Storm Shades (5 page)

“What an asshole.” Finn makes his comment loud enough so that Ashton hears it. “Why is it always the best looking ones that are such dicks?” He shakes his head at the tragedy of it.

Sofie doesn’t respond. Ashton’s words are still too fresh in her mind and her heart.

“Come on, you need to get out of those clothes and potentially burn them!” Finn says with a laugh, clearly trying to lighten the mood and elicit a smile from his friend. “What did you two do? Go mud wrestling together? Not that I would blame you!” He winks theatrically at her.

Sofie gives Finn the smile that he’d been pushing for. “I thought you said he was an asshole?” she points out, suddenly desperate to get out of her mud-stained clothes and into a hot bath.

“Yes, but a gorgeous asshole. There’s a big difference.” He nods solemnly at her, and they both burst out laughing. “Seriously though, Sofe, I’m glad you’re okay. You had us a little worried.” Finn’s sudden seriousness is so out of character that his concern means even more.

They stop outside her room, and although Sofie is overcome with exhaustion, she still has a question to ask. “There wasn’t anything in the notes about wolves living in Spring Canyon, right?”

Finn looks at her, frowning. “No, don’t let the local cops with their fairy stories freak you out. If there were wolves here, we wouldn’t even be allowed to survey these sites. Why do you ask?” He looks at her dubiously, a frown creasing his forehead.

“No reason. You’re right. It’s nothing. I’m just tired.” Sofie shakes her head to clear out the cobwebs.

“See you in the morning. I better go check to see how much Darwin has insulted the PR guys at Shale.” Finn smiles, but there’s a look of concern on his face as Sofie lets herself into her room and disappears from view.

On the other side of the door, Sofie wastes no time stripping out of her mud-caked clothes and turning on the hot faucet in the aged bathtub to full power. It’s only when she’s fully immersed in the scalding water that she lets herself think about Ashton and what he said to her. His words have upset her more than she thought was possible. It’s not the first time she’s been criticized for what Shale has done to a patch of countryside. She’s never taken it personally though; it was just an accepted part of business.
I don’t even know this guy,
she reasons.
But then why do I care so much about what he thinks of me?

She wipes the steam off of the rusty mirror and looks at herself. She doesn’t have a bad face. She knew that men found her attractive, but that was usually because, in her opinion, most men found anything that vaguely resembled the opposite sex attractive. Her high cheekbones and full mouth are from her Czech mother, probably the Roma gypsy part of her heritage. She took her height and the light brown hair from her Dutch father. Apart from that, they didn’t have anything else in common, and she liked it that way. But that light she catches in her eyes before the mirror steams up again, she is pretty sure that was due to someone else entirely. “Oh, get a grip, Braun,” she tells her reflection in her best ‘pull yourself together’ voice before she lets the steam erase her image.

Picking his way through the woods, he moves without a sound. It’s as if his feet barely touch the ground. He scans the area around him and, despite the dark, he moves with purpose—like he knows exactly where he’s going. His movements are smooth, but his nerves are jagged. He can feel the anger bubbling up inside of him. There was a time when he wouldn’t be able to contain it, when it would take over him and he would become something very different. But that was a long time ago. He has learned, grown, matured. It took a lot to get under his skin, but the running girl, Sofie, she’d managed it. But he couldn’t quite figure out why.

He drops to his knees, picking up some of the plastic sample boxes that Sofie had dropped while she was blindly running through the woods. He lifts the rocks to his nose and smells them. Despite the rain, the scent is clear, and he can almost taste the oil. Slowly, he stands up, feeling the hairs on the back of his neck rise.

“What have you got for me, Gus?” He turns around, facing his second.

Gustavo bows his dark head down in deference. The two men couldn’t look more different. Whereas Ashton was tall and blonde, Gus was short with hair so dark it was black. They both have the same tanned skin that makes them look like they’ve spent most of their lives outside, which wouldn’t be far from the truth. Despite not looking alike, they both carry themselves in the same way; they have an easy grace about them.

“The outsiders, they’re looking for oil.” Gus breathes heavily like he’s been running, rushing to tell Ashton what he’s discovered.

“I know.” Ash looks down at the samples in his hands, offering them to Gus to smell. The expression on his second’s face tells him that he’s smelled the same thing.

“They’re going to destroy this place once they realize what our woods and our mountain are sitting on top of. They’re not going to leave it alone until they’ve dug up every last rock and drilled as deep as they can.” Gus’s hazel eyes flash with anger, and they glow, looking almost golden.

“It won’t come to that, my friend.” Ashton lays his hand on Gus’s shoulder, locking eyes with him and communicating in a way that only their kind can. “No one is going to destroy our home. It is ours and no one else’s, and we will protect it at all cost.” He tightens his grip on Gus’s shoulder, and his friend nods slowly, seemingly satisfied. “Good, now what about the other issue?” Ash picks up some other stones from the trail, plain old rocks without a hint of oil on them.

“We have eyes on him. Lola and Hector are going to be his shadows until tomorrow night.” Gus watches Ashton, clearly curious over what he’s planning on doing with his little rock collection, but knowing that it isn’t his place to ask.

“Good, we’ll deal with him then.” Ashton weighs the rocks in his hand thoughtfully.

“What do you want me to do about the others? The outsiders?” Gus stands up straight, ready for orders. If Ashton is the voice and mind of the group, then Gus is the strong arm.

“Nothing for now.” Ash lifts his head, taking in the scent of the area. “There’s more rain on its way. They won’t be coming here tomorrow. Plus, if there isn’t any oil, then there’s no reason for them to come back.” Ashton holds up the random rocks he’s been collecting, and Gus nods in understanding.

“Let’s get out of here before we both get another bah. Race you home.” Ashton starts running before the words are out of his mouth, but Gus knows him well enough that he’s only a step behind. They run through the woods, taking long strides, moving quickly. The sound of animals howling echoes out in the quiet night.

The rain hammers down for most of the night, and there’s no sign of it letting up for the rest of the day. After what had happened to Sofie the day before, the team doesn’t want to take any chances.

“A day off?” Sofie says the words as if they’re a foreign concept, which they pretty much are. She’s renowned for hardly taking any holiday unless Darwin actually locks her out of the lab.

“Well, we can’t do any surveying in this,” Darwin gestures out the window of her hotel room where it’s so dark you would think it was the middle of the night. “Besides, we can’t risk contaminating any of the samples. Anything we collect would just have to be double checked anyway. So yes, a day off. Go and enjoy yourself.” Darwin waves vaguely to demonstrate this ‘enjoying oneself’ that she was supposed to do. He doesn’t let her debate his suggestion, and, as if on cue, his cell starts ringing. He grabs it up irritably until he sees the caller ID and turns his back as he answers it.

“Bet you anything it’s the office.” Finn doesn’t even look up from the video game he’s been playing—using her television as a screen. He’d managed to hook up a connection from his computer to Sofie’s TV, using his phone as the remote.

“Remind me again why you’re doing this in my room?” Sofie plants her hands on her hips, wondering how long it’s going to take for the sound of the shoot ‘em up game that Finn is playing to actually drive her mad.

“Your TV’s better. The one from my room looks like it’s from the dark ages, surprised it’s even in color.” Finn doesn’t once take his eyes off of the screen, and Sofie knows that she has no hope of evicting him any time soon.

“I know, Mr. Calambor, but there’s really not much that I can do. We have to wait for the weather to turn. After what happened yesterday, I’m not prepared to risk a member of my team for the sake of waiting another day.” Darwin’s voice is firm, but the response he’s getting makes his shoulders slump—never a good sign. “Understood, sir.” He sighs heavily and hands the phone over to Sofie. “Mr. Calambor would like to speak with you. I’ll be in my room.” Darwin shakes his head, leaving Sofie with the cell in her hand.

For the first time, Finn takes his eyes off of the game and looks at Sofie with concern. She turns her back on him. It’s bad enough to have to speak to the head of the company, let alone doing it with an audience.

“Mr. Calambor, Sofie here,” she says, taking a deep breath and willing herself to keep her voice from shaking—whether from fear or anger she’s not sure.

“Sofie, it’s so good to hear your voice.” Luke Calambor’s voice is smooth as silk, but it makes Sofie feel like her skin is crawling. “Darwin just told me what happened yesterday. I’m glad that you’re alright, but I’m not sure why I had to hear about it from him instead of you.” There’s a slight admonishment in his tone, as if he were talking to a naughty child who had been hiding her report card.

“Well, I didn’t think...” Sofie trails off, not really sure what it is that she’s trying to say.

“That’s right, you didn’t think.” The coldness in Luke’s voice is chilling, but it disappears so quickly, she almost convinces herself that she had imagined it. Almost. “But that doesn’t matter now. All that’s important is that you’re alright.”

“Yes, I’m fine. Thanks for your concern, Mr. Calambor,” she answers in a tight voice. She has to bite back the sarcastic response that she’s desperate to give.

“Why so formal, my Sofie? You know it’s just Luke with you,” he coos gently. “From what Darwin’s been telling me about what you guys have found up there, it looks like I might be paying a visit.”

“You want to come here?” Sofie tries to keep her voice even, but the words come out strangled.

“Don’t sound so surprised. If the site is as promising as Darwin says it is, then I need to start drumming up some local support from the good townsfolk of Beatmont. Bet a lot of them haven’t recovered after the recession. I’m sure they could do with a little help from Shale.” Luke chuckles lightly.

“It’s Beaumont.” Sofie knows it’s not worth her time to correct her boss, but she does it anyway, rankled that he can’t even be bothered to learn the name of the town that he’s about to use to get even richer.

“Whatever,” he responds. Sofie can almost see him waving his hand dismissively in his ludicrously ostentatious office in DC.

“Besides, we still have a whole heap of samples to take and tests to run. And even after all that, an ecologist will need to sign off on the site, to make sure we’re not disturbing any habitats when we start drilling,” she says, knowing that she sounds like she’s trying to talk Luke out of what looks like the most profitable oil deposit that Shale have ever found, but she’s just trying to be thorough. At least that’s what she tells herself.

“So dedicated. That’s what I love about you, Sofie. I know I can rely on you.” There’s a suggestion that Luke is talking about more than just work, but he doesn’t voice it. That’s how it always is with him. He towed the line with her, hinting, being inappropriate, and then passing it off as a joke.

“Right. But, what I was saying about the habitats—it’s important,” she barrels on, interrupting him—although she knows that he hates to be interrupted. She turns back to Finn to find that he’s looking at her curiously, like he’s not sure what it is that he’s up to. “Yesterday, when I was in the woods, I heard howling, like wolf howling.” She shuts her eyes feeling more and more like she must sound like a raving loon.

“Wolf howling,” Luke says the words slowly, as if he’s giving Sofie the opportunity to take them back. “And you don’t think that in your state of distress it could have been an owl or something else?”

“I know what I heard, Luke,” she says in a hard voice. Finn blinks at her, as surprised as she is by her revelation. “And if there are wolves there, it means no drilling. They’re under federal protection.”

“I appreciate your concern, Sofie, but we’ll make it work. One way or another we’ll do what we have to. How soon until you have the deposits confirmed?”

“At least a week, especially if the weather stays like this. So, are you going to send an ecologist?” Sofie insists—although she’s fairly sure that Luke is only half-listening to her.

“Yes, sure, whatever you need to get the ball rolling on this.” Luke seems to be missing the point of what she’s saying, but Sofie is at least appeased that he’s taking her advice. “Now, how about when I come up to Beatmont, as a token of my appreciation, I take you out for dinner?”

“You mean, the whole team?” Sofie asks the question although she’s already afraid that she knows the answer.

“Well, the whole team didn’t have a dangerous experience in the woods last night all in the name of Shale Corporation now did they? I think they’ll understand if it’s just the two of us.” The way that Luke says the words makes her stomach do somersaults and not in a good way.

“How’s your family, Luke?” she asks, before she has time to lose her nerve. Finn’s eyebrows shoot up, and Sofie can hear Luke’s anger in the silence on the end of the line. He keeps photographs of his beautiful wife and kids all over his office, but when he’s talking to Sofie he conveniently forgets all about them.

“They’re fine, Sofie. They’re fine,” he says, forcing the words out through gritted teeth. Sofie wonders if she’s succeeded in making him think twice about the way he behaves with her or if she’s just made him mad. “See you soon,” he says, but the words have an ominous ring to them, and Sofie is left with the dial tone as he hangs up.

“You going to tell me what that was all about?” Finn goes back to his videogame, giving Sofie a sidelong glance.

“Luke being Luke,” Sofie explains, sitting down heavily on the edge of her bed.

“He won’t do anything, not with Darwin and me here.” Finn doesn’t look at her as he says the words, sparing her the embarrassment that he knows she feels at what their boss is suggesting. When Sofie doesn’t respond, he continues. “What was all that about wolves? Anything to do with what you asked me last night?” he asks, his words punctuated by the rat-a-tat-tat of machine gun fire coming from the television.

“I don’t know. It’s just what I heard.” Sofie pushes herself up from the bed and starts pacing around the room. “There’s something different about this place, different from the other sites. The Geiger counter went ballistic in the woods and then nothing. My compass was all out of whack, and the mineral in those rocks, it’s…different.” She knows that she’s not making all that much sense, but she’s not even really sure what it is that she’s trying to say. She feels like since she arrived in this town, everything’s been mixed up, and nothing’s been straightforward.

“Don’t let what that hunk said to you get you questioning everything. You’re here to do your job. That’s it. You’re not the devil; you just work for him.” Finn smiles, as Sofie sticks her tongue out at him. His words make sense, but that doesn’t stop Sofie from feeling lousy.

“Don’t you ever think that this isn’t what you imagined you’d be doing with your life?” Sofie stands in front of the video game, forcing Finn to pay attention to what she’s asking him.

“Hey, I almost made it to the next level,” Finn complains, trying to look around her, giving up when he sees the expression on her face telling him that she will not be moved. “Yes, fine, this isn’t what I’d thought I’d be doing, making the big man even richer and destroying little pockets of good ol’ Mother Nature as we go. We’ve talked about this, Sofe. Idealism doesn’t get the bills paid. You do this for a few years, and you get out. That was always the plan. So what’s changed?”

“I don’t know.” She throws her hands up, frustrated that she can’t even put her finger on what’s got her so worked up. Or perhaps she just doesn’t want to admit it to herself. “There’s something about this place. It feels...I don’t know...magical.” She shrugs, wishing she had used a different word.

“Magical? Sofe, are you feeling alright?” Finn stands up and puts a hand on her forehead as if he’s checking her temperature. “You’re a scientist. You don’t believe in ‘magical.’”

“I know, and that’s not what I meant. It’s just…I feel different about what we’re doing this time. I can’t explain it.” She swipes at his hand to move it from her head. “I don’t want Shale to destroy this place.”
That’s the crux of it. That’s what I’m afraid of, but I’m not sure why
, she thinks
.

“Well, you might get your wish if you’re right about the wolves. Doesn’t matter how much oil is under that mountain, if there are furry little mites there, the government won’t sign off on any drilling. Simple.” He shrugs his shoulders to highlight just how straightforward what he’s saying is. “Look, you’ve been working too hard. Go out and take Darwin’s advice. Do something fun.” He sits back down, picks up his controller and motions her out of the way of the television screen.

“Something fun,” she says, as if the words were an equation without an answer.

“Yeah, you remember fun, right?” Finn ducks, as she takes a swipe at his head and settles back into his game.

“Have fun killing all those brain cells,” Sofie teases, as she grabs her jacket and heads towards the door.

“I could burn half the cells in this brain of mine and still trump you in an IQ test, Braun. Don’t you worry about that. I’m a genius, after all,” he says, living up to his legendary self-belief.

“Well, genius, you’re just about to get shot,” Sofie points out, as Finn’s on-screen avatar gets blind-sided and falls to the ground.

GAME OVER
appears in big letters, and Sofie does nothing to hide her smug smile. She walks out of the motel, trying to remember what she used to like to do when she had free time. It has been a while.