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

by Remington Kane

  “I do, and will you help me, Cole?”

  “I’ll do what I can, which isn’t much. My people are actually opposed to killing Adams. They think the man would be more valuable as a snitch. My passing on information about the man is just their way of gaining favor with the agency that contracted with Burke.”

  “Would you wear a tracking device? We could give you one. If we know where you are, we’ll know where Adams is too.”

  “I do most of my work in just a pair of shorts and deck shoes, besides, there is monitoring equipment on board, I’ve seen it, and no one is allowed a phone or access to the Internet except Adams.”

  “I see, but you’re willing to help if you can?”

  “Of course, but I’ll have to go through my superiors and tell them that you know who I am, if they don’t yank me I’ll do what I can.”

  “Good, I’ll tell Mr. Burke to give his contacts assurances that you won’t be compromised. Once my asset kills Adams, we’ll both be free to move on to other projects.”

  Cole sighed.

  “You’re like me, aren’t you? Work is all you have?”

  “Yes, and it’s enough for now.”

  Cole smiled bitterly.

  “I tell myself the same lie.”

  CHAPTER 22 – Preparations

  The following morning, Sara filled Tanner in about her meeting with Cole McManus, while Deke and Alexa joined them for coffee in the conference room at The Burke UK Headquarters.

  “Is he going to be of any use?” Tanner asked. “It sounds like he’s just an observer.”

  “Cole’s superiors approved his involvement, although they think it’s risky. Like you, I’m not sure what he could do to help. It sounds as if he has little freedom aboard that yacht. Adams’ security routinely checks for wires and transmitters. Still, Cole is willing to help in any way he can.”

  “This Cole McManus told you that Adams has access to more than one yacht, but we have no way of knowing what the others are. He might also not be traveling by yacht at all,” Tanner said.

  Sara shrugged.

  “That yacht is our only lead; we have to hope that it pays off.”

  “I need to sneak aboard that yacht. I can use a Seabob to reach it if it drops anchor somewhere.”

  “That’s no good, Tanner. Cole says that Adams will be heavily guarded, even if you got aboard, leaving alive is another story, and you’ll be somewhere in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean.”

  Tanner nodded thoughtfully.

  “That Navy SEAL that drowned, Adams had him thrown overboard, he would likely do the same thing to me if he caught me.”

  “Maybe, or he might just have you shot,” Alexa said.

  Tanner looked thoughtful again, and then spoke to Deke.

  “The C4, I may have a use for it, but I’ll need your help.”

  “What are you thinking?” Sara asked.

  “A back-up plan, or more of a doomsday device. If Adams killed me before I could get to him, the C4 could insure that I didn’t fail.”

  Alexa reached over and took his hand.

  “I’d rather you’d be a living failure than a dead success.”

  “I’m not planning to fail or die, but I think I know how to kill Adams and still make it off that boat.” Tanner stood. “Deke, let’s go to that workroom of yours, we’ve a bomb to make.”

  ***

  Tanner and Deke made their bomb as Sara and Alexa watched, and when it was done, Sara smiled with approval as Tanner told her his plan.

  “It’s risky, Tanner, but it should work. Still, it’s dependent on a lot of things going just right.”

  “True, but if Adams is on another vessel besides that yacht, this bomb won’t be used at all.”

  “Just make sure you aren’t nearby when it goes off,” Sara said.

  “I won’t be, Blake, at least not too close.”

  Deke had been wiping his workbench clean with a rag when something occurred to him and he leaned back against the bench and became lost in thought. As Sara and Tanner discussed contingency plans, Alexa walked over to speak to Deke.

  “Deke? Are you in there?” Alexa said, while waving a hand in front of him.

  Deke snapped out of the trance he was in and smiled at Alexa.

  “Sorry, I was just thinking of something that might help your boyfriend if he finds himself tossed off that yacht.”

  “What is it?”

  “A breathing apparatus, a miniature one. Garber told me that he once rigged one in the heel of a boot that contained ten minutes of compressed oxygen. It was real James Bond stuff.”

  “I don’t think that there’s enough time to get it here. Could you make one?”

  “No, I don’t have the equipment or know-how.”

  “That’s okay, it’s still nice that you’re looking out for Tanner, and he likes you too, which I think is a rare thing.”

  “Yeah, he doesn’t strike me as a guy who would have a lot of close friends.”

  “And what about you?”

  “A few, guys I served with, but they’re all scattered around the country, while one or two of them are still in the Marine Corps.”

  “Sara said that you had worked as a mercenary. I can’t see you as a hired gun. You have too much integrity.”

  “You barely know me, Alexa. Maybe I’m really a selfish bastard who will do anything to get what he wants.”

  “No. I know what you’re like. I’m very good at reading people.”

  Deke stared at her.

  “Sara said that you were psychic. Is that true?”

  “Yes.”

  Deke smiled as he looked her over.

  “What am I thinking now?”

  Alexa laughed.

  “I don’t have to be psychic to guess that, and speaking of that, have you made that call to Candace?”

  “I did, and we had a very nice evening together.”

  “You saw the sights?”

  Deke smiled.

  “It was a sight, yes.”

  “You slept with her?”

  “A gentleman never tells,” Deke said primly, and then he and Alexa both laughed.

  Tanner cleared his throat as he walked over with Sara.

  “Am I interrupting something?”

  “Deke was just telling me about his date with the lovely Candace.”

  “I wouldn’t mind hearing the details of that myself,” Tanner said. “But some other time, right now, I want to go over the intricacies of our bomb again. I wouldn’t want to activate it prematurely.”

  Deke walked over to where the bomb lay.

  “I can refine the trigger. I could even add voice activation, but there’s too big a risk of it going off accidentally. The voice activation software is far from perfect.”

  “We’ll stick with the physical triggers, but I want to make a change to the timer.”

  “You’re still thinking of boarding that yacht while it’s out at sea, aren’t you?” Sara asked.

  “I am, but I’ll need McManus’ help to do it. He’ll have to lower a line over the side once it’s at anchor, otherwise, I’ll have no way to climb aboard.”

  “I’ll make contact with Cole again tonight and finalize our plans.”

  “Are you certain that he’s not being watched?” Tanner asked.

  “If he is it won’t matter; we’re meeting at a bar and then heading to a hotel. Anyone watching will think we’re having sex, not planning a hit.”

  “This McManus is a former lover of yours, so he might want to do both,” Tanner said, with a slight smile playing on his lips.

  Sara smiled back at him.

  “Then he’ll be out of luck.”

  Tanner looked her over.

  “His loss.”

  CHAPTER 23 – Captured as bait

  That night, while Sara met with McManus, Tanner decided to show Alexa around London.

  He had lived there for several weeks while a younger man, and was surprised by how many changes London’s East End had gone throug
h. Most of it was due to the former Olympic Games that were held in the area, but the changes were still taking place.

  Many warehouses were being converted into loft apartments while several trendy bars and cafes had sprouted up.

  Tanner and Alexa were enjoying one such bar that had a live local band, when Alexa left Tanner at their table to use the ladies room, which was located at the end of a hallway and near a rear exit door.

  On her way there, Alexa spotted a large Middle-Eastern looking man passing a wad of bills to a young white man in a suit who she thought might be the bar’s owner or manager.

  It had nothing to do with her, and she decided that it was some sort of low-level graft. Perhaps the bar manager was taking a bribe to let the man peddle a cheaper brand of whiskey, or for the opportunity to run a string of hookers into the bar to pick-up customers.

  Alexa had witnessed much corruption during her young life, having grown up in Mexico and being around the drug cartels. She knew that no country was immune to having its share of crime.

  Two women left the bathroom soon after Alexa had entered, while another one took the stall next to hers after she had sat down.

  The woman left her stall when Alexa stopped at the sink to wash her hands. The woman stood beside Alexa and seemed to be checking her make-up in the mirror. Alexa guessed that the short woman was a local, judging by her manner and way of dressing, despite her dusky skin tone. When she spoke and revealed a British accent, Alexa knew she had assumed correctly.

  “Are you here with your boyfriend, luv?” the woman asked.

  “Yes, he’s showing me around London.”

  “Ah, he travels a lot does he?”

  “Yes, for business,” Alexa said.

  “And did he have some business in Boston a few nights ago,” the woman asked, as she turned towards Alexa.

  Alexa tensed, and then swiveled about as the door opened and the Middle-Eastern man was standing there holding a gun.

  Alexa was about to reach for the blades she carried, which were hidden in her hair.

  She was too late though, and the woman sprayed her in the face with something that took her breath away, while weakening her knees.

  By the time she collapsed to the bathroom floor, Alexa was barely conscious.

  ***

  Sara joined Cole McManus at the same pub where they had met the night before, and after sharing a drink, McManus ordered a bottle to go. When they departed the bar, they did so to more winks and cheers from McManus’ half-drunk friends.

  “All those men don’t work on Adams’ yacht, do they?” Sara asked.

  “No, just one other man, he’s a cook, while the rest of them are guys who maintain the other vessels. Sara, I’ve been playing Shamus Breen for so long that I know the names of some of those guys’ wives and children. This hit man of yours, this Tanner, he has to come through and kill Adams. If I have to keep cleaning toilets on that yacht, I’ll go mad.”

  Sara stopped walking and stared at McManus.

  “How did you know that the asset’s name is Tanner? I never told you his name.”

  “My boss told it to me. The CIA isn’t the agency that decided to outsource the wet work to your people, but we have fingers in every other agency and know what’s going on.”

  They reached the hotel, which Sara found to be seedy, and soon they were in a small room that had a sagging bed, an ancient dresser, and a filthy bathroom.

  McManus gestured around.

  “As you may remember, I would take you somewhere nicer than this to... meet, but lowly deck hand Shamus Breen can’t afford better than this.”

  “It doesn’t matter, we’ll only be talking,” Sara said.

  McManus moved closer and cupped her face in his hands.

  “I was hoping that we might relive old times.”

  Sara stepped backwards and McManus’ hands fell away.

  “I’m here to discuss business, that’s all, Cole.”

  McManus shrugged and smiled.

  “You can’t blame me for trying, Sara.”

  Sara sighed.

  “Back to business. We’ll be tracking that yacht from a distance after it leaves the harbor. Do you have any idea where it might be headed, or when it will leave?”

  “Actually I do, I was told that we’d be shoving off tomorrow, but I don’t know what time. Meanwhile, I caught a glimpse of the charts the captain was looking over. It seems we’re headed to the east coast of America.”

  “Really? That sounds like quite a trip.”

  “It is; the damn yacht only does about thirty knots at top speed, or say about thirty-five miles an hour.”

  “What about the other boats Adams has, were you able to learn the names of them?”

  “No Sara, and I’ve been trying to do that long before you came along. The fact is, we still don’t know if Adams will even be on the yacht, and if I spot him, will it be him, or one of his doubles? The man didn’t stay alive this long by being stupid, you know?”

  “I do, but I need this hit to go down. My reputation is on the line.”

  “If Tanner is anywhere near as good as I’ve heard, Adams will die, it’s just a question of when.”

  Sara seemed to relax after hearing McManus words.

  “Tanner is the best. This will all work out.”

  “You still haven’t told me the details.”

  “Tanner will be bringing a bomb aboard the yacht.”

  “A bomb? And just how am I supposed to survive the blast?”

  “Once Tanner is aboard, he’ll set the timers on the fuses and then the two of you will use a Seabob to gain distance from the yacht. You’re still a strong swimmer, aren’t you?”

  “Hell yeah, and I’ve even used a Seabob before, but what sort of bomb are we talking about? Why would it need more than one fuse?”

  “C4, Tanner will actually be wearing it. Our gunsmith is replacing the metal plates of a bulletproof vest with C4. Tanner will insert the fuses once he’s aboard the yacht.”

  “That would work, but again, I’ll have no way of knowing if Adams is aboard until we’re underway and out at sea.”

  “I understand. That’s why we’ll need you to signal us.”

  “How?”

  “Smoke would be best, perhaps a small fire?”

  McManus sat on the bed and patted the spot next to him.

  “Come sit. I promise not to bite.”

  Sara sat beside McManus and he began to tell her about his life since they had known each other years ago. She remembered that McManus had been a rising star in the CIA, but now they had him taking undercover roles as a deck hand and he seemed to be ineffective. There was also the divorce from his wife, a young daughter he never saw, and no life outside the Agency. Sara suspected that the man also tended to drink heavily, as there were prominent veins visible on his nose, and she had seen him down several beers in quick succession when she had first come across him in the pub the night before.

  Her own bright career in the FBI had ended when she let her obsession with Tanner destroy her, and now she had tied herself to the man as a way to rise in a new arena. The irony of it all made her chuckle, and McManus asked her what was so funny.

  “My life is a mess,” Sara said.

  McManus screwed the top off of the bottle of cheap wine he’d bought and handed it to her, but not until he had downed nearly half of it in a series of gulps.

  “You’re in good company, Sara.”

  Sara took the bottle and swallowed a mouthful. The cheap wine tasted like varnish.

  McManus leaned over and kissed her.

  “Remember how good we were together, Sara? Don’t you want to feel that again, if only for one night?”

  Sara became tempted by the desire to do anything that would bring a moment of pleasure into her life, and make the emptiness inside her go away.

  Still, she pushed McManus back and stood up, then handed him his bottle.

  “Tanner will approach the boat from starboard, so you’ll
have to lower a line over on that side. And as I said, start a small fire in the galley if you can. It will act as a diversion and the smoke will be Tanner’s signal that the line has been dropped and that Adams is on that yacht.”

  McManus nodded in agreement, but said nothing.

  Before opening the door to leave, Sara looked back at him.

  “Good luck, Cole, and perhaps I’ll see you tomorrow.”

  McManus nodded again and then took a long swig from the bottle.

  Sara walked out into the nightlife of London, as thoughts of the past swirled through her mind.

  CHAPTER 24 – Turnabout is foul play

  Tanner was wondering what was taking Alexa so long to return from the rest room, when the woman who had drugged Alexa sat across from him at his table.

  Tanner’s black eye was fading, but still plainly visible, and the woman smiled as she took it in.

  “I see that someone has hurt you. That means that my employer is not the only man who wishes you harm.”

  “Your employer? What’s this about?”

  The woman slid a phone across the table that had a picture of a drugged Alexa being held up by a large man who looked like an Arab. Tanner recognized the man. He had seen him standing at the bar earlier.

  “What do you want?”

  The woman smiled.

  “I want you to follow me on foot to a nearby building. If you refuse or cause me harm, the woman will be killed.”

  “How do I know that she’s not dead already?”

  The woman sighed, made a short whispered call on her phone, and then passed it over to Tanner.

  “You’ll be getting a live feed soon. Do you know how to bring that up on that mobile?”

  “I do,” Tanner said, and then he asked the woman her name.

  “You can just call me Jane, as in Jane Doe,” the woman said, and there was a bit of Cockney accent in her tone.

  Tanner leaned closer to her.

  “If you would like to keep living, Jane, you’ll tell me where I can find my friend and then disappear.”

  “That sounds like a threat, Mr. Tanner. I may ask my friend to break one of the woman’s arms.”

  Tanner said nothing more, but brought up the live feed when the phone chirped. The man from the picture was holding up a laptop and his face filled the screen. When the man swung it to the right, Tanner saw a tearful Alexa sitting atop an office chair inside what appeared to be a warehouse.