Slip and Slide Read online

  “What is NFDL?” Thayne asked.

  “Non-fatal days lost and Fatal,” Jarrett replied. “Non-fatal days lost notes how many days between injuries.”

  “So, if I dropped a tool on my foot and broke it and needed time off, that would be an accident requiring I take a few days off as a result of a non-fatal injury?” Thayne asked.

  Jarrett nodded. “Yeah, that’s right. Now with the mine closed, the non-fatal days off will begin adding up until the mine resumes production days. The four under fatalities is self-explanatory.”

  The severity of the life these miners must lead weighed on Thayne heavily all of a sudden. He couldn’t imagine what it must be like to literally work underground without windows or natural light of any kind day and night, always feeling the same in the artificial illumination that came from the lights inside. It would be like climbing into an elevator with no light and having the doors shut as it took you down to a dark basement. His hands began to sweat just thinking of going thousands of feet down into that mountain or the courage of the men who did it every day for their entire adult lives.

  The fear the miners must have been feeling when a single spark ignited the explosion and the devastation afterward must have been overwhelming. It was terrifying just thinking about it. No wonder Jarrett had left the life and signed up for the Marine Corps in the middle of a war. That had probably been less terrifying than this life was. At least you could see your enemy coming at you above ground. Poisonous carbon monoxide was tasteless, odorless, and colorless and it could kill a man in minutes. Coal dust and soot from coal fires could leave a man with mesothelioma or black lung disease after he retired, and methane could ignite and burn you to death in moments, all because you sparked something with an acetylene torch when you thought your work environment was safe.

  Thayne couldn’t imagine how he’d bitched about working on his feel all day at the Cut the Crap beauty salon or growing up in relative comfort with two parents who loved each other and provided a home for him without worry for money. He was suddenly ashamed of having a gym membership and nice clothes and the money to buy organic food when these men scratched out a living underground every day.

  “Hey. Where’d you go?”

  Thayne blinked and then turned to look at Jarrett who was watching him expectantly. He hadn’t even realized that his mind had been drifting off.

  “Oh, I’m sorry. I was just thinking about what a harsh life these men lead when they are forced to work underground every day for a wage that barely covers the mortgage.” He shrugged as he glanced at Jarrett. “It makes me grateful for what I have, that’s all.”

  Jarrett nodded, looking a little bleak himself. “Yeah, I hear ya. That’s exactly why I got out when I could… my daddy too. There was no way he wanted to raise his kids to be miners, though I’m the only one that ever worked underground besides him. It gave Jase the desire to find a way to improve the miner’s lives, and its why Steel works so much with metal. To him findin’ beauty among the cold and gray is everything.”

  Thayne understood. There was so much to admire about the Evans boys and it made him appreciate Jarrett’s brothers just that much more. A high-pitched whistle nearly split Thayne’s eardrums and he and Jarrett looked over to find Sales and Lafford walking toward them. They were both smiling just a bit. They were dressed similarly to the way he and Jarrett were in 501 denims and flannel shirts with long-sleeved Henleys beneath. The boots they wore had steel reinforced toes like Thayne and Jarrett’s and they carried two yellow hard hats to match their own.

  “Mornin’,” Sales drawled. “Glad y’all made it.” He held the hat out to Thayne. “Need to put this on and wear it all the time, not just when you’re underground. Mine Safety requires it whenever you’re on the property.”

  Thayne took the hat and looked at the black light on top. The hat had been well-loved and well-worn, dented in places, and was dirty. He ran a finger through the dust on the hat, leaving a yellow streak. In fact, all the vehicles in the parking lot were dusty, covered with a similar fine gray powder that swirled away in the light breeze when it kicked up.

  “That’s coal dust,” Jarrett said, nodding his head at the black dust on Thayne’s finger. “Now you see why they wear masks underground when they can.”

  “Shit, yeah,” Thayne said, putting the hat on. Jarrett did the same and when Thayne saw him in it, he was embarrassed to remember the fantasy he’d had of Jarrett fucking him against a mine wall. Reality was quite different but he still looked sexy as hell.

  “Thought we’d start ya off with a tour of the mine on paper since the inspectors just went down to take new readings to determine if it’s safe for y’all to enter,” Lafford said. “We can’t go down until they’ve given us the all clear.”

  “Okay, lead on,” Jarrett said.

  “Hang on just a minute,” Sales suddenly said, turning to stare at the door to the mobile home trailer as it opened. Jeffrey Boggs stepped out onto the small porch.

  “Let us know when we can re-open,” he bellowed. The man didn’t look happy and Thayne guessed that was because the mine was closed until it was deemed safe. Safety probably hadn’t figured greatly into his plans since he was yelling at someone inside the office.

  “Did you get copies of them citations?” Jarrett asked, obviously on the same wavelength as Thayne in his thoughts.

  “They’re more’n likely in the mining office where that blowhard just came from. We decided you’d wanna wait until Boggs finished yelling at the mine manager, the MSHA, and the UMW representative and cleared out.”

  Thayne watched Boggs stomping toward him. He had the congressman with him along with the two men he’d had flanking him when he and Jarrett had seen the CEO before. He looked pissed.

  “He’s a piece of work ain’t he?” Thayne asked. “You’d think he’d be more interested in making sure everything was safe instead of how fast he could get more miners down in the mine.”

  “Yeah, ain’t that way with that’un,” Lafford said. “Ever since he took over two and a half years ago when their little ‘collective’ bought the Red Hills Mine, the miners say he’s been down here regularly pissing and moaning about one thing or another. It’s getting old as far as they’re concerned.”

  Boggs spotted them as he walked up and he frowned even harder, gesturing with his hands. “Great. Now I got the AT—fuckin—F up my ass too. How am I supposed to run a mine and turn a profit when all I do is worry about explosions brought about by miners who decide to bring acetylene blow torches into a mine to do a job where there’s firedamp and afterdamp present?” he shouted. “I swear, not one of these hillbilly rednecks has a third grade education and can think with any certainty how to take a shit in the morning if their foreman don’t show ‘em how to first!”

  Jarrett stepped forward and Thayne saw the anger in the set of his jaw as his ice-blue eyes flashed sparks of rage. “Maybe it’s the blowhard CEO who thinks that men should work in unsafe conditions who don’t have a third grade education,” he said through gritted teeth. “Maybe you should pipe down before you gain yourself any more enemies than I’m guessin’ you already got, Boggs,” Jarrett added.

  Boggs’s round cheeks flushed brilliant red and suddenly his head looked like it would explode as he whirled on Jarrett. “How dare you talk to me like that!”

  Thayne couldn’t stand it anymore. “No. How dare you talk to him like that! You have a lot of nerve speaking like that when you have no idea what caused the accident. Blaming the miners for something without getting the results of our full investigation isn’t a very smart move for such an ‘educated’ man,” he said, making quote marks in the air. He was fuming and as much as he enjoyed watching Jarrett put him in his place, he couldn’t help but to join in himself. It was too fun watching Boggs’s reaction as he stared at him and sputtered.

  Boggs opened and shut
his mouth to say something several times before finally turning to the congressman. “Come, Clifford. I see talking to the authorities is useless.” He turned back to Jarrett and pointed his finger, shaking it. “I will speak to your superior, never fail.” He swung around and stomped off to his Mercedes with the silent congressman and his two associates following in his tracks. They climbed into the car and peeled out of the parking lot, kicking up a cloud of dust as they drove away.

  “I will speak to your superior! Never fail! Muahahahaha!” Jarrett mocked and Thayne and the two agents just laughed. “What an asshole,” he muttered.

  “He is that,” Sales said. “Now you see a little of what we’ve been dealin’ with.”

  “Now that the coast is clear, come inside the office and we’ll show you a layout of the mine and the safety citations if we can get a hold of them,” Lafford said.

  “Okay, thanks,” Thayne said. They trudged up to the office door and climbed the two stairs as the door swung open. A barrel-chested man stepped out and Thayne instantly recognized him as Bert Middleton, the shift foreman they’d met in the hospital. He reached up and tipped his hat at them when he saw the four of them.

  “Hey, Bert. How’s Harlan doin’ this mornin’?” Sales asked, stopping in front of the man. Middleton reached up and took hold of his thick mustache, twirling the end of the long whiskers as he looked them over.

  “He’s doin’ better. Thanks for askin’. Doc says he’ll be able to go home in a few days if his lung function improves.”

  “Good. That’s good,” Lafford said. “Give him our best when ya see him, will ya?”

  “Yeah, I’ll do that. Y’all here to tour the mine? Don’t think the inspectors is done with it yet and accordin’ to Boggs it’s costin’ the minin’ company a fortune.”

  “What’s important is that the mine is deemed safe before any of the miners return to work,” Thayne said. “The sooner we get in there to determine what caused the explosion, the quicker your men can return to work.”

  “We know they need their jobs,” Jarrett began. “But until we’re sure it’s safe, they can’t go back.”

  “Well, my folk gots families to feed and if they can’t earn, they can’t eat so do what ya gotta do and get the hell out so we can return to the mine,” Bert drawled. He turned and walked away from them and Thayne exchanged a glance with Jarrett. He could see how deeply upset his partner was. He honestly looked just as bad as he felt himself. The other two agents looked downright grim as they said nothing further and stepped inside the office.

  The front room was empty and there was a long picnic table with maps spread out over it along one wall and a white dry-erase board set up in the corner. On the dry-erase board was a small box with the headings Red Hills Mine and National. Under each header were the same two designations they’d seen on the sign outside: NFDL and Fatal and under that to the left were the last ten years. To the right of them under NFDL and Fatal were the same numbers they’d noted outside.

  “Until a few nights ago, they had fewer non-fatal days lost than the national average,” Jarrett said, studying the whiteboard and comparing the Red Hills Mine to the national numbers.

  “Yeah, that’s a pity,” Sales added.

  “The map of the mine is here,” Lafford said, holding his hand out to the long picnic table.

  “We can show you where the sealed portion of the mine is and give you an idea of where the dead miners and Harlan Sizemore were found,” Sales said. He walked over to the table and Lafford, Jarrett, and Thayne followed.

  Thayne looked around searching for whoever Boggs had been yelling at and then he heard someone talking into a phone on the other side of a wall, separated by a closed door between the rooms. Whoever it was didn’t sound happy as he argued with someone.

  Maps were laid out on the long picnic tables and Thayne looked them over. They appeared to be a drawing of the mine as an overhead view. One section was clearly noted in red and over it was stamped “Sealed”. That must have been the worked out area which the Red Hills Mine had sealed off from the rest of the active mine. Three circles were clearly drawn onto the map where that portion of the mine met the wide central shaft. Three other sections were drawn to the left of the central shaft in black. They were headed A, B, and C. Lafford pointed to that area.

  “This here’s the three branches of active mine. One central shaft and three to the left. As you can see, the section to the right in red is the sealed portion. It’s the deepest portion of the mine.” He touched the map showing Thayne and Jarrett as he talked. “The seals were located here and the two miners who died in the blast were found in the main shaft right beside them.” He pointed to the three circles Thayne had identified before which separated the sealed section of mine. Small flags noted where the two miners fell. Their names were penned on the flags.

  “How far into the mine is the shaft that was sealed?” Thayne asked.

  “Almost fourteen hundred feet,” Sales replied. “The other three shafts are much closer as you can see here,” he said pointing to the map.

  Thayne noticed the depth of the shafts as Sales pointed to them. Twelve hundred, one thousand, and eight hundred and fifty feet were the depth of the other shafts. His mind went wild. As he looked at the map it was clear to him that the sealed section of the mine should have posed no threat to the miners once it had been sealed… provided the seals held. Obviously, they had not. When the two miners went in to cut and replace the roof straps, the two months’ worth of methane built up behind the leaking seal had ignited, killing the two miners instantly in the ensuing explosion. The resulting fire had deprived the atmosphere in the mine of oxygen and replaced it with carbon monoxide which then killed two of the remaining miners before they were able to escape.

  Two of the dead miners, according to their positions marked with flags on the map, had died deep in the mine in the B Left shaft that the injured miner had told them about in the hospital, at least a thousand feet from the entrance. Those two men had been walled off by a partial collapse before they died of a lack of oxygen even with their SCSR devices. Harlan Sizemore, the only survivor after the explosion, had succumbed a mere two hundred feet from the entrance making him the first man to be found when the rescue teams when in. If he hadn’t had his SCSR equipment with him and if he hadn’t already been on his way to the surface to get a machine part, he would have died as well. He was a very fortunate man.

  Thayne looked up at Jarrett as he traced the miner’s location and escape routes with his finger. “It clearly looks like a methane explosion, Jarrett. I’m not so sure we’re needed here.”

  Jarrett eyeballed him and nodded. “It appears to be so, that don’t mean it is, Wolfe. We need to go down there.”

  Thayne swallowed hard. That was what he expected Jarrett to say and he was prepared for it. He nodded. “Yeah. Let’s see if we can get down there as soon as we get the all clear.” He glanced at Sales and Lafford. They both wore grim expressions. “Were you able to get copies of the citations?”

  Lafford frowned and shook his head. “Actually, no. We came in here to talk to the mine manager this mornin’ but he was in with Boggs so we haven’t had a chance to ask yet.”

  As if on cue the door separating the front office from the back office opened and a short older man with a massive handlebar mustache walked out. He was wearing the same uniform of all the miners right down to the bright yellow hat and cap light. He did not look happy as he walked up to them.

  “Now, who’s this?” he asked, frowning at Thayne and Jarrett.

  Thayne stuck his hand in his jeans and pulled out his credentials, flipping the wallet open to show the man. “Special Agent Thayne Wolfe,” Thayne said. “This is my partner, Special Agent Jarrett Evans.”

  The man stared hard at their credentials before looking up. “More ATF? What do y’all think this is, a convention? Y
ou guys can join the MSHA and the UMW outside. They’d be the ones suckin’ each other’s dicks and givin’ me an ulcer.”

  Thayne had to bite his lip to keep from bursting into laughter as he watched the guy reach into his pants pocket and pull out a prescription bottle. He popped the lid and shook two pills into his hand, popping them into his mouth and chewing them.

  “This delightful creature is Doug Haney, the Red Hills Mine’s manager and safety officer,” Lafford said.

  “Yeah, well, you’d be fuckin’ pissed if everyone was blamin’ your ass for something ya got no control over. That phone call was the bank tryin’ to freeze my operatin’ funds until this is all settled. Havin’ y’all here is gonna ruin us. How am I supposed to pay my miners if the bank freezes our accounts? These folks got families to feed.” The man was clearly pissed but Thayne had questions.

  “I know you’re upset, Mr. Haney,” Thayne began, “But we can’t leave until we’ve determined the cause of the explosion. I think you know that.”

  “Doug, just cooperate and we’ll get out of your hair as soon as we can. You know we have to be here or we wouldn’t be, as much as we enjoy your charmin’ personality,” Sales said.