by Lea Hart
“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.”
Ken showed Mac where to go, and Ryan waited as Rick shut down the helo. As Rick finished his check and secured the bird, Ryan sent Ivy a text. It took a couple of minutes, and she let him know that they were still a couple of hours away. She included the potty emoji with a frown along with one of a cup of coffee. He laughed and shoved the phone back in his pocket.
“She’s got you good,” Rick commented as he locked up the helicopter.
“Hook, line, and sinker,” Ryan answered.
“Congratulations. I never thought you had it in you. The cool sniper falls for a Texas dynamo. Who would’ve guessed it?”
They made their way to the stairs and Ryan laughed. “I never saw it coming. When I first saw her, I thought she was about the worst idea in the world. An hour later, I figured she was about the best. Ended up we worked for the same company, so I had a chance to see if I was right.”
“Then you came to Texas and assigned yourself her personal bodyguard?”
“Someone was going to come, and there was no other answer than me,” Ryan replied as they entered the lobby. “What about you?”
“Single and staying that way. My family name gives a lot of women ideas, and I don’t want any part of that. It was one of the reasons I joined the Navy. I wanted to have a life outside the state where nobody was interested in me because of what they thought I could do for them.”
Ken met them in the lobby, and Mac stood outside with his dog as he let him exercise. “I was thinking of grabbing some barbeque. How does that sound to everyone?” Ken asked the group.
“Perfect,” Ryan replied.
“Can I have a couple of minutes before we leave?” Ken asked.
Rick looked at them and then walked outside and joined Mac on the grass. “What’s up?” Ryan asked.
“I understand that Ivy and Ryan want to put in their own people. It makes sense because of what’s been going on. I was just wondering when my last day was going to be. I want to line something else up as soon as I can. My wife is pregnant, and I want to get our insurance squared away as soon as possible.”
Ryan tipped back on his heels and shoved his hands in his pockets. “As far as I know, Ivy has no plans to replace you. We looked at your file that our internal person put together, and neither one of us has any reason to believe that you’re not the best person for the post. Best as I can tell, you were stopped at every corner from doing your job. My personal recommendation is that she keeps you and expands your responsibilities. I have a feeling that if you had been able to do what you recommended, then a lot of this nonsense would never have happened.”
Ken’s face split into a smile. “Damn, that’s not what I expected to hear. I figured you were coming in to replace me.”
“No way, man. I have a job I love, and this isn’t my area of expertise. The only reason I’m here is to make sure that nothing happens to Ivy or her family. This is personal for me.”
“So why did you bring your team in?”
“Because I figured that the four of us could secure the wells faster if we worked together. We all came off the Teams, and we have a philosophy that we work together on everything so that we can succeed. I never go in alone.”
“Not like us Delta guys.” Ken laughed.
“Yeah, you guys are sneaky bastards.”
“Said like a true frogman,” Ken said.
Ryan put out his hand. “I’m
here to help you secure the wells and get what you need to make sure that no one gets hurt again.”
“Couldn’t ask for more,” Ken answered as they shook hands.
Rick stuck his head in the door. “If you two are done with the coffee klatch, we’re starving.”
“Coming,” Ryan called out.
***
The four men sat around the picnic table and devoured the best that Midland had to offer in barbeque. “I know this is a regular thing for you guys, but I’ve only been a civilian for about six months, so this is pretty much heaven,” Ryan said as he devoured a rib.
“Are you telling me that Ivy hasn’t taken you to eat proper Texas barbeque? That’s downright un-American,” Mac said, as he plowed through a sandwich.
“I haven’t been here a week yet. We almost went the other day, but…we never made it.”
The table erupted in laughter. Ryan realized his mistake and threw everyone a dirty look. “That woman is going to be my wife, so I suggest you show the proper respect.” A flash of possessiveness rushed down his spine, and he wondered if he was going to have to make his point further. When everyone’s eyes flew down to their plates, he relaxed. A little.
Ken thumped him on the back. “Got it, man. I suggest you put a baby in her. It’s the only thing that gave me enough peace to have a regular breath.”
Ryan pointed at him and smiled. “It’s interesting that you said that. I recently heard a story about the man who started the company I work for, Max Bishop.”
Rick slapped the table and laughed. “That crazy son of a bitch commanded a platoon I was on right before I retired. He was fearless.”
“Rumor has it that he knocked up his then-girlfriend so that she couldn’t get away from him. He had a plan from the start, and damn if he didn’t execute. They have twins with a third on the way. He figured that if she was pregnant, she was stuck with him. Seems to have worked.” Ryan laughed.
“Solid plan,” Ken replied as he ate his potato salad.
“I would never do that,” Mac said as he looked at the guys. “Not in a million years.”
Ryan and Ken looked at one another and laughed. “Guess who’s next?” Ryan said to Ken and then fist-bumped him.
“No way,” Mac said with absolute conviction.
After they finished eating, Ken began to outline the challenges that the company faced in securing the wells. “There are several steps that can easily be taken,” Ken said as he pushed his plate away. “Well automation is the first step. It’s easily implemented, and it comes in at a fairly low cost. Consider that the initial cost of the well and then consider each item I’m suggesting. It’s simple math. The second thing we can do is upgrade the actual security at each site. We are paying someone around twelve dollars an hour to sit in a shack and keep an eye on things. There are no cameras, no backup if someone comes in, and no drones flying overhead, collecting data. There’s a company outside Houston that has an excellent reputation call Butchko Security. They provide risk assessment and security personnel for wells all over the state. They are retired spec ops guys, and they have off-duty police guys on their teams. I’ve suggested them several times and I never got anyone interested.”
“What did old Bill have to say about all of this?” Rick asked. A gust of wind flew across the scrubby plains and made the plates dance across the table. Nothing like a late afternoon in September. Wind and heat were the only things that were guaranteed. “Bill couldn’t have succeeded for as long as he had without knowing what he was doing.”
Ken piled the plates and looked across the table. “I told Ryan earlier that I thought Bill had a series of ministrokes over the last year. He’d want to see the wells every month. I took him out, and I had his full attention for most of the day. I told him what I was thinking and he’d agree. Then, the next month, I would tell him again and it was like new information. I tried the COO and never got anywhere.”
“Call Butchko and let’s see when they can meet us. We’ll see what they have to offer and then go from there. I can’t see Ivy and Colin objecting to any of this. Let’s look at each well site tomorrow and see if anyone planted any more explosives. I want to have all the facts when we sit down with Butchko,” Ryan said. He looked at the group. “What do you guys think?”
“Sounds good,” Mac responded. “I’d suggest one of my dogs for each location. I can train them for protecting the site and explosives detection. No one ever suspects a dog is capable of doing those things, so it makes everyone relax enough to screw up.”
“A twisted mind.” Rick laughed. Slapping Mac on the back, he grinned. “I always loved that about you, man.”
Ryan’s phone beeped and he checked it. The guys looked at each other and grinned. “Shut up,” he said as he texted Ivy back. “She’s in town and heading over to her daddy’s house. She brought a friend from home to help with the personnel issues. Her name is Grace.”
Rick leaned back and stabbed his friend with a look. “Mac, since you were so confident that you’re never going to make an idiot of yourself, I’d guess that Ms. Grace is about to prove you wrong. It’s God’s way of showing us that we’re never in charge.”
Mac shoved his friend and almost made him fall off the bench. “Maybe she’s the only girl in the world who’s not going to be impressed by the Blakely Ranch. Who knows? You may be going down.”
“I doubt she’s going to be interested in either one of you. She may be married with a bunch of kids,” Ryan said.
“Sure.” Ken laughed. “I’d never let my wife go out of town to hang out with a bunch of retired spec ops guys.”
“True,” Ryan said as he collected their trash. “I like to keep Ivy where I can see her.”
CHAPTER NINETEEN
Sunday
Ivy startled from a deep sleep and felt her heart thud against her chest. She tried to move and found herself anchored against a solid warm mass. Why was she trapped?
“Where are you going?” A deep voice rumbled into her ear.
“I had a bad dream; there was fire and I couldn’t get out.” Rolling over, she buried her face into Ryan’s chest. “That was a bad one.” Slowly, she breathed in and out and filled her lungs with the calming scent of his skin. “I guess it’s starting to catch up with me.”
“Makes sense.”
Ivy lifted his hand and checked his watch. “We should get up in a bit. I want to make breakfast for everyone.”
“There’s only one solution to a bad dream.” He rolled over, parted her legs with his knee, and poised himself at her entrance. “Replace the bad with the good.”
Raising her knees on either side of his hips, she felt his broad length fill her up. He touched her in places that she hadn’t been aware of until him. Physically he was imposing, but the fact that he matched it with his will and kindness made him more than she could handle sometimes. He pulled out and then thrust deeply back in until he was seated against her core. After that it was a blur of bliss as he drove the remaining bad feelings away. Whoever said that things couldn’t be fixed with morning sex was wrong. Ryan’s talent made him the perfect antidote to the reality that she was currently facing.
“Open your eyes, Ivy. I want us connected when…”
His last move unraveled her body, and she fell over the top as she exploded in mind-blowing happiness. Staring into his eyes, she watched him follow her and shout as he emptied himself into her body. His hips drove in, and it set off another small surge, as her body rode the last wave of pleasure.
His chest heaved in and out, and he collapsed on top of her and held her against his sweat-soaked skin. “I want our eyes to be on one another when that happens,” he huffed out. “I want to see how I make you feel.”
Lifting her hand to his face, she pushed his hair off his forehead and wondered how long it was going to last between them. Was this intense connection between them a result of being in a dramatic situation together? Or was this the real deal? There was no answer to that question, because the
y were still in the thick of it.
He lifted his head and smiled into her eyes. “Better?”
“Better,” she responded and buried her face in his neck. Maybe it wasn’t important to know how long it was going to last. Her natural wariness had to be put aside for now, because he was here and protecting her.
He rolled on his back, lifted his arms above his head, and smiled over at her. “Was that our makeup sex or just regular morning sex?”
“Were we in a fight?”
“Not a yelling one. Those are easy. You were mad at me and not telling me why. I’m guessing it’s because you’re used to being in charge and making decisions on your own. When I took over the well issues and made a plan without consulting you, your feathers were ruffled. Also, you don’t like it when I tell you what to do.”
“It’s true. I haven’t ever been in a relationship with someone who is as strong-willed as I am. I don’t know what I’m doing, and that always makes me feel uncomfortable because I’m used to having the answers. My competency makes me feel safe, and when that’s threatened, I get mad.” Pushing away from the bed, she sat up and twisted her hair into a knot.
Ryan sat up and held her against his chest. “Why are you always moving me around like I’m a doll?” she asked.
His hand smoothed down her leg and he kissed her shoulder. “I want to be as close to you as I can.”
“I can’t argue with you when you say sweet things.”
“Kind of the point, honey.” Lifting her chin, he kissed her gently and then released her mouth. “What I learned being on the Teams is that we succeeded because we worked together. No man was capable of doing everything, and no one had all the answers. Each person had his expertise and the whole relied on the individual. That’s how I think of us. There are some things that I can do better than you and vice versa. Neither one of us is more valuable because of those talents, and we won’t succeed unless we work together. I worked in an environment that required me to make quick decisions. In combat, you do that constantly. As a sniper, that was my job description. If I hesitated, it could cost a brother his life.”
