Deadly Lode (Trace Brandon Book 1) (44 page)

“
Wow,
”
I said, glancing back at Wally
and Jim
in the rear seat
,
“
s
he
’
s powerful.
”

Chang
nodded
.
“
Four hundred
horsepower from a 4.6 liter twin turbo. She
’
ll do zero to sixty in about five seconds.
”

Not your dad
’
s Mercedes, either, I thought.

“
I am taking you to
t
he
Beau
Geste
,
”
Chang said.
“
Are you familiar with it?
”

“
Only by reputation,
”
I replied, glancing back at Wally
and Jim
,
who
both
nodded in agreement.

“
I think you will be pleased,
”
Chang
continued
.
“
The food is first class
,
and the view
of the city
is magnificent.
”

He
was right
on both counts
.
The view of the city from the
fifty
-
four
th
floor of the Dominion B
uilding
was dramatic.
And the c
uisine
was indeed first
-
cabin
.

I
opted for
roasted venison with spaghetti squash and huck
le
berr
ies
. Lei and Wally both
tried the
tea
-
smoked duck breast with northern
-
woods mushrooms, wheat berries
,
and
foie gras
.
Jim had had an early dinner with some of IUC
’
s shareholders
and
munched on cheese and fresh warm bread.

We washed it all down with a couple of bottles of
Leaning Post
P
inot
N
oir
.
Leaning Post was a
very limited vintage wine made from the oldest
P
inot
N
oir
vines in Ontario.

Wally
, Jim
,
and
I
finished w
ith
a house blend of dark
,
rich
coffee
,
while Lei stayed traditional with
tea.
And
as Cyrus predicted,
talk
finally
turned to business.

“
So, gentlemen,
”
Lei said, sipping his hot tea,
“
a
s you know my company has been acquiring shares of Montana Creek Mining. We are up to nearly a ten percent ownership position
an
d would like to announce a tender offer for the remaining shares at five dollars Canadian per share. Provided I can get a commitment from you, Mr. Brandon, to tender your personal shares.
”

I looked at Wally
and Jim, neither of whom
batted an eye at the offer
.

“
I appreciate the offer, Mr. Chang.
At nearly a
twenty
-
five percent premium to the current share price
, it
’
s a very generous offer
.
I w
ill
, however,
need a few days to think it over
,
and
to
confer
in private with our full board of directors.
”

“
Perfectly reasonable, Mr. Brandon. S
hall
we reconvene this meeting at the end of
the conference?
Will that give you sufficient time to consult with your board?
”

“
Yes, I think so.
Three of our four directors are here at this table.
I will call the fourth director back in Washington State in the morning.
”

“
Excellent. I trust the meal and wine were satisfactory?
”

“
Perfect,
”
the three of us replied in unison.

“
Then I look forward to hearing from you in the coming days. S
hall
we go
,
gentlemen?
”

At seven the next morning
, Jim, Wally
,
and
I
met in my suite. I
’
d called room service and had a variety of breakfast foods sent up.
I thought it better to have Cyrus sit this
meeting out as well
.
I
’
d brief him privately
,
later.

After everyone got a bite of breakfast and some coffee, I called Will and put him on the speaker
-
phone.
I explained the potential tender offer
, subject to me selling my share block to
U
RAN-
China
Nu
c
lear Corp.

Jim Lee tugged on his upper lip
.
“
W
ell
,
boys, we all knew this was coming. It was just a matter of time.
IUC can match the five dollar offer, but we couldn
’
t go much more. And I
fe
e
l certain
Mr. Chang and the Chinese
are prepared to
go much higher.
”

I looked around the room
.
“
Will
,
what
’
s your take on this?
”

“
Well, five bucks a shares is a pile of cash. Especially for us founders.
Even for IUC, with a two
-
dollar
-
twenty
-
cent
cost
basis
, it
’
s
a hell of a profit. The fly in the buttermilk is, do we want to sell to the Chinese?
Do we want them to control a major US uranium reserve
? And that
’
s assuming our government would approve the deal.
”

“
Here
’
s my take, fellows,
”
I interjected.
“
I
’
m not going to sell my block of shares to the Chinese, period. If I sell to anybody
,
it will be to IUC, even if I leave a few bucks on the table. And without my shares
, Chang
’
s company
can
’
t get control
.
”

“
Thanks, Trace
.
I appreciate
it
,
”
Jim said.
“
As you all know, IUC would love to increase our ownership and operate and develop the Sullivan Mine.
We might not be able to be a white knight, but we could be a
whiter shade of gr
a
y.
”

We all laughed.

“
Could be a song there, Jim,
”
I said, still chuckling.
“
Okay, then
,
I
’
ll get back to Chang and tell him no
deal.
Just pray we don
’
t hear any bugles.
”

C
hapter
4
8

S
pecial Agent Beau Monroe contacted the N
ational Transportation Safety Board
for an update on Malcolm Trueblood
’
s crash. The NTSB agent in charge of the crash told
Monroe
they
’
d
found traces of plastic explosive
s
on some of the wreckage the Coast Guard
had
recovered from the Gulf.
The composition of the explosive residue matched a common military explosive, C-4.

Monroe called his team together in the New Orleans office.

“
Okay
,
people,
listen up. W
e
’
ve got Mr. Rosenburg, with ties to the
Pantelli
family, killed with VX agent.
Then we
’
ve got a
n assassin
who dies in an attempt to kill Malcolm
Trueblood, who also has ties to the
Pantelli
family
.
And
, last but not least,
Mr. Trueblood
and his
airplane
explode over the Gulf of Mexico.
”

Special Agent Monroe looked around the room
.
“
I
’
m all ears, people.
”

Agent
Winston Allen
spoke up
.

“
W
e
’
re close to tying the Chemist to the
Pantelli
family. The information we obtained from Mr. Bugati
led us to
one
Peter Manetti
.
I should say Dr.
Manetti
, as he holds a
PhD in
c
hemistry from LSU
,
and taught
advanced c
hemistry for a number of years. About ten years ago, his wife died from colon cancer. After
her death
,
Doc Manetti
fell off the board. According to Mr. Bugati,
Doctor
D
eath
began doing
specialty hits fo
r the
Pantelli
family.
”

“
D
id the information from Chief Inspector Rand
confirm the Chemist
’
s ID?
”
Agent Monroe asked.

“
The photos, dental
records
,
and finger
-
prints we got from the
i
nspector
match
ed
records and photos we
’
ve obtained from LSU
and
D
r.
Manetti
’
s
dentist. The
assassin
,
aka
,
the Chemist, is Louisiana
’
s own
,
Dr.
Peter
Manetti
.
”

“
Really good work, people
,
”
Agent Monroe said
, nodding  in approval
.
“
Have we been able to
confirm
Manetti
’
s ties
to the
Pantelli
family?
”

“
We
’
r
e
working on it,
sir
,
”
Agent Allen replied
.
“
We
’
re looking for the money trail.
So far,
we
’
ve found
several wire transfers from
Pantelli
accounts
here
in
New Orleans to an account
in the Cayman Islands. The wires follow a pattern.
They
’
re a
lways to the same account in the Caymans, always two equal payments
, and
the
payments usually a week or two apart. When we looked at suspected mob hits in the same time
intervals
, we found several
homicides
matching the transfer of funds.
”

“
Can you tie
Dr.
Manetti
to the account in the Caymans?
”

“
Not yet, but w
e
’
re working on
it,
”
Agent Wilson
answered
.
“
With the new money
-
laundering laws, the offshore banks are
a bit
more cooperative.
But it
’
s going to take a little time.
”

“
Okay, keep pushing and keep me informed. Now, what about Mr. Trueblood
and his flameout over the
G
ulf?
”

Agent Wilson answered again
.

“
W
e know from the NTSB that there were traces of plastic explosives matching C-
Four
on some of the recovered debris. We
’
ve interviewed everybody working near
Houston Flight Support
’
s
area
at
Houston
Hobby
. And
we
’
ve
reviewed all the air traffic control communication
s
with Trueblood
,
before he went down.
”

“
And?
”

“
A fuel
-
truck driver remembers a
f
ellow
he
’
d not seen before.
The guy was
wearing
Houston Flight Support
coveralls
,
and the driver figured he was a new hire. We checked with
HFS
. N
o new hires. And no
one
has seen this fellow since.
”

“
Did the driver talk to
our mystery man
?
”
Agent Monroe asked.

“
Yes,
Sir
. He said the fellow wanted confirmation on what time the next morning they were to refuel Trueblood
’
s
plane
.
”

“
Did he give you a description of th
e
man
?
”

“
He said
the fellow was short, about five six, with a red goatee and short
-
cropped red hair. And he said he thought the guy spoke with an accent
,
m
a
y
b
e
Irish
.
”

Okay, damn good work,
”
Agent Monroe said.
“
Check our files for an explosives expert
fitting
that description. Also, check with the Brits. See if they
’
ve lost an IRA bomber of late.
”