A Dubious Race: The Phoenician Stones (A Colton Banyon Mystery Book 14)

by Gerald J Kubicki

  “How could that be?” Heather protested. “We all remember the same things. There were also other people from the firm at the training exercise.”

  “What you all remember is what I told you to remember,” Banyon said shaking his head. “There were many more people involved.”

  “Colt, you’re scaring me,” Mandy cried out. “Are you telling me that you can cast some sort of magic spell and change what we remember? Are you some sort of a witch? Or is it a warlock for a man? I don’t know.”

  “We’ve always known there was something strange and clandestine about you Colt,” Steve said and then he shrugged. “It doesn’t matter to me as long as we are on the same side.”

  “We’ve always been on the same side,” Banyon responded hotly. “Otherwise you wouldn’t have been invited to join our organization. And I’m not able to perform magic either.”

  “I’m completely confused now,” the rational Heather uttered.

  “Six of you were there as bodyguards for the team,” Banyon announced. “The rest of my team was also there on the boat. In addition, there were six NSA agents, a blue skinned Mongolian woman, and about forty bad guys shooting at us. There were several gun battles. All over a book that belonged to Professor Lisa Lange. She was there too,” he said. “Do you remember anything now?”

  Banyon watched as Mandy’s jaw dropped. Heather and Steve were clearly searching their minds for any memories. He waited for a minute and then asked them separately if they remembered anything. They all said no.

  “So how come we don’t remember?” Heather, the smart one, suddenly asked. “And why do you keep asking us if we remember?”

  “Because if any of you can remember anything about the event,” Banyon said, “it means that some of the other people there will also remember. Many of them are bad guys and we all could soon be under attack. Our lives would be in jeopardy. I might also mention that we have made many people forget things from different adventures and they could cause havoc as well.”

  “But how’d you make us forget all those people?” Heather the psychologist asked.

  “You were ‘Freud-a-sized’,” Banyon said.

  “I’ve never heard of that term,” Heather responded as she searched her mind.

  “That’s because we made up the term,” Banyon explained. “But it is actually a proven scientific form of post-hypnotic suggestion.”

  “Wait a minute,” Heather said with a huff and flapped her arms as she leaped off the couch. “People can only be hypnotized if they agree to it and will only do things that they are comfortable with doing. You can’t hypnotize someone and tell them to shoot a person if they wouldn’t do it in real life.”

  “Not true,” Banyon responded with a wag of his finger. “Sigmund Freud proved it could be done. He made the process work way back in the late nineteen-thirties, but never published his findings because he was afraid that the Nazi’s, or even the Allies, would use it during World War II. As far as we know, the only person he gave the process to was Lisa Lange’s great-grandmother. Her name was Maria Orsic. She wrote it in the back of the book of Vril which we recovered for her. Maria Orsic was the first person to use it successfully.”

  “So, you’re saying that the process really works?” Heather exclaimed with excitement. “This would be a tremendous breakthrough in understanding the mind.”

  “Heather, it’s pure and simple mind control and we will never make it available to anyone but us. It’s too dangerous,” Banyon explained.

  “I guess I see that,” she agreed as she twirled her long hair. “Can all of us learn it? It might come in handy in some of our cases.”

  “No,” Banyon said flatly. “The only person who is allowed to Freud-a-size a person is Previne, and the team must agree to have it done before she begins the process on someone.”

  “That makes sense,” Mandy chipped in. “Otherwise we could Freud-a-size someone and take advantage of them. They wouldn’t even know it.” She looked straight at Banyon as she said it. He understood she was asking if Previne had ever used it on Colton Banyon.

  “She has already tried that,” Banyon responded. “But I found out.”

  “She tried it on you?” Mandy said incredulously. Banyon knew that Mandy would also try it on him if she knew how to make it work.

  “No, not on me,” he replied with a laugh. If she knew that Previne has attempted to break Loni and him up and take her place many times, she would be furious, Banyon thought.

  “Okay, we now know one of the team’s secrets,” Heather stated. “Why tell us this now, Colt?

  “Because, I believe Lisa Lange remembers what happened,” Banyon uttered.

  Chapter Six

  They continued to discuss the ramifications for another ten minutes. Suddenly Mandy pressed her Bluetooth. “Yes, can I help you?” she said into the ear piece. She then bolted to the glass door and leaned over the railing. “I’ll be right down,” she said to someone below. She started to hike up her skirt, but Banyon yelled to her.

  “No jumping off the balcony in front of a client. Use the door.”

  “Lisa Lange is here early,” Mandy explain as she ran to the office door. “I’ll bring her up for you Colt.”

  “Okay,” Banyon replied as he stopped her from leaving. “Then I want you and Steve to get lost. I only want Heather here to analyze her and determine if I’m right,” Banyon explained as he used his hands to move Steve out the door.

  “But I want to sit in. It would be my first case,” Mandy protested. Banyon could tell that she was eager to get involved, but he was concerned that she would be too disruptive.

  “After Lisa is gone, we’ll have a meeting. Just the three of us and discuss what we need to do,” Banyon explained. “And that’s final, now out.”

  ***

  As Lisa stepped through the office door, Banyon and Heather rose from the couch to greet her. She gave no indication of having met Heather or Mandy, who escorted her to the office. She sat down on the couch across from them. She crossed her legs allowing the slit in her dress to do its job.

  “So tell me, what’s this all about?” Banyon started. Heather made like she was going to take notes.

  “As I said over the phone,” Lisa replied sweetly. “I’m trying to help a student of mine recover a very important artifact that has been stolen. I believe that it would be a valuable find and I want to authenticate it.”

  “That doesn’t explain why you called me?” Banyon said fishing for information.

  “Your card said Artifact Hunter,” she quickly replied. Banyon nodded as he knew that it could possibly be the reason why she called. He had given her his card when he gave her a copy of the Book of Vril.

  “What can you tell us about the artifact?” Banyon asked sincerely as he leaned forward on the couch.

  “I can do better than that,” Lisa said confidently. “I’ve a picture to show you,” she replied while she reached into her bag. She pulled out a nine by eleven inch color photo. She handed it to Banyon.

  He looked at the picture. It showed a stone on the ground with tiny little wedged shaped markings all over it. It was clearly writing on a stone. Heather moved closer to look, her hair brushed his shoulder. He could smell the exotic scent of her shampoo. “I’m not an archeologist,” Banyon explained after a minute. “I can’t read it. What does it say?”

  “It is an ancient form of cuneiform. Are you familiar with its history?”

  “Only that it was the first known system of writing. As I recall, it was used by middle-eastern cultures,” Banyon replied thoughtfully.

  “Yes, that’s the point,” Lisa said enthusiastically and gave a nod of her head. Her long blond hair rushed forward and covered her face. “This tablet is here in America. How did it get here? What does it say? Who wrote it? And why did someone steal it? There’re a lot of questions.”

  “Hmm, this seems like a legitimate mystery,” Banyon noted. “Were you able to get any of it translated?”

  “Som
e friends of mine at Northwestern University were able to complete the parts that I could not get translated at UNLV. It is a story or rather a history, Colt,” she said with enthusiasm.

  “Of what?”

  “Coming to and settling in America,” she replied and looked him in the eye. “It may have happened about four thousand years before Columbus.”

  “By whom?”

  “I believe that it was written by the Phoenicians.”

  Banyon was stunned by the revelation. “If that is true, then the entire history of America will change,” he responded.

  “I agree,” Lisa said. “But Colt, there is much more written on the tablet,” she added in a dramatic voice. “Will you help me find it?”

  “Possibly,” Banyon replied. “How is Barry?” Banyon quickly asked as he believed she didn’t have her guard up.

  He is trying to probe, he must suspect me, Lisa thought. “Oh, he and I are no longer together. He decided to move to Australia — he became a painter,” she truthfully replied. “Why did you ask about him?”

  “Oh, just wondering,” Banyon said cheerfully. “You mentioned a student. I’ll need his name, address and a way to contact him in order to find his lost artifact. There is no guarantee, but it is a good place to start my research.”

  “Yes, I’ve all that written out for you,” she said and rummaged through the large carryall on the floor next to her. She eventually brought out a piece of paper. She held it out in her slender fingers.

  “So you remembered what I needed to get started?” Banyon asked slyly.

  “Of course, it’s what you told me you needed,” she explained as she presented the paper to Banyon.

  Banyon waited two beats as he studied her face. “Actually, I have told you that, but not when I came to visit you at the school,” he said with suspicion. “I told you that when we were on the houseboat.”

  “But…I…I…never,” she stammered. Her mind was racing at a mile per minute. I’m in trouble now. How could I be so stupid? Banyon could see she was beginning to fall apart. She only needed a little more pushing to break down.

  Banyon stared back at her for a few seconds while he decided how he wanted to proceed. “How did you break Freud’s hypnotic process?” He asked softly.

  “I don’t know what you mean?” she voiced indignantly, but her body language gave her away.

  “Stop the charade,” Banyon ordered forcefully and slapped the table. “I know you have found a way to reverse the process. I want to know how you did it.” He could see she was starting to shake and tears were welling up in her eyes.

  Suddenly, she burst out crying. Heather went to Banyon’s desk to get some tissues. “Please don’t punish me, Colt, please. I won’t tell anyone anything, I promise. Your secrets are safe with me and you know too much about me anyway. You can destroy me anytime you want. I know you want your life to be a secret. I do too.” Her porcelain like hands covered her now red face.

  “You found out about Barry’s background. That’s why you sent him away, isn’t it?” Banyon pressed on.

  “Yes, I couldn’t live with what I remembered about him,” she replied as she dabbed her nose with a tissue.

  “Lisa, you haven’t been truthful with me,” Banyon said with a loud hiss.

  “Please don’t hurt me. At least help me find the artifact before you change me again, please?” Lisa was fully sobbing now. He had broken her. Now he needed to collect information.

  “What do you remember?” Banyon asked in an attempt at damage control.

  “I remember everything. It all scares me, I can’t sleep at night. All I can think about is what those vulgar bastards wanted to do to my body,” she confessed. “I’m actually sorry that I remember.” She was now shaking uncontrollably and tears were streaming down her face. Heather moved to the couch and hugged her.

  “Stop crying Lisa, we are the good guys,” Heather said soothingly. “We make things right. Tell her that Colt?” Heather glared at Banyon for being so hard on the professor. She clearly was out of her league.

  “We mean you no harm, Lisa. The team and I will find a way to make everything better for you,” Banyon said sincerely. “And we’ll help you solve your mystery too,” he added sympathetically.

  “Colt, I swear on my great-grandmother’s grave that I’ve never used the Freud process,” Lisa said between sobs.

  “Then how did you suddenly remember?”

  “That’s just it. I’m not quite sure,” she replied as she began to steady herself.

  “You’d better explain that comment,” Banyon said with frustration.

  “As I told you, a student of mine at UNLV named Joey Brownwater came to me for help in finding a lost or rather stolen artifact. He told me his grandfather sent him. I was intrigued and went to visit the old man to find out why he sent Joey to me.”

  “He specifically told his grandson to contact you?” Heather quickly asked.

  “Yes,” Lisa admitted. “Anyway, when I got there, the old man, his name was Jonny Brownwater, took one look at me and said he saw an aura around me that contained many secrets. He said they needed to be let out if I was to be of any use to him.”

  “Is he a native Indian, by chance?” Banyon asked.

  “Yes,” she replied and then continued. “The next thing I knew, he sat me on the ground in a squaw position and started chanting. In the end, he threw some dust into the air and suddenly I felt different. I began to remember things. The whole time on the houseboat came crashing into my head like water filling a void. I even remember getting naked in your house.” This brought raised eyebrows from Heather, but she was smart enough to not ask why Lisa had been naked.

  “It sounds like he is an Indian shaman,” Banyon reasoned. “They were often called medicine men. Many of them developed some pretty impressive tricks and procedures to heal patients. Most are based on the wholeness of mother earth. Some tricks are still unexplainable.” What Banyon didn’t say was that Abu Patel had been a shaman in India when he put the curse on Banyon and Wolf. He knew some medicine men were true magicians.

  “What happened next?” Heather blurted out.

  “He handed me a picture. The one you have in your hand. He said it was the ancient recording of his people’s history. He said I needed to find it for him. He said someone had stolen it. He said he knew I could find it and get it back.”

  “He must be the keeper,” Banyon explained.

  “What does that mean?” Heather asked curiously.

  Lisa responded like the professor that she was. “Many cultures throughout history have kept sacred items hidden from the public eye. The people who protected them are often called keepers or sometimes elders. Most are records of history or sometimes strange events. Some were even formulas and magic. When the keeper nears death, they pass the item on to someone in the next generation.”

  “Did he tell you anything else like who he believed took it or why someone would steal it?” Heather asked.

  “That was all he told me. He seemed very confident that I was the one who could get it back. I returned to the university and began to do research on the writing on the stone. I didn’t know what else to do. I thought maybe the research would give me a lead. Then two days ago, Joey came to my office and said that something had happened to his grandfather — he had been murdered. He told me I needed to increase my efforts before it was too late.”

  “That’s no coincidence,” Heather said with a huff.

  “So that was when you decided to come to Chicago and contact me,” Banyon filled in.

  “Well, not exactly,” Lisa said. “When Joey was in my office he said his grandfather told him I should contact you. He was very scared, Colt.”

  “Why me?” Banyon asked out loud.

  “He used your name specifically, Colt. I was hoping that you would know.”

  Chapter Seven

  Lisa Lange was right. Joey was scared — plenty scared. He was currently seated at the kitchen table of his grandfather�
��s small ranch house outside of Pahrump, Nevada. Pahrump is a dusty little town that is located halfway between Las Vegas and Death Valley. The five hundred acre ranch was mostly dry sandy desert, and very desolate. Joey’s grandfather had never grown or raised anything on the ranch. He had lived there because of the isolation it offered. Jonny Brownwater was a very private man.

  A semi-automatic rifle sat within arm’s reach on the table top. The young man also wore a holster on his hip with two pistols. He needed to be prepared. Joey was expecting trouble to show up at any time.

  The trouble had started shortly after Joey had moved to his grandfather’s house from Oklahoma, where his parents still lived on the reservation. His grandfather promised to pay for his college education if he came to live with him. Joey saw it as his only chance to succeed in the world and jumped at the opportunity.

  However, soon after he arrived in Nevada, his grandfather explained the real reason he wanted Joey around. He had been chosen to be an elder, and the next protector of the artifact, just like his grandfather had been for over fifty years.

  Jonny Brownwater explained that his time on earth was coming to an end. He said that Joey would inherit the ranch and the burden that came with it. He told Joey the ranch had been in the family for well over a hundred years — way before there was a Las Vegas. The tribe had chosen the site because of its isolation. It had scraped together enough money to buy the land when it became available. A Brownwater man had lived on the ranch since then, supported by the tribe. The ranch like the Brownwater men had secrets.

  Joey looked out the dirty window. He could see the four sentinels far in the distance. The hot sand made them look like they were shimmering. Trouble was coming — once again.

  Chapter Eight

  “I’ve no idea why Jonny Brownwater wanted you to contact me,” Banyon confessed with a shrug.

  “But, he told me to contact you, Colt. I swear,” Lisa lamented.