Read Online Oil Change: A Nina Bannister Mystery (The Nina Bannister Mysteries Book 4) by T'Gracie Reese, Joe Reese - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: T'Gracie Reese, Joe Reese
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an environment where everyone they passed seemed to work in teams of two, checking and double checking to be sure that nothing had been missed.
Where giant signs saying ‘Be Safe!’ seemed to be everywhere.
“Ms. Bannister? Hector Ramirez?”
They stood, and Nina noticed that a line of people had formed between them and the door.
“Yes, I’m Nina. This is Hector.”
“And so very nice to meet you two indeed; I’m Tom Holder. I’m the Tool Master on the rig.”
“Nice to meet you.”
He was dressed exactly as all the other workers; orange jump suit, yellow helmet, sunglasses.—but he was much larger than everyone else. He was also completely bald, and, with glittering eyes, he looked menacing indeed.
Somehow the cockney accent added to this air of threat, and was not completely belied even by his broad smile.
“We ‘preciate you’re coming out, we really do! Everyone here on the rig thought Edgar was a first rate bloke.”
“I can see that,” said Nina.
And the line continued.
Various sizes of people, various accents…for, she learned, if Aquatica recruited mainly in Southwest Louisiana, that did not mean all of its workers were Cajuns.
“Man, we were bros. We hung tight, you know?”
“ El mejor Amigo. Mejor .”
“I had, I think you say, inwited him. Yes, yes, inwited. To visit me in Germany. In Hannover. I think he would have liked it there.”
And on.
And on.
The line of people who had conspired to kill Edgar Ramirez and who were attempting to get rich at the expense of the earth’s welfare continued to snake its way along.
This could not be true, Nina found herself thinking. These are gracious and highly professional people.
And yet….
…and yet…
Edgar was dead. And in no possible stretch of the imagination could he have gotten drunk and stumbled into the coulee.
No, he had been frightened.
Of something he had seen out here.
It just did not make sense.
He had come into Bay St. Lucy from his two week shift out here.
Frightened.
Of what?
Finally, it had become, somehow, twelve o’clock.
“There’s one last stop, if the two of you don’t mind. Before we go to Edgar’s room.”
“We don’t mind,” said Nina.
“We need to go on over into the control room. Phil Bennington is rig director. He asked me to bring you by.”
“Sure.”
“So, if you’ll follow me…”
They did so, leaving the room by a far entrance, and struck as they looked down by five huge torpedo-like growths that seemed to sprout from Aquatica’s hull and extend down toward the surface of the ocean.
“Life boats,” said Sandy.
“Those are life boats?” Nina found herself asking. “They look like dark red okra pods, but two hundred times bigger.”
Sandy smiled.
“They’re specially designed. They’ve got to be able to withstand a fall of twenty feet into the ocean.”
“They’re not lowered?”
“No, they’re exploded out from the ship. If an emergency happens, there might not be time for a lowering. They’re also fireproofed and insulated, so they can navigate in and through a burning oil slick for half a mile.”
“You don’t use them a lot, I hope.”
Sandy shook her head.
“We have them. That’s the most important thing. Here, though. Turn right, go up these stairs, then left. That’s the control room.”
They did so, then entered something out of a James Bond movie.
Control panels were everywhere, as were huge tv monitors showing every room on the oil rig.
“Phil? Here are Ms. Bannister and Hector, Edgar’s brother.”
A red-haired man with dancing blue eyes crossed the room, beamed at them, and shook their hands.
“Thank you both for coming out. Welcome to Aquatica. I’m Phil Bennington, rig master.”
“Nice to meet you.”
“I can’t tell you how much I’m going to miss Edgar. He was one of the best I ever worked with.”
“It will mean a lot to his mother that you said that.”
“Tell her he was the best, and that his rig boss said
Where giant signs saying ‘Be Safe!’ seemed to be everywhere.
“Ms. Bannister? Hector Ramirez?”
They stood, and Nina noticed that a line of people had formed between them and the door.
“Yes, I’m Nina. This is Hector.”
“And so very nice to meet you two indeed; I’m Tom Holder. I’m the Tool Master on the rig.”
“Nice to meet you.”
He was dressed exactly as all the other workers; orange jump suit, yellow helmet, sunglasses.—but he was much larger than everyone else. He was also completely bald, and, with glittering eyes, he looked menacing indeed.
Somehow the cockney accent added to this air of threat, and was not completely belied even by his broad smile.
“We ‘preciate you’re coming out, we really do! Everyone here on the rig thought Edgar was a first rate bloke.”
“I can see that,” said Nina.
And the line continued.
Various sizes of people, various accents…for, she learned, if Aquatica recruited mainly in Southwest Louisiana, that did not mean all of its workers were Cajuns.
“Man, we were bros. We hung tight, you know?”
“ El mejor Amigo. Mejor .”
“I had, I think you say, inwited him. Yes, yes, inwited. To visit me in Germany. In Hannover. I think he would have liked it there.”
And on.
And on.
The line of people who had conspired to kill Edgar Ramirez and who were attempting to get rich at the expense of the earth’s welfare continued to snake its way along.
This could not be true, Nina found herself thinking. These are gracious and highly professional people.
And yet….
…and yet…
Edgar was dead. And in no possible stretch of the imagination could he have gotten drunk and stumbled into the coulee.
No, he had been frightened.
Of something he had seen out here.
It just did not make sense.
He had come into Bay St. Lucy from his two week shift out here.
Frightened.
Of what?
Finally, it had become, somehow, twelve o’clock.
“There’s one last stop, if the two of you don’t mind. Before we go to Edgar’s room.”
“We don’t mind,” said Nina.
“We need to go on over into the control room. Phil Bennington is rig director. He asked me to bring you by.”
“Sure.”
“So, if you’ll follow me…”
They did so, leaving the room by a far entrance, and struck as they looked down by five huge torpedo-like growths that seemed to sprout from Aquatica’s hull and extend down toward the surface of the ocean.
“Life boats,” said Sandy.
“Those are life boats?” Nina found herself asking. “They look like dark red okra pods, but two hundred times bigger.”
Sandy smiled.
“They’re specially designed. They’ve got to be able to withstand a fall of twenty feet into the ocean.”
“They’re not lowered?”
“No, they’re exploded out from the ship. If an emergency happens, there might not be time for a lowering. They’re also fireproofed and insulated, so they can navigate in and through a burning oil slick for half a mile.”
“You don’t use them a lot, I hope.”
Sandy shook her head.
“We have them. That’s the most important thing. Here, though. Turn right, go up these stairs, then left. That’s the control room.”
They did so, then entered something out of a James Bond movie.
Control panels were everywhere, as were huge tv monitors showing every room on the oil rig.
“Phil? Here are Ms. Bannister and Hector, Edgar’s brother.”
A red-haired man with dancing blue eyes crossed the room, beamed at them, and shook their hands.
“Thank you both for coming out. Welcome to Aquatica. I’m Phil Bennington, rig master.”
“Nice to meet you.”
“I can’t tell you how much I’m going to miss Edgar. He was one of the best I ever worked with.”
“It will mean a lot to his mother that you said that.”
“Tell her he was the best, and that his rig boss said
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