Stalking Horse (A Tanner Novel Book 40)

by Remington Kane

  Amber had gone back to discussing what she wanted to eat for breakfast. She was blissfully unaware that it would be one of the last meals she would ever have.

  10

  Wolves In Sheep’s Clothing

  After returning home from dropping Tyrese off in Harlem the night before, Pullo had sent a text off to his anonymous tipster. He had told of the failed attack on his life and asked if the tipster knew if there were any other kill squads in Manhattan. He also wanted to know if Morelos had made it to the city yet.

  A response came in the next morning. The tipster stated that he was surprised that the Primeros had sent men to the city after hiring Morelos to take care of the problem. He had only learned about it minutes before reading Pullo’s text. The Primeros had sent three kill squads to Manhattan from their group located in Chicago. Each squad consisted of eight men who were heavily armed and had bulletproof vests. Their goal was to kill Pullo and Tanner.

  Pullo relayed the plan Tanner had come up with and asked the tipster if he could lend them aid in implementing it. Tanner’s idea was to lure the kill squads to a place of his choosing, to entice them into a trap.

  The man replied that he could, but that it would take time for the information to find its way to the right ear. He told Pullo that once the rumor of Tanner’s location was known, it could make the rounds within a few hours or a few days.

  That’s good. Pullo wrote back. We’ll be ready either way. He then added a question. Why are you helping us?

  Two minutes passed without a response. Pullo had been about to put the phone away when a text appeared.

  I have my reasons to help you. Accept that and be glad that I am.

  Pullo was glad but concerned as well. He couldn’t help but wonder what the tipster’s true motivations were.

  Pullo’s anonymous informant was a man named Luis Peraza. Peraza was a higher up in the Primeros who had the ambition to someday run the gang. His chief rival, a man named Juan-Carlos, had been given the task and the honor of taking New York City away from the Giacconi Family. Peraza was going to make certain that he failed. Eventually, the gang would make a run at taking over New York again. When they did, it would be Peraza’s turn at bat.

  When that happened, he would use his persona as Pullo’s trusted tipster to lure Pullo and Tanner into an unbeatable trap. Peraza had used the technique before with great success and was sure it would work again. It required patience and the ability to stab your fellow gang members in the back. Peraza possessed both those attributes, although he kept his duplicitous nature hidden from his associates.

  He had been with the gang since the early days when they had begun in Tijuana, Mexico. Being short and not very muscular, Peraza had learned to fight dirty to survive whenever they had run-ins with other gangs. He considered himself more of a thinker than a fighter. His ideas and strategies had helped the Primeros to grow into the massive gang that they were.

  It had been his idea to allow women to join the gang. It seemed stupid to him to exclude half of the population from joining. It turned out to be one of the best ideas he’d ever had.

  Not only were some women fierce fighters, but they could act as spies. They would enter a rival gang’s territory and go unnoticed or be approached by gang members looking to hook up with them. They would then return with information about the gang’s strengths and weaknesses that could be used against them.

  Additionally, Peraza had begun having women infiltrate law enforcement as dispatchers, clerks, and several had even become cops. By the time he took over leadership of the Primeros, he expected to have people inside the governing bodies of every state. Many of these people were the sons and daughters of the earliest gang members. They had been guided to get good grades and avoid being outwardly involved with the gang. Peraza’s own daughter was working on the staff of a district attorney, with the goal of one day holding the office itself. From there, who knew where she might wind up. Perhaps she could become governor in time.

  But that was all in the future. For now, he had to help Pullo survive until he could be the one assigned to destroy him. To that end, he went to work spreading the rumor of Tanner’s whereabouts in New York City. It would no doubt result in the deaths of the gang members who were on the kill squads, but that couldn’t be helped.

  A great general didn’t concern himself with casualties but concentrated on winning the war. Peraza considered himself to be a great general who would someday be the leader of the largest gang the world had ever seen. And the destruction of the Giacconi Crime Family would be just another step along the way to that goal.

  Peraza grinned. Pullo made for a good pawn.

  Stone didn’t have to hold back on displaying his skill at long-distance target shooting. He was only fair at hitting anything beyond a thousand yards and genuinely appreciated the lessons he was receiving from Tanner and Romeo.

  Henry had surprised him. The teen was a natural and was hitting targets that were nearly a mile away. Later on, they did target shooting with handguns, while also practicing their transition skills and ammo changes.

  Stone’s eyes boggled when he saw how fast Tanner was with a gun. It was no wonder the man was hard to kill.

  Henry was fast as well, but not in Tanner’s class, still, the kid could draw his weapon and hit a target fifty feet away with no problem. Stone felt he was Henry’s equal, and even liked Henry. But the kid had to go. Stone wouldn’t kill Henry himself. He’d hire the job out, so that he could have an alibi. It might also be best if his death looked like an accident. Then again, there was no reason to get fancy about things. New York City was a dangerous place where people died from senseless acts of violence. Henry would be just another unfortunate who was in the wrong place at the wrong time.

  Stone had someone in mind who would be perfect for the job. It was the hitter he knew and had considered using as backup. Once Henry was dead, Stone was sure that Tanner would see that he would make a perfect replacement for him. Romeo could also recommend him.

  Above all that, there was the problem of dealing with the man who had hired him to kill Tanner. He would want his money back and not be pleased that the job hadn’t been done. That was too bad. Why kill Tanner when you could become Tanner? Stone hoped that his partners could see his point of view as well.

  If he became Tanner’s apprentice that would mean that Boyd and Kirby would have to forget him being a part of their group again. They might be hurt by his decision to leave but would see that it was for the best in the end. They were his family and wanted him to do well. What could be better for an assassin than becoming a Tanner?

  “Earth to Stone,” Romeo said.

  Stone jerked out of the reverie he was in and looked around the picnic table. Everyone was staring at him. They had stopped to take a break and he had zoned out as he thought about his plans.

  “You were lost in thought there, dude” Romeo said. “Were you thinking about a girl?”

  Stone smiled. “How’d you know?”

  “Do you have a girlfriend, Stone?” Tanner asked.

  “No. I don’t want to get serious with anyone. If a woman got too close that might mean trouble, you know?”

  “You and Henry are too young to make the bar scene,” Romeo said. “But you two should hang out together and find some ladies while you’re both in New York. There’s no shortage of women in the city.”

  “I’ve already got a date lined up for tonight, a girl named Gwen,” Henry said. “I met her while I was out exploring the city yesterday.”

  “See if she has a hot friend for me,” Stone said.

  “She does have a cute roommate. And they both work at that huge bookstore on Broadway and 12th Street. But I think the roommate already has a boyfriend.”

  “Too bad,” Stone said. “Maybe we could have gone on a double date.”

  “When I pick Gwen up from work tonight, I’ll ask her about her other friends.”

  “You’ve got a car?” Stone asked.

  Henry
gestured to where they had parked their vehicles. “Tanner let me borrow his for tonight.”

  Stone nodded. He now knew where Henry would be later and what vehicle he would be driving. If he could get in contact with the assassin he had in mind, Henry might be out of the way by morning.

  They did more shooting for an hour before deciding to head back to the city. Henry had a date, and Tanner and Romeo were meeting with Pullo at the office building. As for Stone, he had calls to make. Aside from setting up Henry to be killed, he also had to call his partners and his employer. Neither his partners nor the man who hired him to kill Tanner would be pleased by his failure to eliminate the assassin, but that didn’t matter.

  Stone could be the next Tanner if he played his cards right. He was going to make it happen and let nothing and no one get in his way.

  11

  Game Over

  Morelos had feared that he might have to spend another day in Knoxville before the room service waiter came on shift again. That wouldn’t be necessary. The same man delivered their breakfast. Amber chatted with him and learned that he was working a longer than normal shift because of the convention. That shift would be ending at ten. Morelos would be checked out by then and would follow the waiter home.

  He believed it likely that O’Leary had paid the chubby young man to take Amber’s photo and that was the end of his involvement. Still, if the police somehow connected him to O’Leary, the waiter might mention taking Amber’s picture for the man. He was a loose end and needed to be snipped off.

  The name tag he wore said that his name was Chad. He was in his early twenties, had brown hair and gray eyes. The extra weight was all gathered around his waist. Morelos suspected that Chad liked beer and pizza too much.

  They checked out of the hotel after eating breakfast, drove across the street, and settled in the parking lot of a strip mall. From there, they could make out the area where the employees parked their cars.

  During their wait, Morelos received a call from his boss. The man informed him about the kill squads the Primeros had sent to Manhattan. There was anger evident in Morelos’s voice when he spoke.

  “Why did they hire me if they wanted to do the job themselves?”

  “I don’t know, but so far they’ve failed. Eight of their men were killed last night in an alley. That tells me that Pullo and Tanner are still alive.”

  “Alive and more on guard than they would have been. If any of those men get in my way when I make my move on Tanner, I’ll kill them myself.”

  “Maybe they’ll soften Tanner up for you. When do you expect to get to the city?”

  “Late tonight or early tomorrow. Something came up that will delay me for a few hours.”

  “Is there a problem?”

  “Simply a delay.”

  “Call me when you get to New York.”

  “Right,” Morelos said, as the call ended.

  Chad appeared at six minutes after ten. His car turned out to be an old blue Camry that looked as if it had seen a lot of miles. Despite that, the car started right up and ran quietly.

  Chad left the parking lot of the hotel, drove several miles, and took the on-ramp onto I-40. He got off three exits later and pulled into the parking lot of a large warehouse-style liquor store. When he came out with a case of beer tucked under one arm, it did not surprise Morelos one bit.

  “How long are we going to follow him?” Amber asked.

  “I want to see where he lives. If he lives alone, I’ll kill him there.”

  Chad did live alone, in a way. He stayed in the small apartment that his parents had over their garage. The garage was detached and sat a hundred feet behind the house. Morelos slowed his vehicle as he drove past. He could see Chad backing his Camry beneath a carport. He wondered if that meant there were other vehicles taking up space in the garage.

  The neighborhood was quiet, as were the homes that bordered the one where Chad lived. Morelos drove around the block and parked. He opened his door and told Amber that he would be back soon.

  “Where are you going?”

  “To gather information.”

  Morelos walked down a driveway, passed through a yard, and hopped over a four-foot-high fence to enter the property where Chad lived. The sound of a TV could be heard drifting down from the apartment above the garage. A view through a side window showed that the garage was empty.

  Morelos crept up the stairs on the side of the building and peeked through a window. What he’d heard wasn’t a TV. It had been the sound of a video game. The game’s images were displayed on a large monitor. Chad was sitting in a chair in his underwear, game controller in hand, and a beer and bowl of corn chips on a table beside him. Morelos could see into the space’s tiny bathroom. It was empty. Unless someone was hiding in the closet, Chad was alone.

  Morelos checked out the house next. Window blinds were raised, and the interior of the house was dark. In an upstairs window, Morelos spotted an orange tabby, but the home appeared otherwise unoccupied. To be sure, he rang the bell on the rear door then concealed himself behind a shed. No one answered the ringing. He called Amber.

  “Do you still want to watch me work?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Leave the car and walk down the same driveway I took. At the rear of the yard is a fence that you’ll have to climb over. It’s a short fence. You should have no problem.”

  “I’ll be right there,” Amber said.

  She appeared two minutes later looking around as if she expected to see a cop at any second. She whispered to Morelos.

  “What now?”

  Morelos pointed up at the garage apartment. “We pay him a visit.” As he spoke, he took out his gun and attached a Fiocchi sound suppressor onto the end of it. “Follow me and stay quiet,” Morelos told Amber.

  They went up the stairs slowly. A peek through a window revealed that Chad was in the same spot he’d been in before. When they were standing outside the entrance, Morelos took two steps back and kicked in the door.

  Chad was startled and dropped his controller as he spun around. If he recognized Morelos, he had done so quickly. The sicario fired three rounds. The first one entered Chad’s chest and the other two struck him in the head. The body tumbled from the chair and knocked over the table holding the beer and snacks. One of the rounds had passed through Chad’s skull and destroyed the monitor, causing the screen to go blank. It was game over for Chad in more ways than one.

  Amber stood in the threshold with her eyes wide and her mouth forming an O. At first, Morelos thought she might scream, but then he realized that she was stunned by what had just happened.

  “Damn, Morelos. I thought we’d talk to him first.”

  “There was no point,” he said, as he picked up the expended shell casings. He then stepped deeper into the apartment to grab Chad’s phone. The screen was locked, so he placed it in his pocket. Next, he gathered up a laptop, a camera, and removed Chad’s wallet from the pocket of the jeans he had draped over the arm of a couch.

  The police might wonder why the room service waiter was murdered by the thieves who took his belongings, but it was unlikely that a deep investigation into the murder would follow. In any event, there was nothing to lead them to Morelos or the fake ID he was traveling under. As for Amber, she would be dead in a few days and unable to make a statement.

  Enough time had been wasted in Tennessee. Morelos was eager to get back on the road and head to New York. He led a bemused Amber down the stairs by her arm and helped her to climb over the fence. As they were driving away, Amber spoke.

  “That was so damn fast. I bet he was dead before he knew it.”

  “That makes him one of the lucky ones. Most people linger in pain or suffer the effects of old age before their deaths and have too much time to wonder about what comes next.”

  “What do you think comes next?”

  “I have no idea.”

  “I hope we reincarnate or go to heaven. It would suck if there was just nothing.”
/>   “Why would it suck? If there was nothing, you wouldn’t know it.”

  Amber thought about that and smiled.

  “You’re right. Maybe nothing wouldn’t be so bad.”

  Morelos crushed Chad’s phone, emptied the wallet of cash, and tossed it and the rest of the stolen goods into a lake. With that done, they resumed their trek toward New York City.

  12

  Training

  Tanner and Romeo entered the office building after traveling through the tunnel connecting it to the pizza parlor. He and Romeo were dressed alike in jeans and leather jackets.

  Sammy Giacconi greeted them as they stepped off the elevator. He had an AR-15 hanging from a sling.

  “I see you’re expecting trouble,” Tanner said as they started walking toward the conference room.

  “Uncle Joe had a close call last night, and there are still two groups of gangbangers out there looking to kill him.”

  “So I heard. Who else is here?”

  “Finn and Rico. Adamo Conti is out on the streets with a few guys trying to hunt down the Primeros. If they find them, they’re to call here and let us know where they are.”

  “If they don’t find them, we’ll make sure that the Primeros find us.”

  “Uncle Joe told me about your plan. I like it. Those bastards will be stepping right into a trap.”

  “Let’s hope so. But we’re relying on Joe’s tipster to come through for us. If he doesn’t, we’ll have to try another plan.”

  “Do you have one?”

  “Several.”

  “I figured you’d say that.”

  They reached the conference room. There were two men standing outside it with rifles of their own. They straightened a bit when they saw Sammy, then appeared to tense up when Tanner met their eyes.