The Society of Orion Book Six: The Moroccan Affair: Colton Banyon Mystery Read online

  “I didn’t do it,” he suddenly screamed.

  “Didn’t do what?” Heather asked in an acidic voice as she tilted her head.

  “I didn’t tell anyone about the company’s financial troubles,” the geek responded. His Adam’s apple bobbed up and down on his skinny neck as he shook his head back and forth.

  “He didn’t do it,” Carol quickly offered.

  “Then how do you know that the company is having problems,” Banyon asked logically.

  “I got a blind email just a few minutes ago,” the geek replied. “Everybody in the company got the same message.”

  “Let me see it, would you?” Banyon asked.

  Timmy quickly pulled up the message. “I can tell you who it came from,” he announced.

  “Okay,” Loni said. “Where did it come from Timmy?”

  “The ferret,” Timmy replied mysteriously.

  Chapter Three

  Colton Banyon was stunned. It seemed like every time he turned around, the ferret’s name came up. The ferret had provided the message which prompted Banyon to go to Ecuador. He was also responsible for bringing the Coles into the hunt for the Orion weapons. He also arranged for Banyon and the sinister Ahmed Fasi to meet. And now it appeared that he had told everyone in the company that they were going under financially. I need to investigate him further.

  Banyon was so concerned with the ferret that he had placed a 24/7 surveillance team on him when Banyon was still in Ecuador. Banyon knew the company lawyer and language expert was very smart, but didn’t know what game he was playing, or who he was playing it with.

  “Are you sure the email came from the ferret?” Banyon asked with concern.

  “The email originated from Edgar Neville’s office computer and was sent out under his email address. Yeah, I’m sure,” Timmy explained.

  Banyon whipped out his cellphone and called Steve Pellegrino. Steve was the Vice President of Security for Dewey & Beatem and also a member of Banyon’s secret team. He headed up the ferret’s current surveillance team.

  “Steve,” Banyon started. “Where’s the ferret right now?”

  “Kenny and I are watching him. He’s having lunch with two unknowns in downtown Chicago,” Steve replied. “I’m just about to send pictures to Timmy to identify them. They look like foreigners to me. One of the men has just passed a small box to Edgar. I can’t see what is inside.”

  “So he is not in the building?” Banyon asked. Both Loni and Heather tilted their heads in reaction to the news.

  “He’s been here for more than an hour,” Steve replied. “What’s up?”

  “It seems that we have another mystery to solve,” Banyon responded. “Can Timmy access your security tapes?”

  “Of course,” Steve replied. “He just can’t alter them.”

  “Okay thanks,” Banyon said into the cellphone. “Don’t forget the board meeting Steve. I need you to be there.”

  “It looks like the ferret is getting ready to leave. I’ll be there,” Steve replied.

  ***

  When Timmy pulled up the security footage for the time stamp on the email, everyone crowded around his desk to see. The tape showed a woman, wearing a shawl to hide her face and clothes. She used a company swipe card to open the ferret’s door. A few minutes later she left the office and went out the front door of the building. The company didn’t have cameras in the offices, just the hallways and public areas, so they couldn’t see what she did inside.

  “Who do you think that is?” Loni asked.

  “Damn, I know who it is,” Heather quickly replied with a snort. “It’s Beth, the accountant. She and Chase were the only other people to know about our financial situation. Besides, I recognize her walk.”

  “One second,” Banyon pleaded. He ran out the door and into the noisy work area where the chatter had gotten even louder. He put his phone to his ear like he was making a call.

  “Wolf, is it Beth?” he asked in a low voice.

  “Yes,” he heard in his mind. “I can’t track electronic emails, but it was Beth who entered and left the office.”

  Wolf was Banyon’s secret weapon. He was a spirit who could see anything at any time on earth. They had worked together for several years now solving mysteries and making things right. All Banyon had to do was ask a question out loud. It was all part of a curse.

  Banyon decided to wait until just before the board meeting to ask any more questions and headed back to Timmy’s office. While walking, he recapped his day so far.

  He had to tell the board that they were in deep financial trouble. Ahmed Fasi was up to something and Banyon didn’t have a plan to stop him. The chief account was sabotaging the organization. Also, the ferret was still a continuing problem. I wonder if he and Beth are working together? By the time he returned to Timmy’s workspace, he was filled with concern and anxiety.

  “We have confirmed that Beth has been stealing from the company,” Timmy announced to Banyon. “I have accessed her personal emails and bank accounts. The paper trail is all there.”

  “It seems she is disgruntled because she was not made a vice president during the takeover and only got a small bonus,” Heather explained.

  “How much money can we recover?” Banyon asked, hopeful that it was enough money to keep the company afloat.

  “Not enough to help us,” Heather said shaking her head.

  “So what should we do?” Banyon continued.

  “We need to fire her, of course,” Heather returned. “I’ll head up to her office now and walk her out of the building.”

  “But who will do her work?” Banyon asked.

  “We have several candidates. Don’t worry, this will be seamless,” Heather reassured him with a forced smile.

  Banyon was thankful that he had competent people around him who could work out problems. “Take Loni with you for support,” Banyon offered.

  After the two women left, Banyon turned to Timmy. “So what more do you have on Ahmed Fasi?”

  “I’ve been checking the dark web,” the geek responded. “Fasi has been very active looking there. He is looking for mercenaries to go with him into the desert. He doesn’t know that I’m the world’s best hacker.”

  “What’s the dark web?” Banyon quickly asked.

  “It’s the internet web behind all the regular stuff,” Timmy replied. “It’s almost always used to find bad guys and bad things like weapons.”

  “Why is he doing that?” Banyon wondered.

  Instead of answering the question, Timmy offered a solution. “Dude, we could get someone on the inside and find out what he’s doing in the desert. We have all these mercenary type guys at the firm. I could manipulate the emails and resumes so that our man would get hired.”

  “I think we should send two guys in,” Carol quickly added.

  Banyon now realized that Carol and Timmy had discussed what to do about the Arab. Their solution actually made sense to him despite the fact that he had Wolf, who could easily supply him with answers. But when it came time for the destruction of Ahmed Fasi, the team could use inside help.

  “I’ll bring it up at the board meeting today,” Banyon replied. “But in the meantime, prepare resumes for Steve and Eric to go undercover.”

  “It’ll be done by the end of your meeting,” Timmy responded.

  “Okay,” Carol said. “Now let me tell you what I’ve found.”

  Banyon was suddenly filled with dread. Timmy was not trusted with any information about the Orion weapons for a good reason. Banyon was worried that Timmy could not keep the secret and soon everybody in the company would know about the supernatural weapons. It would be a major disaster for the Forever Ours team.

  “Maybe we should discuss what you found up in my office,” Banyon offered.

  “No need,” Carol quickly replied with a wink. “Timmy knows that we are after ancient treasure somewhere around Greece.”

  Carol is smarter than I thought, Banyon mused. “Okay,” he muttered.

/>   “I’ve found a cave,” Carol announced. Banyon knew that she was talking about the third depository the Sumi had set up to collect wood and treasure.

  “How?”

  “I pumped in all the data that I collected and then began to examine topographical maps. The cave is in Northern Turkey on a island.”

  I hope we have enough money to go and check it out, Banyon thought.

  Chapter Four

  It was only fifteen minutes before the board meeting. Colton Banyon hustled down the hallway to the bathroom to speak to Wolf in private. He needed some answers before the meeting.

  “Oh no,” he uttered. Walking up the hallway was the ferret. He had a determined look on his face.

  “I …didn’t send …the email, Mr. Banyon,” the ferret said with his usual stutter. Edgar Neville was called the ferret by everybody at Dewey & Beatem because, frankly, he looked like a ferret. His bearded face, close set eyes, and overbite gave him a rodent like appearance. Also when he was nervous he drew his hands up in a paw position just under his chin. In addition, his walk was more of a scurry than a strut. He walked in short quick steps.

  “I know Edgar. We have found the culprit and she has been fired,” Banyon explained.

  “I need to talk…to you urgently,” the ferret managed to utter.

  “Not now Edgar,” Banyon said with a wave of dismissal and continued up the hallway.

  “We need …to talk soon… before… it is too late,” the ferret yelled at him as he entered the bathroom.

  Chapter Five

  As Banyon entered the bathroom, he wondered what the ferret wanted to tell him. But he reasoned that it could wait until after the meeting.

  “Wolf, are you there?” he sang out.

  “Yes,” Wolf replied.

  “What should I do about the company’s financial situation? Can you find us some artifacts to sell quickly?”

  “Trust your board members,” the spirit replied. Sometimes Wolf told Banyon what he wanted him to hear and not the question asked.

  Banyon moved on as he had little time to deal with the spirits mind games. “What is Fasi planning in the desert?”

  “He is going there to collect twenty more Orion weapons,” Wolf responded.

  “What?”

  “His father buried them in an old fort in the desert when he was head of the society in Morocco. The family is one of the original protectors of the Orion weapons.”

  “Why did he bury them in the desert?”

  “They are duplicates of several of the weapons that Ahmed Fasi already possesses. His father thought they would never be needed.”

  “So is Fasi planning to make a stand in the desert?”

  “No, I don’t think so. I believe he wants the additional weapons to use on your team when you storm his home. That was the plan you told him, isn’t it? You said you would go and take his weapons. Only now he thinks he will have more weapons than you know about.”

  “That makes sense,” Banyon said. “What are the weapons?”

  “I haven’t discovered that yet, but I have observed him taking out the eleven weapons he had in his vault. He is keeping them on his body at all times now. They will make things difficult for you to stop him. You need to understand what they all are capable of doing.”

  “I don’t have time to go through what weapons right now. I’ll check back after the board meeting. Is that okay?”

  “You will have more complications then, but the information can wait.”

  “What complications?”

  “The ferret will tell you.” This sent a chill down Banyon’s spine. But Banyon had no time to question Wolf further. He needed to concentrate on the topics for the meeting.

  “Has Carol found the third depository?”

  “It will take me a long time to confirm that, but I have looked at the area and can say that all the right conditions are there for a depository. You will need to go there to be sure.”

  “Do you have anything else to report?”

  “Yes, I do,” Wolf replied. “When Timmy said that there will be thirty Moroccan soldiers on the expedition I checked into how he could do that. The King of Morocco is being blackmailed by Ahmed Fasi. With a little diplomatic arm twisting, you should be able to have his troops recalled from the Fasi expedition. Timing will be the key. It could be a good time to ambush him.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “I’ll explain it all to you.”

  Chapter Six

  Colton Banyon stood at the head of the long table in the downstairs conference room at Dewey & Beatem. The new members of the Forever Ours team, Heather, Mandy and Steve sat at the far end. Loni and Maya picked chairs near the front. Within a minute, the remaining members, the rest of the Patel clan, glided through the open door.

  There had been a huge party at Banyon’s house two days before when the Eric, Pramilla, and Previne had finally returned from India, so there were only quick hugs and kisses today. Everybody wanted to get down to business.

  As usual, Banyon could not tell the identical Patel twin sisters apart. They both wore the same sleek stylish dress, but of different colors. Luckily he noticed that one woman was holding Eric’s hand when they entered. He knew she was Eric’s wife Pramilla. She wore the blue dress. Previne was the one in beige.

  Colton Banyon was a veteran of many company boardroom meetings. He knew exactly how it would play out.

  “Okay, let’s get started,” Banyon said as he closed the conference room door for privacy. “I’m afraid I have some very bad news that we only uncovered this morning,” he said as he strolled back to the front of the conference table.

  “If you mean the bad news about the company being insolvent,” Previne quickly said, “we already know about it and have a solution.”

  “How could you possibly know already?” Banyon asked.

  “We all got an email about two hours ago,” Previne explained as she pointed to indicate the other clan members. “I thought you leaked it on purpose so we wouldn’t be surprised when the meeting started.”

  “I didn’t leak it, but the person who sent you the email was discovered and escorted out of the building shortly after,” Banyon responded. “Heather has arranged for a new head of financial accounting effective today.”

  “This one is honest,” Heather added seriously.

  “Nevertheless the news is bad and true,” Banyon stated He handed out a sheet of paper that outlined the details of the company’s financial position.

  “Are we just short of operating money right now or has the ability of the company to generate a profit declined,” Previne probed.

  Heather quickly responded. “We have lost only five percent of our revenues and reduced our operating expenses by thirty-five percent by closing four offices. But we have had a large amount of unusual expenses since taking over the company and no government work recently.”

  Everyone turned their heads to Banyon to respond to the lack of government contracts.

  “I spoke to the President this morning,” Banyon said. “We will get more contracts soon, but the world is currently safe and doesn’t need our help,” he joked.

  “Good. Then I propose the following,” Previne said officially for the record which Heather was responsible for writing. “Each of us should write a check for one million dollars to keep everything running. The company can pay us back out of profits as more revenue come in.”

  “I second the proposal,” Eric announced immediately.

  “All in favor of the motion raise your hands,” Banyon quickly asked. Six hands went into the air. The three new members looked at each other in horror and didn’t raise their hands.

  “Major rules,” Banyon announced. “The motion has passed.

  “Previne, Eric and I have our checks right here,” Pramilla opened her small purse and brought out the checks. “Maya, we wrote one for you too.”

  “I can do that too,” Loni offered and went for her purse.

  “I’ll write mine
after the meeting,” Banyon agreed. When he noticed the new members cowering at the back of the room, he said. “Oh, by the way, the new members are exempt from this bailout, but not from any future bailouts.”

  There were smiles now on the faces of the new members.

  “Phew,” Mandy let out. “For a minute there I thought I would have to work the streets to collect that kind of money.”

  “Any new business to discuss?” Banyon asked to follow proper procedures. When no one said anything he closed the meeting.

  “This meeting is adjourned.”

  “That’s it?” Mandy questioned with annoyance. “I waited all day for a five minute meeting!”

  “Sometimes they are this short,” Heather told her friend.

  “But now we’re going to have a meeting of the Forever Ours team,” Banyon informed her.

  “Is this one going to be short too?” Mandy asked playfully.

  “This meeting will take a little longer,” Banyon responded. “We’re going to discuss Ahmed Fasi.

  “Okay, then. Be afraid, Ahmed Fasi. We’re coming after you. Be very afraid,” Mandy exclaimed cheerfully.

  Part Two

  What?

  Chapter Seven

  But Ahmed Fasi was far from being afraid of Colton Banyon. He was currently sitting in his plush living room sipping cognac and plotting the demise of Banyon and his entire team. It would take place in just a few days. There were just some loose ends that had to be taken care of before he implemented his plan. He was working on the plan now.

  After he had slipped away from the hotel room in Ecuador, he realized that his escape had been too easy. The ropes that the infidel woman used to tie him to the chair had only been loosely knotted. It had taken him only a few minutes to wiggle free and head home. On the way back to Morocco, he thought about why they would let him escape. The only answer was that they wanted him to expose his remaining eleven Orion weapons so they could steal them. We’ll see about that, he thought.