“But won’t it happen anyway? With Payne, Jones, and Blount still alive, won’t they be able to tell the FBI everything?”
“Yeah, but without physical evidence, there’s no way they’ll be able to convince an African government to extradite us. At least that’s what Harris told me. He said the testimony of witnesses won’t mean dick in a situation like that. Plus, if you follow all of the safeguards that I’m going to teach you, the American government won’t even know where we are. We’ll disappear from their radar forever.”
Greene smiled. He liked the sound of that. “What about the money? Won’t they find me when I try to collect on my house?”
“Not a chance. Theo set up a number of offshore accounts using the names of bogus corporations. If you use them to filter all of the funds, the FBI won’t be able to touch you.”
“Are you sure? That sounds risky, especially without Theo to walk me through it.”
“Hey, it’s your money, not mine. But if I were in your shoes, I’d try to collect every cent that I could. If you don’t, you’re gonna be forced to work for the rest of your life.”
Greene grimaced at the thought. He was accustomed to a life of luxury and didn’t relish the thought of returning to the workforce-especially the one in Africa.
“Either way,” Holmes continued, “I’m blowing this joint up. The explosives are set, and I can do it with a touch of a button.”
“Bullshit,” Greene growled. “I paid for it, so
I
get to blow it up. At least I’ll get some enjoyment out of this place.”
Holmes smiled. He was glad Greene wasn’t going to fight him on this. “Good! You can do it in a minute, but before you do you still need to answer my earlier question. I need to know what you’re gonna contribute to this partnership.”
Greene rolled his eyes. “You’re obviously looking for something, so just tell me. What do you need from me? Money?”
Holmes nodded. “I was expecting us to make millions off the current batch of slaves.” He turned back toward the truck and pointed to Ariane and Susan. “Now we’re down to two. Granted, they’re exceptional and will get top dollar, but it won’t be enough to live on for the rest of my life. That’s why I want some guarantees from you, right here, right now.”
“Octavian, if you expect me to give you millions, you can fuck off. But if we’re talking about a reasonable settlement for getting me to safety, then there’s no problem. We’re good.”
Holmes extended his hand, and Greene shook it eagerly.
“There is one thing, though, that confuses me. As far as I can tell, we still have almost a dozen slaves left in storage. Why don’t we take them with us? It would net us a lot of cash.”
Holmes signaled for Greene to follow him again, and he did so willingly. The two men walked ten feet farther into the woods, where Greene saw their getaway vehicle buried under some brush. It was a hydroplane, capable of seating no more than four people at one time.
“If we had a way to transport them, I’d be all for it. But at this point, we’ll have to settle for what we have. My boat for escape and your money to live on.”
CHAPTER 53
SEVERAL
minutes passed before Blount and Jones returned to the house with three ATVs. Blount drove his unattached while Jones lagged behind, towing the third one.
“What took you guys so long?” Payne asked. “I thought maybe you ran into trouble.”
Jones shook his head. “It just took a while to figure out a towing system.”
“Well, while you were busy playing engineer, I was stuck here talking to Webster. You should’ve told me he was still alive before you left.”
Blount and Jones exchanged glances, then looked at the dead body near the porch. Webster was lying in the same position as before. “Jon, are you feeling all right? You took a blow to the head. I think you might be hallucinating.”
Payne denied the suggestion. “I’m fine, D.J. My arm hurts, but my head’s fine.”
“You talked to him?”
“Yes!”
“And he talked back?”
“Yes! He was alive, for God’s sake. I swear!”
“You know,” Blount admitted, “we never checked. I think both of us just assumed that he was dead.”
“He wasn’t dead,” Payne insisted. “I’m telling you, he was alive.”
Jones removed the towing cable while he considered Payne’s statement. “So, what did Lazarus have to say? Is the light as bright as they claim?”
Payne ignored the sarcasm and answered the first question. “That’s the strange part. He kept repeating the same thing over and over, but it didn’t make any sense.”
Intrigued, Blount spoke. “Maybe it will make sense to me. What did he say?”
Payne frowned as he thought back on the urgency of Webster’s statement. “
Paw it
. He kept repeating the phrase
paw it
. Does that mean anything to you?”
“Not off the top of my head, but give me a second.”
“Are you sure he didn’t say
Rosebud
?” Jones joked, recalling the mysterious word whispered in the famous death scene of the movie
Citizen Kane
. “Maybe
Paw It
was the name of his sled.”