at that point, what was I to do? You were digging, and I had to stop you. It’s as simple as that.”
“Then why not kill us? Why take the time to lure us here?”
“Well, as you mentioned, I did try to kill you. I didn’t want to personally pull the trigger, but I set things up at Sam’s. Unfortunately, the damn sniper screwed that up. After that it would be too suspicious if you were killed somewhere else in the city this weekend. I figured getting you off the mainland was a better way to take care of things.”
“And what about Ariane? Why did you bring her here?”
Greene sighed. He was getting bored with the inquisition and knew that the rest of his partners were waiting for him. “I’m afraid that’s a question that will have to wait. They’re about to make a big announcement, and I don’t want to ruin their surprise.”
CHAPTER 34
THE
ringing telephone brought a smile to Harris Jackson’s face. He’d been expecting a call for several minutes now, and when it didn’t come, his anxiety began to rise. But now that the call was here, he was finally able to relax.
“Master Jackson, this is Eric down at the dock. Bennie and Master Greene just left our area, and they’re headed your way.”
“And the prisoners?”
“They’re tied up and docile. I don’t think they’ll be causing you any problems.”
“Good,” sighed Jackson. Since Payne and Jones had been a nuisance in New Orleans, he figured they might continue the trend on the island, especially since he’d learned of their military background. But now that he knew they were under control, he felt a whole lot better about their presence at the Plantation. “Very good indeed!”
“What’s good?” asked an eavesdropping Holmes.
Jackson hung up his cellular phone. “The two prisoners will be here shortly. No problems.”
Holmes patted Jackson on the back. “Nice work, Harris. It seems your guards have everything under control.”
“It seems that way, but we’ll find out for sure in a moment.” Jackson pointed to the truck as it emerged from the trees of the outer grounds. “Why don’t you tell Ndjai to keep the captives busy while I check into things? Come on down when you’re done.”
Holmes agreed and went on his way.
“Master Webster!” Jackson shouted. “Join me for a minute, would you?”
The two men walked cautiously toward the truck, not knowing what to expect. When they saw the huge grin on Greene’s face, they knew that things were fine. Holmes joined them a short second later, and the three of them finished the trip in unison.
“Gentlemen,” Greene crowed, “Bennie and I should win an Oscar for this. We just put on a spectacular performance.”
“Bennie helped out?” Jackson asked.
“He practically carried it by himself! You should’ve seen the performance he put on. Unbelievable! His acting is even better than his cooking.” Greene signaled for Blount to get out of the truck, and he willingly obliged. “Come out here and take a bow. You deserve it!”
“We heard you did a great job!”
“Congratulations, Bennie!”
Blount was flabbergasted. He had never been treated nicely by his bosses before. “Thanks,” he mumbled, barely smiling. He simply didn’t know how to react to their compliments.
“So,” Greene asked, “what are we going to do with them now?”
“You mean the new arrivals?” Holmes glanced into the flatbed of the truck and saw Payne and Jones, bound. “You know ’em better than we do. What do you think should be done?”
Greene considered the question, but it was obvious that he already had a plan in mind.
“For the time being, we need to keep Payne and Jones as far away from the other prisoners as possible. We don’t want them mentioning my name or our location to anyone. Then, after you guys make your big announcement, I think it would be best if my friends were eliminated. I figure, why take any unnecessary chances with men like these?”
ONCE the foursome had finished their discussion, they walked back to the prisoners and allowed Webster to finish his speech. Earlier, he had prepared the captives for his announcement by lecturing them on the concepts of freedom, slavery, and punishment, yet there was no way that they could be ready for what he was about to reveal.
“The concept of the Plantation came to me several years ago, back when I was in college. As part of my major, I was required to take a class in American history. The topic we were discussing was the Civil War, and somehow my white professor managed to talk during the entire class without mentioning black people. In my opinion, the Civil War was fought over the concept of slavery, and that white bastard managed to steer clear of the topic. After class I approached him and asked him about his oversight. I figured he’d tell me that an upcoming lecture would be devoted to slavery, or I’d get to learn about the topic in a future reading. But do you know what he had the audacity to say? He said,
Can you believe that? We’re talking about the main cause of the Civil War, and my professor tells me that it was overrated! Well, right then and there, I knew what I wanted to do with my life. I decided to devote my life to the promotion of black history, emphasizing the cruel history of slavery in our so-called Land of the Free.
“But how does one do that? I wasn’t really sure, but I knew I needed to get America’s attention. That’s why I immediately ruled out papers, studies, or projects. Why? Most people won’t pay attention to academics. What I needed was something spectacular, something unforgettable, something that would get this issue noticed. But what?
“Before I made my decision, I thought it was best if I did some extensive research on the topic. I read books and journals and manuscripts and diaries-anything that I could find about the topic of slavery-and before long, one common theme stood out: plantations! Everything I read about slavery in America mentioned plantations as the focal point. Plantations were the place where slaves lived, worked, birthed, and died. It’s where they escaped from when they could and returned when they were caught. For better or worse, plantations were the center of the black man’s world!
“Now, before you get bored with my ramblings, let’s move on to the good stuff. How does any of this involve you? I’m sure you’re asking that question right now. Why is this bastard making us stand in a field in the middle of the night to listen to this lecture? That’s what you’re thinking, isn’t it? You don’t think there’s anything in this world that I could tell you that would justify your being here. You think I’m just some kind of thug who abducted you and your families on a whim. That’s what you’re thinking, isn’t it?”
Webster paused to let the tension build. He wanted to see the confusion and misery in his captives’ eyes as it continued to grow.
“Then each of you is about to receive the shock of your lives, because you were selected for a specific purpose!”
Harris Jackson moved forward, taking over the lecture. “During Master Webster’s research, he was able to compile some extensive genealogy, an actual list of black family trees. Why is this significant? Because it was nearly impossible to do. Unlike white people, whose history is well documented in public records, the history of the black man is often shrouded in obscurity. Slaves rarely had last names, marriages weren’t officially recognized, kids were often sold or given away as gifts. Shit, these were just a few of the drawbacks that Master Webster had to overcome in order to complete his work.”
Octavian Holmes grinned. “And that’s what brings us to you. Why are you here? It’s the question you’ve been wondering for a very long time. Trust me, I know. I’ve seen it in your eyes. ‘Why me?’ you constantly wonder. ‘Why us?’ you plead! ‘There has to be a mistake,’ you assure us! ‘We’ve done nothing wrong!’ ”
Holmes grimaced, his eyes narrowing to slits. “No! There have been no mistakes! Each and every one of you
