The Investigators Pt. 03

"Yes, if you are finished that is. No hurry. We are on Aruba time, you know. It used to be all businesses but now only a few still do it but back when, like just a year or so ago, every store would close from noon until 2 PM for siesta. I'm sure glad that is not the way it is done these days." They disposed of their trash and drove back to the refinery office for the afternoon session and Mike and Lee's meeting with the refinery manager.

Shortly before 1:00 that afternoon, Mike stood and walked over to where Lee was working and leaned over and kissed her on the cheek and asked if she was ready for the meeting with Carl. She said she was at a good stopping point so she got up and grabbed her notebook and cell phone and followed Mike out the door and down the short hall to the refinery manager's office and knocked. Carl told them to come on in and have a seat. The did, but you could tell they had some apprehension about the purpose of this meeting.

"Mike, Lee..., relax, you two. I don't think this is going to be anything bad, at least not as I see it. However, you young people may have differing views on things. The only bit of bad news I have is that you are not going to get to go home for a while yet. We have been impressed with the work and attitudes of both of you, so we are going to request that you two spearhead the estimating process to arrive at a rough figure of what it would take to complete this project as we would like it. I do not know how long this might take, but I would guess at least a month maybe two. Consideration and allowances must be made for the engineering required to get the system up to the size we want, somewhere around 12 or 14 inch. What do you think?"

"I think Davis is going to soil his Levies. He just told me last night that he knew that our company is making money but for us to hurry and finish and then come home so can put us on a real job. His words, not mine, and he was joking, I assure you. He loves this plant and your company.

"Carl, to do this, we are probably going to need a different office set up where we have more room and can spread out some. With Andy and Wayne working on the original estimate, I may need a couple more people, at least for a while. This could take a couple of months to do, you know. Is there a vacant building here anywhere, or even some offices someplace we can use that has their own entrances? We would also need class A phones and an internet connection. Is this doable?

"Carl, we would have to finish engineering the system to get to the sizes you want and there are so many hidden faults you would not believe it. I am much more adept and experienced in the design of things and not the estimations of costs. Others have that knack and love it. I don't. I am much more comfortable doing design work. And speaking of which, man to man here, Carl. I do not think your idea of a 12 or 14-inch system is very viable. One that size would require way too much heat and high priced large pieces of equipment. I think that if you stop with a 6-inch or even an 8-inch system, that you, as a refinery, will be much more pleased and confident of its success. Think about it, and we will look at both possibilities. Deal???"

Carl looked at Mike for a moment and then smiled and said, "You have spoken aloud the words that I have been thinking for some time but did not have the nerve to say where anyone could hear it. I completely agree that a 12 or 14-inch system is a bit far-fetched, but some of the board members came up with that idea, so we had to make a try. Right? As for a place for your people to work, I think I know just the place. Why don't you two follow me and I will show you. Let me call security to bring the keys and I will meet you downstairs at your car so you can follow me there and then stay and look around. I will need to get back and try to run the rest of this refinery."

"See you in the parking lot is just a few then." Said Mike as he led Lee out of the office towards the stairs.

They followed Carl as he led them away from the main part of the refinery towards an area that looked like the outskirts of a salvage yard as there were various pieces of equipment lying about almost everywhere. When Carl arrived, he saw Mike and Lee looking around and said, "We are on a small island that is a long way for any supply facility. We throw nothing away if we can keep from it. We have an excellent repair and machine shop here that maintains everything it can. If you look around in places, you can see old valves and things that have German Swastikas made in their castings, much like you 'Made in USA.' Takes a bit of getting used to. Aruba had long lasting relationship with Germany until the Germans invaded Holland at the start of World War ll. There is even a German freighter laying out in the bay that was scuttled during the war to keep it from being captured. There is also a submarine out there somewhere.

"This building should do for you nicely. You can consider this your company office for as long as you need it. Here are the keys. Call me soon if this will work for you and I will have it cleaned and the utilities turned on. I must run now. Talk to you later."

"Thanks, Carl. I think this will do nicely, so we will go ahead and accept it. By the way, does the refinery have any surplus tables and chairs available."

"There should be plenty stored in one of those rooms at the rear of the building. If not, call me and I will get some moved out here." Carl drove away leaving them to survey their new office.

They did a quick walk through and decided that it would do nicely for what they had to do. They found a large assortment of folding tables and chairs as well as a couple of office type chairs in the storage room. They would move things the next day after the cleaning people had left.

"Hey, Lee. Ever make love in a refinery before? Whatcha think?"

"I think you are guilty of having a one-track mind anymore, but also guilty of having good ideas. However, my dear man, I fear we can't as it looks like the cleaners are almost upon us as we speak." And she pointed towards a van pulling up in front of the building.

"Damn, Lee, nothing gets done this quick in Aruba. It just ain't right. Let's go back to the main office and check in with Andy and Wayne, then we can leave for the day. We also need to call Davis and probably Wilson, too. They are sure going to be surprised, if Carl did not already tell them what is going to happen."

"I think you are right on both counts, my dear man. Gosh, I love the sound of that. I love you so much, Mike. Tell me it is not a dream. Please. Uh... Is it quitting time yet, by chance?" Lee asked mischievously

"Close enough, Honey, close enough. It won't take but a second to check in with everyone at the office and then we are out of here for the night. Let's go."

Everything at the office conference room was running smoothly with no problems seen on the horizon so they Mike and Lee made a hasty exit from there and headed to their hotel. As they were driving, Mike said to Lee, "I was told about a place to eat we are going to try tonight. It sounds strange, but there is a very good Italian Restaurant in what looks like a pirate ship in the outlying area of Orangestad that supposedly has the best fried calamari on the island. And it is on a buffet, too. I love good calamari, but they say that most places here only offer it boiled in a soup or stew. I hope it is as good as they say it will be. Do you like calamari?

"Love it, if it is fresh and cooked right, that is. It can sure get tough and chewy when it isn't. Let's hope they do it right."

As they pulled into the hotel parking area Mike noticed Lee's hand on the door handle. "Race you... Last one to the room has to undress the other one."

"Has to, or gets to?"

"Either works for me. Same result either way."

"That's too easy. Last one to the room has to be on bottom."

"Okay then. Now we can race for real. Park this tank and prepare yourself to be the basement, Lover Boy." And the race was on, causing everyone to stare in wonderment at the pair of young people running through the lobby towards the elevators.

"I won!!!" hollered Lee.

"Did you now, Sweet Princess. I kind of like when you are on top. Love the view and the access to your goodies."

"So, you like my goodies then?"

"No, I love your goodies, now bring them here, my dear one. Bring them here."

Mike's ringing phone woke them from their post bliss nap. He answered with a rather groggy "Hello."

"Good afternoon, Michael. Sorry to bother you, but we need to discuss some business, if you don't mind." Davis replied with more than just a hint of a smile in his voice.

"No problem, Sir. Just resting from a long and hard week. What's up?"

"That is what I was going to ask you two. I gather that an imminent flight home is not scheduled at this time. Is that correct?"

"Unfortunately, it is. We had thought that we might be flying either this weekend or the first of next week, but Carlton Reedy and I guess the board of directors threw us not a curve but a nasty slider. They have given us an office to use out in a non-used area of the refinery while we prepare an estimate for the completion of the original project, to include the necessary engineering and design work, plus giving them what I think is a more feasible system, meaning smaller but more manageable and workable for them, meaning something in the 6 or 8-inch range. I am surprised that Carl did not call you about this. Or did he, you ornery old rascal?"

"No comment. Actually, he did call, but just a short time ago. He said that you told him I was going to dirty my pants over this. Not quite, but it will change a few plans. We love them and love taking their money even more, so we are happy as clams here. How many more people do you need now?"

Wayne and Andy should be finished with what they are working on in a day or two, so maybe two more estimators might do, especially if they are contracting engineers. As it stands now, we will not have to supply finished drawings for each item, but we will have to have construction notes and sketches for everything to document our calculations and estimates. I have no idea how long this might take to complete, but I would allow for us to be here at least another month."

"Why so long."

"You saw where the pitch is being stored now, didn't you?"

"Yes."

"Well, the actual planned storage area is a bit over a half mile away from there and will have to have berms built to isolate and hold it, plus drainage ditches cut into the coral to carry the seawater from the piping and any rainwater back to the sea without contaminating any surrounding area. This is going to be expensive for them. They want turnkey items figured."

"Yes, I can see at least a month. Are you two still okay for cash? I can get you whatever you need. Of course, you have your credit cards to use, too."

"Neither of us have spent much of the original cash you gave us. We just have not shopped or anything except for work related items and most of those were bought with the credit cards. I had thought that we might have to offer some cash to Andy and Wayne as this extra time will catch them by surprise. I assume their checks are being direct deposited like ours are. Right?"

"Yes, they are and it is good to see you care about your people. Signs of a good man and a good leader. We need and appreciate people like you, but we don't ever have enough of them available. Thanks for being us, both of you. Now, except for a couple of people, what else might you need? Nothing I can think of we can't get here. Make sure whoever you send down brings their laptops with them, and that they have good engineering software on them. We can buy a good printer down here cheaper than you can send one down. We may have to contact a local temporary help contactor and get a secretary for the month. I think we could one to free us up from lots of mundane things. Off hand, that is all I can think of. Lee, Honey, can you think of anything else we might need?"

"A week on the beach without any phones maybe. That's about it, I guess. You have it pretty well covered and are much more experienced at this than I am."

"You will get your week when this is over. I promise. Do you two want the same week and the same beach?" Davis asked while laughing loudly at his own humor attempt.

"Doesn't Aunt Susan have anything for you to do, like clean the garage or something? You have way too much free time on your hands. Hey, that's it... All of you could come down for a couple of days and look around and play some. You and dad could help us out and Mom and Aunt Susan could help the local economy somewhat, if you know what I mean. Have you told them about the duty-free shops here on the island? Do I need to call Mom?"

"Young lady, you are getting a bit cheeky, and I forbid your speaking with any female family members while you are still on that island."

"Like that will ever happen." Lee snorted.

"Okay, kids. I need to go and get things moving on this end. Do whatever you think is necessary on your end. We trust you complexly and know you have nothing but our best interests in mind, except maybe for Lee's interests, that is. Look for your engineers to be there day after tomorrow sometime. Bye now. Love you guys and thank you for doing the job you are doing for us." And he rang off.

"Well, it looks like we are here for a bit. Push it out of your mind for a bit and let's get dressed and go see about that calamari, what say?"

"Sounds like a plan. I get the first shower."

"We could shower together."

"Not this time, Sweets. Not enough time and I'm too tired to boot. We need rest and nourishment."

"If you say so, it must be, but I still think my idea has merit."

"Merit, yes. A chance of happening, no. Now get!"

"Damn, bossy woman, and not even married yet." Mike chuckled under his breath.

"I heard that..."

After they had showered and dressed, Mike and Lee left the hotel hand in hand made their way to the car for the trip to the strange sounding restaurant. Mike thought it must have been a seafood place that either changed hands or cuisines. Whoever heard of an Italian Restaurant in a pirate ship. This could be interesting, he thought.

When they arrived, they found that the place was packed, so it had been "discovered" by the locals and tourists. When they entered, they learned from their waitress that the restaurant was owned by a nice Italian family and while the main menu was seafood related, they also offered what was about the best Italian food to be found on the island. And the prices were modest enough to attract the locals as well as tourists. They had a great meal and as it was a buffet, they naturally ate to much and opted to take a walk before visiting a casino in different hotel for a short time.

When they finally arrived back to their hotel room, they were both tired and by silent but mutual agreement, just snuggled lovingly. After numerous kisses. they dropped into a deep sleep, nestled in each other's arms.

The next day was mostly spent working on making their new office functional. Mike had to call Carl several times seeking help expediting the arrival of a cleaning crew and the installation of phone and internet service. They would get the tables and chairs from the storeroom themselves as they were needed.

Once the office was functional, Mike suggested they first drive what seemed to be a logical path for the pitch line to follow on its way to the planned holding area. Lee agreed, but said that while she would enjoy the time spent with her future husband, she did not know how much help she might be as she was not an expert in piping and mechanical work.

"I know, Honey, but first off, anytime I get to spend with you is time well spent, as they say. I heard that expression all my life, but now I know what it means. Secondly, your untrained eye may see and question something I might take for granted. Besides, you take better notes than I do. After we drive this route a time or two, we will need to physically walk every foot of it, but I think that will wait until or help arrives."

"Speaking of help, when do you think Andy and Wayne are going to finish with their task and come over to us?"

"Good question. Let's drop by and see them after we do this drive thing each way. By then it should be quitting time, or close enough for me, anyhow. We should see our new people tomorrow, too."

They made the drive along the pipe rack that ran towards the proposed holding area and did not see anything that raised any red flags, so this part should be fairly simple, at least at first glance. The area where the pitch Priller was to be located and the pitch started it movement towards the holding area was bit more congested, meaning they would have to take a bit more care in their design work for that area. No problems here either, he thought.

After their initial inspection trip, they did drive to the main office and went up to tell Carl that they thought things looked pretty simple, meaning quicker and cheaper installation. Then they talked to their two engineers and found that they should be finished about noon the next day, but were going to take the afternoon off and go to the beach or a casino or just drive around the island, or maybe all three. Anything but be in a refinery for an afternoon. Wayne laughed and said, "This place is a great place to work, but I hate living here." Everyone agreed. Even Carl.

The next morning, Mike told Lee to wear her heavy boots and jeans as they were going to do the walk down the pipe rack to check for obstacles or problems, and he did not want her to get hurt in any way. She just looked at him and smile, and said "Yes, Dear."

"Hey, that is supposed to be my line. Go find your own. You do know I love you, don't you?"

"Of course, I do. That's why I let you hang around so much." And laughed as she went into the bathroom to get ready for the day.

The day progressed much the same as the ones previously, with nothing to cause any problem. Mike and Lee left about 130 that afternoon to go to the airport to meet their two new engineers. I took most of the rest of the afternoon to get them situated with a rental car and checked into their hotel and then shown the refinery and processed for their badges. Everyone would meet at their new office building at 7 the next morning to get started.

As was the custom for the employees of their company, they hit the ground running the next day and by the end of the next week they had a reasonable preliminary estimate ready to give to Carlton. After they reviewed it once more, they decided it was ready to submit and then they could start on the final plans. It had been a hurried and tired 10 days so they planned to take the next day off to relax before starting the final phase of the estimate.

Mike drove the estimate over to the main office and turned it in to Carlton and told him they would see him the day after tomorrow, and not to try to find any of them the next day. Carl laughed and said they all deserved a little down time.

Mike and Lee never saw or heard from any of the others on that day off, but assumed they were all having fun and unwinding somehow. He did not know any of them well enough to know anything about their private habits, not that it mattered. They were good people.

After their day of rest, they returned to the refinery to start the next phase of the estimate. When they pulled up to the main gate, the guard flagged them down and told them to go the main office and see the refinery manager as soon as they got to the refinery.

"What's up with that, I wonder." Said Lee.

"I don't have a clue but it sounds ominous. Let's go see what's up."

When they arrived at the main office people were wearing strange looks on their faces and hardly acknowledged their arrival. This from people that had been jovial and good natured the whole time. They made their way to Carlton's office where they found he also had the assistant refinery manager and a couple of the people from Houston with him. Mike took Lee's elbow and started to turn away but was called into the office where the strangers were introduced to them. Carlton looked a little sheepish and red in the face before she started to speak.