YOUNG GUNS BOX SET - BOOKS 5 - 8
A TANNER SERIES
Remington Kane
Contents
Join My Inner Circle
Acknowledgments
YOUNG GUNS 5 - ULTIMATE TRAINING
1. Help!
2. Cat’s Eye View
3. Maz
4. Judas Goat
5. A Case Of Mistaken Identity
6. Fancy Meeting You Here
7. Threat Liquidation
8. Like Old Times
9. Brothers
10. The Great Escape
11. Now They Have A Reason
12. Not So Fast
13. Banished
14. Ambush
15. Smile When You Say That
16. Chaos
17. The Ace
18. Quiet Is Good
19. The Razor’s Edge
20. The Old Switcheroo
21. Flaming Lady
22. Time Slows
23. The Dead Rise
24. One Down, One To Go
25. Friends Again
26. Two Down
27. Playing With Fire
28. Someday
29. Off To See The World
Epilogue
YOUNG GUNS 6 - CONTRACT TO KILL
30. Audacious Plans
31. Bonding
32. The Expert
33. Tragedy
34. The Citadel
35. To Protect And Serve Up
36. Training & Planning
37. A Gift From A Friend
38. The Client
39. Lured Away
40. Do Or Die
41. Two Down
42. Meditation
43. Making Plans
44. Plan C
45. The Black Sheep
46. Money To Burn
47. Thinner Than Blood
48. Worse Than Imagined
49. Ventilated
50. In A Flash
51. Poetic Justice
52. Bodyguard, Shmodyguard
53. Accidentally On Purpose
54. With A Bang
56. Escape
57. Shock And Awe
58. Unintended Consequences
59. Let’s Meet
60. …But They Don’t Check Out
61. Two-Prong Attack
62. Something’s Amiss
63. Shocking Developments
64. Trapped
65. Gone Too Far
66. The Truth Comes Out
67. Under New Management
68. The Rise And Fall Of Legends
69. A Fresh Start
YOUNG GUNS 7 - FIRST LOVE
70. An Offer To Kill
71. Memories
72. No Deal
73. A Plea
74. The Client
75. The Pact
76. One Happy Dude
77. Security Guard
78. Thanks For Letting Me Live
79. I Spy
80. Real Terror
81. Cousins
82. It’s About To Get Personal
83. A Familiar Face
84. First Love
85. Different Name, Same Guy
86. Taken!
87. The Law Comes To Call
88. A Risk Worth Taking
89. Backfire
90. Someone To Kill
91. Timber!
92. Captured
93. Here’s The Deal
94. Target Practice
95. A Proposition
96. Dire Straits
97. Double Cross
98. Talk!
99. Lambs To The Slaughter
100. Search & Rescue
101. Flash Fire
102. Mystery Men
103. An Offer You Can’t Refuse
104. Make It Painful
105. Breakup
106. Yes Or No?
107. Pistols At Dawn
108. A Cautionary Tale
109. That Family Feeling
110. The Element Of Surprise
YOUNG GUNS 8 - THE END OF THE BEGINNING
Prologue
111. The Best Day Of My Life
112. Enemies, Old & New
113. Fancy Meeting You Here
114. Out To Sea
115. Attacked
116. Jumping The Gun
117. Freak Accident?
118. Curiouser And Curiouser
119. Love And Death
120. Back-Up Plan
121. Living On A Prayer
122. Kill The Dead
123. Kill The Living
124. Shelter From The Storm
125. Mr. M.D
126. The Calm Before The Storm
127. Hard Rain, Harder Truth
128. Bombs Away
129. Desperate Measures
130. Out From The Shadows
131. Sorrow
132. The Call Goes Out
133. Friends Helping Friends
134. Too Late To Save Her
135. Love, Lost And Leaving
136. Home Nursing Care
137. Blood Will Out
138. Conflicted Emotions
139. Springing The Trap
140. Fatal Innocence
141. Betrayed
142. Tanner Vs. Tanner
143. Empty Heart
144. The Worst Day Of My Life
145. No Doubt
146. The Choice Is Made
147. Last Contract
148. First Contract
149. Home
150. Making Friends
Epilogue
Bibliography
Make Contact
Join My Inner Circle
Afterword
Join My Inner Circle
REMINGTON KANE’S INNER CIRCLE
GET FREE BOOKS & SHORT STORIES, INCLUDING THE TANNER NOVEL SLAY BELLS and THE TAKEN! ALPHABET SERIES.
Acknowledgments
I write for you,
REMINGTON KANE
YOUNG GUNS 5 - ULTIMATE TRAINING
1
Help!
PADANG, INDONESIA, SEPTEMBER 2001
Cody and Romeo strode along a well-worn dock as they took in the pleasure craft berthed in calm blue-green water. Many slots along the dock were empty, as more boats had yet to return for the day.
They had been in Padang for only a few hours after long flights interspersed with two layovers, including one in Tokyo which had lasted several hours. Neither Cody nor Romeo had done much traveling, but both of them enjoyed seeing new sights.
Spenser had left them to explore the marina while he had a meeting with a fishing boat captain. Vince Ryker had been in Australia for an unknown number of years. There was no way to know what connections the man had fostered during his time there. Keeping that in mind, Spenser planned to enter the country illegally aboard a boat.
If Ryker had contacts that might spot Spenser at an airport, they would be out of luck. Whatever Ryker’s reach might be like, it had been enough to enable the man to amass a small army and travel to America.
For all Spenser knew, Ryker could have a network of associates in place. Spenser thought it wise to steer clear of them, that is, unless a meeting took place on his terms. Spenser was determined to find Ryker and put him down. The man had threatened his boys, Cody and Romeo. Spenser would show him no mercy.
* * *
Cody was surprised as Romeo displayed a knowledge of boats. He knew all the nautical terms and proper names for different parts of the vessel.
“How come you know so much about boats?”
“Dude, my uncle used to take me out fishing whenever I visited Cali as a kid. If I could, I’d live on a boat.”
“I�
��ve never been on one, but I’ve done some fishing on land.”
“Being on the ocean is ten times better, Cody. I’ll see about renting a boat while we’re here.”
A cry erupted from behind them. The boys turned to see a girl racing along the dock. She was twelve-years-old and running barefoot while shouting something.
“Membantu!”
One of the local fishermen spotted the frantic girl and stopped her to ask a question. Whatever she told him made the man shake his head and retreat back onto his boat. The girl pointed at him and said a word that needed no interpretation. By the look of disgust on her face, Cody knew she was branding the man a coward. “Pengecut!”
“Let’s see if we can help,” Romeo said, and they started toward the girl. When she spotted them, she stared at Romeo with an open mouth, then her face lit up in a smile. She was a beautiful girl and her eyes seemed to sparkle.
“What’s wrong, little chick?” Romeo asked.
The smile left the girl’s face as she remembered the reason for her angst and became distraught again.
“Ayah saya butuh bantuan!”
“Do you speak any English?” Cody asked.
She could, and quite well, with only a trace of an accent. The girl had grown up around tourists, many of whom spoke English.
“Yes, I’m sorry. I said, my father needs help. He’s being beaten.”
“Where?” Romeo said.
“Follow me,” the girl said.
The boys raced along behind the girl who was fast despite her shorter legs. When they neared a large charter vessel, the girl went up the gangplank. Once they were aboard the boat, Cody and Romeo saw that six young men were standing over a man in his forties. The older man was lying on the deck and clutching his stomach. His nose was bleeding and there was a cut over his left eye.
“Leave the guy alone,” Romeo said.
One of the men spoke English, he had light brown skin like the others, but was taller and wore a gold watch.
“You should mind your own business before you get hurt.”
“Try it and see what happens,” Romeo told him.
The man said something to one of the other men, who wore a blue tank top. That man produced a knife and headed toward Romeo. Romeo disarmed the punk easily before sending a kick into his face. That made the others charge at the boys.
Despite being outnumbered, Cody and Romeo handled the six men as if they were children. Their skill was more than the untrained thugs could handle. A minute after the confrontation began, the boys were shoving the punks down the gangplank with a warning to never come back. Afterward, they stood on the dock and watched as the six men headed off toward the parking area.
The girl’s father had recovered enough to join them as they watched his attackers recede in the distance.
“Thank you for helping me,” the man said in accented English.
When the boys turned to him, he offered his hand.
“My name is Bagus and this is my vessel.”
As Cody and Romeo were introducing themselves, they saw Spenser walking toward them from the opposite direction the punks had taken.
“What’s going on, guys?” Spenser asked.
“A few dudes were hassling Bagus here and Xavier and I ran them off.”
“They were warning me to leave the marina. I think they work for a man named Chance Cramer. He is a New Zealander.”
“Cramer must like to play rough if he sent those men here to hassle you,” Romeo said.
“What does this Cramer want from you?” Spenser asked. “Is he trying to run you off, or is he after your boat?”
“He wants me gone, and not just me,” Bagus said. “Cramer wants to take over the charter business in the area. He started with one small boat, but now has three, and several of my friends have been frightened away. Those men were warning me to leave as well. They said I was getting too much charter business.”
Spenser smiled as he looked at the boat. “You’ve got a great vessel, how long have you been in business?”
“Sixteen years. Most of that time was with an older, smaller boat. With this vessel I’ve tripled my business and get lots of referrals.”
The girl moved closer to Romeo and took his hand. She was staring up at him with a strange smile.
“My name is Nadya. I’ll be your wife someday.”
Romeo looked at Cody and Spenser and found them both grinning at him, then he gazed down at Nadya.
“If I marry you, little chick, they’ll lock me up and throw away the key.”
Nadya laughed. “I’m too young now, but someday we’ll marry. You’ll see.”
Bagus was staring at Romeo and examining him as if he were a strange bug he had just discovered.
“This man, Nadya?”
“Yes.”
Romeo put his hands up, as if in surrender. “Dude, I never touched her. I just met her.”
Bagus smiled. “My daughter has second sight. She knows things before they happen.”
“You’re saying she’s psychic?” Cody asked.
“Yes,” Bagus said, as he stared at Romeo and offered his hand again. “I would like to thank you for helping me. Please join my family for dinner.”
Nadya wrapped her arms around Romeo’s waist. “They would love to come.”
“It’s settled then,” Spenser said with a smile. Then he and Cody laughed at the look of discomfort on Romeo’s face.
2
Cat’s Eye View
OUTSIDE DENVER, COLORADO, AUGUST 2018
Mary Andrews smiled at her cat, Buttons, as she placed a collar around his neck. After giving Buttons a peck on his furry head, Mary stood up and looked down at him.
A sound came from outside. At first, Mary thought she had been hearing the cry of another cat. When the sound grew louder she recognized it for what it was, a cry for help.
Mary and her husband, Frank, had retired a year earlier after selling the chain of jewelry stores they had started and nurtured into a multi-million-dollar business. Before retiring, they had built their dream home, a beautiful log cabin up in the mountains. Their goal had been to find seclusion without being too far from Denver, a city they both loved.
Mary gazed out of the large picture window that looked out over a meadow filled with wild flowers. Buttons was with her, and it was the black & white feline that saw the woman first, saw her and hissed.
“What’s wrong, Buttons?” Mary asked. But even as the words left her lips she spotted the woman limping toward them at the edge of the trees.
The woman had long blonde hair hanging down in front of her face, which hid her features. It mattered little, since Mary’s eyes were fixed on the woman’s right arm, which was dripping blood.
“Help me, somebody please help me,” the woman called out.
Mary rushed out the front door to see if she could give assistance. She never even made it off the porch. A man in a ski mask had been lying in wait. He struck Mary in the face with a blow that was hard enough to dislocate her jaw.
The punch sent Mary sprawling atop her wraparound porch while moaning, as blood leaked from the corner of her mouth. The man who had hit her stared down at her. Behind the mask, he appeared repulsed by what he’d just done.
The blonde woman called to him. “Kick the bitch in the head!”
The man steeled himself, then he sent a vicious kick to the side of Mary’s head, which rendered her unconscious.
The blonde woman removed the plastic baggie she had secured beneath her sleeve. The bag contained tomato juice with red dye added to it. From a distance, it resembled blood. As she wiped her arm clean with a cloth, the woman shouted to her masked partner again while growing closer to the house.
“Take out the cameras.”
“Right,” said the man in a deep voice, as he removed a small can of spray paint. Within seconds he had the lenses of the two security cameras at the front of the home covered with black paint.