Chapter 31
THIRTY-ONE
MAX
We went over the numbers one final time.
“I think we’re good,” I said to Cane, who was sitting across from me in the conference room.
Plans and specs and historical cost sheets were spread from one end of the marble table to the other as we prepared the bid for the Trimble project.
We had worked all week on it and Friday had finally rolled around.
“We thought that the last time, too. Did we get Grady’s number yet?”
“Not yet...” Cane’s voice trailed off as the conference room door swung open. Sam put her head through the crack and looked quickly away from Cane.
“Can I get you anything?” she asked.
“Hey, Sam,” Cane said, looking at me and then to her, “there’s a stack of invoices Norm needs filed in accounting. Can you swing by there and give him a hand?”
I shot Cane a curious look but he didn’t look back to me.
“Yeah. Sure.” She plastered a fake smile on for Cane, gave me an inquisitive glance, and then let the door close behind her.
I held my hand in front of me, silently asking Cane what that was about; he shrugged me off and looked back at the plans. I wasn’t sure what his point was, although there definitely was one.
“Excuse me,” Lucy’s voice rang out through the speakerphone. “I have Wade Grady on the phone with a bid.”
“Speak of the devil. Send it through, Lucy,” Cane said, making a note on a yellow legal pad.
The red light flashed and Cane pressed the speaker. “Hey, Wade.”
“You ready for my number?” he asked through the speaker.
“Yup. What are you coming in at?” Cane said, looking at me.
“We’re at $60,560.00. I think I might be able to go a little lower, but it’ll depend on how another project we have wraps up before this one starts.
If I can do you better when the time comes, I will.
But that’s the lowest earthmoving number anyone will see today, I’ll guarantee that.
My overhead is...let’s just say Jillian isn’t real happy about the markup on this one. ”
I wrote down his number and chuckled, betting he was right. “Fax us over something in writing, if you don’t mind. Just so we have it.”
“I’ll get it sent over now. Cane, you want it sent to your house?”
“Please.” His jaw was firm as he looked at me. “Quick question—did you happen to figure out how Chalgon got the number on the Chandler project?”
“No, and you know what? That’s one helluva mess right now.
I don’t know how they got our number but we sure as shit didn’t send it to them.
I’m not happy about doing that work for just anyone for that price either.
You guys I know and respect and I have confidence there won’t be any games played with billing or anything like that.
Every other contractor had a few grand added on as a protective measure. ”
“That’s strange. Maybe you’re assistant faxed the wrong paper out?” Cane theorized, but with his raised eyebrows, I knew he didn’t believe that.
“She faxed them all out but yours. I sent it myself, so she didn’t have your number. Chalgon says it just showed up on their fax, so they went with it. Now I have to honor the sonofabitch just to keep good business.”
Cane and I exchanged a look.
“Alright, we gotta get this bid in. Thanks for the call, Wade. I’ll call you in the morning if we’re low bidder,” I said.
“Good luck to you guys.”
Cane pressed the button, ending the call. “Well, that’s interesting as fuck.”
“Yeah, sure is. Hey, why have him fax the number to your house?”
Cane smiled to himself as he rolled the plans up. “Just a little something I wanna see.”
Max
The room was stuffy, even though it was large, and there were only four other bidders in it. We had deposited our sealed bid into the box at the front of the room and waited for them to be opened and read.
Waiting on a bid to be opened was one of the most nerve-wracking things for a contractor. You’ve worked on this project for weeks, sometimes months, and the answer as to whether it was in vain or not was in a box and you had to wait to find out.
Brian Lytrell, a man I hadn’t seen before, and Dan Collins took their seats in the chairs facing the red-haired lady at the front. Dan saw us and looked away, dipping his chin like he thought he could become invisible.
I led Cane to a seat on the other side of the room, figuring it was a good idea to keep him away from Dan. Cane smirked, knowing what I was up to.
“Let’s see how this goes,” Cane muttered, sticking his sunglasses in the front of his shirt.
“Thank you for coming,” the redhead announced, effectively hushing our conversation. She identified the project and went through the legal bullshit. Then she opened the box and pulled out the first envelope.
“Lytrell Construction—$8,760,112.05.”
She reached inside and pulled out the second envelope.
“Gooseway Builders—$9,001,287.24.”
Brian Lytrell sat a little taller.
“Alexander Industries—$8,754,020.97.”
Cane and I watched anxiously as the lady dipped her hand into the box a final time. “Chalgon Construction—$8,782,432.10.”
Cane elbowed me in the ribs, a megawatt smile across his face, as Dan dipped his head lower at his defeat.
Instantly, I felt the weight of the world lift off my shoulders. We won by a few thousand dollars. I blew out a breath and just appreciated not feeling like the pressure of the entire future of Alexander Industries was sitting on me.
I tilted my head to the ceiling and filled my lungs with air.
We did it.
“It appears that Alexander Industries is our lowest bidder. Thank you all for coming.”
Everyone stood to leave, Brian shaking our hands as he walked by. The guy we didn’t know followed him and Dan brought up the rear. He extended his hand to me, shook it firmly, and then shook Cane’s.
“Congrats, guys,” he said a bit nervously. “This will be a good project for you all.”
“Thanks,” Cane said, cocking his head to the side. “We’re excited about it.”
“I saw your name on the Chandler project awhile back and I figured you’d get it. You’d have had it, too, if Grady didn’t send a crazy low number.”
“How’d ya get that number?” I asked, furrowing my eyebrows. “Have any idea?”
He shrugged his shoulders. “No, they said they didn’t send it but it sure as hell is on my desk.
It’s been a fight to get them to honor it, though.
Chalgon hadn’t worked with them before and I convinced them to go with it because I knew them from you guys.
” He exhaled harshly and looked to the floor.
“Look, I owe you both an apology,” he said. “I know I acted a little crazy when you let me go. I was under a lot of pressure at home and it obviously affected me in a bigger way than I realized. I would have fired me over that bid, too.”
Cane looked at me out of the corner of his eye. “Answer me this—did you have anything to do with the asphalt out on the Mesa job? Did you call the City about the thickness? If you did, I just want to know.”
“What are you talking about? Yeah, I bid that for you guys and I remember getting AmEx to do the asphalt part of it. But that’s all I know. What’s going on?” He looked between us, genuinely confused.
“Nothing. It’s fine,” Cane patted his shoulder. “Can you do me a favor though?”
“Sure. I owe you, anyway.”
“See if your company keeps their fax log. See if you can find the fax number that quote from Grady came from, okay?”
He looked confused but said, “I’ll get back to you this afternoon.”
Max
I tossed my phone on my desk and leaned back in my chair. I stretched my neck and just breathed. Finally things were starting to work themselves out.
I had sent Kari a message, letting her know we won the bid and she had responded with a slew of sexy things she wanted to do to me to celebrate.
I grabbed my work calendar and flipped through, seeing what we had coming up. I wanted to take Kari to Cane’s cabin in Payson to get away as soon as possible.
Cane buzzed in and I hit the speakerphone. “Yeah?”
“Pick up your receiver.”
I lifted the phone to my chin, pressing it against my shoulder. I unrolled the sleeves of my dress shirt as I listened to Cane continue.
“Dan just called. Chalgon doesn’t keep their fax records, so we won’t know who sent that quote. But you know what I’m thinking, right?”
I exhaled roughly, tossing a pencil onto my desk.
I knew exactly what he was thinking and the thought had crossed my mind, although I found it hard to believe.
The fact that Grady’s number this time had been sent to his house and not our office and didn’t get sent out to our competitors didn’t hurt his case.
I didn’t want to even consider it. But I knew damn good and well what Cane was thinking.
“It can’t be,” I said.
“Explain it to me then. You heard Grady and you heard Dan. Tell me how they got our number or tell me which one of them is a liar.”
I took another deep breath. I saw Cane’s point and thinking Samantha would have faxed the number to Chalgon was the logical answer.
It was the simplest choice...but one I just couldn’t imagine; I thought he was jumping to conclusions.
It could’ve been anyone in our office. It could’ve been Norm or Lucy just as easily as it could’ve been Sam.
Keep tellin’ yourself that.
“Do you really think Sam would do that?” I asked warily.
“I do and I think she did.”
“Cane, that’s a big accusation...”
“And it’s not one I’d throw around for the hell of it either. But it makes sense and I just have this feeling...”
I looked at the ceiling, the clock ticking on the wall making me feel like a bomb was getting ready to go off. It was an ominous sound.
“It sure as hell kept her around longer,” he said. “She would’ve been let go a couple of weeks ago if we had gotten another job. Think about it, Quinn.”
I knew, down deep, he was probably right and the fallout from it, if it were true, would be giant. But I just wanted to spend the next couple of days enjoying the feeling of not being drowned in work.
“I’ll deal with it next week. I just need to relax for a couple of days. On that note, would you mind me taking Kari to your cabin this weekend? I really want to get away with her and relax, no interruptions.”
“No problem. You still have a key?”
“Yeah,” I said, looking up at the sound of my door opening and Sam walking in. “I appreciate it. I really want this weekend with Kari to be special.”
He laughed. “You’re both family to me. Now you just need to be to each other.”
No shit, Alexander. No shit.