Tanner

by Kathi S. Barton

  When she felt like she could drive home, she took the copies of the transcripts and thought about Rogan. He would have killed her, given the chance, and Tyrrell too. The man had no remorse about what he had done either. Instead of going directly home, she went to Jas and James’s house. They were the sweetest couple she knew. As soon as she pulled into the driveway, however, she knew they had plans. And there wasn’t any way she was going to allow them to change them because she showed up. “Nonsense. You come right on in the house and we’ll have us a nice cup of tea. James was just going to run into the hardware store, and he can well do that on his own.” James kissed his wife then pecked Giyanna a small kiss on the cheek when he left. “Now, Tanner told me that you were going to see your brother. Did that go as badly as it looks?” “Worse.” Giyanna started sobbing about what he’d said to her and the things that he was going to do to her and Tyrrell when he was released. “And he didn’t even care that he was being recorded. He said that they’d not have the time to watch the tapes. But they did, and he is going away for a long time.” “Good.” She laughed and nodded at the older woman. “You know as well as I that if he was to be freed, the old turd would be out causing mayhem all over the place. Not to mention that poor wife of his and the children. I heard that she’s filed for divorce.” “Yes. Tanner is taking care of it for her. He doesn’t foresee any issues with it, especially after he’s convicted of the crimes he’s committed. And for everything that they find on him, two more things pop up.” Jas said that she’d heard that as well. “Rogan told Tyrrell that he was to confess to the crimes so that Rogan could get out of prison. Then he said that he was going to kill us both. Just like that. It was no big deal for him to just say, ‘I’m going to kill you both when I get out.’” “The man needs to be taken care of.” Giyanna laughed, she was so shocked. “Yes, that’s what I said. And he needs to be buried in a deep hole where no one will ever find him. Nasty man, that brother of yours. I can’t believe that something so sweet as you is related to him. Where are your parents in all this?” “You know, I don’t know.” She thought about the last time she’d heard from them. “I can’t remember the last time I talked to them. It’s been years. We were never a very close family. Our parents would have just as soon not had us, I think. They left us alone in Rogan’s care when we were smaller. And as you can well imagine, that went over badly for us. Do you suppose he might have killed them too?” “Oh my goodness. That’s a thought. I know that.... We should have someone find them. Joe can do that better than anyone.” She nodded, as if it was something she was going to do. “To change the subject, are you still coming to work with me? I’m so excited to have a real place to call our own that I can hardly stand it. James is going to let us have one of the buildings downtown so that we can have an office. We’ll need storage areas too, for all the donations. I think that this year’s toy event will be the best yet. What with all the adults working more and new houses being built. Did you see the little homes that are going up along Route Forty? They’re the cutest little things.”

  “I saw that they’ve started on the wing for the library too. It’s going to really add on some more space for them.” Jas told her that they were going to have a place they could hold meetings, as well as an area for play time for the children’s activities. “I volunteered to go to the school with the others too. I’m going to teach them how to write a check and balance a checkbook.”

  They talked for a bit more and Giyanna felt better. She’d had a blow to her heart, and Jas had mended it for her in one afternoon. By the time she left, she was feeling better about herself. Rogan, she knew, was never going to hurt anyone again. And that was a very good thing.

  Going home now, she read the note from Tanner telling her that he was doing some things for Noah, and that if she wanted to give him a call, they could meet for lunch. Reaching out to him, they made plans to have lunch before he finished up for the day.

  Chapter 8

  Tanner made a bid on the buildings downtown twenty minutes before the closing. He didn’t have any idea if there were other bids, but was told to wait for a few minutes and that they’d get back to him. He sat on one of the benches just outside the offices and pulled out his cell. Tanner was happy now that he’d made sure that he could get to his email through his phone. Half an hour later, he was called into the office. Chloe was there, as well as the mayor, and he had his envelope in his hand. Not sure what was going on, Chloe winked at him and he felt better. Then the mayor spoke. “You were the only bid on the building. And I’m sure that you’re aware that it was to be both the buildings, the one to the right of it as well.” Tanner said that it was. “I’m glad that he’s getting them, Tanner, but I don’t suppose you can tell me what Mr. Noah is going to do with them. It would help me to know that there is some kind of development going in. We’re doing so much now to the area, and I’m very pleased with it.” “I can tell you that he plans to hire as many as ten people to start, and all the construction will be local.” Smiling, the mayor nodded. “Also, once the second building is started on, I believe that too will hire as many as a dozen people. He has plans for both of them.” “Good, that’s what I like to hear. Growth is going on, and we’ll just keep adding to it every week and we’ll be a viable town again. I heard that your brother is expanding his pack too.” He nodded, and told him that the pack had purchased seven hundred more acres to use and were building homes. “I don’t know what we’d do without the Calhouns around. You all are good people, and good to the town.” “Thank you very much. I’ll tell my grandparents and parents what you said. They’re very proud of the way things are going too.” He still wasn’t sure what this was about until he was handed the envelope. “It’s my bid. And it’s been marked out.” “Yes, well, I had a little talk with Chloe here, and we decided that since no one else bid on the building that you could take it off the city’s hands for a buck. Which you can pay as you leave. With him hiring twenty or so people, that’ll make it easier on a lot of the local shelters, as well as food banks.” Tanner thanked them both. “No worries on that. I’m just glad to have it off our books. I know that with the income of taxes and things we’re doing better, but you can never have enough so far as I’m concerned.” When the mayor left, Chloe asked him if he had a minute. He followed her to her office and sat down when she asked him to. This was going to be bad, he just knew it. “Your wife went to see Rogan today.” He said that he was aware that she had. “He confessed to everything. Including trying to kill his wife, as well as her and Tyrrell. And if one more body turns up—and from what I’m to understand, it will—then he’ll get life without the chance for parole.” “I can’t say that I’m not happy about that. I’ve not heard from Giyanna yet. Did she have a hard time of it?” Chloe told him how she’d ended up at his grandma’s. “They have a special bond. I noticed that right away. I didn’t hear from her, so I assumed that she was either still there or it went all right. What else is going on?” Chloe sat down and pulled a photo out of a file. He noticed right away that the file was thin, and was worried either that it was just the beginning of an investigation or the end of one on a missing child. She handed him the picture of a couple. “This is their parents. I think that Giyanna looks a great deal like her mother, and Rogan looks like his father. Tyrrell is a cross between the two of them.” He asked her to stop beating around the bush. “They’re dead. Both of them. Their bodies were found, along with three others, on the back end of pack property.” “Rogan.” Even though it wasn’t a question, she said that he’d done it. “What happened, do you know?” “They’re running an autopsy on them both. The women, they’re in the same shape as the ones on the property where they all lived. This man is a sick pervert, in case you didn’t know that. The things that were done to these women is sadistic.” He asked about the parents, her thoughts. “They were both robbed. The father still had his wallet, about the only way we were able to identify him. His head had been bashed in by a mallet. The mother had her neck brok
en. Her purse was with her body, but it was devoid of anything other than a set of car keys. We’re still looking for more of its contents. Joe has a system that beats anything I could use.” “Who knows about this?” He said he did. “You okay with me telling Giyanna? I mean, I can do that for you. I think she has an idea that they’re gone anyway.” “I figured as much too. She had to know something was up when she asked me if I could find them.” He’d not known that, but she had been out as much as he’d been lately. “She said she thought that the last time she spoke to either of them was about four or five years ago. I’m only married into this family, and I can’t go ten minutes without talking to one of you. But I can understand it too. The coroner says it’s been about five years give or take, so that fits.” “What’s going to happen now? I mean with Rogan. You said that he confessed to the murders.” She said yes, as well as the plans of murdering his sister and brother. “Yes, that scares me like you cannot believe.” “He has a court date in two days. I’m not sure who will be working on his side of the table. I’m to understand you have taken yourself off the list?” He told her what he’d told the judge. The family ties were just too great. “I don’t blame you a bit for this. Rogan seems to think that someone is going to bail him out, or that Tyrrell is going to confess. That part confuses me, but then this entire case does. He’s been living here all his life, getting away with murder, and we had no idea. Or, and this is more than likely it, people were afraid of him and the police force here was shit.” “I think a combination of both, if you ask me. He does make a good argument for leaving him the fuck alone.” Chloe laughed when he did. “I’ll talk to Giyanna when she gets home tonight. And then Tyrrell is coming over for dinner too. I’ll tell them both what we’ve found out.”

  “They’ll be able to bury them, if they want in, about a month. We’ll keep them in the morgue for that long in the event that there are questions about their murders when this thing goes to trial.” He nodded and stood up. “You going by your buildings?” “Yes. Noah said that there is a man, and he believes his daughter, living in it. He wants me to get them housing, money, and then he’s offering the man a job. He has spoken to them, I guess.” She walked out with him into the wonderful sunshine. He needed it after that conversation. “Do you have the transcripts or does Giyanna still have them?” “I have a faxed copy of them. I guess she gave them my number when she left. My buddy up there said she was sick afterwards. He suggested that she not return.” He said that was her plan. “If you get a chance, bring her copies to me, please. It would be nice to have a good copy to give to the judge when it goes to court.” He walked to the building from her office and saw that it did have a great deal of potential. The front curved glass was still intact, and he thought that the display shelves behind the counter were perfect for what Noah had in mind. He went up the stairs, calling for not just the man but the woman as well. They met him at the top of the staircase with a ball bat. “Noah sent me.” The man nodded but didn’t put it down. “I’m to get you housing and money. He said that he talked to you about working for him.” “He did something to me, didn’t he? I haven’t felt this good in ten years or more.” Tanner told him what Noah had told him. “Yes, I was dying. And I lost all I had when this doctor told me that he had this cure for me. Wasn’t nothing but sugar pills, I found out too late. Mortgaged my home and just about everything else I had.” “I’m sorry about that. Do you think you could put the bat down?” He flushed red, and Tanner would bet that he’d forgotten he had it. “My name is Tanner Calhoun. And he told me your first names but nothing more.” “I’m Rich Farley, and this is my granddaughter, Jenny. Jenny and I have been staying up here since just after Christmas. We were doing all right but for the fact that it’s been cold. But we managed.” He congratulated him on not getting sicker. “Yes, well, it wasn’t like we had much in the way of choices. What is it that he wants us to do?” “He wants me to find you both housing. There are several that you can take; Noah owns a few properties here and about anyway. There is furniture in one of them, that’s the one he suggests that you take, and if it doesn’t suit you, then he’ll fill the house that you do want.” Rich asked why this man would do that for strangers. “He’s a very nice man, but he doesn’t want that to get around. And as you know, he’s a vampire. A very old and powerful one. Sometimes, as one might when they’ve seen it all, he gets bored and needs to stretch his mind a little.” “And if he gets bored with this shop that I’m supposed to run, then what do I do? I need to take care of Jenny here.” Tanner nodded and looked at the young woman. She looked familiar, but he wasn’t sure from where. “When he makes a commitment to something, he sticks to it until the end. Not the end of it, but the end of it being useful to him. This place that you’re going to run, it’s primarily for other men like him. Older gentlemen that like a certain kind of dress. He’ll supply all that you need to make it work.” Rich asked him if he’d be doing the tailoring. “I’m not sure. Do you know how to do that?” “I do. I’ve been a tailor for a great many years, up until my son and his wife were killed. I’ve been caring for my granddaughter since. I don’t think she needs this old man anymore, but she keeps me going.” They hugged, and he could see the love and respect between them. “I can’t go out of here without her.” “No, and you won’t have to. There’s a house, as I said, and the one that he wants you to look at first, it’s three bedrooms and three baths. He thinks you might need the extra room.” Rich and Jenny followed him out of the building. “Noah owns this building now, and he’ll begin work on it today if possible. That’s why I’ve been told to come by and see that you’re settled, and that you have everything that you need.” They chose the house that Noah had thought they would. It was a very nice house, and had a big yard. As he was leaving, Jenny followed him out to the sidewalk. He knew that he’d seen her someplace before, but just couldn’t place it. “I’m looking for a job as well. If you hear of any, I’d like to apply for it. I can do most anything.” He asked her how she felt about plants. “Plants? They’re all right. You mean work in the greenhouse? I’d love that.” When he left them, Tanner felt good. He’d won the bid on the buildings, and the couple there was now housed and working. The only thing left for him to do was to talk to Tyrrell and Giyanna. And that would be the hardest thing he thought he’d ever done. ~~~ Tyrrell had already figured that his parents were both gone. But what he’d not thought of was how they had died. While Tanner didn’t give them much in the way of details, Tyrrell knew that it had been Rogan, and he’d not been quick about it. He looked over at his sister as she sat next to Tanner. He asked him if he had any questions. “Did Rogan do it?” He nodded, and he felt like he’d been sucker punched. Lying back on the couch, he let that settle over him. “If I ask you how he did it, will you tell me?” “Yes, if you wish, but I’m sure you don’t want to know.” He nodded and told him that he did. “All right. According to Chloe, who was there when they were found, your father’s face would have been unrecognizable. They believe that he was killed with the mallet that they found, along with the shovel that had dug their graves. Your mother’s suffering was shorter—her neck was broken. But there is an autopsy being performed now, and it’ll show more than what she has now on them.” “What else did you find there?” He looked at Giyanna when she spoke. “Were there others with them? Other women?” “Yes.” When she nodded that she understood, Tyrrell was glad that Tanner didn’t tell them anything else. “There was a wallet found with your father. Your mom only had her purse, and it was empty except for a set of car keys.” “She wouldn’t have had anything in it.” Tanner asked him if he knew why. “I don’t know. She’d take Dad’s wallet when he was driving and put it in the purse. The only thing she ever carried in there that I can remember is a package of tissues and car keys. We never understood why she even bothered.” “That’ll help Chloe in not searching for any more contents for it. There was a car too, we suppose. Do either of you know where it might be?” Giyanna looked at him, then at Tanner. “
We’re searching for it now, but not having much luck. The last license plates were renewed about ten or so years ago.” Giyanna said she might know. “It should be in the parking garage that the housing development used. It’s the one that Bridgett used too, to keep a bunch of cars off the yard. Rogan, as far as I know, never had his driver’s license. Not to say that he didn’t drive, but the last time I knew that’s where the car was.” Tanner said he’d have someone look at it. She told him the make and the model. “That’s going to really be helpful. Anything else that you can think of? The state has a good solid case against him; he’ll be in prison for a very long time, if not forever. But anything that you can think of, that’ll go a long way in helping them have all the information at once.” Tyrrell didn’t want to think about anything anymore. It was too much, all this information that was going around and around in his head. Rogan had been a murderer, and he could have killed them too. And he’d killed his mom and dad. That alone made him want to go to Rogan and ask him why he’d do such a thing. Tanner and Giyanna talked softly on the couch, so Tyrrell closed his eyes and let the day just wash over him. It was the way he’d been dealing with stress since he’d had a slight heart attack when he’d been only twenty-two years old. Not only was it a wakeup call for him, but it also made him realize how much he hated Rogan. All he could get his mind to center on, however, was what had happened one day when he’d been about ten. “You’re going to go and help me with something.” Tyrrell had told him no, he had homework to do. “It’s not like it’s going to do you a shit load of good, Ty. You’re not going to need it soon enough. Besides, look at what I’ve gotten, and I’m only fifteen. You won’t need it. Trust me.” He didn’t have any idea what his brother was talking about, and argued again that he was going to do it and not go with him. In the end, Rogan hit Tyrrell in the head hard enough to knock him off his seat. He also had to get a dozen stitches in his head after his parents had returned. But he’d never forget his brother when he came home before Mom and Dad had. Rogan was covered in blood. His face looked like it had rained down on him—his hair was matted into knots too. The white shirt that he had on when he’d left looked pink now, with big splotches of a darker pink. Even his pants were nasty, and Tyrrell was afraid. “What are you looking at?” He said nothing to Rogan. “You damned right you don’t. And if you breathe a word about this, to anybody, I’ll do that same to you that I did to her. You hear me?” “Yes.”