by James Hunt
It was at least a mile before Lena saw anyone else on the highway, and then another five before she reached the small cluster of buildings that comprised the town of Barta, North Dakota. The cracked pavement of Main Street and the old wooden structures on either side were just as weathered and worn as the people that inhabited them.
Oil workers from the night shift were piling into the diner for dinner, passing the morning shift that just finished their breakfast, heading for the fracking operation a few miles north. The dirty, hard faces eyed her luxury sedan as she parked along the street near her office, and when she stepped out of her car she saw the fresh graffiti sprayed in black across her windows. “Lena Hayes P.A.” had been crossed out and replaced with: KILL THE OIL BILL BITCH.
When Lena turned back toward the diner, all of the rig workers had stopped to watch her reaction. Some laughed, others pointed, but a few cast a more murderous glare. Ignoring the jeers, Lena grabbed her briefcase. When she unlocked the front door, the short blast of a police siren caught her attention, and she saw Jake’s truck pull into the vacant spot next to hers.
“Christ, it happened again?” Jake slammed his car door shut with force. He rubbed his fingertips across the paint and frowned. “It’s already dried.” He turned to the cluster of oil riggers still lingering outside the diner and took an aggressive step toward them with his hand on the butt of his pistol.
“Hey.” Lena jogged over, grabbing him by the shoulder and pulling him back. “That’s not going to solve anything right now.” The size of the crowd by the diner had grown considerably with Jake’s arrival. “You’re not going to change their minds.”
“You’re right. I’m just gonna beat the shit out of them.”
Lena slid her arm around his and yanked him toward her office. “C’mon. You can take out your aggression with some soap and a sponge.”
The inside of Lena’s office felt large. The open floor plan was only interrupted by a few columns that thrust from the floor and connected to the ceiling. Two desks were in the first room, and Lena placed her briefcase on the one farthest from the entrance. Another door rested behind her that led into a larger room, which had been gutted after she won the district election last fall. What had once been teeming with volunteers was now nothing more than an extra storage space.
Jake stood by the front window, glaring at the oil workers who’d dispersed across the street. “I’d put all of them in jail if I had the room.”
Lena set her briefcase down. “Probably wouldn’t be a good PR move. Not with you up for reelection next year.”
“I’ll just arrest everyone who doesn’t want to vote for me.” Jake grinned, those “get me out of whatever trouble I’m in” dimples promptly on display.
“Not sure how that’ll go over in the courts.”
The front door opened, and Janine walked in, both arms struggling to keep hold of the large box she carried. Jake quickly stepped over to help and relieved her of the burden. “Oh, thanks, Sheriff.” She gently touched his arm, where it lingered as Janine batted her eyelashes and smiled. When she realized they weren’t alone, Janine quickly removed her hand. “Hi, boss. I didn’t think you were coming in today.”
“I wanted to look over a few of the old case files before I headed to the hospital.” Lena reached for a box marked New Energy Inc. and thumbed through the pages of documents inside. She removed a thick folder and placed it on her desk.
“Well,” Jake said, setting the box down on Janine’s desk, “I need to head back to the station. I’ll send one of the deputies over to clean that off.” He pointed to the graffitied window. “And if you change your mind about pressing charges—”
“I was a lawyer for seven years, Jake.” Lena removed the thick rubber band holding the documents in place. “I think I’d know if I could win the case if I wanted to take it to court. It’s not a big deal, and don’t bother sending anyone over to clean it up. I’ll do it before I leave.”
“Too late,” Jake said, stepping out the door as a deputy parked out front. “Call me if you need anything.”
Lena watched Janine press her palm against the window, and fawn at Jake as he left. Lena held back a laugh. “Why don’t you just ask him out?”
“Huh?” Janine turned around quickly, her mouth slack, and she shook her head. “Oh, no. I’m sure he’s seeing somebody. Unless—” She stopped, her eyes widening. “Did he say something about me?”
“Janine, you are a young, intelligent, beautiful woman and far too good for my little brother.” Lena removed paperwork from the file then snapped it shut. “You’re not the first woman to have fallen in love with him, but if I had any say in it, you would be the last.”
Janine smiled. “Thanks, Lena.” She pointed toward the kitchen, heading in that direction. “You need any coffee?”
“No, thanks. I’m fine.” Lena kept her head down, reexamining the old depositions from her case against New Energy. Most of the documents she’d obtained from the oil company had been redacted. She set them aside and picked up a picture of a nine-year-old girl in a hospital bed. Tubes ran through her arms and nose, and her cheeks had grown puffy and pale. A beanie covered her bald head, and her mother was by her side, holding her hand. That could have been Kaley.
The front door hinges squeaked, and when Lena looked up, her fists tightened involuntarily. “If you’re looking for representation, I’m not taking any new clients.”
“That’s a shame. I promise you it would pay well.” Ken Lang was dressed in a fine Italian business suit, Rolex watch, and short-cropped brown hair. His polished shoes clacked against the floor as he leisurely strolled to Lena’s desk. “But I suppose that’s the sacrifice of holding public office.”
“What do you want, Ken?” Lena asked.
Ken glanced at the picture of the sick girl and her mother, then picked it up, pinching it between his fingers as if the illness could be transferred through the photo. “I wanted to give you one last chance to rethink your position on the bill.” He flipped the picture around where it faced Lena and then returned it to the desk. “You’re only going to hurt more people.”
Lena shuffled the medical documents back into the folder and then stacked the dusty box on the floor with at least a dozen others. “I’m not the one working for a company that shirked its responsibility in safety standards for its employees and blatantly ignored EPA regulations.”
“If you had been able to prove that in court, then neither of us would be here right now.” Ken rolled the tip of his thumb and forefinger together in quick, tight circles, squinting his eyes. “What makes you think that this course of action is the best for the town?” He looked back to the graffiti on the window. “It’s not a very popular position.”
“Sixty children hospitalized over the past two years, half of them now suffering from chronic illnesses. Seventy-four oil workers dead. Ruined farmland from nearly twenty million gallons of oils, chemicals, and pollutants pumped into the ground and air.” Lena raised her eyebrows and pointed to the boxes of depositions. “I’ll take that ridicule any day of the week if it means holding your people accountable.”
Ken placed his finger on the edge of her desk and dragged it along the outer rim until he landed on another picture frame. He gripped it between a pair of strong, tan, yet slender hands. “Beautiful family.” Keeping the picture, he gestured around the large office. “You did very well in private practice. I’m sure your family is very comfortable financially.” He adjusted the Rolex on his wrist. “Probably send your kids to the best schools.” He crossed his arms over his chest. “Do you have any idea what your proposed bill will do to the economy around here? It’s going to cost jobs. Hundreds of jobs. It’ll be millions in lost tax revenue.” He inched intimately close. “What you’re doing here will have a ripple effect across the entire state.” He thrust a finger in her face. “And all of that blame will be pointed at you.”
Lena leaned forward. “You and I both know it won’t cost any jobs. That’s just
fodder to fuel public mistrust. New Energy has been toting that fear mongering campaign since you showed up.” She stepped around the desk and crept close until the both of them were nose to nose. She snatched the picture from his hand. “And if you ever walk through my door again without an appointment, I will throw your ass back out on the street.”
Ken flashed a smile, an impervious grin that accentuated his suit of armor. He turned on his heel and headed for the door. “I’ll be in touch.” The door slammed on the way out, and Janine returned from the kitchen, clutching a coffee mug between her hands.
“Is there anything worse than a lobbyist?” she asked, shaking her head.
Lena opened the top file on her desk, which revealed the images of one of the oil workers who’d been burned to death after an explosion on one of the rigs. “Yeah. I think there is.” She shut the folder and gathered her bag. “I’ll call you when I’m on my way back from the hospital.”
Outside, one of Jake’s deputies lathered the window with soap and went to work on the graffiti, giving Lena a curt nod as she passed. Across the street at the diner she saw Ken speaking to a man she’d never seen before. He didn’t wear any of the uniforms like the oil riggers but wasn’t dressed in a fine suit like Ken. His attire was a simple button-down shirt, dark-washed jeans, and black boots. The morning sun reflected off of his bald dome, and when he caught Lena staring, he nudged Ken’s arm, who turned around.
Lena climbed into the car and shook off the uneasy feeling it gave her. With the meeting at the hospital, she had more important things to worry about.
3
The miles of open road, the sheer vastness of absolutely nothing—it was enough to drive Ken insane. The speedometer of his car tipped to seventy as the fields of grass passed by in a blur. He thought if he could move fast enough he could completely erase the empty void, but failed. He missed the height of buildings and the chaotic orchestra of noise that was the city. He couldn’t stand the quiet. It let him hear his thoughts too clearly, and all of them kept telling him to quit this madness and return home. But he didn’t get paid until the job was done.
Ken gripped the leather steering wheel of his leased BMW and checked his hair in the rearview mirror. The Bluetooth system notified him of an incoming call, and the name on the display panel situated on the center console simply read Home, accompanied by a picture of a woman with dark-black curly hair. He maneuvered his thumb over the accept button on his steering wheel and clicked. “How’s my sexy mamacita?”
Laughter echoed through the speakers, and Ken smiled at the sound of Sasha’s voice. “I could use a little more sexy in my life. How are you doing? Are you speeding again?”
The speedometer tipped past eighty, and Ken eased off the gas. “I don’t think they have speeding laws in North Dakota. It’s pretty much a free-for-all out here.”
“Well, you be sure to use that in your defense if you get pulled over. I’m sure the authorities will understand.”
Ken grimaced. “They’re not as understanding as I’d like them to be.” He reached for the wedding band in his cup holder and twisted it back onto his ring finger. “Hey, can I talk with Tommy?” A pause lingered. “Sasha, what’s wrong?” A sniffle and light sob answered, and Ken’s cheeks grew pallid. “Sasha, I need to know what’s going on over there. You can’t keep me in the dark. C’mon, baby, we talked about this.”
“I know.” Sasha’s voice was thick with phlegm, and she took a few sharp breaths to regain composure. “He’s not having a very good day today.”
“Did you give him the injections like the doctor told you to?” Ken asked, an unintentional edge of condescension in his voice. “You have to stay on top of that.”
“Yes, Ken, I did.” The answer was sharp, quick. “He’s not reacting to it the way he’s done in the past, though.” Sasha let out a sigh riddled with anxiety. “I just don’t know what else to do.”
Ken sunk into his bucket seat and the speedometer dipped below sixty. “We’ll just keep trying other treatments. We knew that it wasn’t a sure bet. Next month, we just take him back and try something else. He’s going to be okay, Sasha. We’re going to be okay.” Another call flashed on the screen, and Ken straightened himself. “Honey, I’ve got to go. Give Tommy a kiss for me. I love you.”
“I love you too.”
With his wife disconnected, Ken exhaled slowly as he maneuvered his thumb over the answer button. He hesitated, but eventually answered. “Mr. Alwitz, how are you?”
“I’ll be a lot better once that bitch stops trying to shove that worthless piece of legislation down my throat.” The voice was gruff, angry. “I hope you have some good news for me, Lang.”
“We’re making headway, sir. The town is already torn in half about the issue, and it’ll only take a few more pushes in the right direction to get us on the winning side. The bill won’t pass in this district, and that’ll kill whatever momentum Lena Hayes hopes to gain throughout the state.”
“Just make it happen.”
A flash of anger flared in Ken’s nostrils as the call ended. He slammed the back of his head against the headrest and then punched the roof of the car. Prick. He adjusted his collar and checked his reflection in the mirror.
Outside, the landscape finally changed, and the wide-open plains suddenly sprang to life with portable housing units that stretched for a few hundred yards. All of them the same bright white that New Energy had painted them.
Bursts of flames erupted on the horizon from the fracking rigs, and every time Ken pulled into his parking space in front of his own portable he felt as if he were entering the gates of hell. He let the car idle a minute and closed his eyes as a few workers in hard hats passed. You’re back in the game now, buddy. You chose this. Now you have to deal with it.
Lena pinned the visitor’s badge on her left lapel and made her way to the children’s wing. The rooms she passed were all full, an unnerving sight. The dim fluorescent lights of the hospital even caused the visitors to look ill. Some rooms contained laughter, some crying, but all of them were darkened with the plague of uncertainty. She arrived at the nurses’ station and forced a smile. “I had an appointment with the Myers family?”
The nurse had short-cropped blond hair and wore traditional blue scrubs as she reached for the sign-in sheet. “Of course. I just need to get you signed in here, and I’ll notify the family.”
“Thank you.” Lena grabbed the pen and jotted down her information once again while the nurse disappeared into one of the rooms. A few seconds later Dotty Myers entered the hallway, her face twisting in an expression that rode the line between grief and joy. Lena set the clipboard and pen down and embraced her in a hug. “How are you holding up?”
Dotty reciprocated the squeeze. A few strands of frizzy hair that escaped the tight bun on her head brushed Lena’s cheek. “We’re okay.” But despite the reassurances, the pallid complexion that exposed the blue veins on her face said different. “I’m so sorry. I forgot that you were stopping by today. Corey’s already asleep.”
Lena dismissed the apology quickly. “It’s perfectly fine. I know it was last minute.” She opened her purse and rummaged inside, pulling out a wrapped gift. “The next couple of days are going to be pretty hectic for me, but I didn’t want him to think I forgot about his birthday.” She handed Dotty the gift, and the woman cradled it delicately.
“Lena, you didn’t have to do that.”
“I know. I wanted to.” She looked around, the rest of the chairs in the visitor section empty. “Do you know if the McFurns are here today?”
The smile vanished from Dotty’s face, and her eyes grew glassy and red. “They had to take Sarah over to the ICU.” She fingered the gift in her hands nervously. “She had a really bad night last night. They don’t know if she’ll make it up the list in time to get a donor.”
“I thought she was already at the top.”
Dotty shook her head. “No. Not yet.”
Ever since the lawsuit against New
Energy, the families involved had grown into a tight-knit group. Whenever one of their children’s conditions worsened, it was felt by everyone. “We’re going to win this one, Dotty.” Lena grasped her shoulder. “I promise you that. Once it passes our town hall we’ll be able to take it to the state legislature. The governor is behind the bill, and we have the momentum. They won’t stop us this time.”
“Lena, what you’ve done…” She trailed off, losing the train of thought as her shoulders began to shake. “I will always be in your debt.” She looked back at Corey’s room. “I’m so tired of having to watch him be hooked up to machines and tubes and wires and—” She rubbed her forehead. “I just want it to be over.”
Lena grabbed hold of Dotty’s hand and clasped it firmly. “I know. And that’s why I wanted to talk to you today. I don’t want us to leave anything up to chance at the town hall. I want everyone that can be present to arrive. We show the opposition the face of our cause, and we won’t lose. Do you think you could help spread the word for me?”
Dotty reciprocated the strength in Lena’s hand. “Yeah. I think I can do that.”
After another quick hug, Lena made the rounds with the families whom she had represented for nearly two years. Out of the sixty children that were affected by the water they drank, showered, and cooked with, more than half suffered long-term illnesses that affected everything from their nervous systems to their kidneys, liver, and intestines. What their community experienced wasn’t anything less than a plague, and the offenders got off with little more than a slap on the wrist.
Nearing the end of her visits, Lena grabbed a cup of coffee set up in the waiting area. She reached for the sugar when angered shouts erupted down the hall.
