Colton Banyon Mysteries 1-3: Colton Banyon Mysteries (Colton Banyon Mystery Book 20)

by Gerald J Kubicki

  “This had better be good,” Dean yelled into the phone.

  “Michael, this is Walter.”

  “Goddamn it, Pierce. You are supposed to be here.”

  “Not quite, Michael. I told you to be at the spot at eight. I never said I would be there too,” Pierce replied patiently.

  “What are you trying to pull?” Anger was clearly evident in his voice Pierce was yanking him around like a yo-yo.

  “Actually, Michael, I asked you to come alone, and you are not alone. So who is deceiving whom?”

  “Are we playing games now, Pierce?”

  “On the contrary, my friend, this has been the plan all along. Now listen carefully if you want to establish your place in the sun, if you want to be the savior of the Aryan race. I am nearby, but I want you to come here alone, do you understand? Do not let the others know what I am telling you.” Dean moved away from the crowd.

  “Yes,” replied a now-interested Dean. He looked around at the other men. He saw they were all watching him suspiciously.

  “Good, now listen carefully Michael. I have buried a box nearby. It’s a fake, of course. I want you to go to the marker and walk thirty steps to the west, then turn and go thirty steps to the south. Have your men start to dig there. And when they become frenzied in their digging, I want you to leave and run to the road. There will be a limousine waiting for you. The driver has instructions to bring you to me. Do you understand?”

  “Yes” was the excited reply.

  “Now, get going. You need to be here by 8:30 p.m. exactly.”

  Dean closed the phone. He walked to the marker and stood by it. Everyone was staring at him. Harry asked what was going on.

  “I have the directions to the box; I know where it’s buried. You need to follow me,” said Dean, drawing it out and appearing lost in thought. He knew these men would begin salivating as he theatrically gave the directions. “Get the shovels, boys.”

  There was a mad scramble to find the shovels. Everyone scattered around the perimeter of the site, poking and probing to find a shovel. The black shadows in the woods went unnoticed. Dean waited until the shovels were all located.

  “We take thirty steps due west men,” Dean said with authority. They all moved together, with shovels raised like muskets.

  “Now we take thirty steps due south,” Dean ordered. They turned in unison and marched thirty paces. “We dig here, boys.”

  “Whoopee!” Teddy exclaimed.

  Everyone started to dig at once. There was sand flying and dust everywhere. The agents all crept closer as they realized the game was finally starting. Dean waited for the exact second everyone was waiting for, the sound of a shovel hitting something hard. He turned, and then took off running. Joe Kroll noticed, and he set off after Dean. The others were lost in their discovery, and were now attempting to roll the box out of the hole.

  Dean reached the road and spotted the limo. He jumped into the car. He was closing the door when a large hand caught it and Kroll entered the car pointing a large gun in Dean’s face. “Going somewhere?” asked Kroll.

  “I’m just following instructions from Pierce. The limo will take me to the real site. This site was a setup to shed anyone else with me, so I could come alone. He doesn’t like crowds. Pierce told me the buried box was a fake.”

  “Okay, Mike, not that I believe a word you say, but I’m going with you.” Kroll waved his gun at Dean for emphasis.

  The driver took off, without mentioning that a van had pulled out of the woods, and was following them. He then sent a text to Walter Pierce.

  ***

  One of the two radiomen in the van immediately contacted Agent Gamble. “Two of the group have left the woods and entered a car. Should we follow?”

  “Goddamn, yes, follow them. I’m sending backup.”

  Heinz had been searching for Dean when the call came in over the headphones. He realized that Dean was gone. He said to Gamble, “Loni and I will go. Our car is near, and you can send additional backup as soon as you round up these freaks, okay?”

  “Copy” was all that Gamble could say. There was red before his eyes.

  ***

  Raymond Davies and Maya Patel entered the old house through the front door; which was wide open. Because of the full moon, it was light enough to observe that someone was standing in the middle of the room. He was just closing his cell phone.

  “Walter, you picked a good night for it,” the Professor said amiably.

  “Yes, but I’m afraid we will soon have an unwelcome visitor,” he said glancing at Maya. She gave a short nod of her head.

  “Walter, this is my assistant, Maya Patel.”

  “Pleasure to meet you, Maya.” Pierce extended his hand. “I’ve heard good things about you.”

  “Thank you.” She said like an actress.

  Pierce now turned to Davies. “You know the plan, correct?”

  “Yes, I know the plan, but I still don’t know why you do not want to be part of the ceremony. This is a glorious find.”

  “Let’s just say I do not photograph well, and leave it at that. I need to be in the background. The police will surely want to talk to me, and I must be gone.”

  “Walter, are you all right? You look as white as a sheet.”

  “I’m fine, Raymond.”

  Just then the Patel twins entered the front door, all but dragging a reluctant Colton Banyon after them.

  “Hello, Sister,” Pramilla said with a radiant smile.

  “Pramilla, Previne, how wonderful to see you again.” Maya rushed toward the door and embraced them both.

  “Maya, this is Colton Banyon,” said Pramilla. He just stared at all three sisters. It was impossible to tell them apart.

  “I’m sorry, I don’t mean to stare, but all three of you look alike. I mean really alike. The resemblance is uncanny.”

  Maya gave a throaty laugh. “We hear that often.”

  “Colt, this is Professor Raymond Davies. He is professor of archeology at Stony Brook University,” Pierce said.

  Davies just stood there with his mouth open. Banyon turned to Pierce. “You must be the mastermind, Walter Pierce.”

  “I am Walter Pierce. It’s very good to finally meet you in person Colton.”

  Pierce shifted his gaze as a man entered the door. “Well, this is a cozy little group,” Dean said as he walked into the room like he owned it. He had already eyeballed the three women. He could use them in his kingdom. Seeing that Davies was a professor type, he ignored him. He nodded at Banyon, who now was terrified that his prediction had come true.

  “Let’s get this show on the road, Walter. My boys will soon see I’m gone and will be after me. Do you have the tablet here?” he rubbed his hands in anticipation.

  “I doubt they will ever get here,” Pierce commented dryly under his breath.

  ***

  Joe Kroll was standing on the porch outside the front door. He positioned himself so he could hear every word said inside but no one could see him. Heinz and Chen ditched their car just off the long driveway. They now crouched about twenty feet from Joe Kroll in some dense bushes, wondering what the hell was going on.

  Chapter Eighty-Eight

  At exactly 7:05 p.m., Special Agent in Charge Dodge stepped into the street and yelled into his headphone, “Give them hell, boys,” and then returned to his command vehicle. Several carloads of FBI agents rushed the Altar of Creator church office in Aurora. Seven other groups were on the move to Dean’s house, Teddy’s house, and five additional places. They had warrants backed up with lots of guns.

  Judy Kroll was in the church office when she heard the front door crash open. Several of the female supporters scream. She immediately looked through the hidden peephole her husband had installed to watch the congregation, and saw the FBI pouring into the church. She picked up her cell phone, and hit the speed-dial for Joe, but the agents reached the office first, and took away her phone before it could make a connection.

  The raid on the
white supremacist headquarters took only a few minutes to complete. The agents found a locker with several guns, and files that contained the names of all the people that had attended Joe Kroll’s speech. They then began the process of boxing up and removing everything in the building, including Judy Kroll.

  ***

  At the same time, back at the dig site on Long Island, Teddy wrestled the heavy box they found from the hole. The men had really worked up a sweat digging in the sand. The problem was that as soon as they shoveled sand out the hole, it would fill back up. This made them dig more frantically. Eventually they dug enough to grab the handle of the box and heave it out. All three men were breathing heavily and gasping for breath. Teddy cut the old leather straps with a knife, and threw open the box lid.

  Suddenly Gamble heard a sound in his earpiece, “Uh oh.”

  “Repeat.” Gamble made an instant reply.

  Conn’s voice was muffled. “Many hostiles inbound, there are ten, no maybe a dozen. They are running fast, and will reach your location in about ten seconds. Don’t know who they are.”

  “Lay low,” Gamble quickly ordered his men.

  ***

  Billy Brown was the first to come upon the site. He was running at full speed. He saw Teddy staring into an open box. Brown took aim on the run, and squeezed off a two-shot burst. Two red holes appeared on Teddy’s shirt as he fell over. Harry started to pull out his gun. Gary was lying on the ground, breathing hard, but was able to roll over, and pull out his own gun just as more of Brown’s gang raced out of the forest and into the clearing. They had caught the men completely by surprise. Just as several were taking aim to kill the remaining two diggers, the staccato sound of a submachine gun filled the air.

  Billy Brown was the first to die. Three other black gunmen went down in quick succession. Harry and Gary were shooting back now. Bullets were flying everywhere, and the most bullets were coming from the two shooters sent by the Mafia. They had seen the Blacks enter the site, and did not hesitate to open fire. They stood next to each other firing from the hip, and spreading lethal lead everywhere.

  Gamble yelled into a bullhorn, “FBI — drop your weapons. Put your hands up. You are surrounded.”

  For a brief second, the shooting stopped. Then everyone started firing into the woods at the unseen FBI.

  “Open fire,” Gamble ordered.

  On command, Conn dropped the fat shooter, and was just about to shoot the other one when he threw down his gun, and ran into the woods. Conn spoke into his ear piece, “The little one is on the run, heading northwest.” He dropped from the tree, and took up pursuit, along with the five other crime commission members. They caught the shooter after a half-mile chase. He had no other weapon to defend himself.

  Gamble was taking stock. There were still five blacks and two white supremacists shooting back. Gamble’s forces were seriously depleted. Of the original twenty-eight people, six went after the shooter, and four went after Kroll and Dean. That left him with fourteen against seven. Not good odds. Gamble put out an urgent call for more backup. As a result, the two watchers in the van had to abandon their position at the old house, and speed back to the old site.

  The firing continued for some time. Gamble felt like he was in a war. Men were firing into the dark woods, and other men were returning fire into the open site. Shotgun blasts echoed throughout the forest. Some of the men screamed when they were hit. It was becoming a massacre. Soon the bad guys would run out of bullets. Two more blacks went down. Three-to-one odds were much better. Gamble picked up the bullhorn.

  “You are completely surrounded. We have you outnumbered five to one. Drop your guns and put up your hands.”

  Gary was the first to throw down his gun. Seeing this, the others followed suit. The FBI swarmed out of the woods. In seconds, the men were cuffed. Gamble strolled out of the woods, and stopped by the box. Seeing nothing there but rocks, he was puzzled.

  Chapter Ninety

  Inside the old house, Dean was sizing up everyone in the room. Walter Pierce probably had his old Luger. That didn’t scare him. He believed the rest of the people were helpless, and would be no threat to him. He knew the professor was there to verify the tablet. One of the women served as his assistant. What Colton Banyon was doing there caused him some concern. The other two women were just there to be hostages for him.

  “So, let’s get to the tablet. I don’t see it here, Walter. You’re not attempting to pull another fast one are you?”

  “I don’t know what you mean Michael?” Pierce said indignantly, and stared at him with blank eyes.

  “Never mind,” Dean backtracked. He wanted the Aryan tablet, and Pierce knew where it was hidden. He could only push him so far.

  “To retrieve the tablet, we must go to the basement,” said Pierce officially. “We do have to hurry though, as the media will be here in less than ten minutes. Michael, I assumed you wanted press coverage, don’t you?”

  A little surprised, Dean nodded, “The sooner that we get this announced to the world, the better.” He then produced an evil grin.

  Pierce extended his arm to direct them. Pramilla led the way to the basement door. Maya reached into the bag she had retrieved from the car trunk, and handed each person a flashlight as they went by her.

  “It’s dark down there,” she explained. “No electricity.”

  ***

  Carl Heinz and Loni Chen watched from the steps as Joe Kroll disappeared into the dark house. “I’m going after Kroll,” said Agent Chen.

  “Then I’m going with you,” said Heinz.

  “No,” replied Agent Chen. “You are too clumsy. You will make too much noise; I can be very quiet. We’ll keep in touch through our cell phones. Dial my number now.”

  “Okay,” he replied and took out his phone.

  Loni then said. “You coordinate the backup manpower when they get here.” Suddenly, she scooted up the stairs and entered the dark house.

  ***

  Down in the musty basement, Pierce was about to push on a wall in the furnace room when everyone heard something. Joe Kroll had stepped too heavily on a stair, causing a loud crack. He was joining the hunt, just as Pierce expected.

  “Ah, I hear our uninvited guest is now making a not so stealthy entrance,” observed Pierce, and removed his hand from the wall.

  Kroll came off the steps in a leap, and leveled his gun at Michael Dean. “So, you thought you could have your ceremony without me, did you?” Kroll said in a very hard voice. “I’m the leader of the cause Dean, not you.”

  “Joe, you were supposed to be out of sight until I signaled you,” Dean wailed. “What are you doing, you idiot? We don’t have the tablet yet.”

  Dean saw Kroll flinch when he called him an idiot. It was all the time he needed. Dean stepped forward, and struck Kroll’s hand like a bolt of lightning, sending the gun flying into the darkness of the basement. He quickly pulled out own his gun and trained it on the little group.

  “I’m in charge now, Joe. You told me you wanted me to be the photographer for Aryanna, didn’t you?”

  “It was a joke, Mike,” Kroll said defensively.

  “Well, I’m going to take some pictures with the camera you made me buy. So, why don’t you all pose over there in the far corner? Get away from the wall, Pierce.” He ushered them all over into the corner in a bunch by waving his gun, the girls in front and the men in back. Pierce, the tallest, was in the middle.

  “No pictures,” thundered Pierce.

  “Too late,” said Dean as he hit the flash.

  ***

  As soon as Colt’s eyes re-adjusted, he noticed that Pierce was missing. He had vanished into thin air. “Where is Walter Pierce?”

  “I don’t know,” answered Maya. “I felt a rush of air, and he was gone.”

  “I felt it, too,” said Previne.

  “So did I,” reported Davies.

  “What the hell? People don’t just vanish,” Dean screamed. “He must be around here somewhere.”
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  “This is one more trick by Pierce,” said Kroll. “And you, Dean, you are a moron. Pierce hasn’t signed over his assets yet. Now what are we going to do?”

  “I don’t know about you, but I’m going to get the Aryan tablet,” answered Dean. He went to the wall, and began to push right where Pierce had been standing. As soon as his back was turned, Kroll rushed him. Dean, sensing the attack, spun and fired. The bullet passed through Kroll’s arm and imbedded itself in the wall. Dean then took aim at his head as he was lying on the floor.

  “So, you thought I was stupid, did you? I know you. You just want to take everything for yourself. You wanted to make me the photographer. Well, I’m sick of that; I want it all now. I think the tablet is behind this wall. That is why Pierce was about to push on it. I no longer need you, Joe. This is my good-bye.”

  “You got this all wrong, Mike. This is some type of a setup. Don’t you get it?”

  ***

  Loni Chen had quietly entered the basement, and proceeded down the rickety stairs stealthy. She was dressed in a black outfit and was all but invisible. She moved to within fifteen feet of Dean, keeping in the shadows. Colt noticed her. He wasn’t sure if anyone else saw her as they were looking at the wall.

  “You know, maybe you are right, Joe,” Dean suddenly said. “I think Pierce planned all this and is nearby. Maybe I can get him to show himself.” Dean raised the gun, and pointed it directly at Colton Banyon. He remembered Pierce had said no harm was to come to Banyon. “You have until the count of three,” said Dean.

  “Loni, help,” Colt croaked. No one else knew what he was talking about.

  Agent Chen sprang like a cat. One chop and the gun was loose, it went bouncing across the floor. She then followed with a vicious kick to Dean’s crotch. But Dean was prepared. Because of his love of himself, he always wore a cup whenever any physical action loomed. As a result, Chen’s kick only knocked him off balance. He bounced off the wall, and squared off to face his attacker.

  When he saw that it was Loni Chen, he roared with laughter. He was more than a foot taller and about a hundred and ten pounds heavier. “Well, well, if it isn’t Loni Chen. There’s no one here to protect you now, so let’s play Okinawa.” She stood silently in an attack position.