Page 79 of Wild Oblivion

I looked at my watch. "Where's Juan and Jesus?”

“They'll be here any minute.”

Any minute turned into half an hour. Every second was precious. They pulled behind the public works vehicle in a nondescript white van with temp tags. JD had given them a heads-up that this job might be a little on the shady side.

Jack and I hustled down the driveway to greet them.

Juan and Jesus were the best tile guys on the island…with a criminal record. An important caveat. They stepped out of the van wearing dust masks and neon safety vests. These guys knew the drill.

We escorted them to the back of the house and ushered them into the living room. Jack made introductions, and we shook hands.

"Nice place," Juan said.

“Everything needs to return to exactly the same condition,” I said.

“Gotcha.”

“You need to wear gloves and face masks at all times. If anybody asks, you’re with the city.”

“This ain’t our first rodeo.”

Jack told them what needed to be accomplished. "You sure you can match the tile when it comes to putting it all back together?”

"No problem," Juan said.

"We need to be quick and quiet about it. And this stays between us. It never happened. You weren’t here."

“That kind of discretion comes with a price.”

"I don't care what it costs," Jack said. “Can you do it?”

"Sure. No problem. What's underneath the tile? A dead body?" He and Jesus chuckled.

"No." JD asked Henrik how far down it was.

"Maybe a foot or two.”

"Below the slab?” Juan asked.

Jack nodded.

Juan shrugged. "It's going to be loud and messy."

"Put up some dropcloth so it doesn't get all over the house.”

“Si, señor.” He looked around and spotted the family photo of James and his clan on an end table nearby. “You know, my nephew got popped on a B&E charge. He’s a good kid. Got a trial date coming up. Would be great if you could talk to someone. Make that go away.”

It wasn’t quite a request. I knew we were doing a deal with the devil.

“I’ll talk to the state’s attorney. Maybe we can work out a plea agreement.”

Juan shrugged, not satisfied. “He’s so young. Would be a shame to have one mistake on his permanent record.”

“I’ll see what I can do.”

“You can either do it, or you can’t. I mean, I don’t see how that’s really different from what we’re doing right now.”

“We’re not stealing anything from the homeowner.”