Stuart Woods - Fast and Loose

“Great, but we’re still missing fifty million.”

“Mike and I are going to loan you that, secured by your share of the partnership, and you can repay the loan as profits come in from the sale of the St. Clair companies.”

“That’s extraordinarily generous of you both,” Charley replied, moved.

“This transaction was your idea, and you brought the knowledge and skills to bear to make it happen. You deserve to be rewarded for that.”

“There’s something else I haven’t mentioned,” Charley said. “I think that three of the companies have come to the point where they can go public in the next year or so, and with our majority ownership, we will reap a huge profit from the initial public offering, and so will the original stockholders who sold to St. Clair. I think everybody will be very, very happy.”

“Are there others on the list that can have IPOs later?” Mike asked.

“Most of them. Those that aren’t ready we can sell separately.”

“That’s wonderful, Charley,” Stone said. “Something else that Mike and I think you deserve is occupancy of St. Clair’s apartment in the building.”

Charley broke into a grin. “I can’t say that that hadn’t crossed my mind.”

“Also, the yacht is owned by a Delaware corporation. We can sell that to ourselves, and Mike and I will loan you the money to buy your third. It shouldn’t take you long to reap enough from the IPOs to repay it.”

“Also,” Mike said, “there are two airplanes and a helicopter owned by St. Clair. Strategic Services will buy one, and we can sell the helicopter, since none of us has much use for it. We can keep the other airplane as a Triangle company aircraft.”

“What are the two airplanes?” Stone asked.

“One is a Gulfstream 450, which we will buy, if you agree. The other is a very new airplane from Cessna, a Citation Latitude, which has a big cabin and a range of twenty-seven hundred miles. It can live in our hangar complex at Teterboro.”

“Suddenly, it seems,” Charley said, “that all my personal needs have been taken care of.” The three of them shook hands and parted company for the evening.

Stone headed home to call Peter, and then to have dinner and meet the personal needs of Marisa Carlsson.

Erik Macher was sitting at his desk the following morning when the board of directors of St. Clair Enterprises arrived, in the company of someone he didn’t know, who was introduced as St. Clair’s new corporate counsel. They all seated themselves at Macher’s conference table.

“Good morning, gentlemen,” Macher said. “To what do I owe the pleasure?”

“Believe me, Mr. Macher,” Elihu Barnes said, “the pleasure is all ours. By a unanimous vote of the board, you are discharged from your position as CEO of St. Clair Enterprises, with immediate effect.”

“Gentlemen,” Macher replied, unperturbed, “I refer you to the will of Christian St. Clair, which denies you the authority for such an act.”

“The will has been found to be fraudulent,” Barnes said, with obvious satisfaction, “which is why Thomas Berenson is no longer our corporate counsel. Therefore, none of its provisions apply to our action. The matter rests with the district attorney, and I expect you will be hearing from him shortly. We welcome a civil action on your part, should you be unwise enough to bring it.”

“This is outrageous!” Macher spat.

“No, the will was outrageous,” Barnes replied. “Outside this room are two security guards who will escort you to the apartment upstairs and oversee the packing of such of your belongings there. There is a moving company present with a van to haul them away. You have one hour to clear the premises or be forcibly removed.”

Macher’s jaw dropped.

“Oh, also, you may inform Jake Herman and your secretary that they have been discharged as well. Herman will depart the premises immediately, and your secretary may have an hour to pack her things and have them removed. The van, upon departing, will deliver both your belongings to any address in Manhattan.”

“I can’t believe this,” Macher said.

“Good day and goodbye, Mr. Macher,” Barnes said. “Now get out, or we’ll have you thrown out.”

Macher stood up, went to his desk, and put a few things into his briefcase. He rang for his secretary, and she entered. He walked her into the vestibule outside. “You and I have been fired out of hand,” he said to her. “Go and pack your things, and they will be moved for you. We have an hour. Oh, and go see Jake Herman and tell him he has been fired, too, and to clear his office.”

She went pale. “Yes, sir,” she said.

Two burly, uniformed security guards stepped forward and marched Macher upstairs to the apartment, followed by a team of moving men.

A volcanic anger began to build in Macher’s breast.

Erik Macher and Jake Herman sat in Macher’s new suite, a small one, at the Lombardy Hotel, surrounded by boxes. Macher’s secretary had been dropped with her boxes at her sister’s apartment building a few blocks away.

Macher poured Herman another drink. “You understand, Jake, you’re still employed by my security company, which I owned before I met Christian St. Clair. The money isn’t quite as good, but it will keep us afloat until we can feather our nests once again.”

“And how are we going to do that?” Jake asked.

“Opportunities will present themselves, and we will capitalize on them.”

“What kind of opportunities?”

“That remains to be seen, but believe me, they will materialize. Christian St. Clair was such an opportunity. There will be others.”

“Okay, whatever you say.”

“But before we make the move back to D.C. we have business to take care of here, with regard to Barrington and Fox.”

“Uh-oh.”

“Don’t worry, there’ll be the two of us working on it. You won’t bear the entire responsibility. I would, however, be grateful for suggestions.”

“A bullet to the brain has always worked for me,” Jake said.

“Not in this case. There are three people to deal with.”

“ Three? Whatever happened to just the two?”

“Elihu Barnes will join Charles Fox and Stone Barrington on our list.”

“Who the fuck is Elihu Barnes?”

“He’s the chairman of the St. Clair board, the imperious prick who fired us.”

“Oh. Well, in the circumstances I can hardly blame him,” Jake said.

“ I can blame him,” Macher replied.

“Okay, then you kill him. I’ll help with the other two.”

“What I’d like your help on is to think of a way to get them in the same room. I’m well trained and experienced with explosives.”

“Well, they must have further business together. Where would that take place?”

“I would think in the St. Clair mansion,” Macher said.

“Why there?”

“Because I suspect that Barnes and the board are going to offer Charles Fox my job, and probably today.”

“Why Charley?”

“Because St. Clair hired him, and I expect with the promise of one day replacing Christian in the CEO’s job. Barnes and Company would know that. They’d naturally turn to him, and Fox would take it in the blink of an eye.”

“Well, if you can make a bomb, I guess I can get it into the library, where the board meets.”

“You know that girl in accounting, the one you’ve been diddling since you came to New York?”

“Velma Ottley?”

“That’s the one.”

“She’s not going to plant any bomb,” Jake said.

“No, but she hears things around the office. She’ll know what’s going on.”

“I guess.”

“I think you should ask her to dinner tonight and prepare the ground for the sowing of seeds, so to speak.”