As he was about to secure the other end, two figures emerged from around the side of the shack.
It was Merle and Earl.
They were naked from the waist up after having their shirts ripped away by the undercarriage of the RV, and their skin was reddened from the heat of the blast, and mottled with sand from lying on the ground.
Their eyelashes were gone, seared away from having been so close to the heat of the fire, and their hair was also singed, the end of each strand blackened and curled.
They still had the shotguns, but carried them loosely by their barrels, pointed skyward and their eyes were unfocused.
The rear of their skulls had slammed against the bottom of the motorhome, leaving both men to travel about dazed and moving aimlessly, in what was an intensified version of their normal state.
In the dusky light of a fading day, Sara saw the shotguns before registering any other details, and she barked out an order to the brothers to drop their weapons. They stopped walking, looked startled, and the weapons fell to the dirt.
Sara had taken her eyes off Tanner for only a moment, and assumed that he would use that flash of time to attempt escape by means of the ATV, or come charging at her.
She fired even as she turned and her shot ricocheted off the side of the ATV, with Tanner nowhere in sight.
Sara stared, looking at the land beyond the vehicle, searching for Tanner, then, she caught movement on her peripheral, to the left. It was Tanner.
He had dived beside Rossetti’s massive corpse and was using it as a shield to hide behind. Sara turned just in time to see a hand snake out and grab the Mossberg that laid atop the body.
She dove to the ground as the Mossberg boomed.
***
Tanner greeted the appearance of the Carter brothers with a smile and launched himself, to twist in mid-air and land on his back beside Rossetti’s body, which had three times his thickness and would act as temporary cover.
He reached up with his right hand and snatched back the shotgun he had tossed away earlier, then, fired high.
Killing the female FBI agent would be ideal in the short run, but the consequences of killing a federal agent would be unending and make him a top-priority target for the law.
He didn’t need that kind of heat, and so he fired high, jacked another shell, and waited for return fire, knowing that it would give Sara’s position away.
He felt Rossetti’s corpse vibrate from the impact of the round before he registered the shot.
She was to the right of him, taking cover behind the front of the ATV.
Tanner sprang up and fired, once again spraying buckshot over Sara’s head. Afterward, he ran towards the shack and dived low, covering the last ten feet with a leap, amid gunfire, and slammed into the floor of the shack, just inches from the entrance to the tunnel.
***
Sara cursed as she watched Tanner propel himself into the shack and realized that her shots had missed him.
He was headed for the tunnel and if he made it into the house, he might disappear in all the chaos caused by the fire and gun battle.
The sound of sirens was loud and stationary, and red and blue lights flickered at the front of the home.
She blinked in surprise when she saw that the Carter brothers hadn’t moved since dropping their weapons, and they watched her run towards the shack with dazed, dull eyes, like cattle watching a farmer plow a field.
After crouching low and peeking around the doorframe, Sara entered the shack and headed for the entrance to the tunnel.
When she reached the bottom of the ladder, she paused, set the selector switch on the MP5 to full auto, and moved along the tunnel.
Her eyes were trained on the section ahead where the tunnel curved, and she was ready for an ambush, while prepared to slaughter.
CHAPTER 45 - It’s been a hell of a day
Tanner waited several seconds after Sara climbed down into the tunnel, before rising up from concealment behind the overturned table, where he had curled himself into a tight ball.
He retrieved his shotgun from where he had propped it in the corner among the pickaxes and shovels, and went back outside.
Merle and Earl were still standing there, and Tanner spoke to them.
“It’s been a hell of a day, hmm boys?”
They said nothing back, but just stood there, weaving.
Tanner ignored them and went to Garner. The Fed was still breathing, but had lost blood and lay in a puddle of it. Tanner checked the agent’s pockets, found the handcuff key and after using it to free the cuff on his wrist, he used Garner’s phone.
“Officer down,” Tanner said, when the 9-1-1 operator answered, and then he dropped the phone atop Garner’s still form.
Moments later, the ATV was in motion and headed towards the distant lights of the airfield.
***
Sara cursed with wild abandon as she kicked the chair that she had earlier wedged against Rossetti’s office door.
Tanner had tricked her somehow.
If he had gone through the tunnel, there would have been no way for him to leave the office without first moving that chair or unlocking the window, and she could see from where she stood that the window latch was secured.
She coughed, as smoke entered her lungs. The fire was still burning, although she could hear the rush of spraying water being used by the fire department.
Tanner, she had to find Tanner.
She rushed back to the closet, stepped over Joy’s body, and traversed the tunnel passage once again. When she emerged, she found a pair of paramedics working on Garner. They had removed his vest and cut his shirt off, and were tending to the wound in his side.
Sara looked about, but saw neither Tanner nor the Carter brothers, but then she realized that the ATV was gone as well. She looked north and could see the lights of a vehicle in the desert, moving away.
Sara hung her head and then spoke to the paramedics. They were a man and a woman, both middle-aged and both blond.
“Will he live?”
The woman answered.
“We think so, but he may have a collapsed lung, and he’s lost a lot of blood.”
Sara turned and ran towards the road. She needed a car to get to the airfield, and if she couldn’t stop Tanner from flying off, she could at least have the agency track his flight.
The front of the house was a scene of pandemonium, where several more paramedics worked on wounded men, and the fire continued to burn not only the house, but had also ignited a pair of parked cars.
Firefighters were spraying down the cars and the home. Their hoses and equipment made Sara’s trip back to the road a circuitous one, as she navigated around fire equipment, ambulances, and chunks of debris.
The road was closed off to civilian traffic, and Sara was about to commandeer a police car when she heard a glorious sound. It was a helicopter, and it was landing in a nearby field.
She rushed towards it, reaching it just after it put down, and filled her fellow agents in on Tanner’s escape.
The helicopter rose into the night sky once more and went in pursuit.
It took only seconds for the lights of the airfield to come into view, and Sara laughed with glee when she saw that the ATV was still a hundred yards shy of reaching it.
The pilot landed near the airfield, as the ATV came to a stop a short distance in front of its nose. The pilot, who was also an agent, spoke over the aircraft’s loudspeaker.
“Driver! Step out of the vehicle with your hands held high and your fingers spread!”
The instant the figure emerged from the ATV, Sara rushed forward with the MP5. She would have loved to torture Tanner, but she would settle for killing him outright.
“It’s me, Tanner, Special Agent Blake.”
She moved to her left to block the lights of the chopper, so that the glare wouldn’t blind him, and he could see her face when she pulled the trigger.
The man stepped forward, his hands held high and that�
��s when she realized it was Merle Carter.
“No!”
She dropped her weapon, ran at Merle and tackled him to the sand.
“Where is he? Damn you! Where is Tanner?”
Merle shook his head and blinked, trying to focus on the words of the woman screaming at him.
“I don’t know where he is, but I think he took my brother with him.”
Sara moaned and then she recalled the sight that greeted her when she emerged from the tunnel the second time.
Garner on his side, his vest removed, his shirt cut away, but there was no chain around his neck, the chain that held his FBI credentials.
Sara rolled over, to lay atop her back in the sand, as sobs racked her body and despair filled her heart. She had risked everything, even the life of her partner, and all for nothing.
Tanner was gone.
CHAPTER 46 - Sorry about that whole, ya know, shooting you thing
An APB was put out on both Earl and Tanner, but only Earl was located.
Tanner had left him inside Garner’s car, handcuffed to the steering wheel, with Garner’s credentials in the glove compartment.
Garner regained consciousness before going in for surgery, and Sara was held under house arrest in the Vegas field office until Garner could be questioned further.
When he did wake the following afternoon, he gave a full statement.
Sara said nothing. Refused to utter a single syllable, but when her boss, Martin Brewer, appeared in Vegas, she followed him into an interrogation room and confessed all.
After much back and forth between Brewer and other FBI officials, Sara was released, but told to stay in Vegas until further notice. She was also informed that if she left the city for any reason whatsoever, that she would be labeled a fugitive, hunted down, and charged with the attempted murder of a federal officer.
***
Hank O’Grady placed the blame for everything on Cindy’s father, Joe Preston.
He and his surviving men, of which there were only four, including Drake, testified that it was Preston who was behind the attack on Rossetti’s home.
O’Grady claimed to have no knowledge of Cindy’s whereabouts, and hadn’t known that she was being held for ransom by Rossetti, until someone named Ramone called him by using Cindy’s phone.
Three witnesses came forth to say that Joe Preston liked to go around claiming to be the owner of a ranch, and often made it sound as if he were a very rich man.
O’Grady’s lawyers put forth the theory that Rossetti heard Preston’s tales and believed them, then kidnapped his daughter and held her for ransom.
They also contended that their client knew nothing about the insane, “Rescue Mission” that Preston organized, and that the unfortunate men who flew to Vegas with him were duped into believing that Hank O’Grady had sanctioned it.
The whereabouts of Joe Preston and his daughter, Cindy, were unknown, as well as that of Cindy’s reputed boyfriend, William Benton.
Mr. Benton and Ms. Preston were only wanted for questioning, but there were warrants out for Joe Preston, and police in both Nevada and Colorado were ready to charge him with numerous crimes.
***
Meanwhile, New York City crime boss, Johnny R, has vowed to get to the bottom of what happened to his Uncle Al, and has also pledged that the person responsible for his uncle’s death would pay.
When asked what he meant by that last statement, Johnny Rossetti simply grinned.
***
Sara visited Garner in the hospital three days later, and couldn’t help but smile when she found four young nurses gathered around the man’s bed.
When Garner spotted her, his face lost all trace of pleasure, and he asked the young ladies to leave them alone to talk.
The women did as he asked and each of them graced Sara with a look of either resentment or envy.
“I’ve come to apologize.”
“You’re kidding, right?”
Sara hung her head.
“I don’t expect forgiveness, but I want you to know I’m sorry I hurt you.”
“I shouldn’t give you any forgiveness either, but in a way, I have. I’ve decided not to press charges against you.”
“I realize that. It’s why I’m not in jail right now.”
She raised her eyes and studied him.
“Why are you showing me mercy?”
Garner met her gaze.
“I’m not sure myself.”
“Whatever the reason, I thank you.”
“You need help, Sara, psychiatric help, or this obsession you have for Tanner will eat you alive.”
“It’s not obsession. The bastard killed the man I love... loved. If our roles were reversed, wouldn’t you have risked anything, paid any price to see him suffer?”
“No, not any price and I never would have hurt you. I mean, my God, Sara, you shot me. You shot me and I nearly died.”
Sara wiped at tears, as she spoke in a whisper.
“I’m so sorry.”
“Get help, please? I didn’t know Brian Ames, but I can’t imagine he’d want you to ruin your life over his death, not if he loved you half as much as you seemed to have loved him.”
Sara took in a big gulp of air and let it out in a sigh.
“Goodbye, Jake, and again, I’m so sorry that I hurt you.”
“Get help, Sara, get help.”
Sara drifted out of the hospital room with one thought on her mind, finding Tanner.
***
Two days later, she was summoned back to the Vegas field office where she was presented with a generous offer.
She could stay with the Bureau, in the records department, located in West Virginia. She would no longer be an armed agent, would face little stress, but would have to agree to a year of weekly visits with a Bureau psychiatrist.
She turned the offer down without having to consider it, handed in her credentials, and became a civilian again.
The Bureau had outlived its usefulness to her. She saw that clearly, and was glad to be free of the restraints and pretense that her position as an agent had forced upon her. She no longer had to feign seeking justice through lawful means when all she really wanted was payback.
There would be no financial difficulties due to job loss either, because Garner had guessed right.
Sara came from money and had inherited a trust fund, thanks to a great-great grandfather who had been an industrialist and amassed a fortune,
She didn’t need to work and had the money to finance whatever she chose to do with her life.
She had only one desire, or rather, an obsession. Sara wanted to find the man calling himself Tanner and eventually end his life, but only after he paid with agony for killing her love, and he would beg for death when she was through with him, oh yes, he would beg.
CHAPTER 47 - This world’s a bitch
Eleven days after Sara had taken her helicopter ride to search for Tanner in the desert, Billy and Cindy were taking one of their own.
They were in Arizona, at the Grand Canyon, and Cindy was fulfilling a dream she had nurtured for years.
They were flying over the South Rim of the canyon, but had plans to return the next day and take in the West Rim, along with its famed Skywalk.
The young lovers had taken Tanner’s advice and contacted a document forger that Tanner had used in the past, and they were scheduled to return to the city of Flagstaff in two days’ time to pick up their new ID’s and passports, after which, they would marry and begin their new lives.
After touring the Grand Canyon, they returned to their motel room. Following a quick swim in the pool, they decided they were hungry, and while Billy showered, Cindy drove across the highway and grabbed food from a drive-thru.
She drove an old Chevy Cavalier that Billy had bought with cash. Billy hadn’t registered the car yet though, he was waiting to do so under his new name.
Cindy returned and was shocked when the door swung open, as she barely touched it with her keyca
rd.
She entered, calling Billy’s name, and was surprised to hear the shower water still running.
“I’m back, Billy!”
There was no answer and when she looked over at the door, she saw a red handprint above the knob.
“Billy?”
Cindy dropped the bag of food and rushed towards the bathroom, but halted in mid-stride, as a figure emerged from the closet, a figure holding a bloody kitchen knife.
Cindy staggered backwards and stared.
“Daddy...”
Joe Preston smiled at his daughter.
He looked terrible. Preston had barely eaten or slept in over a week and gray stubble littered his pale face.
He was still wearing the same clothes he wore on the evening he’d left Rossetti’s property, and the sleeves of his shirt were wet, while the front of it was torn and speckled with blood.
His eyes held a glint of madness, and his nose was bloodied and sat crooked, having been broken during a recent struggle, a struggle he had won, thanks to the blade he carried.
“I remembered. You always talked about taking that helicopter ride over the Grand Canyon someday, I remembered, kept watch, and I followed you back here. Did you like it, baby? Was it as much fun as you hoped it would be?”
Cindy gazed at the bathroom door and then at the bloody knife, before sinking to her knees.
“What have you done, Daddy? What have you done?”
“Shh, it’ll be okay now, baby. Hank O’Grady, he, he, he fired me... he fired me on the phone, but, but now, now he’ll have to take me back, because I’ve found you and I’m bringing you home.”
Cindy cried out Billy’s name in an anguished tone that was more scream than word.
“Biiiilllllly!”
Again, there was no answer, and the room filled with the sound of weeping, as Cindy sank into despair.
CHAPTER 48 - Down time
WEEKS LATER
In a private bungalow in the Florida Keys, Tanner watched the young woman he was with rise naked from the bed and pad towards the shower.
She called back over her shoulder, her long, auburn curls framing her face and accentuating her green eyes.
The TANNER Series - Books 1-3 (Tanner Box Set) Page 13