The TANNER Series - Books 13-15 (Tanner Box Set) Read online

  As he held the knife in front of their faces, he spoke.

  “Gather up your friends and get the hell out of here before I kill you all.”

  The men were barely listening, as the knife held their attention.

  Deke flicked his wrist and cut a crimson line across the forehead of blond beard, who hissed in pain and recoiled in shock.

  “I said get the hell out of here,” Deke shouted.

  The men bolted to their feet and moved towards their friends, who were conscious but still recovering from the punches they received.

  After stumbling over to their truck, the two brothers were loaded into the rear compartment while the man with the dark beard climbed behind the wheel. As they drove off, the blond man sent Deke the finger as he scowled from a bloody face twisted in impotent rage.

  “I could have handled them myself,” Alexa said, as she took her blade back from Deke.

  He had been watching the truck drive off, but when he turned to face her, he saw the anger in her eyes.

  “I know that you could have, and I know that we’re not together, but I won’t let anyone disrespect you in my presence.”

  Alexa’s demeanor softened as she stepped closer to him.

  “It was very... what’s the word, gallant? You’re also a hell of a fighter. Have you boxed before?”

  “I have,” Deke said, as he stared into her eyes.

  Alexa took a step back and cleared her throat.

  “Um, I guess we should get back on the road, okay?”

  “Whatever you say, Alexa.”

  They spoke only sporadically for the rest of the trip. However, once they arrived at the museum they became fascinated and thrilled by all the weapons on display, and chattered together amiably.

  ***

  Outside the museum, the four men Deke had beaten were keeping an eye on Alexa’s car, as one of them, the man with the dark beard, spoke on the phone.

  “How soon can you get things ready?” he asked the man on the other end of the line.

  When the man answered, he smiled.

  “That’s good, bring them too; we’re gonna teach a lesson to this prick, oh yeah, and wait until you see the piece of ass that’s with him. She’s some grade-A Mexican pussy.”

  The man on the other end of the line asked a question.

  “Yeah, I’m pretty sure. They drove right by your land on the way here. If they head back the same way they came, we got ‘em. I also get first crack at the girl, and I’m gonna teach her boyfriend a lesson he’ll never forget.”

  The man Dark Beard was speaking to said something that made him laugh, and then he ended the call.

  “Yeah, we’ll see you and the boys soon.”

  The man with the blond beard was sitting up front and was touching the bandages on his forehead. It had taken four bandages to get the bleeding to stop from the wound Deke had given him.

  “How many dudes is Max bringing?” the man asked his friend.

  Dark Beard smiled.

  “He’s got two other guys with him, along with his brother, and Louie, they were all out at his farm helping him with the new fence. The other two guys are those cousins of Louie’s, you know, the ones from Philly.”

  “I thought they was in jail?”

  “Nope. It seems the witness against them had a change of heart.”

  Blond beard laughed.

  “Louie paid the guy a visit, hmm?”

  “Better than that, he paid the guy’s kid a visit. The girl is eight. Once Louie explained that he could get to her anytime he wanted, that witness developed a bad memory, and so the cops had to let Louie’s cousins go.”

  “And what’s Max getting for helping out?”

  “I’ll forget all about the five hundred he owes me, but we’re gonna use his farm for the trap.”

  “Hell, if Max was smart, he would have asked to keep the Mexican chick all to himself. That would be enough for me, that girl is hot.”

  Dark Beard shrugged.

  “He can buy a lot of pussy with five-hundred dollars; but we get to keep the girl’s car, and we’ll get a few grand for that from that chop shop in Pittsburgh. Half of that stays with us, and the other half goes to Louie and his cousins.”

  The blond man grinned and turned around to look at the two brothers in the back seat.

  “That dude that punched you messed with the wrong guys, hey boys?”

  The shorter of the two brothers held up a tire iron.

  “I’m going to break his damn knees, count on it.”

  The other brother squinted and read the sign above the museum door.

  “The American Military Edged Weaponry Museum, shit, there ain’t enough weapons in that building to save their asses.”

  The men all laughed, and then passed around a bottle, as evil thoughts filled their whiskey-addled brains.

  CHAPTER 12 – The follower, followed

  Henry tagged along behind Tanner and Sara while staying back quite a distance. Most people would have been detected by Tanner, but not Henry. Henry remained back beyond their field of vision and followed them by listening, and as Sara noted earlier, the boy’s hearing was exceptional.

  As he followed them, he also kept an eye out for the man who killed his mother, his neighbor, Boyd Kessler.

  Henry wanted to kill Boyd.

  He knew the bastard worked at the lake house as a maintenance man and gofer, and Henry planned to shoot Boyd Kessler with his father’s rifle.

  Henry never knew his father. The rifle was all he had of the man, and there weren’t even any photos of him, although his grandmother had once described Henry’s father as a big biker type.

  Henry slowed his pace again when he realized that he was getting too close to Sara and Tanner.

  Tanner, whom Henry liked to think of as Agent X. Agent X was no hunter, Henry was sure of it and was equally certain that the man was in the forest for a reason. Henry wanted to know what that reason was.

  Up ahead, Sara let out a laugh, and Henry wondered what Agent X had said that was so funny. Although he liked Agent X, he thought the man was the serious type. Curious, Henry moved closer, while still staying out of sight, as he tried to listen in on their conversation.

  ***

  Sara had been asking Tanner about Romeo and Nadya. She had met them months earlier and liked them both. Romeo was Tanner’s friend and essentially an adopted brother.

  It had occurred to Sara that the pregnant Nadya should be giving birth soon, and when Tanner told her that Nadya was due any day, she had asked Tanner how Romeo was handling the stress.

  When Tanner answered her as they walked along, he told her what Romeo had said to him on the phone the night before, and while doing so, Tanner used Romeo’s voice and manner of speaking.

  “Yo Bro, this pregnancy is some tense shit. The little dude better get here soon or I’m gonna be a wreck.”

  Sara had delighted in the impersonation. Not only was it funny, but it showed her that Tanner was becoming more relaxed around her, something she realized she desired.

  “You do such a good impression of him,” Sara said. “How long have you known him?”

  “Ever since we were teens,” Tanner said.

  “Tell them I said hello the next time you talk to them.”

  “I will, and they’ll be here soon, after the baby is born.”

  “By here, do you mean, Connecticut?” Sara asked.

  “No... somewhere else, but they will be in the country.”

  “I see,” Sara said, and then she frowned slightly. Her inquiry into Romeo’s destination had made Tanner grow wary again, something she hadn’t wanted.

  They walked along the rest of the way without speaking until they came to the hills overlooking Kyril Yatsenko’s lake house.

  After they reached the top, Sara opened her purse and took out a rangefinder.

  “I see you came prepared,” Tanner said.

  “I’ve kept it handy since you first trained me.” She looked out over the l
ake and shook her head. “That’s a long way off.”

  “It is,” Tanner agreed. “And once I make the kill shot we head straight to the car. How much time do we have until they get here?”

  “It should still be a while given the driving distance, and do you plan to use a hide for cover?”

  “I don’t think it’s necessary since I’ll have you here for a lookout.”

  Tanner did more dry firing while preparing for Yatsenko’s arrival, and then Sara took out her phone and went on the Internet. When she found what she had been looking for, she held out her phone for Tanner to see.

  “I did a search for the man that killed Henry’s mother, Boyd Kessler. This is a picture of him from a newspaper article about the investigation into the murder.”

  Tanner looked at the black & white photo on Sara’s phone and saw the smiling face of a bearded man of about thirty, with sly eyes. The smile revealed the four gold teeth in the upper front of Kessler’s mouth.

  “That’s him,” Tanner said.

  “From what I’ve read, it seems that Laura was right. Kessler appears guilty as hell to me, especially considering the letter that Laura received.”

  Tanner nodded solemnly.

  “Henry will kill him someday.”

  “That boy? But he’s so young.”

  “He’s young, but he’s also motivated.”

  “Kessler might kill him first,” Sara said.

  Tanner let out a sigh.

  “Probably not, because he’s a kid, and when he underestimates Henry, then Henry will kill him, even if it takes more than one attempt.”

  Sara glared at the image of Kessler on her phone.

  “If I ever learn that this bastard hurt that boy I’ll kill him myself.”

  Tanner said nothing, but reloaded the rifle with live cartridges. When he lay behind it to peer through the scope, Sara made a suggestion.

  “I know that you’ll be out of range of returning fire, but maybe we can set up some sort of camouflage in case they have binoculars. It would be a shame to be spotted before you had a chance to make the shot.”

  Tanner turned his head and sent her a nod.

  “Good idea, Blake, but I don’t want to take a chance of missing my shot. If they arrived while I was gathering branches, then I would have to go down there and make the hit.”

  Sara stood and brushed off her jeans.

  “I’ll do it. I have a sharp knife and you’ll only need a few branches.”

  “Fine, but don’t take too long or I’ll think you’ve been carted off as a mate by Bigfoot.”

  Sara smiled.

  “I’ll make it quick.”

  ***

  From his hiding place behind a tree, Henry watched Sara as she walked off into trees to his right.

  Henry was torn. He wanted to stay and see what Tanner would do, but he also wanted to stay near Sara. After hesitating, he left the tree and followed Sara.

  Henry lost sight of her for a moment, but then he heard a rustling sound coming from farther ahead. Henry moved that way, but saw nothing, and so he continued deeper into the trees. When footfalls sounded from behind, Henry spun around and found himself looking up into the bearded face of Boyd Kessler, the man who had killed his mother.

  After a moment of hesitation brought on by surprise, Henry raised up the rifle and aimed at Kessler’s face.

  CHAPTER 13 – Ambushed!

  Alexa enjoyed the museum as much as she’d hope to, and learned a lot as well.

  After they left the museum, She and Deke went across the road to another of the area’s attractions, The Old Candle Barn. Deke teased her, saying that candles were strictly for temporary lighting during a blackout, but Alexa was in heaven trying out new scents and fragrances, and told Deke that she loved to light candles whenever she took a bath.

  “Now that’s something I’d like to see,” Deke said, and Alexa smiled and slapped him playfully on the arm.

  Once Alexa had filled two bags with candles, they were back on the road and headed to their motel, where they would meet up with Tanner and Sara.

  As they drove along with Deke behind the wheel, they talked about the museum.

  They had been driving along for a short while, enjoying the view of the surrounding farmland, when a white van accelerated, whipped in and out of the lane of oncoming traffic, and pulled in front of them. When the van suddenly slowed, Deke was forced to slow as well, and came close to colliding with it.

  “Idiota!” Alexa yelled. “What is their problem?”

  Deke just shook his head in frustration, but when he went even slower to give himself some space, he found that he had company behind him. It was the black pickup truck, and when Deke glanced into the rear view mirror, he saw the man with the dark beard grinning at him.

  “We have trouble, Alexa; it’s those four fools from the gas station, and I assume a friend of theirs is driving the van.”

  Alexa unfastened her seatbelt and turned around to discover that Deke was right. She then brought out her knife.

  “Can you make it around the van?”

  “Not without dinging a fender, plus, I can’t see what’s coming from the other direction. If I just jumped into the lane to pass, we might end up in a head-on collision.”

  After turning back around in her seat, Alexa pointed to a road coming up on their right.

  “Slow to give yourself some room and then make this next right. It’s a narrow road, but it’s not marked as a dead end like the other side roads around here, and it should allow us to get out from between them.”

  Deke sent her a grunt of agreement. When they neared the road on the right, he slowed and gained just enough room to turn onto the narrow road. There was a ditch on each side of them and a curve up ahead. On both sides of the road were acres of dead cornstalks.

  Alexa looked back and saw no one coming, but then she watched in surprise as the white van backed onto the road and followed after them while going in reverse, following behind the van was the black pickup truck, but it was driving forward.

  “The van is backing up towards us,” she told Deke.

  When Deke looked in the mirror and saw that she was right, he cursed.

  “What’s wrong?”

  “It’s a trap, and I drove right into it.”

  Alexa was about to ask him to explain when an old tractor came around the curve billowing smoke from an overhead exhaust pipe. Sitting beside the driver in the cab was a man holding a shotgun.

  “Hold on!” Deke said. He had spotted a dirt track up ahead on the left between the rows of withered stalks, and drove towards it.

  Deke made the turn, but unfortunately, before he could accelerate down the track, the tractor slammed into his rear bumper with a teeth rattling jolt. The impact caused Alexa to slam her head hard against the side window with enough force to crack the glass and render her unconscious.

  Forward momentum caused Deke’s vehicle to go down the dirt track for a few more yards, but it soon sputtered and died. Due to the dead cornstalks on both sides of him, Deke couldn’t see the vehicles, but could just make out the top of the tractor’s cab.

  Deke checked on Alexa, and moaned when he saw the injury to the side of her head. He caressed her cheek tenderly, and then let out a relieved sigh when he saw that she was breathing and only unconscious, he then heard the voice of one of their pursuers.

  “We got ‘em now!” a voice shouted.

  Deke scooped up Alexa’s fallen knife, left the car while keeping low, and prepared to fight for their survival.

  CHAPTER 14 – The hunter

  Boyd Kessler yanked the rifle from Henry’s hands before the boy could fire at him.

  “Give me that, you little shit.”

  Kessler towered over Henry and the bearded man looked intimidating, but Henry wasn’t afraid of him. He balled up his right hand into a fist and sent an uppercut at Kessler’s crotch, landing a hard blow on the tall man’s testicles.

  Kessler’s eyes bulged in shock, and
that was followed by his mouth opening in a grunt of pain. Kessler bent over from the agony coursing through his body, and after a small struggle, Henry grabbed his weapon back from Kessler, then turned and ran.

  “You’d better run, you little prick,” Kessler muttered. He had thought that Henry was afraid and running away to hide.

  Henry had turned and ran, but only far enough to stay out of reach and have room to shoot.

  Henry spun around, raised the rifle until he was aiming it at Kessler’s face, and pressed down on the trigger.

  ***

  From where he was perched and looking down on Yatsenko’s lake house, Tanner heard the distant crack of a rifle. The sound was very faint, but Tanner used his scope to locate its source.

  To his left, he saw two teen boys, one of whom was holding up the fresh carcass of a cottontail rabbit. The other teen slapped his friend on the back, and then the two of them moved in the opposite direction from the lake.

  When Sara returned a few minutes later with several tree branches, she asked Tanner about the shot.

  “It was two kids hunting rabbits. It looked like they were moving away from the area.”

  Tanner stood, and he and Sara went to work building a makeshift shooting blind out of the branches. It was crude, but anyone looking up at it from the lake would be unable to spot Tanner while he lined up his shot.

  “I wish you could take a few shots to measure range, but the sound might draw attention to us up here,” Sara said.

  “That would be good,” Tanner said. “But I will get more than one chance to make the shot. Remember, from this distance, it will take several seconds for the round to reach Yatsenko. If my first shot doesn’t kill him, the follow-up shot will.”

  “Good, I don’t want you to go down there. Yatsenko will be traveling with a small army, and they’ll all be killers.”

  “If it comes down to that I’ll have to switch tactics, and weapons.”

  “The machine gun you packed away in the trunk?” Sara asked.

  “Yeah,” Tanner said.

  He had brought along an M249, a light machine gun that could be fed by a 200-round ammo drum. The rifle had a high rate of fire. It was a devastating weapon and would be superior to anything carried by Yatsenko’s men.