Young Guns Box Set

by Kane, Remington

  Because of the fierce wind blowing, he didn’t hear the speedboat approaching until it was closing in. Three men were on board, white men, and Bagus recognized one of them. It was Chance Cramer. His muscular build and long salt & pepper hair were distinguishable even at a distance.

  As the boat drew closer, Bagus caught sight of the flames, then watched as Cramer and another man lobbed bottles toward his vessel. They were Molotov cocktails, and while one missed, the other shattered on the deck.

  A seat cushion caught fire and flame was spreading with the help of the wind. Bagus was making progress against the fire when the boat made a second pass. Two more bottles were thrown, with one sailing through the hatch and landing in the galley area.

  By the time a fourth, and then a fifth bottle smashed on the deck, Bagus knew the boat was doomed. The speedboat came around for a final pass, but no bottles were thrown, instead, bullets were fired. The pain of a round ripping through his flesh was both agonizing and horrifying to Bagus. He fell atop the burning deck as the speed boat raced away. On the wind, Bagus could hear the sound of laughter.

  * * *

  Romeo found Nadya at the dock. She was polishing the new boat’s brass work while waiting for her father to return. When Romeo called out to her, she gave him a sheepish look and told him to come aboard.

  “No, you come to me. Your father doesn’t want me on board.”

  “Ayah isn’t here.”

  “Why did you do it, Nadya? Why did you tell Emma about me, and how do you know anyway?”

  Nadya left the boat and stepped onto the dock as several Japanese tourists walked past, having returned from a day out on the water.

  When there was no one within hearing range, Nadya spoke softly.

  “I heard you and Xavier talking outside one night. You mentioned that you were finishing your training, and that you would both be nearly as deadly as Spenser. He is your leader?”

  “Spenser is my friend and my mentor… and Emma was my girl, but you’ve ruined that, why?”

  Nadya’s eyes leaked tears as she said, “I was trying to protect you.”

  “Protect me? From who, Emma?”

  “Yes, but not Emma, Emma’s fate. She will bring you much grief.”

  “She wants nothing more to do with me.”

  “I know, but I wasn’t able to change anything. You’ll see her again someday.”

  “You were jealous of her?”

  Nadya nodded.

  “You’re too young for me, Nadya. You know that.”

  “I know, but I won’t always be, and you’ll come back here someday.”

  “You’ll forget all about me once you meet the right boy.”

  Nadya shook her head. “I know what I know, Romeo. Someday we’ll marry.”

  “I love Emma, Nadya, and you ruined that for me.”

  Nadya hugged him.

  “Don’t hate me. I was trying to spare you pain.”

  Romeo freed himself from her embrace and searched her eyes.

  “What do you mean by that?”

  “I feel… disaster? I think that’s the right word. I feel disaster when I see you with Emma. But I still feel it, and so it will happen someday.”

  “You hurt me, Nadya. You ruined things between Emma and me and you hurt me. That’s not cool.”

  Nadya hung her head. “I’m sorry.”

  “So am I,” Romeo said, and he walked away.

  * * *

  AUSTRALIA

  Jock Martin arrived at the garage as the sky was growing dark. With him were Eddie and Tony, the two men who had first encountered Spenser. They were dressed in the gang’s uniform of black T-shirt and tan chinos. They also wore denim jackets to hide their shoulder holsters.

  With so many of Martin’s men killed by Spenser, Eddie and Tony had been elevated to bodyguard status and given weapons.

  Charlie opened the door to greet Jock Martin with his customary smile and ushered them inside.

  “Are you alone?” Martin asked Charlie. He was walking with a limp. Spenser had wounded Martin in the right thigh in their earlier encounter at the warehouse.

  “Yeah, I let the guys go home. The Yank and Willow are tied up and won’t be any problem. She’s got a mouth on her that one though. She told everybody how you had killed Greg and set her up.”

  Martin smiled. “Willow made the perfect suspect for the cops, and they’re already looking for her.”

  “Did Greg really need to die?”

  “You knew that bastard, Charlie. It was either him or me. He cut his own throat when he started recruiting men from the gang.”

  “You’re right. Did he beg at the end?”

  “He didn’t get the chance. I knifed him in his sleep. What about the American? Has he been trouble?”

  Charlie rolled his eyes.

  “Hell yeah, one of the guys roughed him up a bit. That calmed him down.”

  “You know he killed Rollie and Mickey. He’ll pay for that. Willow dies tonight, but that damn Yank will suffer for days.”

  “Do you want to see them?”

  “I have a van outside to transport them in.”

  “They’re in the back, in the chop shop. We tied them up and stuffed them in a car.”

  Charlie led the way through his office and slid aside the bookcase that led to the hidden space. Jock Martin entered with Eddie and Tony and all three looked around.

  There were shapes huddled together in the rear of one of the cars, but their faces were hidden in the shadows, since only the desk lamp was on. Then, Martin’s nose twitched.

  “Why does it smell like bleach back here?”

  Spenser answered as he walked into the room while holding a gun.

  “The bleach was needed to get rid of the blood.”

  Spenser had cleaned himself up in a sink as best as he could and changed into a pair of mechanic’s coveralls. His bloody clothes had been burned inside a barrel.

  One of the men with Martin, the black man named Eddie, reached under his jacket for his gun. Spenser shot him twice in the chest then aimed at Tony.

  Tony had his hands up in surrender. It did him no good. Spenser shot him twice too. Jock Martin was limping toward the car to take cover when Spenser placed a round in the back of his bad leg. Martin fell onto his stomach. As Martin reached for his gun, Spenser plucked it from his hand, then backed away from him.

  “We had a deal, right, mate?” Charlie said. “We have a deal?”

  “I’ll let you live,” Spenser said. “Our deal stands.”

  Willow entered the room holding the shotgun. The smile returned to Charlie’s face as he spoke to her. “I got him to admit he killed Greg, just like you asked, Willow. I told you he would have killed him and not one of his men.”

  “Yes,” Willow said, “and you were right.” She raised the shotgun and pointed it at Charlie. “Tanner said you could live, I didn’t.”

  “Oh Lord,” Charlie said. He covered his face with his arms, as if that could protect him from a shotgun blast.

  Willow’s laughter was derisive as she lowered the weapon.

  “I just wanted to see you squirm, weasel.”

  Jock Martin made it to his knees and had begun to bargain.

  “Money, mate,” he said to Spenser. “Name your price. I pay and we both walk away from this. It will be like nothing ever happened.”

  The shotgun went off without warning, startling even Spenser. When he looked over at Willow, he saw the gleam of hatred in her eyes. Jock Martin clutched his stomach as he sat on the floor. Within seconds he was sitting in a puddle of his own blood.

  “That was for Greg,” Willow said.

  Martin collapsed backwards, moaned, and died.

  “Are you all right?” Spenser asked Willow, as he took the shotgun from her. She nodded, but there were tears in her eyes.

  Charlie had been going through the pockets of the dead men, taking wallets and keys.

  “I have to move that van they arrived in… and why let their mone
y go to waste?”

  Spenser held out his hand. “We’ll take the van.”

  Charlie handed him the keys. “It’s yours, and don’t worry about me. I’ll give you no more trouble.”

  “I believe you,” Spenser said, “and it looks like you have another mess to clean up.”

  “I’d rather dispose of bodies than be one of them.”

  “We’ll see ourselves out,” Spenser said, and left Charlie in the back room.

  On their way out of the shop, Spenser left the guns he’d taken from Martin and his thugs under the couch in the office, then tucked the shotgun there too. While he was doing that, Willow was retrieving the video recorder she had hidden earlier in the shop area. It had recorded Jock Martin’s statement that he had killed Willow’s husband. Spenser and Willow had heard the confession as well. They had been hidden from view amid the shop’s clutter while filming.

  The confession was made to Charlie, who would have some difficult questions to answer.

  As they were driving away in the van, Willow gave Spenser directions to her apartment. She had equipment there that could be used for video editing. As a wedding photographer, she was skilled at the task.

  “Will it take long?” Spenser asked.

  “No, I’ll simply be eliminating the part of the tape that happened before and after Martin admitted to killing Greg and framing me.”

  “That should clear you.”

  “I’m also going to turn myself in.”

  “Do you think that’s wise?”

  “Like you said, the tape will clear me.”

  “Let’s hope so.”

  * * *

  After Spenser determined that the police weren’t watching her home, he and Willow entered her apartment. She had the tape ready quickly, then showered, shampooed, and changed her clothes.

  “I’ll have to burn your other clothes,” Spenser told her. “They have blood on them.”

  Willow nodded, then handed him the tape.

  “Get that into the proper hands.”

  “Is there a copy?”

  “Do you think I need one?”

  “Yes, better safe than sorry. Maybe Charlie has friends on the force.”

  Willow made a duplicate of the tape, then they were ready to leave. After locking her apartment door, Willow turned and kissed Spenser while embracing him. When they separated, she was smiling.

  “Thank you for helping me. Once this is over, I want us to head somewhere and relax together.”

  Spenser smiled back at her. “I could use some relaxation.”

  Twenty minutes later, Willow was walking into a police station.

  22

  Time Slows

  PHOENIX, ARIZONA, AUGUST 2018

  Tonya had instructed Denise to take her car and drive it to an alleyway off of S. Central Avenue. That had been the location chosen by Kuper.

  Denise had no idea that she was being used to set-up an ambush and double murder. She just thought that she was helping out a new friend.

  She caught sight of the van following her and giggled. It was exciting to be part of tricking someone. When Denise noticed the hole in the dash, she wondered what had caused it. If she hadn’t known better, she would have said it looked like a bullet hole.

  * * *

  Kayla answered her phone while keeping Tonya’s car in sight. After asking her where she was, Tanner informed Kayla that she was following the wrong woman. Kayla cursed aloud.

  “That tricky bitch, Tonya. So, who is it I’m following?”

  “I don’t know.”

  “And I guess Tonya is in the wind again?”

  “I have her, Kayla, and she’s sick. It looks like that cat bite she received in Denver has become infected.”

  “Where are you?”

  “I’ll be catching up to you soon. Stay on the line so you can tell me when to turn.”

  “What did you do with Tonya?”

  “She passed out on her own and I secured her in the rear seat. As sick as she looks, I doubt she can run.”

  “Good, oh, and it looks like we’re heading down an alleyway now, near the Barrister Building, do you know the area?”

  “I do, and be careful. It could be another trap.”

  Kayla lifted the hem of her blouse to make it easier to get to the gun on her hip.

  “I’ll be careful.”

  * * *

  Kuper watched the car turn down the alleyway. He’d had Russell tell Tonya that he would make an X on the alley wall where he wanted the car to park. When Denise turned the wheel and nosed the car in against the wall, Kuper looked for the van. It entered moments later, but there was only the woman inside. The man who had shot at him the day before must have left the vehicle. No matter, Kuper could catch him later.

  The van sped up and parked behind the car so that it couldn’t be moved. When the car door opened, a woman got out smiling. As she took the attention of the woman in the van, Kuper left his hiding place and moved toward his target. In his hands was a sawed-off shotgun.

  * * *

  “Who are you and why are you driving Tonya’s car?” Kayla asked Denise.

  Denise smiled at her. “Are you the bitch that stole Tonya’s boyfriend?”

  “What are you talking about?”

  “You know,” Denise said. She flipped Kayla off and ran away while laughing.

  “Did you hear any of that?” Kayla said into the phone to Tanner.

  “It sounds like she doesn’t know anything, so let her go. Now that we have Tonya, we’ll get Russell.”

  The sound of a shotgun racking came from Kayla’s right. When she turned her head to look, she saw Kuper walking toward her and aiming his weapon at her face.

  With imminent death approaching, Kayla’s senses seemed to heighten, and time slowed. She actually saw Kuper’s finger move, as it began to tighten on the trigger.

  23

  The Dead Rise

  AUSTRALIA, NOVEMBER 2001

  Charlie Grant finally finished cleaning blood off the shop floor again, yet he still had six bodies to dispose of. They were piled in the back seat of the car with a blanket tossed over the lot of them. The smell was horrendous.

  Charlie was not looking forward to the drive. He knew a lake where he could sink the car with the bodies inside it. Years would pass before they surfaced, if they ever did.

  Lord but the American was a killing machine. Charlie still wondered how he had freed himself from the ropes. He had patted the man down himself and would swear that he had no blades on him. Charlie walked back into the office and pulled an old bottle of aftershave out from the back of a desk drawer.

  He emptied it onto the bodies, hoping it would help kill the smell of feces and blood.

  After taking a last look around, he felt that something wasn’t right. Different, something was different, when Charlie figured out what it was, he wondered if it meant anything.

  One of the stolen video camcorders was missing. Had one of his guys filched it, or was it the American and Willow? He walked out to the shop and opened the lockers, thinking he would come across the box. He did. It was inside the locker that had belonged to Brett.

  “You bloody thief,” Charlie muttered, angry that someone would steal stolen goods.

  There was also the empty wrapper of a tape and half a box of batteries. When he lifted the box that contained the recorder and discovered that it was empty, Charlie felt sick inside.

  Had the Yank filmed something?

  Charlie slammed the locker shut and rushed back to the car. The sooner he got rid of those bodies, the better.

  The corrugated door was raised or lowered by pulling on a chain, after raising the door high enough, Charlie drove out. He had to leave the car to lower the gate again, then left by a side door positioned to the right of it. It was while he was doing that when the patrol car appeared.

  There were two cops inside and they were scrutinizing him. Every other shop along the street was dark and had been closed for hours. Charlie
realized that it looked odd that he was leaving so late, and from a back door in an alley.

  Charlie sent the cops one of his best smiles as the car slowed behind his vehicle. Headlights illuminated the inside of Charlie’s car and revealed the blanket-covered mound. Both cops got out and approached him.

  “Hi, mates. As you can see I’ve been working late.”

  One of the cops shined a flashlight in Charlie’s face, then lowered it.

  “Yeah, I’ve seen you around here before, but you usually close earlier. I also thought you worked at the shop on the other side of the block.”

  “I, um, work here part-time, and business has been bonkers, but I’m not complaining. I can use the money.”

  “Don’t work too hard,” the other cop said. “You can’t spend it if you’re dead.”

  “I hear you,” Charlie said. Then, he jumped at the sound of a hand thumping against the rear window of his car.

  It was Brett. Spenser had given him a vicious hit to the side of the head with the barrel of the shotgun, and Charlie had believed him to be dead.

  Although suffering from a cracked skull and a swelling brain that would eventually kill him, Brett lived, and his body was making involuntary movements. Having been buried under the three bodies of Jock Martin and his two goons, Brett was covered in blood, which he had smeared across the rear window, while also exposing the bodies.

  The cop who had recognized Charlie shined his light into the car, then released a gasp.

  “Murder,” he told his partner, “and more than one.”

  The two cops went for their weapons while Charlie turned to run. When he refused to halt, he was shot in the left hip and brought down.

  “I didn’t kill them. I didn’t kill them!” Charlie cried out. It would be quite some time before he smiled again.

  * * *