“I’m not Barry, man. My name is Harvey.”
“I know who you are,” Tanner said. “Now tell me where I can find Russell Walker.”
“Russell? This is about Russell?”
“I’m looking for him.”
“Hell, man, I haven’t seen Russell in months. Not since he began running around with that bitch Tonya.”
“What’s Tonya’s last name?”
“Get this, her last name is Looney, and the bitch is crazy too. She beat the hell out of me to show Russell she was tougher than I am. I think she’s nuts.”
“You were once suspected of robbing houses with Russell. That makes you partners. I want you to lead me to him.”
Harvey got off the floor and sat on the edge of the bed.
“If I did that, Russell would kill me.”
Tanner aimed the gun at Harvey. “If you won’t help me I’ll tell the cops where to find you. Missing that court date wasn’t a smart move.”
Harvey shook his head. “I can’t do prison, man. I did six months in jail once and it almost killed me. I’d rather die than be locked up for years.”
“You should have thought of that before you burned that house to the ground.”
“Hey, who are you?”
“Call me Tanner.”
“Tanner? That sounds familiar. Anyway, I was drunk off my ass when I burned Sherry’s house down. She wasn’t home at the time. I’d never hurt that girl.”
“Sure,” Tanner said. “Now, what’s it going to be? Are you going to help me find Russell, or should I hand you over to the cops?”
Harvey buried his face in his hands and expelled a long breath.
“I’ll help you, but you’ve got to help me too. I got bounty hunters after me. You keep them away and I’ll find Russell for you.”
“These bounty hunters, have you seen them?”
“No, but my brother said that two women came to his house and asked about me. He lives in Tucson.”
“It sounds like they lost your trail. Where do we look for Russell?”
“We don’t have to look for him. I know how to leave a message for him that he’ll read.”
“An email drop?”
“Yeah, and I wouldn’t go anywhere near him. You’re not the only one looking for him. The cops want him ten times more than they ever wanted me. It’s the violence, you know? When Harvey and I ran together, no one ever got hurt. That Tonya is a mean bitch. She turned Russell mean too.”
“I need you to write something that will bring him out of hiding.”
“Like what?”
“Tell him you want money, or you’ll send a note to the cops with everything you know about him and Tonya.”
“Russell would want to kick my ass if I threatened to do that.”
“Yeah, and to kick it he would have to meet you somewhere.”
“What are you going to do to Russell when you see him?”
“I’m going to kill him. He messed with the wrong people and they want him dead.”
Harvey shook his head. “I won’t help you kill him.”
“That’s your choice, but it means you’ll go to prison.”
Harvey wiped at his eyes, which had grown moist.
“Why can’t you just leave me alone, man?”
“Hey, Harvey, did you ever cry for the people you and Russell robbed? Don’t expect pity from me. And feel lucky that I don’t kill you too. Pulling this trigger is much easier than tying you up and leaving you for the cops.”
Harvey stared at the gun in Tanner’s hand. “I’ll help you find Russell.”
“Good choice.”
5
A Case Of Mistaken Identity
SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA, SEPTEMBER 2001
After having spent over two weeks in Indonesia with Cody and Romeo, Spenser had been in Sydney for three days when he realized that he was being followed. The two men trailing him were in their twenties and dressed in matching black T-shirts, tan chinos, and combat boots. There was no emblem or other markings on the front of the shirts, but Spenser got the impression that the clothing was a sort of uniform. They also wore their hair the same way, normal on top, with the sides trimmed down to a buzz cut. If one of the men hadn’t been black, Spenser might have taken them for brothers.
Since his arrival, Spenser had been trying to locate someone who knew Vince Ryker. He had asked about the man in over three dozen bars and taverns. As he hoped would happen, he had attracted someone’s attention.
If Ryker learned that he was in Australia he would send men after him, or better yet, show himself. Spenser hoped that the pair following him would lead him right to Ryker. The sooner he rejoined Cody and Romeo the better.
Spenser entered a bar on George Street that he had been in previously, walked through it, and left by a rear exit. The pair following him stepped from the bar minutes after entering it, then gazed about for him.
Spenser knew that they were looking for a man in a blue shirt and no hat, which is what he had been wearing. After leaving the bar Spenser rushed into a nearby store. He had purchased a white T-shirt with the logo of a sports team on it, along with a matching cap, and a pair of sunglasses.
The simple change had been enough to make the men’s eyes sweep past him without taking notice, as he pretended to be staring in the window of an electronics shop.
Fearing they had lost him, the men split up to search the side streets. Spenser followed the black man at a distance. A short time later, the man met up with his partner again. It appeared as if they had given up their search.
The men quickened their pace and walked several blocks to a quiet street where they had left their ride, an old gray van. Spenser came up on the pair as they were preparing to get into the vehicle.
“Why were you following me?”
The men spun around, realized who he was, and stared at him with eyes full of hate. The vehemence in their expressions puzzled Spenser, as he had never seen the men before.
“What’s your problem?” Spenser said.
“Don’t play innocent with us. We know who you are. You’re Vince Ryker.”
“I’m not Ryker, but I am looking for Ryker.”
The white man waved a dismissive hand at that as he stepped in front of his partner.
“We know all about you, Ryker, or would you rather we call you Tanner?”
“I’m not Ryker.”
“Move, Tony!” the black man said. When the white guy stepped aside, the black man lunged toward Spenser with a knife in his hand. The man was quick, but Spenser was faster and avoided the blade while jamming a fist into his attacker’s throat.
Then, the white man was swinging a punch at his head. It was a clumsy attempt and easily ducked. Spenser landed a hard right into the man’s midsection and heard the air leaving the guy’s lungs.
He knelt down to talk to them as they sat on the ground with their backs against the van. When they saw him pick up the knife that had been dropped, their eyes widened with fear.
“I don’t want to hurt you and I’m not Vince Ryker.”
The black man spoke, but his voice was hoarse from the injury to his throat.
“You’re saying you’re not Tanner?”
Spenser hesitated. He was Tanner, but he wasn’t the Tanner they thought he was, the faux Tanner that Ryker had claimed to be. The men took his long pause in answering as a sign of guilt. The hate returned to their eyes as it overcame the fear they were feeling.
The black man jabbed a finger at him. “You killed our leader, Ryker. We’re members of the Outbackers. There are dozens of us and we’re going to kill you.”
“I am called Tanner, but I’m not the Tanner that Ryker was pretending to be. I want to find him as badly as you do. It’s why I’m here.”
The white man had recovered from the punch he’d received. He let out an incoherent sound and leapt at Spenser. If Spenser hadn’t turned his wrist at the last instant, the fool would have impaled himself on the blade Spenser was holding. He
still didn’t escape injury, as the tip of the knife sliced a groove across his ribs. Then the black man made a move and grabbed Spenser’s wrist with both hands.
Spenser released the knife, while bringing out a gun with his other hand.
“Back off!”
The men did so, as blood leaked from the side of the white man. Spenser grabbed up the knife again and flattened two of the van’s tires.
“I’ll say this again. I’m not Vince Ryker.”
The black man had removed his shirt and was pressing it against the cut on his friend’s side.
“You’re a dead man, Tanner. A dead man!”
Spenser left the pair sitting on the sidewalk. He’d thought he only had to worry about Ryker’s allies; he should have realized that the man would also have enemies. And because of a misunderstanding, those enemies were now his enemies. The black man’s words echoed in Spenser’s head.
“There are dozens of us and we’re going to kill you.”
“Great,” Spenser muttered. “Just great.”
* * *
Back in Indonesia, Cody and Romeo were falling into a routine. They spent the early morning hours training with Maz, then put in time restoring Bagus’s old boat, which was a forty-footer that had seen extensive use.
The vessel was named Wanita Laut, which in English meant Sea Woman. Bagus planned to fix the boat up to sell. To get the vessel up to a point where it would fetch a good price, the galley and the deck needed a lot of work.
Cody and Romeo had gone out deep-sea fishing as Bagus’s guests after a couple cancelled their charter at the last minute. By the end of the day, Cody was thrilled that he had gone along and developed a love of the ocean. Romeo, who was already enthralled with the sea, said that someday he would buy a boat and live on it.
In fact, he was already living on a boat, although it was in dry dock. To save travel time and money, the boys were living on the Sea Woman while they restored it.
* * *
When they weren’t working or surfing, they trained with Maz, and were always the last of the man’s students to leave. The lessons consisted of learning self-defense moves and then practicing them until exhausted. Although the repetitive nature of the training should have given birth to boredom, the result was the opposite.
Once you realized that a move had become second-nature, and a very part of you, it was like having a new ability. In some ways, it was similar to learning to ride a bike, in that the new skill would never leave you.
Maz had been so pleased with the boys’ intensity and dedication that he had moved them up into his master class. At that level, Cody and Romeo again found themselves being defeated. In response, they cut out surfing and trained more. The boys were determined to reach the top tier of Maz’s students. As potential Tanners, they knew that they could accept nothing less from themselves.
* * *
On the one-month anniversary of their training, the boys learned about something that increased their thirst for excellence.
“A contest?” Cody asked.
Maz nodded while wiping sweat from his bald head.
“It’s normally not open to my first-year students, but I feel you two are ready.”
“Who would we be competing against?” Romeo asked.
“Any current or former student can enter, as long as they trained in my master class.”
“Was Spenser ever in the contest?” Cody asked.
Maz grinned. “He won two years in a row. That’s why I’m not surprised at how fast you two advanced. Other than myself, you couldn’t have had a better teacher.”
“How long until the contest?” Cody asked.
“It’s always held two days after the training ends. You’ll have time to prepare, but I must warn you, the contest is a serious business.”
“What’s that mean?” Romeo said.
“Unlike training sessions, no one will be holding back,” Maz said.
“Is it a fight to the death?” Romeo said, causing Maz to laugh.
“Not so dramatic, but men have been injured seriously and many bones get broken. The worst injury happened three years ago. That placed a man in a coma for days.”
Cody and Romeo shared a look, then grinned at each other.
“Sign us up, Maz,” Cody said. “One of us is going to win.”
“You just might,” Maz said. “But many men want to claim the trophy I give away. You’ll be facing some deadly men, including last year’s champion, Throne.”
“Throne? The dude’s name is Throne?” Romeo asked.
Maz sighed. “It’s what he likes to be called. His real name is Felix.”
Cody looked at Romeo. “I want one of us to win that trophy and give it to Spenser.”
“Hell yeah, I can’t imagine losing.”
Maz held up a hand in warning. “You haven’t seen Throne. He’s bigger than you two and as strong as anyone I’ve ever met. He’s also a natural at self-defense. I placed him in my master class the day I met him.”
“We train even harder,” Cody told Romeo.
“Fuckin’ A,” Romeo said.
Maz’s meaty forehead wrinkled in confusion.
“What does that term mean, this ‘fucking A?’”
Romeo shrugged. “It means, like, yeah, I agree with that.”
Maz smiled. “I like it, fucking A I like it.”
Cody and Romeo laughed, then entered the sand ring to continue training.
6
Fancy Meeting You Here
ARIZONA, AUGUST 2018
Russell received the email message that Harvey had sent and became enraged by the threat of betrayal. Until recently, he and Harvey had been close. It was possible the man knew something that might lead the cops right to him.
He and Tonya were living in an RV outside Flagstaff. They had fled Colorado when their photos appeared on TV. Russell thought Harvey might remember that he always talked about getting a motor home someday. If the cops concentrated on finding them by checking out RV parks, their odds of being captured would go way up.
Tonya cursed the damn cat that had been responsible for their faces being known. The bite the cat inflicted on her neck had gotten worse. The wound was red and leaked pus. Whenever Russell suggested that Tonya go see a doctor, she insisted it would heal by itself. For some reason, the woman hated doctors.
After Tonya read the email, she told Russell that there was only one way to handle Harvey.
“We have to kill him. That bastard can give the cops my last name.”
“They’ll figure that out eventually.”
“Maybe, maybe not. I don’t have an arrest record.”
“We could pay him. I doubt Harvey wants much.”
Tonya made a sound of disgust. “You’re too soft, but I’m not. Set up a meeting for tomorrow. When Harvey shows, I’ll kill his blackmailing ass.”
Russell looked at her sideways. “Have you ever killed someone before?”
“Twice,” Tonya said. “The first one was a guy who tried to rape me.”
“Who was the other one?”
Tonya’s face hardened. “It’s none of your business.”
“Was it a doctor?”
Tonya’s mouth parted as her eyes blinked rapidly. “How did you know that?”
“It was a guess,” Russell said.
Tonya grabbed a beer from the tiny refrigerator in the RV and plopped into one of the captain chairs positioned in front of the dashboard.
“I was pregnant once, but when my daughter came… they said she was stillborn. That was bullshit. I heard my baby cry.”
“When was this?”
“I was only fifteen. My mother dragged me to this clinic in the neighborhood when it was time to have the baby. They said my little girl died, but I swear I heard her crying. I thought about that shit for four years, and then I tracked the doctor down and tortured his ass.”
“Damn, Tonya. What did he say?”
“He admitted that he sold my daughter and that my mothe
r was in on it. He said he gave her a thousand dollars. That bitch sold her own granddaughter for a thousand dollars. I swear, Russell, if my mother hadn’t already died from an overdose, I would have killed her too.”
“How did you kill the doctor?”
“I broke his arms and legs with a baseball bat and buried him alive. You should have heard that fucker scream.”
“That’s some medieval shit.”
“I should have set his ass on fire too. I really wanted to be a mother back then.”
They grew quiet for a few moments. When Russell looked at Tonya he expected to see tears, but no, her eyes were dry.
“Set-up that meeting and I’ll handle Harvey,” Tonya said.
Russell opened his laptop. “You’re the boss.”
* * *
In the town of Gilbert, Tanner was seated inside a restaurant with Harvey and having dinner. Tanner would be the man’s shadow until he led him to Russell and Tonya.
The place was an upscale burger joint that also served seafood. Tanner was having seared salmon while Harvey ate a cheeseburger.
Harvey pointed at Tanner’s plate. “What kind of vegetables are those?”
“That’s roasted zucchini.”
“I never had that.”
“Order some.”
“Why not let me have some of yours?”
“Because I want to eat all of it.”
“Didn’t your mother ever teach you to share?”
“Yes, and my father taught me to shoot.”
“Damn, man, don’t mention the gun. That thing scares me.”
“You’ve never fired one?”
“No, I’m a lover not a fighter.”
“Yeah, you’re a red-hot lover.”
“Nice, bringing up the arson again, but I swear, man, that’s not the real me. I was drunk off my ass and acted stupid.”
“Sure,” Tanner said.
Young Guns Box Set Page 3