“Why’s that?” Jones wondered.
“Because of you two. You’ve killed most of the Plantation guards, you have the masters running for their lives, and as far as I can tell, you got rid of the cargo ship. This is the time to finish them off! We can end the Posse right here, right now.”
“And why should we trust you?” Payne demanded. “You already dicked us once.”
“But I couldn’t help that! I couldn’t risk blowing my cover to help you out. I couldn’t! I tried to make it up to you, though. You know that! If it wasn’t for me, you would’ve died in the box.”
Payne shook his head. “You’re going to have to do better. I wouldn’t have been in that damn box if it wasn’t for you.”
“I know you don’t trust me, but without my help you won’t be able to save your girlfriend from a life of slavery. I can help you find her, and you know it. But we can’t wait much longer.”
The comment staggered Payne. With all of the fighting and arguing that was going on, Payne had forgotten about the one thing that mattered most: Ariane.
“How can you help?”
“I know the island much better than you. I can be your guide and an extra gun. Whether you know it or not, Ariane means an awful lot to me, too.”
Payne pressed the gun even harder into Bennie’s neck. He interpreted Blount’s comment as some kind of sexual insult.
“Why is that, you skinny bastard? And trust me, if your answer isn’t a good one, I’ll splatter your dreadlocks all over the wall!” Payne took a deep breath to control his fury, but it didn’t work. He was still fuming. “Why is Ariane important to you?”
“Why?” he stuttered. “Because she’s my cousin.”
CHAPTER 50
ARIANE
could hear heavy footsteps in the hall, but she had no idea who was out there until the door burst open. Two large figures entered the room.
“Well, well, well.” Greene laughed. “If it isn’t the trou blemaker’s bitch!”
Holmes followed him into the room. “All tied up and lookin’ good! If we had a little more time, I’d be tempted to play with her.”
Greene shook his head. “Unfortunately, we don’t. And all because of Payne.”
The sound of his name made her heart beat faster. “Is he here?” she tried to ask, but it came out mumbled.
“Wow, I think she’s trying to talk.” Holmes stared at her jaw, which had been broken by Harris Jackson. “A good-looking bitch who can’t talk. It’s like a dream come true.”
“Tease her later,” Greene suggested. “We gotta move before the two soldier boys find us.”
Two soldier boys? The sound was music to her ears. That meant Jones was probably with Payne, which only made sense. They did everything together, especially when it came to the military. But how in the world did they find her so quickly? Were they brought to the island the same time as her, or did they find her on their own?
Truthfully, it didn’t matter. As long as they knew where she was, she had a chance.
“Okay,” Holmes said. “I’m going to untie you from the bed now, but I expect you to be on your best behavior. Understood?”
Ariane nodded, even though it hurt her jaw to do so.
Holmes reached for the knot near her left wrist, but before he got ahold of it, a frantic voice came out of his radio. “Jesus! Is that Jackson? What does he want now?”
“Don’t worry about it,” Greene muttered. “You take care of the girl. I’ll take care of Harris.” Greene pushed the reply button on his own radio. “Harris? Is that you?”
“Levon,” Jackson answered, “we’ve got a major problem here!”
Greene frowned. “What’s going on?”
“I went down to the dock to check on the boat and . . . it’s gone!”
“What are you talking about?”
“All the guards are dead, and the boat is gone!”
“What about the slaves?” Greene demanded. “Where are the slaves?”
“They’re gone, too! I don’t know how, but the boat is gone!”
“Fuck!” Greene shouted. “I don’t believe this!”
Ariane watched Greene carefully, waiting to see what he was going to do next. She sensed that he might take his anger out on her. Thankfully, that never came to pass.
“What should we do?” he asked Holmes.
Holmes shrugged as he unfastened Ariane’s rope. “Your call.”
Greene gave it some thought before answering. “Just wait for us at the dock. We’ll be there shortly. And try to find Theo if you can. I think it would be best if we all stuck together.”
“Sounds good,” Jackson replied. “Make it quick. I’m in the open down here.”
Greene turned off his radio. “I can’t believe this shit! How can two guys cause this many problems?”
Holmes grinned at the comment. “You’d be surprised what two men can accomplish if they put their minds to it. . . . Like us, for instance.”
“What are you getting at?”
“I realize you’ve known Harris and Theo forever, but under the circumstances, we need someone to take the blame for all of this. If the feds get a couple of suspects in custody, they won’t be as likely to hunt for anyone else. At least not immediately.”
Greene’s interest was piqued. “What are you proposing?”
“How much would it bother you if we left them behind? Why don’t we get off this island while we still have a chance?”
“Interesting,” Greene muttered. However, after giving it some thought, he detected a flaw in the plan. “But we can’t leave them here.”
“Why not? We have the opportunity to flee, and you’re not willing to seize it because of them. My God! They’d leave your ass behind in a minute!”
“Wait a second!” he yelled back. “I don’t mind leaving them, but we can’t. They’ll name us, say we were the force behind everything, and preach their innocence. I guarantee they’ll frame their stories to suit their needs, and because of Harris’s knowledge of the law, they’ll come out sitting pretty. Hell, they might even be given immunity to testify against us.”
Holmes grimaced at the thought. “Damn, you’re right. So what do you recommend?”
Greene smiled at Ariane, then glanced at his new partner. “We should leave the island ASAP. But before we do, we need to silence Theo and Harris-permanently.”
BLOUNT’S
comment was absurd, completely asinine. Perhaps the most outrageous, preposterous, nonsensical thing that Payne had ever heard. But that was why he was tempted to believe it. It wasn’t the type of thing that someone would make up to save his own ass.
“Okay, Bennie, my interest is aroused. But I promise you, if I smell bullshit at any point of your explanation,
Understood?”
Blount nodded. “As you know, I’m not a dumb hick, but I
a local. My family has lived in these parts for generations. In fact, when this place was owned and operated by the Delacroix family, my ancestors worked the land as slaves.”
Payne signaled for him to speed it up.
“For the past few years I’ve been working on my master’s degree at LSU and recently started work on my thesis. I planned to show the effect that the abolition of slavery had on black families, using my family tree as an
