  Abrasion stood and walked over to Scar. “Hey man, we ain’t kids no more, and you know you can tell us anything, right?”

  Scar smiled. “Yeah, and to tell you the truth, I don’t know much, but I think the guy with the eye patch killed the bank robbers.”

  “The dudes that killed your father? He killed all three of them? But I thought the cops said the guys got away,” Bruise said.

  Scar shook his head slowly. “My dad saw one of the robbers without his mask and recognized the guy. The dude was an ex-cop. Dad didn’t die right away, and he told my mom the guy’s name when she saw him in the hospital.”

  “Your mom gave the dude’s name to the cops?” Bruise asked.

  “After my dad died, Mom was too scared to go to the police, since one of the bank robbers used to be one of them. So, we drove off to see a friend of hers that lived here in Wyoming. Her friend contacted this guy with the eye patch, and he said he would help. I was just a kid then, you know, just thirteen, so nobody told me much. But I know he killed them, because a few days after he showed up, my mom told me that I never had to worry about them ever again.”

  Bruise stood. “If this guy is as tough as you think he is maybe we should leave.”

  “No,” Scar said. “I’ve got to see him again. The dude saved my life, and my mom’s life too, plus, I think we should tell him about Martinez and the reward that they’re offering for him.”

  Abrasion was holding the picture; he ran a finger over Amy’s face. “This lady is so pretty. If Martinez sent men here, they might hurt her too. We can’t let that happen.”

  Wound stood and walked over to join Scar. “Talk to the guy if you want to, but we should wait in the truck. If he catches us in here he might shoot us.”

  Scar thought that over and agreed. “Yeah, we’ll wait outside, and I hope he’s not pissed about me breaking in, but I had to know if it was really him.”

  “What if he don’t come back for days?” Wound said.

  “Then we wait,” Scar said. “But I got a feeling he’ll be here soon.”

  Spenser was bringing his gun up to take aim when he realized it was Tanner and Alexa coming toward him.

  “Damn Cody, how did you two get here so quickly?”

  Tanner tossed a thumb toward Alexa. “She had a feeling that there might be trouble and we’ve been moving fast since leaving Kansas.”

  Spenser grinned at Alexa. “I’m taking you to Vegas someday and see how you do at a craps table.”

  Alexa laughed. “I’ve tried gambling and I always lose. I don’t think my gift approves of me getting something for nothing.”

  Tanner settled on the ground on Spenser’s right, as Alexa lowered herself beside Tanner.

  “What’s up?” Tanner asked. “Amy said that someone might have broken in.”

  Spenser was staring through the scope again, and this time he could make out Wound, Abrasion, and Bruise, along with Scar.

  “There’s at least four of them, and they look young.”

  Alexa held out her hand. “May I borrow that rifle scope? I want to check out that pickup truck they arrived in.”

  Spenser passed her the rifle, and after sighting in on the truck, Alexa looked at Tanner. “That’s the same truck that those men who were after you were using. Maybe these four are their replacements.”

  Tanner took the rifle from her. After staring through the scope at the truck, he looked at the men, and recognized them as the Tin Horsemen.

  “Those four are the bikers that attacked you at the motel in Oklahoma City, Alexa. Spenser, we need to take them alive. I think they have answers we need.”

  Spenser was about to reply when all three of them heard someone approaching from behind. When they looked, they saw Amy.

  “Why aren’t you waiting in the truck?” Spenser said.

  “I’m tired of sitting in the truck,” Amy said, as she settled beside Alexa.

  Spenser let out a sigh. “I don’t know why I expected you to do as I asked, you never have before.”

  “What’s going on?” Amy said, and after Alexa explained, Amy had a question.

  “How are you going to approach them without being spotted?”

  Tanner rubbed his chin. “We need a distraction. If they’re all busy looking left, we can come up on them from the right.”

  Amy smiled. “I can help. I’m not good with a gun, but I can be distracting.”

  “How?” Spenser said.

  Amy stood and began walking toward the house. “You’ll see, now get ready.”

  Spenser reached for her hand to bring her back, but Amy was already out of reach.

  “That woman,” Spenser whispered in an exasperated tone, then he looked over and saw that Tanner and Alexa were smiling.

  “It’s not funny. She could get hurt.”

  Tanner moved toward the rear of the house. “Let’s make sure she stays safe.”

  Scar left the house by the front door with the others following. They were about to climb in the truck to wait, when Bruise raised an arm and pointed out by the generator shed, which was about a hundred feet from the house.

  “Look, a lady.”

  It was Amy. She was wearing a blue skirt with a yellow top; as the boys watched, she began unbuttoning her blouse.

  “What’s she doing?” Wound asked. “Is she… is she taking off her top?”

  Abrasion’s mouth hung open as he watched Amy. “It’s the lady from the picture… she’s beautiful.”

  Amy teased them for several moments as she slowly removed the blouse to reveal a black lace bra. Scar and his men watched enraptured as Amy smiled, turned her back on them, undid the bra’s clasps, and then took it off.

  “Turn around,” Abrasion said softly, as he and the others kept staring at Amy.

  She turned with her arms covering her breasts and smiled at the boys. “If you have any weapons on you, I wouldn’t reach for them.”

  Scar had been staring intently at her as he tried to glimpse something more than Amy’s arms and her taut stomach. When her words finally penetrated his brain, he asked a question.

  “What are you talking about?”

  “Look behind you,” Amy said.

  Scar and the others turned, and when they saw Tanner and Spenser pointing weapons at them, they raised their hands in the air.

  “Who are you?” Spenser asked.

  When Spenser received no answer, Tanner stepped closer to Scar, who was the tallest of the boys. He aimed his gun at his head.

  “Don’t shoot!” Scar said.

  Tanner pressed his gun against Scar’s forehead. “Give me a reason not to.”

  Scar shifted his eyes over to Spenser, just as Amy came to stand at Spenser’s side while fastening her blouse.

  “I know you, and you know me too. I’m Mary Fenwick’s son.”

  Spenser recalled the name and lowered his weapon. “You’re Johnny Fenwick?”

  “Yeah, but they call me Scar now.”

  Alexa had been inside the house looking for more intruders. When she came back outside, she walked over to check out the vehicle.

  “I see guns on the dashboard, and they broke in through the kitchen door.”

  After opening the truck, she began removing the weapons, and when she came across them, she held up the wanted posters with their faces on them.

  “Whoever he is, he and his friends were hunting us.”

  After placing the weapons on the porch steps, Alexa walked over to Bruise and kicked his feet out from under him. Before Bruise knew what was happening, Alexa had a knife at his throat, as she looked up at Scar.

  “Tell us who you work for or I’ll kill him.�
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  Scar held out a hand. A hand that displayed the healing cut from his first encounter with Alexa.

  “Whoa! Whoa! Chill, we’re on your side. Well, we are now, and all I know is that the dude who sent us here is named Robert Martinez and he works for something called Hexalcorp.”

  Tanner and Spenser looked at each other.

  “Why would a corporation be sending people out to look for you, Spenser?” Amy asked.

  Alexa removed her knife from Bruise’s throat and stood. “It’s Alvarado. He must have hired Hexalcorp to help locate us. They have resources that he doesn’t.”

  Tanner removed his gun from Scar’s forehead. “You need to tell us everything you know.”

  Scar nodded, as he pointed at Spenser. “We will, I owe him.”

  Tanner, Amy, and Alexa looked at Spenser, and Spenser explained. “His mother was one of my clients years ago. If I hadn’t been called in, he and his mother would be dead.”

  Alexa spoke to Scar. “Is there anyone else on the way here?”

  “No, Martinez just told us to check it out, but he didn’t sound like he thought we would find anything.”

  “That sounds about right,” Tanner said. “If they knew Spenser was here for certain, they would have sent more than these four to check things out.”

  Amy began walking back toward the spot where she’d left Spenser’s truck. “I’ll get the truck while you sort through this.”

  Abrasion rushed to her side and pointed back toward the pickup. “I could give you a lift.”

  Amy stopped walking and looked at him. Abrasion was only an inch taller than she was, and his brown hair was shoulder-length. He wore a goofy smile and his eyes were staring at her breasts.

  “I’m not taking my top off again if that’s what you’re thinking.”

  Abrasion took a step back as he shook his head. “I was just trying to be nice.”

  Alexa walked over to them. “You’ll drive us both, and if you try anything, you’ll be sorry.”