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

by Gerald J Kubicki

  Wesley entered a large courtyard. It was filled with people who were waiting for their special some ones. There were no smiles on their faces. He spotted a matron immediately. She was square as a box and didn’t appear to have missed many meals. He marched straight to her.

  “I’m here to see Anna Van Kleef,” he announced.

  “She never receives any visitors,” the matron retorted. “Besides, she is working now, can’t be interrupted.” The woman dismissed Wesley with a wave of her meaty hand.

  “I have come a long way to see my relative,” he quickly replied. He produced a hundred rubles and waved it in the air.

  “Give me that,” the woman demanded.

  “Bring me Anna first,” ordered Wesley.

  “You won’t be happy with what you see.”

  ***

  Wesley found a small table and two chairs in the courtyard. These only cost him fifty rubles. He sat and waited for over an hour before the matron returned. Anna was in tow, or was it someone else?

  The woman he observed was frightfully thin. Her summer dress all but hung from her once luscious body. The beautiful hair had been replaced by gray wire that was cut short. But it was the eyes that stunned Wesley. They were dead.

  “You have one hour,” the matron announced with crossed arms over her ample breasts.

  Wesley quickly slipped her another fifty rubles. “We will need two hours,” he replied. “Now get lost,” he said with as much threat as he could muster. He was now angry and upset with everything Russian.

  The matron huffed and turned on her heel. “Do not leave the courtyard,” she added as she waddled away.

  Anna stood before him, a shell of her former self. Her head was down, and she said nothing. Finally Wesley rose and guided her to a seat. She sat with her now rough hands on the table. She had been well trained by the gulag staff.

  The shock of seeing her in her current condition had caused his mind to scatter. He didn’t know what to say. She was a totally broken woman.

  “Anna, I am going to find a way to get you out of here,” he finally spoke in a broken, choked voice.

  “It is not possible. I must serve my time. I must repay the state for my weaknesses,” she replied. Wesley realized she was afraid.

  “I am here to help you. Can you understand that?”

  “Then you must want sex. We can go behind the wall over there.” She pointed the way. “I have been there before.”

  “No, look at me. You do remember our time together, don’t you?”

  “I am being rehabilitated, reeducated. I have no past. I must serve the people.”

  Wesley was now panicked. This was not Anna; this woman was a stick figure produced by the ever-grinding oppressive Russian penal system. How could he ever reach her?

  “What did you do with the diamond?” He wanted to jolt her, and it seemed to work.

  She lifted her head and stared at Wesley. “That was so long ago,” she replied with a faraway look. A flicker of life now resided in her eyes. “Yes, I did help some people. Does Rasputin know I replaced the diamond?”

  “He thinks it has lost its power. He intends to sell it to gain money for the communists.”

  “Yes, the communists are a big threat,” she noted with additional fire in her eyes. “Did you bring food?”

  He quickly opened the bags of food and also brought out the sweater. She actually smiled when she saw it. She began to feast on the fruits and vegetables.

  “You know someone will steal the sweater, and maybe even beat me to get it. Life is cheap in the gulag,” she noted as she ate.

  It took a half hour before Anna spoke again. She concentrated on the food. She had also donned the sweater and looked slightly better in clean clothes. Wesley was concentrating on ways to help her.

  She finally looked at Wesley and spoke. “I pray for a revolution.”

  “What?”

  “I have five more years to serve here. I won’t live that long. There is much talk of revolution. If the communists win, then I’ll be set free. They have promised to set us all free.”

  “But you’re part of the royal family,” he automatically responded before he realized she was displaying a glimmer of hope.

  “I’ll take my chances. I can still be a value to someone.” There was slightly more fire in her speech.

  “I’m going to get you out of here, now.”

  Chapter Forty-Nine

  Anna was dressed like a peasant woman. Wesley was dressed like a peasant man. They had papers which said they could leave the country. It was expensive, but Wesley had bought her out of prison and had paid for forged papers in Kolyma. They had changed trains in Moscow and were now headed for Poland. From there they could go anywhere.

  Wesley had correctly assessed that Anna would not reveal where the Black Diamond was until she was free from the gulag. The task was easier than he had thought. All it had required was money, and he had that. They were only miles from the border of Poland when he finally asked her where she had secured the diamond.

  “I took it from Rasputin after I made sure he was too tired to continue.” She paused for effect. “He is truly depraved. I made him drink almost an entire bottle of vodka. It did the trick, but I was sore for three days after my visit to his apartment.”

  “Then what?” an impatient Wesley inquired.

  “I sent it away for safekeeping.”

  “Sent it where?”

  “To my family home. It was in a hat box.”

  “You sent it to Germany?” It was a country Wesley could not freely enter. Germany was on the restricted list because of the war.

  ***

  They dallied for week in Warsaw while Wesley attempted to devise a plan to retrieve the diamond. He sent Anna to have her hair dyed, took her shopping, and fed her as much food as possible. She was slowly returning to the Anna he knew.

  But they did not have sex. That was something Wesley could not muster. He couldn’t even kiss her. She was severely damaged, in his mind. He now saw her as his ward. Affection yes, but sex, no.

  It came to a head after a week in Warsaw. Wesley called the embassy to get an extension on his travel papers. They were about to expire. This would make him persona non grata. He would no longer have diplomatic immunity, and the government would revoke his passport. He could not allow that as he intended to return to his life in New York. He made his call from a phone in the lobby of the hotel.

  “Wesley, get your ass back to the embassy, now,” the ambassador ordered over the phone. “Things are heating up here, and your people…” he said with distain, “your people are looking for you. One of them, a Mr. Welsher, is here.”

  His coordinator from New York, Welsher was also unhappy. “Where have you been?” he exclaimed.

  “I have been chasing down information. You’ll get a full report by the end of the week. There is much talk of revolution in Russia. The people in the countryside want change.”

  “It is worse than that,” commented Welsher. “Rasputin has shamed the czar into leading his troops from the frontline. He is no longer in St. Petersburg. As soon as he left the palace, Rasputin began politicking for change and has many of the elite in St. Petersburg standing on dubious terrain. There are riots in the streets. America is a year away from entering the war. We need Russia to hang on until we get there; otherwise, all of Europe will be speaking German.”

  Chapter Fifty

  As he entered the hotel suite, he sensed that something was different. He suddenly noticed an older man reclining on the couch. He stood as soon as Wesley entered. He had a full beard and was dressed in black with a top hat on his arm. He looked tired.

  “Hiram Van Kleef,” he offered as he extended his hand. Wesley said nothing and stared at the old man. “I’m Anna’s father.

  The shock was evident on Wesley’s face. “You’re her father?” he blundered out. “I thought her immediate family was from South Africa.”

  “We have no relatives in South Africa,” the ma
n replied.

  Suddenly Wesley realized that everything about Anna had been a lie. “How did you get here?”

  “Anna called me. I need to take her home to Bavaria, to Munich.” He was visibly nervous, as if expecting Wesley to become violent.

  “Where is she?”

  “She’s packing, in the bedroom.” He pointed the way as if Wesley didn’t know where it was located. Wesley immediately went to the room without saying another word. He found her there crying on the bed.

  He was not in a benevolent mood. “Is this another of your tricks?”

  “No,” she screamed the reply between sobs. “Adam, I need to go home. I understand why you haven’t touched me or made love to me. I’m not myself, and now I need to be protected. My family will do that. I have always loved you, but I now know that in this crazy world we are only pawns. This pawn is broken.”

  “How will you get to Germany?”

  “I sent my passport and travel documents to my parents when I sent them the diamond. I believed I would probably wind up in a gulag and would someday need the papers. My father has brought them. I can now go home.”

  Wesley suddenly realized that Anna had expected to pay a price for stealing the diamond and also had a plan to finally escape. His heart felt a sudden sickness. She had done as he had asked, knowing the consequences, and he hadn’t even thanked her.

  “Anna, I don’t know what to say.” Wesley was ashamed and embarrassed. Much of what had happened to Anna was his fault.

  “Just say you will see me again, when the world is less unstable.”

  “Of course.”

  “And don’t worry about the diamond. We’ll keep it for you. My father is a jeweler. We’ll protect it until you come to see me. I’ll be different then. I promise.”

  Chapter Fifty-One

  It was late November, and Wesley had just returned from the Russian front. He had been there for over a year. He sat at his little desk at the American Embassy in St. Petersburg and made notes to pass on to the ONI. On his return to Russia, he had been assigned to report from the front. He wasn’t sure if it was punishment or a blessing. But he needed to be busy.

  His report said the Russians were taking a terrible beating. Many had lost confidence in the czar. He wasn’t a soldier and had never been trained in military strategies. He made many blunders. Men died.

  Wesley stopped writing his report and thought about Anna. He often thought about her. He recalled that when she had finished packing in Warsaw, she had turned to him and rushed into his arms. They had finally kissed. It was both passionate and needy. The thought of that kiss had proved a prime motivator for Wesley. He wanted more and knew the war would have to end before he could be satisfied.

  He had tried to communicate with her, but all attempts had been blocked. Germany was isolated, blockaded, and put under siege by the allies. All that he knew was that she was in Munich, and her father was a Jewish jeweler. For now, the war was the bigger issue; individual people counted for little in the war to end all wars.

  The three rapid knocks told him that Captain Scales, the British agent, was at the door. Scales had begun using a secret knock about a year earlier. Wesley employed a four-knock code. He opened the door and Scales entered carrying a bottle of now familiar vodka.

  “Is there something to celebrate?” Wesley questioned.

  “Perhaps,” replied the Brit.

  They quickly retreated to the small kitchen and sat at the table, drinks in hand. Scales made a toast.

  “To the end of Rasputin.” He threw the drink down his throat.

  “Is he dead?”

  “Not yet, but soon,” Scales exclaimed. “We have a definite plan.”

  “Tell me,” Wesley quickly said.

  “One of the Romanov princes has a palace on the Moika River. Rasputin has agreed to attend a dinner there in December. He rarely leaves the czar’s palace now. There will be five men attending, including me. We all want him dead, and yes we’re taking your suggestion of putting poison in his cakes.”

  “Just make sure he’s dead before you leave.”

  “That’s the plan,” Scales grinned and downed some vodka.

  It was January when the news finally came.

  Chapter Fifty-Two

  Wesley had been called to Paris for a meeting at the American Embassy there. It was now January of 1917, and America was about to enter the war, big time. Troops were already on the move. The brass wanted Wesley to go over Russian strengths and positions. As he prepared for the meeting, he glanced at the Russian newspaper which had been brought by an assistant. The heading said, “Rasputin Dead.”

  He dropped everything, picked up the paper, and quickly read the article. It said the body of Rasputin had been found floating in the Neva River. It had been wrapped in a sheet. The autopsy revealed he had been shot four times, poisoned, and badly beaten, but the coroner claimed he had died from drowning. The paper also noted that there were several suspects, but none in custody.

  Wesley ordered all his assistants out of the room and made a phone call. The call was to John Scales.

  “I just finished reading the newspaper,” Wesley opened.

  “Good news travels fast,” replied Scales.

  “And I am out of town, as you requested.”

  “I also know where you are and why,” Scales cunningly replied.

  “It seems you had a hard time of it, even though there were five of you.”

  “You could say that. He wouldn’t die. We poisoned him just as agreed. But he seemed to recover and attacked Yuri. It was his palace. We had to shoot him in the back several times and then club him to get him down. We finally rapped him in a bed sheet and threw him into the river. Now they tell me he drowned.”

  “I’ve just read that,” Wesley coyly answered.

  “No matter, the Bolsheviks are going crazy here. There will be a revolution soon. The Russian people will soon forget about Rasputin. I’m going back to England tomorrow. I wouldn’t come back here. It’s too dangerous.”

  Wesley saw no reason to return to Russia either. Now that America was entering the war, he was needed as an interrogator. The ONI required his ability in languages. He spent a few minutes recapping his diary and considering the Black Diamond. The only person alive who knew anything about the diamond was Anna. He had to find her, and he would finally possess it. Now it seemed that all he had to do was to wait for the end of the war.

  But that was not the case.

  Part Six

  Finding the Diamond

  Chapter Fifty-Three

  The war in Europe did end, but Wesley was not allowed to enter Germany because of his ONI ties. The government claimed he held too many secrets to be allowed entry. He was forbidden by law to go there. He had no choice but to return to America and Columbia University.

  Wesley did eventually return to his home in Charlottesville, Virginia. The year was 1928. He was working in the old garden his mother had designed decades ago. He wore a wide brimmed hat which covered his now silver, receding hair and farmer jeans. He had retired from Columbia and now spent his time studying Balkan history, his first true love, and working in his garden. He had never heard from Anna and had not discovered any news about the Black Diamond since he had last seen her in Poland. It was a big disappointment and worry.

  He heard the phone ring in the distance and ambled into the house to answer it. It was an old friend with good news.

  “Adam Wesley speaking,” he spoke into the phone.

  “Adam, it’s Franklin. How are you?” the voice responded amicably.

  “I’m fine. How are you feeling?” Wesley asked with genuine concern.

  “Mentally, I’m great, physically—I’ve had better days.” His friend had been stricken by polio nearly ten years earlier. The disease had hit him shortly after he had resigned as the assistant secretary of the navy, the position he had held during the war. Wesley had met the great man when he was at Columbia Law School in the early 1900s. Wesley th
en found himself working for him during the war. The ONI fell under his jurisdiction.

  “And how is Eleanor?”

  “Couldn’t be better.” As usual, Franklin was always optimistic…and political. “Adam, the reason I’m calling is I’ve been nominated for the governorship of New York. I want you to help me win that election. Will you come back to New York to help?”

  After thinking for a few seconds, Wesley replied, “If I do this, will you lift the travel restriction?” The ONI had imposed travel restrictions on “spies” after the war. Wesley couldn’t enter Germany, under penalty of treason. He knew his friend could have the restriction lifted for him.

  “You would make a good politician—always negotiating,” his friend laughed.

  “That’s not an answer,” Wesley calmly replied.

  “It will be done. When can you return to New York?”

  “I’ll be there by the end of the week. Governor Franklin Delano Roosevelt, it has a nice ring to it.”

  Wesley was now filled with excitement. He sat at his kitchen table drinking a glass of lemonade and reflecting. He had spent too many years neglecting his ultimate goal. He still felt the burning desire to find the Black Diamond and protect it, but had been rebuffed at every turn. He might also find his beloved Anna. Now there was hope. He would help his friend and also gain entrance to Germany. After so many years, the hunt was back on.

  Chapter Fifty-Four

  He finally entered Germany in late 1929. He was having breakfast at his hotel and reading the local Munich newspaper. He stared at the paper in disbelief. It reported that the American stock market had been falling for over a month, and America was in for a deep depression. His hotel had asked him for cash in advance, and now he knew why.

  He had spent the last two weeks traveling by ship and train. He had not kept current with the world activities. As he ran his hand through his continually thinning hair, he noticed his scalp was sweaty. Only a quarter of his investments were in the stock market, but that was substantial. He decided to call his broker and liquidate his remaining assets. The world had gone crazy while he was living a first class luxurious life on his trip abroad.