“Speaking of here, we’ve got quite a mess to deal with,” Bart announced as he looked around at the damage. Bart thought for a few seconds. He then looked like he was about to issue orders, but asked a question instead.
“Have all of you worn gloves since you got here?”
“It was the first thing we did.” replied Steve.
“Did you use company issued weapons?”
“Of course,” Steve said. All the weapons used by company employees were untraceable.
“Good leave them all here for ballistics testing. We don’t want them finding any bullets that can’t be identified.”
“Even the sniper rifle?” Mandy protested. She had spent many hours honing her skills with the weapon. She didn’t want to give it up.
“That too,” Bart ordered.
“Yes, sir,” she replied weakly.
“Did any of you use the house phone or make any phone calls?” The lawyer in Bart was now interrogating the witnesses. He didn’t want any links to his people.
“No phone calls, as per policy. But I did call you a few minutes ago on my cell phone,” Steve announced.
“And I’ve sent two text messages from my cell phone,” Mandy added.
“To whom?” Steve roared. “You know it is against our procedures.”
“Both were to Colt,” she answered. “The first one said I thought Barbara was a witch, and the second one explained what happened here. I told him I had the sash.”
“So, does he know all of the Reynolds are dead?” Bart asked.
“Yes,” she said sadly.
“Well, at least I won’t have to make that phone call,” Bart said with relief. He turned to Heather. She was also the office manager at Dewey & Beatem. “Call Timmy,” he ordered. Have him erase those calls from the nearest cell tower.”
Heather stepped away and brought out her phone.
“Okay,” Bart said to the rest of the group. “Here’s what we are going to do. I want all of you to head back to the office. Heather and I will stay here. We will wait for the police after we call them. I want no trace of any of you left here, got it?”
“All of us?” Mother Teresa asked hopefully.
“I want you all to set up an alibi when you get there. And Mandy, you’re not leaving the building until Colt gets back. Text him from the road and tell him you are in the office,” Bart ordered as he pointed to her.
“How will you explain this mess?” Mother Teresa asked as she spread her arms.
“I’ll tell the police that, when we arrived, we found everyone dead. A chopper soon took off from out there,” he pointed to the field. “This looks very much like a robbery which went badly.”
“But how will you explain the fact that you are here?” Mandy inquired.
“Why, I’m Paul Reynolds lawyer, of course,” Bart responded. “He actually did call me yesterday. We have it on record. I’ll explain that this is the first chance I have had to come and see him. Instead I found this,” Bart explained.
“He called you yesterday?” Steve exclaimed as his head jerked up.
“He said it was Colton Banyon’s idea.” Bart replied.
Chapter Fifteen
When Colton Banyon’s phone beeped for the second time in less than an hour, he pulled off the road to read the message. He was relieved to see it was from the little firebrand Mandy. She is still alive, he thought happily, his mood suddenly darkened when he read her message — that the Reynolds were all dead.
“Wolf, what the hell happen on the farm?” Banyon yelled out to the spirit. Loni, who was still sleeping jerked to attention in her seat.
“It’s a sad day Colt,” Wolf said into Banyon’s head. “I’ve lost a good friend and ally today.”
“Are you referring to the Reynolds?” Banyon asked in confusion.
“No, I lost Marcy,” Wolf responded. “As soon as her husband, Paul Reynolds, died, her spell was broken. She just disappeared without even being able to say goodbye.” Banyon knew Wolf was often very selfish and considered his needs over anybody else. Dying people meant nothing to him. After all he was already dead.
“Tell me how Carl, Paul, and Barbara died,” Banyon screamed at the spirit. Loni was fully alert now. She pulled off her Egyptian headdress. She turned to him with a questioning look. He handed her his cell phone with the message from Mandy. She read it and looked at him with concern.
“Do you want me to drive for a while?” she asked. Banyon nodded his head as he listened to Wolf’s explanation.
“Yes,” he said.
“Pop the trunk first,” she pleaded. “I want to put these toys away.”
***
Loni was back to driving a break neck speed. They still had an hour to go before they reached Hamburg. Banyon was once again in the passenger seat. He was talking to Wolf.
“So that is everything you can tell me about the assault on the farm?” Banyon asked the spirit.
“I heard the last mercenary vow to kill Wilk as soon as he got back to Poland,” Wolf told him. “He was still in range of my powers at the time.”
“Where is he now?”
“I don’t have a window to watch him, Colt,” Wolf said sadly. “When you free up some more windows, I’ll be able to catch up with him. He wants Wilk anyway, not you.”
“Wilk would sell out his soul to save his own skin,” Banyon commented. Loni shot Banyon a worried look. She moved her head so fast her hair bellowed out.
“Is Bart able to protect our people?” Banyon asked. “I don’t want any of them to be in trouble because of the shootout.”
“I had Marcy…I had her tell Paul to…hire Dewey & Beatem…as his lawyer, yesterday,” Wolf said with much difficult. He was mourning the loss of his friend.
“Why?”
“In case something like this happened,” Wolf explained sadly. Bart is now the lawyer of record for the estate. Make sure he gives them a proper funeral. He also had a legitimate reason for going there. He will claim he and Heather discovered the bodies.”
“You expected them to die?” Banyon said with horror.
“It was only a contingency plan,” Wolf said.
Banyon said nothing for several seconds. “And is the belt safe?”
“Mandy has been instructed to remain in the offices until you retrieve the belt from her,” Wolf explained.
Banyon’s phone beeped. “It’s a text from Mandy,” Loni yelled out as she scanned the cell phone.
“I already know what it says.” Banyon replied.
***
As they screamed down the highway, Banyon began to explain his plan to retrieve the Time talisman. While they were all very sad, the mission was bigger than individuals — they had to push on. Both Loni and Wolf could hear the plan as he explained it. He asked them to look for holes in his strategy. He was just about finished when Loni’s phone started to ring.
“Who could that be?” she exclaimed in wonderment. “Colt, can you answer it while I keep driving.” She held her phone out to him.
Banyon grabbed the phone, but didn’t recognize the caller ID. He pressed the answer button.
“Hello,” he said into the instrument.
“Loni, is that you, babe” the voice replied. It sounded like a young man.
“Who is this?” Banyon said warily.
“It’s Timmy, from Dewey & Beatem, man,” the young voice replied with excitement. “Is that you dude? Where is the dudette?”
“It’s Colt.”
“Great,” Timmy gushed. “I like talking to you, man, but I love to talk to Loni. She is so easy to talk to for a woman. I love her sweet…”
“What do you want Timmy?” Banyon asked to stop him from his cheery tirade. “We have just had some very bad news, Timmy. I’m not in the mood for banter right now.”
“Oh,” the geek said. “I bet it has something to do with the assignment Bart just gave me,” he replied knowingly.
“What assignment?” Banyon asked.
“He asked me to
erase some cell phone calls from somewhere in Wisconsin. Two of them went to you, dude.”
“Can you do it?” Banyon asked anxiously.
“Of course, it’s already done. But the NSA may have already recorded them. I erased the original and the destination, but the substance of the calls could be in their records. I made sure that this time they can’t track it back to me.”
Banyon remembered both he and Timmy had a run in with the secretive agency a couple of years ago. He didn’t want to be faced with that kind of situation again — but he trusted Timmy — he was the world’s best hacker.
“Why did you call Loni?” Banyon asked. He put the geek on speaker so Loni could hear.
“Oh, yeah, I almost forgot, man,” Timmy said. “She called me earlier today with a project. She said you would pay for some research. You’re still going to pay me right?” Timmy asked cautiously.
“She’s right here,” Banyon replied. “Ask her.”
“Cool, man.”
“Hello Timmy,” Loni said in her most charming voice. “Of course we will pay you. I thought you said you would have to pull an all-nighter to get the information. What did you find out?”
“I put a rush on it for you dudette,” Timmy replied happily.
“Actually, it was easier than I originally thought. But you’re not going to like what I found.”
“Why is that?” Loni asked in her sing-song voice.
“Great, just what we need is more complications,” Banyon uttered sarcastically.
“It’s all spy stuff,” Timmy announced. “It’s espionage, black water mercenary-type military back-stabbing stuff.”
“Could you be a little more specific Timmy?” Loni casually asked.
“It’s the North Koreans and the Russians man,” Timmy shouted. “They are the ones behind all the postings and they are not working together — they are competing.”
“Oh boy,” Banyon muttered as he rolled his eyes. He immediately started wondering if they would have to bring the President of the United States into the mission.
“Okay, let’s start with the Russians?” Loni asked to move Timmy along. “How are they involved?”
“They have a lot of postings,” Timmy answered. “They all come from a General on Putin’s staff. He has offered a huge reward to several groups of explorers. He wants them to find some weapon that is lost in the wilderness of Siberia. It sounds like this weapon is more powerful than a nuclear bomb.”
“The Russian President is involved?” Banyon questioned in disbelief. He knew almost nothing went on in Mother Russia without the knowledge of the leader and the emails were coming from someone on his staff.
“Can’t say for sure, but some of the groups they sent out have disappeared with no trace,” Timmy said.
“They’re after the Deliverance talisman,” Banyon said to Loni.
“What is the name of the General?” Banyon knew Wolf could track him once they freed up some windows for him to use.”
“Yeah,” Timmy hesitated as he dug through some paper. “His name is General Anatoly Bodrov.”
“And how do the North Koreans fit in?” Loni asked on cue.
“They have sent only a few messages, but I think they are behind the sudden disappearance of the Russian explorers,” Timmy replied.
“Why do you say that?” Banyon asked.
“The guy who is sending the messages is named Oh Sok. He is listed as the Minister of Agriculture and Harmful Weapons for North Korea,” Timmy read from some more paper. “He is communicating with the guy who set up the website that you asked me to look into, Loni. His name is Albin Wilk.”
“I knew it,” Loni suddenly exclaimed and pounded the steering wheel.
“Anyway,” Timmy continued. “This guy Wilk has sent many emails out to a lot of bad guys; you know mercenaries. He has promised them huge amounts of money if they delivered some talismans to him by three days from now. One message came back from a Michael Orlov who said he had eliminated some of the competition in Siberia.”
“I wonder why he wants the talismans in three days.” Banyon shot out.
“I’ve got that answer too,” Timmy gushed. “This guy, Oh Sok, has scheduled a trip to Warsaw, Poland in three days. He intends to attend a small agricultural conference there and plans to visit the Royal Castle. I’ve got his itinerary.”
“They are planning to make an exchange in the Banyon Arcades,” Banyon suddenly roared.
“So, let me get this straight,” Loni questioned. Wilk plans to have all the talismans. He then wants to give them to the North Koreans on Friday, that’s three days from now. What’s in it for him?” She asked.
“The North Koreans have promised him three billion US dollars.”
Part Two
Next
Chapter Seventeen
Banyon went quiet, but Loni and Timmy chatted for a while longer. Mostly they talked about his new love life. Banyon soon gave Loni the cut-him-off sign because he wanted to talk to Wolf. She politely told Timmy she had to go and hung up the phone. Banyon immediately addressed Wolf.
“Are you there Wolf?”
“I’m here,” he replied.
“Please tell me you can track the Russian and the North Korean who Timmy talked about?” Banyon quickly asked.
“I cannot,” the spirit answered. “But I have tracked Wilk. There are some answers for you in his history.”
“Okay, can you give me the short history?”
“As you wish,” Wolf replied. “Albin Wilk is his real name. He is from Wilkow, Poland. He is related to the actual head of the Society of Orion. Everything else he has told you is a fabrication.”
“The head of the society is still alive?” Banyon jumped in.
“Just barely,” Wolf explained. “She is his Aunt Josephine Wilk. They have not been close until recently. She is currently in a private hospital under an assumed name. He put her there over a year ago and has bribed the staff to keep her drugged. Her health is failing. She doesn’t have long to live. He has manipulated himself into a power of attorney position for her estate.”
“Why did he do that?”
“It’s very simple, he thinks she is rich. He wants her money. She is also the keeper of the Orion weapons.”
“That son-of-a-bitch,” Banyon bellowed. Loni shook her head knowingly. “So has he kidnapped his Aunt too?”
“I’m afraid so. He is very greedy.”
“How did he find out so much about the talisman and the Society of Orion?” Banyon asked with his blood boiling. Wilk is a mini-monster, he thought.
“When he first put her in the hospital, he believed she was not telling him where all the money was hidden. When he looked into her finances, he found she was nearly bankrupt. So, he had the hospital staff inject her with sodium pentothal to see what she would reveal.”
“Truth serum,” Banyon correctly stated in a hiss.
“When he questioned her, she told him all about the Society of Orion. Over the course of several months, she told him about the diamonds, the talismans and even about the mission of the Wilk family. She explained their quest to find the right Banyon, but he could never figure out what to do with the information — until four months ago.”
“That’s when my ancestor’s journal was uncovered, right?
“That is correct. He got a copy of the journal and studied it. Most everything he knows is memorized. He then solicited Izaak Orlich, the professor, to help him find the talismans. The professor found nothing but dead ends.”
“Does the professor know Wilk is a fake?”
“He suspects,” Wolf replied. “But he wants to study the talismans. He does not share in Wilks penchant for violence.”
“That explains why he had his nephew follow us,” Banyon commented. Loni looked at him for an explanation. He waved her off while he mouthed the word later. “How did he find out about you and me?”
“When he questioned his aunt about each individual talisman, she told him she had one, t
he Insight talisman, hidden in her house. He found it and he brought it to her. He wanted her to show him how it worked. You don’t know this because he didn’t tell you, but the Insight talisman can also show the last three people who held a talisman. You were the second person, after Previne to hold the Influence talisman.”
“But how did his aunt know my name?”
“She told him that when she studied your hologram, she thought she saw Banyon features on your face.”
“What features?”
“The bags under your eyes, the chin, and the ears are all Banyon family characteristics. She hired someone to find you. Your face is all over the internet you know. When she heard your name, she knew she had found the right Banyon. She already knew about my curse since she had a hand in setting it up.”
“Now it makes sense,” Banyon declared. “That’s when he cooked up the scheme to lure me to Warsaw, right?”
“It took him and the professor several months to come up with a viable plan,” the spirit replied. “He intended to inject you with truth serum to find out where the talismans were hidden. But your escape and Loni’s fighting abilities made him change plans. He wants to appear as if he is cooperating now.”
“You told me earlier he may know we can talk to each other. You also mentioned he doesn’t know we can track him. Is that true?”
“I can confirm that it is true.”
“What about this deal to sell the weapons to North Korea? Did he initiate that?”
“He saw several postings inquiring about the weapons on the internet and decided he could make a lot of money by selling them. He doesn’t care if they are harmful, he just wants money.”
“Can you tell me more?” Banyon asked.
“How it all works and who else is involved, I can’t answer until I have more windows, but Timmy seems to have done an excellent job researching the plan.”
“Yes, he did, but I need more information if I am to stop his plan.” Banyon explained.
The Polish Discovery: The Society of Orion 1-3 (Colton Banyon Mystery Book 17) Page 19
