Best laid plans a tanner.., p.1
Best Laid Plans (A Tanner Novel Book 58), page 1
BEST LAID PLANS
A TANNER NOVEL
Book 58
REMINGTON KANE
Contents
Introduction
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Acknowledgments
Prologue
1. Old Friends
2. The Heist
3. Lucas
4. Evacuate
5. Diamond Jack Malone
6. Something’s Wrong
7. The Female Of The Species
8. Hissss!
9. Teddy Bear
10. On The Hunt
11. The Hardest Shots
12. Armed And Dangerous
13. Standoff
14. The Deal
15. Help From A Friend
16. I’ll Trade Ya
17. The Woman Within
18. Run For Your Life
19. Death Amid The Stalks
20. Secret Revealed
21. You Were Warned
22. Malice
23. Actions Have Consequences
24. Walk Among The Dead
25. Dead Among The Dead
26. Better Than Deserved
27. Farewell To A Friend
TANNER RETURNS!
Afterword
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Coming Soon
Bibliography
Make Contact
Introduction
BEST LAID PLANS – A TANNER NOVEL – BOOK 58
A group of elite thieves target the Parker ranch, unaware they're going head-to-head with the most dangerous man alive.
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Acknowledgments
I write for you.
—Remington Kane
Prologue
The Dufrene family’s home in the Bluffview section of Dallas, Texas, took up over ten-thousand square feet. It had six bedrooms, nine baths, and there was an eight-car garage at the rear of the property.
That garage held the classic car collection that was the joy of the family’s patriarch, Jude Dufrene. A mint condition 1964 Ford Mustang and a pristine 1955 Ford Thunderbird were part of the collection, but its crown jewel was a 1954 Porsche Spyder 550. The Porsche had belonged to Dufrene’s late father. Albert Dufrene had bought the mid-engine, air-cooled, four-cylinder motor car for a fraction of the vehicle’s current worth thirty years earlier.
Jude Dufrene had a state-of-the-art security system installed that kept his collection safe. Or so he believed.
The Mercedes, BMW, and Tesla the family drove for everyday use were parked in the home’s attached garage.
It was a day of festivity for the Dufrene family. Jude’s wife, Linda, was celebrating her fiftieth birthday. The family gathered with a few friends for a cookout. One of those friends was Jenna Dane. Jude and Linda’s daughter, Kathy Dufrene, had invited Jenna.
Kathy, a tall blonde with a slight overbite, attended SMU, Southern Methodist University. Jenna worked at a coffee shop near campus, and the two girls had become friends. Jenna had made it a priority to become friends with Kathy Dufrene. As her friend, she could gain access to the Dufrenes’ home.
Jenna Dane’s real name was Simone Reilly. Simone was twenty-three and a professional thief. She was a member of a group of thieves. Her designation within the group was that of the insider.
Her job began once the group had chosen a target. It was Simone’s responsibility to get close to one of the people they would be robbing. She could also take employment that gave her access and opportunity.
She’d been nice to Kathy Dufrene for weeks and had developed a relationship with her. As part of her role-playing, she had feigned an interest in an obscure punk band from the 1980s that Kathy loved, so they would have something in common. The two became friends. Kathy wanted more than friendship from Simone, who was a dark-haired beauty with large breasts.
Simone became aware of Kathy’s sexual interest in her only recently, although she had suspected Kathy was bisexual. Kathy had fondled her while drunk and confessed her feelings. Simone, who was straight, acted flattered but turned her down. Since then, Simone pretended to be curious about what an intimate relationship with Kathy would be like. Such deception had been needed to maintain their friendship.
She’d even gone so far as to kiss Kathy on the lips; to give her hope they could become a couple. Simone had been willing to do anything short of sleeping with Kathy to get an invitation to her mother’s fiftieth birthday celebration. The plan her group had come up with to rob the Dufrenes required Simone to attend that party. As a guest, she would have access to Jude Dufrene and the lavish home’s security system.
Simone was one of nine guests. Kathy had a younger brother, and there was a catering staff of four working the party.
Being late spring and a cookout, the guests and the family were outside by the pool most of the afternoon. Simone wore a red, one-piece bathing suit. Kathy’s fourteen-year-old brother, Chad, took surreptitious glances at her, as did the boy’s father. Jude Dufrene was happily married, but he wasn’t dead.
Toward sunset, and after everyone had eaten, Dufrene led his guests into the garage where he kept his prized collection. There was an iris scanner and a device that read his palm print. On top of that, Dufrene had to enter a six-digit code.
Although most of the other guests had seen the car collection before, there were still plenty of “Oohs and aahs,” as Jude Dufrene gave a tour of his collection.
It was Linda Dufrene who noticed Simone removing the compact gas mask from the bag she carried.
“What is that, dear?”
“It’s a gas mask.”
“A gas mask? Why do you have that?”
Simone’s voice was muffled after she strapped on the mask. “It goes well with the gas.” Simone removed two gray canisters from the purse and tossed them at the feet of the others present. The gas released and spread out quickly.
Chad Dufrene charged at her, only to fall at her feet after inhaling the gas. The others went down, with Kathy being the last to succumb. The shocked expression on her face melted away as she passed out.
Simone held her breath, removed the gas mask, and left the garage. She used a bench to keep the door ajar. The locks would engage if it were to close. Knowing she was being recorded by cameras, she walked at a normal pace as she headed to the house. The group’s research prior to the job had failed to uncover whether the feed from the cameras was being observed by security personnel at a monitoring center. It seemed unlikely, but it was better to be safe than sorry. By walking at a calm pace, Simone wouldn’t attract attention.
Two of the caterers were cleaning up around the pool area. The other two were busy inside the home’s kitchen and dining room. They would be handled next.
Simone was skilled at deception. She was also an accomplished hacker. She’d hacked into Kathy’s laptop weeks ago and discovered the password for the home’s security system. With the family entertaining, the alarm was off and the motion detectors were deactivated. Simone used Kathy’s laptop and password to shut off the security cameras.
With that done, she left the house through the front door and walked out to the iron gate barring access to the driveway. A keypad on the right side of the gate took a four-digit code that was the same as Kathy’s birthdate—1126.
The gate slid aside, and the other members of Simone’s group greeted her with smiles.
The group of elite thieves consisted of seven members.
Ben Cardarelli was forty-two and the group’s project manager. He wore a beard, was lanky, and had worked as a corporate project manager before becoming a thief and founding the group. Despite the age difference, he and Simone were lovers. He greeted her with a kiss and a pat on the butt.
Cardarelli managed the team members and dealt with fences when it was time to cash-in. He had a fence ready to receive Jude Dufrene’s car collection. The fence had buyers lined-up for each vehicle. Once successful, the robbery of the Dufrene family would be one of the group’s most profitable operations.
Erik O’Neil was thirty-three, on the short side, and had a boyish, freckled face. He handled research. It was his job to explore potential targets and their pros and cons.
Matt Lesko was forty-seven. Lesko was bald but wore a bushy mustache. He supplied the transport needs of the group’s members and made sure they acquired the right vehicles to handle the loot they stole. For this job, Lesko brought along a tractor-trailer with an interior modified to act as a car carrier. Dufrene’s collection of vehicles would be carted away inside the trailer.
Gordon Woo was twenty-six and had grown up in Toronto. He had the look of a nerd and wore thick eyeglasses. He was the group’s logistician. He coordinated everyone to ensure a smooth operation and withdrawal.
James DeFeo, thirty, was the handler. He was black and spoke with a French accent. DeFeo was six-foot-five and two-hundred and twenty pounds of muscle. He was responsible for keeping control over their victims.
Mary Alice Johnson, thirty-five, looked like a blonde soccer mom. It was an image she cultivated because it lulled people into the false assumption she was harmless. She was the team’s ace-in-the-hole. Mary Alice handled the group’s assets, distributed payouts, and lurked in the shadows. She migh
Simone, the group’s insider, infiltrated their targets ahead of the strike date and made access easier. She let her friends know that Dufrene, his family, and guests were lying unconscious inside the garage that housed the prizes they were after.
The group donned masks before stepping through the gate. It made no sense to risk having their faces seen by anyone. Simone had been seen, but that couldn’t be helped. Getting close to the targets was a part of her job. Fortunately, there were many women who were a physical match for her. When working, she made certain to disguise her Irish accent, often wore a fake mole on her chin, and styled her reddish-brown hair differently. For this job, she’d dyed her hair a darker color. If she were picked up and identified by one of her marks, a smart lawyer would point out those discrepancies. Simone would also be supplied with an alibi.
DeFeo and Mary Alice headed toward the house to handle the caterers. They would take the caterers’ phones, bind their wrists behind their backs, and lock them in closets throughout the enormous house.
An hour after Simone set off the gas, the group was ready to leave with their haul. Much of that time had been spent removing or neutralizing the tracking devices placed in the classic cars. Along with the cars, they were stealing the personal vehicles of the family members. Those would be left at a chop shop in exchange for cash.
Kathy Dufrene and the rest of her family were still unconscious. They’d been lifted off the floor of the garage and propped up against one of the building’s walls. Simone grinned when she imagined the expression that would be on Jude Dufrene’s face when he awoke and found his car collection gone. He’d have a nice fat insurance check to ease the pain.
The group had also taken jewelry, artwork, and other valuables from the home. Even divided seven ways, it was a fine heist. No one had needed to be hurt and there was little risk of being caught.
Matt Lesko drove the tractor-trailer with Gordon Woo riding shotgun. Simone drove off in Kathy’s Tesla while Ben Cardarelli and James DeFeo followed in Jude Dufrene’s Mercedes and O’Neil had Linda Dufrene’s BMW.
Mary Alice, the group’s Ace-in-the-hole, would follow at a distance in the vehicle she dubbed her mom mobile. It was a ten-year-old Dodge Caravan. It was gray and had a car seat in the rear. There were also kids’ clothing and games scattered around the cargo area. Mary Alice didn’t have kids. The vehicle was part of her camouflage. If the group ran into the law or any other sort of trouble, Mary Alice would have their backs.
The group only did two or three jobs a year, then returned to their normal lives. They had never killed anyone, although they used violence when they deemed it necessary.
After each “Project,” they met to divide the spoils and decided on their next venture. A week after their success at robbing the Dufrene family, Ben Cardarelli, the project manager, offered them two choices.
The first was a tech billionaire’s home in Galveston, rumored to have a fortune in diamonds stored in a vault. The second choice was the Parker ranch.
As tempting as the billionaire’s home was to the group, it failed to meet their criteria. Because of the billionaire’s vast wealth, it would be tremendously difficult to get close to the man or gain entry to his property. Such lavish properties were also guarded by more people than the average estate. One mistake and the group would find themselves locked up for decades or killed on site.
Half of the group was blasé about targeting the Parker ranch until they learned about the hidden underground vault beneath the main ranch house. Cardarelli was tipped off to it by a contractor who had worked on the property during construction.
“Cody Parker is worth millions and has expanded his land holdings in recent years. There’s wealth here, people. The Parkers just aren’t flashy or display it.”
“But we still have no way of knowing what may be in that vault,” said the team’s logistician, Gordon Woo.
“No, we don’t. But I’m willing to bet it’s worth our time.”
The team took a vote. They were surprised when no one voted against targeting the Parker ranch.
Woo shrugged. “No one builds a vault like that to protect nothing. I think you’re right, Ben. There’s got to be something there.”
The insider, Simone, was given all the information they had on the ranch, which wasn’t much. It was her job to expand their knowledge and, if possible, to ingratiate herself to someone in the Parker family or a close family friend.
The meeting broke up, and the team went their separate ways.
As for Simone, she was headed to Stark, Texas.
ONE
Old Friends
EIGHT WEEKS LATER
The Parker ranch was having a barbecue for its employees. That included a former employee who was in the area visiting family.
Bobby Lincoln joined the Parker family after having been away from the ranch for years. Bobby, who was Black, married a Hispanic woman named Rosalina and had a five-year-old daughter named Maggie. Maggie resembled her petite mother, but her long limbs suggested she’d grow up to have her father’s height.
Bobby left the ranch when he was offered the opportunity to manage a different ranch in the Austin area. Rick Winhoffer, the manager of the Parker Ranch, had recommended Bobby for the job.
Bobby still had the habit of asking a lot of questions. It was a trait he’d passed on to his daughter, Maggie.
Cody, Sara, Bobby, Rosalina, Rick Winhoffer, Laura Knight, Chief of Police Steve Mendez, and several other adults were seated around a large table on the home’s rear deck. Young Maggie left the kids’ table and walked up to Sara.
The little girl issued forth a steady stream of inquiries about the ranch house, the stables, and anything else that entered her mind.
Bobby apologized for his daughter and told her not to be so nosy.
“She’s not nosy; she’s inquisitive,” Sara said. “And she gets it from you.”
Bobby seemed surprised by the allegation. “From me?”
“You’re known for asking a lot of questions.”
“I am?”
“Yes.”
“Like what?”
“On many subjects.”
“I do have a few questions about the ranch. I was wondering how you manage the new land you’ve got.”
“Cody could answer that for you. He and Rick handle the ranch.”
“And what do you do? Are you still a bounty hunter?”
“I’ll do that occasionally. I captured someone last month.”
“Was he dangerous?”
“It was a woman. And yes, she was dangerous. She was wanted for her involvement in a triple homicide.”
“Wow. How did you capture her?”
“I staked out the house where her cousin lived after learning she and the cousin had been close when they were in high school.”
“And she showed up there?”
“That’s right.”
“Did she have a gun?”
“She did.”
“What kind?”
“An old revolver she stole while robbing a house.”
“And what about the cousin? Was she dangerous too?”
“She seemed glad to see me. She had a young boy and didn’t want her cousin around him. The two cousins hadn’t seen each other in years.”
“How old were they?”
“Thirty-one.”
“How much was the bounty?”
“Ten thousand dollars.”
