Chapter 6: Clandestine Meetings

Very early Monday morning there was a small fire on one of Argonne’s Oil and Gas offshore rigs. Jimmy heard the news from the rig foreman. He went to school with the man and they stayed in touch. The foreman had Jimmy’s cellphone number and sent him a heads up when the immediate danger had passed. Jimmy called William at once.

“Hello,” William answered in a hushed voice as he slipped out of his bed and into the hallway in order not to bother Annie.

“It’s me,” said Jimmy. “I just got a call from Theodore. Unit Five on Tobias had a fire overnight. No casualties, a few minor injuries, minimal spill, and the unit will likely be out of service for at least two days.”

“Minimal spill?” asked William.

“Theodore was a bit cagey. It may be minimal, or he may be trying downplay the situation, or he may truly not yet know how bad it is.”

William said, “Theodore is your high school buddy, right? You’re still in touch?”

Jimmy affirmed that he went to school and still spoke with Theodore occasionally. Got a beer when they were in the same town.

“You want me to go check out the rig?” asked Jimmy. “I know you’ve got your meet with Damien later this morning.”

“Yes, that’s exactly what I’m thinking. Get over there ASAP and give me a first-hand account. If the spill is anything other than minor, get ahead of it with the feds and the press.”

“Yep, I know the drill, and I’m on it,” said Jimmy.

“Good,” was all William said before he hung up the phone.

It was not yet daybreak, but William went to his office and turned on his computer. He worked for a couple of hours knowing that he’d be driving himself to and from Galveston and would miss that time in the car for work.

As the sun began to peek over the horizon, William went back to the bedroom. Annie had stirred but was fast asleep and spread across most of the king-sized bed.

William chuckled at the sight. He entered the bathroom and closed the door. After a shave and shower he returned to the bedroom in only a towel.

“Everything OK?” asked Annie with closed eyes.

“I think so,” said William. “A small fire on Tobias. A few minor injuries and supposedly only a minor spill. Jimmy is headed out to investigate and let me know the details.”

“That’s good,” Annie said as she rolled onto her back. The sheet pulled off her body showing that, as usual, she was sleeping in the nude.

“I thought you were going to jump my bones before your shower.”

“Of course you were awake,” laughed William as he dropped his towel and climbed on top of his wife. She spread her legs and helped maneuver him into her slippery opening.

“Ahh,” they moaned in unison as William filled Annie. Annie sensed William was working on a deadline. She knew that he would take whatever time was needed to ensure she was taken care of before he came. She used her hand to help bring herself to climax. Shortly afterward William also climaxed. Even though their lovemaking was very quick, it did not lack in passion.

Annie pulled William’s face to hers and kissed him. “Go, I know that look. You’ve got something important brewing beyond the rig fire.”

William kissed her back. “You know me too well. Yes, there is something important I need to get done this morning.”

Without another word William got up and dressed. He took his briefcase from the office and poured a cup of coffee for the road then returned to the bedroom. Annie was propped up against the backboard. He leaned over the bed kissed her, then kissed her more deeply as he caressed an exposed breast.

“Go,” Annie joked as she pushed against his chest. “Or you’re going to have to lose those slacks.”

William pecked Annie’s cheek once more with a kiss then left, saying he would be home that evening.

The drive to Galveston was met with very heavy traffic. What is normally a forty-five minute drive took over an hour. William did his best not to curse at every driver that cut him off in traffic, or those that were going less than the speed limit when the congestion loosened.

His luck changed when he got to Galveston. He was able to find street parking less than a block from Pleasure Pier. He exited and locked the car, then made sure nothing was visible that may entice someone into a quick smash-and-grab.

He paid the admission for Pleasure Pier and then wandered around the rides and midway games for a few minutes. Just before 10:00 he bought a large pretzel and walked to the far end of the pier and looked out over the water and the gulls that were flying overhead.

Damien carried a large bulb of cotton candy as he sidled up next to William. Without looking at him, he said in a quiet voice, “The job’s done.”

William nodded. “Get any information?”

In the same low voice, Damien said, “Some, but nothing definitive. Vader could not, or would not, confirm that the hit came from Argonne.”

Both men knew that Vader had been paid to kill the senator. They were almost positive that the order came from someone at Argonne. Richard was the obvious choice, but unfortunately, they did not get the confirmation they wanted.

Damien continued, “My FBI contact said that they were put onto you as the likely source. No details on why they focused on you so quickly, but they could not find any corroborating evidence and their interest in you has waned. That’s not to say you are off their radar completely.”

“Damn. What about Vader? Can you go back and get more info?” William asked.

Damien said, “No. He’s gone. Maybe he’s having dinner with Jimmy Hoffa. How should I know? Just disappeared. Poof.”

William scowled at Damien. “No need to be a smart-ass. Who?”

Damien said, “Not sure. Maybe the one that hired him? They didn’t want a loose end, so they took him out when they realized we found him. Maybe he got spooked and used one of his aliases and just disappeared?”

“The only other thing is probably nothing. There was a faded picture on the wall in Vader’s living room. Two girls, probably in high school, wearing cheerleader uniforms and holding pom-poms. Cute kids. There is an inscription that reads Tiffany and Heidi, 2001.’”

William digested that information. Something was tugging at his memory strings but he couldn’t quite pull it all together.

“What about the other businesses?”

Damien said, “The sports deal is on very shaky ground.”

William was not surprised that Sarah did not offer that bit of information. He assumed she knew since her sleeping with Joseph wasn’t the most closely held secret.

“And the others?”

“As you said, Vegas is a mess. There is no clear single point for a leak, but it sure does seem like it came from the inside. There is also no clear motive, other than a generalized attack to destabilize Argonne in Vegas.”

William nodded.

Damien added, “No fires with the other two. Arlene and Tamara are close. They have been seen going to dinner a few times. It seems like they are each other’s support system. Two newer presidents that are new to flying in Richard’s inner circle helping each other out.”

William arched an eyebrow. Damien quickly said, “No hanky-panky there as far as we can tell.”

“Good job. Keep me posted.” William threw the last bite of his pretzel into the water and watched as dozens of gulls descended in mass to fight for bits of the tasty morsel.

Sarah’s flight landed in Houston just before noon on Wednesday. She and Dennis were in the second row of first class, and only had carry on luggage, so they were able to make their way directly to the exits. They were surprised to see William in the pickup lane waiting for them in his personal car.

“William, this is a surprise,” said Sarah as she handed her bag to Dennis to put in the trunk that William opened from the driver’s seat.

“Jimmy wanted to make lunch, so I left him to do his magic while I picked you up.”

Dennis nodded to William as he slid into the backseat and shut the door.

William sped off from the airport. As he drove he asked about their flight, and then talked mostly about sports and the weather. Neither Dennis nor Sarah knew the route he was taking. They were surprised to see him pull into an industrial park that seemed to be rather decrepit and mostly empty. Neither said a word as he navigated between identical-looking buildings.

He stopped in front of a large rusty door and pushed a button on the visor. It slowly rumbled open, allowing him to enter before again pushing the button. He circled around large piles of debris before parking next to Jimmy’s car.

“Welcome,” William finally said, “to my off-off-line man-cave.”

The two got out and looked around with a degree of uncertainty.

“OK,” started Sarah with doubt.

“Oh, please, this is not our final destination. Follow me.”