Fiction - A Setback at Park Place Towers

Prologue:

This is a short chapter out of a story I have been working with over the years. As such, it requires a bit of an introduction.

The action takes place in the Distant Future, and on an as yet unnamed planet.

A short time ago, a hurricane threatened the citizens of Tethys Bay. As the storm moved in, citizens were encouraged to seek refuge in the newly constructed and Storm Certified Nova Tower.

The problem was, the building had not been built to code. Contractors and Inspectors alike had been bought off by Lewis & Lewis Construction so that their board could reap a little extra profit. The building could not stand up to the force of the Hurricane and several floors were crushed, taking with them many city residents who had sought shelter from the storm. Amung the dead were a group of children. The youth of the city had special meaning to an organization who would stop at nothing to repay blood with blood on those whom they held responsible for the deaths.

As our story begins, three bodies have been found, murdered, by the local police. All had some connection to the construction of Nova Tower and Lewis & Lewis. Now the Cousins who run the company are taking notice, and making their way to the scene of the latest murder to see the evidence for themselves.

                             A Setback at Park Place Towers

Jonathan Lewis walked through the plastic sheeting and into the Park Place Towers building. The Lobby had been cleared by the police a few hours earlier. Yellow tape still roped off the area in the back corner that continued to be an active crime scene. Jonathan could see the blood stains on the back wall cornered off by the tape and it didn’t take much imagination to visualize Hardin pinned to the wall by steel through shoulders and feet.

Jonathan’s cousin Charles came huffing up behind him. The large man leaned against a construction table as he made his way up to where Jonathan stood. The two men were harsh contrasts of each other. Jonathan’s well chiseled figure spoke to a man who continued to work out even into his fifties. He had run track throughout his youth and his day was not complete without at least three miles on the treadmill. Charles on the other hand had gone to fat in his elder years. He had been a star football player in college, and had even had a short pro career before a knee injury put him out of the game. Since then his knee pained him whenever he even thought of the word exercise, and he hadn’t met a donut he didn’t like.

The cousins were the Lewis’ of Lewis and Lewis. Although neither had worked a day of construction in their lives, their fathers had worked their way up to a point where they could get their respective sons into the business without any background. Jonathan made the best of the opportunity, working his good looks and used car salesman charm into a successful career. Charles had basically ridden Jonathan’s coat tails up until they co-ran the business. Although realistically Jonathan ran the business.

Charles looked at the blood stains and blanched, turning white around the gills. “Pull yourself together man” Jonathan muttered tossing a folder onto the construction table in front of Charles. “You did this. So you need to see the consequences.” Jonathan nodded down at the folder in front of Charles. His cousin opened the folder, stared for a minute, before turning and throwing up on the floor.

“Damnit man. If you can’t deal with the heat you should never have come into the kitchen. Turn to the next one.” Jonathan mutter picking up the picture of the man in the hospital who had been killed by a series of knife thrusts. The next picture showed a burned corpse in a chair, not recognizable as male or female. Jonathan made sure Charles had seen that one before revealing the final picture in the series, the one of Hardin. Hardin looking like some prop from a gore film with his head full of nails. “This is what your greed has wrought on us.”

Charles shook his head, his chins flapping with the motion, Jonathan wondered idly what the motion would look like in slow motion. “I had no idea Jon. We’ve built so many buildings under code. Just a few corners cut here and there to turn a little extra profit. No one ever noticed. NO ONE.” the last was accusingly pointed at Jonathan.

“You’re right. I left too many details to you. I should have been overseeing our projects from the beginning and just let you do what you are best at. Spending money and eating.” Jonathan closed the folder, tossing it into a nearby trash can and following it quickly with a match. The sawdust and other wood remnants caught easily and the folder was soon up in flames. Jonathan’s source in TBPD who had given him the pictures had made him promise to destroy them. Jonathan kept his promises. “But now it is too late. The damage has been done Charlie, and people are paying for it.”

Charles shrugged his expansive shoulders “So what Jonny. A couple of pencil pushers and a government lackey. No one who can’t be replaced. No one important has died under mysterious conditions. Why should we worry?”

Jonathan gritted his teeth. “You imbecile!” he nearly shouted at his cousin. “Five people... five people have disappeared from the company. Just because two bodies haven’t turned up doesn’t mean they aren’t just as dead as these three. And they are working their way up. This is an organized attack on our company and anyone who had anything to do with Nova. That means YOU. And by happy coincidence of sharing the same last name, Me.” he mutters the last almost as a curse. His mind considers if he could save himself by turning his whale of a cousin over to whoever was doing this to his business. But family was family and he had to do his best to take care of Charlie.

Charles muttered and cursed “No one would be fool enough to come after us. We have money... We have power.... We have contacts in government. We can hurt people. Who in their right mind would come after us?” the man asked exasperated.

Jonathan sighed making his way to the construction elevator, he flipped the power switch to turn the machine on and opened the sliding door. He waited for his cousin to step in and closed the door behind them. Setting the elevator to take them to the 23rd floor he leaned against the wall and looked at this man he had been anchored with for the past 26 years of business. “The people who are doing this don’t fear us.” he muttered as the elevator began to rise.

A man in a black outfit stepped into the lobby, Watching the elevator rise into the afternoon sky. He had been hired by Charles Lewis the previous day as a bodyguard slash chauffeur. He waited patiently as the two men went up to the last floor that had been completed. A short time later the elevator came back to floor level and the two men emerged again. Jonathan was speaking.

“So we’ll have to tear down the drywall where Hardin bought it and rework the lobby, looks like 23 is just about done. So the building at least is still on schedule.” he turned as his cousin heaved himself out of the elevator. “We need to get the board together and discuss these killing Charles. This is serious. We need to take precautions.” Jonathan’s eyes met the man waiting for them and he gave a curt nod “A bodyguard is a start Charlie. But I don’t know if one man will be enough.”

Jonathan stepped back over to the corner where Hardin had been found, he stared at the bloody mess. Charles stepped in the direction of his cousin but refused to raise his eyes to the wall. “What do you want to do Jon? Leave the planet?” The man made it sound like the craziest idea ever.

Jonathan turned to his cousin “That’s the first bright idea you have had in years. But no. Unfortunately that’s not a workable solution. I have too much work to do here. Too many things need to be overseen. Especially right now. No... we need to discuss this as a board. And I think the 23rd floor will do nicely for an after hours meeting.” Jonathan nodded as though considering the idea in his head “Yes. The one thing we know so far is that these killers have not struck in the same place twice. So this building may be the safest place in Tethys Bay for us to meet. I’ll get word out to the board and we will come up with a time for us to figure out our next step.”

Jonathan turned away from the corner of the room and headed for the door, giving the chauffeur a curt nod as he passed him “We’ll be leaving now Mr. Stanton.” he murmured to the man as he passed.

Charles came on his cousin’s heels, huffing after crossing only half of the large room. He put a hand on the chauffeur’s shoulder for support as he got to the door. “Don’t mind him Brent.” Charles said to the man. “He’s a little off in the head.” Charles gave the man a smile and a pat on the back as he followed his cousin out the door.

The Chauffeur cinched his gloves up on his hands as he turned to follow his “employers” out through the plastic sheeting and to the car. He turned back and looked at the elevator and muttered to himself “Lots of things can happen on the 23rd floor of an unfinished building.” smiling he pulled back the plastic sheeting and walked out to the car. He tipped his hat to the two men as he opened the door for them and then moved around to the driver side door. Looking up at the building he muttered again “A whole lot of things.”

Smiling Jason got into the car and drove the two heads of Lewis and Lewis back to their office.

Image Sources: Image 1> https://atmosfx.com/collections/blood-walls-physical-and-scenes
Image 2> http://www.ridingouttheeconomy.com/?p=1033

#originalwork By @mikepm74