A Dubious Terrain (A Colton Banyon Mystery Book 4) Read online

  “So how did your meeting go with the lobbyists,” she inquired as she turned her head and looked over her toned shoulder at him?

  “Better than expected,” he replied evasively. Like many politicians, Randolph was skilled at never answering a question. He liked to maintain control of conversations rather than respond to questions. There were too many traps to fall into the other way. It was his way of telling Sarah that he wanted something from her first.

  Sarah, like her husband, was of pure blood German decent. She was the daughter of a very wealthy media mogul named Hamburg. Before he died, he had built a large empire which the very competent Sarah now controlled. Her family’s empire included newspapers, radio and television networks and had a stake in the largest search engine on the internet. She, like Randolph, had been groomed for her role.

  She was the main conduit for communications with the “Effort” as they called themselves. The Effort had actually been started by a group of German Nazis in the early nineteen thirties. They had sent five of their best young men to America to study at Harvard University. Their goal was to develop contacts with the powerful and rich in America. They were all given fake passports and identities and were well funded. They then returned to Germany for additional training. In the late nineteen thirties, they were sent back to attempt to derail the American war effort. The plan had a long term more sinister part. The men were to infiltrate American politics and eventually take over the government. The planners believed that German was too small to dominate the world, but America with all its resources could become the eventual head of the Third Reich. The plan was well funded with plunder money that had been sequestered in South America banks.

  The elder Sanders had been one of the five men sent back to America with access to the money. Sarah’s father was also one of the men. Both Sarah and Randolph were the second generation of the Effort. There was also a third generation and in some cases even a fourth generation. But they were still little children being groomed to accept power. The Efforts members currently held dominate positions in the media, the entertainment industry, manufacturing especially the weapon and ammunition industry, the military and even had cabinet level bureaucrats. They had also recruited many people who thought like they did. It would not be long until the Effort could make the move to control and reintroduce the Third Reich as an American political force. One member of the Effort had recently ascended to the powerful position as Director of Homeland Security. Homeland Security was now the muscle behind the movement.

  Sarah had all the proper education and training for her part. All of the Effort elite were highly educated and deeply funded from the money secured from the Nazi programs of Europe. Most of the money had been placed in South American banks by nineteen forty. It had been used to carve out market share in the designated industries.

  Sarah was also quite beautiful with long tapered legs, a strong frame and penetrating deep blue eyes that captured most men even as she approached fifty years old. Sarah was however a cold hearted calculating bitch that offered little comfort to anyone, especially a needy Randolph. Their marriage had been arranged from the time of birth. Love was not in her vocabulary. Sarah was also a control freak and dominated Randolph. There was good luck here as her husband had one serious weakness. He had a very large libido and was always in heat. Sarah was skilled in how to control men and she also recently recruited some help. Their sexual encounters over the years were very aggressive and usually required both of them to take a week to recover from the bruises. Needless to say, they had not produced any children.

  ***

  Recognizing that Randy was not going to tell her anything, at least not until she forced him, she immediately switched to her alter ego. In a slight German accent she demanded, “You vill tell me everything, now.”

  “And if I resist?” he replied smugly.

  “Hah,” Sarah laughed as she threw back her head for emphasis revealing the fine shape of her neck. “Talk of resistance is futile. It will only bring you more pain.” Her eyes had narrowed, her face became determined and a sneer appeared on her lips.

  She quickly stepped up behind Randolph as he sat in his chair and grabbed a handful of his precious yellow hair. She pulled his head back causing his feet to slide off the desk and making him sit straight upright in the chair. She then lifted her leg and athletically positioned the sharp stiletto heel of her shoe on his crotch.

  “Now talk,” she ordered.

  Randy was not afraid of injury. Instead he was immediately excited. When Sarah lifted her leg the sundress slide up her leg and revealed a silky thigh. That was all that Randy needed to become intoxicated with lust.

  “Never,” he replied in a husky voice.

  “Perhaps I vill question the niece first. That should loosen your tongue,” Sarah offered in her most sinister voice.

  Showing the first signs of fear, he became wide eyed. “You can’t bring her into this,” he yelled. “She is young and innocent.”

  Chapter Thirteen

  Agent Gamble and Banyon had been on the course for nearly five hours, but were finally on the eighteenth fairway. Agent Gamble had explained that communications for the whole operation was to take place on the internet. He had handed Loni a flash drive that could decode the encrypted messages that would be put on an adult website. When Loni questioned him about the website, Gamble replied that it would fall under the radar of anyone looking for hidden messages. He also passed a throw away cell phone to a surprised Banyon.

  “Only use the cell phone for emergencies,” he said.

  “What emergencies?” a concerned Loni asked. “I thought that you said we wouldn’t be in any danger?”

  “Don’t worry.” Agent Gamble told her. “We don’t anticipate any problems. Your part shouldn’t require you to have any contact with anyone but me, but we must prepare for anything that may happen,” Gamble smoothly replied.

  “But, can’t Homeland Security track a cell phone?”

  “The cell phone is a throw away with prepaid minutes. No one can track it and it has several numbers already stored on it that will allow you to leave a message.”

  “What about code words,” Loni asked?

  “If you say ‘sorry wrong number’ we will know that you are in trouble. If you say anything else, someone will call you back and act like an old friend just calling to see how you are. If you need a meeting just include the word ‘zero’ in the conversation. I will find you.”

  “Aren’t you going to be with us?” asked Loni.

  “No, I can’t. I still have a regular job at the FBI and we can’t allow anyone to be suspicious,” Agent Gamble said.

  “Wait,” added Banyon. “I can maybe get you all the locations by tomorrow. Why do we need to go through all this security?”

  “Well ole buddy, we are going to have to roundup the conspirators and we may need your help there. It might take some time. There may be other needs for your talent too,” Agent Gamble said rather sheepishly.

  “What?” replied an incredulous Colton Banyon. “We don’t want to become pawns of the government. We will find the artifacts and that will be all. Do you understand?”

  “If you say so pal,” Gamble cheerily replied as he placed a nine iron shot in the middle of the green.

  Suddenly Banyon didn’t believe him. Many government agencies blackmailed good-willed people into a life of long-term servitude as informants, undercover agents and problem solvers. Banyon didn’t want to be one of them. He vowed to find something about Agent Gamble to use as leverage to release Loni and himself from any long term involvement. He then addressed his shot and dropped it neatly on the left side of the green. The ball slowly rolled down the slope and continued until it stopped in a sand trap just off the green.

  “Crap,” Banyon said for the tenth time today.

  Banyon started walking to the green and immediately began searching his brain for a way to make sure that Agent Gamble could not ruin their lives. He had a pretty good idea
on how to accomplish that, but he would have to make a phone call that could possibly bring him more trouble than it was worth. Surely Loni wouldn’t be happy, but Banyon needed to protect them. He would make the phone call tonight.

  Loni and Gamble joined him on his march to the green and stood by the sand trap as he went to his ball.

  “If you ground your club it is a one stroke penalty,” Agent Gamble remarked.

  “I thought that we were playing for fun Greg?” Banyon replied.

  “This is the last hole and you are two strokes ahead of me. You wouldn’t want to win by cheating, would you?”

  “I would not ever dream of cheating,” smiled Banyon as he lined up his shot.

  He took a large back swing and smashed his club into the sand. The ball popped up high in the air and landed about three feet from the pin. Suddenly both Loni and Gamble heard Banyon shout, “Crap”.

  “Why did you say that?” a disappointed Gamble said. “You hit a great shot.”

  Banyon stood in the middle of the sand trap and was rubbing his left eye. “I took too much sand and now some of it has gotten into my eye. I can’t see.”

  Suddenly Loni rushed forward into the sand trap and grabbed Banyon to look into his eye. “That needs to be flushed out,” she said.

  “I don’t have any eye drops with me. I’ll throw some water on it. Can you go to the cart and get some water, please,” he asked her?

  “I can do better than that,” she replied as she handed him a small bottle of eye drops.

  Gamble stood in shock. Loni did not have a bandage for him, but she produced a bottle of eye drops for Banyon.

  “Where did that come from?” he asked.

  As Banyon grabbed the bottle and proceeded to splash several drops into his eye, Loni replied in a little girl like voice. “I don’t know. I just suddenly remembered I had eye drops in my pocket.” She shrugged her small shoulders. She then turned to Banyon and handed him a tissue to clean out his eye.

  “Does it feel better now?”

  Gamble stood in disbelief, Banyon vowed to find out how she was able to produce what he needed whenever he needed it. She was a good planner, but there was something else going on with Loni Chen.

  Chapter Fourteen

  To Sarah and Randolph it was just a game. The niece was actually a recently promoted Special Agent from Homeland Security named Lana Sayer. She was not related to either of them. Lana had started her career as an agent for the Secret Service five years ago right after she had finished graduate school at Georgetown University. She had a quick mind, quicker reflexes and the stamina of a long distance runner. She had the proper education for the service and her background had been exhaustedly vetted to allow her to protect the President. She had been very good at her job, but had spent most of her time on the force as a paper pushing investigator. Her evaluations were always good and yet she was never offered a better position. The main reason was that she was stunningly supermodel beautiful with long blond hair and an athletic grace that almost all men found sexy. And that was the rub. Her boss liked looking at her in the office and would not promote her. He claimed that she was too noticeable in the field. Secret Service agents were trained to look ordinary and clearly she didn’t.

  As a result she was very unhappy with her low level position with the Secret Service. Despite being only five foot three and one hundred pounds soaking wet, she was every bit as tough as her male counterparts and was also very ambitious. She wanted more out of life.

  Her strict New England parents had tried to protect her from the evils that haunted many beautiful women and had trained her to use her god-given features to always better her position in life. They had trained her to be submissive to powerful men. It was their hope that she would find a good powerful man get married and lead a wonderful life. So far all it had done was to indentify her as nice candy to play with. She had dated bankers, lawyers and businessmen who took advantage of her submissive behavior and had used her like a piece of meat.

  Lana actually had learned to enjoyed being submissive and fell into the role whenever she was asked, but knew she had to find a better situation. Submission had also helped her develop a skill. She had become highly manipulative. Although she didn’t know it at the time, that better situation occurred nine months ago at the gym where she often worked out.

  Whenever she went to the gym she swam twenty laps in the large gym pool. Her spandex swimsuit always got attention at poolside. On this particular day she was joined by the wife of the junior Congressman from New Mexico. Sarah like everyone else noticed Lana. Usually Sarah was the one who commandeered all the attention at the pool. Sarah saw Lana as someone special and she decided she needed to find out more about the sexy blond.

  In the locker room she approached Lana as the young woman came out of the shower with only a towel draped over her sleek shoulder.

  “Well, you certainly get a lot of attention in that swim suit,” she said with a broad smile on her face as she appraised the naked younger woman.

  “I was just trying to get in a little exercise,” the surprised girl replied. “I go for a swim often at this pool.

  “Come now, you must know that the men out there can’t resist looking at you,” replied Sarah with a look of shock.

  Lana said nothing for a few seconds. “Yeah, I know but, it hasn’t helped me in life. I’ve not been as fortunate as you have Mrs. Sanders.”

  Stunned by the replied, Sarah asked. “How is it that you know my name? I don’t usually come to this gym.”

  “I work for the federal government,” she replied with simple logic. “I’m supposed to know who you are.”

  “Well then, perhaps we could have lunch today and get to know each other better,” Sarah quickly asked.

  “Okay,” Lana immediately replied cheerfully.

  Lana had accepted the invitation sensing an opportunity greater than just female companionship. Her senses were very good.

  Lunch was a success and within days they had become friends. Sarah was the wise mentor and Lana was the high potential student. Sarah, a master at interrogation, soon learned that Lana worked for the Secret Service and was unhappy with her position. When they talked about men she discovered that Lana used submission to get her way with men. Without hesitation she invited Lana to have dinner with her powerful husband.

  At dinner, Randolph blustered about the important role that he played in America and how he had the strength and determination to overcome the weak bureaucratic drivel that populated the government. He noted that his will was greater than anyone around him. These were all things that Sarah had prompted him to say. Lana had quickly realized that she could use the Sanders to better herself and had reverted to her submissive persona.

  “I just love to hear you talk about your work. It must be a terrible strain on you,” Lana sweetly remarked.

  “All leadership roles require much sacrifice. My road is lonely, but I do have my lovely Sarah,” he replied as he nodded towards his wife.

  Sarah quickly responded, “But I’m not much help to him lately. Since I have had to take over my father’s estate, I have to travel to Europe almost every week to attend to the business. I’m gone a lot. Poor Randy, he needs someone to keep him motivated.”

  Lana quickly said. “Maybe I could help him while you are gone. My job does not require too much stress. I could keep him motivated.”

  Knowing fully well what Lana meant, Sarah replied. “But Lana, you don’t understand what it takes to motivate a great man like my husband. He requires unquestioned loyalty. He requires that all his needs be satisfied with no questions asked. He can be very dominate and demanding,” she reasoned. “I’m not sure you have the necessary skills or motivation to really help him.”

  “I think that you underestimate me,” answered a smug Lana. “I am quite capable of molding my personality to fit his needs. Try me.”

  Randolph suddenly appeared to take control, just as he and Sarah had planned. “I can be harsh and
even overbearing. I will probably ask you to do things that can be very embarrassing.” He shook he head. “No, we would corrupt you.”

  “Try me,” a determined Lana responded through gritted teeth.

  Randolph continued, “You seem so fragile; I can’t put you through some of my worst rages. No, I may even make you cry.” Randolph gave her a dismissive wave of his hand.

  Lana sat up straighter and looked directly into his eyes. “I said, try me.”

  Both Sarah and Randolph looked at each other and without saying anything they agreed that she would probably fill their needs. But she had to pass the final test.

  “You must realize that I am the master. I don’t make requests. What I demand, you will deliver. Is that clear?”

  “Of course, Randy,” she purred. “Test me all you want.”

  With a leer worthy of a pedophile, Randolph spoke. “Without leaving the table, I want you to take off your panties and pass them to me.”

  He was not surprised when a foot appeared from under the table cloth with a pair of red thong panties draped over the toe.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Lana was near her small desk in the converted upstairs exercise room located off the main bedroom. One wall in the office had eight-foot high mirrors filling the entire wall. It made the small room look bigger and also allowed Lana to look at herself anytime she wanted. She was studying how her legs looked in the mirror when she was standing. Suddenly the phone on her desk beeped. She recognized the extension and knew it was Randy. She couldn’t wait to get to his office. Whenever she spent time with him she was happy, no matter what he demanded of her. She had become totally taken with the powerful congressman. She thought he was the one that requested her for the job, but she was wrong. Sarah had done it.