Sins of the Father and Mother (A Tanner Novel Book 42)

by Remington Kane

  Cara shook her head at that. “No way. Death is too good for these two. When we all testify against them for kidnapping us, they’ll be locked up forever. I want that. I want to spend the rest of my life imagining them suffering behind bars.”

  After delivering Arthur to Taran’s care, Tanner located the generator and turned it back on. Ali emerged with the women from the basement as Tanner was walking toward the door that led down to it. She grinned and said, “Yes!” when she saw that he was alive and unharmed. “And what about Taran?”

  “He’s good. And we would have had a tougher time of it if you hadn’t cut the power.”

  “I only wish that I had realized there was a generator. When the power came back on I nearly freaked.”

  They walked toward the front of the house to find Maxwell backing the van up the driveway. The older man parked the vehicle, exited it cautiously due to his injured arm, and rushed to Ali.

  “Are you okay?”

  “I’m fine, Maxwell. And I did it. I cut the power.”

  “You sure did, honey.”

  They walked over to give Bo a hand getting out with his broken leg and crutches. When he was standing, he pointed at a gardening shed.

  “There are two guys hiding in there, Tanner. I don’t think they’re armed. They were with two other men who were trying to take off in that helicopter. Maxwell and I used your sniper rifle to stop them.”

  “Good work. All of you. I see why Spenser likes helping you out. It’s definitely not boring.”

  Tanner walked over to the shed and issued an ultimatum. “Come out now or I start shooting.”

  “Don’t shoot! Good God don’t shoot!” said the pilot. He exited the shed first with the overweight bidder following. They both had their hands up.

  The bidder spoke in his nasal voice. “I can make you a wealthy man if you let me go.”

  In answer, Tanner kicked him in the balls.

  They left Arthur’s home with the abducted women in charge and everyone else bound and gagged. The authorities had more than enough evidence to make certain that Arthur, his nieces, and the bidders all faced prosecution. Tanner also made them a promise.

  “If any of you fail to cooperate with the cops, I will hunt you down and kill you. If by some miracle you’re set free, I’ll do the same. You’re only alive now because you know where other women are being held.”

  Tanner stared at each of them in turn to see if his message had gotten through. No one met his gaze for long or displayed any sign that they would be defiant.

  Ali was hugged by each of the women before she climbed in the van. She was the one who used a burner phone to summon the police to the home as they drove away. They were not leaving empty-handed either. The bidders had been prepared to pay for the women with cash. That money was now property of The Searchers, and it would be used by Maxwell, Bo, and Ali to find other missing people.

  Inga Olson had dived into the ocean with the wish to end her life. Instead, her survival would mean that many like her would be rescued from the hell they found themselves in. And for the twelve women rescued at the house, it meant that they would never need suffer that fate.

  And yet, in the few days since the quest to save them began, another three hundred women had gone missing. Many would never be found.

  19

  A Mother Knows Her Son

  Midnight arrived and there was no call. Michael and Kate were so anxious that they were pacing around the hotel room.

  The burner phone rang at 12:26. Kate snatched it off the bed and answered it.

  “Yes?”

  “Get in your car and head east. I’ll call you again in ten minutes.”

  “Can we speak to—damn it! He hung up. He wants us to drive east.”

  “Was it Vince?”

  “Maybe. It’s been so long since I’ve heard his voice, I’m not sure that I remember it.”

  “I guess we’ll head east then. Did he say how far to drive?”

  “No, just to head east and that he would call again in ten minutes.”

  They left the hotel and followed the instructions. There was no storm brewing in Louisiana and the sky was cloudless. The full moon lent the night a silvery glow and stars were visible. The phone rang thirteen minutes later, and Kate was given more instructions. When she asked to speak to her children, Lasser hung up on her.

  “Where is he taking us?” Michael asked a few minutes later.

  Kate pointed at a road sign. It stated that they were entering the Atchafalaya Basin.

  “We’re heading into a swamp,” Kate said.

  A third call came in giving them detailed directions to a desolate spot in the swampland. As Kate eased their rental car down a narrow road her headlights reflected off water. The road curved and another vehicle was visible near the water’s edge. Michael recognized it.

  “That’s Ira’s Toyota.”

  “Are you sure?”

  “It’s the right color and model. And look, you can make out the silhouette of two people sitting up front. It must be the kids.”

  The phone rang. Kate answered and was told to stop her car and to turn off the headlights and engine. She did so, then stepped out of the car along with Michael. They began heading toward Ira’s car when Lasser shouted at them to stay where they were. That was when they noticed the figure seated in a chair near the car. It was one of those folding lawn chairs that people used at barbecues or on the beach. In the man’s lap was a shotgun. His hands were on it but not gripping it.

  Michael and Kate tried to get a look at Lasser’s face but couldn’t. The tree the figure was seated under was a Spanish moss. Branches hung down and blocked the moonlight that would reveal his face, leaving the man visible from only the chest down.

  Kate called to her children. “Ira, Celeste, are you all right?”

  “They’re both drugged, Cynthia,” Lasser said, speaking to Kate while using her real name. “It won’t wear off for another two hours or more.”

  An aircraft passed overhead. Kate used the cover of its sound to whisper to Michael.

  “Move in front of me so that I can take out the gun. I can shoot him before he gets a chance to raise that shotgun.”

  Michael whispered back. “Don’t miss. And don’t stop shooting until you run out of bullets.” He then spoke louder. “Vince. Leave our kids alone and take out your hate on us. Isn’t that what this is all about, how much you hate us?”

  “Hell yes, I hate you. The two of you covered your own asses and left me to rot in prison. When I got out and couldn’t find you, I began looking up people we both used to know. They said that they hadn’t seen or heard from you in years.”

  “It was true,” Michael said.

  “That’s bullshit, Dennis. You had turned them against me too, so I started killing them, to draw you out of hiding. Your mother was the last one, Cynthia. And I knew that bitch knew where to find you, but she wouldn’t talk. I held her at the top of that staircase and threatened to toss her down it and she still protected you. So, I let her go and she fell backwards. Then, all that was left for me was to go after your kids. What happens to them is your fault.”

  “None of this is our fault,” Michael said. “We didn’t kill Ivan, you did. And the police had you dead to rights thanks to you leaving your fingerprint on his bracelet.”

  “An alibi would have put reasonable doubt in the mind of a jury. And getting me one wouldn’t have cost you a damn thing. You looked out for yourselves well enough, but you abandoned me. And I saved you from that guard. He caught the two of you, not me. I was free and clear. I could have driven off that night and been safe. Instead, I risked myself to save you. You two deserve everything that happens to you tonight, and I’m going to make you suffer.”

  Michael heard Kate whisper, “Move aside, I have the gun.”

  Michael took two quick steps to his left. Kate raised the gun and took aim at the seated figure. Her finger was tightening on the trigger when realization struck her. She gasped out
the words, “Oh God,” and lowered her arm.

  “What are you doing? Shoot him!”

  Tears were in Kate’s eyes. She pointed at the figure in the chair with her free hand. “That’s not Vince; It’s Ira.”

  “What?”

  “That’s our son. Look at the long legs, the elegant hands. That’s Ira… and I… I could have shot him.”

  Lasser’s laughter filled the night. “Damn. I almost got you.”

  It was Lasser who was the male figure in the driver’s seat of Ira’s car. Given that Ira was positioned so close to the car, Michael and Kate had been unable to distinguish exactly where Lasser’s voice was coming from. He had assumed that the Barlows would bring a weapon with them and hoped to trick them into killing Ira. He hadn’t counted on one thing—a mother knows her son.

  Lasser turned around to look at them through the car’s back window as he placed a gun to Celeste’s head.

  “Toss that weapon into the water or I’ll blow her brains out.”

  Kate threw the gun away and heard a splash. It left them defenseless but a part of her was glad to be rid of it. She had come close to using it to kill her son.

  Lasser climbed out of the car and approached them, after claiming the shotgun from off of Ira’s lap. He looked Kate over.

  “You’ve aged well, Cynthia. If I was the type, I’d make you pay in a more personal way.”

  Michael charged at him. Lasser had been ready for it and slammed the butt of the shotgun into Michael’s midsection. The air left Michael’s lungs and he staggered back to lean against a tree.

  “I’ve been surviving in a shithole prison these last thirty years while you’ve been living the good life, Dennis. Gun or no gun, you couldn’t take me on your best day.”

  Lasser reached into a pocket and removed a set of handcuffs. He tossed them to Kate, and she caught them. “Cuff yourselves together.”

  “We’ll do whatever you want if you let our children go,” Kate said.

  “Wrong. You’ll do what I say, or I’ll kill one of your children. Put those cuffs on now.”

  They knew that Lasser was telling the truth and complied. They had no choice but to hope and pray that he’d let Ira and Celeste live when he was done with them. Once they were handcuffed together, he instructed them to place their arms around a tree, then he secured their other wrists together. They weren’t going anywhere as long as that tree stood between them.

  “Now it’s time for a show. I’m going to make you watch your children die.”

  “No! No! Goddamn you, no,” Michael said. “Kill me, kill us, but not the kids. They’ve never done a damn thing to you, Vince.”

  Lasser spun on him, his face red with anger. “This is on both of you, not me. This is the price of betrayal.”

  He sat the shotgun on the ground so that he could maneuver Ira back into the car. Lasser was careful to buckle Ira in. Afterward, he reached into a pocket of his pants and removed a prescription bottle that had no label but contained a powerful painkiller. Lasser held it up.

  “I hear there are a lot of people hooked on prescription drugs these days. Your son and daughter will join the list. It will look like they came here to get high, fell into a stupor, then tragically drowned after their car slid into the water.” He grinned. “I’ll be helping it to slide into the water. I have a real knack for creating accidents.”

  He stuck the bottle of pills into a compartment between the seats then slammed the door shut.

  Michael and Kate were begging Lasser not to harm their children. Their pleas went unheeded. Lasser moved around to the rear of the car, placed his palms against the trunk, and shoved. The car moved forward, then stopped. The remaining land between it and the water’s edge was steep. One, maybe two more good shoves, and the car would gain momentum and enter the water. Much of the swamp wasn’t very deep, and the area they were in was no exception. However, the water was deep enough to cover the roof of the car and drown its occupants.

  As the Barlows cried out for Lasser to stop, he braced himself in preparation to give the vehicle another shove.

  The sound of clapping could be heard, like a child bringing their hands together three times. Lasser straightened and looked down at his chest, where three blotches of blood were blooming across his shirt from entrance wounds. He staggered backwards, said something incoherent, then fell onto the bank of the swamp and released his last breath.

  Tanner emerged from a grouping of trees to the right of where Michael and Kate were. He held a rifle in one hand and a thick branch in the other. After shoving the branch beneath the rear wheel of the car to act as a wheel chock. He looked up and spoke to the Barlows.

  “Are you hurt?”

  “No,” Kate said. “And thank God you’re here.”

  Tanner patted down Lasser and found the key to the handcuffs. He walked over and unlocked one set before handing the key to Kate. When they were free, Michael rushed Tanner and embraced him in a fierce hug.

  “Thank you for saving our children. I can never thank you enough.”

  Tanner was surprised by the display of affection from Michael, a man whom he knew feared him. Michael realized what he was doing and released Tanner.

  “Sorry. Um, did everything go well in Texas?” Michael asked.

  “Yes. The women are safe.”

  Kate had been checking on her children. When she was satisfied that they would be fine, she walked over to Tanner and kissed him on the cheek.

  “How did you find us?”

  “I added something to that gun I gave you. There was a small GPS locator attached to it with adhesive. I was planning to come and help you as soon as things were finished in Texas. I wouldn’t have made it here in time if I hadn’t had access to a helicopter. It was the Sikorsky used by Arthur Collins to transport the bidders to the house near Galveston.”

  “You flew it here?” Michael said.

  “I acted as copilot and made the pilot fly me here.”

  “Where is the pilot now?”

  “He’s still in the chopper, and dead. The man used his skill at flying to transport women he knew were being sold into slavery. I saw no reason to let him go on living so that he might do it again.”

  Michael took a step back, as a look of caution returned to his eyes. Tanner figured that the man would never quite feel comfortable around him.

  Michael moved his son into the rear of the Toyota so that Kate could drive the car. He would be riding in his own car while Tanner drove.

  Before leaving the area, Tanner rolled Lasser’s body into the swamp, where it might be devoured by the creatures living in it, such as alligators.

  As they drove away from the area, Michael spoke to Tanner.

  “We already owed you for sparing us. But after today, we can’t do enough for you. Let us know anytime we can help you and we’ll be there.”

  Tanner turned his head and looked at Michael, seeing the sincerity in his eyes.

  “I once said that the three of us would never be friends. I’m not sure that’s true anymore. The way you help out Maxwell and his group tells me that you and Kate aren’t as mercenary as I once thought you were.”

  “Using our skills made us criminals. But no, we’re not bad people. Lord knows we’ve done bad things sometimes, but we’re not evil, you know?”

  “The same could be said for me,” Tanner said, as he drove on into the night.

  20

  Lost And Found

  Ira and Celeste recovered their senses after the drug wore off. To say that they were furious at their parents for getting them involved in a matter from their criminal past would be an understatement. Michael spoke with his son in Ira’s apartment while Kate spoke with Celeste in another room.

  When Ira demanded to know what had happened to Lasser, Michael told him he was better off not knowing.

  “Did you harm him?”

  “No.”

  “Then what happened?”

  “Just know that it’s over and he’ll never both
er you or Celeste again.”

  “The man had a gun. He threatened to shoot me. How did you get the better of him?”

  “A friend helped us out.”

  “What’s his name?”

  “I can’t tell you that. What I can tell you is that you have nothing to worry about.”

  Ira sighed. “Do you see why Celeste and I avoid you and Mom? Our work involves prosecuting criminals and you two are criminals.”

  “We’re also your parents and we love you.”

  “I know that, Dad, and I love you too, but we’re just so different, and I worry about you and Mom. Are there any other psychos like that out there who might want to hurt you?”

  “No.”

  “Then why do you insist on using an alias, Michael Barlow?”

  “It’s just best if most people don’t know who we really are.”

  Ira sighed again. There was nothing left to say on the subject.

  Come morning, Michael and Kate broke the news that Kate’s mother had died. They didn’t mention Lasser’s involvement in the death and went with the story about the old woman having fallen down the stairs in her home.

  Ira and Celeste were saddened by their grandmother’s death, although neither had been close to the woman. Michael and Kate hugged their children goodbye and left the apartment. They were still on the outs with their son and daughter, but beyond grateful that they were alive.

  More than twenty women were rescued over the following weeks. The authorities interrogated the bidders, Arthur Collins, and his nieces and other family members. The story became big news and also spawned a mystery.

  The twelve women who had been abducted refused to give a description of any of their rescuers, while the bidders and the Collins family stayed silent out of fear.

  Forensics revealed the fact that only two guns had been used to kill most of the estate’s defenders. The theory was put forward that a pair of special forces operators might have been involved. Whoever the men were, they were exceptional at killing.