Rico entered his bedroom while taking off his jacket. There were two men inside the room. One of them was Hispanic and in his late teens, unarmed, and looked like a scared rabbit. The other man was familiar, pointing a gun at Rico’s chest, and was someone Rico believed had died hours ago. He was Morelos.
The “special item” Morelos had in the trunk of the Ford was a human being. The man he’d contacted in Newark had been given the task of finding someone who could pass for Morelos’s double. The match didn’t have to be exact, and it was a simple matter to apply a phony scar onto a face.
The unlucky lookalike had been a man named Nestor Benning. Benning, married and a father of two, was grabbed off the street in Jersey City and drugged, before being loaded into the trunk of the Taurus. Morelos had secured the rifle that had been protruding from the car’s trunk in place with clamps. The clamps had been welded to the inside of the trunk for that purpose.
After shutting the lid on the trunk while ducked out of sight outside the car, Morelos had lowered himself to the ground and slid beneath the car that the Taurus had been parked in front of. When Amber took off on her drive to the warehouse, she had no idea that she was going alone. Then again, the hapless Nestor Benning had been with her, and neither of them was meant to survive.
Stumbling across Manuel had been a bonus for Morelos. He would use the teen as a helper until he no longer needed him. After talking to the boy, Morelos understood that Manuel was motivated to kill Tanner, but woefully equipped to do so. He assured Manuel that together they could get the job done.
Now that Pullo and Tanner believed Morelos to be dead, they would drop their guard and make for easier targets. As for Rico, he would be invaluable as a source of information.
Rico was wearing a gun in a holster on his hip. Morelos gestured at it.
“Remove the holster and throw it onto the bed, Rico.”
Rico finished removing his jacket and tossed it on a chair. He made no move to comply with Morelos’s order to disarm.
“I thought you were dead. Who was the guy in the trunk?”
“I don’t know who he was, nor do I care.”
“How did you talk him into firing at Pullo?”
“The shots you heard came from a recording. The man in the trunk was drugged.”
Rico threw his chin toward Manuel. “And this boy?”
“He’s my new helper and a member of the Primeros. Enough talk. Lose the gun.”
Rico knew that being armed was his best bet at staying alive. It was also true that if he tried to use his weapon Morelos would shoot him to death.
“What’s it going to be, Rico?” Morelos said.
Rico had taken three steps into the room before realizing he wasn’t alone. He thought of turning to dive through the doorway and into the hall, but that would only result in getting shot in the back. If he cleared leather and attempted to shoot Morelos, he would be shot, although there was a chance that he could return fire. Only one path was left to him if he wanted to avoid a bullet.
Rico sighed and removed the holster from his belt, then held it out for Manuel to take. The teen stood to do so but was halted by a gesture from Morelos.
“Rico doesn’t want to hand you his gun. Rico is hoping to use you as a human shield. Toss the gun on the bed, Rico. Do it now.”
Rico flicked his wrist and the gun landed on the bed. He was to regret doing so in the coming hours.
17
Mission Accomplished
Having not gone to sleep until after midnight, Sara and Franny were aware that Henry had been out late. When the young man didn’t rise from bed until after the others in the penthouse had eaten lunch, they knew that his night had been a long one. From the wide smile on his face when he greeted them, they could tell that he was in a good mood and that his date with Gwen had gone well.
“When are we going to meet this girl?” Franny asked. She and Sara were seated at the kitchen table with Henry, who was having a cup of coffee. Little Marian was in her high chair, while on the floor, Lucas and Florentina played with building blocks.
Henry looked at the women. “You want to meet Gwen?”
“You were out all night,” Sara said. “So yes, we’d like to meet her.”
“It wasn’t all night. I made it back here around five.”
“Love them and leave them, is that it?” Franny asked.
“No. I’m taking her out later to see a movie.”
“And what about when it’s time for you to return back home?” Sara asked. “Are you just going to leave the poor girl here pining away for you?”
“I… Gwen knows that I’m only going to be here for a short time. I didn’t hide that from her.”
Franny looked at Sara. “It’s just like I said, love them and leave them.”
Henry opened his mouth to reply to that, but he couldn’t think of anything to say and his mouth hung open.
Sara and Franny began giggling.
“You guys were teasing me?”
Sara patted his hand. “Yes, we were, but we were also being nosy. Are you really seeing the girl again?”
“Yeah. I like her. I wish she lived in Texas.”
“We come to New York several times a year. You’re always welcome to join us so you can stay in touch with Gwen. And I would like to meet her, out of curiosity.”
Henry took out his phone. “Here’s a picture of her that I took last night.”
Franny shielded her eyes. “It’s not X-rated, is it?”
“Stop teasing me,” Henry said, and held up the phone to display Gwen’s photo.
“She’s beautiful, Henry,” Sara said. “How old is she?”
“She turned twenty last month, so I guess I’m dating an older woman.”
“I’m glad to see you happy again. I know you miss Olivia.”
“I do a little, but we both agreed it was time to break up. She wants to live in California, and I plan to stay in Texas.”
Tanner entered the kitchen wearing blue cotton shorts and a matching sleeveless T-shirt. He was headed to the home gym for a workout. Henry gulped down his coffee and said that he would join him.
Lucas hopped up from the floor and went to his father. “I want to work out too, Daddy.”
Tanner tousled his son’s hair as he smiled down at him. “You can show Henry how it’s done.”
Lucas had his own weight set. They were barbells and dumbbells made of lightweight colorful plastic. He was much too young to begin a serious lifting regimen, but thanks to his play set, he was learning proper lifting form. Along with the weights, he often jumped rope with his father, when Tanner performed a quick cardio workout during the times the weather was too inclement to run outside.
After kissing Sara and Marian, Tanner picked up his son and headed for the gym with Henry following.
Pullo was grinning as he spoke to Tyrese Vann on the phone. Tyrese’s plan to start a war between the Primeros and the Crips was working. He and the men he’d brought with him to California had successfully masqueraded as Crips while killing Primeros, then donned the purple gang colors of the Primeros to kill several Crips drug dealers.
That sparked the Crips to retaliate, followed by the Primeros doing the same. Conflict between the two gangs was happening in Detroit and Chicago as well.
“It was a bold plan and you pulled it off, Tyrese. Now you better get back here before all hell breaks loose and you get caught up in it.”
“I’m not done yet. I want these bastards fighting World War Three. The only way they’ll leave us alone is if they’re too busy killing each other. Taking out a few of their street dealers started them fighting, but now I’m going to hit them where it will hurt.”
“What’s that mean?”
“I’m going to kill one of the Primeros’ higher ups, then do the same to the Crips. They won’t stop fighting then until one group eliminates the other, and that could take a long time.”
“The gang’s leadership will have protection around them. You
need to be careful going after a target like that.”
“I will be. My boys and I will also come at them while wearing their gang colors. They’ll be less on guard because of that.”
“Tyrese, this could be what saves us. We could start wars like this between all the gangs gunning for us. You’re a genius.”
“And I’m tricky as a motherfucker too. How are things going there? Has that hitter Morelos reached the city yet?”
“He died last night trying to snipe at us from the trunk of a car. Right before that, Tanner and Romeo wiped out two kill squads the Primeros sent here.”
“I bet they won’t be sending anymore men to the city. Not after I kill one of their leaders. After that, all they’ll want to do is kill Crips.”
“Be careful, buddy.”
“I will. And I’ll be back in New York soon. It’s too damn warm out here in California. It’s January and it’s sunny and seventy degrees. That shit ain’t natural.”
Pullo laughed. “We’ll have dinner when you get back. And oh yeah, the weatherman says it’s going to snow in three days.”
“Now that’s more like it. Later, Joe.”
The call ended and Pullo made another one. He was calling Laurel to tell her that it was safe and that she and Johnny could come home soon. If he’d known that Morelos was still alive, he never would have made that call.
Lucas threw a straight jab at the air in front of him as he mimicked the motions of his father, who was boxing with Henry. They had decided to spar as a warm-up before hitting the weights. The small boy’s face was set into a look of determination as he threw his punches. On his hands were a pair of colorful kid-sized boxing gloves.
Henry signaled a time-out to Tanner, then got down on his knees, so that he would be closer to Lucas’s height.
“You and I can spar for a while, okay?”
Lucas lit up in a grin, then put his hands up. When Henry allowed him to throw a punch at his chin, he was shocked when the blow rocked his head back.
“Whoa, little man, that’s some punch you have there.”
Tanner laughed. “I should have warned you. Lucas is stronger than he looks. Great strength runs on my mother’s side of the family. I’m beginning to think Lucas might have inherited it.”
“That would be cool,” Henry said. “I’d love to have an advantage like that.”
They moved on to the weights. Henry had never been a serious weight trainer until he became Tanner’s apprentice. His goal was to increase his strength without becoming too bulky. Since turning eighteen, he’d been able to lift heavier weights.
To end the workout, they stretched. Tanner had noticed a diminution of flexibility over recent years. Now that he was in his early-forties, the natural aging process took its toll on his body. Despite that, he was still flexible and capable of doing a full split. A lifetime of exercise had left him fitter than most men half his age.
With the workout completed, Henry was famished. The early morning meal he had eaten was long gone.
“I’m going to order a pizza before I step in the shower, Cody. Do you want anything?”
“No thanks. I had lunch.”
“You went to bed as late as I did last night. How early did you get up?”
“Around eleven. I had a video call scheduled with Rick Winhoffer, Heidi, and Bobby Lincoln back at the ranch.”
“How are things there?”
“Good. And there was news. Heidi and Elijah are engaged.”
“I’m not surprised. Those two are never out of each other’s sight.”
Cody’s phone indicated that he had received a text. He had just told Henry that he would see him later but called him back, as he was heading off to his room. The text was from Tim Jackson. He had news about Stone and Gwen. There were no surprises with Gwen, Stone was another story.
Henry looked up after reading the text. “Stone is twenty-three and has been living in Italy. That’s not what he told Romeo, is it?”
“No, it’s not,” Tanner said. “And he was also using a phony surname. Damn it. Romeo really likes Stone.”
Lucas pointed up at his father. “Daddy said a bad word.”
“You’re right, buddy. I won’t do it again.”
“Romeo is not going to take this well,” Henry said. “And on top of the lies Stone told him, he tried to have me—” Henry was about to say that Stone tried to have him killed but stopped talking when he saw that Lucas was listening.
“We don’t know for sure that Stone was behind that, Henry.”
“But it’s likely.”
“Yeah, but we’ll give him a chance to prove his innocence.”
“And if he’s guilty, then what?”
Tanner glanced down at his son’s innocent face. “I think you know the answer to that question without me saying it. If he’s guilty, he won’t get a second chance.”
That was the answer Henry wanted to hear. He just wondered who would pull the trigger on Stone. The man tried to murder him; he’d have no problem returning the favor.
18
Exposed
Luis Peraza had been sitting in his living room and watching TV when his superior called. He hid the glee he felt as he spoke to the man. The two kill squads sent to New York City had failed to make contact again after reporting that they were going after Tanner. The obvious conclusion was that those men had failed and were dead.
Peraza had been kept out of the loop when the decision had been made to send the men to New York. When he found out after the fact, he had stated that it was a bad idea. At that time, no one cared what his opinion was, but now they wanted to know what he would have done differently.
“I would have to give that some thought. But I will say this. If given the chance, I would kill Joe Pullo within one week. After that, I would kill Tanner.”
“You may get that chance, but not now. We need to put the Crips back in their place before we can think about dealing with New York City again. Anyway, that sicario Morelos may handle the problem for us. He’s in New York.”
“I know his reputation. I still think Tanner is better. Once we slap the Crips down, will I be given a shot at taking over New York?”
“You couldn’t do any worse than Juan-Carlos. Thanks to him we’ve lost over a hundred of our brothers.”
Peraza fought the urge to grin and spoke calmly. “New York will be ours. I swear it.”
“We still have to decide, Luis. When I know for sure, I’ll send you a text. But between you and me, the job of taking over New York is yours.”
After the call ended, Peraza sat back with a satisfied smile on his face. By working covertly with Pullo, he had made his rival within the gang look like an incompetent. Now that it was his turn to defeat the Giacconi Family and conquer New York, he would use the trust he had built up with Pullo to lead the man into a trap. He would suggest a face-to-face meeting, then send a pawn in his place. He had men working beneath him in the gang that would do whatever he said. He would send one of them to the meeting with Pullo along with a disguised bomb.
The art of making explosives had come a long way. He would supply his man with a laptop computer filled with plastique, then detonate the bomb when Pullo was in range. And if he could somehow get Tanner to attend the meeting as well, that would be oh so much better.
The only wrinkle in his plan was the skirmish they were currently having with the Crips. It was a minor concern. The Primeros had butted heads with other gangs many times over the years. Before long, peace was made, and everyone went back to business as usual. It would happen this time too. When it did, then he would be off to New York.
Peraza stood and paced around his living room. If not for the delay caused by the uncertainty with the Crips, he would make contact with Pullo as soon as possible and discuss having a meeting.
Why not do it anyway? Peraza thought. It would also give him a chance to confirm that Pullo was responsible for the disappearance of the kill squads.
He walked over to a desk, un
locked a bottom drawer, and turned on the burner phone he would use to make contact with Pullo. He sent off a text, but no reply came back straightaway. The phone went into a back pocket. When Pullo did reply, he’d want to know immediately.
Peraza smiled again. His plan was working just as he thought it would. And although he had a long way to go before he could declare it a success, he felt like celebrating.
Peraza took out his regular phone and called a number he knew by heart. When a woman’s voice answered after only one ring, he knew she had been on alert for his call. She damned well better be, he thought.
“Luis. Please tell me you’re coming over?”
“I’ll be there soon.”
“I can’t wait.”
Peraza rolled his eyes. The woman he was talking to was twenty-one and had the body of a goddess. He was a middle-aged man with a receding hairline and the beginnings of a belly. The only reason she spent time with him was because he owned the house she lived in rent free and gave her a generous monthly stipend. In short, she was a whore, and he was her customer, but it was a nice fiction that she found him irresistible. If the money ever dried up, he would never see her again.
He left the house and waved off his chauffeur. He was of a mind to drive himself since the weather was warm. And with the mood he was in, he’d take his classic Mustang out for a spin. Two men ran over as he was gliding the car out of the garage. They were his bodyguards and normally accompanied him wherever he went.
“Let us come with you, Mr. Peraza. And we should take the limo. Remember the trouble with the Crips we’re having.”
Peraza laughed at their concern. “They’re shooting down drug dealers on street corners. I haven’t done that sort of work in a long time. You guys stay here and relax. I’ll be back in a few hours.”
Stalking Horse (A Tanner Novel Book 40) Page 13