A Dubious Artifact (A Colton Banyon Mystery Book 6)

by Gerald J Kubicki

  “Loni, hold it. Wolf says that he has something to give to me,” Banyon told her. She then stood back up, but kept her gun pointed at the man. He approached with his hands in the air, but was far enough away for Banyon to finish his questions with Wolf.

  “Why let Dr. Behl go?”

  “She has already given up all she knows about the Effort. The information has been passed on by Greg and Tom to their respective headquarters. And don’t overestimate her, under interrogation, she will crack and start talking about how you always seem to know things and seem to talk to someone. It will only lead to an advanced interrogation of you. Make believe she escaped. Her plan is to disappear — let her do that.”

  “Why let the Chinaman go?”

  “He is essential to taking Spitz down.”

  “But we have no information and no plan,” Banyon said in frustration. “How are we to get away from the police?”

  “This is a long desolate lake. Once you leave the dock, turn south and go to the very end of the lake. You will find a boat slip. There will be a man named Paul Reynolds waiting there for you. You will be long gone before the police get there. He will take you to his house and you can rest up and put together your plan.”

  “Do we need everyone tonight?”

  “Yes.”

  “But what about the FBI? They will be looking for us.”

  “I have a strategy for that, when the time comes,” Wolf replied.

  “You are a devious old man,” Banyon said as he shook his head.

  “You should have known me when I was alive,” the spirit answered.

  Part Six

  Albert Spitz

  Chapter Seventy-Two

  As the man walked slowly down the hill with his hands up, Banyon called out to the people in the boat house. “Joe, can you come out please.”

  Joe painfully opened the door and staggered over to Banyon. The rest of the group peered out the door. “What’s up?” Then he spied the man walking down the hill towards them. “Want me to rough him up a bit?” he gamely asked.

  “We don’t need to be protected any longer. I’m pretty sure you are anxious to get back to the log cabin and help clean things up. You’ll get medical attention quicker as well,” Banyon told the big man. “One more thing,” Banyon added.

  “What’s that?”

  “Let the prisoner in the house go,” Banyon said.

  “Why?”

  “He will lead us to the person responsible for this mess,” Banyon quickly replied.

  “Are you sure?”

  “It’s the only way to get to him.”

  “I’ll have to do some lying to get him out,” Joe reasoned.

  “But you will do it, right?”

  Joe nodded his head. “I owe Greg that.”

  “What about this new guy?” Joe pointed at the man that was now less than ten feet away.

  “He is coming with us,” Banyon flatly stated.

  “Are you sure?”

  “Just keep the FBI off our backs for a few minutes, would you?”

  “Why?” the confused Joe asked.

  “We are going after the man that got Agent Gamble killed,” Banyon said through gritted teeth. “You understand revenge don’t you?”

  “Yes, he does,” Eric quickly said as he gave Joe a hard stare. He had seen Joe take revenge on Zao Ping.

  “But the FBI will be after you.”

  “We will turn ourselves in for questioning when we have finished this last task,” Banyon swore to Joe.

  “Make sure he suffers,” Joe said as he started up the hill jogging with new strength.

  Chapter Seventy-Three

  Banyon stood facing the man. He was about two feet away and had stopped walking. The rest of the group poured out of the boat house and now took up positions behind him. They all still had their machine guns and held them at the ready.

  “Close enough,” Loni said. Her gun was aimed at his chest.

  “If you are Colton Banyon, I believe I have something to give you,” the man said unafraid.

  “How do you know my name?” Banyon asked.

  “A ghost told me to come here and find you. The ghost told me I would die if I didn’t listen. The ghost also told me to give you this.” The man held out his hand. It contained a cellphone. Loni snatched it and started playing with the buttons.

  “When did the ghost talk to you?”

  “The ghost first talked to me last night at Fogel’s house. The ghost told me to grab the cellphone from Albert Spitz’s dead bodyguard in the house.”

  “But you heard from him again?” Banyon asked.

  “I did, just a few minutes ago. I heard the voice again. It said to find you fast and gave me directions. I wasn’t going to argue.”

  Loni’s head suddenly snapped up. “Colt, I saw two men come into the office last night. One took several pictures of the artifact,” she remembered. She then quickly accessed the picture application on the phone and showed him pictures of the artifact.

  “He sent the pictures to Albert Spitz. He didn’t think that I noticed,” the man replied.

  Banyon quickly realized that Spitz now had the means to translate the formulas on the artifact. That was what Wolf was explaining to him. “But, you are a member of the Effort, why would you help us?”

  “I am not and never have been a member of any group including the Effort. I am a hired bodyguard. I protect, not kill people,” the man smoothly answered.

  “So, why are you with these people?” Eric asked.

  “David Heller paid me over a half a million dollars to protect him, which I did. I had nothing to do with any of the plans to attack the safe house. Nor did I fire a single shot during the battle.”

  “But you were there and even cuffed my hands last night,” Dr. Behl said.

  “For half a million dollars, I’ll do many things,” he easily replied. “But killing isn’t one of them. I protect rich people. Not all of them are nice, or even ethical.” He raised his eyebrows as he said it.

  “What about Heller?”

  “I am currently unemployed. Heller is dead. I have no loyalties to anyone inside the Effort. Some of my buddies died last night too. They were also bodyguards and good men, not criminals.”

  “What did the voice sound like?” Banyon asked out of curiosity.

  “It was my long dead mother,” the man replied. Banyon was shocked by the response. “She has talked to me before,” he added.

  Banyon thought about his next move. He could just leave the man here on the dock, or he could give him a sporting chance to get away. “Okay, we will take you with us,” Banyon said as he motioned everyone back into the boat house.

  Soon, they were on the water. Banyon had grown up on the ocean and knew how to pilot a boat. He expertly maneuvered through some small islands and sand bars and could see the end of the lake quickly approaching. He knew it was time to shed his unwanted passengers — Dr. Behl and the now silent bodyguard.

  “Dr. Behl, I’m going to let you escape when we reach the end of the lake, you’re not coming with us,” he said to her.

  “But I don’t want to be separated from you guys. I like you,” she whined. “Loni saved my life.”

  “If you stay with us, eventually, we will have to turn ourselves in to the FBI. They will have a lot of questions for you and probably will charge you with several crimes. You will be locked up for a long time.”

  “But what will I do, where will I go?”

  “I heard you tell Agent Gamble that you intended to disappear. Tell me you will keep your word.”

  “I’m not used to being on my own,” she struggled to say.

  “Maybe the bodyguard will help you,” Banyon told her. “He is currently unemployed and looking to protect someone. You have plenty of money,” Banyon reasoned.

  She said nothing for a few moments and the turned to the man. “I’ll pay you one million dollars to get me to someplace safe and out of this mess. How about it?”

  “You
just hired the best bodyguard in the business,” he said with a smile and put out his hand. Dr. Behl shook it vigorously.

  “I do have one question?” she added.

  “What’s that?”

  “What’s your name?”

  “It’s Carl, Carl Reynolds,” he replied. Banyon turned and looked at him with a stunned look.

  “The man we are meeting at the boat slip is named Reynolds,” he managed.

  “Then it will be my dad who is meeting us.”

  Chapter Seventy-Four

  As it turned out, it actually was Carl’s father that met them at the boat slip. Banyon ran the boat up onto the concrete slip and they all piled out. A rail-thin man of about seventy years popped out of a big, new, white van. He had sunken eyes, gaunt features, and a two day old white beard. He wore bib overalls over a flannel shirt. He walked stooped over, but he hustled over to the group.

  “Better hurry,” he croaked. “Cops could be here any minute,” he said in a country twang. He then stepped up to his son and gave him a big hug.

  “Son, you’ve gotten so big,” he exclaimed.

  “Good to see you dad,” Carl said.

  “Been too long,” the old man replied as he ushered the group into the back of the van and closed the doors. “Ride up front with me, will ya?”

  “Of course dad,” Carl replied.

  They were soon speeding down a country road and away from the madness of the gun battle. Banyon was very familiar with Wisconsin, but could not identify his surroundings. “Where are we going?” Banyon asked.

  “Taken ya’ll to my farm,” the old man replied cheerfully. “I was told to protect ya and give ya some grub, then let ya’ll rest a bit. I understand that ya are leaving later. I got a rental van at the house for going out later.”

  “Who was it that told you to help us?” Banyon asked.

  “My wife did. She’s been dead for some time, ya understand, but sometimes, I heard her talking to me in my head.” He pointed to his noggin. “I always do as she asks. It’s kind of fun, ya know.”

  “And she told you to pick us up?” Banyon asked. Banyon was suddenly aware that Wolf had more resources then he had ever divulged.

  “Didn’t know that my son would be there though, haven’t seen the boy for over ten years. This here is a surprise visit.” He slapped his leg in excitement. “We got some catching up to do, don’t we son?”

  “I didn’t know it either,” Carl added. “But we’ll have enough time to talk at the house, dad,” the bodyguard promised him.

  “Can’t ask no questions about what is going on though,” the old man threw out. “Can’t tell you about what I been doing neither,” he shook his head to say no. “It’s against the rules,” Paul explained.

  “Why not?” The son was puzzled.

  “These are my only instructions.” Paul said this as he swerved around a death raccoon in the road. “I gotta watch out for deer in the road. Could mess up this here new van pretty bad ya know. We’ll talk later,” he promised his son.

  ***

  Loni and Banyon were seated on the floor directly behind the younger Reynolds. They had chosen the spot so they could hear the conversation between the two men. She had slid in between his legs and rested her head on his broad chest. Banyon could tell she was exhausted. But she had some questions.

  “Colt, what’s going on here? Why didn’t Wolf speak to these men? Is it a coincidence that father and son show up in the same place during all of this?” She whispered into his ear. He looked around and saw everyone else asleep except for Maya who was sobbing quietly in the back of the van.

  “I’m about to find out,” he promised her. “Wolf, are you there?” Banyon said in a whisper.

  “I knew you were curious,” the spirit quickly replied.

  “Why have you put us in the hands of Paul Reynolds?”

  “I needed to put him in touch with his son.”

  “That is the reason?” Banyon asked incredulously. “Why put the son and father together now?”

  “Paul is dying. He wanted to see his son one more time. So, you could say that I killed two birds with one stone.”

  “But they both have said that their ghost is a woman. Who is the woman? Is that you in some sort of disguise?”

  “I have several friends up here. One of them is Paul’s wife. She has been here for much longer that I have. Her name is Marcy. We help each other, actually.”

  “Why is she there?”

  “Marcy was a full blooded Chippewa Indian. She was the last of a long line of medicine men for the Chippewa. They had many powers, just like a Sharman did in India. When she learned she was dying, she cast a curse on herself. That’s why she is still here. She, like me, will be here until her curse is complete.”

  “What is her curse?”

  “Her curse is to help restore Indian lands, in the Mid-West, to the Indian tribes. Paul helps her when she needs him.”

  Banyon suddenly realized that there were many curses and many spirits floating around somewhere and all pushing their own agendas. “Can she do the same things that you do?” Banyon asked.

  “Everyone here has the same abilities to see the past, and all of us can speak to living people. That is how we get things done.”

  “And sometimes you help each other, right?”

  “You now understand,” the spirit replied. “Now you must rest up for tonight. You need to get to Spitz before midnight.”

  “Are we to kill him?”

  “I have never asked you to kill anyone. You just need to steal the pictures from his cellphone and free the Chinaman. I will take care of the rest.”

  “What rest?”

  “He will die tonight, but not by your hand. Someone else will be more than happy to end his miserable life.”

  “Who?”

  “Read the papers tomorrow, you’ll know then.”

  “Is that why we must steal the pictures before midnight? So they won’t get into the hands of someone else?”

  “Precisely,” the spirit replied.

  “Why have you picked midnight?”

  “If he translates the formulas, Albert Spitz will have become untouchable to you. He intends to do it after mid-night tonight.”

  As Banyon was explaining what Wolf had said to Loni, they heard. “Okay, folks, here we are.”

  Chapter Seventy-Five

  Everyone was taking a nap except Loni. She was hard at work on her fancy I-phone pulling down the data Wolf had sent her. She then read it. Paul didn’t have a computer so this was the best she could do. She worked quickly utilizing her petite thumbs to press the small buttons.

  Paul Reynolds had been a gracious host. While his house was small, he managed to find a place for everyone to sleep. He, Carl, and Dr. Behl stayed in the kitchen and prepared a roast turkey with all the fixings for dinner. Banyon told them, before he went to take a nap; he wanted to leave by seven-thirty that night. Paul said he could rustle up a turkey for dinner and promptly left by the kitchen door. A half hour later, he returned with a plucked turkey that had been alive when Paul left the kitchen. It was in the oven ten minutes later.

  ***

  The first thing that Loni looked at were two pictures. The first was of a man named Werner Alder. It was taken in January of 1945. He was standing proudly in a Nazi uniform with a woman next to him. The second was a picture of Albert Spitz, taken in June of 1950. He was in swimming trunks on a beach. The Chicago skyline was visible in the background. She could easily see the pictures were of the same man.

  She didn’t have to read very much about Albert Spitz. She knew he was a major land developer in the Chicago area. He was not a member of the billionaires club, but he was close. She also knew he had been indicted several times on charges of bribery and coercion. However, he seemed to slip through the indictments and continued to prosper. His business practices were very shady. He lived with his son Harold, who was now President of Albert’s company. One of the articles listed his address as bein
g in South Barrington, Illinois. That’s where we live, she realized.

  There were several more articles about Werner Alder. The most telling one was a U.S. Army report done shortly after the end of the war. The report, written in a sprawling script, included many eye witness statements from former prisoners of Auschwitz. From all the statements, Loni was able to piece together a little about Werner Alder. It wasn’t good.

  His father was one of the early members of the Nazi party, joining in 1924. He was a Major in the German army when Poland was invaded in 1939. He took his son, then fourteen, with him. It was in Poland that Werner killed his first Jew. Many prisoners reported that he often talked about the killing as he guarded the prisoners. He told them the woman, about the age of his mother, had broken away from a group of Jews they had captured. Walter went after her and hunted her down like a deer in the forest. He often bragged that he killed his first Jew woman before he’d lost his virginity. That soon changed. He began hunting Jewish woman down regularly and often raped them before putting a bullet in their heads.

  At the age of sixteen, with the help of his father, Walter joined the SS. His father wanted him away from the Eastern Front, where the father served and soon died. Werner was eventually made a guard at one of the many concentration camps that were popping up in Poland. At the camp, he became known as “the one time Kraut”. That was because it became his job to pick prisoners for the many medical experiments conducted at the camps.

  When he came into the yard and choose someone, the person, usually a woman, were never seen again. Many prisoners reported the building where he took them to prepare them for the experiments was just outside the fence and anyone near the wire could hear many screams of agony and horror. Werner Alder had moved on to become a sadist.

  Near the end of the war, one prisoner reported that he had heard Werner telling another guard that he had an escape plan and would be heading to America, it was all arranged. The next day Werner Alder disappeared.