“Yep.”
“And if Ariane is inside, she’s probably surrounded by armed guards.”
“Mm-hmm.”
“And there’s a pretty good chance that we’ll get killed doing this.”
Payne frowned. “You think so?”
“No, but I wanted to make sure you were listening. You tend to block me out sometimes.”
“What was that?”
Jones laughed. “Okay, let’s do this.”
The two men hustled to the nearest cabin and used it as temporary shelter. Then, by repeating the process several times, they slowly made their way up the row of cabins until they found themselves crouching near the blackened remains of Jones’s blast site.
“Now what?” Payne asked.
From this point on, he knew their cover was limited. With the exception of a few oak trees covered in Spanish moss, there was nothing between their current position and the house.
“Front door or back?”
Jones studied the outside of the plantation house and shrugged. He’d never been inside the white-pillared mansion and had no idea what kind of security it had. Everything from here on out would be blind luck.
“It’s your girlfriend, you decide.”
Payne didn’t even bother to reply as he made his way toward the rear of the house. Jones stayed close behind, scouting for potential trouble as he did. When they reached the back of the structure, they noticed something that made their choice a good one. Bennie Blount was sticking his head out of a downstairs window, trying to get their attention.
“Pssst,” he called. “Over here!”
The duo raised their weapons in unison, then hustled over to Blount.
“What the hell are you doing?” Payne demanded.
“I was waiting for you. I watched your approach behind the cabins and saw you pause by the burned shed. That’s when I realized you were coming to the house.”
Payne and Jones looked at each other, puzzled. Something didn’t seem right about Blount, but they couldn’t figure out what it was.
“How’d you see us from that far away?” Jones wondered. “It’s pretty dark out here, and you’re in the back of the house.”
“Security cameras. The Plantation has them everywhere.”
“Cameras?” Payne’s interest was piqued. He realized that they could be quite useful if he used them properly. “Where are they?”
“All over. I can’t tell you where, though, because they’re very well concealed. I wouldn’t have even known about them if I didn’t break into the security office to hunt for you guys. That’s when I saw all of the monitors.”
Payne glanced at Jones and grimaced. Something was wrong, definitely wrong. He could sense it. He couldn’t quite put his finger on it, but it was there, like a word on the tip of his tongue. Jones noticed it, too, and he showed his displeasure by frowning. Something was up.
“Gentlemen,” Blount said, grinning, “is something amiss? You seem strangely distressed by our conversation. Perhaps it was something I said?”
Finally, both men figured it out. Blount was no longer talking in the backwater language of a buckwheat. He was using the proper diction of a scholar instead.
“What the . . . ?” Payne couldn’t believe what he was hearing. “You sneaky son of a bitch!”
“Now, don’t be goin’ on like that about my mama. She ain’t no bitch, I tell ya!”
Jones’s mouth fell wide open. He’d been completely fooled by Blount’s act. As he stood there staring at the dreadlocked servant, he couldn’t help but feel foolish. “The Academy Award for Best Actor in a Criminal Conspiracy goes to-”
Payne cut him off. They didn’t have time for humor at the moment.
“Bennie, or whatever the hell your name is, look me in the eyes and tell me which side of this war you’re on.” Payne raised his gun and put it under Blount’s chin. “I ain’t shittin’ you. Tell me right now, or you’ll die like the rest of the Posse.”
Jones laughed to himself. “You best tell him, Master Bennie. He ain’t bluffin’ none.”
Blount responded in perfect English. “I’m with you guys, I swear! I’m not part of the Posse. I’ve just been biding my time and gathering information. I swear to God!”
“Information for what?” Payne demanded, pressing the gun deeper into Blount’s throat.
“Tells him, Bennie! Master Payne gots himself a nasty temper and an itchy trigga finga. And that ain’t no good combination.”
Blount shuddered as Jones’s words sank in. “I’ve been gathering information for the authorities. I’m trying to get this place shut down, but I can’t do it in both continents without the proof to back it up. No one will listen to me until then.”
“What do you mean,
?”
“The Plantation isn’t just a torture site. It’s a lot more complicated than that.” Blount tried to swallow, but the gun pressed against his throat made it difficult. “This is business, big business! The Posse has ties all over the world, and if I want to shut everything down, I have to learn the names of the other people. That’s the only way to do it properly. Get everybody at once.”
Payne looked into Blount’s eyes, and he appeared to be sincere. But in this case,
was the operative word. For the longest time, Blount had appeared to be an uneducated country boy, and Payne had trusted him completely. Now Blount appeared to be telling the truth a second time, and he was asking Payne to believe him again. But how could he? Blount was such an incredible actor there was no way Payne could separate his bullshit from reality.
“I’m still not sold. You’re going to have to tell me something to convince me.”
“Like what?” he whimpered. “I’ll tell you anything, just don’t kill me!”
Jones stepped forward. “What kind of business is the Posse in?”
“You guys should know. You’re holding some of their products in your hands.”
“Guns?” Payne remarked. “But that doesn’t make sense. Why bring all of these innocent people to this island if you’re going to smuggle guns? There has to be more than that.”
“There is,” he grunted. “But you’re going to like that even less.”
Payne’s eyes flared with anger, causing the pressure on his gun to increase. “Why’s that, Bennie? Why am I not going to like it?”
“Because you’re white.”
“Okay, you racist bastard, what does that have to do with anything?”
“Hey, I’m not racist, but the Posse is.”
Payne smirked. “No shit! I kind of figured that out. What does racism have to do with the Posse’s business? Racism can’t be sold, you know.”
Blount stared Payne directly in the eyes. He wanted to make sure that Payne recognized the truth of his words. “That’s true, but slaves
be sold. White slaves.”
The concept made Payne shiver. If Blount was telling the truth, it meant that these people weren’t just being tortured. They were being broken-housebroken-for their new masters. “And how do you know this?”
“I just know! I’ve been walking around this place for several weeks and have heard stuff. Everybody treated me like an idiot, so they tried to talk over me. Nobody knew that I could put all of the pieces of the puzzle together. But I could. I’ve just been waiting for the right moment.” Blount took a breath. “And that moment is here. It’s finally here!”
