“The blood is his; I stabbed him before you appeared. Who are you?”
“My name is Tanner.”
“I thought he was Tanner.”
“No, his name was Styles. I believe he was hired by the owners of a bar called The Speakeasy Tavern; it’s here in Boulder.”
As Tanner spoke, he headed for the door. Jessica called to him.
“Please stay, we need to talk.”
“It’s time for me to leave.”
“Wait! Why did you help me?”
Tanner smiled over his shoulder.
“I had some free time, doctor.”
And then he was gone.
***
When the phone he thought was dead rang in his pocket, it surprised Mr. White, who had just picked up the phone in Tanner’s room to call and check on Jessica.
It was Jessica calling him on his cell phone, and when she explained what had happened, he spoke with both shock and relief discernable in his voice.
“Thank God you’re all right, but what about Watson and the police, are they there yet?”
“They showed right after Tanner left and while I was helping the officer who was injured.”
“How serious was the man’s injury?”
“It’s a she, Officer Heather Barkley, and she’ll be all right. She saved my life every bit as much as Tanner did. Had she not delayed Styles entry into the room, I think I would be dead.”
White reached over and turned on a lamp. There was no longer a need to ambush Tanner.
“I’m sitting inside Tanner’s motel room at the Roadway Motel, and I guess I’ll wait for him. I want to thank him and find out what his role in all this was. Did he say why he saved you?”
“No, not really, but his eyes, did you see his eyes? They’re more like yours than any man I’ve ever seen.”
“I know, but Jessica, you’re certain you’re all right?”
“I’m good, although I was shaken up a little.”
They talked a little longer, but then Jessica had to give her statement to yet another cop, and they ended the call.
Possessed of keen hearing, White heard the movements outside the room even above the blowing wind of the snowstorm.
Tanner could not have made it to the motel from the hotel where he saved Jessica in so short a time, given the driving conditions.
White stood and went to the window. After peeking out past a curtain, he saw a group of five men gathered outside the door. They were dressed in dark windbreakers that had the initials FBI on the back of them.
Mr. White assumed that they were there to arrest Tanner and didn’t want to be mistaken for the man. He moved back and sat on the foot of the bed with his hands held up and his fingers spread, to show that he was unarmed.
Less than a second passed when the door was kicked in, as the men entered with their guns drawn. One man held a Taser and stunned White with it.
He was still recovering when the woman with the scar running down her face walked in. At her side was a man who had to be at least as tall as he was, but thicker and wider. The man was a full-blooded American Indian, and he reached down and plucked him from the floor as if he weighed no more than a child.
“It’s not him, but there is a resemblance, a brother maybe?”
White was trying to fight off the effects of the Taser, however, his muscles refused to respond to his commands, and all he could do is stare at them.
The woman came closer.
“My name is Ariana O’Grady. I don’t know what connection you have to Tanner, but I think you’ll make excellent bait.”
Then, the big man tossed him atop the bed as the fake FBI agents cuffed him.
CHAPTER 24 – First come, first kill
As he sat in his truck outside the Roadway Motel, Randall wondered what was happening, as he watched Ariana and her phony FBI agents toss Mr. White in the rear of a van.
Randall had no idea who Ariana was or why Mr. White had been inside the motel room. Styles had called Carter earlier and told him that Jessica White was staying at a hotel that was miles away, so why would White have taken a motel room.
Thinking of Styles caused Randall to wonder if the hit had taken place already. The hour was late and Styles had said that he would make the hit before midnight, which had already passed.
Randall’s attention was brought back to the woman at the motel, when a second woman rushed up to her.
***
Emmy Lee ran over to Ariana with a smile on her face.
She had been right about the man in Room 16 and now she would get a reward for giving Ariana his location.
Emmy was still tucking in her blouse after providing an extra service for the guy in Room 4. Despite the fact that she occasionally had sex for money, Emmy didn’t consider herself a hooker. It was just a way to earn a little extra money on the side, and who had time to date anyway with all the hours she put in at the motel.
Emmy leaned back when Ariana turned to look at her. She had been told that the woman had a scar on her face, but it was nastier than Emmy would have thought.
When Ariana informed her that she wasn’t getting a dime, Emmy looked shocked.
“What do you mean? You got the guy thanks to my call.”
“Wrong, the man that we wanted wasn’t here, but we were able to grab hold of some bait.”
Emmy looked disappointed, but gave a shrug.
“All right, then just give me half of the reward.”
“You’re not getting even a penny. Now get away from me,” Ariana said.
She turned her back on Emmy, but Emmy grabbed her arm and spun her around.
“Listen bitch, you owe me money. You would have nothing if I hadn’t called you.”
Brick took a step towards Emmy, but Ariana waved him off. Most of the motel’s guests were still out at the local bars but there were a few people peeking out windows at them. The mercenaries still wore their fake FBI jackets, which would likely keep anyone from phoning the cops about a disturbance, but Ariana didn’t want to draw unneeded attention.
“I’ll talk to her inside the room and settle this. Wait for me in the car.”
Brick stared at Emmy, but then nodded and went towards the Lexus.
Ariana smiled at Emmy and gestured towards the open doorway of Tanner’s room.
Once inside, Emmy turned to speak to Ariana. She was hit in the face with pepper spray and pushed to the floor.
Ariana then delivered three kicks to the side of Emmy’s head that knocked her unconscious and, before leaving the room, she stomped on Emmy’s stomach.
Ariana left the motel room while laughing, and then they were on their way with Mr. White along as a hostage.
***
As Ariana’s Lexus left the motel parking lot followed by the van containing White, Randall decided to stay with them and find out what was happening.
He had tailed White to the motel from Horrigan’s home, and so that meant that whatever was going on could affect him and Carter.
Randall kept watch on the vehicles as he trailed them from a distance. He hoped that they wouldn’t be traveling very far, because he longed to return to his cabin where his newest captive awaited.
Still, he needed answers and was determined to get them, and so, near or far, he would follow Ariana and discover what she was up to with White.
In any event, it was going to be a long night.
***
Tanner had arrived at Jessica’s hotel after driving recklessly on the snow-covered roads, as a sense of urgency churned in his gut.
He had been convinced that Styles would attack Jessica White at any moment, and he needed to stop the hit. The doctor’s husband had believed that he was the one being paid to kill Jessica White, and Tanner didn’t need the level of heat that a manhunt for the doctor’s killer would bring down on him, particularly for an act he didn’t commit.
When he had reached Jessica’s hotel, he saw a police car pull in and park in front of the building with its light
s flashing but no siren.
Two men exited the vehicle, one a cop, while the other had the look of a Fed.
They entered the hotel directly behind Tanner, but took no notice of him. They were too busy lamenting the large group huddled by the elevators with backpacks, skis, and suitcases.
A look up at the elevators’ indicator lights showed that both elevators were in operation and making stops at almost every floor.
Tanner ignored the passenger elevators and headed down a short corridor, where he figured he would find what he was looking for. He did, as opposite the entrance to the stairwell, there was an alcove, and on the right of it, a freight elevator.
It took Tanner only a few seconds to employ a pick on the lock that the firemen use in emergencies to gain access to the wide freight elevator. At the elevator’s rear was a second set of doors that opened onto a loading dock.
Tanner rode up to Jessica’s floor without stopping, stepped cautiously off the elevator with his gun drawn, and after peeking around the corner, he saw the female cop lying prone and unconsciousness.
That made him abandon caution and he moved to Jessica’s room, kicked opened the door, and entered with his weapon up and ready to fire.
And fire he did, as he spotted Styles standing over the doctor with a gun pointed at her, while a knife was sticking out of the man’s throat.
Apparently, the doctor was as tough a fighter as was her husband.
After his brief exchange with Jessica, Tanner headed back to the freight elevator. As the doors were closing, he heard two people exit the stairwell in a rush and assumed that they were the cop and the Fed he had seen upon his arrival.
Once on the ground floor, Tanner left the elevator by the rear and stepped onto the loading dock, which was unlit at that late hour. After disarming the alarm on a side door by pulling its wires loose, Tanner made it back onto the street, walked to his jeep, and drove away.
At a 24-hour drugstore, he bought bandages and antibacterial cream for the cut on his hand. As a temporary measure, Tanner had jammed it inside a thick winter glove to stop the bleeding. He tried to be careful when removing his hand from the glove, but it still began bleeding again as he slid it out.
After cleaning and bandaging the wound in the bathroom of a gas station, he got back on the road, but he was feeling wide-awake from all the activity of the evening, and stopped at a bar for a drink.
There were couples everywhere, and many of them spoke excitedly about skiing. It made him think about Alexa. He would be joining up with her in L.A. and then they would head to Hawaii for some much needed down time.
When he realized that he missed Alexa, it made him smile, while also saddening him. He was not a believer in true love and trusted the emotion even less. He had feelings for Alexa and enjoyed being with her. Couldn’t that be enough?
When a blonde who was with a group of snow bunnies came over to the bar, he returned her smile, and when he spoke to her in her native French, she invited him back to her table.
Tanner enjoyed talking to the women, and the blonde was getting ideas, but he was with Alexa, despite her physical absence, and he left the bar alone and drove to his motel.
He spotted the busted door as he approached his room, but had already been on alert, as there were lights on inside and he had left it dark.
He saw her through the window, as she sat on his bed, and several questions raced through his mind.
She appeared to be alone, and seemed agitated, or perhaps simply worried.
Tanner entered the room with his gun in his hand, but kept it pointed at the floor. A quick look around showed him that there was someone else in the room. It was Emmy. She was sitting on the floor with her back against the dresser and holding a wet washcloth to her face.
“Dr. White, what are you doing in my room, and who is that on the floor?”
“Her name is Emmy Lee. She told me that a woman named Ariana cheated her out of a reward. The reward was for you; instead, this Ariana O’Grady has taken my husband.”
Jessica handed over the note that Ariana had left for him.
IF YOU EVER WANT TO SEE YOUR FRIEND ALIVE AGAIN, THEN RETURN TO THE SCENE OF YOUR CRIME AND WE’LL CONTINUE WHAT WE STARTED IN OKLAHOMA – A.O.
“Who is Ariana?” Jessica asked. “She called me on my husband’s phone and told me that she had him, but that she would trade him for you.”
“Her full name is Ariana O’Grady,” Tanner said. “And I’m going to kill her.”
“Not if I get to her first,” Jessica said, and Tanner smiled.
CHAPTER 25 – Gant?
Jim Horrigan entered the Speakeasy Tavern about the same time that Mr. White had been tossed into the back of a van.
The last patron was walking out, and when Carter approached him, Horrigan pointed at the time on his watch.
“Why are you closing early, the snow?”
“Yeah,” Carter said, but the truth was that he couldn’t wait to get to the cabin and have first crack at the girl Randall had abducted. That was obviously going to be delayed due to Horrigan’s appearance, and Carter wondered why Randall hadn’t killed Horrigan yet.
Carter locked the door and then led Horrigan into the office.
“Why are you limping?”
“Tanner was at my house with another guy I didn’t know. They could be brothers seeing as how much they looked alike,” Horrigan said, as he settled into a chair.
“Why would Tanner be here?”
“I don’t know, but he and the other guy ran off and I got the hell out of there. I need someplace to hide and so I came here.”
Carter told Horrigan to stay put, then grabbed his phone and walked out to take a seat atop a barstool.
When Randall answered the phone, Carter felt relieved.
“Where are you?”
“I’m following Jessica White’s husband. He was just grabbed by some people. I’m gonna tail them and try to figure out what’s going on.”
“Horrigan is here. What should I do?”
“Take him up to the cabin and kill him there; he’ll just be one more body.”
“Have you heard from Styles?”
“Not yet.”
“I don’t know why anyone would grab Dr. White’s husband, but if they’re looking for a ransom they’ll soon be out of luck getting it from her.”
“Call me later, after you waste Horrigan.”
“I will, and be careful; those people who grabbed the doctor’s husband sound dangerous.”
“Aren’t we all?” Randall said, and then ended the call.
Carter called to Horrigan to join him, and they left the bar to head up to the cabin. Carter didn’t realize it, but had he stayed at the bar any longer, he would have been detained and questioned by the FBI.
***
Carter drove the Range Rover that Horrigan had used in Nevada. The vehicle had four-wheel-drive but Carter still found the trip to the cabin to be a difficult one, as the snow began to mount in high drifts along the areas outside the city.
Once they arrived at the cabin, he had to help Horrigan along, because the man’s limp had gotten worse, and he fell once in the snow.
After entering the cabin, Carter turned on the lantern that they kept hanging by the door, and the light revealed the naked and terrified form of Shauna Roberts.
“What the hell?” Horrigan said.
Shauna stared up at him with eyes white with fear, while trembling from both the cold and her terror.
Horrigan had been so busy staring at Shauna that he hadn’t noticed Carter reaching for the heavy flashlight that was kept on a table. Carter slammed Horrigan against the side of the head and the man dropped to the floor as if his bones had gone missing. When he was down, Carter hit him again for good measure.
Shauna screamed as well as she could behind the ball gag in her mouth, and Carter walked over to the bars of the cell and stared down at her.
“I own you, and if you do everything I say, I’ll let you live, un
derstand?”
Although she understood his words, Shauna didn’t respond, because she knew that she was looking into the face of a madman.
***
As he drove along, Tanner could feel Jessica’s eyes upon him, and he turned and raised an inquiring eyebrow.
“I’m sorry for staring, but I can’t get over how strong a resemblance you have to my husband, particularly your eyes.”
“It surprised me too, as well as your husband.”
“Those marks on your neck, he did that, didn’t he?”
“Yes.”
“What saved you? It must have been a stroke of luck.”
Tanner turned and stared at her for a moment before placing his attention back on the road.
“Why did I have to be lucky, couldn’t it be that I’m just a better fighter?”
“No, no one defeats my husband, and seeing as how he believed that you meant me harm at the time, trust me when I say that it’s a miracle you’re still breathing.”
They drove in silence for a few seconds before Tanner spoke again.
“While we were struggling, your husband fell atop something that knocked the wind out of him, and if you’ve ever had that happen to you, then you know how that feels.”
“So you were lucky?”
“Perhaps, but I was also doing my best not to kill him, and that’s a rarity for me.”
“I’m going to assume that Tanner is not your real name, and I don’t expect you to reveal it to me, but does the surname Gant have any meaning for you?”
Tanner answered her question with a question.
“What does that name mean to you?”
“My husband is a Gant, although he was adopted while rather young.”
“I see, and no, my last name isn’t Gant.”
“Still, the resemblance is startling, and if we hadn’t already located my husband’s long lost brother recently, I would have placed you down as a candidate.”
“Dr. White?”
“Yes?”
“Why aren’t you more nervous than you are? A group of armed people have your husband, and yet, you seem fairly calm.”
“It’s very simple, Tanner, whoever this Ariana O’Grady is, she’s grabbed the wrong man.”
The Contract: Kill Jessica White Page 9
