“I doubt it,” Cody said. “If not, then anyone in there should have come outside by now. We’ve been watching for hours.”
“I see fresh tire tracks, but no car or anything. Maybe Roscoe has been and gone.”
“Let’s give it another hour, then we’ll go take a look inside.”
“Deal, plus I’m getting hungry and I’m sick of eating junk. I want a steak later.”
“I’ll buy you lobster if we get our hands on Roscoe today.”
“What do you think Spenser is doing?”
“Taking it easy probably. He’s just waiting for us to show up in Phoenix.”
“I can’t imagine failing, can you?”
“No,” Cody said. “A Tanner never fails.”
Not far away, Farnsworth was looking at the boys through his own pair of binoculars. He and his granddaughters had followed Cody and Romeo by using the tracking equipment.
“Are they still watching that shack, Granddad?” Kayla asked.
“Oh yeah, but I’m guessing they’ll move in soon. I would also bet that shack is empty.”
“I hope not,” Zoe said. “I’m sick of looking for Pete Roscoe, and the sooner we find him, the sooner I can make up with Brett.”
“You girls are really sweet on these boys, but I hope you realize they gave you phony names.”
“You think so?” Kayla said.
“I’d bet on it. Those two are crafty.”
Zoe looked angry as she crossed her arms.
“Damn, and I liked the name Brett. I wonder what his real name is?”
“Romeo, I’ll take the front while you take the back,” Cody said.
“All right, dude, and be careful. Remember what Spenser said about how this guy likes to make bombs.”
“How could I forget,” Cody said.
They eased toward the shack with their guns drawn, while watching for any sign of movement. Once he was close enough, Cody could see inside the cabin and tell that it was empty.
“There’s no one here, Romeo; I’m going inside,” Cody called. As he placed a hand on the doorknob, Romeo shouted to him.
“Cody, don’t move! There’s definitely a bomb.”
Romeo came around to the front and showed Cody what he’d found near the rear of the shack. He was holding a handful of empty rifle cartridges.
“There’s a pile of these back there near the base of a tree. Roscoe must have used the gunpowder from them to make a bomb.”
“You’re right, but we still have to search this place. We’ll have to disarm the bomb.”
“I bet he rigged it to the door,” Romeo said. “Let’s break a window and get inside.”
Once they were in, they saw the strand of fishing line. It ran into an old mayonnaise jar that was packed with long nails.
“Catching those nails would be bad for our health,” Romeo said.
They unhooked the fishing line from the door, then carried the bomb outside and set it near a corner of the shack. After going back inside, they found Nate’s magazine.
“The chick on the cover is hot,” Romeo said, “but it’s the address on that label that’s getting me excited. That might be where Roscoe is hiding out.”
“Or where we’ll run into another bomb? It seems stupid to leave this laying around.”
“Nobody said he was a genius, Cody. Maybe we’re finally catching a break.”
“Let’s hope so.”
Before leaving to head to the address on the label, the boys detonated the bomb. Cody added a longer length of fishing wire he’d found in the shack to the end of the wire connected to the jar.
They were on the other side of the cabin when Cody gave the wire a hard tug, and the bomb was more powerful than they’d expected. While the shack did protect them from the force of the blast and the nail projectiles, nothing protected the old shack. The ancient structure came toward the boys as it fell over, forcing them to leap to safety.
They avoided the wall, but then the roof came free and toppled toward them. Cody rolled right, while Romeo rolled left, and the roof slammed into the ground between them.
From where Farnsworth and his granddaughters were watching, it wasn’t clear if the boys had managed to roll free of the roof. There was still too much dust blown up into the air to see.
Kayla and Zoe began heading down the hill to help the boys, but they halted when Farnsworth called to them.
“Those boys are fine. Get back up here before they spot you.”
The girls did as their grandfather asked, then saw that he was right. The dust cleared to reveal Cody and Romeo, the boys were laughing at their close call.
“They’re crazy those two,” Kayla said.
“And sexy as hell,” Zoe added.
“That dark-haired kid with the evil eyes has something in his hand,” Farnsworth said, “but I’m too far away to make out what it is.”
“I bet they found a clue,” Kayla said.
Farnsworth let the binoculars hang by a strap he wore around his neck as he smiled at his granddaughters.
“Back in the van, girls. Those boys are going to lead us right to Pete Roscoe.”
81
Hello, Mr. Smith
MOUNT VERNON, NEW YORK, MARCH 2018
The limo drove in a random pattern for over half an hour, while taking back roads. At first, Tanner thought it was meant to lose him as he followed. He soon dismissed that idea since a limo was an easy vehicle to spot even when trailing from a distance.
Tanner then assumed the irregular rambling was meant to keep Cynthia Geary from memorizing the route taken. Despite that, after emerging from a dirt road, they arrived in an area that was only twelve miles from Cynthia Geary’s home. There were no street signs, and the homes in the area were sheltered from view by woodland.
Cynthia may have gotten confused by the randomness of the driving, but Tanner knew where he was. He’d driven the SUV off the dirt road in time to see the limousine turn right. A few hundred feet later it turned left and traveled down a long winding driveway.
The homes in the area were separated by several hundred feet and the surrounding landscape was thick with trees. Tanner drove past the home’s entrance, then U-turned and backed up into the mouth of a neighboring driveway.
After stepping out of the SUV, Tanner grabbed a short-barreled shotgun from where it rested on the rear passenger seats. Behind the seats, Cord lay on his side atop the compartment that held the spare tire. Cord’s head was cocked as though he were listening, but Tanner knew that he could only make out muffled and unintelligible sounds at best.
“I’m going to walk through the woods along that driveway and see what’s what. If you hear shooting, drive back along that dirt road and wait at that little gas station we passed. I’ll meet you there when I can.”
“If you’re going to kill Geary I want to be there, Tanner.”
“This is just information gathering. Geary won’t be up there alone, he’ll have armed bodyguards. I need to know what we’ll be facing when we make our move.”
“Okay, but you be careful.”
Tanner held up a handgun.
“Do you know how to use this?”
Andrea reached inside her purse and brought out a Glock.
“I took a firearms course and I’m damn good on the shooting range.”
“Use that gun if you need to defend yourself, but I should be back in less than twenty minutes. After I have more information I’ll know what strategy to use.”
“Good luck, and be safe,” Andrea said.
The driveway wound a quarter mile through land thick with trees that were still tinted white from a recent snowfall. Tanner heard the voices before he saw them. He slowed his approach among the pines.
Cynthia Geary had her back to Tanner. Standing beside her was the driver from the limo. The man was reaching into an inside pocket of his coat, which was sitting open. As he removed a pack of cigarettes, Tanner saw that he was wearing a shoulder rig.
Three more armed
men stood around the man Cynthia was speaking to; two of them wore guns on their hips, but the third man carried a rifle with a scope. These weren’t the rent-a-cop type that Kent Mead had protecting him, no, these men had the look of trained mercenaries or ex-soldiers.
Tanner studied the man Cynthia was talking with and compared it with the description of Mr. Smith he had memorized. They matched, although the man he was looking at had streaks of white running through his hair.
Even though there was peril involved in using the binoculars because they might give him away by reflecting the dim winter light, Tanner risked it.
As he focused on the man’s chin, he saw the distinctive half-moon scar that Andrea had described.
Tanner smiled. “Hello, Mr. Smith.”
“He’s here?” Andrea said. “Geary is really here?”
“That he is, and I have a plan to deal with him.”
“I hope your plan involves Cord.”
“He’ll be the star of it, although he won’t know it.”
“What’s the plan?”
“First, tell me, do you have any acting experience?”
“Just high school theater, why?”
“We’re about to put on a play,” Tanner said.
After moving the SUV into Geary’s driveway to block the exit, Tanner removed Cord’s gag, blindfold, and ear plugs. Before freeing Cord’s hands, he issued a warning.
“Try anything and I’ll leave your corpse among these trees.”
Despite the warning, Cord took a swing at Tanner, Tanner avoided the punch and shoved Cord to the ground.
“See,” Andrea said. “I told you he can’t be trusted.”
“He’ll listen to reason once he hears me out,” Tanner said.
“No, we should just kill him.”
“Who’s running this show?”
Andrea looked down at the ground.
“You are.”
“That’s right, so stay quiet while I talk to Cord.”
“Talk to me about what?” Cord said. He was shaking his hands in an attempt to get feeling back in them after having his wrists bound for hours.
Tanner pointed up the driveway.
“Geary’s up there with his ex-wife. It occurred to me that I could kill him, or Geary and I could make a deal that would be good for both of us, and you too.”
“What sort of deal?”
“It took six years, but I tracked him down. I’ll find him again if I need to, but where’s the profit in that?”
“Profit?”
“Yeah, I’m a businessman, same as Geary. If he agrees to pay me a million dollars, I’ll let him live and leave him be.”
“And what about me?”
“You’re going to play messenger. Walk up to the house and tell Geary what I told you. A million dollars and I’ll let him live.”
“I never should have trusted you,” Andrea said. “You’re scum, just like the rest of them. All you care about is money.”
“This deal will also keep you alive, sweetheart.”
“What do you mean?” Andrea said.
“Cord wants to kill you, so might Geary now that he knows you wanted him dead. Part of the deal will be that they both leave you alone.”
“Fuck that,” Cord said. “This bitch killed my brother.”
Tanner smiled. “Did I mention that there’s something in it for you, Cord? For agreeing to broker the deal between Geary and me, let’s say you’ll get, oh, how’s fifty grand sound?”
“You’ll give me fifty-thousand-dollars just for talking to Mr. Geary for you?”
“Why not? It’ll be Geary’s money. If he takes the deal, everybody is safe and goes on with their lives, and you and I will be richer too.”
A look of greed flashed in Cord’s eyes as he smiled. He rose from the ground, then stamped his feet, which had also grown numb.
“I’ll talk to Geary, but I can’t say what he’ll do.”
“Yeah, but he’s a businessman. He’ll see the deal makes sense.”
Cord looked up the driveway toward the house.
“I can go now.”
“Just one more thing,” Tanner said. He reached into the SUV and grabbed Cord’s cowboy hat.
Cord took the hat and smiled as he put it on.
“I felt naked without it.”
“Go on, see Geary and make yourself fifty grand.”
Cord sent Tanner a nod, scowled at Andrea, then walked along the driveway. The moment he was out of sight around the bend, Tanner and Andrea were on the move.
82
All Eyes On You
DOUGLAS, ARIZONA, APRIL 1999
“It’s a damn shopping center,” Romeo said.
“Yeah, I don’t get it,” Cody said.
They were standing on the site where Nate’s trailer once stood after going to the address on the label of the girly magazine they found inside the shack. Instead of a home, they were looking at a shopping center.
“They must have torn down the house that was here to build this; it all looks new,” Romeo said.
Cody looked around and spotted someone who might help. It was a mailman. He was a Native American with short hair who was about thirty. The guy was wearing a postal uniform and sitting in a mail truck with the sliding door in the open position. He was sipping on a coffee while reading a newspaper.
The boys walked over to him and the man looked up from the sports page.
“What’s up?”
“We were wondering if you could help us,” Cody said. He held up the magazine and pointed at the address label affixed to it. “What can you tell us about this?”
The mailman stared at the magazine.
“Those are tits.”
“Not the girl, the label,” Romeo said. “It has this address, but there’s no house here.”
The man set down his coffee.
“Let me see that.”
Cody handed him the magazine. After reading the label, the man smiled.
“There was a drunk who lived here in an old beat-up trailer before they kicked him off the land to build this place. He’s the one who gets these porno mags.”
“And that’s his name there on the label, Nathaniel Hurst?”
“Yeah, but he goes by Nate.”
“Do you know where he moved to?”
The postman smiled. “Nate had that train wreck of a trailer of his towed across the highway. It’s out in the brush there just over that hill.”
They thanked the mailman and headed across the highway on foot. As soon as they crested the hill they saw Nate’s trailer sitting about a hundred yards away. The land around it was dotted with cactus and other desert plants, but the remains of an old concrete driveway led to the trailer. The trailer itself was sitting on a piece of cleared land that at one time had a home built on it. A pickup truck that was as old as the trailer was parked beside it, indicating that someone was inside.
The boys talked while keeping low among the brush.
“This guy Nate must be a friend of Roscoe’s,” Romeo said, “and that magazine tells us he knew about the shack.”
Cody looked back at the shopping center. It was busy, and there was a police car parked outside the coffee shop. If they moved in and started shooting, the cop would be on them in no time.
“We’ll watch the driveway over there to see if that truck leaves, but I don’t think we should make our move until after midnight.”
“Yeah, it’s too busy around here now,” Romeo agreed.
They moved back down the hill and across the highway, unaware that four sets of eyes were watching them.
One set of those eyes belonged to Pete Roscoe. He had walked over to the shopping center right before the boys had shown up. As he was headed back with a bag of fast food, he caught sight of Cody and Romeo climbing the hill, then ducked behind a car to observe them.
How the hell they had tracked him down to Nate’s trailer he couldn’t imagine, but he was glad to see how young they were. Why, they were just a pai
r of snot-nosed punks. Roscoe felt confident that he could outsmart them, and a plan to do just that formed in his mind.
The other eyes watching the boys belonged to Farnsworth, Kayla, and Zoe. They were parked in the shopping center, after having used the tracker to follow Cody and Romeo.
“Those boys have finally tracked Roscoe down,” Farnsworth said.
“What makes you so sure, Granddad?” Kayla asked.
Farnsworth handed her his binoculars as he pointed out at the highway.
“There’s Pete Roscoe now.”
Kayla looked through the lenses and saw Roscoe’s balding skull glinting in the sun, as Roscoe crested the hill, he looked back in the direction where Cody and Romeo were returning to their car.
“Oh no, I think Roscoe knows the boys are after him.”
“Yeah,” Farnsworth said. “He was watching them as they came down the hill.”
“Why don’t we go grab Roscoe right now?” Zoe said.
“We could, but then those boys would come after us. No, we have to play this one just right and outsmart those two and Pete Roscoe.”
“Okay, but why aren’t the boys going after Roscoe?” Kayla said. “They have no clue that we’re here.”
“They’ll probably wait until after this place closes down for the night and then move in, while hoping to catch Roscoe asleep,” Farnsworth said.
“But he won’t be sleeping,” Zoe said. “He knows the boys are here and that they’ll be coming for him. They’ll be walking into a trap.”
“They sure will,” Farnsworth said, “leaving us to come in and scoop up Roscoe.”
Kayla and Zoe exchanged glances and Farnsworth saw the worry in their eyes. He gave a heavy sigh.
“You want to warn those boys, don’t you?”
“We have to, Granddad, otherwise they might get killed,” Kayla said.
“They’ll think we’re lying, girls, and worse than that, they’ll know we’re here. We don’t owe them boys a thing.”
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