Chapter 9
THE RHINESTONE PROSPECT
It was Friday night and Rebekah had to work the night shift in the emergency room at North Central Receiving Hospital from three to eleven. This meant I had to get home early, feed the kids and amuse them the entire evening. While this was hard work, I loved the children so I really didn't mind it. They all were good kids and I had a lot of fun playing with them. I got home at 2:30 p.m. and Rebekah was dressed and ready to go.
"You all ready?" I asked.
"Just about," Rebekah replied. "I think Marcia needs her diaper changed. I was going to change it but it's getting late."
"Go on, I'll take care of the little princess."
"How was work today?" Rebekah asked.
"Well, pretty interesting actually."
"How's that?"
"It seems that I have clients summoning me from the grave."
"What are you talking about?"
"Melba Thorn is dead," I said.
"Huh?"
"For two years."
"What'd they do, equip her casket with a telephone?"
"It's not funny," I said.
"Well, you'll have to explain this one to me later, honey. I've got to go. I'll see you at 11:30. I love you."
"Bye bye. Love ya too."
On Monday morning I got up early and drove to Love Field to take the 7:00 flight to Corpus Christi. Bird had called me Friday and advised me that he needed some title work done on a well not too far from Corpus Christi which he called the Rhinestone Prospect. He said he would pick me up when my flight landed at 9:10 a.m. because he wanted me to meet his wife and to see his home on Corpus Christi Bay before I got to work. When I emerged from the ramp at gate eleven, Logan was there with his very young and lovely wife to greet me.
"Stan, . . . over here," Mr. Logan yelled.
"Hi Mr. Logan, thanks for coming to pick me up?"
"No problem. Hey, I want you to meet my wife, Sheila."
Sheila was medium height with a dark complexion. She was wearing white jean shorts and a yellow halter top. Her shoulder length, dark brown hair was gleaming in the bright sun. We shook hands and she held on a little longer than necessary and gave me a sweet smile.
"Nice to meet you," I said.
"It's certainly a pleasure to meet you Mr. Turner," Sheila replied warmly.
Bird Logan must have been close to 40, I figured, and Sheila couldn't have been a day over 22. I wondered why a beautiful young woman would marry a not so good looking, middle aged man. More astonishing, however, was Bird's behavior. Why would he ever do anything to jeopardize a marriage to such a gorgeous woman.
"Come on, the car is parked out front," Mr. Logan said.
"Okay, lead the way."
We found Logan's car, loaded it up and then he drove us back to his beach house on the bay. It was a beautiful sunny day with a cool southern breeze. The ocean was a gorgeous turquoise blue and I was wishing I could have hired a deep sea charter rather than spend the day in the County Clerk's office.
"Did you have a good flight Stan?" Sheila asked.
"Oh yes, it was smooth as silk and very relaxing," I replied.
"Have you ever been to Corpus Christi before?"
"I've passed through once or twice but I've never stayed here. We've gone to South Padre a few times."
"So did you hear about Palmer #7?" Bird said.
"No, what about it?"
"It came in yesterday at eighty barrels a day."
"Wow! That's great," I said. "I bet the investors are happy."
"They ought to be, they're going to get back their investment in seven months and then it's pure profit."
"So how many Inca wells are in production now?
"We've got nine now. Nine out of thirteen."
"That's a pretty good record," I said. "How do you think Parker #3 is going to do?"
"It looks like a sure thing. From the logs I've seen it ought to produce a hundred barrels a day."
"Is there any chance that something could have happened to the oil since the well was capped twenty years ago?"
"All those wells on that pool were capped about the same time, so whatever oil was left should still be there. The only way it wouldn't be is if someone kept on pumping, but the records don't show that to be the case."
"So, Mr. Logan, how long have you been in the oil business?"
"You can call me Bird, Stan," Logan said. "About 21 years. I started out as a roughneck on one of the wells owned by the Tribe."
"What Tribe was that?"
"Comanche."
"Are you full blooded?"
"Almost, seven-eighths."
"Why did they call you Bird?"
"My real name is Blackbird but my nickname is Bird," he said. "Indians name their children based on their feeling at the time of birth. Shortly after I was born a blackbird flew over my parent's tepee and screeched at them. They considered that a sign that I should be called Blackbird."
"That's interesting," I said.
"I was lucky. I can live with the name Bird. It's kind of strange but not too bad. One of my friends wasn't so lucky."
"How's that?"
"His parents didn't want any more children. They already had six little braves. They were very angry and upset when their seventh child was born."
"Huh? So what did they name him?" I asked.
"Broken Rubber."
Bird and Sheila burst out into laughter.
"Oh God, I think I've been set up."
"It's all right Stan, Bird plays that joke on everyone he meets," Sheila said.
About that time Bird pulled us up into the driveway of his beach house. The house was on a manmade island that protruded out into Corpus Christi Bay. It faced the waterfront and had its own dock. A large yacht was tied up to it.
"That's a beautiful boat you have. Do you use it a lot?"
"I don't, Sheila's the mariner. I prefer horses or helicopters," Bird said.
"Yeah, Bird won't go sailing with me. He gets seasick," Sheila said.
"Really, I love to sail, I guess because I was born and raised near the sea in Ventura, California. I spent most of my spare time as a kid fishing off the pier," I said.
"Oh you can come sailing with me then," Sheila said.
"That would be great."
"Good, I'll go change my clothes and we can set sail."
"Now?" I said.
Sheila smiled. "Yes, right now, I don't get too many opportunities to go out since Bird won't go."
"Well, I wish I could but I've got a lot of work to do in town at the county clerk's office," I replied.
"Take a few hours off, Stan," Bird said. "Those record books aren't going any place. I need to get rid of Sheila for a few hours so I can get some work done."
Bird's insistence that I go sailing shocked me. I had prepared myself for a boring day's labor pouring over deed records in a dusty courthouse. The thought of cruising out in the bay with a beautiful woman certainly was tempting.
"Are you sure?"
"I insist."
"But, if I don't get started at the Courthouse soon I may not finish today."
"If you don't finish you can stay the night and finish in the morning," Bird replied.
"Come on Stan. Let's get the ship loaded and get out of here before Bird changes his mind," Sheila laughed.
"Okay, but I didn't really dress for sailing."
"There are some clothes in the guest room you can change into if you want. I'll start loading up."
"Okay, I guess. I'll be right there."
Getting to go sailing on Corpus Christi Bay was a pleasant surprise. I felt awkward and a little guilty taking Bird's incredibly beautiful wife out to sea all alone, but I figured if Bird didn't care then why should I worry about it. Sheila took the helm and yelled at me to untie the boat and cast us off. I untied both lines and pushed us away from the dock with by foot. Sheila cranked the engine and we began to slowly glide toward the
bay. After we cleared the dock, I joined Sheila at the helm.
"Isn't this fun?" Sheila said.
"Boy, is it ever," I replied. "I've never been on a private yacht before."
"Is that right?"
"Well I've gone deep sea fishing, I've been on cruise ships and lots of small ski boats but nothing like this."
"I love it. I wish I could go out every day but Bird won't let me go alone. I'm so glad you wanted to go out. Hold on to the wheel a minute, would you?"
"Okay."
Sheila pulled her sweater off over her head revealing a bright yellow bikini top underneath. She was deeply tanned all over and her stomach was flat and firm. She took back the wheel and smiled at me.
"Thank you, Stan. Isn't the air out here clean and fresh?"
"It sure is. I love the smell of the ocean," I said. "Where are we headed?"
"I thought we'd go to a little island I know about where we can swim and have a picnic."
"Great."
After about forty minutes we approached an island about two acres in size with a white sandy beach.
"We can anchor here and then swim to shore," Sheila said. "We can come back later for the dinghy."
She put down the anchor, shut off the engine and then dove off the side of the boat toward shore. I stripped to my swimsuit and dove in after her. As I approached the beach she splashed water on me and then swam away. I took that to be an invitation to pursue her so I did. When I caught her I grabbed her foot and pulled her toward me. She grabbed my head and tried to dunk me. We wrestled and played for a while until she got tired and went to lay on the beach. I watched her there on the sand for a while, wondering what was going through her head. Was this just an innocent adventure or did she have other things on her mind? She was so beautiful and so friendly I had the urge to go over and ravish her body. A tinge of guilt washed over me. Her husband was back home waiting for her and, of course, I was a married man with four children. Why had I let myself get into such a dangerous situation?
Sheila looked over at me and smiled sweetly. "Would you put some suntan lotion on my back?"
Oh, Mother of God, why are you doing this to me?
"Sure," I said.
I walked over to her and she handed me a tube of Coppertone. Then she unhooked the back of her top, exposing a portion of her breasts. I swallowed hard and began to rub the suntan lotion on her back. As I rubbed the lotion round and round on her soft supple skin, I got so aroused that if she had turned around I would have been quite embarrassed.
"Be sure you rub it in good all over. I don't want any streaks or patches," she said.
"Okay, I'll cover every inch of your body, don't worry."
She smiled as if she knew the torture I was feeling. Just then there was a garbled sound coming from the yacht.
"What's that?" I said.
"It's Bird calling us. I'll have to swim out and answer it."
Sheila jumped up forgetting she had unhooked her swim suit top. Her naked breasts were extraordinary. I gasped in delight at the sight. She smiled, grabbed her top, quickly put it back over her breasts and then turned and said, "Okay Stan, put your eyes back in their sockets and hook this for me."
"Sure," I said.
After Sheila's top was secure she ran toward the beach. I ran after her and we raced each other to the boat. When I reached the yacht I quickly climbed aboard and helped her in. She gave me a bewitching little smile and climbed up to the helm to answer the radio.
"Blackbird One here," she said.
"Where have you been?" Bird said.
"On the beach having a picnic," Sheila replied.
"You need to get back here right away. The National Weather Service has issued a severe thunderstorm warning. You've only got about twenty minutes to get back before the storms start rolling in."
"Okay, copy, we're on our way," she said.
"I can't believe we're going to have thunderstorms today, it looks so beautiful out here,” I said. “There's hardly any clouds in the sky.”
"Well, these storms come up suddenly out here. Bird always keeps his ear on the radio when I go out sailing. He's very protective."
"Well, I can understand that. He has a beautiful wife to protect. I'd do the same. . . . Well actually I wouldn't let you out of my sight."
"Listen, I'm not usually so careless with my clothing. Please don't say anything to Bird."
"Oh no, I didn't see anything. It was all just a wonderful dream."
Sheila smiled and started up the engines. We didn't say much on the way home. Our little outing had been very pleasant and quite memorable, although I could never tell anyone about it. As we approached the dock, Bird came outside and threw us a rope. We secured the boat and went inside.
"Did you two have fun?" Bird asked.
"Yes, it was beautiful out in bay today," Sheila said.
"I was worried about you two when I heard the National Weather Service announce that severe thunder storm warning."
As Bird was talking it began to get dark outside and lightning could be seen in the distance.
"Looks like we got back just in the nick of time," I said. "I think I'll head on to the courthouse before the storm hits."
"You can take Sheila's jeep. Here are the keys," Bird said.
"Thanks, I'll be back around 5:30," I said.
"Good, we can go to Landry's for dinner," Sheila said. "They have the best seafood in Corpus."
"Sounds good to me. See you guys later."
Somehow I managed to beat the bad weather to the courthouse where I spent the rest of the day trying to work. Unfortunately, I had difficulty concentrating as I kept day dreaming about Sheila and our morning cruise. The afternoon went fast and I barely finished before five o'clock when they shut down the clerk's office.
That night we all went out to Landry's before I had to take a late flight back to Dallas. Sheila was very distracting in a short black slip dress with spaghetti straps. Bird was wearing a long black dress shirt with the top three buttons undone and a charcoal sport coat.
"So Bird, how did you and Tomlinson meet?" I asked.
"We're SMU fraternity brothers," he replied.
"Was Tex in your fraternity too?" I asked.
"Yes, he was and we've all kept in touch with each other over the years," Bird replied. "When Tomlinson decided to start Inca he called me and asked me to come aboard. At the time I was working as a geologist for Mid-Continent Oil Company and the idea of doing a little wildcatting was quite attractive."
"I see," I said.
"What I want to know is when you're coming back down here, Stan, so we can take the yacht on a serious trip," Sheila said. "I'm tired of just cruising the bay. I want to go to Mexico."
"That would take a while. I doubt if Bird would turn loose of you that long," I said.
"I don't know. Could I trust you two together for a week?" Bird said jokingly.
"I wouldn't if I were you and I know my wife wouldn't trust me alone with Sheila for a minute," I replied.
Bird laughed, "Well Stan, at least your honest."
I looked at Sheila and replied, "You do have a very charming and beautiful wife. You're a lucky man."
"Thank you."
"When you come up to Dallas next time let me know and Rebekah and I will take you out to dinner," I said as I looked at my watch. "Oh boy, it's getting late, I think I need to head back to the airport or I'll be sleeping on your sofa tonight."
"We've got an extra bedroom," Sheila said.
"Thanks, but if I don't get home and relieve Rebekah from the four monsters she'll have my head."
"You have four kids?" Sheila said. "You don't look old enough to have children."
"That's what everybody says, but I assure you they're all mine."
Bird and Sheila took me back to the airport just in time to make my 8:45 p.m. flight back to Dallas. On the flight home I couldn't keep my thoughts off of Sheila. Wicked ideas crept into my mind. It
occurred to me if I came down again I should bring Melissa, then I'd have Sheila all to myself. Before we touched down I managed to purge my mind of all depravity. I prayed silently for God to forgive me.
At 11:15 p.m. I walked into our house. Rebekah was in the family room watching TV.
"Stan! You're finally home," Rebekah said.
"Yeah, and you're lucky I'm here I almost missed my flight."
"How come?"
"Bird and Sheila insisted on taking me to Landry's and we got talking and lost track of time. I walked on the plane just as they were getting ready to secure the hatch."
"Oh. I would have been pissed if you missed your flight."
"I know, but I didn't. So how was your day?"
"Not too bad, Marcia threw up all over the sofa. It was a bitch to clean it, believe me."
"What happened, she eat something that didn't agree with her?"
"I don't know what it was," Rebekah said.
"Anybody call for me today?" I said.
"Yes, you got another call from your ghost client, Melba Thorn."
"You're kidding?"
"No, she called and asked for you. She was very disappointed when you weren't here."
"Did you talk to her at all?"
"I tried to, but it was like I was having a one-way conversation. I could hear her but she couldn't hear me. I did find out where she was calling from though."
"How did you manage that?"
"She called collect, so I asked the operator where the call was coming from and she said Amarillo, Texas. I tried to get the number but the operator said she couldn't give me that information."
"Amarillo . . . huh . . . I can't believe she called collect?
"She's obviously alive if she's in Amarillo," I said. "Unless Amarillo is Heaven."
"No, I always heard Amarillo was Hell," Rebekah replied.
"No, I think that's Odessa. Well at least now we know where to start looking."
"You're not going to go to Amarillo are you?"
"Well not right away but I may have to eventually."
"But you don't know if she is crazy or not, or whether she'll ever pay you."
"I know, but if her son is pretending she is dead, then something is seriously wrong and I can't turn my back on it."
"Why didn't you just go to work for the legal aid society?" Rebekah said.
"And spend all my time doing divorces and child custody? No way. Besides, if it turns out she is rich and I rescue her she'll be happy to pay me."
"Yeah, you're going to spend a hundred hours chasing her down just to find out she's just some crazy old lady who’s having delusions that she's Melba Thorn."
"Maybe so, but I guess that's a chance I'll just have to take."
That night as I lay in my bed my thoughts immediately ventured back to my encounter with Sheila Logan. Before long I fell asleep and found myself back in Corpus Christi.
Sheila dropped the anchor, shut the engine and then dove off the side of the boat toward shore. I stripped to my swimsuit and dove in after her. As I approached the beach she splashed water on me and then swam away. I swam after her and when I caught her I grabbed her foot and pulled her toward me. She grabbed my head and tried to dunk me. I escaped and wrapped my arms around her back and pressed her up against my body. She struggled to get away but I held her tightly. Finally, I let her go and she strutted up on the beach and laid out on the sand. After a minute she turned over, looked at me and said, "Be a nice guy and go get me some Coppertone and bring the picnic basket."
I swam back to the ship, lowered the dinghy and dropped the picnic basket in it. Then I cast off and rowed to shore. After I had secured the dinghy she called me. "Rub some Coppertone on my back would you Stan? . . . And bring me a beer."
"Okay," I said.
I grabbed two beers and the Coppertone and walked over to where Sheila was laying out. I noticed she had unhooked her swim top to keep from getting strap marks. Much to my delight as she reached to take her beer she exposed a naked breast.
"Would you rub some of this on by back and legs Stan," She said.
"Sure," I replied eagerly.
I began to gently rub the lotion on her back and shoulders. "Oh. . . . Umm. . . . Don't miss one inch of my body," she said. "I don't want any streaks or blotches."
"I won't," I replied as I began to caress her thighs with the lotion. With every stroke my body became more aroused.
"Ohhh. . . . Ohhh. . . . Stan, that feels so good, . . . don't stop."
I squeezed some more lotion on my hands and began to slowly rub higher and higher on her leg until I reached her voluptuous bottom. Since I had yet to meet any resistance I slipped my hands under her suit to see if there was any place that was off limits. She didn't resist me so I sat up and put my hand on her shoulder and gently turned her over exposing her naked breasts. I leaned down and kissed them tenderly. She put her arms around me and pulled me down on top of her. We embraced and rolled wildly over and over in the warm white sand. Her body felt so soft and warm against me I could hardly endure the pleasure. We interrupted our sexual frenzy just long enough to remove our suits. Then we made love to the sound of the sea gulls squawking above us and the pounding of the waves, until we reached a plateau of ecstasy beyond imagination.
Suddenly the CB on the Yacht began to crackle. . . .
"It's time for the morning traffic report here at KPCS Country Radio. There is a fender--"
I hit the snooze button and rolled over, annoyed that my dream had been interrupted. It seemed so real I could almost smell the scent on Sheila's body. Once awakened, I wondered if I was a fool not to make the dream a reality. I wanted Sheila and I believed that she wanted me. I knew I could never have her but that only intensified my desire. So far I hadn't actually done anything wrong but the carnal thoughts that engulfed my mind made me feel very guilty nonetheless. To ease my mind, I vowed to go to confession on Thursday.
Brash Endeavor, A Stan Turner Mystery Vol 3 Page 10