Black Oil, Red Blood

Chapter 21



Delmont had escaped to his office at the break of dawn. He couldn’t sleep, and the old battleax had burned breakfast again, anyway. No use staying around to eat that. Honestly. The woman couldn’t cook, she was no good in bed, and she didn’t make any money. To top it all off, PetroPlex had been ringing his phone so much lately he was worried she’d begin to suspect he was having an affair. If she started nagging him about it, he was done with her. No ifs, ands, or buts about it.

He started to think maybe it might be better just to tell his wife he was having an affair and get a divorce. That way he could beat Chloe Taylor to the punch. The only problem was, if he did that, the gossip mill would start running and all the town ladies would badmouth him. Then he’d never get elected again, no matter how much money PetroPlex put into his campaign. Much better the old ball and chain should meet with some kind of accident. It was either that or move to a state that appointed judges instead of holding elections for them. But then there’d be no PetroPlex kickback money, so that didn’t seem like an option either.

Maybe an accident really would be best, but that wouldn’t be without its own set of drawbacks. An accident would mean he’d be single again, and all the little old ladies would be inviting him to lunch and trying to fix him up with other respectable old maids who also couldn’t cook, made no money, and were no good in bed, and that sounded like a real hassle. Delmont sighed. No, he decided, it would be better just to stay married and keep a slut on the side.

Anyway, it’s not like the old woman was good for absolutely nothing. She ran errands and stuff. As the morning progressed, Delmont felt more and more hungry, especially since breakfast had been ruined. Delmont figured she owed him a trip to the donut shop. Everybody loved it when his wife showed up with donuts. And it wasn’t like she was doing anything else this morning. It’s not like she had a job. Her job was taking care of him.

He picked up the phone to call her when it rang in his hand, startling him.

“What now?” Delmont said to the familiar voice.

“You’ll never believe this, but the guys we’ve got on our ex-employee just found Nash and Taylor.”

“You’re kidding me.”

“Nope. You can tell your friend Scott to cancel that APB.”

“Where are they?”

“At an old car garage in Dallas. Did you know they were working with Gilbert?”

“Had no idea. Are you sure they are?” Delmont eyed his whiskey decanter. Was it too early in the day to start drinking?

“It’s the only explanation that makes sense. Even though that Dorian Saks character got nothing out of her yesterday, that means she’s gotta know something. If she knew enough to go after Gilbert, she knows about the virus. And if she knows about the virus, she knows about me and you and Scott and the rest. If she has Schaeffer’s evidence and gives it to Gilbert, I don’t have to tell you what will happen.”

“So what are you gonna do?” Delmont asked.

“Get her to give up the evidence, turn over the virus, and lead us to Gilbert.”

“What if she won’t?”

“We’ll be very persuasive.”

Delmont had no doubt. “And then?”

“What do you mean ‘and then?’ You know very well what then.”

“All right, but do it in Dallas. I’m sick of bodies showing up in this town. If I have to listen to Chief Scott moan and groan anymore about how things are about to go downhill, I’ll go berserk. If things keep up like this, I’ll be tempted to just blow the whistle myself and put him out of my misery.”

“You mean his misery?”

“No, I mean my misery! Pay attention!”

“Look, I’m working pretty hard here to keep us both in the clear, and I’ve been going out of my way to keep you in the loop. The least you could do is show some gratitude.”

“Maybe I don’t want in your loop,” Delmont said. “Maybe I’m sick of your loop. Don’t get me wrong, I appreciate your concern and all, but you’ve really got to start being more careful. Things are getting out of control.”

“Things are never out of our control. Forty billion a year buys a lot.”

“You just keep telling yourself that. And you see to it that you keep your word on it.”

Delmont hung up. Then he cleared a new line to call his wife. High time for those donuts.