AT PRIEN LAKE
#156 - The gold coins shined as bright as the day they were struck. They looked at the coins wide-eyed. “They’re legit. That’s about $30K right there. Collector items. They are for us and Jules to -
Welcome to Before I Forget . .
I’m glad you are here. Thank you for your time.
AT PRIEN LAKE
Johnnie answered his cell. “Hey Ronnie, got some news?”
“Yeah, I do. Let’s get together. Can I come down in the morning. About nine?”
“Well, I’m up your way right now. Gonna catch the sunset at Prien Lake Park. I’m showing Jimmy and Carla the sites around town. Can you come over here?”
“That’s easy. I’ll be there in 20-30 minutes.”
“Okay. We’re on the jetty, down at the end. Btw, Jimmy’s good to go. He’s been getting used to the detectors.”
“Good. We’re set then.”
Ronnie got to know a bit about Jimmy and Carla’s recent events back at the Caballo Loco Ranch. It was tough on them for a while, but it’s in the past now.
They were on their way to Florida so that Carla could have some medical tests done. A follow-up to past conditions.
“Johnnie said you have a situation with illegals, perhaps? We’ve had some of that back at the ranch.”
“Yes. We’re sure of it now. We aren’t sure if Jules, the owner, is knowingly involved. He’s prone to such a thing. He would almost have to know.
“He leases his land to several different people. For cattle, alfalfa, rice and crawfish. He has a lot of land.
“Anyway, this is the set up.
“You and Johnnie will go down to the property next Thursday. Be there around noon. Here’s the map to get there.
“At the end of the road is a weather beaten, old, but livable two-story house. It was Jules’ grandparents’ home.
“The caretakers, or lease owners, stay there. Big guys. I spoke with the main guy when I went down to check the place out. He speaks English with an accent. Sounds East European to me. I think he’s a bad guy. They talk among themselves in their own language.
“Two cabins are to the rear of the main house, about thirty yards away. The workers stay there.
“The rice and crawfish ponds spread out from there.
“The workers will be in the fields until late afternoon. Two of the three “watchers” are with them.
“I want to get them out of there. Not to free them, but to get them away from the traffickers and to the authorities.
“We have until dark. Jules will be there sometime late afternoon to see how it’s going, then must leave.
“Here’s the thing. I won’t be there. Just you two. The foreman will be expecting you.”
“Where will you be,” Johnnie asked?
“I’ll come in from the back while you two are the diversion.
“Jules and I have some history. It’s not a good idea that I be here in this situation. He might make a connection. My cover is that I’ll be in North Carolina with Christi at the Cherokee Casino. I’ll be traveling.
“Are you with me so far? Still game?”
Johnnie and Jimmy looked at each other, nodded, then back at Ronnie.
“What’s your plan?”
Ronnie stood up, pulling a soft leather pouch from his back pocket, and emptied the contents into Jimmy’s hands.
The solid clank of coin on coin sounded and they looked down at silver and gold.
Two silver Spanish “pieces of eight,” tarnished and looking as if they had been buried in the ground, six 2-escudo gold doubloons, and twenty-four 1-escudo gold coins.
The gold coins shined as bright as the day they were struck. They looked at the coins wide-eyed.
“They’re legit. That’s about $30K right there. Collector items. They are for us and Jules to split. “
“Jules getting any of these coins irks me, but it’s part of the deal. Good for our rep as detectors and keeps us separate from this thing with the trafficking.
“He may want to get an appraisal on the coins and check for the best way to divvy it up. It might take a few days. Don’t worry, he won’t stiff us.
“You’ll have the coins with you. And targets, small junk pieces. Nails and such if the yard lacks its own junk. Though that would be doubtful.
“Be sneaky and bury them one at a time as you dig targets in the left front yard, near the light pole. Then “find” the coins.
“Wait until late afternoon to find them, increasing your finds after sunset.
“The workers will be back and settled in for the evening.
“We can better hold Jules’ and the caretakers’ attention.
“It shouldn’t be hard; it’s playing into Jules’ grandmother’s story. He should think we are on to something. But, I bet he’ll be looking for his grandmother’s cache on his own, now.
“Btw, you don’t know anything about ‘Grandmother’s story.’ You are just there to detect someone’s property. Be appropriately surprised when finding the coins. You know, ham it up.
“We have till dark. About 9:30.
“I’ve been there twice at night checking the place out. Came up by boat and over the marsh.
“The overnight guys watch from the wrap-around veranda at the house. The cabins are about a hundred feet away to the east.
“Six males in one cabin and four girls in the other.
“The rear doors of the cabins are barred with a single bar door lock.
“I can pick ‘em easy.
“The far side windows are boarded up.
“Two light poles, on either side of the front yard, and one at the rear keep the house and cabins lit up.
“I’ll be there and ready to go at dark.
“Getting to the back doors under that light is the thing.
“That’s where you guys come in. ‘Find’ the last doubloons and ‘pieces of eight’ and get excited. Such that Jules and his guys are sure to be there looking.
“I’ll break for the cabins. Ten minutes of distraction is all I need to get the workers out of the house and back in the high grass.
“Soon, Jules is going to have to call an end to the dig, as was arranged.“
“Y’all will square up as to what was found. He may invite us to detect again at a later date.
“When I see y’all driving out, I’ll leave as well.
“If all goes well, there should be no connection made between you and the subsequent events. They won’t know they are gone until morning.
“What do you guys think?”
Johnnie hesitated, then asked, “How are you going to get ten people out of the marsh. Where are you going?”
“Okay,” Ronnie said. “I have a plan to get them away, but it’s best you don’t know any more than you do. You understand, right?”
“Sure I do. It still gives one pause.”
Jimmy raised an eyebrow smiling, “Who are these coins from? Who’s paying to break up this trafficking thing?”
Carla listened in with rapt attention. Wary.
“I don’t know. I only know the person who gave the coins to me.”
“Some kind of vigilante thing,” Jimmy asked?
“I don’t know. But we can do it now and skip the red tape.
“Y’all still game,” Ronnie asked?
“I’m in.”
“Me, too.”
”Good. I’m glad.”
Cheerfully, he said “I gotta go. Carla, nice seeing you. I’ll see you guys next Thursday. If things work out proper like, you won’t be seeing me.
“I’ll be in touch in a week or so. Jimmy, you’ll still be here, right?”
“Sure will,” he said, smiling. ”I got a nice payday coming. Be careful.”
“Y’all, too.”
The sun, a soft yellow orb in a pink and purple sky, slipped into the lake on the soft horizon.
part 1, 2, 3, part 5 next time
* - When we first hear of Johnnie “aka “Slow Mo.” And here.
* - When we first meet Ronnie and Christi.
* - When we first see Jules Robicheaux.
* - When last we heard from Jimmy Swann.
Thank you for reading Before I Forget . . !
For my new Subscribers - a post from Aug 4, 2023.
Image by DALL-E 3
Good stuff James...tappin' my foot for Part 5 now. - Jim
I'm just catching up after being away. This one took an interesting twist. Things sound like they could get a bit rough here. Let's keep ol' Jimmy Swann safe now, cowboy. Great tale, I'm really enjoying it.