***
After reading the report, Loni dropped the phone in disgust. She decided to wait until the team was headed back to Chicago before telling them the information. It would certainly motivate the group to complete their task. She now wondered about life without Greg Gamble. He was the contact to vast government resources and the point man for dismantling the Effort. He was also their friend. He will be missed, she sadly decided. Maya had recently moved to Chicago to be with him and, like Pramilla, had become a nonissue in sexually tempting Colt. What will happen to her now? Will she spend more time with us? How will my relationship with Colt be affected? This is very bad, she decided.
She felt a present behind her and turned to see Banyon leaning over her shoulder. “What are you doing?” he asked.
“Reading up on Albert Spitz,” she replied. “I’ll fill everyone in on the ride back to Chicago.”
“You know,” he started. “We should go to Tom’s funeral. I liked him. We are also going to have to deal with Greg’s funeral. It will be a very sad time for a while.”
“I know,” she quickly replied in her small voice.
“I think we should offer to have Maya stay with us until she figures out what she wants to do,” Banyon told her. “She was living in Greg’s condo. I’m sure she doesn’t want to go back their tonight or anytime soon.”
And so it starts, Loni thought. “Whatever you think is right for her,” she diplomatically answered. She was already fuming inside and concern grew by the second. Before she could voice her concern, a voice interrupted.
“Dinner’s ready,” Paul called out.
Chapter Seventy-Six
Everyone crowded around Paul’s small table and started to eat their fill. They were in better spirits now, joking and chattering.
“I’m going to be as slim as Paul soon,” Dr. Behl announced.
“I was a bit heavier until the disease got me,” he easily replied.
“What disease?” a suddenly alarmed son asked.
“Got the cancer,” the old man told him. “Can’t afford the treatments. That’s why I wanted to see you son.”
“Is there a treatment?” Dr. Behl asked.
“Don’t matter, I’m too poor.”
“Not anymore you’re not,” Dr. Behl quickly spoke. “Tell you what Paul. I’ll pay for all your treatments if you let me stay here for a while. Carl here, your son, is my new bodyguard and it will give you time to spend with him, as well.”
“We live a pretty sparse life on this farm. Ya’ll have to do chores,” the elder Reynolds told her.
“But I’ll lose weight, too,” she responded. “I can also go into town and change my hair. I can find a plastic surgeon and move my money and…”
“Now hold on,” Paul spoke up. “I ain’t gonna be no butler for you and I don’t take charity,” he wacked the table with his hand.
“Fine,” she stubbornly answered. “Then I’ll rent your farm for a year. Will a million dollars in rent be fair?”
“For that much money, I’ll let you have my bedroom,” the surprised old man said.
“Good then it is settled. I’m staying here for a year. Carl is still going to be my bodyguard and we are getting you treatments for your cancer starting tomorrow.”
It seemed like a good deal for everyone.
Chapter Seventy-Seven
An hour later, the team was on the road back to Chicago. Eric was driving and Pramilla sat in the front with him. Banyon and Loni were in the middle seat and Maya sat with Previne in the back.
“So, what’s the plan?” Eric asked over his shoulder.
Banyon had spoken to Wolf just before they left the farm house. “First, we are going to my house and change clothes,” he said.
“I could do with a shower,” Pramilla noted.
“Wolf told me that Spitz and his son have left home to grab the Chinese professor from the warehouse and will return around ten o’clock. So, we have some time. At around ten-fifteen we are going to walk over to Spitz’s house, it is only four blocks from mine.”
“Are we taking our guns?” Loni asked.
“Just handguns,” he replied. “When we get to the Spitz house we are going to create a diversion and then Loni will slip in to the house from the back. We will have Wolf to keep us informed and tell us where the cellphone is located.”
Suddenly, from the back seat, Maya weakly said, “I want to do it. I want to steal from that piece of shit that got Greg killed.” Banyon had told them that the RPG that killed Agent Gamble had come from Walter Spitz.
“Loni is more experienced,” Previne said to her sister.
“But I’m more motivated. You have to let me do this. It will bring a little bit of closure for me, Colt.” Maya was clearly begging.
“If you want, I’ll go with her,” Loni offered.
“I need to do this myself,” Maya said with finality.
“But you can’t kill him,” Banyon said. “That is not our job.”
“I will only steal the pictures,” she quickly answered.
“She can do it,” Eric added from the front seat.
“So, it’s settled then?” Loni asked Banyon. She was not disappointed in the least, she was happy to have someone else do the dirty work this time.
“Well, actually, there has been a change of plans,” Banyon said. Banyon had come up with a better plan than Wolf’s. His long term concern was to destroy the artifact and make it useless. He figured that unless he discredited the artifact, someone else would always hunt for it and he and Loni would have no peace. Wolf had told him that several people still knew about the artifact, including the remaining old men of the Effort’s inner circle. He needed to make sure that no one got their hands on the formula.
He then explained the new plan to all of them.
Chapter Seventy-Eight
It was about eight o’clock at night. Madame Zho How sat stoically in her jail cell. Her back was rigid and both feet were planted firmly on the floor. She stared at the wall a few feet across from her. She was not thinking about anything, she was waiting.
Soon, a guard came to her cell. “You have a visitor. You get five minutes to speak to him,” he announced and unlocked her cell. He escorted her to a small windowed room and sat her at a table. She was now dressed in a one piece orange prisoner uniform that was three sizes too large. She looked small and fragile, but determined. She waited patiently for her visitor.
Within a minute, a middle-aged, bald man in a cheap suit entered the room. He was Chinese and acted like he knew his way around the jail. He had been to the same room many times before. He was the Tong’s lawyer.
Without greeting her, he took a seat and started. “You will be free within an hour,” he whispered to her.
“What about the charges?” the stunned woman replied in Chinese.
“They will be dropped. Not enough evidence was found to convict you,” he said with raised eyebrows.
“How could that be?” she managed. “There were more than thirty guns in the vault when they arrested me.”
“They did not find any guns in the vault, according to the official report,” the lawyer replied.
“Then the police stole them,” she answered.
“Not the police. It was Homeland Security people that raided your place.”
“Then they owe me money. How will I collect it?”
Ignoring her question, the lawyer pressed on. He didn’t have much time to relay the message. “The authorities found two gold bars in the back room. They will also be returned to you tomorrow.” The lawyer said sincerely, but with a smile. The gold bars were worth around two hundred thousand dollars.
“Thank you,” she said with some happiness in her voice.
Suddenly, turning vicious, the lawyer continued. “Don’t thank me, Zho How. We are taking the money as retribution for all the men we have lost because of you.”
“What men?” she responded with concern.
“Twenty Tong members were killed
today in a shootout. They all carried weapons sold by you.”
“How do you know this?” she answered indignantly.
“One man survived, he is not Tong, but was being used to watch a safe house. When he returned to Chicago he contacted us. Zao Ping, the man who bought your guns was a spy. His people want revenge.”
Quickly assessing the situation, Zho How replied. “What is it that you would have me do to make amends?”
“You are to kill the leader of the men that killed our men,” he stated clearly. “It is the only ways you can save face and stay in our employ.” She knew that he really meant stay alive. The Tongs were all about saving face, especially to someone as powerful as the Chinese government.
“When?”
“Once you leave here, a car will pick you up and take you to his house. Use any means possible to get into his house and kill anyone there. Is that clear?”
Always a negotiator Zho How quickly asked a question. “Do I get my gold back?”
Chapter Seventy-Nine
Banyon and his team appeared to be just friends casually strolling in the neighborhood. They were all dressed in attractive clothes to look like they were coming home from a party. That was everyone except for Maya. She was in all-black spandex. She was hidden in the middle of the group. Banyon admired her sleek shape as he walked behind her. But not as good as Loni did in the same outfit, he thought. Maya was tall with long tapered legs and a lean torso. To him, she looked like a stork in the spandex.
“Let’s do an earpiece check,” Banyon said. He had given each person a number as their call sign. The numbers one through six quickly filled his earpiece. “The communications are up and running,” he said.
It was just after eleven o’clock and they were less than a block from the Spitz home. Banyon asked Wolf for and update.
“What’s the status, Wolf?” he said into the sky.
“Both men are in the study. It’s in the back of the house. There are no alarms currently set. The Chinaman is also there, but he is cuffed to a chair and gagged. The assassin is just entering a car in downtown Chicago. It will take her forty minutes to get to the house. You have time, but Spitz still has his cellphone in his pocket. Until he takes it out, you can’t get to it.
“I’ll check back as soon as we are in position,” Banyon said. He then called to Eric. “Okay do your stuff.”
Eric and Pramilla quietly left the group and ran to the big picture window beside the front door. They quickly began to pull bushes and flowers from the flowerbed in front of the window. They then went to the first window on the left side of the house and did the same. In short order, they had made a mess of the flower beds under the windows. Once they were satisfied with their work, both spoke into the earpiece. “Mission accomplished.”
“Number one you’re clear to get into position,” Banyon said. He motioned to Maya to go. Loni went with her for cover.
A short time later he heard, “Number one in position, I can see them clearly. The window is not locked, Loni has already tested it.”
“Okay, let’s start phrase two,” Banyon ordered. He and Previne walked up to the front door and were joined by Eric and Pramilla. They all held guns in one hand behind their backs, just in case.
“He has pulled out his cellphone and is looking for the pictures,” Maya spoke softly into the ear piece.
“Ring the bell now,” Banyon ordered Previne. She hit the button and held it. The ring was so loud that they all could hear it outside. It was some old world melody. Both men inside were startled, but recovered, and headed for the front door of the house.
“It worked Colt,” Loni cried out. “The old man didn’t want to lose his place, so he put the cellphone down to go to the door.”
Maya chimed in. “Be careful, they both have guns.”
***
The younger Spitz looked through the peep hole and then threw open the front door. “What do you people want? Don’t you know it is late?” he suspiciously demanded as he eyed the four people on his porch.
“We were just wondering if you have had any problems with prowlers.” Banyon affably asked.
“Why ask me that?” the man said in confusion.
“Well, we are neighbors. I live just down the street from you.” Banyon pointed in the opposite direction of his house. “We were just out for a walk when we noticed your front flower bed.”
“What about the flower bed?” Albert Spitz suddenly appeared and attempted to take a look.
“It looks like someone has tried to break into your house,” Banyon said.
“Turn on the outside light,” Spitz ordered his son.
When the light was turned on, Albert Spitz could clearly see a mess in his flower beds. Banyon and the team stepped back and both Spitz men broke from the house.
“There’s more damage around the side,” Previne said pointing. “You need to see it. We think that someone was trying to break into your house, but stopped when we came by.”
“Clear to go, number one,” Banyon quietly spoke as the men passed him.
***
Loni slid the window open and Maya stealthy entered the room. The Chinese professor was shocked. His eyes widened in terror. He tried to scream, but the gag in his mouth muted the sound. Maya looked at him as she headed to the desk and cellphone. She put her finger to her lips to quiet him.
“I’ll only be a second,” she said to him. “It would be unwise to tell Spitz that I was here if you expect to live.” That stopped him and he remained quiet.
She wore black skin-tight gloves, but was still able to manipulate the phone buttons. She soon found the pictures and deftly erased them. She then called out the phone number on the phone. Loni held the phone from Spitz’s dead bodyguard just outside the window and entered the Spitz phone number. She then sent three new pictures to the Spitz phone. Once they showed up in his email, Maya moved them to replace the original photos. As soon as that was done, Maya set the phone back exactly as she had found it and turned to the Chinaman.
“After this is finished, someone will come for you. Just stall these idiots for a little while. Do you understand?”
The Chinaman nodded his head yes. But he wondered about the pictures and it showed in his eyes.
“No one is meant to own the artifact and the formulas, they are too dangerous. The power of the artifact would create much good and an equal amount of bad. It is a dubious artifact. When you return to China, you must tell them the artifact has been destroyed and gone forever. We will provide proof tomorrow.”
She once more pressed her finger to her lips and backed up to the window. Once outside, Loni closed the opening and they faded into the darkness.
“Transfer is complete,” Loni said into her earpiece. “Maya was as smooth as silk. They will never know we were there.” Loni said the last part to make Maya feel like she had extracted some revenge.
Four pairs of eyes searched out each other. “Well, we have to get going,” Banyon informed the elder Spitz.
Both Spitz men were bent over looking at shoe prints and trying to determine how many intruders were involved, but it was too dark to see clearly. They wondered if the prowlers were Chinese, government agents, burglars or even some of their own men. They currently had a lot of active enemies.
“Yes, yes, of course,” Albert Spitz replied absently. “Thank you for notifying me about the prowler,” he said sincerely.
“Be seeing you,” Banyon smiled at the old man.
“What did you say your name was?” Albert Spitz suddenly asked with a questioned look on his old face.
“Greg Gamble,” Banyon told him as he and the others turned their backs to the Spitz men.
Chapter Eighty
The two Spitz men continued to look for traces of prowlers. They circled the entre large house and found no other evidence. When they finally returned to the study, they were in near panic. Usually, they had three staff people in the house at all times, but Albert had given the staff the night off so
he could be alone with the professor as he worked on the formula. He didn’t want anyone to see the Chinaman because Albert intended to eliminate him as soon as he had completed his task. He quickly set all the alarms and turned on all the flood lights in the yard. He then called Agent Robert Boyd of Homeland Security and ordered him to the Spitz house for protection. The time was eleven-fifty-five.
“So, professor,” Albert sat at his desk and addressed the captive. “We are finally going to piece together the formulas. We have the book that was found in your escape van, and now we have pictures of the artifact. They are in my hand.” He shook the cellphone in his grasp for emphasis. The professor tried to remain calm, but his eyes were stuck on the cellphone. He wondered what the woman in black had done.
The old man pressed the button to bring up the first picture. He stared at the picture in disbelief. He then quickly looked at the other two pictures. Albert suddenly let out a roar, “Son-of-a-bitch. That stupid asshole — that figgin idiot.” He went on for some time cursing his dead bodyguard.
***
Banyon and his team had taken up positions in some shrubs across the street and had a good view of the front door when they heard Albert’s screams.
“Guess he found the pictures,” Maya giggled. The replacement pictures were real. Banyon took them earlier in the evening. Loni produced the fake artifact from the cloth bag and Eric held it as Banyon took the pictures. There was one small difference from the pictures the bodyguard had taken. In the new pictures, Eric strategically placed his fingers over the formulas. They could not be seen in any of the pictures. Spitz had failed to tell the man he wanted pictures of specific places on the artifact. He had just told him to take three pictures of the complete object.
“Great job everyone,” Banyon said. “We have destroyed all the evidence. He raised his hand and they all high fived, but stopped when the headlights from a car turned the corner.
A Dubious Artifact (A Colton Banyon Mystery Book 6) Page 23