Read Online A Nose for Justice by Rita Mae Brown - Free Book Online

because he has to make the equipment call. We don’t use the same kind of pump each time. There’s a lot to this. How deep do we have to sink the shaft, what kind of drill bits? What will be the draw on the pump? How many gallons per minute during peak use now and what about projected peak use five years from now? Plus you never really know what you’re going to hit when you go down. So the truth is, the three of us figure it out. Much as I hate his guts, Oliver’s good at it.
    “If Oliver wanted to, he could have bought up the water rights to some small parcels, some properties that didn’t cost millions. He’s shrewd with his money, but he never sneaked around like that,” Twinkie finished.
    “We’d know,” Bunny said resolutely.
    “How would you know?” Pete asked.
    “Oliver’s not a big spender, but little things would show up. He’s in love with his wife. Not a bad-looking woman. He’d buy her a new car or earrings or something,” Twinkie offered.
    “And he’d yank his kids out of the University of Nevada–Reno.”
    “Bunny, why?” A devout Wolfpack man, this touched Pete’s pride in his alma mater.
    “Snob. If he could afford it, he’d put those two kids of his in Yale or some East Coast school.”
    “Stanford.” Lonnie spoke up.
    “Oliver thinks the East is best. I sure as hell don’t. It’s those East Coast buttheads that got us all in this mess.” Bunny snapped his lips shut like a turtle.
    “Got that right.” Twinkie nodded vigorously.
    “Let me go back to one more question and I won’t take up too much more of your time. You said Oliver kept things from you but you didn’t think he was—what did you say—crooked?”
    “Oh, he likes to hint there are rumbles in the office, George W. is going to make a change, stuff like that. It’s a snide way to try and scare us into working longer and harder for no overtime claims. We’re onto it.”
    “George W.?” Pete asked Twinkie.
    “George W. Ball, head of equipment. I think his official title is some more bullshit like Infrastructure. Anyway, he makes all our purchases, everything down to the last wrench. He’s an easy man to get along with, one of those techno guys. He’s up on the latest, whether it’s a computer or better pumps. Guess he has to be.”
    “I don’t know him. Not that that means anything.” Pete recognized that while he knew many people in his own generation and his parents’ generation, Reno was big enough that he wouldn’t know all the natives and he sure couldn’t keep up with the newcomers.
    “He’s from Elko. Grew up by the Ruby Mountains,” Bunny added.
    “I like Elko,” Pete said offhand. “Last question. Jake Tanner. He’s a talker. Did he say anything, you know, how his neighbor hates Silver State or he’s seen a blue truck he doesn’t recognize? With Jake, you’ll get everything, including the last time he slept with his wife.”
    “October.” Twinkie quickly said as the three of them laughed with him.
    “Jake ranted on about the weather,” said Bunny, “about who might blow up a pump, but nothing out of the ordinary.”
    “Hey, thanks a lot. For the record, I won’t report our conversation to Oliver. Given his need to constantly stress how important he is, it wouldn’t go down so well with him that I’d spoken with you first.”
    “Thanks,” they responded in unison.
    “If you should think of anything, even if it seems crazy, let me know,” Pete asked.
    “We’re good at crazy,” Bunny replied.
    “I’m counting on it.” Pete waved as he headed back to the SUV.
    Back down on Red Rock Road, Lonnie asked, “What do you think?”
    “They’re telling the truth.”
    “Hey, we did our duty.” Lonnie checked his watch, then checked the time on the SUV clock. “We might find out who blew up the pump. Then again, we might not. It won’t hurt us if we don’t.”
    “Why do you say that?”
    “People don’t care all that much what happens to a Silver State pump.