Crude Intentions

Chapter 6: The Buyout

The bell above the Goliad Cafe door didn't just chime; it rattled against the glass as Theo slammed the door open.

The entire diner fell into dead silence. The clinking of silverware stopped, and the low murmur of conversation vanished, replaced by the heavy hum of the neon pie case. Every eye in the place locked onto the doorway.

They were quite a sight. Charlie, covered in dust and sweat, her landman abstract clutched tightly under her arm. And right beside her, standing a commanding six-foot-three, was Theo Vance—an international billionaire CEO in a translucent, damp white dress shirt, mud-splattered slacks, and neon-yellow rubber muck boots.

But Theo didn't look ridiculous. He looked terrifying. The sheer power radiating off him made the bright yellow boots seem like a deliberate, menacing choice.

Garrett Cole froze at the corner booth, the gold pen still hovering in his hand. Sitting across from him were the Henderson heirs—Ms. Mae, a sharp-eyed matriarch in her late seventies, and her two younger brothers, both wearing faded cowboy hats.

"Charlie?" Ms. Mae asked, her brow furrowing as she looked past Garrett. "What in heaven's name happened to you? And who is your friend?"

"He's no friend, Ms. Mae," Garrett interrupted quickly, recovering his slick composure. He stood up, smoothing his shirt, a greasy smile plastered across his face. "This is Theodore Vance. The corporate raider I was just warning you about. Looks like his fancy city truck couldn't handle our backroads, and now he’s desperate enough to disrupt your business."

Theo didn't say a word. He just marched across the linoleum floor, his yellow boots making a heavy, deliberate thud-thud-thud that echoed through the diner. He stopped right at the edge of the booth, towering over Garrett, his broad shoulders completely blocking the light from the overhead fixture.

Charlie stepped up right beside him, looking directly at the paperwork on the table.

"Don't sign that, Ms. Mae," Charlie said, her voice cutting through the tense air like a knife. "Did Garrett happen to mention Section 12 of that lease? The post-production deduction clause?"

Garrett’s face darkened. "Charlie, you’re acting as an independent broker for a firm that isn't even a party to this contract. Walk away."

"I represent the integrity of this county’s titles, Garrett," Charlie fired back, stepping closer until her arm brushed against Theo's solid, warm side. She pointed a finger at the fine print on page four. "Ms. Mae, Apex Energy is trying to slip in a clause that allows them to deduct transportation, compression, and processing fees from your royalty checks. By the time they finish drilling, your twenty percent royalty will look more like two percent. They're trying to starve you out."

Ms. Mae’s sharp eyes went cold. She looked up at Garrett, who was suddenly sweating under his collar. "Is that true, young man?"

"It's standard industry formatting, Ms. Mae—" Garrett stammered.

"It's predatory," Theo’s deep, gravelly voice cut in, vibrating with an absolute authority that made Garrett flinch. Theo leaned down, placing both hands flat on the laminate table, bringing his face inches from Garrett’s. "Vance Energy doesn't use deduction clauses. We pay gross proceeds. And right now, I am prepared to offer the Henderson family a signing bonus that doubles whatever garbage Apex just put on that paper."

Garrett let out a desperate, ugly laugh, backing up a step. "You don't even have a valid leasehold to offer them, Vance! You're locked out. You have a fatal title defect on the primary access tract, and your own brokerage can't cure it."

"We can cure it," Charlie said smoothly, tapping the abstract under her arm. "Because I just found the severed mineral estate from 1946. The executive rights don't belong to the hostile third party you thought they did, Garrett. They belong to a dormant family trust that Ms. Mae's family controls. If they sign with Vance, the title is clean by tomorrow morning."

Theo turned his head slightly, his dark eyes locking onto Charlie. A slow, intense, and deeply satisfied smirk spread across his lips. The raw admiration in his gaze sent a sudden, dizzying rush of heat straight to her core. She had just handed him the crown jewel of the basin, and he knew it.

Garrett looked from Charlie to Theo, his eyes wild as he realized he had just been completely outmaneuvered by a small-town landman and a billionaire in mud boots.

But then, a slow, venomous smile crept back onto Garrett’s face. He reached into his pocket and pulled out his ringing smartphone. He didn't answer it. Instead, he flipped the screen around, sliding a text message across the table toward Charlie.

"You really are brilliant, Charlie," Garrett whispered, his voice dripping with malice. "But you forgot one thing. In this game, the big fish always eat the little fish."

Charlie frowned, looking down at the screen. It was a digital copy of a wire transfer and a signed corporate acquisition agreement. The header read: Apex Energy Holdings / Acquisition of Bob’s Local Brokerage & Assets.

The timestamp was exactly twenty minutes ago.

"What is this?" Charlie whispered, her stomach dropping into a cold, hollow void.

"Bob just sold out," Garrett sneered, leaning in, his eyes gleaming with triumph. "Apex Energy just bought your entire brokerage. Every file, every title chain, every abstract you’ve ever touched now belongs to Apex. And as the new regional director..." Garrett snapped his fingers, looking Charlie dead in the eye. "...you're fired, Charlie. You're off the property. And that abstract under your arm? It's proprietary company data. Hand it over, or I'll have the sheriff arrest you for grand theft before you can leave this diner."

Charlie froze, the air completely leaving her lungs. Her job, her livelihood, her files—everything she had built in Goliad—gone in a single, gutless transaction.

Garrett reached out, his hand snapping toward the abstract under her arm.

Before his fingers could even graze her jacket, Theo’s large hand clamped around Garrett’s wrist like a steel vise. The force of the grip was so sudden and violent that Garrett let out a sharp cry of pain.

Theo yanked Garrett forward, stepping directly into his space, his body completely shielding Charlie from the rival landman. The protective, untamed fury in Theo’s eyes was blinding.

"Get your hands off her," Theo roared, his voice a low, lethal vibration that shook the entire booth. He squeezed Garrett’s wrist until the man's fingers went numb, dropping his gold pen to the floor. "She doesn't work for Bob anymore. And she sure as hell doesn't work for you."

Theo shifted his weight, his free arm coming around Charlie’s waist, pulling her flush against his hard, solid chest in a move that was fiercely possessive and entirely unyielding.

"As of thirty seconds ago," Theo murmured, his dark eyes staring down a terrified Garrett while his breath brushed against Charlie’s hair, "Charlie Schindler is the exclusive Head of Land for Vance Energy's entire southern operations. I'll buy Bob's brokerage back tomorrow just to burn it down. But tonight? You're done here, Cole."