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

by Gerald J Kubicki

  “Well, I think they got the sounder to work,” Tony said hotly. “Call the Cobra and tell them to change their trajectory with the last missile,” Tony ordered.

  “And how am I going to do that, boss. Send up a smoke signal? Remember the communications are all down.”

  “Son-of-a-bitch,” a now panicked Tony muttered. “Then we’ll have to go and find the sounder ourselves. It must be somewhere out there on the right. Once we find it, we’ll blow it up,” Tony said as a solution.

  “I’m not taking this bird anywhere near that thing. It can shoot us out of the sky too, idiot,” the pilot yelled. “If you want to go look for it, you’ll have to get on the ground and walk,” he said with authority.

  “Then goddamn it, that is exactly what I’m going to do,” Tony screamed and pulled out his gun. He went to the door and started to pull it open.

  “Too late boss, we just fired our last missile.”

  Chapter Seventy-Two

  As soon as the third missile was destroyed, the Dewey & Beatem people poured out of the tunnels and raced to the two front windows like they were defending the Alamo. They could already hear gunshots being fired outside in the semi-dark desert. Some pinged off of the thick front wall of the ranch house. They also knew the defenders out in the open desert were taking fire from the attackers. The defenders in the ranch house needed to pin down those attackers until the next part of the plan took place. They began firing at anything that moved. There were a lot of shots fired.

  Loni, Heather, Mandy and Steve ran to the bedroom to locate the trap door to the flat roof. They were armed with assault rifles and pistols. Steve grabbed the rope to the trap door and pulled it down. To everyone’s surprise, there was no stepladder attached. The four of them stood back in shock.

  “Why the hell wouldn’t they have a ladder attached,” Steve screamed. “How are we going to get up there?”

  “We need to get up on the roof, now,” Loni said with a little panic in her voice. “We are already behind schedule.”

  Heather wasn’t panicked. She studied the opening and calculated that the ceiling was nine feet off the ground. They just had to get high enough to pull themselves on to the roof. She yelled out. “Steve you’ll have to give us a boost.”

  Steve quickly understood Heather’s meaning. “Let’s toss up the rifles first,” he said as he expertly launched his rifle into the dark sky. He grabbed the other rifles and repeated the maneuver. “I think you girls are all athletic enough to do this, but I won’t be able to get up there.”

  Loni immediately stepped outside the bedroom and screamed. “Colt, Chase, need some help here. Steve needs a boost.”

  Heather said, “Mandy, you go first.”

  Steve cupped his hands and spread his legs. “Ready,” he called out.

  Mandy leaped into the foot hold, bounced in his hands, and planted her foot on his shoulder. She continued up and stood with both feet on his shoulders. She was a good foot above the roof now and managed to pull herself the rest of the way up. She rolled out of the hole and out of sight.

  “Loni, you go next,” Heather yelled and waved her arm. “Hurry!”

  Loni was equally as athletic as Mandy but hesitated. “Yikes, I have a skirt on,” she protested. “Steve will be able to see up my skirt. Tell him to close his eyes,” she demanded of Heather.

  “I’ll close my eyes,” Steve quickly agreed. “Just get going.”

  Loni took off and literally ran up Steve’s body. She let her momentum carry her up. She grabbed the edge and managed to leap on to the roof. She and Mandy grabbed their rifles and went to cover the two edges of the roof. Heather, who was about four inches taller than Mandy and Loni, rolled onto the pebbled roof a few seconds later.

  By that time, Colt and Chase came bolting into the bedroom and quickly recognized what had to be done. They formed a basket with their arms and catapulted Steve up through the opening.

  When Steve rolled onto his feet and grabbed his rifle, he realized the attack was already in full-swing. Four grappling hooks had already breached the roof line. He raced to the side of the roof where Heather was attempting to unhook a grappling hook from the low six inch wall that surrounded the roof. He put two bullets into the heavy rope and it broke. He heard a satisfying thud as a body hit the ground below.

  Mandy and Loni manned the other side of the roof. Loni had both of her pistols out and was blazing away as she stood over the edge. The rope on her grappling hook quickly slacked and she tossed the hook over the side. She then turned towards Mandy.

  Mandy was having a different experience. Every time she attempted to shoot at the attacker climbing the rope, somebody fired at her from the ground. She had to stay a couple of steps back. Suddenly, a head appeared over the edge and an arm reached out and grabbed Mandy around the ankle. She lost her balance and dropped her rifle. The man was very strong and began to drag her off the roof.

  Loni went to shoot him, but found that she had run out of bullets. She raced to help Mandy knowing that if the man could pull her off the roof she would probably die from the fall. If not, the men on the ground would finish her off. Mandy had a desperate look on her face as she clawed at the smooth surface in an effort to gain a hand hold. The only thing which was keeping her from falling was her knee. It was jammed against the tiny wall. The attacker now grabbed her thigh and was about to hurl her into space.

  Loni flew in the air, kicked out, and hit the man in the face. He howled and let go of Mandy just long enough for her to plant another kick to his exposed face. He disappeared from sight. At that moment, a shot ran out. Loni staggered and then went down.

  Chapter Seventy-Three

  “Loni’s been hit,” Mandy screamed. Both Heather and Steve looked over in panic, but they couldn’t come and help. Two attackers were already on the roof. They had climbed up the fourth grappling hook and were advancing towards Steve and Heather to engage them in hand to hand combat.

  Mandy dropped to Loni’s side. She didn’t know what to do, but searched for the bullet wound. He fears heightened when she found blood coming from Loni’s scalp. She had nothing to stop the flow and started to cry as she cradled Loni’s head in her arms. That was when the attacker on the rope near her suddenly leaped onto the roof.

  Mandy’s eyes grew wide in terror as soon as she saw him. She couldn’t reach her rifle, it was too far away. The man stood menacingly at the edge of the roof and grinned. “Now I’ve got you both,” he said evilly.

  Mandy laid Loni’s head on the dirty roof and jumped to her feet. She knew she would have to take on the much bigger man, but was also aware that she was not an experienced hand to hand fighter. She was better with guns. She realized he would likely rip her to pieces. Her only edge was that she was very quick, but she didn’t think that quickness would be enough to survive. This is it, she thought. There is no future and no hope. Both Loni and I will die right here. Rage then filled her body. She screamed at the top of her lungs and launched herself at the big man. Desperate people do desperate things, she thought.

  He expected the charge. She was one step from crashing into him when he backhanded her across the face, picked her up, and tossed her aside like a rag doll. She slammed into the ground with such forced that she bounced. She knew immediately that her left arm was broken. She couldn’t move it. The pain was almost unbearable. She tried to collect herself and bring her feet under her body to spring at him — it was a fruitless struggle. The attacker had drawn out a big knife and advanced towards her.

  Out of the corner of her eye she saw something. It was the top of a brown Stetson hat. Then two arms quickly appeared — one held a gun. As soon as Chase’s head cleared the top of the trap door, he took a shot. It hit the attacker in the back of upper thigh. He screamed and went down on his knee. Before he could recover, Chase ran up to him and clubbed him on the back of the neck with the handle of the gun.

  “Colt is right behind me,” he yelled at Mandy. “Stay by Loni. I need to help the others.�
� Chase pushed the rifle towards Mandy with his foot and took off towards the other side of the roof where a battle was raging. Mandy was stunned. She couldn’t shoot a rifle with one hand, but grabbed the weapon in her right hand and slid over to where Loni was laying. As she placed Loni’s blood soaked head on her lap, she noticed Loni’s guns and quickly picked up one while tossing the rifle aside. She knew it was empty but reasoned that Loni had spare clips somewhere. She found the pouch where the ammunition was secured on her holster and slammed a new clip into the gun. At least now I can defend myself and Loni.

  Colton Banyon suddenly appeared through the trap door and raced over to his two favorite women. He was frantic with fear. “Are you okay,” he screamed at Mandy.

  “I’ll live, but Loni has been unconscious for a while. I think she has been shot in the head,” Mandy wailed.

  “Oh, no,” he moaned. Banyon dropped to his knees and began searching Loni’s head for the wound. He found it near the top of her head and shuddered in horror. Blood was pouring out of a quarter inch hole. He pulled a handkerchief from his pocket and dabbed it against the opening. He soon realized that she had not been shot, but a piece of wall rock had imbedded in her skull. She had been hit by a ricochet. He plucked it out and rolled the cloth into a rope. He tied it around her head like a head band.

  “That’s all I can do for now,” he said. When he looked at Mandy, he realized that she was wincing in pain and was nearly unconscious. Banyon bellowed. “Are you hit too?”

  “I think I broke my left arm,” she croaked. “I can’t move it at all.” Banyon moved over and examined her arm looking for a break. He couldn’t find one, but noticed she couldn’t move her arm at all. As he continued searching he discovered that her shoulder didn’t look right. He probed the area gently.

  “You’ve got a dislocated shoulder,” he said soothingly and not to alarm her. “I can pop it back in for you, but it’ll hurt,” he warned.

  “Do it,” Mandy said through gritted teeth. Colton Banyon had dislocated his shoulder when he was a teenager. Once the shoulder had been dislocated once, it had happened many times over the years. The doctors had showed him how to set it. He had done it often and was pretty sure he could help Mandy.

  Banyon put his foot against her underarm, grabbed her limp arm, put his other foot against her neck and pulled. Mandy screamed in pain, but they both heard a pop as the joint slid back into the socket. Her pain was immediately gone and replaced by a dull ache.

  “Better?” he asked with concern.

  “It still hurts a little, but at least I can move it,” She replied grimly.

  “No swimming for a while,” he said like a doctor and smiled at her.

  Mandy’s eyes suddenly grew large. “Get down,” she screamed. She pointed the pistol behind Banyon and fired two rapid shots. Her aim was true. Banyon turned his head just in time to see a new attacker fall to the roof.

  “He’s wearing Kevlar,” Banyon yelled as he scanned the attacker. “No wonder we’re having trouble putting them down. They’re in full body armor.”

  “Chase said to shoot for their legs,” Mandy yelled out. “I hit this guy in the chest. I don’t think he’ll be down for long.”

  Banyon leaped to his feet and withdrew some plastic cuffs from his back pocket. Chase had handed out about a dozen to each of the defenders. He grabbed the arms of the attacker on the roof and cuffed him. He then cuffed his legs. “He’s not going anywhere,” Banyon remarked when he was done.

  “You’d better do the other man over there,” Mandy told him. “Chase knocked him out, but he might wake up any second. Banyon rushed over to the second attacker.

  ***

  Meanwhile, the hand to hand combat continued across the roof. There were now four men on the roof and only three defenders. Heather used her long legs to kick out and keep her attacker at bay, but it would only be a matter of time before she tired or made a mistake. The attacker brushed off her volleys and kept moving relentlessly towards her.

  Steve had both of his knives out and was twirling them and jabbing in the Asian fashion. He held off two attackers who circled him looking for an opening. They were like deadly cobras, waiting to strike. They knew their Kevlar armor would stop a knife thrust, only their arms and legs were vulnerable.

  Chase was fairing much better. He crashed into the fourth attacker and both men fell to the roof top. They exchanged punches, but the attacker had limited mobility due to his heavy armor, his blows lacked power behind them. Chase was able to outmaneuver him and delivered a knockout blow to his jaw. He stood up reached into his pocket and pulled out a whistle. He blew hard and a loud sound echoed off of the surrounding mountains.

  The defenders waited four seconds and then dropped their guns. The shooting below them stopped as well. Steve threw his knives at both attackers. Mandy dropped her gun to the roof and covered Loni with her body. The defenders on the roof dropped to the surface and covered their eyes. The attackers were caught off guard. They didn’t know what to make of the unusual strategy. But they soon found out.

  Chapter Seventy-Four

  Tony Ryder and the pilot were about ten feet from the depression where the sounder was located. They had left the helicopter and jogged the half-mile to the area where they believed the machine was located. He knew the capabilities of the device and felt certain that once he captured it he could use it against the defenders in the ranch. Both men were armed with pistols. They wore metal helmets and bulletproof vests to protect their bodies.

  “I see two women manning the device,” Tony Ryder whispered to his pilot as they dropped to the ground and crawled closer.

  “You take the one on the right, I’ll get the one on the left,” the pilot said without turning his head.

  “We’ll go on three,” Tony Rider said. He then began to count. “One…” He stopped when he heard a whistle.

  “What the…” the pilot uttered in confusion, but he also was interrupted by a huge explosion. Tony Ryder rolled over on his back to look and was shocked.

  “They blew up our helicopter,” He cried out. “How will we get out of here?”

  “Look,” the pilot pointed to the sky. “The Cobras are retreating.” They saw the lethal birds turn on a dime and head back to the warehouse.

  “They don’t want to get blasted from the sky,” Tony Ryder whispered hotly. “The defenders have RPGs. Cowards.”

  “Let’s get those women,” the pilot said with anger. They got to their feet and started to sprint at the women defending the sounder.

  After three steps something uncreditable happened. Their pistols were suddenly wrenched from their hands without warning. Both Tony Ryder and the pilot were pulled to the ground and began sliding face-first across the desert.

  “Take off your helmet,” Tony Ryder screamed in panic.

  Chapter Seventy-Five

  The two men manning the grounder went into action as soon as they heard the whistle. They were in the third phase of Chase’s plan. The machine was already on but at a low level. They spun the control dial all the way up. Chase’s geek had found out — on the internet — that the experimental machine was designed to unarm attackers. At full power, the magnetic pull grabbed anything metal and pulled it towards the machine. That included metal helmets and if a body was attached — it came too.

  They slowly swept the magnetic beam across the desert and could hear guns clanking against the rocks in the desert as they sped towards the grounder. Men were also heard screaming as they were dragged by their helmets across the open area. The men manning the grounder only pointed it on one direction for a few seconds and then moved on. Their job was to confuse and disarm the attackers.

  They now pointed the grounder at the roof of the ranch.

  ***

  The four attackers on the roof were stunned when the people they were fighting sudden gave up and dropped to the ground. They took about five seconds to decide what to do. Two of the men went to the ropes and began hauling up the explosives
to blow a hole in the roof. The other two pulled out pistols and were about to shoot the defenders when one of the grappling hooks flew away. It was followed by the other hooks and all the loose guns on the roof. The two attackers with guns quickly found that their guns were pulling to the left and attempted to use two hands to steady them. Seconds later the guns flew into space.

  Chase and the rest of the defenders quickly jumped to their feet. The attackers were being bent against their will towards the open desert and they couldn’t right themselves. Their metal helmets were being pulled towards the grounder. Steve, Heather and Chase gave them a push. The men became airborne and disappeared into the night, screaming like children. Colton Banyon huffed and rolled the two downed attackers in his area off the roof. He heard them scream in agony as they hit the ground and began to slide towards the grounder as well.

  Chase pulled out his plastic whistle and blew it twice this time. It meant that the roof was secure. “Okay everybody,” he yelled out, “Downstairs for the attack.”

  ***

  “Help me with Loni and Mandy,” Banyon pleaded. “They are both hurt. We need to get them downstairs.”

  Steve was there in a flash and scooped up Loni. Heather helped Mandy to her feet. Banyon went to the trap door and let himself down. He stood on the bureau in the bedroom which he and Chase had moved under the opening to get on the roof. Heather helped Mandy into the hole. Banyon grabbed her gently and slid her down to the bureau top. She jumped agilely down to the ground while cradling her hurt arm.

  Loni came next. Steve gently placed her into Banyon’s arms. He was shocked when her small arms closed around his neck. He looked at her face and saw that her eyes were open, but in pain.

  “Colt, I want my guns back,” she said barely above a whisper and then closed her eyes again. Banyon was uncontrollably relieved and hugged her tightly as he jumped off of the bureau so the others could get down. He moved her to the couch in the front room and told Mandy to stay with her until this was over. He then went to get into position.