“How do we stop him?” asked Hayes.
“I think this is going to require a few more brilliant minds,” said the Vice President. “And many of them happen to be downstairs right now.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
“I don’t understand,” said Ernie. “Why would the President and this Santori fella be in cahoots with one another? Why are they trying to take all this oil for themselves?”
“It’s such a rich vein, it would control the oil flow for dozens of countries and would restrict the influx of international oil products,” said Rachel. “Oil is more valuable than gold or any cash alternative. Whoever controls the oil, controls the production of materials, factories, automobiles, the making of phones, everything.”
“Good God,” whispered Pat. “How do we stop this?”
“We piss them off,” smirked Chief.
“Haven’t you already done that?” asked Ernie.
“We have. But we haven’t even begun to really get down and dirty. Right now, as we speak, Robicheaux Oil and Gas is buying the rights to drill for everything in the U.S.”
“But I thought the President was controlling that?” asked Pat.
“He typically wouldn’t know anything about it unless notified. We’ve got the Vice President, and some other influential friends at the multiple bureaus, pushing the paperwork through, signed and authorized.
“By tomorrow afternoon, there will be a press conference in Chicago with the Vice President announcing the largest vein of oil ever found in the U.S., and that the profits will be split not only with the land owners, but the states they are in.”
“Isn’t that going to make him angry?” asked Ernie.
“Oh, hell yeah,” laughed Chief. “He’s going to be livid but he won’t be able to stop it. How would he explain the need to go into business with Santori? No one would allow that if they knew. It will be announced that SanOil is owned and operated by Santori and as proud Americans, we will not allow a foreign company operated by a known drug dealer and human trafficker, to drill for oil on American soil.”
“You guys are really poking the bear on this one,” said Pat. “What about us? What if they come after us and our farms? What if they suddenly come up with taxes we don’t owe, or fees we didn’t pay? They could do that.”
“They could but they won’t,” said Rachel. “Remember we have the legal document that says we are co-owners of the property. The drilling rights will be owned solely by you and the profits belong to you but they can’t do anything without our approval.
“Plus, we have it on good authority that the Vice President and Senator Ming are currently working their networks to get everyone on your side. They’ll ensure that if the President were to step forward and try to stop this, it would look very bad for him.”
“And Santori? He’s not an elected official, afraid of a little bad publicity. What if he comes for us?” asked Pat.
“Pat, we’ve told you. We’re not leaving here until this is finished and that means having Santori and whoever else he’s paying off out of the way. Even if that’s the President of the United States.”
“We trust you,” said Ernie. “It’s just that our families are scared. To think that our own President could do something so corrupt is a bit disturbing.”
“I hate to break it to you, Ernie, but other presidents have done worse. It’s hard to find a man with integrity, honesty, strength, all the things a president needs to possess. Sometimes the public believes in a man, or woman, and sometimes they don’t. They just can’t for whatever reason.
“We can’t all be right and we can’t all be wrong. It’s literally a crap shoot. We could put them through lie detectors or have the best mind readers do their work,” he smirked, “but in the end it still wouldn’t tell us about the soul of a man.”
“I know you’re right,” said Ernie. “We knew this wasn’t going to be easy when we asked you guys to help us. We just never thought this was going to go all the way up to the top.”
“We never think it will go to the top,” said Rachel. “With the evidence from the soil samples, the photographs of the vandalism of the properties, and all the other evidence we have, we can stop this. But it doesn’t mean it will be easy.”
“So, what do we do?” asked Pat. “Do we keep tilling the soil? Watching the crops? What about the security? Does all that stay?”
“Everything stays as is until this is over. The security cameras, the extra men, all of it,” said Sniff. “We’ve even brought up more dogs.”
“We’ve seen the extra dogs. Those don’t bother us at all,” said Pat.
“Is something bothering you?” asked Trevon.
“Well, out at the Thompson place are two men that are scaring some folks away. The Thompson’s aren’t scared. They just said that a few people who have approached the farm have run in the opposite direction.”
“Who’s out there?” asked Chief. Sniff smirked.
