The grass around them was trimmed and the picket fence surrounding the small graveyard had been recently whitewashed.
One of the graves was older than the others were, and contained the body of Frank Parker’s first wife. He had been laid to rest beside her, while his second wife, Claire, was buried on his opposite side.
Maria and Doc had come along with Tanner and Romina, but stood outside the fence, as Romina walked near the graves with Tanner.
“Who’s been keeping things so neat?”
Romina smiled.
“I do. Ever since I wrote a report about the Parkers last year for history class, I don’t know, it just felt right to take care of them.”
“You wrote about what happened here?”
“Yeah, and I got an A too.”
“Thank you for caring for the graves.”
“Why are you thanking me?”
“Someone should.”
They moved down the line of headstones until they reached the last one, which had the name Cody Parker engraved on it.
Tanner took several deep breaths and then sniffled, and when Romina looked at him, she saw that his eyes had grown moist.
“Are you all right?”
Tanner nodded and gestured at the graves.
“It’s sad, that’s all.”
Romina touched him on the arm.
“You’re very sensitive, aren’t you?”
“Not usually, no.”
Maria called her daughter’s name and Romina walked off to join her mother beyond the fence.
Tanner sat back on his haunches and looked down the line of graves.
“I failed you all and I’m so sorry.”
One last look at Cody Parker’s grave and Tanner left the cemetery with a new resolve.
Whatever was going on at the Reyes Ranch, he would not let history repeat itself, and even if it cost him his life, he would protect this family.
No, he would not fail again.
CHAPTER 8 - Hell hath no fury
The Parker Ranch, September 1997
Tanner smiled in admiration of Cody Parker’s skill with a rifle.
The two of them were in a pasture and firing at a line of soda cans that were hanging from a tree limb.
They had started the shooting contest at fifty yards, with the intention that the first one to miss had to pay to replace the soda, but after blowing apart nearly two dozen cans, it didn’t appear that either of them would miss.
They had an audience, as Cody’s twin sisters and their friend, Tonya, watched the match, and all three girls cheered Cody on.
The girls had been to school earlier, while Cody worked. Although only sixteen, he was already a high school graduate after having skipped two years, and worked full time on the ranch.
His father paid him a salary like any other hand, and Cody was banking it all with plans to someday travel and see the world.
Tanner backed up as far as he could and stood before a white wooden fence. There were four cans of soda left and they had moved hundreds of yards away and slightly downhill.
Tanner sighted on the next can in line, adjusted by feel for the wind and height, and then squeezed the trigger.
Nearly a quarter of a mile away, the soda can jerked on its string as its contents fizzed and splattered the grass below it.
Cody took the rifle from Tanner, looked through the scope, and blasted the last three remaining cans one after the other.
“Damn, Cody, if you’re not a natural marksman then I don’t know who is,” Tanner said.
Tonya smiled and clapped for Cody.
“He’s the best!”
Cody smiled back at her and the little girl practically melted.
“Say now,” Cody said to his sisters. “Don’t you girls have chores to do?”
They answered him in stereo. “Yes.”
“Then go on now, and don’t make Tonya work, she’s a guest here.”
“I don’t mind helping,” Tonya said, and she sent Cody a little wave, as she followed his sisters, who were walking off towards the barn.
“All three of those girls are gonna break hearts someday,” Tanner said. “And that Tonya already has her eye on you.”
“She’s just a baby.”
“Yeah, now she is, but I bet you’ll be eyeing her back in ten years.”
“I won’t be here in ten years. I want to travel a bit before I come back here to stay.”
“You could join the army or the navy for that.”
Cody shook his head.
“I wouldn’t last a day. I’m not big on taking orders from anyone.”
“I hear you, but if you did join, they’d place you in a sniper program, because I swear, Cody, I’ve never seen anyone shoot better.”
Cody grinned at Tanner.
“You’re damn good yourself; McKay’s men won’t stand a chance.”
Tanner looked at Cody with a serious expression.
“I meant what I said yesterday. Killing a man is not like killing an animal or hitting a target, and if you hesitate, you’re liable to wind up dead.”
“I hear what you’re saying. I guess I’ll find out what I’m made of when the time comes.”
“That time won’t come for you, not as long as I’m here. If McKay sends someone, I’ll kill them.”
Cody leaned back against the fence.
“Is that really how you make your living, by killing?”
“It is.”
“Were you ever a military sniper?”
“No, like you, I’m not big on following orders. It’s why I’m my own boss.”
“As a gun for hire?”
“More or less,”
“It sounds better than most work, but... if it was me, I wouldn’t kill just anybody, I’d want to know that they had it coming.”
“We all got it coming, Cody. God will see to that. No matter who you are or what you do, you’ll die. I figure that when I kill someone, I really haven’t changed anything, just sped things up.”
“I get that. It’s like when my mother died. I was sad and I missed her, I still miss her, but it made me understand that death was real and we don’t get second chances.”
Tanner fed fresh shells into the rifle as he spoke.
“I take it that you don’t believe in an afterlife then?”
Cody shrugged.
“I don’t know if life goes on or not, but I know this, it won’t be this life, and whatever happens after you die, it won’t be happening to me. If I died and woke up somewhere else, I’d be as different to the me I am now, as I am to the baby I once was, you know? And heaven? I mean, what the hell is that? Wouldn’t heaven have to be different for everyone, or else it wouldn’t be heaven, it would just be another place, only cleaner maybe.”
Tanner laughed.
“You’re a deep thinker, but I have to say, I see things pretty much the same way.”
A voice called out from behind them and they turned to see Claire waving them in, as she held the baby in her other arm.
“Looks like your stepmom wants you,”
Cody acknowledged Claire with a wave of his own.
“Maybe she wants to go to the market. She doesn’t drive, do you believe that?”
“She must be a city girl,” Tanner said.
“She is.”
“About that shopping,”
“Yeah?”
Tanner tossed a thumb back at the tree, where some of the cans were still dripping.
“Don’t forget to buy more soda.”
Cody laughed, and then he and Tanner hopped over the fence and headed back towards the house.
***
At the McKay Ranch, Jack Sheer hobbled into his boss’s office on a pair of crutches, while his left foot wore a cast.
McKay sent his foreman a look of disgust.
“Not only did Tanner almost kill you, but he stole your work truck too, by the way, would you like to know where it was found?”
“You found my truck, where is it?
”
“It was left outside the Parker Ranch with the keys in it.”
Sheer looked down at his cast.
“I can’t even drive it, it’s got a clutch, and so I’ve been using my car to get around.”
“Did you hear what I said? It was at the Parker Ranch, which means that Tanner told Parker my plans.”
Sheer shrugged.
“Those plans are no big secret. You wanted to hire Tanner to kill Parker, am I right?”
Sheer had settled on a red leather sofa on the left side of the room. McKay walked over with a drink in his hand and stared down at him with feverish eyes.
“I want Frank Parker dead. Hell yes I do, and I could have paid you to do that, but I also want that whore Claire dead as well, and before either of them gets it, I want Parker to see his children die. That’s what I asked Tanner to do for me, and yeah, I’d like to keep it a secret.”
Sheer looked away from his boss, whose bloodshot eyes bordered on madness.
McKay stared down at him for several seconds, but then walked over and plopped into the chair behind his desk, which caused the ice cubes inside his glass to clink loudly.
When Sheer spoke again, McKay almost didn’t hear it.
“What was that?”
“I said I’m not up to that, not killing kids, but I know a guy, not here, down in Mexico. He’s part of a drug gang and him and his people... they’ll do anything.”
McKay sat up straight in his chair, as his eyes brightened with interest.
“Can you get in contact with this guy?”
“I think so, but I’ll have to go to Mexico.”
“Then go, but how much do you think he’ll want?”
“His men will kill anybody he tells them to, even Claire’s baby, but it won’t be cheap.”
“What’s your guess?”
Sheer named a figure and McKay made a derisive sound.
“Hell, Tanner would have cost me a lot more than that, I’ll tell you what, Jack, I’ll give you the amount you named plus five grand more, and whatever is left, you can keep, sort of as a fee for setting things up.”
Sheer smiled wide.
“You got a deal, Andy. I’ll head to Mexico tomorrow.”
“This stays between you and me, and when this shit goes down, I’ll make sure that we both have an alibi.”
Sheer chuckled.
“What’s so funny?”
“I was thinking about that old expression, you know the one, about hell having no fury like a woman scorned.”
“Hell’s got nothing on me either. When Claire left me for Parker and was fucking him behind my back, I became a laughing stock, but I’ll get the last laugh and I’ll see that whore dead.”
Sheer grabbed his crutches and stood.
“I’ll leave for Mexico right after breakfast tomorrow.”
McKay poured himself another drink.
“You do that, Parker and that cunt can’t die soon enough.”
Sheer had reached the door when McKay called to him.
“Yeah, Andy?”
“This Mexican, tell him to take pictures and to make sure that Claire knows I’m the one who sent him to kill her.”
Sheer felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand up; he answered his boss with a shaky smile.
“I’ll do that,” Sheer said, and then he hobbled on out of the office.
CHAPTER 9 - Killing is so much easier
Romina turned out to be a runner and a member of the high school track team, and although there were no meets scheduled, Romina trained year-round.
Tanner ran with her, while a nervous Doc stayed back at the ranch with the shotgun. Tanner wasn’t crazy about leaving Doc to guard the place alone, but thought that it was less of a risk than leaving Romina unguarded, and unlike the old days, he could be reached by phone at any time.
They had jogged to the high school track together, and Tanner was happy to sit in the bleachers and watch the swift girl complete her training laps, among a few other early morning runners who were mostly kids. He was still weakened from the shooting, and his ribs hurt when he ran, so the rest felt good.
The new high school had been built three years earlier, as the town began expanding, and looked nothing like the old one, which had been a beige brick building that resembled a prison.
The whole town had changed drastically over the years, and as far as Tanner could see, the changes had all been for the better.
One of the other runners, a woman, was staring at him from where she stood and stretched, near the fence that circled the track.
As Romina ran by, the woman pointed at Tanner and said something to Romina, who nodded to the woman and kept running.
The auburn-haired woman headed towards Tanner. As she came up the steps, Tanner could see that she was in her late-twenties and very attractive, with large blue eyes that seemed to sparkle in the newly risen sun.
Tanner gestured at Romina.
“You asked her if she knew me, didn’t you?”
The woman smiled, and before answering, her eyes studied Tanner.
“I was just making sure you weren’t a pervert checking out the high school girls. It happens more often than you’d think, and by the way, my name is Tonya Jennings.”
Tonya extended her hand as she said her name, and she noticed that Tanner hesitated before shaking it. She then studied him closer, as something about him seemed familiar.
“Have we met before, Mr....?”
“Tanner, just call me Tanner, and yes, we may have met at some point, but I haven’t been in this area for nearly twenty years.”
“I was just a girl back then.”
“And what are you now?” Tanner said, while still holding her hand.
Tonya’s cheeks reddened slightly and she gave a little laugh.
“I’m all woman now, Tanner, and I think there might be a little pervert in you after all.”
“Guilty,” Tanner said, and then he asked Tonya a question as she sat beside him. She was wearing a jogging outfit, which consisted of a long-sleeved white T-shirt and a flattering pair of black Spandex pants.
“Are you a teacher too?”
“I am a teacher, but why did you ask it like that?”
“What do you mean?”
“It’s just that, my mother is also a teacher, retired now, and usually people know about her when they ask if I’m a teacher too, like you did, instead of simply asking if I were a teacher.”
“Let me guess, you teach grammar?”
Tonya laughed.
“I actually teach math, now tell me something, how do you know Romina?”
Tanner explained that he had been hired on as security. When he gave the reason why, Tonya shook her head.
“I’m sorry, I know about the problems at the ranch, but I also know Chuck Willis and I find it hard to believe that he would be using such tactics. Mr. Willis is a good man who has done a lot for this town.”
“Do you know him well?”
“I do, actually, I’m dating his executive assistant, Trey Broderick.”
“Lucky Trey and as far as Willis goes, Maria Reyes is convinced that he wants her land.”
“I don’t know about the land, but Mr. Willis is not the ruthless type.”
Romina finished her training and bounded up the stairs, looking sweaty, but barely breathing hard after running five miles.
She kissed Tonya on the cheek and smiled at Tanner.
“Ms. Jennings is my favorite teacher; she also tutors me for free.”
“Not for free,” Tonya said, as she stood. “I do it so I can enjoy Mrs. Salgado’s cooking, and I’ll be by tonight to help you study for your test.”
Tanner stood.
“I guess I’ll see you later.”
Tonya nodded absently as she studied Tanner again.
“I’m sure we’ve met before, what’s your first name, Tanner?”
“It’s just Tanner.”
Tonya smiled.
“Just Tanner
? No, I would have remembered a man with only one name. I guess you just remind me of someone, it’s something about your eyes.”
“Have a good day, Tonya.”
“You too, Tanner, and Romina, I’ll see you in class.”
Romina watched Tanner, as he watched Tonya Jennings walk down the bleacher steps and head towards the track.
“She’s got a boyfriend.”
“So she said.”
“You like her?”
“What’s not to like?”
“She’s a great teacher; she can even make math fun.”
Tanner took out his phone and checked the time.
“We should get back.”
They jogged towards the ranch along the shoulder of the road, but walked the second half so that Romina could cool down after her run.
“Would you date me if I was a little older, Tanner?”
“I might, but you’re not older.”
“I know, I just wondered if you liked me.”
“I like you fine, but you must have a boyfriend.”
“I do, but he’s changed and I think I’m going to break up with him today.”
“How has he changed?”
Romina gave a little shrug.
“I’ve smoked pot, you know, but Billy, that’s my boyfriend, he’s really gotten into drugs, like coke, and I think he’s even tried heroin. That’s not for me. I guess we’re just going in different directions.”
“Don’t worry; you’ll have no problem finding volunteers to replace him.”
She smiled shyly.
“I’ve already become friends with a boy at school and he’s told me that he likes me a lot.”
“Good.”
“Not good.”
“Why not?”
Romina stopped walking.
“His dad is Chuck Willis.”
Tanner looked at her.
“Just how much do you like this Willis boy?”
“A lot, but, I don’t know if I should date him, you know, with what’s going on with our parents and all.”
Tanner sighed. Guarding people was much more complicated than just killing them.
“I think I’ll go talk to Willis and find out what he wants.”
Romina kissed him on the cheek.
“Thank you, Tanner, and I’ll put in a good word for you with Ms. Jennings. I don’t like her boyfriend.”
“Why don’t you like him?”
The TANNER Series - Books 4-6 (Tanner Box Set Book 2) Page 15
