Deadly Lode (Trace Brandon Book 1) (60 page)

“
Don
’
t suppose you
’
d consider paying us in cash?
”

“
No, we wouldn
’
t.
”

“
Okay, no harm in
asking.
M
ake the check out to Albert A.
Pantelli
.
I
’
ll see you day after tomorrow. Do you have our address?
”

“
Trace ha
s
it in our shareholder files.
”

“
Trace knows about the deal?
”

“
Absolutely. He was the first person I called.
Is that a problem?
”

“
No, it
’
s not a problem. Hell, my brother and I have grown quite fond of Trace
, a
nd we
’
ll like him even better after we cash your check.
”

“
I
’
m sure the feeling
’
s mutual. See you in a couple of days.
”

Al hung up and called his brother
’
s office.

“
IUC will be here in forty
-
eight hours with a cashier
’
s check for five point six mil
,
and change
.
”

“
Jesus,
Al
. W
e
’
re cutting this a little close, aren
’
t we? Chang
’
s courier is d
ue
to arrive at
about the same time.
”

Al laughed
.
“
I
’
m afraid the courier
’
s going to have a very bad accident
, a
nd Chang
’
s dough is going to get stolen.
If we
’
re careful and do this exactly right, we
’
re going to have over ten mil
,
and about
half
of the dough in cash
.
”

“
Damn, that ou
ght
to cover any legal bills from the casino bust.
”

“
My thoughts exactly
, and
Chang
’
s cash won
’
t be reported to the IRS, so add another thirty
-
five percent to the pot.
”

Jim Lee called me back and wanted to know if Cyrus and I could meet him in New Orleans
the
day after tomorrow.

“
I
’
d like
both of
you there to witness the transaction
, and
we
’
ll need Cyrus there to transfer
h
is proxy.
”

“
Okay, Jim. I
’
ll call Cyrus and fill him in. I haven
’
t mentioned anything to him
yet
. I wanted to be sure the deal was going
to
happen
.
”

“
Okay, call me if there
’
s any problems. This will be an in
-
and
-
out trip, Trace. I want the shares out of the
Pantelli
’
s
’
hands
and into our brokerage account the same day
.
”

I hung up and called Cyrus.

“
Cyrus, Trace here
. G
ot a sec?
”

“
Yep, what
’
s on your mind?
”

“
Are you sitting down?
”

“
Jesus, there wasn
’
t another Three Mile Island, was there?
”

I laughed
.
“
N
o, no, the uranium market is strong. But there is a deal pending that could reach critical mass. I
’
m going to
need
a couple of things
from you, Cyrus.
”

“
You got it, kid. What
’
d you need
?
”

“
I need you to transfer
or cancel
you
r
proxy on the
Pantelli
’
s
’
shares.
Second,
you and I need to be in New Orleans
,
in about forty
-
eight hours.
”

“
Uh-huh, so who
’
s
taking
the
Pantelli
s out of the equation?
”

“
IUC
, provided you
’
ll
transfer
or cancel
your voting
proxy.
”

“
I can
a
nd I will
. O
f c
ourse
,
it
’
ll cost them what I paid for it
, plus a bit for my trouble
.
”

“
Not a problem, Cyrus. Jim will
pay you when we meet in New Orleans.
”

“
Can I ask what IUC
is paying
for the shares?
”

“
I
’
d rather Jim told you, but it
’
s more than
what
Chang offered. Which
,
if I recall correctly
,
was a twenty percent premium to
our recent share price.
”

“
Correct
a
m
u
ndo, Trace.
W
hich
means IUC is paying north of a twenty percent premium. Kind of make
s
you feel
all
warm and fuzzy
,
don
’
t it?
”

I chuckled
.
“
Y
eah,
I guess it does. But what really makes me happy is to see an
outfit like IUC
think
our share price
is headed
north of seven-fifty a share.
”

“
Their bean counters would
’
ve never let them
d
o the deal
,
if they didn
’
t think so.
Hot damn
,
son
. W
e
’
re going to make some serious loot.
”

“
Yeah, if we can get Jim out of New Orleans with the shares
,
a
nd in one piece.
”

“
No worries, Trace.
We
won
’
t have a problem with Al or Pino. That
’
s not the way they operate
. T
hey
’
ll be cool. But what I
am
curious about is our commie buddy, Chang.
U
RAN
-China can certainly outbid IUC, so why is Al selling to Jim
’
s company?
If Al is playing both ends against the middle, there could be trouble with Chang.
”

“
Some kind of scam, double
-
cross?
”

“
Always a possibility. T
hey don
’
t call the
Pantelli
s a crime family
because they
’
re straight shooters
, no pun intended
.
”

Chang
’
s courier, Ri Wu, boarded the chartered Citation
at JFK
A
irport. Handcuffed to his left wrist was an
aluminum brief
case
holding more th
an
five million Canadian dollars. Wu was unarmed
,
b
ut he
was
one of the
k
ung
f
u mother fuckers Al had joked about.

In about four hours, Wu
’
s jet touched down at Louis Armstrong International
A
irport and taxied to the
general aviation ramp. A black limo waited with a uniformed cha
u
ffe
u
r standing to the side
and
holding a placard with Wu
’
s name neatly printed on it.

The very attractive flight attendant opened the cabin door
,
and Wu descended the ramp.

“
Mr. Wu?
”
the
chauffeur
asked, holding the rear door
of the limo
open.

Wu nodded and climbed in. The limo was empty except for Wu and the driver.

“
I
’
m to take you directly to Mr.
Pantelli
’
s office. It
’
ll take about twenty minutes.
”

“
V
ery good.
”

Traffic was light
,
and
less than
twenty minutes
later,
the limo pulled into the underground parking garage
beneath the
Pantelli
’s’
office building
. The driver pulled into a parking s
pace
marked reserved for
A.
Pantelli
.
The parking space was immediately
adjacent to the elevator
.

“
Right this way, Mr. Wu,
”
the chauffe
u
r said
, opening Wu
’
s door
.
“
I
’
ll accompany you to the main office.
”

Wu nodded
and
said nothing
, b
ut his radar was on full alert. If there was to be trouble, he knew it would likely happen
here
.

The chauffe
u
r hit the up button
,
and the elevator door opened. Wu immediately took a
half
-
step back. A workman in coveralls was in the elevator. His tools
were
lying
on the floor
,
which
had been
covered in plastic to keep the surface clean.

“
S
orry, gents,
”
the workman said.
“
I
’
m just doing a little maintenance. Come on in
. Y
ou can use the elevator. I
’
ll stop work for a couple of minutes
. I
t
’
s
not a problem.
”

The chauffe
u
r stepped in. Wu hesitated for a minute and then followed.

“
Which floor, gents?
”
the workman asked.