Chapter 1
“I am not hiring him to replace you if that’s what you’re worried about.”
“I just don’t understand what his job profile is. If he’s some sort of troubleshooter, I get it. I do. But that’s what I am here for. I know he has saved our organisation beyond knowledge at this stage, but flying him around the country to do, what did you say? Take a look at our interests. Seems a lot like my job to me.”
Jim Donovan finished his coffee and smiled at his oldest friend. “Arnie, if I asked you to visit, let’s say, the Techex facility. How would you gain access?”
“I would use my card,” Arnold White II replied.
“What card? Show me.”
White had known Donovan his whole life. They had grown up next door to each other. If half a mile could be called next door. Their fathers were business partners until White’s was killed in an oil-field accident. Harry Donovan took financial care of the Whites, but Arnie’s mother thought the bottle took better care of her, and she died just four years later. Arnie went off to a different College but remained close to Jim throughout their degree courses. Business management for Arnie, ‘something to do with computers’ for Jim, as they both described it. White knew what his friend’s degree was in but feigned a yawn whenever Jim spoke about it. They had been in bar fights together, fallen out over girls, and made up over beer and bourbon. Until the money from their fathers’ oil fields ran dry. The conversation about Arnie White’s future was the most difficult of his life, but the easiest of Jim Donovan’s. His involvement with his father’s other business interests had taken him worldwide, but he wanted to spend more time building his own, especially in Silicon Valley, where the future of humanity would be decided. White would effectively have his friend’s old job. He would be a partner, a notable shareholder, and an employee — paid whatever he wanted. And he would leave Jim to concentrate on the areas of the business he enjoyed most. He was now concerned a stranger would interlope on the business portfolio they had built together.
White reached down to his bag and pulled out a thick leather card wallet. He rifled through, pulled out a couple before pushing them back. He found the card he was looking for, placed it on top of the wallet, and positioned it on the table. Careful to nudge it, so it was sitting directly in front of Donovan.
Donovan leaned back in his seat and laughed at his friend’s theatrics. “That card will gain you access to the building. Those cards gain you access to all the buildings. I am sure we have other employees that do not have access cards, but they will most likely be non-contract staff that will need signing in. Eddie will also need to sign in. In fact, apart from me, he will be our only full-time employee that does not have a card to get into any of our buildings or businesses. The difference is, I don’t have to sign in to any of them either.”
“Okay. I get it, but I still don’t understand what Eddie’s job will entail.”
Another of Donovan’s employees emerged onto the terrace. “Mr Hill is here to see you, Mr Donovan.”
Donovan pushed his chair out, rising, and said, “Well, he’s here now, so I can explain fully to you both at the same time.”
Eddie Hill emerged onto the expansive terrace. Light stone paving introduced shallow steps across a vista that included a pool meandering through colourful shrubbery, a large building he presumed was the sort of pool house where wealthy widows kept their pool guy on American TV shows. Trees — lots of trees. Land beyond the trees. And more trees.
Eddie almost stumbled as he took in the view.
Donovan bounced from his chair to greet his guest. “Eddie, good to see you found the place okay.”
As Eddie walked towards Donovan, he managed a quick peek at the manicured lawns to his right, which led to tennis courts and what appeared to be a putting green. It was all very tasteful, clean and modern. He did wonder what he should expect but realised he had no frame of reference to work with. This was by far the most incredible home he had ever visited. “Yes, we were here last night, and there is only one road. It was a long walk, though.”
Donovan shook Eddie’s hand and turned to White. “See, what I mean? As soon as I met Eddie, I knew we would all get on like a house on fire,” he turned back to Eddie. “I know you’re joking. I get the British sense of humour, but in all seriousness, there’s a golf cart in your garage. Just use that. Come and go as you please. The gatehouse is fairly basic, so if there’s anything you need, just come up to the main house.”
Donovan pulled a seat out for Eddie and poured coffees. Eddie thought White looked much the same as Donovan. The same tailored khaki shorts, the same brown laced boat shoes. Both, wearing blue polo shirts, but of different makes. They had similar hairstyles, but White’s was darker. Both were around six feet tall, slim and tanned.
“Eddie, this is Arnie White. As I briefly explained, he is the boss. I spend as much time as I can looking at new projects and all the world’s major technological advancements, and he runs everything. He tells me if we want to get involved, and I do as I’m told.”
White shook his head and raised his eyebrows.
Donovan snorted a laugh towards his friend before continuing, “Okay, he runs everything, and I interfere. How’s that?”
“More accurate.”
Eddie could see the two men were more like friends than employer and employee. He wondered how that worked in real life and immediately thought of Jamie, running their business back in England.
Donovan said, “I know I have been a little vague, Eddie, but this is because you do not have a defined role in the business. Arnie here also needs me to fully explain what your job will entail,” Donovan took a bite of his bagel. He then asked White, “You remember that British comedian at the awards show that called out all that Hollywood virtue signalling from their mansions?”
“I do. It was the Golden Globes.”
“Yes, that. Well, as I told you, Eddie ran the refurbishment of the British Houses of Parliament and gave it all up after he learned Sir Richard Plume and his buddies were into some pretty bad corruption and stuff.”
Eddie considered the accuracy of that and hoped Donovan had detailed it better to his right-hand man. “That’s not quite—”
“Don’t worry, Eddie. Arnie knows what went down. I am going over old conversations to bring you both up to speed and to explain what I saw in you.”
White looked across the patio table. “Eddie, I have to say, I was impressed that you would risk everything, abandon your life and come over here to the US instead of just taking the money. Like so many others would.”
Eddie was not sure if it was an accusation. “An idiot, you mean?”
Donovan said, “See. This is what I was talking about. Eddie, it would be patronising to say you were a man of integrity, but what you did was way above and beyond what we’re familiar with. Isn’t it, Arnie?”
Eddie said, “Before Arnie thinks some sort of heroic character is swooping down to take over his kingdom, it might be wise to let him know what you have in mind.”
White said, “It would be helpful, Jim.”
“It’s very straightforward. We have two medical parts and supply factories. Several accountancy firms are on the payroll. We have new facilities and projects springing up all over the place. Several companies want this and need that. The company’s interests are growing and diverging dramatically from my father’s. I want what Sir Richard Plume thought Eddie could provide him. Arnie, with respect, you have not got time to do what I want Eddie to do, and he is more qualified than you. He is a project manager with experience in the field. I know his work history. The guy has fitted toilets.”
Eddie grinned. “In the past month, in fact.”
“Eddie, Arnie, what I want to see, is you guys working together to trim the fat. Arnie, you know we have people that overspend on equipment and supplies without sufficient oversight. And before you say anything, I know we employ people in suits to take care of this sort of thing, but Eddie here does some of the jobs we want to learn about. He gets his hands dirty. He employs people. He works on big jobs and small jobs. He even does his own accounts.”
Lucy did the accounts, but Eddie was enjoying watching Donovan persuade his friend how great he was. If only they knew he had most recently spent several weeks clinging on for dear life.
“So, how would you define the role, Jim. So I know I can get the right people working with Eddie,” White had thought about the new guy and the new position, which included the sort of duties they had more than enough employees to cover but was intrigued by his friend’s intentions. He clearly saw something in Eddie beyond the job he had in mind.
“He doesn’t need a team. Just get him an assistant. At first, I want quick-fire troubleshooting,” Donovan turned his attention to Eddie. “I want to you to visit all of our enterprises as quickly as you can, spending as long as you need to at each, but as little as possible, and report your opinion back to Arnie or me, whoever you can get hold of. I am not expecting a detailed analysis, but I remember your views about the cruise industry. I spoke to the CEO of one of the major lines just after you first spoke to my father about it, and you summed the industry up exactly as he did, based on nothing more than a few vacations,” he shifted in his seat to look back to White. “I want Eddie to save us money, suggest improvements where his background knowledge will enable him, and provide a basic opinion that you can carry out further investigations into. I want to put more layers between you and our work so we can spend more time together. I miss you, bud, and want you to do as little as me. This won’t do that, but we have a corporate structure nothing like our daddies, and I want an outside perspective. Something completely different to what we understand, and speak more like our daddies did back in the day.”
Although overawed by the opportunity, Eddie knew he was more than capable of doing what was being asked of him, and it was not as if he could go back to the UK any time soon. Lucy was on board, the money was ridiculous, and he got to fly around in a private plane. He didn’t really care how long it lasted, as long as it gave them enough funds for travelling before everyone ‘back home’ had forgotten about him.
With a broad grin, Donovan added, “Don’t worry, Arnie, it will take Eddie a while to get used to the chauffeured cars and private jets before he figures out how useful he is,” he winked at Eddie. “And Eddie, this will hopefully lead on to you returning to the UK to have a greater role in our European operations once you’ve had a quick look-see at everything we’re involved with over here.”
White let out a slow sigh of relief. Although Jim appeared to avoid most of their established businesses and associated interests, he was always more aware of what was going on than he let on. Maybe this Eddie guy could be helpful once out from under his feet in the US. As long as no one stepped on his toes or got in the way of his plans for Donovan Industries, he could deal with it. He felt Jim had been sending mixed messages over the past few months. He was working as hard as ever but on specific projects. Donovan appeared to have no idea what was happening in most of their business and did not seem to care. He had spent an inordinate amount of time in Hong Kong with the Chinese for the past year. He, himself, was stretched too thinly. Another pair of eyes nearer the ground would add another effective layer. Maybe he should ease away a bit and see how it unfolded. Still, if this guy were as impressive as Jim thought he was, he would have to keep an eye on him. And he knew just the girl to do it.
Eddie stopped for a short chat with a gardener tending to some shrubbery on his walk back to the gatehouse. He concurred, he already knew Jim Donovan was a good boss, and he hadn’t even started yet.
He answered all of Lucy’s questions. . . At least two maids fussing around in the living room off to the side. At least one cook, and two gardeners. The pool was Olympic sized and looked more for swimming than playing. The pool house she only saw in the dark the previous evening was indeed bigger than their house in Southsea, and there was a golf cart in the garage that she could use to drive around to look at the grounds for herself. He had forgotten how many acres, but it was a fair few. He thought his boss was Jim’s, right-hand man. He might not see Jim very often. He said the guy’s name was Arnie White, and he seemed nice enough if a bit wary of him, which was understandable.
Lucy asked, “Where?”
“Somewhere in Idaho.”
“And what does he want you to do?”
“It’s a potato farm and crisps company. It was something Jim’s dad bought years ago, but he wants to streamline into tech, and his dad doesn’t want it anymore either. The people at the factory have said they need their water supply looked at. He has also asked me to take a look at the machinery to see how much of the pretzel side of the business and the crisps side of the business can be split so they can assess whether they can sell any of it off to one of the major crisps, I mean potato chips, companies. He wants to know what sort of overlap the staff have, what their skills are, that sort of thing.”
“Sounds complicated.”
“Not really. Jim just wants a brief overview before he can send the professionals in. If they are needed.”
“So, you’re some sort of corporate investigator?”
Eddie smirked at the thought. “No, nothing like that. Next week he wants me to look into the quotations he has received for another lab he is setting up. It’s all different. I even get my own assistant. But there’s something else,” Eddie looked down as he spoke, “He wants me to go to a meeting on Friday to find out what’s going on in one of his tech companies.”
Lucy could see the concern etched on Eddie’s face. “What is it, Eddie?”
Eddie inhaled and raised his head to stare into Lucy’s dark blue eyes. “I was going to tell you she was at the party last night but thought I should leave it till today after I had spoken to Jim.”
“Eddie?”
“He wants me to meet Elysia Martin.”
“I am not hiring him to replace you if that’s what you’re worried about.”
“I just don’t understand what his job profile is. If he’s some sort of troubleshooter, I get it. I do. But that’s what I am here for. I know he has saved our organisation beyond knowledge at this stage, but flying him around the country to do, what did you say? Take a look at our interests. Seems a lot like my job to me.”
Jim Donovan finished his coffee and smiled at his oldest friend. “Arnie, if I asked you to visit, let’s say, the Techex facility. How would you gain access?”
“I would use my card,” Arnold White II replied.
“What card? Show me.”
White had known Donovan his whole life. They had grown up next door to each other. If half a mile could be called next door. Their fathers were business partners until White’s was killed in an oil-field accident. Harry Donovan took financial care of the Whites, but Arnie’s mother thought the bottle took better care of her, and she died just four years later. Arnie went off to a different College but remained close to Jim throughout their degree courses. Business management for Arnie, ‘something to do with computers’ for Jim, as they both described it. White knew what his friend’s degree was in but feigned a yawn whenever Jim spoke about it. They had been in bar fights together, fallen out over girls, and made up over beer and bourbon. Until the money from their fathers’ oil fields ran dry. The conversation about Arnie White’s future was the most difficult of his life, but the easiest of Jim Donovan’s. His involvement with his father’s other business interests had taken him worldwide, but he wanted to spend more time building his own, especially in Silicon Valley, where the future of humanity would be decided. White would effectively have his friend’s old job. He would be a partner, a notable shareholder, and an employee — paid whatever he wanted. And he would leave Jim to concentrate on the areas of the business he enjoyed most. He was now concerned a stranger would interlope on the business portfolio they had built together.
White reached down to his bag and pulled out a thick leather card wallet. He rifled through, pulled out a couple before pushing them back. He found the card he was looking for, placed it on top of the wallet, and positioned it on the table. Careful to nudge it, so it was sitting directly in front of Donovan.
Donovan leaned back in his seat and laughed at his friend’s theatrics. “That card will gain you access to the building. Those cards gain you access to all the buildings. I am sure we have other employees that do not have access cards, but they will most likely be non-contract staff that will need signing in. Eddie will also need to sign in. In fact, apart from me, he will be our only full-time employee that does not have a card to get into any of our buildings or businesses. The difference is, I don’t have to sign in to any of them either.”
“Okay. I get it, but I still don’t understand what Eddie’s job will entail.”
Another of Donovan’s employees emerged onto the terrace. “Mr Hill is here to see you, Mr Donovan.”
Donovan pushed his chair out, rising, and said, “Well, he’s here now, so I can explain fully to you both at the same time.”
Eddie Hill emerged onto the expansive terrace. Light stone paving introduced shallow steps across a vista that included a pool meandering through colourful shrubbery, a large building he presumed was the sort of pool house where wealthy widows kept their pool guy on American TV shows. Trees — lots of trees. Land beyond the trees. And more trees.
Eddie almost stumbled as he took in the view.
Donovan bounced from his chair to greet his guest. “Eddie, good to see you found the place okay.”
As Eddie walked towards Donovan, he managed a quick peek at the manicured lawns to his right, which led to tennis courts and what appeared to be a putting green. It was all very tasteful, clean and modern. He did wonder what he should expect but realised he had no frame of reference to work with. This was by far the most incredible home he had ever visited. “Yes, we were here last night, and there is only one road. It was a long walk, though.”
Donovan shook Eddie’s hand and turned to White. “See, what I mean? As soon as I met Eddie, I knew we would all get on like a house on fire,” he turned back to Eddie. “I know you’re joking. I get the British sense of humour, but in all seriousness, there’s a golf cart in your garage. Just use that. Come and go as you please. The gatehouse is fairly basic, so if there’s anything you need, just come up to the main house.”
Donovan pulled a seat out for Eddie and poured coffees. Eddie thought White looked much the same as Donovan. The same tailored khaki shorts, the same brown laced boat shoes. Both, wearing blue polo shirts, but of different makes. They had similar hairstyles, but White’s was darker. Both were around six feet tall, slim and tanned.
“Eddie, this is Arnie White. As I briefly explained, he is the boss. I spend as much time as I can looking at new projects and all the world’s major technological advancements, and he runs everything. He tells me if we want to get involved, and I do as I’m told.”
White shook his head and raised his eyebrows.
Donovan snorted a laugh towards his friend before continuing, “Okay, he runs everything, and I interfere. How’s that?”
“More accurate.”
Eddie could see the two men were more like friends than employer and employee. He wondered how that worked in real life and immediately thought of Jamie, running their business back in England.
Donovan said, “I know I have been a little vague, Eddie, but this is because you do not have a defined role in the business. Arnie here also needs me to fully explain what your job will entail,” Donovan took a bite of his bagel. He then asked White, “You remember that British comedian at the awards show that called out all that Hollywood virtue signalling from their mansions?”
“I do. It was the Golden Globes.”
“Yes, that. Well, as I told you, Eddie ran the refurbishment of the British Houses of Parliament and gave it all up after he learned Sir Richard Plume and his buddies were into some pretty bad corruption and stuff.”
Eddie considered the accuracy of that and hoped Donovan had detailed it better to his right-hand man. “That’s not quite—”
“Don’t worry, Eddie. Arnie knows what went down. I am going over old conversations to bring you both up to speed and to explain what I saw in you.”
White looked across the patio table. “Eddie, I have to say, I was impressed that you would risk everything, abandon your life and come over here to the US instead of just taking the money. Like so many others would.”
Eddie was not sure if it was an accusation. “An idiot, you mean?”
Donovan said, “See. This is what I was talking about. Eddie, it would be patronising to say you were a man of integrity, but what you did was way above and beyond what we’re familiar with. Isn’t it, Arnie?”
Eddie said, “Before Arnie thinks some sort of heroic character is swooping down to take over his kingdom, it might be wise to let him know what you have in mind.”
White said, “It would be helpful, Jim.”
“It’s very straightforward. We have two medical parts and supply factories. Several accountancy firms are on the payroll. We have new facilities and projects springing up all over the place. Several companies want this and need that. The company’s interests are growing and diverging dramatically from my father’s. I want what Sir Richard Plume thought Eddie could provide him. Arnie, with respect, you have not got time to do what I want Eddie to do, and he is more qualified than you. He is a project manager with experience in the field. I know his work history. The guy has fitted toilets.”
Eddie grinned. “In the past month, in fact.”
“Eddie, Arnie, what I want to see, is you guys working together to trim the fat. Arnie, you know we have people that overspend on equipment and supplies without sufficient oversight. And before you say anything, I know we employ people in suits to take care of this sort of thing, but Eddie here does some of the jobs we want to learn about. He gets his hands dirty. He employs people. He works on big jobs and small jobs. He even does his own accounts.”
Lucy did the accounts, but Eddie was enjoying watching Donovan persuade his friend how great he was. If only they knew he had most recently spent several weeks clinging on for dear life.
“So, how would you define the role, Jim. So I know I can get the right people working with Eddie,” White had thought about the new guy and the new position, which included the sort of duties they had more than enough employees to cover but was intrigued by his friend’s intentions. He clearly saw something in Eddie beyond the job he had in mind.
“He doesn’t need a team. Just get him an assistant. At first, I want quick-fire troubleshooting,” Donovan turned his attention to Eddie. “I want to you to visit all of our enterprises as quickly as you can, spending as long as you need to at each, but as little as possible, and report your opinion back to Arnie or me, whoever you can get hold of. I am not expecting a detailed analysis, but I remember your views about the cruise industry. I spoke to the CEO of one of the major lines just after you first spoke to my father about it, and you summed the industry up exactly as he did, based on nothing more than a few vacations,” he shifted in his seat to look back to White. “I want Eddie to save us money, suggest improvements where his background knowledge will enable him, and provide a basic opinion that you can carry out further investigations into. I want to put more layers between you and our work so we can spend more time together. I miss you, bud, and want you to do as little as me. This won’t do that, but we have a corporate structure nothing like our daddies, and I want an outside perspective. Something completely different to what we understand, and speak more like our daddies did back in the day.”
Although overawed by the opportunity, Eddie knew he was more than capable of doing what was being asked of him, and it was not as if he could go back to the UK any time soon. Lucy was on board, the money was ridiculous, and he got to fly around in a private plane. He didn’t really care how long it lasted, as long as it gave them enough funds for travelling before everyone ‘back home’ had forgotten about him.
With a broad grin, Donovan added, “Don’t worry, Arnie, it will take Eddie a while to get used to the chauffeured cars and private jets before he figures out how useful he is,” he winked at Eddie. “And Eddie, this will hopefully lead on to you returning to the UK to have a greater role in our European operations once you’ve had a quick look-see at everything we’re involved with over here.”
White let out a slow sigh of relief. Although Jim appeared to avoid most of their established businesses and associated interests, he was always more aware of what was going on than he let on. Maybe this Eddie guy could be helpful once out from under his feet in the US. As long as no one stepped on his toes or got in the way of his plans for Donovan Industries, he could deal with it. He felt Jim had been sending mixed messages over the past few months. He was working as hard as ever but on specific projects. Donovan appeared to have no idea what was happening in most of their business and did not seem to care. He had spent an inordinate amount of time in Hong Kong with the Chinese for the past year. He, himself, was stretched too thinly. Another pair of eyes nearer the ground would add another effective layer. Maybe he should ease away a bit and see how it unfolded. Still, if this guy were as impressive as Jim thought he was, he would have to keep an eye on him. And he knew just the girl to do it.
Eddie stopped for a short chat with a gardener tending to some shrubbery on his walk back to the gatehouse. He concurred, he already knew Jim Donovan was a good boss, and he hadn’t even started yet.
He answered all of Lucy’s questions. . . At least two maids fussing around in the living room off to the side. At least one cook, and two gardeners. The pool was Olympic sized and looked more for swimming than playing. The pool house she only saw in the dark the previous evening was indeed bigger than their house in Southsea, and there was a golf cart in the garage that she could use to drive around to look at the grounds for herself. He had forgotten how many acres, but it was a fair few. He thought his boss was Jim’s, right-hand man. He might not see Jim very often. He said the guy’s name was Arnie White, and he seemed nice enough if a bit wary of him, which was understandable.
Lucy asked, “Where?”
“Somewhere in Idaho.”
“And what does he want you to do?”
“It’s a potato farm and crisps company. It was something Jim’s dad bought years ago, but he wants to streamline into tech, and his dad doesn’t want it anymore either. The people at the factory have said they need their water supply looked at. He has also asked me to take a look at the machinery to see how much of the pretzel side of the business and the crisps side of the business can be split so they can assess whether they can sell any of it off to one of the major crisps, I mean potato chips, companies. He wants to know what sort of overlap the staff have, what their skills are, that sort of thing.”
“Sounds complicated.”
“Not really. Jim just wants a brief overview before he can send the professionals in. If they are needed.”
“So, you’re some sort of corporate investigator?”
Eddie smirked at the thought. “No, nothing like that. Next week he wants me to look into the quotations he has received for another lab he is setting up. It’s all different. I even get my own assistant. But there’s something else,” Eddie looked down as he spoke, “He wants me to go to a meeting on Friday to find out what’s going on in one of his tech companies.”
Lucy could see the concern etched on Eddie’s face. “What is it, Eddie?”
Eddie inhaled and raised his head to stare into Lucy’s dark blue eyes. “I was going to tell you she was at the party last night but thought I should leave it till today after I had spoken to Jim.”
“Eddie?”
“He wants me to meet Elysia Martin.”
An Eddie Hill Adventure
The Divinity Circle
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