Tanner’s hold on McManus was slipping loose, but not before he tore at his pocket and freed the key to the handcuffs.
With the key in his possession, Tanner released McManus. The CIA agent had been leaning rearward in an effort to break Tanner’s grasp on his waist, and once released, he went tumbling backwards at a great speed.
McManus’ left arm slammed into the last of the guards, who had just managed to climb back up, and the two of them went tumbling over the side while shouting in fright.
Tanner freed his wrist from the cuffs and smiled over at Adams, who had made it to his feet and had leaned against the outside cabin wall.
“Alone at last,” Tanner said.
Adams let out a shriek of fright and stumbled over to the cabin door, as he hoped to escape his fate.
That was when the second blast occurred.
A spare propane tank that was slated to be used for cooking in the galley was damaged by the first explosion. The resulting gas leak came into contact with flames and exploded. The sound of the blast was followed by screams coming from the cabin.
Adams fell again, as a man who was aflame and dressed as a cook rushed onto the deck and dived over the side.
And while the seawater did extinguish his flaming clothing, the man inadvertently set the surface of the water on fire, as there was a slick of oil floating atop it, oil mixed with fuel.
Adams’ guards, along with McManus, had their faces seared by the flames, and their cries carried up from the water.
Tanner reached out and grabbed Adams’ by the hair, to drag him closer. He then cuffed Adams’ wrist to the rail, as McManus had recently done to him.
Yet a third explosion went off, and from deep in the ship. where several tanks were stored for scuba diving. The blast tore a second hole in the hull, and was so powerful that it blew the cabin door open and left it hanging by a single hinge.
Tanner lost his balance, but managed to grab onto Adams and pull himself up, to find that he was standing at a steep angle, and forced to grab hold of the railing.
The screams of the men in the water intensified, while also sounding hoarse, and guttural.
Then, a great plume of black smoke poured out of the open cabin door, and beyond, down in the seating area of the saloon, they were flames visible.
Tanner looked out at the water and realized that the yacht was going down fast.
He showed Adams the handcuff key. The man snatched out a hand for it with eyes wide from panic and a chest heaving in fear.
Tanner tossed the handcuff key over the side and Adams whimpered and moaned.
“You deserve to drown, Adams. You deserve every ounce of the terror you’re feeling, but I have a job to do.”
Tanner stunned Adams with a knee to the chin, before dropping down behind him and wrapping his arms around the man’s neck, which he broke with a savage twist, leaving Adams’ head to hang loosely.
The angle of the sinking yacht increased and Tanner found it a struggle just to stand.
The port side of the boat was free of bodies, but there were flames burning atop the water, fed by a mixture of oil and fuel.
Tanner shielded his face as well as he could with his arms, and hoped that the wet suit he wore would protect his body.
Then he dove into the flames and sank beneath the surface.
Adams was dead, truly dead, and the hit was done.
CHAPTER 29 – Mission accomplished
When the C4 went off, Sara, Deke, and Alexa knew that something had gone wrong, because of the timing.
Tanner was to initially set the detonator on the C4 to activate the explosive after only a few minutes. However, if things had gone as planned, Tanner would have reset the detonator, detached the Seabob from the container holding the C4, and given himself and McManus more time to gain distance from the yacht.
Sara forced herself to look away from the growing cloud of smoke in the distance and took charge.
“I’ll take the wheel, Deke. You scan ahead by using the scope on your rifle. If you spot a threat, kill it.”
When Sara looked back at Alexa, she saw the worried look on her face. Sara called to her, but had to call again, as Alexa seemed lost in thought.
When Alexa finally turned and looked at her, Sara smiled.
“He’s fine. He’s a Tanner, right?”
Alexa nodded and sent a weak smile back at Sara.
Sara pointed to her bag, which was tucked under a seat.
“Take out the binoculars and search the water. It looks like Tanner will need to be picked up.”
***
Their boat’s speed got them to the area in short order, but not before a second, and then a third and final explosion went off. Sara slowed their approach at that point and they could see that the yacht was listing to starboard and on fire.
Deke spotted the bodies floating in the water first, and Alexa trained the binoculars on each one, while praying that Tanner would not be among them.
“They look burned,” Alexa said.
Because of the current, the bodies were floating in their direction, and possibly being pushed along by the waves of heat the huge fire burning atop the water produced. In the center of the flames, only the upper section of the yacht’s mast remained above the water, it was jutting out at a steep angle and turning black from the smoke.
Sara slowed the boat even more to navigate around the blaze, while also trying to avoid the smoke being blown towards them by the sea breeze. As she moved closer, she caught sight of the floating corpse of Cole McManus.
McManus’ face was charred on one side while his hair was singed. His mouth was locked in a rictus of pain, but other than the burns on his neck and face, Sara saw that the rest of his body had been spared the flames.
It came to her then, and she understood that McManus’ likely cause of death was from inhaling the superheated fumes of the fire, when one of the explosions occurred.
Sara was circumnavigating the flames when Deke spotted movement to their right, about fifty yards away.
It was Tanner.
Alexa laughed with relief, as did Sara, while Deke readied a line with an attached life preserver and tossed it to Tanner.
Tanner had suffered a minor burn on his left cheek while diving through the flames, but was otherwise all right, and he responded to Alexa’s kiss before speaking to Sara.
“McManus had orders to turn me over to Adams. His heart wasn’t in it though, and he actually apologized as he did it.”
“Cole made his choice and it cost him, but how are you, Tanner?”
“I’m good, Blake, and Adams is dead. They’ll find his body handcuffed to a piece of the ship’s railing.”
Sara smiled and grabbed a satellite phone.
“Deke, please take us back in. While you’re doing that, I’ve a call to make to Mr. Burke.”
“You got it, Sara,” Deke said.
Deke headed the boat back towards London, as above them, the sky began to darken towards night.
***
The following morning, they were all gathered in the conference room at Burke UK and staring at a video image of Conrad Burke over a secured connection.
“The body has been recovered and verified to be the real Julien Adams. Good work, Tanner, and congratulations Miss Blake.”
“Thank you, sir,” Sara said. “And I’ll be back by this evening. We’re headed to the airport after this meeting.”
“I’d like to see you here as well, Tanner,” Burke said. “I want to discuss what Brad Grant did. I assure you that Sloane Lennox had no part in that. I know Sloane well, and yes, the man can be an ass at times, but he would never be behind a stunt like that.”
“That ‘stunt’ could have gotten Alexa killed, Burke, but I’ll give Lennox the benefit of the doubt. Brad Grant won’t be so lucky.”
“I hear you, and I hope you’ll keep working with us. The government was pleased with the results.”
“Is there more work?”
�
�I believe so, my contact said that he’ll get back to me with the details, but from what he said, it sounds domestic, and will keep you in the states.”
“I’m willing,” Tanner said, “But I want to renegotiate our terms.”
Burke sighed.
“How much more do you want?”
Tanner shook his head.
“The same million I was paid last time, but I want Deke here on call, and he’ll get five percent of that million, on top of whatever you’re paying him, also, send a one-time payment of fifty grand Garber’s way. If he hadn’t trained me to use the Seabob, this hit would have never happened.”
Deke placed a hand on Tanner’s shoulder.
“That’s damn generous, Tanner, but I was just doing my job, man.”
“You deserve it, Deke.”
“What about Miss Blake, Tanner?” Burke asked.
Tanner turned his head and looked at Sara.
“I’m sure you pay her well already, Burke.”
Sara smiled.
“I’m well compensated, yes.”
“I’ll see that the money is handled when the next contract comes in,” Burke said. “Oh, and Miss Blake, expect a raise in pay. I also like to reward talent.”
“Thank you, sir.”
“Have a good flight home, people,” Burke said, and ended the call.
***
Before climbing into the limo that would take them to the airport, the group said goodbye to the vivacious Candace Oliver.
Deke’s farewell took longer, as he and Candace shared several kisses among whispers.
Sara smirked as Deke settled beside her in the rear of the limo.
“I’m glad that one of us enjoyed themselves while we were in London.”
“Yeah, Candace was fun to be around,” Deke said, “And I’ll miss her.”
An hour later, they were on the Burke corporate jet and headed home.
Mission accomplished.
CHAPTER 30 – An offer to stay
A few days later, Sara was back in Connecticut and rummaging through a storage unit. She was loading up her car with things she would take to her new apartment.
She would be taking the unit in Deke’s building and stop living out of a hotel room. It was one more step towards building a new life, and although she wasn’t happy, she was feeling more contented and settled.
As she stooped to grab a box of DVD’s from the bottom of a bookcase, Sara heard someone enter the unit behind her and slam down the metal door. The storage unit was a ten-foot square cube of space that had thin steel walls and a concrete floor.
It was mid-morning on a weekday and the nearest person around was the clerk in the office, which was located far from Sara’s unit.
Sara collapsed atop the floor in pain, as a Taser was pressed against her neck.
When she rolled onto her back, she squinted at the light in the ceiling, then realized that Brad Grant was standing over her. Sara found herself helpless to stop Grant as he proceeded to bind her wrists together.
***
By the time Sara recovered from the Taser blast, her hands were bound behind her back and there was a strip of tape covering her mouth.
Grant had propped her up in a corner and was sitting before her in a folding chair. Brad Grant hadn’t shaved in days and had the beginnings of a beard, while his hair had been cut very short.
He smiled down at Sara.
“I hear through the grapevine that Tanner killed Adams, the lucky bastard.”
Sara spoke, but her words came out muffled behind the tape.
Grant took out a gun from his jacket pocket and pointed it at Sara.
“I’ll remove the tape, but if you scream I’ll shoot you.”
Sara nodded her understanding, and Grant ripped off the tape, but only after his eyes roamed over her body.
After taking a moment to moisten her dry lips, Sara asked a question.
“Did you contact Omar Ali Rashid on Sloane Lennox’s orders?”
“No, Lennox didn’t know shit about it. I did it on my own to open up a slot for Maurice Scallato. It was Scallato’s idea to contact Rashid.”
“You communicate with Scallato?”
“Yeah, but only over the Internet. I’ve been trying to get him here ever since I found out that Burke was starting a wet works division for the government. The man would have been perfect, but instead, you forced Tanner on us.”
“Tanner is better than Scallato,” Sara said.
“How do you know that?”
“Tanner is better than anyone.”
Grant laughed.
“I knew it. You’re fucking Tanner, aren’t you? You’ll fuck that piece of shit but won’t give me the time of day? What a cunt.”
Sara tried to free her hands but found it useless. She decided to keep Grant talking if she could. If he was talking, he wouldn’t be doing other things, and she had caught the gleam of lust in his eyes as he looked her over.
“What exactly did Scallato advise you to do, Brad?”
“I told him what was going on and he asked me to contact Rashid and give him Tanner’s whereabouts. He said if Tanner was as good as he thinks he is, then he shouldn’t have a problem handling Rashid.”
“How do you contact him? What email address is he using?” Sara asked.
Grant hadn’t heard her; he was occupied with looking her over again. Sara was dressed in an old pair of jeans and a white sweatshirt.
The shirt had ridden up to reveal her midsection, which was taut and tanned. Having Sara bound and helpless was giving Grant bad ideas.
He roughly plastered the piece of tape back over her mouth and then moved his hands under her sweatshirt to fondle her breasts through the fabric of her bra. When she kicked out at him and just barely missed his crotch, Grant punched her hard twice on the chin, and Sara had to fight to stay conscious.
Grant was yanking down Sara’s jeans when the door behind him slid up and a voice shouted a command.
“Police, put your hands in the air!”
Grant foolishly reached down for his gun and the cop and his partner fired their weapons, striking him six times.
Grant moaned and fell atop Sara. She watched the light fade from his eyes, even as his blood soaked into her shirt.
***
Hours later, Tanner grimaced as he looked at the bruise on Sara’s chin, and by the slow, deliberate way she spoke, he could tell that her jaw ached.
“The son of a bitch tried to rape you?”
“Yes, and he might have, if the clerk in the office hadn’t been watching the surveillance cameras when Brad entered my storage unit. He’d been holding only a Taser at the time, but the clerk thought it was gun and she called the cops.”
They were inside Sara’s apartment, which was filled with cartons from her storage unit. She didn’t have a bed, but the delivery truck was due at any time, and so she asked Tanner to meet with her there, since she couldn’t leave the apartment and miss getting her delivery.
When she told Tanner that Grant said that Maurice Scallato was behind Rashid’s appearance in London, the hit man surprised her by smiling.
“It sounds like someone doesn’t like competition,” Tanner said.
“This could be serious, Tanner. Do you think Scallato has targeted you?”
“No, I think he saw an opportunity to get me out of the way without dirtying his hands and he took it. If I’m not around, Burke might use him to fulfill contracts, so like I said, he probably looks on me as competition.”
“Is he really as good as you are?” Sara asked.
“We’re in the same league, there’s no doubt about that, and if the rumors are true, Scallato is the man who did the hit on that Saudi prince last month. That was a nice piece of work, given that the man was being guarded inside an underground bunker at the time. Scallato sneaked by all the security measures, killed the prince, and escaped without once being seen. Masterful, and it’s no wonder that his nickname is ‘The Ghost.’”
&nbs
p; “You admire him, then?”
“I admire his work.”
“If he does view you as a threat, you may have to kill him someday.”
“Yes.”
“I’m going to research Scallato.”
“Why?”
“As a precaution, the more we know about him, the better prepared we’ll be in case he makes another move against you.”
“I have no objections, but I doubt you’ll find anything,” Tanner said.
They then grew silent as they stared at each other. The silence wasn’t awkward or uncomfortable, nor was it the easy silence that occurs between two friends. It was simply silence, and neither Tanner or Sara felt the need to end it.
When the buzzer on the wall sounded off, Sara broke eye contact and walked over to the intercom beside the door.
“Yes, who is it?”
“We’re delivering your new bed,” A young male voice told her, and Sara hit a button that would unlock the door downstairs.
Tanner gestured at the cartons scattered around.
“A new start, hmm?”
“Yes, at least I hope so.”
They stared at each other again, until Tanner sent her a nod and walked towards the door to leave.
“I’ll see you around, Blake,” Tanner said. He stepped out of the apartment, and in the hallway, the elevator doors opened and two burly men walked off and began leaning the sections of Sara’s new bed against a wall.
Tanner watched the men until they carried a metal bedframe into the apartment.
“Would you like me to stay until after they set-up the bed?”
Sara’s mouth parted in surprise and her eyes narrowed.
“Why Tanner, are you offering to help me break in the mattress?”
Tanner let out a sigh.
“No Blake, but after what Grant tried to do to you earlier... I thought that you might be a little wary of being alone with two strange men.”
Sara walked over and gently placed her hand on his arm.
“I’m sorry. That was very thoughtful of you to offer to stay, but no, I’ll be all right. I’m tougher than I look.”
“Don’t I know it,” Tanner said.
He let her hand slip away and stepped aboard the elevator. The two of them stared at each other once again, until the elevator closed and carried him away.
The TANNER Series - Books 10 -12 (Tanner Box Set Book 4) Page 40
