Caleb scowled. “I don’t know if that’s a good thing or a bad thing for the doctor, but I guess we can hope she’s still alive.”
When they were several blocks away from the street behind Jen’s home, Caleb pulled over, got out, and reattached the vehicle’s license plates. Once he was back inside the car, he asked Tanner a question.
“What’s next, Eriksen again?”
“Yeah, for now, all we can do is hope that she leads us to the gang.”
“Damn it. There’s a chance Eriksen will get to them first.”
“It’s possible, but there’s also a possibility that we’ll stumble across them once we have an idea where to look.”
“Hey, Cody.”
“Yeah?”
“Thanks for doing this. It’s great to hang out with you, you know?”
“I feel the same way, Caleb.”
As he drove, Caleb turned on the radio. A news story came on that mentioned Wicks, Taylor, Stepp, and Hendricks. There was no mention of the men abducting the doctor.
“It looks like the cops convinced the FBI that Roumell is responsible for Dr. Mao’s disappearance,” Tanner said.
“That’s not good. The gang might think they have a free pass to kill her so she can’t testify against them.”
“They might look at it that way, but they must know by now they’ve been identified, so either way they’re going down on a murder charge.”
Caleb pounded the dashboard. “These men were cops. What the hell happened to them?”
“They became desperate, and now they’re hunted men, with one of them wounded. That tells me that they’ll be taking risks.”
“What? You think they’ll try and rob someone else?”
“They’ll need money if they hope to hunker down somewhere.”
“Like a big score, something that will last for a while?”
“Yeah, and they’ll also want cash. It would be too risky for them to contact a fence.”
“Who has that much cash these days? Everyone pays with credit cards.”
“Not junkies.”
“Ah, you’re thinking they’ll go after drug dealers.”
“It makes sense, and I bet they’ll target a gang they’ve had dealings with when they were cops.”
Caleb grinned. “That narrows it down, but how do we find out who the drug dealers are?”
“The information might be available on the internet, if not, we find a library near their town and look over the newspaper archives. There should be stories about drug busts the men made when they were cops. Knowing the way the drug gangs work, they probably just set up shop somewhere near the cops’ town.”
“This is good, Cody. If you’re right, we’ll get to these bastards first, and maybe find Dr. Jennifer Mao too.”
“It’s a long shot, Caleb, but it’s all I can think of.”
Caleb used the vehicle’s navigation system to get directions for the Peaksville area.
“You know, we’ll be traveling closer to the ranch too.”
“Good,” Tanner said. “When this is over, I want to go home.”
“Home to the Parker ranch,” Caleb said. “I like the sound of that.”
Tanner smiled. “Me too, brother, me too.”
24
Escape & Evade
After drinking the beer Jen had laced with a sedative, Hendricks and Taylor placed her back inside the powder room. As he was closing the door, Hendricks yawned wide.
“I might take a nap,” he told Taylor.
Jen stifled a smile upon hearing those words and was certain both men would soon be lost in a state of deep sleep. Unfortunately, that still left Roy Wicks to deal with.
Wicks had passed out while drinking the night before, but Jen and the others had heard him moving around inside the room he’d taken. One thing was certain, if Wicks was awake, he was drinking. With luck, Jen might be able to avoid him or overcome him. No matter what, she would soon have her best chance at getting free.
Having downed a beer of her own, she used the toilet to relieve herself before pressing an ear to the door to listen. It was quiet in the house, although she couldn’t be sure that Taylor and Hendricks had passed out.
The sudden pounding of footsteps startled her, causing Jen to back away from the door. It was Taylor; his slurred words were filled with menace.
“Youu druuuged usss, youu bitchh.”
Taylor pushed against the china cabinet that he had minutes earlier shoved in front of the door. However, the drug he’d ingested was sapping his strength. He was only able to move it a little before dropping to his knees. It had been enough to allow him to open the door a few inches. Taylor thrust his gun between the gap and took aim at Jen.
Jen released a garbled sound of panic as she kicked at the gun. The weapon fell from Taylor’s hand and he followed it to the floor, a second later, his eyes closed, and he was unconscious.
Jen picked up Taylor’s gun as if it might go off at any second and held the weapon by two fingers. She had to shove hard to widen the gap in the doorway enough to slip through, and as she did that, Wicks called out from inside his room.
“What’s going on out there?”
Jen was making small whimpering sounds in her throat as she searched Taylor’s pockets for the keys to the truck, along with the burner phone he carried. Once she had them, she ran to the front door, while stepping over the prone form of Hendricks.
She was moving around the front of the truck when Wicks, drunk off his ass, fired a shot at her. The bullet missed Jen as it shattered the vehicle’s passenger side window, before burying itself into the dashboard.
Jen released a scream, then she attempted to fire back at Wicks. Being unfamiliar with firearms, she made the unwise decision to hold the gun in a one-handed grip. The bullet missed Wicks by several yards and the recoil sent the gun flying out of Jen’s hand.
“Bitch!” Wicks yelled as he fired at Jen again. He was stumbling as he ran toward her and his shots were off-target. Jen was bent over to pick up Taylor’s gun when she felt a bullet slice across her left cheek, near the jawline. The slug had cracked the truck’s windshield and careened toward Jen.
Pain and panic caused Jen to abandon the gun as Wicks was getting closer. In desperation, Jen threw the truck keys at Wicks; they struck him in the eye, and he staggered and fell.
“Sonofabitch,” Wicks said, his left eye was watering. When he touched it gingerly, his fingers came away with a streak of blood on them. “My eye! I’ve lost my eye.”
That evaluation was untrue. The keys had merely caused a cut high up on his cheek, while also blurring its vision. By the time Wicks realized this, Jen had sprinted across a field and was out of range of his gun.
The drunken ex-Chief of Police of the town of Peaksville, Texas, grabbed the keys from the ground and climbed behind the wheel of the truck.
“I’ll get you!” Wicks shouted at Jen. Off he went, while weaving the small box truck from side to side.
Tanner was laughing at a story Caleb had told him about their mother while they were headed toward the Peaksville area. Marian Parker had possessed a gentle disposition; however, she became incensed whenever she felt someone had crossed the line.
One of the men in Billy Gant’s gang of mercenaries was infatuated with Marian. When Caleb was six, the man was persistent in his attempts to gain her interest. His intense ardor led him to kiss Marian without permission. It had earned the man a broken nose.
“Mom had a hell of a right hook,” Caleb said.
When the laughter died down, Tanner asked a question.
“Was she ever interested in anyone, Caleb?”
“No, Mom was still in love with our father.”
“And how did she take it when she’d learned that he had remarried?”
“Remember, I was only eight at the time, and the shock of discovering you had all been murdered devastated her beyond considering anything else. Still, I don’t believe she was hurt by learning about the marriage
. After all, our father thought she was dead.”
“I know Dad loved Claire, and that they had a child together, but I think he would have left her and reunited with our mother. More than once I had seen him crying at her grave.”
“It’s not right what happened to our family, not any of it. Billy Gant, and Alonso Alvarado, I hope they’re both roasting in hell for the evil they perpetrated on us.”
“I survived them, Caleb, and so did you, and the Parker family will continue through us.”
“Whoa. You’re the one getting married and settling down, not me.”
“True, but your time will come.”
Caleb smiled at him. “You’re looking forward to becoming a father, aren’t you?”
“I am. I’ve done a lot of living, now it’s time I made a life.”
They drove on in silence for a while, until Caleb shattered it with a question.
“Do you ever worry, Cody, you know, about being able to protect Sara and any children you two might have?”
“My mentor, Spenser, he taught me many things, one of which was to prepare instead of worry. If we’re ever attacked the way we were by Alvarado, I’ll be ready for it.”
“Sara said that you guys were having a lot of work done on the ranch house, including a safe room?”
“Yes, and along with that are the passive security measures such as motion detectors and cameras. I’ve spent my life becoming as deadly as I can be. Trust me when I say that I’ll never allow anyone to hurt my family.”
“Moss Murphy learned that lesson the hard way.”
“And I hope he’s the only one I ever have to teach it to,” Tanner said, while knowing the odds were against that being the case.
He’d be forced to fight for his family’s survival again someday, and the menace wouldn’t be any less than when he faced off against Alonso Alvarado’s army of cartel killers. It was a belief that has both haunted him and driven him since he was a boy of sixteen. Young Cody Parker wasn’t capable of winning against such superior odds. That’s changed.
Be it Ordnance Inc. or some other assemblage of attackers, the Cody Parker who existed now would triumph, for he was a Tanner, and the greatest assassin of all time.
25
Drunk And Disorderly
FBI Agent Amanda Eriksen was angry at herself.
Eriksen had dismissed the possibility that Dr. Jennifer Mao had been taken by Roy Wicks and his crew because the doctor’s boyfriend had appeared guilty of foul play. Whether that was the case or not, Eriksen knew that she should have worked the investigation as if Wicks had abducted the doctor, which was the truth.
A report came in on a robbery that took place at the Make-Me-Well Clinic. Police detectives were informed that a white box truck with blue lettering was seen leaving the area. Another witness stated that the two robbers had climbed inside that truck.
The men had worn masks; however, the exterior camera of a business three blocks from the clinic filmed the truck as it was parked at a traffic light. By enhancing the film, the police captured the images of Stephen Hendricks and Carl Taylor, seated between them was Dr. Jennifer Mao. The camera had also recorded the plate number of the truck, which had California license plates.
An APB was issued for the truck, and Eriksen had a chopper on standby. Once Wicks and his crew were spotted, she and Agent Greene would rush to the area and nail the gang. It was just a matter of time.
Jen had covered two miles before she had to stop and rest. She cursed herself for having given up jogging the year before, as her stamina was half of what it once was. On her feet were shoes with two-inch heels that weren’t designed for running. The humidity was a factor as well. She was sweating and the mugginess affected her breathing.
Blood dripped from her left cheek where Wicks’ bullet had grazed her, while a tooth on that side of her head ached from the kinetic energy the bullet had expended. Jen knew she had come close to dying.
As she caught her breath, she took out Taylor’s cell phone and dialed 9-1-1. When nothing happened, she realized she didn’t have a signal. Looking around, Jen spied a house in the distance, or rather, she spotted the home’s chimney. The structure was close but there was a narrow stream and a steep hill to traverse before she could reach it. Jen wiped sweat from her brow and took off at a jog.
Despite having seen the doctor run across the field to his right, when Wicks reached the road, he made a left. He was so drunk that it was a wonder he could drive at all. His abused eye continued to water from the trauma it had sustained.
Despite going the wrong way on the road, Wicks had inadvertently taken the shortest path to the old farmhouse Jen had caught sight of. The place was empty, as the old lady who lived there was in the hospital with pneumonia.
The farm had been dormant for years, ever since the old woman’s husband had died. She had stayed in the home while living off life insurance money, along with her social security checks.
Wicks drove the truck around the house by driving on the grass as he looked for Jen. The front door was locked, and no windows were broken, so he headed over to the barn to search for her. Once there, he stumbled from the truck and into the barn, which wasn’t locked. No animals had lived in the structure for years, but Wicks came across something of interest.
It was a small wooden crate that had words and numbers stenciled on it. The characters were faded due to the box’s age; however, even with his one good eye Wicks could read the word, DYNAMITE. The old farmer who once worked the surrounding land had bought the explosives over fifty years ago to remove tree stumps and large rocks. Eighteen sticks remained, along with an equal number of blasting caps.
“I’ll blow the bitch up when I catch her,” Wicks mumbled, as he reached down to pick up the explosives. As he straightened back up, the world around him began spinning, and he fell on his ass.
The box of ancient dynamite landed on Wicks’ lap. The explosives were so old and unstable that they were sweating out one of the chemical compounds that comprised them, nitroglycerin. If he’d been sober, Wicks would have realized he’d come close to blowing himself to bits.
Instead, he let out a laugh, made it to his feet, and weaved a path back to the truck. As he was placing the box of dynamite inside the vehicle, he saw a figure crest a hill. It was the doctor.
Jen found the sun in her eyes after she topped the rise of the hill she’d been walking up. Despite the glare, she could see the farmhouse.
When she was halfway down the hill, she’d spotted the truck and let out a gasp. That was followed by a view of Wicks moving toward her while firing his gun.
Wicks cursed as he realized he was too far away for his weapon to be effective. At the same time, another part of his mind reminded him that Jen was still needed to care for Stepp.
“You can’t get away!” he shouted to her, but Jen was already running back over the hill.
Wicks hurried to the truck and headed back onto the road. Behind him, the dynamite rattled in its box. There’s a saying that God looks out for children, drunks, and fools. Wicks had two of those bases covered.
If Jen continued on her course, she’d be headed back toward the house she and Wicks had come from. With that in mind, Wicks drove as fast as he could. Instead of stopping at the edge of the driveway and looking both ways, he barreled out and nearly hit a red pickup truck.
The driver blasted his horn, then slowed down in preparation to stop and give Wicks a piece of his mind.
Wicks, whose own mind was fixated on circling around to cut Jen off, didn’t noticed that the vehicle in front of him had come to a stop until it was too late. The result was that he plowed the truck into the rear of the pickup. The dynamite box slid forward and came to rest against the back of the seats.
The man from the pickup truck left his cab as if he’d been shot out of it. He was in his forties and dressed in jeans and a white T-shirt that revealed his muscular arms.
“You idiot! Look what you did to my truck.”
There was a dent along the lower half of the pickup’s liftgate. The box truck had suffered worse damage, as its radiator leaked coolant onto the roadway.
Wicks cursed when he saw that, knowing that the delivery truck was now useless.
The driver of the pickup gave Wicks a shove. He had caught the scent of whisky on the former cop’s breath.
“Goddamn it, you’re drunk, aren’t you?”
“Keep your hands off me, asshole.”
“Asshole? You’re driving around with a snootful and I’m the asshole? Mister, you’re lucky I don’t kick your ass from here to Dallas.”
“I’m taking your truck.”
“What did you say?”
“Your pickup, I need it.”
The guy laughed. “I think I will kick your ass.” He was raising a fist to slam it into Wicks’ face when Wicks pulled the gun from behind his back and shot him in the chest.
The man staggered away with an incredulous expression and a grunt of surprise. When he gazed down at his chest, he saw that the white shirt he wore had a spreading stain of red. He turned his back on Wicks to get into the pickup and Wicks shot him again. The bullet entered the rear of the man’s right shoulder and buried itself in a muscle. Still moving, the man attempted to climb into the truck. His eyes rolled back in his head after he’d placed one foot inside the cab, and he collapsed to the ground.
Wicks laughed at the man while stepping past him to claim the truck. He was about to close the vehicle’s door when he remembered the dynamite.
Returning to the box truck, Wicks took the dynamite out and dropped it into the bed of the pickup, while tempting fate once more.
After staring at the man he’d shot, he dragged the guy by his ankles to the edge of the road, flipped him over, and sent him rolling into a ditch, and out of sight of the road. Moments later, Wicks drove away from the scene, leaving behind his latest victim.
A Man Of Respect Page 12
