“Tough break,” Joe said, although he didn’t care if the men lived or died.
“I’ll talk him out of it, somehow,” Rico said.
“Sure,” Tanner said. “But for now, you let him know that Joe is ready to make peace.”
“And what about you, Tanner, where will you run to?”
“I’ll be leaving for Mexico. I’m going to kill Alonso Alvarado.”
Rico laughed so hard that it made the staples in his head hurt.
“Oh God, you’re either a madman or a fool. There’s no way into that compound, and even if you made it inside, you’d never get to Alonso. Also, there is a price on your head, and you can be sure that every punk in Mexico will be looking to cash in.”
Tanner shrugged.
“You asked me my plans and I told you.”
The meeting ended and Rico called Juan to set up a get-together with Joe.
“The man is ecstatic. This will make him look big in his father’s eyes.”
“He’ll die happy,” Tanner said. “But when do you plan to kill him?”
“I’ll do it when we break the news to Krupin that he’s out and Pullo is in. Then, I’ll frame Krupin for Juan’s death, and afterwards, I will have to give Alonso the bad news.”
“And you’re certain he’ll leave you here to run things?”
“I am; I was being groomed for such a position already. It’s only natural that I step in and take Juan’s place.”
“So you’re saying that Alonso Alvarado trusts you?” Tanner said.
“Yes he does.”
Tanner smiled.
“It’s good to know the man’s a fool; it will make him that much easier to kill.”
***
Outside the Hotel Rutherford, seven hours later
“I would wish you good luck, Tanner, but the truth is, I hope you die.”
“Same here, Nazario, but tell me, what will Alvarado think when you go back and tell him you survived a gas attack. Your eyes aren’t even red.”
Rico cursed.
“I hadn’t thought of that.”
“You’re in luck, I did.”
Tanner sprayed Rico in the face with pepper spray. Rico let out a yell and began rubbing at his eyes.
“It’s pepper spray, Rico, and now you look like the survivor of a gas attack.”
Tanner got in his car and started the engine.
“You don’t have to thank me,” Tanner said, as he drove away from the scene of yet another massacre.
CHAPTER 28 - Sandoval
Damián Sandoval was an average-looking man wearing an expensive suit and sitting inside an armored limo in Mexico City.
Dante held the door open as Alexa slid in to sit across from Sandoval, and then he sat beside her and closed the door.
When Sandoval held out his hand, Dante passed over the hard drives Alexa had stolen from Alvarado’s compound.
Alexa was dressed in jeans and a dark-green T-shirt, because she had Dante stop to retrieve her van. Had they not stopped, she would have been forced to meet Sandoval dressed in her blood speckled camouflage cape, or sit across from the man while half naked and dressed in her whore’s disguise.
Neither would have been acceptable to her, but given the way Sandoval was eyeing her, he might have preferred the whore clothes.
Damián Sandoval was still handsome and trim at forty-nine, and had started life in the drug trade as a simple street soldier. He had worked his way up in the old Mercoto Cartel, which had control of the state of Tamaulipas. He had taken over after killing Hector Mercoto in a bold move that made him a legend.
Now, it was known that he wanted Mexico City, wanted it back actually, and that meant that Alonso Alvarado, a man he once worked for, had to go.
“You are a very beautiful woman, Anna, and of course, that is not your real name.”
“Does my name matter?”
“No, not at this point, but you are as lucky as you are beautiful. If Dante here hadn’t been one of the men sent to track you down, Alvarado would be torturing you at this very moment.”
“I know, and I’m grateful.”
“You are also brave, I know of only one man who would have risked going into that compound alone, and you’re just a woman. You should be rewarded for your bravery. I will give you ten-thousand dollars for the hard drives.”
“Thank you,” Alexa said. She hadn’t expected any reward, but by talking to Sandoval, she hoped to learn something of value. She also let his, “just a woman” comment pass, since there was no point in angering the man. “Tell me, Mr. Sandoval, are you planning to attack Alvarado anytime soon?”
“No, I placed Dante inside simply to gather information. However, any attack would not have happened for months.”
“Would you change your mind if you had an ally?”
Sandoval smiled.
“Are you talking about yourself?”
“I am, but I’m also talking about the man named Tanner.”
“The American? I hear he is causing Alonso much grief in New York City, but what does he have to do with what’s happening here?”
“Nothing yet, but he’s a Tanner, and I believe he’ll be coming for Alonso Alvarado.”
“No, young lady, that man Tanner will soon be dead.”
Alexa shrugged.
“You may be right, but if that man comes here, will you help us?”
“Us? You know this man?”
“No, but I’m going to look for him, and I will find him.”
Sandoval cocked his head as he studied her.
“You are a strange woman, do you know that?”
“So I’ve been told, but will you help us?”
“If such a miracle occurred I would consider giving assistance, but here is my advice to you. Take the money I’m paying you for the hard drives and head to the United States. I will even help you to travel under a new identity, but once you’re there, find a nice place to hide, because believe me, Alonso Alvarado will be looking to flay you alive.”
***
At that very moment inside Alvarado’s compound, the man himself was in a state of rage.
“A woman! One goddamn woman manages to breach our security and kill several men. How is such a thing possible?”
The man he was screaming at was his head of security, and the man was wise enough to bow his head and speak in a quiet tone.
“I will investigate, but she must have had help from that guard, Dante. Joaquin tells us that Dante helped the girl escape.”
Alvarado was standing on his crutches, but the rage was making him shake, and so he sat in his special chair.
“Leave me, and don’t come back here until you’ve searched the entire compound.”
“Yes sir.”
“Wait! There’s one more thing. The whores and the men that brought them here, kill them all.”
“Sir?”
“I can’t have word of this getting out. People must believe that this compound is impenetrable.”
The man looked like he wanted to say something in defense of the women; instead, he simply nodded.
“I’ll see to it myself.”
“Do that, and check this damn compound, every square inch.”
***
The compound was searched as Alvarado demanded, and it became apparent that a guard was missing.
When another guard walked over to look down the alcove that led to Carlos Ayala’s bedroom, he spotted the blue bath rug and bent over to pick it up.
One minute after that, the body of Carlos “the accountant” Ayala was found, and Alexa soon had a price on her head as well.
CHAPTER 29 – Red meat
When Rico returned to the office building where Juan Alvarado made his home, his eyes were still burning from the pepper spray.
As painful as it had been, Tanner had actually helped him, because one look in the mirror told Rico that he truly looked like someone who had survived a gas attack. So much the better, he needed Juan to trust him.
/> He was let into the suite by one of Juan’s guards, where he saw that Juan and Joe Pullo were dining on a late night meal of steak, while laughing together over something.
Rico had been worried that Juan and Pullo might not get along, but Joe had adopted just the right amount of fawning to stroke Juan’s ego and make him feel in control. The meal itself was part of Rico’s plan, and Rico was glad to see that Pullo had played along.
Juan stared at Rico in amazement after Rico explained what had happened.
“They’re all dead?”
“Yes, one other man made it and was running for the doors with me... but he tripped, and then I was alone.”
“But... Tanner was in there, right?”
“No, Juan, the whole thing was a trick. Mike Conti must be working with Tanner; the two of them set this up.”
Joe steeled himself and then uttered words he hated saying.
“Now you know why I broke things off with Tanner. The man is a maniac. If not for him, I would have made peace with Krupin a week ago.”
Juan sank back down in his seat at the table, in front of his half-eaten steak.
“Oh God, all those men; and my father will blame this on me, you’ll see, but you remember Rico. It was my father that insisted we go into that building.”
Rico tried to hide his disgust. Tanner had lured them into the building, yes, but it was Juan who had given the order to rush in after the man.
“Listen,” Joe said. “Don’t you think it’s time we broke the news to Krupin? I want to see his face when he finds out he’s lost everything.”
Juan sighed.
“Poor Michael, but you’re wrong, Joe, he hasn’t lost everything. I will let him work for me, like a flunky. And at least he gets to live, which is more than can be said for Tanner. I’m going to ask my father to raise the reward for Tanner. That should ensure his death.”
Joe forced a smile, even as he wanted to reach out and strangle Juan. If Rico didn’t kill the punk soon, Joe would beat him to it.
Juan grabbed a phone from his pocket and called a guard.
“Bring Michael Krupin to my suite; I have some news to tell him.”
As they waited, Juan issued Rico an order.
“I want you to kill Mike Conti for his betrayal.”
“He’s probably hiding,” Joe said. “He’d have to know that you’d come looking for him.”
“Can you help with that, Joe?” Rico asked. “You know the man, where he would hide.”
Joe nodded, as he took Rico’s meaning. Rico was going to let him decide Conti’s fate.
“Yeah, don’t worry, I’ll find Conti and take care of him.”
The door opened and Michael Krupin was let into the room by one of the guards. Krupin was wearing Jeans, a white T-shirt, and bedroom slippers. He also looked as though he had just been woken up.
As the door closed behind him, he blinked several times as he stared at the three men, and then rubbed his eyes as if he didn’t believe what he was seeing.
“Pullo?”
Joe stood and walked over to him.
“It’s me, Krupin.”
Krupin cringed as if he expected Joe to attack him, but instead, Joe offered his hand.
The gesture went unanswered, and Juan called over to Krupin.
“Shake his hand, Michael; we’re all friends now.”
“What?”
“Joe has made peace.”
“And where’s that leave me?”
Before Juan could answer, Joe spoke to Rico.
“Why don’t we do it now?”
Rico reached over and grabbed a steak knife.
“Yes, now is a good time.”
He moved swiftly behind Juan’s chair and jammed the steak knife into the man’s throat, severing the jugular and sending blood spurting onto the T-bone steaks atop the table.
As that was happening, Joe freed a leather sap and struck Krupin on the back of the head. After Krupin collapsed to the floor, Joe took out a knife, jammed it a half inch into Krupin’s chest and then twisted it, which made the minor wound bleed freely, while also making it look as if Krupin had been shot.
When Rico took out his gun, Joe tensed up, even though he had expected it, and after sending Joe a wink, Rico fired a harmless round into a black leather sofa.
Juan was bleeding out, but was still alive. He stared at Rico with eyes full of disbelief at what was happening, and when the guards entered the room, Rico was cradling Juan’s head in his lap.
“Michael Krupin stabbed Juan! Get a doctor now!”
Juan tried to speak, but he was already going into shock. He was trembling, and breathing rapidly, as his body tried to compensate for the sudden loss of blood.
With his back turned to the guards, Rico smiled down at Juan, and then whispered to him.
“Your future is now mine, bitch.”
Juan opened his mouth to speak, but the words were garbled by his rapid breathing. He shuddered once, twice, and then was gone.
A phone began ringing. It was Juan’s cell phone.
Rico pulled it from the pocket of the fresh corpse and saw that the call was coming from one of Alonso Alvarado’s aliases.
“Alonso, this is Rico.”
When Alvarado spoke, Rico could hear the weariness and shock in his voice.
“Rico, put Juan on the phone. I have bad news about his Uncle Carlos.”
“Alonso, oh my friend... I too have bad news.”
CHAPTER 30 - Delivered
As Rico predicted, Alvarado trusted him enough to believe his account of events.
It took time to get away, but Rico left the building with a still unconscious Michael Krupin. After calling Tanner and following his directions to a restaurant that had been closed for years, he handed Krupin off to Tanner.
It was the same abandoned building where Sara Blake had once locked Tanner inside.
Rico looked around with distaste.
“Where did you find this dump?”
“An acquaintance introduced me to it.”
They carried Krupin down into the basement and laid him on the filthy floor of an old walk-in freezer. Rico had bound Krupin’s hands and feet with rope.
“Did you have trouble getting Krupin out of the office building?”
“No, after all, I am in charge now, plus, the guards believed he was dead. I told them that he would be added to the pile of bodies at the hotel. By the way, Pullo is going to bury those men in a mass grave, something about a friend in the construction business.”
“Yeah, The Giacconi Family is well-practiced at burying their enemies; it’s something you should keep in mind.”
“I’m not the one with the price on his head, Tanner, keep that in mind.”
One last look around and Tanner headed for the stairs.
Rico called to him.
“This door won’t close with that fan thing there on the floor.”
Tanner smiled.
“Don’t worry; Krupin won’t be leaving the room, at least not alive.”
They returned upstairs and Tanner gave Rico a word of advice.
“Treat Joe well. If you do, maybe he’ll let you live once I kill Alvarado.”
“I’ll say one thing for you, Tanner, you don’t lack confidence.”
The two men parted without another word and Tanner watched Rico drive away. After Rico’s car turned a corner, Tanner spoke.
“You can come out now.”
Tamir Ivanov stepped out of a doorway and walked towards Tanner.
“That bastard Krupin is in the basement?”
“He is, and I have one request.”
“What’s that?”
“Leave him recognizable.”
“I’ll try,” Ivanov said.
Tanner watched Ivanov march into the building, and then he went for a walk.
He would have to leave New York City; otherwise, he would be hunted for the rest of his life by Alonso Alvarado and his cartel. Tanner would leave; leave the city, leave
the country, and travel south to kill Alvarado.
But for now, in the subdued, dark streets of a Manhattan night, Tanner would walk the city and take in the sights and sounds it had to offer, and he swore to himself that someday he would return.
***
In the basement of the abandoned building, Michael Krupin began to stir awake.
He opened his eyes, but then closed them again, as the light from a nearby lantern blinded him. His head was throbbing, pounding, and for some reason, his chest hurt.
When he went to touch the wound on his chest he realized that his hands were bound behind him, and after opening his eyes again, he saw that his ankles were tied together as well.
“What happened?” he mumbled, even as he sensed that someone else was in the room. When Krupin looked up, he saw the shadowy face of Tamir Ivanov staring down at him.
Ivanov smiled.
“Hello there, Junior, remember me?”
Michael Krupin died six hours later. It was not an easy death.
CHAPTER 31 – Farewell my love
Route I-87 North in New York State
Laurel was getting nervous.
Bosco had picked her up from the airport by himself while explaining that Joe was unable to make the trip.
That was odd enough, but after leaving the airport, Bosco merged onto the Major Deegan Expressway, and now they were headed north to God only knew where. She was riding in the rear of the limo and she spoke to Bosco through the open divider.
“Bosco, why didn’t Joe pick me up?”
“Like I said, Doc, he’s busy, but don’t worry. I’m taking you straight to him.”
Laurel took out her phone and tried dialing Joe. When the call was answered, she breathed a sigh of relief, but then realized that it was just the phone’s answering system.
She left a message, telling Joe to call her back as soon as possible.
“Where are you taking me?”
“It’s a secret, Doc; but don’t worry, you’ll like it.”
Laurel nibbled at her bottom lip.
“Bosco... am I in trouble?”
“Trouble? What do you mean?”
“Are you really taking me to Joe... or somewhere else?”
The TANNER Series - Books 7-9 (Tanner Box Set Book 3) Page 36
