Chapter 53: Turning Thirty-Two

April 18, 1995, Chicago, Illinois

On Tuesday, I joined Samantha and Stephanie for lunch at Spurgeon Capital to discuss the audit my sister was going to do of the Lone Star books.

“What am I looking for?”

“Anything suspicious,” I said. “But I also need to know the extent of their liabilities. Check any disbursements back at least six months.”

Stephanie smiled, “I do know how to do my job, big brother!”

“I don’t THINK they’re hiding anything, but you never know. I’m sure they have debt, based on my conversation with their Chairman. I also want to know where the profits are distributed. I’d guess you’ll need to go back at least a year for that.”

“I’ll go back five years. I’ll get you the complete picture, including taxes and any ‘one-time’ charges. Trust me; I know how people hide things, and it’s the patterns that provide the tip off. Not to mention people think they are WAY smarter than they actually are.”

“Remember, it’s important they not know you’re my sister. You’re an auditor and compliance officer from Spurgeon Capital.”

“Got it.”

“The other things I want you to call out specifically in your report are any license payments or royalty payments.”

“I’m simply going to assume they’re hiding stuff. I won’t have enough time to do a full reconciliation, which would take a team, but I’ll spot-check big invoices, one-off payments, and anything that I think could be used to hide stuff. Samantha said she trusts the VC and Brad to play it straight.”

“I do,” Samantha said. “But you know full well there are all kinds of legal ways to hide, divert, or redistribute income. Mark and Melissa are doing it now with the LLC.”

“I’ll want to get a look at any financing documents they have. I assume that’s included in the agreement?”

“It says all financial records, with the usual ‘including, but not limited to’ clause,” I said. “We put everything we could think of in the list, too.”

“Sounds good!”

“I need a few minutes alone with Samantha,” I said.

Stephanie smirked, “I thought that was over!”

“Get out of here!” Samantha laughed.

Stephanie and I exchanged a quick hug and she left Samantha’s office.

“What’s up?”

“We figured out what Dante’s up to with regard to M&M. My friend Katya, the former KGB officer, found the wayward engineer has quit to go to work for an Atlanta firm which was recently purchased by an LLC. That has to be Dante.”

“Sure. That’s how I would do it. They’ll have a hell of a time proving any involvement from Dante unless Dante is foolish enough to be visibly involved. IS he foolish enough to do that?”

“He has an ego which Navy pilots and trauma surgeons can only dream about, so it’s possible he does something visible. I’m sure the LLC will hold the patents, but I wonder if that massive ego can handle listing someone else as the inventor. ALL of the ones from his days at DP list him as the sole inventor, despite having several other engineers on staff. But I suspect he’ll be smart enough not to do that until the non-compete expires. Mark suspects that Dante will try to have M&M’s patents invalidated.”

Samantha nodded, “Possible. It would cost him a lot of money, and potentially cost M&M a lot of money as well. And take years in Federal court. In the end, all he’d do is be able to reuse the patented technologies. Melissa said they would be fairly easy to work around for an expert engineer like Dante, right?”

“Yes, especially given he invented everything covered by the patents. I don’t think he’ll spend that kind of money. I think he’ll just compete. But the one thing he can’t do is tell people he’s associated with the new firm to try to steal customers from M&M because that would expose him.”

“What’s the penalty for competing?”

“Cash damages equivalent to 50% of the price Mark and Melissa paid, an automatic ‘cease and desist’ order, and disgorgement of all profits.”

“Damn!” Samantha exclaimed. “Who wrote that?”

“Billie Lawson.”

“I may need to hire her for in-house counsel! She thinks like we do.”

“If you suspect someone is going to try to fuck you, you take proper precautions to prevent it.”

Samantha smirked, “Unless you WANT to be fucked!”

“Well, yeah,” I chuckled in agreement.

April 19, 1995, Chicago, Illinois

“Steve!” Elyse shouted from the main door to the office. “Come to the conference room!”

Penny looked at me and I shrugged, and got up and hurried to the ‘Lemieux’ room to find Elyse and several others watching CNN.

“What happened?” I asked.

“Somebody blew up a federal office building in Oklahoma City.”

“Terrorism?”

“It only happened about twenty minutes ago. They aren’t saying anyone made any claims.”

“What kind of building is that?”

“Supposedly a bunch of different agencies.”

“I read in the paper this morning that today is the anniversary of the day Janet Sterno ordered the Branch Davidians attacked,” I said. “I wonder if this is related?”

“Janet Sterno?” Penny asked from behind me.

“What people who don’t like the government very much call Janet Reno,” Eve Falvey said from where she was seated close to the TV.

“Because they were burned; got it,” Penny said. “How many casualties?”

“They’re saying the building has around five hundred government employees,” Dave said. “Plus it’s after 9:00am, so there would have been people there visiting the Social Security offices or whatever. One reporter said there’s a daycare center.”

“It doesn’t look like too many people are going to come out of the building,” Don Larson, one of the programmers commented.

“I’d say you’re probably right,” I agreed, then tuned to Elyse. “I’m going back to my desk. Let me know if they announce anything about the perpetrators.”

“Will do.”

I went back to my desk and called Stephanie at Spurgeon Capital to check to see if the bombing would affect her flight to Dallas. She assured me that it wouldn’t and promised to call on Friday afternoon with a preliminary report on what she’d found.

April 21, 1995, Chicago, Illinois

“Shall we go make everyone happy?” I said to Penny just before noon on Friday.

“You love it and you know it!”

“Actually, I don’t. I like company gatherings, but I don’t like being the center of attention at them. You’ve heard my speeches. Five minutes, unless Cindi demands more, and even then I fight her on it. Let’s go.”

We got up and headed to the first floor where a ‘surprise’ birthday party for Penny and me was being held.

“Happy birthday!” came the chorus from the staff.

Penny and I both smiled and went to get our Portillo’s hamburgers, cheese fries, and shakes. I’d blow my entire week’s worth of carbs with my meal, so I’d need to take a long walk after lunch, something I’d promised Jessica I’d do.

“Should you be eating that?” Julia asked with a smirk when she sat down across from me.

“No, but I’m eating it anyway!” I chuckled. “You know, we’re going to have a problem next year. This space is going to be configured with more workstations.”

“Dave, Elyse, Michelle, and I talked about that on Wednesday. We’ll still have enough space here. I can’t imagine we’ll have more than a hundred staff in this office anytime soon.”

“True,” I said. “Especially given that consultants aren’t usually in the office. But we’re going to have an issue with gatherings such as this one.”

“Dave had an off-the-wall idea of using the roof.”

I laughed, “Maybe you failed to notice it was 45°F this morning when you arrived at the office! Or that it’s only about 50°F right now?”

“That’s what put the kibosh on that idea!” Elyse laughed. “Michelle talked to Jackie Phelan about reworking the conference rooms so that the walls were movable. We’d be able to combine the ‘Orr’, “Gretzky’, and ‘Lemieux’ rooms into one larger room.”

“Now THAT is an excellent idea!” I said. “And we still have empty offices upstairs, so I’m not worried about overall space. And that’s even keeping the daycare co-op in place in that double office.”

“I think you’ll have a rebellion on your hands if you try to change THAT,” Brenda said. “With all the babies and toddlers this crowd has?”

“Including two of yours,” Elyse replied. “Now we know who the leader of the rebellion will be!”

“Doing anything special for your birthday?” Cèlia asked.

“The usual,” I said. “Tonight the Penfields will join us for a family dinner, and tomorrow night my wives and I are going to dinner at Alex’s place.”

“Not Michelle?” Penny asked.

“No. This weekend is Pascha, but my wives and I decided not to go to church. As much as I like the services, our situation isn’t exactly conducive to being members of the community, and honestly, I’m leaning more towards Buddhism every day.”

“No kidding!” K said, laughing. “If your office didn’t give THAT away, nothing would. Not to mention the Shinto shrine.”

“You haven’t been in the ‘Indian’ room in his house,” Penny said, “But he has Shiva, Krishna, Loki, and a few others in there. Right next to Jesus and Mary!”

“Add in a good dose of Sun Tzu and you pretty much have the whole picture,” Cindi said. “Well, plus a certain unmentionable Hindu text!”

Everyone laughed.

“There is nothing wrong with the Bhagavad Gita!” I protested.

“As if THAT was what she was referring to,” Elyse laughed.

“This is a family-friendly company!” I protested.

“Right,” Maddie said snidely. “Complete with an owner who carries a loaded gun in the office!”

She’d become more outspoken after having had her complaint about the Buddhist priest rejected by the Board of Directors, and I was glad she had only five weeks left on her work-study program. I’d considered asking Dave to terminate her, but he’d pointed out that she was routinely put in her place by the generally libertarian staff.

“It’s a tool,” Eve said evenly. “More people are killed by automobiles than firearms. And before you go on about Chicago’s handgun ban, I’ll point out Steve has a CCL as well as a Chicago handgun permit. And he’s trained to use the firearm properly. Personally, I think he’s far more dangerous because he’s a 5th Dan black belt than because he carries a gun for his own protection.”

“But still!” she protested. “There are kids here in daycare. And all of us! And the police can be here quickly.”

Eve laughed, “When seconds count, the police are only minutes away! You do know they have no legal obligation to protect you, right? You could have an order of protection issued and the person against whom you had that order could walk past a policemen to get to you and the police have no legal obligation to stop him.”

“Bull!”

“No, it’s not,” Eve continued. “You can’t, generally, sue the police because you’re a victim of a crime any more than you can sue the fire department because your house burned down. If I call 9-1-1 right now, the police will get here when they can, based on where the officers are and what the issue is. It’s the same with the Chicago Fire Department. The closest ambulance might well be ten to fifteen miles away if the ones in the stations nearest to your location are already on calls. Or, show up at Cook County’s ER where Steve’s wife works when they’re in crisis mode. You’ll be seen in whatever order they decide based on your problem. You have no legal right to any specific treatment at any specific time. One day, Maddie, you’ll discover the world owes you nothing and that it doesn’t conform to your whims. Your feelings are going to be hurt repeatedly. That’s the way the world works. It’s the price of freedom. Get used to it.”

“And you know the worst part?” Ally chimed in. “NIKA provides better benefits and has better policies than any company I’m aware of. But you decided your views were so important, you threw it all away. Being an intern or doing work-study here is normally a ticket to a fantastic career with a fantastic company and a boss who really cares. But you decided it’s not good enough for you. Complaining about the Buddhist priest? Seriously? And whining this morning when you were asked to help set up? Everyone else who was asked simply pitched in!”

“It’s not my job!” Maddie protested.

“If that’s your attitude,” Cèlia said, “it’s probably better that you find a different place to work when you graduate. We all pitch in to help with anything that needs to be done. I’ve done QA, helped with collections, sat at reception, and a bunch of other stuff because that’s how things work here! We ALL bust our butts and Steve rewards us for it. With a public pay scale, bonuses which are as close to guaranteed as you can get, a 401K match, an ESOP, and ridiculously good maternity benefits. But no, he brings in a Buddhist priest for something personal, and you decide that offends you enough to complain about him? Unbelievable.”

“It’s time for you to grow up,” Kanye said. “If you don’t, you’re going to be very unhappy.”

“I think that’s probably enough,” Julia said firmly. “We’re supposed to be celebrating Steve and Penny’s birthday.”

“Sorry,” Cèlia, Ally, K, and Kanye all said.

“It’s OK,” I said.

Maddie gave me an evil look, but I simply didn’t care. I was happy the other team members had put her in her place. We finished our meal and then two large sheet cakes were brought to the table. Everyone sang Happy Birthday and then Penny and I each blew out a single candle on one of the cakes. Elyse, John, Lucas, and Kimmy cut and served cake to everyone.

“Thank you all!” I said once we’d finished our cake.

“Thanks!” Penny said.

Over a mild protest from Elyse and Kimmy, both Penny and I helped clean up, driving home the point Cèlia had made earlier. When we finished, Dave touched my arm and asked me to step into his office.

“Next time I argue with you about a veto,” he sighed, “remind me of this.”

“No chance. We talked about this before. It was a joint decision. And I think the new questions we ask are sufficient to generally smoke out someone who isn’t going to be happy in our little ‘libertarian paradise’.”

Dave laughed, “A libertarian paradise that is about as socialist as possible!”

I grinned, “I spend my money as I see fit, which makes it pure capitalism! It’s in my best interest to run things this way. I tried to point that out to Dante for years!”

“Speaking of Dante, are we in the clear on that?”

Could I safely tell Dave? I was going to hear from Stephanie later in the afternoon in her first impressions. If I told him, I’d need to tell Julia and Cindi. Was I ready to do that? I didn’t think so.

“All his suits against us have been dismissed and summary judgment granted. He has one active suit against M&M, but that’s going to go away just as the others did.”

Dave shook his head, and looked perplexed, “Dante was a hothead with a huge ego, and a serial sexual harasser, but he was never stupid. He’s got something up his sleeve. That rumor about Lone Star being for sale and a Chicago investor, could that be Dante?”

“It’s possible. And that rumor has helped us. Cindi and her team have closed several competitive deals against them because of the uncertainty, and we’ve had some inquiries from their customer base about converting. We’ll need to wait to see what Dante’s game actually is. And you know we’ll counter it.”

Dave tilted his head and nodded knowingly, “OK.”

“Do me a favor, and I’ll mention this to both Cindi and Julia, too. Tell your team to keep those kinds of smackdowns private, away from the hearing of managers or supervisors. Julia was right to put an end to it, but it might have been a better idea to end it sooner.”

“I’ll take care of it with my team. Ally was right about Maddie throwing her chance away. Her work has been good, but her attitude has been poor and she doesn’t ‘play well with the other kids’ as we say when doing performance reviews!”

“That is, in the end, the issue,” I said. “I want to do an exit interview with her, when the time comes. I’ll be VERY interested in hearing what she has to say.”

“You’ll need to ensure you have someone in the room with you when you do that. And NOT Penny! The last thing we need is the CPD trying to find where Penny hid the body!”

I chuckled, “She’s not quite as volatile as she was!”

“True. I’m going to ask a question which you might not be able to answer. Something has impacted the amount of time you can spend coding. Can you share?”

I shook my head, “Not just yet. I was going to talk to you on Monday, but if things go the way I think they might, you won’t have much of my time. I already asked Elyse to budget for an additional programmer. And that’s over and above Claire.”

“Please, please, tell me this isn’t anything to do with the FBI or Brandon Littleton!”

“It isn’t. The FBI actually saved me quite a bit of grief by calling me to let me know the CPD was going to execute a search warrant on behalf of the San Antonio PD.”

“For what?!”

“My gun, of course. The gun that was used to kill Littleton was also used in three unsolved murders here in Chicago.”

“Holy shit! But you were here! I saw you!”

I nodded, “That’s the same thing Cindi said! They have no real leads, so they’re taking a longshot. I handed over the gun to the FBI to do the testing after talking to Melanie’s law partner. They’ll give it back in another week or so, I expect. I know it wasn’t the murder weapon.”

“A mob hit?”

“That was Penny’s guess, and I’d say based on the scant information in the Trib, that’s as good a guess as any. And let’s be honest, I DID have motive, means, and opportunity. I just wasn’t in San Antonio when he was killed. Imagine if he’d been killed HERE!”