“Good thing we let him beat us,” the first bodyguard remarked. “He isn’t very good as a fighter.”
“He’s a moron,” Tony replied. “But we had protection if he got too violent,” Tony added and nodded to the sniper.
“Do you think he fell for it?” the second bodyguard asked.
“Oh, he’s hooked alright,” Tony offered. “The promise of two million will kick around in his pea-brain for a couple of hours and he’ll decide that he needs the money. He’ll go to the ranch tonight.”
“Just as long as he is at the ranch when we attack at nine o’clock tonight,” the first bodyguard agreed.
“Are you sure this will work?” the third man spoke up.
“With both of the only living relatives dead, the land will revert to the state,” Tony replied confidently. “It won’t be too difficult for us to gain the land once it comes up for auction.”
“But isn’t the land listed as sacred ground?” the first bodyguard asked.
“The Bureau of Indian Affairs can change that. We already have people working on reversing the claim.”
The four men climbed into a black SUV and headed back to the office feeling very satisfied.
Chapter Thirty-Nine
The Dewey & Beatem corporate jet cruised towards Las Vegas at around five hundred miles an hour. They had been in the air for forty minutes. Colton Banyon sat alone in one of the back seats. The other people were busy on their phones towards the front of the plane. He was waiting for a call-back from the President of the United States.
He scanned the other people and his eyes rested on Professor Lisa Lange. She always seemed so formal — so prim and proper — yet he knew that she wasn’t a prude and even had a bit of a wild side. After all, she performed séances in the nude, wore dresses that showed off her gorgeous legs, was not above using her sexuality to manipulate people. She was too smart to not know the effect she had on men. But that wasn’t what worried him.
His greatest concern was that Lisa had hid the fact that she remembered the incident on Lake Mead. That meant she knew Banyon could talk to a spirit. She also had the book of Vril and knew how to Freud-a-size people. He recently found out that she knew Joey had premonitions. What else is she hiding? His train of thought was interrupted when his phone suddenly rang. It was the President calling him back.
“Yes, Mr. President,” Banyon announced into the phone.
“Okay,” the big man said without preamble, as was his custom. “I’ve passed on the information you gave me about Leghorns bank accounts in the Cayman Islands. They’re going to do a hurried check and get back to me before we move on him.”
“Can’t you arrest him now?” Banyon asked in disbelief.
“Colton,” the President replied like he was scolding Banyon. “Washington is a very slippery place. I can’t move on him until the evidence bears out the truth. In other words, I can’t take your word for it.” Banyon knew that above everything, the President of the United States was a political animal. Banyon had dealt with his moves and counter moves on the hill in the past. The President clearly was not happy to uncover conspiracies in his administration and wanted to give his people a full vetting before taking action. It was the politically correct thing to do.
“How long will that take?” Banyon softly asked.
“Just a couple of hours, Colt,” the President replied happily. “You probably won’t get to Vegas before I have the information I need.”
“Then what?”
“If the information tells me that he is part of a conspiracy, then we’ll have him arrested under the Patriot Act and he’ll be taking his meals in Guantanamo Bay on an extended vacation for a long time.”
“Have you moved to cut off Goblin International?” Banyon asked.
“Very sticky there,” the President answered evasively. “Goblin is one of our largest defense contractors. They have major support up on the hill. And we do need the rare earths badly, Colt,” the President said sadly.
“So, are you just going to let them kill people and steal their land?” Banyon was incredulous. “They are going to attack the ranch soon,” Banyon yelled into the phone.
“Now hold on Mr. Banyon,” the President replied with force. “This might just be a rogue executive in the company and I can’t punish the whole organization for the efforts of one man,” he replied like he was on the campaign trail. “Besides, I don’t want to move on them until I know what’s happening with Vice Admiral Leghorn,”
Banyon was about at his wits end. Dealing with any politician was mind boggling work. They always had a different slant on the situation. It occurred to him that he probably was going have to move on his own against Goblin and hoped that the President became enlightened before he wound up in jail.
“They plan to attack the ranch at nine o’clock tonight, Pacific Time. I will be at the ranch as will about a dozen other American citizens. You could lose a lot of votes tonight, sir.” Banyon replied sarcastically.
“Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that,” the big man remarked carefully. Banyon hoped that the President’s words were a bluff.
Suddenly, Banyon spied Mandy sprinting towards him with a piece of paper in her hand. She and the other people on the plane had changed into non-business clothes in the plane’s bathroom. She now wore jeans and a golf shirt the color of gold. She slid to a stop and started jumping up and down while trying to get Banyon’s attention. He tried to wave her off, but she persisted.
“Can I put you on hold you a second, Mr. President?” Banyon politely asked.
“Go ahead,” a frustrated impatient voice replied.
“What, Mandy?” An exasperated Banyon yelled and flapped his arms.
She looked at him with a pout. He had yelled at her, but she quickly recovered. “Colt, we all could hear you talking to the President. You have been very loud.”
“Oh, sorry,” he replied in confusion.
“That’s not the point!” Mandy exclaimed. “The point is that we have the evidence to move on Goblin.”
“Tell me and the President what you have,” Banyon ordered. He then hit the mute button and told the President they did have evidence. Mandy had it in her hands. He then hit the speaker button. The President’s booming voice filled the cabin.
“Tell me what you have young lady,” the big man remarked officially. Lisa, Heather and Steve quickly made their way to the back of the plane to listen.
Mandy looked at Banyon nervously. He nodded his head for her to continue. “Sir,” Mandy started in as grown up a voice as she could muster. “We were able to plant a signal device on their Cobra gun ship…” But she got interrupted.
“They have a Cobra?” The President roared.
“They have two, actually,” Mandy shot back. “Anyway, the tracking device has a built in recorder and transmitter. We have recorded several people discussing the first attack on the ranch and the one planned for tonight.” Mandy seemed proud of herself for being able to address the President of the United States.
“Oh,” the President uttered. “Well,” he said with disappointment. “Actually as a lawyer, I’m going to tell you that any information obtained by an illegal wiretap is not admissible in a court of law. I’m afraid that information won’t help us.”
“Okay,” Mandy fought back. “When Goblin attacked the ranch earlier today, they used two high-tech devices. Chase, our man in Las Vegas, has informed me that only three government groups are authorized to have them in their possession.”
“What?” the voice perked up. “What devices are you talking about?”
“Chase said that one is called the ‘Sounder’ that one throws out mega sounds waves and the other is called the ‘Grounder’, that one has super-magnetic pull,” Mandy read from the paper in her hand.
“Son-of-bitch,” the President uttered in rage. “Those are top-secret military weapons. They are not allowed in the hands of civilians.”
“Now can you act against Goblin?” Banyon aske
d patiently.
“Marlene Moore, the Secretary of Homeland Security will call you back in a few minutes Colt. We are going after these guys for illegal use of government weapons. How could they have obtained them?” The President wondered out loud.
“My guess is though Vice Admiral Leghorn,” Banyon responded.
“I’ll have that looked into and I’ll make sure they don’t have any other secret weapons as well,” the President announced.
“So, the news about the secret weapons changed your mind?” Mandy asked with delight.
“Young lady,” the President remarked. “You had me when you said Cobra gun ship.”
Chapter Forty
Twenty minutes later, Colton Banyon hung up the phone. Earlier, he had passed all the necessary information to the Secretary of Homeland Security, Marlene Moore. She promised to have twenty-four Navy SEALS storm the warehouse in Barstow at 7:30 p.m. that night. It would be well before Goblin was scheduled to leave the warehouse to attack the ranch. Banyon quickly calculated that his team would be at the ranch at least an hour before the takedown and agreed to help with the assault. Marlene said that she and the President would be in the situation room at the White House waiting for him.
She told him both Tony Ryder and Vice Admiral Thomas Leghorn were already under surveillance and would be rounded up as soon as any hard evidence connecting them to the attacks and the diversion of the weapons. She also mentioned that, so far, they hadn’t discovered anything which linked the President of Goblin with the entire mess. It did seem to be a rogue executive behind the plot.
When Banyon was finished talking to Marlene, he called Chase Sanborn at the ranch and gave him the good news. Chase had put his cell phone on speaker and Banyon heard a cheer from everyone at the ranch when he told them that the assault would be effectively neutralized. He then told Chase that he needed a private area with a computer screen connected to the situation room at the White House set up by 7:15 p.m. He told him to call Timmy to make that happen. Loni now spoke into the phone.
“I have a surprise and a reward for you when you get here Colt,” she gushed into the phone.
“My reward will be to see you again,” he replied sweetly.
***
Banyon closed his eyes for a few minutes which turned out to be a half-hour. He awoke with a start when he heard people talking excitedly. When he opened his eyes he noticed that the other four people on the plane were crowded around the table in the middle. Mandy and Heather had their laptops open and were studying their computer screens. Lisa had spread a bunch of papers on the table and was arranging them in stacks. Steve looked over her shoulder with his beefy arms crossed.
Heather was talking. “I’ve found an article on the internet that proposes a theory saying the Phoenicians knew about America long before anyone else. This guy, whose name is Mark McMenamin, studied some coins minted in Carthage, a Phoenician city, around 350 B.C. He claims that on the back, near the bottom border of the coins, there is a map of the known world. It clearly shows an outline of America as well as the other continents in the western hemisphere.”
“Yes, I’m aware of the theory,” Lisa acknowledged as she stopped shuffling paper. “But some people feel that the coins are actually modern forgeries. Mark is now one of those people. It’s not solid proof.”
“Has anyone heard of the American Stonehenge then?” Mandy said with excitement. She was bouncing in her seat as she said it.
“Tell us,” Steve urged.
“It wasn’t called the American Stonehenge until 1982, before that it was called Mystery Hill,” Mandy informed them. “It’s located near Salem, New Hampshire of all places. The positioning of many rocks is similar to the Stonehenge in England. There are also tunnels and underground rooms, all made from stone. Scientists believe that whoever built the site was well versed in stone construction and astronomy. They think it was used for ceremonies too. The site can still be used even today to determine specific solar and lunar events. Some rocks on the site are dated to around 1200 B.C.”
“Wow! That’s cool,” Steve exclaimed. “I’ve heard about the British Stonehenge. I’ve always wanted to go there and see it. But what makes you think that there is a connection to the Phoenicians?”
“I can answer that actually,” Lisa said as she searched through some papers. She found the one she wanted. “First of all, many stones are aligned to mark the seasons just like the British Stonehenge. Secondly, scientists have found several forms of ancient writings on some of the rocks. And thirdly, we already know that the Phoenicians were expert navigators and could follow the stars. They could have built the structures to track the seasons while they were in the area.”
“How come I’ve never heard of it?” Heather asked.
“Well, not all scientists take the site seriously because over the years since it was rediscovered, many people have moved some of the rocks and it is currently a commercial site under private ownership,” Lisa explained. “The site has been tainted.”
“But you believe it was the Phoenicians, right?” Mandy asked.
“Several scientists believe that markings found on many of the stones are definitely Phoenician. Some of the writings even mention ‘Baal’, who was a major god in the city of Tyre and other Phoenician cities. That is where I believe the early Phoenicians in America originated,” Lisa filled in.
“But that is not the most interesting part of the American Stonehenge,” Banyon said as he ambled towards the group.
“What is, then?” Steve once again asked.
“If you draw a line on the same parallel as one of the site lines, it’s a big circle remember,” Banyon explained. “The line goes right through the center opening in the middle of the British Stonehenge.”
“Are you kidding me!” Steve exclaimed in disbelief. Banyon put up his hand to stop Steve, he wasn’t done yet.
“If you continue the line, it then runs through the current day city of Beirut, Lebanon. About where Tyre once stood,” Banyon said.
“Fascinating!” Heather blurted with her mouth wide open. But Banyon still wasn’t done.
“Not only that, but if you run the line west from the American Stonehenge, it passes through Teotihuacan, Mexico,” Banyon said.
Lisa nodded her head in agreement. “Teotihuacan is thought to have been the center of the Aztec empire,” Lisa explained. “Some archeologists believe that they might have been Phoenicians too.”
“I can’t believe all this! These guys seem to have been everywhere and nobody knows it,” Steve uttered.
“Well, they were traders and traveled extensively for thousands of years before they started to decline,” Lisa reminded him. “They also explored on a major scale. They were always looking for new markets for their goods.”
“But it sounds like they visited almost everywhere,” Steve pointed out. “Wouldn’t that take a lot of people to achieve?”
“Steve, when I said they conducted large scale exploration, I really meant it,” Lisa told him with emphasis. “For example, archeologists have discovered a Greek translation of the voyage of Hanno the Navigator. He was the leader of Carthage around the fifth century B.C. He left Carthage to explore Africa sailing through the Pillars of Hercules, what we now call the straits of Gibraltar. According to the translation, he left port with sixty ships and about thirty-thousand people. He returned several years later after establishing seven trading outposts along the coast.”
“My God,” Steve uttered. “That’s the size of a city.”
“That’s right. It’s likely that they sent many expeditions from all fifty Phoenician cities in the Mediterranean. And they would have done that for hundreds of years,” Lisa replied as she spread her long arms above her head.
“That would explain how they had the labor to dig the mines in Michigan. Many of the workers were probably slaves,” Steve reasoned.
“I think so,” Lisa said.
“So, do you think they also colonized Mexico?” Heather cut in.
“They could have,” Lisa continued. “A man named Johnston has put together some similarities between the Phoenicians and the Aztecs. When she finished reading the points, she looked up with a look of satisfaction.
“Not all scientists buy into the theories however,” Banyon said to sum things up. “But those are some pretty big coincidences.”
“I don’t want to talk about the Phoenicians or Aztecs anymore,” Mandy complained. “I want to talk about the Cherokees.”
“Well they’re all kind of interrelated you know,” Lisa told her.
“Why’d they pick the name Cherokee?” Mandy burst back.
“Well, there is real irony in that,” Lisa replied with a short laugh. “The Phoenicians never called themselves by that name. They always said that they came from Tyre or whatever city they originated. The Greeks called the area where the first major trading cities were built Phoenicia. We use that term to describe all people from those trading cities.”
“But why are they called the Cherokee?” Mandy persisted.
“The Cherokee call themselves the Tsalagi in the language that some of them speak even to this day. It was based on the Iroquois language. They were the arch enemy of the Cherokee in the North. When settlers came to Tennessee and the Carolinas, they started calling them Cherokee. The word Cherokee comes from the Creek word ‘Chelokee’. They were another Indian tribe in the area. ‘Chelokee’ means ‘people of a different speech.’”
“So, you’re saying that neither the Phoenicians nor the Cherokee got to pick their name — that we picked it for them.” Mandy asked scratching her head.
“That’s right,” Lisa nodded.
“Huh!” Mandy exclaimed. “But, when I think of the Cherokee Indians, I think of strong, bare chested warriors, not people who speak a different tongue.”
“They got that name because many of the words in their language have no meaning in Iroquois. Many scientists agree that some of their words have Greek, Hebrew and even Egyptian meanings which is why it is not pure Iroquois,” Lisa noted.
A Dubious Race: The Phoenician Stones (A Colton Banyon Mystery Book 14) Page 12