After signing on, he asked Derrick how to access the area he was talking about. It was a website that seemed unconnected to the Chemzonic Chemical Company.
“Which link do I hit?”
“Where it says, Members Only,” Bobby said.
Tanner hit the link, and a sign-in window came up.
“What’s the sign-in?”
Bobby gave it to him and Tanner saw the drawing with his face on it. The figure $1,000,000.00 was written below it, along with the words, EXTREMLY DANGEROUS!, which was written in several languages. The rest of the page was a gobbledygook of scrambled text that made no sense.
“What’s the name of the head of security?”
Derrick answered.
“He’s Jack Rockford, a real pretty-boy prick too.”
“They wouldn’t be hiring on, would they?”
“Maybe,” Derrick said. “But Tanner, that’s your name right, Tanner?”
“That’s my name.”
“Seriously man, where were you hiding in that room?”
“I wasn’t in the room. I left it right after I entered. I cut out the window in the bathroom when I rented the room and then glued it in place with cheap paste. It pops right out and fits right back in.”
“Shit, we should have thought of that.”
“Why?”
“Huh?”
“Why would you think of that?”
“You did.”
“Yeah, but it’s my business to stay alive and that will no longer be a problem you’ll face.”
Tanner fired the shotgun twice, and there were two new openings at the Chemzonic Chemical plant.
CHAPTER 3 – Inevitable
In Mexico, Alonso Alvarado put down his phone after getting updates from the men he had stationed at every border crossing between The United States and Mexico.
He would call the men he placed at the airports next, but he didn’t expect Tanner to board an airplane, at least not a commercial jet.
He had thrown over a hundred of his best men at Tanner in New York City, and now those men were dead and Tanner had vowed to travel to Mexico to kill him.
Juan, his only son, had died, and if Tanner made it behind the walls of his compound, Alvarado knew that he would join him in death.
Cody Parker, that was Tanner’s true name. However, it did Alvarado little good to know it, because Cody Parker had no one left in the world that Alvarado could threaten to use against him. He had already killed the man’s loved ones when he thought he had also murdered him.
Tanner was coming to kill him, to avenge the woman he lost in New York and for the family he lost years ago. Tanner was coming and Alvarado didn’t doubt it for a second.
He had put the word out about the million-dollar reward for Tanner. The man would be hunted by hundreds of lowlifes, dreamers, and even a few genuinely competent killers.
He hoped that one of them might get lucky, or that their combined numbers might overwhelm Tanner, but deep down, he realized that Tanner wouldn’t be stopped by such men.
No, Tanner was coming, and he was coming for him.
Alvarado had done something a day earlier that he had never done before, or had ever needed to do. He had hired outside help, professional help, in the form of a company that specialized in security, among other things.
The company was named Hexalcorp, and they were supply contractors with several governments, including The United States of America.
Hexalcorp was rated second in their field, but their top competitor, the corporation, Burke, had refused to do business with him.
That slight would not go unanswered, and Alvarado would send grief towards Conrad Burke, the Burke Corporation owner, but for now, Tanner was the main concern.
Hexalcorp was sending a top representative to the compound to enhance the security, and had dispatched a group of men they called a “Strike Team” to find and eliminate Tanner.
Alvarado hoped that the men would succeed, but he was far more interested in increasing the compound’s security, because Tanner was coming. Alvarado knew with everything in him that Tanner was coming, and the bastard Cody Parker was as inevitable as death.
CHAPTER 4 – Closing in
Tanner left the hapless Derrick and Bobby inside the burnt-out house.
They would be discovered in the coming days, but not soon enough for it to interfere in his plans.
He dumped Derrick’s car in long-term parking at the airport and then took a cab back to the motel, where he apologized for the busted door and paid for its repair.
He had enough people after him; he didn’t need the cops looking for him over a busted motel room door, and the phony ID he was using was still good.
He drove to a different motel, just in case, and after spending an hour coming up with a revised plan, he sent an email off to Tim Jackson. If anyone could decode what was on Chemzonic’s secret website, it would be Tim.
Tanner fell asleep with Derrick’s shotgun propped up against the side of the bed, and would sleep until the sun woke him.
***
The following morning in Mississippi, Alexa was sitting inside her van, watching the sunrise, as she wondered where Tanner was.
Her mind told her that he was probably in Mexico by now, but her “little voice”, her sixth sense said that he was heading west, northwest.
She was parked outside a motel, and had checked in the day before under the name Anna Sanchez, with a fake ID and credit card courtesy of Damián Sandoval, Alonso Alvarado’s rival.
Without doubt, Sandoval was as big a dirtbag as Alvarado was, but his assistance had proven useful, and his man Dante had saved her life.
As she checked in to the motel the night before, Alexa had showed the clerk the drawing of Tanner. The night clerk hadn’t recognized him, and Alexa was waiting to ask the day clerk the same question when the new person came on shift.
She took the drawing out and looked at it yet again, and wondered what sort of man Tanner was. He was a killer for hire, of that she was certain, but he was also a Tanner.
Alexa’s adopted father, her Papa Rodrigo, had known Tanner Five.
Rodrigo had still been a boy of fifteen and living with his widowed mother while Tanner Five had been middle-aged, but he had become friends with the man before he knew who and what he was.
Rodrigo was gay, and he and his friends from the circus had been attacked by a gang of local kids from the town where they were performing. After Rodrigo had been spotted holding another boy’s hand, the two of them were thrown to the ground and kicked.
Tanner Five had stopped the beating before Rodrigo and his friend were seriously injured, or possibly worse.
Tanner Five had later traveled with the circus and stayed with Rodrigo and his mother for months after that, and although Rodrigo had never come out and said as much, Alexa always got the impression that Tanner and Rodrigo’s mother became more than friends.
In any event, Tanner Five had taught young Rodrigo to fight, at least enough to defend himself, and he had also impressed Rodrigo as being a man of honor.
It wasn’t until years later that the two of them met again, and by that time, Rodrigo had become an accomplished young thief. Accomplished, but not perfect, and he was caught in the act of emptying a safe by the man he was trying to rob.
Rodrigo told Alexa that after he heard the sound of a shotgun racking a shell, he knew he was dead, but to his surprise and joy, when the blast came, it was the owner of the shotgun who perished, because he had been shot by Tanner Five, who had been hired to kill the man.
The two fled the scene and went where they could talk, and that’s when Rodrigo learned the truth about his Tanner.
More trouble ensued shortly thereafter, and Rodrigo recounted how Tanner Five went up against incredible odds on several occasions and came out on top every time. He said that Tanner Five told him that he had been trained by his predecessor, the fourth Tanner, who in turn had been trained by his own mentor.
A Tanner
was an assassin, yes, but they were trained to be more than that, they were trained to be the best, to survive anywhere, and to never give up until the target was dead.
Now, some thirty-odd years later, Alexa searched for her Tanner, and she prayed that he was someone who could help her, and not just some mindless killer.
A car pulled up and parked in front of the motel office. When a man got out holding a paper sack and a thermos, Alexa assumed he was the day clerk starting his shift. She left her van holding Tanner’s picture, and went to see if the man knew his face.
***
Alexa lit up when the desk clerk nodded his head affirmatively.
“Yeah, this guy, he was here; it was the night before last. I wasn’t working that night, but I was here talking to my boss when he checked in.”
“What name did he go by?”
“Oh, I’m sorry, we’re not allowed to give out that kind of information, but he checked in alone if that’s what you’re worried about.”
“I’m not involved with him; I’m just looking for him.”
The clerk leaned on the counter. He was a young white guy with curly brown hair and gray eyes. He looked Alexa over and smiled.
“He’s a lucky guy to have you looking for him, but what are you, some kind of bounty hunter?”
Alexa returned the man’s smile and wondered if he was about to hit on her. She would love to know what name Tanner was traveling under, but in truth, it would do her little good. She had no way to track him down electronically and a man like Tanner would change identities the way other men changed clothes.
“I’m not a bounty hunter or a cop, but the man I’m looking for, well, we have something in common, and I want to find him to see if we could help each other.”
The man straightened up, tapped at the computer keyboard for a moment, and then shook his head.
“He checked out yesterday morning and left no forwarding address, sorry.”
“That’s okay, and thank you for your help.”
“You’re welcome.”
Alexa opened her purse.
“I’ll be checking out.”
“Oh, too bad, I was going to ask you if you’d have dinner with me tonight.”
“I might have,” Alexa said. “But I should keep moving.”
“To find the man you asked about?”
“Yes.”
“It’s really important to you, isn’t it?”
“Yes.”
The clerk handed her back her credit card. After a moment’s hesitation, he shrugged and gave Alexa more information.
“He checked in under the name of Clay Drake, and I saw him driving away in a black Ford, a newer model.”
Alexa gestured for the man to lean forward, when he did so; she kissed him on the cheek.
“Thank you so much.”
“You’re welcome, and if you pass through here again, come find me and we’ll have that dinner.”
“I will.”
Alexa left the office and headed for her van. If Tanner had come this far west than he wasn’t headed south anymore, which meant she was on the right track. She mentally chastised herself for ever doubting her instincts, and when she got back on the highway, she continued to head northwest, towards Oklahoma.
END OF SAMPLE
THANKS FOR READING!
A PLEA
Thank you, precious reader, for spending time with Tanner. I hope you enjoyed the book. If you did, please consider writing a review. Without reviews, an author's books are virtually invisible on the retail sites. Let other readers know what you thought! You can leave a review by visiting the book's page and I will greatly appreciate it.
Thank you!
—Remington Kane
ALSO BY REMINGTON KANE
The TANNER Series in order
INEVITABLE I - A Tanner Novel - Book 1
KILL IN PLAIN SIGHT - A Tanner Novel - Book 2
MAKING A KILLING ON WALL STREET - A Tanner Novel - Book 3
THE FIRST ONE TO DIE LOSES - A Tanner Novel - Book 4
THE LIFE & DEATH OF CODY PARKER - A Tanner Novel - Book 5
WAR - A Tanner Novel - Book 6
SUICIDE OR DEATH – A Tanner Novel – Book 7
TWO FOR THE KILL – A Tanner Novel – Book 8
BALLET OF DEATH – A Tanner Novel – Book 9
MORE DANGEROUS THAN MAN – A Tanner Novel – Book 10
Also
DESOLATION LAKE
And written as Donald Wells
TAKEN! - LOVE CONQUERS ALL
TAKEN! - SECRETS & LIES
TAKEN! - STALKER
TAKEN! - BREAKOUT!
TAKEN! - THE THIRTY-NINE
TAKEN! - KIDNAPPING THE DEVIL
TAKEN! - HIT SQUAD
TAKEN! - MASQUERADE
TAKEN! - SERIOUS BUSINESS
TAKEN! - THE COUPLE THAT SLAYS TOGETHER
TAKEN! - PUT ASUNDER
TAKEN! - LIKE BOND, ONLY BETTER
TAKEN! - MEDIEVAL
TAKEN! - RISEN!
TAKEN! - VACATION
TAKEN! - MICHAEL – Available October 31, 2015
REDEMPTION... Someone's taken her
LEARN ABOUT NEW RELEASES FROM
REMINGTON KANE
http://www.remingtonkane.com/contact.html
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Did you love The TANNER Series - Books 7-9? Then you should read More Dangerous Than Man by Remington Kane!
Tanner makes his way across the country to see an old friend, as he seeks answers about his past.
Meanwhile, female assassin Alexa Lucia is searching for Tanner, but is she an ally or an enemy?
Read more at Remington Kane’s site.
The TANNER Series - Books 7-9 (Tanner Box Set Book 3) Page 39
