Chapter 2 #4
Simon laughed because that was part of the job too.
It seemed as if no matter what you did, some people were inconsistent, and you had to go back over their work and sort it out to see if they even understood what the hell they were doing.
It drove Simon and his various foremen wacky, particularly from the perspective of somebody who had been in the industry as long as they all had been.
It seemed completely ridiculous that this was still a thing, and yet it was.
As Simon made his way to the first job in question, it was one finally nearing completion. He stopped in to see his foreman here, Kevin, talking to somebody. As soon as his foreman saw him, he walked over, smiled, and noted, “Hey, I wasn’t expecting you today.”
“I needed to get out of the office,” Simon shared. “Too much paperwork is not good for anybody.”
“Any paperwork period is not good for anybody,” Kevin clarified, with a laugh. “You and I both know that.”
They’d worked together for a lot of years already. And both knew each other pretty well at this point in time. Even better, they trusted each other to do the job that they each needed to do.
As long as Simon kept coming up with new jobs, Kevin had no intention of leaving. And that was huge because consistency in staffing and in dealing with some of these projects helped Simon to create bigger and better deals for everybody.
His foreman faced him and asked, “How’s Kate doing?”
“She got another murder case this morning.”
Kevin shuddered, adding, “God, I don’t know how she can do that job. She must see the absolute worst of humanity.”
“She does,” Simon confirmed.
Kevin shrugged and shook his head. “And yet somehow she can still smile through it all, which is freaking unbelievable,” he muttered. “I don’t know how anybody can do that.”
“She is doing it, and I’m grateful for that. Now, have we got any problems here?”
“No, and we’re getting to the countdown,” he noted. “What about some of those new projects you’ve picked up?”
“Yeah, I’ve grabbed up quite a few of them, haven’t I?”
“You have,” he stated, turning to him.
Simon asked, “Is that okay? Or have we got problems?”
“No, we don’t have any problems with it,” Kevin declared. “I just need to sort out what we’re doing and which jobs you want me working on, although we’re still looking at approximately six months before we have a changeover here.”
“Yeah, we should be well and truly done with this one by then, if not in half that time.”
“That’s probably being overly optimistic,” Kevin suggested, as he studied the work going on around him.
Simon shrugged. “I would say we can probably call this one done in maybe four months.”
Kevin shook his head. “Even that’s pretty optimistic.”
“I know, but I’m an optimistic guy.” Simon smirked.
“So,” Kevin began, “which of the buildings will we do next? I gather the last one that you picked up with all those bodies inside will have to be dropped.”
“It’ll certainly need to be gutted, if for no other reason than to confirm more bodies aren’t hidden in the basement somewhere.”
Kevin winced at that. “I think you should take her back to the studs. If the studs are no good, take those out too.”
Simon sighed. “I was eager to work on that one, but the police aren’t sure that they’re ready to hand it back over to me, which is pretty wild considering what they already know. The owner has now passed away, so it’s not as if anybody will be charged for any of the murders.”
“What about the husband?”
“He didn’t know very much about it apparently, and I’m not sure that I have any reason to doubt him on that. He’s already been through quite a bit, once he understood the implications of what had happened.”
“It’s pretty shocking when you think about it.”
Simon nodded. “Right, but her father was very much the, … if not the actual instigator of it all, he was certainly involved to the point that she felt she had to keep all the murders secret for a very long time.”
“Keeping those kinds of secrets though,” Kevin noted, “can just poison your soul.”
“She died of a rare cancer. So, I would say that she’s already suffered quite a bit for it. Now the police have their hands full, identifying bodies and contacting families,” Simon shared in a bitter tone. “Thankfully that’s not Kate’s department.”
“No, and that’s a good thing, especially since she keeps catching new murders.” Kevin grimaced.
“I know. Not everybody can do her job,” Simon said, turning to look at the present building that was coming along so nicely.
Kevin added, “That’s what’s special about Kate in its own way. As long as she can keep doing what she’s doing, she’s a happy camper. The minute anybody makes any suggestion otherwise, you can bet she’ll tear a strip off them.”
“Some people don’t have the calling for it, but she absolutely does, and we need her on our team. Who else will help the victims?”
“Exactly,” Kevin concurred.
“Now,” Simon began, “shall we get back to our problems? Kate’s got more than enough of her own to handle.
” He gave a snort, and, with that, the conversation changed.
“I’ve got three buildings that we’ll be working on.
I need to know which one you prefer. I have a preference for one of them for you to oversee, but it would be good if it lined up with your preference as well. ”
“I really want to be part of the old renovation downtown,” he shared hopefully.
“Yeah, I was pretty sure you wanted to be part of that one.” Simon grinned. “We’re not ready for her though. I’ve got to get engineers in to see just how much we can save, and then we’ll need architects in order to help rebuild her to her newly refurbished glory, whatever that’ll look like.”
“And that’ll be dependent on a structural analysis.”
“Yeah, so, I’ve got your name down for that one, but it’s not next.”
“You’ve wanted that one for a very long time,” Kevin noted. “Presumably now though, you’re not looking to buy any more.”
“No, though I do still have a few on my wish list, and I have to watch for that. As soon as anybody knows—and with the face of Vancouver changing as rapidly as it is—a number of people could decide to sell, and I need them to not sell right now.” He laughed and added, “I haven’t overextended myself, so don’t you worry.
Still, I need to get some of this started so I have an idea of where the money will have to go. ”
“Yeah, I’ll say,” Kevin muttered, shaking his head. “I couldn’t believe it when you bought the last one. I understand the land is good, and lots of potential is there but still …”
“I know, but I wasn’t about to leave that one either, especially not at that price.”
“As long as you can fund it at the end of the day, you’ll do fine,” Kevin stated. “In the meantime, you’re keeping me employed, so it’s all good. You have one going on Georgia Street, right?”
“I do,” Simon confirmed, with a nod. “That’ll be a complete rehab, top to bottom. Do you like the look of that one?”
“Yeah,” Kevin stated, with a huge grin. “I’ve always had some special connection to that one, so, if you’re good with that, I’ll take that one on.”
“Perfect,” Simon replied.
“And then you’ll get, what … Joe to take on the other one?”
“He’s working on one right now that will still be ongoing for quite a while,” he pointed out, “but, yes, the other new project will probably end up being Joe’s.”
As Simon pivoted to walk away, Kevin called back to him. “Just checking but you’re doing okay yourself, right?”
He turned to him and smiled. “Yeah, I’m doing okay.”
“Because, you know, some of that sight stuff,” Kevin muttered, with a visible shudder, “that’s enough to keep me up at night.”
“No, I’m doing fine with it,” he shared. “Obviously it’s not something I expected at this stage of my life, but I guess my grandmother was right.”
“Yeah, well, when you got a grandma with the second sight,” he noted, “you don’t really have a whole lot of choice, do you?”
He smiled. “No, no, I sure didn’t. I tried hard to fight it, but that’s what happens. You fight it, and it doesn’t do any good.”
“You really did try though, didn’t you?” Kevin asked, staring at him again.
“Yep, I was pretty adamant that I didn’t want anything to do with it,” he admitted. “Shit happens anyway.”
“See? That part’s really what I would struggle with,” Kevin admitted. “I would want some semblance of control over it all.”
Simon snorted. “Yeah, you don’t get that,” he stated, with a knowing smile in his foreman’s direction. “And I get that people would want control, including myself, but it doesn’t do any good.”
Kevin shook his head. “Look after yourself, and look after her. She’s a good one. … Knowing what you know now, would you have changed anything?”
Simon’s smile brightened as he thought about that first case, where he met Kate. “Nope. Honest to God, I wouldn’t change a thing.”