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

by Gerald J Kubicki

  “Acknowledged Delta two. Do they appear to be a threat?”

  “Alpha one, be advised that the new target appears to be a young oriental woman in a large pink cowboy hat. She is wearing two six guns.”

  “Delta two, what is your threat assessment?”

  “Alpha one, less than zero,” the sniper replied and snickered.

  “Delta two, then you’d better make sure that she is taken out quickly. You and Delta one go after her. The four of us will get Brownwater.”

  “Alpha one, roger that.”

  The sniper began to climb out of his foxhole. The other sniper came loping across the desert just in time to see the nearly silent helicopter suddenly appear and touch down on the desert floor. The two snipers wore full body armor under their fatigues and each sported a long lethal looking rifle.

  Four men piled out of the chopper. They were dressed in civilian clothes and carried only pistols and backpacks. The ex-marines would do the killing. They were there for extraction only.

  Chapter Twenty

  Joey opened the door to the barn and Loni drove her red jeep inside. She parked it and helped him close the large door. They then headed back to the ranch house. It was about a hundred yards away. As she walked, Loni began to evaluate their fortifications. She noticed that the ranch was actually built into the side of a mountain. A sheer cliff dominated the back of the ranch. There were no windows or openings on either side of the ranch either. Just thick adobe walls.

  “It looks like we only have to defend the front,” she remarked.

  “Yeah, the walls are three feet thick. Short of a bazooka, no one is getting in that way,” Joey said with satisfaction.

  “Who built it?” Loni asked.

  “Don’t know. It was built a long time ago. It was very common for the people who dwelt in the desert to build their home out of a mountainside. It’s a good fortification. We even have a spring inside and tunnels into the mountain. There’s a secret exit as well.”

  “Let’s hope that we don’t ever have to use it,” she remarked seriously.

  Suddenly Joey said, “Uh-oh.” He noticed that the sentinels were no longer on the porch. He hoped that they weren’t inside. If they were it meant that the ranch would soon be under attack.

  “What’s wrong?” Loni quickly asked. But Joey was in full sprint towards the front door. She raced to catch up with him.

  As soon as Joey entered the door, he saw the four stoic Indians spread across the inside front of the ranch. They stood silent and rigid with their empty eyes pointed out the front of the ranch.

  “Someone’s coming,” Loni said nervously. She pointed out into the desert. Both of them could see six figures moving in their direction.

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Loni crouched below an open window near the front door. Joey was below the window on the other side of the door. She peeked over the window sill and saw the six men standing in a line just out of rifle range. She noticed that two of the men were dressed for battle while the rest wore only regular clothes.

  “They’ve stopped,” she said to Joey. “Why?”

  “They are waiting for the special effects to start,” Joey replied. “See the backpacks that two of them are wearing.”

  “What are you talking about?” Loni asked in confusion. As she watched the four men took off their packs and began to setup two black boxes and a speaker.

  “We’re going to start hearing some spooky sounds and then all the metal will become magnetized and start moving towards the door,” he replied. “They are trying to drive us outside.”

  “Can they do that? They’ve got those kinds of weapons?” Loni asked with concern this time.

  “Yeah — and more,” Joey said sadly. “They have been using those special effects on me and my grandfather for several weeks now, ever since he refused to sell them this land. After they soften us up, they’ll attack.”

  “I’d better call Colt and tell him what is going on,” Loni said.

  “You won’t be able to make the call. I already tried earlier. I think they have some kind of jamming device.”

  Loni still dialed her phone anyway, but couldn’t get a signal, Joey was right. Loni shrugged her shoulders and went back to watching the men in the desert.

  “Why are they using all these special effects?” Loni wondered absently.

  “They want the townspeople to believe the land is haunted. We can’t even call the cops anymore. They won’t come out here because the bad guys turn off the special effects whenever someone shows up. The cops think that I’m crazy.”

  “The question is; can you fight?” Loni said back.

  “Yes, can you?”

  “I’ve been in a few scrapes before,” she said with a laugh. “See the two guys on the ends.”

  “Yeah.”

  “When they attack, we need to take them out first. They look like ex-military. Shoot for their legs, the rest of their bodies are covered in armor. Are you a good shot?”

  “I’m a full blooded Cherokee. Of course I’m a good shot.”

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  “What do you know about what is hidden on the ranch?” Banyon asked sharply as he wondered if Timmy knew anything about the stones.

  Timmy shuffled from foot to foot. He was clearly getting nervous. Banyon had just yelled at him. He had never done that before. Banyon wanted to grab the geek by the shoulders and make him stop. He seemed very reluctant to continue. Finally, he spoke.

  “It’s not what is hidden on the ranch, dude. It’s the actual land. The Goblin wants the dirt.”

  “Why?”

  “It’s all about the period three elements, man,” Timmy said seriously and shrugged his thin shoulders.

  Before Banyon could ask the geek what the hell he was talking about, Mandy rushed onto the balcony. Shock was plastered on her pretty face.

  “Colt, the Pahrump police say they won’t go out to the ranch,” she wailed with a new look of horror on her cherub face.

  “What?” Banyon screamed with rage. Things were going from bad to worse. “How could that be? He screamed in frustration. “Why not?”

  “They told me that Jonny Brownwater has lodged many complaints in the past about supernatural happenings on the ranch. The police have investigated the complaints several times, but they’ve never found or heard anything unusual on the ranch. They also told me that Joey Brownwater, the grandson, is crazy and he is not to be trusted. He’s the prime suspect in the murder of his own grandfather.”

  “What?” Banyon stammered. He felt like he had been hit with a sledgehammer. Did I send Loni into the den of a mad man? He immediately pulled out his phone and dialed Loni’s number. It went to voicemail. Frustration immediately showed on his face. Things were spinning out of control. Mandy noticed the concern.

  “Why don’t you have Lisa call Joey,” Mandy offered. “Maybe he’ll answer his cell phone.”

  “Lisa, stop what you’re doing and call Joey Brownwater right now,” Banyon yelled into the office. The startled professor looked up and then grabbed her phone without asking a question. She began dialing.

  After a few seconds, she replied. “That’s odd. My call went to voicemail. He usually answers right away. What’s going on Colt?”

  “Damn it,” Banyon screamed and smacked his fist on the railing of the balcony. Fear now replaced the dread in his heart. His precious Loni was under attack and could be in the company of a madman as well. He knew it, but could do nothing about it.

  “Mandy, call the Las Vegas office,” he shrieked at the silent girl next to him. “Tell them we have a code red. I want everybody in the office out to the ranch right now. And tell them to be fully armed.”

  “I’ll do it,” Mandy exclaimed, she then tried to comfort him. “But, Colt, Loni is very resourceful, she’ll be alright. I’m sure,” she said soothingly.

  “Go,” he screamed.

  She turned on her heel and ran to his desk to make the call. Lisa, Heather and Steve were
now all on their feet staring with concern at Banyon. They had never seen him lose his cool before.

  “We need to head to the airport right now,” Banyon blustered. “Steve, you and Heather go with Lisa in her rental car. Mandy, you’re going with me.”

  “I’m going?” Lisa croaked with shock and pointed to herself. “I can’t go. I’m not a fighter.”

  “We’re not letting you out of our sight until this is resolved,” Banyon said through gritted teeth. “Come on people let’s move,” he ordered and clapped his hands as he headed for the door. Everyone could see that he had clearly become emotional and was not thinking straight. They knew that it all had to do with Loni.

  “Stop, Colt,” Heather admonished. She went to block Banyon’s way to the door. “We still have a half hour before the plane will be ready to fly. We are better off staying here. There is nothing more we can do right now, but we still have to solve this case no matter what is happening at the ranch right now.”

  “But Loni is in danger,” he lamented. “I have to do something,” Banyon moaned. “I have to help her,” He now had a feral look in his eyes.

  Heather made her way over to him and stroked his arm. “Colt, we will do whatever it takes to fix this mess. We are here for you. Please, you have to understand that,” she said sincerely. Within seconds, Mandy came rushing at him from the office and hugged him like he had been lost at sea.

  “I called Chase and they are on their way,” she told him. She buried her face in his larger chest. “We’ll help you get through this, Colt,” she announced in her little girl voice. Heather then wrapped her arms around both of them in a hug. She was soon joined by Lisa. Steve stood in the office with his eyes downcast. He really wanted to be part of the hugging, but for a different reason. Timmy stood there wide-eyed.

  “This is entirely my fault,” Lisa cried out into Banyon’s shoulder. The three women wrapped themselves tighter around Banyon to give him more comfort. Their concern for him and Loni began to affect him. He started to calm down. “I should have come to you earlier,” Lisa continued. “We don’t even know what is really going on.”

  Suddenly, they all heard a voice. “Uh…I think that I do. I can explain at least part of what’s going on,” Timmy suggested in the timid voice.

  “What are you holding back?” Heather exploded as she turned to him. “Or do you just want a hug from some sexy women — you pervert.” Heather and Timmy had a long-term relationship. It had sometimes been tumultuous.

  “No, man, I mean Heather,” Timmy exclaimed seriously and threw up his hands in defense. “I’m not kidding right now. I was trying to tell the boss dude about it before Mandy interrupted us.”

  “Yeah, I remember, you were saving something about three elements,” a more rational Banyon responded. The three warm bodied women were having a soothing effect on him. He once again began to speak rationally.

  “Not three elements,” Timmy chided Banyon and shook his head. “I said the period three elements.”

  “I don’t know what that means,” Banyon admitted.

  “They’re also called the rare earth elements. You know; Scandium, Yttrium, Lanthanum, and fourteen other elements.”

  “All I know about them is that they are used in most electronic devices made today,” Banyon replied with a flicker of interest.

  “The elements are also used in many of our modern day weapons,” Timmy pointed out with a small grin. This started to peak Banyon’s interest as he already knew that Goblin was in the weapons procurement business for the government. He disengaged himself from the clinging women as Timmy spoke and gave him is full attention.

  “And they are very rare,” Banyon continued.

  “Actually, that’s not true,” Timmy corrected him. “The elements are plentiful all over the earth, but they usually aren’t found in high concentrations. You have to move a lot of dirt to get even a little bit of the stuff.”

  “Don’t the Chinese control the world market?” Heather quickly interjected.

  “Yeah, they produce somewhere around ninety percent of all the period three elements in a huge pit in Inner Mongolia,” Timmy offered. “They have also been reducing their exports on purpose over the last few years too. The stuff is becoming scarce.”

  “Why are they doing that?” Heather quickly inquired.

  Banyon now seemed to come out of his depressed mood. “The Chinese horde gold, silver and several other resources,” Banyon explained. “It drives the prices up and makes sure that they have a supply of the elements for their own uses.”

  “As a result,” Timmy added while pointing a finger in the air. “There’ve been several new mines opened in remote places like Greenland, North Canada and Sweden, but the cost of production and transportation is very high.”

  “Doesn’t the United States have any mines of its own?” Heather wondered.

  “We’ve one working mine,” Timmy told her. “It’s just over the mountains from the ranch, in California.”

  “What are you saying?” Banyon asked to get to the bottom line.

  “In hacking the Goblin’s files,” Timmy said sheepishly. “I discovered that they had performed some surveys on the ranch, without permission, I might add. The data says there is an extremely high concentration of period three elements on the ranch. The survey indicates the levels are the highest ever recorded.”

  “A find like that would be worth billions of dollars,” Banyon exclaimed. “It would be worth enough to kill several people over.”

  “So they are actually after the land,” Heather recapped. “Why would they steal an artifact then?”

  “We’re not sure it was Goblin that stole it,” Banyon retorted. “Timmy, did you find out where the messages to Lisa originated?”

  “Well, that’s the rest of the information in the folder,” the geek replied as he pointed to the file in Banyon’s hand. “They didn’t come from anyone connected with Goblin.”

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Loni watched the men set up their equipment in the desert. Her pink cowboy hat now was nestled on her back. A cord around her neck held it in place. She turned to Joey and noticed a small smile on his face.

  “Why are you smiling?” She asked.

  “We’re going to survive this attack,” he replied as he kept his eyes looking forward out the window.

  “How can you be so sure?”

  “I just know,” he answered. Loni wasn’t as sure, but knew they would put up a good fight.

  “I don’t think they will use the equipment to scare us,” Loni reasoned as she took another peek. “We can already see them setting it up.”

  “I know that,” Joey agreed and nodded his head. “They will try to disorient us with sound and try to injure us with flying metal from inside the house. That’s what they did before. They’ll come soon after the noise starts.” He tossed her a box of cotton balls. “Put these in your ears — it will help,” he added.

  “Sounds right,” she admitted as she stuffed two balls in each ear. “We need to damage their equipment. Can you hit the equipment with a shot from here?”

  “I’m better at moving targets. You go for the equipment,” he yelled back so she could hear him.

  “Okay, I’ll trust you,” she replied. “You said that they have attacked three other times. Tell me about the attacks. Maybe I can understand their tactics better and find the hole in their strategy.”

  “Okay,” he answered shortly. “The first attack took place the day after my grandfather refused to sell them our land. They came at night and used the sound and magnetic devices, but there were only two of them. Grandpa got one of them with some buckshot and the other one abandoned the assault. It wasn’t until after they retreated that we discovered that they were using real bullets.”

  “And the second time?”

  “That was when my grandfather got killed,” Joey said. “He was coming home with supplies in his truck when someone rammed the truck. They ran him off the road and over a cliff. He
died in the crash. The car that clipped him was found a few miles away. It had been stolen. The police found some of my school papers on the floor of the car. They originally charged me with his murder, but I was able to prove that I was at UNLV at the time of the accident. It remains unsolved.”

  “Hmm,” Loni muttered.

  “The third time was yesterday. They must have been watching me because they caught me in the open between the barn and the house. Two guys suddenly appeared and tried to capture me. They didn’t use any guns and tried to wrestle me to the ground. There was this unbelievable noise everywhere and the magnetic device actually pulled my rifle from my hands. The men wore some type of ear protection.”

  “Wow! How did you get away?” Loni asked with interest.

  “I had this,” he said and held up a long knife. “It’s not made from metal. I slashed them a couple of times and they gave up and ran away. By the time I got to my rifle they had disappeared into the desert.”

  “So you have never taken a shot at them,” Loni realized out loud. “Let’s hope they think you can’t shoot.”

  “If I had shot at them, one of them would be dead now,” he responded through gritted teeth.

  Loni glanced at Joey to determine if he could fight hand to hand. With six men charging the ranch, it was probable that there would be some hand to hand fighting. He was about six foot and one. He had a broad chest which was muscled and sinewy. His waist was smaller than his chest. It was clear he worked out. She already knew that he could handle a knife and he said he was a good marksman. I’ll keep an eye on him, but I think he could hold his own in a fight, she thought.

  “They look professional, but it seems like they are just learning how to use their weapons,” Loni replied thoughtfully. “And they don’t want to kill you, Joey. They want to capture you. That’s interesting.”

  “I know why too. I own the land now,” Joey explained “They want me to sign it over to them. I’m not sure they see you the same way though,” he replied. His reply gave Loni a little shudder.