Remington Kane [Kane - Tanner- Year One

REMINGTON KANES INNER CIRCLE

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REMINGTON KANE

JULY 2004

Tanner clamped one hand over the mouth of Truman Smith as his other hand was busy stabbing Smith in the back. Truman had just picked the lock on a rear door that led into an apartment building in lower Manhattan.

Once inside, Truman would have taken the back staircase to the third-floor residence of a young woman named Tonya Aaronson. When Truman left the apartment, Miss Aaronson would have been dead or injured.

Truman Smith had raped Tonya days earlier. During the struggle, Tonya had torn the ski mask from Trumans face. Later, she picked him out of a line-up. The marks her nails left on his cheek were still red and swollen beneath his mop of shaggy brown hair.

Trumans lawyer argued successfully that the line-up was unfair to his client because the other men bore no marks on their faces. A judge agreed and the rapist was placed back on the streets.

One of Trumans earlier victims was seated in court that day. She was the seventeen-year-old daughter of a lawyer connected to the mob. Although the girl had never seen Trumans face during her attack, she had heard his voice as he taunted her and called her vile names. She would never forget that voice and had heard it again when Truman had spoken in court.

That was when Tanner was called in to administer real justice. He tracked Truman down at his apartment in the afternoon, then became curious about the mans movements. He had watched Truman steal a van from the garage of a home where newspapers were piled up on the doorstep.

The vans owner was off somewhere, likely on a vacation, and had forgotten to cancel his newspaper delivery. It was safe to assume the vans absence wouldnt be noticed right away.

Tanner wondered why Truman would need to steal a van and decided to watch him for a while. On a trip to a warehouse store that sold hardware and lumber, Truman purchased a shovel, duct tape, and heavy plastic sheeting, along with six bottles of drain cleaner, which contained high levels of lye.

Tanner didnt think Truman planned to take up gardening, even if it was summer. However, he was certain that the rapist intended to plant something, or rather, someone. Tonya Aaronson, the sole eyewitness against him, would have been that unfortunate someone.

* * *

Trumans struggling grew weaker by the time Tanner had driven the knife into his back for a fifth time. The van was near the rear door of the apartment house, parked in the alley with its sliding side door sitting open. Tanner dragged Trumans moaning form over to it and dumped him onto the plastic which Truman had earlier spread out on the floor of the van. Pre-cut lengths of duct tape were attached by one end to the vans side wall; Tanner used them to bind Truman and placed the final strip over his mouth.

As their eyes met in the weak light given off by the single bulb lighting the alley, Tanner saw the amazement in Trumans eyes. The man realized he was being treated the way hed intended to handle his victim. Tanner shut the door in Trumans face and walked around to climb behind the wheel of the van. He intended to give Truman the fate hed planned for Tonya Aaronson.

* * *

After leaving the hardware store earlier, Tanner had followed Truman to a row of two-story homes destined to be demolished by the city. A fire had broken out four months earlier due to a faulty toaster oven. By the time the fire department got control of the blaze, flames had swept through six row homes. No one had died in the fire, since most of the residents were at work, but the families had been displaced.

Behind one of those homes, Truman had dug a shallow grave using the shovel hed purchased less than an hour earlier. The grave had been intended for his victim. Tanner found it more fitting that Truman fill it instead.

Although he was still alive when Tanner dragged him from the back of the van, Truman was only minutes from death. He was bleeding internally and suffering from the pain of his wounds. However, he was still aware enough to realize where he was. Seeing the shallow grave birthed terror in the rapists eyes.

Tanner granted Truman mercy he wasnt sure the man would have given to Tonya Aaronson. He made certain that Truman was dead before trundling him into the hole and filling it in.

Afterward, Tanner drove the van toward midtown, his work completed, the contract fulfilled.

* * *

Inside a Brooklyn bar four men were ogling an attractive blonde who had entered and spoken to a friend that was tending bar. The four were former military, trained to fight, and had been drinking for an hour. Their voices hinted that they were not native to the city, but then, that was true of many in New York.

One of the men left their booth and went over to talk to the blonde, who was wearing white shorts, a red halter top, and a wedding band. Her admirer was on the verge of being drunk, was young, and full of confidence.

When the woman blew off his advances, he became belligerent and began insulting her. After she gave the man the finger, he slapped her.

Two men shot to their feet. One was a co-owner of the bar, named Al Bellini, while the other was his friend, Carmine. Both men were low-level members of the Giacconi crime family.

Al shoved the man who had struck the woman and ordered him to leave the bar. The punks three friends joined the scene. The largest of them, a man with dark red hair, gave Al a shove. Carmine moved to defend his friend as others inside the bar closed in. The redheaded thug brought out a knife and used it on Al, then, Carmine brought out a gun.

When it was over, two men were lying dead on the barroom floor. One of them was the punk who had slapped the woman, the other was Al Bellini.

The three who had been with the punk whod started the brawl had fled the bar and driven away in a green sedan with out of state plates. They left behind their friend and the dead body of Al Bellini.

Bellini was well-liked and had many friends. One of them was a mobster named Joe Pullo.

2

A Friendly Visit To The Morgue

JULY 2004

Tanner entered a diner in the Chelsea section of Manhattan and found that Joe Pullo had arrived early for their meeting. Pullo was wearing a dark summer-weight suit with a cream-colored shirt and no tie. Tanner was dressed in jeans and a dark-green, long-sleeve tee. The shirt was baggy, to obscure the outline of the gun strapped to his hip.