The Tanner Series - Books 1-11: Tanner - The hit man with a heart

by Remington Kane

  Tanner didn’t know who Vance was, but he had heard him say that they had Johnny Rossetti secured.

  Tanner assumed that meant that Johnny was somewhere in the building. He headed for the stairs and took them two at a time, until he reached the top floor of the ten-story building.

  Winded by the effort, he gave himself a few seconds to rest. He then entered a short corridor, which led to a longer one, where the elevators were. There were several doors running off it as well. Tanner moved to the other end as quickly as he could without making noise. After dropping low, he moved his head until he could see with one eye what was around the corner.

  It was another short corridor and it ended at a wall of glass with a door set into it. It was the conference room. Through the glass, Tanner could see Sam Giacconi speaking passionately about something, but despite being just twenty yards away, no sound reached him from beyond the glass.

  Tanner nodded to himself as he came to the realization that the room was soundproof and that what he was looking at was more than mere glass.

  He moved back the way he had come, and in the third room he searched, he found Johnny Rossetti bound to a pipe in the corner of the empty room. Johnny’s mouth was gagged, and his ankles and wrists cuffed with zip ties.

  Tanner crouched down beside him and spoke in his best Romeo voice.

  “If I had hired on with you, boss man, I’d be asking for one hell of a raise right about now.”

  Then he reached over and yanked off the gag.

  Tim tripped and fell as his left foot became mired in mud. When Madison bent down to help him up, she saw him wince in pain.

  “Are you hurt?”

  “I’ll be fine, but try to stay on the grass; the ground is like taffy because of all the rain.”

  Madison shivered. “It’s so cold. We have to find someplace to hide.”

  “We’ll go to the office building. It has a roof and we can get out of the rain and make a plan.”

  Madison nodded in agreement, but then she froze as a form approached them from the bushes on their right.

  It was the dog. Gary’s shot had missed her, and the hound looked as frightened as Madison felt.

  “Hi, honey, follow us and we’ll get out of the rain and hide.”

  They headed for the unfinished office building and Madison saw that Tim was limping.

  “You did get hurt. Oh baby, here, lean on me.”

  “No, I’ll just slow you down.”

  Madison ignored him and helped him to limp along up the hill that led to the building site. Tim was not a big man, but Madison was petite, and soon she felt the effects of supporting his weight. Their pace slowed.

  When they reached the building, they stepped onto the concrete floor with twin sighs of relief. After brushing aside pieces of discarded construction materials, they lowered themselves behind a square column set near the center of the building.

  Madison wrung her hair out with both hands.

  “This is better, but far from safe, we have to keep moving.”

  As if to prove her words correct, the dog growled. It was followed by the sound of a grunt coming from the crest of the hill, as someone grew nearer.

  Tim reached out and took Madison’s face in his hands.

  “You have to run. Head out to the road and get help.”

  “We’ll both go.”

  “No, I would slow you down. Now go, there’s not much time.”

  Madison spoke through tears. “I can’t just leave you.”

  “I’ll be fine. They can’t see me behind this pillar, and you’ll be back soon with the cops. Now go, baby, please go.”

  They kissed, and Madison rose up, even as her tears flowed down her face.

  “I’ll be back. Just stay there and hide and I’ll be back with the police.”

  Tim watched her disappear out the other side, with the dog following behind her. An instant later, he heard footsteps, as someone entered the building just yards away from where he and Madison had come in.

  After looking around for anything he could use as a weapon, Tim stayed as still as he could. He hoped that whoever had entered would not walk where they could see him, but to his despair, the man approached his position on a straight line, while following the wet shoeprints that he and Madison had left behind.

  Tim looked up, saw Gary glaring down at him, and noticed the gun hanging from his right hand.

  “Where’s the girl?”

  He said nothing, and Gary grabbed his hair and yanked him to his feet.

  The two men stared at each other. Tim, with his wet hair still gripped in Gary’s fist, had his head tilted back to stare into the larger man’s eyes.

  Upon Gary’s face was a rictus of pain and the gun slipped from a hand gone strangely numb, as Gary’s other hand left Tim’s hair and was used to steady himself, as he leaned upon the pillar.

  Tim backed away from him, his face showing a mixture of disgust and triumph over what he had done. Tim’s right hand was slick with blood from the jagged piece of rebar he had shoved deep into Gary’s gut.

  Gary’s eyes closed tight as the first wave of agony passed through him, but when he opened them again, he gazed at Tim with reproach, as if he should be ashamed of himself for fighting back.

  “You little shit… you’ve killed me.”

  Tim broke from his trance, picked up the gun, and hobbled off into the storm to save the woman he loved.

  149

  Trapped!

  Mario sensed that Geary was staring at him, but he paid her no attention, as the cops continued to dig for the body of Lars Gruber, and what they believed to be Tanner’s remains.

  Kearns, Mario’s lawyer, stepped in front of him and gave him a stern look.

  “Are the bodies really here, or are you playing some sort of a game?”

  “I’m making sure my daughter stays safe.”

  “That may be, but this does nothing for you. Once they unearth those bodies your daughter will be safe, but you’ll be in a huge amount of trouble. They won’t let you go, they won’t ever let you go, Mario, and in the meantime, they’ll constantly be asking for more. In my opinion, the best you can hope for is months of hell, followed by spending the rest of your life pretending to be somebody else.”

  Mario looked at Kearns with sad eyes. “I know everything you’re telling me, looked at it upside down and backwards, and what I’m doing today seems the best thing.”

  Kearns placed a hand on his shoulder. “When the time comes, I’ll insist that they place you somewhere nice. Just in case they try to use the Witness Protection Program as a last attempt at punishment. I won’t let them send you to a slum. I’ll see that you wind up on your feet.”

  Mario’s lips curled in a smile. “Now that would be a good trick.”

  “I don’t understand your meaning,” Kearns said.

  “I see an arm!” one of the policemen cried out, and all eyes turned toward the hole.

  Tanner cut Johnny’s ankle restraints, as Johnny untied the rope that bound him to the pipe. After standing, Johnny slapped him on the shoulder and grinned.

  “Romeo, I owe you buddy. But what’s going on?”

  Tanner explained quickly about the conference room and saw Johnny look concerned.

  “Is Joe Pullo here? Oh wait. You don’t know him, do you? But I have to get word to Joe.”

  Before they could say anything else, they heard footsteps, as Richards and his group approached.

  Johnny held out a hand and Tanner handed him one of the Rugers.

  They stood waiting for the door to open, but instead, the group settled outside the door and Richards gave Vance orders.

  “The timer is set, and they’ll have just enough time to realize that they’re trapped before it activates, that will also give me the time I need to get clear of the building. When you’re finished here, remember to call and give me a status update.”

  The knob on the door turned and Tanner crouched into a firing position beside Johnny.
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  “Would you like to have one last look at the patsy, sir?”

  There was a pause, but then Richards spoke in a haughty tone.

  “No. I had my last interaction with his kind when I left that conference room. From now on, I’ll simply be issuing orders to them. Vance, you’ll be my conduit, with proper compensation, of course.”

  “Thank you, sir, I won’t let you down.”

  “See that you don’t. Now check the office I was using to ensure that nothing was left behind, then return to the conference room and make certain that there are no mishaps.”

  “I will and have a good trip.”

  There was the sound of footfalls that soon grew faint. Tanner held up three fingers, counted down, and ripped open the door.

  Johnny followed on his heels out into the corridor and they found it to be empty.

  “I’m going after Richards,” Tanner whispered. “He tried to have Sophia and I killed last night.”

  Johnny gripped his arm as he tried to turn away.

  “I want the bastard as much as you do, but I don’t like what I just heard, all that talk about timers. That means something is about to happen in that room and my gut is telling me that it’s a bomb.”

  Tanner’s intense eyes went to Johnny’s hand on his arm, but his anger turned to curiosity.

  “What is that all over your hand?”

  Johnny released him and stared down at his fingers.

  “I forgot, but for some damn reason Vance sprinkled gunpowder over me.”

  Tanner stiffened, as something clicked in his mind.

  “Not gunpowder, gunshot residue, it’s not a bomb. They’re going to shoot them and you’re the one they picked to take the fall.”

  “We’ve got to get Joe out of that room.”

  “You probably can’t, but Vance will know how to do it,” Tanner said, as he moved toward the elevators.

  “Romeo, forget Richards and stay here and help me.”

  “Go! Get Vance and I’ll get Richards.”

  Tanner ran for the elevators, and after a grunt of frustration at “Romeo” not following his orders, Johnny went after Vance.

  Johnny ran to the end of the corridor, saw no sign of Vance and approached the conference room.

  Madison made it to the road, but there were no cars in sight along the tree-lined avenue, so she began walking toward town. The dog followed along behind, looking miserable in the rain. Despite Madison’s urging, she still would not come closer.

  When Madison spotted a car in the distance, she ran toward it, and that’s when Trent stepped from behind a tree and grabbed her.

  Madison struggled as the dog barked furiously. She was a small woman, but Trent was no he-man. She broke free of him, but then he tripped her, and she smashed her head against the same tree he had hidden behind.

  Trent looked at Madison moaning on the ground before he glanced about to see if anyone had witnessed their struggle. No one had, and the car that had been approaching made a left turn before reaching them.

  Trent hit the yelping dog with a rock on its hindquarters and it ran off. Afterwards, he helped a dazed and bleeding Madison to her feet. She shuffled along with his arm around her, much as she had helped Tim along just minutes earlier.

  They reached the driveway of the farm. When they were halfway to the house, Madison regained her senses, pushed Trent away, and staggered off back toward the road.

  “If you run, I’ll tell the man with me to chop off Jackson’s fingers,” Trent said.

  Madison looked back at him. She was soaked to the skin from the downpour and her hair framed her face like a wet mop, but Trent still thought she was the most beautiful thing he’d ever seen.

  “You’re going to kill us anyway. Isn’t that why you’re here?” Madison said.

  “Not at all. Your father wants the information that Jackson stole.”

  Madison hugged herself while shivering, as the cold rain continued to fall about them in torrents.

  “I can’t trust you.”

  “You don’t have any choice. Run. Go to the police. We’ll be gone by the time you return. We’ll be gone, and I’ll see to it that the man I’m with tortures Jackson. Stay, and I’ll make sure that Jackson remains unharmed.”

  Madison looked miserable as she thought things over. Trent was right, if she left to get help, they could take Tim and leave, and she’d never see him again, never know what had happened to him.

  With a heartbreaking sob, she walked back to the house at Trent’s side, while praying that Tanner would appear to save them. But she knew that Tanner wasn’t coming, and that they would have to save themselves.

  Johnny pulled on the conference room door with all his strength and nothing happened. Inside, some of the attendees were still arguing, but a few had spotted him and pointed his way.

  No sound escaped the room and it reminded Johnny of a silent movie.

  There was movement on the right side of the room that caught Johnny’s attention. A wall panel had slid aside. Behind it was an AR-15 rifle, like the ones Tanner had seen the bodyguards carrying.

  However, this one was mounted on a swivel base, and instead of a magazine, there was a feed system attached that could supply six hundred rounds of ammo. It had been set to deliver three-round bursts, and the laser-targeting that controlled it would make certain that it hit what it was aimed at.

  Panic emerged on many faces at the sight of the gun and one of the men walked toward it. He was one of the Conglomerate’s corporate members and he was the first to die. Blood spurted from the man, and he toppled to the floor.

  Johnny took a step away from the door at the silent scene of death, as the surrealistic quality of it startled him.

  Another died, then another. One man dived beneath one of the tables where the food was set-up, and when a volley of shots perforated the coffee urns, the scalding liquid spilled over and burned his neck and back.

  However, his agony was brief, because a few moments later, the gun swiveled his way once more as he jumped to his feet, and he was blasted with three shots to the chest.

  That’s when the mad rush for the door began. Several men reached it, tried in vain to open it and gazed at Johnny with eyes begging to be saved.

  Johnny looked past the mob on the other side of the door and searched for Pullo and Sam. They were on the floor beneath the conference table and Pullo was shielding the old man with his body.

  And at the door, the bodies began to fall, as the rifle fired without ceasing.

  150

  The Ole Shoe Trick

  In the building’s lobby, Frank Richards strode off the elevator surrounded by six armed bodyguards, while knowing that on the top floor, those who would oppose him were meeting their end.

  He was so engrossed in thoughts of future glory, of gaining power, that he hadn’t heard what one of the bodyguards had said.

  “Sir?”

  “What is it?”

  The man pointed at the display above the other elevator. “Someone’s coming down, but stopping on each floor, and I thought Mr. Vance was in your office.”

  Richards furrowed his brow as he watched the elevator display show that the other car was descending.

  “Escort me to the limousine, then two of you will come back and deal with whoever it is.”

  They continued toward the front doors, but when they reached them, they saw that the handles of the doors were connected by a set of handcuffs, which only allowed them to open a few inches.

  “What is going on?” Richards asked.

  The bodyguards all gave him blank looks as the other elevator door chimed.

  The men turned as one, as Richards hid behind them. When the doors on the elevator slid aside, all that could be seen was the tip of a black shoe.

  “Whoever is in there, come out with your hands raised,” the lead bodyguard said.

  There was no answer, and with a move of his head, the man sent two of his men to check out the elevator.

  Tanne
r reached the bottom of the stairs, cracked opened the door, and saw two of Richards’ bodyguards going to check out the elevator he had left his shoes in.

  The men all had their backs to him, with Richards at the rear, peeking over the shoulder of the guard Tanner had recognized from Las Vegas.

  In his stocking feet, Tanner came up behind them, fired head shots at the two bodyguards near the elevator, and as the rest of the men spun around at the sound of gunfire, he grabbed the familiar guard by the knot of his tie, shoved his gun in the man’s waistband and shot him in the groin, twice.

  The man screamed, sagged, but Tanner held him up as the other bodyguards fired, and Richards cowered near the door.

  Tanner let the dying guard drop to his knees, then used him as a shield. After dropping his Ruger, Tanner grabbed up the wounded man’s rifle. It was set on semi-auto. Tanner aimed at the bodyguards’ legs, on the assumption that they too were wearing vests, much like the one the man who shielded him wore.

  Two of the remaining three guards went down screaming in pain from leg wounds, while the last one kept firing round after round. Tanner emptied his gun, but only managed to wound the man in his arm. Thinking that Tanner was out of ammo, the man grew bold and drew closer.

  Tanner shoved the now dead guard at the man’s feet, which caused him to dance to the side. That gave Tanner the time he needed to grab his Ruger from the floor. He shot the man twice in the head.

  One of the wounded bodyguards fired at Tanner, but he was sitting up on the floor and his shots went high. Tanner hit the man with another shot to the leg and saw him drop his weapon and scream. He shot him again and the scream died.

  The guards were all down, five dead, one wounded, as the other guard wounded in the leg lay on his back moaning loudly, his weapon just feet away, but forgotten.

  Toward the end of the firefight, Richards had fled down the corridor that Tanner had been in earlier. He was probably hoping to reach the loading dock door and escape.