A Dubious Curse (A Colton Banyon Mystery Book 8) Read online

  “I’ve never met a Mongolian,” Previne mused.

  “There are less than three million people in the whole country, and yet, in square miles, it is the nineteenth largest country in the world. Most are nomads. That is probably why you have not met one,” Kim told everyone.

  “Ask her some more questions?” Previne was intrigued.

  “I’m going to ask her how she got here,” Kim stated, but before he could ask, Colton Banyon pulled up behind the SUV. He and the two other women jumped out of the jeep and quickly walked over to Bart and his people. As he shook the man’s hand, he spoke.

  “We don’t have much time,” he announced. “The bad guys are right behind me. They have three cars and guns. We’ve got twenty minutes or less to get away from the dock and into deep water.”

  hat about Maya and Eric?” Previne asked with concern. “When will they get here? Will they beat the bad guys?” Previne was very concerned about her husband and sister, especially because she was pregnant.

  “I just talked to her,” Banyon reported. “She and Eric are in a government car with two armed Rangers. They arrived back in Las Vegas twenty minutes ago. The Air Force base is providing the transportation.”

  “So, they are safe and will be here soon?” Previne inquired. Something in Banyon’s answer worried her.

  “I’m afraid there is a problem,” Banyon admitted. “Right now, they are on a collision course with some Effort people,” Banyon told everybody.

  “Should we go towards them and fight it out?” Loni asked. She held up her guns, showing she was ready to fight.

  “I think it will be better to take them on here,” Banyon replied. “There is less chance for collateral damage.”

  “Will Maya and Eric get here before the Effort people?” Previne nervously asked.

  “They will come together at the entrance to Echo Cove,” Banyon pointed down the road. “Barry will try to intercept them and capture the book. He knows Maya has it, but it looks like Maya is about a minute ahead of them.”

  “How do you know that?” Bart was suddenly suspicious. He knew Banyon had something special about him, but didn’t know what it was.

  Without hesitation, Banyon replied. “I’ve got this application on my phone. It’s very high-tech. It can track cell phones using their GPS. I can see Maya is slightly ahead of the Effort people.”

  “I need one of those,” Steve said.

  “How is this guy Barry, tracking Maya?” Bart pressed Banyon.

  “I believe he has the same app,”

  “What are we going to do?” Previne asked in a frantic tone. Her husband was with Maya.

  “We’re going to have to go to ‘Plan Kama Sutra’, everybody,” Banyon quickly replied, clapping his hands for attention.

  “Kama Sutra?” Bart asked.

  “Remember, we are probably being watched,” he reminded them, meaning that if Harold was watching, he would be able to warn Barry of the new plan. Everyone nodded in agreement. Nothing further needed to be said. The contingency plan had been put together when Banyon was sure Harold had not been watching the night before. Banyon had suspected it would be a close race to the safety of the boat.

  “We have a few minutes to get organized,” Bart told everyone confidently.

  “We’ve got about fifteen minutes before they get here,” Banyon agreed. “I think it will be enough time.”

  “Okay, let’s get everyone’s names, so we don’t have any miscommunications. My people already know all of you from the write-ups we’ve collected, and we discussed all of you on the flight over, but Previne and Pramilla are hard to tell apart, being identical twins,” Bart said, admiring both women.

  “I’m Previne,” one of the twins offered, raising her hand. “I’m the one in the yellow bathing suit. Pramilla will have a black suit on,” she then tossed the frowning Pramilla the suit Loni had bought for her. Then, she handed the startled Lisa the light blue one. “And this is Lisa. Her suit goes with her eyes.”

  “You’re all going to be in bathing suits on the boat?” a woman from the SUV croaked in disbelief. She was dressed in blue jeans and a pullover.

  “It will be hot out there on the lake, and we will be more comfortable, especially if we have to go into the water,” Loni reasoned. The two women from Dewey & Beatem suddenly exchanges looks. “I told you to bring a bathing suit,” one said to the other.

  Bart waited for the women to finish and clapped his hands. “Well then Colt let me introduce my team to your people before we get going.” Bart amiably suggested. “This is Mandy,” he pointed to the very young-looking girl. “She is our receptionist and she is a world-class runner. She is also our best pickpocket. Next to her is Heather. She is our human resources director, office manager, and top undercover agent.”

  “I’ve worked with them before,” Banyon quickly added as he watched Loni out of the corner of his eye, hoping Bart would not mention that Heather was an ex-porn star, nor that Mandy had a huge crush on him.

  Loni was stunned and her mouth gaped. She knew their names, but Colt had neglected to mention the women were beautiful, young, and sexy.

  Bart continued. “This is Guido. You’ve also worked with him before. He is our best financial analyst.” Bart pointed to a middle-aged man with white hair who was wearing patent leather shoes and a loud suit.

  “Hey Banyon, forget-about-it,” Guido said in accented Brooklynese, waving his hand at him.

  “Kim is one of our lawyers and an expert on Asian languages,” Bart pointed to the smallish man next to him.

  “He can also communicate with Skye,” Loni interrupted. Banyon looked at her with a questioning look. He didn’t know who Skye was. She nodded to the alien.

  “Finally, we have our newest member. He is a former police detective and has just finished a special assignment with the FBI. He is an expert in martial arts and is our new head of security. He says he knows Loni, by the way.”

  She immediately perked up and stared at the man. “Steve Pellegrino, is that you?” she blurted out.

  “No last names,” Steve reprimanded her. “You’re looking good in that tiny white suit, Babe,” he immediately flirted. Steve had worked with Loni and Colt on two previous cases. He had a crush on Loni.

  “See Colt, some people have noticed my new bathing suit,” she said sarcastically as she posed for him.

  “You, I always notice, sweetie,” he replied soothingly, holding out his arms. She ran to him, smiling, and gave him a big hug. At least three people were jealous.

  “Well, let me get the keys at the rental office, and let’s get boating,” Bart cheerfully said. “You guys get on board. Its slip number fourteen.”

  “Did you buy your bathing suit there?” Mandy pointed to the rental office as she spoke to Loni.

  “Yes,” Loni beamed.

  “I’m coming with you Bart,” Mandy called after him.

  “Me too,” Heather repeated.

  “I want to exchange mine,” Pramilla added and rushed off after the group.

  eanwhile, Harold Bass was frantically switching from screen to screen, trying to follow Maya and the book, Barry and his crew, and the Banyon entourage. He was certain Banyon had something else up his sleeve and didn’t want to be outmaneuvered like he had been in Germany. He wanted to be ready this time and kill them all.

  He saw Maya’s car was on Route 167, heading north on the west side of the lake. He estimated she was fifteen minutes away from the marina. Barry and his men were on Route169, heading across the Valley of Fire. He was almost to the junction with Route 167, but would have to head south to reach the turnoff for the Echo Bay Marina. It looked like Barry was going to be about a minute behind the Indian bitch.

  Harold quickly switched to watch the Banyon group. A couple of the people had gone to slip number fourteen and boarded a large houseboat. He noted that there were twelve people, plus the two heading up the dock. Only six were men—to him, the women didn’t count—they were just dumb women.

/>   He decided even if Barry could intercept the car carrying the book before it reached the dock, the people on the lumbering houseboat needed to die. When Barry checked in again, he would tell him to rent three speedboats and go after the houseboat. It would not get far. With ten machineguns, they would make short work of the people and sink the boat in the middle of the lake. Then, the book would belong to him alone. The future of the third Reich would be glorious, and he would be the master of the world.

  oni, Lisa, and Skye had already climbed aboard the 75-foot, brand-new, luxury houseboat. It gleamed in the sunlight as they walked up the short gangplank. To Loni, it looked more like a house than a boat. She grabbed Skye’s hand and beckoned Lisa to follow as she set out to explore the boat. The men were unloading and carrying large black canvas bags from the back of Bart’s SUV. They looked like a string of sailors returning from leave as they hefted the bags on their backs and walked up the dock to slip fourteen.

  Banyon carried a bag, but he lagged behind the rest of the men. He needed to call Maya and get her up to speed. He dialed his cell phone and she answered in one ring.

  “Maya, it’s Colt,” he quickly informed her.

  “Are we going to make it ahead of the Effort guys?” she asked with concern.

  “I think you will be about a minute ahead of them,” he replied. He could hear her give a sigh of relief.

  “But they will be able to shoot from the dock and hit the boat,” she surmised. Maya understood that the houseboat was big and slow.

  “We are going to Plan Kama Sutra,” Banyon responded.

  “Okay, but I hope I can do it,” she answered.

  “You’ll have some cover,” he assured her. “Just get here as fast as possible. Do the Rangers have guns?”

  “They just have two handguns.”

  “Okay, then tell them to drop you off at the end of the dock and get out of the way. Two handguns will be useless against ten machineguns. There is no need for them to get hurt,” Banyon reasoned.

  “They’ll want to fight,” Maya said.

  “Tell them they will have another chance on another day.”

  he first thing Loni did when she and the girls went exploring the houseboat was to run to the stern. She peered over the side and nodded. Moored to the boat was a four-passenger speedboat and a jet ski.

  “Our lives are in imminent danger, and you are thinking about waterskiing?” Lisa asked incredulously.

  Ignoring Lisa, Loni quickly turned and noticed the seven-person hot tub that covered half of the back deck. “Wow,” was all she could manage. She quickly turned some knobs, and the tub began to fill with water. Just to the right of the hot tub was a waterslide, which started on the upper deck.

  “But won’t filling the tub up slow us down? I mean adding all that water?” Lisa questioned. Loni gave her a look like she was a party pooper.

  “Let’s go up there now.” Loni pointed to a spiral staircase, which led to the canopied upper deck. The three women climbed the stairs and discovered a lounge area for sunbathing, and, under the canopy, a fully stocked bar with four chairs and even a sink. Loni ran around to the back of the bar and checked if they had any Stolichnaya vodka. It was Banyon’s favorite brand. There were three bottles. The bar even had an icemaker. A small pilothouse was at the very front of the deck. Later, they would find another pilothouse on the main deck.

  “Is this just going to be a big party?” Lisa was very concerned about her safety, and it looked like Loni was only interested in a party.

  “Let’s check out the accommodations downstairs,” Loni suggested as she dragged Skye to another staircase. When they were on the lower deck, she pulled open a sliding door, revealing a large kitchen. It had a breakfast nook and all the appliances of a house. Skye pointed to the two refrigerators nestled in the corner of the room. She dropped Loni’s hand and pulled open the door on the first unit. The refrigerator was crammed full of food, and Skye selected an apple. She turned and grinned at the two other women as she began to take huge bites.

  “Guess she is still hungry,” Loni noted.

  The kitchen was connected to a large living room and had a flat-screen television, along with stereo equipment. Within seconds, Loni had music playing throughout the boat.

  “Why do I feel like I’m on the Titanic?” Lisa quipped.

  “Let’s check out the bedrooms,” Loni said cheerfully. They found two complete bathrooms and a half bathroom on the main floor. There were also two private bedrooms. Each had a TV, queen-sized bed, and storage. A set of wooden stairs led to a lower deck, where they found four more bedrooms and a small outside deck. It was a big houseboat.

  “Colt and I call the big one on the main floor,” Loni announced.

  “But there are only six beds, and there will be fourteen of us,” Lisa moaned. She was wondering if she had to sleep in bed with someone else. She wondered if it would be Colton Banyon and Loni.

  arry had just made the turn onto Route 167 and was speeding as fast as he dared. He had the man next to him get the cars behind him on a conference call and put Barry on the speakerphone. All his men could hear him.

  “I don’t think we can beat the car with the book to the marina, so we are going to have to go in hot and start shooting as soon as we get there.”

  “What’s the plan?” one of his men asked.

  “When we get to the marina, I want you guys to fan out. They may have some snipers we don’t know about, but I doubt it,” Barry told the men in the car. “When we reach the dock, you guys head straight for the houseboat.”

  Somebody yelled back. “You mean they may shoot back? I don’t want to get hurt over some stupid book.”

  “That stupid book is the future of the Effort you idiot,” Barry roared. “You didn’t think they would just hand it over to us, did you? Anybody who wants out can get out of the car right here.” When no one responded, he continued.

  “Kill anyone you find, but don’t kill Lisa. We need her to explain the secrets of the book.” Barry’s men had all seen him with the lovely Lisa before. They knew who she was.

  “You just want to play with her,” one of the men said.

  “I will personally shoot anyone who hurts her, got it?” Barry wanted his men to understand he was serious.

  “What if the houseboat has already left the dock and is out of range for our guns?” another man wondered out loud.

  “We have already rented three speedboats through our dummy corporation. We just have to collect the keys. The houseboat is slow, and we will catch them.”

  “Anybody bring a pirate flag?” Someone joked.

  ll ashore that’s going ashore,” Captain Bart yelled in the tradition of a steamboat captain. He started the two large outboard motors that powered the houseboat. Their maximum speed would be eight knots.

  Everyone was on the main deck in the back of the boat. The three women who had been with Bart carried several bags containing new bathing suits for them and six bathing suits for the men. They were handing out the clothes when Bart made his announcement from the pilothouse on the main deck.

  “Steve, you and Kim need to unmoor the lines,” Bart yelled. The two men ran down the small plank and pulled it onto the dock. Then, they ran to the ropes holding the boat to the dock and began to untie them.

  Loni suddenly appeared from the cabin, dragging Skye and heading in Colton’s direction. He immediately opened his arms to hug her, but she slammed into him with such force that Skye also landed in his arms, stunning both of them.

  “Colt, we can’t go yet,” she yelled.

  “Why?” he questioned.

  “Previne went to the jeep to get her suitcase and our guns. Look.” Loni pointed down the dock. Banyon turned and could see Previne in her yellow bikini. She had just closed the door on the jeep and was carrying two bags towards the dock. She could not move very fast under the weight.

  “Bart, don’t leave the dock,” Banyon screamed. “Previne is AWOL. She is still in the parking lot.”


  Bart said nothing for a couple of seconds. “Steve, cast off the bow, and go help Previne.” Steve immediately tossed the bowline on the deck and sprinted towards Previne.

  “On my way,” he yelled, as he passed the stern of the boat.

  “Kim, leave us moored for now,” Bart continued. “They’ll have to enter from the transom.” Kim stood up and watched Steve run by him.

  “Aye, aye, Captain,” he acknowledged. He and everyone on board turned towards the parking lot and rooted for Steve to hurry. They could see dust coming from the south and dust coming from the north on the upper slope of the ridge that surrounded the lake. There wasn’t much time before the Maya and the Effort would reach the dock. They were behind schedule.

  “Mandy,” Bart yelled into the intercom. “It’s time to do your stuff.”

  Mandy immediately emerged from the main cabin in a buff-colored, one-piece bathing suit and leather sandals. She carried a long sniper rifle. It seemed as big as she was.

  “How many cars?” She asked Banyon as she passed him.

  “They are coming in three cars. Don’t kill them, just slow them down,” Banyon instructed. She just winked at him.

  She moved past everyone on the deck and leaped over the railing. She ran down the dock, holding the rifle in front of her. As she ran, she yelled out to the few people who were hanging around the long, wooden structure.

  “Get off the dock!” she screamed. “There’s going to be some shooting. Get in your boats, and get down.” The people stared at the young girl carrying a big rifle and quickly scattered for shelter.

  Onboard the houseboat, Loni appeared to be jealous while she spoke to Banyon. “I was the one who was supposed to do the sniping.”

  “Let Mandy do it. She is a professional,” Banyon tried to soothe her. “She is a good shot and a fast runner, sweetie.”