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“It’ll be one hell of an output. How much money are we talking about?”
“Ten billion.”
“Not easy to come by.”
“I’ve got the means.”
He regards me from under his bushy eyebrows. “Yeah, I heard you got married yesterday. Lina is a sweet woman. If what you say about her is true, then you and your wife are cut from the same cloth.”
He has no idea. “Oh, we are.”
“Don’t you think if going down to the bedrock was worth a shot, Harold would’ve made the investment?”
“Like I said, Dalton stole my prospecting work. I spent two years of my life searching this soil. This land is in my blood. Dalton did nothing but ruin it. He depleted the riverbed and destroyed the environment. I know you disagree with his methods. No doubt he’s paying the right people at the Department of Mineral Resources to turn a blind eye. Dalton couldn’t make this mine a success even if he wanted. He might’ve stolen my plans, but he couldn’t steal my vision. My vision has never been to yield high quality diamonds. There are too little of them in the gravel bed. My vision has always been to extract the lower quality diamonds of which there is a much higher yield in the bedrock. My vision is to color them and build a new brand of diamonds that will become the next most sought-after gemstone.”
“I’m going to be frank with you. This sounds a lot like revenge.”
“Dalton fucked me over, and I’m about to return the favor in so many ways he’ll never see them coming. Yes, it’s about revenge, but it’s also about realizing this mine’s true potential.”
“Excuse me for pointing this out, but as an ex-convict, you’re not exactly great management material, especially not in the diamond industry.”
“Don’t be naïve. This whole industry is made up of crooks.”
He’s quiet for some time. After a while, he says, “Let’s say hypothetically I’m on board. What do you want from me?”
“Your vote.”
“What for?”
“For me taking over Dalton’s shares.”
“Taking over? He’s going to give them to you, just like that?”
“Call it a wedding gift to his new son-in-law.”
He rubs a hand over his head. “I don’t know which one of you is more corrupt.”
“We may both be corrupt, but there’s only one of us who can save this mine.”
“What about Warren and Stone? They each hold twenty percent.”
“Let me worry about them.”
“Warren might consider, but Max Stone is as loyal to Harold as a puppy to the hand that feeds it meat.”
“Max Stone and Bell Warren will sell out to me. If you vote for it, it’ll be a done deal.” That’ll make seventy percent of the shares mine.
“How can you be so certain they’ll sell out?”
“Trust me.”
“You’ve got dirt on them.” His eyes bulge. “You’re going to blackmail them? You’re joking, right?”
“Life’s too short for jokes.” It’s a lesson six years in jail has taught me. “Whatever the case, I give the mine another twelve months, eighteen at the most, before it’s depleted. Dalton knows this. It’s in these reports.” I wave the file at him again. “In another few months, he would’ve sold his shares and bailed on you when the mine closed down and the workers got paid off, leaving you with a pocket full of worthless shares. I’m offering you a chance to grow with a mine that’s going to triple its profits in a year. You can walk away unemployed next year—let’s not forget how hard it is for a man of your age to find employment in South Africa—or retire in twenty years with a nice pension fund and flourishing shares. What’s there to lose?”
Folding his hands over his big stomach, he regards me solemnly. “I don’t know. My honor? My conscience? You tell me.”
“Knowingly or unknowingly, you were part of the scam when Dalton stole my mine.” I get to my feet. “I’ll wait for your call. You have until tomorrow noon to make your decision. I’m meeting Warren and Stone at three. Just know that if you’re out, you’re part of the enemy, and I won’t rest until my enemy goes down. Every single last one of them. Good night, Ellis.”
“Yeah.” He wipes a hand over his mouth. “Night, Damian. I hope you can sleep at night.”
I chuckle. I haven’t been sleeping for years. “It’s Mr. Hart to you.”
The expression on his face as he watches me leave is one I’m well familiar with. It’s a mixture of hate and fear.
Lina
When morning comes, my eyes burn and my muscles ache. My body is stiff. The worst is my desperate need for the bathroom. Just when I think I can’t hold it any longer, Zane enters dressed in his black attire. Does he get the irony of chastising me for my choice of color? I say nothing while he uncuffs me. He takes one look at the raw skin around my wrist before he blows up our silent ceasefire with another backhand that hurts my jaw.
