Texas Wildcat (9 page)

It sounded like someone’s idea of a joke to her. But she could sense Sam’s genuine concern. Rubbing her face, she muttered, “How in the hell do I get myself into such trouble?”

Sam shrugged. “Honey, I think you’ve been in and out of trouble all your life. There’s a part of you that likes this adventure we’re going on. There’s another part that wants to be home right now in a nice bubble bath.”

Kelly nodded. “You’re right on both counts. But this is even a little farfetched for me. Just the same, I’ve got to prove that I’m willing to do whatever it takes to solve this problem with our pipe. I need to be there, Sam.”

He grimaced. “I know, it’s a matter of integrity and pride. Come here. Lie in my lap and stretch out. You might as well try to get some sleep. It’s going to be a long flight.”

She looked up at him, her heart beating more rapidly. “What about you? Aren’t you tired?”

“Not yet. Come on, you first. I’ll wake you up halfway through the flight and then you can be my pillow. Fair enough?”

Nodding, she capitulated without another word. Lying on her side, she allowed Sam to gather her into his arms. The roughness of the coveralls against her cheek, the drumming of his heart next to her ear served as a tranquilizer to her. The turbo-prop engines throbbed and the vibration of the aircraft soothed her. But it was Sam’s arms around her that made her feel protected and she nuzzled more deeply into his arms like a lost child.

You’re a beautiful fairy tale princess, Sam thought. But if you knew of my physical hunger for you, you would run from me like a wild mustang. Sam supported her body with his right arm. Bringing up his left hand, he gently moved several strands of her silken hair away from her cheek. She was childlike in some ways—trusting, vulnerable. And yet, she was all woman. His kind of woman. His eyes darkened as he drank in her form. He wanted to make love with her, touch that willful spirit that made her eyes shine like rare emerald fire and make her his own. She could be his—with a gentle hand and plenty of patience.

Patience, Tyler, he warned himself. But where they were going, time would be at a premium. A cold feeling crept up his spine and Sam automatically placed his left arm around Kelly. He sensed trouble. He remembered his tours in Nam and that same cold feeling snaking up his back to warn him of forthcoming danger. He glanced down at Kelly’s blissful features. There was danger. Someone could be killed. Dear God, don’t let it be Kelly. Give us a chance to know one another. Don’t tear away this chance…please…But the strange, fluttering sensation in his chest wouldn’t be stilled.

Six

T
he bloody sunrise rose silently across the Rub al Khali Desert. Kelly stood watching the sun, transfixed by the crimson color that heralded dawn. She stood next to the fourth member of the team, Pat Crossley, an H2S expert and diesel mechanic. They had all seen the blowout almost two hundred miles in advance of landing. The orange and red flames roared four hundred feet into the air.

The cargo plane had landed on a hard dirt strip near some Bedouin tents. As the plane landed, it sent the herds of goats, sheep and camels scattering like leaves before the wind. They stepped out of the plane to a scene where pandemonium reigned.

Special flatbeds arrived and the huge skids in the plane were transferred to the trucks. Kelly watched as the Blanchard piperack skids were placed on a second truck. The extra pipe brought from another company remained on the ground. She walked over to where Boots was talking with someone dressed in a long, white woolen robe, inwardly wondering how anyone could stand the heat dressed like that. Even at six a.m., Kelly could feel sweat trickling down between her breasts and soaking into her lacy bra. She came to a halt, waiting for Boots to finish. Curiosity got the better of her and she stole a look up at the tall, swarthy Bedouin. Shock went through her as his black eyes bored into hers. She quickly lowered her gaze and stepped behind Boots.

“Look,” Boots said in an exasperated tone, “you tell Sheik Hassad to get the crew of that gas rig back on site. We’re gonna need some manpower. You understand? Also, we need bulldozers. At least three of them. And two backhoes. We radioed ahead. He said they’d be here.”

The Arab shifted his piercing gaze from Kelly back to Boots. “Yes, yes. My master has followed your instructions. Everything is in readiness at the well. Come, come, we must hurry.”

Boots nodded. “Give the keys of the trucks to our men. We’ll drive.”

“Yes, yes. Of course.” The man bowed, took another keen look at Kelly and then turned, shouting a flurry of orders to his contingent of men.

Boots turned to her. “You ride with Sam. He told you about being Coots’s daughter?”

“Yes. Boots, what about that other pipe? Aren’t you taking it along?”

“Love to, honey, but we ain’t got the room. We’ll send a truck back for it.” He put an arm around her waist. “Now come on. We got a show to get on the road. Sam’s driving that piperack truck. Go keep him company.”

It was strange and hostile environment. Kelly said little as she rode with Sam, keeping her eyes and ears open. There was hardly a road to be followed as they drove through the torturous heat. The sheik’s emissary led the way in a battered olive green jeep. Kelly glanced over at Sam. “The head honcho of the Arab contingent almost looks like he’s a predatory bird ready to take off with his robes flying around him.”

Sam mustered a tired smile. When it had come his turn to sleep he had found it damn near impossible. Lying on her long, beautifully shaped thighs, he had been unable to sleep for a long while. He could feel the yielding softness of her legs beneath him. He had yearned to turn on his shoulder, wrap his arms around her waist and bury his head in the soft warmth of her body.

Kelly had awakened him an hour before landing. A soft, almost maternal smile had touched her lips as he looked up at her. It would have been so easy to reach up and kiss those parted, inviting lips….

“I guess it would look like that to someone who’s never been over here before,” he conceded. And then his voice took on a deeper tone. “I noticed that he was staring at you when you were with Boots earlier. Did he say anything?”

“No.” She automatically checked to make sure her hair was tucked snugly beneath the white construction hat.

“Good. Listen, when we get there, stick close. There’s going to be a helluva lot of confusion at first until we can get the government people settled down and get the sheik’s men organized. The first hour or so is spent just calming the owners of any blowout.” He grinned slightly, noting the clear emerald color of her guileless eyes. “You look like an eighteen-year-old, Kelly Blanchard. Freckles and all.”

Kelly groaned. “No makeup! I feel absolutely naked!”

“But you look absolutely beautiful,” Sam murmured fervently. Her lips were a natural cherry color. And her wide, childlike eyes made his heart blossom with a feeling he thought had died years before. “You’re a witch, you know that,” he said above the roar of the truck.

She laughed shyly. “Me? A witch? I’ve been called a few names, but never a witch.”

“You’re a good witch, though. A caster of spells on men like me who like redheads. I hope for your sake you don’t have anybody special back home, Kelly Blanchard.”

She colored prettily. “Sam Tyler!”

He grinned. “You look so pretty right now, I don’t know if you’d be safer with the Arabs or me.”

It was a magical moment. She had felt the magic before when she snuggled into his arms on the plane. And now, she felt it again. “I’ll take you anytime,” she vowed.

His eyes darkened. “You sure?” he asked huskily.

Kelly swallowed and her heart pounded unrelentingly in her breast. “Very sure.”

“Okay…I’ll hold you to that promise, my redhaired witch.”

There was no time for further talk between them once they arrived at the blowout. Kelly’s eyes widened, her gaze following the billowing flames roaring skyward. The noise was thunderous and talking was impossible.

“We’re in luck,” Sam shouted, grinding the flatbed to a halt.

“How?”

“That flame is nearly perfect. You want it to look like a candle flame. That means there’s very little debris near the base of the pipe where the gas is coming out of the ground. Great.”

The heat was stifling as she followed him across the baking sands to where the members of Boots and Coots were gathering. Already, Kelly felt the coveralls she wore being soaked with her own sweat. The roaring of the inferno was beyond belief, shattering the normal desert silence with the sound of an uncontrolled freight train hurtling downhill at ninety miles an hour. Everywhere she looked, Kelly saw blackened, twisted metal girders that had once been part of the drilling tower. It was an awesome sight and it sent fear through her. How could they cap that roaring monster?

In the midst of the semi-circle of gathering men, Kelly saw a tall, proud figure in cream colored wool robes. It was the sheik. Sticking close to Sam, she walked over to join the group.

Coots was standing in the center of the group talking, and almost immediately the agitated sheik and government officials began calming down. The first step was clearing the mangled debris away from the wellhead. In no time, the sheik’s men were mounted on the bulldozers. Boots ordered them down off the machinery. Much had yet to be done before they could actually begin to clear the debris away. More than once the sheik’s dark, piercing eyes lingered on Kelly. She remained silent, her arm against Sam’s, wishing she could hide. Kelly didn’t like the sheik, his arrogant gestures, his imperial stance or the guttural orders he gave Boots and Coots.

After a plan was agreed upon, Sam took her by the arm and pulled her away from the group. “Come on, we’ll begin laying pipe from the well to the blowout site.”

Once in the truck, Sam handed her a canteen filled with water. Sweat trickled down his face as he watched her drink. “Not too much, Kelly.” He dug out a packet of salt tablets and placed them in her hand. “Take a couple of these every few hours when you drink the water. Heat exhaustion is a fact of life out here,” he warned. “And chances are, you’ve never encountered this kind of heat before.”

“Never,” Kelly agreed, giving him the canteen. “I wonder how hot it is now?”

“Probably around ninety. It’ll get up to a hundred and fifteen or twenty by this afternoon,” he growled.

“You’re kidding me! How can anyone work in that kind of heat?”

He closed the canteen, placing it back on the seat. “We do. But not you. We’re lucky on this fire. We’ve got a water well and the porta-camp will be erected by this evening. It’s our home until we cap this blowout. The porta-camp is a modular-type structure that’s air-conditioned. When you start feeling fatigued, get yourself inside.

* * *

It was nightfall before the porta-camp was completely erected. Kelly was amazed to find that the small corrugated shacks were surprisingly cool. The first shack would house a cooking and eating area. The other two contained cots and the barest of essentials. Electricity was provided by portable generators. The flooring consisted of heavy plywood.

Disappointment registered on Kelly’s face. The clankety-clank of a straining air conditioner filled the inside of the supply shack. A light film of sand had already settled on everything and she wrinkled her nose, running her finger over a small desk which held the drilling logs. She removed her hard hat, glad she had pinned her hair high on her head. Although the air conditioning was set at maximum, it was probably eighty degrees inside. Well, she’d just have to get used to sweating whether she liked it or not. Right now, at Boots’s request, she was logging in the boxes and cartons of food and other supplies. When the last box was checked off the manifest, Kelly signed the top sheet and handed it to the waiting truck driver. He bowed and murmured his thanks in Arabic and Kelly mumbled “Thank you” in English.

It was nearly nine p.m. when Kelly tiredly made her rounds with the five-gallon jug of water for the men of Boots and Coots. Excavation of debris surrounding the outer perimeter of the blowout was nearly complete. Large water monitor nozzles had been erected and were protected by huge corrugated galvanized shields. The nozzles were then positioned within two hundred feet of the roaring inferno. Every breath she took made her lungs feel as if they were on fire. How she wanted to crawl back to the safety of those shacks! Doggedly, Kelly slogged through the sand, walking toward Boots. Her feet felt as if they were being burned up. Boots’s darkly bronzed face lit up with a smile when he saw her approaching. Although darkness had curtained the desert, around the blowout it was like daylight.

“You’re a doll, honey,” Boots said, taking the water and drinking from the tin cup.

“Thanks.”

Colly glanced over at her. “How you doing, Kelly? Hot enough for ya?”

She managed a grin. “Just a little. I feel like a fried egg in a skillet.”

Boots nodded, giving Colly the water jug and cup. “You just make damn sure you take care of yourself. You ain’t used to this kind of heat. I’ve seen more than one man keel over with heat exhaustion.” He motioned toward a helicopter that had landed an hour earlier. “Know what that’s for?”

Kelly shook her head.

“It’s for medical emergency airlift. If anyone gets injured, he’ll be flown to Aub Dhabi which has the nearest hospital. I don’t want to have to use that damn thing on this call.”

She agreed. Taking the jug, she trudged back to the battered white pickup she was using to make the rounds. Just as she reached for the door handle, a dark arm snaked out from behind her.

Momentarily stunned, Kelly froze. The long fingers wrapped around her wrist, forcing her to turn around. The curious gaze of the sheik met her startled eyes. A catlike smile lit his angular face as he stared down at her.

Kelly’s heart thudded with sudden fear. She jerked her wrist free. “Get your hands off me!” Escape! She had to escape!

The sheik lifted both hands. “Ah, an American rose with thorns, no doubt. Hamid was telling me there was a beautiful woman on the team.” His smile deepened, sending a shiver of dread through her. “He was not wrong.”