The Hammer of Eden by Ken Follett Read Free Book Online Page A

patient.
I’m going to make the earth shake, and no one is going to stop me
.
    He went into the trailer.
    The office was busy. Two jug team supervisors stood over a computer as a color map of the area slowly emerged from the printer. Today they would collect their equipment from the field and begin to move it to Clovis. A surveyor was arguing on the phone in Spanish, and Lenny’s secretary, Diana, was checking a list.
    Priest stepped through an open door into the inner office. Lenny was drinking coffee with a phone to his ear. His eyes were bloodshot and his face blotchy after last night’s drinking. He acknowledged Priest with a barely perceptible nod.
    Priest stood by the door, waiting for Lenny to finish. His heart was in his mouth. He knew roughly what he was going to say. But would Lenny take the bait? Everything depended on it.
    After a minute, Lenny hung up the phone and said: “Hey, Ricky—you seen Mario this mornin’?” His tone was annoyed. “He should’ve left here a half hour ago.”
    “Yeah, I seen him,” Priest said. “I hate to bring you bad news this friggin’ early, but he’s let you down.”
    “What are you talking about?”
    Priest told the story that had come into his mind, in a flash of inspiration, just before he picked up the wrench and went after Mario. “He was missing his wife and kids so bad, he got into his old pickup and left town.”
    “Aw, shit, that’s great. How did you find out?”
    “He passed me on the street, early this morning, headed for El Paso.”
    “Why the hell didn’t he call me?”
    “Too embarrassed about letting you down.”
    “Well, I just hope he keeps going across the border and doesn’t stop until he drives into the goddamn ocean.” Lenny rubbed his eyes with his knuckles.
    Priest began to improvise. “Listen, Lenny, he’s got a young family, don’t be too hard on him.”
    “Hard? Are you serious? He’s history.”
    “He really needs this job.”
    “And I need someone to drive his rig all the damn way to New Mexico.”
    “He’s saving up to buy a house with a pool.”
    Lenny became sarcastic. “Knock it off, Ricky, you’re making me cry.”
    “Try this.” Priest swallowed and tried to sound casual. “I’ll drive the damn truck to Clovis if you promise to give Mario his job back.” He held his breath.
    Lenny stared at Priest without saying anything.
    “Mario ain’t a bad guy, you know that,” Priest went on.
Don’t gabble, you sound nervous, try to seem relaxed!
    Lenny said: “You have a commercial driver’s license, class B?”
    “Since I was twenty-one years old.” Priest took out his billfold, extracted the license, and tossed it on the desk. It was a forgery. Star had one just like it. Hers was a forgery, too. Paul Beale knew where to get such things.
    Lenny checked it, then looked up and said suspiciously: “So, what are you after? I thought you didn’t want to go to New Mexico.”
    Don’t screw around, Lenny, tell me yes or no!
“Suddenly I could use another five hundred bucks.”
    “I don’t know.…”
    You son of a bitch, I killed a man for this, come on!
    “Would you do it for two hundred?”
    Yes! Thank you! Thank you!
He pretended to hesitate. “Two hundred is low for three days’ work.”
    “It’s two days, maybe two and a half. I’ll give you two fifty.”
    Anything! Just give me the keys!
“Listen, I’m going to do it anyway, whatever you pay me, because Mario’s a nice kid and I want to help him. So just pay me whatever you genuinely think the job’s worth.”
    “All right, you sly mother, three hundred.”
    “You got a deal.”
And I’ve got a seismic vibrator
.
    Lenny said: “Hey, thanks for helping me out. I sure appreciate it.”
    Priest tried not to beam triumphantly. “You bet.”
    Lenny opened a drawer, took out a sheet of paper, and tossed it over the desk. “Just fill out this form for insurance.”
    Priest froze.
    He could not read or write.
    He stared at the form in fear.
    Lenny