“I’ve got it,” Tanner said. Most of Jax was hidden behind the squirming, screaming form of Caroline, but not his right knee. Tanner sent a round at it and Jax did some screaming of his own. He released Caroline, fell backwards to writhe on the ground, and the gun left his grip and skittered away.
When Tanner looked for Henry, he saw that he was sprinting after Kagan while holding Vasquez’s gun.
Vasquez was in pain but still in the fight. He was reaching for another weapon when Tanner shot the rifle he was going for, shattering its casing. He called to Vasquez.
“Vasquez! No one wants to hurt you. Dante Cardoso has an offer for you.”
Vasquez was crouched and his eyes darted about like those of a cornered animal. The nearest gun was ten feet away. He readied himself to leap toward it while responding. “What offer?”
Joaquin answered. “Dante has the man who murdered your wife and child. He will give him to you if you agree to let him be your partner.”
All sense of caution left Vasquez. He stood erect and started marching toward the sound of the voices.
“You have Jorge Molina? Where?”
“Vasquez is all yours,” Tanner said to Joaquin, as he stood to run to the hangar and find Henry.
Vasquez stopped walking when he saw Tanner running in his direction but realized that the focus of the man wearing the bandana was on someone else.
Joaquin walked toward Vasquez with his rifle pointed down and a phone in his hand.
“My name is Joaquin Zavala. I want to show you a video.”
“A video?”
Joaquin touched the phone then handed it over to Vasquez. It showed a video of a man in his fifties tied to a chair. It was Jorge Molina, the man who had murdered Vasquez’s family.
“Take me to him,” Vasquez said.
“That will be up to Dante. He’s willing to give you Molina if you make him a partner in the pipeline.”
“The pipeline is Kagan’s.”
Joaquin smiled. “Dead men don’t have possessions.”
Henry had done a press check and knew that he had at least one round left in the gun. He tucked it behind his back so that Kagan would think he was unarmed.
He entered the tool room and came upon Kagan as he was about to swing the door shut that would seal the tunnel entrance. Kagan’s eyes were wide and his breathing fast as his survival instinct was in high gear. His guards were dead. Vasquez was likely done for too.
Henry knew his father saw him, but he also raised a hand to get his attention. He thought Kagan would pause to let him inside the tunnel with him. Instead, Kagan practically slammed the door in his face. Only son or not, he wasn’t taking a chance of being killed by waiting for Henry to catch up.
Henry tried the door and it wouldn’t budge so he took out the gun. After removing the magazine, he saw that he had nine rounds left; that included the bullet in the chamber.
It took five rounds to obliterate the keypad. Whether it was luck or a flaw in the mechanism the lock failed, and Henry was able to open the door. He stepped onto the curving walkway and saw that Kagan had already climbed into one of the golf carts.
Henry fired at the cart. The round pinged off the vehicle’s metal frame. Henry had avoided hitting Kagan and wondered why. He knew he held no affection for Kagan regardless of their kinship. Kagan didn’t like him either, despite what he might say. He was a piece of property to the man, a pet, someone to control and mold into his own image.
When Kagan realized who had fired at him, he spoke through clenched teeth while bringing up his gun. “You little shit!”
Henry fired again. This time he didn’t miss. The bullet hit Kagan on the right side of his chest. He hissed in pain, and when he tried to bring his gun up again Henry placed a second slug in him. It shattered Kagan’s right collarbone, causing his arm to go limp as the gun clattered onto the concrete floor.
Henry moved down the ramp with his arms extended and the gun aimed at Kagan. The king of drug exporting was wounded seriously but not mortally so. He was slumped against the golf cart’s seat and taking in gulps of air between grunts of pain.
Henry stood feet from the cart and transitioned the gun to a one-handed grip. He took aim at the spot between Kagan’s eyes.
“You can’t kill me, Henry. I’m your father.”
“Father.”
“Yes, boy?”
“Go to hell.”
Henry pulled the trigger.
27
Leaving On A Jet Plane
Tanner paused to check on Jax before continuing his pursuit of Henry.
He’d done some real damage to Jax’s knee but by the amount of blood he could tell the bullet hadn’t hit an artery. He had no idea why Jax had fired back at them. Anyone firing on Kagan should have been considered his ally. He had expected the boy to dive for cover and keep his head down, not grab hold of a defenseless woman and use her as a human shield.
Jax never looked at him. The knee was causing him agony and he lay on his back with his eyes clenched shut against the pain while moaning. Satisfied that Jax didn’t require immediate attention, Tanner rushed into the hangar.
He heard the sound of a single shot as he hurried through the tool room to step out onto the ramp. He saw Henry standing beside the dead form of Kagan Andreas. The boy was staring at his father without expression and he had a gun in his hand. Tanner understood that the shot he’d heard had been the bullet that killed Kagan.
Henry jerked as if coming out of a trance and turned to look at him. He was startled until Tanner ripped off the bandana and sunglasses to reveal his face.
“I knew you would find me,” Henry said.
Tanner walked down the ramp to stand beside him. “You killed him?”
“Yes. He was a monster. I don’t care if I have his blood or not, this bastard needed to die.”
Tanner placed a hand on his shoulder. “Your grandmother will be all right. She was hurt but she’ll heal in time.”
Henry sighed amid a smile. “I was so worried about her. Chris Monte shot her?”
“He did, twice. I wasn’t able to stop him until I was close enough to use my gun.”
“I knew there was something going on with him. Thank God you saved Grandma.”
“She asked me to find you.”
“Grandma asked you?”
“Yes.”
“Do you think she knows you’re Tanner?”
“She knows that I’m more than I seem. The three of us will have to have a talk when we get home.”
Henry stared down the tunnel. “I lost a friend here. Her name was Faye. Kagan had Jax kill her.”
“Jax killed her?”
Henry nodded. “He’s not right in the head, Co—Tanner. He found out that he likes to kill. He gets off on it or something.”
“I’ve seen that before. It explains why he was firing at us.”
“Who are the other men you’re with? Is it someone named Dante Cardoso?”
“They’re Dante’s people. I teamed up with them. We’ll talk more later. Let’s get out of here.”
Tanner returned outside with his bandana and sunglasses back on.
Vasquez was standing with Joaquin and the others near Jax. Vasquez pointed down at him. “Jax stays with me.”
Joaquin looked over at Tanner and Tanner nodded in agreement. He understood that Jax was not the same wild but generally harmless boy he had known. He had become something else, and someone he sure as hell didn’t want living on his ranch.
Joaquin smiled. “We’re taking the jet out of here. Vasquez has agreed to run things and meet with Dante tomorrow.”
“Where’s your father, Henry?” Vasquez asked.
“He’s dead,” Henry said.
Vasquez turned angry eyes on Tanner until Henry spoke again.
“He didn’t kill Kagan… I did.”
Vasquez’s mouth dropped open in shock. “You killed him?”
“Me.”
“Huh, Kagan was right. You truly ar
e his son.”
“Henry,” Jax said, before gasping in pain.
“What?” Henry said.
“You killed Kagan?”
“That’s right.”
“You’re a fucking idiot.”
Henry kicked Jax’s damaged knee. “That’s for Faye.” Jax hadn’t heard him; he was screaming too loud.
They were walking toward the jet when Henry stopped and headed back to stand over Caroline. The woman was sitting on the ground and crying.
Henry held out his hand. “Do you want to get out of here?”
She looked up at him and spoke in a soft voice that had a southern accent. Henry was surprised by it and realized that he had never heard her speak before.
“I can leave? I can really leave?”
“Yes. We’ll get you back to the United States.”
Caroline took Henry’s hand. He helped her up then let her fingers slide away.
Vasquez called to Henry. Henry paused to look back at him.
“I won’t come after you, but you should know something. I was not your father’s only friend. Son or not, they might want revenge.”
Henry sent Vasquez a curt nod and continued on. He couldn’t wait to get back home.
28
The Decision
Sara insisted that Laura and Henry stay with them until Laura healed more. The doctors told her to take it easy because of the injury to her heart.
The Parkers had yet to hire a new permanent housekeeper; however, Sara had engaged a temp from an agency and the woman was working out well.
Cody, Laura, and Henry spoke candidly a few days after Henry’s return from Mexico. They were in the guest bedroom Laura was using. Laura had cried when she learned that Henry had killed his father.
“I’m so sorry you did that, that you had to do that. Oh baby, I never wanted you to have anything to do with him, and now you’ll have to carry that memory with you forever.”
“I’m not scarred by it, Grandma. Kagan Andreas was a scumbag, pure and simple. Killing him was the right thing to do. If I hadn’t, he never would have stopped causing us trouble.”
Laura was concerned that someone else might come for Henry. She asked Cody about it.
“Kagan was part of a gang when he was younger, and he was deeply involved with the cartels. Could Henry still be in danger?”
“It’s possible,” Cody said. “But there’s no way to know who the threat might come from, if any. Kagan had friends, but they were men like himself. Their thirst for revenge might fade when they realize there’s no profit to be gained by it.”
“But it’s still a possibility?”
“Yes.”
“Is that why you’ve asked us to stay with you, because it’s more secure here?”
“It’s one reason. Sara and I also wanted to help you to recover. Sara told me that the two of you talked while I was away. I think we need to talk now, Laura.”
Laura looked back and forth between Cody and Henry. “What you’re about to tell me, Henry already knows, doesn’t he?”
“Yes.”
“What is it?”
Cody told her. He started with how Spenser had saved his life when he was Henry’s age and how he decided to become Spenser’s apprentice.
“A Tanner?”
“You mentioned recently that you’ve read Jacques Durand’s book about the assassin, Maurice Scallato. Jacques changed the name to protect me, but I was the other man mentioned in the book.”
“The rival assassin that killed Scallato?”
“Yes.”
“You’re telling me you’re a hit man?”
“He’s a trained assassin, Grandma. He only kills people who have harmed others, like Brock Kessler and that man Armstrong.”
Laura sat quietly as she took in the implications. Cody didn’t think she appeared shocked and must have suspected that he was someone who’d been trained to kill, although she was likely thinking he was a spy or some type of black ops soldier.
“Your friend Spenser, is he a Tanner too?”
“He was Tanner Six. I’m Tanner Seven.”
“Who was Tanner One?”
“He was a man named Keane O’Connell. He was active a hundred years ago and he came up with most of the rules we live by. We call them the Tanner Tenets.” Cody recited them for Laura.
Tenet number one—Survive.
Tenet number two—Never kill the innocent.
Tenet number three—Kill the guilty, and make an honest dollar doing it.
Tenet number four—Never leave an enemy alive, kill them before they have a chance to kill you.
Tenet number five—Never give up until the target is dead.
Tenet number six—Be the best.
Tenet number seven—Take care of each other’s families.
“Something similar was mentioned in Durand’s book,” Laura said. “But he worded them a little differently. Who came up with number seven?”
“That was added by Spenser’s mentor, Tanner Five. He and Tanner Three helped out Tanner Four’s family after he died of natural causes.”
“You help people all the time, Cody. This town loves you and Sara. You donated the money to repair that old bridge that collapsed last month. The one the mayor said wasn’t worth fixing because only a few farmers used it.”
Cody frowned. “We donated that money anonymously, or so I thought.”
“Word gets around in a small town.”
“My grandfather and his brother-in-laws built that bridge when he was a young man dating my grandmother. Back then, her father was one of the farmers who needed it to get his crops to market.”
“And yet, you’re a killer.”
“I kill, yes. I’m trained for it and have the needed disposition. Many of my targets are people that others tried to kill and failed. I’ve worked for the government and like all Tanners, I’ve never failed to kill a target. I’m a specialist and the best at what I do. I don’t apologize for it.”
Henry dropped his bombshell.
“Grandma, I want Cody to train me. I want to be the next Tanner, Tanner Eight.”
Silence hung thick in the air after that declaration. Laura ended it.
“Cody, I want to speak with Henry alone. Would you wait outside for a few minutes?”
“Sure.”
“Thank you for being honest with me. I’ll keep your secret.”
“You can talk to Steve. He knows.”
Laura gave a little laugh. “I guess he would, wouldn’t he? You’re such good friends and he knows you well, and he’s a cop.”
“He’s a friend first, and like you said, he knows me well.”
After Cody left the room, Laura reached out and took Henry’s hand.
“You want to be a killer?”
“I’ve already killed. I’ve had to, to stay alive. If I were better at it, if I was like Cody, then no one could threaten me or you ever again. If I’d been like Cody, maybe I could have saved Faye.”
Laura saw the sadness in Henry’s eyes. “Who’s Faye?”
“She worked for Kagan. He had her killed to teach me a lesson and make me obey him. The next lesson would have ended up with Olivia and her family being killed.”
“Oh my God,” Laura said.
“Let me train with Cody, Grandma. I’ll be eighteen in less than two years and will do it anyway. I want to be a Tanner. I want to be like Cody.”
“And what about college?”
“I’ll still go. Cody said that I can learn things there that he can’t teach me, like computer science and engineering.”
“Will you… take contracts?”
“Not at first. It takes years of training to become a Tanner and the learning never really stops. You wouldn’t believe how many languages Cody can speak, the things he knows, the places he’s been. I won’t have a boring life.”
“When has your life ever been boring?”
“When Glenn lived with us.”
Laura laughed, then winced, as she place
d a hand along her side where she was wounded.
“Oh, don’t make me laugh, honey, it hurts.”
“Can I train with Cody?”
“Yes.”
“Yes?”
“Would you like me to change my mind?”
Henry grinned. “No.” He leaned closer and gave Laura a gentle hug.
“Send Cody back in please. I want to talk to him alone.”
Cody returned to the room and Laura explained why she had agreed to let Henry train with him.
“We both know that all I could do is delay him training with you. He said it himself, once he turned eighteen, he would have done it anyway.”
“But there’s another reason, isn’t there?”
Laura’s eyes grew moist. “I’m afraid that someone else may try to harm him someday. But if he learns how to defend himself, if he’s better at killing than anyone who might wish him harm, he’ll survive. His mother is gone, and Anne died so young. Henry is only sixteen and I’ve almost lost him three times, once to Brock Kessler, then Armstrong, and now his own father. Train him, Cody. Make him as deadly as you can.”
“I’ll do it, but it will take time.”
“I hope it’s time he has. Thanks to Kagan he might be a target.”
“I’ll protect him until he no longer needs me to. At that point, it won’t matter who comes after him. Henry will come out on top.”
“Because he’ll be a Tanner?”
“Yes.”
“Sara said that you were indestructible.”
Cody smiled. “So far, so good.”
Epilogue
Jax Dexter was seated out on the stone patio at the palace in Mexico and staring off into space. His right knee was bandaged, and he used a cane to get around. The knee joint had been replaced and the doctor said he should fully recover in a matter of months.
The fact that Henry had killed Kagan still amazed him. Why would you kill someone who was ready to offer you the world? Henry could have eventually owned everything Kagan had. Instead, he put a bullet in the man’s head and left it all behind. He killed his own damn father.
Flesh and Blood (A Tanner Novel Book 35) Page 16
