Deadly Lode (Trace Brandon Book 1) (62 page)

The cab dropped us off
in front of the
Pantelli
’
s office building
,
in the Quarter.

“
Al
’
s office is on the
third
floor,
”
Cyrus said
,
as he
hand
ed
the cabbie a twenty.

We took the elevator and followed Cyrus down the
hall
to Al
’
s office. Cyrus knocked and we walked in. Al
’
s secretary was not in the office
,
and Al
’
s door was open.

“
Come on in,
b
oys,
”
Al said
,
in a booming voice.
“
I see you brought the cavalry with you, Jim.
”

“
Well, IUC
’
s about to become a major stakeholder in Montana Creek Mining so I though
t
the CEO should be here. And as Cyrus
needs to transfer his proxy,
I invited him to come along as well. I hope you don
’
t mind
.
”

“
Hell, no. Come on in. Fix your
selves
a drink and have a seat. I asked my secretary to take the day off. I don
’
t like to transact serious business in front of the hired help.
”

“
Not a problem,
”
Jim replied.

“
Crown and
coke
okay for everybody?
”
I asked
. Cyrus and Jim both nodded
.
“
How about you
,
Al?
”

“
I
’
ve got a gin and tonic going, Trace,
”
Al replied
.
“
B
ut thanks just the same.
”

With drinks in hand, we all
took a seat.

“
I
’
ve got your cashier
’
s check, Al,
”
Jim said, opening his brief
-
case. Do you have the stock cert
ificate
s and stock power ready?
”

“
Yes,
sir
,
”
Al replied, opening the center drawer of his desk and pulling out a manila envelope.

“
Do you mind if I examine the cert
ificates
and the stock power
?
”
Jim
asked
.
“
I just need to be sure everything is properly executed and that you
r
signature has been
properly
guaranteed.
”

“
Sure,
”
Al replied, handing the manila envelope
to
Jim.

While Jim check
ed
the signatures on the stock powers, I figured it was a good time to ask about Chang.
“
Al, I
’
m surprised U
RAN
-China
Nu
c
lear didn
’
t buy your shares. Surely you must have given them the opportunity to beat
IUC
’
s
offer
.
”

“
I did, but Chang wouldn
’
t
budge
.
And, all things being equal,
I
’
d much rather deal with the Australians than the damn Chinese.
”

I
glanced quickly
at Cyrus
and then turned back to Al.

“
I see. Well I
’
m glad you took Jim
’
s offer.
Acquiring your
shares will make IUC
a very significant
shareholder
in our company
.
”

“
Second only to you, I
’
d guess
.
”
Al
said with a
laugh.
“
So e
verybody wins
,
except for the commies.
”

“
Everything is in order, Mr. P
antelli
,
”
Jim said, sliding the cert
ificate
s and stock power back into the envelope.
“
H
ere is your check
,
”
Jim said, standing up and handing Al the cashier
’
s check.
“
I think that concludes our business here, gentlemen.
”

Al
rose from his chair
,
took the check, folded it
,
and put it in his shirt pocket.
“
I thought you all might want to have dinner to celebrate. At least have a few drinks in one of New Orleans
’s
finest clubs?
”

“
Sorry, Mr.
Pantelli
,
”
Jim replied.
“
I have to
get
back
to
Australia as soon as possible. My board wants an update on
our investment in Montana Creek Mining
. So it will have to be thank you
,
and good luck to you in your future ventures.
”

We all shook hands with Al and left his office.
Once i
n the elevator
,
Cyrus couldn
’
t contain himself.
“
Damn fine work, Jim. You certainly took care of business
,
and got us the hell out of there.
”

“
Well
,
sometimes you have to do business with the devil
, b
ut you don
’
t have to muck about. Get in, get out
,
and move on.
”

“
Amen, brother,
”
I said, ex
haling
softly
.

The elevator door opened
,
and we exited the building and hailed a passing cab.

“
Eight thirty six,
Gravier Street,
”
Jim told the cabbie.
“
Hope you fellows don
’
t mind a little detour. IUC keeps a securities account with
Jackson-Steinman
. They have an office here
,
and I
’
d like to deposit these shares into our account. It shouldn
’
t take long.
”

“
No worries, mate,
”
I said
,
in my best Aussie accent.
“
Take your time. Our plane doesn
’
t leave until late this afternoon.
”

“
Ah, there is one other small detail,
”
Cyrus interjected.

“
Oh
, yes, the transfer of your voting proxy,
”
Jim said, reaching into his briefcase and removing a second manila envelope.
“
If you
’
ll just execute this
p
roxy transfer, I have a check made out to you in the amount of two hundred
twenty
thousand US dollars.
I assume a twenty
-
thousand
-
dollar profit
,
is satisfactory?
”

“
You bet, and thank you, Jim.
”

*****

A
l
Pantelli
walked down to his brother
’
s office.
“
Deal
’
s done, little brother,
”
Al said, taking the check out of his pocket and handing it to Pino

Pino whistled softly
.
“
M
an
,
that
’
s a lot of zeros.
”

“
Yeah, and that
’
s exactly what we
’
ll be if we don
’
t get out of here.
Is th
e plane ready to go?
”

“
I just need to pre
-
flight and top o
f
f the tanks.
”

Pino had been flying for years and
had
worked his way
up to a multi
-
engine
-
instrument
rating. Two years ago he
’
d talked Al into buying a King Air 350 turbo
-
prop.
He
’
d have them in George
T
own, Grand Cayman
,
in time for a late supper.

Both men had told their wives they
’
d be gone on an extended business trip to the Caribbean. The women knew what that meant. It wasn
’
t their first rodeo
,
either.

Pino got one of his people to drive
him
an
d
Al to Louis Armstrong International.
They kept the King Air in a hang
ar
in the general aviation section.
Ironically, not
too far from where Wu had deplaned a few
days
earlier.

Al and Pino grabbed their gear and told the driver to take the Caddy back to the office and park it in Al
’
s slot.

“
Come on, Al. Let
’
s store
our gear,
and I
’
ll get her pre
-
flighted and fueled.
”

“
Don
’
t worry
,
brother,
”
Al said, patting the aluminum brief
case.
“
If we forget anything, I think we can cover it.
”

Pino laughed
.
“
Yeah, I would say so. You
’
ve got the cashier
’
s check, too?
”

“
Yep,
i
t
’
s in my pocket.
I
’
ll deposit it in our Butterfield account in the morning.
”

“
Are we going to have a problem with
Cayman
custom
s
?
”
We
’
re carrying a hell of a lot of cash.
”

“
Nope, I
’
ve arranged for one of the senior customs guys to clear us through. He
’
s on
our
pad
.
”

The two men loaded their gear in
to
the plane
,
and Pino taxied over to the fueling
area.

“
We
’
ll top her off, then I
’
ll finish the pre
-
flight
. We
’
ll
be wheels up in thirty. How long do you think we
’
ll have to lay low?
”