Chris Kuzneski - The Plantation

“I’ll believe it when I see it,” Greene said while rubbing his knee.

Holmes instinctively glanced at Greene’s left leg, staring at the gruesome scars that covered it. “Does your knee still trouble you?”

Greene didn’t like talking about it, but he realized Holmes was the only American friend he had left. “The pain comes and goes, but the instability is constant. As I start to get older, my joint will deteriorate even more, meaning I’ll have to get knee replacement surgery . . . Something to look forward to in my old age, I guess.”

Holmes realized there was nothing he could say, so he decided to change the subject. “Levon, I’ve been meaning to ask you a question for a while now, and since this is the first time we’ve ever talked about your knee, I was wondering if I could ask it.”

Greene looked at Holmes, studying his face. He knew what Holmes was going to ask even before he asked it. “You want to know about Nathan.”

“If you don’t mind talking about it.”

“No problem. You brought him here for me.”

“True, but I don’t want to overstep-”

“It’s fine. What do you want to know?”

A thousand questions flooded Holmes’s mind. “Everything.”

Greene smiled as he thought about it. He’d waited nearly three years to get back at Nate Barker, the player who had ended his magnificent football career. Thirty-three months of pain, rehab, and nightmares. One thousand days of planning and plotting his personal revenge.

“I started thinking about Barker as soon as they wheeled me off the field. It was amazing. There I was, in unbelievable pain, listening to the gasps of horror from the crowd as they replayed the incident over and over on the scoreboard, but for some reason, a great calm settled over me. You could actually see it during the TV telecast. One minute I was writhing in agony, the next minute I was serene.”

Greene shook his head at the memory. To him, it felt like it had happened yesterday. “The team doctor assumed that I had gone into shock, but I’m telling you I didn’t. The truth is I started thinking about Nate Barker. The bastard who did this to me was responsible for getting me through my agony. I’m telling you, one thought, and one thought alone, allowed me to get through my pain. It was the thought of revenge.”

“So you knew right away that you wanted to get even?”

“Hell, yeah! He took away my livelihood. He took away my leg. You’re damn right I wanted to get even. And do you know what? I’ve never regretted it. From the moment we seized him to the moment I locked him in the cage downstairs, I’ve never looked back. In fact, I view his kidnapping as the crowning achievement of my life.”

A bittersweet smile appeared on Greene’s lips.

“Nate Barker ruined my life. Now I’m getting a chance to ruin his.”

THE

loud ringing startled Kotto, causing him to flinch under his purple comforter. Nightmares had gotten the best of him lately, so he’d been sleeping in a state of uneasiness.

The damn phone just about killed him.

After turning on a nearby light, he realized what was happening and grabbed the cell phone off his nightstand. Few people had his number, so he knew that the call had to be important.

“Kotto,” he mumbled, slightly out of breath.

“Hannibal?” Edwin Drake shrieked. “Thank God you’re alive! When I heard the news, I thought perhaps they had gotten you, too.”

“What in the hell are you talking about? Do you know what time it is?”

“Time! I can’t believe you’re worried about time! There are so many other things that we need to be concerned with.”

Kotto glanced at his clock. It was after midnight. He would much rather be sleeping. “Have you been drinking, Edwin? You’re not making any sense.”

“Sense?

I’m

not making sense? You’re the chap who isn’t making sense-especially since the incident happened in Ibadan!”

The fog of sleep lifted quickly. There was only one thing in Ibadan that Drake would be concerned with, and the thought of an incident sent shivers down Kotto’s spine.

“My God, what has happened?”

“You mean, you haven’t heard? It happened at your place, for God’s sake!”

“What did? What’s wrong?”

“The slaves . . . they’re gone!”

The four words hit Kotto like a lightning bolt, nearly stopping his heart in the process.

“Gone?” he croaked as his chest tightened. “How is that possible?”

“Don’t ask me! I sent one of my men to inspect the snow, and when he got there, there was no snow! They were gone!”

“But that’s not possible! If the slaves had escaped, I would’ve been told. My guards would’ve called me! These were my best men. They would’ve called me immediately.”

Drake remained silent as he thought about the ramifications. “If those were your best men, then we are in trouble. Very grave trouble.”

“Why?”

“Because your guards are dead.”

Lightning bolt number two hit, causing pain in his chest and left arm.

“Dead? My men are dead?”

Drake nodded gravely. “Quite.”

“And you’re sure of this?”

“Of course I’m sure! I wouldn’t be so panicked if I wasn’t sure!” Drake tried taking a breath, but his chest was tight as well.

“I’m sorry to doubt you, but it just seems so unlikely . . . What should we do?”

“That is why I’m calling. We need to figure out some kind of plan. I am on my plane, and I’ll be arriving there shortly. I was going to check the plant myself, but since you’re still alive, I shall tell my pilot to land in Lagos instead of Ibadan. It will be easier to talk if we’re face-to-face.”

“I’ll have my car and several guards meet you at the airport.”

“I appreciate the gesture,” Drake said, “but I doubt it will be necessary. Who in their right mind would plan a second attack so quickly after their first?”

***

JONES smirked as he continued to monitor Kotto’s conversation from a nearby car. “These guys don’t know us very well, do they?”

“No,” Payne growled. “We’ll have to make sure we introduce ourselves.”

CHAPTER 60

EDWIN

Drake opened the front door to Kotto’s home without knocking. He had no time to be polite at this hour of the evening. All of his hard work was crumbling, and he was determined to save it before irreparable damage had occurred.

“Hannibal,” he called, “where are you?”

The Nigerian rushed from the living room, where he’d been briefing Holmes and Greene on the slaves, and met Drake in the front parlor.

“Edwin,” he said as he shook the man’s hand. “I’m so sorry that this is necessary. I truly am. Obviously, I’m just as shocked about the incident as you are.”

“I somehow doubt that,” he replied coolly. “It seems that you have been keeping secrets.”

The comment caught Kotto off guard. “Secrets? I have no secrets from you.”

“No? I find that hard to believe, with the information I’ve just acquired. Who is Jonathon Payne, and why have you been keeping him from me?”

Octavian Holmes heard the name as he emerged from the other room and decided to answer for Kotto. “Payne’s our biggest problem. Now, before I respond to your other question, I’ve got an even better one for you. Who the fuck are you?”

Drake was ready to spout a nasty comeback until he saw Holmes’s size. When he saw an even larger figure behind Holmes, he decided it would be best to play nice. “I’m Edwin Drake, Hannibal’s financial partner. And you are?”

“Octavian Holmes, Hannibal’s main supplier of slaves.” He glanced over his shoulder and pointed to his large shadow. “This here is Levon Greene. He’s