Chapter 4
A black Audi slowly rolled down the middle of Tres Rios’ main thoroughfare. It was clean, polished, and had all of its windows darkly tinted. It looked remarkably out of place amongst all of the big rigs and worn-out cars.
Needless to say, it turned quite a few heads and captured quite a bit of attention.
As it passed in front of the Dairy Queen, it happened to capture the attention of one of Tres Rios’ finest.
The police cruiser, a late model Charger that your average small Texas town just couldn’t afford, turned on its array of flashing blue LED lights as it pulled out of the Dairy Queen parking lot and chased after the Audi.
Since the Audi was only going around thirty, the Charger caught up to it in no time.
The Audi turned on its hazard lights and pulled to the side of the road with the Charger right on its tail.
The Charger’s door opened and a heavyset police officer stepped out.
The officer was white, had cropped hair, and wore a dark blue uniform with mirrored sunglasses. He had a thin mustache, a fat neck, and a face full of wrinkles. His utility belt was glossy leather and his brass nametag read C. Wilbur.
Wilbur hiked his pants up around his gargantuan stomach and pushed his sunglasses up his oily nose as he sauntered towards the driver-side door with one hand resting on his holstered pistol.
He tapped on the driver’s window with his knuckle.
The driver pressed a button and the window rolled down. He was wearing a black suit, a red tie, and Ray Ban sunglasses.
“Is there a problem, officer?” the driver politely asked, making sure to keep both hands on the wheel.
Wilbur leaned against the door and peered inside, staring at the driver.
“Yep, you were speeding. The speed limit is thirty-five. Lemme see your license and registration,” Wilbur said as he held his hand out, waiting.
The driver kept his hands on the wheel and simply looked at the officer.
“Officer, I don’t understand… I wasn’t even going thirty. I know for a fact that I wasn’t speeding,” the driver carefully explained.
Wilbur scowled and leaned his sweaty face closer.
“Boy, I don’t know who you think you’re talking to, but you better adjust your attitude and show me some respect! You aint gonna sit here and tell me what I did or didn’t see. I clocked you on my radar,” Wilbur said with a sneer.
The driver nodded, considering it.
“Okay then, can I see the radar?” the driver asked.
Wilbur’s face reddened.
“You’re about to see the back of my patrol car if you don’t give me the dang paperwork I asked for!” Wilbur exclaimed as he pointed at his Charger.
Before the driver could respond, the man sitting in the backseat of the Audi spoke up.
“Just give the officer what he asked for so we can be on our way,” the man said.
Startled by the voice, Wilbur stuck his head through the open window and peered at the man in the backseat.
The man in the back was wearing a fancy Italian suit, a golden Rolex, and had a diamond stud earring in his right ear. His complexion was fair and his meticulously groomed hair was dirty blonde. He had a thin smile on his face as he stared at the officer.
Wilbur frowned.
“Who the hell are you?” Wilbur asked, narrowing his eyes.
“Walter Hahn, chief public relations officer for Triburton,” he replied without losing his smile. “I apologize for the behavior of my driver. We don’t want to impede you in your duties.”
He pulled a business card out of his suit pocket and handed it to the officer.
Wilbur took the card and studied it, squinting. His angry expression softened a little as he nodded and handed the card back to the man.
“Triburton, huh? What brings you down to Tres Rios, Mr. Hahn?” Wilbur asked.
“Actually, I’m meeting with your mayor,” Hahn casually replied, chuckling. “We’re running a tad late. Traffic in San Antonio was… eh, how do you say, less than desirable. If we were speeding, we’ll gladly take the citation and apologize for taking up your time.”
The driver reached for his wallet.
Wilbur held up his hand and shook his head.
“There’s no need for all that,” Wilbur said. “Just slow it down now, would ya?”
Hahn smiled and nodded.
“Of course, officer,” he replied. “Thank you for your kindness.”
Wilbur nodded, wiping the sweat off of his round face with a handkerchief.
“Y’all have a good day now, Mr. Hahn, and be safe. Give the mayor my regards,” Wilbur said as he stuffed the handkerchief back into his pocket. He hiked his pants up and walked back to his cruiser.
As soon as the officer was out of sight, Hahn lost his smile and relaxed back into his seat.
“Drive,” Hahn said coldly as he crossed his arms.
The driver rolled up the window and turned the vehicle back onto the road.
As the Audi crawled through downtown, sandwiched in-between two semi-trucks, Hahn stared out the window at the dilapidated storefronts and newly constructed buildings. The newer buildings were mostly bars, oily fast-food joints, and specialty tool and uniform shops that catered to the oilfield workers. The mishmash of buildings made the town look sloppy and disorganized.
Like so many other oil towns in Texas, it lacked any semblance of character that it once had.
“I wasn’t speeding, sir,” the driver said.
Hahn sighed and shook his head.
“I know you weren’t,” Hahn said. “It’s hard for these country bumpkins to break their way of thinking. They’re used to the old way of making money in this sorry excuse of a town in the middle of nowhere, but given time they’ll learn how to capitalize off of what we’ve given them.”
They drove past a single-story motel room. It was the type of motel that had cheesy wallpaper, stained carpet, smelled like stale cigarette smoke, and had dirty linens on their uncomfortable beds. The dive wasn’t anything special, but the sign showed that rooms were going for nearly two-hundred a night and the parking lot was full.
It was something that would’ve been impossible before the boom.
Hahn looked at the sign with a smug grin.
“See? Given time, they’ll all come around,” Hahn said.
The Audi turned off from the main thoroughfare and veered right onto TX-72. It was a narrow state highway that was in disrepair due to the heavy truck traffic.
The Audi drove along the desolate highway for miles, passing countless oil wells and dry stretches of land.
There was nothing but desert shrubbery on both sides of the road.
Hahn kept glancing down at his smartphone, watching as the signal grew weaker and weaker.
In the distance, he noticed a massive lake surrounded by mesquite trees.
It was a welcomed change of scenery.
A sign read ‘Luke Canyon State Park – 2 MI’.
The Audi turned off of the highway and drove on the dirt road that led to one of the park’s entrances.
At the lakeside parking area, an older man wearing a button-down shirt, black tie, black jeans, brown boots, and a cowboy hat sat on the tailgate of his pick-up truck. His white hair was receding and his wrinkly, sunburnt face looked concerned as he kept glancing down at his expensive watch.
The Audi pulled into the parking lot and rolled to a stop a few yards away from the pickup.
Hahn opened the door and stepped out of the backseat into the unrelenting heat, squinting.
His driver stayed behind with the engine running.
“You know, most of the time when I get called out to a meeting with a local official such as yourself, I expect to meet in an office with air conditioning,” Hahn said as he put on his Gucci sunglasses and walked towards the old man. He extended his hand. “How are you doing, Earl?”
“Not so great,” Earl said with a frown as he begrudgingly shook the man’s hand.
“I figured as much,” Hahn said as he looked around the barren parking lot. The picnic tables along the lake were empty and the water level had fallen so drastically that the fishing piers were useless. “We got your message and it left us a little concerned…”
“Not that concerned evidently,” Earl snapped as he hopped off of the tailgate and glared at Hahn. “I left about twenty messages and nobody got back to me!”
Hahn held his arms out at his side and smiled innocently.
“I’m sorry about that,” Hahn said. “Things are a little crazy with these new North Carolina contracts. Your message got, well, lost in the pile.” He held up his hands. “I know that it’s no excuse, but I’m here now, right?”
Earl grumbled and shook his head.
“Well you wasted a trip,” Earl said, looking away. “I don’t know why you insisted on meeting. I meant what I said on the phone. I want out and I want your company out of my town.”
Hahn frowned and tilted his head to the side, looking at the man.
“Yes, I gathered that much, but what I don’t understand is why,” Hahn said.
“That’s why you’re meeting me here,” Earl said. “Follow me… Just be careful that you don’t get your fancy little loafers dirty.”
Earl hobbled off of the parking lot and carefully treaded down the lake’s muddy embankment towards the receding shoreline.
Hahn glanced down at his Italian dress shoes, frowned, and slowly followed the mayor down the embankment. He nearly slipped as he tried to navigate the slick terrain. The smell of rotting fish became noxious and overpowering. The sound of flies was nearly deafening.
“Earl, what is all of this about?” Hahn asked as he pulled a handkerchief out of his pocket and covered his nose, gagging. He kept his eyes on the ground, careful to mind his footing.
Earl stopped just short of the water.
“This is what it’s about,” Earl said as he pointed along the shore.
Hahn reached the bottom and stopped. He looked at the recessed shoreline and stared at it in disbelief, sickened.
Hundreds of dead fish and water fowl littered the coast. Their rotting corpses were putrid and covered with flies. A dead alligator was floating on its back in the murky water near the coast.
“Ecological problems aren’t our concern,” Hahn said, keeping his nose covered with the handkerchief. “I know what you’re implying, but there are numerous other reasons for something like this to happen.”
Hahn turned his back on the man and started to climb back up the embankment towards the parking lot.
Earl furrowed his brows and glowered at the man.
“Really?” Earl asked in a sarcastic tone as he followed him back up the embankment. “Name one.”
Hahn reached the parking lot and shrugged, adjusting his tie.
“How about I give you three? Extreme temperature changes, some type of waterborne parasite, or even something one of those eco-terrorists purposefully did in order to discredit our safe drilling operations,” Hahn said with a smile.
Earl shook his head as he hobbled onto the asphalt and placed his hands on his boney hips.
“You forgot high levels of toluene, benzene and arsenic,” Earl said. “Your damn pipes are leaking and you know it. It’s in our lake and even in our drinking water.”
Hahn lost his smile.
“I even sent some samples out to Houston for testing just to make sure,” Earl added. “I have all of the reports in my truck if you want me to fetch them for you.”
Hahn sighed.
“Okay, okay, you’ve made your point,” Hahn said disinterestedly. “What do you want?”
“I already told you,” Earl said. “I want your operation shut down and your company to get out of my town!”
Hahn stared into Earl’s eyes.
“No you don’t,” Hahn said with a smirk.
“Excuse me?” Earl asked, befuddled.
“If you wanted us shut down, I wouldn’t be standing here. You’d call the EPA and start a long, tedious court process that you’d end up losing,” Hahn said. “Let’s cut the bullshit, Earl. Money is what it’s always about. Every time you call me it comes down to the same thing, doesn’t it? How much do you need this time to look the other way?”
Earl closed his eyes and shook his head adamantly.
“No! I’m not doing this again,” Earl said. “This has gone too far! If it takes me calling the government, I’ll do it!”
Earl opened his eyes and glared at Hahn defiantly.
Hahn looked at him with pity.
“Please… just stop,” Hahn said. “This isn’t in your nature and, frankly, comes off as pretty pathetic. If you want to exchange vague threats, I could always threaten to call the feds and have them poke around your town ledgers. I imagine that not too many small town mayors have multimillion dollar mansions.”
Earl looked down, ashamed.
“Honestly Earl, who do you think has more weight with the federal government?” Hahn asked. “Do you think a mayor of a town that nobody even cares about has more litigation power than us?”
Earl didn’t say a word.
“I won’t call anybody though because I’m a nice guy,” Hahn said as he pulled his company checkbook out of his coat pocket. “I’ll tell you what I’m going to do. I’ll write you a check for your lake and I’ll make sure that the amount has enough zeroes in it to ease your troubled mind. After I’m done, you’ll go back to your beautiful home, embrace your lovely wife, and drink that nice filtered water. Sound fair?”
“I just want this to stop,” Earl said as he stared at the pavement. “Other people live here, you know. It’s not fair to them…”
Hahn signed the check, tore it out of the checkbook, and handed it to Earl.
Earl took the check and his eyes widened as he looked at the amount.
“Fair? What is fair, really Earl?” Hahn asked as he put his checkbook back into his coat. “We’ve breathed new life into this ghost town. We’ve created jobs. Sure, there may be an occasional issue that arises, but in the grand scheme of things… it’s just collateral damage. It’s a part of doing business and every business has a price.”
Earl folded the check and stuffed it into the back pocket of his jeans, shaking his head. He kept his eyes on the ground and his face was shadowed by his cowboy hat.
Hahn walked next to Earl and patted him on the shoulder with a smile.
“Aw, shucks, Earl, don’t be so gloomy,” Hahn said. “I think you’re just looking at this from the wrong perspective. Turn around and look at the lake… What do you see?”
“A poisoned lake,” Earl said in a low voice without looking up or turning around.
“What about over there?” Hahn said as he gestured towards the horizon.
Earl glanced up and looked at the drill sites that stretched out for miles. They looked hazy through the diesel fumes.
“Just a bunch of oil wells,” Earl mumbled as he lowered his head again.
Hahn nodded.
“See? That’s why you need to change your perspective,” Hahn said. “I looked at that half-empty lake and all I saw were a few dead fish.” He pointed towards the drill sites. “However, when I look ahead, towards the future, I see money, lots and lots of money. In the grand scheme of things, which holds more value, your dead fish or the revenue our company is providing to your town?”
Hahn slapped Earl on the back with a smile.
Earl startled but kept his eyes on the ground.
“Change your perspective and your whole life changes,” Hahn said as he started walking back towards his Audi. “Have a good rest of the day, Earl.”
When Earl finally looked up, the Audi was gone.
He pulled the check out from his pocket and stared down at it.
“Goddammit,” he muttered with disgust.
He put the check back in his pocket and glanced down at his watch.
It was almost five, but he could make it.
He go
t into his truck, pulled out of the empty parking lot, and turned left onto TX-72 as he hurried towards the bank.
Hahn sat in the back seat and stared at his phone, waiting until he finally got a signal. He dialed a number and put the phone against his ear as he stared out the window.
“Yes?”
“The situation down in Tres Rios is contained,” Hahn said. “The problem was… as we expected.”
“Groundwater?”
“No, it was the lake this time.”
“Bad casings again?”
“No, this time I think that they dumped the wastewater into the lake to save time because the waste injection wells are being overworked.”
“This is unacceptable and expensive.”
“I completely agree.”
“Go the site and deal with this situation.”
Hahn glanced down at his Rolex.
“It’s almost five here. The site supervisor and daytime foremen will be leaving shortly. I’ll have to go there first thing tomorrow morning.”
“Yes. Clean house if you must.”
“I understand.”
“Give us a status update when you’re finished.”
“I will.”
The person on the other end disconnected the call.
Hahn sighed and put his phone away, shaking his head. He leaned forward and tapped the driver on the shoulder.
“Yes sir?” the driver asked.
“Find the cleanest looking hotel you can find in this armpit of a town,” Hahn said as he sat back and stared out the window. “Unfortunately it looks like we’re spending the night here.”
Chapter 5
John and Mike walked amongst a steady procession of dirty workers as they filed past the time clock towards the vanpool parking lot with the setting sun on their back. The men’s uniforms were covered with sweat and dirt. They walked with their hunched backs and saggy shoulders.
It was eerily quiet.
Going the opposite direction, the swing shift workers shuffled past them into the worksite like mindless zombies.
Tracy’s trailer was locked and his truck was gone; he slipped away hours ago.
John glanced over at Mike.
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