Out of Bounds
”Are you with us or against us Dave?” Mario asked. “You can’t have it both ways. Either you are on our side or you’re not.”
“Mario, let’s go into the meeting with an open mind. We need to come to some sort of agreement or everyone will lose.”
“That’s easy for you to say. I’m the one that stands to lose the $40M deposit,” Mario pointed out.
“Mario, the casino and the other three properties are legally registered to Global Management, so any buyout offer will need my approval. I can get funding elsewhere, but I’m sure Sven’s attorneys will claim we breached their contract. They could probably shut down the casino and keep the Miami and Vegas projects from opening until the matter is resolved. That could be a couple years. And besides, Romano would still be out his $40M.”
Mario didn’t correct Dave’s statement that it was Romano’s $40M. “I just don’t know why they are playing hardball. Ken told Alberto and Pedro at dinner that everything was set. Chris was there. Why the change of heart?”
“Let’s find out. Here they come now.”
Everyone settled down around the conference table. Pedro and Alberto flanked Mario. The Zurich group included Sven, Dag and their lead auditor, Susan Malcolm. Chris and Dave made eight.
“Dave, before we start, let me say how sorry we are about Ken. I’m sure I speak for all of us at the table, including Mario’s team. We will miss him.”
“Thanks, Sven. Ken’s death was indeed unfortunate, especially when he had apparently reached an agreement with your group regarding funding the remaining projects. Is this true?”
“Yes and no, Dave. Ken had made a proposal to us. I initially accepted, but unfortunately, that decision was over-ridden by a vote of our Board of Directors. They refused to pay the $10M additional finder’s fee that Ken demanded from us.”
“What?” Dave said in disbelief; “What are you talking about Sven?”
“Ken was demanding $10M be paid to his account in return for convincing you and Mario to continue with the agreement. He threatened to obtain the money from other lenders and fight us in court. I agreed to his terms initially, but was out voted. The Board instructed me to make the offer we made to Mario yesterday.”
Chris put her hand on Dave’s to calm him down and turned to Sven. “Let me assure you Mr. Johansson, Dave and I know nothing about this $10M request. Ken’s statement that we do have other sources for the remaining funds is true, but I can assure this was never more than a backup plan in case you decided not to exercise your options.”
“Is that true, Dave?” asked Sven.
“Absolutely! Our goal has always been to make this partnership work. Are you sure you understood Ken correctly? I can’t believe he would have done this on his own.”
“There was no mistake, Dave, and unfortunately, there is no turning back now, particularly after reviewing the findings from the audit. Our Board has voted. We want to buy Mario out. I have been instructed to cease all future funding and cut our losses.”
Mario couldn’t keep silent any longer; he was livid. “Let me point out Sven, that the buyout option in the contract is mutual. If necessary, I’ll buy you out.”
“Go ahead,” Sven answered. “Can you really raise that much money or was Ken bluffing? Either way, it won’t happen soon enough to exercise your options on the Phase II projects. You would still forfeit the $40M deposit.”
Bradford interrupted; “my company, Global Management, is the legal owner of these projects, and to my knowledge we are not mentioned in Susan’s audit findings. I, for one, will do whatever it takes to keep the casino and the three Phase II projects going. There has been a lot of hard work by everybody over the last two years. Let’s find a way to make everybody happy.”
“Besides,” Dave added, “$100M is not a fair price; it’s much too low.”
“What price do you suggest? “ Sven asked..
“Chris has an idea, and I think it’s a good one. Chris and I will obtain a business valuation to determine a fair buyout price. Let’s meet in Tampa next week, after Ken’s funeral. The funeral will probably be Thursday if we can get the body released in time. I assume you would both be attending.”
Both Mario and Sven nodded in agreement.
“This will also give us a few days to cool off and make sure that we can’t find a way to coexist. If not, we will need to agree on a procedure to determine who will get control of the company.”
“That sounds good to me,” said Mario, “a few days more won’t hurt although we need to exercise our options on the other projects by a week from Monday. The seller says he has other offers.”
“Okay,” said Sven. “Keep Dag in the loop.”
Bradford had bought a few days, but had no idea how they were going to resolve the impasse.
Dave and Chris upgraded to first class for the flight back to Tampa that evening. It was a red eye through Dallas that wouldn’t arrive until 5 AM. They were too tired to talk business and hoped to get some sleep. They both slept solidly for almost three hours.
As the Southwest flight approached Tampa, Bradford asked Chris if she wanted a drink before landing. “I could do with a glass of merlot.”
“No thanks, but there is something I need to show you.” She placed her leather wallet on Dave’s tray table and flipped it open. Inside was a badge and identification card that read:
Chris Lewis
Special Agent
U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency
Bradford’s mouth fell open. He couldn’t speak.
“I’m sorry to surprise you like this, Dave, but my boss would like to meet with us at 3:00 PM tomorrow. I’ll explain then. Here is the address and phone number. In the meantime, please keep this to yourself. You can tell Mary after the meeting.”
Wow, how many surprises can there be in one weekend? Bradford thought.
Bradford fell asleep as soon as he found his bed. Mary woke up and let him snuggle into her arms, where he felt safe.
Monday
Letter from the Dead