Page 9 of The Boy With The Sharp Teeth
"Please,Ms. Bhatt," Thomas Janssen raised his hand to stop her. "We know ofyour background and expertise, and we are becoming well aware that the lastcity engineer we hired as a consultant conned us out of a good deal ofmoney," Thomas cast a blaming eye to Gabriel Masak, who looked away guiltily."Please, don't sugarcoat it. We want to hear exactly what we can do."
Nodding,Sana took a deep breath, pushing aside the knowledge that all three Waatese menwere sitting directly behind her in the row of chairs that lined the largeconference room wall. Silent and watchful, for some reason, it felt like theywere three guardsmen at her back, ready to fight if she simply gave the word.The idea was preposterous, but she could swear that is what it felt like.
"Ok,so here is the full situation. All three of your cities would ideally like toget off of Oregon's power grid as much as possible, which is understandable dueto the increase in Oregon forest fires, rising rates, and neighboringCalifornia's constant instability. However, the cost of this goal would make nosense financially to you or your citizens. I see that on page thirty-two ofyour outline, you projected having ten wind turbines for Antor Falls, eight forTarki, and three for Gaulding. Understandably, the thinking behind the turbinesis that since the area is notoriously windy, you should yield higher powergeneration, correct?" Receiving nods from all three, she continued."Here is the ugly truth regarding wind turbines. On average, they nevergenerate the capacity they state they can. Industry estimates project an annualoutput of thirty to forty percent, but real-world experience shows that annualoutputs are typically fifteen percent and on some occasions thirty percentcapacity."
"So,wind turbines are out?" Asked Gabriel, whose forehead was starting to setinto a permanent crease.
"Notnecessarily," Sana soothed. "There are a few non-profit programs thatwill basically give each city a couple of turbines for you to install for free.However, I think what will improve each city's power production is expandingyour solar farms for each city and, of course, renegotiating your currentrates."
"Ourrates can be renegotiated?" Monique's tone was dubious, but there was aflare of hope in her eye.
"Ms.Bhatt, we were told explicitly we could not renegotiate our rates at all,"Thomas Janssen informed her soberly.
"Mmm,"she intoned. Looking through her folder, she found the sheets of paper shemarked with yellow tabs. "Well, since I was already approved for theposition, I took the liberty and called a contact of mine and had your ratesnegotiated to what you see here." Pulling out three separate pieces ofpaper, she slid them across the heavy oak table, to which they all greedilypulled forward. "These rates are contingent, of course, if you go theroute of increasing the solar panels thus increasing your own production,meaning the electrical provider can calculate sending less power this way andput that energy elsewhere since consumption should be lower."
Bythe time the meeting was over, the look of disappointment had faded entirelyfrom the mayors' faces. The information of projected savings to each town andtheir citizens seemed to be more than satisfactory.
"Ido not think I have ever seen those three that happy," Adam pointed outwith a chuckle as all four of them walked back to their vehicles.
"Iswear at a few points, Gabriel looked as if he was going to have a small heartattack at the bad and the good news," Kevin added brightly.
"I'mjust happy I could show them I was a worthwhile pick," Sana added,completely aware of the silent looming presence behind her as she walked.
Zachhad yet to say anything during the meeting or out of it. His silence was morethan unnerving. She would rather him say something taunting or snarky ratherthan this heavy unbearable silence.
"Ofcourse you are, Sana," Adam kindly assured her. "Now tell me, whattime should we meet you at the solar farm site?"
"Oh."Blinking in surprise, she glanced down at her thin gold watch on her wrist."Well, I'm ready now, if you are."
"Areyou now?" Adam looked her up and down and glanced at Kevin at his side,who smiled wider. Looking back at her, Adam gave her a considering look."It's pretty muddy due to the rain early this morning. Are you sure?"
"No,it's fine. I have four-wheel drive, so it won't be a problem." She assuredthem proudly.
Shedidn’t want to start off their working relationship on a bad foot. Afterspending nearly two hours in that meeting, she knew these men were ready to goto the site now. Technically, she would be their boss until she hired a fieldengineer to maintain the equipment between the three cities, and though herrole would be purely a diagnostic position, she didn't want them to see her assomeone who was afraid to go out in thefieldwhen necessary.
Adam'sgaze drifted from her over to her right to where Zach stood before speaking."All right then, follow us out."
Sanacould have sworn there was some sort of unspoken dialogue shared in theirlooks, but she refused to even look at Zach to confirm her suspicions. Gettinginto her car, she kept her eyes focused on Adam's truck as he and Kevin jumpedinside. From her peripheral vision, she could see the outline of Zach's tallbody as he casually walked around to his door and got inside. The solar farmwas set up on the far edge of town right where the main road that ran throughthe middle of the town turned back into the highway leading to Antor Falls,where it eventually dead-ended. Just off the road, they took a sharp right backtowards the forest. No longer a road, her SUV bumped easily along the muddymanmade path until they reached a clearing that was made in the forest's treeline. About thirty yards wide, the site was filled with only a quarter of thepanels.
Grabbingher camera in her passenger seat, Sana opened her door and began to step outbefore pausing. Standing just outside her door was Zach. Silently, he looked ather before meaningfully looking at the ground beneath her door. Following hisgaze, she immediately realized her mistake. It wasn't simply a muddy drive, theground was caked in fresh upturned mud from the vehicles passing through. Sanalooked from the thick earthy mud to her pristine black Manolo Blahnik shoeswith considerable distress. Her mother bought her these shoes, just as she didwith nearly every name-brand shoe Sana owned. Every holiday, her mother giftedher with the finest shoes she could find. In her mother's opinion, shoes werefor women, what a good suit was for men.
"I-Idon't think I was listening carefully when Adam mentioned the mud. UmmI-I" Her struggle to find the right words while thinking of a possiblesolution to this problem was abruptly cut off with a clipped scream.
Firmhands grabbed her with speed and precision she only ever seemed to experiencein life with Zach. The grip hooking under her knees pulled her out of the carwhile his other arm snaked around her back. With one effortless motion, she wasout of the car and high against his chest.
Shewas still sputtering with outrage when Zach turned his head and spoke over hisshoulder. "Kevin, grab those wooden boards from my backseat and put themdown over here."
Angryand mortified, Sana couldn't do or say anything as he walked with her towardsthe boards Kevin laid out. Never once in her adult life had she ever beencarried like this. Sana hated every second of it. She hated that her fists werewrapped tightly into the cotton fiber of his polo shirt, she wanted to let go,but with each gentle sway of his steps, she couldn't make herself let go. Sherefused to look at Adam or Kevin's faces, which were most assuredly set inlaughter.
Waitinguntil he set her gently down onto the wooden board, she fixed him with a heatedlook. "That was completely unnecessary, Mr. Waatese."
"Itwas very necessary since you decided to wear this," he gestured to heroutfit, "to a worksite,Ms. Bhatt, and it will be necessary thesecond time when I take you back to your car."
Hewas baiting her. The derisively polite way he said her name, the mockery in hiswords, it was all a game to make her break from the unspoken game he startedbetween them first. Well, she refused.
Crossingher arms, she gave him her most chilling look. "I appreciate yourmisguided kindness Mr. Waatese," she made sure to stress his name the sameway he said hers. "However, I rather walk back with shoes in hand thanhave you humiliate me a second time."
"I'mafraid that is a no-can-do, Ms. Bhatt," Zach's deep voice was like velvetythunder while his golden eyes crackled with lightning as he countered back."This area is a worksite and has a high probability of having dangerousdebris scattered about: nails, screws, bits of fiberglass. I cannot allow youto get hurt."
