He reached into his back pocket and pulled out an envelope. “You did good work, Shiloh,” he praised. “It impressed me.”
I hadn’t done anything other than deliver money to Glen and keep my mouth shut. Perhaps crime really did pay. When I made a grab for the envelope, he pulled it away. “I might have more work for you soon.”
“I’m only interested in diamonds from now on,” I said, snatching the envelope from his grasp. “I’ve heard that’s where the big money is.”
I couldn’t work out if the look on Louis’ face was one of horror or revulsion. Maybe it was both. “I do not deal in diamonds.” He turned to Mimi and barked a few sharp words in Afrikaans.
“I told her you would never cross the devil.” She threw both hands up. “The dumb girl wouldn’t listen.”
Louis’ angry expression slipped as his focus returned to me. “Shiloh, diamonds are bad juju,” he warned. “Terrible trouble for a nice girl like you.”
The hypocrisy was dizzying, but I forged ahead. I waved the envelope at him. “This is not enough,” I said strongly. “I came to Kaimte for the diamonds.”
Louis returned to the business side of the counter, and I was hot on his heels. “You can help me,” I insisted. “I just need to know who’s dealing.”
“A very bad man steals the diamonds for the devil,” he replied, pointing a finger at me. “I want no part of that white man juju.” There was a hint of fear in his voice that I’d never heard before. “Talk to your boss at the mine. He will entertain your foolishness.”
“He’s dirty?” I asked.
The look in Louis’ eyes was one of absolute contempt. “As the devil himself.”
I could’ve jumped up and punched the air – I was that elated. Louis’ word was worth nothing, but there was no arguing with the law of juju.
Keen to get out of there, I thanked Louis for the lead. “I won’t mention your name,” I promised him.
He jumped on the defence as if there was hidden meaning to my words. “Are you threatening me?” His raised voice alerted his goons, and three men came rushing in from the back room.
I ignored them as best I could. “I would never threaten you, Louis.” My sultry tone was shameful but instantly got him back on side. “I know how powerful you are.”
His chest seemed to puff at the compliment, but the result was fleeting. He quickly changed the subject. “The car part you ordered has arrived,” he said. “You can collect it from my warehouse at the port tomorrow.”
“Thank you, but I don’t want it any more.”
Mitchell would sooner die of carbon monoxide poisoning than repair his jeep with a part supplied by Louis, and the only way to get him to revisit the warehouse again would be at gunpoint. Still, Louis seemed surprised that I’d cancelled the order. “Why not?” he asked, eyebrows raised.
“Mitchell would never allow it.”
His lips formed a thin line. “I trust that he’s recovered from his injuries?”
I forced a polite reply. “He’s doing well.”
“The boy is as strong as an ox,” declared Mimi. “You can beat him down, but he will get straight back up.”
I winced at the sound of her voice. She’d been good until that point.
Louis grinned at her, which was too much smugness for Mimi to bear. Goons or no goons, all hell was about to break loose. When she took a step toward the counter, I grabbed her and pulled her back.
“Take Mrs Traore home, Shiloh,” Louis instructed. “And perhaps teach her some manners before someone else does.”
Without uttering a word I bustled Mimi out the door, and that’s when her rambling apology began. “I couldn’t help myself,” she told me. “He is a nasty man.”
I hooked my arm through hers as we wandered down the street. “You did perfectly, Mimi,” I assured her. “I got the information I wanted.” Pulling her to a stop, I handed her the envelope of cash. “Buy your boys something nice,” I said.
Her eyes were the size of saucers as she flicked through the cash. “There are hundreds in here,” she said gleefully.
At that moment I felt more like Robin Hood than Batman. It was probably more money that she’d ever been in possession of before, and it felt wonderful to give it to her.
“I’m a good witch, Mimi,” I reminded her. “Don’t ever forget that.”
***
I wanted to strike while the iron was hot. After quickly buying enough food to get us through the week, I headed home – but not before making one last stop at the Fat Cat camp to stir some trouble with Glen.
Not surprisingly, he wasn’t pleased to see me.
“What do you want?” He snapped as soon as the door swung open. “Go home.”
I wedged my shoulder against the door to stop him pushing it shut. “Are you drunk?” I could smell the booze wafting off him. “It’s barely midday.”
“That’s why days off are called R and R,” he muttered. “Rest and rum.” He held up a half-empty bottle. “Go home.”
“Wait,” I pleaded, bumping the door again. “I want to talk to you.”
After a few choice words he motioned me in with a wave of the bottle. “You have five minutes.”
Considering the state he was in I was pretty sure I could take him out if necessary, but there was no way I was going to set foot in his house. I pointed to the small table and chairs on the veranda. “We can talk out here,” I suggested. “It’s cooler.”
Glen grabbed the essential supplies –cigarettes and rum – and followed me. “What’s this all about?” he grumbled.
“I went to see Louis Osei today,” I began. “He paid me for the job we did last week.”
Glen shrugged. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“That’s how you’re going to play this?” The rise of incredulity in my voice was intentional. “Pretend that you don’t know anything?”
He picked up the cigarette packet and tapped a smoke straight into his mouth. If it wasn’t such a filthy habit, I would’ve been impressed by the trick.
“What do you want, Shiloh?” he asked wearily.
I leaned across the small glass table that separated us. “I didn’t come to Kaimte to faff around with petty equipment heists,” I said. “I want to earn some serious money.”
He lit his cigarette. “How?” Glen’s decision to feign obliviousness was frustrating but not unexpected. He had every right to be wary of me. All I could do was hope that he was dumb enough to be swayed otherwise.
“I want in on the diamond job.”
He puffed a foul plume of smoke in my direction. “You have a diamond job.”
As far as defining moments went, this was the most pivotal one I’d faced since the operation began. “Look, I know you’re lifting gems.”
The accusation sobered him in an instant. His dopey look gave way to pure thunder. “Now, why would you say something like that?” Even his voice was mean. “Spreading rumours like that could get a girl in serious trouble.”
Everything hinged on the next words out of my mouth, and one way or the other I needed to make them sound spectacularly convincing. “I asked Louis if there were any big jobs going,” I explained. “He told me to come and see you.” I had no misgivings whatsoever when it came to throwing Tweedledum under the bus, even after assuring him I wouldn’t. “He’s very impressed by the scale of your operation,” I continued. “It’s a pity he hasn’t got the balls to get on board.”
“He was never invited.” The words seemed to tumble out of his mouth unintentionally – probably a side effect of too much R and R.
“I could be a huge asset to you, Glen,” I insisted. “You could double the number of stones that leave the mine – and all it would cost you is twenty percent of the takings.”
What started as a deep chuckle morphed into a hacking pack-a-day cough. Finally, he recovered. “Twenty percent is ambitious,” he said, taking another drag of his smoke. “You’d be looking at closer to five.”
I
stared out to sea, pretending to think things through. In reality I was trying to calm myself down. The end was so damned close I could feel it. “I’d do it for five,” I conceded. “It means I’ll have to get more rocks out the door.”
Glen opened the bottle of rum and slid it toward me. “You’ve got some balls, Shiloh.”
I would rather have taken a hundred swigs of Mimi’s witches brew than touch his rum. I declined with a wave of my hand. “Do we have a deal?”
He picked up the bottle and chugged at least a quarter of it. The look on his face when he turned back to me was straight out of a horror movie. “Do you know how easily people can disappear around here?” His voice was low and menacing. “The desert is a big place – get lost out there and no one would ever find you.”
I swallowed hard – a nervous move I hope he didn’t notice. “I hate this godforsaken place,” I replied, looking straight into his soulless eyes. “All I’m trying to do is make a bit of money to ease the pain of being here.” I pushed back my chair and stood up. “If you can’t help me do that, I’ll start my own venture. That way, my profit margin will be a hundred percent.”
Fearlessness in the face of adversity is the most appealing trait a crook can possess. Despite the fact that it was artificial, at some point in the last five minutes Glen Harris had seen that in me.
“I’ll let you know in a few days,” he muttered. “In the meantime, keep your mouth shut.”
“You only have a few days,” I replied, already walking away. “And then I’m going it alone.”
Home
MITCHELL
Shiloh was already home when I arrived back from the beach, standing at the kitchen table sorting vegetables. Sidling behind her, I kissed her neck.
“Those are the bad ones,” she said, pointing to the pile on the left. “And those are worse.”
Resting my chin on her shoulder, I looked at the table. “Excellent. We live to eat for another week.”
She twisted in my arms. “How was the water?”
I grimaced. “Above anything I’m capable of at the moment.”
Two minutes after paddling out I knew I was punching above my weight. I wasn’t anywhere near healed enough to be out there.
“Did you hurt yourself?”
“I came to my senses before it got that far.” I tightened my hold on her. “I lay on my board like a girl while the best waves I’ve seen in weeks rolled underneath me.”
“That was very mature of you,” she teased, patting my chest.
“I’m all about maturity lately,” I replied. “While I floated around like a cork, I put a bit of thought into our plans of leaving town.”
“Really?” Her eyebrows lifted.
When I suggested that we sit and talk, Shiloh jumped to the conclusion that something bad was on its way. “Don’t back out on me now, Mitchell,” she muttered, flopping on a beanbag. “Nothing good can come from staying here.”
“I’m not backing out of anything,” I assured her. “But leaving isn’t going to be as easy as I thought.”
A lifetime of procrastinating is a hard habit to break, but there were decisions to be made – and none of them seemed particularly simple. The fate of the Crown and Pav was foremost in my thoughts. As run-down and two-bit as the place was, it was a legitimate business that had worth. The problem was the only other person who realised it was Louis Osei. Taking him up on his offer of buying the place was never going to happen. I’d take to it with a sledgehammer first, which was a righteous pose but not very profitable.
The prospect of saying goodbye to old friends was also gnawing at me. Vincent and Melito had been my neighbours for seven years. Whether I wanted to admit it or not, I was going to miss the inane banter brought on by their ouzo binges. And leaving Mimi behind would be hard on my heart. The woman had picked me up and dusted me off a hundred times over the years – for no other reason than she loved me like her own.
It took forever for me to explain it to Shiloh, and to her credit she didn’t interrupt until every thought I had was laid bare.
“I can’t tell you how to deal with closing those chapters,” she said, reaching for my hand. “All I can do is remind you of the new ones that are opening.”
A rambling monologue about reconnecting with my family and settling back into life at home followed. The picture she painted was one of sunshine and light, but not once did she mention herself.
“And what about us?” I tried not to sound bothered by the oversight but failed.
She dropped my hand. “What do you mean?”
“Well, where do you see us headed?”
“Home,” she replied simply. “And if you still want me when we get there, I’m yours.”
Larceny
SHILOH
The next few days were some of the best I’ve ever had. We stayed up late, slept in late, and generally made the most of the peace and quiet while Melito and Vincent were out of town.
It was radio silence all round. I hadn’t heard a peep from Glen, which led me to think that throwing my hat into the ring might’ve been a misstep. I tried not to dwell on it, but when Friday afternoon rolled around I was less enthused than ever to pull on the steel-capped boots and head to work. I declined Mitchell’s offer to walk me up to the road.
I had no idea what sort of reception I’d receive from Glen, but as it turned out, I had nothing to worry about. There was no reception. He didn’t pay me so much as a sideways glance as I got into the car.
Keeping my mouth shut and making the most of the silence would’ve been the smart thing to do, but I broke after just a few seconds. “Hello.” I spoke as if calling out in an empty room. “How are you?”
Nothing.
“Nice weather lately, huh?”
Nothing.
I gazed out the window, still talking. “Yep. It looks like the perfect night to pocket a few rocks.”
Finally, he bit. “Do you really think it’s that simple?” He didn’t pause long enough to let me answer. “Just grab a few gems that take your fancy and stick them in your pocket?”
No, I didn’t think it was that simple. I’d spent weeks trying to catch him doing exactly that, without any success. To this day I had no idea how he was pulling it off.
“I’m sure there’s more to it,” I replied. “That’s why I want you to teach me.”
I was finally wearing him down. I could see it. His grip on the steering wheel tightened and his face contorted into a pained frown. “You’ve got no idea what you’re getting yourself into.”
“So you’ll do it?”
Glen glanced across. “You do exactly what I tell you to do,” he growled. “I’m not going down because of some greedy little upstart with a big sense of adventure.”
I turned my head, reserving my triumphant smile for the outside view. I was in. All I needed to do now was stay there.
***
My lesson in larceny took place in Glen’s office. I’d only been in there a handful of times, and had never been made to feel welcome. Tonight the atmosphere was a little different.
“Sit.” He pointed to the empty chair opposite his desk.
Gearing up to take as many mental notes as I could, I did as I was told.
“There’s a jeweller in the sorting room,” he began. “His name is Joseph.”
I couldn’t put a face to the name, probably because my focus was always on Glen. “I don’t know him.”
“Get to know him,” he snapped. “He’s your new personal shopper.”
To untrained eyes, all diamonds look the same. Industrial diamonds are practically worthless, and certainly not worth stealing. Having a jeweller to preselect the valuable rocks made total sense.
Glen managed to smoke three cigarettes in the time it took for him to lay out the blueprint of his wicked deeds – and I was amazed by his ingenuity.
First, after selecting a few choice diamonds, Joseph the crooked jeweller accidentally knocks three of them onto the floor. I’d seen it ha
ppen a few times, and apart from the short interruption to the process it barely raised an eyebrow. The jewellers used a twelve-inch long tool called operating tweezers to pick through the stones. They were big and clunky, and it wasn’t much of a stretch to think that occasional slips could be made.
“He bends down and picks two up.” Glen leaned forward and stubbed out his cigarette in the overflowing ashtray on his desk. “I pick up the third.”
I frowned. “You’re not permitted to touch the rocks.” That was a steadfast rule, and absolutely no security officer would get away with doing it. “How do you pull that off?”
Glen leaned back and put both feet on his desk. “Quietly,” he smugly replied.
I shrugged, still frustratingly clueless. “I don’t get it.”
“Look closer.” He shook his foot, knocking one boot against the other. “What do you see?”
Reluctantly I leaned forward, squinting as I studied his boots. Within seconds, the whole puzzle came together. Near the toe of the left sole was a small, perfectly drilled hole.
“You step on it!”
“Line it up, step on it and push it into the boot.”
The simplest plans are usually the best, and this was as simple as they come. Raw diamonds aren’t glittery and pretty – they’re just ordinary looking rocks. Once concealed in the sole of a shoe, they would likely escape the attention of the most fastidious inspector.
“I just walk out the door,” he gloated. “Sometimes three or four a night.”
“I’m very impressed.” It might’ve been the most honest thing I’d ever said to him, and like Louis Osei a few days earlier, the compliment incited a smug rise in posture.
“Do you still want in?” he asked.
I pushed my chair back and thumped my foot on his desk. “Sign me up.”
***
Over the next nine days I singlehandedly stole seventeen high-grade diamonds from the Jorge Creek Mining Company – all via a tiny hole in the sole of my boot. When it came to passing through the three security checkpoints at the end of my shift, the process was always the same. While doing my level best to look innocent, I’d smile and make small talk with the guard on duty.