“I should have brought the rig in hours ago,” he said to his brother, Dirk, in the passenger cabin of the helicopter.

Dirk didn’t respond and reached for a life preserver under the seat in front of him.

A flash of lightning lit the night sky. Heavy winds rocked the chopper back and forth violently. Rain pelted it like machine gun fire. The cabin lights blinked on and off.

Clay turned to Tito Martinez who was seated across from him and added, “The storm turned sooner than I thought.”

Tito shook his head, frowned, and looked out the window.

Clay noticed Tito’s knuckles were white from gripping the arm rest so tightly.

“There she is!” said the pilot through his headset.

Everyone looked out the window.

The helicopter’s search light swung around on the jack-up rig below.

The rig’s three steel column legs, which rested on the ocean floor during drilling, had been retracted and now extended two hundred and fifty feet above the deck. Waves washed across the main platform. One rescue capsule had been launched. Crew members were boarding the other two capsules. Heavy drill pipe had broken loose and was rolling around the deck. Men were in the water, maybe a dozen or more.

One tug boat’s tow line was still tied to the rig. It struggled to hold the vessel in position. A second tug was trying to reach it, but every time the boat seemed to gain ground a swell tossed it back. The third tug was nowhere to be seen.

Clay told the pilot to hover over the rig for a better look. And just as he was about to say to stay clear of the rig’s jacking columns, a sudden gust flung the chopper to the left.

Clay saw the rotor blade shatter. Sparks flew. The chopper’s nose dropped. They hit the side of the rig nose-first and plunged into the heavy seas.

Total darkness. And the muffled sound of screams, screams he would never forget...

______

“Sir,” said the doorman at the Houston Omni Hotel. “Are you checking in?”

Clay managed to bring himself back to the present and looked at the young man.

The female taxi driver turned around and asked, “You okay?”

Clay reached into his pocket, handed her a fifty and got out of the cab. He looked at his watch: eight-ten. Kate, his sister-in-law, was supposed to meet him in the lobby lounge at eight-thirty. Good, he thought to himself. I’ll have time for a drink. I need one.

He checked in at the front desk, asked for his bags to be taken to his room, and then walked into the lounge.

There were around a dozen people sitting on leather couches and high-back chairs having cocktails. He found a table next to the large picture window overlooking the pool and waterfall.

Shrubs cut in the shape of swans and dolphins were up-lighted and except for the trees being much larger, it was how he had remembered it on his wedding day in nineteen eighty four, exactly twenty years ago in two weeks.

He sat down and ordered a double vodka-tonic with a lime from the waitress.

Clay looked at the lawn area beyond the pool and recalled how the helicopter had brought him and Heather, his ex-wife, from the wedding reception at the ranch. What a party that was.

The Gatlin Brothers Band played all night. The old man enjoyed their music, but he especially liked the fact they had grown up in Odessa and had worked as oilfield roughnecks before they got their big break. George Bush, who at the time was Vice President, and his wife Barbara, were there. And the who’s who in the Texas oil industry and politics.

It was a period in Clay’s life when he loved the excitement of working in the family business. Every day brought new challenges. And he had earned the respect of the close-knit oil community. But there was one stark reality: He had been unmistakably in the shadow of his legendary father, D.L. Drummond. And Clay hated him for it.

______

Kate Drummond, Dirk’s widow, arrived at the hotel at eight forty-five. Normally, the two margaritas at Happy Hour with some of her staff at Drummond Offshore would have taken the edge off. But she was both anxious and apprehensive to see Clay again. Why, she thought to herself, after four years, had he decided to come back? To see his dying father? To help the family from losing control of the company to its second largest shareholder, Ramsey Croft?

Kate walked into the lobby. She noticed Clay staring out the picture window and wondered how many drinks he had had. She felt her heart beat faster and she thought about going to the ladies room to get a grip on herself, but Clay turned his head and saw her.

He smiled nervously and stood.

She walked toward him and said, “Sorry I’m a little late.”

“I just got here.”

Kate noticed Clay’s dark tanned face had more lines. He had put on a little weight. And there was a slight trace of gray in his brownish-blonde hair.

Clay said, “As usual, you look great.” He gave her a hug.

Kate felt his thick, sinewy arms grip her tightly and his chest press against her breasts. Strangely, she felt herself slightly aroused. And for those few seconds she felt a bond, a closeness, she had not felt since the last time Dirk had held her in his arms.

They exchanged kisses on the cheek and sat down.

Kate was not surprised to see Clay drinking his customary vodka-tonic.

Clay motioned for the waitress and asked Kate, “How ‘bout a drink? Still scotch and water?”

Kate nodded to the waitress. She looked at Clay and hoped she was sitting with the old Clay. The Clay she had known in college. The Clay she had known before his divorce. The Clay before all the gambling and drinking. She asked, “So how are things in the Bahamas?”

Clay avoided eye contact at first and answered, “Good, real good.”

“You still have that scuba diving operation and lodge?”

“Yup.” He took a swig of his drink and asked, “How are the kids?”

Kate realized he wanted to change the subject and replied, “Brock is working as a hot shot geologist in the Exploration Department. His wife, Haley, is pregnant with a boy and due in five weeks. They’re naming him Daniel Lloyd, after Dad. And Kendra is going to start working for me in Investor Relations in a couple of weeks.”

“That’s great. Good for them.”

“Have you gotten my letters?”

“Yeah, thanks. I’m just not much of a letter writer.”

“A phone call once in a while would be nice. Just to see how you’re doin’.

Clay’s face twitched and he said, “I should’ve.”

The waitress returned with Kate’s drink.

Clay raised his glass and said, “Here’s to you, Kate.”

Kate raised her glass and replied, “Welcome home.”

Clay paused before drinking, looked at her, and then drank.

Kate glanced around at the people in the room and Clay looked at a young couple embracing in the pool.

Clay broke the silence by asking, “So how’s the old man holdin’ up?”

“He still refuses to go in for chemo or radiation.”

“It’s in his lungs?”

“And lymph nodes,” Kate said in a weak tone of voice. “The doctors give him a month or two, at the most.”

“I’m sorry to hear that.”

Kate didn’t know if Clay was sincere, but sensed there was an opportunity to turn the discussion toward the plight of the company. She asked, “Remember the agreement Dad signed that as long as he was Chairman he had to provide medical reports every six months to the board?”

“Yeah, after he had the by-pass.”

“Well, we just found out he falsified them and hid the fact he has cancer.”

Clay shook his head and asked, “The board doesn’t know?”

“Not yet. And the attorneys are telling us he can be sued for securities fraud since the medical exams are mentioned in the shareholder reports.” She frowned and added, “As if we didn’t have enough to worry about with Croft and everything else.”

Clay’s face was expressionless.

Kate said, “He’s really glad you’ve come back,” and looked closely for his reaction.

Clay looked out the window and replied, “I bet he is.”

“He’s missed you, Clay. He wants to see you.”

Clay smirked and shook his head.

Kate was hoping time had made Clay less bitter toward his father. Did his resentment stem from the way Dad constantly second-guessed Clay’s management decisions after Dirk’s death? She recalled how, at times, D.L. had belittled Clay in front of some of the other executives. But in her father-in-law’s defense, he had still been trying to cope with the death of Victoria, his wife of forty-nine years. Clay should have been more understanding.

Kate was, however, certain Clay still blamed himself for Dirk’s death. According to one of Kate’s friends, a psychologist, the fact that Dirk and Clay were fraternal twins may have made the loss even more difficult for him.

She asked, “Have you been keeping up with what’s going on at the company?”

“Enough to know that the value of my shares has dropped by over thirty percent in the last month.”

"Have you read the reports I’ve sent you?”

Clay nodded and asked, “Why is the company drilling such deep and risky wells, especially with the financial shape it’s in?”

“Dad is insisting on it.”

Clay grinned and replied, “I suppose he’s saying,” he lowered his voice to mock his father, ‘We’ve got to earn our way out of this’.”

Kate nodded reluctantly.

Clay added, “And I assume all the dry holes aren’t making the banks real warm and fuzzy.”

“That’s putting it mildly.”

“Has the board turned on him?”

“The Mercers seem to be holding everyone together so far.”

He chuckled, “The Mercers?”

Kate was surprised by the sarcasm and replied defensively, “They’ve been very supportive.”

"Yeah, I bet they have.”

Clay took a long draw on his drink.

Kate asked, “I thought you and Arlen were friends.”

Clay smiled and replied, “Arlen and his father are only friends if they want something from you.”

Kate was not in the mood to delve into the Mercers’ motivations for wanting to help the company. In a way, she didn’t want to know. As politely as she could, she asked, “May I ask why you’ve decided to come back after all these years?”

Clay finished his drink and looked for the waitress as if he needed another one before answering.

“Well?” asked Kate.

Clay looked at her, blushed, and replied, “I’m broke.”

Kate’s heart sank.

He asked, “That isn’t what you wanted to hear, is it?”

“I was hoping you came back to help us through all this. So was Dad.”

“I didn’t create the mess you’re in.”

Kate tried to regain her composure. She took a sip of her drink and asked, “So you’ll be going back after you see Dad.”

Clay nodded.

Kate tried to gather herself. Her hopes that Clay would help the family through its crisis were dashed. But Clay was, after all, her brother-in-law. And despite his shortcomings, she still loved him. If nothing else, she thought, I can at least make him feel at home. She said, “I arranged for you to play golf with Arlen and Rex tomorrow morning at the club. I thought you’d like to see ‘em again.”

“Ol’ Rex Novack. How’s he doin’?”

“He’s fine.” Kate didn’t want to tell Clay she had been seeing Rex for a few years and then asked, “Do you want me to cancel it?”

Even though Clay didn’t seem too keen on the idea, he replied, “No. I’ll play.”

“Then I’ll pick you up afterwards and take you out to the ranch to see Dad.”

Clay nodded.

Kate tried not to show her disappointment. She sipped her drink and said, “I’m sorry I jumped to conclusions, Clay.”