Page 61 of Tempest

“Me too,” Ryan said. “It’s been only about six months and I still feel like I’m going to get the call for wheels up, and then I remember that it isn’t coming.” He shook his head and looked out the window. “Working for SAI is giving me hope, though. I was on a rescue op a couple of weeks ago and it made me feel like I had a future. The other thing that’s helping is a tiny Texas dynamo.”

“Figured there had to be a girl involved. That stupid smile on your face isn’t ‘cause we’re hanging together,” Mac said as he punched him in the arm.

“It’s not a girl, it’s the girl,” Ryan said.

“Congratulations, man,” Rick said. “Didn’t think there was one out there who would fall for your ugly face. Guess there’s no accounting for taste.”

Everyone laughed, and it felt great to be in the company of his brothers. He loved nothing more than to be out here with them, fixing problems. “Thanks again for coming out to help.”

“Anytime,” Mac said.

***

Ken met them on the roof of Bellows Energy and waited for the helo to land. When Rick set them down, Ryan slid the door open and made room for Ken. Once he was aboard, Ryan handed him a headset and introduced him to the guys.

Ken nodded to each one and settled into the seat next to Rick. “I’m going to direct you to the first fire. It’s in the Reagan Field. We got lucky and they capped the fire while it was burning, which saved a lot of oil being spilled and thrown into the environment.”

“Any idea how it started?” Ryan asked.

“We haven’t had any lightning storms, and fracking doesn’t cause the high-pressure blowouts like traditional drilling does. So it’s either human error or someone who wants to see Bellows Energy suffer. I took this job a little over a year ago when I retired from Delta. I’ve tried to upgrade the security at the wells and I’ve only been stonewalled. Our security protocol is so bad that I’m surprised we haven’t had more sabotage. From what I understand, Mr. Bellows had a reputation in the state that he didn’t let anyone get away with hurting his business. Maybe his death gave someone the idea that it was open season.”

“He’s only been dead for a couple of weeks, and the sabotage was happening before that,” Ryan commented.

“There was a definite change in him over the last year. Considering his cause of death, I’m thinking that he had a series of ministrokes. The man who hired me was much different than the man I escorted to the wells a month ago. Maybe someone else figured it out and tried to take advantage of the situation.” Ken pointed out the window. “This is land that is leased by Bellows Energy. We have around three hundred fifty thousand acres spread over the Reagan Basin, Central, and Midland Basin.”

“It’s close to the size of my family’s ranch, but all we have is a bunch of cattle,” Rick said as he circled the basin.

“How’d you end up with an oil heiress?” Mac asked.

“She wasn’t one when we met. Ivy and I work together, and we met in Florida. Her daddy was never really in her life, and I don’t think she saw this coming. She and her brother were blown away when the will was read. Ivy got shot after her daddy’s funeral, an old family friend threatened us yesterday, and someone in the company embezzled five million dollars over the last year. Nothing about this is appealing to either one of them.”

“They’re not thrilled to become rich?” Ken asked before he directed Rick toward the next set of wells.

“Not really. They both took it as a sad replacement for having a father in their lives. Both of them have worked hard and have great careers in front of them. They’ve both done it without any help from their daddy.”

“That’s right,” Ken said. “Colin signed with the Rangers out of college. I remember Bill bragging to everyone about how well his son had done.”

“He failed to tell his son how proud he was. I bet Colin would trade all the money in for having had his dad in the stands at a couple of his games,” Ryan commented.

The well fire could be seen from miles away as the plume of smoke filled the sky. The well was still burning and as they got closer, they could see that everything surrounding it had been incinerated.

“Each well costs between seven and ten million dollars. I never convinced anyone at the company to install decent security around any one of the twenty wells we have. It didn’t make a bit of sense to me,” Ken said as he looked out the window.

“Colin and Ivy are going to listen to you,” Ryan said.

“Why do you think that?” Ken asked as they slowly circled the fire.

“Because, despite Ivy’s stubborn nature, she knows a good idea when she hears it. I’ve never met a smarter person. Her photographic memory allows her to recall information, and she has the brain power to process it quickly. Also, she doesn’t have a ton of ego, so she asks questions.”

Mac thumped him on the back and grinned. “I think Ryan is hit. If I were a betting man, I would put money on a wedding invitation showing up in my mailbox in the next six months.”

Shaking his head, Ryan grinned. “I hope it takes a lot less than six months.” Laughter filled his headphones as they moved on to the next well fire.

***

Rick landed the helo on the roof of the company and shut down the engines. The rotors slowly ground to a halt, and everyone disembarked. “Anyone want to grab some food before we sit down and put a game plan together?” Ryan asked, as he grabbed his bag out of the back.

“Sounds good,” Mac replied. “I’ll let Rocko run around, and then we can head out.”

---