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

by Remington Kane

  306

  The Many, Outnumbered By The One

  BAJA CALIFORNIA, MEXICO, MARCH 1999

  Beneath the heat of a desert sun, Tanner Six put his two protégés through their paces as he trained them to one day be the best at what they do, which was killing.

  However, there were times that one first had to survive in order to kill, so he also trained them in ways to do that… with varying results.

  Romeo stepped out of the contraption that Tanner Six called the Gauntlet and tossed a pair of knives to the ground in frustration.

  The Gauntlet was made up of five rotating poles, each with five arms set at various and adjustable heights, and each arm was tipped with red lipstick. The poles were connected by a system of pulleys at their base and would rotate at the spinning of a handle.

  The five poles with their five arms represented twenty-five men with knives. If you were marked by one, it would leave a trace in the form of red lipstick, red for blood.

  Romeo emerged from the gauntlet covered with over three dozen marks, many that would have been fatal injuries if they were truly the wounds they represented.

  “Shit, man, who the hell could face that many men in a knife fight and live?”

  “I’m standing here in front of you and I once faced over a dozen. I was also trained on the Gauntlet until I could emerge without a mark on me. Tanner Five said I was the only one who ever did that.”

  Romeo looked at Tanner Six as if he were crazy. “Dude, why didn’t you just shoot the fuckers?”

  “I was out of bullets, but I did have two knives. Now enough talk; it’s Cody’s turn.”

  Cody plucked the knives from the ground and stood in the center of the five poles. To do so, he had to bend one knee, hold one arm over his head, and lean backwards slightly. This was the only position in which a lipstick tip wasn’t close enough to touch him.

  Tanner Six shouted, “Here we go!” as he cranked the handle that controlled the pulleys.

  Cody emerged at the end of the cycle with even more streaks than Romeo wore.

  He looked over at Tanner Six. “This is tough.”

  “That it is,” Tanner Six agreed. “But if you get really good at it, you’ll have no fear in a knife fight.”

  Two weeks later, Tanner Six returned from a supply run to find Romeo and Cody working with the Gauntlet. He smiled as he rubbed a hand across his beard. Cody had practically lived inside the poles, as he was determined to best the contraption, while Romeo had improved dramatically.

  Tanner Six watched as Cody ducked, sidestepped, and skipped over the flailing poles. It reminded him of a ballet he once saw. One by one, the boy knocked the lipstick tips off the poles until the ground around his feet was littered with them.

  When Cody emerged from the machine after a full ten minutes, he was exhausted, sweaty… and bore only one red mark of lipstick.

  Tanner Six looked at the young man who was far too close to his own age to be considered a son, and yet, nevertheless, he felt the swell of paternal pride.

  “That was awesome, Cody, simply awesome.”

  The boy who would someday surpass his mentor shook his head in disagreement as he pointed to the lone mark on his right shoulder.

  “I won’t quit at this until I’m perfect. Someday I’ll be the best, just like you.”

  Tanner Six nodded. It was all he could do, because he was too choked up to speak.

  Tanner recalled his training with the Gauntlet as he found himself surrounded by over a hundred men with machetes and knives.

  He had no doubt that there were firearms carried by some of the rebels, but there were none in evidence amongst the men facing him from the front of the crowd.

  When the first man lunged at him, Tanner sliced a red line across the rebel’s stomach with the machete and saw him retreat into the crowd.

  He would kill some of these men, but that was not his main objective. The goal was to survive, and a superficial wound often served to dissuade an opponent as well as a serious injury.

  Two more men came at him, one from behind, one from the left. Tanner slashed over his shoulder with the sword and impaled an eye, while the machete swung left and bit deep into a rebel’s chest. He then went on the offensive, and as he brought the sword back around, he sliced open the faces of three men, even as the machete ripped apart the throat of a fourth man. The crowd of rebels reacted as one and moved back a step.

  They had thought they faced a man, just an average man, but Tanner wasn’t average, not when it came to killing. For more than a dozen men in the crowd that lesson would be learned at the cost of their lives.

  Atop the hill, Sara and Jake watched in awe as Tanner faced off against a multitude of opponents, but then broke free of their wonderment and sprang into action.

  Sara’s first shot hit an armed man at the rear of the crowd and sent him tumbling forward into his fellow rebels.

  The sound of the shot made the entire crowd turn their heads, and down below, Tanner used the distraction to slash the sword across four throats.

  Jake’s first shot passed through the mouth of one man and hit the rebel behind him in the side of the head, while Sara’s second shot tore apart a rebel’s midsection.

  The men deeper in the crowd who did have weapons pushed their way to the rear and fired up at Sara and Jake, even as Tanner continued to hack away at their machete-wielding brethren. And all the while, hot ash rained down, as the canopy overhead was consumed by fire.

  Firman fled toward safety, as two of his followers dragged Jennifer along. As soon as he saw that the canopy that shielded them from surveillance was on fire, Firman realized they were being attacked. Then, when the white devil descended from the sky like an outcast angel, his worst fears were realized.

  He wiped away a tear as he recalled the death of Gus Soe and prayed the men in the camp had sent the devil that killed the holy one to the fiery bowels of hell.

  With the venerable one passed on, the mantle fell to Firman to keep the cause alive. With his lone remaining hostage, he would raise enough capital to see Gus Soe’s dream come true, by trading her for an exorbitant ransom.

  When they reached the ATV used to shuttle supplies from the shore, Firman ordered the men to place Jennifer inside it. Then they were on their way to the small boat that would take them to the yacht anchored farther along the coastline. The yacht had belonged to the Australian captives, and Gus Soe had confiscated it for his own use. Now, the luxury craft would be Firman’s base of operations, as he took Gus Soe’s place as leader, and as the ATV bumped along toward the shore, Firman daydreamed about future glories.

  Back at the rebel camp, inside the cage holding the prisoners, Juan Rio let out a yelp of pain as he managed to squeeze his hips through the small hole in the corner of the cage. And as his feet sank into the accumulated urine, feces, and foul water below, he fought against the impulse to vomit.

  Dr. Washburn called out encouragement to the Brit, as Juan attempted escape so he could undo the lock on the cage door.

  “You’re doing it, Juan, and the rebels are still distracted.”

  Juan held onto the rope weaved across the cage’s bottom and began moving toward the edge of the pit he dangled above.

  At one point, a hand slipped, and he nearly lost hold with the other, but he regained his grip by using one of the floating corpses for purchase. When he made it to the end, it took three tries to swing his legs up high enough, but soon he was lying on the ground at the side of the cage and trying to catch his breath.

  “Look out!”

  The cry of warning came from Melissa, and when Juan turned his head, he saw one of the rebels rushing toward him with a machete held high.

  In the next instant, there came a loud crackle from overhead. Two of the corners holding the camouflage tarp aloft gave way and a huge swatch of flaming debris fell from the sky. The edge settled atop the charging rebel, while most of the debris fell on the men behind him.

  Juan ignored the screams
of the burning rebels and went to work freeing his friends.

  At the same moment that Juan had been stepping onto the corpse, Tanner was tackled low from behind. He fell on his back among the score of dead and mortally wounded he had created.

  The men at the front of the crowd smiled and rushed forward. That’s when Tanner freed the revolver from beneath the tunic he wore and shot the two closest men in the face.

  That caused the crowd to surge backwards, and moments later, as the flaming debris fell, it covered most of them, while scattering the rest.

  Tanner jumped to his feet amidst the confusion and chaos and followed the trail that the fleeing Firman had taken. He’d told Sara Blake that he would free her sister, and he intended to keep his word.

  After the debris fell, Sara and Jake rushed down into the valley to free the prisoners, only to find that they had freed themselves. Several of the rebels had recovered their wits and were poking at the smoking debris to gather up the guns of their fallen comrades, so that they could start the fight anew, while Sara and Jake were both down to their last rounds.

  A helicopter appeared overhead. Within seconds, death rained down from above as the men in the chopper fired at the rebels. The chopper soon veered off, as the wind shifted and the smoke on the ground obscured their view.

  The stench of burning flesh was thick in the air. The rebels who were trapped beneath the flaming camouflage tarp were being burned alive, but their screams were fading away.

  Jake fired his last round at a rebel as the man bent over to retrieve a pistol, and then Jake plucked the gun from the ground and handed it to Sara, before also grabbing up a different rifle.

  After inspecting the pistol and finding it loaded, Sara passed the gun along to one of the hostages that followed behind them. Juan smiled at the weight of the weapon, although he had never held one before in his life.

  Sara’s final round wounded a man in the thigh, and she claimed the rifle he had pointed at her, which had only two rounds left. Afterwards, they left the camp and entered the trees, as they skirted around the fire, with Jake leading the way.

  “Have you seen Tanner?” Sara said, and Jake shook his head no, while wearing a grim expression.

  “All I know is that Jennifer was dragged off in this direction and there were only a handful of men around her.”

  The sound of the chopper seemed to come from everywhere at once and competed with the crackling sounds of the fire. After walking only fifty yards, they were free of the smoke and could make out a patch of blue in the distance.

  They heard automatic gunfire and something that sounded like a muffled explosion, only to be followed by the whine of an engine. When Sara and the group with her moved a dozen more yards, they caught sight of the helicopter as it spiraled toward the water.

  They ran, and seconds later, they had a full view of the beach. Sara felt her heart sink as she fell to her knees.

  The chopper was partially submerged in the water. The men who had been inside it scrambled onto the shore, while farther down the coastline, a boat sped away. Sara could just make out the short blonde hair of her sister, and she wondered if she would ever see her again.

  307

  The Kiss Of Life

  After leaving the camp, Tanner heard the ATV before he saw it, and followed the sound to the beach.

  He had no idea who Firman was and just thought of him as the skinny man who had been about to execute Sara’s sister.

  After topping a rise that led down to the beach, Tanner saw that Firman was walking toward the shore, where a skiff with an outboard motor sat just past the waterline. Behind Firman, two rebels dragged Sara’s sister along, as the woman tried her best to get away.

  There had been a man standing near the boat who was armed with an assault rifle of some type, possibly an AK-47. As Firman approached him, the man looked around the rebel leader, as if searching for someone. Tanner guessed that the boat belonged to the white-haired man who had died first, and that the man guarding the boat wasn’t happy about anyone else using it.

  The man at the boat was talking loudly and in a complaining tone, but the words were drowned out as Tanner heard a helicopter pass overhead.

  When the rebels became aware of the chopper, they looked up. That’s when Firman jammed a knife into the chest of the man guarding the boat. As the man fell backwards onto the wet sand, the gun he was holding fired off thirty rounds on full auto and, unfortunately for the men on the helicopter, several of the bullets had a devastating effect on the craft’s tail rotor.

  For just a moment, Tanner thought the helicopter had been unaffected, as the pilot soared upward to get out of range, but when the ancient Sikorsky helicopter began spiraling in an ever-tightening circle, Tanner saw that the big bird was coming down.

  It landed flat but hard in the surf, and the men aboard began stumbling out into the chest-deep water. While they were doing that, Firman was getting away in the boat with Sara’s sister.

  Tanner took in the scene, weighed his options, and jumped into the ATV to go in pursuit. If Firman stayed close to the shoreline for just a little longer, he would still have an outside chance at saving Jennifer.

  With the ATV at full throttle, Tanner sped over the sand and headed for the outcropping of rock just ahead.

  When Jake pointed out the ATV to Sara, she felt her heart swell with renewed hope.

  “That’s Tanner!”

  The two of them watched along with the hostages as Tanner kept pace and then passed the boat, as he drove parallel to it along the beach. When he reached the outcropping of rock, Tanner slowed the machine to lessen the impact. As the front wheels began ascending the craggy surface, it looked for just an instant as if the vehicle might flip backwards, as it climbed up at better than a 45-degree angle.

  The vehicle reached the top of the outcropping, and after making a left turn, Tanner pushed the vehicle toward its top speed again. Just before it reached the edge that hung out over the waves, Tanner jumped up on the seat and followed the vehicle into the water.

  The ATV landed forty feet in front of Firman’s boat, and a skilled seaman could have easily avoided a collision. While the rebel piloting the boat did avoid colliding with the ATV, he overcompensated by turning too hard to the left. That caused the small boat to flip on its side and dump its passengers into the sea.

  After hitting the water, Tanner surfaced, took several deep breaths, dived, and swam toward where he’d last seen the boat. The water wasn’t deep, felt warm, and it was clear enough so that when he opened his eyes, he could see.

  The tunic was slowing his progress and he used precious moments to remove the garment, while mentally chastising himself for not thinking of it sooner.

  Seconds later, he passed two of the rebels. One man was unconscious and floated down toward the bottom, while the second one was headed toward the surface.

  Tanner unsheathed the machete and jabbed the man in the back, at the base of the spine. The man went rigid, bubbles drifted from his lips, and blood flowed from his wound.

  Tanner left him, then dropped the blade to swim even faster, as a flash of blonde hair caught his eye.

  It was Jennifer, kicking away frantically, with her hands still bound behind her back. Her face was a study in panic, as the lone breath she had taken before going under was about to run out.

  Tanner swam up to her, took her by the shoulders, and kissed her.

  Wide blue eyes stared back at him in shock, but then she understood, and he passed along to her a portion of the air remaining in his lungs.

  When the kiss ended, she nodded, and the two of them moved toward the surface, where Jennifer floated on her back and gulped in the fresh sea air.

  Tanner had managed to take only one breath when he saw movement beneath the water. It was Firman. He was moving toward them with a machete gripped in his hand.

  Tanner drew the revolver out from behind his back and fired it underwater without aiming, because he had no time to do otherwise. It we
nt off while practically touching Firman’s head. Firman gave Tanner one of the most peculiar looks he had ever seen, before the machete slipped from his grasp, and a line of red escaped out from a hole atop his head. Then the rebel leader drifted down toward the bottom to join his men.

  After removing the small blade he kept hidden inside his bandage, Tanner used it to cut Jennifer’s hands free. As they swam toward shore, she asked him a question.

  “Who are you?”

  “My name is Tanner.”

  “Tanner? Sara’s Tanner?”

  “Yes… I suppose.”

  Jennifer looked confused, but then her face crumbled, and she stopped swimming.

  “Is my sister… I mean did you, did you hurt her?”

  “She’s the reason I’m here. We’ve made peace and she asked me to help save you.”

  “Oh, but Jake, Jake Garner, have you seen him?”

  A cry came from the shore. When Jennifer followed the sound, she saw not only Sara and Jake, but also her fellow hostages. Farther along the beach, the mercenaries from the helicopter jogged toward them.

  The two sisters came together in the surf and embraced tightly, while making little cooing sounds of joy. After releasing Sara, Jennifer flew into Jake’s arms and the couple cried and laughed at their reunion.

  Sara had been watching them with tears of relief flowing freely down her cheeks. When she turned to look for Tanner, she saw that he was seated alone on a flat portion at the base of the outcropping.

  Sara walked over and settled beside him. “Thank you, Tanner. My sister is alive because of you.”

  “You’re welcome, Blake. And this makes us even, yes?”