“Marlene, I’m available if you need any more help,” Banyon subtly added and hung up the phone.
***
When Banyon returned to the inside of the ranch, he found Lisa and Joey standing in the room.
“Where are you going?” He asked suspiciously.
“I’m going to bed. Why do you ask?” Joey announced as he stretched out his body. Kayah was getting up from the floor.
“And you Lisa?” Banyon asked.
“I thought I would get a few hours’ sleep in the other bedroom. That is if you and Loni aren’t going to use it,” she said sincerely.
“All three of you are staying right here,” Banyon ordered. “You are all playing very important parts in our plan for tomorrow and I can’t allow you out of our sight. You might try to run and get away.”
“I would never do such a thing,” Lisa replied indignantly.
“Then why are you carrying your research bags?” Lisa dropped the bags like they were hot potatoes and plopped back on the couch with a sigh.
Banyon turned to the other three members of his team. “If they get up to go to the bathroom, I want at least one of you to go with them. Is that understood?”
“Yes, sir,” Heather immediately replied.
Chapter Eighty-Nine
General George Pickering peered out of his second story window. He knew they were probably out there somewhere — but couldn’t see anyone. General Pickering came from a long line of military officers dating back to the Civil War. His family fought on the Confederate side. He grew up believing in White Supremacy. He had hidden that fact well as he rose through the ranks in the Army. But he couldn’t hide the fact that he was also a homosexual. He had too many urgings.
He got mixed up with Vice Admiral Thomas Leghorn when they met at a military ball. They soon became friends and eventually lovers. When the Goblin plan was hatched, Vice Admiral Leghorn pulled General Pickering into the mix. He was in charge of the inventory of secret government weapons and could supply them to Goblin.
The general was sure that Vice Admiral Leghorn would sell him out to save his own skin. He wondered if their affair was real or was Vice Admiral Leghorn a honey pot. Did he use the general’s uncontrollable desires to pull him into the Goblin plot? The Vice Admiral knew about his secret hideaway too. General Pickering decided to not go down without a fight. He prepared for an attack.
He had thought about getting into his boat and trying to get lost in all the traffic on the busy bay, but where would he go? He didn’t have relatives to hide him nor did he have a fake passport to get him out of the country. He didn’t have many friends. Those he had were now under suspicion. He waited nervously as he considered his options. His pudgy finger was on the trigger of a machine gun.
Suddenly, he heard a bull horn. “General Pickering, this is the FBI. Come out with your hands up in the air. We know that you are in there.”
“You’re not taking me alive,” he shouted back and opened fire with his machine gun. He strafed the area in the front of his boat house. Some shots were returned directly at the window where he crouched.
They must have an infrared image of me. They know exactly where I am, he thought to himself. I know what they will do next.
As if on cue, three windows in the upstairs blew in and smoke grenades landed in the room. The general was prepared and donned a gas mask. He opened fire again.
Next came a stun grenade and the general wasn’t prepared for that. The blast broke his ear drums and the concussion threw him to the ground. He knew that the next step was an assault on the building and decided that he didn’t care anymore.
He put his gun into his mouth and pulled the trigger.
Chapter Ninety
“If you use facial recognition, you will find the Senator from Arizona seated in the boarding lounge of the Toronto airport. He is traveling under the name of Ted Kindle and is an hour away from leaving for Cuba,” Banyon said into the phone. “His fake passport is Canadian.” Marlene had called Banyon one more time to help find the missing Senator. He had expected the call.
“He’s headed for Cuba?” Marlene shot back in disbelief. “We won’t be able to extradite him from there.”
“Once the plane gets off the ground, he will be untouchable,” Banyon agreed. “Canadians can travel freely to Cuba.”
“How in the hell did he get to Toronto so fast,” Marlene burst out in frustration. “We put a three hundred mile net around the capital.”
“It looks like he had a private plane on standby and flew to Buffalo before your net was set up. It’s only about a two hour drive to Toronto from there,” Banyon replied. “I think he knew you wouldn’t think to look at airports outside the USA.”
Marlene immediately spoke to a technician off screen. Banyon could hear her give orders to patch her screen through to the largest airport in Canada.
About thirty seconds later, Marlene responded. “God-damn we got him, Colt. I can see him clearly in the passenger lounge. I’m sending in some Canadian Mounties to pick him up right now.” Banyon could once again hear her issuing orders off screen. “Hold the line, Colt,” she told him. A few seconds later she was back.
“Well, I think that covers everybody left from the lists of Effort people you found,” Banyon spoke into the phone confidently. They had already discussed the capture of the second Senator.
The Senator from Nevada had driven himself to the FBI headquarters on Pennsylvania Avenue near the White House and turned himself in to the stunned agents on duty. He claimed he was being blackmailed and the Goblin people were an extortion ring after him. He claimed they were bleeding him dry. The FBI agents weren’t buying his story as he drove a two hundred thousand dollar Lamborghini to the FBI headquarters and — of course — they knew he was listed as a director of the Effort.
“Okay, they have arrested him Colt,” Marlene said with satisfaction. “He’s being led to the lockup.”
“How did the rest of the cleanup go?” Banyon asked causally. He was waiting for an opportunity to ask Marlene a favor.
“We’ve got them all,” Marlene said happily. “All one hundred and two neo-Nazis are now under arrest.”
“I assume that you have Tony Ryder in custody, right?” Banyon asked.
“He was in the first group we captured at the warehouse. He’ll never see the light of day again,” she added with emphasis.
“What about James Ryder, the kingpin?” Banyon baited her. “You haven’t explained what happened to him.”
“I can’t talk about his case as there is an investigation under way. It would be against the law for me to discuss it. But I can tell you that he won’t be issuing any more attacks ever again,” the top cop said.
Banyon knew there was one more neo-Nazi still on the loose. The one named Helmut. Marlene was prohibited from telling him about the fugitive because of the investigation. Banyon didn’t want to tell her where he was either. Wolf was tracking Helmut and could supply the information to capture him at any time. Helmut had an FBI bullet in his shoulder and he still carried the gun he had used to kill Ryder and Heinz. Once they decided to pick him up he would be found guilty.
Both Wolf and Banyon agreed to let him run loose for a while to see who he contacted in the USA. They were sure there were other Effort operatives in America. They wanted to know who he contacted. Wolf traced Helmut’s history and knew he had communicated with people in America by phone and email, but Wolf was unable to observe who his contacts were. They didn’t see a problem with leaving him alone for now. If he attempted a robbery or a kidnapping then they would step in and provide the information to arrest him. Otherwise, they would wait and watch.
“I guess we have pretty much wrapped up this mess then” Banyon stated.
“Colt, you are fantastic. I can see why the President holds you in such high regard,” Marlene gushed. “You were able to track down these bad guys — we owe you,” Marlene said into the phone.
It was the words Banyon was wait
ing for. “It’s not me,” he said humbly. “It’s my contacts,” he added truthfully.
“Colt, if there is anything I can ever do for you. Please let me know. You have saved this country much embarrassment,” Marlene said.
“As a matter of fact, there is something that you can do for me,” Banyon replied thoughtfully as he placed his request. “In fact there are two things.”
After a few seconds, Marlene agreed.
It was three o’clock in the morning at the ranch.
Part Seven
The Plan
Chapter Ninety-One
Colton Banyon awoke with a start. A noise in the kitchen had disturbed his slumber. He quickly looked at his Mondovi watch and saw that it was nearly seven o’clock in the morning. He scanned the room and noticed that Joey, Kayah, Lisa, Steve, and Mandy were all sleeping and spread round the room. He knew that Bobby was in the other room, but Heather and Loni were missing. The Banyon team had agreed that at least two of them would stay awake in two hour shifts so that they could watch Joey, Kayah and Lisa. Banyon was not included in the watch as he was by far the oldest and needed some sleep to implement his plan this morning. Steve and Heather had the last shift, but Steve was sound asleep and the two other women were missing.
Banyon stood up and stretched out his aching back. He then went to investigate the noise in the kitchen. As he turned the corner he was shocked. Loni was standing in front of the coffee maker and making coffee. He had never seen her make coffee before. She turned towards him and smiled.
“Good morning Colt,” she said sweetly. “I’m making you breakfast. Hard to believe isn’t it?” she pranced over to him and planted a kiss on his stunned face.
“Are you feeling okay?” He quickly asked as he wondered if the blow to the head yesterday had changed something.
“My headache is gone,” she said matter-of-factly. “I feel fine.”
“You usually don’t make the coffee,” he said suspiciously.
“I decided to make a real concerted effort to show how much I love you,” she replied with a smile.
“Oh!” Banyon uttered. “Where is Heather?”
“She’s in the shower,” Loni explained. “She wanted to be ready for her part of the plan and figured that cleaning up would help.”
“Smart girl,” Banyon noted. “So what’s for breakfast?”
“Oh, this is all I’m doing,” Loni said. “Heather said she would do the rest when she is finished getting ready.”
“I see,” Banyon commented and grinned. He realized Loni was at the limit of her food making abilities.
“And I’m next in line for the shower. I can’t wait until I can wash my hair and get rid of this stupid headband.” Banyon quickly understood that Loni had been obsessing over the comment made by Previne the night before.
“When will the coffee be ready?” he asked.
“It’s ready now,” she remarked. “Get your own.” He now knew his old Loni was back.
***
Banyon had finished his first cup of coffee and stood on the porch in the front of the ranch with his second cup in hand when he noticed a trail of dust heading to the ranch house. The sun was bright and the desert smelled clean but earthy to him. The temperature was already over eighty degrees and climbing.
The jeep slowed down and stopped a few feet from the porch. Chase Sanborn was behind the wheel. He exited the vehicle wearing a blue suit, a white ten gallon hat and blue boots. He wore a bright white shirt and a bolo-type tie that was the same shade of blue as his suit. A trinket shaped like the state of Nevada held the tie together. He looked like a Baptist preacher who was on tour. He smiled and waved to Banyon.
A young woman climbed out of the passenger seat. She was Asian and tiny. She wore a severe black suit with a modestly-opened white silk blouse. Her hair was pulled tightly into a bun. She carried a large briefcase on her shoulder.
“This is our best real estate lawyer,” Chase said as an introduction. “Her name is Lyn Chang.”
“Pleased to meet you,” Banyon said as he offered his hand.
She shook it, but immediately complained. “It is inhuman to make a real estate lawyer get up so early. We do most of our work at night. Chase got me out of bed at three o’clock this morning.”
“Well, you’re not working at night today,” Banyon corrected her.
“Very well,” she said with resignation. “Let’s get this over with. Where is the plot of land that we are selling?”
“You’re standing on it,” Banyon said with a chuckle.
Lyn Chang looked both irritated and confused. “But this is just desert,” she said sharply. She pointed her small nose up into the air like selling this land was below her talent.
“I’m aware of that,” Banyon said with a smile as he sipped his coffee.
“Who’d want this land?” Lyn Chang ranted. “Look at the house. It looks like a war took place here. There are no windows and there are pockmarks on the walls. How are we ever going to market this place? It needs a lot of work.”
“Lyn, there are four hundred acres in this plot. It is rich with rare earth minerals. Don’t worry about the house, there will be several good bids on the land,” Banyon said evenly. “Most of your job will to be to negotiate with the right buyer for the land.”
“Well, what’s it worth to our client?” the Asian woman asked and huffed. “It doesn’t look like it could be worth much.”
“Oh, probably a half a billion dollars,” Banyon replied nonchalantly as he sipped his coffee. “The rare earths are worth a lot of money.”
The woman’s eyes suddenly lit up. “I’ll be happy to help sell this property,” she quickly exclaimed. Her attitude had completely changed.
Banyon now issued his first orders. “When we get inside, I don’t want you to mention anything about selling the land. We just want to make the people inside believe you are here to have me sign some legal papers for the firm.” Banyon said secretively.
“You’re a boss?” Lyn chocked out with alarm. She turned to Chase with daggers in her eyes for not telling her.
“Colt owns half the law firm,” Chase told her.
“Not quite half,” Banyon corrected him. “I only own forty percent.”
Chase nodded. “We’ll do our part. Lawyers are real good thespians you know. We’ll act like this is just about company business.”
When Banyon turned back to Lyn to see if she agreed, he noticed that she had pulled the pins holding her hair out. It now flowed down her back. Her silk blouse was decidedly more open as well revealing a hint of cleavage. She was much more attractive now he thought.
“I’ll have no problem with that. I have learned how to adapt to every situation, boss,” she said as she flashed him a hundred watt smile.
***
As soon as they entered the front door Banyon could smell bacon cooking. His stomach rumbled — he was hungry. He introduced Lyn to everyone. They were all awake now and lounged around the room. Loni looked up from the table where she was sitting waiting for some food with a knife and fork in each hand. She was immediately jealous of the comely real estate lawyer who clung to Banyon like a puppy dog, but she knew the woman was there to work. She waved hello.
Banyon brought Chase and Lyn into the kitchen to get them some coffee. Heather was there working hard at making a breakfast of bacon, sausage, toast and eggs. Her hair was still wet from her shower and she wore a loose print dress which flowed around her toned body as she moved about the kitchen. A wisp of hair fell across her face as she looked up and smiled.
He introduced Lyn and they shook hands. Lyn immediately dropped her briefcase and began helping Heather serve the food. She grabbed five plates of food and balanced them on her small arms. She looked like a waitress in an upscale restaurant in her black suit. She was cheerful and smiled as she handed people their food. Most had to stand to eat. She treated everyone like they were old friends. Banyon noticed she served Loni first. Banyon had introduced her as his com
panion. He decided Lyn was a good thespian.
“I wasn’t always a lawyer,” she remarked as she handed the surprised Banyon his food.
***
Breakfast was consumed in record time. When people finished their food they went and threw the dishes into the sink. Heather started washing them, but stopped when Banyon called her into the front room.
“Let them be for now,” he said.
Loni had not moved from her seat at the table and announced. “I’m going to take a shower now.”
“Why don’t you let Lisa shower first,” Banyon quickly said.
“Why, I’m next in line,” she protested like a spoiled child.
“We don’t want to waste time. I need to talk to you right now anyway,” he replied forcefully. “There are several people who need to shower first.” He stared at her and raised his eyebrows.
It was like a rap on her forehead when she realized that Banyon wanted Lisa out of the room. “Oh, well, you can go first Lisa. But don’t use all the hot water, okay.”
“Ah…thanks, Colt,” Lisa mumbled and went off to find her bag with her change of clothes.
As soon as she left the room, Banyon turned to Mandy. “Stand by the bathroom door and don’t let her in here until we are finished.”
Mandy looked confused but agreed. “She won’t get past me.”
A minute later the door to the bathroom closed and Banyon began the next part of his plan.
***
Banyon called Joey and Kayah over to the table. Chase and Lyn were already standing there. The rest of his team wisely went and sat on the couches — even Loni. Banyon had moved the two jars containing Vril and the map into the back bedroom. He didn’t want them to be part of this conversation.
“Lyn give him the forms to be signed,” Banyon told the lawyer.
“What am I signing?” Joey asked.
“The first form says that Dewey & Beatem & Associates is your lawyer of record.” Lyn promptly replied. “That means that we can speak for you in your absence on all legal matters.”
A Dubious Race: The Phoenician Stones (A Colton Banyon Mystery Book 14) Page 26