Part 21 (2/2)

So he opted for a different technique. One that encouraged the witness to talk-about himself, his work, and his life. That technique required a provocative opening inquiry and a certain amount of patience. Most people want to convince you that they're good, that their work is important, that their lives are relevant. If given the opportunity, they will talk. And if their favorite topic of conversation happens to be the person they see in the mirror-and Billy Bob Barnett seemed that type of man-they will talk a lot. Reveal a lot. Perhaps even incriminate themselves. Book felt certain that the man sitting across the desk had much to offer in the way of self-incrimination.

Billy Bob's eyes slowly came off Nadine and onto Book; he held his expression a moment then broke into a hearty laugh.

'Well, good morning to you, too, Professor. d.a.m.n, you sure don't waste any time with small talk, do you? h.e.l.l, and I was gonna try and recruit you away from UT for our new A&M law school. Professor of your stature, just what we need to get it off the ground. Five years from now, our law school will be better than yours.'

Only a hundred miles separates the University of Texas at Austin and Texas A&M University at College Station, but the two schools have been bitter archrivals for over a hundred years. Both enroll fifty thousand students, but the student bodies resemble the national political parties: UT is liberal, green, anti-war, and Democrat; A&M is conservative, oil and gas, the corps, and Republican. The Lyndon Baines Johnson Library and Museum stands on the UT campus; the George H. W. Bush Presidential Library stands on the A&M campus. The schools have competed in putting prominent politicians, business leaders, scientists, military officers, academics, artists, actors, and athletes into the world-but never lawyers. Because A&M had no law school. Until now. The A&M alumni had finally gotten their law school, and they were determined to fund it to whatever extent necessary to top UT. Billy Bob jabbed the unlit cigar in the air.

'And we're sure as h.e.l.l not gonna hire a bunch of G.o.dd.a.m.n left-wing professors from Harvard and Yale, I guarand.a.m.ntee you.'

'Not enough jobs for law grads as it is, might not be the best time to start a new law school.'

'Not to worry, Professor. Aggies take care of each other. We're akin to a cult, like Mormons without the extra wives. We'll make d.a.m.n sure every graduate gets a job. And Mr. Barnett was my daddy. I'm just Billy Bob.'

'Billy Bob. Same question. Are your fracking-'

'Hydraulic fracturing,' he said, carefully p.r.o.nouncing each syllable as if he were a kindergartner sounding out the words. 'We don't say ”fracking.” Myself, I prefer ”hydraulic stimulation.”'

'Why not fracking?'

'Stimulation sounds fun; not so much fracking. And some sci-fi movie used it like the F-word, to mean s.e.x. Environmentalists picked up on it, plastered it on T-s.h.i.+rts, billboards, b.u.mper stickers. ”Frack Me” ... ”Frack You” ... ”Frack Off” ... ”Frack This” ... ”Frack That” ...'

Nadine giggled.

'It ain't funny,' Billy Bob said.

'It's pretty funny.'

Billy Bob bit down on the cigar, leaned back in his throne, crossed his thick arms, and studied Nadine Honeywell a long uncomfortable moment. He removed the cigar.

'You want a job, Honeywell?'

'I want to be a chef.'

'The h.e.l.l you doing in law school?'

'My dad wants me to be a lawyer.'

Billy Bob nodded. 'My dad wanted me to be a lawyer, too. Respectable. Instead, I'm rich. Course, I wouldn't have been a good lawyer, never was much for book work. So I went to A&M.'

'Was he mad when you didn't go to law school?'

Billy Bob grinned. 'Fit to be tied.'

'Did he ever forgive you?'

'He died.'

That thought lingered like cigar smoke until Book broke the silence.

'Billy Bob, is your hydraulic stimulation contaminating the groundwater?'

Billy Bob snapped back to the moment. 'h.e.l.l, no. The Energy Inst.i.tute at your own UT confirmed that, said there's no direct connection between hydraulic stimulation and ground water contamination.'

'Well, that might be so, but your own lawyer said otherwise.'

'The h.e.l.l you talking about?'

Book pulled out Nathan's letter and slid it across the desk. Billy Bob examined the envelope then removed and read the letter. He sniffled and breathed through his mouth. He finally looked up with a frown.

'Aren't lawyers supposed to be loyal to their clients?'

'Some lawyers have consciences.'

'Not the ones I hire.'

The frown left, and he sighed.

'Nathan was a good boy and a good lawyer. Smart and dependable. Cute gal for a wife. What's her name?'

'Brenda.'

'Yeah, Brenda.' He shook his head. 'His kid's gonna grow up without a dad.'

'Was Nathan your primary lawyer?'

'Here in Marfa. Tom Dunn-you met him, I heard-he's my main lawyer. Nathan handled my day-to-day matters down here-lawsuits, leases, permits, contracts, that sort of thing. He was a hard-working lawyer. I liked him. Real sorry he died. Terrible accident. I told him to slow down-'

'He drove fast?'

'This is West Texas. Everyone drives fast. But I don't have a clue what he's talking about in this letter, Professor. I'm a fracker'-he grimaced-'a stimulator and d.a.m.n proud of it. I'm saving America from the Muslims and Europe from the Russians.'

'What do you do on weekends?'

'And contrary to what you hear and read in the left-wing media, fracking'-another grimace-'stimulation is completely safe to humans and the environment.'

He picked up the remote control and pointed it at the TV. The screen flashed on to a YouTube video showing a drilling rig.

'Watch and learn, Professor-the ABCs of hydraulic stimulation.'

The video played on the screen narrated by a friendly male voice, as if Mister Rogers were explaining fracking to the neighborhood kids.

The narrator: 'Geologists have known for years that substantial deposits of oil and natural gas are trapped in deep shale formations. These shale reservoirs were created tens of millions of years ago. Around the world today, with modern horizontal drilling techniques and hydraulic fracturing, the trapped oil and natural gas in these shale reservoirs is being safely and efficiently produced, gathered, and distributed to customers. Let's look at the drilling and completion process of a typical oil and natural gas well.'

A color animation depicted the drilling of a well through a cross-section of the earth.

'Shale reservoirs are usually one mile or more below the surface, well below any underground source of drinking water, which is typically no more than three hundred to one thousand feet below the surface.'

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