The Money Is Green Read online

  THE MONEY

  IS GREEN

  OWEN SULLIVAN

  Copyright © 2015 by Owen Sullivan. All rights reserved.

  No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the author.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  The Money Is Green

  By Owen Sullivan

  1. FIC000000 – Fiction / General

  2. FIC002000 – Fiction / Action & Adventure

  ISBN-13: 978-0-692-51474-0

  Cover design by

  David Flanagan

  Misfit Agency

  1013 7th Street, Sacramento, CA 95814

  916-290-9660

  www.agencymisfit.com

  To all the men and women in uniform who have served or are currently serving our great country.

  ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

  I would like to thank Andrea Hurst of Andrea Hurst & Associates as well as Jessica Schmitz and David Flanagan at Misfit Agency. A shout out is due to Edward McGowan for taking the time to read and give valuable suggestions. I also want to thank both Lori McCulley and Jolene Childers for their contribution.

  CONTENTS

  CHAPTER ONE

  CHAPTER TWO

  CHAPTER THREE

  CHAPTER FOUR

  CHAPTER FIVE

  CHAPTER SIX

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  CHAPTER NINE

  CHAPTER TEN

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

  CHAPTER NINETEEN

  CHAPTER TWENTY

  CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

  CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

  CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

  CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

  CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

  CHAPTER THIRTY

  CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE

  CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO

  CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE

  CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR

  CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE

  CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX

  CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN

  CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT

  CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE

  CHAPTER FORTY

  CHAPTER FORTY-ONE

  CHAPTER FORTY-TWO

  CHAPTER FORTY-THREE

  CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR

  CHAPTER FORTY-FIVE

  CHAPTER FORTY-SIX

  CHAPTER FORTY-SEVEN

  CHAPTER FORTY-EIGHT

  CHAPTER FORTY-NINE

  CHAPTER FIFTY

  CHAPTER FIFTY-ONE

  ONE

  Jason hurried up the aggregate walkway, a soft winter rain leaving small droplets on his overcoat, to a pair of ten-foot glass doors, yanked hard at the chrome handle, and let himself into the building. He paused for a moment, running his hand through his thick brown hair as his eyes focused on the shiny brass lettering on the wall behind the receptionist counter. The word “Soltech” jumped out at him. Its logo of Earth with bursting rays of light surrounding it hung directly below the company name. In neat script, following the curvature of the Earth, read the words, “Everything we do revolves around the Sun.” On both sides of the logo hung vertical white banners with Chinese characters written in red.

  Jason stepped toward a young receptionist with close-cropped, jet-black hair, who was busily reading from her computer screen. She looked up, gave him a quick smile, and then nodded her head to the left.

  “Hi, Mr. Ballard,” she said in a soft voice. “She’s already started the meeting.”

  “Thanks, Sandy,” Jason said. He walked swiftly past her, switched the briefcase he was carrying from his left to his right hand, and glanced at his watch. “Shoot, I’m five minutes early to the meeting, and she started without me. I guess she figures being on time is late.” He turned a corner and headed down a corridor. Through the glass windows he could see a group of people sitting around a large conference room table.

  As quietly as possible, he opened the door slowly and moved to the first open chair he saw. The room was lit up with ten sets of high-efficiency LED lights hanging from the ceiling on thin metal tubes. Tuck-and-roll leather chairs with tall backs surrounded the oval-shaped, tinted glass table. Framed black and white pictures of construction projects in downtown Hong Kong hung from the light beige walls.

  As always, his boss, Mei Chen, was attractively dressed. She sat ramrod straight at the head of the table wearing a grey business suit with a white blouse and black bowtie.

  She held up her hand to a younger man who was addressing her, and he stopped speaking. “It’s nice of you to join us, Jason,” she said curtly.

  “I’m sorry, Madam Mei Chen, but there was a wreck on the 880 and traffic was backed up.”

  Her dark, almond-shaped eyes stared out intently from the wireless glasses that sat perched on her nose. Her creamy smooth skin made her look many years younger than she was. She turned away and nodded to the man standing. “Continue.”

  After the man finished, he sat down and nervously arranged papers in front of him. Jason watched as she spewed question after question at his colleague, Peter, who had the unfortunate task of trying to explain why the Kaiser solar job, a very visible job right off of Interstate 80 in Fairfield, was behind schedule. Geeze, Mei, he thought, give the poor guy a break. The project is only behind by three days. Peter was obviously shaken by the intensity of the questioning and was stuttering out answers, which only made Mei more irritated.

  He glanced around the table at the other eleven participants in the room, who all had their eyes glued on Mei. I’m just glad it’s not me on the hot seat today, he thought. Mei thrives on keeping everyone on edge. Just like my daughter, Crystal, likes to do.

  Jason’s thoughts drifted to last Saturday when he was driving his daughter from her soccer tournament. Out of the blue she’d brought up the divorce and caught him off guard. He was about to rehash the conversation in his mind when he heard Mei call to him in a stern voice, yanking him back to the present.

  “Give us an update on the Copper Mountain project, Jason,” she barked. Before he could answer, she followed up with additional staccato questions. “Has the Power Purchase Agreement been signed between Nevada Power and Inter-Power? What rate did Nevada Power agree to pay for the new energy? Has Inter-Power accepted our proposal to furnish the photovoltaic panels for the job?”

  Jason stole a quick glance around the room. Eleven sets of eyes, all of them at least ten years younger than his forty-three years, were focusing intently on him. He quickly regained his composure and fired back.

  “Madam Mei Chen, the Power Purchase Agreement, or PPA, has not been signed, but it’s my understanding that it’s being routed around Nevada Power for the appropriate signatures. My sources at Inter-Power say there is a closing of the documents scheduled for next Friday.”

  He glanced down at the legal pad in front of him, checked his handwritten notes, then looked up and stared back at her. “As you know, the utilities are being forced by the federal government to receive thirty percent of their energy from renewable sources by 2013. Even though Nevada Power needs another three hundred fifty megawatts of power to reach that goal,
they are still fighting to keep rates low.”

  He turned a page in his notebook, all the while keeping eye contact with Mei Chen. He continued in a steady voice, “As such, Inter-Power believes the deal will be struck at nineteen cents a kilowatt hour for the first hundred megawatts produced. They also think the rates will go lower from there.”

  He placed his hands together under the table and rubbed his sweaty palms. Except for the soft sound of air conditioning coming out of two vents above the table, the room remained totally silent. Jason could feel his colleagues stare as he waited for Mei Chen to respond.

  Mei threw a pen on the table in disgust. “Nineteen cents a kilowatt!” she yelled. “How is that supposed to pencil out? I thought these power companies were behind the green energy movement.”

  “They are behind the movement,” Jason continued. “It’s that they have to consider the everyday customers they pass the additional cost on to. It’s a difficult balance. As for your question regarding whether our proposal for the panels has been accepted, Brian Thompson at Inter-Power told me that as soon as the PPA is signed, he’ll let out the contract and we’re in the first position.”

  Thank god Brian is such a great friend, Jason thought. He’s given me more insight into what direction Inter-Power is going, and it’s helped keep Soltech in the mix for the Copper Mountain job.

  Mei crossed her arms and a slight smile crept across her face. “Inter-Power better purchase my solar panels. Mine are the cheapest and nobody can compete with me.” Picking up her pen, she pointed it at Jason. “Do you know what other panel manufacturers are bidding on this job? It’s going to run over three hundred million dollars, and there are only a few of us who can deliver that kind of volume.”

  Jason nodded. “I know that the American company, RayTech, is one of the bidders.”

  “Hah!” Mei yelled, causing half the room to jump. “Those are the fools who got the five-hundred-million-dollar loan from the United States to start up their company, and the first thing they did was build an overpriced, over-the-top facility in Fremont. They can’t compete with me, and mark my words, I’ll drive them out of business in two years. Who else?”

  Jason straightened up in his chair and took a deep breath. “Well, there’s Ying-Lee and TerraSol, the two Chinese companies that are our closest competitors.”

  Before he could continue, she stopped him. Looking slowly at each individual around the table, she spoke in a firm voice, “As you all are aware, Soltech has been in business for the last five years and has the backing of the Chinese government, which has poured in millions of dollars to ensure its success. There is a tremendous amount of national pride involved here. The United States Congress has set aside billions of dollars from the stimulus bill passed in 2009 for green energy projects like Copper Mountain. It is imperative for us to land that job, as billions of dollars are at stake—billions of dollars that have Soltech’s name on it. I need everyone in this room to redouble your efforts and make this project happen.”

  Jason looked around the room at all the faces of his colleagues, which remained expressionless. These people are working twelve-hour days as it is. What more does she want out of them? They’re all scared to death of her and will do what she wants, but how long will they last before they burn out?

  Mei clapped her hands and stood up. “Okay, that’s it for today. Everyone back to work, chop chop!”

  Jason stood to leave when Mei called to him.

  “Hold on, Jason. I want to speak to you.”

  He sat back down and waited for the room to empty. Mei let the last person out and shut the door. She came around the conference table and sat on the table next to Jason. He shifted nervously in his seat as he waited for her to speak.

  “That was good information you presented today,” she said in an even tone. “You’re efficient and thorough and don’t complain. These are good traits. You’ve been with Soltech for over a year, and I’ve observed the way you manage our affairs and like what I see.”

  “Thank you, Madam Mei Chen,” Jason said.

  She held up the palm of her hand. “Please, call me Mei. Where are you proposing we stage the solar panels, inverters, and the rest of the materials we’re going to need for this job? This part is going to be crucial for us to get this project built in a timely manner.”

  “I’ve gotten us an option to lease a large warehouse at Steadman Airport outside of Reno.” He pulled out a legal document and handed it to her. “This airport can handle jets the size that we’ll be flying the panels in on. It’s not heavily used and the warehouse is located at the back of the airport right off one the runways. The planes can park just outside, and we can easily unload them and get back in the air to China in a matter of hours.”

  Mei scanned the document for a moment and handed it back. “The planes will fly back to China empty? Do you think we might be able to find a company that might want to use our planes to ship cargo back to China at a reduced price? It would help offset our costs of getting the panels to Nevada.”

  Jason paused and pondered her question. “Other than the wooden boxes that the panels were shipped in, the planes would be empty. I hadn’t thought about shipping goods back to Shanghai, but I can certainly make some inquiries. It might be tough to find a company that will be able to keep up with our schedule. Once we get started, those planes are going to be flying in there all day and all night.”

  “See what you can do,” she said as she stood up, “as it would be a shame to fly those planes back empty. I want you to come with me to Shanghai to tour my solar panel production facility there. I know we can’t build our facility in California exactly like that one, nor can we use the labor here like over there, but I’d at least like you to see what we’re doing.”

  How am I going to pull this one off? Jason thought, trying not to show any emotion.

  Mei looked at him. “Does this create a problem for you? You will only be gone a week at the most.”

  He took a deep breath. “No, it’s not so much a problem as it is the logistics with my daughter and getting her where she needs to be while I’m gone.”

  She knows I’m a single parent raising a fifteen-year-old girl, he thought as he looked into her eyes. It’s not like I can lock Crystal in her room while I’m gone. Someone has to watch her and get her to all her activities. She probably thinks I have a fulltime babysitter for her.

  Mei arched an eyebrow, folded her arms across her chest, and started pacing in front of him. “You’re a smart man, Jason, and a resourceful person. I’m sure you can find a caretaker for your daughter for a short period of time.”

  Jason nodded, feeling a tinge of excitement and guilt. He really wanted to see Shanghai, but at the same time he hated being away from Crystal. This would be the first time he would leave her with someone since the divorce, when his wife Debbie had walked out on them two years ago. She’d moved out of state to North Dakota with her new boyfriend to chase oil leases and left him to raise Crystal alone. He had recently found love with Janine, his current girlfriend, but Crystal was not pleased with their relationship.

  He hadn’t noticed that Mei had stopped pacing and was staring at him. She rested against the conference table and asked, “Well, are you going to accompany me or not? I’ll show you China like no one else will, I guarantee you that. I’ll give you my key to my presidential suite at the Grand Hyatt and you can use it whenever you want. It’s a great way to unwind.”

  Jason let a grin come across his face. “I appreciate your generosity, Mei. Just give me a little time to figure out everything and I’ll be ready. I agree with you it would be important for me to see how your panels are made there. I’ve never been to China or Hong Kong, so it ought to be an interesting trip.”

  Mei smiled a wiry smile. “I’ll give you a day to iron out your personal issues, but I expect a positive reply. I’ll be taking the corporate jet to Hong Kong for a few days before you leave and then I’ll meet up with you in Shanghai.” She turned and lef
t the conference room, leaving Jason by himself.

  Oh boy, he thought. This is going to be tricky. I know Janine will help out with Crystal and stay at the apartment while I’m gone, but how will Crystal react? Fireworks probably.

  ♦

  His daughter, Crystal, sat quietly at the kitchen table, making pencil marks on a paper as she went back and forth from the paper to the open math book in front of her. She wore a dirty yellow and green soccer jersey with black shorts, and her hair was pulled back in a ponytail with a ribbon tied in a bow. At her feet, a small dog lay outstretched across the linoleum floor. A stack of schoolbooks and a half-opened backpack sat on the corner of their small walnut-stained kitchen table. Absentmindedly, she reached into a small bowl of Cheerios and popped a couple into her mouth.

  Jason watched her as he leaned against a small white stove, stirring a pan of spaghetti sauce as he waited for the noodles to boil. Two white plates sat on the light brown Formica countertop. He stopped stirring the sauce. “Do you need any help, Crystal? I know that algebra can be daunting sometimes.”

  Crystal looked up over her shoulder and smiled. “No thanks, Dad. I think I’ve got it so far. When will dinner be ready?”

  “In about ten minutes.” He wiped his hands on a towel, came over, and sat across from her. “How was soccer? Is your team ready for the Union City tourney?”

  She put her pencil to her mouth. Jason couldn’t help but look at her delicate face with her bright hazel eyes and think about how much she looked like her mother. Crystal was only six years younger than Debbie was when I first met her. That was a much happier time. He sighed.

  “What are you staring at?” she asked. “I’m not a circus animal.”

  Jason smiled a weary smile. “No, you’re not.” He stood up and returned to the stove. A few minutes later, he served the steaming plates of spaghetti. She had moved her books and backpack to the side of the table and was hungrily diving into the meal. Jason cleared his throat. She looked up, a forkful of spaghetti in her mouth.