Zach looked outside his window. The view of the river would have been spectacular if it wasn’t for the construction crew bustling about. 

His apartment was one of the few that were complete. The elevator wasn’t even up and running yet. 

The reason the construction company accommodated him was that he bought ten units. They were shocked by how much he was spending. He was shocked by how cheap they were.  

Zach looked at the empty lot across the river. That land would house an Olympic Stadium. 

The project would revitalize the economy of Pe City. It would be considered the sports capital of the county in ten years.

With his knowledge of the future, he thought he would be in the position to take advantage of this opportunity before anyone else figured it out. Imagine his surprise when he found out there was another person interested. That person was still hesitating, so Zach swooped in before his competition made up his mind. 

The government would earmark the land in the next three months. It was a forgone conclusion that only he knew about. There was a stadium on the other side of the city that they wanted to renovate. They ended up condemning the stadium. The building was constructed with subpar materials and wasn’t structurally sound. 

In his past life, it was a national scandal. There were multiple arrests. The resulting mess pulled down many politicians and businesses. 

Zach had a list of those businesses so he could short their stock. 

He would need to have a meeting with his team. He didn’t know if he would sit on his land, sell it, or partner with others to develop it. 

Developing it was the best plan in the long term, but he wasn’t interested or knowledgeable about real estate. He used to let his manager buy and sell properties when his portfolio needed to be diversified or streamlined. 

He did not have experience investing in projects. He knew which towns and real estate developments would be profitable. That was an advantage for him. On the downside, they tied up his capital and took years to complete. 

With one last look out the window, he slunk back into his office. The sweet mind-numbing lines of code called to him.   

 

***

 

Morris did not want to be the one to tell Tynan Blackburn that his plans had fallen through. It took them a while to finalize the plans. When he tried to purchase property in Pe City, he realized that all the properties they wanted now had a new owner.  

He hesitated outside the office door. He contemplated quitting his job and going into early retirement. He wouldn’t be this indecisive if he knew who purchased the land. No matter how he dug, he couldn’t find anything.

He looked in S country before expanding into R country. None of the major or minor players had made a move. 

Momentarily, he’d worried that the people in the Blackburn family had caught on to what they were doing.  He double-checked, and all their sources said the family was moving as they predicted. 

What was baffling him was that the land in Pe City wasn’t worth anything. Tynan wanted to tie up his capital in real estate. They needed it cheap and resalable. It wasn’t for profit. Why then did someone outbid them on the property?

“How long are you going to pace outside my door?”

Morris jumped, pressing a hand to his heart. For a second, he considered running away. “What is the worst that can happen,” he mumbled under his breath.

Entering, he went straight to the bar and poured a drink. Dark eyes trailed him, and he felt his skin crawl. Without looking, he could tell that Tynan was looking at him with a blank face and a raised eyebrow.  

Gulping down his drink, he dropped the documents in front of Tynan. 

As Tynan looked through the documents, the pressure in the room changed. Morris would swear that it got colder. 

“Explain.”

Morris gulped. If he had an explanation, would he have dallied outside? “I couldn’t find anything. I have Cain working to crack the firewall of the law office that handled the purchases, but he says he’s never seen anything like it before.”

“That just makes it more suspicious. Technology like that doesn’t just pop up out of nowhere.” Tynan leaned back in his chair. 

Tynan was farther away from him, but Morris felt more threatened. “Your family wasn’t involved. They don’t know what you are trying to do.” 

“Are you positive?” Tynan stood. Walking towards the window, he looked out over the capital city. S country was in turmoil, and all the parties were looking to benefit. 

“Yes. Your family is buying up the shares in the company that you released.” Morris had made sure of it. “They don’t have the incentive or capital to make the purchases. Plus, we chose Pe City because it was out of the country and held no value.”

“It was valuable to someone,” Tynan said. He couldn’t put his finger on it, but his instincts told him he was missing something. 

Morris was also suspicious but found nothing to warrant the feeling. The best guess I can make is that a nouveau riche saw that we were interested and thought they were making a good investment.

It fits. It was a logical conclusion. Tynan wondered why he felt he was missing the plot. “Keep an eye on it. Move to plan B. Make sure you get the land this time.”

Morris whipped sweat off his forehead when Tynan turned his back. “I already purchased the property. If I hadn’t hesitated because of overconfidence, we would have the property in Pe City.”

Tynan waved his words off. “Did you find anything about the buyer?”

“Yes and no. I was curious and looked for information that was missing or similarly protected. I found a law firm and an accounting firm. I can’t say if it is the same person, but the firm purchased properties in Jell City.” Morris was stumped. He couldn’t find justification for the purchases. The land value in both cities wouldn’t rise by much.

“Look for the areas they purchased land in and take anything they didn’t buy.” Tynan sat down and tapped on the documents.

“Why?” Morris blurted out.

“It’s too deliberate. In two cities, they made large purchases. Money isn’t an issue for them. They had a limit they were willing to invest in and stopped there. They have focus and control. There is something about those properties that we don’t know about.”

“Is that possible?” Morris eyed the bar. He could do with another drink. “I checked with everyone. “Our government contacts say neither areas have any plans or zoning. I checked with Graham, and he said he wouldn’t buy that land if it was free.” 

“It is my money. If I tell you to buy it, just buy it.” Tynan was too lazy to explain. He’d never made a loss on real estate. He didn’t think he would now.

Tynan was right. It wasn’t his money. He would get a laugh when it blew up in his friend’s face. There was no reason for him to stop it. Morris wasn’t going to waste his breath. 

***

 

“Mother Fucker!” Morris held a newspaper as he stormed into Tynan’s office. The title ‘Pe City to Get an Olympic Stadium’ taunted him. “Do you see this?” He slammed the paper on the desk.

“I saw it.” Tynan was shocked when he saw the headline for R Country’s national newspaper. He’d had a while to stabilize his mood and wasn’t as flustered as Morris.

“Do you know what this means?” Morris had called Graham to curse him and all his descendants. He’d been waiting to see Tynan lose money. Instead, he’d lost out on a great opportunity that dropped in his lap first. He’d immediately bought properties in Jell City. He’d lost out once it wouldn’t happen again.

Tynan knew better than most what it meant. Businesses will flood to Pe City for the next four years. The economic boost could last long after the games passed if the government handled it properly.

The property he bought had already doubled in value. That value would continue to rise. He was curious to find out who had the foresight to buy before him. He also felt regret that the best properties could have been his. That feeling passed quickly. This was how the business arena was. 

Had he known the value of the property, he wouldn’t have hesitated to purchase it. He couldn’t expect his competitor to either.

“Were there any indications?” Tynan had gone over everything he knew. However, since he didn’t live in R country, he wasn’t well informed.

“That is the weirdest part. There wasn’t any.” Morris thought he’d missed something. “They were going to refurbish a different stadium, but that fell through. The government didn’t want there to be any issues, so they decided to build a new stadium.”

There were no signs. No one could have guessed that would happen.

Tynan still felt he was missing something. “Send a letter to that law firm. We are interested in developing the land in Pe City.”

“It might be a bit more expensive now, but why don’t we just purchase it?”

Tynan had to laugh. He could imagine a dragon hoarding a pile of gold. There was no way that they would sell. “They won’t sell.”

“Don’t be so sure. I think this was just a fluke. They might be eager to make back the money they spent.”

Tynan disagreed. He was sure the other party was aware of the exact value of the land. They had bought it, intending to sit on it for years. 

Tynan was interested in meeting the other party.

 

    ***

 

Zach sneezed. Someone was talking about him.

He was going a bit stir crazy. For the last three months, he rarely left his room. It wasn’t that he wasn’t interested in exploring Pe City. He just got sucked into work. The bad thing about working at home is that you need not leave your house.

When the place got too silent, he considered getting a pet. He realized that he forgot to feed himself, much less a pet. After that, he shelved the idea. 

He wanted two dogs but would wait till later. He planned to hire a housekeeper but would wait until the interest in him calmed down. 

The law firm he’d contracted was drowning with requests and offers. People were curious about him. Even the government had sent in a query. His saving grace was he purchased the properties long before anyone had an interest in this city.  

People mentioned insider trading many times, but those accusations fell through quickly. No one would be able to prove where he got his information from. 

Still, he was glad that he operated through a law firm. They couldn’t do anything to him, but the pressure on him would be immense. 

People from both S and R countries were trying to get in contact with him. The messages he received ranged from friendly and inquisitive to threatening. He ignored most of them.

The messages he was interested in had to do with cooperation requests to develop the land. He couldn’t decide between Blackburn Industries from S Country and Green Conglomerate from R country.  

Green offered him the best terms, but Blackburn would be the better long-term partner. The company was in turmoil due to inheritance issues. However, he knew the unrest wouldn’t last long. 

He wasn’t a businessman during this period. He didn’t keep track of information from the business section. He did know that sometime within the next six months, the issues within Blackburn would be taken care of. 

Zach didn’t need to meet with the representative from Green’s. Their off was a straightforward business arrangement.  

Blackburn, on the other hand, was offering a partnership. 

Tynan Blackburn was a man he’d seen across the floor at a ball or conference. They didn’t exist in the same realm. To form a connection with him would be invaluable. 

He knew he’d already made a decision. He was rich. What he was trying to do was build wealth. The Green’s would make him more money. There wasn’t any true benefit. 

Blackburn it was.