Page 65 of Diamonds in the Mud

“Should I be worried?” I asked as he slowly maneuvered the boat away from the dock.

“Naw, Felix and I taught them a lesson.” Ben smiled. “These are just for show.”

I nodded but still felt uneasy as we traveled further down the river.

I could see dim lights from a large town ahead of us along the river but before we hit the brighter lights, Ben cut the engine and aimed the boat towards a small beach area.

Before the boat hit the soft sand, two men just as armed as we were appeared.

“Ronny’s expecting you,” they said at the same time.

Ben chuckled. “Jameson, meet the twins.” He handed me one of the bags.

Now that I could see both men in the dim light, I could tell they were identical twins.

We followed them up a sandy pathway to an old cabin. Ben knocked on the door and waited.

Someone shouted, “Come in,” and we stepped inside.

An old black man sat in a rocking chair, smoking a joint as he watched us. I noticed he was missing half of his left leg and a few fingers.

Instantly, I wondered if that was what Ben had meant about teaching them a lesson.

“Bout time,” he said to Ben. “New guy?” he asked, motioning towards me.

“Jameson,” Ben said, setting the two bags at the man’s feet. “This is Ronny.” I walked over and set my bag with Ben’s, then stood back.

The man ran his eyes over me. “Looks like the rest of ya.” The man chuckled. I kept my mouth shut as the man bent over and looked in each bag. Sure enough, there were dozens of handguns in each bag. “Go on. The twins will get you what you need.” He waved his hand and took another hit.

When we were safely back on our boat with two bags full of cash, I asked Ben, “Declan really doesn’t know about Evelyn?”

“No.” Ben glanced at me. “And Felix wants to keep it that way until…” He dropped off. “For a while.”

“Sure.” I nodded.

“Felix convinced Declan to switch spots with…” He sighed. “Shit.” He stopped the boat and turned to me. “Until further notice, you’re my right-hand man. Got that?” I nodded. “There are still things I can’t tell you. You’ll know a lot more than before, but some things are just… a need-to-know basis. Got it?” I nodded again.

Ben nodded and started up the boat again.

“Who do you think killed Evelyn then?” I asked.

Ben sighed and ran his hands through his hair. “Hell if I know. I liked the girl. Unlike Izzy, she wasn’t trouble.”

“Right,” I agreed.

“You’re smart to avoid that one. Izzy is… fucked up. You’re just lucky she was aiming at your head. This time,” Ben joked.

For show, I grabbed my balls and winced, causing Ben to laugh.

After dropping the bags of cash back with Declan almost an hour later, we headed back to our bikes.

When we strolled back into the bar, it was a quarter past midnight and almost the entire gang was still there.

Including Izzy. Upon seeing me, she wobbled over and started hanging on me like she hadn’t tried to take my head off the night before.

I hadn’t noticed at first, but half an hour later, I happened to glance towards the bar area and spotted Rayne sitting alone, watching all of us.

I had yet to unwrap Izzy from around myself and had pretty much given up trying. When my eyes locked with Rayne’s, I could tell she was sympathetic to my plight. I wanted to smile at her but knew there were too many eyes on us.