Payne shook his head. “Don’t worry. I actually believe you.”
“Great,” muttered a relieved Jones. “Now that this Ebony and Ivory reunion is over, do you mind if we get out of here? We got some people to save and not much time to do it.”
Payne lowered his gun from Blount’s chin. He was finally convinced that Bennie was on his side to stay. “Mr. Blount, would you please show us the way inside the house?”
Bennie grinned. It was the first time in his life that a white man had ever called him mister.
CHAPTER 51
WHEN
the truck arrived at the western dock, Harris Jackson breathed a sigh of relief. Even though he realized he wasn’t safe until Payne and Jones were caught, he felt a lot better with Holmes and Greene by his side.
“Hey, Harris,” Holmes called, “where’s Theo? I thought he was supposed to meet us here.”
“He’ll be here any minute. He said he had to go to the house for something.”
Holmes nodded as he searched the dock for a trace of the missing boat. There were no clues except for a number of dead guards that littered the ground.
“These guys are good,” he admitted.
“So, what are we gonna do?” Jackson wondered. “The boat’s gone, half the slaves have escaped, and Payne and Jones are still running around killing our men. Is there any way we can salvage this?”
Greene gave Holmes a quick smile before speaking. “Sure we can. Remember, that’s the reason we wore our masks at all times. None of the slaves can identify our faces, so they won’t be able to give the cops our description. Once we leave this place, we’re home free.”
A flash of panic crossed Jackson’s mind. He had revealed his face to Ariane Walker and Susan Ross when he tied them up inside the house.
Holmes noticed the tension in Jackson’s eyes. “What’s wrong? You look upset.”
“I took my mask off in the bedrooms, and two of the whores saw my face.”
“You idiot!” Greene blurted. “Thinking with your wrong head again, huh?”
Annoyed, Jackson took a step toward Greene. Even though Greene outweighed him by sixty pounds, he wasn’t about to back down. He had to stand his ground now, or Greene would tease him forever. “What’s your problem, man? Why do you have to ride me so damn hard?”
“Because I feel like it.”
“And why’s that? What’s your problem with me?”
Greene stood his ground, reveling in the thought of a confrontation. “Here’s my problem. I’m fed up with all your perverted games, your groping and raping. That shit is wrong, and it’s gotta stop.”
“Oh, yeah? And who’s gonna stop me?”
“Who’s gonna stop you?” Greene smiled at Holmes. They had discussed this moment back at the house, and Greene had volunteered for the duty. “Me, my Glock, and I.”
Greene pulled his trigger and the thunderous blast echoed off the water and the surrounding trees. The bullet struck Jackson in his forehead and plowed into his brain with the finesse of a bulldozer. Then, as if in slow motion, Jackson slumped to the edge of the dock and hung there for just a second before he tumbled into the water with a loud splash.
“Nice shot,” Holmes remarked. His nonchalant tone suggested that Greene had just made a free throw in a game of HORSE. “Try to keep your elbow in more. It’ll improve your accuracy.”
“Thanks. I’ll have to remember that the next time I kill someone.”
Holmes glanced at his watch and realized time was running short. “That might be sooner than you think. We have to take care of Webster before we leave. Why don’t you give him a call and see what’s keeping him?”
Greene nodded. The adrenaline from killing Jackson surged through him, practically making him giddy. “Breaker, breaker, one nine,” he said, laughing. “Theo, do you read me?”
There was a slight delay before Webster answered. “I’m here, Levon.”
“Where’s here, Theo? We’ve been waiting for you at the dock.”
Another pause. “I’m up at the house. I figured we’d have to flee, and I wanted to pack a few things before we left.”
“No problem.” This would work out well for Holmes and Greene. They needed to stop by the house before they left the island anyway. “I’ll tell ya what, why don’t we swing by the mansion and help you out with your things?”
Relief filled Webster’s voice. “That would be great. I wasn’t looking forward to going down to the dock by myself. I’m not very good with guns.”
A wide grin returned to Greene’s face. “Don’t worry, Theo. I am.”
PAYNE
patted Webster on his head, then took the radio from his hands. “You did great. You sounded very natural.”
But he refused to speak. Instead, he slumped in his chair and pouted about getting caught.
“What now?” Jones asked as he chewed on his first food in what felt like days. “We got them coming here, but what are we going to do with them when they arrive?”
Payne flicked Webster on his ear. “I say we make a trade. I’ll gladly give up Theo here if they give us Ariane. As far as I’m concerned, anything we get after that will be icing.”
Jones swallowed a mouthful of apple and decided it was the best goddamned piece of fruit he had ever eaten. “Speaking of icing,” he said as he searched the pantry for anything that resembled cake. A box of Twinkies was the only thing he could find. “Once we get Ariane to safety, will we have time to hunt down Levon?”
“I don’t care what we do as long as you understand that she’s the number one priority here. After that, I’ll back you on anything that your heart desires.”
“Cool,” he mumbled as he stuffed half a Twinkie into his mouth.
While Jones chewed the yellow cake, Blount entered the kitchen from the security office. “They’ll be here any second. I just saw ’em pull their truck onto the road from the dock.”
Webster stared at Blount in disbelief. It was the first time he’d heard Bennie speak normally.
“What kind of truck?” Payne wondered.
“Flatbed. Both guys are in the front, but it appears they have some hostages in the back.”
Payne prayed one of them was Ariane. “Were they guys or girls?”
Blount shrugged. “Kind of looked like females, but don’t quote me on it.”
Jones continued eating Twinkies as he ran several different scenarios through his mind. Finally, he came across one that he liked. “Okay, fellas, this is how we’ll play it. Instead of picking these guys off from a distance—which I could do with my eyes closed—I think it’d be best if we dealt with them up close and personal.”
“Why’s that?” Payne demanded.
“First of all, if I kill these guys long-range, there’s no one to stop their speeding truck. I mean, the last thing we want is for Ariane to smash into a tree with a bomb strapped to her leg.”
“Good point.”
“Secondly, I get the feeling Holmes has been running things, and if that’s the case, it’d be foolish to kill him without interrogating him first. There’s no telling where he has slaves stored, and if we shoot him, there’s a chance we won’t be able to find them for a very long time.”
Payne groaned at the possibilities. “Isn’t a face-to-face confrontation kind of risky?”
“Definitely. And if you’d prefer, I’m still willing to pick these guys off with a scope. Of course, keep this in mind: Ariane
might
be one of those hidden slaves.”
THEY drove straight to the house, across the grass of the main yard. Once they had stopped, Holmes honked the horn, hoping Webster would come to the front door. It worked. He immediately swung the door open, sticking his head out of the narrow crack.
“Can you guys come inside and give me a hand? I’m not strong enough to carry this stuff.”
Greene looked at Holmes and frowned. He didn’t have a clean shot from his current position, and by the time he raised his weapon, Webster would be able to duck inside the house.
“Before we do,” Greene countered, “we want you to give us a hand with something.”
“Really? What do you need?”
Greene glanced at Holmes and shrugged. He hadn’t thought that far ahead.
Holmes jumped to his rescue with the first thing that popped into his head. “The guards have Payne and Jones cornered by the swamp, and we need help flushing ’em out. You’re the smartest guy here, so we figured you could come up with something.”
A grimace filled Webster’s face. He didn’t know what to make of Holmes’s comment, but he realized something strange was going on. “Guys, I’d hate to waste my time going all the way down to the swamp for nothing. Are you sure you have them cornered?”
“Oh, yeah,” Greene claimed. “We got ’em trapped all right. I made the identification myself. Now we just need some help flushing ’em out.”
Payne, who was hiding behind the door, sensed Webster’s desire to make a break for the truck, so he tightened his grip on him before he could move.
“Don’t even think about it,” he whispered. “Tell them you can’t leave until they come inside and give you a hand. Insist if you have to.”
Webster obeyed. “Guys, I can’t help you right now. I’ve got other things to worry about
inside
.” He tilted his head toward the door in an effort to signal Holmes and Greene, but they didn’t understand what he was pointing to. “I think it would be best if you gave me a hand.”
Greene growled softly as he watched Webster twitch his head. He couldn’t believe how swiftly he was becoming unglued. “I don’t know what your deal is, but we need you in the truck right now. Time is running out, so let’s go.”
“Come on!” Holmes shouted. “We need your help immediately!”
Webster tried to move toward the truck but wasn’t strong enough to tear away from Payne. In fact, the only thing that he managed to do was piss him off.
“Do that again and I’ll bite off your fucking ear.”
“Come on,” Holmes repeated. “Let’s go! Now!”
“I can’t come,” Webster assured him. “I’d like to, but I can’t. I really can’t.”
Greene had heard enough. The cops were probably on their way, and the only thing that stood between him and freedom was a 150-pound computer geek. Angrily, Greene threw his door open and climbed out. “I’m sick of this. Come out here now before you really piss me off.”
He accented his statement with a slam of the truck door.
And that was what Jones and Blount had been waiting for. They quietly opened their windows on the second floor of the plantation house and thrust their weapons outside. Once they had settled into comfortable positions, they aimed their guns at their targets. Jones focused on Greene. Blount pointed at Holmes, who remained inside the truck.
After counting to five, Payne threw the front door open while using Webster as a shield. “Show me your hands!” he shouted. “Show me your fucking hands!”
Greene stopped dead in his tracks and slowly raised his two closed fists into the air.
“Surprised to see us?” Jones teased from above. “You must be, since we’re currently trapped down by the swamps. That’s why you’re turning white, isn’t it?”
“Something like that.”
“Don’t turn too white,” Payne muttered, “or someone around here might make you a slave.”
Greene tried to take a breath, but his chest was too tight to inhale. “What do you guys want?”
“Revenge!” Jones shouted as he cracked his neck. “A shitload of revenge!”
Payne wrapped his arm around Webster’s neck and pulled him closer. “You know what I want. I want Ariane.”
“Then this is your lucky day,” Greene assured him. “She’s in the back of our truck with another girl. Why don’t you come over and see for yourself?”
Payne shook his head. “No, thanks. I kind of like it where I’m standing now. But my partner can take a look. Hey, D.J.?”
“Yeah, chief.”
“Can you see into the back of the truck?”
“Sure can. Looks like a couple of chicks to me. Not sure who they are, though. They’re tied up, and their heads are covered.”
“Do they look alive?”
“They sure do. I see lots of squirming.”
Payne returned his attention to Greene. “So, what’s next?”
“You’re obviously in control. You’ve got a gun pointed at my heart, and your arm wrapped around Theo’s neck. You tell me, how do you want to resolve this?”
“I say we shoot him,” Jones suggested. “Then we can just take the girls.”
Greene chuckled. “Oh, you could do that, but if you shoot me, Octavian is gonna speed off before you have a chance to grab them.”
“No, he won’t,” Blount yelled. “Before he travels ten feet, I’ll pump him like a porn star.”
Greene glanced at the other end of the house and saw Blount’s unobstructed view of Holmes. “That’s a pretty colorful image, especially from a hick like yourself. That English of yours sounds remarkably better.”
“Thanks. I borrowed your
Hooked on Phonics
tape.”
Greene smiled, trying to remain as calm as possible. He had played football in front of millions of fans on TV, so he was used to keeping his nerves during times of pressure. “Hey, Octavian! Do you have a clear shot at Ariane?”
Holmes thrust his muscular arm out the back of the cab and pointed his gun at the tied-up hostages. “Definitely! There’s not much that can stop a bullet from three feet away.”
“That’s true,” Payne remarked. “But the same can be said about my distance. And I promise you, I won’t miss.”
“I believe you,” Greene said. “But you know what? I’ve got a strange feeling that you’re not going to shoot me. You know why? ’Cause if you do, a lot of people are gonna die!”
“Really! And how do you expect to pull that off?”
“Oh, it’s not what I’m gonna
