Loni Chen was Colton Banyon’s companion, lover and protector. While she was a petite Asian woman who was younger than Banyon, she was also an accomplished fighter and he considered her the best thing to ever come into his life. She always made things interesting.
Today he knew she was dressed in a tight green Vera Wang dress with matching pearls and green high heels. She was devastatingly beautiful, but jealous of any woman that looked at Colton Banyon.
Banyon was confused because was she was nowhere to be seen in the big room. Banyon was sure she had been in the room a few minutes ago, but the door to the balcony was now open and Loni was not there. Her green high heel shoes lay in a heap on the floor by the desk. Banyon and Heather stared at each other.
Suddenly they heard “Go.” The sound came from below at the reception stand.
In a few seconds, two well-dressed petite women appeared out of thin air. They landed with one leg on the edge of the balcony while hiking up their dresses. Then pushed off and vaulted the three and half foot railing exposing lots of leg. They raced inside the office. Both women had smiles on their faces as they crashed into Banyon.
“I win,” Mandy the receptionist cheered and jumped up and down. Mandy Randall was a new member of the Forever Ours team. She was very young, only twenty-two years old and was built very much like Loni except with blond hair. Both women were also highly impulsive. Mandy was a world-class athlete and the teams fastest runner. Loni and Mandy didn’t always get along. It was because of Colton Banyon.
Mandy was dressed in a pink colored print sun dress that almost reached the floor. She had been growing her hair and it now reached her shoulders. To Colton Banyon she looked like she was fifteen years old.
“Colt,” Loni said in a breathless singsong voice. “Mandy has showed me how she is able to leap up onto the balcony. She uses a springboard. Isn’t that cool? I can leap up to my office anytime I want.”
“Heather, you need to learn how to do it too,” Mandy gushed to her friend.
“No thanks,” Heather replied sarcastically. “I don’t want to show Colt my panties today like the two of you just did.”
“Or maybe the reason is that you don’t have any on,” Mandy shot back.
“Stop,” Banyon yelled. “We need to find out what Timmy and Carol have discovered before our board meeting. We only have two hours. Let’s go.”
“Oh goodie,” Mandy squealed.
“No,” Heather roared. “Mandy, you are not going. I want you back at reception until the board meeting,” the red-faced Heather said sternly. “And use the stairs.”
***
Colton Banyon and the two women made their way through the building and down the stairs to the large basement. Heather used her company ID card to open the security door. They entered the computer technology area where Timmy and his small army of Mongolian researchers worked. The six young women had been rescued by Banyon’s team on a previous adventure and now worked for Dewey & Beatem as programmers and researchers.
When they entered the door they found the usually quiet area was abuzz with chatter. The women were talking a mile a minute in their native language. The dialect was so foreign that Loni, who could speak Chinese, couldn’t understand them.
As the trio walked to the back where Timmy had his office, the Mongolian women all stared at Banyon, some pointed. He could see the concern on their faces. Oh no, Banyon thought. Timmy has told them that we are in financial trouble.
Timmy was the world’s best hacker and had helped Banyon solve several mysteries over the years. But he had several major flaws and those drawbacks were the reason that Timmy wasn’t a full member of Banyon’s team.
One flaw was that, if not told specifically to keep a secret, he was the company’s leading gossip. Banyon also knew that rumors could fly around the office at the speed of sound. He was sure that everyone knew about the company’s plight and Timmy was responsible.
When Banyon and his two companions reached Timmy’s glass enclosed office, the door was closed. They could see Timmy sitting behind his high-tech desk with seven monitors spread out around him. Across from him Carol Cole sat with a laptop computer perched on her legs. She was gesturing wildly with her hands.
Carol and her brother Kenny Cole were fringe members of the team. They knew about the Orion weapons and that they were supernaturally powerful and needed to be collected, but didn’t know Colton Banyon’s secrets. Banyon had hired them as contract employees while he was in Ecuador to help find all the Orion weapons there. So far, they had been loyal, resourceful and had proven trustworthy.
Carol and Timmy were kindred spirits. They were both computer geeks and were attracted to each other. Since coming back from Ecuador, Carol and Kenny had moved into Timmy’s apartment. He had two bedrooms and Kenny didn’t sleep with his sister.
When Timmy noticed Banyon and the two women outside his office, he waved them inside. Banyon opened the door and let the women parade in first. They then stood side by side with their arms crossed menacingly and faced Timmy. He could see that they were angry.
“I didn’t do it,” he suddenly screamed.
“Didn’t do what?” Heather asked in an acidic voice as she tilted her head.
“I didn’t tell anyone about the company’s financial troubles,” the geek responded. His Adam’s apple bobbed up and down on his skinny neck as he shook his head back and forth.
“He didn’t do it,” Carol quickly offered.
“Then how do you know that the company is having problems,” Banyon asked logically.
“I got a blind email just a few minutes ago,” the geek replied. “Everybody in the company got the same message.”
“Let me see it would you?” Banyon asked.
Timmy quickly pulled up the message. “I can tell you who it came from,” he announced.
“Okay,” Loni said. “Where did it come from Timmy?”
“The ferret,” Timmy replied.
About the Author
Gerald J Kubicki currently has 10 dubious books in print. The books follow the continued adventures of Colton Banyon and his team of unique characters. The Society of Orion series will contain eight books.
Gerald started writing fiction novels after a long career as a successful businessman. He has traveled the world and is an avid history buff. His writings contain large amounts of actual historical events and real places woven into the plots.
He currently resides in Las Vegas.
You can find out more about this author by visiting his website.
www.geraldjkubickibooks.com
Kristopher Kubicki has joined his father in writing the Colton Banyon series.
Kristopher has been writing articles for major magazines and trade publications since entering college. He currently works for a company that does research on the internet, but has collaborated with his father on several books.
He currently resides in Chicago.
www.geraldjkubickibooks.com
The Society of Orion Book Five: The Tayos Caves (Colton Banyon Mystery 18) Page 11