Monster: Tale Loch Ness Read Online Free PDF Page B

the challenge. It's not my fault you're a schmuck!"
    Scotty put his arm on Reddington's shoulder. "I took this job because of you. But now I'm having second thoughts."
    "Here comes the bullshit," Reddington said, still laughing.
    Climbing on to the drilling platform, Reddington introduced Scotty to the members of the current shift who were pulling the drill pipe out of the well.
    "Why the trip?" Scotty asked, referring to the maneuver. "We lose a bit?"
    "No," Reddington explained. "We hit some hard chert-silica strata, and we need a real chomper down there or we'll be here forever."
    Scotty watched the movement, listening. He loved the noises, the smells, the chatter.
    "I saw the kids before I left," he said.
    "You did?" Reddington asked, beaming. "How'd they look?"
    "Great. I've got the two handsomest godchildren in the world."
    "Did they tell you I'm bringing them over in July?"
    "Sure did. They also asked me to ask you if you'd bring over mama, too."
    Reddington frowned. "That's some thought. I've got the divorce papers back in the apartment and a slew of letters from Margaret's lawyers as well as a couple of nasty ones from Margaret herself." He shook his head, leaned against a deck crane, which was offloading a supply tug, then looked out toward Drumnadrochit, a small village nestled in the crook of Urquhart Bay. "You should have married her yourself. She was your friend." He shook his head again, as if to clear it. "All right, what's done is done. So let's forget the bullshit. You're here, you bastard. Right here. I told you one day we'd work together. I told you I'd make it happen." He punched Scotty in the arm, a habit retained from the days he was fourth-string defensive end at USC, a pincushion for weekly simulation drills. "So let's go. Into the valley of death. I've got a load of executives waiting on pins and needles for your appearance. They think some godlike football hero is going to walk into the room."
    They climbed down from the drilling platform, entered the executive quarters beneath the forward helipad, and walked through the dining, rec, and radio rooms. Reddington introduced Scotty to the staffs, then accompanied Scotty into the superintendent's office, where Bill Nunn and Mike Grabowski were waiting.
    "These are the slaves," Reddington announced as he slid his way into a chair. "Bill Nunn, our well-site geologist. Mike Grabowski, our engineer." He pointed to Scotty. "The hero. Scotty Bruce." He laughed as the three men shook hands, exchanging quips. "Careful, Scotty. Don't make the standard operating error. Don't mistake Grabowski for a rabbi. I know he looks it, especially with the beard, but he's not. Though his parents never got over the fact that he didn't become one like the rest of his brothers. Grabowski will tell you. His parents nearly croaked when he burned his yarmulke and announced he was going to spend his life drilling holes."
    "Is that so?" Scotty asked, stern faced, positioning himself at a work table, which was covered with the drill ship's mud and bit records, the morning and daily drilling reports, and the team's most recent blowout-prevention calculations.
    "Red has a way of exaggerating," Grabowski said.
    "The hell!" Reddington declared, looking at Scotty for support.
    "Grabowski's parents made life so miserable for him in the States, he had to pack his bags and transfer here to Inverness. In fact, he arrived just in time to watch Bill Nunn confront the Free Church."
    Nunn cringed. "Oh, Christ, must you," he said. "I'd almost forgotten the damn incident."
    "Bull," Reddington snapped. "Scotty, Nunn may be a geologist, but once he reaches shore, he Dr. Jekylls into a regular A. J. Foyt, equipped with a suped-up motorcycle and black crash suit. He plays the trumpet, too, though we had to prohibit the thing from the Columbus because the men started to complain." Nunn shook his head in mock disbelief. "Anyway," Reddington continued, "Nunn got drunk one Sunday and rode his cycle into