A Dubious Artifact (A Colton Banyon Mystery Book 6)

by Gerald J Kubicki

  “I don’t care, it is useless to anyone now,” Heller’s bodyguard laughed.

  The man pulled out his cellphone and snapped several pictures from several angles of the item sitting on the desk. “It’s the closest I’ll ever get to something that was once very valuable,” he remarked as Heller’s bodyguard grabbed the artifact and exited the room. As they casually walked back to the meeting room, the other man sent the pictures to someone else, just as he was ordered to do.

  ***

  “Do you want me to follow them or abort?” Loni quickly spoke into her earpiece. “If I have too, I could take them both down,” she added.

  “Get back out of the house,” Banyon ordered. “I know where it is going. Hopefully, we will get another chance to snatch it.”

  “Where?” Loni asked as she was already scaling down the trestle.

  “It’s going to the next to last window on the right wing,” Banyon told her.

  “I’m on my way,” she replied.

  ***

  Back at the wall, Maya turned to Agent Gamble, “She is going to need help” and instantly leaped on the wall.

  “But what about the sensors?” Tom screamed. “She doesn’t have a jamming device. Won’t they go off?”

  “Well, the device turns them off for fifteen minutes. By my count, it has only been three minutes.” Agent Gamble said.

  “Then I’m going too,” Tom Cruickskank announced. “I could get several pictures of their leaders.” He then flipped over the wall.

  “Wait,” Agent Gamble yelled.

  Both Tom and Maya stopped and looked at him. “Don’t try to stop us, we are going,” Maya threatened.

  “Wouldn’t think of it,” he said. He tossed Maya an extra gun. “That’s Loni’s gun. Make sure that she gets it.

  Chapter Thirty-Six

  “And finally, we have your last will and testament for you to sign,” the lawyer pushed the final stack of papers over to her.

  Barbara Behl stared at the papers and her blood suddenly turned to ice, “I don’t want to sign a will,” she croaked in a small voice.

  “Come now, Barby, don’t be unreasonable,” the lawyer badgered her. “You are a very wealthy woman now, with no living relatives. You need a will.”

  “But I haven’t thought about it,” she muttered.

  “It’s also required by the Effort,” he flatly stated. “All of us,” he raised his arms to engulf everyone in the room. “All of us have the same will. In case any of us dies without relatives; all of the estate goes to the cause. Surely you can understand that.”

  “But what if I want to give some money to someone else, or get married or something.” She argued.

  “In that case we can always add a codicil. It is commonly done. Now, sign it,” he ordered in his strongest voice.

  She reached for the pen, but hesitated. The three old men leaned forward. Heller was at the edge of his seat. The lawyer’s eyes narrowed as he stood up and somewhere in the house a clock struck ten o’clock.

  She dropped the pen and sat back with her arms folded across her large stomach and pointed her chin at the lawyer arrogantly “Only if I am made the leader of the Effort, just like my grandfather was,” she announced. She believed she had the leverage and wanted only one more thing in life.

  The look of surprise on everyone’s face should have been a sign for her, but in her arrogant state she missed it.

  Heller quickly spoke. “Well, you understand that we can’t take an official vote until you sign the will, but I think we can take an unofficial vote right now, if you would like, right consular?”

  “But of course, it is done all the time,” the lawyer lied.

  “So, let’s take the vote,” she demanded.

  “Alright,” the lawyer said with a smile. “All in favor of electing Barbara Behl the supreme leader of the Effort raise your hands.” Everyone’s hand shot up in the air.

  She looked around the room and basked in glory. “I’ll accept the position of supreme leader of the cause.” She then picked up the pen and began to sign the documents.

  ***

  Outside, Maya, Loni, and Tom had converged at the window. The drapes were drawn and the window was closed, but Tom discovered that it was not locked. It was a sliding kind of window, so he opened it about two inches and they heard her accept the position of supreme leader. They stood in stunned silence.

  Chapter Thirty-Seven

  Heller quickly left the room as Barby was signing the papers with a smile on her face. He proceeded to the front living room where her four team members were quietly seated. They wondered if their heads were on the block for letting Banyon get the drop on them. Heller walked in front of them and gave his orders.

  “When I call you, you are to collect Dr. Behl from the meeting room. You are to escort her to her home and stay with her.”

  “For how long?” one man asked. “She is very hard to keep in one place for any extended period of time.”

  “You wait, until I call you,” Heller quickly replied. “It will be sometime tomorrow afternoon. You can’t move on her until the death certificate of her grandfather is filed. Then the fun can start.”

  “Then what?” The same man asked. The man had a good idea, but wanted to have a clear understanding before they left.

  “You know what to do then. It needs to look like a suicide. She is despondent over her loss, isn’t she?” Heller handed the man a hand written letter forged by the best forger at Homeland Security.

  The four men looked at each other. They realized they had a reprieve. They intended to make the best of it. “Yes, sir,” they spoke like a choir.

  “Leave the letter with the body. It will do the job. I’ll make sure that Homeland Security investigates a suicide of one of our former members.”

  This brought a smile on all their faces. “Does she suspect anything? Will she be a problem?” another man asked.

  “When I call you into the meeting — in a few minutes — she will already be bound and gagged and will offer you no resistance. But be careful, we can’t leave any marks on her body,” Heller added.

  “Well that actually makes our job harder,” the man replied.

  “Why is that?” Heller asked with his hands on his hips.

  “Did you ever look at the size of that beast? We will have to carry her,” he laughed.

  “Just so that is done properly,” Heller commented as he left the room.

  “I can’t wait to do it, “one man said. “She has caused us nothing but trouble.”

  But the men never had a chance to fulfill their goal.

  Chapter Thirty-Eight

  David Heller returned to the meeting room and nodded to the lawyer. The lawyer immediately began sorting his documents and throwing them into his huge briefcase. He was all of a sudden in a hurry to leave the meeting.

  “Where are you going?” the supreme leader of the Effort roared. “We are not done with our meeting.”

  “Well, my portion is finished,” he replied without looking up. “I need to begin processing these documents. Anyway, you don’t need me anymore.” The three old men at the table nodded in agreement.

  “The actual meetings of the inner circle of the Effort are private,” David Heller lied. “We do not allow anyone but the members to be present.”

  “Oh,” answered the supreme leader. “Well then carry on,” she said with a wave of her meaty hand.

  “You need to learn our protocol,” Heller said with a leer on his face. He then dropped a packet on the table. “You must read it now,” he ordered.

  “The whole thing?” the supreme leader blustered.

  “I’d start with the fourth page,” he advised. Barbara Behl extracted her glasses from the inside of her jacket. She took her time cleaning them and finally perched them on her big nose. She picked up the packet and started to thumb through the pages. Heller needed to stall for time and she fell for the trick.

  As soon as the lawyer was finished, he picked up his
briefcase and headed out the door. “See you all soon,” he yelled with a wave of his hand.

  He immediately ran down the hall followed by a bodyguard, and zipped pass the four startled men in the front living room. He passed through the small foyer and threw open the front door like there was a fire in the house. He intended to get away as fast as possible. The bodyguard quickly accessed a control panel and opened the front gate. This deactivated the many sensors outside around the house. The bodyguard set the timer for five minutes. The gate would then close automatically and the sensors would reactivate. He then hustled back to the meeting room as he didn’t want to miss the fun.

  The lawyer’s Mercedes was only five steps away. His was thinking about buying a new car with all the money he would be making as he got in and quickly headed down the long driveway. He blasted past the stone pillars that marked the end of property. The metal gate was already open to allow him to pass. He was so engrossed in his thinking that he never noticed the dark van sitting by the side of the road just outside the entrance.

  ***

  “We go now, while the gate is still open,” Zao Ping yelled in Chinese to Wang Ho. The professor immediately started the car and sped through the gate, just as it started to close. He raced up to the front door and skidded to a stop. Zao Ping and his five other men poured out.

  To his men Zao Ping said, “Remember to kill them all once we have the artifact, but not before. We may need to persuade someone to tell us where it is.”

  “We will keep at least one alive,” responded one of his men.

  “You stay in the van with the motor running,” he ordered Wang Ho. The professor was only too happy to oblige.

  ***

  Meanwhile, back in the meeting room, Heller moved near the entrance door of the meeting room. Shortly, there was a soft knock and Heller let in his bodyguard. Barbara Behl was distracted as she continued to read page four of the packet. A small bead of sweat suddenly appeared on her brow. She shifted in her seat as if it was uncomfortable. The bodyguard moved to a position directly behind her and handed Heller the artifact. He set it on the table in front of the supreme leader. She glanced up at the artifact, but was too busy attempting to understand what was written in front of her to comprehend the meaning.

  “Let’s get the rest of the meeting started,” Heller announced as he clapped his hands. The three old men nodded. They had a determined look and stared at Barbara Behl.

  “I’m not quite finished reading,” she whined. “I’m not sure I understand what this page says?”

  “That’s okay, I’ll fill in the blanks for you,” Heller offered jovially.

  “But you must have told me to read the wrong page number,” Barbara insisted.

  “I don’t think so,” Heller said sincerely with open arms.

  “This page is all about treason. Why do I need to know about treason to the Effort?” Barbara Behl asked.

  Suddenly vicious, Heller backhanded her and knocked her glasses to the floor. “Because, you stupid bitch, you have already done it.”

  The three old men pointed their canes at her and also yelled, “treason, yes, treason, you have committed treason.”

  “How? How have I committed treason?” she said defensively. “I’ve never done anything to hurt the cause. I love the Effort.”

  She raised her hand to her face to feel where she had been hit. It only heightened Heller’s angry. He now landed a roundhouse to her ample stomach. The old men watched with smiles on their faces as her eyes bulged from the impact. Before she could recover, Heller nodded towards his bodyguard. He grabbed her arms, pulled them behind her back, and cuffed her in plastic zip cuffs. The cuffs were lined on the inside with foam to prevent making any marks.

  “You can’t do this to me,” she screamed. “I’m the supreme leader.”

  “No, you are not,” Heller patiently replied. “We never took a final vote. You’re just another member of the inner circle. Therefore you are subject to the rules of the inner circle, and you have committed treason. According to the bylaws, you must be put to death.”

  “Stop it David, you can’t get away with this,” Dr. Behl ordered. “You can’t prove that I committed treason, anyway.” Her logic sounded weak to everyone in the room including her.

  “Shut her up,” Heller commanded.

  Heller’s bodyguard immediately placed duct tape over her mouth, she could no longer speak, but she tried anyway.

  “You attempted to sell our artifact to the Chinese for a huge amount of money. It was for your personal gain. All of us in this room call that treason.”

  “Treason, treason,” yelled the old men.

  The horror of what was happening finally reached the brain of Barbara Behl. She realized she would never be able to spend any of her new inheritance. It was all going to the Effort once she was dead. She also realized that Heller had planned all this once he knew her grandfather was going to die.

  “The four men of your team are going to take you home now and stay with you for a few days while we decide what to do with you Dr. Behl. I’d advise you to cooperate fully with them,” Heller said like a judge. Heller once again motioned to his bodyguard. He left to collect the four men from the living room.

  “Nice seeing you again Barby,” one of the old men said as he moved to her side. “You have annoyed us for the last time.”

  “What have you got to say to that?” He held up the artifact and pushed it against her now crying face.

  But Dr. Behl had been gagged and could not respond.

  Chapter Thirty-Nine

  Loni, Maya, and Tom were all crowded outside, just below the windowsill, and could hear everything that was said.

  Loni whispered into her earpiece. “Looks like they intend to do away with Dr. Behl and take her money.”

  “Those are Nazis for you,” Tom said. “They don’t trust anyone and are always trying to eliminate the competition.”

  “These guys need to go down,” Maya added shaking her head.

  Suddenly, all their earpieces erupted. “Loni, the Chinese are at the front door. Get out now,” Banyon screamed.

  “No, not yet,” she shot back. “I want the artifact. It is only a few feet away from me right now.”

  “But there is going to be a blood bath and I don’t want you in the middle of it,” Banyon came back urgently.

  “We are staying a few more minutes,” she replied forcefully as she looked at the two people with her. They nodded their heads yes.

  ***

  Heller’s bodyguard had just reached the corner of the hallway near the front of the house when the front door crashed open. He immediately drew his gun. “Intruders,” he yelled into his hand held communications device.

  The four men waiting for the bodyguard were seated on the couch facing away from the front door. They sprang to their feet and assumed defensive positions. It was just in time to see six Chinese madmen come flying through the air like missiles straight at them. It was like a tidal wave of human flesh, smashing through lamps, tables, and sweeping them aside. The Chinese were on them quickly and hand to hand fighting ensued. The four Homeland Security men were superbly trained and could defend themselves one on one, but this was six on four. Soon it was six on three.

  The crack of a handgun suddenly filled the air and one of the Chinamen went down with a bullet hole in his side. Heller’s bodyguard could see the remaining three Effort men would not last long and his job was to protect Heller. He fired one more time but missed. He then sprinted down the hallway to the meeting room yelling into his communication device.

  Alarms suddenly went off everywhere in the house. The police were automatically called by the system. A call was also placed by one of the other bodyguards for backup Effort people. They were only five minutes away, but five minutes was a long time when you’re in the middle of a firefight.

  Inside the meeting room, the old men were in a state of panic. Heller stood in stunned disbelief. His first thought was that Barbara Behl ha
d set a trap. He was trying to figure out how she had done it, when the door to the meeting room flew open and several of the bodyguards rushed in.

  “Panic room,” ordered one of the men. “It’s in Fogel’s bedroom next door.” He pointed the way. The old men pushed and shoved their way from the room. Heller was first. Everyone was gone except Barbara Behl, who could not get up from the chair as much as she tried. Her face was red from exertion and she was screaming at the top of her lungs even though only a muffled sound came out of her lips. But she could not get up and leave the table.

  She suddenly heard the sound of a window opening and realized some madman would be slitting her throat in just a few seconds. Her eyes widened in horror. She watched as the drapes bellowed and belched out a small black figure that flew into the room and landed softly on her feet, just like a cat. Her long hair trailed her and then settled around her black clad frame. She was grinning.

  Loni quickly turned to the drapes and opened them so that Maya and Tom could provide cover. She could hear the sound of many guns firing just outside, in the hallway. As she kept a sharp eye on the door opening, she crossed the room and grabbed the artifact. She stuffed it into her black side bag and headed back to the window.

  “Good to see you again, Dr. Behl,” she said. “I can’t stay and chat. Good luck with the Chinese. They are all killers by the way.” She had already swung one shapely leg over the windowsill when she suddenly looked back at Barbara Behl.

  Loni thought for a second and then spoke. “Do you want to live?” she asked.

  Dr. Behl was violently shaking her head yes.

  “You’ll need to give up all you know about the Effort.”

  Dr. Behl suddenly shook her head no, but pleaded with her eyes.

  “You’ll still be rich,” Loni said. “Hurry, you don’t have time to think of another way out. It’s either come with us or you die.” When Dr. Behl didn’t react Loni shrugged and began slipping out the window.