Tanner took out a gun and began screwing a sound suppressor onto it. “Start talking or your hand won’t be the only thing that hurts.”
Nick held up his good hand. “Okay. Be cool. This doesn’t have to get crazy. You guys aren’t cops, so who are you?”
“You don’t ask the questions, Nick, we do,” Tanner said.
“What do I get if I talk?”
Bo flicked a finger at the back of Nick’s head. “That’s a question. Start telling us about your operation or I’ll break your other hand.”
Nick touched the back of his head where Bo had struck him. When he took his hand away, he checked his fingers as if he’d expected to see blood there.
“Why should I talk if you’re going to hurt me anyway?” Nick asked, then he ducked his head to avoid another swat from Bo. Bo gripped his hair and pulled his head back until Nick was looking up at him.
“We’ll let you live if you tell us the truth.”
“Let me live? You’re saying you’ll kill me?”
“That’s right. If you want to live, talk.” Bo released Nick’s hair and moved around the chair to stand beside the sofa Tanner was seated on. They had discussed what to do with Nick before arriving in Key West. He was being offered the chance to live but that didn’t mean he would get off scot-free. They would make sure that he was arrested. If convicted for a fraction of the crimes he’d committed, Nick Collins would spend his life behind bars. Then again, they told Nick that he would live. No one stated how long that would be.
After looking around his living room and finding no way to avoid it, Nick began talking.
“Three of my cousins find the girls. They hang around different college towns and make friends with the really hot ones.”
“What are their names?” Tanner asked.
“Emily, Karen, and Regina.”
“Regina? Is she the same Regina who was friends with Inga Olson?”
“Yeah,” Nick said, then chuckled. “I heard the bitch thinks that Regina was sold too. Hell, Regina was the one who drugged her drink.”
“Where can we find Regina?”
“Last I heard she was working at this bar in Miami Beach. She’s using the name Harley now because of that interview Inga Olson gave. She’s also dyed her hair blonde.”
“What’s the name of the bar she’s working in?” Tanner asked, and Nick told him.
“Is your group only active in Florida?”
“Nah. We mostly stay here because we live here. But we also work out of California and in Texas, along the gulf. My father owns a place there.”
“How do we find the other women, Emily and Karen?”
“I don’t know, man. I haven’t worked with them in a while.”
“That’s a lie. I checked your phone while you were in the shower. Someone named Emily sent you a text recently. Tell us where we can find them.”
Nick told him. Emily was in Miami and Karen was in Key West.
“There must be more guys like you involved in this,” Bo said.
“Guys like me?” Nick said.
“Yeah. Pretty boys to seduce the girls and do the heavy lifting once they pass out. What about your friend, Johan?”
“He still lives in Miami. He handles the girls like I do, but now he also works as security for us.”
Bo laughed. “A real tough guy. He pushes around college girls.”
Nick shook his head. “Johan ain’t no joke, man. If we need someone killed, Johan is who they send now.”
Tanner was about to ask Nick where they could find his friend when he caught sight of something glinting beyond the window. When he focused his gaze on a balcony across the wide expanse between buildings, he saw the outline of a man holding a rifle.
Tanner dove to the floor while shouting a warning. “Down! Get down!”
Bo fell beside him, but Nick had stayed seated, and had a confused look on his face. The right side of that face was obliterated a moment later as it became an exit wound.
Tanner stayed low and moved over to the side of the window. After standing, he risked taking a look around the edge of the curtain. He saw the retreating back of the man who had taken the shot. It wouldn’t have mattered if he’d gotten a good look at him, because of the distance.
Bo had followed him over to the shattered window. “Did you get a look at the shooter?”
“No. But that was fine shooting.”
“It looks like we may not be the only ones going after this gang.”
Tanner walked back over to the sofa. His phone had been sitting on the coffee table and recording. He grabbed it up and headed for the door.
“Collins gave us enough to keep moving. We’ll head to Miami Beach and see if we can find Regina at that bar.”
“Why don’t we let Maxwell and the others handle that? I want to get my hands on Johan. If he’s committing murders for the group, he’ll have the name of the man ordering him to do so.”
“I’m good with that,” Tanner said, as he stepped into the hallway.
Bo hesitated. “Maybe we should search this place before we leave.”
“I don’t think there’s time. That broken window sent glass down into the pool area. Someone will come here to investigate.”
“I didn’t think of that. You’re right.”
They made it to street level and walked until Kate pulled up beside them in the van she had rented.
Seeing that they were alone, Michael asked what had happened to Nick Collins.
“He’s dead. A sniper killed him,” Bo said.
“A sniper?”
“There’s someone else out to get these people,” Tanner said. “We’ll need to watch our backs.”
Maxwell looked concerned. “Did they attempt to harm you or Bo?”
“They fired one shot that struck Collins in the back of the head, then took off. It may have been someone in my profession.”
“Who would hire an assassin to take down a gang of sex slavers?” Michael asked.
“Someone with a personal grudge against them,” Maxwell said. “Before contacting me, Inga had given an interview to a newspaper in an attempt to draw attention to this group. I’m wondering if someone read that interview and saw Nick Collins’ name.”
“That’s possible,” Tanner said. “But if true, Collins wasn’t their first victim.”
“Why do you say that?” Maxwell asked.
“Think about it. They killed Collins outright. If they wanted to really hurt the gang, they would have questioned him the way we did, in order to gather more information. I think that they’ve already gotten info from someone else, and Collins was just a convenient target.”
“That’s a good point,” Ali said.
“Or someone had a different reason to kill Nick Collins,” Michael said. “A guy like that might have been sleeping with someone’s wife.”
“It’s still better to assume that there’s someone going after our targets. That way, we’ll be more careful,” Bo said.
“Drive to the parking garage where I left my car, Kate,” Tanner said. “Bo and I are headed back to Miami to look for Johan. Meanwhile, the four of you can look for Regina. Instead of being a victim, Regina was an accomplice.”
Ali made a sound of disgust. “Inga has been worried sick about her friend for years. Now, it turns out that she was involved in her abduction. That’s horrible.”
Before leaving the van, Tanner sent Maxwell a copy of the recording he made while they were interrogating Nick Collins. They all listened to it in silence.
“That sounds like you two had a close call,” Michael said.
“Maybe. But I don’t think we would have been fired on. If the guy is a pro, once he had his target he was finished.”
“Johan might be next on his list,” Maxwell said. “You two watch your backs when you’re around him.”
“We’ll have each other’s back,” Bo said. Then he and Tanner left the van to go find Johan.
5
A Massacre Of One
Kate had asked Maxwell to take over the driving duties so that she could get on the computer and search for Johan. She found an address for Johan in Miami. He was living in an apartment over a gym. With that information, Tanner and Bo had been saved a lot of leg work. They had been intending to check out every serious weightlifting gym in Miami, of which there were a few.
Johan’s last name was Becker. His family had moved to America from Germany when he was fourteen.
Tanner drove past the gym and scouted the area to get an idea of his surroundings. After pulling to the curb while two blocks from the gym, he told Bo that he was headed back there on foot.
“If our sniper is nearby, I’ll find him. If he’s not, then we’ll go into the gym and look for Johan.”
“I could come with you.”
“No offense, but a guy your size tends to stand out. Our sniper won’t see me until I want him to.”
Bo smiled. “No one ever accused me of melting into the background. I’ll go keep an eye on the gym until you join me.”
“Good plan.”
Tanner saw nothing odd or suspicious, so he rejoined Bo at the car.
“I was just about to call you, Tanner. Johan left the gym and got into that yellow Escalade across the street. He’s got a passenger too.”
“Another powerlifter?”
“The guy is in shape but not big. He’s more the male model type.”
Tanner climbed into the passenger seat. “Let’s follow them and see where they go.”
Johan made a stop at a gas station. Bo gassed up Tanner’s car while Tanner used the men’s room and bought bottled water and snacks. They had no idea how far Johan was traveling, so it made sense to gather supplies for a long trip. Along with the food he bought a roll of duct tape and a screwdriver.
Tanner took the wheel when he returned outside, and Bo went into the bathroom. As Bo was walking out, he came face-to-face with Johan. The two large men acknowledged each other with nods. Johan had more sheer muscle mass than Bo, but was shorter, thicker, and not as wide.
“Did he say anything to you?” Tanner asked Bo as the big man climbed into the car.
“He grunted at me when he realized I was taller than him.”
Tanner left the gas station first, drove a mile, and parked in the lot of a strip mall. They were on a highway and Johan’s Escalade had to drive past them once it left the gas station. When he spotted the familiar yellow Escalade speeding along the highway, Tanner placed the car in gear and followed.
Fortunately, the trip didn’t take long at all. Trailing behind Johan led them to a large home where a party was just getting underway.
Bo looked through a pair of binoculars. “No one there looks older than twenty-five and most of them look younger.”
“And there are a lot of girls. Prime hunting ground for someone like Johan.”
“I would stick out like a lake in a desert, but you might not seem too out of place.”
“With that crowd,” Tanner said. “They might think I was someone’s dad who’s come looking for them. We’ll stay here until Johan and his friend leave the party.”
“Great, that could take all night,” Bo said.
Tanner passed him a protein bar. “At least we won’t starve.”
In Miami Beach, Michael Barlow was doing his best to keep from vomiting.
Kate had used her hacker skills to locate an address for Regina Collins who was currently going by the name of Harley when she was setting up women to be abducted.
After ringing the doorbell and not getting an answer, Michael decided to pick the lock on the apartment door. Ali was standing at his side. If anyone asked them what they were doing, Ali would claim to be a friend of Harley’s.
Michael tried the doorknob before going to work with the lock picks. The door was unlocked and opened without any difficulty. As soon as the door swung inward, the smell of death hit them both in the face. The door opened into the living room. There was a small desk in there that looked as if it had been ransacked. Its drawers had been pulled out and the contents dumped onto the carpet in front of the couch.
Michael was shutting the door when Ali stopped him.
“We need to see the body and make certain that it’s her.”
Michael mumbled behind the hand he was holding up to his mouth. “Why don’t we just assume that?”
“You stay here. I’ll be right back,” Ali said, and took a step into the apartment.
Michael wasn’t the bravest man you would ever meet, but he wasn’t about to let Ali, a woman younger than his daughter, venture into a possible homicide scene alone. He followed her into the apartment and into the bedroom. That was where they found Regina Collins; or rather, what was left of her.
To say that she had been tortured would be an understatement. She’d been punished, mutilated, and finally disemboweled.
Ali had turned green herself but kept her composure. She took several photos of the scene as Michael watched and did his best not to vomit. It was a struggle. When she was done taking pictures Ali gripped Michael by the arm and pulled him along.
Once outside in the hallway again, they each took in a deep breath. Before leaving, Michael shut the door, then wiped down the knob. It was the only thing either of them had touched.
As they were taking the elevator down Ali reached into her purse and took out a pack of breath mints. She popped one in her mouth then offered them to Michael.
“I feel like I can taste that odor. It’s so gross.”
Michael took a mint, then tossed a second one into his mouth. “It was foul all right. And I hope I never meet the person who did that to her. I’ve never seen such savagery.”
Rather than explain what they’d seen to Kate and Maxwell, Ali showed them the photos she’d taken.
“Good Lord,” Kate said. “Tanner was right about someone else having been interrogated to give up Nick Collins’ name.”
“Eviscerated is more like it,” Maxwell said. “Ali, Michael, what’s your guess on when she was killed?”
Both Michael and Ali figured the time of death had been between two and three days earlier.
Maxwell examined the photos. “This is not the work of a professional. Whoever did this to her was fueled by hatred.”
“One thing is for sure,” Michael said. “Whatever that woman knew, she told it to her torturer. And they seem to be one step ahead of us.”
Kate took out her phone. “I’ll call and warn Tanner and Bo that we think we’re dealing with at least two people here.”
Tanner received Kate’s call and passed the information on to Bo.
“I think Inga giving that interview lit a fire under someone,” Bo said. “Until she came forward, they probably didn’t know how to go about finding these people.”
“Have you read that interview?” Tanner asked.
“Yeah.”
“Did she mention anyone else other than Nick and Regina?”
Bo searched his memory, which was formidable. He possessed what used to be called a photographic memory. In his mind’s eye he could see the article again. “She mentioned a woman named Vicky Denton who was mutilated and sent off to a brothel, the names of the women she was on that island with, and she stated that there were two Frenchmen on the ship she was a prisoner on. The Frenchmen were likely hired help.”
“It looks like Regina was the first victim. She must have given up Nick and anyone else involved. Whoever killed Nick is already a step ahead of us. We need to catch up. To do that, we’ll grab up Johan Becker the first chance we get.”
That opportunity presented itself a short time later when Johan and the man he was with headed for the Escalade, which was parked near the end of a long driveway. With them were a pair of young women who appeared to be drunk. They weren’t drunk, but drugged, and in the process of being abducted. The sun had gone down, and the party was in full swing. The music was loud and through the windows you could see colorful lights keeping time with the beat.
; There were a few partygoers outside the house who were smoking one substance or another. They were drunk, and they paid no attention to Johan.
Tanner opened his door. “I’ll take care of Johan and his friend while you turn the car around and bring it close to the Escalade.”
“I could help you,” Bo said.
Tanner didn’t respond. He was already headed toward the driveway and Johan. The two young women had been loaded into the Caddy’s rear seats. Tanner came up behind Johan’s friend, grabbed a fistful of his carefully coifed hair, and slammed his face into the side of the Escalade three times. The guy grunted then slid to the ground, unconscious and bleeding.
“What the fuck?” Johan said. He had an unnaturally deep voice, even for a big man. Tanner guessed that anabolic steroid use had something to do with it. He punched Johan in the throat. As the brute’s hands went up to the injured area, Tanner sent a kick into his left knee. The knee gave way and Johan fell against the Escalade. Tanner elbowed him at the side of his head, his arm moving like a piston. Johan collapsed to lie beside his friend.
Headlights swept over the scene and Bo pulled up in Tanner’s car. He was grinning.
“I was worried you might get hurt by Johan, but he never had a chance against you.”
Tanner was using duct tape to bind his victims’ hands and feet. Laughter came from back at the house. The partygoers there hadn’t seen a thing and were still enjoying themselves.
Bo helped Tanner load Johan and his friend into the back seat of their car, then turned to look at the girls inside the Escalade.
“What about them?”
“We passed a hospital on the way here. Drive them there while I follow. We don’t know what they drugged them with or how it might affect them. After you leave the Caddy outside, I’ll call the hospital and tell them where to find them.”
“These girls don’t know how lucky they are that we were here to stop Johan.”
“Much luckier than Inga ever was,” Tanner said.
After seeing to it that the women received help, Tanner drove north and entered the empty parking lot of a country club. He parked in a back corner where the shadows cast by palm trees were deep and concealing. With Bo’s help, he dragged the two men from the car and leaned them up against trees. Nine hundred feet away, traffic whizzed by on Biscayne Boulevard. The light given off by the vehicles lent a bit of illumination to the gloom.
Sins of the Father and Mother (A Tanner Novel Book 42) Page 5