The TANNER Series - Books 1-3 (Tanner Box Set)

by Remington Kane

  “Tim, I’m scared, are you sure that drugging Reese will work?”

  “Yeah, but remember, you have to drug him after he opens up your father’s office.”

  “I know, but I worry about being alone with him. He really is a pig.”

  “Be nice to him for one more night and we’ll be home free.”

  “And Tanner?”

  “Tanner won’t stop until he kills everyone that wants him dead.”

  “Like my father?”

  “Yes.”

  Madison grew quiet, as tears rolled down her cheeks.

  CHAPTER 32 - I know just the guys

  In a midtown pub, Sara greeted her sister Jennifer with a kiss and a hug.

  The two sisters looked much alike, but Jennifer was a natural blond and her eyes were an ice blue. She was six years older than Sara, had been married briefly, and ran a nonprofit that helped to fund clinics in third world countries.

  Sara was not alone. She was seated at the bar with a burly man of fifty whose nose had obviously been broken many times. Before her sister arrived, Sara had passed the man an envelope. The envelope held money, money for a certain... service.

  “You understand what I want done, correct?”

  The man smiled. It was not a pleasant smile.

  “Don’t worry, I know just the guys.”

  “How soon will it happen?”

  “As soon as possible,”

  “Thank you, Duke and good night.”

  “Goodbye, ladies.”

  The man walked off and Jennifer pointed after him.

  “Who was that?”

  “Just an old acquaintance from my days with the Bureau,”

  “You were rude. You forgot to introduce us.”

  “No I didn’t, and you’re early.”

  Jennifer kissed her on the cheek again.

  “I’m early because I couldn’t wait to see you, and have you eaten dinner yet?”

  “No, actually I’ve eaten very little and I’m hungry.”

  Jennifer smiled.

  “We’ll get a table.”

  Sara had slept most of the day and awoke feeling better, but her mouth was still sore from Vince’s punch, and so she ordered a pasta dish.

  ***

  They spoke of family during the meal, but as they considered what to have for dessert, Jennifer asked Sara about herself.

  “Do you miss being an FBI agent?”

  “Some, but I think the newspaper will keep me busy.”

  “I’m surprised you don’t want to practice law like Daddy.”

  “I think that would bore me to death.”

  “You never did say why you were fired.”

  “I don’t want to talk about that. Why don’t we just have a pleasant evening?”

  “Are you dating anyone?”

  “No... I’m still not ready for that.”

  “I didn’t know Brian well, since I only met him once, but I could tell that he loved you and I think he would want you to move on.”

  “Maybe someday, but what about you? Are you seeing anyone?”

  “I was dating a co-worker for a while, but he took a job in Washington DC, and I didn’t want a long-distance relationship.”

  A few seconds later, Jennifer gasped in the middle of a sentence, as she stared over at the bar.

  “Oh my God, that is one handsome man, and he’s looking this way.”

  Sara turned her head to the left and saw her old partner staring at her, FBI Special Agent Jake Garner.

  CHAPTER 33 - No lube

  Seven blocks west of the pub where Sara was dining with her sister, there was a restaurant named Jangles, which was owned and frequented by members of The Conglomerate.

  Dante Celso stepped out of his limo in front of the eatery and headed towards the front door with two bodyguards flanking him.

  Dante was a cousin of Johnny R and the man who ran The Conglomerate’s massage parlors.

  He was aware of Tanner and knew that the man had caused havoc and made threats against his cousin and others, but he thought that it had nothing to do with him.

  He was wrong.

  Dante Celso’s dead body was falling towards the ground even as the shot that killed him echoed among the city’s concrete canyons, signaling the beginning of Tanner’s terror spree. By morning, there wouldn’t be a Conglomerate member in the city that felt safe,

  ***

  Rafe Green returned to his hotel room and limped over to the bed.

  He’d been wounded twice while in the army and, illegal or not, Laurel Ivy was a good doctor. The stitches she put in his leg were sewn tight and whatever she’d given him for the pain was working, because his leg wound felt pleasantly numb.

  After a shower, he ordered room service and then just sat on the side of the bed reliving the events of the day. He had killed two of the men that had attacked his brother, while the other three were either dead or injured.

  Joe Pullo was still alive and Tanner had asked Rafe to let him be, with the promise that he would deal with Pullo’s boss, Johnny R.

  Rafe had agreed, grudgingly, but if his brother died—his cell phone rang.

  When he looked at the caller ID, he felt apprehensive. It was his sister calling. Had Jerome passed away?

  After taking a deep breath, Rafe answered.

  “Hey Debby... is there news?”

  “He’s awake! Jerome is awake and he seems fine, oh Rafe, Jerome is back!”

  Rafe let out a laugh of relief and wiped at tears of joy, the pain, stress, and horror of the day forgotten.

  ***

  Sara frowned as she watched her sister touch Jake Garner once again.

  The handsome FBI agent had charmed Jennifer within moments of meeting her, and the three of them had been chatting for some time, through dessert and several drinks.

  Despite having once shot him, Sara liked Garner, but he was the last man she would want her sister to get involved with, because Jennifer wasn’t frivolous when it came to love, while Garner was a world-class lothario.

  “Didn’t you say you had to work tomorrow, Jenny?” Sara said.

  Jennifer sent her sister a wink.

  “You don’t fool me, Sara, you want Jake all to yourself, but you’re right, I do have to get up early and so I’ll say goodnight.”

  “You didn’t drive here, did you?”

  “No honey, don’t worry, I’m taking a cab, and you do the same. You drank as much as I did.”

  Garner rose as her sister stood and Jennifer gave him a peck on the cheek.

  “I hope to see you again, Jake.”

  “I would like that as well,” Garner said.

  Sara gave her sister a kiss and a hug goodbye and after Jennifer departed, she stared at Garner.

  “No.”

  “No what?”

  “Not my sister. She’s not going to be one of your conquests.”

  “That would be up to her, wouldn’t it?”

  “There are plenty of other women in this city, or have you already had them all? At the rate you go through women, I wouldn’t be surprised.”

  Garner laughed, but then his face turned serious and he reached over and took Sara’s hand.

  “How are you? I mean how are you really?”

  “I haven’t given up on finding Tanner if that’s what you mean.”

  He released her hand and touched her cheek tenderly.

  “Does that bruise have something to do with Tanner?”

  Sara looked surprise and took out a makeup compact to check her face in the mirror.

  “I didn’t think it was noticeable, Jenny never mentioned it.”

  “Jenny isn’t a trained observer, but I am, and you haven’t answered my question.”

  “Yes, it did have something to do with Tanner, although it wasn’t caused by him.”

  Garner stared at her while shaking his head.

  “I wish you could let Tanner go, but live and let live just isn’t part of your DNA, is it?”

  Sara
smiled. It was a smile much like the one on the face of the man she’d been meeting with when her sister showed, a smile devoid of all warmth,

  “I don’t do forgive and forget, a fact the man who gave me this bruise will learn the hard way.”

  ***

  On Mulberry Street, Vince Maggio, Sara’s would-be rapist, awoke with a start, as a gag was shoved into his mouth and secured with a length of duct tape.

  When he tried to sit up, two sets of powerful hands pushed him to lay flat atop his bed, before flipping him over to secure his wrists behind his back.

  His boxer shorts were yanked off, leaving him naked; then, his ankles were spread and secured to the footboard by coarse rope. Afterwards, pillows were wedged beneath his midsection, causing his ass to rise, and become more accessible.

  Vince bellowed behind the tape, but the pleas and protests came out unintelligible, and would not carry beyond the walls of his apartment.

  As one man held him down, the other stepped out of his pants, and soon he was positioned on the bed behind Vince, Vince who was shedding tears born of dread.

  The man smacked Vince hard on the ass and began screwing the top off a tube.

  The second man spoke up. He was smaller than the first man, even though he was six-foot-four and weighed three-hundred pounds. However, their anatomy would be only one of Vince’s concerns, they also brought along... toys, extra-wide, extra-long... toys.

  “No lube, man, Duke said the lady wants it to hurt.”

  The other man shrugged, took aim, and gave Vince cause to scream.

  From that night forward, even hearing the word rape made Vince Maggio want to vomit,

  CHAPTER 34 - Stone cold sober

  Tanner killed two men inside a Conglomerate drug warehouse before the other bodyguards could pinpoint where the shooting was coming from.

  He then used one man as a shield, as he tossed an incendiary grenade beneath a long table where money was stacked high.

  The grenade was a dud Tanner had rigged, but it smoked, sizzled, and caused everyone to head for the exits, including the bodyguards, who shoved and trampled their unarmed co-workers who were there to count the money.

  Tanner found himself alone within seconds, and used an arm to swipe piles of cash into a knapsack, while wincing at the pain in his side. He’d been hit in the vest and the rib beneath it hurt like hell.

  With the sack full of cash, he tossed a live grenade beside the dud he had thrown. This grenade was also specially rigged, with a longer than normal fuse.

  Tanner went neither to the front nor the back, but to the roof, where he had earlier killed the two guards positioned there.

  As he stepped out into the night, he could hear the bodyguards rushing back into the room, some cursing vehemently at having been deceived.

  Tanner closed the door to the roof behind him just as a blast emanated from below, followed by the screams of his enemies.

  The Conglomerate, in the person of Frank Richards, declared war on Tanner, and Tanner was waging war in return.

  Within seconds, he was four roofs away and climbing back down a rope he had used to climb up with. Then, he drove off in the vehicle of a bookie he had killed earlier, his night of death not yet done.

  ***

  Sara wondered where the time went to, as she and Garner left the pub at closing time, which was two a.m. When he mentioned that he knew a nearby jazz club that stayed open until four, she gave him a sly smile.

  “Are you trying to get me drunk?”

  “I think we’re both nearly there, but I really just want the night to continue. I enjoy your company, Sara.”

  Sara laid a hand on his cheek.

  “I had a good time too, Jake. You’re more interesting than I would have thought, but, I think I should be getting home.”

  “I’ll escort you.”

  Sara opened her mouth to say no, but as she looked up into Garner’s face, she uttered the word, “Fine.”

  They were standing before her apartment door a short time later and Sara could feel the alcohol seeping into her bloodstream. She realized that she hadn’t been drunk in a long time and couldn’t remember the last time she had enjoyed an evening out.

  Garner bent to kiss her, but she pressed a hand against his chest.

  “I’m not inviting you in. I like you and you’re every bit as good looking as you think you are, but I’ll be damned if I’ll be just another conquest for you to brag about.”

  Garner looked abashed and took a step backwards. To Sara’s surprise, she felt disappointment over him giving up so easily.

  Her resolve was weakening. She hadn’t been with a man since Brian Ames, and like most young women, she had her needs.

  Garner gazed into her eyes.

  “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have done that. You’ve made your feelings about me plain and I should respect that.”

  “I don’t dislike you, Jake, in fact, the more I see of you, the more I like.”

  “Then, may I see you again?”

  She blinked in surprise.

  “What? You mean like a date?”

  “On any terms you want, but I’d like to stay in contact.”

  Suspicion seeped into her gaze.

  “You accused me earlier of holding a grudge, but what about you? After all, I did shoot you once.”

  “Actually, you shot me three times, and I don’t hold that against you, well, not much anyway. You have my number and... I hope to hear from you.”

  He kissed her, but it was just a quick peck on the cheek and then he was walking off towards the elevator.

  Sara watched him go as mixed emotions roiled within her, and she nearly called him back.

  After Garner disappeared onto the elevator with a wave goodbye, Sara fumbled with her keys and entered her apartment.

  She hit the light switch even as she closed the door, and when she turned around, she saw Tanner standing in her living room and pointing a shotgun at her.

  The sight sobered her instantly.

  CHAPTER 35 - Mama’s boy

  Tim Jackson could hardly believe his luck as he slid in behind Frank Richards’ desk at MegaZenith.

  He and Madison had come up with a plan to drug Carl Reese by putting the date rape drug, Rohypnol, in Reese’s coffee at break time, and had bought several of the pills from a pot dealer in the East Village.

  The plan proved to be unnecessary, because after entering the security code and unlocking the door, Reese was called away to deal with a crisis of some sort on a lower floor and failed to secure the office when he left.

  Madison, who had been watching Reese, alerted Tim of their opportunity, and as she kept watch for Reese’s return, Tim attempted to plunder Richards’ computer files.

  After powering the computer on, a sign-up screen appeared and asked for a password.

  Tim had questioned Madison extensively about her father’s life in an attempt to guess what he would use as a password. The likelihood that he could access the computer on site was almost nil, given the constraints of time, but with Madison’s intimate knowledge of the man, he hoped to do so.

  If he could download Richards’ files and leave the computer intact, it would give him and Tanner a huge advantage, in that they could possibly gain access to The Conglomerate’s network without their being aware of it. But if Tim had to take the hard drive with him, it would alert them within hours.

  Madison seemed certain that her father’s password would have something to do with her late grandmother, a woman her father worshiped, but whom Madison never cared for much, because her grandmother didn’t like Madison’s mother, and had let her feelings be known at every opportunity.

  After wiping his damp palms on his jeans, Tim typed in the name of Richards’ late mother, Christine.

  The computer beeped, informed him that his input was wrong and reminded him that he had only two more chances to enter the correct answer, or be locked out.

  Madison stuck her head in the door and Tim looked up with a
start, thinking her appearance meant that Reese was on his way back.

  Madison smiled.

  “Any luck?”

  “Her name didn’t do it and if I had any sense I would just rip out the damn hard drive and get the hell out of here with it. The odds of me guessing right are astronomical, even with your help. He could just be using a random alpha-numeric sequence of some sort; the password doesn’t have to have any meaning to him at all.”

  Madison shook her head in disagreement.

  “Daddy likes to keep things simple. It’s why he always has an assistant like Al Trent at his side. He lets them worry about the details and minutia. The password would be simple, I know it.”

  Tim ran a hand through his hair.

  “All right, I’ll try again, but please go back and watch the elevator. We don’t need Reese finding us in here, and what’s that bag in your hand, garbage?”

  “I emptied the shredder.”

  “Why? Anything in there would be in a thousand pieces.”

  “I’ve always been good with puzzles, now get back to work.”

  Madison threw him a kiss and returned to the hallway.

  Tim watched her go, then stared at the screen and typed in the name of Frank Richards’ childhood pet, a pug named Sparky, who Madison said Richards had mentioned often over the years.

  WRONG ANSWER - ONE ATTEMPT REMAINING

  Tim stood, walked around the desk once and sat back down to take his last shot.

  It’s the mother. Madison says her father is a mama’s boy, so it has to be the mother.

  Tim typed in the name that Frank Richards called his mother until the day she died.

  MUMSY

  The sign on screen disappeared and the desktop came up, bringing with it a background picture that shocked Tim.

  It was a picture of Madison, or at least it would be if she were fifty years older. The background picture was a photo of Frank Richards’ mother, a woman who must have looked remarkably like Madison in her youth.

  Tim muttered, “Mumsy? What a mama’s boy,” and then he went to work draining every shred of data from Richards’ computer.

  CHAPTER 36 - No justice, no peace

  Sara and Tanner stared at each other for ten seconds before Sara broke the silence.