The place was an old storefront in lower Manhattan that had once rented out video tapes. Its windows had been boarded over and the building had plumbing problems. Duke had located it for Tanner after their phone conversation.
The inside of the store had an unpleasant smell and mold marked several walls. Standing in front of those walls were wooden shelves that had been erected, and on those shelves were scores of brown gallon-size bottles with wide mouths and steel caps. The bottles were manufactured to hold chemicals and were labeled, CAUTION: CORROSIVE.
Each bottle contained liquid, and something floated in that liquid. It was a second, smaller container. Other than the shelves, the only things in the store were a folding table and two chairs, along with a 55-gallon drum. The blue plastic drum was marked with the chemical symbol for hydrochloric acid, which was HCI. Atop the table was a hazmat suit complete with a chemical respirator. Tanner nodded to himself. Duke had delivered exactly what he’d asked for.
He took out his phone. It was time to hand over the data drive.
Lyle Hanover, Nicholas Carson, Benedetti, and the redheaded CIA agent known as Garrett arrived at the store after Tanner called and gave them the location.
Nicholas Carson’s appearance was unexpected by Tanner and the FBI director appeared none too happy to be there. Tanner had always gotten the impression the man had been dragged into the whole affair by either Benedetti or Hanover. That he was partially responsible for Thomas Lawson’s abduction was beyond doubt, and it was on his authorization that Sara was arrested.
Tanner might deal with him someday, as well as Hanover, but for now his focus was on gaining retribution against Benedetti, with the added bonus of eliminating Garrett.
Two other men were present, they were Hanover’s bodyguards. Hanover had told Tanner to expect them and that they would be armed. That was fine with Tanner. Perhaps their guns would come in handy.
Benedetti walked over to Tanner and held out her hand.
“Give me the data drive.”
Tanner smiled at her. “It’s here, and I’ll hand it over, but I have conditions.”
“And what would those be?”
“For one thing, I want you dead.”
Hanover spoke up as he walked closer. He had been standing near the doorway and taking in the glass bottles.
“If you harm Miss Benedetti our deal is off, Tanner.”
“You’re threatening to send Sara to prison again?”
Hanover and Benedetti shared a look that Tanner couldn’t decipher, but he didn’t like it.
“Miss Blake’s fate is her own doing, now why not keep your word and hand over Bishop’s device?”
Tanner gestured at the shelves against the walls. “The deal was that I would bring it to you. It’s in one of those jars, and yours for the taking. The question is, which jar?”
Benedetti walked toward a shelf.
“Enough of these bullshit games. All we need to do is break open each bottle until we find it.”
Tanner held up a hand in warning.
“Those jars contain hydrochloric acid. It’s colorless but the fumes are deadly.”
Benedetti backed away, then leaned in close to study a jar.
“There’s something floating inside this one. I’ve found the device already.”
“Look more carefully; there’s something in every jar, and Hanover, time is a factor. If you delay too long the acid will eat through the inner container and destroy the data drive.”
Hanover looked thoughtful, as if he were considering his options.
“Why do you want Miss Benedetti and Garrett killed?”
“Garrett would seek revenge someday for what I did to him in Texas, so I’m just ending his threat. As for Benedetti, she knows the reason for that. She tried to have me killed years ago.”
“Julien Adams,” Hanover said, revealing that he knew all along.
“You can save the drive from being destroyed or you can save Benedetti and Garrett, but you can’t have both.”
“Have your men torture him, Mr. Hanover. Then he’ll tell us which jar it’s in,” Benedetti said.
“If I’m threatened I’ll fight back,” Tanner said, “and I’m very good at fighting back.”
Nicholas Carson gestured at the shelves. He looked like a man who had tasted something sour.
“This is barbaric, Tanner. You’re asking Hanover to have two people killed in cold blood just so you can have revenge.”
“You people kept telling me this object was worth any number of lives and that it was vitally important. If that’s true, add two more lives to the tally and give in to my demands. Refuse, and the acid will destroy the drive.”
“Are we dead too?” Nicholas Carson asked. “And by that, I’m asking if you plan to kill Lyle and me someday.”
“No, we still have a deal.”
“You had the same deal with Vanessa,” Carson said.
“And I’m keeping my side of it. If she dies, it will be on Hanover’s orders. I’d hurry if I were you, Hanover, the acid will destroy the data drive within minutes.”
“Sir?” Benedetti said, as she looked at Hanover with pleading eyes. She had no concern for anyone else’s life, but she damn well feared losing her own. She was also aware of what a cold and calculating bastard Lyle Hanover was.
Hanover stared back at her with an expressionless gaze, but then sent her a reassuring smile.
“Miss Benedetti, Vanessa, you have nothing to fear. I would never order anyone to kill you, no matter what was at stake.”
Relief flooded Benedetti and tension left her body. She turned toward Tanner with a smug expression.
“Your plan won’t work, and if anything happens to that drive you’ll be the one marked for death.”
Tanner shifted his eyes to Hanover. “Now would be a good time.”
“Yes,” Hanover agreed, and as he spoke he reached down and removed the gun from his ankle holster.
Understanding flashed across Benedetti’s face an instant before Hanover pulled the trigger.
He shot her in the back of the head. Vanessa Benedetti fell forward to the floor, and blood began pooling around her shattered skull. At the sight of the blood and exposed gray matter, Nicholas Carson began retching.
Garrett moved well for a man on crutches. After rushing over to one end of the shelving he dropped his crutches and grabbed onto the shelves’ side.
“If I tip this thing over the fumes from the acid will kill all of us.”
Hanover lowered his gun, unsure of what to do.
“Are you threatening me, Garrett?” Tanner said.
“You’re damn right I am.”
“Good, that means you’ve released me from my promise not to harm you.”
Tanner’s gun appeared in his hand as if it had always been there. He shot Garrett in the head and chest, and the redheaded man went down to the floor, while pulling the shelving along with him.
Hanover, Carson, and the two bodyguards looked down in horror as the jars burst upon hitting the floor, then they began a mad scramble for the exit.
Tanner called to them. “Relax. It’s just water.”
The four men halted, turned, and glared back at him with expressions that could only be described as murderous.
“Hanover, if you raise that gun I’ll blow you away.”
The old man, scarlet with anger, shoved the weapon back inside its holster, then he walked over to Tanner and thrust out his hand.
“Give it to me you… give me the damn data drive.”
“Sure,” Tanner said. After holstering his own gun, Tanner reached into a pocket and removed Bishop’s glasses. Hanover tried them on, blinked as his eyes adjusted to Bishop’s prescription lenses, then asked Tanner for the code.
“It’s 007,” Tanner said. “I wanted something easy to remember.”
With the glasses activated, Hanover laughed as he stared at Carson.
“Nicholas, I had no idea you had been a Marine. I never would have gues
sed.”
Carson walked over and stared at the lenses.
“Where are you reading my bio? I don’t see anything.”
“Only the wearer can see the information,” Tanner said.
Hanover removed the glasses and smiled at Tanner.
“Although there were a few bumps along the way,” he looked down at Benedetti’s body, “and an unfortunate loss, you still performed admirably, Tanner.”
“It’s over, Hanover. I killed Bishop and got you the damn drive. Sara is never to be arrested again, or anyone else I give a damn about, understood?”
“That was the deal,” Hanover said.
“That’s right, and I’m going to give you a chance to keep to it. If you have any surprises up your sleeve, say, like snipers on the rooftops, call them off. I’ll survive anything you throw at me, and then I’ll find you and kill you.”
“I’m not Benedetti or Garrett, Tanner. There would be steep consequences for killing me. You would be hunted down and slaughtered.”
“That might happen, but not until I first killed you, and I would enjoy killing you, Hanover. I don’t like you one damn bit.”
The old spy looked into Tanner’s eyes. Seconds later, he took out his phone and made a call.
“Give the men the order to stand down.”
“I’ll be leaving with you,” Tanner said. “You’re giving me a lift home.”
Carson pointed at Benedetti’s body.
“What about Vanessa, Lyle? Are you just going to leave her there to rot?”
“It will be handled, Nicholas, now, let’s get the hell out of here.”
Tanner arrived home and took the elevator up to his penthouse. When he stepped into the apartment he was disappointed not to find Sara waiting for him.
“Sara?”
“Tanner?”
Sara ran from the kitchen and into his arms, and they embraced, laughed, and kissed. She was wearing an apron and dressed in jeans and an old T-shirt.
“You caught me in the middle of cooking. I didn’t know you would make it home so soon.”
“I could leave and come back.”
“Don’t you dare,” she said, and hugged him again. When Tanner let out a soft moan, Sara backed up and looked him over. “You’re injured?”
“I’m still a little sore, that’s all. I’ll tell you all about it.”
“Oh, and I have something to tell you.” Sara rushed over to a table and grabbed a large manila envelope. She opened it and handed the contents to Tanner. “Read that.”
Tanner did read it, then he read it again. It was a long single sheet of paper with a gold seal embossed on the bottom left side, opposite that was the signature of the President of the United States.
“A presidential pardon? But you haven’t been charged yet, or have you?”
“No, nothing’s changed, and now it can’t, and I have Thomas Lawson to thank for it.”
Tanner held up the pardon.
“I know presidents give these out by the thousands, but I’ve never seen one. This was Lawson’s doing? That means he’s feeling better. Did he bring this in person?”
“No, it was a man from the Office of the Pardon Attorney in the Justice Department. Lawson arranged for me to receive a presidential pardon, which will remain secret. The man also delivered a note from Lawson.”
“What’s the note say?”
“He congratulated us on our engagement and promised he would deal with Nicholas Carson and Lyle Hanover by having them removed from their positions.”
“They’re lucky he doesn’t do more to them, but enough about them, we need to catch up.”
Sara kissed him. “Welcome home.”
At the airport, Lyle Hanover and Nicholas Carson were stepping out of their limousine to board a private jet. They paused in their progress as another limo came into view.
“Who’s that?” Carson said.
“I don’t know,” said Hanover. The limousine slowed, then pulled up within a few feet of them, and a rear window rolled down. When Hanover saw Thomas Lawson looking back at him, he sighed with resignation. Carson had a different reaction, he rushed the limo and began telling Lawson how happy he was to see him.
“Get in here, gentlemen,” Lawson said. “We need to talk.”
Hanover took out Bishop’s glasses and stared at Lawson. The glasses responded with no flicker of information, as if Lawson were unaffiliated with the government.
Once they were inside the limousine, Lawson delivered the news. Thomas Lawson, a trim man, looked gaunt after his recent abduction. A cane was held between his legs, and his hair had more gray in it than Hanover remembered.
“Carson, you’ll be resigning tomorrow. You may cite health reasons without specifying what they are. Hanover, it’s time you retired, and hand over the data drive.”
Hanover looked at Lawson with defiance.
“Just who are you?”
“I could have you dismissed under disgraceful circumstances if you’d rather not retire,” Lawson said, “and where is Vanessa Benedetti? I have to speak to her as well.”
“You’ll need to hold a séance,” Carson said.
“Is that Tanner’s doing?” Lawson asked.
“Not directly,” Carson said, as his eyes flicked right to glance at Hanover, “but yes, Tanner is the reason she’s dead.”
Lawson held out his hand.
“The data drive, Hanover. I won’t ask again.”
Hanover passed Lawson the glasses and he put them on. When he looked at the men sitting across from him, he seemed amused.
“That’s all, gentlemen.”
Hanover and Carson left the limo, then watched Lawson disappear as the vehicle drove away.
“I wish Garrett had killed Lawson when he had the chance,” Carson said.
Hanover headed for the jet.
“Come on, Nicholas, let’s you and I get drunk on the plane.”
The following morning, Tanner and Sara lay in each other’s arms. On the TV, the news programs were covering the resignation of FBI Director Nicholas Carson. There was no mention of Lyle Hanover’s retirement, as it was kept as hidden from the public view as his entire career had been.
Tanner was aware that Hanover was being forced out, as he had spoken to Lawson the night before. Lawson had thanked Tanner for being one of the people who had rescued him.
“Lawson let Hanover off easy,” Tanner said. “I think he was as much to blame as Benedetti was for what happened to him in Texas.”
“That’s all right,” Sara said, “justice will be done anyway.”
Tanner studied her face.
“What did you do?”
Sara smiled at him. “Hanover will learn that I’m nobody’s pawn.”
WASHINGTON D.C.
Lyle Hanover’s bodyguards came to attention as he stepped out the front door of his townhouse. He was going to the CIA headquarters in Langley for the last time. Although his retirement hadn’t come about as he had wished, it wasn’t the worst thing that could happen, and he had planned to call it quits after another year anyway.
As he stood at the top of his steps and looked out onto the street, Hanover noticed that the weather was beautiful. Men were carrying their suit coats while women wore short skirts and summer blouses.
One particular blonde beauty in mirrored sunglasses caught his eye. She was walking along on the opposite side of the street and wearing one of the shortest skirts Hanover had ever seen, while her braless breasts bounced beneath a halter top that barely contained them.
“Damn,” said one of the bodyguards. They were standing out by the curb, near the limo, and their eyes were glued to the woman. So rapt was their attention that they never saw the elderly lady moving in toward their boss.
Hanover spotted her as she came up the steps, as well as the gun she held. And although it had been decades since he’d last seen her, he knew he was looking at Alyona Petrov, a woman he betrayed so cruelly.
Alyona smiled at the look of shocke
d recognition in his eyes.
“Hello, Ivan. Sara Blake sends her regards.”
Alyona raised the gun and shot Hanover in his lying face twice, before turning the weapon on herself.
Across the street, Tiffany Austen walked on.
TANNER RETURNS!
TANNER 22 - A VICTIM OF CIRCUMSTANCE
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Copyright © REMINGTON KANE, 2018
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This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.
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