The Investigators Pt. 01

Greetings, My Dear Readers. Quite a bit has said about the amount of detail in my stories. I do not write sex stories as such, therefore my stories are more descriptive in other areas. Some have complained that there is too much detail while others ask for even more as they are learning things they didn't know (I do try to be truthful, as well as informative). I greatly appreciate all the comments (yes, both kinds) as they do express the readers like and dislikes. I am still in need of a good editor, so any and all mistakes are mine alone. As always, everyone in this story is well above the age of consent in all states and nations, and as always, there is no descriptive sex in this story. I do hope you enjoy this offering. WF06

* * * * * * * *

John Michael Williams was an oddity. Not odd, an oddity. He was quiet and reserved until he needed not to be, at which time he became a force to be reckoned with, a lethal fighting machine sparing nothing or nobody until whatever set him off was out of the picture, sometimes for good in worst case scenarios such as when dealing with the Taliban in the sandbox as it is called. While usually very laid back, he could and would go ballistic in a heartbeat towards anyone he found mistreating a woman, child, person, or animal of any sort that did not have the opportunity to escape or means to defend itself. Mike, as he preferred to be called as his mother had always called him John Michael when he was in trouble and heaven forbid it whenever she called him all three names because he knew his ass was going to smart for a while for whatever misdeed he had done that time, or Michael by his lovers and close friends.

He had been raised in a loving home that had been a diverse but close knit family with his father being a pipe welder and his mom a librarian. Wanting Michael to be exposed to a gentle and refined side of life, his mother had put him in piano lessons at 7 years old, and then later allowing him to also take guitar lessons which he continued all through high school, even playing in a garage band, performing at a couple of parties and dances while in school. At age 10 his father put him in a dojo under a Korean Martial Arts master to learn confidence, self-control, and how to defend himself and others from attackers. He would laughingly say that should Mike wind up playing piano in a whore house someday that he needed to be able to defend himself. Belt colors had never mattered to him but he was the equivalent of a black belt in karate and quite familiar with two other disciplines.

Mike had been appointed to and had graduated from the US Military Academy at West Point with a degree in Mechanical Engineering, where he was one of the top students. He had applied to West Point as it is one of the top engineering schools in America and attending there would not cost him or his family the fortune they did not have to start with for him to attend a top tier college. After graduation, he was assigned to the Army Corps of Engineers and spent the next four years fulfilling his obligation to the army, serving in various locations. After a one-year tour with a combat engineer company in Afghanistan, where he had earned a bronze star and a purple heart for a relatively light shrapnel wound. He had been promoted to first lieutenant shortly before rotating home. He had learned invaluable knowledge about field expedience and the making of correct snap decisions under extreme stress. His knowledge and attitude had earned him the respect of all the men that served under him. After he had rotated back to the states, he was assigned to and worked out of the US Army Corps of Engineers district office in Tulsa, Oklahoma, where he oversaw or inspected the mechanical phases of construction on various building and dam projects that fell under the authority of the corps. This included the locks and dams associated with the Arkansas River Navigation System, the system that allowed barges and tugs to move grain and other materials from the Port of Catoosa, just outside Tulsa, down to the Mississippi River. Mike served the district well until his separation from active duty and placement into the reserves as a newly minted Captain.

With his discharge from the Army approaching, he was recruited by many of the largest construction and engineering companies around the US. Mike chose what looked to be a very interesting position with a smaller but very diversified company that was definitely on the way upward. They had branch offices in several cities and a few foreign countries performing a wide variety of construction projects. Here he would be integrated into the engineering section right away even though he would not be doing design work, at least not at first, but would again be supervising or inspecting construction projects. As an experienced engineer, he could make necessary changes in the plans on site and have the authority to implement those changes. Most of the work would be in the petrochemical industry, but some would fall under the civil engineering discipline, such as water treatment plants. In that discipline, he would spend limited time except for the areas where he was an expert such as dealing with mechanical and structural issues. He did not do roads. "Never have, never will." he would always say.

As the scope of his expertise expanded, he became quite interested and very knowledgeable in heavy crane usage and rigging operations. While it could get complicated, he enjoyed figuring out the best type and size of crane and proper crane placement at a large project. Heavy lifts, meaning anything over a certain weight or size or load placement in a hazardous or confined space always required a certified lift plan. These certified lift plans took everything into consideration, even the ground and soil conditions in the area the crane would be positioned. Some of the more complicated lift plans necessitated an on-site visit for measurements and photos. Nothing could be left to chance as the risks were horrendous.

In addition, as he was rapidly becoming known as an expert and was now often called in for a quick consultation or else sent a complete set of drawings and parameters for a major lift from some of the company's job sites scattered around the world. Whenever there was an accident or a crane failure he was generally called in as part of the group tasked to help investigate the cause and to determine the proper corrective actions to rectify the situation to prevent a reoccurrence. These reports were always forwarded to the management and safety people at each office and jobsite for their information or as a part of a new safety standard.

Cranes have a dedicated safety and mechanical inspection report that must filled out and filed at regular periods. Besides the normal daily inspections, there are monthly, semi-annual, and annual reports that must be submitted to the insurance company, and kept on file at the main office for years. The entire crane, except for the paint, is covered by one or more of these reports. Therefore, cranes from reputable crane rental companies were normally in top condition, so it was often the fault of the crane operator whenever a mishap or accident occurred.

There was a strict rule in place everywhere in the company that as soon as there was an accident or mishap of any kind, the crane operator and whoever was signaling him were to go to a clinic or lab immediately for a complete blood and urine test to check for the possibility of drug or alcohol usage by either of the participants. This happened, but more often it was the lack of 100% attention to the task at hand from being distracted, tired, or sleepy as quite often the operator had nothing to do for hours on end while he had a load in position as it was being worked on and boredom sometimes crept up on the operator and his mental faculties diminished until they were refreshed, normally with coffee and a walk around the crane for a minute, much as a tired driver does when drowsy on a road trip. "There is no substitute for rest, alertness, and a good cup of strong coffee." Mike always said.

One of the things he really hated to see was a miscalculation of measurements and loads. Even worse was when someone changed the final plan without authorization. Another common cause was when the rigging crew used slings and shackles not rated for the load it would carry. This was especially infuriating to Mike as it was usually laziness or carelessness or a lack of attention to details that caused a mishap to happen. However, to Mike, the worst offense was when a contractor used substandard or defective or undersized crane or rigging items because they did not want to spend the money for the proper equipment just to save a few bucks. They said 'after all, there was a safety factor built it, right??' Those people he tried to send to jail if someone was seriously hurt or killed. Sued, bankrupted, and then blacklisted if only property was damaged. Any offending contactor or supplier was for sure barred from ever bidding or working on another contract with his company. Willful misconduct really, really pissed him off.

Because of his work with cranes he had become a part of the company's safety and loss prevention team, although he did not regularly work in that area, leaving it to the specialists. He was, however, often called upon to go onto a project unannounced to see if he could figure out why a job was not running properly or was behind schedule or had materials and equipment simply disappear from secure storage areas, sometimes even with guards on duty. This sometimes entailed working undercover for a while, but that was getting harder to do due to his reputation and people's knowledge of him. Probably the worst case of his reputation preceding him was when his boss sent him to a waste water plant under construction in the Southern California desert.

He was only supposed to take over one building, which had some serious engineering problems due to a change in equipment suppliers. He was told he would be there 6 weeks. A year later he still needed 6 weeks to finish up. The day he got there, the existing project manager never came back from lunch, evidently thinking his days were numbered if Mike was on site. He would have been right but no one knew it at the time. An example of mismanagement was when a general foreman was showing Mike around as he had taken over the whole project due to the former manager's sudden departure. Mike and the general foreman were standing in the middle of a road watching the paving equipment working its way towards them and the foreman was explaining the under road piping locations and Mike looking at the prints and asking where the 8-inch waterline was located. The general foreman said that there was no waterline under that road and Mike showing him the drawings and asking, "What is that then?" The general foreman looked at the drawings and said, "Well, I'll damned. There is a waterline under that road." Mike told the general foreman to get his stuff together and to go to the district office some 40 miles away and to tell them that he was barred from any of Mike's projects ever again.

The former general foreman never showed up at the district office and other than a request for his last check to be mailed, no one in the company ever heard from him again. Numerous things like this was why it took Mike a year to find and fix all the issues, even having to tear up one paved road to find major mistakes and correct them. This sort of thing could cost the company a fortune, but even worse was the damage this type of workmanship did to the company's reputation.

Many times he worked with an investigator from an insurance company to solve the problems as the insurance company was on the hook for damages if the blame was not directed away from their area of liability coverage. They were also the bonding agent that would be billed in the event default on the contract.

These investigative trips usually took him from his home for at least a week, although it was not uncommon for one to run into two weeks or even more depending on the type and quantity or depth of the problems and the amount of paperwork involved to write it all up afterwards. Several times he had to go overseas for an inspection and those trips could last a month or slightly longer with flight times and communications problems to overcome along the way. Invariably, whenever he went overseas some regional manager tried to find some way to keep him. The company had branch offices in several countries, with field offices at most of the larger jobsites, but Mike tried to avoid the one in Indonesia and the one in the North Atlantic. Most anywhere else was acceptable for a short visit or inspection.

These short trips away from home did not bother him as he had no one at home to worry about or miss. While he dated frequently, it was usually with a different woman each time. Even though most could be described as beautiful, smart, and/ambitious, none of those he had dated ever seemed to fall into the wife and mother category. None had sparked his interest beyond a maximum of 3 or 4 dates before he eased them out of his life. He knew he was at the age when he should be looking for someone to spend his life with, but he had the notion that it would happen when it happened. That was what he kept telling his mother anyhow, but so far it hadn't so he did not really worry about not having a real relationship with one of those he had dated. He wondered if he had set his standards to high as he had based them on his own mother. He decided that if his father had found a 5-star woman, then he should be able to also and would settle for nothing less. They had to be hiding out there someplace. It was just a matter of finding them.

Michael was considered quite a catch in most circles. He was tall at 6 foot 3 inches and muscular from his years in the dojo training with his master, and his 220-pound frame was well formed but no longer considered chiseled like it was when he was training every day. He was also a good looking young man with somewhat rugged features, dark hair and green eyes and a dazzling white smile. He had a slightly darker skin than most people, like a good sun tan, due to so some lingering Mediterranean blood, a gift from some forgotten ancestor. Literate, well read, and gainfully employed; otherwise known as the poster boy for the all-American male it would seem.

His immediate supervisor at the company stopped by his office one afternoon and said that the big boss, Davis Sims, the principal owner/CEO, and majority stockholder of the company, wanted to see him that evening. A reservation had been made for a private dining area at Davis' businessman's club for dinner at 7 PM, with drinks and some serious conversation before and after dinner. This had Mike thinking and wondering what was up. All his projects were running smoothly and were on or ahead of schedule and all were under budget.

Thinking about it, he decided that one of his projects had a problem and that was the reason for the boss to talk to him, then it would not be done at an expensive restaurant, would it? No, it had to be something business related as he knew the boss did not have an ugly daughter that needed a husband and he did not remember hearing about any nieces either. And the boss' son wasn't that type so evidently romance was out, so what was it? Michael was really scratching his head and wondering but could not come up with a clue. There had been no hint of a new project in the works either, so Michael decided he just had to wait for the evening meeting.

As quitting time neared, Mike decided to go on home and shower and shave and put on one of his better suits with a white shirt and a tie to contrast the suit and be at the businessman's club a bit early. When he entered the club, he gave his name to the man at the door that was checking memberships and reservations and was then was escorted to a private dining area near the main dining room. There he found that his boss and another man he did not know were already seated and waiting for their first drink.

When they saw Michael, they both stood to shake hands and his boss introduced the other man as Wilson Andrews, the CEO of the main property and causality insurance company that insured most of the company and their construction projects. Wilson's company also underwrote the necessary performance and surety bonds when one was needed. They would have insured all of them, but there were a few states in which they had not been able to get an insurance charter. Some state insurance departments evidently listened to the existing companies chartered or registered in that state and would grant a new company a charter due to the protests by the existing companies about the addition of yet another competitor. That situation was working its way favorably through the courts, but it was a slow process.

After the introductions and handshakes, they were seated and a drink for Mike was ordered by his boss, a very good single malt Scotch. This peaked Mikes imagination as this was a very expensive Scotch and not just the usual good Scotch the boss normally ordered, so something was defiantly up. He just sat and slowly sipped his single malt and waited for the shoe to drop. During dinner, his boss and Wilson calmly discussed different topics about the different jobs and jobsites. The conversation quickly moved into discussion about the loss claims that occurred on the jobs and how many false claims there were. Further discussion about how many the courts had called frivolous as they tossed them out, and how many the courts had ruled against them on. Then how much plain and simple fraud existed and some not so plain and simple. Those claims really cost them both a pile of money, because as the loss claims were paid, records were kept by different entities, like OSHA, for example. By law those claims put the company into a different rating category thus raising their rates considerably and the insurance company lost money as it had to make fraudulent claim payments all too often.

Mike did not know where their discussion was heading but he had already figured out that all of it had to do with insurance claims and monetary losses by both companies via theft and local mismanagement or even embezzlement by someone. This could include false time sheets, expense reports, progress reports and several other possible ways to gain illegal monies from the companies. It would be interesting when they turned to him and got to the real reason for this diner meeting. He thought it could not be good, not at all. For some reason he thought of the so called "volunteer system" the army had. Meaning when the commander called for volunteers he usually said it as "I need three volunteers for a special mission. You, You, and You. Thank you." It really wasn't quite that bad although it seemed like it at times, and that was an old, old military joke. Mostly.

When they had finished and the plates cleared away, the boss ordered brandies for them and sat back and smiled at Mike and said, "Mike, I know you have been listening to us and wondering where this was going. Have you given any thought to what we have been talking about? Do you already have ideas on how we can cut these losses, both the real and the fraudulent ones down? This has been a problem for ages and a real thorn in the sides of both of us as each claim goes into the books and data base with the state and with OSHA and a couple of claims to many can disqualify us from bidding on those large government projects.

"We love building their buildings and dams, so those types of claims have to be stopped. As big as some of our projects are, we have hundreds of employees on each and accidents usually happen but we strive to keep them down as much as possible. We don't want to see anyone get hurt but if they do, we want them taken care of and we do not want to deny any righteous claims. None at all.