LITMIR.BIZ

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women. When Sybil exited, Waters gave his partner a hard look.

      “Sybil’s been pretty cold for the past week. You got any idea why that might be?”

      Cole shrugged. “PMS?”

      “Cole, goddamn it. Did you sleep with her?”

      “Hell no. I learned my lesson about employees when I had to pay reparations.”

      “When we had to pay, them, you mean. Next time you pay solo, Romeo.”

      Cole chuckled. “No problem.”

      “Back to your health. You don’t get off that easy.”

      Cole frowned and shook his head. “Why don’t you use all this energy you’re expending on paranoia and lectures to generate a new prospect, Rock?”

      This was an old bone of contention between them. Their partnership was like a union of the grasshopper and the ant. Whenever they scored big, Waters put forty percent of his money into an account reserved for income taxes. The rest he invested conservatively in the stock market. Each time they drilled a new well, he maintained a large share of it by giving up “override,” or cash profit up front. That way, if they struck oil, he was ensured a large profit over time. Cole preferred to take the lion’s share of cash up front; thus his “completion costs” on the wells were smaller, but so were his eventual profits. Even when Cole kept a large piece of a well, he almost always sold his interest for cash – usually the equivalent of two years’ worth of production – the day after the well hit. And Cole simply could not hang on to cash. He and his wife spent lavishly on houses, cars, antiques, clothing, jewelry, parties, and vacations. He invested in ventures outside the oil business, whatever sounded like big money fast. He had hit some big licks, but he always lost his profits by sinking them into ever-bigger schemes. And most damaging, Cole gambled heavily on sports. This addiction had begun at Ole Miss, where he and Waters had roomed together for three semesters. When Cole moved into the Kappa Alpha house and continued his partying and gambling, Waters stayed in the dorm. Only two things had allowed Cole to remain solvent through the years: a knack for buying existing oil wells and improving their efficiency by managing operations himself; and a partner who continued to find new oil, even in the worst of times. Thus, he was always after Waters to generate new prospective wells. As the attorney of the two, Cole handled the land work – leasing up the acreage where their wells would be drilled – but he saw his real job as sales. And a natural salesman without something to sell is a frustrated man.

      In the absence of a prospective oil well, Cole set about selling what he had on hand – himself – usually to the prettier and more adventurous wives in town. He promoted himself to his chosen paramour with the same enthusiasm he gave to oil wells – though with slightly more discretion – ultimately convincing her that she had to have Cole Smith in her life, beginning in her bed. It was all about ego and acceptance. Cole had that manic yet magical combination of insecurity and bravado that drives sports agents, fashion models, and Hollywood stars. And in the oil business, Cole Smith was a star. That was why his name was first on the sign and on the letterhead. Years ago, Cole had suggested this order based on the alphabet, but Waters knew better. It made no difference to him. The proof of primacy in the partnership was in their private discourse and in the awareness of the close-knit oil community. The people who mattered knew who put the “X” on the map and said, “This is where the oil will be.” The rest was showbiz.

      “Oh, hey,” Cole said casually. “I meant to tell you. I’m in a little bind over some margin calls on that WorldCom. I need some cash to tide me over the next thirty days.”

      Waters struggled to keep a straight face. Cole had said this as if he made such requests all the time, but in fact, it was the first time he had ever asked for a substantial loan. Cole had been in financial trouble from time to time, but he always found sources of emergency cash, and he’d never borrowed more than fifty bucks from Waters for a bar tab.

      “How much do you need?” Waters asked.

      “About fifty-five, I think.”

      “Fifty-five … thousand?”

      Cole nodded, then pursed his lips. “Well, seventy-five might be better. It’s just for thirty days, like I said. But seventy-five would smooth things out a little flatter.”

      “A little flatter,” Waters echoed, still in shock. “Cole, what the hell’s going on?”

      “What do you mean?” A lopsided grin. “Business as usual in the Smith empire.”

      “Business as usual?”

      The grin vanished. “Look, if you don’t want to do it—”

      “That’s not it. It’s just that I want to really help you, not—”

      “You think I’m a bum on the street?” Cole’s face went red. “You’ll give me five bucks for food, but nothing for another drink?”

      His bitter tone set Waters back in his chair. “Look, maybe we need to talk realistically about what could happen if the EPA investigation goes against us.”

      “Why? If it goes our way, seventy-five grand is nothing to you. And if it doesn’t, that money won’t help either of us.”

      He was right. But Waters couldn’t help thinking that their exposure would be a lot less if Cole had paid the goddamn liability premium like he was supposed to. Cole had always said it was an oversight, but Waters was beginning to wonder if he had needed and used that cash for something else.

      “Cole, why didn’t you pay that insurance premium? Are you in real trouble?”

      His partner toyed distractedly with his cigar. “John, you’re like a wife who keeps dredging up some old affair. ‘But why did you do it, Cole? Why.’ I just forgot, okay? It’s that simple.”

      “Okay.”

      Waters thought Cole would look relieved at his acceptance of this explanation, but he didn’t. He glanced nervously through the cloud of smoke and said, “So, you can slide me the cash?”

      Waters was searching for a noncommittal answer when the phone on the desk rang. Cole picked it up but did not switch on the speaker phone, as he once had with all calls. “What is it, Sybil? … Yeah? She give a name?”

      Cole’s face suddenly lost its color.

      “What is it?” asked Waters. “What’s happened?”

      “You’ve got a phone call. A woman.”

      “Is it Lily? Is Annelise all right?”

      “Sybil says she gave her name as Mallory Candler.”

      A cold finger of dread hooked itself around Waters’s heart.

      “Let me handle this,” Cole said sharply. “I’ll put a stop to this bullshit right now.”

      “No. Give me the phone.”

      Cole reluctantly passed the hard line across the desk. The cold plastic pressed Waters’s ear flat.

      “Who is this?”

      “Eve,” said a low female voice. “I thought you might hang up unless I said what I did.”

      “What the hell are you trying to do?”

      “I just want to talk to you, Johnny. That’s all.”

      Johnny … “I don’t want to talk to you.”

      “I know you’re suspicious. Maybe even afraid. You don’t understand what’s happening. I’m going to prove to you that I’m not trying to hurt you. Only to help you.”

      “How can you do that?”

      “Your daughter’s in trouble, Johnny.”

      Waters went into free fall. He covered the phone and hissed at Cole: “Call St. Stephens and make sure Annelise is in class.”

      “What?

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