Deadly Lode (Trace Brandon Book 1) (43 page)

“
Well, the Coast Guard is sending a cutter to search for the plane. He may have been able to ditch
.
”

Pino
Pantelli
stuck his head into his brother Al
’
s office
.

“
G
ot a second?
”

“
Sure
,
Pino. Come on in.
”

Pino walked into Al
’
s office and
sat in one of the side chairs.

“
I just heard from
our Irish friend
. He
’
s been
monitor
ing
FAA radio traffic. Seems they lost a small plane out over the Gulf this morning. And according to my contacts in George Town, Mr. Trueblood never arrived.
”

Al got up from behind his desk and walked over to the wet bar
.

“
I think that calls for a drink. Care to join me?
”

“
Sure. Make it
Irish whiskey
in honor of our Mr. Flannigan.
”

C
hapter
4
6

I
was in my office
,
working on the
PowerPoint
presentation I was going to give
in Toronto
,
when my
office
phone
rang
.

“
Montana Creek Mining, Trace speaking.
”

“
Trace, Special Agent Beau Monroe.
”

“
Good morning
,
Agent Monroe. Don
’
t tell me another Montana Creek Mining shareholder bit the dust
.
”
I said
,
half
-
afraid I might be right
.

“
Your former director
, Malcolm Trueblood, th
e one someone tried to whack in Vancouver.
”

“
Yes,
”
I interrupted,
“
what about him
?
”

“
His plane never made Grand Cayman.
”

“
His plane
. Y
ou mean a commercial flight went down?
”

“
No. Trueblood was a pilot. He
was flying to the Caymans in his personal aircraft
.
”

“
What happened?
”

“
This is what we know
, a
nd this is in strictest confidence
, Trace
. Agreed?
”

“
Agreed.
”

“
Trueblood departed Houston Hobby
A
irport
en route
to George Town, Grand Cayman
,
at approximately eight a.m
. About an hour out of Hobby he declare
d
an emergency.
He reported finding
a bomb on board
and
requested permission to descend to ten thousand feet
. He wanted to de
-
pressurize,
open a window
,
and chuck the device into the Gulf.
”

“
And
?
”

“
And
,
as he descends through
fifteen
thousand feet, poof. He
’
s gone.
Off the radar.
”

“
The bomb went off?
”

“
A bomb went off. He
told ATC
the device he found had a timer detonator. He thought he had twenty minutes before it was set to blow.
”

“
So it went off early or he misread the
timer
.
”

“
Or
,
there was a second, back
-
up
,
explosive device with a pressure trigger. And when he dropped through
fifte
e
n
thousand feet
—g
ame over
.
”

“
Jesus, why kill him now
?
He was going into
soft exile. Out of all but
Cayman
jurisdiction.
”

“
Insurance. Dead men tell no tales.
”

“
Don
’
t tell me
. L
et me guess
. T
he
Pantelli
family?
”

“
They
’
re at the top of my list. Anyway, Trace, keep this information to yourself until it
’
s published. And watch your six, just in case.
”

Confidential or not, I
hung up and dialed
Cyrus
’
s
number.

“
Cyrus, Trace. Have you heard anything about Malcolm
’
s flight?
”

“
Yeah, he had some kind of problem and called Houston air traffic control to declare an emergency. Shortly thereafter his plane disappeared from radar.
Not a
t
race after that.
He should
’
ve
be
en
on-island
hours ago.
”

“
He didn
’
t make it, Cyrus. Special Agent Monroe just gave me a confidential heads
-
up. Malcolm
did
declare an emergency
.
H
e
requested to descend to ten thousand feet and went off all the radar screens as he passed through
fifteen
thousand feet.
”

“
Did Monroe know what kind of emergency
?
”

“
Malcolm
told air traffic control he
’
d found a bomb on board.
”

“
Those
g
oddamned bastards
.
”

“
Who?
”

“
The
Pantelli
s. They knew he was flying his plane to the Caymans
,
be
cause I told them.

“
Why would they kill him now?
”

“
Bec
ause they don
’
t like loose ends. Malcolm met with the
Pantelli
s
in Vegas.
T
here
would
be records of his
commercial
flights, cab rides, credit card charges, et
cetera.
And it was just af
ter the
ir
meeting
,
that
someone
trie
d
to kill
Malcolm
. Too many connections back to
the
Pantelli
s.
Like the old saying,
Trace
.
‘D
ead men tell no tales.
’
”

“
E
xactly what Agent Monroe said.
Okay, how do we proceed?
”

“
Believe it or not, the
Pantelli
s are keenly interested in
the growth and success of Montana Creek Mining.
Remember, t
hey hold Rosenburg
’
s shares
,
and they
’
ve bought more shares in the open market. The reason they killed Malcolm is because they perceived him to be a threat to
Montana Creek Mining
,
as well as to themselves
.
”

“
Damn,
so
the
m
ob
’
s got my back.
”

Cyrus
couldn
’
t help but chuckle
.
“
Y
eah,
I guess
you could say that.
”

Two days later
,
it was in all the papers
:
“
Canadian executive killed in plane explosion over the Gulf of Mexico
.
”
Two days a
fter the story broke, it died. Seemed no one really gave a shit about some rich Ca
nu
ck
flying his high
-
performance rocket ship down to the Caymans.
The article did mention Malcolm had served a short time on
Montana Creek Mining
’
s
board. The net effect of his demise on
Montana Creek Mining
’
s shares
—
nil.

Chapter
4
7

I
t was
cold, gr
a
y
,
and snowing lightly
when Wally and I landed in Toronto
for the
Mining Convention
.
We caught a cab from the airport and checked in
to our hotel
adjacent to the convention center.

Wally had arranged for us to have a booth with banners, brochures
,
and a repeating
PowerPoint
presentation. I was signed up to give a fifteen
-
minute presentation in one of the large conference rooms the next day. Nearly one hundred natural resource companies would be presenting
over the four
-
day conference
. Government representatives from nearly a dozen foreign countries were also slated to make a pitch. All were seeking
investor dollars
to help develop their prospects, mines
,
or national natural resources.

Wally and I
ran into Cyrus
in the main lobby
of the hotel and filled him in on
our
game plan
.

“
Wally and I are going to man our booth, give out brochures
,
and visit with investors.
I know you want to take
in some presentations
and get a feel for the tone of the convention. Why don
’
t we meet at nine this evening and compare notes?
”

“
Good idea, Trace. And I don
’
t mind
filling-in for
you fellows from time to time so you can catch a presentation of interest. I
’
m an old hand at these conventions.
”

“
Thanks, Cyrus
. W
e
’
ll take you up on that.
”

Wally and I made our way to our booth. There were already a good number of interested parties in front of our table. We shook a lot of hands, fired up the continuous
PowerPoint,
and went to work promoting Montana Creek Mining.

About an hour into the melee, I spotted him. He was wearing a
n
exquisitely tailored Hong Kong suit
,
a pair of
Italian
alligator slip-on
’
s
,
and an expensive
-
looking silk tie. Not your dad
’
s Chinese
c
ommunist. I continued talking with several investors who
’
d bought shares in Montana Creek Mining. The
investors
couldn
’
t keep their hands off
the six
-
inch sections of core Wally and I had laid out.
They kept picking up the core samples and were
grinning like kids who
’
d just found
a
copy of
one of their dad
’
s
girl
iey
magazines
in the
trash.

I
tapped Wally
lightly
on the shoulder
.

“
Wally, can you help these gentlemen for a minute
?
”
I
asked
, nodding
in the direction of the approaching
suit
.

I made my way
along
our
b
o
oth to where the oriental gentleman was standing
.

“
Good afternoon,
sir
. I
’
m Trace Brandon, CEO of Montana Creek Mining,
”
I said, offering my hand.

“
Lei Chang, Mr. Brandon,
”
Chang
rep
lied, shaking my hand with a dry and firm handshake.

“
Do you have an interest in uranium, Mr.
Chang
?
”

“
Yes
. M
y company,
URAN-
China
Nu
c
lear Corp
.
,
is quite active in that arena.
”

“
I would agree,
sir
. And thank you for your investment in our
company
. It
’
s quite a compliment for a small cap like us to have caught your interest.
”

Chang
smiled
.
“
My compl
i
ments, Mr. Brandon.
I see you keep up with who
’
s acquiring your shares.
”

“
Yes,
sir
. We try.
”

Chang picked up a section of the high
-
grade core.

“
Is this representative of the uranium mineralization
, o
r
is this a selected sample?
”

“
It
’
s representative of the uranium vein.
The lode
runs eight to ten percent uranium, as does the sample you
’
re holding.
”

“
No offense meant, Mr. Brandon. But you must realize many of the junior companies present only the
ir
best grades.
I
believe you call it
,
‘
high grading
’
?
”

“
Yes, that
’
s what it
’
s called. And no
offense taken,
sir
.
But this is
run
-
of
-
mine
ore
.
I
t
’
s
a hell of a vein
, n
ot something one sees every day.
”

“
Maybe once in a lifetime
,
”
Chang replied.

“
Maybe.
”

“
Are you free for dinner
,
Mr. Brandon,
after the conference closes for the day?
”

“
I was going to have a late dinner with
Mr.
Wilkins
,
”
I said, pointing to Wally
,
“
a
nd James Lee. They
’
re both directors. Would you mind if they joined us?
”

“
No, not at all.
Very well then
. S
h
all
we say nine
at the front desk
?
I
’
ll take you
and
your directors
to one of my favorite
Toronto
restaurants. Excellent cuisine and a wonderful view of
city
.
”

“
I look forward to it
, an
d thank you.
”

Chang
bowed slightly
,
turned
,
and melted into the crowd.

Wally walked up next to me.

“
Well?
”

“
Slight c
hange in dinner plans
,
compadre.
Mr. Lei Chang,
m
anaging
d
irector of U
RAN-
China
Nu
c
lear Corp
.
is taking you
, me
,
and Jim
to supper.
”

“
What about Cyrus?
”

“
He
’
s not an officer or director
,
so
I
’
ll ask him
to sit this one out.

“
Agreed. We
’
ve probably had enough insider trading from the Virus.
”

I laughed
.
“
C
ome on, eas
e
up, pardner. He
’
s turned over a new leaf.
”

“
Uh-huh. What time tonight?
”

“
Nine p.m. We
’
re to meet near the front desk.
Chang
is taking us someplace special.
I
’
ll call Jim and have him meet us.
”

“
Damn, I bet old
Mao
is spinning in his grave. Capitalistic communists
. W
ho
’
d have believed it
?
”
Wally
said with
a laugh.

I got hold of Cyrus on his cell phone and told him of the change in plans. He was fine with it
,
a
nd
quite excited that Lei Chang had sought us out.

“
Trace, it will likely take
Chang most of the evening to get to the point of the meeting.
Just bear with him and go with the flow
,
”
Cyrus advised
.
“
It
’
s the oriental way.
”

“
Got it. I
’
ll be patient but interested.
”

“
Perfect. I
’
ll see you two for breakfast at seven
,
and y
ou can fill me in. Good luck.
”

Wally and I met Chang by the front desk.
Jim Lee showed up a couple of min
ut
e
s
later.

“
Good evening
,
gentlemen,
”
Chang
said, bowing slightly.

“
Good evening
,
Mr. Chang
,
”
I replied.
“
I
’
d like you to meet
two of our
directors, Mr. Walter
Wilkins
and Mr. James Lee
.
”

Mr. Chang
bow
ed
again
.
“
V
ery nice to make your acquaintance
,
gentlemen. Mr. Lee, aren
’
t you the managing director of International Uranium Corp
.
?
”

Jim Lee returned the bow
,
“
Y
es,
I am
. IUC owns a twenty percent interest in Montana Creek Mining
. And as
Trace
mentioned
,
I sit on their board.
”

“
Very good
. It
should be a most interesting evening.
S
hall
we go? I have a car out front.
”

We walked out into the frigid Toronto night.
Chang
’
s
black CLS 550 Mercedes was parked just outside the door. The valet handed him the keys
,
and we all climbed in.
Chang
pulled out and accelerated into
traffic.