Will picked at the lump of red Jell-O on his tray while he watched the rest of the report. He shuddered when a doctor of environmental medicine talked about people already being exposed to radiation downwind from the plant. The doctor predicted an increase in cancer in the next twenty or thirty years.
He means right now, before the place melts down. Will closed his eyes and sighed. We’ll all be lit up like Christmas trees.
Almost numb with fear and worry, Will pushed the Jell-O aside and shuffled down the hall to the nursery. The drab metal walls of the empty corridor closed around him like a tomb. Will imagined they’d evacuated the hospital and left him and his family behind. He rushed down the hall in a panic.
“Is everything all right, sir?”
The nurse sitting outside the nursery snapped Will out of his terror. “I’m fine. I just came to see my son.”
The young woman smiled. “Armstrong, right?”
“Right.” Will’s voice must have given away his puzzlement. He hadn’t seen this nurse before, but she knew his name.
“We don’t have that many patients this week. I’ve seen you around.”
The nurse giggled as Will looked through the nursery window toward the cradle marked Armstrong. Although there were other occupied cradles, he hadn’t seen other parents.
“I’ll give you some privacy.” The woman walked a few yards away to the nurses’ station.
When he looked at Walden, lying swaddled in blue, Will’s heart swelled to the breaking point with love. Then, remembering the danger right down the river, he choked on a bitter surge of fear. This boy had only lived for a few hours, and already, Will had failed him. By his inaction and trust in the powers that be, Will had put Randi and his child in unspeakable danger.
If his family survived the next few days, Will vowed never to trust the nuclear industry or the government again.
Chapter Seventeen
This time, Alexa enjoyed the drive to Tioga County. Departing late enough to miss the morning traffic meant she could take in the subtle signs of spring along the route. Buds kissed the tips of the trees. Fields glowed soft green with early growth. About an hour and a half north, spring’s progress became more muted. She passed Williamsport, where the browns and grays of winter still ruled the landscape.
Nearing Granfeld, she followed the same route to Jeannie’s house. When she reached the drilling site near the road, Alexa slowed. The frenzy of activity reminded her of swarming insects. Today, the tall drilling rig no longer hugged the edge of the roadway. In its place stood a huge crane. Metal piping dangled from the steel frame, a spinning proboscis piercing the earth below. The crane looked like a giant yellow mosquito, probing for blood beneath the earth’s delicate skin. Alexa wondered what infection the mosquito’s bite would leave behind. Tractor-trailer trucks, their beds stacked high with pipes, circled the crane like hulking cockroaches. Two crimson tank trucks lurched across the scarred land, their containers full and heavy like sated ticks. At the far end of the gravel-covered flat stood a pool of water. Instead of sparkling in the morning sunlight, the dull, lifeless pond seemed to seize the bright rays and drag them into its murky depths. Battling the feeling that insects were crawling over her skin, Alexa slammed her foot down on the gas and sped off.
When Alexa approached Jeannie’s home, she smiled to see the branches of the weeping willows trailing wisps of pale green. The Demeter who’d planted the two magnificent trees must have chosen them as early harbingers of spring. Stepping from the Land Rover, Alexa stopped to watch a truck on the pad below, pumping the contents of a huge green metal container into its tank. Its mechanical whir followed Alexa as she walked onto the wide porch.
Jeannie answered the door and hugged Alexa. “Thanks so much for finding these lawyers and setting up the meetings. We couldn’t have done it on our own.” Alexa followed her friend into the warm kitchen, bright in the morning sun. Jeannie had taken care with her outfit for the afternoon’s meetings. She wore a wide-skirted blue dress dotted with flowers, navy cardigan, and matching pumps.
“I wanted to meet with you in advance of the afternoon meetings so we could walk through all your questions and concerns. That way we’ll be prepared for the discussion.” Alexa dropped her notebook on the table. “Is Tom here?”
“No.” Jeannie kept her voice bright but couldn’t hide her exasperation. “I thought we’d have lunch here and then meet Tom in Wellsboro at one o’clock. He’s showing a couple of houses this morning. With spring on the way, the real estate market is picking up. He didn’t want to miss out on any potential clients. I took Tessa over to my mom’s early this morning. She’ll keep her until after the meetings.”
“Fine. I guess you and Tom have talked through the details.” Alexa kept her tone neutral to stifle her disdain for Jeannie’s deadbeat husband. “His presence at the meetings is the important part.”
“How about we eat while we work through your questions?” Jeannie took two bowls out of the cupboard. “I made vegetable beef soup and homemade bread. Is that OK with you?”
“Sounds delicious.” Over lunch, Alexa asked, “How has Tessa been doing?”
Jeannie shook her head. “Not good. She’s fading right before our eyes. Although she doesn’t seem to be in much pain, she sleeps most of the time. Her appetite is spotty. Some of it’s the illness; some is reaction to the treatment.” Her eyes brimmed with tears. “But, despite everything, she’s still got the sweetest disposition. The specialists at CHOP think she may respond successfully to the treatment. But she has to survive it first.”
“I’m sorry, Jeannie. I can’t imagine how tough this is on Tessa, not to mention you and Tom.”
“It is what it is. We could use the money from this lawsuit to make sure we can pay for anything the insurance doesn’t cover.”
Alexa took a sip of iced tea. “I saw a tanker truck down below, pumping out one of those huge green structures. What’s with that?”
Jeannie sighed. “Those are the saltwater tanks. When the gas is pumped out of the ground, it’s warmed in that little structure to the left. The gas goes into the pipeline. But the water byproduct that’s separated out by the warming gets stored in those tanks. The groundwater comes from so far down in the earth that it has high salt content. But there are other minerals and such in it.” She paused. “I didn’t hear the truck down there today. They’re hard to miss in the summer, when we have the windows open. The pumps make a whirring sound, like giant mosquitoes―but, like mosquitoes, they usually come at night.”
“I’m still trying to learn all the components of this fracking process. But it’s complicated.”
“I wish I’d learned more about it before we signed this lease.” Jeannie shook her head in disgust. “Instead of finding out the hard way.” She reached for a tablet. “So, Tom and I put together these questions like you asked.”
The two sessions went well, considering. Tom arrived fifteen minutes late for the meeting with Friends of Pine Creek. Alexa apologized to the lead lawyer, Pedro Alvarez, as a surly Tom took a seat. “We’re sorry that Mr. Demeter was detained.”
“No problem. We’ll just walk through the briefing on our class action suit again.” Alvarez was very professional.
Alexa wondered how Tom could blow off even a few minutes of this meeting that could be so critical to his daughter’s recovery, but she avoided his gaze. The session got back on track soon enough.
After the initial exchange of information, Jeannie said, “It sounds like your class action suit is focusing mainly on drinking water issues and other environmental impacts of fracking. The roads. Traffic. Wildlife. Air quality.” She looked at her husband. “Tom and I have certainly experienced some of those things.”
He jumped in. “Fucking-A. Our drinking water’s shot to hell. It’s high in manganese and iron. We have to get it tested all the time. Use filters so we can shower and do laundry. We only drink bottled water.”
Jeannie interrupted, tears brimming in her eyes. �
��And when the pond with the fracking wastewater leaked, it probably ruined the land around it for decades. But our most pressing concern is our daughter’s medical problem. When she and our poor dog got into that contaminated runoff, it killed the dog. Now this cancer is killing her. That’s what we need immediate money for. The cancer treatment and expenses.”
Alexa leaned forward. “Mr. Alvarez, Jeannie has a good point. Your class action suit seems to encompass some of the claims my clients could bring against Monongas. But not all. Do any of the other plaintiffs in the class have acute medical issues as serious as those of Tessa Demeter?”
Alvarez gave his two colleagues a questioning look before he responded. The woman on his left shook her head, a bleak expression on her face. “No. I believe your case is different from most of our plaintiffs in that your child’s illness is immediate and life-threatening.”
The bushy-haired man on his right, the local farmer who ran the Friends of Pine Creek, spoke in a confidential tone. “I know of two or three other families up here who have had tragic problems like yours. Maybe not the exact same thing. But things went so bad that someone got really sick or their land became uninhabitable. All those settlements are under―what do you call it?” He looked at Alvarez.
“Seal.”
“Right, under seal. That’s the deal they had to make with the gas company. But, all those families brought private lawsuits.”
Alvarez nodded with a sober expression. “I believe your water and environmental issues fit our class definition. We’d be happy to have you sign on as plaintiffs with us. But you’re probably better off pursuing your own legal action―and maybe wrapping all the other issues in with your daughter’s medical claim.”
“We are speaking to someone from Langley and Sloane in about an hour,” Alexa offered while Jeannie dabbed at her eyes and Tom glowered.
“That’s exactly who I planned to recommend. Although it’s all supposed to be on the hush-hush, word travels. They’ve gotten good settlements for at least two families with problems on the scale of what you folks are dealing with.”
The three representatives of the Friends of Pine Creek politely ushered them from the office. The woman, eyes moist, gave Jeannie a hug before they left. “I’ll pray for your daughter.”
The farmer spat, “They don’t call it Mammon-gas for nothin’. I’m so sorry for what them bastards done to your little girl.”
Jeannie raised an eyebrow in Alexa’s direction at his surprising Biblical reference. Although the allusion to greed seemed to go over Tom’s head, he nodded at the farmer’s expression of sympathy.
The attorney Alvarez wished Jeannie and Tom good luck. To Alexa, he said, “Call if you decide to opt into our suit.”
Out on the sidewalk, Alexa suggested coffee before the next meeting. Seated in the booth of a fading diner, she dipped her teabag into a cup of hot water and studied her clients. Jeannie looked sad, but Tom wore his usual cloak of anger. Alexa asked, “What do you think?”
“They made it pretty clear they didn’t want the Demeters in their lawsuit, mucking it up with our daughter’s problems.” Tom slammed his coffee mug into the table.
“What? Tom, you always see the worst in a situation. They were giving their best advice about getting quicker results that deal with our main issue. Tessa’s illness.” Jeannie sighed and turned to Alexa. “Is that how you saw it?”
“I agree with Jeannie, Tom. It’s not that they don’t want you in the class action suit. They believe that an individual civil action will get you the best results. I’m going to withhold judgment until after the next meeting. But I’m inclined to agree.”
The session with Don Langley convinced Alexa that representation from Langley and Sloane would be the best option for Jeannie and her family. He couldn’t disclose any specifics of the earlier cases against Monongas, but Langley shared enough information to demonstrate his firm’s success in similar lawsuits. Alexa sighed in relief when Jeannie and Tom agreed to have Langley and Sloane represent them. Even Tom managed a smile as he signed the papers.
When they left, Jeannie embraced Alexa with tears in her eyes. “I knew we should call you. We can’t be sure yet just how this will turn out. But getting us hooked up with Langley and Sloane―now, at least, we have good lawyers and some hope for a good result.”
Tom surprised Alexa when he shook her hand with a tearful smile. “Thanks for helping our little girl.” He looked at his wife. “I’ll go get the car and pick you up.”
“Are you sure you won’t come back to the house for dinner?” Jeannie asked after Tom loped down the street.
“No. I have an early morning with Representative Jordan for that tour of fracking operations. I have a hotel here in Wellsboro. You have to pick up Tessa at your mom’s and get her home. The last thing you need is to worry about a dinner guest.”
Tom’s SUV pulled up at the curb. “OK. I’ll let you off the hook. This time.” Jeannie’s laugh warmed the chilly afternoon. “Try the China Palace. I know you’re crazy for Chinese food, and their fried rice is scrumptious.”
Alexa watched Jeannie wave through the tinted window of Tom’s vehicle as he pulled away. She exhaled a long sigh of salvation. No way she could have survived a whole evening with Tom. This afternoon had been enough.
Alexa glanced at her phone. Three thirty. Enough time to celebrate the day’s success with a short hike.
Standing on the viewing platform at Leonard Harrison State Park, Alexa took in the vista of Pine Creek Gorge below. The dark evergreens stood out against the lighter greens and reds of the budding deciduous trees. Another few weeks and Pennsylvania’s Grand Canyon would be even more gorgeous. Looking down the steep incline into the canyon, Alexa nixed the idea of tackling the difficult Turkey Trot trail. It was too late in the day to descend the whole way to the bottom of the gorge. Then she saw the trail sign: “Closed for the Season.” Two earlier signs had indicated the campground and gift shop also were closed. Although a few cars were parked in the gravel lot, the area seemed deserted.
Wow. I’ve got this whole place to myself. Alexa couldn’t believe her luck. She craved solitude after the day’s emotional meetings. Smiling, she headed toward the one trail that appeared to be open.
At the Overlook Trail sign, Alexa noted several highlighted points of interest. She set out at a leisurely pace; the trail was only a half-mile. The first highlight, a moss-covered incinerator from Civilian Conservation Corps days, wasn’t very exciting. Alexa slowed for a quick glance but kept walking until she reached the canyon rim. In the distance, gravel spluttered as a car entered the parking lot. Alexa hoped the passengers would be content with the view from the platform.
Following the rim of the canyon, Alexa stopped a few times to admire the stunning vista. Then, she came to a small wooden platform, marked Otter View, which cantilevered over the steep slope. Alexa loved the wooded panoramic scene. She could imagine how great the view would be in summer and fall. For a few minutes, Alexa sat on the wooden bench built into the platform, luxuriating in the warmth of the late afternoon sun. With a rising breeze, the creak of exposed winter branches and the whistle of wind gusting through the canyon filled the air with a wild, joyful noise.
With reluctance, Alexa rose from the bench. Although she only had a short distance left on the loop, she didn’t want to get caught out here after sundown. She went to the rail to take one last look at the plunging gorge below when she heard a rustle behind her. Two men dressed in brown Carhartt, work boots, and baseball hats with an MG monogram, stepped onto the narrow platform. Despite the similar outfits, these guys couldn’t pass as twins. The bearded, burly man looked much younger than his lean, middle-aged companion.
“Nice day for a walk.” The younger man spoke with a smile while the other man moved toward the railing beside Alexa.
“Sure is.” Feeling trapped, she took a step away from the older man who’d sidled next to her at the railing. He was looking at her, not the view. On alert, Alexa reach
ed into her jacket pocket for her car keys, holding them with the pointed ends outward. The smiling younger man stepped forward, his hand reaching toward her. At that instant, Alexa leapt onto the bench and raced past him onto the trail. She sped back toward the main overlook, retracing her steps.
Behind her, one of the men yelled, “Come back, girly. We didn’t mean to scare you.”
The other remarked, “Jumpy little bitch, ain’t she?”
Alexa didn’t look over her shoulder until she reached the old incinerator. Stopping on the far side of the structure, she listened to hear if the men had followed. At the faint scuff of footsteps in the distance, she bolted. When she neared the parking area, Alexa approached with caution. The Land Rover stood next to the only other car, a beat-up pickup truck. She scurried to the Rover and pulled out the minute the vehicle’s engine turned over. As she left the area, Alexa glanced in the rearview mirror. In the growing twilight, the two men were nowhere to be seen.
On the short drive to Wellsboro, Alexa wondered if she had overreacted. Maybe the men were harmless. Alexa had feared the young guy was going to grab her. Maybe he was just a friendly guy who wanted to shake her hand.
Her heart rate had returned to normal, but Alexa was still second-guessing her actions when she reached town. In the gathering darkness, gaslights flickered along streets lined with charming Victorian homes. Alexa had no problem finding the Chinese place Jeannie had mentioned. Carrying a bag of egg drop soup and General Tso’s chicken with fried rice, she rushed into her room at the rustic lodge. Throwing the deadbolt across the frame, Alexa peered out the front window. No beat-up pickup trucks. Then she laughed and exclaimed, “Those guys probably think they ran into a madwoman out at Otter View.”
After demolishing the Chinese food, Alexa climbed into bed and turned on the television. She found a movie she’d watched many times before, Blood Diamond. The African setting made her think of Reese, off in Kenya doing lion research. Her mind wandered to last summer’s visit with her old boyfriend in Samburu. Alexa regretted their decision to call it quits. But, Reese was a bit of an adventurer, like the movie’s Danny Archer. He might never get Africa out of his blood and return to the States.
Dead of Spring: An Alexa Williams Novel Page 14
