The TANNER Series - Books 13-15 (Tanner Box Set) Page 20

  “I certainly do have coffee, although right now I could use a drink.”

  As they waited for the coffee to brew, Sara explained to Zwicky what she believed was happening and the security chief agreed with her. Sara also revealed her plan to capture Exley and Holloway, by turning one against the other.

  When the coffee was done, Zwicky brought a carafe over to the table where Sara was seated. As she poured the coffee, Zwicky asked a question.

  “Miss Blake, I have some very good strawberry cheesecake. Would you like some?”

  “Yes I would, and call me Sara, and I’ll call you Amanda, how’s that?”

  “Yes, and thank you, Sara, for involving me in exposing Seth and Rebecca. It will give me some of my dignity back, and I know that you don’t really need me to implement your plan.”

  “That’s not entirely true, but you’re welcome.”

  “If Seth is arrested, will he do hard time?”

  “They’re attempting to steal not only corporate secrets, but information that concerns national security, so yes, Exley will do time in a federal penitentiary if convicted.”

  Amanda smiled as she returned with the cheesecake and sat a wide slice before Sara.

  “It’s true what they say, Sara.”

  “And that is?”

  Amanda Zwicky plucked a glazed strawberry from her dessert and popped it in her mouth.

  “Revenge is sweet, that’s what they say, and they’re right.”

  As Amanda licked the sugary glaze off her fingers, Sara thought about her craving for revenge against Tanner. The price of that revenge was the life of Johnny Rossetti, Johnny, who Sara loved.

  No Amanda, it isn’t always sweet. Sometimes it’s like a karmic boomerang that circles back and hits you in the teeth.

  Sara pushed her cheesecake away, as her appetite was suddenly gone.

  ***

  Earlier, in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Jake Vincento had left his motel room and took the short drive to Newark Airport.

  He was bored, felt it was too early to go to sleep, and he still had a day to go until the meeting would take place. He wanted to be around people and he always loved watching planes take off and land.

  The airport was busy, and after watching the planes for a while, Vincento left and went to a nearby bar. Three female flight attendants entered the bar shortly after Vincento, and two men in good suits began chatting them up, and soon the group got a table.

  When one of the women, a gorgeous blonde with huge green eyes, went to the bathroom, Vincento moved into position to intercept her when she came out.

  When she returned his smile, he knew he had a chance, and the two of them stood together at the bar talking for nearly an hour. When her friends told her that they were leaving with the two suits, the woman, whose name was Eve, told her two companions to have a good time and stayed with Vincento.

  A short time later, Eve was in Vincento’s motel room and he was removing her bra and grinning like a fool.

  He was in the city to make a hit, and was about to bed a beautiful woman.

  It all made him feel a bit like James Bond.

  CHAPTER 13 – A dangerous idea

  Tanner returned inside his house to find Alexa sitting on the sofa and looking sad.

  “I’m sorry that there’s been trouble. You know that I don’t want that here,” Tanner said.

  Alexa looked up at him and sighed.

  “You’re like a danger magnet. Trouble just seems to find you.”

  “Everything is calm now and Hodges understands that he needs to get his boy in line.”

  “That man, Hodges, and the other one, Choa, do they know who you are?”

  “No, but they have an idea of what I am, especially Choa.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “It’s like a dog on a farm. The hound may be surrounded by lots of other animals, but he still recognizes his own kind when he comes across it.”

  “Do you want to be the big dog here, is that what all this is about?”

  “No, Alexa, I want to be with you. That’s what this whole thing is about. It’s why I bought this house, and why I live here.”

  Alexa stood and went to him. Tanner opened his arms and she hugged him.

  “Are you miserable here, Tanner?”

  “No. In some ways I like it here. It just takes a little getting used to.”

  “You want to get back to work, don’t you?”

  “Yes, but I won’t for another few weeks, as promised.”

  “I won’t hold you to that, not if it makes you miserable.”

  “It doesn’t, and it’s given me time to heal. Even my neck injury barely hurts. However, there is one thing.”

  “What is it?”

  “I haven’t practiced shooting since we moved here, and that’s not good. In a couple of days, I’ll drive out to that land of Burke’s and get some shooting practice in.”

  “Oh, can I come with you? I can work on my archery skills.”

  “That sounds good. I didn’t want to leave you anyway.”

  “I’ll even pack a lunch and we can have a picnic, okay?”

  Tanner leaned in and snuggled her neck.

  “Bring a blanket along, I may indulge other appetites besides hunger.”

  Alexa giggled.

  “Oh, I think we were in the middle of seeing to that appetite when the trouble started.”

  Tanner reached down and scooped Alexa up in his arms. Afterwards, he kissed her.

  “Let’s pick up where we left off.”

  “I’m not getting any sleep tonight, am I?” Alexa said.

  Tanner headed up the stairs.

  “I’ll see what I can do.”

  ***

  Across town, Burt Hodges was sitting on his back porch. There was a stream that ran behind his house, and the gentle sounds of the water always soothed him, while helping him to think things through.

  Why was a man like Tom Myers in a town like Killburry?

  Was it possible that Joe Pullo had connected him to Boston?

  Hodges had taken advantage of the war that recently occurred between the Russian mob, the Alvarado Cartel, and The Giacconi family.

  Once the cartel became involved, Hodges could see the writing on the wall and was certain that there wouldn’t be a Giacconi Family by the time the cartel got through with them.

  But not only did Joe Pullo defeat the Russian mob, which had more men, but thanks to a hitter named Tanner, Pullo survived the cartel’s attempt to take over New York City.

  Figuring that the end was near, Hodges had forged a new beginning by aligning with the mob in Boston, as a way of protecting himself. While New York received a piece of the action from the drugs he sold, Boston got a cut of his Internet-based call girl service.

  New York knew nothing about the call girls, but were aware that he ran a porn website that earned poorly. Meanwhile, Boston knew about the call girls, but nothing about the drugs.

  The New York mob and the Boston mob were old rivals and Pullo had no use for the mob bosses in Boston.

  If word ever got back to New York City that Hodges was paying tribute to Boston while operating in what was considered the northern edge of New York’s territory, well, Pullo would rightly consider that an act of betrayal.

  It also made the town of Killburry disputed territory and gave the Boston mob a secret foothold in Pullo’s arena.

  Hodges had taken a risk by reaching out to Boston when he thought that New York was about to fall, and he lost. If his earnings weren’t so paltry, New York and Boston would have been fighting over Killburry already. As things stood, it was just a matter of time before either New York City or Boston whacked him.

  They both got their cuts of his profit, small as they were, since Hodges always skimmed off the top. Shouldn’t that be enough? Why did they need his loyalty too?

  Hodges relaxed as a thought came to him. Since both cities considered him their man, maybe he was safe after all, as long as he continued to pa
y double tribute.

  Killing him might start a war. New York and Boston weren’t stupid enough to wage battle against each other, that would be suicide, and in the end, they would just leave things wide open for a takeover by a smart operator.

  That last thought gave Hodges an idea. A brilliant idea, a bold idea, but it was also a dangerous idea, and one that could get him killed.

  He took out his phone and called Choa.

  “Yeah, Boss?”

  “I know it’s late, but can you get word to your cousin that I want to see him tomorrow? I want to hire him and his crew.”

  “I might be able to get him here in the morning, but what’s this about? Are you going after those neighborhood watch assholes?”

  “Yeah, but I’m also thinking bigger. Tell your cousin that I’ll make it worth his while to meet with me tomorrow at nine, but I need him to come here.”

  “Adán has moved up in the world. He still has his crew, but he’s part of The Brotherhood.”

  “The Brotherhood? I thought that was all Asian?”

  “No, not for a while, and Adán was a big part of that change. He’s a recruiter.”

  Hodges took a moment to process what Choa had told him. The news meant Choa’s cousin, Adán wouldn’t be cheap, but it also expanded the possibilities. In the gap of silence, Choa spoke.

  “This is about Tom Myers, isn’t it? You know, if he dies you’ll have to deal with Joe Pullo.”

  “I know, but I’m sick of being a small fish in a big pond and kissing the ass of jerks like Myers. I’m making my move, Choa. Are you with me?”

  “Hell yeah, and my cousin is just the man you need. He’s high up in The Brotherhood.”

  “Then he’s the man I want to talk to. We’ll all get rich and grab some power. Make that call, Choa. I need an answer tonight.”

  Hodges moved inside and paced about his office while he waited for Choa to call him back. If he could forge an alliance with The Brotherhood, he could orchestrate things so that he might someday be running a territory that stretched from New York City to Boston. That would be light-years better than what his father had controlled, and he could stop feeling like such a damn loser.

  He had laid his phone atop the desk, as soon as it rang, he snatched it up.

  “Choa?”

  “Adán says he’ll meet with you.”

  “Yes! Choa, this is the beginning of a great thing.”

  “Yeah, Boss, fuck New York and Joe Pullo. What the hell have they ever done for us?”

  “Not a damn thing, and neither has Boston. But get some sleep, we have a big day coming up.”

  Hodges didn’t sleep. He was too keyed-up. He spent the night refining his plan and dreaming of future glories. As a bonus, he would crush everyone, the damn Chief of Police, the neighborhood watch group, and Tom Myers, the man who hurt his son.

  Hodges grabbed up a knife that was laying atop the desk, and for just a moment, he fantasized about shoving it into Tom Myers’ throat.

  He smiled. One way or another, Tom Myers would soon be dead.

  CHAPTER 14 – Shell game

  Alexa did get to sleep, eventually, however, Tanner stayed up all night. After slipping out of bed, he dressed in black and eased out onto his front porch. Once there, he sat in a dark corner to keep a real watch over the neighborhood, one backed up with a Glock.

  He was not alone.

  Deputy Tim Ralston had volunteered to stay and keep the peace. The deputy was parked out on the tree-lined street and facing the homes on Gentry Court. Tanner was certain that Ralston was unaware of his presence. He kept an eye on the cop while using a night-vision scope.

  The scope could zoom in on Ralston and make it seem as if you were seated beside him, just as Ralston’s guest inside the police car was.

  Josie Anderson had snuck out of her house an hour before dawn and climbed into the patrol car. As he watched the pair, Tanner could tell that they were familiar with each other. After Josie tore open a condom package, her hands went towards Ralston’s lap. A moment later, she was straddling the cop, then moved rhythmically up and down. After a few minutes of that, Josie hopped off, stood on her knees and lowered her head with her mouth opening wide.

  For some reason, the sight of Josie’s red head bobbing up and down in the green glow of the night vision scope made Tanner laugh.

  After the act reached its inevitable conclusion, Ralston zipped up and Josie snuck back into her house.

  Tanner would have thought that he imagined it if it hadn’t been accompanied by a sly smile, but before disappearing back into her house, Josie stared into the shadows where he sat, and sent him a wink.

  Tanner returned back inside his house before the first rays of the new day could expose him to Ralston. He was smirking as he thought about the hidden side of Killburry.

  ***

  A few hours later in California, Sara was leaving her bedroom, when she saw that her grandmother was up early and watching TV.

  This time it was an infomercial that filled the flat screen across from the old lady’s bed. Sara entered and gave her a kiss on the cheek.

  “Good morning, Grandma, it’s me, Sara.”

  “Hello dear, and my, don’t you look like your mother.”

  Sara patted the old woman’s hand, pleased that her grandmother recognized her.

  “Have you had breakfast yet?” Sara asked.

  Her grandmother nodded, and then went back to watching the TV, where a man was using a “revolutionary” new toaster. He was the same man that had claimed to have invented a “revolutionary” new vacuum the year before. It seemed that American ingenuity was alive and well.

  Sara checked her emails while sitting with her grandmother, but looked up when a news story came on after the infomercial. The story was about the survivor of the mudslide caused by the earthquake.

  Video of the man being pulled from the earth filled the screen and Sara thought the man looked half dead, and he probably was. Before the video ended, the camera zoomed in on the man’s face, which had obviously suffered injury, and was swollen and caked with grime. However, Sara saw that he was smiling. And why not? The man was lucky to be alive.

  After putting away her phone, Sara told her grandmother to have a good day. She was at the door when the old lady spoke again.

  “I had his baby, the bad man’s baby.”

  Sara returned to the bed and took her grandmother’s hand.

  “You had a child before you married Grandpa?”

  Her grandmother nodded.

  “We weren’t married, but I didn’t care. I loved him, I loved that evil bastard so much, so damn much.”

  “Grandma, what happened to the baby?”

  Her grandmother grew teary.

  “My beautiful baby.”

  Sara tried to get more out of the old woman, but after sobbing, her grandmother fell asleep. Sara looked at her watch and saw that she had no time to look into the things her grandmother was saying. However, it appeared that her grandmother had another life, a life before she married Sara’s grandfather.

  Who was the bad man, and more importantly, what became of their child? Sara would seek answers when she returned home, but first, she had to trap two corporate spies.

  ***

  Seth Exley checked his hair in the rear view mirror of his car, stepped out of the automobile, and then straightened the tie of his guard’s uniform.

  He smiled to himself, knowing that he would soon never have to work again. He had swept Amanda Zwicky right off her feet. By the end of the year, he would talk her into going to Vegas for a quick wedding. The wedding would of course be followed by a divorce, and then Exley would find a way to lay claim to half of her money. After that, they could both get on with their lives.

  However, he’d been thinking evil thoughts lately. They’d been whispered in his ear by his real girlfriend, Rebecca Holloway. Holloway was greedy, and cold. She saw no reason why they should settle for only half.

  Holloway wanted to k
ill Zwicky and make Exley a young widower. Exley had told her no, that he was a thief, a spy, but not a murderer. Besides, he actually liked Zwicky, even if she wasn’t nearly as hot as Holloway, and she damn sure treated him better than Holloway did.

  He didn’t want Zwicky dead, he just wanted half of her money.

  Exley smiled again at the thought of money. He had bought a few lottery tickets the night before and one of them hit. He won over six hundred dollars just for picking the right three numbers. It was his lucky day.

  Although, he began to doubt that luck when he stepped through the front entrance of Burke L.A. and saw Amanda Zwicky glaring at him. He grew warier when he saw that she was standing beside that smoking hot investigator sent from Burke’s main office.

  Sarah Beck, Sarah...Sarah something, Exley thought. But then Amanda smiled at him, and Exley figured everything was cool.

  Then, his heart skipped a beat, as a man and a woman came up behind him. When he turned to face them, he saw that they were obviously Feds. The man looked serious, and so did the woman, but she had a body that Exley would love to see naked.

  Exley raised his eyes from the woman’s large breasts and saw stone faces looking at him impassively. He and Rebecca were busted, he just knew it, and he wondered how the Feds had gotten on to them.

  Exley cursed himself for listening to Holloway. It was because of her greed that they decided to switch the laptops one more time, and now they were screwed.

  He had one hope, and that was that they didn’t know about Holloway, and that Holloway had already made it upstairs with the laptop.

  That hope faded when he looked back out into the parking lot and saw Holloway exiting her vehicle. She was carrying her large purse, the one she used to sneak the laptop in and out of the building, and that meant that they were nailed.

  Amanda walked up to him with eyes as cold as ice, but then broke out in a huge grin.

  “Guess what, Seth?”

  “Eh, what?”

  The male agent spun Exley around and offered his hand.

  Exley shook it as if in a dream.

  “Mr. Exley.”

  “Yes?”

  “It’s nice to meet you, sir. You’re a hero, an honest to God, hero.”