Tanner- Year Two Page 3

  “Do you want kids someday, Steve?” Monica asked Tanner, while addressing him by his alias.

  “I did at one time, but I don’t think it will ever happen for me.”

  “Because you move around so much?”

  “Something like that.”

  “I love Tommy, but I worry about him all the time. My grandma isn’t young. Once she passes away, it will be just me and Tommy living on a waitress’s salary.”

  “Do you own that house you live in?”

  “We rent, and it’s not cheap. Thomas was an orphan, so there are no in-laws to help out either.”

  “You could go to school and get a better job.”

  “What, like college?”

  “That or maybe a trade school.”

  “I got excellent grades in high school, and then I became pregnant.”

  “Is there something you want to do?”

  “I wanted to be a lawyer.”

  “Get a job at a law firm; it will probably pay better, and you’ll make connections that might help you someday.”

  Monica smiled. “That’s a good idea, but I’d still need money to go to law school, and even if I made that happen, when would I be able to spend time with my son if I’m studying and working all the time?”

  “You’ll get by,” Tanner said.

  Monica nodded. “I won’t let my boy down. He’s all I have, and I love him to death.”

  Tommy grinned at his mother and clapped his hands. Tanner remembered his baby brother, who had been slain when he was about Tommy’s age. He pushed the memory from his mind and concentrated on the moment, on now. It was how he had lived since losing his family.

  On the following afternoon, Tanner assumed he would never see Monica again. Another call came in from the compound.

  It had been two weeks since the last one and his first encounter with the guards. Tanner was glad to get a second chance at them. The killing of Eli Ippolito was turning into a career. Tanner wanted to fulfill the contract, collect the cash, and move on.

  He drove toward the compound dressed in his Stevie the pizza boy shorts, a colorful tie-dyed shirt, and sunglasses. He was determined to kill Ippolito, had traveled thousands of miles to do so, and spent weeks in preparation. It was time for the meth kingpin to die.

  5

  You Can Kiss Your Tip Goodbye

  Tony was on guard duty at the gate again; his shaved head gleamed in the early evening sun. Tanner sent him a wave and a grin.

  Tony didn’t return the smile, but he was relaxed. When Tanner stepped out of the car with his hands full of pizzas and submarine sandwiches, Tony asked him to place the food on the hood of the car so that he could check him for weapons. The check was a visual one. Tanner wore shorts and a T-shirt. While it was possible he had a slim knife tucked away somewhere, it seemed unlikely.

  After opening the pizza boxes and looking at what lay within, Tony left Tanner so he could get a look inside the car. This time Tony’s inspection of the vehicle was perfunctory, and he failed to check inside the trunk. In Tony’s mind, Tanner was a non-threat.

  A call was sent via walkie-talkie to the house. The other guard, Franco, the red-faced one with the stocky build appeared. His eyes glittered when they fell on the pizza boxes.

  “Damn, I’ve been craving pizza all week.”

  Tanner handed him the pizza boxes. Franco was holding money in his right hand while balancing the food with his left arm. The holster on his hip was on the right. Tanner reached out as if he were accepting the money, extended his reach, and freed Franco’s gun from his holster. It was a Desert Eagle.

  Tanner followed up the grabbing of the gun with a knee to Franco’s groin and an elbow to the side of his head. Franco fell backwards to the sand. One of the hot pizzas slid out of its box and covered his face and hair, burning him.

  Tony reacted quickly as he drew his gun. Before he could bring it around to fire, Tanner sent a kick into his chest that knocked him off-balance. If at all possible, Tanner wanted to avoid firing a weapon until absolutely necessary. A single shot would place the compound on alert and triple the difficulty of fulfilling the contract.

  Before Tony could regain his balance, Tanner flung Franco’s heavy weapon at him. The hefty chunk of metal slammed against Tony’s brow. A cut appeared and Tony seemed stunned. Tanner was on him in an instant, ripping the gun from his hand while punching him in the throat.

  Tony dropped to his knees. Tanner moved behind, freed a knife hanging from Tony’s belt and thrust the blade into the side of his neck twice.

  Meanwhile, Franco had recovered from the blow to his head enough to make it to his feet. He was stumbling toward the gate while bent over, as the pain in his groin persisted. The pizza sauce covering his ruddy face made it redder than it already had been. Tanner assumed Franco was thinking of locking him out or sounding an alarm inside the guard shack. He caught up to Franco, gave him a hard kick in the backside, then watched as the man lurched forward and struck his head against the bars of the gate. Franco was lying on his back with a stunned expression when Tanner stomped hard on his throat several times, killing him.

  Tanner tossed away the sunglasses and headed toward the house in pursuit of his target. Subterfuge was done, Stevie the pizza boy was no more, and death stalked the compound.

  6

  A Fresh Start

  DELRAN, CALIFORNIA

  Luna Grant smiled at Keith McHugh even though she thought the older man was a little pervy in the way he was eyeing her. If she didn’t need the job so badly, she would have told McHugh she wasn’t interested and looked for work elsewhere.

  Luna was twenty-nine with blonde hair and green eyes. She was searching for a new home for herself and her three-year-old daughter Sofia. The small town of Delran seemed like a nice place to settle down.

  Luna was inside the warehouse of the Safe & Secure Armored Car Company. She was interviewing for the position of the company’s HR manager. It paid well and with only eighty-one employees, it wouldn’t be overwhelming.

  Most of those employees were armored car drivers and other security personnel. They came and went from the depot and were rarely there for long. Luna’s eyes had widened in shock when McHugh had shown her the room where the bills and coins were counted, banded, and bagged. She had never seen so much money in one place before.

  She hoped she was making a good impression, but her attention was divided. She had left Sofia with an old friend from college named Callie, and Sofia was just getting over a cold. If her fever hadn’t broken the day before, Luna would have cancelled the trip to Delran and passed on the interview.

  “Before you go, let me show you something else, Luna,” McHugh said, as he gestured toward an armored car that was parked on the warehouse floor.

  Luna noticed the vehicle was different, sleeker from the others she’d seen. It was also painted silver and gold, and not the dark shades of gray and burgundy the other vehicles wore.

  “This is a next-generation vehicle that we’ve been given to try out,” McHugh said. “It’s like something from a spy movie. C’mon, let’s get inside and I’ll show you its features.”

  McHugh opened the driver’s side door and it sounded as if a vacuum seal had broken. The interior of the vehicle had that new car smell along with a scent Luna was unfamiliar with. It was roomy in the front and the dashboard looked like the cockpit of a small plane. There was even a computer monitor like police cars had.

  A steel security door separated the rear compartment from the front seating area. It was latched open. McHugh pointed out that the door was two inches thick. When closed, it could only be unlocked by imputing a four-digit number into its keypad. As an additional precaution, someone up front would also have to key in a separate code on the door’s other side. If the vehicle’s driver were killed or captured, thieves would still have no access to the money in the back unless the man riding in the rear cooperated.

  McHugh settled behind the wheel while Luna took the passenger seat. Onc
e the door was shut, the ambient sounds of the depot could no longer be heard.

  “This baby has GPS, a detachable fuel tank, run-flat tires, an oil slick, and gas masks.” As he spoke, McHugh pointed at the buttons that controlled each feature.

  “An oil slick?” Luna said. “That does sound like something from a spy movie. But why would the gas tank be detachable?”

  McHugh hit a switch and the monitor came to life. It showed a view of what was behind the vehicle.

  “Let’s say this thing is transporting fifty million dollars and you’re being pursued by two car loads of thieves. If they had explosives, they could detonate them under the vehicle and cause the gas tank to explode. However, by flipping a switch and pressing a button, you can detach the gas tank and eliminate that risk. A reserve tank of five gallons is triple-protected and will give you enough fuel to reach safety or drive to a populated area.”

  Luna smiled. “I’d use the oil slick; it sounds cool.”

  McHugh leaned in as his eyes roamed over her body. “I like you, Luna. I think you’d be a good fit here.”

  Luna fought the urge to lean away from McHugh. She needed the job and so far he hadn’t crossed a line. If he placed a hand on her, she’d send a fist toward his nose. McHugh wasn’t a bad-looking guy, but he had to be nearing fifty and was sporting a gut.

  Luna wasn’t looking to hook up with anyone, and her marriage had been a disaster. One of the reasons she was eager to move to a small town like Delran was because it was off the beaten path, and not somewhere her ex might look for her and Sofia. Luna’s ex-husband, Steve Piper, was a dangerous man.

  “I’m interested in the job, Mr. McHugh. When will you make a decision?”

  “You’re the fourth candidate I’ve spoken to, and the most qualified. I won’t leave you in suspense any longer, the job is yours if you want it.”

  “Really? Yes, yes, I want it, and thank you. I’ll do a great job, I promise. Can I start on Monday, or is that too soon?”

  “Monday will be fine but come in at eight so we can get all the paperwork out of the way.”

  Luna offered McHugh her hand. “Thank you for the opportunity.”

  McHugh took her hand, shook it once, and released it. Luna thought he had a weak grip.

  Keith McHugh walked Luna outside and watched her ass as she strolled toward her car.

  That Steve Piper has good taste in women, McHugh thought, while taking out his phone.

  “McHugh, have you seen my wife yet?”

  “She just left here. I told her she had the job.”

  “Good, that will make sure she sticks around. I’ll be there soon with the men.”

  “Everything is still a go?”

  “That’s right, and tonight we all get rich. How much money is on hand?”

  “There’s about a hundred and eight million here now, with another twenty million on its way. There’s also the change, quarters, nickels, dimes and pennies. I recommend we leave that behind; it weighs a ton and won’t even add up to three million.”

  “Yeah, we’ll leave the chump change alone.”

  “This is really going to happen, isn’t it?” McHugh asked.

  “You’re damn right it is. Are you ready to do your part?”

  “Don’t worry about me; I’ll handle my end.”

  “Tonight, I get rich and take back my daughter. Luna was stupid to think I would never find her.”

  “She’s a looker that one; I don’t blame you for wanting her back.”

  “I don’t want her back, but she’ll be taught a lesson before she dies.”

  “You plan to kill her?”

  “The bitch ran off with my daughter and ratted on me to the cops. It was dumb luck I managed to break out of jail, and I’ve been on the run ever since. What the hell did you think I’d do, kiss and make up?”

  “I’ve killed before, but not a woman, and she’s hot too.”

  “There’s a first time for everything they say. And if you like her so much, maybe I’ll let you have her. Once I have Sofia, I won’t give a damn what happens to Luna.”

  “I’m up for it, and remember, don’t show up any earlier than one a.m. That’s when I’ll be taking care of the guards.”

  “And what about the cameras and the gate?”

  “Don’t worry; they’ll be handled. I’ve spent years here watching all this money come and go while they pay me a pittance. Tonight, I get mine.”

  “We’ll all get rich,” Piper said, and hung up.

  McHugh thought about Luna and smiled. If Piper was serious and let him handle her, it meant he could have her beforehand. It would be one sweet bonus. McHugh checked his watch before heading inside. In a matter of hours, he’d be a rich man.

  7

  One By One

  The compound’s cook and housekeeper was a young, fresh-faced blonde named Daisy. Daisy was a southern girl. Her innocent appearance hid the heart of a killer.

  Daisy had murdered for the first time when she was only sixteen and discovered she enjoyed it. It had happened at night when she walked home from a girlfriend’s house in Charleston, South Carolina. Daisy’s victim had been a would-be mugger. The man was a heroin addict who was far gone and desperate to get money for a fix.

  He threatened Daisy with a knife, which she knocked from his hand. Before the man knew what was happening, Daisy had claimed the blade from the ground and was stabbing him. A wound to his neck proved fatal and the man died in the street.

  Returning home, Daisy had convinced her mother that the blood covering her clothing had come from a dog who’d been struck by a car.

  Daisy had enjoyed watching the drug addict die. A few weeks later, she went hunting for another one to kill. Since that time, she’d killed eight men and three women, all were addicts. The way she looked at it, she was doing the world a favor.

  When Tanner arrived at the gate, Daisy had been rising out of one of the guard’s beds. The young man was named Raul; he was the same age as Daisy, twenty-three. Raul had long dark hair and gang tattoos decorated both arms and his chest. Daisy had fallen in love with Raul the instant she’d seen him. The feeling was mutual, and they planned to marry someday.

  After leaving the bed, Daisy stared down at Raul. “Come shower with me.”

  “That’s tempting, but I need some sleep; I go on shift in a few hours.”

  “Are you trying to say I wore you out?”

  “You always wear me out. I’ve never been laid so much in my life.”

  Daisy laughed. “Get some rest then, and I’ll come back and see you after your shift.”

  “It’s a date,” Raul said, as his eyes began closing on their own.

  Daisy smiled down at him, then headed into his bathroom to shower.

  As Tanner entered the house, he was certain that no one was looking at the monitors connected to the security cameras. If anyone had viewed him killing Tony and Franco an alarm would have been blaring. It seemed likely that Franco had been assigned the duty of watching the cameras and walking the perimeter of the compound’s wall. Instead, his desire for pizza had overridden the security protocols and brought him to the gate.

  Not only had Franco abandoned his post and duties, but he foolishly left the front door ajar and unlocked. Brandt, the compound’s security chief couldn’t train his people enough to expunge their basic desires and tendencies. Franco craved pizza and didn’t want the hassle of trying to open a locked front door with his hands full.

  What the guards at the compound considered a harmless breach of the rules—ordering pizza to be delivered when their boss was away—would be the death of them all. The mice played when the cat was away, but they forgot that there’s more than one cat in the world. Tanner slipped into the home with feline grace and went looking for prey to kill. There were still four other guards, as well as the target, Eli Ippolito.

  Down the hallway leading from the home’s front entrance, two of the guards were playing a game of pool. There was money on the game and the older
of the two men was certain he would be the one paying up. His younger companion seemed determined to run the table on him.

  As the young man bent over to make a difficult shot, someone entered the room. The older man, who was named Gino, turned his head to see who it was and felt a stabbing pain at the base of his neck. The agony left him as quickly as it came and then he realized he was falling. The pain was the result of him being stabbed in the back.

  Gino looked up to see a guy in shorts and a gaudy tie-dyed shirt raising a pool stick, his pool stick. The stick moved in a blur and made a cracking sound as it connected with its target. Something slid off the pool table and onto the floor. It was the young guard. There was blood beginning to seep from a gash on the side of his head.

  Gino went to free his gun only to realized that he couldn’t move. The pain he’d felt at the back of his neck had been the severing of his spine. More cracking sounds came as the guy in the tie-dyed shirt used the pool stick to kill Gino’s friend. The sounds upset Gino, but not as much as his sudden difficulty in breathing.

  When he saw the boot raise up and come down again, Gino realized that his throat was being crushed, although there had been no pain at all. The man who was killing him locked eyes and Gino saw he was more than a man, and that death had come to claim him. The boot rose again, and everything went black.

  After killing the two men in the pool room Tanner entered the kitchen. There was a guy in there pouring orange soda into an ice-filled glass. His back was turned, and he had a set of earphones on, while a small bright blue cassette tape player was hooked on his belt.

  “Bring that pizza over here, Franco; I’m starving.”

  There was a cast-iron skillet on the stove. Tanner grabbed it on his way to the table. The guy turned around as Tanner was raising the skillet.