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, boom! Understood?”
Blount nodded. “As you know, I’m not a dumb hick, but I am 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 example.”
“And?”
“A few months ago, I came to this island to look around. This place had been abandoned for the longest time, and I thought a few photos would look good in my project.”
“What happened?”
“I bumped into a team of black men doing all kinds of work. I assumed that someone had bought the estate after Hurricane Katrina and was going to move in. So I went up to a brother to ask him a few questions about the new owner and discovered that he couldn’t speak English. Actually, none of them could. These guys were right off the boat from Africa.”
Jones asked, “Everyone?”
Blount nodded, then turned his attention back to Payne. “I didn’t want to get anybody into trouble, including myself, so I left quickly. It’s a good thing, too, because if one of the owners had seen me, I would’ve never been allowed to come back later.”
“Why’d you want to come back?”
“I wanted to see what they were going to do to the place, and I thought it could help my research. You see, during the course of my studies, I came across a family journal from the 1860s. It was like finding gold. It gave me a firsthand account of slave life on this plantation from a distant grandmother. Simply fascinating stuff.”
“I’m sure,” Payne said, “but I’m beginning to get impatient here.”
“You want me to get to Ariane, don’t you?”
“Is it that obvious?”
Blount nodded. “During the course of the journal, my distant grandmother admits to having an affair with Mr. Delacroix, her master. She said she did it for special treatment, but eventually, it turned into more than that. She fell in love with Delacroix and allowed him to impregnate her on several occasions. Shortly after that, the Civil War ended and the journal entries stopped.”
“That’s it?” Payne demanded. “What does any of that have to do with Ariane?”
“At the time, I didn’t know, but I was determined to talk with someone from the Delacroix family so I could get a look at their family tree. I figured if I was a direct descendant of Mr. Delacroix, then I would technically be related to all of his white offspring.”
Payne started to see where this was going, and his eyes filled with acceptance. He knew that Blount was telling the truth and couldn’t wait to see how Ariane fit in.
“I went to the local courthouse and tried to find his relatives, but every path I found ended in death. I swear, the Delacroix family must’ve been cursed because everyone in that family died so young. Anyway, when I came back here to look around again, I hoped the new owners had bought the property from a distant relative of mine and would be willing to give me an address.”
“Makes sense,”