Tanner handed Sara back her phone.
“It looks like I’ll have to kill the bastard again.”
CHAPTER 18 – Far enough
Tanner and Alexa arrived at the Burke corporate campus the following morning to find Sloane Lennox and Brad Grant standing outside on the curb, as if they had been awaiting their arrival.
There were also six armed security guards with Sloane, who spoke to Tanner while hiding behind them.
“Mr. Tanner, I see that Brad’s assertion that you were a benefactor of unusually good fortune is proving to be true. It also appears as if your luck ran out in Greece. You failed Tanner. I’ll not only get Conrad Burke to replace you on this project, but I’ll also see to it that you return every dime we paid you.”
Tanner didn’t even bother to answer Lennox. He had spotted Sara standing near the building’s entrance and walked over to join her.
Sara smiled in greeting.
“Ignoring Lennox was the best way to handle him.”
“The man is a joke,” Tanner said.
Sara led Tanner and Alexa through a locked door that would avoid the metal detectors. The guard at the desk studied Tanner with interest, knowing that he was likely armed if he were being escorted through that door.
Sara sent the guard a nod and a wave and headed for a bank of elevators, while Tanner and Alexa followed.
Sara swiped a keycard across a panel and one of two gold elevators opened. Tanner, Alexa, and Sara stepped aboard just as Lennox and his entourage approached. Brad Grant was about to step onto the elevator, but Tanner pushed him back.
“Get your own.”
Grant’s face twisted into a look of hate and he pointed a finger at Tanner.
“You and I are going to go head-to-head someday, Tanner.”
Alexa smiled at Grant.
“If that ever happened, it would be the last day of your life.”
Grant’s hateful gaze turned to stare at Alexa, but he said nothing more and the elevator doors closed.
Sara sighed.
“I have to warn you. Mr. Burke is not happy this morning and he’s leaning towards removing you from this project.”
“What did you have to say about that?”
“I explained to him that regardless of what he decided, that you would kill Adams if it was the last thing you ever did.”
“That’s exactly right, Blake. I’m glad to see that someone here gets it.”
“Oh, I understand you, Tanner, maybe even better than you know.”
Tanner stared at Sara, but she was facing the doors and wore no expression. She was dressed in a conservative gray business suit with a skirt that hung down to the tops of her knees, but Tanner thought that the suit did little to disguise the curvy body beneath it.
Sara’s raven hair gleamed beneath the fluorescent lights of the elevator, her lips and nails shined with red gloss, and she wore a scent that Tanner found intoxicating.
Tanner’s feelings for Sara once bordered on hatred. But while they spent time together in Guambi, his animosity towards her lessened, and he even found her pleasant to be around. Recently, she became his advocate, and because of their tumultuous past, each of them knew the other in ways that no one else did, and there was mutual respect.
Looking at her in the elevator, Tanner wondered if they would ever put their past behind them where it belonged and come to trust each other. He hoped so, because despite their past, he liked her, although he would probably never admit it.
The elevator doors opened onto the outer office of Burke’s CEO and a middle-age blonde introduced herself as Burke’s executive assistant. Her name was Ella, and she escorted them into Burke’s office.
As Tanner stepped inside, Burke stared at him with a harsh gaze, but waited to speak until after his assistant had closed the door upon her departure.
“I am not happy with your failure, Tanner.”
“I can understand that, Burke, but it doesn’t mean that I give a damn. I killed Adams on that rooftop in Greece, or at least I thought that I had, but after thinking it over, I’ve an idea what actually happened.”
Before Burke could ask Tanner to elaborate, Brad Grant entered the room followed by Lennox, the six guards, and an apologetic looking Ella. Burke pointed at the guards and told them to wait for Lennox in the outer office with his assistant.
Lennox protested, while gesturing towards Tanner.
“We may need them to protect us from this animal here.”
“They aren’t cleared to listen to what we’ll be discussing, but Grant can stay.”
Lennox didn’t look pleased by the decision, but accepted it and stood to the left of Burke’s desk with Brad Grant standing in front of him like a human shield.
“I want Tanner dismissed, Conrad. The man is obviously incompetent.”
“Be silent for a few moments, Sloane, Tanner has a theory I want to hear.”
“I think that Adams is using doubles,” Tanner said. “I killed one of them thinking he was Adams. The ex-Navy SEAL who reported that he shot Adams in the head was likely deceived the same way I was.”
Burke nodded at that.
“That would explain how the man is still alive, and perhaps he was never on that island at all.”
“No,” Tanner said. “He was there, and I believe that he was the man I saw the first time I attempted to kill him. The real Adams was the man who ran inside the safe room. I also think that he was on that rooftop, although I didn’t recognize him.”
“Explain that statement,” Burke said.
“The Adams I killed was holding a gun while the guard standing beside him was unarmed. I thought it odd at the time, but I was focused on killing the man I thought was Adams and didn’t give it much concern. I was also fighting to stay alive myself.”
A small smile appeared on Burke’s lips.
“That is a nasty shiner you have there. But this unarmed guard, did he resemble Adams at all?”
“Most of his face was hidden behind sunglasses and a hood. But if that was Adams, he got a good look at me.”
The phone atop Burke’s desk buzzed softly while also blinking rapidly. Burke answered it and learned that he had an important call. He told his assistant to send it through and asked Tanner to hold on for a moment.
When Burke hung up, he reached for a remote atop the desk and activated the huge flat screen TV that took up most of the rear wall. Tanner, Sara, and Alexa stood and turned to see what Burke wanted to show them.
“I had someone take pictures of the man we believed was Adams. The pictures, video actually, was taken in the morgue in Greece, and it’s enlightening.”
Lennox spoke up, as a sour look crossed his distinguished face.
“I do hope that this video isn’t too graphic, Conrad.”
“Relax, Sloane, you’ll be able to keep your breakfast down. In fact, we’ll only be looking at a lip.”
“A lip?” Sara said, as one appeared on the screen. It was a close-up, and on the huge screen the lip was the size of a torso. Someone was pulling it down from the lower teeth of the corpse and it was plain to see the tattoo on the inner lip.
The tattoo read, #2.
Sara pointed at the screen.
“Tanner is right. Adams is using body doubles, and I would bet that the man the Navy SEAL shot in the head had a tattoo on his lip as well, although with a different number.”
Sloane waved a dismissive hand at the screen.
“This is interesting, but let us not forget that it doesn’t change the fact that Tanner failed, and failed miserably. Not only is Julien Adams still alive, but now we have no idea where he is, and it could take months to locate him.”
Tanner walked over to Lennox, who cowered behind Grant.
“This is only a delay. I never fail, and I never fail because I never quit. I will kill Adams, if not today then soon, because I won’t stop until he’s dead.”
Lennox looked away from Tanner’s intense eyes and spoke to Burke.
“I say that we fire Tanner and hire that Sicilian that Brad mentioned, from all accounts he’s better than Tanner.”
Alexa said, “No one is better than Tanner at killing. Bringing in someone else would only be a waste of time. Tanner will kill Adams.”
“No one asked your opinion, young lady,” Lennox said.
Sara leaned over Burke’s desk to stare down at her boss.
“Would you like my opinion? After all, this is my project.”
Burke gestured for her to continue.
“Give me a week to locate Adams and let Tanner do what he was hired to do. This is simply a setback, nothing more and nothing less. Tanner will kill Julien Adams and I’m willing to stake my future in the company on that.”
Burke stared up at Sara for several seconds, and then spoke.
“We’ll meet back here in a week and reevaluate, if it’s needed, in the meantime, use whatever resources you require in order to locate Adams... the real Adams.”
“I still think that we should hedge our bets by bringing in that Sicilian,” Lennox said.
“No Sloane, Tanner is our man and we’ll stick with him. I trust that he and Miss Blake will get the job done. Now that’s it, everyone leave. I’ve other work to do.”
Lennox marched out in a huff with Brad Grant following, dismissed the other guards, and then entered a hallway to walk to his own office.
Sara, Tanner, and Alexa took the elevator down several flights to Sara’s office. Her office was large and had a view of the man-made lake at the center of the campus. She also had an assistant, a young Asian woman who looked Alexa over with interest while only glancing at Tanner.
“Mariah, please bring me everything we have on Julien Adams, both hard files and digital.”
“Yes Sara, and is there anything else? Coffee maybe?”
“Coffee sounds good, bring a carafe and three cups.”
After her assistant left, Sara spoke to Tanner.
“I’ll understand if you don’t want to help in the search for Adams, since going through the files is likely a waste of time, but it’s all I can think to do at the moment.”
Tanner smiled.
“I actually have a lot of experience tracking down a target by looking through files and paperwork. Being a hit man isn’t all bang bang shoot ‘em up.”
“Sara?” Alexa said.
“Yes?”
“Is Deke here today? There’s something I’d like to ask him.”
“Um, yes, he’s in his workshop inside the armory. Do you remember where it is?”
“I can find it.”
“Hold on, you’ll need a visitor’s pass.”
Sara walked out to her assistant’s desk where she grabbed a swipe card from a middle drawer and handed it to Alexa.
“Use that to access the elevators, but Garber or Deke will need to let you into the armory.”
Alexa thanked Sara and then kissed Tanner.
“I’ll be back soon.”
“All right,” Tanner said.
After Alexa left, Sara made an observation.
“You must have a relationship built on trust. Deke is a good looking guy.”
“I don’t own Alexa, and yes, I trust her.”
“And do you trust me?”
Tanner smiled.
“About as far as I could throw you.”
Sara reached over and gave his biceps a squeeze.
“That might be far enough.”
CHAPTER 19 – Ship ahoy!
Deke smiled wide as he saw that his visitor was Alexa.
After letting her inside the armory, he led her back to where his workshop was, and they settled beside each other on an old black leather sofa.
“It’s good to see you, Alexa. Is this visit one for business or just to shoot the breeze?”
“I just came to talk. It’s not often that I find someone as interested in edged weapons as I am. Most people love their guns.”
“Ain’t that the truth, but I was a sword junkie growing up and took fencing lessons. Guns were never a big deal to me, since my family was in the business, but swords were cool, and I love a finely balanced knife.”
They began talking about the exotic knives and swords that they had used and come across over the years, and the time flew.
At one point, Deke had to see to a matter that needed his attention, as Garber asked him to lend a hand with something. When he returned, he took out his phone and showed Alexa photos of his collection of bayonets.
“How old are those, Deke?”
“Most are from the American Civil War.”
Deke brought up more photos, and Alexa laughed when she saw what looked like miniature bayonet blades.
“What are those?”
“They’re also bayonets, and very old. My grandfather collected them. They were for pistols, believe it or not.”
“You have quite a collection.”
“This is nothing. There’s a museum in Pennsylvania for edged weaponry. Whenever I go there I hate to leave.”
“That sounds awesome, I’ll have to go there someday.”
“Alexa, what do you do for a living?”
“I had my own jewelry store for a time, but I sold it in order to get revenge on Alvarado.”
“What’s the story behind that, or is that too personal?”
“I’ll tell you, but not here. Let’s go get something to eat; I skipped breakfast.”
“All right, and the cafeteria here isn’t bad. They make a mean omelet.”
As they were riding up in the elevator, Deke moved close to Alexa and asked a question.
“You and Tanner, that’s serious?”
“Yes,” Alexa said.
“That’s what I thought. Brad Grant was right; Tanner is a lucky man.”
***
Up in Sara’s office, she and Tanner were looking through every photo they had of Julien Adams, as they searched for a lead to his whereabouts.
“Are you certain that the man has no close ties to family or friends?” Tanner asked Sara.
“He was an only child whose mother was an orphan, and both his parents are now dead. There are cousins on his father’s side of the family, but Adams never met them because they grew up in different areas of the country.”
“What about friends, the man must have some?”
“All his so-called friends help him out for financial reasons. The government spread the word that Adams was doing something illegal, although they never formally accused him of aiding terrorists. If he ever had any real friends, he broke ties with them a long time ago.”
Tanner picked up a photo of a yacht and stared at it. The ship was named the Sea Stalker. A younger Julien Adams was standing at the yacht’s railing and staring down at the camera. It was an old publicity photo for an investor newsletter that Adams ran years earlier.
“I wonder if he still owns this boat,” Tanner said, as he handed the photo to Sara.
“The records say that he sold it years ago, but... never mind.”
“What were you going to say, Blake?”
“It’s nothing, it’s just that I saw a yacht in Rhodes, Greece that looked very much like this one. It had a similar name as well, it was called the Sea Beast.”
“Can your assistant look into who owns that boat now, the one you saw?”
“Why? It’s just a coincidence.”
“It likely is, but it may also be something, and right now we need something. I will kill Adams, but I don’t want to spend the rest of my life looking for him.”
Sara had her assistant, Mariah, look up anything having to do with a yacht named the Sea Beast. Not knowing the ship’s registry, her assistant came up with dozens of possibilities. Once they were sorted through by class and size, Mariah was able to whittle the list down to three yachts, and she sent Sara everything she had been able to find concerning them.
By carefully comparing the photos of the three ships named the Sea Beast with Adams’ Sea Stalker, they brought the list down to one,
and that one looked like a perfect match.
“If it’s not the same boat, I’d say that it’s the exact same model,” Sara said.
“They’re the same, I’m sure of it.” Tanner said, as he studied photos of the yachts beneath a magnifying glass. “There aren’t many yachts of that size, and look at the design of the windows. Those are custom-made marine windows. Both yachts have the same type.”
Sara took the magnifying glass from Tanner and studied the photos. The ships seemed the same to her, and she smiled as she looked over at Tanner.
“When I saw this boat, there was a man working aboard it that I recognized. His name is Cole McManus and when I knew him he was a CIA agent, but the man working with him called him Shamus.”
“Did he spot you?”
“No, but you realize what this means, don’t you?”
Tanner nodded.
“It means that Adams still owns this yacht. I’d also be willing to bet that this McManus is the mole in Adams’ organization.”
“Exactly.”
“Where is the ship at now?”
“It’s on a course for London and Adams was holding up a UK newspaper in the photo he sent us. He must have flown ahead, and his decision to flaunt the fact that he was still alive will come back to bite him in the ass.”
“Good work, Blake.”
“Thanks Tanner, but it was mostly luck, and now we have to cash in on it.”
“Get that jet pointed towards London. It’s Adams’ time to die.”
CHAPTER 20 – Smiles and frowns
Sara asked Deke to join them on their trip to London. Tanner didn’t object, as he had found the man to be an asset in his first attempt to kill Adams.
Deke said that he would be happy to come along, and Tanner didn’t miss the smile on Alexa’s face when Deke agreed to join them.
While on the flight to London, Tanner asked Alexa about Deke.
“You like him a lot, don’t you?”
She grinned at him.
“Are you jealous?”
“No, but I am concerned. I would hate to lose you.”
Alexa kissed Tanner, a long passionate kiss. When it ended, she stared into his eyes.
“I’m with you. Deke and I are just friends and he understands that.”
The TANNER Series - Books 10 -12 (Tanner Box Set Book 4) Page 35
