A Dubious Artifact (A Colton Banyon Mystery Book 6)

by Gerald J Kubicki

  Dr. Behl was so scared she shook violently, broke the chair and fell to the floor. She was shaking her head yes like a piston machine. Loni noticed and deftly climbed back into the room. She went to help her up.

  “Hurry,” Maya said quickly. “Colt says that the Chinese are just down the hall and closing fast.”

  Loni kicked the door to the meeting room shut and propelled Barbara Behl towards the window. There was no climbing out for her. Loni shoved her through the open space and she landed face first on the wet ground. Loni followed with a perfect dive and rolled into the standing position.

  “You guys help her to the wall,” Loni ordered. “I’ll hold them off for as long as I can, then I’m sprinting all the way.”

  Tom and Maya grabbed the women between them and started for the wall. She was still cuffed and had duct tape on her mouth. She could not move very fast, but she at least, made an effort to run. Loni watched them take off wondering if she could hold off the Chinese long enough for the good doctor to get away. She also wondered why she had bothered to save the evil woman. Is it my impulsive nature again?

  “Loni, why aren’t you heading back?” Banyon screamed into her earpiece.

  “We are bringing out the supreme leader of the Effort,” she replied. “Maya and Tom need some time to get her to the wall. I’m going to give it to them.”

  Banyon knew better then to argue with her, so he decided to help. “The Chinese know the artifact is in the meeting room. One of the bodyguards gave it up before he was strangled. There are only two bodyguards left. Then the Chinese will kick in the door, so be ready. There are five of them.”

  “Got you,” she replied as she aimed her gun over the windowsill. There was still a large gun battle going on outside the room. Loni could hear it clearly, but there seemed to be less guns firing.

  Banyon and Agent Gamble moved down the wall so that they could be directly in front of the window. The wall was a little lower in that section, however it still provided good protection. There were more trees and bushes between them and the window, but they still had perfect sight lines for firing. Tom and May headed straight for them with Dr. Behl firmly in tow. They were about a third of the way there when the Chinese reached the meeting room.

  Chapter Forty

  Loni stood at the window, her legs apart, and her arms extended. She was ready to fire her gun. Her eyes were focused on the door handle. As soon as it started to slowly move, she fired one shot. The bullet hole appeared two inches to the left of the handle and two inches above it. It was right where she had aimed. She heard a scream as the man who was attempting to open the door went down. And now there is one less, she calmly thought.

  Suddenly, the house was deadly quiet. Loni braced for the onslaught. She knew that next someone would kick open the door and dive for cover. Then another man would lay down covering fire to pin her down, and then the last man would come in running with guns blazing. She figured it was time to run. She quickly turned her head and saw that Dr. Behl was about two thirds of the way to the wall. Turning back, she quickly fired two more shots at the door. She then turned and ran.

  The door splintered open just as Loni turned to run. Zao Ping rushed into the room and realized it was empty. He ran to the open window and spied four people running across the tree-lined lawn. A small woman dressed in black was very close. He knew he could run her down and leaped through the open window. His three men followed.

  Loni was already running in full afterburner. She weaved and dodged around the many trees and didn’t present an easy target for a bullet, but Zao Ping was also an expert runner and ran in a straight line. In just a few seconds he had closed the gap between them. He was just three steps behind her now. Loni felt like she was a gazelle being chased by a lion. No matter how much she weaved, he just kept coming. She considered stopping and fighting, but was sure he was a trained killer and was much bigger then she was. She would not stand a chance against him. He was only one step behind now and was reaching out with his hand for her hair. In just a few more seconds, he would be on her.

  Dr. Behl was in the process of going over the wall. Tom and Maya somehow managed to get the rotund woman up on the four foot high wall. She looked like humpty dumpty sitting on the very top. Maya had no patience and shoved her, causing her to fall. She hit the ground with a loud thud and whimpered in pain. Tom and Maya quickly followed her and were now safe behind the structure

  Banyon and Agent Gamble trained their guns on Zao Ping, but were afraid to take a shot for fear of hitting Loni. Banyon asked for an update from Wolf.

  “More Effort people just passed the gate,” Wolf replied. “They have grabbed the Chinese man in the van and are pouring into the house. They will find the Chinese soon. You need to run for it.”

  “Loni,” Banyon spoke into the earpiece. Dr. Behl is safe and there are more bad guys in the house.”

  “I’m coming,” she said.

  Zao Ping could feel Loni’s long hair touching his fingers. He was ready to grab some hair and pull her down. Then he would teach her how brutal he could be. Suddenly, she pulled away from him. It was like she had another gear. Loni was a long distance runner and now went into her finishing kick. Zao Ping was a sprinter and had nothing more in the tank. He quickly fell behind.

  “Fire,” Agent Gamble yelled. The four people against the wall began shooting at the four Chinese men trapped in the back yard. Zao Ping took a bullet in his upper thigh and tumbled to the ground rolling behind a tree. His remaining men opened fire on the run, but soon had to take cover behind trees. They turned away from the steady flow of hot lead from the wall, and headed back to the window in the house just as Loni gracefully leaped over the wall and directly into Banyon’s arms. He held her in a tight bear hug.

  He could tell she was out of energy and her heart was beating very fast as she gripped him tightly. “Get me out of here before I break a nail,” she quipped.

  “Do you have the artifact?” Banyon asked softly.

  She pulled it out of the side bag and held it above her head for everyone to see, but they were busy shooting at the Chinese men.

  “Alright, let’s get out of here before more bad things happen,” Banyon yelled. He could already hear the sound of many sirens in the distance. The police were coming and they didn’t want to be detained.

  “We need to keep the Chinese from chasing us,” Tom said. “You guys get going and I’ll keep them in the yard for a while. Then I’ll catch up.”

  Everyone agreed that it was a good plan. Agent Gamble and Banyon dragged the still bound Dr. Behl into the mist, with Loni and Maya trailing and watching for trouble at every turn.

  Tom fired at the Chinese whenever they looked back towards the wall. It forced them to reverse direction and run for the window. Suddenly, several dark shapes appeared in the house window and started firing at the three remaining Chinese men. They were now caught in a cross-fire. They headed left towards the center of the house, but the downstairs patio door opened and three men with machine guns took up positions behind furniture and opened fire. The Chinese now acted like a pinball and headed back towards Tom’s position. Tom fired three more shots and then took off on a run for the van. As he headed into the mist, he heard the unmistakable screams of three men being shot. Suddenly all was quiet.

  Chapter Forty-One

  Zao Ping was not dead. He laid flat in the deep grass just behind a tree. The bullet wound was not too bad, it had just winged his thigh, and he had quietly applied a tourniquet made from part of his shirt. He was however, afraid to move. The back of the house was now lit up like a basketball court and several men were checking the dead bodies of his men and searching for anyone hiding in the big yard. One was just a few yards away from his position. Zao Ping was just beyond the reach of strong lights and darkness was his friend. He was going to be forced to do something very soon. He quietly opened his switchblade and waited.

  As the man drew near, Zao Ping suddenly lunged upward and buried the knif
e in the man’s neck. He went down without a sound. Zao Ping immediately rose to his feet grabbed his gun and ran to the wall. He flipped over and out of sight before any Effort men sensed the movement.

  He quickly opened his phone and placed a call. The man answered in Chinese. He was Zao Ping’s backup plan. Zao Ping had expected all of his men to die. Any left alive at the end of the mission would have died anyway, by Zao Ping’s hand. He didn’t want anybody left that could identify him, or the treasure he expected to gather. The man he talked to was just one block away with the motor running in his Japanese car. Zao Ping’s plan had been to have the man pick him up, but now Zao Ping had another plan.

  He had studied the plans for the house and the surrounding area. He knew about the woodlands behind the estate and identified it as a potential pick up area. He had decided against the woodlands as there was only one entrance and exit. He also knew the small woman, whom he was sure had the artifact, had headed that way.

  “Get to the exit from the woodlands in the back of the estate,” he barked into the phone in staccato Chinese.

  “I’m on my way. I will be there in two minutes,” the man replied as he put the car in gear. “Are you hurt?”

  “Don’t worry about me. There will be a large vehicle with several people that will soon exit the woodlands. Follow them.”

  “Why?”

  “Do as you are told,” Zao Ping ordered in an icy cold voice. “Do not lose them,” Zao Ping threatened. “I need to know where they are headed. They have something that I must have.”

  “But what about you?” the man asked.

  “Call a second car and have them meet me at the same exit in ten minutes.” Zao Ping then closed the phone and began limping towards the pickup area.

  Chapter Forty-Two

  Agent Gamble was the last person to fit into the car. He crowded himself behind the wheel and slammed the door. He then started the engine. The road ahead of him was not only dark, but the thick fog made it hard to see more than a few feet in front of the headlights. He leaned forward so that he could concentrate better. The drive would be slow until they got away from the wetlands and onto the highway.

  Banyon was already busy thinking. He knew he should check in with Wolf one more time, but Tom and Dr. Behl were in the car. He didn’t need for anyone else to know about Wolf, so he decided to ask for an update later. If he had asked for an update, he would have uncovered Zao Ping’s plan.

  “Wow, that was close,” Loni said as she snuggled deeper into Banyon’s lap on the front seat of the car. “But I had fun.”

  “I thought the Chinese guy was going to catch you,” Banyon admitted.

  “I was just toying with him,” she said as she turned and looked into his eyes. “I wanted to give Tom and Maya enough time to get Dr. Behl over the wall. She wouldn’t do us any good if she was dead.”

  Dr. Behl perked up when she heard her name. She finally understood that Loni had saved her from being a victim of the Effort.

  Everyone was starting to relax after the mission. Agent Gamble looked at Loni and jovially said, “It is illegal for you to be sitting on his lap in the front seat, little lady.”

  “So arrest me,” she teased and held out her arms. “You might want to add breaking and entering, theft, and assault with a deadly weapon to the charges as well.”

  “Maybe later,” he replied as his eyes stayed glued to the road.

  Dr. Behl took up most of the back seat and Maya had to sit on Tom’s lap, much to his delight. Agent Gamble’s car was loaded to the hilt. The car was also loaded with the smells of the battle, adrenaline, sweat, dirt, grime, and fear. A slight smell of cordite stuck to everyone’s clothing.

  “But we got the artifact back,” Loni announced as she proudly brought it out from her pouch for everyone to see.

  “And we started World War III,” Tom throw out.

  “We didn’t start it, Tom,” Maya scolded him. “The Chinese were the ones that invaded the house.”

  “Where are we going?” Banyon asked. “I don’t think it is a good idea to return to my house until this gets sorted out,” he reasoned.

  “Oh, we aren’t headed to your house, ole buddy. We are headed to a FBI safe house up in Wisconsin. I need to interrogate Dr. Behl. Both the Chinese and the Effort know we have her and the artifact. They will be searching for all of us.”

  “But the Chinese are all dead,” Maya reminded him.

  “Never count those guys out until the fat lady sings,” Agent Gamble replied with a well-known cliché.

  “Greg, how far is it to the safe house?” Maya quickly asked.

  “It’ll take about three hours to get there. I’ll make some calls so we can be set up with food and supplies.”

  “Can’t we at least stop and get a change of clothes?” Loni protested as she realized how long it would be.

  “We could also pick up one of our cars for the trip,” Banyon stated. “That way we wouldn’t be so cramped.”

  “Our house is just minutes off of the highway. We could do a quick in and out,” Loni pleaded like a teenager.

  “And I don’t think that Tom will be very happy to have me squirming on his lap for that long,” Maya added as she noticed a look of disappointment on Tom’s face.

  “Come on Daddy, can we stop? I have to go pee,” Loni said like a small child as she grabbed her crotch.

  “Okay, but we are only stopping for ten minutes,” Agent Gamble said as he considered Maya’s statement.

  “Road trip,” Loni suddenly exclaimed with a smile on her face. “We also need to stop and get some hamburgers too.”

  “I’m starving,” Banyon added.

  Dr. Behl sat silently in the back. She realized that these people were more fun to be around than anyone else that she knew. I hope that they get me some hamburgers too, she thought.

  Suddenly, Banyon’s phone rang. Loni lifted herself off of his lap so that he could pull it from his pocket. “Colton Banyon,” he began.

  “Colt, It’s Previne,” he heard her brightly proclaim. He immediately hit the speaker button so everyone could here.

  “Where are you?” he asked.

  “We’re at your house, but alas, you are not here. Eric and Pramilla are also here, they are on speakerphone. Where are you?”

  “Actually we are only about twenty-five minutes away and headed to the house,” Banyon told her.

  “Oh, goodie, so we can party?” Previne exclaimed.

  “Hardly,” he replied. “We did get the artifact back tonight and we also have Dr. Barbara Behl,” Banyon continued.

  “Who?”

  “You would remember her as Dr. Carol Thorne,” Banyon informed her. “She is in the car with us.”

  “Oh,” Previne said as she recalled what Maya had told her and her sister about Dr. Carol Thorne.

  “Previne, we need to head to a FBI safe house up in Wisconsin for a few days while this all gets sorted out. You guys don’t have to go…”

  She cut him off. “We’re coming with you guys. We didn’t travel across half the earth to see you for only twenty minutes. Besides, I want to get a closer look at the artifact.” Banyon looked at Agent Gamble who reluctantly nodded his head.

  “Okay, see you in a few minutes.”

  “I’m so excited,” Maya gushed.

  “Don’t be too excited Maya,” Agent Gamble spoke to her as he watched her reaction from the review mirror. “It’s not a resort house. The accommodations are pretty sparse. There are only bunk beds.”

  “Can we have an outside bonfire?” Loni asked. “Maybe some hot dogs and marsh mellows too?”

  “I don’t know,” Banyon said, “But at least we will all be together.”

  By now, Agent Gamble had turned out of the woodlands, but had failed to notice a dark Japanese model car that fell in behind him.

  Chapter Forty-Three

  Meanwhile, back at Henry Fogel’s estate things were bad and getting worse by the minute. The additional Effort men had secured
the house, but that was about the only good thing to happen. Everything else was bad news.

  “Someone’s coming,” a lookout yelled. Several men blended into the woodwork. They decided to ambush the new arrivals.

  A long black funeral wagon came through the open gate and up the driveway. The driver found six cars parked helter skelter near the front entrance of the building. They had to wade around the cars to enter the building. When the driver and his helper reached the front door, they found it had been smashed in. They walked into the foyer and finally into the large living room. There they saw carnage everywhere. The driver counted five bodies strewn across the big room. He realized that something was not right. He motioned for the helper to back out slowly, but felt the business end of a machine gun suddenly pushed against his back.

  They were quickly turned around. “Who are you?” the tough looking man asked.

  “We’re here to pick up a body. The funeral home sent us, honest. We just don’t know which body it is?” The driver said as he looked about the room. “Oh, wait his name is Henry Fogel. Which one of these is him?”

  “Sit down on the couch and wait,” the tough looking man ordered. He then nodded to another man who had suddenly appeared. The man went down the hallway.

  Inside Fogel’s bedroom, the panic room door opened and Heller, the three old men, and Heller’s bodyguard stumbled out and over several bodies as they left the small room. Heller looked about the room and saw several dead Effort men. He also noticed a Chinese man in cuffs and a gag near the wall.

  “What the hell happened?” he demanded.

  “Some Chinese punks broke in,” Joe one of the new men said. “They must have been after something?”

  “Where are they?” Heller screamed. “I want to kill them all.”

  “We got the last three of them in the back yard,” the man replied. “We found two more dead in the house.