Chapter 3: Making Plans

September 7, 1994, Chicago, Illinois

“I didn’t think you wanted me to wake you at 2:12am,” Ed laughed.

“I wouldn’t have complained, but it wouldn’t have made much difference. How is she?”

“She’s doing fine. You have a nephew, David James Krajick. He’s 7 pounds, 14 ounces.”

“Thanks for letting me know. I’ll tell everyone here. Need me to make any other calls?”

“No. I called my parents and your dad already. He and your mom will probably come up in a month or so.”

“Remember, I’m leaving for London on Saturday evening.”

“Do you want to see your nephew before you go?”

“I’ll leave that up to Stephanie,” I said. “I can stop by on Saturday after karate if it’s OK with her. If not, I’ll see David when I get back.”

“One sec,” he said.

I heard a muffled conversation and he came back on the line.

“Come by Saturday before you leave for London.”

“I’ll see you guys then. Tell my sister I love her.”

“Will do.”

We hung up and I went back to the sunroom to tell Birgit that she had a new cousin. I’d barely sat down when I heard the phone in my study ring again. I disentangled myself from an annoyed daughter and went back to my study.

“Hello there, is that Steve Adams?” I heard in a distinctive English accent.

I chuckled, “From the accent I guess you’re Sweeney Todd.”

Jon laughed, “Well I’d prefer Jon, but yes, this is he.”

“I’m glad you rang,” I said.

“I see you’re up on proper use of English! You Yanks would say ‘called’, wouldn’t you?”

“Normally, but I can manage to make myself understood in the Queen’s if needs be!”

“Right! I just wanted to ring and make an initial contact, and thank you for agreeing to put me up for a while when I come over. I don’t want to be an imposition.”

“It’s no imposition at all; it will be our pleasure. Al speaks very highly of you.”

“Yes, well, Al Barton seems to think that something he calls the Cirque du Steve may well be a little overwhelming for a poor country boy from Northern England.”

“There have been one or two people who’ve felt that way, but if what I understand from Al about your own situation, it’s not all that different. Well, I’m making some assumptions; he didn’t give me too many details.”

“How about we compare notes when we meet? Talking of which I understand you’ll be in London next week.”

“Yes, I’m hopping across the pond for business - London, Amsterdam, and Munich.”

“Might you have an evening to spare?”

“Absolutely! I have any evening from Sunday through Thursday. What did you have in mind?”

“I thought we could maybe get together, grab a bite to eat, maybe a couple of drinks and you could fill me in on life in the USofA. How about Tuesday evening at 6:00pm?”

“I’d say that sounds like a nice way to spend a Tuesday evening in London without getting into too much trouble. I’ll be staying at the InterContinental Hotel on Stratton Street in Mayfair, do you know of a good place not too far?”

“I think I can suggest the ideal place, the Old Bank of England Pub on Fleet Street.”

“Sounds interesting; what makes it ‘ideal’?”

“I’d have to keep you in suspense about that, but I think you’ll like it.”

“If I recall my English geography, you live pretty far from London.”

“Yes, but I’ll be in London next week too, the International Symposium on Casualty Management.”

“I’m taking it that’s trauma, and it actually sounds interesting.”

“Indeed. And if you find it interesting, perhaps I can persuade you to go in my place. Believe me if I wasn’t presenting a paper, I wouldn’t be there.”

“Hmm, that’s why I try to avoid things like that! Jessica and Kara love giving presentations. I prefer smaller groups and one-on-one.”

“Listen Steve, let me give you my mobile number; give me a call if anything changes or you’re delayed.”

“OK, go ahead.”

He gave me his number and I repeated it back to him.

“Righto,” he said to confirm I had it right.

“I’m looking forward to seeing you.”

“Just one other thing, before I go, I was wondering whether your offer could extend to my bringing the family over with me for the first week. None of them have ever been to the States, and I think the children in particular would enjoy meeting yours. Seven of them isn’t it?”

“Lucky seven it is!” I chuckled. “You have two, if I recall correctly.”

“Yes; one of each.”

“We’d love to have your family here with us. There won’t be a problem; the room you’ll be using has a full-sized bed and its own bath, though you have to go into the hall to get to it. The kids can either sleep in the rooms with our kids, who are separated by boys and girls, or, if they prefer, in our guest rooms. We put people up all the time.”

“OK Steve, have to run, I look forward to speaking to you when you arrive and to seeing you next week. Bye.”

“Bye Jon. See you next Tuesday at 6:00pm at The Old Bank of England Pub on Fleet Street.”

We hung up and I went back to the sunroom to find Birgit talking with Kara. I let Kara know I’d spoken to Ed, and that we had a new nephew. The three of us went to the kitchen to make breakfast. When the others got up, I let them know about David James Krajick, and also filled my wives in on my dinner plans with Jonathan Todd, and his request to allow his family to join him for a time, to which they had no objections.

Once breakfast was finished, Jessica, Elyse, Michelle, and I went out to the car for the drive to work. We were driving north on Halsted Street towards Cook County Hospital when my mobile phone rang. I asked Elyse to answer it.

“It’s Katya Anisimova,” she said.

“Tell her I’m forbidden from talking on the cell while I’m driving and that I’ll call her back from the office. Get a number if she’s not in her office.”

Elyse verified that Katya was in their offices in Cincinnati, and hung up.

“What’s going on, Tiger?” Jessica asked from the back seat.

“I’m having her do some research for me relating to the case with Mikela, in case Mikela doesn’t sign the agreement. As I told you and Kara the other night, I can’t really share private details, but it’s way more complicated than it might appear.”

“Because of Kaitlin?”

“Partly, yes, but please don’t push. I really can’t reveal any confidences; I’m sorry.”

“Just how bad is this?” she asked.

“Potentially very. All we can do right now is wait to see what Mikela does, and ensure we have everything in place to respond.”

“Could this ruin the company?”

“It could, but remember, we carry all kinds of liability insurance, both corporate and personal. In my mind, the worst-case scenario is we have to settle with Mikela with a big payout.”

“But she’s the one who harassed YOU!” Jessica protested.

“Well, of course. But how do you think it’ll look to a jury picked by Brandon Littleton when he reveals all the girls who work for me who I’ve been with? It won’t matter that Mikela came on to me - that’ll be my word against hers, with the damning evidence of my previous relationships. And think about the trouble THAT will cause!”

I saw Michelle cringe slightly at my reference to ‘all the girls’ and knew I’d have to talk to her about it, and probably before my trip. And Jessica, unfortunately, reacted, apparently forgetting Michelle was in the back seat.

“Jeri and Howard!” Jessica gasped. “He doesn’t know, does he?”

I really had to continue the conversation, and I could see serious concern in Michelle’s face.

“No, he doesn’t. And neither does Gary. Or, I’m sure, Chris Gibson’s husband, Blake. Fortunately, all of the girls have been at NIKA long enough to demonstrate they have the necessary skills to do their jobs. The big concern is morale when all of this comes out, and it’s going to be tough to prevent that.”

“Why?”

“Because if Mikela decides to sue, it’s huge leverage for her to use against us, and keeping it from leaking might be impossible. If someone like Littleton takes the case, they won’t settle before trying to depose everyone and it’s going to be tough to hide that, even if the girls close ranks as they’ve promised. I can’t allow them to lie, because that would make the problem far worse.”

“Jamie didn’t know all of this?”

“No, but the mess wasn’t really caused by that; well, I suppose it depends on how you look at it. The real mess is not stuff I did. It’s just my relationship with the girls at work means someone like Mikela can use it as leverage to extract a huge settlement.”

“Could Kaitlin come back and sue you?”

“As Jamie likes to say, anything is possible, but she signed a complete release and waiver, so she wouldn’t get very far. On the other hand, if Mikela were to find out about Kaitlin, they could call her as a witness and a judge is likely to free her from the contractual obligations when she’s testifying under oath.”

“But she did the same thing as Mikela!” Jessica protested.

“Yeah, and they’ll both say that we forced them out because they wouldn’t sleep with me. And there is nothing I can do to prove otherwise, and all the other relationships work against me, no matter what the girls say. Their lawyer will argue they are afraid of losing their jobs. That’s why our liability insurance policies will try to pay her off, and it could easily be mid-six-figures, or higher.”

“Could you be forced out?”

“How? I control 75% of the shares. They won’t get a settlement big enough to cross the liability policy limits, either for the corporate policy or our personal one. That’s why we took out those policies in the first place. Our personal policy is for $5,000,000. The corporate one is larger, though there’s a $100,000 deductible, unlike our personal policy which has no deductible.”

We pulled up to the sidewalk that led to the doors to the ER, and I got out of the car to walk Jessica inside.

“I’m sorry you’re having all these problems, Tiger,” Jessica said at the doors.

“It’s OK, Babe. I’m fine. It’s annoying, but I’m not losing control. We’ll get through this.”

We kissed, she went inside, and I headed back to the car for the short drive to the NIKA offices.

“She seems worried,” Elyse said.

“She should be. I am. You are. Jamie certainly is.”

“You’re very calm.”

“Get used to it,” I chuckled. “Remember when you said you were concerned about how I could be a ruthless, cold-hearted bastard?”

“I do.”

“Well, take that, minus the emotion at the time.”

“Jesus,” Elyse breathed.

“I’m telling you, and I’ll tell Kimmy, if a lawsuit is filed while I’m in Europe, call the insurance company and have them settle. Whatever it takes.”

“If she hires Littleton, he’s not going to settle.”

“I know,” I said. “And, I’m sorry Michelle, we have to have the rest of this conversation in private.”

“I think we need to talk,” she said quietly.

“Oh, I know it,” I said. “We will. Let me work things out with Elyse first, please.”

She nodded and all three of us were silent for the remaining five minutes of our drive to the office. Elyse and I went right to her office to continue the conversation.

“Anyway,” I said, once the door was closed, “settling isn’t up to Littleton. Ethically, he has to present the offer to Mikela. Do you really think she’s going to refuse a six-figure settlement now in hopes of a big payday two or three years down the road? Especially when our insurance company will foot the bill for the suit AND all but $100,000 of the total settlement figure? And when it comes to light that Littleton is an Outfit lawyer, how do you think THAT will play out?”

“That’s your ace in the hole.”

“Exactly. And the cool part is, Zimmer, Levinson, and the third lawyer, Merkle, will do all the work for me.”

“And his daughters?”

“Off limits. They have to be. All joking aside, remember how I reacted when Margaret Lundgren came after our kids?”

“I suppose that makes sense, despite the sweet feeling of revenge.”

I shook my head, “No. No revenge. I’m simply going to put an end to everything. And that includes with ‘Little Tony’ as well.”

“How do you plan to handle that?”

“I don’t know just yet. After thinking about it for the past few days, I’m convinced taking Littleton off the board is more important in the short term. I need to call Katya.”

I dialed the number for Global Security and was put right through. I explained to her what I wanted, ignoring Elyse’s look of surprise. Katya promised to send anything she uncovered as soon as possible, and I asked her to please use Elyse’s private fax. I let her know I’d be in Europe for the next three weeks and she could reach me via Elyse or Kimmy.

“I need you to copy and FedEx all of those personnel files to Katya,” I said. “The complete ones, including the private material. And everything in the Volstead and Braun file, plus everything in the BLS file. You do it yourself; I don’t want anyone else involved.”

“I get sending Mikela’s, Cassie’s, and Kaitlin’s files, but are you sure you want to have her investigate the others? Penny, Terry, Zeke, and Tasha? Seriously?”

“I need to know EXACTLY what’s going on. Penny is just for completeness. I can’t very well have Katya investigate everyone else involved and not her. You know darn well it’s not going to turn up anything.”

“What kind of information will she look for?”

“The same stuff she did for the others - birth records, marriage records, school records, property records, criminal records, and so on.”

“You don’t think you should tell Penny?”

“No, and for the same reason. If I tell her, I’ll have to tell everyone. Don’t mention any of this to Jamie, please. If it comes to the point where we need it, I’ll have Katya Sergeyevna send it to him directly. The stuff for Volstead and Braun, Peter Scuderi, and the firm in Indiana is about dealing with ‘Little Tony’, so that won’t go to Jamie, period. And as I said, Littleton is the priority right now.”

“How would Mikela find out about him?”

“It’s not as if the Milton & Lomax suit was secret, nor the BLS suit. And several people know about my run-ins with him before - the whole thing with Callie and the paternity suit from Carla. I just have to assume she knows about him and will seek his assistance.”

“You don’t think she’ll sign?”

“I have no idea, but I’m planning for ALL contingencies. You know, something you’ve been encouraging me to do for years. The difference is, I can do it dispassionately now.”

“What else is running around in that cold, calculating, and extremely devious mind of yours?”

“DP Engineering.”

“Dante? No way!”

“Not, Dante. Think it through for a moment.”

“Mark and Melissa’s last name.”

“I think it’s a complete coincidence, but we don’t know where the money came from and you can be damned sure Dante cashed out completely.”

“He wouldn’t take income going forward?”

“No way. If he’s not running the show, he’d never do that. Do you really believe he would think anyone could run the company as well as he could? Or trust them to pay up?”

Elyse laughed, “No more than you would!”

“Exactly. That why when I joked with Jamie a few years ago about a $50,000,000 price for NIKA I said it had to be all cash, in escrow before the deal closed. No future earnings, no notes.”

“You’d sell?”

“For fifty million bucks? With everyone who works here getting at least a hundred grand? And me getting two million? Yeah, I would! Then I could open my own dojo, or take over from Jim when he retires. Or do just about anything else I wanted. At 7% double-tax-free, we’re talking $140,000 a year for sitting on my butt! And we’d still have Kara’s and Jessica’s income.”

“Nobody would pay fifty mil for NIKA!”

“Which is why I set the price so high. And actually, given how things are going, I’d say it’s a hundred mil so everyone could have at least a quarter of a million!”

“In other words, you don’t want to sell.”

“No shit, Belgium! If that’s news to you, I’m very worried!”

“You don’t come see me on Tuesdays anymore!”

“By your choice. And I agree with that choice, though I have to say I miss being with you.”

“Me, too. But we had about five years more than we’d planned or expected. And I do get quite a bit of time alone with you.”

“I need to get some programming done. I’m going to miss most of the next three weeks and I have two modules to finish by Friday.”

I left Elyse’s office and went to Michelle’s office to let her know I strongly preferred discussing things at home, and she agreed. I promised to talk to her after karate and her evening class at UofC. She smiled, and I felt a bit better when I left to head back to my office.

Penny was already working when I said ‘hello’ and sat down. I felt bad about keeping her in the dark, but I didn’t feel I had any choice in the matter. Jamie hadn’t given clearance, and I suspect he was going to wait until after we know what Mikela was going to do. It made sense, but it also could create problems between Penny and Terry. I’d take the blame for the delay, and hopefully Penny’s ire would be directed at me and short-lived.

September 8, 1994, Chicago, Illinois

Elyse, Zeke, and I were sitting in the conference room late on Thursday morning, with Mario and Barbara joining us by phone.

“This has become more complicated than when I first thought about it,” Barbara said. “We just closed two deals for consultants in Silicon Valley, which means we’re going to have three people in the Bay Area, and five in Denver, once we move two of the LA consultants. We’ll have Juana, Andy, and a new on-site person in Los Angeles, plus an on-site person in the Bay Area, plus one in Denver.”

“And we’re going to have at least one consultant in Boston,” Mario said. “We’re working on that deal now, but it’s close. And that’s in addition to the one we’re adding here in Pittsburgh. Charlie and Rob are flying out tonight for the final meeting tomorrow for that. And we need another on-site person here as well.”