Tanner's War Read Online Free PDF Page A

coolest dude
Tanner had ever met, nothing shook him. Hell, that was
the main reason Tanner wanted to speak to him now. “I found a girl,” he said.
    “Congratulations. You
need instructions on what to do next?” Nash asked. Judge bellowed with
laughter.
    “I damn near ran her
over,” Tanner said, ignoring the jibes. “She’s on the run from something, or
someone, and I think she needs help. Big help.” Seeing
he had their attention, he quickly explained the day’s whirlwind events. Nash’s
face turned thunderous when he told them about Nathaniel.
    “You bored of being
free already?” he asked, balling his big hands into fists.
    “He won’t go to the
cops,” Tanner said.
    “You know that, do you?
You beat the shit out of a guy in a public place—”
    “I didn’t beat the shit
out of him, Nash. I knocked him on his ass, that’s all.” Tanner waved it off.
He’d have liked to beat the shit out of the creep, that was for sure, but hey. He’d showed restraint. He’d learned something in prison
after all. “And he won’t go to the cops because his kind
never do .”
    “What’s his kind?”
Judge asked, idly toying with a few playing cards. “Wife-beaters?”
    Tanner shook his head. “Cult leaders.”
    Both Judge and Nash
leaned back in their seats, mimicking each other so perfectly Tanner had to
smile. “Cult leaders?” Nash echoed.
    Tanner nodded, absently
rubbing the tattoo on his forearm. It was an ambigram design in heavy gothic script, reading “love” one way up and “ hate ” the other. It was his newest too, his prison ink. “The
guy who came after Beth at the diner was spouting Bible verses and talking
about 'the church.' And he had this pin on his shirt, like a cross with a snake
around it. Beth was running out from Heatherton Farm way.”
    “There’s nothing at
Heatherton Farm,” Nash said. “Place has been abandoned for years."
    Tanner nodded. At one
point the MC had talked about buying the land up and using the old buildings
for underground fighting. “Right, but there’s a village close by, isn’t there?
Not even a village, more like …”
    “A commune,” Judge said, when Tanner couldn’t find the word he wanted.
    “Right,” Tanner agreed.
“So while I was on the inside, I met this guy, a tattooist.” He tapped his ink
again. “He grew up in this commune. I’m sure it’s the same place. He ran away
when he was like, fifteen or sixteen. Said the whole community is one of these
extreme religious deals, like the Quiverfull Movement
and that shit. I can’t remember what he called it, but I bet that’s where
Beth’s from.”
    “The Church of the
Serpentine Cross,” Judge said. He’d straightened up again, expression serious
and thoughtful. “They were in the papers a couple years back, remember? Rumors about child brides and shit. Nothing ever came of
it.”
    Nash nodded slowly. “I
remember. Snake-handlers and shit like that. Well, so what? They’re weird, so
what? Can’t judge a man for what he believes. And if they really weren’t
messing with kids or anything … So what?”
    Tanner tried to smother
his irritation. “So what if they’re more than just weird? Beth’s scared, man.
She ran away with nothing, in a storm like this … Maybe they don’t mess with
kids, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t into some dark shit. That guy at the
diner, Nathaniel, he was no good. No fucking good at
all.”
    Nash rested his hands
on the table, palms down. In most people it was a gesture of calm, but Tanner
knew better. Nash was trying to hide his anger—trying to keep his hands under
control. “Look kid,” he said in a tone that was just short of patronizing. “I
get it. You see a wounded woman, you go all superhero. I get it. It’s
commendable. You’ve got a good heart. But you are six months out of prison and
you’re damn lucky to be out at all after what you did. You could have gone away
a lot longer. Now you wanna get mixed up in whatever
this is?