“I will be sorry to see you go,” Bernard said sadly. He was being uncharacteristically emotional.
“Just one thing, though. I’m not going out in the desert with Aldo. I don’t trust him and I think he would like to have a piece of me,” she told him.
“Aldo and the other servants will not be making the trip. They have out lived their usefulness,” Bernard said matter-of-factly.
“You’re just going to leave them here? But, they will be caught when the Feds storm the farm.”
“They know nothing of our other operation. I no longer need their help and they can reveal nothing about our plans,” the old man replied.
“So, who is going to help me dig up the artifact? You don’t expect me to go out in the creepy desert by myself, do you?”
“Don’t worry, there’s plenty of men at the facility where we are going,” Bernard reassured her. “I’ll send three men from the plant to help you.”
“But then they’ll know about the treasure,” Brenda complained. “What should I do about that?”
“Then you’ll shoot them, of course.”
“Okay, that works for me,” she cheerfully said and shrugged her shoulders. She was beginning to understand Bernard had thought of everything. “Now untie me so I can collect some things before we leave.”
Bernard snapped open a pocket knife and leaned over to cut her bindings. He was very pleased with himself and totally distracted by the jiggling Brenda.
“I will miss this place,” Bernard croaked sentimentally.
Normally, he would have been more alert and noticed Aldo standing silently behind a pillar near the patio table. But he was totally absorbed with freeing Brenda — he had made another mistake.
Chapter Forty-Eight
A
ldo had heard enough, he slipped silently away while Bernard was busy cutting Brenda’s bindings. He quickly made his way back inside the huge mansion. He looked back to see if Bernard had noticed him and ran headlong into Carl Catfish. He was lugging an overnight bag and his computer case. The luggage tumbled to the marble floor.
“Are you going someplace Mr. Catfish?” Aldo asked in his most subservient voice as he bent down to retrieve the bags. He thought maybe he could trick the scientist into revealing were they were going.
“Actually, I am.” The scientist replied nervously. The old man had told him to not tell anyone where they were headed.
“And where is that?” Aldo asked politely.
“Actually, only Bernard knows where,” Carl Catfish lied.
“May I help you with your bags then?” Aldo quickly asked. He desperately wanted to know the location of the treasure, but first he needed to know where the bitch was headed so he could steal the directions.
“There is a guy waiting in a van outside,” Carl pointed to the front of the house. “Put my bags in the back and thanks Aldo,” Carl Catfish said sincerely. He then went off in search of Bernard.
Aldo carried the bags out the front door and dropped them by the back of the van. There were several other pieces of luggage on the ground. The driver slowly got out of the van to help pack.
“I always wanted to be a pilot and own a plane. It gives you a lot of freedom, doesn’t it?” Aldo lied to soften the man up. He guessed that the man was more than a van driver. He wore a flight jacket and aviator sun glasses.
“It’s very expensive, my friend. It’s not for the faint of heart,” the man knowingly replied in a rough voice.
“You must be the pilot then?” Aldo quickly blurted out like it was a revelation. “Looks like a good day for flying to…I forgot the place where he is going today? How stupid of me?” Aldo said with a grin.
“Yeah, I’m the pilot,” the burly man in a flight jacket replied as he flicked his cigarette and hefted a bag into the van.
“I envy you, flying off to exotic places and making lots of money. It must be great fun?” Aldo continued.
“Not today,” the pilot grumbled as he tossed another bag into the van.
“Why is that? The boss only goes to great places.”
“Gonna be a bumpy ride, today. The mountains can be very tricky. There are lots of updrafts and stuff near Laughlin.”
“Oh, that’s right,” Aldo exclaimed cheerfully. “He is going to Laughlin, Nevada.”
“That’s the place,” the pilot agreed and pointed his finger at Aldo.
“Are you heading directly there? It’s a long trip.” Aldo said as he tried to pump the man for more information.
“It’ll be much longer today. I figure it’ll take us about nine hours to get there. We’ll have to stop to refuel twice. I’ll earn my money on this trip,” the pilot offered.
“Oh, sorry for you,” Aldo offered.
“Then I’m to rent a van and drop these guys off at some factory. It’ll take another hour probably,” the pilot complained.
“Why don’t you just put them in a taxi cab?”
“Cabs don’t go to South Market Street late at night. It’s the warehouse district,” the pilot replied. “It’s too dangerous.”
“But you’ll still get them there sometime tonight and make your money, right?” Aldo asked hopefully.
“You didn’t hear that from me,” the man replied.
***
Back inside the large house, Aldo rushed into the back kitchen where several of the other servants were working. He looked around the work area and then went straight to the chef. His name was Raul. He liked his own cooking and his body showed it.
“We’ve got big trouble heading our way,” Aldo told the big man.
“Is he having a dinner party or something?” Raul asked. “I told him he has to give me a days notice to prepare. He hasn’t let us go food shopping this week. We don’t have much food on hand.” The chef said in desperation. Raul had an uncontrollable temper and began waving a meat cleaver like he was going to chop someone into little pieces. He began to swear and rant at the people around him in the kitchen.
“Raul, shut up and listen,” Aldo ordered. “The old man is leaving this place for good. He’s not coming back.”
“Why would he do that? He loves this place.”
“The government is after him. They’ll be here in a couple of hours. He is involved with some stupid plot to take over the country and they plan to kill millions of Hispanics starting tomorrow. You know what that means.”
“Yeah,” Raul replied in disbelief. “All of us are Hispanic and illegal too. If we stay here, we’ll all be rounded up.”
“Or worse, he may try to kill us before he leaves the farm,” Aldo pointed out. “We know too much.”
“My God, what are we going to do?” Raul screamed causing his huge belly to jiggle. Utensils went flying as he staggered into the work table.
“You collect all the servants and get them into the kitchen. We’ll set up a perimeter here and barricade the doors. Tell them to be armed in case the old man tries something. We’re not going away easily.”
“Do you think he will try to kills us?” Raul was suddenly fearful for his life.
“I don’t think so. There are eleven of us and only three of them. But we need to prepare for the worse case,” Aldo explained as he headed for the door.
“Where are you going?” Raul yelled at his friend.
“I know where he keeps some hidden cash. I’m going to get it so we have some traveling money,” Aldo replied.
“And if we survive an attack by them?”
“We are out of here as soon as Bernard is gone. We’ll take two of the vans,” Raul told the chef.
“But where will we go?”
“We’re headed to the desert in Nevada,” Aldo replied as he hurried off to steal the money.
But an attack never came.
***
After fifteen minutes of nerve racking silence in their self-imposed prison, Aldo sent out an armed scout. The man came back a few minutes later and said the van was gone and no one else was around.
“Let’s ge
t out of here,” Aldo yelled. “The authorities will be here very soon.”
“Where should we go?” Raul asked.
“We’re headed to the airport in Milwaukee.”
Chapter Forty-Nine
C
olton Banyon rushed back into the conference room at Dewey & Beatem. Everyone just stared at him as he entered. He winked at Loni and she smiled back. She knew he had talked to Wolf and had some answers.
“What?” Banyon said defiantly as he stared back. “I had to make some important calls,” he said defensively with his hands spread. “I didn’t plan to be arrested and hijacked today you know. I had a number of important appointments to cancel.”
“Is everything handled? Were you able to rearrange our schedule?” Loni asked in code, meaning did you find out anything from Wolf.
“I was able to find a way to fix our problems,” he replied back in code. “It will take some juggling, but we can do it Loni.”
“You were needed here,” Bart reprimanded him in a melancholy tone. “You can’t just run off in a crisis.”
Banyon could sense something was not right. Everyone in the room was very somber and subdued. Something had happened. “Where are we on the investigation?”
“Not very far,” Steve said with dejection.
“You got anything?” Bart asked like he knew Banyon had something to offer.
“Yes, actually I do,” Banyon offered. “Most of the time, I was talking to Timmy,” he said, believing someone would soon check with Timmy.
“Has he passed on anything useful we could use?” Bart continued to interrogate Banyon. Timmy worked for Bart at the corporate offices. He didn’t like that Banyon could have information before him.
“The name of the guy who is building the nanobots is a journeyman scientist named Carl Catfish,” Banyon told them.
“Just how do you know that?” Haleigh Taylor asked suspiciously.
“Timmy dug it out,” Banyon replied. “Carl Catfish has been blogging on the internet. He is bragging that he has a working nanobot model. He also has not applied for a new job for several years. He’s been working for Bernard Schultz. Timmy is sure he is our guy.”
“Do we have a location for him?” Marlene calmly asked from the big screen.
“Not right now,” Banyon admitted. But he has been working out of the horse farm in Vernon Hills for several years. Timmy says he has been silent for the last couple of days. We think he is on the move, but don’t worry. As soon as he fires up his laptop, Timmy will get the location and notify us.”
“I’d better have someone take a closer look at this guy,” Marlene said and turned to a hovering assistant.
“Anything happen while I was gone?” Banyon asked.
“Yes, as a matter of fact,” Marlene said grimly as she turned back to the screen.
“What?”
“The killings have started,” she glumly responded. “It is very bad.”
Chapter Fifty
T
he first person to die from phase two of the pseudo-plague was the Secretary of Defense. It happened at an Italian restaurant where the secretary had a standing reservation, every week, at a set time of 8:30 P.M.
Vice Admiral Meyers was seated at the bar of the crowded eatery. He was disguised as a biker with sunglasses, a ponytail and a scarf covering his head and most of his features. He wore black neoprene gloves on his hands. No one wondered why he looked like a dangerous biker. He had a clear view of the door. When the secretary waltzed up to the reservation desk, the hostess quickly grabbed the paper menu from the host stand and headed to the back of the restaurant with the secretary in tow. As she passed the crowded bar area, Vice Admiral Meyers slid off his seat and purposefully bumped into her. He quickly sprayed the menu with his small hand-pumped can and rushed out the door.
The secretary had a leisurely dinner with a couple of drinks. He was just biting into his cheese cake dessert when he began to have convulsions. His face distorted and he fell over dead. The paramedics were immediately called, but before they could arrive, the hostess who had placed the menu on the table and the waiter, who had collected it after taking the secretary’s order, were also dead. They were the first real civilian casualties from the nanobots, but they were not the only ones to die that night.
***
Twenty minutes later, Vice Admiral Meyers was seated in his big office at the Pentagon. He stared at the plastic container on his desk. He was already contemplating using the nanobots for various projects throughout the world. In a few days, I’ll have the power to eliminate drug lords, other dictators, whiny liberal assholes, and anyone else that I see fit. An additional thought popped into his head. I wonder if any nanobots are left in the canister. Good thing I have another set of gloves.
After a few minutes he muttered to himself as he stood up. “Let’s find out shall we.”
Bernard had warned him earlier, by phone, to be very careful and not draw any attention. But Vice Admiral Meyers was beginning to feel invincible. He had the power of life and death in his hands and he intended to use it.
As he exited his office, he left a message for his secretary to find in the morning. It said he was going on an inspection tour of the command bunker for USNORTHCOM and would be there all the next day. He knew the President would be looking for him tomorrow and he wanted to be found while in the bunker.
He pondered what to do first. He decided his first stop would be the cafeteria where paper placemats were used to line the serving trays. He sprayed the whole stack when no one was looking. Then he went into several bathrooms and sprayed the paper towels. His final stop was the small news stand near the front of the massive Pentagon building. He sprayed everything he could before the canister ran out of spray. He then headed off to his car while whistling cheerfully. By any standard, Vice Admiral Michael Meyers was now the most successful mass murder in the history of the country. Thousands would soon die.
He had also made a crucial mistake spawned by his arrogance.
Chapter Fifty-One
“H
ow many people have died so far and when did the killings start?” Banyon asked nervously. Wolf had told him the nanobots could only live outside their solution for less than two hours.
“Well, let’s see,” Marlene said like it was just statistics. She pulled up a piece of paper and read from it. “The death tolls started coming about an hour ago,” she announced. “As of five minutes ago, the count is four hundred and fifty people, but I suspect it will go much higher as communications have been chaotic.”
“Where are they dying? I mean, is it confined to one area?” Banyon screamed as he watched a picture from a news chopper focusing on the Pentagon. Marlene had split the picture on the big screen.
“So far, most of the deaths have been confined to Washington, D.C., but a few are scattered in the surrounding area.” Marlene added clinically. “They are mostly congressional personal.”
“I wonder if word has leaked out about a possible plague,” Banyon asked as he rubbed his chin in thought.
“Yes, I can say that it has,” Marlene replied like a professional. “We are getting some disturbing reports. It is already crippling the business of the government. People are scared and staying away from work, locking themselves in their homes. The President has dispatched people from the CDC in Atlanta. That’s the Center for Disease Control. He has sent them to Washington but now they want to quarantine the city. A stay inside order is being broadcast by several television stations.”
“Do you think the broadcasts will help save people’s lives?” Haleigh asked with concern.
“No,” Marlene said flatly. “The CDC still can’t identify whether it is a disease or a poison which is killing these people and we have no idea how it is infecting people, so they haven’t found an antidote. We are studying the patterns but have not been able to conclude anything.”
“If this continues, the next step will be to declare a national emergency,” Bart said like a
lawyer. “Then martial law can be declared.”
“How many of the dead are civilians?” Banyon asked as his face became flushed with anger. Wolf had not told him that so many people would die in the capital. Did he know, or is this an unexpected development? Banyon thought.
“We have thirty-five Congressmen dead so far. The Secretary of Defense is also dead along with two restaurant workers from where he was having dinner in the suburbs. Almost all of the rest of the deaths are military personal who worked at the Pentagon, or civilians who worked there. The toll is growing by the second.”
“Oh, my God, it’s already started,” Loni uttered as she covered her mouth in horror. “No one is safe.”
“We need some answers quickly because Loni is right, we don’t even know how they are delivering the nanobots,” Marlene agreed.
“If the Effort has attacked the Pentagon,” Banyon asked out loud. “Are they eliminating the competition or is there another reason?”
“We need to find out who really is behind this fast, and put an end to them.” Steve said stating the obvious.
“How far from the horse farm are your people?” Banyon suddenly asked Marlene.
“We are about two minutes from going in,” she replied factually. “We’ll be able to watch the takedown.”
“I hope we can capture him,” Haleigh said like a prayer. “I’d like to have a piece of that son-of-a-bitch,” she added vehemently.
“I’m pretty sure Bernard Schultz is our mastermind but I doubt he will still be there,” Banyon told everyone.
“How do you know that?” Haleigh the detective asked in shock. She was hoping for a fast resolution.
“As I told you, this looks suspiciously like a plot from a spy novel. They have been very good at diversion and deception so far. A spy would have a backup plan and a safe house somewhere. He wouldn’t stay in a location which could be found. My instincts tell me Bernard Schultz is gone.”
A Dubious Device: The Nanobot Terror (A Colton Banyon Mystery Book 10) Page 17
