The Stolen - Jason Pinter [105]
was akin to inhumane treatment. Within five years, Powers
had taken his own earnings, and with the help of lenders,
bought out a company known as TBC--Thomas Blakeman Construction--renaming it Powers Construction.
One of his first rebuilding projects was tearing down a
number of projects in which drugs and violence were
rampant. These buildings were replaced with low-income
housing. According to Powers, it was the end of the dark
days, and the beginning of a new Brooklyn.
Within a few years, Powers had become known not
only as one of the wealthiest and most influential private
contractors on the East Coast, but one of its biggest phi-298
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lanthropists. He donated time, money and manpower to
numerous towns, and was credited with helping to lower
crime rates across the board.
Of course, official biographies often swept more than
their fair share under the carpet. Not to mention that
Powers's relative inexperience made his volcanic rise
even more shocking. I had to think that simply due to
the sheer size of Powers Construction, it would be
strange if they didn't have some sort of bid-rigging
system going on.
Once I'd done some digging around regarding the
company profile, I decided it was time to meet the man
face-to-face. Reggie Powers. See what, if anything, he
knew. And whether he was aware that one of his employees, Raymond Benjamin, was a murderer.
I called the main switchboard at Powers Construction,
and a pleasant secretary picked up the phone. She sounded
as if she'd been there a long time, even had a cadence
nailed down.
"Po- wers Con- struct-ion, how may I direct your call?"
"Well, first I was wondering if you could give me the
extension for one of your employees. The name is
Raymond Benjamin. And after that I'd like to be transferred to Reggie Powers's office."
"One moment, sir," the woman said. I heard typing on
the other end. Then I heard her mutter, Hmm, that's odd.
"Ma'am? Are you still there?"
"Yes, sir, sorry about that. According to our database,
we do employ a Raymond Benjamin, but he doesn't have
an office or an extension."
"Is there any contact information for him?"
"I'm sorry, sir, not that I have access to. You'd have to
speak to our human resources department."
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299
"That's all right. Can you transfer me to Mr. Powers's
office?"
"Sure thing, just a moment."
She put me on hold. A minute later, a young man's
voice came over the line.
"Mr. Powers's office."
"Hi, my name is Henry Parker and I'm a reporter from
the New York Gazette. I'd like to come in and speak with
Mr. Powers today. It's a pretty urgent matter."
"Mr. Powers has a very busy schedule today. He's not
in the office right now, but if I can pass a message to him,
I'll see if he has some free time."
"Absolutely," I said. "Tell him I want to speak to him
about Raymond Benjamin and Dmitri Petrovsky."
"Can you spell those for me, sir?"
"Just remember the names."
"Um...okay. I'll call Mr. Powers right now. Is there a
number where I can reach you?"
I gave the secretary my cell phone number. He said he'd
get back to me ASAP. I hung up the phone and began to
play the waiting game again.
I tried to think how Reggie Powers might be connected
to all of this. Powers Construction employed Raymond
Benjamin, though the fact that he was a ghost at the office
pretty much confirmed that he was there to do dirty work,
collect a W-2, and that was all. But why would Reggie
Powers want anything to do with Dmitri Petrovsky? He
seemed like the least likely person on earth to want to have
anything to do with a kidnapping, especially given his
background. The more the pieces came together, the more
trouble I had making them all fit.
Ten minutes later, my cell phone rang. I picked it up.
"Mr. Parker." I recognized the voice as Powers's secre-300
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tary. "Mr. Powers is at a job site all day today, but he said
if you can meet him there at six o'clock, he'd be happy to
speak with you."
"Where's the site?" I asked.
"He's