Deadly Lode (Trace Brandon Book 1) (22 page)

“
How long do you need the voting proxy?
”

“
I
’
d like five years.
”

Al took a deep pull on his bourbon
.
“
Three years.
”

“
Agreed, provided your crew
collect
s
my
mil from Rosenburg. You know, Al, that son of a bitch killed one of my oldest friends.
”

“
You
’
ve got a deal
,
Cyrus
, a
nd
d
on
’
t worry
about the dough
.
They say you can
’
t get blood out of a turnip
. W
ell
,
my
people can
.
As for
Rosy
, w
ell,
after we get the dough,
we
probably won
’
t see Rosy no more.
”

After discussing a winter campaign with Jim Lee and Wally, Will and I drove up to Oroville to discuss the project with Red Blackstone.

“
What do you think, Red?
”
I asked
,
after laying out
our
drilling proposal.

“
It
’
ll cost more,
”
Red replied.
“
You
’
ve got to have heated areas
. R
esupplying is tougher
. T
hings break when it gets real cold. And it gets colder than a
defrocked cardinal
’
s heart
in
those mountains.
”

I laughed
.
“
That cold, huh?
”

“
Want to take a crack at it?
”
Will asked
, smiling at the cardinal comment
.

“
Sure,
it
beats sitting around waiting for spring,
”
Red replied.
“
We
’
ll still have to run
two
shifts. We can
’
t let the equipment sit out there at night and freeze up.
”

“
We
’
ll leave it to you, Red,
”
I said.
“
Come up with a cost estimate. In the meantime,
we
’
ll
start the permitting process. Shouldn
’
t be too tough. The Forest Service prefers winter work
. Less risk of
forest fire
s
.
”

“
I
’
ll have something for you in a day or two, fellows,
”
Red replied.

“
Sounds good,
”
I said.
“
We
’
ll swing through Winthrop on our way back to Ellensburg and give Bob Malott a heads
-
up. He
’
ll have to build a few more locations and open up the roads. I think he
’
ll be glad for the work.
His business
gets pretty slow in the winter months.
”

My assumption was correct. Bob was very happy to get the work. He
’
d been carrying most of his crew out of his hip pocket just to help them through the winter. In a couple of weeks we
’
d be turning to the right.

Al
Pantelli
summoned his
deadliest
assassin
,
Peter Manetti
, aka
,
t
he Chemist
.
Manetti
stood five feet
eight
and
weighed
about one hundred fifty pounds.
He had
graying hair
,
cut short,
a pallid complexion
,
and rather unexpressive
pale
-
blue
eyes.
Dr. Manetti
looked more like
the
frumpy college professor he
’
d once been
,
than a stone
-
cold killer.
His
weapon of choice was
any of a number of chemical compounds
, a
ll of which killed in rather unpleasant fashions.

“
Peter
, I
’
ve got a job for you,
”
Al said
.
“
Take a seat
,
and I
’
ll fill you in.
”

It took about fifteen minutes
for Al to
brief
his assassin.

“
I
’
ll call Rosenburg and tell him he has to come up with the mil
. He
’
s to deliver the money to you, in cash. After you get the
money
,
take a few days and plan a hit on
this SOB. And
Peter
,
this prick killed a friend of a friend. No quick exit
for him
.
Capisce
?
”

A couple
of
hours after his meeting with
t
he Chemist,
Al
Pantelli
picked up the phone in his penthouse suite
,
a
nd dialed Richard Rosenburg
’
s number.

“
Rosy, it
’
s Al
Pantelli
.
I need to speak w
ith you for a sec.
”

“
Sure, Mr.
Pantelli
. What
’
s on your mind?
”

“
As you know, my
c
asino assigned your IOU to Carib International.
And t
hey want their money.
”

“
What? Wait a fucking minute
. Y
ou said you
’
d take care of Carib.
”

“
You
’
d better watch your mouth when you
’
re talk
ing
to me
,
you out
-
of
-
shape piece of shit.
”

“
Sorry, Mr.
Pantelli
, but I thought we had a deal
.
”

“
I
tried to negotiate a deal with Carib
,
but they
’
re mixed up
with
a
g
oddamned
Col
o
mbian cartel
.
I couldn
’
t make a deal,
”
Pantelli
replied,
the lie coming
as
easily as a Hail Mary.
“
Listen
,
Rosy, these are some very rough bottom dwellers. Even the
Outfit
doesn
’
t mess with these bastards. They
’
re crazy
. Y
ou can
’
t do business with them.
”

“
Jesus, I
’
ve lost my shares
,
and now I
’
ll lose my money too.
”

“
Damn it, Rosy. You owed
us
a
million bucks
. T
he money you got from us will
cover
your
debt.
You
’
re even, off the hook. And you got to pop Thorn
ton
as a bonus.
”

“
It was self
-
defense.
”

“
I
’
m sure it was. In any case,
m
y associate, Mr.
Manetti
, will be in Vancouver day after tomorrow to pick up the
money
. Have the mill
ion
ready, in cash. Once he calls me
,
confirming receipt, I
’
ll contact Carib and set up a payoff meet. I
’
ll get your note canceled
,
and you
’
ll be clear
.
Capisce
?
”

Cyrus was in his Spokane office
,
going over Twisp River Resources and Carib
’
s current ownership position in Montana Creek Mining. With Al
’
s proxy he controlled about
17
percent of the outstanding shares. More than enough to
demand a seat
on their board. Smiling, he flipped open his cell phone and made the call.

“
Trace, Cyrus McSweeny. Sorry your Cayman trip go
t
cut short.
”

“
No problem, Cyrus. I was very sorry to hear about Mr. Thorn
ton
. Did he also go by Thorny?
”

“
Yes, it was his nickname. He was a very good man and a good friend to me over the years. He handled my business interests while I was locked up. Didn
’
t steal a damn dime.
”

“
A hard man to rep
l
ace
,
”
I replied
, my suspicions about Thorny and Ike confirmed
.

“
Exactly. Listen
,
Trace, I called to talk to you about getting Malcolm on your board. My companies now control a little over seventeen percent of your shares. More than enough to warrant a seat on your board.
”

“
Are you sure about the percentage, Cyrus?
I just looked at a shareholders list
,
and it looks like you should be around
fourteen percent
.
Assuming the buying
through
Cayman Island
S
ecurities is
all
for
Carib International
’
s account
.
”

“
You
r
numbers are correct, as far as they go.
But
,
I also hold a proxy to vote five hundred thousand shares previously issued to Richard Rosenburg.
”

I
took a deep breath
.
“
H
ow the hell did you manage that?
”

Cyrus laughed
.
“
Rosenburg owed a
mil to a Vegas
casino
. He
settled
the debt
with his five hundred thousand share
s
of Montana Creek Mining. I simpl
y
made a deal with the casino principals to vote their shares for the next three years.
”

“
Damn, Cyrus
. Y
ou don
’
t miss a trick, do you?
”