“Why hasn’t he sold some of the artifacts yet?”
“His brother, Father Bartholomew, has told him about the directions to the Tayos cave treasures. He intends to steal all of the treasure in the caves as well, and then sell them at a huge auction.”
“Which is why the email bounced back to Father Bartholomew’s account, right?” Banyon said in realization.
“Father Hector probably knows nothing about the copy of the translation.”
“Is the colonel dangerous? I mean can we go to the compound and steal the codex back?”
“He is quite dangerous and has killed before,” Wolf answered. “And you can’t count on the local police or military around Cuenca. Colonel Walther controls them. You need to protect yourself, Colt.”
“Why, are we in danger?” Banyon nervously asked.
“Father Bartholomew has sent you another email, Colt. I watched him do it. He sent it over an hour ago. You need to read it on your cell phone,” Wolf said as an answer.
Banyon pulled out his phone and read the message. “He wants to know when we will get there,” Banyon said to himself. “Why?”
“He knows you are headed to the church to see Father Hector. His brother is setting up an ambush a few blocks up the only road to the church compound.”
“Why?”
“He sees you as competition and wants to eliminate you.”
“Well, we’ll have to put a stop to that,” Banyon croaked. “Can you give me the details?”
Chapter Ten
When Banyon returned to the main cabin of the plane, he found that the discussion about Hitler and Father Crespi had continued and was in fact more interesting than when he had left.
Timmy was speaking excitedly. “A former Nazi intelligence officer named Magda Zeitfeld visited Father Crespi in 1981. She was head of Hitler’s body-double program during World War II. She claimed the facial features of the padre were the same that her father and brother had performed as plastic surgeons in Germany. They had done the surgery on a Hitler look-a-like back in 1943. She also claimed she saw many of Father Crespi’s artifacts in Hitler’s office during the war. She noted that Hitler never made a speech after 1943 and was rarely seen in public. She claimed a body-double had replaced Hitler.”
“But his death was confirmed by the Russians,” Steve shouted out in disbelief.
“No medical records for Hitler were ever found. The dental assistant who identified him from his teeth did it from memory. She made a drawing.” Timmy explained. “After a little bit of gentle persuasion by the KGB, I might add.”
“Wow!” Loni exclaimed.
“In any case, Father Crespi arrived at the Vatican in 1943 and was put in charge of cataloging priceless art treasures for the Vatican,” Timmy continued.
“The Catholic church often hid and supported Nazis during the war,” Maya interjected as support. “Many artifacts looted by the Nazis are still there.”
“But wouldn’t he have to speak Italian to work there?” Loni asked.
“Many people don’t know this, but Hitler also spoke Italian. His mother was from Northern Italy,” Maya explained. “German was his second language.”
“When Father Crespi went to Ecuador in 1956, he might have taken some of the items with him,” Timmy offered.
“It was rumored at the time that many uncaptured Nazis lived there,” Steve said. “Nazi hunters caught some of them, but many were never captured.”
“Stop,” Banyon shouted as he reached the front of the plane, “enough about conspiracies. We are going to be ambushed by Father Bartholomew’s brother on the way to the Church. We need to put a plan together to stop that from happening. Timmy we will talk to you later,” he said in dismissal as he pressed the end button on the monitor.
“How do you know this?” Kenny quickly asked as soon as the screen went blank.
“I got another text from Father Pedro asking when we would arrive and the route we will take to the church,” Banyon informed them and showed his cell phone.
“And we know that Father Pedro doesn’t exist and it’s really Father Bartholomew, right?” Loni filled in.
“Get a map of the route to the church up on the monitor. Let’s see if we can figure out where they will hit us,” Banyon ordered.
Chapter Eleven
Meanwhile, Father Bartholomew hurried through the door of his brother’s bunker-like home outside of Cuenca. He carried a solid gold candle holder in his pudgy arms. He was sweating from the exertion of attempting to move at a rapid pace.
He spied his brother sitting at the dining room table with three other men. They were drinking and looked like they had been at it for some time. His brother, Colonel Carl Walther, was a big scary-looking man. He was six foot-four, with a rough craggy face and hard eyes of blue. He looked like a military hard-ass except today he was out of uniform. The fat clergyman waddled over to his brother.
“Ah, what have you brought me this time little brother?” the colonel let out a little too loudly. He spoke in German inside his bunker.
“I’ve got one of the candle holders from his office,” Father Bartholomew replied and headed to the corner of the room where many artifacts were spread out over a long table.
“Did you get a response from the message?”
“They will be coming down the route you expected. They arrive in six hours.”
“How many are in the party?” Colonel Walther inquired.
“I don’t know that,” his brother answered nervously over his shoulder.
Colonel Walther threw back his chair in anger. It tumbled away from the table. He crossed the room in three steps and backhanded his brother across the face. “Next time I tell you to collect something, and you don’t, I’ll make you lose weight by cutting something off. Do you understand?”
“Yes,” Father Bartholomew wailed as he attempted to shield his face while sprawled on the floor. His brother had bullied him many times before.
“This operation requires that everyone follows my orders exactly. I can’t make an exception for you, brother,” The colonel roared.
“Leave him alone, Carl. We’ve enough fire power to kill this guy Banyon and anyone else he has with him,” one of the men at the table said.
“Yeah,” another one chipped in. “We’ll have one sniper on the roof to take out the driver and two men with machine guns on the ground. No one could survive,” he laughed.
“What could go wrong?” the third German-looking man said.
Chapter Twelve
When Banyon and his team landed at the airport, they cleared security and piled into a vehicle. “We are going to have to change our plan to stop the ambush. We’ll go to plan B,” Banyon said as Steve pulled the huge Hummer out of the car rental lot.
“And what’s plan B,” Loni quickly asked skeptically. “We’ll be at the ambush point in ten minutes. You don’t have time to come up with one of your complicated schemes.”
The need to change the plan was caused by a snafu. When Banyon and the other travelers landed in Ecuador, the customs agent wouldn’t let them bring any of their weapons into the country. He said the government clerk who needed to approve their paperwork had taken the afternoon off. As a result, the weapons were not cleared. Banyon explained that they were going into the jungles and needed protection.
“You’ll have to buy some here,” the agent had replied. “The stores will be open in the morning. The guns stay on the plane.”
Since it was the middle of the night, they had to leave the airport without firepower.
While on the plane, Banyon had guided the others to accept where the ambush would take place and had explained that there likely was a sniper and two men with machine guns. Wolf had told him that. They had to put together a new plan, but without weapons.
“Okay, here is what we are going to do,” Banyon explained.
Chapter Thirteen
Three blocks before the ambush site, Steve pulled the Hummer over to the side of the road.
Everyone piled out and stood in a semi-circle at the back of the vehicle. Steve pulled earpieces from a bag and handed each person one.
“Does everyone know what to do?” Banyon asked. Six people replied they were ready.
“But, I’m very nervous about driving the Hummer,” Carol said in a small voice. “What if the sniper gets off a shot?”
“Don’t worry, Loni and I will take him out long before you are in range,” Steve confidently explained.
“All you need to do is drive slowly up the block when I tell you,” Banyon reminded her. “We need to flush out the other two shooters.”
“Are you sure you can stop them from shooting at the Hummer?” Carol persisted.
“They’ll never get a shot off,” Maya said to sooth her.
“Okay, are we ready?” Banyon asked and clapped his hands. “Carol, remember don’t start up the block until I tell you that we are in position.”
“Okay,” she replied reluctantly. “I can do this,” she said under her breath as she watched the others lope off into the darkness.
***
Banyon had divided his people up into three teams. Loni and Steve were sent after the sniper because they were the best fighters. Maya and Kenny formed the second team. Maya was the person designated to deliver the message because she spoke German. Banyon and the diminutive Mandy formed the third team. They were the weakest link as Banyon was old and Mandy was not an accomplished fighter. Loni and Steve promised to head their way as soon as the sniper was neutralized. None of them had any weapons.
The ambush site was dark and vacant of people. It was located at the edge of town. There was only a single two story building set on a corner. The rest of the area was a hodgepodge of vacant lots and single story brick buildings that housed businesses. They were closed for the night. There were no street lamps working along that stretch of road.
The evening temperature had dropped to a chilly fifty-four degrees. It made everyone uncomfortable, and then it started to rain.
***
Carol sat in the driver’s seat in the Hummer listening to the patter of rain drops on the vehicle and feeling very nervous. After a few minutes the three teams acknowledged that they were in position.
“Okay,” Banyon said in her earpiece. “Carol, you can start down the road, but go slowly.”
***
Loni and Steve were huddled behind a chimney at the top of the two story building. They had a clear view of the sniper.
“Wait until he starts to take aim,” Steve told Loni. “He’ll be concentrating on the shot.”
She didn’t reply, but shed the jacket she was wearing and put her hair into a pony tail. In her black leotards she looked like a ninja or maybe a panther after some prey. She slowly moved towards the sniper in a crouch while keeping to the shadows. The rain made it impossible for him to hear her.
As he took aim, Loni pounced. She came up behind him and karate chopped him on his neck. He let go of the rifle and began to turn to defend himself. That was when Steve sprinted out of the darkness and hit him like a freight train. As soon as he was on the ground Loni kicked him between the legs while Steve pummeled him with both fists. The sniper went unconscious in just a few seconds. They searched his pockets and found plastic hand cuffs. Once they had him trussed up, Steve pressed his earpiece.
“Target one is down,” he said. He then grabbed the sniper rifle and the handgun from the sniper. “We have weapons,” he added.
“Roger,” the other two teams replied.
Maya and Kenny were the next team to engage the ambushers. They came leisurely walking up the block like they were lovers with their arms around each other.
“Can you fight?” Kenny asked Maya in a whisper.
“I’m pretty good with my legs,” she responded confidently.
“Good,” he replied as he took a step back and looked at them. “You go low and I’ll go high, but don’t damage those sexy legs, okay?”
“You’re saying the right things Kenny,” she purred and pulled him a little closer. “I’ll go first.”
A man with a machine gun suddenly stepped out of a doorway about ten yards in front of them. He turned and saw an attractive couple wandering towards him in the rain.
“Get away,” he ordered in Spanish and waved his arm.
“Why would we want to do that? I have a message for you,” Maya responded in German. The man was stunned by her reply and hesitated. It gave the couple enough time to move into his space.
He started to bring up his machine gun to shoot, but Maya quickly kicked him in the shin. He howled in pain and bent over slightly. Kenny reversed his movement with an upper cut to his chin. The gun flew out of his hands.
Maya kicked the other shin and the man went to the ground. Kenny jumped on top of him and softened him up with his fists. He was still conscious as Maya stood over him.
“I have a message for your boss,” she said in German. “Tell him that he has made a huge mistake by stealing the Orion Codex. I want it. Tell him to call me,” she added and dropped her cell phone on his body. Kenny then put him to sleep.
“He won’t wake up for at least an hour,” Kenny said.
“We make a good team,” Maya remarked as they grabbed the machine gun and the man’s handgun.
“You’re way better than my sister,” Kenny replied.
“In many ways,” Maya replied with a smile.
***
The third takedown didn’t go as smoothly. Banyon and Mandy had worked out their approach as they headed towards the ambush site. Soon they spotted the third assassin crouching behind a vacant car.
“Look, daddy, why does that man have a gun?” Mandy cried out.
“It’s none of our business,” Banyon replied and pulled her close to his body.
“Get out of here before I shoot you,” the man said in English when he heard them speak it.
“Just let us go around you,” Banyon pleaded. “Please, I’m with my daughter.”
“She’s kind of sexy,” the man said with an evil grin. “Perhaps I’ll shoot you and take her with me,” he said as they passed.
“And maybe pigs can fly,” Mandy screamed as she launched herself at the startled man. He began to bring up his machine gun to fire, but Mandy hit him with both feet and drove him into the parked car. Banyon went for the gun and managed to rip it from his grasp.
The assassin was stunned, but not defeated. He bounced off the car and came at Banyon. Banyon knew he was no match for the military-trained man. He braced for a shower of punches. His only thought was that he had to keep the man engaged until Loni and Steve came along. He was prepared to take a beating.
It never happened. Mandy leaped into the air and hit the man across his face with her left leg. He once again bounced off the car, but was able to grab Mandy by her hair before she could recover. She let out a yelp. He went to draw her close where his superior strength would make short work of her, but Mandy turned and went with the flow. She kneed him in the groin, grabbed the arm that held her hair and pulled while driving her hip into his side. The assassin flipped over and landed on his back. Banyon swiftly kicked his head, but the man still wasn’t done.
He sprang to his feet and despite blood rushing from his head wound, reached for his handgun. Mandy chopped at his wrist and they both yelled in pain, but he dropped the gun. As he grabbed at his broken wrist, Banyon slammed into him and the assassin hit the car again. This time when he bounced off the vehicle, Banyon was ready. He punched him in the stomach as hard as he could. The assassin doubled over and Mandy finished him off with a front kick that sent him in a circle and down to the ground.
At that very moment, Loni and Steve flew into the fight. Steve gave the man an extra fist to the face and he stopped moving.
“Grab the guns and let’s get out of here,” Banyon said breathlessly.
“I hurt my wrist,” Mandy cried out as she held it while running for the open Hummer door. The doors slammed and Carol hit the gas pedal.
“Now let’s go visit Father Hector,” Banyon said.
“Colt, we need to get Mandy to a hospital. Her wrist looks broken to me,” Loni cried out.
“Give her a shot of something in the medical kit,” Banyon said callously. “We need to see Father Hector first.”
Chapter Fourteen
When they finally reached the school’s compound, they found the place devoid of people. It looked completely deserted. There were no cars in the overgrown parking lot and no lights on anywhere in the building that they could see. Carol pulled up to what looked like an entrance and Banyon got out with Steve. There was no button to press, but there was a huge bell hanging by the door.
“What the hell,” Steve said and shrugged his shoulders. He pulled the knocker. The bell’s ring was so loud Banyon was sure it could be heard throughout the whole valley.
Shortly a light came on and the door opened with a creak. A large man in a guard uniform stood in the middle of the opening. “What do you want?” he shouted aggressively in German.
Banyon could not speak German, but surmised that the guard asked what he wanted. He replied in English. “We have come to see Father Hector. It is urgent.”
“He doesn’t take visitors at night,” the guard replied in clear English. “Come back in the morning.”
“Please we have come all the way from Chicago,” Banyon answered. “He invited us.”
The guard glared at them for a few seconds and then said, “Wait here. I’ll find a monk. There is always one of them roaming around the compound at night.”
As he turned to leave, Steve asked, “How is it that you speak English?”
“I’m a retired New York City cop, that’s how,” the guard replied. “I retired down here because it is cheap to live. There are a couple of thousand ex-patriots in this city alone.” He left the door open and hurried up the hallway.
“I’ve heard that many people retire to South America,” Steve said to Banyon. “But I never met any before.”
The Society of Orion: The Orion Codex Page 4
