Page 38 of Badlands

“CertainlyI shared my concerns. But what can you do with a starry-eyed daughter? She’d had boyfriends before, but they were chickenshit compared to the Great and Famous Professor.”

Privately, Corrie tried to imagine a high school boy passing muster with this formidable father. “Do you think this relationship with Oskarbi had anything to do with your daughter’s death? He left twelve years ago, and I understand Mandy went on to finish her degree, went on with her life.”

“His leaving almost broke her. Of course, my wife and I wereglad to see the backside of that con. My wife and I, we never stopped supporting her. Her dream had been to become a research professor. That’s what Oskarbi had promised—but of course it was all bullshit, and then he disappeared. I didn’t spend twenty years working oil fields so my Mandy would follow in my footsteps.”

His voice was rising again, and Corrie took a moment to pause and consult her notes.

“My understanding was you both worked for the same company?” Corrie had assumed that the father had helped the daughter land a good job at his own firm, but maybe that wasn’t the case.

“Geo. We both worked for Geo.”

“And what kind of work was that?”

“Fracking,” he said, an instant defensiveness creeping into his voice.

“Geo Solutions is an oil company involved in…fracking?”

“We’re a supplier of fracking equipment in the San Juan Basin oil field.” The defensiveness in his voice had risen a notch.

Corrie swallowed. She wasn’t a fan of fracking, but as an FBI agent it was not her place to express an opinion on that. Her voice hadn’t betrayed her private thoughts… had it? Damn it, she had been taken off guard.

Then she looked up into the face of Driver—and the expression she saw alarmed her. He had picked up her tone. He wasn’t outraged anymore. He was now incensed.

“How’s that water tasting?” he asked.

Quickly, Corrie took a sip. “Good, thank you.”

There was an uneasy silence and the man said, “You have no right to judge what I do—orwhat my daughter did.”

“Mr. Driver, I meant no disrespect—”

“I’m not ashamed of working with my hands. These hands got my Mandy through college, got her a scholarship to graduate school, got me promoted to foreman.” He looked out the window. “Butshedeserved better. She had a brilliant mind. Straight A student all the way. She wanted to be a professor, to teach and write books. Oskarbi was too selfish to let that happen. First, he built up her dreams. Then he vanished… not a word… just abandoned her and sucked out her ambition in the process. So she ended up at Geo, like me, doing contract archaeology for fracking. What you so disapprove of.”

“Sir, I don’t disapprove.”

“Sure,” said Driver. “I saw you drive up—nice-looking ride, that taxpayer Tahoe. I’ll bet it glides over these New Mexico roads like silk.” He paused. “Any idea how many gallons of gas it guzzles per mile? Or where all that gas came from?”

Corrie was desperate to get the interview back on track. “Can you tell me more about Mandy’s work?”

After a glaring pause, he said, “She mapped the proposed fracking leases, showing where the archaeological sites were so they wouldn’t be disturbed.”

“And this was her employment when she disappeared?”

“Yes. It paid well, sure, but it wasn’t the life she dreamed of. She was like you—she disapproved of fracking and hated working for Geo.”

Corrie let that go. “This is a difficult question—but was she depressed?”

“Absolutely not. Next question?”

“What was her connection to Gallina archaeology? Those rocks she was found with were Gallina artifacts.”

Another freezing silence. “Years ago, she did fieldwork up there with Oskarbi, who seemed to have a hard-on for all thingsGallina. And the San Juan oil field extends into the Gallina area. Geo’s going to begin fracking up there. Which was why she got hired, in fact: because of her knowledge of the area. Next question?”

Corrie went to her notes once again, fumbling through them this time. “Do you have any idea why she might have done what she did?”

He stared at her. “So you’re assumingshedid it?”

Corrie realized she’d made another mistake. “Not at all, but it’s a possibility we’re exploring—”

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