Tanner and Sara ignored him. Two minutes later, Tanner pulled into the parking lot of an abandoned factory. They had scouted out the place earlier and set it up for an interrogation.
Bianchi protested their intention to take him inside the building, but fear of the gun kept his feet moving. After entering the building through a door that was hanging open on one hinge, Tanner spun suddenly and buried a fist in Bianchi’s stomach.
When the nursing home director’s legs threatened to buckle, Tanner held him up and guided him over to a chair. The chair had zip ties attached to the arms and legs, and before Bianchi knew it, he was bound to the metal chair and helpless.
“A private room, right? You wanted your uncle to have a private room. Hell, you got it.”
“This isn’t about my uncle. You’re going to tell us all about the whorehouse you’re running at the nursing home.”
Bianchi sank into the chair as if someone had let the air out of him.
“Oh no, you’re working for Degussa, but listen, none of this was my idea. It was all Bruno Allende.”
“Who is Degussa?” Tanner said.
A little of the air returned and Bianchi raised his head.
“You don’t work for Degussa?”
“No, who is he?”
Bianchi smiled.
“If you don’t work for Degussa then I don’t have to worry.”
Tanner took out his gun and slammed the butt of it onto one of Bianchi’s hands, then he did it again, and again. Tanner had intended to smash only one finger, but Bianchi’s movements in the chair made him crush two digits.
After howling in pain and cursing in Italian, Bianchi looked at Tanner with tears in his eyes.
“Why did you do that?”
“To make you understand that you do have to worry about me. Now tell me who Degussa is.”
“He’s the head of the mob in Genoa, hell, maybe in all of Italy. He’s also Bruno’s boss.”
“Why would Bruno Allende’s boss come after you? You two are partners.”
“Degussa doesn’t know anything about the girls we have at my nursing home.”
Sara stepped forward.
“You’re running drugs out of there too, aren’t you?”
“At first, we just bought a little coke to keep the girls happy and numb, but then we thought, why not supply the customers too.”
“Bianchi, someone like Degussa would feed you to sharks if he ever found out what you were doing. Why would you do this? I thought you came from money.”
Bianchi looked at Sara, but then shrugged.
“It’s the girls, so many damn girls and I can have them any time I like. The only thing better is the really young ones, like that one you chased off tonight.”
A gun smashed into Bianchi’s already mangled fingers. It was Sara, who also kicked Bianchi in the shin for good measure.
“Pervert! That girl was a child.”
Bianchi was sucking in air between gasps of pain as Tanner stepped out of hearing range and gestured for Sara to follow.
“I’m going to have to move fast on this. When we leave here, go back to the hotel while I track down Bruno Allende.”
“I could help you.”
“Not with this,” Tanner said.
Sara began to protest, but then stopped herself. She wanted to be with Tanner, but knew the man was at heart, a loner. She would give him his space, even though she would have felt better about backing him up.
She kissed him.
“You be careful.”
“I will.”
Sara looked over at Bianchi.
“What about him?”
“He’s going to tell me everything he knows about Bruno Allende and Degussa, after that, we’ll gag him and leave him here.”
“Just leave him like that?”
“He’ll be fine. Either someone will find him tomorrow or we’ll call the cops to release him, but I want him out of the way tonight.”
They walked back over and saw that Bianchi had grown furious, yet sensible.
“I’ll tell you anything you want to know, because once you find Bruno, he and his men will eat you alive.”
“Like those two guys you had with you tonight, they work for Bruno too?”
“Bruno runs a big crew and soon he’ll push that old man Degussa out and take over.”
Tanner liked what he was hearing. The mob in Genoa was fractured and on the verge of a coup. That was good, he could use that to his advantage.
“Have you met a man named Maurice Scallato?”
Bianchi looked thoughtful.
“The name doesn’t sound familiar. Why, who is he?”
“Never mind, just tell me where I can find Bruno?” Tanner said.
It was going to be a long night.
26
Follow The Bouncing Thug – Part 2
Bruno owned a “Gentlemen’s Club” that was closed on Monday nights, and that was when he played cards with a few of his men.
There were six guys playing cards, with a seventh man left to keep watch at the door. After observing the bar for half an hour, Tanner knew that the man on the door was a heavy smoker. The skinny hood had come outside twice to smoke, and as he did so, he left the door propped open with a chair, likely so he could hear if Bruno called for him.
The man was wearing a distinctive leather jacket. It was colorful and had the name of a rugby club in bold letters on the back and down the sleeves. Tanner thought of a way that might come in handy.
The night had grown cold, and while the passing traffic kept a steady flow, there was no one out walking in the area, and the surrounding businesses were all closed. Tanner approached the man as he was lighting up another cigarette. He blew on his hands to keep them warm and asked a question.
“Are you closed?”
“Yeah, every Monday night,” the man said, and his rough voice told Tanner that he’d been a smoker his whole life.
“Damn, I wanted to look at some hot women,” Tanner removed a cigarette from a pack he’d just bought, then pretended he didn’t have a match. “Hey, give me a light, will you?”
The thug glared at him.
“What am I, a doorman? Get the fuck out of here.”
Tanner started to reply, then pointed into the club.
“Who are those guys?”
The man turned his head to look and Tanner slammed a fist into his midsection. The smoker doubled over as his cigarette went flying out of his mouth. Tanner grabbed the man by his belt and collar, spun him around, and slammed the crown of his head against the brick wall surrounding the club’s entrance.
Tanner stripped the leather jacket off the thug then gave him a quick frisk. Along with a wallet and a phone, he came up with a Berretta, a knife, a cigarette lighter, and cigarettes. As he frisked the unconscious thug, he kept an eye out for movement while listening for sounds coming from the club. He saw only cars going by and heard nothing else.
According to the ID in his wallet, the smoking man’s name was Vito. Tanner searched Vito’s phone and found its number, then memorized it.
When he bought the cigarettes, Tanner also acquired a cheap bottle of wine and a baseball cap. After dragging Vito near the gutter, Tanner thrust the cap on the man’s head, poured wine over him, then placed the empty bottle in his limp hand.
If a cop or pedestrian came along, they would take Vito for a drunk.
After putting the colorful leather jacket on, Tanner entered the club and locked the door. He was just in time to hear someone call for the smoker.
“Vito, bring in more beer.”
Tanner growled in his throat to deepen his voice, then did a passable imitation of the smoker.
“I’m busy.”
“Busy? Listen, you better get your ass back here with some beer damn quick if you know what’s good for you.”
“I’m on the phone with my girl.”
“What girl? Are you cheating on my sister?”
Tanner winced at that. How was he to
know that the smoker was married. The man had no ring on.
Still, it was good bait, and at least one of the men from the back room would come out to give “Vito” hell.
After placing the smoker’s phone inside a broom closet, Tanner leaned over the bar with his back turned and was careful to keep his reflection out of the mirror behind the bar. While he waited, he input the number of the smoker’s phone into his own cell phone, but he didn’t press the send button.
The sound of chair legs scraping over floorboards came from the back room; it was followed by the thumping of heavy footsteps.
“Vito?”
Tanner waited. He needed the man to get closer.
When a hand closed on his shoulder, Tanner reared back his elbow and caught the owner of the hand in the face. As the man stumbled backwards while holding his nose, Tanner hit him again, but this time he used a barstool. That sent the man sprawling, as the sound of multiple chairs scraping the floor came from the back room.
Tanner laid down beside the man he had just hit but kept his face hidden from view. Beside him, the man moaned, but a quick look told Tanner that he was insensible and was out of the fight.
Five men came into the room and then stopped cold. Without seeing it, Tanner identified the next sound he heard, and knew it was the sound of multiple weapons clearing their respective holsters.
“Vito? Dom? Hey Dom, who hit you guys?” a voice said.
Then, an authoritative voice spoke, telling the men to spread out. However, Tanner had already pressed the send key on his phone, which caused the cell phone inside the closet to ring.
“Who’s in there!”
It was the authoritative voice again, and Tanner guessed that he was hearing Bruno Allende.
“You might as well come out of the closet, dumb-ass, or else we’ll light you up.”
Tanner sat up and saw that five men had their backs to him and that their guns were pointed at the closet.
“Drop the guns or I’ll shoot Bruno first.”
Two of the men jumped, while they all turned their heads to look at him. Tanner was holding a mini Uzi with a sound suppressor that was nearly as long as the gun. The aftermarket magazine inserted into it held fifty rounds.
If Bruno and his men were stupid, they would all die fast, and quiet enough so that no one on the street would be any the wiser.
One of the men cursed in awe as he looked at the gun, while another put his hands up in the air.
“Who are you?” asked one of the men. He was the tallest, looked very fit, and seemed irritated. He had brown eyes, rugged looks, and an authoritative voice.
“I came here to talk, Bruno. But I’ll be the only one holding a gun while we do it. Put the other men in that closet.”
Bruno gave a little laugh.
“You put a phone in there and then called the number. Damn. I fell for that?”
“You’d be surprised how often it works, now deal with your men so we can talk.”
“I’m not locking them in any damn closet,” Bruno said. He then leaned over slowly and placed his gun on the floor. After his men followed suit, Tanner approached them.
“My name is Tanner. Have you heard of me?”
Bruno’s eyelids flickered as he took a step backwards.
“This is about Maurice?”
Tanner took note that Bruno was on a first-name basis with Scallato, meanwhile, one of the other men realized who Tanner was, and he told the others, while mentioning the name, Alonso Alvarado. When the man finished speaking, the other men swallowed hard and looked more frightened.
Apparently, Tanner’s reputation had preceded him in Europe.
“I know you two are close, Bruno, so you’re going to tell me where I can find Scallato.”
“We’re not close and I don’t know where he is, but I can get a message to him.”
“If I wanted to send him a message I could just kill you, Bruno. I want to know where I can find him.”
“I don’t know where he is, seriously. Think about it, why would he tell me where he lives?”
“Then send him a message from me. Tell him that he needs to call me with a time and place to meet by tomorrow. If I don’t hear from him, I’ll come back here and kill you.”
“Kill me? What did I do?”
“That’s the message, now have one of your men give me a phone.”
Bruno nudged the man on his right with an elbow.
“Give the man your phone.”
The man complied, but he passed it to Tanner as if he were feeding a mouse to a cobra.
“I’ll expect to hear from Scallato at eight p.m. tomorrow.”
“And if he doesn’t call, you’ll kill me?”
“Yeah, so you better make sure he calls.”
“That’s not right, Tanner. I didn’t do anything to you.”
“Just make sure you do something for me, or else.”
Tanner backed up while keeping the men in sight. The thug on the floor that he had hit with a barstool pulled himself up to his hands and knees and sent a string of Italian curses at Tanner.
Tanner thumbed the selector switch on the Uzi to single shot and pumped a slug into the man’s head. After all, he had a reputation to uphold.
As he backed out onto the street, Tanner lowered his weapon and locked eyes with Bruno. The Italian mobster looked angry enough to kill him. Tanner was used to that look. It was an occupational hazard.
27
Tick Tock
Before entering Bruno Allende’s bar, Tanner had done a thorough recon of the area.
The silver Porsche 911 Turbo parked at the rear of the gentlemen’s club was easy to peg as belonging to Bruno, and Tanner had placed a tracking device on it.
The tracker he used had a feature that alerted you if the one you were monitoring came within a certain distance of your location. Tanner had set the tracker to beep out an alert at three miles.
The device did just that the following morning as Tanner and Sara were stepping out into the hotel lobby. A quick look at his phone told Tanner that Bruno was closing in.
“Bruno has juice in this town. He tracked me down in just a few hours.”
“It was the desk clerk over there,” Sara said, while pointing with her eyes. “He looked nervous as we stepped off the elevator, and now he’s on the phone.”
“He’s afraid we’ll get away; let’s alleviate his worries.”
Tanner checked his pockets, made an “Aw man,” expression, and pushed the button on the elevator so that it would take them back up to their floor.
As the doors closed, Sara looked at Tanner with questioning eyes.
“What are you doing?”
“Luring them to our room. If we had driven away, the desk clerk would have given them the description of our car and we might be involved in a chase.”
“But a firefight in a crowded hotel is better?”
“No, but we’ll be long gone by the time they get here. Look at the screen, the car must be caught in morning traffic. They’ve hardly moved.”
Sara studied the phone and saw a red dot on the map that gave a location south of the hotel. Bruno was still blocks away.
They stepped off the elevator at their floor and took the stairs down to the rear of the building, where the parking lot was. Tanner was carrying a bag full of supplies and necessary surveillance equipment. They had planned to spend the day watching Bruno, but Bruno was coming to them.
Tanner pointed to a gazebo that sat on a patch of grass.
“We’ll wait there,” he said.
“Wait for what?”
“Our ride, I’m going to steal Bruno’s Porsche.”
Sara laughed.
“I should have known you’d have something clever up your sleeve.”
“Expect the unexpected,” Tanner said.
They watched the app on his phone and saw Bruno’s progress, just after the red dot reached their hotel, they heard a car breaking to a stop. It came from the front of the buildi
ng. Right after that, a white van came around the corner and parked near the rear exit. Six young men jumped out and went inside. They were all wearing baggy black hoodies, jeans, and sneakers.
Tanner and Sara strolled around to the front of the building and saw the Porsche 911 sitting there, with another white van parked behind it. There was no one in the Porsche, but the same desk clerk who had ratted them out was standing at the curb and keeping an eye on it. As he stood there, the man tossed a set of keys in the air, Tanner saw that the key fob had the Porsche logo.
Tanner sidled up on the man’s right as Sara did the same on his left.
“That’s a great looking car,” Tanner said.
The man was nodding in agreement as he turned his head to look at Tanner. When he realized who he was looking at, the man turned white.
“Give me the keys,” Tanner said.
The man’s face crumbled as he handed over the keys.
“Bruno will kill me.”
“That’s not my problem; give me your phone too.”
Sara patted the man on the cheek as he gave Tanner his phone.
“Just be glad that my boyfriend is in a good mood, or you’d already be dead.”
“I don’t feel good,” the man said, then he ran over and vomited into the gutter.
Bruno had a foot raised to kick in Tanner’s hotel room door, but he stopped when his phone vibrated. He was wearing a hood that covered all but his chin from the sight of the hotel’s cameras.
After checking to see who was calling, he made a face of irritation.
“It’s that desk clerk,” Bruno whispered to his men, before moving down the hall and answering the call. “What do you want? I’m a little busy.”
“I just wanted to tell you that you have a nice car, although I’m partial to BMW’s.”
“What? Who is this? Oh, no, Tanner, is that you?”
“Tick tock, Bruno. If I don’t hear from Scallato by eight tonight you’re a dead man. Tick tock, that’s the sound of your life slipping away.”
“I can’t get in contact with Maurice that quickly, but I’m meeting someone tonight who can.”
“Who are you meeting?”
[Tanner 16.0] To Kill a Killer Page 15
