A Dubious Terrain (A Colton Banyon Mystery Book 4)

by Gerald J Kubicki

  Communicating without words, the twin sisters immediately stood and worked their way over to the startled man. Soon they were in an animated conversation with him and he seemed to relax. Previne was touching his arm lightly and laughing a little too loudly, Pramilla was accidently brushing her body against the unsuspecting man. He soon was totally captivated and everyone else in the room no longer existed.

  The party lasted until well after 3:00 A.M. Previne and Pramilla were the last to leave. They had spent all of their time with Eric, laughing, tossing their hair and flirting shamelessly with him. Banyon had seen them react like that before, except it had been with him. He made sure he locked the adjoining door when they left. Just in case they decided to come back.

  “The twins are your friends?” he asked.

  “Actually there are three of them. Maya is taken.”

  “Your wife is also very beautiful,” Eric said as he tried to complement Banyon.

  “We are not married,” Banyon replied.

  From the couch Loni interjected, “yet.”

  “I like your family,” he announced. “I would like to talk to you more, but I’m worn out. I need some sleep.

  “Use the second bedroom,” Banyon pointed the way.

  Eric said he was going to bed. Banyon and Loni finally retired feeling pretty good about the day.

  ***

  The next morning they were up around mid-morning. Eric was still asleep and they decided to be quiet and let him rest. They ordered room service and sat down to relax. That meant that Banyon thought about everything that had happened and Loni sat at the table and pounded on her computer.

  Loni suddenly called to Banyon and he stopped reminiscing. “Colt, I think you need to see this.”

  He focused on her. She was at the table staring at her laptop. He headed over to her and sat down so he could see the screen. “What am I looking at?” he asked.

  “I found many news articles written about the events of last night, you need to see them,” she replied.

  “Alright, which one is first?”

  “Here is an announcement from Homeland Security. The announcement says that General John Gerut was killed last night trying to foil a robbery at the Las Vegas Convention Center. According to the report, some of his commandos had gone rogue and he attempted to foil their plot. It says he was blown up while disarming a bomb. There is no mention of the FBI or anybody else. It also says the director of Homeland Security morns the loss. He is going to present a posthumous award to Gerut for his work. He is a hero.”

  “Your government at work,” replied a disgusted Banyon.

  “The next article says there was a suspicious explosion at a small chemical factory last night. It was not far from the convention center. The owner, a Ph.D. in chemistry, was the only one there and was killed in the blast.”

  “I’ll bet the factory is where they mixed the invisible formula,” Banyon reasoned.

  “Then Gerut blew up the place as a diversion,” Loni added.

  “Next is an article about the arrest of Danta Lopez. There is a lot of information here. Lopez and a man named Joseph Campo were arrested at a warehouse owned by Lopez last night soon after Lopez had left the stage of the initial LDA bouts. A large amount of money was found in a briefcase Campo carried. He also attempted to shoot Lopez. It says he is a suspected White Supremacist. It doesn’t make sense,” Loni noted.

  “Yes, it does to me,” replied Banyon. “Does the article say anything about a Lopez drug connection?”

  “Not this article, but we know the FBI raided a major drug ring controlled by Lopez. It’s in separate article. That article says a major drug ring with ties to human smuggling was taken down last night. The FBI raided several warehouses and found information that led to smuggling outposts in the Arizona desert, near the border. When the outposts were secured, they found computers with detailed data about a number of Border Patrol personal that were tied to the cartel. The whole operation was shut down.”

  “I’ll bet that Campo was the payoff man for bringing the boys over the border and decided to keep the money for himself.”

  “I’ll bet he did many things for Gerut. Campo has a very bad history according to the article I read.”

  Banyon changed the subject slightly. “How many Border Patrol people were involved in the operation?”

  “There are over one hundred and they have all been arrested,” Loni said in shock at the huge number.

  “It actually makes sense to me. The Border Patrol reports to Homeland Security,” Banyon filled in the blanks for her.

  “Here is another related article,” Loni reported. “The Mexican Federal Government has also announced in cooperation with the American Government, they have raided several buildings in Mexico and a small farm in Southern Mexico. It seems the farmers were hostages of the Lopez cartel. All members of the family were rescued and three Cartel thugs were killed after a short gun battle.”

  “I’m sure the farmers are related to the young boys used to attempt to assassinate the politicians,” Banyon said.

  “It says a tip came in over the hot line and connected the boys with the farm house. The caller was anonymous.”

  “I’ll bet that the caller was Eric,” Banyon said.

  Banyon moved close to Loni and she pecked him on the cheek. “Here is another article. It says the FBI has cracked the case of three suspected missing artifacts taken from secure unnamed facilities. It seems the items were miss-labeled and were discovered by Agent Gregory Gamble who was on special assignment to find the items.”

  “Greg will be happy,” Banyon noted.

  Finally, this article says the fight mix last night was a complete failure. It only resulted in a large riot that took police officers several hours to stop. It blames Lopez and his company for inciting the riot and also for the attempted assassination of the several politicians that were holding a rally against illegal aliens. The police chief is quoted. He said that, ‘the attempts would not have been made if the Latinos had not been so upset because their fighters were losing to the white guys.’ He blames Lopez for everything.”

  “That quote was probably personally handed to him by the mayor,” said a cynical Banyon. “Politicians are good at cover ups.”

  “Colt, what am I missing,” Loni asked as she twirled her long hair, it was a sure sign she was confused. “These all seem unrelated to me?”

  “I told you there were three plots, Wolf told me. Also I can prove it,” he replied.

  “How?” Loni asked.

  “Can you find a video of the protest from last night? I’m sure all the media companies controlled by Sarah Sanders were on the scene.”

  Loni spent a few minutes typing on the computer then announced, “Here is a good one.”

  “Good, now run through the part where the third assassin shot twice. Run it in slow motion, tell me what you see.”

  Loni did some typing and then suddenly exclaimed, “I see it. Sarah Sanders was shielding herself well before any shots were fired. Randolph appeared to be expecting a shot and pulled the blond assistant in front of himself just before the shots were fired. That means they knew the shots would be fired too.”

  “Not only that, notice the look on Sarah’s face after the shots were fired. She expected her husband to be dead,” Banyon pointed at the screen. “She shows a look of disgust that Randolph was still alive.”

  “You’re right, but what does it all mean?”

  “Let me explain,” Banyon started. “It was a plot by the Effort. They know the election for the President is one year away. They had groomed Randolph Sanders to be a candidate, but needed an emotional lever to catapult him into the leading candidate role. An attempted assassination would get huge media coverage and public sediment would be on his side. Sarah controls a large media empire and could create media frenzy. All they needed was a cause, illegal immigrants, a place, a fight card that included illegal fighters and assassins that fit the part. The boys were perfect for the
plot. The Effort has planned this drama for a long time.”

  “Okay that is plot number one,” Loni noted.

  Banyon continued. “Gerut was brought into the plot because of his many ties to unsavory characters. His civilian right hand man was Joseph Campo, the bag man. Gerut and Lopez were tied because Gerut had discovered Lopez was paying off several Border Patrol officers. Gerut muscled into the Lopez organization and used Lopez to set up the smuggling of the Mexican boys. He had Lopez set up the fight riot diversion and fully expected to take over the Lopez organization. Lopez was retiring and wanted cash to get out of the country and disappear. Gerut reported to Sarah on the organization of the Effort plot, but Sarah had other plans. She decided the widow of a gunned down politician would make a better candidate for President. So she convinced Gerut to have one of his men actually kill Randolph. That was why she was upset in the picture. He was supposed to be dead.”

  “Plot two unfolds,” Loni noted. “But, how do you know all this?”

  “Wolf told me. I never had time to fill you in on all the plots and diversions. He told me while we were headed to the protest,” he admitted.

  Loni suddenly asked, “Do you think you will ever be able to talk to him again? It could hurt our business if you can’t.”

  “I don’t know. I was kind of getting used to him.”

  Shifting gears Loni asked, “But, what about the third plot?”

  “Gerut was very ambitious himself. He decided to kill Sarah too. He then would be one of the highest ranking Effort people in the government — under the age of ninety anyway, and all the backing by the Effort would go to him. But he had a problem. He was too poor, so he came up with a plot to make himself rich and rob the convention center of untraceable gold. He also had made a deal with Lopez to buy out the drug organization. That was why Campo was at the warehouse. He already knew about the artifacts that could make it possible.”

  “Wow,” was all that Loni could muster.

  “But, our little team stopped everything,” a proud Banyon exclaimed.

  “Well, the Sanders are still around,” Loni reminded him. “Randolph could still run for president.”

  “Not when the news media people analyze the video from last night. The Sanders look like cowards in the video, hiding behind others to protect themselves. No one will vote for a coward. I think their political ambitions are over.”

  “Colt, you’re right. We are a pretty good team, don’t you think?”

  “The best,” he replied as he picked her off the chair.

  “I love our life,” she purred.

  “Let’s go celebrate.”

  “We can’t,” replied Loni. “Eric is sleeping in the room next to ours.”

  Banyon opened his mouth to reply when a knock came at the door adjoining their suite to the Patel sisters. Loni disengaged herself and opened the door. Previne and Pramilla quickly slid into the room.

  “What do you two want?” a frustrated Banyon said.

  “Well, we are here to pick up Eric. We are taking him on a shopping spree. Didn’t he tell you?” Previne stated.

  “Well, no,” replied a confused Banyon.

  “I’m guessing he didn’t tell you about his future plans either,” Pramilla added.

  “What plans?” Banyon said.

  “Why, he is going back to India with us tomorrow. We have promised him an education,” Previne announced.

  “I know what kind of education he will get from you two,” Banyon replied sarcastically.

  “You’re just jealous,” Previne shot back.

  Before Banyon could answer there was a knock at the front door. He went to the door and opened it. In strolled Maya with Agent Greg Gamble on her arm.

  “Colt, I’d like you to meet my good friend, Greg Gamble,” she announced.

  With a southern drawl, Gamble said, “Pleased to meet you.”

  Authors Notes

  While the plot of this book is, as always, pure fiction, I have included many true historical events. Some have been slight massaged to fit my needs. The central theme in the book revolves around the attempted takeover of the American government by a fictional group known as the Effort. In the book, the organization was set up in Germany in the 1930’s and used the children of Nazis to infiltrate and gain power, including political power in America. Who knows if this didn’t really happen?

  I also covered the illegal alien issue in America. The facts in the book about illegal aliens are true and were intended to educate the reader about the situation. If you live in any of the most popular illegal alien areas, you already know the issues.

  Finally I come to organizations like Homeland Security. To be sure, we need to be better protected in todays crazy world environment. In the past, before Homeland Security, the lettered government agencies had a tendency to not share information, resulting in incomplete and even erroneous data on our enemies inside the United States. Homeland Security fills that void. But, do they have too much power? In my book they do. In a closed-mouthed vertical organization like Homeland Security, one man can make a big difference. It is something to keep in mind.

  Author’s Acknowledgements

  Every one of my books starts with just an idea. I then add the scenes and the characters. This book was inspired by some of my Las Vegas friends who thought that there were things to be said about their town. So thanks for the setting. You may have noticed their names in the book. One was Steve Pellegrino for his fight game knowledge and Chris Monson, who actually grew up there. He gave me valuable insight into how things work in Las Vegas. Additional friends are sprinkled in the book. You know who you are.

  Of course I must thank my longtime companion Kathy Mayeda for her constant backing and literary knowledge. She is also my best sounding board and also sweeps up and discards the unusable prose that I sometimes write.

  Bonus Reading from my next book

  A Dubious Plan

  Chapter One

  It was a beautiful day in Death Valley. Even though it was only mid-April, the temperature was already over 90 degrees, and it was just 10A.M. The skies were bright blue and didn’t contain a hint of a cloud. The relentless winds were calm this morning.

  Death Valley is located between two high mountain ranges. It’s long and desolate. Other than the few roads that snake through the valley, there are only a couple of passable trails in the vast region. The rest of the land is empty. It can be very dangerous too. A visitor could easily get lost and because of the economy, there are few park rangers to come to the rescue. The largest town, Furnace Creek, has a population of less than fifty people. The area is large, barren, uninhabited, and if you got in trouble, there is almost no cell phone reception.

  The Death Valley National Park is however, starkly beautiful. The scenery is sometimes breathtaking and sometimes serenely barren. It also contains the lowest point in North America, 282 feet below sea level. It is the driest area in the Americas with less than 2 inches of rainfall on average per year. Temperatures in the valley have been recorded as high as 136 degrees in the summer. It can be a most inhospitable place. But is also one of the most visited National Parks in America. The three thousand square mile park is located just west of Mid-Nevada and is actually in the great state of California. It is in easy driving distance from several major cities including Las Vegas, Los Angeles and San Francisco. It is like visiting another world. But it is a great place to be alone and a great place to go for a hike.

  Brent Maguson had booked the only hotel in Furnace Creek for Friday, Saturday and Sunday night. He booked only one room with two beds because he was not alone. His entourage included himself and three young women, one was from the office.

  Brent was a successful middle-aged salesperson for an electronics company in San Francisco. He was still in good shape and had little trouble getting dates, but this was different. The woman from his office was his administrative assistant named Cindy. One of other women was her roommate, the other a friend. He planned to have a ver
y good time with all the young women over the weekend. As he cruised down Hwy 190 in the middle of Death Valley, he thought about his incredibility good luck. He had not planned to be headed for Death Valley this weekend, but Cindy had convinced him with an offer that he could not refuse. Cindy was very pretty Asian woman with short brown hair and the body of a runner. She was also about half his age. She was currently dressed in very short white shorts and a pink tube top. She sat next to him in the front seat of his year old Jeep Cherokee and constantly flirted with him, just as she did at work. He glanced at her exposed light brown legs and wished that they were at the hotel already.

  He checked his rear view mirror and was shocked and then immediately excited. The two women in the back were locked in a passionate embrace. The blond Chelsea was partly lying on top of the redhead, Alesha. Both girls were in short blue denim skirts and golf shirts. Alesha had her blue shirt pushed up around her neck and Chelsea was hard at work undoing her bra. Brent adjusted the rear view mirror so that he could get a better view.

  Cindy noticed that Brent was staring into the rear view mirror and immediately undid her seat belt and turned around on her knees in the seat. It exposed her small ass to Brent.

  “Hey, what are you two doing back there,” she spoke in a scolding sexy voice that Brent had never heard before.

  “We can’t wait. Come and join us,” replied Alesha.

  Cindy started to throw her leg over the seat, but stopped and reached over and stroked Brent on his face. Her hand drifted down his front and suddenly brushed his lower body.

  “Wow,” she exclaimed. “You are already excited. But Brent don’t you worry, you’ll have your chance very soon,” she reassured him as she breathed into his ear. She then dropped down into the back seat.

  Brent was ready to stop the car right there, but he readjusted the mirror again and thought about the weekend trip. He wondered if he had been setup, it had happen so quickly. It all started when Cindy had come into his office on Wednesday and stood by his desk pouting.