A Dubious Artifact (A Colton Banyon Mystery Book 6)

by Gerald J Kubicki

  “Curious,” Zao Ping said. “We just shoot them in the leg at the start of the interrogation. They get pretty scared and then they talk.”

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  One other person was listening in on Dr. Behl’s audio feed. It was Tom Cruickskank. He sat in a small secure office in the Homeland Security building in Chicago. Only two people had the combination and access to this office. It was located in the bowels of the building. It was not the tenth floor office that Banyon had visited. The sign on the door was ignored by most people in the building. It simply read O.I.G.

  O.I.G. stood for Office of Inspector General. The OIG had been around since nineteen seventy eight, but was upgraded in two thousand and two after 9/11 and when Homeland Security was established. It fell under the Department of Justice and was a watch dog organization. Its primary purpose was to keep Americas many law enforcement agencies in line through audits, inspections, and even investigations.

  In the last year, the OIG had taken a more aggressive role at Homeland Security. It was ordered by Presidential decree. The acting Inspector General was appointed into the position by the President and was independent of the Homeland Security chain of command. The acting Inspector General was part of the President’s good old boy network. The inspectors had clandestine access to any record required for their investigations. The President knew there were some issues with Homeland Security and wanted them fixed.

  Tom Cruickskank was assigned to the Chicago office. He had been placed on Dr. Behl’s team as an expert of historical documents when Dr. Behl had requested the need of an expert. She had long been suspected as a rouge agent. Tom, in fact, knew very little about historical documents, but was given all the information he needed to fool her. When Colton Banyon’s name showed up he had researched him, and realized that his father and Banyon’s father had been friends during World War II. It was an amazing coincidence.

  Tom had entered law enforcement right out of high school. He was trained by the best law enforcement organization in the world, The New York City Police department. The OIG had plucked him from the ranks when the department was upgraded in 2002. He was very good at his job.

  “Well it sounds like we really have the goods on Dr. Behl,” he spoke over his shoulder to his assistant Mary. Mary was a veteran of the Coast Guard and also his wife. She could be trusted.

  “We’d better start looking at David Heller as well,” she replied.

  “I agree,” Tom muttered with distaste in his mouth.

  “Don’t forget, you have an important phone call with Colton Banyon at eight o’clock. That is in a half an hour,” Mary reminder him.

  “I wonder what I should tell him,” Tom said out loud.

  “How about telling him the truth, Tom?”

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  Maya, Loni, Banyon, and Agent Gamble were seated around Banyon’s kitchen table. They were attempting to decide how big a problem they had. Loni and Maya had laptops open on the table. They were doing computer searches as each subject came up.

  “So, do we have a real problem here?” Banyon asked. “Maybe no one else knows about the partial formulas.

  Maya looked up at him. Her large dark eyes seemed to penetrate his soul. “According to the publisher of the book Previne used, there were only about a hundred copies sold. Most have gone to various museums around the world.”

  “Is that good or bad?” Agent Gamble asked.

  “Well, only one was translated into Chinese. It was sent to a professor at Shanghai University. His name is Wong Ho.”

  “Oh, no,” Loni muttered. “That is the guy staying at the Dorchester. He is here to facilitate the transfer of the ashtray.”

  “I’d better put some men on him right away,” Agent Gamble said as he left the table and pulled out his phone.

  “Maybe we should steal the book from him,” Loni offered. “I could go in as a maid and steal it.”

  “No,” Banyon said. “If we steal it then the Chinese would know for sure that they are on the right track. They could easily get another book to complete the formula. Besides, I have a feeling that he is not here alone.”

  “Then our best choice is to steal the artifact back from wherever it is now,” Maya said logically.

  “It’s at the home of Dr. Behl’s grandfather, Henry Fogel,” Loni noted. The FBI agents had installed a tracer program before they had left. Loni could track in it real time. He lives in Kenilworth. That’s about twenty minutes from here.

  “What do we know about Henry Fogel then?” Banyon patiently asked.

  Loni was looking at his Wikipedia page. “He is of German descent. His parents migrated here in the early thirties. He graduated from; you guessed it, Harvard with a degree in Economics in 1939. He became a broker at the Chicago board of trade soon after graduation and had a very successful and prosperous career. Eventually, he served on several Presidential commissions on the economy. And, get this; he was one of the more outspoken proponents of Homeland Security. According to this, he is in his nineties.”

  “Anything else?” Banyon asked as he considered the information.

  “Yes, he had one daughter who married a rising political figure named Albert Behl. They had a daughter named Barbara. It says here his political career was cut tragically short when he and his wife were killed in a plane crash while on a campaign tour for reelection in downstate Illinois.”

  “Well, now we know where the fabulous Dr. Barbara Behl fits in,” Maya noted. “She wanted the formula to extend her grandfather’s life.

  “Excuse me a minute,” Banyon suddenly said and left the table. He went into his bedroom and closed the door.

  “Wolf, is Henry Fogel the old Nazi that you spoke of before?”

  “Very good, Colton,” Wolf returned.

  “How do we capture him?”

  “I don’t believe it is necessary, he is near death. Nature will take its course with him very soon.”

  “Is the artifact in his home?”

  “Yes, it has been sitting on his desk since Barbara returned with it.”

  “I thought they were feverous to try the formula on the old man?”

  “That was Barby’s plan. It is not the Efforts plan.”

  Banyon was not sure what that meant, but had bigger fish to fry. “How much security does he have there?”

  “Only adequate, a wall surrounds the compound and motion sensors cover the inside yard. He has one bodyguard and then there is David Heller. He lives in one wing of the house.”

  “Why does he live there?”

  “Heller is the son that was taken away from Fogel. Fogel has nurtured him to take over his position in the Efforts inner circle. He does not see Barby as a viable leader to the organization.”

  “So he and Barby are competitors for Fogel’s attention, right? Just like brother and sister.”

  “They are also competitors for his wealth, power and position. He can’t live forever, especially now that the formula is useless. They hate each other.”

  “Should we steal the artifact?”

  “You had better do it tonight.”

  “Why?”

  “Heller wants to sell it to the Chinese, but the Chinese are preparing to steal it later tonight.”

  “So should we go early?”

  “The earlier the better and I will help.”

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  Colton Banyon was back seated at the table. He explained the situation and all agreed that they would go and steal the artifact at ten o’clock that evening. Loni had volunteered to be the point person. Banyon told her that, given communications, he could steer her around anyone in the large house by using Wolf as the eye in the sky.

  “Got that covered,” Agent Gamble said. “I’ve got several earpieces in my car. We all could listen in.

  “I’m going with her, just in case there is a problem she can’t handle herself,” Maya stated.

  “I will need to be silent and swift,” Loni retorted. “You’re not.”<
br />
  “She can stay by me then,” Banyon said.

  Loni looked at him with an expression of concern, but said nothing. She turned on her heel and went to change clothes.

  “I’ll be right with you too,” Agent Gamble said.

  “You’d better sit this one out, Greg,” Banyon said. “If we get caught, you would be in big trouble.”

  “Then, let’s not get caught,” he simply replied.

  They continued to work on their plans while Loni changed. When she returned, she was dressed in black stretch pants and a black long sleeved turtle-neck sweater. Her long jet-black hair was nearly invisible against the backdrop of her clothes. Banyon turned to face her as she posed for everyone to see.

  “Wow, you look like the sexist ninja that I ever saw,” Agent Gamble exclaimed. Maya gave him a look of disappointment.

  “Just remember that I’m still a ninja,” she replied and struck a ninja pose.

  “Look,” Maya said to Loni. “I’ve pulled up the Google satellite photos of Fogel’s house. We can see it from several angles. It appears that the best place to sneak in would be from this side that faces a woods area. You would have every little exposure. And if you could climb the outside wall, you would be right outside the office, according to the layout that Wolf gave Colt.”

  “I can climb like a monkey,” she answered as she began to contort her body with stretching exercises.

  “What about weapons?” Maya asked.

  “I’ve got that covered too,” Agent Gamble replied.

  “Sorry, but I will bring my own,” Loni said from behind them. Loni loved her guns and she loved to shoot them.

  “Well, I guess that we are ready,” Banyon said.

  All of a sudden Loni said, “Oh, Colt, don’t forget to call Tom Cruickskank.”

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  Tom Cruickskank answered the phone on the second ring. He and Mary were in their little office in the basement of the Homeland Security building. They decided to record the call, as a precaution.

  Banyon put the call on speakerphone so that the rest of the team could hear what was said.

  “Tom Cruickshank.”

  “This is Colton Banyon here. I got the message that you wrote on your card,” Banyon opened.

  “Thank you for calling,” Tom said while not giving anything away.

  “So, what did you want to tell me?” Banyon asked being equally as evasive.

  “Probably some things you may already know,” Tom said.

  “What would that be?”

  Tom took in a deep breath and forged ahead. “My wife says I should tell you the truth.”

  “I’m listening,” Banyon replied.

  “I’m not one of Dr. Behl’s team. I am actually part of a team that is investigating her. I work for the OIG.”

  “You’re not part of Homeland Security?” Banyon asked. “It sure looked like you had an office in her sector.”

  “I am part of Homeland Security, but the Inspector General’s Office, or OIG, investigates issues inside the organization. We are the internal control. Our office is independent and reports to the Justice Department. We have been after Dr. Behl for some time. The President wants this cleaned up. There are others in the organization that we need to flush out as well. Many are part of a secret organization known as the Effort.”

  Agent Gamble suddenly left the table and pulled open his cellphone. He moved far enough away so that they could not hear his conversation, but close enough to hear their discussions with Tom.

  “Yes, I’m quite familiar with the Effort,” Banyon replied. “Are you working by yourself?”

  Tom looked at Mary and she immediately placed a call to the acting Inspector General’s office. Ironically, both calls reached the President at the same time.

  “Yes I am,” he replied as he stalled for time.

  “Then we both know they are very dangerous,” Banyon said.

  “I wanted to warn you, but there seems no need now,” Tom offered

  “And why is that?” Banyon countered.

  “I listened to an audio tape from earlier today,” Tom admitted. “I had it fed through to my office.”

  “So then you know, I did have the artifact,” Banyon admitted.

  “And you gave it to the fabulous Dr. Behl.”

  “And also that she is an Effort agent who intends to sell it to the Chinese.”

  “Yes, I do and that a man named Henry Fogel is in the middle of all this.”

  “He won’t be a problem for much longer,” Banyon offered.

  “Why is that?”

  “He is on his death bed.”

  ***

  They both bounced around, trading small bits of information while being vetted by each other’s organization. It took ten minutes to complete the calls. Agent Gamble returned to the table and nodded his head yes. He had verified that Tom Cruickskank was also working on the conspiracy team to eliminate the Effort. He worked from another secret cell.

  “This is FBI Agent Gregory Gamble,” Agent Gamble suddenly said. “It looks like we are both working on the same case.”

  “Nice to meet you, Agent Gamble,” Tom replied smoothly. “So, Colton Banyon is one of your people then?”

  “Actually, Colt and I are old friends,” Agent Gamble didn’t want to give anything away.

  “Well, the President said he is looking forward to meeting Mr. Banyon,” Tom said as he threw the ball back to Agent Gamble.

  “Well played, Tom,” Agent Gamble acknowledged. “I admit that he is also a member of my team.”

  “We should get together and compare notes. I’m close to taking some of these assholes down,” Tom requested.

  “Actually, I’d love to but right now we are headed out on a mission. Maybe tomorrow we can get together.”

  “Where are you headed?”

  Agent Gamble didn’t want to tell him, but realized they were going to be working together and the OIG agent would find out soon enough, so he replied. “We are headed to Henry Fogel’s house. We need to steal back the artifact.”

  “But you just gave it to them. Why steal it back?”

  “That’s because the Chinese plan to steal it themselves tonight. We can’t let them have it. It is a matter of national security.”

  “David Heller lives in Fogel’s house. They are both high on my list of bad guys. Banyon says that Fogel is dying. Is that correct?”

  “That is true,” Banyon interjected.

  “Then I’m going there too. I’ll meet you guys near there.”

  “Whoa, hold on fella. We have this all planned out. We don’t need any help,” Agent Gamble quickly said.

  “But if Fogel is dying and we know that he is a big player in the Effort, my guess is there will be several other members at his house. Hopefully, there will be several of the members that work at Homeland Security. That is my beat.”

  Agent Gamble scanned the faces of his team for input. They all shook their heads yes, except for Colton Banyon. Banyon was very concerned. He didn’t want anyone outside of the group at the table to know he could talk to a spirit.

  In the past, he even had Maya cast a spell to make Agent Gamble forget who he was. She had done it, but then had reversed the curse during their last mystery. Agent Gamble, for some reason, told the President about Banyon — that created a big problem.

  Banyon was afraid his service to the government would never end. He and Loni would become virtual slaves, constantly searching for one thing or another on demand. On the other hand, if Homeland Security and the Effort discovered his secret, it would be a lot worse, he calculated. He reluctantly shook his head yes.

  “Okay, meet us in the east corner of the Jewel shopping center on Main Street in Kenilworth. We’ll be there in twenty-five minutes,” Agent Gamble said. “And be armed, we don’t know what might happen.”

  “I’ll be there,” Tom replied and hung up the phone.

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  “The car you have ordered is
downstairs,” Wong Ho informed Zao Ping.

  “What about the guns?” he demanded.

  “There are seven guns, bought on the street, in the trunk. They are untraceable,” Wong Ho nervously replied. Zao Ping had been given several names of people he could trust if he needed help on his mission. He used one to get the guns.

  “I prefer to use my hands for killing,” Zao Ping told the professor with an evil smile. He extended his strong arms and simulated a chocking motion. “But we may have use for the guns,” he added.

  “What should I do while you are away?” Wong Ho asked. He intended to head immediately to the police and ask for asylum as soon as Zao Ping left.

  “You are coming with us,” Zao Ping said as if he was reading Wong Ho’s mind. “You are the driver.”

  “Yes, sir,” the defeated professor replied.

  “Now pack up our things, we are not coming back here.”

  “When do you intend to leave,” Wong Ho asked?

  “We leave in ten minutes.”

  Chapter Thirty

  Meanwhile back at Henry Fogel’s house, he took his last breathe and died. He was surrounded by several people. First there was Dr. Barbara Behl. She was the only one crying. David Heller stood next to her. An evil grin was on his face. The three other members of the inner circle stood at the bottom of the bed. All three were also old men and each contemplated their own inevitable demise. There was also a body guard for each member, one for Fogel, and one for Heller. There were ten people, not counting the dead Fogel, crammed into his hospital like bedroom. It was at the far end of the right wing of Fogel’s house. Dr. Behl’s four team members were also nervously waiting in the large front living room of the house. Heller had called them there as part of his plan.

  A doctor suddenly walked into the room and pronounced Henry Fogel dead by natural causes. He made a show of signing the death certificate and announced he would personally file it. Fogel was now legally dead. The doctor abruptly left.