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

by Remington Kane

  But then Dante arrived an hour before sunset, and as he said he would, he had an army of townspeople with him. They arrived in a parade of old vehicles, most of which were used on the local ranches.

  The townspeople weren’t bearing arms, but rather cases of bottled water. The wise Dante, an ex-resident of the compound, knew that there was no source of water beyond the walls. He had delayed his arrival to let their water supply run out, and then waited even longer while the hot sun did its work on Alvarado’s men.

  Once Dante had satisfied their thirst, he went about fulfilling their equally innate need to be led. In a commanding tone, Dante shouted for Joaquin to open the gates. Joaquin obeyed, let the men in, and they all got their first look at Alvarado’s corpse.

  Tanner had propped the body up near the inner gate, in Alvarado’s special chair, with the knife still protruding from its chest.

  Dante strode up to the chair and gave the corpse a hard kick, which sent it falling to the dirt.

  A great silence ensued, followed by a loud cheer that came from the men and the townspeople, and the Alvarado cartel was no more.

  It was nearing midnight as Tanner, Spenser, and Alexa stood by a Mercedes that had belonged to Malena Alvarado.

  The vehicle was a marvel of technology and style, a Mercedes S600 Maybach, and there were less than a thousand miles on it.

  Martinez was already in the rear of the car with his wrists cuffed and his ankles bound. Tanner contacted Burke and was told that a man would meet him in Mexico City to take Martinez off his hands.

  Tanner had learned of Dan Matthews’ treachery from Martinez and had relayed the news to Burke. Burke assured him that someone would see to the matter.

  “What’s that mean? Have you hired another hitter?”

  “No. In fact, I’ll hand the job over to the person that recommended you be contacted in the first place.”

  “And who would that be? Matthews wouldn’t say.”

  “Neither will I, just know that you have an advocate in my corporation.”

  When Burke brought up the subject of Tanner taking a contract, Tanner told him that he was interested, but needed to decompress.

  “I’ll be in touch, Burke.”

  The truck driver, Julio, was going with them as well, to be reunited with his wife in Mexico City. Dante had even given the young man a bundle of cash for his trouble, while telling him that he could come to work for him as a courier.

  Julio declined, but when Dante told him how much he would be making, Julio changed his mind and told him yes.

  He had forgotten all about the promise he had made to himself to never again let greed cloud his judgement. But he was young, and some lessons had to be learned more than once.

  Dante offered his hand and Tanner shook it, as he asked a question.

  “You will do that last favor for me, correct?”

  “Absolutely, but then we are even.”

  “Fine by me,” Tanner said. “I’m just glad that the bounty is off my head, although it may take time for the word to get out.”

  Dante laughed. “You forget, this is the computer age, and what happened here today is the stuff of legends. No one will be more surprised than Damián Sandoval that you were successful. And I warn you, he may hold you partly responsible for my rise to power.”

  “I’ll handle Sandoval if it becomes a problem,” Tanner said. “But after seeing what happened to Alvarado, I’ve a feeling he’ll behave.”

  Dante turned to Alexa and smiled. “Stay here with me and become my queen.”

  Alexa laughed. “You’ll do fine without me. Not only are you in charge, but the locals love you.”

  “Alvarado ruled with fear, I won’t, because I don’t want to rule anything. I just want to make money.”

  Spenser opened the rear door on the Mercedes to climb in beside Martinez and Julio. “So long, Dante, and take care of that kid, Joaquin.”

  “Joaquin is no kid. He proved that today,” Dante said.

  “That’s true,” Spenser said, and got in the car.

  They were three miles from the compound when Alexa saw by the round clock set in the dashboard that it was midnight. She was seated up front with Tanner, who was driving.

  Alexa pointed out the time to Tanner. She then leaned across the center console, while being careful not to press against her wound, and kissed him gently on the lips.

  “It’s a new day.”

  “At last,” Tanner said, and they put Alonso Alvarado behind them forever.

  Part IV

  Aftermath

  35

  Tanner

  THREE DAYS LATER, NEW YORK CITY

  Bosco looked with suspicion at the swarthy Mexican man holding the white box with the red ribbon wrapped around it. Bosco was standing in the doorway of an office building that the Giacconi Family used as temporary headquarters.

  On paper, the building was owned by a law firm in Texas, but in truth, the property had belonged to the late Alonso Alvarado.

  Joe Pullo, the leader of the Giacconi Family, made a deal with the devil in order to have peace and keep his loved ones safe. The deal made Rico Nazario Joe’s partner, but that was when Alvarado, Rico’s boss, still lived.

  “Who sent you?” Bosco asked the man.

  “Dante Cardoso, but I am here on behalf of Tanner.”

  “Tanner?”

  “Yes, you know this name?”

  “Yeah,” Bosco said, and this time when he looked at the box, there was a smile spreading across his face. “Get on in here and wait in the lobby. I gotta call my boss.”

  Twenty minutes later, Joe Pullo, Bosco, and Sammy Giacconi entered Rico Nazario’s office.

  Rico was holding his phone to his ear and had a confused look on his face.

  He had heard nothing from Mexico in nearly a week, which he normally would consider to be a good thing, but he had just spent the last five minutes trying to get in contact with Alonso Alvarado and had no success, nor would he, unless he knew a truly gifted spirit medium.

  Bosco leaned in the doorway, while Sammy lowered himself onto a white leather sofa, where he stretched out his broken leg with the cast on it.

  Joe Pullo walked over to the desk and sat the still unopened box on top of it.

  Rico looked around the room. He didn’t like the little smile Bosco wore, nor the gaze of Sammy’s cold eyes.

  “What is this, Joe, a gift?”

  “Yeah, and it’s from Tanner.”

  Rico looked confused. “The last I heard of Tanner, he had been seriously wounded in Oklahoma City, likely as he tried to flee into Canada to escape Alonso.”

  Joe grinned. “Your info is old. Tanner made it to Mexico.”

  “He did?”

  “Um-hmm, now why don’t you open that box?”

  Rico stared at the box for a few moments and then he stood and slid the carton closer.

  “It’s almost cold,” Rico said.

  “I’m guessing that’s dry ice,” Bosco said. “It keeps things from spoiling.”

  Rico swallowed, and then carefully undid the ribbon. After slitting the tape on the box with a gold letter opener, he opened it and looked inside.

  There was a foam container within. After a long moment of hesitation, Rico removed the lid from the container and stared down at the severed head of Alonso Alvarado.

  Rico fell into his seat hard. The impact caused the office chair to slide backwards, where it bumped into the wall behind him.

  Rico muttered to himself. “A devil, the man is an absolute devil.” After catching his breath, Rico sent Joe a shaky smile. “You were right, Joe. That Tanner… the man is unstoppable.”

  “You know what this means, don’t you, Rico?” Joe said.

  And when Rico looked over at Bosco and Sammy, he saw that they were both holding weapons.

  PANAMA, CENTRAL AMERICA

  Dan Matthews was laid out on a king-size bed inside a luxurious beachfront cabana. The sun was setting, and through the window, Matthe
ws could see it slowly drop toward the blue water.

  The cabana, as well as the entire island was rented.

  Matthews was in the process of finding the right parcel of waterfront property to buy, and although the island was small, he liked it a great deal. Thanks to the money he had received from Alonso Alvarado, he could afford to buy it.

  He was still waiting for a second payment to be deposited into his account but had assumed from the beginning that Alvarado would cheat him. It was why he’d asked for most of the three million dollars upfront, when he sold out and betrayed Tanner.

  Matthews had no doubts about Tanner being dead, since Alvarado knew the assassin’s plans to infiltrate the compound. Matthews also felt no guilt over the matter.

  Tanner was a dirt bag as far as Matthews was concerned. Just a common criminal and a gun for hire. And to think that the U.S. Government was considering using the man to carry out what would essentially be missions to protect national interests.

  It irked Matthews that the government was outsourcing wet work. Why have trained military snipers and espionage organizations if you were going to hand all the tough jobs to street thugs?

  Matthews sighed heavily. That was all behind him now and the government and Conrad Burke could play their games without him. He was retired and would be living a life of leisure until there was no more life to live.

  Matthews drifted off to sleep while watching the sun set; it was just another day in paradise.

  Paradise ended when the two burly men woke Matthews with a hard slap and tied him to the bed. The men were strangers, but Matthews knew the woman who had come with them; she had been his colleague at the Burke Corporation. She was also the one who had convinced Burke that he needed to hire Tanner.

  Matthews had betrayed Burke, while also selling out Tanner and giving Alonso Alvarado vital information. He figured that the woman wanted payback for Tanner’s death.

  When she informed Matthews that not only was Tanner still alive, but that the man had killed Alvarado, Matthews looked astonished. Then, he asked a question from a mouth that had suddenly gone dry.

  “Is Tanner coming here?”

  “No, Mr. Burke told Tanner that he would handle you. He sent me after you to keep that promise. Now why not make it easy on yourself and tell me where you’ve deposited the money?”

  “That money is mine, and these two goons can do their worst to me, but remember something, I’m a trained spy. They taught me at Langley how to endure pain.”

  The woman sighed and spoke to the two men who came with her. “Get started.”

  Matthews was gagged by one man, as the other man lowered the blinds on the windows and checked to see that all the doors were locked. They were on a private island without another soul around for miles, but why take chances that someone might see them or walk in?

  The woman watched as Matthews was beaten, and although she hated to admit it, it fascinated her.

  She had expected the men to begin their torture of Matthews by breaking or severing Matthews’ fingers or toes. Instead, after putting on gloves, they started pounding Matthews’ face. A short time later, his features were covered in blood and appeared lopsided and swollen.

  Matthews only lasted for about forty hard blows; the final six, the ones that broke his resolve, they were given after he had been revived with smelling salts.

  It was quite a bit less punishment than the woman would have liked to see him suffer, but Matthews gave up the money, and so she ordered the men to cease beating him.

  When the men confirmed that the money was where Matthews claimed it to be, they initiated a transfer of the funds into an account owned by the Burke Corporation.

  The woman smirked as she looked down at Matthews. So much for all that bullshit about having been trained to withstand torture.

  Although Matthews’ face was a wreck, she figured that he might look normal again someday, what with all the advances that medical science had made in the field of plastic surgery.

  As she was leaving, the woman assured Matthews that she would send medical help, then she gave him a bit of news.

  “Expect more visitors. Your friends from Langley will be coming to speak to you. They figure that if you betrayed us, you may have betrayed them too.”

  After spitting out bloody chunks from several broken teeth, Matthews spoke in a hoarse voice.

  “Never… I love my country.”

  The woman, former FBI agent Sara Blake, sent him a doubtful look.

  “Goodbye, Matthews. You’d better hope that Tanner doesn’t decide to pay you a visit of his own someday.”

  CODY, WYOMING

  Amy laughed after tossing a Frisbee that bounced off Scar’s head, and as she made the throw, her diamond engagement ring sparkled in the sun.

  After leaving Mexico, the Tin Horsemen flew to Oklahoma City and reclaimed their motorcycles from the gas station where they had left them in storage, and then rode to Spenser’s house.

  With Alvarado dead and everyone safe, Spenser decided to throw a party. Abrasion accompanied Amy to her store in town to bring back food and supplies, and that was where he met a young lady named Deedee, who worked for Amy at the store.

  Deedee was twenty, blonde, and just loved motorcycles. By the time Abrasion left the store, his crush on Amy was over, and when Deedee came to the party, she and Abrasion were inseparable.

  The boys hugged Spenser when he told them that the money given to Abrasion by Alvarado was theirs to keep. They had been hoping that Spenser might give them part of it, and to have the whole amount blew their minds.

  They now had plans to buy new motorcycles. “Some big muthas,” Scar said.

  When Bruise suggested that they give a chunk of the money to Scar’s mother, “You know, for all the food and shit she gave us since we moved in,” the boys all agreed. Bruise also planned to see a dentist about his missing tooth.

  Spenser picked up the Frisbee and handed it to Scar. “We have to go soon, Johnny, or Amy and I will miss our plane to New Orleans.”

  “Okay, and we should get on the road too. It’s a long ride back home.”

  Amy walked over and they all looked out at the generator shed, where Abrasion was saying goodbye to Deedee.

  “I really thought Lionel might stay in the area now that he’s met Deedee,” Amy said.

  “Oh, we’ll be back,” Scar said. “We can’t live with my mom forever, and when I told her about the money, she said she might sell the house and move to Texas to be with my Aunt Patty, since my Uncle Bob died a few weeks ago.”

  Spenser didn’t hear a word about Scar’s mother, his Aunt Patty, or the recently deceased Uncle Bob, all he heard was that the Tin Horsemen were staying in Cody.

  “You’re all moving here?” Spenser said.

  “Uh-huh, Deedee says her brother has a house for rent cheap, and hey dude, whenever you need help on a case, just let us know.”

  Amy saw the look on Spenser’s face and laughed.

  Tanner loaded a duffel bag into the rear of Alexa’s van, and then it was time to say goodbye.

  Tanner had retrieved the van from the nearby airfield they had left it at when they’d flown to Texas.

  He had come back to Wyoming alone, as Alexa wanted to spend time with Rodrigo and Emilio. She would be joining him in Los Angeles when her visit was done.

  While Spenser and Amy were headed to New Orleans, Tanner was taking Alexa to Hawaii, where the two of them would relax and figure out what came next.

  As Amy stood by watching, the two Tanners shared a hug, as they prepared to part from each other.

  “I’m not sure that I could have killed Alvarado without you, Spenser,” Tanner said.

  As the hug ended, Spenser looked at Tanner while smiling. “Since when do you doubt yourself?”

  “I’ll always be your apprentice, and I’ve learned from you once again.”

  Spenser gave him a serious look, and there was a gleam of pride in his eyes.

  “Who are you?�
��

  Cody Parker stood just a little straighter as he gave the answer to that question.

  “I’m Tanner.”

  The grin came back to Spenser’s face.

  “You’re goddamn right you are.”

  TANNER RETURNS!

  OCCUPATION: DEATH - BOOK 12

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  THE TANNER SERIES - BOOKS 1-11

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  YEAR ZERO PUBLISHING, LLC

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.

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