Let’s hope not.
“There’s one more bid left,” the man said, tearing open a manilla envelope. He pulled the papers out and flipped to the back where the final sum was written. “Chalgon Construction—$7,587,000.00.”
What the hell?
My stomach dropped to my knees.
I scanned the crowd, looking for Chalgon’s representatives. They had just started bidding on larger projects and I didn’t know who represented them. Brian caught my attention and gave me an inquisitive look and I shrugged.
I don’t fucking know either, man.
“Chalgon is the lowest bidder. Congrats to them and thank you all for bidding on another project for our city.”
People started standing up and leaving; I sat down, my spirits sinking.
How did this happen? How in the hell did this happen!?
Sam placed her hand on my shoulder and squeezed it. “I’m sorry, Max.”
My shoulders sagged and I scrubbed my hands over my face, too frustrated, too angry, too exhausted to even respond. I blew out a jagged breath and stood, heading for the exit. I needed air.
I popped open the door and held it for Samantha, then headed towards my truck. Sam stayed a few steps behind me, giving me the space she apparently sensed I needed. I held the door open for her and then climbed into the driver’s side and drove towards the office.
The trip was quiet. Sam messed with her phone while I tried to figure out what to do. Our revenue was going to lessen significantly in three months when our current projects started wrapping up. We had to have a job lined up to start around that time to keep the cash flow steady. Without cash flow, everything tightened, and I couldn’t let that happen.
But how did we lose this bid? What did I overlook? What could I have cut?
I slammed my hand against the steering wheel and pulled in the parking lot. Sam smiled sadly and climbed out. I picked up my briefcase and followed her inside, going into my office and closing the door.
I sat down and tried to comprehend what had just happened. There was no way mathematically that Chalgon came in lower than us without the Grady number. But Grady promised me an exclusive bid on the job, so either Grady lied or Chalgon found another way to get it for less.
“It’s just not possible,” I said to the empty room. “There’s no way they came in under us.”
A knock rapped on the door and it swung open. Cane’s face was tight, the vein in his temple, an indicator of his level of pissed-off-ness, throbbing. “What the fuck do we do now?”
I shrugged. “How did they get lower than us? I just can’t figure it out.”
“I called around and Chalgon’s estimator on that project was Dan Collins.”
I froze. “Seriously?”
“That’s what I heard. Does he still have access to our estimating system?”
“No,” I shook my head. “I deleted his user profile the day I let him go.” I stroked my chin. “I just can’t figure this out. They’re just starting to bid on these jobs. It’s not like they should be comfortable enough to get aggressive. If it would’ve been Lytrell, that would’ve been one thing.”
Cane threaded his fingers together and put his hands behind his head, pulling his chin up to the ceiling. “Back to square fucking one.”
“We didn’t miss anything on this one, Cane. There’s no way they got that job without Grady. I’m tellin’ ya—there’s no way.”
He laughed angrily. “Well, unless Wade lied to us, and I’d hate to think he did that, then there is a fucking way because it just happened.”
“If ya think it’d do any good, give him a call and see what he has to say. I’m gonna just press forward and see what else is out there that we can get our hands on.”
Cane nodded and, with a heavy sigh, left. I glanced at the clock and grabbed the pamphlet that advertised all of the public bids in Arizona and started pouring through them. I began compiling a list of plans for Lucy to acquire.
A few hours later, a text popped up on my phone, breaking my concentration.
Cane: Grady says he has no clue.
I didn’t bother responding; there wasn’t anything to say. I didn’t have any answers, although I wished to hell I did.
I had managed to clear my head as best as I could and got some work done. A few hours later, I was ready to just go home and be with Kari. I started putting things in my briefcase when a light knock sounded on the door.
“Yeah?” I asked without looking up.
“Hey,” Sam’s voice said softly. “You okay?”
I nodded, latching my briefcase shut. “Did you give me Kari’s stuff?”
A look flashed across her face before she replied, “You know what? I forgot it at home. I’ll try to remember it tomorrow.”