“No, hold your ground” Wolf came back. “We need to rid the world of these vermin, today.”
“But once the shooting starts, they will find us and there are a lot more of them. We’ll be able to pick off some of them, but once they pin us down we’ll be doomed. What happens then?” Banyon asked as Mandy climbed over the ledge.
“Don’t worry Colt. I have a little surprise planned for them.” Wolf went on to explain his surprise.
Banyon quickly activated his earpiece and told the others about the situation. Mandy looked at him with nervous eyes but said nothing. Eric and Heather were silent as well. “We have a backup plan in place. Just make sure you shoot as many of these assholes as possible, as quick as possible.”
***
Carlos and his men marched into the canyon. He was in the very back of the group as he decided he didn’t need to do any killing today. His head hurt too much and he was already dying of thirst. He had enough men with him to do the killing, even though his information about Colton Banyon had said he was very resourceful.
“When we reach to picnic area, I want you all to take them fast. Run in and kept shooting until they are all dead, and then we need to get out of here as soon as possible. Before anyone else shows up in the canyon. We’ll take the back entrance out of the valley and be back in the city in less than two hours. The casino owes me some money. I intend to get it back.” He told his men with confidence.
“We are here,” one of the watchers said and pointed to the turn in the canyon. Carlos noted that the walls suddenly were very high in the canyon.
“We go on three,” Carlos said. “One, two, three, go.”
***
“Here they come,” Mandy announced with a little panic in her voice. She cocked her gun and took aim.
“Wait until they start shooting,” Eric said. “Shoot a man behind the front line. The men in the front won’t know that the men behind them were hit because of the noise. It will give us a chance to get a second shot off before they spot us. Heather and I will shoot the men on the right. You guys take the men on the left.”
“Roger,” Banyon said like a professional.
The hit men were pouring around the corner now — in a full run. They had spread out and covered the entire walkway. There was no screaming, no yelling; just the sound of their feet pounding the sand.
Suddenly, machine gun fire filled the canyon. The noise was deafening as the sound bounced off of the canyon walls.
“Fire,” Eric yelled into his earpiece. Immediately, four of the hit men fell backwards shot dead in their tracks. The men in front kept firing at the rubber dolls, even though they had all been blow up in the first volley. It was blood lust at its worse, as often happens in gun battles. They couldn’t stop firing. The next four men went down.
Carlos had already identified the shooters and peppered the ledge where Mandy and Banyon crouched. His remaining men soon followed his example. Banyon and Mandy hunkered down behind a large rock and were protected from the hail of bullets, but Banyon knew if one of the Mexicans was able to get on the ledge, he and Mandy would soon be dead.
Right now the firepower was too strong to delay that for too long. Luckily, the hit men had not discovered that there were two groups of shooters. Eric and Heather suddenly popped up and raked the canyon with suppressing machine gun fire. The hit men dove to the ground, some hiding behind the dead bodies of their friends. Carlos could see the enemy had high ground and his men didn’t have any cover.
Carlos now knew he was in real trouble. The people on the ledge could hold his men off for some time. He was sure that the police were not far behind. They could trap him in this canyon. The whole operation was a set up. He decided his only choice was to retreat. They needed to get out of the canyon and fight another day.
“Vamos,” he yelled and waved his arm in retreat. He slowly began to back out of the canyon, firing at the sniper holes.
But that’s when the surprise happened.
***
Suddenly, the canyon was filled with moans and sounds like Indians chanting. Everybody stopped firing and looked around to find the source of the noise. The chanting grew louder and louder until some of the men dropped their guns and covered their ears. The Mexicans were confused and then scared as smoky apparitions appeared at the entrance of each cave in the canyon. They looked like ancient Indians, in loin clothes and they carried spears. When the Mexicans turned to flee, the apparitions leaped from their caves, quickly gliding over the killer’s heads and came to the ground, blocking the exit. The apparitions then started to move forward, pushing the Mexicans back into the line of fire. Sheer terror appeared on the killers faces as they reluctantly moved back into the canyon.
“Fire,” Banyon screamed. Four more men went down before the remaining killers could grab their guns and return fire. The apparitions continued flowing deeper and deeper into the canyon. Carlos was one of the remaining four killers left alive. He decided he desperately needed to get away somehow. He thought the way out was to run through the ghost wall. He could clearly see through them, they were just ghosts. He could do it. He let out a blood-curdling scream and charged the wall of smoke, firing his weapon to punch a hole. One of the ghosts suddenly morphed into his mother. She stuck out an accusing finger at him. The superstitious Carlos stopped dead in his tracks. He could not run through his mother. He realized if he was going to get out he would have to get over the wall of the canyon. He then screamed. “I am Carlos the matador. You cannot stop me,” he roared.
Turning on his heel, he rushed the back of the canyon. He wanted to get up on the ledge and then shoot everyone he found. His three remaining men joined him in the charge. They ran firing from the hip and screaming like madmen. Carlos almost made it to the back wall when a bullet from Colton Banyon’s gun entered his heart. His three other men went down at the same time.
Suddenly, the canyon was eerily quiet. The chanting was gone, the ghosts disappeared, and no shots were being fired. It was like all sound was sucked from the canyon. There was only the smell of gunpowder and the hot unrelenting heat from the sun. The rocks looked like they were on fire. Mandy now understood where the place got its name.
Banyon took a deep breath. It seemed like it had been forever since he had taken his last gulp of air. He turned to Mandy and saw a look of feral terror in her eyes. Tears streamed down her cheeks. She dropped her gun and threw herself into his arms. Her whole body shook from fear and loathing. But she had held it together when it counted.
“I never killed anyone before,” she wailed into his shoulder.
Banyon stroked her hair. “We did great, kid. I’m proud of you Mandy,” he said softly.
Meanwhile, Heather and Eric had leaped down into the canyon. “Cover us,” Eric yelled. “We need to make sure they are all dead.” Banyon pushed Mandy back and picked up his gun.
It took them only a few minutes to confirm that all the hit men were dead. Colton Banyon and his team had taken on the most wanted hit squad in the entire world, just the four of them, and they had survived. “Thank you Wolf,” Banyon said out loud.
“Who are you talking to?” Mandy asked as she stood up and stretched. Her clothes were filthy and sweat soaked, her hair was all over the place and her face was blackened. He realized that he must look the same way.
“I’m thanking the big guy,” he replied. He didn’t tell her the big guy in this case was Wolf.
Suddenly very serious, Mandy asked. “What just happened? I mean did you see the ghosts too? Where did they come from? Why did they help us? How did you…”
Banyon cut her off. “My guess is that are the ghosts from the Indians who used to live here. I told you, many people think they still haunt the place. Maybe they were protecting their homes. Or maybe you had a hallucination from lack of water.”
“I think you had something to do with them,” Mandy said accusingly.
“Remember Mandy, you can’t tell anybody about what happened here,” Banyon ca
lmly replied.
“I think you are very special Mr. Banyon. You knew they would come. They were the surprise,” she said. “And how come you always seem to know things that no one else does?”
“I talk to dead people,” he answered deadpan.
“No, I mean, really, how do you know these things?” She asked.
But before he could formulate a plausible answer, Banyon’s earpiece suddenly erupted. It was Eric.
“Someone is coming” he yelled as he and Heather scampered up onto the ledge. They were all back behind their rocks with guns aimed out when they spied a group of Marines rushing into the canyon with their guns aimed straight and the fluid motion of men that have gone into danger together before.
When they got to the dead bodies, the leader suddenly raised his fist. The men immediately stopped and went to one knee. As he reviewed the carnage he said, “What happened here?”
“We’re up here on the ledge,” Banyon yelled down.
“Are you Colton Banyon?” The Marine leader was told to locate and protect him first of all.
“I am,” Banyon announced and stood up. Mandy, Eric and Heather dropped their guns and showed themselves with their hands in the air.
“We were ordered here to protect you, but it looks like you handled things yourself,” the Marine said with admiration.
“They were all contract killers who murdered many innocent people. They all needed to die,” Eric said. He helped Heather down from the ledge and joined Banyon and Mandy near the picnic table.
“You four took down all these killers?” The Marine asked. He was surprised that two of them were young women.
“We didn’t have a choice, our backup got delayed,” Banyon replied.
“Well, we have only one thing to say about that,” The commander said as he turned to his men.
They all yelled at the same time.
“Ooh-rah.”
Epilogue
It was well after mid-night when Banyon parked his Jaguar back at his home in South Barrington, Illinois. He and Eric made their way into his house. They were exhausted, but knew Loni and the Patel sisters were due home in less than an hour. They needed to be ready for them.
The last seven hours had been a whirlwind of activity. As soon as the marines had secured the killing area, Banyon’s group was allowed to drive over to the camping area in the park, with an armed escort, of course. They pulled their suitcases from the SUV and took warm showers, ridding themselves of the scent of killing. By the time they were finished, the SWAT teams showed up and took control from the marines who promptly jumped into their choppers and returned to base without comment.
Rebecca surveyed the killing area and apologized to Banyon for being late. She handed Banyon a secure satellite phone and he was surprised when the President asked him if he was unhurt. When he said he was fine, the President asked him what happened.
“Marlene and I were watching a satellite feed in the situation room and had a clear view of the canyon. It looked like you were going to be overrun and all of a sudden the hit men went crazy. What happened?”
“I think they became dehydrated and disoriented,” Banyon replied smoothly. “We had plenty of water, they had none.” Banyon quickly realized the satellite camera had not pick up images of the ghosts.
“Oh,” the President replied. “Will you be in the office tomorrow?”
“I think I’ll take the rest of the week off. I need a little rest,” Banyon quickly answered. “Why do you ask?”
“Our crisis with Mexico is over,” he replied. “The Mexican President gave a speech a couple of hours ago and blamed everything on the drug cartels, so we decided to not mention the Effort plan. By tomorrow everything will be back to normal.”
“So, why do you need me?”
“In his speech, the President of Mexico brought up the name of Danta Lopez. He said Lopez was the new Zorro, wiping out corruption in Mexico. The people now see him as a new super hero.”
“So?” Banyon cautiously asked.
“Well, I kind of told him, I could help communicate with the new Zorro. I expect I will be hearing from him soon.”
“Even Zorro needs a vacation,” a weary Banyon said.
***
Rebecca had two of her men drive the Banyon team back to the airport and they quickly boarded their plane and headed back to Chicago. Everyone was too tired to even talk. They all slept for the three hours it took to reach home base. When they landed, Banyon gave each of the women a big hug and told them he was taking several days off.
“When will we be paid?” Heather asked, “And how much?”
“I’ll call Bart in the morning and tell him to release ten percent of whatever we made. Is that fair?”
***
On the drive home, Banyon and Eric talked. “What do you want to tell the girls?” Eric asked.
“Well, we need to tell them about the bomb because I was on camera,” he calculated. “Let’s tell them the rest of the time was spent bringing down Slezeck, but it is top secret. They should know about that part anyway. I wouldn’t mention anything about bodyguards, okay.”
“They performed well, when we needed them,” Eric said.
“It was certainly a memorable event,” Banyon replied.
“They sure were fun, too,” Eric added. Nothing more needed to be said.
***
The women returned home at a little after one o’clock in the morning. Banyon and Eric were asleep on his couches, with the TV on, but bounced to attention as all four women flowed gracefully through the kitchen door from the garage.
“We’re back,” Loni announced. Each woman was dressed in loose-fitting colorful cotton sundresses and they brightened up the room like sunshine. Previne carried a small wooden box and placed it on the kitchen island.
“Look what we have,” she exclaimed cheerfully, her arms open in an invitation to look.
Loni immediately ran at Banyon and leaped onto his body. He thought she seemed a little heavier than Mandy. She kissed him hard on the lips and Banyon immediately felt the urge to carry her directly to the bedroom, but she dropped down and went and gave Eric a non-brotherly hug. She was immediately replaced by Previne, who gave Banyon a kiss on his lips and then wrapped her arms tightly around him.
“I missed you most of all,” she purred into his ear as she gripped him tightly.
He was shocked and aroused by the time Maya got to him.
When Pramilla came close for her hug, Maya flicked her eyes south for Pramilla to see. She immediately began grinding on the aroused Banyon. “I haven’t felt one of those for a while. It feels good,” she whispered into his ear. When he looked for Loni, he saw she was still hugging Eric. Oh my God, what went on between these women on the sailboat, he thought. They are all as horny as a cat in heat.
“We need to go and let these guys get some sleep,” Eric urgently said. The three Patel women looked at him like hungry lions.
“We are going to leave the box here, for tonight,” Previne announced. She wanted to be sure to have an excuse to come back tomorrow. “We’ll come by around noon.”
“We have some urgent business in the bedroom,” Banyon leered as soon as the door closed. He picked Loni up and carried her like he was on a honeymoon. She giggled with delight and started unbuttoning his shirt.
***
The next morning, Banyon got out of bed around ten o’clock because he needed to use the bathroom. When he returned, Loni beckoned him to her side of the bed. She threw back the covers and lay naked as he sat down on the side of the large bed. She didn’t have any tan lines on her small body.
“I feel guilty about having so much fun while you had to work and deal with a bomb in your office. Is there anything that I can do to get rid of my guilt?
Banyon thought for a minute. “Go put on your maids outfit. You have to wear it all day, even if we have company. You will do everything I order you to do, for the whole day.”
“Really, that’s pretty ha
rsh don’t you think,” she exclaimed as her eyes lit up. Banyon knew that above all things, Loni hated to be domestic.
“Then I’ll forgive you,” he said.
“Underwear or not?” she asked.
***
A few hours later, Colton Banyon sat at his desk. He decided to write a short list of their accomplishments, just as he had for all his previous adventures. He began to write:
Stopped a war between Mexico and the United States.
Saved the Presidents granddaughter.
Rescued two kidnaped girls.
Stopped a multi-leveled plot by the Effort.
Brought down Paul Slezeck.
Found another old Nazi–Walter Klotz.
Started a new position.
Prevented a bomb threat at Dewey & Beatem.
Eliminated a feared Mexican hit team.
Make some new friends?
He didn’t want to write anything more, just in case Loni ran across the list in the future. She would have a bunch of questions about the mystery and especially the women. He put the list in his desk draw where he kept all the lists from previous adventures. He then sat back and thought about Mandy and Heather. What am I going to do about those two?
***
Around noon the Patel sisters showed up with Eric in tow. They were all dressed in skimpy white shorts, halter tops and flat sandals. Eric was in his usual grubby attire. When they saw Loni in her, black, short, maids garb, complete with a little white apron, they gave a questioning look at her.
“I’m being punished,” she acknowledged with a smile. “The man is such a brute.”
Previne quickly played along. “Colt, can you have your maid bring me some coffee?”
“Bring Previne some coffee, wench,” Banyon ordered.
Loni pouted, but did as he asked. “Here is your coffee, ma’am.” This, of course, riled Previne. She hated to be called ma’am.
“Let’s get to the treasure,” Banyon said. They all gathered around the island in the kitchen and Previne expertly divided up the loot. She said that some of the items could be traced and put them in another pile.
A Dubious Position (A Colton Banyon Mystery Book 7) Page 25
