“That’s more evidence, right?” Mandy asked.
“Yes it is, and you should know that they were actually traders and farmers while in the Tennessee-Carolina area. They farmed the land just like they did back in the Mediterranean. They also lived in longhouse communities and had division of labor. Men hunted and women farmed.”
“They don’t live there anymore?” Mandy shot back.
“No,” Lisa said sadly. “An Indian treaty in 1830 excluded them from the area. Many of their survivors wound up in Oklahoma. Some believe it was punishment for them fighting on the side of the British during the revolutionary war.”
“So, the same people were chased out of the two places that they settled,” Mandy recapped in disbelief.
“Sounds like a trend, doesn’t it.” Lisa offered.
“So, let’s talk about the Cherokees. What evidence do you have that the Cherokees were Phoenicians?” Mandy quickly inquired.
“I thought that you would never ask,” Lisa replied with a sweet smile.
Chapter Forty-One
Back at the ranch, Chase and his people were preparing to attack the warehouse and also preparing for a possible siege of the ranch. He didn’t know much, but he knew how to get ready for both. His geek had just informed him that the “Grounder” was repaired and would work. He suddenly heard someone yell.
“Someone’s coming,” one of the lookouts called out. Eleven guns chambered a round in unison.
The front door flew open and a man dressed in military-grade camouflage was roughly pushed into the room spraying dust everywhere. It was clear he had been wrestling on the desert ground and lost. His hands were cuffed in plastic behind his back. Bob and Cindy, the two people Chase had sent out to find the jamming device, followed him into the building. Bob carried the high-tech jamming device and another machine that looked like a parabolic microphone. Both Bob and Cindy were still in their office clothes which now qualified as rags. It looked like they were the ones who had been wrestling with the captured man. Their clothes were filthy, dusty, and ripped.
“Damn,” Cindy muttered as she stood trying to hold the pieces of her dress together. “I wish I had changed clothes.”
Everybody else in the room had changed into casual clothes except Loni who was still dressed in her sexy Indian outfit.
“We found him napping and snuck up on him,” Bob explained proudly. “He put up a good fight, but Cindy caught him with a lucky punch.”
“It wasn’t luck,” Cindy protested. “He ripped my new dress.” Everyone could see that the front of her dress was ripped to her waist. “So I clocked him.”
“Anyway, we brought the jammer and his hand-held communicator. We also found a working parabolic microphone in his hideout. We thought that these gadgets might come in handy,” Bob told Chase.
“Okay,” we’ll take him from here,” Chase announced. “Good job. You two, go and change, we have more work to do.” Two people in the room moved to the captive and grabbed him by his arms.
“I’ll take the jammer and the microphone,” the geek volunteered with glee as he got up from his table.
“How long do you think he has been out there in the desert watching us?” Loni quickly asked with concern.
“The hideout was well furnished and stocked,” Cindy replied. “I’d say they have been listening in for several weeks.” She then headed off to change.
Loni turned to Joey and urgently whispered. “Did you discuss the stones with Lisa while in your house?”
“Yeah, this is where we met to go over everything, the translations, the things we uncovered, and her speculations” Joey admitted also in a whisper.
“Huh,” Loni grunted. “Then we have to assume that the people at Goblin know about the stones,” she said with frustration. “Colt will need to know that.” She turned back toward the prisoner.
Chase scanned the captured man. He looked like a hard-nut to crack. “Tie him up in that chair over there,” he ordered. “Let’s see what he wants to share with us.” Chase looked around the room. “Tom, you’re our interrogator, right? Do you want the first crack at this guy or do I have to get my hands dirty?”
Tom was a massive man who looked like he could rip phone books in half with his bare hands. He dropped what he was doing and ambled over to the captive while slamming his fists together. An evil grin covered his face.
The captured man was clearly ex-military. Chase believed he would not be easily threatened. He showed the cockiness of a warrior. He looked past Tom the interrogator and winked at Loni. “Who’s the babe in the Hiawatha outfit? Is she going to scalp me?” He let out an evil laugh.
Loni’s anger suddenly reappeared and she took a step towards the captive. She slapped him hard across the face. “For your information, I kicked the asses of four of your friends a little while ago. You want to be the fifth?” She scowled at him.
“You against me, ha,” he responded and shook his head. “I’d tie you up in a little knot and roll you around like a bowling ball,” he said back with a sneer. “Then I’d get serious with you, squaw.” His arrogance clearly showed.
“Others have tried, but they are all eunuchs now,” Loni spat back. She was ready to take him on right now. She curled her small fists up into a ball, but Chase placed a soothing hand on her shoulder.
“Let Tom do his job. He’s good at it,” Chase said.
Tom, the interrogator, took over. “What’s your name?” Tom asked it in a loud menacing voice which shook the whole room. Loni noticed that he tilted his head while waiting for the man to respond.
“I’m not going to tell you crap,” the man replied vehemently. “And if you think you can frighten me with torture, you’re wrong. I’ve had training. So go ahead, take your best shot, I can take it,” he said defiantly and thrust out his chin. “Besides, once I don’t check in, my friends will be coming for me.”
Tom looked at Chase and nodded. Chase nodded back. Tom quickly slapped a piece of venerable duct tape across the captive’s mouth. “I don’t need to ask you anymore questions, I just want you to shut your pie hole now,” Tom replied in the exact same voice as the captive. The captives eyes widened in utter shock.
“You see,” Chase said calmly, “now Tom can respond if someone calls you to check in. He sounds just like you, doesn’t he?” There was a sly smile on his face. He tossed the communicator to Tom. “Be ready.”
“I always am,” Tom answered in the other man’s voice.
***
A little while later, Loni found Joey in the office area. Chase had set up it up for Colton Banyon to use when he arrived. Joey was working on the computer. He didn’t notice that Loni had silently slid into the room.
“What are you doing?” She asked curiously.
The startled Joey recovered quickly. “Oh, just checking to see if anything has been put on the Internet about the stones,” he replied nervously. “The Internet was jammed up until a little while ago. This is the first chance I’ve had in a while.”
“Find anything?”
“So far I don’t see any postings.” He pressed the escape key just as she came around to look at the screen.
“Joey, don’t worry. Colt is really good at finding things. He probably knows where the missing stone is already. He’ll get it back for you,” Loni offered.
“I hope so,” Joey replied with a worried look.
“Then we’ll find a way to stop any information written on the stones from going public,” she promised.
“I would be eternally grateful,” Joey replied sincerely.
“By the way, I want to thank you for saving me during the fight,” Loni said. “I thought I was going to die.”
“You would’ve,” Joey remarked. “But I knew when to throw my knife. Besides it was you who put down four of those guys.” Loni wondered what he meant by his statement. How could he have known when to throw his knife?
“Do the other people out there know about the stones?” Joey asked as he pointed to the
front of the ranch.
“No, Joey, they are here to protect you. Only you and I know about them,” she explained. “At least until the rest of the team arrives,” she qualified. “But I’m sure the other members won’t discuss the stones with anyone in the open.”
“I have to get the stolen stone back,” Joey declared with force and pounded the wooden desk.
“Do you believe the stones tell the real story of the Cherokees coming to America as the Phoenicians?” The inquisitive Loni asked.
“Of course,” he quickly answered and looked at her with a blank look.
“I’m curious,” Loni continued. “I know many Indian tribes have legends and myths. Do any of the Cherokee myths support the writings on the stones?”
“Actually, they all do,” he replied solemnly. “But you have to understand that none of the myths were written down for thousands of years. It’s only very recently that they’ve been recorded. And every myth has many variations because they were all oral. You need to understand that words and meanings have changed over the centuries. Each person that learned the myth had the ability to change the words and the intention, many did.”
Loni looked perplexed. “Can you give me an example?”
“Well, how about the Cherokee Creation Myth,” he replied without hesitation. “That’s where it all started.”
“Okay.” Loni replied and placed herself on the edge of the desk.
“The myth starts out like this:
When all was water, the animals lived above in Galunlati but it was very crowded and they wanted more room. Dayunisi, the little water-beetle, offered to go see what was below the water. It repeatedly dived to the bottom and came up with soft mud eventually forming an island we call earth. The island was suspended by cords at each of the cardinal points to the sky vault, which is solid rock.”
“And how does it compare to the history on the stones?” Loni quickly asked. The myth sounded like pure fantasy to her.
“The stones say they traveled for many moons on an ocean. It was very crowded on the ships. They had brought some animals to provide milk and meat and they were having babies. The ships were their whole world for a long time. The ships also had square masts which were anchored by four cords and that could easily be interrupted as the cardinal points. The cardinal points are the four points on a compass. The sails, at times, when filled with a strong breeze, seemed like they were solid rock.”
“Wow! That’s amazing!” Loni exclaimed. “But what about the part about the water-beetle?”
“The writer recorded that at some point they noticed dead water-beetles floating in the water and soon came upon muddy flat islands. I don’t know if you know this or not, but water-beetles are only found in fresh water. They can’t live in salt water and they die if exposed to it. Even the ancients knew that fact.”
“Did they find a river?” Loni said with speculation.
“They found the Mississippi River,” Joey corrected her.
***
Joey recited more passages from Cherokee myths and then proceeded to compare them to the stones. In all cases, he was able to connect them together. Loni seemed fascinated by the history and asked questions at a mile a minute. Suddenly, she heard a beep.
“What’s that?”
Reluctantly Joey admitted that it was a beep from his email account. “Someone just sent me a message,” he said. “Would you mind if I read this by myself.”
“Sure, no problem,” Loni gestured with her hands like it was okay. “I’ll just find something else to do while I’m waiting for Colt.” She walked out of the room wondering why Joey was connected to his email account when he said he was surfing the web. She also wondered why he had hit the escape key so she couldn’t see what he was looking at. Her female antenna was vibrating. There was something suspicious about Joey’s behavior. She decided to tell Colt when he arrived.
Chapter Forty-Two
Joey Brownwater stared at the blank computer screen for a minute after Loni left the room. He was thinking and he was troubled. This is getting completely out of hand, he worried. I’m beginning to lose control. I’m afraid that I am going insane. I see Indian ghosts. My premonitions are still coming at random, but are much stronger and clearer now, and I’ve already changed the future. Loni was supposed to die in the fight today, he thought. I’ve also made a slip and told Lisa Lange about my premonitions and I’m sure Loni now suspects too. Too many people know about me. He needed help and someone he could trust. He had earlier emailed a message to someone who would fit the bill. He hoped that the beep Loni had heard was an email from his white knight.
Joey had known the man since he was only ten years old. His mother had taken him to the doctor because he had told her that he had premonitions and they troubled and confused the young boy. She was practical and wanted answers. She took him to a doctor. The man was, after all, a registered psychiatrist. He specialized in the diagnosis and treatment of mental disorders, especially the paranormal kind. Since that time, Joey had become a regular client of the doctor, visiting him once per quarter. The doctor was the only person who knew everything about Joey, including his appointment as an elder and the secret he now guarded. Joey had held nothing back in an attempt to rid himself of the troublesome premonitions.
Joey took a deep breath and hit the buttons that activated his email account. When it booted up, he stared at the screen. He was stunned to actually find there were two email messages. The first email was from Doctor Aaron Hage, the psychiatrist. But Joey didn’t open that one first. He opened the second email first. It was sent a little while earlier from Kayah Lightfoot.
His hand trembled slightly as he clicked the key to open it. He quickly began to read the message:
“Joey,
You are in danger. The elders have decided that they don’t trust you any longer. I’ve been sent to collect the stones and bring them back to Oklahoma for safe keeping. I already have the first stone and will come for the other two tonight at 7 p.m., just after dark. Please don’t try to stop me, but if you want to talk to me you know where to find me. I will wait for ten minutes.
Love you always,
Kayah”
***
Joey almost fell out of his chair as he tried to absorb her shocking email. His whole world had been turned upside down by the message. He wasn’t sure what disturbed him the most. Was it that he was in danger? Was it that the elders didn’t trust him anymore? Was it that she had stolen the stone? Or was it that Kayah had expressed love for him? Everything was spinning around in his head as he recalled Kayah Lightfoot.
Back in Oklahoma, he and Kayah had grown up together along with his twin brother Bobby. They had been inseparable. As they became adults, Kayah had gravitated to Joey and away from the often in trouble Bobby. Joey and Kayah became lovers and planned to have a life together, but that had all changed when the elders decided that both of them were the final candidates for the dubious elder position that Joey now held.
That had been two years ago. He had eventually beaten Kayah out for the position of the next elder, mostly because of his grandfather’s influence. Kayah became very upset and refused to have anything to do with him since then. They had gone from lovers to foes over the position. And now she says she still loves me, he thought.
He had no idea of what to do. Should I respond? He pondered the email for some time and eventually decided he could get some answers later tonight in the tunnels. It would be good to see her again. He now opened the second email from his doctor. It read:
Joey,
I think that it might be time to run some more tests. I believe that the rare earths are affecting you more than we expected. I’m sending some people to collect you tomorrow morning. They will take you to a facility where we can sort this out. I will see you there.
Sincerely,
Dr. Aaron Hage
***
The email further shocked Joey. He didn’t want any more tests. He was tested many times by the doctor
back on the reservation. He also couldn’t recall ever telling the doctor about the rare earths on his property. Have I done the right thing, or did I just open up a new can of worms? What does he mean by a facility? Does he mean a research lab, a medical hospital, some sort of secret government installation, or am I being sent to a mental institution, he wondered? Now I really don’t know who to trust.
His life was in complete chaos. He clearly had mental problems. He had some high-tech government defense contractor trying to kill or capture him. There were people all over his house that were at best suspicious. There was also Lisa Lange, who could expose him and even his doctor was now a concern. But at least I know that Kayah will take good care of the stones.
His stress level was now very high. He felt cornered with no way out. He wondered what or who was the real danger threatening him. He suddenly felt the now familiar tingling in his fingers which signaled a premonition. It washed over him in a flash. When it was done he knew what he had to do.
Despite his reservations, Joey wrote the doctor back saying he would be ready.
Chapter Forty-Three
Doctor Aaron Hage was seated at his large wooden desk. It was approaching dusk in Oklahoma and he had to turn on the lamp in his well-appointed office to work. He was busy finishing a report to his superior when his computer beeped just like Joey’s had done earlier. He looked up at the screen, the blue color from the monitor reflected in his reading glasses. After a second, he dropped his pen and quickly accessed his email. He found the one he was looking for. It was from his patient. A smile of satisfaction spread across his bearded face as he read the reply.
“Success,” he said out loud jubilantly and raised his short arms in the air like he had scored a touchdown. He jumped up from his desk and danced a little jig around his desk. He took off his tweed jacket and twirled it in the air and then flung it into the corner. He was very happy and excited. He was finally reaching his goal.
A Dubious Race: The Phoenician Stones (A Colton Banyon Mystery Book 14) Page 13
