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<blockquote data-quote="stevew" data-source="post: 83957" data-attributes="member: 130">John Ross works the ranch with Al, mending a fence on section forty.&nbsp; Al says, &quot;I don&#039;t get why bringing in Pamela would work.&nbsp; Why wouldn&#039;t you have drug them both into court?&quot;&quot;Just wouldn&#039;t have that&#039;s all.&quot;&quot;Well you don&#039;t owe me no answers.&quot;&quot;What do you suppose Lucy knows about Katherine Wentworth, other than she&#039;s alive?&quot;&quot;You mean does she know JR&#039;s the father of Katherine&#039;s son?&quot;&quot;Exactly.&quot;&quot;We were surprised Lucy knew any of it.&quot;&quot;So maybe she knows.&nbsp;&nbsp; Lucy didn&#039;t cheat Katherine or her son.&nbsp; She paid a fair price for everything.&quot;&quot;Which leaves your brother pretty well off.&quot;&quot;Rebecca&#039;s will was pretty clear how the trust funds must be shared with all her descendants.&nbsp; Which is good.&nbsp; He don&#039;t know about JR being his father?&quot;&quot;No.&nbsp; As a matter of fact that&#039;s the last piece of news I just got.&nbsp; He thinks your Uncle Bobby is.&quot;&quot;Well that could turn out interesting.&nbsp; If he has kids we&#039;ll approach him.&nbsp; No reason to now, especially as Lucy looks to have taken care of their money situation.&quot;&quot;And Cliffs trust.&nbsp; Pamela&#039;s had full access to it since Cliff&#039;s still locked up with no hope of getting out.&nbsp; So it&#039;s not like she&#039;s destitute.&quot;&quot;Good.&quot;&quot;I figured you might be worried.&nbsp;&nbsp; Lucas has put her up in one of the cottages on Southfork while she&#039;s in town.&quot; &quot;I sure as hell don&#039;t need that.&quot; Out by the pool Jay runs up to Pamela and hugs her legs.&nbsp; &quot;Momma!&quot;She picks him up, &quot;See I told ya I&#039;d be watching you, and I&#039;d come back when you needed me.&quot;&quot;Daddy says Madre is watching me too.&quot;&quot;Yes she is.&nbsp; From a very special place.&quot;&quot;Madre use to tell me all about cielo.&nbsp; De pequeño me dijeron que si me portaba bien, iría al cielo.&quot;&quot;Si, es verdad.&quot;&quot;Are you going to stay momma?&quot;&quot;As long as you need me.&quot; He hugs her around the neck, tight.&nbsp; Then pulls himself out of her arms to jump down.&nbsp; &quot;Sofi this is Momma. Momma this is Sofi.&nbsp; She&#039;s my sister.&nbsp; And the little guy Lucy&#039;s carrying is my brother Steven.&nbsp; You can hold him.&nbsp; He&#039;ll like you.&quot;Pamela holds the little boy.Jay whispers in Sofi&#039;s earn and the little girl hugs Pamela&#039;s legs.&nbsp; Bienvenido a Southfork, momma.&quot;&nbsp; Pamela smiles, a bit overwhelmed. A man about John Ross&#039;s age slams an office door.&nbsp; &quot;I don&#039;t want any more questions about my father,&quot; he yells at his staff.A woman in the room says, &quot;I&#039;m worried how this is gonna play out in the election.&quot;&quot;Enough.&quot; &quot;You just can&#039;t order it away.&nbsp; Like it or not J. David Wendell is your father and he&#039;s up against some serious charges.&nbsp;&nbsp; And buying up CalcoHarwood stock as it plummets isn&#039;t making him look innocent.&quot;&quot;How about the Ewing&#039;s and the Barnes&#039;?&nbsp; They&#039;re all buying up shares as fast as people can dump them.&quot;&quot;They look like they&#039;re all in cahoots and with a congressman in their pocket.&quot; &quot;I ain&#039;t in no ones pocket.&nbsp; My father hasn&#039;t ever even given to my campaign.&nbsp; Though he&#039;s given generously to my Republican challengers!&quot;&quot;That&#039;s a hard story to get out there.&quot;A woman peeks her head in, &quot;Congressman Wendell, Moshe Ben-Gurion is here to see you?&quot;&quot;Here?&nbsp; In the office?&quot;&quot;Yes sir.&nbsp; He just walked in.&nbsp; Senator Brown dropped him off.&quot;&quot;Judith Brown is here?&quot;&quot;No she left.&quot;&quot;OK. Send him in.&nbsp; Everyone else get out, but don&#039;t leave.&quot; &quot;Moe, come in.&nbsp; It&#039;s been way to long.&nbsp; How&#039;s things over at Barnes Media?&quot;&quot;Well with your dad and the North Koreans we&#039;re pretty busy.&quot;&quot;I can imagine.&nbsp; My father&#039;s always good for a news story.&nbsp; A merger, a marriage, a divorce, a . . .&quot;&quot;A book cooking scandal.&quot; &quot;I hear CalcoHarwood won&#039;t survive this time.&quot; &quot;Should it?&quot; Moe asks&quot;No I suppose not.&nbsp; So what brings you to D. C.?&quot;&quot;We both know this ends you political career.&nbsp; John Ross is putting together a think tank he wants you to head up.&nbsp; The Hamiltonian Institute.&nbsp; He&#039;ll start you off with fifty million dollars and work the endowment up to ten figures.&quot;&quot;What&#039;s this some sort of peace offering for destroying my career.&quot;&quot;We didn&#039;t do that.&nbsp; Your father did and whether he&#039;s found innocent or guilty there&#039;s no way you come out of this electable.&nbsp;&nbsp; Liddy assures us you&#039;re the right man for the job.&quot;&quot;What am I expected to do?&quot;&quot;Promote free markets, limited government, that sort of thing.&quot;&quot;I&#039;m a Democrat.&nbsp; We might have different ideas of what that means.&quot;&quot;Government&#039;s job is to protect the people and provide necessary infrastructure.&quot;&quot;That&#039;s right.&nbsp; John Ross might not like the extent to which I take those concepts.&quot;&quot;John Ross never hires yes men.&quot; Lucy walks into the living room at Southfork to find Amy looking over fabrics.&nbsp; &quot;Decorating?&quot; &quot;Yeah.&nbsp; The contractors came in to work on our room and I thought I&#039;d redo Bobby&#039;s room as a guest room while I&#039;m at it.&quot; &quot;Sounds like a good idea.&quot;&quot;You sure John Ross is good with this?&quot;&quot;I&#039;m certain of it.&nbsp; This place never really felt like Marta.&nbsp; It&#039;s my Grandma&#039;s house.&nbsp; Now you thinking of touching her studio and he might object, but no, do what you want with the house.&nbsp;&nbsp; Valjean says it&#039;s nice to have a friend in the kitchen.&quot;&quot;Well were way different.&nbsp; I&#039;ve got my tatara abuela&#039;s cookbook and he&#039;s trained in France.&nbsp; Not too many ways to compromise.&quot;&quot;Well I&#039;m glad you&#039;ve taken over running the place.&nbsp; John Ross didn&#039;t like too many people around you know.&nbsp; Marta had her nanny with her.&nbsp; But I&#039;m glad she&#039;s just helping out with the kids now.&nbsp; She&#039;s kinda too old to be doing everything more.&quot;&quot;Well I told her that, to just worry about the kids.&nbsp; I&#039;ve hired some housekeepers for the day.&nbsp; She was very happy.&nbsp; This is a lot to take care of.&nbsp; And I&#039;ve hired a real gardener, not the ranch hands coming to the house hacking away at things.&nbsp; John Ross is just gonna have to get use to a lot of people around.&nbsp; He&#039;s got his study to hide in.&quot;Lucy laughs.&nbsp; &quot;Good.&nbsp; I&#039;m glad you feel good about this.&nbsp; And don&#039;t worry about Valjean.&nbsp; You do what you want.&nbsp; He can just look out for me.&nbsp; Ok?&quot;&quot;Thank you Lucy.&quot;&nbsp; Amy takes her hand.&nbsp; &quot;This feels like home.&quot; &quot;It should.&nbsp;&nbsp; Because it is.&quot;&nbsp; John Ross sits up at the whole in the wall bar.&nbsp; The rest of place is empty.&nbsp; &quot;Usual Mack.&quot; &quot;Afternoon J-Ro.&nbsp; Already got it on the grill.&quot;&nbsp; The bartender hands him a beer.&nbsp; A-Han got in before you.&nbsp; Headed to the little boys room.&quot;&quot;Good man.&nbsp; My daddy use to say his dad would work from breakfast to dinner without takin&#039; a break.&nbsp; I don&#039;t know how he did it.&quot;&quot;Well as you can see we don&#039;t get too many customers during the day.&quot;&quot;&#039;Tis true.&quot;&nbsp; Al sits up at bar.&nbsp; John Ross asks him, &quot;You sticking around after lunch?&quot;&quot;No.&nbsp; Can&#039;t.&nbsp; Got meetings all afternoon.&nbsp; Specially got to make sure we lock security down on that new pipeline from the Wellen Formation.&nbsp; I&#039;ll be headed out there tomorrow.&quot; &quot;Good.&nbsp; Glad to hear it.&quot;&quot;I&#039;ll be at the morning meeting then I&#039;m off.&nbsp; I&#039;ll be back though, for the next day.&quot; &quot;Sounds good.&quot;&quot;How&#039;s that new Forman working out?&quot;&quot;No complaints.&nbsp; Not a bit timid telling me what to do.&quot;Al laughs, &quot;Good.&quot;&quot;Just as long as he knows I take care of my own horse we&#039;ll get along.&quot;&quot;Hector&#039;s an ornery bastard so&#039;s a good thing.&quot;&quot;Only books I ever read,&quot; John Ross says, deep in thought and followed by a long draw on his whiskey.The bartender puts two burgers in front of them. Bo walks out of his bath room in a towel.&nbsp; Liddy sits up in bed turning up the tv.&nbsp; A news reporter says, &quot;And J. David Wendell was found not guilty on all counts . . . &quot;. She turns off the tv and throws the remote. &quot;Bastard gets away with everything!&nbsp;&nbsp; Those two executives for CalcoHarwood they&#039;re pinning this on committed suicide.&nbsp; Bullshit one ran into a overpass pylon by accident.&nbsp; The other slipped and fell on the tracks.&quot; She gets up and gets dressed in a rush of anger. &quot;Drank&#039; it&#039;s OK. He ain&#039;t coming back to the business.&nbsp; He&#039;s been taken care of once and we&#039;ll take care of him again if we have to.&quot; &quot;You don&#039;t get it.&nbsp; My youngest brother&#039;s dead because he wouldn&#039;t pay for treatment.&nbsp; He though the odds of experimental procedure were too great the cost.&nbsp; My oldest brother committed suicide because that bastard was so hard on him.&nbsp; Marta&#039;s dead because of what we know he did.&nbsp; Those two people,&quot; pointing at the tv, &quot;didn&#039;t just die.&nbsp; He as good as killed them.&nbsp; Everyone dies in his wake.&nbsp; And he walks away with a shit load of money.&nbsp; Money I made him tearing CalcoHarwood apart!&nbsp; I just want him to go away!&quot;&nbsp; She throws open the door and walks out. Outback at Southfork John Ross man&#039;s the grill will Amy and Valjean set the table.&nbsp; Lucas comes up from the drive way yelling, &quot;You hear the news!&nbsp; That son or a bitch!&nbsp;&nbsp; I can&#039;t believe it!&quot;Lucy says, &quot;Calm down.&nbsp; We all heard it.&nbsp; Wendell&#039;s been found innocent.&quot;&quot;Oh hell I expected that much.&nbsp; No about BNP.&nbsp; Some New York hedge fund manager is restructuring the Australian British company including spinning off their America oil assets.&quot;John Ross says, &quot;That includes CalcoHarwood&#039;s plays.&quot;&quot;And several others, including in the Wellen Formation.&quot;&quot;So what&#039;s the point?&quot; Lucy asks. Liddy answers while approaching with Bo, &quot;BNP&#039;s struct a deal with their largest investor to buy those assets.&nbsp; The Trident Corporation.&nbsp; Making Trident the nation&#039;s largest pure play oil business. My father controls Trident&#039;s voting stock.&quot;&quot;You gotta be kidding me,&quot; Lucy says. &quot;And there are all sorts of contracts tying Calco refineries to Trident&#039;s oil.&nbsp; And with Ewing Industries controlling Calco that puts us in business with Tident and my father.&quot; John Ross puts the stakes on the table. &quot;That&#039;s enough business talk.&quot;Amy says, &quot;I&#039;ll go get the kids.&quot;Lucas says, &quot;What are we gonna do about this.&quot; &quot;I said that was enough.&nbsp; We&#039;ll handle things in the morning.&quot;&quot;Listen John Ross, you ain&#039;t the only one running things around here.&quot; John Ross shoves him in the pool.&nbsp; As Lucas comes to the surface and starts yelling back John Ross says, &quot;Get your ass out of the pool and go dry off.&nbsp; Dinners on the table.&nbsp; Six sharp whether your down or not.&quot;Lucy pushes John Ross in the pool.&nbsp; When he surfaces she says, &quot;Opps.&nbsp; Dinner might be a bit late.&quot; &quot;What you go and do that for?&quot;Lucy laughs. Amy comes out of the house with the kids and Jay jumps in the pool between his dad and Lucas. Bo takes off his boots and says, &quot;Y&#039;all better back it up,&quot; and jumps into the pool. Walking out of the water Lucas grumbles, &quot;Well that was just damn silly.&nbsp; We&#039;re dealing with a psychopath and they&#039;re playing games.&quot;Bo, John Ross and Jay splash each other.&nbsp; Lucy holds onto Valjean laughing. Amy cracks a smile. A long black limousine rolls down a long drive way toward a French chateau. <a href="https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/10000-Hollow-Way-Rd-Dallas-TX-75229/61870971_zpid/" target="_blank">https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/10000-Hollow-Way-Rd-Dallas-TX-75229/61870971_zpid/</a>From out back a drive helps Pamela stand up.&nbsp;&nbsp; David having stepped out of the car kisses her hand.&nbsp; &quot;How lovely to see you.&nbsp;&nbsp; I&#039;m glad you could make it.&nbsp; We&#039;ve got a lot to talk about.&quot;&nbsp; Out back they walk the sculpted gardens.&nbsp; &quot;So I hear not only is the your daughter working for John Ross so is one of your sons.&quot;&quot;I&#039;m not much better with children than I am with women.&quot;&quot;We have a score to settle.&quot; &quot;We do?&nbsp; I would have at least thought you&#039;d have taken the enemy of my enemy approach,&quot;&quot;Believe me I&#039;d love to Wendell.&nbsp; The fact that he walked away controlling Calco&#039;s refineries didn&#039;t set to well with me.&nbsp; Your scheme made you both richer.&quot;&quot;I don&#039;t know what you&#039;re talking about.&nbsp; I tried to save the company.&nbsp; But between you and me and BNP, I&#039;ll settle for control of Trident.&quot;&quot;Except you don&#039;t have control of Trident.&nbsp; I do.&nbsp; At tomorrow&#039;s board meeting we&#039;ll pick a Chairman and CEO and that&#039;ll be me.&nbsp; I don&#039;t need your vote.&nbsp; You can try and call your friends but I doubt they&#039;ll answer.&nbsp; We will create a Vice Chairmans job for you.&nbsp; Your son&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; Averell will remain President and Chief Operations Officer.&nbsp; You vote against me and I&#039;ll call a vote to remove you.&quot; &quot;You sure you want to add me to your enemies list?&quot;&quot;Let me explain something to you.&nbsp; You cost me several billion dollars.&nbsp; But I still control Simmons and Platt.&nbsp; With it and BNP, I don&#039;t need you?&nbsp; And I&#039;m not afraid of you.&nbsp; Not that I care you tried to set up my pitiful x-husband or that you ended up getting that addle brained wife of his killed, but you hurt Jay.&quot;&quot;Who?&quot;&quot;John Ross Ewing the forth.&nbsp;&nbsp; He liked Marta.&nbsp; And she was good to him.&quot;&quot;I didn&#039;t kill his mother.&quot;&quot;But she&#039;s dead because of you.&nbsp; And don&#039;t think I give a damn about proof.&nbsp; So I plan on keeping a tight lease on you.&quot;&quot;I&#039;m not the leash type.&quot;&quot;You are now.&nbsp; Simmons and Platt picked up the loan on this house too.&quot;&nbsp; Pamela pats his chest and then walks back toward the house. John Ross sits and nurses a beer by the camp fire out back.&nbsp; Lucy sits down next to him.&nbsp; &quot;Kids still asleep?&quot; He asks.&quot;Nope.&nbsp; Jays reading Sofi Stellaluna again.&quot;&quot;You read it.&nbsp; I read it.&quot;&quot;He&#039;s read it twice.&nbsp;&nbsp; They&#039;ll fall asleep when they&#039;re ready.&quot;&quot;That&#039;s true.&nbsp; Thanks Luce.&quot; &quot;Yeah.&nbsp; You&#039;re a good dad, ya know it?&quot;&quot;I don&#039;t know about that.&nbsp; If I was such a great dad, their mom would be around.&quot;&quot;Don&#039;t blame that on yourself.&nbsp; That man had a lot of problems.&nbsp; Lied to his family about their finances. Killed himself.&nbsp; Was still worth a couple million but for some people that&#039;s not enough.&nbsp; For some people it&#039;s all about the stuff they own.&nbsp; Look at this place.&nbsp; Nice house.&nbsp; But it ain&#039;t about that, is it?&nbsp; It&#039;s about your dad and Grandma.&nbsp; Clayton. Bobby and Christopher.&nbsp; It&#039;s what this place means.&quot;&quot;Yea.&nbsp; I thought about changing it once, just to piss off Uncle Bobby.&nbsp; But I couldn&#039;t ever do it.&nbsp; You left for a while.&quot;&quot;Yep.&nbsp; And if not for you all I&#039;d leave again.&nbsp; I rather like New York City.&nbsp; Made lots of friends.&nbsp; And I was spending winters in the South of France for awhile.&nbsp; It was nice.&nbsp; And my nieces and nephews are in California.&nbsp; Just something about this place.&quot;&quot;That there is.&quot; Amy wonders among the paintings of Marta&#039;s studio.&nbsp; A ranch hand comes out of the closet carrying a paint brush.&nbsp; &quot;Up late?&quot;&quot;Me?&nbsp; You&#039;re the one that has to get up before dawn.&quot;&quot;I don&#039;t get much sleep.&quot;&quot;I bet.&nbsp; I&#039;m glad John Ross agreed to let you use Marta&#039;s studio.&quot;&quot;Did he ask how you knew I was a painter?&quot;&quot;I said we were talking while you groomed my horse.&quot;&quot;Good idea.&quot;She pulls apart his snap button flannel shirt and rubs his chest.&nbsp;&nbsp; &quot;I can be creative.&quot; &quot;I&#039;ve noticed.&quot; Al drives the truck up to the back off Southfork.&nbsp; A heavily intoxicated Bo stumbles out. Lucas helps him stand up and the two walk Bo to his cottage and help him fall into bed.&nbsp; Al says, &quot;Not sure he can handle the high pressure business of oil.&quot; &quot;Big deals that could turn up dry.&nbsp; Dealing with people like David Wendell.&nbsp; People who&#039;d sooner have the shit beat out of you than loose a dime.&nbsp; I doubt he even had to deal with bullies growing up.&nbsp; I&#039;m pretty sure he was always one of the popular kids.&quot;&nbsp;&nbsp; Lucas closes the door and they stand out on the porch.&nbsp; &quot;Even has John Ross looking out for him.&quot;&quot;Handsome, rich, a brother like John Ross to look out for ya.&nbsp; Not a bad life to live.&quot;&quot;You see those stupid license plates John Ross has on the cars.&quot;&quot;Yeah.&nbsp; You&#039;re Ewing four.&quot;&quot;Yeah.&nbsp; What the hells that about?&nbsp; He&#039;s three.&nbsp; Lucy&#039;s five.&nbsp; Bo&#039;s six.&nbsp; He gave Amy seven.&quot;&quot;Was your grandpa Jock&#039;s idea.&nbsp; He was Ewing one.&nbsp; JR was Ewing three.&quot;&quot;Oh that&#039;s why he&#039;s Ewing three.&nbsp; Being four always made me feel like his number two.&nbsp; Marta was Ewing two.&nbsp; I kinda miss her.&quot;&quot;She was a good person.&quot;&nbsp; Al puts his hand on Lucas&#039;s shoulder.&nbsp; Facing each other.&nbsp; They hug.&nbsp; Holding each other tight. Lucy and Amy sit in an airy restaurant talking over lunch about foundation business and shopping.&nbsp; Pamela approaches.&nbsp; They&#039;re cordial but not inviting.&nbsp; Pamela says, &quot;I have an offer for the Ewing Foundation.&quot;&quot;Oh, OK.&nbsp; What is it?&quot; Lucy asks.&quot;The Wendell Mansion.&nbsp; I believe it was built in the twenties by David&#039;s grandfather.&nbsp; Trident owns it now and we&#039;d like to donate it to the Ewing Foundation.&nbsp; Contents and all.&nbsp; There are several works of art and I know you&#039;ve got an impressive collection.&nbsp; I thought it&#039;d make a great museum.&nbsp; Maybe the Ewing Museum of Fine Art.&nbsp; I&#039;ve got some paintings of my grandmother&#039;s my father held onto I&#039;d like to donate in her name.&quot;&quot;That&#039;s very generous of you.&quot; &quot;I don&#039;t want the Wendell name used any where.&quot;&quot;Understood.&quot; Pamela hands her the deed.&nbsp; &quot;I want them completely forgotten about.&nbsp; I&#039;ve got a friend with the Wendell Foundation who&#039;s going to give you a call about merging with the Ewing Foundation.&nbsp; Again the name won&#039;t be used.&quot;&quot;David&#039;s OK with this?&quot;&quot;He doesn&#039;t have any say in the matter.&nbsp; He was never very involved with it.&nbsp; Certainly doesn&#039;t have any control over it.&quot; &quot;OK.&quot; &quot;Let me know if you run into any issues.&quot;&nbsp; Pamela walks away. Amy says, &quot;That was interesting.&nbsp; What do you think she&#039;s up to?&quot;&quot;God only knows.&quot;Pamela sits in the back of limousine only to find John Ross facing her.&nbsp; She asks, &quot;What are you doing here?&quot;&quot;Actually that&#039;s what I want to know.&nbsp; Why are you still here?&quot; &quot;I left because I wanted Jay to have a normal life. A mother and father.&nbsp; Sister and brother.&nbsp; He didn&#039;t need me hanging out fighting with you.&nbsp; I figured he would be safe.&quot; &quot;He is.&quot;&quot;Not with the woman he called mother shot and killed.&quot; &quot;I wasn&#039;t in the CalcoHarwood deal.&nbsp; I didn&#039;t want anything to do with it.&nbsp; David Wendell set me up.&nbsp; Not that he did a very good job at it.&nbsp; I didn&#039;t want this.&quot;&quot;No you loved her.&quot; &quot;Yes I did.&quot;&quot;I didn&#039;t come around to fight with you.&nbsp; But I promised Jay if he needed me . . .&nbsp; When I&#039;m done with David Wendell his existence will be a rumor.&quot;&quot;How is that, by proving up Trident&#039;s finances?&quot;&quot;By bankrupting him.&nbsp; As long as he has money and friends he&#039;ll never be convicted of anything.&nbsp; But I&#039;ll make sure he looses everything first.&quot;&quot;The house and foundation aren&#039;t much of anything.&nbsp; His shares in Trident.&quot; &quot;It&#039;s all he&#039;s got left.&nbsp; And a few bucks in the bank and a job.&nbsp; One piece at a time.&quot; &quot;OK.&nbsp; OK.&quot;&nbsp;&nbsp; John Ross gets out of the car. Lucas changes in his room after work when Amy comes in.&nbsp; &quot;How was the office?&quot;&quot;Had to set up a meeting with Wendell.&nbsp; If I want that pipeline from the Wellan Formation, Trident&#039;s in the way.&quot;&quot;I don&#039;t like a meeting where I can&#039;t I Hurd out who&#039;s getting screwed.&nbsp; Plus I&#039;ve got to deal with the OLM who&#039;s holding up the project.&nbsp; So I&#039;ll be in Austin after that.&quot;&quot;What about Trident.&nbsp; Don&#039;t they need to get their oil from the same area?&quot;&quot;Yes. Except they&#039;ve already got a pipeline from where they&#039;re drilling.&quot;&quot;Oh I see.&nbsp; It&#039;s costing me a fortune to ship it by truck.&nbsp; Then I&#039;ve got a meeting in Mexico about an off shore lease they&#039;re opening up.&nbsp; Ewing Alternative and I are putting in a joint bid.&quot; &quot;What about Bo.&nbsp; Is helping?&quot;&quot;He watches that&#039;s about it.&nbsp; He&#039;s over his head.&nbsp; Hell, most of the time I feel over my head.&quot; &quot;You&#039;re not over your head.&nbsp; You&#039;re just letting fear get to you.&nbsp; And you&#039;re not gonna let it.&nbsp; You&#039;re Lucas Ewing.&nbsp; You&#039;re my husband.&nbsp; You&#039;ll do what ever it takes to master the deals in front of you and no one&#039;s gonna get one up on you.&nbsp; And if they do, they&#039;ll regret it.&nbsp; You own a third of Ewing Oil now.&nbsp; That&#039;s more than the quarter you were planning with Pamela.&nbsp; And you&#039;ve got the backing of your cousins, not having to deal with woman.&nbsp; Step one accomplished.&nbsp;&nbsp; Step two, you formed Lucas Ewing Investments, doing business as LEI?&quot;&quot;Yes I did.&nbsp; It&#039;ll own a piece of the Mexican oil deal.&quot;&quot;Good.&nbsp; Now you keep pushing forward and we&#039;ll be in top.&nbsp; There is nothing going to stop us.&quot; Down stairs the family gathers in the living room.&nbsp; John Ross is serving up drinks.&nbsp; He asks Amy about dinner and she informs him they&#039;re having Miss Ellie&#039;s pot roast.&nbsp; He hands Lucas a drink.&nbsp; &quot;Ran into Ray today.&nbsp; Was at the cattle auction.&nbsp; He&#039;ll be there tomorrow too.&quot;Lucas&nbsp; takes the drink without comment. Lucy says, &quot;I can&#039;t believe how well h s done.&nbsp;&nbsp; Ray was never ambitious like that.&nbsp; Now he&#039;s buying property around here.&quot;&quot;Over 800,000 acres in west Texas, including the old Southern Cross that had been in Grandpa Clayton&#039;s family for generations, and he&#039;s added a another 100,000 just north west of here.&nbsp;&nbsp; Shares about a three mile boarder with Southfork.&quot;&quot;Well good for Ray.&nbsp; Can&#039;t be anyone better to look after the land.&quot;Lucas says obviously to change the subject, &quot;I hear there&#039;s about to be an opening on the board of the OLM.&quot;John Ross gives him a knowing look.&nbsp; &quot;Heard the same thing.&nbsp; What do you think about Bo on the OLM?&quot;&quot;I think it&#039;s a excellent idea.&quot;Lucy says, &quot;This smacks of talking business.&quot; &quot;Certainly does.&nbsp; So many we need to talk about getting Bo to settle down.&quot;&nbsp; John Ross sits next to Lucy.&nbsp; &quot;A person can&#039;t have a political career and still be sewing wild oats.&quot; &quot;That&#039;s for sure.&nbsp; That boy gets in more trouble than anyone I ever did see.&quot;&quot;Who&#039;s that?&quot; Bo walks into the room.&quot;You,&quot; Lucy tells him. &quot;I don&#039;t get in all that much trouble.&quot; &quot;Drinkin&#039;, smokin&#039;, carousing,&quot; Lucas lists off. &quot;I&#039;m not hurtin&#039; anyone.&nbsp; Nothin&#039; wrong with havin&#039; a good time.&quot;&quot;Not if you&#039;re gonna go into politics.&quot; &quot;Who says I&#039;m going into politics?&quot;&quot;They got an opening on the board of the OLM,&quot; John Ross says.&quot;What hell&#039;s the OLM?&quot;&quot;Watch your mouth.&quot;&nbsp; No goes to defend yourself and John Ross cuts him off. &quot;I don&#039;t want to here it.&quot;&quot;It&#039;s like like Lucy doesn&#039;t cuss.&quot;&quot;You&#039;re not Lucy.&quot;&quot;I&#039;m also not interested in some OLM board.&quot; &quot;What are ya gonna do, whore around the rest of your life?&quot;&quot;I was thinkin&#039; about it.&quot;&quot;Just drop it.&quot;&nbsp;&nbsp; John Ross stand and sits his glass down hard on the bar.&nbsp; &quot;So what&#039;s this rumor about a Ewing Museum.&quot;&quot;Damn word spreads fast.&quot;&quot;Amy told me when I came in the house.&quot; &quot;I didn&#039;t know it was a secret?&quot; Amy finally speaks up.&quot;Isn&#039;t. She tell you your x-wife offered us the Wendell mansion?&nbsp; 30,000 square feet.&quot;Valjean runs in the room. &quot;Monsieur Ewing, there&#039;s a fire in the ranch!&nbsp; Henderson section 31 they said!&quot;&quot;What the hell!&quot;&nbsp; John Ross runs out of the room. Out in an open fiend John Ross arrives as two fire trucks marked Southfork battle a bush fire.&nbsp; He yells to a couple ranch hands, &quot;Who&#039;s that over there?&quot; pointing to another couple of fire trucks.&quot;Webber Ranch.&nbsp; It&#039;s spread cross the property line.&nbsp; It gets to them oil wells they&#039;re a goner.&quot;&quot;Then let&#039;s get our asses over there.&quot;&quot;And leave it to spread on Southfork?&quot;&quot;We can&#039;t let it get to them rigs.&nbsp; Get over there.&quot; The men jump on the truck and race to the other side of the fire.&nbsp; John Ross jumps off the back of the truck and takes up the hose himself.&nbsp; Yelling at the one guy, &quot;Get that water truck out here.&nbsp; This ain&#039;t gonna last long.&quot;&quot;On its way!&quot;John Ross pushes into the blaze and notices Ray manning a hose.&nbsp; &quot;Ray.&nbsp; What the hell you doing here?&quot;&quot;What the hells it look like!&quot;&quot;How&#039;d the hell something this big get going?&quot;&quot;I can take some guesses.&nbsp; One of us got some enemy.&nbsp; Boy I didn&#039;t expect a candy-ass like you out here!&quot;&quot;Candy-ass.&nbsp; I&#039;ll take you on any day old man!&quot;The fire rages as other trucks arrive.&nbsp; Then suddenly the oil rig explodes and sends Ray and John Ross flying backwards. Lucas, Lucy and Bo come running into the hospital.&nbsp; Lucy asks about John Ross and Ray.&nbsp; The nurse says, &quot;They&#039;re prepping Ray Krebs for surgery right now.&quot; &quot;I gotta see him!&quot; Lucas yells.The nurse goes to explain, but Lucy cuts her off, &quot;Its his daddy.&nbsp; They had an awful fight.&quot;Lucas looks down at Ray as they wheel him down the hall, &quot;I&#039;m here daddy.&quot;&nbsp; He holds his hand.&nbsp; Ray smiles, &quot;You hold in there.&nbsp; I&#039;m gonna be right out here.&nbsp;&nbsp; I love you daddy.&quot;Lucy holds Lucas as Ray is wheeled into the operating room. They walk out to find Bo in the waiting room with his head in his hands.&nbsp; &quot;How&#039;s John Ross?&quot; Bo looks up, &quot;Looks bad.&quot;Pamela comes running in the hospital emergency, to the side from the waiting room and says to the receptionist.&nbsp; &quot;I&#039;m Pamela Ewing.&nbsp; My husband John Ross was brought in.&quot; &quot;Yes Mrs. Ewing.&nbsp; He&#039;s in OR.&nbsp; I&#039;ll see if I can find someone to speak with you.&nbsp; One moment.&quot;&nbsp; She noticed Lucy.&nbsp; The two look away from each other. In the wee hours of the morning Lucy walks into John Ross&#039;s study with Lucas to find Al, Moe and Liddy waiting.&nbsp; &quot;Have you found anything?&quot;&nbsp; Lucas asks.&quot;Sabotage,&quot; Al answers.&nbsp;&nbsp; I&#039;ve doubled down on security.&nbsp; No idea who&#039;s behind it.&quot; &quot;If you find it was Wendell, I&#039;m done with him.&nbsp; I want him put down.&quot; Everyone looks at Liddy.&nbsp; &quot;I agree.&nbsp; But I don&#039;t honestly think it&#039;s David Wendell.&nbsp; He&#039;s not interested in small targets and there&#039;s no way he would have guessed John Ross would be out there fighting the fire himself.&quot;&quot;Then get me a name,&quot; Lucy says through gritted teeth. Out in the cow barns Lucy announces someone set the fire.&nbsp; Someone with access to the ranch.&nbsp; She gets several people up in arms.&nbsp; Several old men saying they remember working for Ray.&nbsp; A few younger guys saying they use to wildcat with John Ross. He saved their lives and would gladly risk theirs for him.&nbsp; One man said he and John Ross had it out over drilling on Southfork ten years ago, slugging it out, but he certainly would set firer to the ranch and he had to respect a man who could take a punch like that.&nbsp;&nbsp; &quot;Then help me find out who attached this family.&quot; In the driveway Lucas tells Lucy, &quot;They&#039;re fine and I can&#039;t send seconds.&nbsp; Jose DeLaVega is expecting me or John Ross.&quot;&quot;But Caracas.&quot;&quot;I&#039;ll be fine.&quot;&nbsp; He gets in the back of a limousine and Lucy watched the car drive away. Amy watches from the balcony. Off the back of the house. Bo sits on the board of an OLM meeting discussing the variance for through land owned by Trident to connect several oil plays to the Keyway Pipeline owned by the DLV Group connecting the Wellan Formation to refineries along the Gulf shore.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="stevew, post: 83957, member: 130"] John Ross works the ranch with Al, mending a fence on section forty. Al says, "I don't get why bringing in Pamela would work. Why wouldn't you have drug them both into court?" "Just wouldn't have that's all." "Well you don't owe me no answers." "What do you suppose Lucy knows about Katherine Wentworth, other than she's alive?" "You mean does she know JR's the father of Katherine's son?" "Exactly." "We were surprised Lucy knew any of it." "So maybe she knows. Lucy didn't cheat Katherine or her son. She paid a fair price for everything." "Which leaves your brother pretty well off." "Rebecca's will was pretty clear how the trust funds must be shared with all her descendants. Which is good. He don't know about JR being his father?" "No. As a matter of fact that's the last piece of news I just got. He thinks your Uncle Bobby is." "Well that could turn out interesting. If he has kids we'll approach him. No reason to now, especially as Lucy looks to have taken care of their money situation." "And Cliffs trust. Pamela's had full access to it since Cliff's still locked up with no hope of getting out. So it's not like she's destitute." "Good." "I figured you might be worried. Lucas has put her up in one of the cottages on Southfork while she's in town." "I sure as hell don't need that." Out by the pool Jay runs up to Pamela and hugs her legs. "Momma!" She picks him up, "See I told ya I'd be watching you, and I'd come back when you needed me." "Daddy says Madre is watching me too." "Yes she is. From a very special place." "Madre use to tell me all about cielo. De pequeño me dijeron que si me portaba bien, iría al cielo." "Si, es verdad." "Are you going to stay momma?" "As long as you need me." He hugs her around the neck, tight. Then pulls himself out of her arms to jump down. "Sofi this is Momma. Momma this is Sofi. She's my sister. And the little guy Lucy's carrying is my brother Steven. You can hold him. He'll like you." Pamela holds the little boy. Jay whispers in Sofi's earn and the little girl hugs Pamela's legs. Bienvenido a Southfork, momma." Pamela smiles, a bit overwhelmed. A man about John Ross's age slams an office door. "I don't want any more questions about my father," he yells at his staff. A woman in the room says, "I'm worried how this is gonna play out in the election." "Enough." "You just can't order it away. Like it or not J. David Wendell is your father and he's up against some serious charges. And buying up CalcoHarwood stock as it plummets isn't making him look innocent." "How about the Ewing's and the Barnes'? They're all buying up shares as fast as people can dump them." "They look like they're all in cahoots and with a congressman in their pocket." "I ain't in no ones pocket. My father hasn't ever even given to my campaign. Though he's given generously to my Republican challengers!" "That's a hard story to get out there." A woman peeks her head in, "Congressman Wendell, Moshe Ben-Gurion is here to see you?" "Here? In the office?" "Yes sir. He just walked in. Senator Brown dropped him off." "Judith Brown is here?" "No she left." "OK. Send him in. Everyone else get out, but don't leave." "Moe, come in. It's been way to long. How's things over at Barnes Media?" "Well with your dad and the North Koreans we're pretty busy." "I can imagine. My father's always good for a news story. A merger, a marriage, a divorce, a . . ." "A book cooking scandal." "I hear CalcoHarwood won't survive this time." "Should it?" Moe asks "No I suppose not. So what brings you to D. C.?" "We both know this ends you political career. John Ross is putting together a think tank he wants you to head up. The Hamiltonian Institute. He'll start you off with fifty million dollars and work the endowment up to ten figures." "What's this some sort of peace offering for destroying my career." "We didn't do that. Your father did and whether he's found innocent or guilty there's no way you come out of this electable. Liddy assures us you're the right man for the job." "What am I expected to do?" "Promote free markets, limited government, that sort of thing." "I'm a Democrat. We might have different ideas of what that means." "Government's job is to protect the people and provide necessary infrastructure." "That's right. John Ross might not like the extent to which I take those concepts." "John Ross never hires yes men." Lucy walks into the living room at Southfork to find Amy looking over fabrics. "Decorating?" "Yeah. The contractors came in to work on our room and I thought I'd redo Bobby's room as a guest room while I'm at it." "Sounds like a good idea." "You sure John Ross is good with this?" "I'm certain of it. This place never really felt like Marta. It's my Grandma's house. Now you thinking of touching her studio and he might object, but no, do what you want with the house. Valjean says it's nice to have a friend in the kitchen." "Well were way different. I've got my tatara abuela's cookbook and he's trained in France. Not too many ways to compromise." "Well I'm glad you've taken over running the place. John Ross didn't like too many people around you know. Marta had her nanny with her. But I'm glad she's just helping out with the kids now. She's kinda too old to be doing everything more." "Well I told her that, to just worry about the kids. I've hired some housekeepers for the day. She was very happy. This is a lot to take care of. And I've hired a real gardener, not the ranch hands coming to the house hacking away at things. John Ross is just gonna have to get use to a lot of people around. He's got his study to hide in." Lucy laughs. "Good. I'm glad you feel good about this. And don't worry about Valjean. You do what you want. He can just look out for me. Ok?" "Thank you Lucy." Amy takes her hand. "This feels like home." "It should. Because it is." John Ross sits up at the whole in the wall bar. The rest of place is empty. "Usual Mack." "Afternoon J-Ro. Already got it on the grill." The bartender hands him a beer. A-Han got in before you. Headed to the little boys room." "Good man. My daddy use to say his dad would work from breakfast to dinner without takin' a break. I don't know how he did it." "Well as you can see we don't get too many customers during the day." "'Tis true." Al sits up at bar. John Ross asks him, "You sticking around after lunch?" "No. Can't. Got meetings all afternoon. Specially got to make sure we lock security down on that new pipeline from the Wellen Formation. I'll be headed out there tomorrow." "Good. Glad to hear it." "I'll be at the morning meeting then I'm off. I'll be back though, for the next day." "Sounds good." "How's that new Forman working out?" "No complaints. Not a bit timid telling me what to do." Al laughs, "Good." "Just as long as he knows I take care of my own horse we'll get along." "Hector's an ornery bastard so's a good thing." "Only books I ever read," John Ross says, deep in thought and followed by a long draw on his whiskey. The bartender puts two burgers in front of them. Bo walks out of his bath room in a towel. Liddy sits up in bed turning up the tv. A news reporter says, "And J. David Wendell was found not guilty on all counts . . . ". She turns off the tv and throws the remote. "Bastard gets away with everything! Those two executives for CalcoHarwood they're pinning this on committed suicide. Bullshit one ran into a overpass pylon by accident. The other slipped and fell on the tracks." She gets up and gets dressed in a rush of anger. "Drank' it's OK. He ain't coming back to the business. He's been taken care of once and we'll take care of him again if we have to." "You don't get it. My youngest brother's dead because he wouldn't pay for treatment. He though the odds of experimental procedure were too great the cost. My oldest brother committed suicide because that bastard was so hard on him. Marta's dead because of what we know he did. Those two people," pointing at the tv, "didn't just die. He as good as killed them. Everyone dies in his wake. And he walks away with a shit load of money. Money I made him tearing CalcoHarwood apart! I just want him to go away!" She throws open the door and walks out. Outback at Southfork John Ross man's the grill will Amy and Valjean set the table. Lucas comes up from the drive way yelling, "You hear the news! That son or a bitch! I can't believe it!" Lucy says, "Calm down. We all heard it. Wendell's been found innocent." "Oh hell I expected that much. No about BNP. Some New York hedge fund manager is restructuring the Australian British company including spinning off their America oil assets." John Ross says, "That includes CalcoHarwood's plays." "And several others, including in the Wellen Formation." "So what's the point?" Lucy asks. Liddy answers while approaching with Bo, "BNP's struct a deal with their largest investor to buy those assets. The Trident Corporation. Making Trident the nation's largest pure play oil business. My father controls Trident's voting stock." "You gotta be kidding me," Lucy says. "And there are all sorts of contracts tying Calco refineries to Trident's oil. And with Ewing Industries controlling Calco that puts us in business with Tident and my father." John Ross puts the stakes on the table. "That's enough business talk." Amy says, "I'll go get the kids." Lucas says, "What are we gonna do about this." "I said that was enough. We'll handle things in the morning." "Listen John Ross, you ain't the only one running things around here." John Ross shoves him in the pool. As Lucas comes to the surface and starts yelling back John Ross says, "Get your ass out of the pool and go dry off. Dinners on the table. Six sharp whether your down or not." Lucy pushes John Ross in the pool. When he surfaces she says, "Opps. Dinner might be a bit late." "What you go and do that for?" Lucy laughs. Amy comes out of the house with the kids and Jay jumps in the pool between his dad and Lucas. Bo takes off his boots and says, "Y'all better back it up," and jumps into the pool. Walking out of the water Lucas grumbles, "Well that was just damn silly. We're dealing with a psychopath and they're playing games." Bo, John Ross and Jay splash each other. Lucy holds onto Valjean laughing. Amy cracks a smile. A long black limousine rolls down a long drive way toward a French chateau. [URL]https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/10000-Hollow-Way-Rd-Dallas-TX-75229/61870971_zpid/[/URL] From out back a drive helps Pamela stand up. David having stepped out of the car kisses her hand. "How lovely to see you. I'm glad you could make it. We've got a lot to talk about." Out back they walk the sculpted gardens. "So I hear not only is the your daughter working for John Ross so is one of your sons." "I'm not much better with children than I am with women." "We have a score to settle." "We do? I would have at least thought you'd have taken the enemy of my enemy approach," "Believe me I'd love to Wendell. The fact that he walked away controlling Calco's refineries didn't set to well with me. Your scheme made you both richer." "I don't know what you're talking about. I tried to save the company. But between you and me and BNP, I'll settle for control of Trident." "Except you don't have control of Trident. I do. At tomorrow's board meeting we'll pick a Chairman and CEO and that'll be me. I don't need your vote. You can try and call your friends but I doubt they'll answer. We will create a Vice Chairmans job for you. Your son Averell will remain President and Chief Operations Officer. You vote against me and I'll call a vote to remove you." "You sure you want to add me to your enemies list?" "Let me explain something to you. You cost me several billion dollars. But I still control Simmons and Platt. With it and BNP, I don't need you? And I'm not afraid of you. Not that I care you tried to set up my pitiful x-husband or that you ended up getting that addle brained wife of his killed, but you hurt Jay." "Who?" "John Ross Ewing the forth. He liked Marta. And she was good to him." "I didn't kill his mother." "But she's dead because of you. And don't think I give a damn about proof. So I plan on keeping a tight lease on you." "I'm not the leash type." "You are now. Simmons and Platt picked up the loan on this house too." Pamela pats his chest and then walks back toward the house. John Ross sits and nurses a beer by the camp fire out back. Lucy sits down next to him. "Kids still asleep?" He asks. "Nope. Jays reading Sofi Stellaluna again." "You read it. I read it." "He's read it twice. They'll fall asleep when they're ready." "That's true. Thanks Luce." "Yeah. You're a good dad, ya know it?" "I don't know about that. If I was such a great dad, their mom would be around." "Don't blame that on yourself. That man had a lot of problems. Lied to his family about their finances. Killed himself. Was still worth a couple million but for some people that's not enough. For some people it's all about the stuff they own. Look at this place. Nice house. But it ain't about that, is it? It's about your dad and Grandma. Clayton. Bobby and Christopher. It's what this place means." "Yea. I thought about changing it once, just to piss off Uncle Bobby. But I couldn't ever do it. You left for a while." "Yep. And if not for you all I'd leave again. I rather like New York City. Made lots of friends. And I was spending winters in the South of France for awhile. It was nice. And my nieces and nephews are in California. Just something about this place." "That there is." Amy wonders among the paintings of Marta's studio. A ranch hand comes out of the closet carrying a paint brush. "Up late?" "Me? You're the one that has to get up before dawn." "I don't get much sleep." "I bet. I'm glad John Ross agreed to let you use Marta's studio." "Did he ask how you knew I was a painter?" "I said we were talking while you groomed my horse." "Good idea." She pulls apart his snap button flannel shirt and rubs his chest. "I can be creative." "I've noticed." Al drives the truck up to the back off Southfork. A heavily intoxicated Bo stumbles out. Lucas helps him stand up and the two walk Bo to his cottage and help him fall into bed. Al says, "Not sure he can handle the high pressure business of oil." "Big deals that could turn up dry. Dealing with people like David Wendell. People who'd sooner have the shit beat out of you than loose a dime. I doubt he even had to deal with bullies growing up. I'm pretty sure he was always one of the popular kids." Lucas closes the door and they stand out on the porch. "Even has John Ross looking out for him." "Handsome, rich, a brother like John Ross to look out for ya. Not a bad life to live." "You see those stupid license plates John Ross has on the cars." "Yeah. You're Ewing four." "Yeah. What the hells that about? He's three. Lucy's five. Bo's six. He gave Amy seven." "Was your grandpa Jock's idea. He was Ewing one. JR was Ewing three." "Oh that's why he's Ewing three. Being four always made me feel like his number two. Marta was Ewing two. I kinda miss her." "She was a good person." Al puts his hand on Lucas's shoulder. Facing each other. They hug. Holding each other tight. Lucy and Amy sit in an airy restaurant talking over lunch about foundation business and shopping. Pamela approaches. They're cordial but not inviting. Pamela says, "I have an offer for the Ewing Foundation." "Oh, OK. What is it?" Lucy asks. "The Wendell Mansion. I believe it was built in the twenties by David's grandfather. Trident owns it now and we'd like to donate it to the Ewing Foundation. Contents and all. There are several works of art and I know you've got an impressive collection. I thought it'd make a great museum. Maybe the Ewing Museum of Fine Art. I've got some paintings of my grandmother's my father held onto I'd like to donate in her name." "That's very generous of you." "I don't want the Wendell name used any where." "Understood." Pamela hands her the deed. "I want them completely forgotten about. I've got a friend with the Wendell Foundation who's going to give you a call about merging with the Ewing Foundation. Again the name won't be used." "David's OK with this?" "He doesn't have any say in the matter. He was never very involved with it. Certainly doesn't have any control over it." "OK." "Let me know if you run into any issues." Pamela walks away. Amy says, "That was interesting. What do you think she's up to?" "God only knows." Pamela sits in the back of limousine only to find John Ross facing her. She asks, "What are you doing here?" "Actually that's what I want to know. Why are you still here?" "I left because I wanted Jay to have a normal life. A mother and father. Sister and brother. He didn't need me hanging out fighting with you. I figured he would be safe." "He is." "Not with the woman he called mother shot and killed." "I wasn't in the CalcoHarwood deal. I didn't want anything to do with it. David Wendell set me up. Not that he did a very good job at it. I didn't want this." "No you loved her." "Yes I did." "I didn't come around to fight with you. But I promised Jay if he needed me . . . When I'm done with David Wendell his existence will be a rumor." "How is that, by proving up Trident's finances?" "By bankrupting him. As long as he has money and friends he'll never be convicted of anything. But I'll make sure he looses everything first." "The house and foundation aren't much of anything. His shares in Trident." "It's all he's got left. And a few bucks in the bank and a job. One piece at a time." "OK. OK." John Ross gets out of the car. Lucas changes in his room after work when Amy comes in. "How was the office?" "Had to set up a meeting with Wendell. If I want that pipeline from the Wellan Formation, Trident's in the way." "I don't like a meeting where I can't I Hurd out who's getting screwed. Plus I've got to deal with the OLM who's holding up the project. So I'll be in Austin after that." "What about Trident. Don't they need to get their oil from the same area?" "Yes. Except they've already got a pipeline from where they're drilling." "Oh I see. It's costing me a fortune to ship it by truck. Then I've got a meeting in Mexico about an off shore lease they're opening up. Ewing Alternative and I are putting in a joint bid." "What about Bo. Is helping?" "He watches that's about it. He's over his head. Hell, most of the time I feel over my head." "You're not over your head. You're just letting fear get to you. And you're not gonna let it. You're Lucas Ewing. You're my husband. You'll do what ever it takes to master the deals in front of you and no one's gonna get one up on you. And if they do, they'll regret it. You own a third of Ewing Oil now. That's more than the quarter you were planning with Pamela. And you've got the backing of your cousins, not having to deal with woman. Step one accomplished. Step two, you formed Lucas Ewing Investments, doing business as LEI?" "Yes I did. It'll own a piece of the Mexican oil deal." "Good. Now you keep pushing forward and we'll be in top. There is nothing going to stop us." Down stairs the family gathers in the living room. John Ross is serving up drinks. He asks Amy about dinner and she informs him they're having Miss Ellie's pot roast. He hands Lucas a drink. "Ran into Ray today. Was at the cattle auction. He'll be there tomorrow too." Lucas takes the drink without comment. Lucy says, "I can't believe how well h s done. Ray was never ambitious like that. Now he's buying property around here." "Over 800,000 acres in west Texas, including the old Southern Cross that had been in Grandpa Clayton's family for generations, and he's added a another 100,000 just north west of here. Shares about a three mile boarder with Southfork." "Well good for Ray. Can't be anyone better to look after the land." Lucas says obviously to change the subject, "I hear there's about to be an opening on the board of the OLM." John Ross gives him a knowing look. "Heard the same thing. What do you think about Bo on the OLM?" "I think it's a excellent idea." Lucy says, "This smacks of talking business." "Certainly does. So many we need to talk about getting Bo to settle down." John Ross sits next to Lucy. "A person can't have a political career and still be sewing wild oats." "That's for sure. That boy gets in more trouble than anyone I ever did see." "Who's that?" Bo walks into the room. "You," Lucy tells him. "I don't get in all that much trouble." "Drinkin', smokin', carousing," Lucas lists off. "I'm not hurtin' anyone. Nothin' wrong with havin' a good time." "Not if you're gonna go into politics." "Who says I'm going into politics?" "They got an opening on the board of the OLM," John Ross says. "What hell's the OLM?" "Watch your mouth." No goes to defend yourself and John Ross cuts him off. "I don't want to here it." "It's like like Lucy doesn't cuss." "You're not Lucy." "I'm also not interested in some OLM board." "What are ya gonna do, whore around the rest of your life?" "I was thinkin' about it." "Just drop it." John Ross stand and sits his glass down hard on the bar. "So what's this rumor about a Ewing Museum." "Damn word spreads fast." "Amy told me when I came in the house." "I didn't know it was a secret?" Amy finally speaks up. "Isn't. She tell you your x-wife offered us the Wendell mansion? 30,000 square feet." Valjean runs in the room. "Monsieur Ewing, there's a fire in the ranch! Henderson section 31 they said!" "What the hell!" John Ross runs out of the room. Out in an open fiend John Ross arrives as two fire trucks marked Southfork battle a bush fire. He yells to a couple ranch hands, "Who's that over there?" pointing to another couple of fire trucks. "Webber Ranch. It's spread cross the property line. It gets to them oil wells they're a goner." "Then let's get our asses over there." "And leave it to spread on Southfork?" "We can't let it get to them rigs. Get over there." The men jump on the truck and race to the other side of the fire. John Ross jumps off the back of the truck and takes up the hose himself. Yelling at the one guy, "Get that water truck out here. This ain't gonna last long." "On its way!" John Ross pushes into the blaze and notices Ray manning a hose. "Ray. What the hell you doing here?" "What the hells it look like!" "How'd the hell something this big get going?" "I can take some guesses. One of us got some enemy. Boy I didn't expect a candy-ass like you out here!" "Candy-ass. I'll take you on any day old man!" The fire rages as other trucks arrive. Then suddenly the oil rig explodes and sends Ray and John Ross flying backwards. Lucas, Lucy and Bo come running into the hospital. Lucy asks about John Ross and Ray. The nurse says, "They're prepping Ray Krebs for surgery right now." "I gotta see him!" Lucas yells. The nurse goes to explain, but Lucy cuts her off, "Its his daddy. They had an awful fight." Lucas looks down at Ray as they wheel him down the hall, "I'm here daddy." He holds his hand. Ray smiles, "You hold in there. I'm gonna be right out here. I love you daddy." Lucy holds Lucas as Ray is wheeled into the operating room. They walk out to find Bo in the waiting room with his head in his hands. "How's John Ross?" Bo looks up, "Looks bad." Pamela comes running in the hospital emergency, to the side from the waiting room and says to the receptionist. "I'm Pamela Ewing. My husband John Ross was brought in." "Yes Mrs. Ewing. He's in OR. I'll see if I can find someone to speak with you. One moment." She noticed Lucy. The two look away from each other. In the wee hours of the morning Lucy walks into John Ross's study with Lucas to find Al, Moe and Liddy waiting. "Have you found anything?" Lucas asks. "Sabotage," Al answers. I've doubled down on security. No idea who's behind it." "If you find it was Wendell, I'm done with him. I want him put down." Everyone looks at Liddy. "I agree. But I don't honestly think it's David Wendell. He's not interested in small targets and there's no way he would have guessed John Ross would be out there fighting the fire himself." "Then get me a name," Lucy says through gritted teeth. Out in the cow barns Lucy announces someone set the fire. Someone with access to the ranch. She gets several people up in arms. Several old men saying they remember working for Ray. A few younger guys saying they use to wildcat with John Ross. He saved their lives and would gladly risk theirs for him. One man said he and John Ross had it out over drilling on Southfork ten years ago, slugging it out, but he certainly would set firer to the ranch and he had to respect a man who could take a punch like that. "Then help me find out who attached this family." In the driveway Lucas tells Lucy, "They're fine and I can't send seconds. Jose DeLaVega is expecting me or John Ross." "But Caracas." "I'll be fine." He gets in the back of a limousine and Lucy watched the car drive away. Amy watches from the balcony. Off the back of the house. Bo sits on the board of an OLM meeting discussing the variance for through land owned by Trident to connect several oil plays to the Keyway Pipeline owned by the DLV Group connecting the Wellan Formation to refineries along the Gulf shore. [/QUOTE]

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