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

by Remington Kane

  Alexa cowered when the man moved towards her and Tanner had to stop himself from smiling. Alexa was playing the role of a helpless female, something she most definitely was not. The man with her hadn’t even bothered to restrain her, and Tanner was glad to see that Alexa was thinking on her feet.

  “Talk to him,” the man told her, and after sniffling, Alexa spoke into the camera.

  “Baby, please do what they say? This man is huge, and I think they’re waiting for someone else to arrive.”

  “Are you all right?”

  “I feel okay. Whatever they drugged me with wore off, but oh, I’m so scared.”

  The man yanked the laptop back. Once again his face loomed large on the screen.

  “Follow the woman who gave you the phone. If you hurt her in any way, I will kill this bitch of yours. Do you understand me?”

  “I do,” Tanner said.

  “If you’re armed, pass your weapon to the woman, carefully. We wouldn’t want this to end in a tragedy.”

  Tanner took out the small pistol he’d been carrying in a pocket holster and passed it beneath the table to “Jane.” She placed it in her purse.

  He also had a knife hidden down the inside of his right boot, but decided to hold on to it.

  “What’s this about?” Tanner asked the man, but the screen on the phone went dead.

  “Give me back my mobile, along with your own, and follow me out of here,” the woman said.

  Tanner did so, and they walked in silence for three blocks, before turning down an alley. There was a limousine parked at the alley’s end, along with a small moving truck. Tanner knew that whoever was behind this was inside that limo, and he wondered if Julien Adams had somehow tracked him down. After following the woman into a warehouse through a side door, he saw the big man from the bar, and Alexa.

  The man asked the woman if Tanner had given her a gun, and when she produced it from her purse, he told her to point it at Tanner while he frisked him.

  It was a bad frisk and it missed the knife in his boot. That would come back to haunt the man if Tanner had his way.

  When Tanner moved towards Alexa, she jumped up and hugged him as if she were a frightened child and he was her father.

  Alexa whispered in his ear.

  “What is this?”

  “I don’t know.”

  “I have two throwing knives; I’ll make a move when you say the word, ‘hungry’, agreed?”

  Tanner whispered yes and let her know about the knife in his boot, and then he held her at arm’s length and checked her for injuries. There were none, other than a set of red eyes from the drug sprayed in her face, and the manufactured tears.

  Alexa was so beautiful. She was also very deadly, and Tanner thought that in some ways she was a mirror image of himself.

  “Did he hurt you?” Tanner said aloud.

  “He was mean and grabbed my arm roughly, but no, he didn’t do anything too bad.”

  Alexa sniffled after saying that, then looked over at the big man and quickly away. She wanted the man and the woman to think that she was terrified and not a threat. That way, they would never see her coming.

  On the left, a corrugated metal door began to rise. When it opened fully, two men in work clothes wheeled in a portable toilet atop a moving dolly. Whatever was sloshing around inside the tall green plastic box was some of the vilest human waste that Tanner had ever smelled, and standing beside him, Alexa gagged.

  In a flash, Tanner understood what was going on, and had it confirmed when Omar Ali Rashid walked in. Tanner had dunked Rashid’s head inside a portable toilet in Boston and the man wanted to return the favor.

  The roll-up door went down and Rashid smiled at Tanner.

  “We meet again, Mr. Tanner, and now it’s time to turn the tables.”

  Tanner stepped away from Alexa while blocking the view of her from the man and the woman who had brought them there, and who were both aiming guns at them. He then sent a cold smile Rashid’s way while pointing at the portable toilet.

  “I’m going to make you eat whatever is inside that shitter, Rashid, so I hope you’re hungry.”

  Behind him, Alexa freed the hidden throwing knives from her hair as Tanner charged towards Rashid, and all hell broke loose inside a London warehouse.

  CHAPTER 25 – A promise is a promise

  After trying to reach either Tanner or Alexa by phone and failing to do so, Sara received a call on her own phone.

  She was worried when she saw that it was from Conrad Burke. The only reason she could think of for Burke calling was to deliver bad news, such as informing her that he’s decided to cut Tanner from the project.

  “Hello, Mr. Burke.”

  “Miss Blake, can you talk in private?”

  Sara was climbing into her car when the call came in, and she shut the door.

  “I can talk, sir.”

  “I need to contact Tanner. Do you know where he is?”

  “No, and I’ve been trying to reach him as well. Is something wrong?”

  “I have disturbing news. It seems that Omar Ali Rashid is in London, and I’ve reason to believe that he’s out to get even with Tanner.”

  “How is that possible?”

  “Brad Grant contacted Rashid and told him who Tanner was and where to find him.”

  “If that’s true, then he was working for Sloane Lennox,” Sara said, and there was anger in her voice.

  “Miss Blake, it was Sloane who informed me of what Brad had done. He uncovered the fact that Brad had been looking through computer files that he shouldn’t have been, and an investigation uncovered the truth. Unfortunately, Sloane confronted Brad before consulting me, and Brad left the building and hasn’t been seen since.”

  “So you’re saying that he’s in the wind?”

  “Yes, and due to the sensitive nature of this, I can’t exactly ask the police to look for him, and the man is well-liked among my own security force. However, I will be hiring outside help to locate him.”

  “I’ll find him when I return to the states.”

  “If you want to handle this, you have my blessing.”

  “What about Sloane Lennox, sir, do you really believe that he’s innocent in this? You know how he feels about Tanner.”

  “Sloane has a strong opinion about Tanner, but I don’t think that he would wish the man dead, nor would he blatantly endanger the project.”

  “All right, and I’ll let you know when I hear from Tanner.”

  “You don’t sound very worried about him.”

  “I’m not, but if Omar Ali Rashid is after revenge on Tanner, you can be certain of one thing.”

  “What’s that?”

  “That Omar Ali Rashid is now a dead man.”

  “That will open up a can of worms, but it’s Rashid’s own fault. Good luck there, Miss. Blake.”

  “Thank you, sir, and if everything goes well, Julien Adams will be dead tomorrow.”

  A chuckle came over the line.

  “Miss Blake, things never go the way we think they will, just make sure that you succeed. That’s all that matters.”

  “Yes sir,” Sara said, and then the line went dead.

  ***

  Alexa let out a soft grunt as she tossed her throwing knives at the woman known as Jane and the woman’s huge accomplice.

  The knives had pink handles, and when they were in her hair they appeared to be barrettes. They weren’t barrettes, but finely balanced knives that Alexa had practiced with for many years.

  The big man received a two-inch long knife blade to his left eye, while the woman fared a little better, and Alexa’s throw embedded the knife in the woman’s right cheek, spearing her tongue. The man was incapacitated by the knife in his eye, but the woman, although injured, recovered quickly and raised her gun to shoot at Alexa, who was now unarmed.

  ***

  Tanner rushed at Rashid even as Alexa let loose with her knives.

  The two men who had brought the portable toilet inside w
ere local toughs wielding weighted batons. They raised them high as Tanner approached, even as Rashid stood frozen in place.

  Rashid had expected Tanner to beg for his life, or to plead with him to spare the life of the woman he seemed to care for, but the man was attacking him just seconds after being threatened and Rashid was stunned by his brashness.

  When he was a few feet away from Rashid, Tanner leapt up, used the pudgy man as a brace while grabbing onto his shoulders, and slammed a foot into the chests of the pair with the batons.

  All four of them collapsed to the floor of the warehouse, and even as he fell, Tanner reached for the knife in his boot.

  ***

  Alexa gave the chair that she had been sitting in a hard kick. It zipped across the concrete floor of the warehouse and slammed into Jane’s knees.

  It struck with enough force to throw off Jane’s aim and her first shot missed Alexa by a foot. The second shot went into the ceiling, as Alexa had rushed the woman and grabbed her wrist with one hand, while twisting the knife in Jane’s cheek with the other.

  Jane shrieked in pain, just as her one-eyed partner took aim at Alexa’s back. Before the man could fire, Tanner’s knife entered his throat, severing a vein, and the gun dropped from the man’s hand.

  ***

  After tossing his knife and hitting the big man in the throat, Tanner spun around and ripped a baton from the grip of one of the men who had brought in the portable toilet.

  The man said, “Hey!”, a moment before Tanner brought the ball shaped end of the baton crashing down on the side of his partner’s head. There was a sickening crunch heard, as the thug’s skull cracked, and the man reached for the other baton, which his partner had just dropped.

  He was able to grab it, but let go as Tanner broke his wrist with a vicious blow, and then followed it with one to his chin.

  Two more blows assured that the man stayed down, but then Tanner lost his grip on the baton. He had only been able to clasp it with four fingers, as his pinkie was encased in a splint.

  The blows had been enough, both of the men were out of the fight, while one appeared to be dead.

  After reclaiming the baton from the floor, Tanner turned his attention on Rashid, who had just made it to his feet and was reaching into his pocket, possibly for a weapon. Tanner whipped the baton back and prepared to strike Rashid.

  ***

  It wasn’t a weapon Rashid was reaching for, but a phone, as Rashid had handled most of life’s problems by calling someone else to deal with any difficulties that came his way.

  As a boy, he called on his families’ servants, then later, there were lawyers, or his esteemed brother. He had left his brother out of his trouble with Tanner, and for once in his pampered life, Rashid had decided to handle things himself.

  Of course, handling things himself didn’t mean that he would actually do things himself. He had hired help to assist him, and he so wanted to make Tanner beg for mercy and to disgrace the man the same way that he himself had been debased and violated, by being dunked in filth.

  With Tanner put in his place, he would then order Tanner’s death, but only after making the man watch his woman die. The people helping him would perform those acts gladly, as they had been paid handsomely to do so.

  However, his helpers were being destroyed by Tanner and Alexa, and so Rashid reverted to type and reached for his phone to call his brother. Unfortunately for Rashid, no one could help him now.

  ***

  Tanner slammed the baton against Rashid’s pocket with a succession of three quick swings that were no more than a blur. Rashid whimpered in pain, withdrew his hand from the pocket, and sobbed as he looked at his fingers, two of which were mangled and bleeding.

  A thud sounded from behind, and Tanner turned to see the woman named Jane writhing atop the floor with a gashed throat. The big man was on the floor at her side, with his own throat bleeding freely from the wound where Tanner’s knife stuck out.

  As Alexa walked over to join Tanner, while holding two guns, Tanner turned and smashed Rashid in the face with the baton.

  The blow destroyed the man’s mouth, and Rashid fell to his knees and spat out bits of broken teeth, along with gobs of blood.

  Tanner caressed Alexa’s cheek as he spoke to her.

  “Watch outside for any signs of police. This is London, and the sound of gunshots are rare. They’ll be reported.”

  Alexa nodded and looked down at Rashid.

  “What are you going to do to him?”

  “Something I promised him I’d do back in Boston. Apparently, he didn’t take me seriously.”

  “Or me,” Alexa said.

  Tanner grinned.

  “That was their biggest mistake.”

  Alexa handed Tanner his gun and stepped outside to keep watch.

  As he dragged Rashid towards the portable toilet, Rashid begged for mercy in words that sounded like gibberish. Not only were his front teeth shattered, but some of the fragments had cut his tongue. Tanner’s baton blow had also caused his lips to swell.

  Tanner took Rashid’s meaning, understood his fear and dread, but felt neither mercy nor pity for the man. Despite Sara’s admonishment that Rashid was politically connected and should be left alive, Tanner would kill him.

  The man had been warned what would happen if he sought revenge, and now it was time to pay the piper. Besides, the man had threatened Alexa’s life. That was unforgivable.

  Tanner smashed an elbow into the side of Rashid’s head and stunned the man to the brink of unconsciousness. After taking Rashid’s wallet and phone, Tanner ripped open the door of the toilet and looked inside.

  The stench was horrendous. The bowl was filled to the brim with rancid feces and urine. There were also traces of pale yellow vomit, which contained white chunks, Tanner saw, and then he understood that Rashid had transported the very toilet that Tanner had used on the man in Boston, days earlier, and into which Rashid had vomited a lobster dinner.

  So much the better, Tanner thought, and he eased Rashid into the toilet head first.

  That revived the man, but not in time to save him, and Tanner held Rashid by the legs until the bastard drowned in the feces and liquid filth.

  It took well over a minute, and Tanner wondered if Rashid, who was germophobic, had died from lack of air or pure revulsion.

  He left the body with its head still inside the bowl and went about collecting everyone’s phone, along with the woman’s purse and the men’s wallets. They would all find their way into the Thames River.

  Before leaving, Tanner bashed in the skull of the surviving man, who had been one of the men who had transported the toilet. With luck, the death of everyone involved would eliminate any connection to either himself or Alexa.

  After joining Alexa outside, Tanner went for a brisk walk in the night air, hoping that the breeze would wash the smell of that shit box from his clothes.

  It didn’t, and after returning to his hotel, he sent the garments down a trash chute along with his boots, before taking a long, hot, and very soapy shower.

  And still, he could smell the shit.

  CHAPTER 26 – It’s just a matter of time

  Tanner, shirtless, barefooted, and wearing a pair of jeans, answered a knock on his hotel room door and found Sara looking at him with a worried gaze.

  “Omar Ali Rashid is in London,” Sara said, and looked down towards the hand Tanner was keeping hidden from sight, a hand no doubt holding a gun.

  “Come in, Blake,” Tanner said. “And lock that door behind you.”

  Sara entered, and could hear the shower running from deeper in the suite. When Tanner walked over and laid the gun atop the coffee table, Sara relaxed.

  “I’ve been unable to get in contact with you or Alexa, why?”

  “Until less than an hour ago, Rashid and his people were keeping Alexa and me too busy to talk. After we handled them, I didn’t want to talk with you until I could do so in person.”

  “And why is that?
Did you think that I might have been behind Rashid’s appearance here?”

  “It crossed my mind, but I doubted it was true. Do you know how he found me?”

  “Mr. Burke called me tonight and said that it was Brad Grant’s doing... independent of Sloane Lennox.”

  “Independent? I thought he was the man’s lapdog?”

  “True, but it was Lennox that brought Brad’s guilt to Mr. Burke’s attention.”

  “And I would be willing to bet that he did so only after Alexa and I had been in Rashid’s hands.”

  Sara considered that as she nibbled at her bottom lip.

  “What time did Rashid’s people attack you?”

  “They grabbed Alexa first, to use as bait, that was around ten o’clock.”

  “Hmm, given the time difference between here and Connecticut, yes, the two events might have been coordinated, but there’s still no proof against Lennox, only Grant.”

  “Then I’ll only kill Grant when we get back,” Tanner said, as the sound of the shower water ceased.

  Sara nodded towards the bedroom and the bathroom beyond.

  “Is Alexa all right?”

  “Yes, and she killed the woman Rashid had helping him. Rashid and his people made the mistake of thinking she was defenseless.”

  “And you killed Rashid?”

  “With pleasure, as well as everyone he involved. Counting Rashid, there are five dead.”

  Sara shook her head slightly in wonder.

  “You are the deadliest man I know.”

  “It comes in handy, given my profession, but how did your meeting with McManus go?”

  Sara was about to answer when Alexa walked out of the bedroom wearing a pair of red silk pajamas. She stared at Sara, then at Tanner, and saw that there was no tension between the two of them.

  “Did you tell her about Rashid?”

  “Yes, and she tried to warn us.”

  “How did Rashid know where to find Tanner, Sara?”

  Sara explained about Brad Grant, and heard Alexa curse in Spanish.