Wenatchee Ch. 03-04

Chapter 3 Down to Business

The Memorial Day weekend was almost upon us and we would close the shop for three days. With luck, I could have the boys up to Orondo for that weekend. If not, I had lots to do at the shop that would keep me busy, so I might work a day or two just catching up.

I had been studying up on PLC's in my spare time. I wondered if it was a product we could service. Programmable Logic Controllers were common on much of the packing house equipment now. Packaging machines, color sorters, weigh scales, conveyors, washing equipment; they all required some kind of electronic control to integrate their actions into the continuous flow of product coming in the door.

The packing houses were a hostile environment. Water was everywhere, along with refrigeration. The fruit, coming in from the hot air of the valley and loaded in totes, needed to be cooled quickly to preserve freshness. Water and cold were common enemies of electronic controls. Some of the older systems needed to be replaced with more modern, sealed units that were designed for this application. I hadn't made up my mind if we were a fit in that market. Terry left it in my hands to decide, then we'd discuss it.

I don't remember a time when we didn't have plenty to do. Terry jumped on my suggestion that we hire some part-time summer help from the college to do some of the simpler tasks. That tedious job of unscrambling the hard drive of the computer I was working on last week would have been ideal for a student.

They had just completed their year and we had posted a notice on the computer studies bulletin board looking for applicants. We had over a hundred replies.

"Well, Mr. Hot Shot, what do you do now?" Terry laughed.

I groaned and shook my head.

"I guess I'll go through them and weed out what I think might be the best prospects and start calling. We hire the first two good ones we find, but keep the résumés in case one or the other doesn't work out."

"Yeah, that should work. We should have a couple of people in here by August for sure," he chuckled.

"Tell you what, Terry. I'll bet you a dozen MGDs that I have at least one, if not both of them by Monday of next week."

"You're on. Just remember, bottles ... not cans," he laughed again.

I waded through the stack of applicants and was able to winnow the list down by over twenty. Several of them weren't qualified, and a couple hadn't realized it was a summer job, not a full-time job. Then I had a brain wave. On Tuesday morning I called the college and asked for the computer sciences department head. Luckily, a Mr. Drummond was still around.

"Mr. Drummond, I'm looking to hire a couple of your students for a summer job. I've got almost eighty applications. I need to cut that down. Could you please give me the names of the top candidates in your classes?"

"I suppose so. If you'll give me a minute, I'll pull up my records and see what I have."

It didn't take him long to provide me with an answer.

"Tell you what, Mr. Nelson. It's highly unusual, but I'll e-mail you a list of the top ten students, but I won't include their grades. Just their names. I take it you can match those to the applications?"

"Yes. That will work just fine. Thank you for your help, and I'll keep this information confidential."

"Good luck. I hope you find what you're looking for," he said before hanging up.

Ten minutes later, a list of ten student names with their grades blanked out popped onto my mail screen. I printed it out and began the process of matching names to applications. Not all the entire top ten applied for the jobs, but seven did. That case of beer was looking closer and closer to being mine.

I began calling the students that morning. I decided to interview two each day through Thursday, then the last one on Friday. I called the first two Tuesday morning and set up the interviews. By the time I had finished talking to the last applicant on Friday morning, I was convinced that at least five of them could do the job and would be an asset to the company. Now, it was decision time.

I had video recorded each interview with the candidate's permission. Seven all told, with about forty to fifty minutes on each. I put the seven DVD discs and my notes in my briefcase and headed up to the cottage. That evening I decided to watch the interviews with the two candidates I thought were the weakest. I got a surprise.

The first one was a young man who was pretty damned confident for a guy with no experience. I didn't have to ask very many technical questions before he realized he still had a lot to learn. Watching the interview once more convinced me that he needed some seasoning, and we didn't have the time or manpower to provide it.

It was the second interview that opened my eyes. I watched it, then went back to my notes, then watched it again. It was a young woman ... a girl really. She was painfully shy and I found I was struggling to bring her out and find what she knew and what she could do. At one point, I thought she might burst into tears as the pressure of the interview began to take its toll. But, as I listened, she knew her stuff. She just had a hell of a time expressing herself. I took the disc and parked it to one side.

By the time I had looked at all seven discs, it was almost one o'clock and I was tired. I brushed my teeth and crawled into the comfortable soft bed in the cottage bedroom. I don't think I was awake for more than a minute.

The next morning was Saturday, and I was not expecting either Terry or my sons. The boys might show up Sunday, but today was already planned and they apologized to me for not coming up to see the cottage. I don't think they realized what a great place this was, but they would soon find out when they did come.

I ate my breakfast of juice, banana, and cereal while the coffee percolated. Once again I loaded the disk of the young woman in my laptop and watched the interview once more. I wondered if her visual appearance was off-putting. Was I making a decision based on a seemingly homely girl dressed in baggy, ill-fitting clothes of dull, earth-tone colors? Her shyness wasn't so important on this job. She would have little contact with the public, but just the same, communicating with Terry and me would be important.

When I looked up her name on the list, it was at the top. The names weren't listed in alphabetical order, so I guessed that it was in order of their marks. If so, she was the top performer of all those who applied. Jana Ardien was nineteen years old, and I wondered what else I could learn about her. I decided to take the bull by the horns and phone Mr. Drummond. I looked up the name in the local phone book and found two Drummonds. I noted the numbers and decided to call.

"Good morning, Mr. Drummond. If I'm not mistaken, you are the instructor for computer sciences at the college."

"Yes ... that's right."

"Good. It's Geoff Nelson again, sir. I'm calling about a particular student; Jana Ardien. What can you tell me about her?"

"This is highly irregular, Mr. Nelson. I don't usually discuss my students with people I don't know."

"I understand, but I'm trying to get a little better insight into her skills. Her interview didn't go very well, but she appears to be very talented when I could get her to talk a bit. Am I right in thinking she was at the top of your class?"

"Yes. She's quite shy ... almost phobic in fact. I can't find out from anyone why, but nonetheless, she's borderline brilliant."

"I almost dismissed her after the interview, but I thought afterwards that I was missing something. Is she a stable personality? I mean ... can she operate in a work environment?"

"Yes. You don't have to worry about that. She keeps to herself and has very few friends, but she's quite compatible among her peers."

"That's good to hear. I'm thinking I might take a chance on her. She didn't shine during the interview, but your comments have made me think I might have a gem in the making."

"I think that's very perceptive of you, Mr. Nelson. I don't think you'll be disappointed in her. In fact, I think you'll be very surprised."

"Thank you again for being so candid, sir. I appreciate it. I'm sure you'd like to know how your students worked out this summer, so I'll contact you later on to let you know."

"That would be very helpful. Thank you, and again, I would appreciate your confidentiality."

I hung up with a smile on my lips. I wondered just how helpful Jana Ardien would turn out to be.

When I viewed the balance of the six discs, I had little trouble in choosing the second candidate. He was a prototypical nerd. The only thing missing was the pocket protector and horn-rimmed glasses. Jimmy Rideout would be Jana's partner this summer if I was correct in my assessment. I was fairly confident that they wouldn't rub each other the wrong way. In fact, they may not rub each other at all.

When I walked into the shop on Monday morning, Terry was already there.

"Okay, Terry. Put that dozen MGD in the fridge. I'll collect it Friday afternoon on the way up to the cottage."

"You sound pretty dang sure of yourself," he grinned.

"Yeah. I short circuited the process and got the instructor to e-mail me the names of his top ten students. From there, after the interviews, I culled it down to the two I want to hire."

"You goin' to let me in on who they are?"

"Sure. The girl is Jana Ardien, who just happens to be the top computer science student in the class. The boy is Jimmy Rideout. He's a natural. I think both of them are going to be just fine. You want to talk to them first?"

"Naw. You know what you're doin'. Besides, they're going to be working with you more than me. So go ahead, give them a call and let them know they got the job. They can start tomorrow if they want."

I gave Terry and big smile and a thank you. After two phone calls, both would both be in the shop by one o'clock for an orientation session. It felt good to get that done. With the work on hand and the selection and interviewing process, I hadn't been dwelling on my personal situation in the past few days. That was a relief, because I hadn't heard from Pete and when I thought about it, it was a week since we'd last talked.

I was almost finished the orientation tour with my two new hires when the phone rang. It was Pete.

"Hi Pete, you must be psychic. I was wondering when I'd hear from you."

"Well, here I am. Can you come to the office for a meeting? I've got some very interesting things to talk about."

"When?"

"Can you come now?"

"How about half an hour. I'm just finishing up an orientation with two new employees."

"Sure. See you then."

I wondered what Pete meant by "interesting."

The two kids were going to be just fine, I thought. They asked lots of questions, but they were good, smart questions. I showed them what we were doing with a number of jobs in the shop and they understood the process and procedure. I talked about the contract work with various clients and the site work they may become involved in. Jana looked a bit apprehensive at first, but I explained they wouldn't be on their own until I was satisfied they could handle the work.

I was at Pete's office just before five pm and once again the receptionist called Pete to announce my arrival. He was out of his office immediately and welcomed me as he always did. This time we went to a small meeting room for our session.

"My office is a mess ... covered in papers. Let me get your file and a coffee. I'll be right back."

He was as good as his word, arriving with two coffees and a file tucked under his arm.

"So, how have you been this past week, Geoff?"

"Busy, thankfully. I hired a couple of students for the summer and that meant a bunch of interviews. Just as well, otherwise I'd be worrying about this," I said, pointing to the folder.

"Yeah ... well ... I have some news for you. I know you said you didn't have any idea of how much Joyce earns at Koch Motors."

"No ... I don't. I'm guessing it would be about forty or maybe fifty thousand a year. She's in management now, so I assumed it would be a decent salary."

"Decent isn't the right word for it. Your wife earned something close to eighty-seven thousand dollars last year including her bonus, and is likely to top that this year."

"Holy shit! Are you kidding me? Where the hell did it all go?"

"That's a good question, Geoff ... a damn good question. On top of that, that car she supposedly leases costs her nothing but the taxable benefit portion, and she writes some of that off when she uses the car for business purposes. It looks like Joyce has been holding out on you, my friend. Not exactly the actions of a trusted and loyal wife."

"I'm amazed. I would never have guessed. Has this been going on for some time?"

"That's my guess. Her salary has been augmented by a performance bonus based on the number of dollars she puts through the credit granter and the interest rate she's able to charge. With the volume her dealership puts through annually, even a half of one percent can make a big difference in their bottom line. The credit operation is a separate profit center. A very good profit center. Her bonus last year was eighteen thousand dollars, less taxes."

"Oh my god. Who is that woman?"

"Joyce Nelson is a well-paid businesswoman with a very bright future in her job. She's going to be moving up, I'm guessing. She'll be earning six figures ... if not this year, certainly next year. She just isn't too keen on sharing it."

"Well, I guess that explains a lot then. I was becoming unnecessary. An inconvenience. An obstacle to her ambition. Doesn't do much for a guy's ego, does it?" I moaned.

Pete shook his head. "I've got to admit, I've never come across this before. This is so cold ... so calculating, that I don't know what to say. One thing is for certain. This is going to change everything when we sit down with Joyce and Ocsana to get an agreement. She's going to be paying you alimony. How's that for a start? Second, she's going to have to account for where all the money went. If she's got it stashed somewhere, she's going to have to declare it or she'll be in deep shit with the court. This could get ugly, Geoff."

"Surely her lawyer will tell her that we know all this. She's not going to be able to hide anything is she?"

"No ... you're right about that. She paid taxes on all these earnings according to her returns. There are some questionable deductions and allowances that might not pass the scrutiny of an audit, but at least she's declared all the income Koch gave her. Anything else, we don't know about."

"Anything else?"

"Income from other sources."

"What other sources?"

Pete shrugged. "There was a time when people paid kick-backs for pushing business their way. I doubt Koch would condone it, but if Joyce was greedy enough, she might try it on her own."

"How would we know?"

"We wouldn't ... but ... I might be able to put a scare into her if she is doing something like that. You leave that to me for now. In the meantime, I think it's time we had a meeting with Joyce and Ocsana."

"Sure. The sooner the better. I want to see the look on her face when she has to admit she has been holding out on her family."

"Geoff ... this is one meeting where you are going to have to be mute. It might get heated, but you cannot ... I repeat ... cannot ... let your emotions get the better of you. I am going to take Joyce apart at this meeting and it isn't going to be pretty. You're going to have to sit there and listen and not say a word. Do you understand?"

I nodded. "I just hope I can do it without blowing up or smacking her one."

"I don't have to tell you what the consequences of that would be ... do I?"

"No ... no ... you don't. But the inside of my mouth and tongue are going to look like hamburger meat when it's over."

Pete smiled. "Okay, that's enough for today. I'll call you when I have the meeting set up. Can you get away during the day? I want to make this inconvenient for Joyce."

"Yeah ... sure. Terry is with me all the way on this. By the way, did I tell you I'm living in his summer cottage in Orondo? It's great. A half-hour commute, but a beautiful place on the river. The boys are going to love it."

"Good to hear it, Geoff. Beats the hell out of an apartment. I wouldn't mind seeing it myself. Sue and I have been thinking about a summer place up river. Lake Chelan is getting too expensive."

"Let's do that when this is all over with. We can have the victory party there," I said with a rueful smile.

"Yeah ... well ... remember ... in divorce, there are no victors. Everyone loses."

I nodded solemnly. He was right. Everyone loses.

Pete called on Wednesday to say that he was having trouble getting Joyce and Ocsana to come to the table. He said he was suggesting to them that maybe it would be best if they took the matter to court. That got an immediate reaction from Ocsana, promising a firm date within the next day.

Pete called back within the hour to say that the meeting had been scheduled for Friday afternoon at three pm in Ocsana's office.

"How come at her place?"

"I don't think it matters, but it's a bit of gamesmanship on her part. Wants us to be on her home turf, so to speak. I'm not concerned. We have what we need to make the meeting go our way."

"Okay, I'll meet you at her office just before three. Do we need to huddle?"

"Only for me to remind you to be calm and be quiet," he chuckled. "Seriously, Geoff. I don't know how this is going to go, so keep your cool at all costs. We are the good guys ... remember?"

"Yeah ... the good guys. Thanks, Pete."

Friday afternoon at two-thirty I was standing in front of an espresso joint across from Ocsana Dirovich's office. I was trying to sip my decaf coffee slowly, but not having much success. I had been useless at the shop this morning, constantly thinking about what might happen at the meeting. I wondered if I would be able to keep my temper. I couldn't quite get my head around what Pete had told me about her holding out on us ... on her whole family. Was it greed? That's what it seemed to be. When I thought of all those years we scrimped and saved to take our vacations and buy our home and put some away for the kids going to college. It all seemed so pointless now.

Ch. 4 Showdown Time

I was watching for Pete when I saw Joyce walk toward the entrance of the law firm. She looked very professional, very upright and confident. I wonder if she realized what Pete had in store for her. Surely Ocsana had briefed her on what her tax returns had revealed. Maybe Joyce was holding out on Ocsana, not telling her just how little she contributed to our household. That didn't strike me as possible, but I would soon know.

I was lost in thought when I felt a tap on my shoulder and jumped as I turned toward Pete.

"Jesus, Pete. Don't do that. I nearly had a seizure."

"Sorry, Geoff. I saw Joyce just a couple of minutes ago. I take it she's gone in to the offices?"

"Yeah. I saw her too. She looked pretty confident. That surprised me."

"Maybe just a ploy. She might have spotted you and decided to put on a show. Hard to say."

We walked across the street and with Pete watching our timing, rode up the elevator to the third floor and the offices of Wendler-Milton. With the instincts of a practiced professional, we entered their lobby at exactly three o'clock.

"Mister Mahoney and Mister Nelson to see Ms. Dirovich," Pete announced.

We waited for five minutes before a fifty-ish woman with gray hair and a stout figure appeared in the lobby.

"Hello, Pete. Nice to see you again. And you must be Geoffrey Nelson," she said, turning to me with her hand out.

I shook it and nodded, but said nothing. I was going to obey Pete's instructions to the letter. He turned to me and grinned, acknowledging my willingness to follow his direction.