Bigger Than Beckham (38 page)

And it explained Steam Train’s sudden
decision to announce the end of their sponsorship before the expiry
of the contract.

She gave him a derisive snort. “You’re
kidding, right? Your
brewery
wants to run a professional
soccer team? Oh, well, that makes perfect sense to me. Y’all must
have a ton of soccer expertise.”

Of course, the same sarcasm could have been
applied to her when she took over ownership of the team. At least,
though, she’d spent her life in the sports world, both playing and
working. Unlike beer makers, she knew how professional sports teams
operated.

“On the contrary, Martha, it makes a great
deal of sense,” Malone shot back with a smug expression. “Other
corporations have had plenty of success owning pro franchises, and
there’s every reason to believe we will, too.” He relaxed back into
his chair and crossed his legs as if he were settling in for a
while. “So, as I was saying, if you’re prepared to entertain an
offer, I’m authorized to make a good one.”

Despite her sarcastic comeback, Martha had
never felt more at sea. An hour ago, she’d been mulling over
scenarios for the team’s future. Now she was in a bar with Rance
Malone of Steam Train Goddamn Breweries, being asked in a
thoroughly supercilious tone if she was prepared to “entertain” his
offer.

What she wanted to entertain was shoving a
pole up his you-know-what.

She struggled to keep her burgeoning anger
under control. “It’s a free country,” she said. “Send something to
my office, if you must. But don’t get your hopes up, and don’t make
it full of legal mumbo-jumbo, either.”

Malone gave an amused little snort. “Now,
hold on, Martha. I’m an informal kind of guy, and I like to make
business deals with a handshake, not through an army of lawyers and
CPA’s. Plus, Steam Train’s of a mind to get this done fast so we
can start the rebuilding process even before the season ends. It
would be better if we could work out the basics of a deal right
now. Right here, between the two of us.” He grinned. “No time like
the present, right?”

She stared in disbelief at the devious little
sewer rat. “Well, Rance, you just sound to me like a carrion-eater
about to pick over some road kill.”

“Not at all,” he said, shaking his head.
“Actually, I might be about to make you quite a rich woman if
you’re able to put your bitterness aside and do what’s in your best
interests. So, why don’t we talk some round numbers? Like, say,
eight million dollars for your shares and your uncle’s combined.
Steam Train would assume all the team’s debts, of course, so that
would leave you to walk away with well over six million bucks,
Martha. Free and clear.”

He smiled as if he’d just told her she’d won
the Florida Powerball. “What do you think of that?”

Alarm bells clanged in her brain. “Are you
actually expecting me to answer on behalf of Geoffrey?” she said,
giving him a wide-eyed, innocent look. “That seems awfully strange,
if you ask me.”

Now she knew exactly why her uncle had smiled
when Malone accosted her outside the bank. The conniving,
traitorous jerk was probably in on this stink-bomb of a deal,
too.

Malone shrugged. “I’m confident Geoffrey will
accept the same terms you and I agree on.” He cleared this throat.
“Given what I understand are his financial circumstances.”

Every fiber of her being wanted to tell him
to go straight to hell. She had no intention of agreeing on
anything with him in a damn bar, and hopefully nowhere else,
either. There might still be some rabbits to be pulled out of hats
to save her ownership of the team. If not, there was always Tony
Branch. If she had to choose between delivering up the Thunder to
frigging Steam Train or to Tony, it was no contest. No contest at
all.

“Eight million doesn’t even come close,” she
said, deciding she’d be stupid to not keep the Steam Train option
open, however much it and Rance Malone revolted her. “You say my
team is a joke? Well, your offer is the real joke, Malone. Hell,
the last valuation estimate put the team’s worth at more than three
times that.”

“Yes, I’m aware of that valuation. But my
house used to be worth more than twice what it is now, too. Times
change, Martha, and the team’s a total mess. Who do you think is
going to ante up the sponsorship money to replace what Steam Train
and SportsNet have been putting in? Anybody who buys your club is
going to have a hard time getting
any
corporate backing
until the attendance starts to poke its head up from the floor of
the tank.”

He pulled out a pen and quickly jotted a few
numbers down on a napkin, shoving it over to her. “And, besides,
the offer’s obviously not just eight million, it’s well over eleven
when you add in repayment of the debt. We’ve got no choice but to
assume everything you’ve rung up.” He pointed to the number of the
napkin. “There’s the real number, give or take a few thousand.”

Martha glanced down at the scribbled ink on
the napkin. It showed 11.35 million dollars as the total cost to
Steam Train, including assumption of the Thunder debt. She shoved
the napkin back at him. “Selling’s not really on my radar,” she
said, rising. “And even if it was, your offer sure as hell wouldn’t
cut it.”

Malone scrambled to his feet. “Sure, Martha,
play it that way. But it’ll be on your radar very, very soon, so
I’ll be looking forward to hearing from you. I’m sorry about how
this has played out for you. I really am. You did your best in a
tough situation. But you’re between a rock and a hard place, and we
both know it. You really do need to think about what I’ve said.
About what’s going to be best for you personally, and about what’s
best for the team’s loyal fans.”

Dredging up another of his smug smiles, he
held out a hand. She stared at it for a few moments then
reluctantly shook it before turning and striding for the exit. As
she passed out of the lobby into the bright sunlight, she prayed
with all her heart that Rance Malone would not turn out to be her
final option.

Still fuming when she got back to the office,
Martha was greeted by a damp-eyed, hang-dog expression from
Jane.

Clearly, the emotional hits were just
starting.

“I’m sorry,” Jane said, giving her a tight
hug.

Martha hugged her back. “Don’t you worry,
hon. It sucks, but we’re sure not done yet. Not by a long shot.”
She broke the clench and glanced into the glass-walled offices.
Kieran and Bob were at their desks, peering at their computer
screens.

“Did Geoffrey come back with the other
guys?”

Jane shook her head. “Kieran said he took
off.”

“Figures.” The coward wouldn’t want to stick
around for a post-mortem on the meeting. “Would you mind asking
Kieran and Bob to join me in the boardroom?”

As Jane headed for Kieran’s office, Martha
headed straight into the boardroom. When the two men arrived, she
told them about Malone but left out the details of his offer.

“Bloody hell,” Kieran said in a
Scottish-accented growl. Bob’s wan face registered shock, but as
usual he remained silent unless asked a direct question.

Martha made a grimace. “My thoughts
exactly.”

“What now?” Kieran asked.

She didn’t know quite how to answer that yet,
so she decided to duck the question for the moment, at least. “Do
you think I should consider it, Kieran?”

He hesitated a moment. “Perhaps. But what
about Tony Branch, lass?”

Martha’s heart skipped a beat. She’d kept
Tony’s interest to herself all this time, bringing only her uncle
into the picture. “Geoffrey said something, I presume?”

While Bob kept shifting his gaze all over the
room, looking like he’d rather be anywhere else, Kieran gazed
straight at Martha and nodded.

She sighed. “I’m sorry, guys. It’s true that
Branch approached me a few days ago and asked if I was interested
in selling. I told him no, of course, and I figured that was going
to be the end of the matter. That’s why I didn’t bother telling
you.”

“Geoffrey certainly thinks he’s still
interested,” Kieran said. “And if I’m any judge of your uncle, I’d
have to say he seemed delighted at the prospect of Steam Train and
Branch competing to buy our team.”

“I’ll just bet he did,” she muttered.

Could this day get any worse? First, the bank
stuck a shiv in between her ribs, and then Malone swooped in to try
to pick up the Thunder’s carcass at a bargain price. To top it off,
Geoffrey had blabbed about Tony wanting the team, making it obvious
that Martha had withheld that information from her own people.

She turned to her finance manager. “Bob, I’m
sorry, but I’d like to talk to Kieran in private for a minute.
Would you mind excusing us?”

“Sure, no problem.” Arnott picked up his
files and hurried from the room.

Martha confronted the man who’d become her
good friend. “I surely owe it to you to put all the cards on the
table, my friend, so here’s the score. Branch not only expressed
interest in buying the team, he made me a concrete offer. I
wouldn’t have said yes to him anyway, but there’s one sticking
point you deserve to know about right now.” She had to swallow to
get some moisture into a throat that had gone parched. “Branch made
it clear that he won’t agree to keep either you or Sam.”

While she had no particular love for Sam
Brockton and in fact thought him overbearing, she felt a deep
loyalty to McLeod—not only for his steadfast guidance and support
since she took over the team, but for the confidence he’d shown in
her father by agreeing to come to America to guide a struggling
franchise.

“And that was a non-starter for me, plain and
simple,” she finished.

A pleased smile crept onto Kieran’s weathered
face. “You’re a truly fine lass, Martha Winston. I hope you know
how much I’ve enjoyed every minute I’ve worked for you, despite
the…well, less than satisfying results on the pitch. As far as I’m
concerned, you’ve been right just about every time.” He reached out
to gently grasp her hand and give it a light squeeze.

“That’s very kind of you,” she said
gratefully.

“I mean every word. But look, Martha, Sam and
I have both had long careers and we’ve certainly known our share of
ups and downs. So, if worse comes to worst and it turns out that
this is the end of the line for us with the Thunder, then we’ll
accept it as part of the game. That’s sport, so you should never
blame yourself for what might happen to us.” He gave her a cheeky
grin. “At least I’d be able to escape this wretched Florida heat
and humidity.”

Martha firmed her mouth against the urge to
bawl. “No. Absolutely not. None of this mess is your fault, Kieran.
You’ve done everything I’ve asked and a whole lot more. If
somebody’s going to buy this team, then they’re going to have to
take it lock, stock and barrel. And that sure as hell includes you,
my friend. I won’t negotiate anything less than job security for
all my people, and especially for you.”

Kieran shook his head. “Thank you, Martha.
God love you for it. But surely you know that you’re asking a great
deal. No potential buyer is going to want to be hamstrung by having
to hang on to the GM and the manager of a team with our record. I’m
afraid the chances of getting a concession like that are slim
indeed.”

Martha’s throat started to close up because
he was no doubt right. “Maybe so, I’m not prepared to sell without
it,” she said stubbornly.

He squeezed her hand again. “You’ve fought a
good fight, lass, but those bastards have us backed into a corner.
No one else is going to lend big money to a team that’s been cut
off at the knees. So, I’m having a hard time seeing any kind of
escape. And I think you are too, aren’t you?”

Martha had been trying hard to avoid that
conclusion. But now, after the body blow the bank had delivered,
having Kieran confirm the reality of the nightmare made her realize
once and for all that no magic tricks would be found to save the
team and keep it in her hands. The vultures circled overhead,
waiting for their moment to seize the Thunder in their talons and
carry it away.

Jane opened the door a crack and poked her
head inside. “Martha, Rick Grange from WJAX-TV is on the line. He
insisted I pull you put of your meeting to confirm or deny a
pending sale of the Thunder.”

Martha shot to her feet. “You have got to be
kidding!”

Jane grimaced.

Geoffrey.
Any family loyalty he’d ever
felt for her was clearly dead and gone.

Bitterness settled low in her gut. “I’ll take
the call in my office,” she said, then gave Kieran’s shoulder a
little squeeze as she passed by him and out the door.

Her temples throbbing, she sat down at her
desk and took a minute to calm down. After a few deep breaths, she
yanked the phone from its cradle. “How’s it going, Rick?”