The TANNER Series - Books 10 -12 (Tanner Box Set Book 4)

by Remington Kane

  The facility they were looking at had both cameras and motion detectors, and if they drew too close, their presence would be known.

  “I came across it when I was first scouting the compound. I always came at night and thought it strange that there was activity going on here at all hours. Then, when I was in the city, I spotted one of the vans drive into a building I knew housed a drug operation, and that’s when I realized that the pool trucks were really armored and ferrying cash.”

  Spenser pointed to a group of poles near the front of the building.

  “It looks like you were right about their reliance on the cameras, and I can also make out several vents leading into the ground. That building is nothing but a prop for what’s going on beneath it.”

  Tanner stared at the structure with an intense gaze as he spoke his thoughts aloud.

  “We should call Dante for help with this one since we have no idea how many men are down there.”

  Alexa called his name, breaking his concentration.

  “Tanner.”

  “Yes?”

  “I would love to break in there and steal that money too, but take it from the daughter of a thief, sometimes it’s easier to get inside a place than it is to get out. If we were discovered in there and they sealed it shut, they could take their time hunting us down. We would also need a large vehicle to haul all the money away.”

  Tanner smiled at her.

  “You were raised by a thief, but I was mentored by a killer.”

  Alexa’s brow wrinkled in confusion.

  “What’s that mean?”

  “It means my concern isn’t with the money, but the men who are guarding it.”

  “You have a plan,” Spenser said. “What is it, Cody?”

  “It’s from the book, and the idea came from Tanner Three. Do you remember how he killed the man hiding in the caves?”

  Spenser recalled the tale and smiled.

  “What’s this about a cave?” Alexa asked, and Spenser explained.

  “Tanner Three once took a contract on a guy who had gone up into the hills to hide. The man had lived there as a boy and knew his way around the caves that were in the area. They weren’t deep caves or very big, but they were all connected, and if you didn’t know your way around inside them, it could take some time to find a way out. Tanner Three pretended to be making a delivery, but the man grew wary of him and rushed into a cave.”

  Alexa looked over at Tanner.

  “So how did he kill the man?”

  “He had arrived in a truck hauling kerosene and came upon the target while the man was chopping wood. After the man entered the caves, Tanner Three used the axe on the truck to chop a hole in the tank, and once the kerosene had leaked out and run down into the cave, he set it on fire. He later found the target leaning against a tree and trying to breathe; the man had avoided the fire, but not the fumes.”

  Alexa considered the story, but then shook her head.

  “That underground chamber isn’t a cave system, and I would be surprised if it wasn’t airtight. Even if we flooded the building with gas it might not leak down below.”

  Tanner pointed at the nest of cameras.

  “What do you think would be the response if they saw a carload of men follow one of their vans onto the property?”

  “They would send up a force to deal with it.”

  “Right, and in order to come up, they would need to create an opening, an opening that would allow the gas to enter the chamber.”

  Alexa gazed over at the building and then smiled.

  “Let’s do it.”

  CHAPTER 24 – Burn baby, burn

  The gym owner that Sylvia had told the Federales to see actually owned a small chain of health clubs, and once she saw the federal credentials, she told them everything she knew about Alexa.

  “I first met her at my newest club in San Juan Del Rio. She would work out there whenever she visited her father for more than a day or two.”

  “Her father lives in San Juan Del Rio?”

  “Yes, but I never met him. I just dropped her off there when her car wouldn’t start.”

  “Do you remember the address?”

  “No, but you can’t miss it. It’s right at the top of a hill, and I can give you directions.”

  ***

  Tanner jumped from the cab of a semi-trailer that held over six thousand gallons of gasoline.

  They had called Dante and told him that they needed assistance. When they revealed what they had planned, Dante said that they were mad to even consider burning up that much cash. He then agreed to help, with the understanding that any money salvaged would be his alone.

  Tanner said yes, and then told Dante what they needed and how they would do it.

  The assault on the underground compound was ready to begin after Dante arrived with the fuel truck, four men he could trust, and two police officers that he owned.

  They had staged an accident between the fuel truck and one of two pickups they were using, and the “accident” blocked the road just past the entry to the building’s parking lot.

  That was followed by the appearance of the cops, and while they exited their patrol car and pretended to investigate the accident, more of Dante’s men arrived in a second pickup truck.

  The second pickup was driving along behind one of the pool service vans. When it followed the van into the parking lot, an overhead door on the building rolled up to let the van inside, even as two men with rifles emerged from the building.

  The pickup drove to the edge of the property where its riders exited the vehicle while brandishing their own weapons. That was when Tanner started the truck and steered it towards the building.

  ***

  The truck was rolling along at a sedate nine miles an hour when Tanner made his leap, but it quickly picked up speed as it left the highway and rolled down the sandy hill at the side of the corrugated building.

  At one point, the truck rammed into a sand dune and Tanner thought it might come to a stop, but no, the hill was steep enough, and the truck heavy enough to ensure forward momentum.

  However, hitting the dune had altered the truck’s direction, and it soon became apparent that it would miss the building altogether.

  It did so, but by less than three feet, and after slamming into and then climbing atop a set of concrete benches, which were near the metal poles that held the nest of cameras, the truck tipped, wobbled, and then crashed onto its side, ironically, atop a fire hydrant, which punched a hole in the side of the tank.

  The hydrant was one of two, and the second one was at the rear of the property.

  They were fed from a line of water tanks that were positioned along the parts of the desert that had a higher elevation, such as the few buttes in the area. When combined, the tanks formed a water main that could be tapped at the hydrants.

  The Alvarado compound had more hydrants behind its walls that employed the system, and at one time, Alexa had considered using the water as a way to poison Alvarado and his men.

  She soon abandoned that idea when she discovered that the water was also used by the surrounding ranches in the area. The water was needed primarily for irrigation and not for drinking, and Alvarado shipped in bottled water for himself and his people.

  Gasoline soon flowed from the wreck, and because of the grading of the parking lot, it all flowed directly towards the building.

  A dozen more men appeared from the building, most of them had shotguns, but two of them were carrying M60 machine guns. Tanner, Alexa, and Spenser began cutting the men down with their long-range rifles, even as Dante and his group fired on them from behind their two pickups.

  The cops that had arrived with Dante were the only ones not involved in the firefight, and they took cover behind their patrol car, which was above the property and parked on the road.

  It was the cops’ responsibility to keep an eye out for any approaching traffic on the quiet road, and in particular, any vehicles coming from the direction of
Alvarado’s desert compound.

  When a stray spark from the engine of the truck ignited the fuel, it also set ablaze the surviving men who had come out of the building, even as the fire entered the chamber below.

  The remaining group of Alvarado’s people who were still underground must have spent time attempting to douse the flames, because it took several minutes for the first one to come out.

  The man climbed up from a stairway. The entrance had been hidden beneath the sand thirty meters from the building. As soon as he was on the surface, he ran off at a sprint towards Alvarado’s compound while shouting into a cell phone.

  Tanner raised his rifle, but then decided to let the man live. If the crew down below hadn’t already contacted Alvarado, then the fleeing man could tell Alvarado all about the raid on his cash depot. Either way, it was too late to do anything about it now.

  The second man to emerge held a gun in his hand, but he was choking on the fumes from the fire in the chamber, and when Dante told him to drop the weapon, the man did so, and then he reached back to help one of his fellow workers climb out, a woman.

  A great black plume soon filled the sky, and it was fed by the burning of a fortune in ill-gotten gain.

  Two of Dante’s men had braved the building and made it out with the pool service van they had followed onto the property. It held nearly a million in bundled cash, and the bills were held together by rubber bands.

  Dante rewarded his men by tossing several packets to each of them, and even the cops, who had stayed out of the action, drifted over to wet their beaks.

  Dante stared inside the van at the pile of cash that was left, and said that he knew just how to spend it so that it would do the most good. He would use it to recruit more men from the villages.

  Tanner looked at his watch.

  “It’s almost time to rendezvous with Amy and Alexa’s father. Why don’t we tell Dante the rest of our plan now?”

  Dante had been standing nearby. He turned and looked at Tanner.

  “What’s this you’re talking about?”

  They told him, while leaving out the most important part, but Dante understood that they trusted him about as much as he trusted them. Still, for now, their goals were in alignment, and Dante told them that he would do as they asked.

  “Just remember,” Tanner said. “That delivery truck has to reach the compound at its schedule time, twelve noon, and the crate has to be on it.”

  “I’ll take care of it,” Dante said. “But these changes you’re making, I don’t see how they will help you kill Alvarado.”

  Alexa told him that it would all make sense in the end and Dante shrugged. He knew that he was in so deep that he had to see things through. Within twenty-four hours he would either be in control of Alvarado’s cartel or be hunted for betraying his boss, Damián Sandoval.

  Eight of Alvarado’s people survived the firefight and the smoke, not counting the man who had run off. They were six men and two women.

  Tanner walked over to them. They were down on their knees and had their hands secured behind their backs.

  Tanner pointed at the ones on the left.

  “These three will do.”

  CHAPTER 25 - Trapped

  Amy was sitting on the steps of Rodrigo’s home and wishing for the man and his companion to appear.

  She had the rental parked in front of the house and facing the nearby cross street, so that they could drive away as soon as possible once Rodrigo showed.

  Scar, Bruise, Wound, and Abrasion were down along different sections of the hill keeping watch, and if they saw anyone in a vehicle who looked shady, they would give Amy a call. Few cars came or went up the hill, as it was the middle of a workday, but each time one approached, Amy felt dread.

  By two o’clock, Amy had begun to pace in front of the house, and when her phone rang and she saw that it was Scar, she was certain that he was going to tell her to run and hide among the trees.

  “Yes?”

  “I think they’re finally here,” Scar said.

  Seconds later, Amy let out a great sigh of relief as she watched the red pickup truck crest the hill and then pull into the driveway. When Emilio stepped out of it, she recognized him immediately.

  “Mr. Lucia, my name is Amy. Your daughter Alexa sent me to take you somewhere safe.”

  Rodrigo looked both worried and suspicious as he helped the blind Emilio out of the passenger seat.

  “If what you’re saying is true, my daughter would have given you a code word to say.”

  Amy smiled.

  “Alexa said the code word was ‘pony.’”

  “That’s correct, but is my daughter all right?”

  “Yes sir, but Alonso Alvarado wants to hurt her, and Alexa is afraid that he’ll come after you as well.”

  Rodrigo’s face paled as the blood drained from it.

  “Good God.”

  Amy pointed to her vehicle.

  “We should leave right away.”

  “I can’t. Emilio ran out of medicine and I have to go inside and get the rest of it, along with some important papers and a photo album. I won’t leave here without that album; there are pictures in it of Alexa when she was a child.”

  “All right, but please hurry, and while you’re doing that, I’ll help your friend into my car.”

  “I have to pee first,” Emilio said, and Amy sighed.

  ***

  Alvarado stood with the help of crutches on the front porch of his home and watched as black smoke rose towards the sky in the distance.

  That smoke was his money going up in flames.

  An hour ago, he would have said that it was impossible to hate Tanner and Spenser any more than he already did. He would have been wrong.

  Malena stood beside him, and she was so angry that she was trembling.

  “How much money was kept there?” she asked.

  “Over fifty million,”

  Malena stamped her foot.

  “Why the hell are they burning it?”

  “Because Tanner is the devil, and the devil cares nothing for money, only souls.”

  ***

  Scar was coming out of a restaurant that sold ice cream when he saw the Federales drive by him in an official looking vehicle. Following close behind them was a Cadillac Escalade with two huge men in the front seats.

  He dropped his triple-scooped, chocolate chip mint ice cream cone, fumbled for his cell phone, and called Amy.

  “We’re coming,” Amy said, when she answered. “We’ve just gotten into the car.”

  “No, hey, you gotta get out of there. There are four dudes headed your way. They’re coming up the hill now.”

  “Oh no, um, stay away and I’ll call you soon.”

  Amy tossed her phone on the seat, started the engine, and looked lost as to what to do next. The only way to leave the area by car was to drive down the hill, since the other direction ended at a cul-de-sac.

  There was also the option of abandoning the rental and disappearing into the nearby trees. However, beyond the initial row of decorative ash trees, the land beyond was open and offered scant shelter.

  Also, due to Emilio’s blindness, Amy doubted that they could make it far enough away in time to be out of sight of the men who were hunting them.

  Rodrigo spoke from the back seat, where he was sitting beside Emilio.

  “The men are nearby?”

  “Yes.”

  Rodrigo pointed out the rear window.

  “Go in reverse and back into the driveway two doors down. The man that lives there never closes his garage door when he leaves for work in the morning.”

  Amy did as Rodrigo asked, and yes, the garage was sitting with its door open. It was an attached garage, and it sat at the bottom of a steep incline.

  As she backed down into the spot, Amy glimpsed the front of a car appear at the top of the hill, and then she was inside the garage.

  Rodrigo hopped out and pulled the door down as Amy killed the engine.

&
nbsp; A tinny voice could be heard. It was Scar. He had stayed on the line when Amy dropped the phone onto the seat beside her.

  “Amy?”

  “Hi, we’re good. We’re hiding inside a neighbor’s garage.”

  “Shit, what do you want us to do?”

  Amy hesitated in answering as she heard the sound of car doors opening and slamming shut.

  “Amy?” Scar said.

  “Call the others and tell them to stay away.”

  “Okay, but how are you going to sneak past those guys?”

  “I wouldn’t dare try, they might chase us, but listen, I want you four to get a taxi and ride back to the motel.”

  “What then?”

  “I don’t know but—”

  Amy stopped talking as she heard voices coming from outside. It was the men from the cars, the Federales. They were talking in Spanish and sounded very close.

  Amy whispered into the phone.

  “I can’t talk; they’re here.”

  Then, she ended the call, and said a prayer.

  CHAPTER 26 – A game of catch

  While Alvarado’s thugs broke into Rodrigo and Emilio’s home, the two Federales paced out on the sidewalk in front of the property.

  Amy heard them talking when they traveled as far as the home where she, Rodrigo, and Emilio were hiding in the garage.

  The men stopped pacing and just stood on the sidewalk, and Amy hoped it was just a coincidence that they had stopped there, and that they weren’t preparing to slide up the garage door.

  Her Spanish was just so-so, but she could make out enough to know that they were talking about a series of attacks carried out on Alvarado’s people in Mexico City, which was a two hour drive south. Amy knew that the attacks must be the work of Spenser, Tanner, and Alexa, and realized that they were still too far away to call for help.

  One or both of the men must have been smoking, because the scent of the tobacco drifted into the garage. Amy’s window was down, and the breeze blew the smell of the cigarettes into the enclosed space.

  Emilio sneezed. It was a small sneeze, and he had muffled it with a hand, but the men outside abruptly ended their conversation.