“You run a daycare?” Dan asked.
“No, a neighbor of mine does. Daphne McKellan at Ten Ashburn Court,” he pointed to her house from the deck. “She set up the business in her home. I helped with the renovations with Dominic’s team!” Ben looked at Louis. “Speaking of his team, I plan to tear down Fourteen Ashburn Court.” He pointed again, this time at Beth’s home. “I want to build a new home on the property with a design similar to your new nature integrated light industry commercial park. I’ll also be tearing down Six Ashburn Court for a similar rebuild.”
“That design was first implemented on a residential property,” Louis said and nodded to Ed.
“Yeah, I’m going to ask Zoe if it would be okay for Ben to have a tour of the house to see how it’s built,” Ed said and frowned. “Now I wish I’d set up a services control center like the Spa has.”
“The control center is the brainchild of an engineer friend of mine, Dan Bishop. He’s got some amazing ideas that reduce costs and increase efficiencies, and he said he’s willing to give us his time for this project. I want him involved in all the builds we do for the Foundation. He’d work very closely with Mark and Ed.”
Louis looked to Mark and Ed as both nodded enthusiastically, so he turned to Ben. “Send us his contact details, and we’ll set up the meetings. Speaking of meetings, next week I’ve scheduled some initial meetings with Real Estate Developers in a few of the countries you’ll be setting up your Foundation in. We’ll be working closely with these local companies to complete the work. I was wondering if you might be convinced to join us?”
Ben looked at Louis in surprise. “I don’t know anything about commercial Real Estate Development. I just fix up homes.”
“Yes, but your name is going to be on these buildings. You should feel comfortable about who’s selected to develop them for you,” Dan suggested.
Ben noticed a slight smile on the lawyer’s face, which set off alarms. “And the real reason you want me there is?”
Louis chuckled. “It’s not the only reason, but your inclusion in the meetings will put them off their game, and we’ll get a better impression of how they operate. We’ve fully vetted the companies we’re meeting with, and they all have a reasonable portfolio of successful projects. While we’re there, we intend to do an assessment of some properties built by each as due diligence.”
Dan picked up the thread. “They’ll try to sell us on their idea of what they prefer to build. They all do this. How they respond when we push back is a good barometer of how future interactions will go. Having the client in the meeting would expedite this process.”
Ben considered this, and aside from losing some personal time, he had no real issues with the idea. He knew General Davis might tell him to stay home, but he refused to put his life on hold and hide in a hole. “Do you have an itinerary? I’d need to know where I need to be and when, as Evelyn will file that with General Davis.”
“I’ll send that to you by midweek. Thank you!” Louis said with a smile.
Ben frowned. “My next question is, how are you getting to these countries? I can’t take commercial flights anymore with this stupid public attention on me. I have a friend who owns a fleet of private jets, so I’d be using his services.”
Dan grinned as he gestured to the four members of the Klein Group. “With four of us traveling, our travel budget means commercial airlines, but Louis and I get the luxury of premium economy.”
“Or you could join us on my buddy’s jet,” Ben suggested.
Louis looked at Dan with a wide smile as Dan seemed a little shocked. “Yeah… that could work too. Who do you travel with?”
“I’d have Evelyn and my personal security, Liliya Sokolov and Tatiana Pushkin. They go where I go, so all transfers and hotels will need to accommodate them. It might make sense to let Evelyn handle the arrangements for booking the hotels as she’ll work with the team to ensure the security requirements are met.” Ben thought about the logistics. “Which countries are you planning to visit?”
Louis looked like a kid on Christmas morning, discovering Santa had been very good to him. “Dominic asked us to concentrate on London, Paris, Berlin, New York, and Hong Kong. We have a selection of Developers for these and are finalizing candidates for Singapore. We have preliminary dates for the meetings to be firmed up. Also, there was some mention of Moscow?”
“I can’t travel to Moscow. Neither can my Security Team. Don’t worry about that one, as I have an alternate plan,” Ben said. He thought about what Louis said. “If you can finalize the candidates for Singapore, I suggest the following sequence for coordinating the flights: Hong Kong, Singapore, Berlin, Paris, London, and finally, New York.”
Dan was making notes on his cell.
“Factoring in time for the meetings and reviews of their buildings, I think you should coordinate with Evelyn. She can assist with any questions regarding timing. She’ll handle the logistics of flights with the private jet service, plus the transfers and hotels at the destinations. I’ll also cover the costs for those,” Ben offered.
“I knew working with Ben was going to be fun!” Louis said gleefully.
“That’s really generous, Ben!” Dan said with a smile.
“This project is really important to me. I don’t want it to be done half-assed,” Ben insisted.
Mark and Ed were looking at each other with excited grins.
“Now, back to my question about having Dominic’s team work on my home renovations. Is that going to be possible?” Ben asked.
“We’ll make sure you have the resources you need,” Louis replied. “When are you planning to get that project started?”
“The demolition of Fourteen Ashburn Court can begin as soon as possible. I still need to see the example of that light industrial office design used for a residential property before designing the new home for that lot,” Ben explained. Eyes turned to Ed.
“I’ll find out when the best time for that visit would be. Maybe this coming Saturday?” Ed suggested.
Ben nodded. “The weekend works for me.”
Ed grinned. “For after the tour, bring your swimsuit as we have a pool and barbecue party on the weekends at Angie’s!”
Ben noted another new name. “Sounds fun. Would it be okay to bring my family?”
Ed nodded. “I’ll need to know how many for the food order.”
“Evelyn, Liliya, and Tatiana are always with me when I travel. I’d also bring Tina, Lucy, and my kids, Christopher, Sam, and Gretchen. Oh! And Rose, Liliya’s daughter.”
Ed nodded seriously. “Ten people then.”
Ben smiled and nodded.
“There will be lots of kids at the party,” Ed said with a grin.
“We can have the next party here so the kids can enjoy the play zone, and we’ll have a barbecue on the deck,” Ben offered, and Ed nodded enthusiastically, then he looked back to the open panels on the railing.
Ben knew what his concerns were. “The panels will be back in place before the party.”
Ed nodded with a little smile.
“I’ll see if I can get the team out to take down the house. Fourteen, you said,” Louis confirmed.
“Yes, that would be perfect. Thanks! Have them speak to me when they arrive,” Ben said.
“Thanks for everything, Ben. We should get back to the office to get those meetings arranged,” Louis said.
He nodded and followed them down to the driveway, where he waved as they drove off.
Heading back inside, Ben went downstairs to his office, and Evelyn smiled at him from her desk.
“We have new plans for next week… I think,” Ben said. She tilted her head as she focused on him.
“Louis and Dan are arranging visits with Real Estate Developers in six countries and have asked us to come along. I’ve asked them to coordinate with you. We’ll need to reserve one of Dennis Thomasson’s larger jets for flying to Hong Kong, Singapore, Germany, Paris, London, and New York in that order. Transfers and Hotels for eight people: four on their team and the four of us.”
“Sounds like quite the trip. Beginning next week, you say?” she asked. He noted the hesitation in her voice.
“Listen, I’m aware there’s a nebulous threat out there, but I’m not willing to stop participating in my life just in case. I have you, Liliya, Tatiana, and whatever resources the General can bring to bear if he chooses to get involved. I’m going,” Ben insisted, and Evelyn just nodded.
“As for when the trip happens, I believe it will be next week, but it will depend on how quickly they can arrange the meetings. Louis indicated that he had most of the candidates selected and was targeting next week, but they haven’t determined the Singapore developers yet. Coordinating multiple meetings in six countries with sufficient time to review existing projects they’ve done doesn’t sound like something that can be done quickly. Can I ask you to get in touch with him to help them?” He plucked Louis’ business card from where he’d left it on his desk and handed it to her.
“Definitely! I’ll ensure the General is aware of the itinerary as well,” Evelyn said, looking Ben in the eye.
He smiled and nodded as he sat at his desk. He appreciated that Evelyn was making an effort to ensure he was aware that she wasn’t doing anything behind his back. He knew she was the General’s link to him and had to report his movements to the man. She never did so without Ben’s knowledge beforehand, and that was fine. Ben understood the General had made above and beyond efforts to protect him, so he was grateful and willing to put up with the well-intentioned in-house surveillance.
“We’ll have the lab space for the battery testing tomorrow. Today they’re installing the heavy-duty workbenches. Tomorrow morning, the materials for the first tests will be delivered,” she said.
“Excellent! I’ve done everything I can do in terms of reviewing the notes and specs. Something is missing. I don’t see what caused the explosion, nor do I see how the designer could get the performance numbers he reported,” Ben said with a frown. The puzzle was itching his brain as he felt close to something.
“We have an appointment with Catherine at her office this afternoon at three. She’s completed the report on the Foundation’s service offerings. I’m eager to see what the buildings will require!” Evelyn said.
“Louis has been waiting on that, hasn’t he,” Ben said, and Evelyn nodded.
“Not for the preliminary developer meetings but soon after. Dominic had your initial plans, which he would have given to Louis in the hand-off. Catherine was expanding on that,” Evelyn explained.
Ben sat back in his chair and glanced at the clock. It was only eleven-thirty, so he had hours until he had to meet Catherine. He looked to Evelyn.