“A woman? Since when are you friends with a woman? And don’t say me, because one, we’re not friends, and two, you don’t like me.”
“It’s Sara Blake; I’ve been trying to help her.”
Geary laughed loud enough to draw attention to their table, but took no note of it.
“Garner, the bitch is crazy; she shot you three times and nearly killed you.”
“She wasn’t trying to kill me and I don’t think she’s crazy. She’s just hurting because she suffered a lost.”
Geary sent him a knowing smile.
“You just want to get her into bed. I’ve met her and she’s cute, but damn, let it go. The bitch is damaged goods.”
“Don’t say that!”
Garner had shouted so loudly that every other conversation stopped.
He gave an embarrassed look as he gazed around and held up a hand, as if to apologize. When he looked back at Geary, she was smiling.
“Holy shit, you love the woman, don’t you?”
“That’s ridiculous, but yes, I care about her, but nevermind Sara, what were you saying about Mario Petrocelli?”
“It looks like he’s in the hospital for one more day, but I want to drop by later and rattle his chain, both of us, or aren’t you working this case with me?”
“You know how I feel about your methods, but yes, I’ll talk to him too. I have sympathy for his daughter, but none for him.”
“Good, now tell me the truth; am I too old for you?”
“What are you asking?”
“I’m saying that you’re one serious hunk of man and I want you. What do you say?”
Garner studied Geary. She was years older than he was, but she had a body that was still young and her blond hair sat atop a face that was more than pretty.
He stood and placed money on the table for the bill.
“I think we should keep things professional.”
Geary stared up at him.
“You really don’t like me, do you?”
“As I said before, I don’t like your methods, Michelle, as far as the offer, I was tempted.”
“I won’t ask again, you know where to find me, and I’ll meet you at the hospital at seven.”
“Fine, I’ll see you then.”
Garner had taken three steps when Geary called to him.
“When you see, Sara, tell her I said hi.”
Garner said nothing and kept walking, as behind him, Geary chuckled with amusement.
CHAPTER 26 - Minor annoyances
Frank Richards stepped off the elevator, and after traveling the corridors along the tenth floor of The Partners Building, he found Santino waiting for him outside the meeting room. Walking beside Richards, was his new assistant, Robert Vance.
“What’s this about a problem?” Richards said, as he looked through the glass doors, in an effort to spot anything amiss.
Santino raised up his hand in a calming gesture.
“The meeting room is ready. The problem is with Saul Adamo.”
“What problem is that?”
“He’s dead.”
Richards swore beneath his breath, afterwards, he told Santino and Vance to turn around, so that they wouldn’t see what five-letter word he tapped into the keypad that controlled the door locks.
When he was finished, the doors hissed and opened inward, which caused the lights to come on automatically.
Richards walked inside and gestured for Santino to sit. Santino did so and found Richards glaring down at him.
“What happened to Adamo?”
“He was killed by Sophia Verona and her pet, Romeo.”
“The very people you were ordered to deal with.”
“I decided not to follow those orders because I knew it was a set-up, you two bastards were hoping we’d all kill each other, but I outsmarted you and Adamo both, and now I’m the one who will be your partner.”
“I choose my partners, Mr. Santino, not the other way around.”
Santino stood in a rush, shoving his chair backwards, then leaned his face near Richards.
“Listen to me you blue-blooded mobster wannabe. You and I are partners now and there’s not a goddamn thing you can do about it.”
Richards stiffened from the close contact and then shifted his eyes to the left, where Vance was standing.
“Mr. Vance, I would like this problem erased.”
Santino took a step back, reached beneath his suit jacket for the gun in his shoulder holster, but felt his hand go numb, as Vance jabbed at a nerve cluster beneath his armpit. A second later and Vance knocked Santino to his knees, then, moved behind him.
As this was happening, Richards had turned away to stare out into the hallway. While he was a man who ordered violent acts be committed in order to further his aims, he did not enjoy seeing them employed.
The sound of a struggle came from behind him and after hearing Santino grunt, he heard something that sounded like a thick branch snapping in two. It was Santino’s neck breaking and it was followed by the sound of his body falling to the floor.
When Vance appeared beside him, Richards looked over and saw that the man had barely exerted himself.
“Is there any blood?”
“No sir, and I’ll remove the body shortly.”
“Do that, I want no signs of violence detectable in this room.”
“There won’t be, but sir, who will you choose to take Adamo’s place?”
“I was thinking of Joe Pullo. The man has a soldier’s mentality and I think he would follow my orders if well compensated. However, I’ve grown tired of dealing with his kind. I don’t need one of them to help me rule them. I’ll rule them myself and they’ll accept it or die, but that comes later, my focus is on tomorrow’s meeting.”
“I’ll get together with Johnny Rossetti again too.”
“He trusts you?”
Vance smiled.
“Enough for our purposes, and I’ll lure him here tomorrow morning and complete the first part of your plan.”
“Good, but remember, don’t hurt him. I need him healthy if he’s to play the patsy.”
“I understand, sir, and I won’t let you down.”
“Good man, now clean up that mess and meet me back at the office. There are still a few details I want to go over.”
“Speaking of details, what’s to be done with Sophia Verona and this man, Romeo?”
Richards looked thoughtful as he weighed his options.
Vance spoke up.
“I’d like to make a suggestion.”
“Yes?”
“Why not use honey instead of vinegar? Invite the woman to the meeting tomorrow. It’ll placate her long enough for your plan to work.”
Richards nodded.
“That’s one option, but Sophia Verona and this Romeo person have been particularly annoying and I want them eradicated. Send a team after them.”
“Men from one of the other families?”
“No, use mercenaries, and tell them that they’ll be paid double if it’s completed before sunrise tomorrow.”
“Yes sir, consider it done.”
Richards turned his head just far enough around so that he could view Santino’s corpse in his peripheral vision and grimaced when he caught a glimpse of the unnatural position of Santino’s head.
He looked back at Vance.
“I should have made you my assistant sooner, Robert. It’s nice to have a man around who can handle... minor annoyances.”
“Yes sir and it was my pleasure to do so.”
Richards smiled and headed for the elevator, as thoughts of gaining greater power swam through his mind.
CHAPTER 27 - Nyuk, nyuk, nyuk
Merle and Earl entered the Cabaret Strip Club in the afternoon and took seats at the bar to speak to Carl.
“Is Johnny here?”
“Nope, but he should be soon, you guys want a beer?”
“Just a soda for me,” Merle said. “I drank enough yesterday to hold me for a week.�
�
Earl also had soda, and then they turned on their barstools and watched the young woman who was dancing for the small Saturday afternoon crowd.
Johnny appeared a short time later and the boys followed him inside the office.
“If you’re here, I take it that means that Matthew Burns no longer walks among us?”
Merle nodded and fought back tears as he thought of Matt.
“Good work, and the cops will think it’s an accident, right?”
“Yeah,” Earl said. “They think he had a heart attack.”
“They think? I’m no doctor, but a thing like that leaves tell-tale signs behind, chemical changes in the blood, that type of shit. Take a seat.”
Johnny took out a phone, made a call and asked the person on the other line to check on the details of Matthew Burns’ demise.
After ending the call, he bullshitted with Merle and Earl as he opened his laptop and signed on to check his email, and a few minutes later, his call was returned. When he put down the phone, he looked perplexed.
“Alright, tell me what happened.”
“What d’ya mean?” Merle said.
“The dude definitely died of a heart attack, but this isn’t the CIA, boys, we don’t have any undetectable drugs and spy gadgets. How the hell could you induce a heart attack?”
The brothers looked at each other and after swallowing hard, Merle answered.
“We got secret ways.”
“Deal me in on them; we’ll save a fortune in bullets.”
The boys exchanged glances again and after squirming under Johnny’s gaze, Earl spoke in a whisper.
“He just died.”
“What?”
“Matt, I guess we partied too hard and he died.”
“You two partied with him?”
“He was a really nice guy, Mr. Rossetti, and he knew everything about college football,” Merle said.
Johnny just stared at them for long seconds before getting up and pacing around the room.
“How many guys did you two whack before you killed Tanner?”
“None,” Merle admitted.
“None? So what, Tanner was just a fluke?”
Earl shrugged.
“Uh, heat of the moment, yeah.”
Johnny laughed, but there was no humor in it.
“I’ll be damned.”
“Are you gonna hurt us?” Merle asked.
“Why would I do that? Burns is dead, that was the job and the job is done, but I think I’ll find other work for you two. I should just kick you out of here, but for some damn reason I like you.”
Earl smiled.
“You mean we ain’t gotta kill nobody else?”
“No, but expect a serious pay cut.”
The boys stood and took turns pumping Johnny’s hand.
“We don’t like killin’, but we ain’t afraid of work, what do you want us to do?” Merle said.
“It’s the weekend, so just chill and come back here on Monday and I’ll think of something you can do.”
“Is it alright if we hang around the bar for a while?”
“Sure, Merle,”
“I’m Earl.”
“If you say so,”
The boys left the office and Johnny walked back behind the desk, shaking his head as he went.
“‘We got secret ways,’” he says. “Christ, what happened to the third stooge?”
CHAPTER 28 - He could always eat at the Y
Sophia let out a sigh of satisfaction as she collapsed atop Tanner, her skin moist with exertion.
After a moment more, she slid over to his right side and laid an arm across his chest.
“If sex is all you wanted for helping me, I think we’re even,” Sophia said.
“I would say I’ve been overpaid.”
“Seriously though, Romeo, I’ll pay you for helping me.”
“Keep your money, Johnny Rossetti already paid me.”
“Liar, there’s no way he paid you enough to compensate for all the crap you’ve been through since yesterday.”
“I don’t need more money; it was my pleasure to keep you safe.”
Sophia kissed him and her hands began exploring, but not with sexual intention, rather, it was an exploration of his previous wounds.
“You were shot in the chest once. That’s a serious wound, I know, because my father was shot in the same spot when I was a little girl and he almost died.”
“Same here, I was down for weeks and didn’t get my strength back for months.”
“When was this? Where?”
“It doesn’t matter.”
“You don’t like to talk about yourself, do you?”
Tanner almost said, “Which self?” but instead, he answered, “No.”
“That’s alright, be mysterious, I’ll figure you out someday.”
Her hands moved lower and she found the knife wound he had received courtesy of Gino Tonti, in one of his recent battles against The Conglomerate.
“How did this happen? It looks fairly new.”
“One of the ladies in my sewing circle stabbed me with her needle.”
Sophia smiled and punched him in play.
“Asshole, keep your secrets, and I just realized, I don’t even know your last name.”
“It’s Montague.”
Sophia laughed and punched him again, but harder.
“Jerk! I’m not illiterate. I know that’s Romeo’s name in the Shakespeare play. I’m asking about you, baby. I want to know more about you.”
Tanner rose from the bed and grabbed his boxers.
“The less you know the better, and I think I’ve overstayed my welcome.”
Sophia sat up, grabbed his wrist and pulled him back atop the bed.
“I didn’t say you could leave.”
Tanner ran a hand through her thick red hair.
“I do have to leave soon... and I won’t be coming back.”
“Why? Never mind, you wouldn’t tell me anyway, but when are you leaving?”
“I can stay until morning, but there’s a bit of business I have to take care of tomorrow.”
Sophia studied his face, then, she gazed into his eyes as if she were hoping to find the things there that he wouldn’t say.
“All right, so we have one more day together. But let’s go out later, I want to go to dinner and see a movie, you know, normal stuff.”
Tanner gazed downward and his hands followed. Sophia was still naked and her full firm breasts felt soft as silk.
Sophia smiled.
“You are one horny bastard, do you know that?”
“We have to do something between now and dinner.”
“Most people call that lunch.”
Tanner pushed her to lay back atop the bed.
“I have other appetites.”
***
Sara returned to her apartment building and found her sister waiting for her in the small lobby.
“Why are you here, Jenny?”
Jennifer greeted her with a hug.
“I was worried about you and since you wouldn’t return my calls, I came to see you.”
“Have you talked to Jake?”
“I did, he called me last night and said that you were drunk. Were you out all night?”
“I stayed with a friend,” Sara said, and wondered for a moment if it was true. Was Johnny Rossetti a friend, or something more?
“Okay, I just wanted to see you and know that you were all right, and Sara, baby, I’m sorry if I hurt your feelings yesterday, but honey I really am worried about you and so is Jake. I hope you know that we only did what we did out of concern and love.”
Sara said nothing in return, and after a moment, Jennifer let loose a sigh.
“I love you, Sara.”
“I love you too, Jenny, but please, don’t interfere in my life, yes, I have problems, but I’ll work them out on my own, okay?”
Jennifer hugged her again.
“I’m always available if you need me.
You know that, don’t you?”
“I do and it goes both ways.”
When they separated, Sara saw that her big sister’s eyes were moist.
“We’ll have dinner again soon, okay?” Jennifer said.
“Only if you leave the shrink out of it,”
Jennifer smiled.
“I promise, but I want us to stay close. I don’t see you as much as I’d like.”
Sara softened her demeanor and smiled.
“We’ll have dinner soon, I promise.”
Another hug, a kiss on the cheek, and Jennifer was gone, leaving Sara with a feeling of loss.
Until she joined the FBI, she had told Jenny about everything that had been happening in her life.
Her big sister knew who had given her her first kiss, who she first loved and been loved by. She had kept no secrets to herself back then and a part of her ached to speak of the dark things to another person.
To tell them of her pain, of her sorrow, and disclose the desire for vengeance that ate away at her night and day.
But Jennifer would never understand such things, not on a gut level. She hadn’t seen the parts of life that Sara had while acting as an agent and dealing with human scum, and she hadn’t had anyone ripped away from her.
Talking to her sister or a psychiatrist wouldn’t help, only action would, and if it took all the days of her life, she would get revenge for the death of Brian Ames.
Sara watched her sister climb into a cab and return to her normal life, and prayed that she’d never know a tenth of the hatred that fueled her days.
Frank Richards, the new target was Frank Richards, and to aid in taking him down, she would search for Al Trent.
Sara took out her phone, placed a call and heard it be answered after only ringing once.
“What’s up, Sara?”
“Hi Duke, have you found Al Trent?”
“Not yet, but you know I will.”
“Good, and let me know the moment you do.”
Sara put her phone away while still thinking of Trent. He was either a dead end, or possibly the key to bringing Richards down.
She sighed.
Where are you, Trent?
CHAPTER 29 - Tick! Tick! Tick!
Al Trent stood before a gnarled tree and thought about the night Madison’s mother died.
The TANNER Series - Books 1-3 (Tanner Box Set) Page 39
