The man wearing the blue ski mask, George Garvey, was about Tanner’s size and was wearing jeans and a leather jacket. Tanner also had on jeans and a similar jacket. Realizing this gave Tanner a new idea. He followed Garvey, watched the man pause to stare at his phone, and saw him send off a text.
When Garvey turned around to head toward the spot where Carter’s cell phone signal was coming from, Tanner hid from view and watched him pass by. Garvey turned around once to check his rear. Tanner was already ducked down behind a wild bush and went unnoticed.
When he moved in for the kill, Tanner matched Garvey’s steps. Garvey was crunching over dead leaves as was Tanner. It couldn’t be helped, as the forest floor was littered with them.
Tanner was rushing toward Garvey while keeping low when the man realized he wasn’t alone. It was too late. Tanner jammed a blade into the soft flesh at the rear of his left knee as the man was turning his head to look at him. At the same time, he clamped a hand over Garvey’s mouth to keep him from crying out and alerting his friends.
The injury to his knee made Garvey go down and Tanner followed him to the ground. Six seconds and fourteen stab wounds later, Garvey was dying and unable to do more than release soft moans.
Tanner claimed his rifle and cell phone, then donned his ski mask and headed for the shack at a slow pace. When he arrived, the others would see the blue ski mask and think that he was Garvey. That assumption could be their last mistake.
Tibbetts reached the shack first and stayed back in the trees to listen and watch for signs of movement. He sent a text off to each of his men telling them about the shack. A man in a red ski mask appeared in the trees to his right. A man wearing a green ski mask soon approached from his left, and George Garvey, in a blue mask, would arrive at the rear of the shack, or so Tibbetts expected.
The sound of someone grunting loudly reached Tibbetts’ ears. It was coming from inside the shack. The structure had no windows, and the door was shut. Whoever was in there couldn’t see them coming. Tibbetts left the cover of the trees while signaling to his men to follow his lead. When he saw the man in the red mask signal to someone at the rear of the shack, Tibbetts assumed that Garvey had arrived.
The grunting sounds grew louder the nearer they drew to the shack, and Tibbetts interpreted the grunts as those of effort. He was at the door and waiting for his men to grow closer. They did so, with “Garvey” standing at the rear.
Tibbetts held up three fingers, then lowered them one at a time in a silent countdown. When the last finger was lowered, he gave the door of the shack a hard kick. The door flew inward and revealed Carter’s bound and gagged form huddled in a corner. One cheek was bloody, because he had been rubbing his face against the wall to try to loosen the gag in his mouth.
Carter’s eyes looked startled, then they revealed recognition when Tibbetts removed his ski mask and showed his face. There was a smile on Tibbetts’ lips. As he saw the situation, Carter had been outsmarted by his target, Joshua, and he found it amusing.
“I should take a picture of you, Carter. What happened? The guy you were looking for was too much for you to handle?”
Tibbetts stepped into the shack with his men following behind. When he glanced over his shoulder, he saw that the man he thought was Garvey was staying outside the door to keep watch.
Good man, Tibbetts thought. He was pleased to see that Garvey was still on alert and watching for threats. The last thing they wanted was to be taken unawares from behind.
When he reached Carter, Tibbetts let his rifle hang by its sling and unsheathed a knife from a scabbard on his belt. “Hold still,” he told Carter, then he cut the gag loose.
Carter spat out the material wedged into his mouth and released a sigh of relief. “You got the guys, hmm?”
Tibbetts’ back stiffened. “Guys? How many?”
“Two. One is Joshua Mullins, he’s a wuss and not a threat, but the other man is hardcore. You didn’t get him?”
Behind them, Tanner pulled off his mask and raised his rifle. “No, they didn’t get me.”
Tibbetts and his remaining two men turned their heads to look at him as Carter leaned to his left to gaze past Tibbetts.
“That’s him. Shit!” Carter said.
Tibbetts wore a look of disgust. Tanner had not only outsmarted him, but the fact that he’d been wearing the blue ski mask meant that George Garvey was incapacitated or dead. He didn’t want to join Garvey in either condition. The fact that Tanner hadn’t opened up on them gave him hope that he might be able to talk his way out of the situation. He was opening his mouth to tell his men to stand down when one of them acted on his own.
It was the man in the green ski mask. He was the closest to Tanner and was a young guy with lightening reflexes and an exaggerated opinion of his skills. He spun toward Tanner while bringing his rifle around. He made it halfway before Tanner sent three rounds into his chest.
Tanner kept firing as Tibbetts’ other man spun toward him. As for Tibbetts, one of Tanner’s first three rounds had passed through the torso of the man he’d shot and struck Tibbetts in the side of the neck. Tibbetts had still been holding the blade he’d used to cut the gag off Carter, as he fell to one knee, the blade in his hand sank into Carter’s chest.
The bullet in Tibbetts’ neck was joined by one to the back of his head as Tanner fired his last shot. Tibbetts collapsed backwards to fall onto one of his men. Carter was alive, but mortally wounded by Tibbetts’ blade. He was slumped in the corner and gasping in pain, while bleeding internally from a severed artery.
When Carter died, Tanner still heard heavy breathing. It was coming from overhead, where he’d left Joshua on the roof. Tanner called up to him.
“Joshua! It’s okay! You can come down now.”
“Holy crap but that gun was loud, and the screams.”
“Miller sent men here to kill you. They’re handled, and we need to leave here in case someone heard those shots.”
“I’m coming down.”
Before shutting the door on the shack, Tanner took photos of the dead bodies while using a new burner phone. The photos would be useful as part of his plan. He took the keys to the SUV from Tibbetts’ pocket along with the man’s phone, which was also a burner phone. As he expected, there was a recent text conversation between Tibbetts and Miller. Tibbetts had sent a text telling Miller that he was about to contact Carter and Joshua. The man would be waiting to hear back from him.
Joshua lowered himself from the edge of the roof by his fingertips then let go. He landed on his feet, stumbled back a step, but managed to keep his balance. Afterward he placed a hand to his chest and made an expression that revealed the pain he was feeling. Any exertion made his chest wound ache.
“Let’s go,” Tanner said.
Joshua hesitated, as he stood staring at the door to the shack.
“Joshua. We need to leave.”
“How many guys were there? It sounded like more than one.”
“There were four. They’re dead now, and Carter died too.”
“You killed them?”
Tanner headed for the trees without saying another word. Joshua watched him for a moment before following. He was also beginning to think of Tanner as an angel of death.
27
I’ll Trade You
Tibbetts’ ride was a black Chevy Tahoe. Tanner drove it west as he headed away from the shack.
He had explained his plan to Joshua in detail. Not only would it leave Miller alive, but it could place him in legal difficulty. Joshua wasn’t a fan of Tanner’s strategy. Tanner attempted to convince him the plan would work.
“Miller needs to stay alive because he knows who else is involved. And yeah, the law will want to talk to you afterwards, but you’ll also be a hero for exposing this conspiracy. I doubt you’ll get more than a slap on the wrist.”
“He should pay with his life for killing Haley.”
“About that, from what you said, Miller doesn’t know that you saw him kill Haley, does he?”
“No. I passed out right after he… he shot her.”
“That’s right. So, he won’t be surprised when you tell him that you think it was Naya that killed Haley. From what you’ve told me, it sounds like she did try to kill her but was unfamiliar with the weapon she was using. If she knew what she was doing, Naya would have killed Haley.”
“Then they should both die.”
“I don’t disagree with you. And if this had happened to me, I would kill them. But it didn’t happen to me, Joshua, it happened to you. I would think you’d want more than revenge.”
“What do you mean?”
“When we met on the night the riot took place, you told me that things needed to change and the rich needed to share the wealth. Do you still feel that way?”
“Yes. What does that have to do with this?”
“Miller and his bosses are getting rich by destroying the homes of the poor in San Padre and they destroyed the businesses of the middle class. You could expose them to the public and stop them, or you can get vengeance by killing Miller and let Hexalcorp continue to do what they’re doing.”
“They won’t continue. I’ll hand over the information you got off the tablet.”
“That won’t be enough. The only ones named are Naya and her fellow coordinators. The people Miller works for aren’t named. Even Hexalcorp isn’t named. The Feds won’t be able to make a case against anyone. If you go with my plan, Miller won’t have any choice but to cooperate with the Feds. It might be the difference between him spending the rest of his life on death row or being eligible for parole when he’s an old man.”
Joshua was silent and Tanner said nothing more. The young man needed time to think. When they were nearly back at Joshua’s apartment, he spoke to Tanner.
“We’ll do it your way. It’s a good plan.”
“All right. That means we have a call to make soon. I’ll drop this vehicle on a street near your home and reclaim my car from where I left it.”
“I have to use the bathroom. And I would love to shower, change my bandage, and put on some fresh clothes.”
“All right, but make it quick,” Tanner said. “I don’t want to leave Miller hanging for too long or he might decide to take off somewhere.”
“I’ll be quick,” Joshua said.
Miller was pacing in the living room at the beach house as Naya was seated on the sofa doing her nails. Something had gone very wrong, otherwise, Tibbetts would have phoned him by now. It had been hours with no word. When the phone did ring and he saw that the call came from Tibbetts, a relieved smile spread across his face. It turned into a look of confusion when he heard Joshua’s voice.
“How did you get Tibbetts’ phone?”
“Because he’s dead. Carter is dead too.”
“Bullshit! There’s no way you could have taken out Tibbetts or Carter.”
“It wasn’t me. I had help.”
“Who?”
“I have a deal to offer you. Carter told me that you were looking for the computer tablet I stole from you. I’m willing to trade you for it.”
“A trade?”
“Bring Naya to me and I’ll give you the tablet. She shot me and she killed Haley. The bitch has to pay for that.”
Miller said nothing for a moment after Joshua made his offer. During the silence, Joshua looked over at Tanner and nodded. If Miller believed that Joshua didn’t blame him for Haley’s death, he might be more willing to make the trade. Then again, it was possible that he had feelings for Naya and would refuse. His next words would let them know which way Miller was leaning.
“How do we do this? I don’t trust you and you don’t trust me.”
“We’ll meet in a secluded spot and make the trade. Bring a gun if you want. The man with me will have one too.”
“How do I know that this isn’t a set-up that involves the police?”
“As badly as you want this tablet, I’m guessing that there’s something on it you don’t want the police to see. I couldn’t get by your password protection to look inside it, but the police wouldn’t have a problem. If they were involved, they would be at your door right now.”
“That’s true,” Miller said. “Tell me where and when you want to meet.”
“Get a pen and paper and write down what I tell you.”
When Miller said he was ready, Joshua proceeded to give him directions. When he told him the time he wanted to meet, Miller had an objection.
“That’s the middle of the night. Why can’t we meet earlier?”
“Because it will make it easier to spot a car coming if you try to hire someone else to come after me. I know what you drive. If I see any other cars coming toward the meeting place, I’ll take off and send this tablet to the FBI with a note attached.”
“All right. I’ll meet you when you say.”
“And one more thing, Miller.”
“What?”
“Bring money, as much as you can. I should get something for my pain and suffering.”
“I have five thousand dollars in my safe; I’ll bring it.”
“Tell her whatever you need to in order to get her to join you, but I want Naya. She’s going to pay for what she did to Haley, and for what she tried to do to me.”
“How did you survive that gunshot wound? The last time I saw you, I thought you were dead.”
“Dextrocardia.”
“What?”
“It means that I was born with my heart pointing toward the right side of my body instead of the left. If it wasn’t for that, Naya’s bullet could have killed me.”
“Whether it hit your heart or not, I don’t understand how you’re walking around two days after taking a bullet to the chest.”
“I guess the bullet was defective. It didn’t penetrate very deep.”
“Lucky bastard.”
“Yeah Miller, I’m real lucky. My face looks like hamburger, I’ve a hole in my chest, and the woman I love is dead. I’m really lucky.”
Joshua’s voice had risen as he spoke. Tanner patted the air in front of him with one hand, telling Joshua to calm down.
“I’ll bring you the money. Make sure you have that tablet.”
“And you make sure that you bring Naya,” Joshua said. After Tanner gave the signal to hang up, Joshua ended the call.
Tanner smiled at him. “You did good, Joshua. Is it true what you said about your heart being on the wrong side?”
“No. But I knew a kid when I was growing up who had the condition.”
“Okay. Miller thinks he has plenty of time before the meeting takes place. He won’t be expecting what comes next.”
Inside the beach house, Naya was asking Miller to tell her what Joshua had said to him.
“He wants to trade me the tablet for something.”
“I got that much from your side of the conversation, but what is it that he wants in return?”
“He wants you. I said that I would give you to him, but what I’m really going to do is place him in a shallow grave.” Miller walked over to a closet and reached into a back corner. When his hand came out it was gripping the barrel of a shotgun. “Joshua won’t be expecting us to arrive at the meeting place he picked out for hours. Instead, we’ll get there early and be waiting for him and his friend to show.”
“What friend?” Naya asked.
“He didn’t say, but whoever he is, he’s better than Tibbetts, and Tibbetts wasn’t alone.”
“This sounds dangerous. Can’t you call somebody for help?”
Miller laughed, but there was no humor in it. “I called Carter and Tibbetts for help. A fat lot of good that did me. If I didn’t have to keep this hidden from Hexalcorp, I could ask for help from my superiors, but if I did that, I’d have to explain why I need it. I can’t let anyone know that I screwed up by letting Joshua take that tablet. That would weaken their trust in me, and I might lose my position, or worse, my life.”
“Hexalcorp would kill you just because you lost a few files?”
Naya checked her nails to see if they had dried; they had. After grabbing her purse, she stood. “I wish you luck, Morgan. Call me tomorrow and let me know that you’re all right.” She was headed for the door when Miller grabbed her by the arm.
“Whoa. You’re not going anywhere. I’ll need your help with this.”
Naya shook her arm free. “How can I help? I don’t have a gun. Besides, this doesn’t really involve me. I didn’t lose those files, you did.”
“I didn’t lose them, Joshua stole them. And remember, you’re the one who tried to kill him. If he gets past me tonight, he’ll be coming after you next.”
Naya looked down at the floor. “I hadn’t thought of that.”
“We have to do this together. If we work together, we can kill Joshua, and whoever he hired.”
“How?”
“It’s like I said, we’ll get to the meeting place first and surprise them when they show up.”
“But they could have guns.”
“I know. But they won’t have them at the ready or be expecting a threat. You can distract them, and then I’ll blast them with the shotgun.”
Naya nodded. “That could work. Where do they want to meet?”
“It’s more than an hour away from here. We should leave soon. We’ll take my car and stop for food and water on the way. We could be there a while before they show up.”
Miller was headed for the door when he realized it might not be a good idea to be seen toting a shotgun around. There was a blanket on the sofa. He wrapped the shotgun in it to hide the weapon from view. When he opened the door, he heard Naya release a gasp. Standing before them on the porch was Joshua, and standing behind him was Tanner.
Tanner had a gun pointed at Miller and Naya. He was wearing sunglasses, a baseball cap, latex gloves, and a smile.
Joshua had on gloves too, but he wasn’t smiling. He reached out to take the blanket-wrapped shotgun from Miller. Miller held on to it until he saw Tanner shift the gun he was holding, so that it was aimed at his face. Miller released the shotgun and Joshua took it. When he tossed the blanket aside and saw what he had, Joshua did smile, and he aimed the shotgun at Miller’s chest.
Lit Fuse (A Tanner Novel Book 44) Page 17