Deadly Lode (Trace Brandon Book 1) (59 page)

When the dust settled, Agent Allen called Special Agent Monroe.

“
It went off without a hitch, Beau. We seized all the computers plus hand
-
written ledgers in the counting room and about seventy
-
five employees. We also
got a court
order
ordering
the casino to cease operations
,
until further notice.
”

“
Damn good work, Wilson,
”
Monroe
said with
a chuckle.
“
Hell, we may not have to arrest Al
Pantelli
. He
’
ll probably have a heart attack when he hears about the raid.
”

Special Agent Monroe wasn
’
t too far off. One of the dealers who
’
d evaded arrest called Mr.
Pantelli
.

Al hit Pino
’
s call button on his phone.

“
Pino, come down to my office. The Comstock just got hit.
”

“
Robbed?
”

“
No. A federal raid. IRS, FBI, local cops, a whole fuckin
’
army of badges. Get down here.
”

Pino sprinted down to his brother
’
s office and burst through the door.

“
What the
hell
is going on?
”

“
I don
’
t know, but my guess is the feds couldn
’
t
find enough evidence to
pin Rosy and Trueblood on us. So they went after the casino.
”

“
The skim?
”

“
That
,
and our ownership interest.
”

“
Hell
,
our ownership is through Black Chip, LLC. They
’
ll never penetrate the Cayman
corporate
veil.
”

“
Don
’
t be too damn sure, Pino. If the feds can prove illegal funds were funneled to the Caymans, all bets are off.
”

“
So what
’
s the plan, brother?
”

“
Two things
,
”
Al said
.
“
We need to find out what the feds have. Something or somebody must have tipped them to the skim. And secondly, we need to raise a shi
t
pot full of dough. This is going to cost
us
a hell of
a
lot of money.
”

Pino nodded
.
“
H
ey, let
’
s call
our buddy,
Lei Chang
. T
ell him we
’
ve changed our minds and sell him our Montana Creek Mining shares
,
b
efore he finds out we
’
re in deep shit.
”

“
Damn good idea, brother. I
’
ll call that condescending son
of
a
bitch myself. I
’
ll squeeze every dime I can out of him.
”

C
hapter
6
4

I
was
just
back from the Toronto listing ceremony when Special Agent Monroe rang me up.

“
Trace, Agent Beau Monroe
. G
ot a s
ec?
”

“
Yeah, sure,
Agent Monroe
. What
’
s up?
”

“
I just wanted to give you a heads
-
up. The FBI and the IRS raided the Comstock Casino in Vegas. I
’
m telling you this because it may cause you some problems with the
Pantelli
s. Off the record, Trace, we think they
’
ve been skimming profits from the casino and sending the money offshore.
”

“
How
could it
affect
Montana Creek Mining?
”
I asked.

“
Well, if we indict the
Pantelli
s, they may
seek to get
liquid to pay their defense lawyers
,
or fund a little vacation
.
”

“
You
’
re thinking they might dump their
Montana Creek Mining
shares?
”

“
Could be, Trace
, but
I don
’
t think they
’
d sell it in the market. A block that big might drive the share price down. No, I think they
’
ll be looking to make a private sale. Sell the whole block in one fell swoop. Anyway, just a heads
-
up, Trace. As you know those fellows are unpredictable, to say the least.
”

I was way ahead of
him
.

“
Listen, Agent Monroe
.
I really appreciate the information.
”

“
No problem, Trace.
One other thing
. I
f you do see some selling on their part, I
’
d like to know about it.
”

“
The least I can do
, Agent Monroe
.
G
ood luck in nailing those bastards.
”

*****

It took Al
Pantelli
a couple
of
hours to track Lei Chang down
. H
e
finally
caught up to
him in London.

“
Mr. Chang, it
’
s Al
Pantelli
,
in New Orleans. Sorry about the late hour on your end.
”

“
Not a problem
,
Mr.
Pantelli
. What
can I do for you
?
”

“
Well, in our last conversation I told you I
’
d get back to you
,
if we changed our mind on selling our shares in Montana Creek Mining.
”

“
And have you changed your mind?
”

“
Yes,
sir
, we have. Pino and I don
’
t know a damn thing about uranium mining
,
or
any other kind of mining
,
for that matter
.
We
operate
in totally unrelated fields.
”

“
Yes, I know that.
”

“
So, after reconsidering your generous offer, we are prepared to sell you one hundred percent of our holdings
.
”

“
How many shares in total?
”

“
Five hundred thousand we
acquired in a private transaction
,
and
another two hundred fifty thousand we
’
ve purchased in the market.
”

“
I see. Well, Mr.
Pantelli
, I
’
ll make you a onetime offer, good until this conversation is over. I
’
ll pay you twenty percent over the last thirty days
’
bid price. Stand by please
,
”
Chang
said
,
as he
checked his stock charts.
“
The average price of the shares over the last thirty days is
five
-
eighty
. A twenty percent premium would bring it up to
six
-
ninety
-
six,
Canadian dollars. I need your answer now.
”

“
I calculate a total purchase price of
five million
two hundred twenty
thousand dollars
.
Do you concur, Mr. Chang?
”

“
Canadian dollars
, and
yes that is correct. Do we have a deal?
”

Al smiled. It was a hell of a profit. Especially on Rosy
’
s shares.

“
Yes,
sir
. You
’
ve got a deal
, b
ut it has to be in cash.
Delivered to our office here in New Orleans.
Is that going to be a problem?
”

Chang had expected it would be a cash deal. The
Pantelli
s
,
after all
,
were criminals.

“
No, not a problem. I
’
ll have a courier in New Orleans three days hence. Have the stock certificates and
signed
, signature
-
guaranteed
,
stock powers
ready to hand over. And no funny business, Mr.
Pantelli
.
I am well connected with
a
Hong Kong
t
riad
. I
t will go badly for you should
you
try anything
stupid.
”

Al
hung up and
looked over at Pino, who
’
d listened in on the call.

“
Triad, my ass,
”
Pino growled.
“
Who the hell does that slant
-
eyed bastard think he is
. . .
Bruce fuckin
’
Lee?
”

Al smiled
.
“
I think we
may
need to
teach Mr. Chang a little lesson in messing with the
O
utfit.
”

Jim Lee
called me the day after I
’
d spoken to Agent Monroe.

“
Trace, remember when I joked about calling Cyrus if we, IUC, bought the
Pantelli
s
’
Montana Creek Mining shares?
”

“
Yes,
”
I said, wondering if Jim was going to say what I thought he was going to say.

“
G
uess who called me this morning?
”

“
Vito Corleone
?
”

Jim cracked up
.
“
N
o, but
you
’
re
pretty
close
. None other than Albert
Pantelli
and his sidekick
,
Crispino.
”

“
No shit
. T
hey pitched you a deal to buy their shares?
”

“
Lock, stock
,
and barrel. Seven hundred fifty thousand shares.
”

“
At what price
?
”

“
Seven dollars and fifty cents per share.
”

“
Damn, Jim, that
’
s about a thirty percent premium to where we
’
ve been trading. What
’
d you tell them?
”

“
I told them I
’
d have to run it by my board. But the SOB
’
s only gave me twenty
-
four hours to make a decision. I
’
ve already sent the details to all our board members and asked them all to get back to me
,
before the deadline.
”

“
What do you think?
”

“
I
n the short term, it
’
s a stout premium. But in the longer term, I think the shares will blow through seven
-
fifty without much of a problem.
”

“
I do to
o
, Jim
, a
nd I
’
d sure like to get the
Pantelli
s out of our company. But it
’
s up to you. Just keep me posted
,
will you?
”

“
Will do, Trace. Of course there is also the matter of Cyrus holding
the
Pantelli
’s’
proxy to vote
a
half
a million of those
shares. Do you think he
’
ll transfer
or cancel
his
proxy?
”

“
Y
es, I do
, b
ut you
’
ll have to pay him what he paid the
Pantelli
s
, plus a little profit
. Look, if
you decide to buy the shares, let me talk to Cyrus. I
’
ve
developed a pretty good relationship with
him
,
and I think I can get him to work with you.
”

“
Thanks, Trace, I was hoping you
’
d say that. It
’
ll be a big help in convincing our board to move on this. Without the proxy, it
won
’
t
happen.
”

Eighteen hours later, Jim Lee had board approval to buy out the
Pantelli
s. He called
Al
Pantelli
,
to
confirm the deal.

“
Mr.
Pantelli
, Jim Lee with International Uranium Corp. How are you this morning?
”

“
Depends on what your answer is
,
Mr. Lee. Do we have a deal
,
or not?
”

“
Our board approved the
acquisition
late last night
. W
e
have a deal.
”

“
Excellent. How soon can you come to New Orleans
and pick up the shares
,
and
pay us
?
”

“
I can be in New Orleans in forty
-
eight hours.
Please have the certs ready along with an executed, signature
-
guaranteed
,
stock power. Just one other item
. H
ow
do
you want the cashier
’
s check made out
?
”