The next week flew by quickly. Mary helped screen job applicants and set up interviews for the following week. Business was booming and Bradford needed good people quickly.
Dave was busy with three mortgage deals that required his direct attention plus Joe’s Daytona Beach hotel refinance. Mario’s offer was weighing heavily on his mind. It sounded like the opportunity of a lifetime, but he couldn’t do it alone. He needed to hire good people. Eric Jenkins was already carrying a full workload and required only minimal supervision. He needed help.
Sally was swamped on the leasing side of the business. Fortunately, Joan was working out well. She was inexperienced, but eager. Grace was doing most of the paperwork and billing.
Dave and Ken worked closely throughout the week, refining the presentation to the lender. His assistance was essential to understanding the financial statements. The “value” of the hotels is determined primarily from historical earnings and “value” determined the amount of money you could borrow.
Ken pointed out that Joe didn’t really need an 80% loan. “Dave, if we convince the lenders that the hotels have enough value, then a 75% loan will get Joe the $5M he wants. It’s our job to portray the historical numbers in the most favorable light.”
Dave learned that there were several generally accepted accounting practices that are subject to interpretation. By minimizing reserves and other accrued expenses, and reclassifying certain attorney fees and insurance payments as one-time expenses, the historical results improved and projected profits looked even better.
By Wednesday, they had a lender interested and over-nighted him a complete package, including tax returns and personal financial statements on Joe and his partner.
Dave’s respect for Ken grew as the week progressed. There is no question that Ken was a big fish in a small pond. Although he had a great title, Chief Financial Officer, the company was small and controlled by Joe and his partner. Ken was betting that the company would grow rapidly and his talents could be more effectively utilized. This might happen, but probably not in the next few years.
An idea started to form in Dave’s mind.
The thirteenth, a short, 350 yard Par 4, was designed for gamblers. The safe play is to lay up in front of a large cross bunker about 230 yards out, leaving you a short iron into a sloping green. Dave’s 3-wood almost carried too far, stopping less than five yards from the bunker. He was in good position.
Buzz was on his fourth or fifth beer and probably didn’t even see the bunker or the water on the right. He pulled driver and let it rip ala John Daly.
Ken called Thursday while Dave was out of the office and Mary took the call. She stopped him when he got back. “Did you know that Ken spent two years in Paris at culinary school?”
“Is that cooking?”
“Don’t be cute, you know it is. We spent 45 minutes talking about recipes. He can tell you things about sauces, herbs and spices from memory that I would need a cookbook to remember. He sounds so interesting. I’d like to meet him.”
“Maybe you will, Mary. I was thinking of inviting him up next Friday to play golf in the Friday game at the club. We could invite him Thursday and he could help you cook dinner.”
“Let’s do it, it sounds like fun. Ask him to tell me what I will need to buy, so I can be ready.”
Ken was delighted and offered to come up a couple hours early go shopping with us to buy the food. “Part of the fun of cooking, Dave, is choosing the vegetables, cuts of meat and so on.” Dave took his word for it.
Ken was waiting on our doorstep when Mary and I got home Thursday. We had a beer, while he and Mary developed a shopping list.
“Is there a food market or specialty store nearby where we can get fresh food and good cuts of meat? Some of the stuff we need is not available in your typical grocery store.” Mary knew just the place.
“Okay, let’s go,” Mary declared. “Are you coming, Dave?” It was obvious that I was superfluous, but I decided to go along anyway. Maybe I could learn something.
As we sauntered up and down the aisles of the upscale Fresh Market, it was obvious that Ken knew what he was talking about. Dave had no clue, but Mary was having fun with it. Selecting asparagus spears was an art; apparently the thin stalks are tender and less grainy than the fat ones. It reminded Dave about the time his mother sent him to the store for lettuce and he came back with cabbage. How’s a boy to know?
When the trio got to the butcher section, Dave figured he would be more help. Wrong! You just didn’t buy lamb chops, you had to select lamb chops from a specific portion of the animal that only Ken and the butcher seemed aware of. Dave was finally able to make a contribution. The final bill including the wine was in excess of $100 and was charged to his credit card. Yea, Dave!
Ken took charge of making the dinner while Mary watched and assisted. Dave switched from beer to wine and stayed out of the way. He was secretly pleased that Ken and Mary got along so well. It made his decision easier.
The dinner was superb. It was a gourmet presentation and both Mary and Dave were impressed. The kids, who were usually picky eaters, thoroughly enjoyed the dinner and Ken’s stories about his time in France as a chef.
“Did you know I lived on a boat for two years, Peter?”
“No way! Tell us the story, Ken. Please.”
“Okay, but this is a true story, and sometimes true stories don’t have happy endings. Five years ago I bought a 40-foot sailboat with a kitchen and two bedrooms below the deck. My girlfriend and I decided to take six months off our jobs and go sailing in the Caribbean Islands.”
“Did you see any pirates?”
“No, Peter, but we drank a lot of their rum.” Sometimes Ken’s humor is lost on a 10-year old.”
“What happened then?” Dave asked. He, too, was enjoying the story.
After a few months we ended up in St Lucia and found a small fishing village that allowed us to dock our boat for as long as we wanted. For the next 18-months we basically lived on the boat. We fished, snorkeled, lay on the beach, drank rum and enjoyed the sunsets. It was the best two years of my life. Dave, you and Mary need to try it someday.”
“That’s the second time someone has suggested that I chuck everything and go live on a boat. Mario said the same thing. Mary, are you ready to go?”
“Maybe when the kids are gone; not yet. Didn’t it get boring, Ken? What did you do for money?”
“I never got bored; not one day. I had a computer in the second bedroom and managed my stocks and investments just like I was in the States. Millie and I worked when we wanted to. She opened a small shop catering to cruise ships featuring authentic native jewelry, shipped directly from Korea. We actually made a few thousand dollars a month during the tourist season.”
“What happened? What brought you back?” Lisa asked.
“I would like to say it was the pirates, but the truth is that it wasn’t that exciting, although we were lucky to have survived.”
“Do you kids know what a tropical hurricane can do to a small boat? In one night, we lost everything.”
“Insurance?” Dave asked.
“Nope.”
It was 10:00 before we knew it. “All right, kids, bedtime. You have school and daddy and Ken have a golf game early tomorrow.”
“Goodnight, Ken,” the kids said in unison as they kissed their parents and scurried off to bed. Mary was convinced that Peter would dream of pirates.
The men had an 8:30 AM tee time so we said goodnight and set the alarms for 7:30. Buzz and Bill were the other two players in our foursome. As Mary and Dave got ready for bed, Mary had the final word. ”If you don’t hire him, Dave, I will. Isn’t he an interesting person?”
Buzz and Ken were both 3-4 handicaps, while Dave and Bill both carried a 12 handicap. The men agreed to a small Nassau wager; Dave and Ken against Buzz and Bill; $10 per person, per side, with another $l0.00 overall. They also threw $20 into the “big game” where captains picked 4-man teams based upon handicaps.
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Dave and Ken lost the front nine by two strokes, but won the back nine by four, and came out $10 ahead. Since the winners were responsible for buying drinks, it didn’t really make a whole lot of difference. The foursome played the back tees and Ken shot a 72 and Buzz 74. Bill and Dave shot 83 and 80 respectively. Dave felt pretty good about his game. Ken’s suggestions and mini-lessons were beginning to help.
The foursome had lunch and waited for the rest of the “Big Game” players to finish. Bill’s team won the front side and tied for overall. He won $74.00. Buzz and Dave each won $25.00 when their birdies held up for a skin. Ken was the B player on his team and his 72 put his team in good position until the captain turned in an 81, and his C & D players didn’t break 90. His bad luck.
Dave gave Ken some good news. “I do have something that should cheer you up. I didn’t get a chance to tell you yesterday, but it looks like Joe’s loan is approved. Joe will walk away with close to $6M.
“That’s fabulous, Dave. Have you told, Joe?”
“Nope, I thought you would want to. All I want in return is for you to pop for the next round of drinks,” which he did.
Buzz had driven this bunker many times, catching the down slope and reaching the green. Dave had heard him tell the story several times about tapping in from 2 feet for eagle. He forgets the times his drive plugged in the bunker or the hazard on the right. Dave put his odds at 50-50 to pull this off.
Today, Buzz’ drive easily cleared the bunker and stopped 20 yards short of the green. Some people can drink and still play golf. Dave couldn’t, but the beers didn’t seem to be bothering Buzz.
After Dave hit a 7-iron to 30 feet, Buzz sculled his chip and it rolled all the way to the back of the green. Maybe the beers were affecting him.
Both players 2-putted to halve the hole. Dave was still 1-down and happy to have dodged a bullet. Buzz should have birdied.
Dave and Ken wanted to stay at the club and celebrate, but Ken had to get back to Daytona Beach. The friends headed home about 2:00, grabbed a couple soft drinks and sat out by the pool.
“Ken, let’s get serious for a minute. I have a job opportunity that is right up your alley. I have hesitated to talk with you about it because Joe is a client. So I guess it’s a two-part question. If you are interested in the opportunity, how do you think Joe would feel about you leaving the firm and coming to work with me?”
“Let’s hear it, Dave. Joe won’t care. He doesn’t realize what I do for him now, and probably thinks he’d be better off without me. He won’t be a problem. What do you have in mind?”
Dave outlined Mario’s proposal and the projects. Ken had a few questions, which Dave tried to answer. “Yes, we will have legally binding contracts with Mario; no, I really don’t know enough about Mario; yes, we are out of luck if we can’t come up with a lender although there is plenty of other work for you even if this deal should fall through.”
Ken was interested, and ready to say yes before we even talked salary. “I’m prepared to pay $5,000 per month, plus a share of profits from the jobs you work on. Given the size of Mario’s deals, I would expect you should make a lot of money if this works.”
“Let’s do it, Dave. I’ll talk with Joe on Monday, or possibly tomorrow if he is in the office. I’ll let you know his reaction. I don’t imagine he will require more than two weeks notice, possibly only a week. We can let him decide what is fair.”
It was 3 o’clock and Ken was eager to get going and beat the Orlando rush hour. He wasn’t going to make it.
It had been a pretty good week. All that was left was to call Mario and tell him the good news. “Mario, Dave Bradford. How are you? I have some good news. I would like to take you up on your offer, with one small change. Everything we discussed looks pretty good, except we need to make the $10,000 per month salary, not draw. I’ve just hired a strong person to work full time on your project. We can start in two weeks.”
“Agreed, Dave. Draw up the agreement and we’ll get together as soon as your people are on board. In the meantime, I’ll ask Pedro to email you more information on the Mexico resort and casino. Have a great weekend.”
“You too, Mario.”
Dave smiled as he hung up the phone, but should have remembered the saying that things that seem too good to be true usually are.
”The FBI report just came back. It looks like this Bradford is pretty clean except for a possible gambling problem. He left Arthur Andersen seven years ago and started his own equipment leasing brokerage company. Recently he got into commercial mortgages and helped Fred Shelton get financing for a couple restaurants. That’s probably how he met Mario. Our man says that Mario wants Bradford to get him a lot of financing for some resorts and casinos. Our source says they are talking billions of dollars.”
“This sounds interesting. Keep a close tab on this guy. Bradford might be the weak link in Mario’s organization.”
“Understood, but I’m still not sure how much this guy knows. He might just be naïve.”
Chapter 14
Par 4 – 465 Yards
Chris