.jpg)
“What’s the problem?” I growled, not liking the look on the drill man’s face.
“The ground isn’t stable enough yet to bore through. You just had a cave in, which means you should be on high alert around here.”
“I don’t have time to be on high alert,” I snapped, instantly regretting how harsh I was being with him. “I’m sorry, this just isn’t a good day to be told I have to hold off.”
“What’s up, Sammy?” Mark asked, walking over to see what was going on and catching the last piece of the conversation.
“McCrery is suing us,” I stated, looking up at the sky. “He’s saying that because Dad’s stocks were anonymous, they can’t be transferred to me. They have to be put up for public sale.”
“What?” His eyes about bugged out of his head, his skin flushing a dark red with rage. “That little!” Turning, he cussed under his breath, kicking the dirt repeatedly. “What are we going to do?”
“I don’t know. The company and the broker both know that he owned them. They have to have his name listed somewhere as the owner. All I know is I’m not going to give up. Now, can we please get to drilling?”
In the two weeks that followed, one problem after another arose. I could feel my own superstitions growing, finding myself wondering if McCrery was going out every night and messing things up. By the morning of our court date, I’d all but driven myself insane staying in Dad’s house, trying to figure out how to solve every issue that had been thrown in my lap. Scott, who’d been helping me go through everything, arrived to drive me to the courthouse.
“How are you holding up?” His voice was soft, but held an authority that instantly calmed the more aggressive of my nerves.
“I’m sorry,” I answered softly. “I’m doing the best I can. I don’t know how this is going to turn out.”
“I know you are. Your dad is proud of you, no matter what happens today.”
And so, it was with the whole crew behind me that the judge ruled in favor of McCrery and ordered us to stand down on our operations. I would have gone to jail right then, after seeing the grin on the devil’s face, if it weren’t for Kevin grabbing me by the arm and marching me straight out of the building.