Chapter 13 #3
He laughed. “You might not care, but that’s because you’ve already got a hell of a roll going on here in our department—but they might care.
And your successful closing rate on some of these cases may be something the Coquitlam detective is already well aware of, so he’s being very defensive, very protective. ”
“And that would be the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard,” she snapped, looking at him. “This isn’t about us. This isn’t about some percentage written down somewhere. It’s about the victims.”
He smiled, looking over her shoulder to Lilliana, who now chortled with laughter.
“I’m really glad to hear that,” Lilliana interjected, sharing a good laugh with Rodney.
“Please don’t ever change, Kate. But don’t be so na?ve as to think the rest of the world will go along with that.
In case you hadn’t seen the news lately, greed is rampant, and egos are completely out of control. ”
*
Simon’s morning had him standing in the rain in front of the next building to rehab on his list. This one was on Howe Street, tucked back a little bit, definitely commercial, and would need to be a moneymaker at the end of the day. This wouldn’t be a rehab.
This would be one of those few that he did to earn some cash. So it needed to come together fast and efficiently, but it would still be years later. That’s just how these jobs went. He looked over at the architect, Dean Thomas, who stared at him intently.
“Second thoughts?” he asked Simon.
“Oh no, not at all. This one is purely business, so my heart isn’t in it. It’s not the soul project that I really enjoy,” he shared, “but it is a moneymaker that I can’t walk away from.”
Dean turned to the building and shook his head. “You have a very different idea of what a moneymaker is.”
Simon laughed. “I might have a different idea than a lot of people,” he noted, “but just because it’s different doesn’t mean it’s wrong.”
“No, I’ve worked with you too long to make that call,” Dean stated. “It’s impossible to miss the fact that you have a unique ability to make money on projects others won’t even look at.”
“Yet somebody is,” he grumbled.
“What’s that?” Dean asked.
“Somebody seems to want to trash my business by telling tales at the bank.”
“What?” Dean stared at him in confusion.
Simon explained, and Dean was shocked. “But that’s complete BS.
There’s a process, a really well-defined process for all this stuff.
That’s got to be somebody at the higher end, pulling rank or something.
And, if they’re doing that, they sure as hell better have a good reason for it.
That is not a normal way of conducting business. ”
“Right. I know that, and, because it’s not a normal way of doing business, I’m thinking it’s got to be family or something personal somehow. I’ve asked Quinn to pull the names of all the family members of the current management team at that bank to see if there’s any connection.”
“You won’t go after them though, will you?” Dean asked in alarm.
He snorted. “No, that’s not my style. But that doesn’t mean this doesn’t involve somebody whom I’ve had to fire or in some way remove from a job or something like that. And, if that’s the case, I’ve got lawyers on tap for that stuff.”
“Right. And that would be totally within your rights,” he agreed, shaking his head. “But, man, who needs that legal headache?”
“Oh, I hear you. The legal headache that may come is a match for the lack of sleep I’m getting now, while trying to figure out who is out there hating me and acting on it.”
“Yeah, that’s just life apparently,” Dean muttered. “So, since you’ve already approved these plans, what am I doing here?”
“You know that I like to do a once-over again before we go ahead, which is why we’re here,” he shared, with a smile. “I’ve still got to get all these plans approved through the city, and I need to know that there won’t be any headaches in that department.”
“Right, and you have a lot of buildings on the go right now,” he acknowledged.
“Yeah, I do, but that’s okay. I’ve got a couple extras I just picked up. Not so much because I wanted to but because there was a need in the moment—like for that one with all the bodies.”
Dean winced at that and grimaced. “God, I still can’t believe that even happened. But if anybody can handle that one, it’s you.”
“That one will have to be dropped. It’s become a hazard, and, once we get it cleaned up, I’ll have you come in and take a look,” he explained. “And, of course, I bought that other one.”
Dean stared at him and nodded. “Now that one has to be a labor of love.”
“It absolutely is. I’ve had that building on my list for a very long time,” Simon admitted. “So, when it came up at a good price, it was pretty hard to ignore.”
Dean shook his head. “You just tell me when and where, and I’ll get to work on it.”
“Keep her in mind, as she’ll be next. Once we get it down to the studs, you can get started.”
“Okay.”
“If I can get that part taken care of, then we’ll have a fairly clean slate to start with.”
“A clean slate would be nice for a change,” Dean said, with a laugh. “You do challenge my skills at times, but there is definitely a certain amount of joy to start with something at least partially fresh and clean.”
“It’ll probably be the only one you get in a while,” Simon warned him. “This one that we’ll be working on first isn’t quite a clean slate, since you’ll have to work within the footprint of the building,” he pointed out. “However, that’s the only limitation.”
“Yeah, that’s way better than a lot of them.”
“Yeah, you’re not kidding,” Simon agreed, staring at the space before them.
Dean asked, “What’s the date for this one?”
“It’ll be in the next six months, hopefully four,” he replied. “I’ve got the city planners on it, but they haven’t got back to me yet.”
“Is there any reason for that to be an issue?”
“Not as far as I know, but then I wasn’t expecting the bank to give me any headaches either,” he pointed out. “Somebody out there is trying to cause me trouble. I just don’t know who.”
“There always is someone ready to take you down. The minute you become successful, somebody out there will try to pull the rug out from under your feet just because they’re jealous.”
“If it were just jealousy, I wouldn’t mind, but this has a little uglier feel about it.”
They spoke for a little bit longer, and, when they parted, Simon headed to his favorite coffee shop, noting that there was too much rain today to sit outside. He took a spot in the very back. Hearing a noise, he looked up. David walked toward him, and Simon raised an eyebrow.
David sat down and began, “Look. Some really ugly stuff is happening at work.”
Simon nodded and didn’t say anything.
“And I think I probably caused it, but I have this list for you.”
“And what’s this?” Simon asked.
David glanced around and whispered, “Quinn asked for it.”
Simon smiled, accepted it, and asked, “This data is all public record, right?”
“Yes, it is. It just feels, because I’m the one delivering it, that I’m in the worst spot here.”
“You’re not in trouble for sharing this with me because it’s public information. So, there’s absolutely no reason for this data-sharing to be an issue.”
“Yeah. You say that but …”
Simon smiled and nodded. “The only thing I can think of is that somebody within the company is listening to somebody else, and that’s never a good thing.”
“No, it’s really not. And I was thinking about that,” David noted, with a head tilt. “The only one we’ve got that’s recent enough to matter is the chairman’s nephew, Stanley, who has just come on board.”
“What kind of a guy is he?”
“The little weaselly kind,” David replied. “I wouldn’t be at all surprised if that isn’t part of your problem.”
“That would be assuming I know this Stanley guy and that he would have some reason for causing me trouble.”
“I don’t think that matters here. It seems to me that the nephew is just trying to make a mark. I don’t think he’s too bothered about knowing the people he’s trying to crush. He’s already gotten two people fired from the office.”
David glanced around again. “I’m looking for a new job myself. I’ve been there for a very long time, but, once this kind of shit starts, that is not good news for anybody.” And, with that, he got up, smiled, and added, “Anyway, I’ll keep you posted.” Then he turned and walked out.
As he left, a man in the corner turned to watch David. Then the man faced Simon.
Simon didn’t recognize him, but it was obvious that the young man had something going on. Simon texted David and sent him a picture of the man.
David sent a text right back. That’s the nephew, Stanley. Another text came right after that. Watch your back.
Simon sent a reply. You better watch yours because he saw you talking to me. And, sure enough, he got a text two hours later while he was walking out of one of his rehab projects from David, saying that he’d just been fired.
Eyebrows shooting up, Simon stared down at his phone and then sent the picture he’d taken of Stanley to Quinn and then off to Allen, Simon’s lawyer, to see what they could rustle up.
Allen called him back a couple hours later.
Simon was working from one of the trailers at one of his worksites and took the call.
Allen jumped right in. “So it’s an interesting tactic this young man is using.”
“What’s that?”
“Apparently Stanley worked for your company, using his middle name, Allen oddly enough. I got his information, and your accountant ran it through your company. He worked for you, and you fired him.”
“Great. What for?”
“He stated he was a welder but, in your terms, was grossly incompetent.”
“Oh crap,” Simon muttered, pulling out the photo again. “I didn’t even recognize him. Because of the suit, I suppose,” he noted. “Yeah, he was a mess, and Joe didn’t waste any time sending him on his way, which I was totally on board for when I saw his shoddy work. So, who is he?”