Chapter 14B

The ride back to town was uneventful if you take into account that Asa thought that the seventy-mile-an-hour speed limit was obviously just a suggestion. We arrived at Beth's apartment twenty-three minutes after departure and it's the first time I've ever felt carsick in my life.

Yuki and Asa quickly confirmed that Beth's apartment was safe and free of traps --we were still being cautious after all-- and then began to check over her car. Josh went in and quickly showered and changed into a nice silk Armani suit. When he emerged I raised an eyebrow at him; he didn't usually go for the flashy expensive stuff. Stylish yes, but not flashy.

"It's all I had here. I left it here after the last fund-raiser we attended." He sighed, "Besides it won't hurt that I'm dressed very expensively when we meet with Mr. Davis at two. It will have him thinking that it will cost a lot more to fight us than to settle if he's a prick like Barsdale."

I could see the wisdom of this even if I didn't like to play that kind of game myself. I made a suggestion, "Why don't we head over to Body Dreams? We can have our meeting with Betty and George and then eat at the Toulon before we have to meet Davis. The bank is right around the corner and we can walk it in no time."

With nods all around, we all laughed as Bill took the keys to the Lexus from Asa. Beth and I rode in the back seat of her Lexus with Josh riding shotgun as Bill drove. Paulee, Rudy, Yuki, and Asa followed closely in the Jeep. We pulled up and at a signal from the Jeep we stopped in front of the entrance to the mall. Bill stayed in the Lexus and Paulee came up and took Yuki's keys. "Bill and I will watch the cars. You guys go take care of your business and we will be waiting here to go to lunch when you're done." We turned and headed into the mall.

Bobby saw us approaching and waved us on into the office saying, "Betty, George, and a legal assistant are waiting for you. Good Luck!"

Asa held the door and let Yuki, Rudy, Josh, Beth, and me enter the office. Asa posted herself at the door and the rest of us moved to the conference table set near the windowed side of the office. Betty was sitting at one end of the table with George to her right. Joyce sat to their left. They all stood and faced us.

I said, "Betty and George Wilcox, I'd like you to meet Rudy Dantzinger, my head of security; Yuki and Asa Atsuhata, two of my guards, and Beth's brother, Josh. He will be representing us when we go after the bank if you become my partners."

Betty spoke up, "We've looked over the documents that your assistant dropped off, Mr. Taylor. I see no problem in signing them and making this a done deal." Having said that she and George took turns signing the documents and having Rudy and Yuki act as witnesses. Joyce notarized the documents and I wrote out a check for the total amount of the outstanding loans. The payee was left blank as I had no idea how Mr. Davis would want it filled out. I took a moment and filled out another check but held on to it.

I handed Joyce the blank check and she put it into the folder with the witness statements and partnership agreement paperwork. I then leaned over and hugged her. "It's good to see you again, Joyce. You're looking well. I hear you've moved to town?"

When I first brushed her cheek with mine she gave a small start and darted a worried look at Beth. Beth just smiled at her and Joyce relaxed taking it for no more than the greeting it had been intended to be.

She nodded and said, "Yes. I've rented a small place not far from Beth's complex, actually. I have some savings but I need to find a new position quickly." She handed Beth a slip of paper with her new address and phone numbers on it. "I was planning to start later today but this came up so I'll start looking tomorrow."

I nodded. "I want to thank you for helping us with this. Please let me know what your time was and I'll see to it you are reimbursed for it." The look on her face said she was going to protest. I forestalled her argument. "I insist. You are doing me a great service and I would be paying anyone else to do this. You deserve to be compensated for your time and efforts on my behalf."

I leaned over and whispered in Beth's ear for a moment; she grinned at me and nodded. I looked back at Joyce and said, "Beth and I are going to take a short vacation after we finish our business today. We'd like it if you would accept this as a housewarming gift from us." I held out the second check. "We know that things are a bit hectic at the moment but when we get back we'd like you to help us plan our wedding."

She gaped at us for a minute and then said, "Wedding? Is this a joke?"

Beth wiggled her new ring at Joyce and said, "No joke. He asked me and I said yes. We are going to take a brief vacation and then we are going to plan our wedding. I'd like you to be one of my bridesmaids."

Joyce looked rather stunned. Josh took the check from me and quietly slipped it into Joyce's purse while she was staring at Beth. I looked at my watch, stood and said, "Let's go get some lunch at the Café and then we shall go forth and slay the dragon in his den!"

Every eye was on me until they all broke out laughing. The tension was broken and we picked up our things and headed for the door.

We sat at the table on the patio at the Café and waited for our server to make an appearance. Gayle came out and stopped dead in her tracks at the sight of Josh at her table again, a worried look on her face. Beth and Joyce were having a whispered conversation about the wedding and were oblivious to the anxious young woman. After a moment she composed herself and took our orders for food and drink.

As Joyce went to place our orders I took the time to talk to Betty and George. "When we speak to Mr. Davis the first thing he will do is attempt to bluster his way through and discount any claim we make. We, however, have a serious club with which to bludgeon him. The primary accounts for my trust are with this bank and if we don't get a satisfactory hearing they will be losing my business in a very public way."

George looked puzzled, "Why would he care about losing your business? One account isn't that big a deal."

Josh said, "It is when you are talking about an account in excess of one hundred million dollars by itself. Then they also have to wonder who else will leave them because they want to do business with Alex. Alex is a world-renowned architect and his company gives that bank preferred lender status on their projects. If they lose that, you are talking about a significant portion of their bankable business being sacrificed for one crooked banker's defense."

At that moment Gayle retuned with our drinks, "Can I get you anything else while you wait?" Her voice was clear and lovely. Josh looked at her and I exchanged a look with Beth. She smiled at me but remained silent. We all said "No, thank you." So she left to seat another customer who had just come in.

Josh took a drink of his juice and continued, "We won't want to bring these guns to bear on them if we don't have to but we wanted to be prepared in case Mr. Davis is not cooperative, so I felt you should know. Also try not to act surprised at anything you hear in his office. I may or may not have to elaborate on the fly and if he sees you're surprised, it makes my job harder. Remember, I am now your advocate, not just Alex's."

Betty took George's hand and said, "We know and thank you. Without Beth and Alex's help we could never have afforded you."

Josh gave an indulgent smile and said, "You didn't look over my contract very well before you signed it, did you?"

George got a scared look on his face but it fled when Josh went on, "I'm doing this pro bono. I won't see a dime from this work today. Maybe I should have mentioned that Mr. Davis is the senior legal counsel for the Board of Directors and Mr. Barsdale's boss will likely be called into the meeting as well. I think we will walk out of there with at least a tentative agreement for settlement and Barsdale's job on a platter."

Betty and George just gawped at him. Beth said, "I told you he was a great lawyer."

Joyce said, "All it took to get the appointment was to tell them that Josh wanted to talk to someone in their legal department about a litigation matter and he was scheduled with the senior man." Beth, Rudy, and the others chuckled.

Our food arrived and we ate. The table was abuzz with chit-chat as we got to know one another better. Gayle proved to be an attentive hostess and we left a tip commensurate with that fact. We gathered our things and prepared to leave. Josh went over to Gayle and spoke quietly with her for a few moments and she fairly glowed with pleasure at the fact.

We walked the two blocks to the bank and went to the twenty-second floor where the receptionist directed us to a small conference room. Brent Davis was sitting at the head of the conference table. He was a small, solidly built man in his early fifties. He wore a nicely tailored suit but Josh's Armani put it to shame.

He stood as we entered. As he looked at me, a questioning look crossed his features but was quickly suppressed. I wasn't sure what it meant but I was sure I was going to find out shortly. Rudy had seen it too and inclined his head at the man and raised an eyebrow at me. I shrugged and took a seat.

As we all settled in Mr. Davis spoke. "What seems to be the problem? When you called you mentioned litigation, but I can find no record of any such involving you, Mr. Taylor."

Josh spoke up and said, "First let me introduce my clients: This is Betty Wilcox and her brother, George." He pointed the brother and sister out. "And this is their partner, Mr. Alex Palmer, and his fiancée, my sister, Beth. The others are his security detail from Dantzinger Security Services, and my executive assistant Joyce Franklin. We are here in an attempt to avoid litigation. Betty and George are currently borrowers on a loan being administered by one Harold Barsdale."

Mr. Davis held up his hand and hit a button on the intercom. "Lydia, could you get me the files pertaining to Betty and George Wilcox and tell Mark Lester I need him here right now. If he is in a meeting, tell him I said unless God himself is attending, to get here pronto. Be sure that Harold Barsdale is left out of the information chain as well."

A crisp, "Yes Mr. Davis." was her reply.

"If you don't mind waiting I want Mr. Lester to hear this." Davis spoke with authority.

Josh nodded and relaxed back into his chair. The receptionist came in and handed Davis a thick folder. As she was leaving, another man entered the room, his navy suit showing that he was fighting the onset of middle age and starting to lose.

"Let me introduce Mark Lester. Now what seems to be the problem, Mr. Taylor?" Davis was back to business which I appreciated.

"First, let me say that my clients would like this matter taken care of quickly. They are hard working people and run a very nice fitness center." He handed them copies of their annual reports and loan payment records. "As you can see from these records, my clients have never missed a payment or been late with one.

"As to their business practices my clients utilize the most stringent background checks and interview procedures in selecting their employees. They hire only the most qualified people for the positions. However, Mr. Barsdale has informed them that their criterion for employment was insufficient in that it did not take sexual orientation into consideration. He has given them until his meeting with them at three today to fire eleven staff members who are openly either gay or lesbian. If they refuse he has assured them that the bank's records will show non-payment and the bank will foreclose on their business."

Both Davis and Lester frowned and Davis said, "I hope you can back up this claim. These are serious accusations." Lester put a hand on his arm and shook his head. Josh just smiled. Joyce began passing copies of the witness accounts to the bankers.

"Not only can we back it up, we have more than twenty witnesses who have agreed to testify in open court as to the nature of the blackmail. He made his threats at Body Dreams in front of an aerobics class as they were leaving after their workouts. Many of the involved employees were also in the vicinity when he made his demands." Josh spoke calmly and concisely.

I spoke up. "I wasn't present when the threats were made, but I am a member in good standing. When I discovered what your bank was doing I was outraged and have agreed to buy out the loans being held by this institution." Joyce handed Lester the check. "This should cover all outstanding loans to our company. You'll note the check is drawn on an account with this bank."

Josh continued, "We would like to hear what you plan to do to redress this matter. It will determine our course of action."

Davis was looking through the file but Lester hadn't even opened the folder. "Would you excuse us one moment?" Lester pulled Davis from the room.

I looked at Josh. "What do you think that is all about?"

Josh smiled, "I think Lester is telling him that he has just been given the evidence he needs to do something about Barsdale and that he knew something like this was going on but lacked proof to act. In any event we should be ready to bring out the big guns." I nodded as the two men re-entered the conference room.

"Mr. Lester here informs me that he has had similar complaints from a couple of other clients. I assure you this is not the way this institution conducts business. You came in here with an attorney. Obviously you have an agenda. What is it you want from us, Mr. and Ms. Wilcox?"

Betty cleared her throat, anger choking her voice and said, "I want to feel that I am safe doing business with you. My brother and I built our business out of nothing. We researched many banks and decided on yours because of your reputation. Yet here we are. In order to save our employees their jobs we've taken on a partner. We had to hide behind the shield he provided us. We thank him for his generosity but George and I still have little or no faith that you will do anything. We have tried for weeks to get an appointment with any of you or one of your staff and we never even received so much as a returned phone call." Tears of frustration were evident in her eyes.

George took over. "Alex has given us the freedom you promised us when we did business with you. We wanted a nice place and now that we have it you have threatened to take it from us unless we commit civil rights violations on eleven of our friends. I am now more than ready to go to court over this at this point."

I looked at my watch and said, "We must be going, we have to be in Barsdale's office in ten minutes. If I were you, gentlemen, I would be considering what terms of settlement you want to offer Betty and George. I will be paying their legal fees as their new partner and Josh will be handling that side of things." I stood to leave and the others followed suit. Davis left the room in a hurry.

Lester handed Joyce a receipt for the check we had given him and the loan file stamped 'paid in full' across the front with his signature underneath the stamp. He said "After you speak to Barsdale please come back to this office. Brent is going to apprise several people and get parameters for a settlement offer. Please give us a chance."

At Betty's nod we turned and left.

I was surprised when Mark Lester followed us out. He took in my expression, "I want to hear what he has to say. I'll be in the office next door. It's empty because you can hear everything that goes on in his office and the clients need confidentiality."

We walked over to the elevator and took it down the third floor. We were all quietly contemplating our own thoughts when Beth, who was standing in front of me, reached back and rubbed my fly. I was shocked at her brazenness but also pleased. "If you get to play with you favorite toys, darling, so do I." With that I reached around her and began to gently rub her nipples. Beth moaned softly.

Josh heard her and said, "EEEEWWW! Guys, get a room!"

We all erupted in laughter as the elevator doors opened. The poor man standing there waiting for the elevator must have thought we were all nuts judging by his expression. We exited the elevator and followed Betty and George to the weasel's office. The weasel was sitting behind his desk and at first his face showed an enormous amount of arrogance. Then he saw Josh and I enter the room and he tried to cover it up. He failed miserably.