Chapter 49

Tuesday morning should be easy, I thought. I knew that Kelly would be on her way to the airport and would be in Phoenix early to work at the office. I’d have to look to see what objectives I had given the Manager there, but I’m sure that Kelly had the reports and my previous suggestions.

Donte and I wanted to be at the office by seven fifteen after a quick workout and breakfast at the kitchen counter. Joan was pulling in when I was parking. We were first in and began preparing the office for us to begin business. I made coffee downstairs and was in my office when Ken came rolling in. The man looked a little frazzled. Alec was right behind him, and had a worried look on her face.

Ken said, “I got a call at home this morning that’s going to be tough to work with. The County posted a schedule for bid proposal presentations, and we’re scheduled first. I called my contact about this, and he said that we were the only bidder that requested an opportunity to make a formal presentation. I guess that’s good, but the bad part is that it has to be at ten AM tomorrow. I have the video presentation ready. I’ll show it to you upstairs in the conference room. We’ll make a plan and practice the actual presentation. When can we work on this together?”

I looked up at him, and said, “In fifteen minutes. Let me make sure that the San Antonio people are settled in for their second day and I’ll be up. I need to let the home office know too.”

I called Dan and was intercepted by Dot. She said, “Your big boss is already on the road this morning. He lit out of here like a rocket. I don’t think the others could leave on such a short notice. He’s on his way to see you. What’s going on?”

“He’s coming out to help with the presentation for this big condo bid I’m making. Do you know if he’s bringing Mika?”

Dorothy said, “I have no idea. I could call her, but if she’s going she’ll be crazed trying to get packed.”

“She’s coming if she shows. Dan will be here by himself otherwise. I’ll talk to you later.”

The San Antonio people were all standing at the door. I told them all, “Go to your individual departments and learn the way we do everything. You have today and tomorrow to soak up and absorb a lot of details. There are written guides for most of what we do, and you’ll help revise them in the future. Today is going to be crazy for me, so don’t feel neglected as something has come up that will take a lot of my time.”

I actually took an elevator to the third floor conference room and walked in. Ken was sitting at the table using his height adjusting platform with his laptop ready. Two of his engineers were sitting at the table acting equally nervous with him.

Ken said, “Can you get Hideki and/or Jules to accompany you to this tomorrow? That would be really good to have him standing with you for your presentation.”

“Let me call right now and find out.”

I called Jules’ cell phone instead of the house phone because I needed her undivided attention. She said that she was working a couple of pretty big deals when she answered me. She asked if she could call me back. I asked her, “Can you go with me to the County offices for my bid presentation tomorrow morning? I’m going to call Hideki to ask him too. This was just sprung on me. Will you be done with your trades by then?”

“I’ll be done with the trades, and yes, I’ll go with you. Call Grandfather on his cell. You have it. I think Yuu is coming to town, so he might come as well. I have to finish this. I’ll call you.”

I called Hideki knowing that he wasn’t used to me calling. He answered with, “Good Morning, Brad. It’s nice of you to call me.”

I didn’t want to beat around the bush, so I told him straight out about the bid presentation and how it might look to have him there with me to give Mooney more credence that we were well-financed to handle this project as we were proposing it.

Hideki said, “You honor me by desiring my presence on such an important project. Yuu can be there with us If you would want. He has become an important person with many of the local business people. Our investments have become very popular to be a part of. I know your company isn’t interested in outside investors, but it might be possible to offer some investment opportunities to build one of the towers.”

“That’s a good idea, Sir. It could be something for many to consider. We could handle the project almost like an IPO and have hundreds of investors. It might be a way to create a new investment opportunity. I’ll work on some numbers for that. I think the idea will be easy to slip into the presentation so that it’s in the back of their minds when they consider everything.” I paused a second, and added, “Would it be best for you to contact Yuu, or should I call him?”

Hideki said, “Yuu would be honored if you were to call him directly. He has enjoyed your association a great deal, and is looking forward for you to join him on more business and recreational activities. He is very excited about the Hawaiian project. Call him now while the day is young.”

I called Jules’ uncle and hoped that I wasn’t interrupting something important. He answered his phone with, “Good morning, Brad. It’s so good to hear from you. How may we serve each other today?”

The explanation took a while, but the more I spoke, the more I felt that he was becoming excited. I asked if he could be present with me for our presentation as it would give us a more powerful appearance.

“The answer is yes. I will block tomorrow morning off for this activity. This is a massive project that Hideki spoke to me about. I’m interested in seeing and hearing your presentation. Maybe I could get a preview later today or this evening.”

I said to Yuu, “You should come for supper this evening and even stay with us if you want.”

Yuu said, “I have a U.S. mainland home on my father’s estate that serves the family well. Thank you for your invitation, and we will join you for supper. I’ll see you this evening.”

I called Georgia, “I need to work on this presentation, so I’ll be tied up for a while. Contact me in the conference room if it’s important.”

Ken said, “We have a long and a short presentation. I don’t have any information about the time we will be allowed, so we have both and should be prepared with either. Let me show you the long one first.”

The presentation was awesome. The different voices kept your attention to each of the details. The green parts kept being shown and lightly hit on at each stage. The constant emphasis was how this would enhance the entire area and bring excitement and neighborhood peace to the area. The closing of sixteen square blocks of subsidized housing had been a big deal, of course, and required some massive building of a group of housing projects that were spread throughout the County.

The short presentation was good, but you really wanted the Commissioners to see the long one. Ken handed me a script, and said, “You will introduce the presentation, watch it with the Commissioners, then pass out the details of our bid, followed by discussing the various details, and then answering questions. I will be there along with two of our architectural engineers. We should be able to answer all the questions they will have.”

I was looking at the script and the bid specifics, when Ken said, “I made a video to give these people an idea of who Mooney is. I think the idea that we are a national, privately-owned, company with sufficient capital to put a deal like this together will impress them. I want them to see how we’re building in the LA area and increasing our presence here. They will be able to see how we will push ahead to make this project a long term success.”

Ken added, “They will know you guys represent the power to get this done if you have Hideki and Yuu with you, plus Jules standing with them. I’m so excited that I need to run to the restroom. I want to practice this one more time, and then you can rest. We need to be outside the Council chambers by nine. I called our law firm to have them there, and I’d bet our legal guy, Forest Harding, will be here if you think Dan is coming. There will so much power in that room that it’s going to tilt.”

Ken came back from the restroom after I had chased some fresh coffee for everyone in the room. Georgia came to the door and said, “Dan called and said that he and Forest are on their way with their wives. They should be here in an hour or so. You need to return a call to a guy who says he has some inside information on the Council’s thoughts about the bids.”

Georgia held a piece of paper out to me that I took and looked at to see if I recognized it. I didn’t, so I used the conference room phone to make the call.

A man answered with, “What do you want?”

“This is Brad Johnson from Mooney. You called me about the County bid on land.”

“Yeah, I did. I have knowledge that you can probably get the whole deal except for one block on the northwest corner. One of the Council members wants to lease the ground to Walmart and a couple of other fast food places. You could probably buy him off if you were to act quickly. Your high class condos will look good backed up to a McDonalds, KFC, and Walmart.”

I recorded the call using the voicemail system to capture the conversation as soon as the guy got into his spiel. I asked, “What do you think it will cost to buy this guy off, and how do I get the money to him before the Council meeting tomorrow?”

“No sweat, Bud; it’s only going to run you a mil for the man, and a tenth more to me for making the deal.”

I told the voice, “I’m in if the man can guarantee that I’ll get the bid, but I want to hand the money to him personally. I’ll have it within an hour, so let’s see if we can put this together. I have too much riding on this deal to let a million get in the way.”

“I’ll have to call you back. The man may not want to meet.”

I told the man, “No meeting, no money. It won’t happen if I can’t look the guy in the eye to know that he’s real.”

The guy said, “I’ll tell him. Get the money ready.”

I called home to see if Jules might be done with her deal. She was so, I called her cell. She was excited, “We hit a home run this morning, Brad, Honey. I’m sorry that I couldn’t talk to you, but the deal was close to being final and I had to make the bid at the last second. You know, like eBay.”

“There’s a Councilman possibly trying to hold me up for some personal gain, Jules. I need you to get me a million in cash and another hundred grand also in cash. This is like ransom, but real money is going to be necessary to make sure this happens the way I want it to. Can you get the bank to get it for you and bring it to the office?”

“I’ll make sure Michi is with me, too. I’m not bringing Katie with me for something like this.”

“That’s good thinking. I need this right away in case this comes down fast. I pushed to make it happen in daylight and soon.”

Jules said, “I’ll get the cash and give you a call.”

I told the guys in the conference room, “My bosses are going to be here shortly. Take a break and give them the full presentation the way you did me when they show up. I’m going to play some games.”

Jules called within fifteen minutes to tell me she and Michi were on the way to the bank with my sports bag to get the cash. She said, “They’re sort of used to me because this is how I used to buy my cars. I’d get the cash and go dicker. Where do you want to meet?”

“I don’t know yet, but I should hear any minute. I’ll call as soon as I know.”

My desk phone rang as soon as I ended the cell call. Thinking that it could be the guy, I conferenced the call to voicemail, and answered. “This is Brad.”

The voice said, “Be at the construction gate of the bid property in one hour. Be alone.”

“Not happening. My bodyguard will be with me, as well as one of my business partners with her bodyguard. Safety in numbers you know.”

“Bodyguard? You have a bodyguard?”

“You bet, and he’s come in handy a few times. Now, is this a deal or not?”

I heard the man talking to someone, and he finally came back with, “No funny business or someone gets hurt. The man you’re dealing with is no amateur. Fifty minutes from right now.”

It was funny how he wanted to be so punctual at that site. Donte was listening and made a couple of quick calls. He was smiling when he hung up. He said, “Call Jules to tell her where. Dai has two former military people on their way there now to set up and watch for someone who might screw up the deal. Dai wants to know what you want to do.”

“I want those men with some strong lenses to record what happens. I’m going to wear this little video camera and mike so we have everything recorded. This is going to be another reason to give us our bid. I’d give a million to have this kind of guarantee.”

Donte said, “Let’s get an early start so that Jules and Michi aren’t there before us. I hope they use Vicki as chauffeur.”

I pulled up to the construction gate and parked off to the side. I could see a Mercedes parked down the street, with a big older white Ford parked behind it. The big white limousine pulled up and parked next to the BMW. We were all hovered around the back doors. I took the sports bag and set it on the limo’s hood to let those people know that I was ready for the trade. Donte slid down, made a cell call, and then looked in a direction and said loud enough for me to hear. “There’s a guy on the roof of that building two blocks down with a rifle. You have your armor on, but he could shoot you in the head. Dai’s man doesn’t know if he can make the hit from his location. Our other man is blocked. What do you want to do?”

“I’ll force the issue. It’s the appointed time, so I’ll take the bag to the gate and open it. I’ll take a bundle out and fan the bills. That will let whoever know that we’re ready to deal. I’ll walk to them and see what their problem is if they don’t move.”

I put the bag by the locked gate and then acted the clown by waving both arms and hands and pointing to the bag. Two men got out of the car and stood there. One of the men waved at me to come to them. I left the bag and walked toward them. One yelled, “No, bring the bag.”

I yelled back, “You come to me. You come and get the cash if you want it so that I’ll know who I’m giving this to. I have pictures of all the Council members. You don’t get the cash if you’re not on the Council.”

That pissed off the guy next to a fancy dressed man. That guy pulled a pistol and fired at me. I dove to the ground, pulled my Glock, and remarkably shot the guy in the head. I was holding my gun at the other man when a round hit the dirt in front of me. I ran toward the two cars with my gun pointing at the fancy man instead of letting the sniper find his range. Rounds were hitting the street all around me. I pulled the guy with the nice clothes in front of me when I reached him, and felt him almost simultaneously being hit by two rounds. He sagged, but I held him and pointed to the driver, “Get out of the car and stand in front of me or I’ll shoot you. There’s no one to pay you any more, so you’re dead any way you go.”

The man looked at me and the slumped man I was holding, and ran like crazy. I waved anyone that was going to shoot him off because he would be easy to identify. I moved to behind the big Mercedes and lay the man on the ground. Thank goodness the man had armor on and I couldn’t see any blood. He was coming around when police began streaming into the street. I told the man, “I don’t know anything about being hit in armor, but you might have some injuries and I suggest that you remain where you are. Let the emergency folks figure it out.”

Donte came running up to me and in half anger and half amusement, said; “You stupid man. You ran into fire instead of from it. Will we ever teach you how to stay alive?”

I wanted to secure this guy as he’s supposed to be one of the Councilmen. He doesn’t look like any of them, but he could be and has changed his appearance.

The paramedics were checking him out while I pulled a breast wallet and a butt wallet from him. The guy’s name wasn’t any of the people on the Council, but a detective who arrived said, “This is Pugget’s spokesman. He tries to pass himself off as the man all the time. The guy with the back of his head gone is muscle for Pugget who is thought to be responsible for some bad stuff. We’ll lean on this guy and maybe figure out how to get to Pugget anyway.”

I told the detective, “I have some conversations recorded that will give you an idea of what was going on. That sports bag in front of the construction gate has a million one hundred thousand in it. Take it if you need it for evidence, but we would like it back.”

The detective thought for a while, and said, “Let us count it to see if it equals what was agreed to in the conversations you recorded. That amount of cash needs to get back to the bank. I need to ask if that’s Kamatsu’s granddaughter?”

I nodded, and he asked, “What in the world is she doing involved in something like this?”

“She’s my wife and helped me get the cash together. She has armor on although it isn’t a guarantee that she’ll be okay.” I turned to Donte, “Did the two snipers totally get away, or do you have good pictures of them?”

Donte said, “We hit one of them and have paramedics getting to him. The other one is in the building and we should be able to pick him up when he comes out. We never had a shot at him.”

The detective said, “So you guys took it on yourselves to handle this on your own. You know Los Angeles would be happy to do this stuff for you.”

I explained, “This happened too fast to involve a bunch of people, and the Councilman who was supposed to be here would have called it all off if we called you. I think we’ll have him without having to worry about it this way.”

I jogged back to the BMW and limo to make sure Jules was okay. The woman carrying my first child was sitting in the seat smiling. She said, “I didn’t even get to shoot. How did you hit that guy rolling on the ground with bullets hitting all around you?”

I smiled at Jules, and said, “I have one hell of a wife to have you out wanting to get into a shoot ‘em up with our baby in your belly. I must be crazy to allow you to do this.”

Vicki was standing next to the car, and pointed to a sticker on the window that gave the name of an auto glass company and said the glass was completely bulletproof. Maybe we should keep this car.

Several policemen ran to their squad cars and roared off with their lights and sirens blaring. A detective came over and said they had the other sniper cornered and needed enough men to convince the guy to give it up. He also told us, “We have your statements, so you should be okay.” He pointed to me and said, “You might have to testify at a coroner’s inquest, but there are enough people to back your story up unless you decide to change it. Get out of here.”

I sent Jules and Michi to redeposit the money in the bank, with Vicki driving them. I was thinking that Jules would be more of an obstruction than Michi.