Page 47 of The Law of Attraction
“This chicken biscuit is fucking delicious.” Adam was making The Face again. He ought to come with a warning label. Caution: may erupt into spontaneous orgasm face while eating.
“It’s the honey butter,” Olivia said, shamelessly enjoying the view.
He took another bite and let out a happy sigh. “Goddamn.” His tongue shot out to lick the honey off his lips, and her eyes nearly bugged out of her head. “From now on, I’m ordering whatever you order everywhere we go.”
She gulped down the rest of her tea-flavored coffee to cover her smile.
Their car was ready a half hour later. There was a different clerk in the lobby today, an older woman with long acrylic nails who chewed gum with her mouth open while she checked them out, and looked like she might be the mother of the creepy guy from last night. This place really was the Bates Motel. They were probably lucky to get out alive.
The auto shop was just a little farther down the road than the Whataburger, but there were no sidewalks and the wheels on Olivia’s carry-on bag were useless on the gravelly shoulder. As soon as Adam noticed her struggling to carry her suitcase, he took it out of her hands.
“I can do it,” she protested half-heartedly.
He tossed her a wry look over his shoulder. “I know you can, but it’s faster if I carry both of them.”
For once, she didn’t argue with him.
Tejano music blared out of the open garage bays at Miguel’s Auto Shop. A couple of pick-up trucks and a Tahoe were jacked up on the hydraulic lifts. Their tiny blue Honda Fit sat out front by itself looking like the runt of the litter. Adam talked to one of the mechanics in Spanish and paid for their shiny new tire with his corporate AmEx.
“Do you want me to drive?” Olivia offered, hoping he’d say no.
“Do you want to drive?” he asked her.
“Not really. But after all that driving you did yesterday, I figured you could use a break.”
“I’m okay.” He shrugged. “I got us this far, right?”
It was only two hours to the plant from here. They were so close Olivia could practically taste it. Soon they’d be able to assess the plant’s systems and get started on the integration. They’d know if it was going to be possible to meet their deadline.
Halfway there, it started raining again, and Olivia abandoned her knitting to clench the door handle. Her mother always called it the Jesus Handle, as in oh Jesus, oh Jesus, we’re gonna die, which was exactly what happened to be going through Olivia’s head.
“It’s gonna be okay,” Adam said, throwing a concerned glance at her. “I had the mechanic check all the tires to make sure they were sound. We’re in good shape.”
Fortunately for both of them, the rain confined itself to a steady sprinkle that eased up after a half hour. Twenty minutes later, they got their first glimpse of the Walhalla Power Plant in the distance.
It squatted in the middle of a wide valley like a fairy-tale castle in a steampunk dystopia. The plant was some fifteen miles east of the tiny town it had been named after, built in the nineteen eighties beside a giant man-made reservoir. Adam turned off the highway at a sign that read Plant Traffic, and onto a narrow two-lane road.
Only as they drew near did Olivia truly appreciate the massive size of the plant. She’d thought it was close when they turned off the highway, but it turned out to be nearly two miles away. It was far larger than any castle she’d seen on her one trip to Europe, and far uglier, with great gouts of steam belching out of its stacks.
They pulled up to the gate, and Olivia squinted up at the behemoth structure while Adam rolled down his window. There was no guard shack or human being in sight, just a badge reader and automated chain-link gate.
“Let’s hope the network guys remembered to give us access,” Adam said as he dug his company ID out of his wallet.
“What happens if they didn’t?” Olivia asked, chewing on her thumbnail. She hadn’t been a nail-biter since middle school, but this trip was taking its toll on her self-control and her fingernails.
“Then we sit here until we can get someone on the phone to come out and let us in.”
Fortunately, the network guys had come through, because the gate slid open with a rusty screech when Adam swiped his badge.
There were only eight or so cars in the crushed gravel parking lot, and he parked beside them, in front of a low cinder-block building that resembled a construction site office. There was safety signage everywhere, including one directing visitors to check in at the control shack, and another warning them to wear hard hats at all times.
Olivia didn’t have a hard hat. When she got out of the car, she untied her shirt from around her waist and pulled it on over her arms. Long sleeves and long pants, that was what Gavin had said.
While she was doing that, Adam went around to the back of the car and dug into his suitcase, coming out with his laptop bag and a hard hat. When he put the hard hat on, he looked like Mr. July in a sexy construction worker calendar.
“Do I need one of those?” she asked, trying not to ogle him too much.
“They’ll have extras inside you can use.” He slammed the hatch closed and locked the car. “Come on, let’s go find the plant manager.”
