Chapter 69: Weird Ideas

March 31, 1997, Chicago, Illinois

“Mr. Adams, your Board of Directors consists of five members, right?” Mr. Ball asked.

“Yes.”

“Two of those are your father, and your father-in-law.”

“Yes, though I didn’t know Al Barton was my father-in-law when I asked him to serve on the board.”

“Is that so?”

I nodded, “Yes. That was not public knowledge until January of this year, and while I’ve known for several years, the appointment came before I knew.”

“How is that possible?”

“Objection,” Deborah said, but it was half-hearted. “Calls for a conclusion.”

“How did you discover he was your father-in-law?”

“My wife, Doctor Jessica Adams, confessed that she had a family secret. I played a hunch and implied to Doctor Barton that I knew the secret, at which point he told me the story. He does know I didn’t know before he revealed the information.”

“How did this become public?”

“He voluntarily reported it to the Hospital Board, on my advice.”

“Your advice?”

“Yes. I was one of the few who knew the situation and we had discussed the timing. He chose January.”

“What is your relationship with the other three Board members?”

“Doctor Pater and I went to High School together and ran a software company while we were in High School. She chose academic glory rather than earthly riches, so she’s on the Board rather than working for NIKA. Commander Karl Schumacher is a friend who I first met through the now-deceased husband of a High School friend. He’s stationed overseas at the moment. Our chairman is the granddaughter of my first mentor, who was an initial investor along with my dad. He filled the seat he was entitled to with his granddaughter in the Chairman role. He died about eleven years ago, and she inherited his shares.”

“Your father served in the United States Navy?”

I nodded, “Two purple hearts and a Navy Cross, along with assorted other medals.”

“And afterwards?”

“Worked for the OSS and CIA.”

“Stationed where, if you can answer.”

“Havana.”

“Have you been to the Caribbean?”

“Once, on vacation.”

“Where?”

“Saint Martin.”

“Who were you with?”

“Friends.”

“I assume these friends have names?”

“Objection!” Deborah said firmly. “This was not a business trip and has no relevance to the issue at bar.”

“Was any business, of any kind, discussed on this trip?”

“No.”

“Do you know any Cuban nationals or anyone of direct Cuban descent?”

“Yes.”

“Would you tell me about them, please?”

I looked to Deborah who nodded.

“Abel Duranona, an employee home-based in New York City; Débora Cintrón Alarcón, an employee here in Chicago; Felipe Rodriguez, a student at the karate dojo where I teach; and Maria Cristina Ochoa Coulvert, a pre-med student who my family is housing and mentoring. Mr. Duranona was born in Cuba, but came to the US as a young child; Ms. Cintrón Alarcón is the daughter of adult Cuban émigrés; Ms. Ochoa Coulvert is the daughter of two ‘Pedro Pan’ children; and Mr. Rodriguez was born in Cuba but came to the US sometime not long after Castro came to power.”

“Are you aware of a scheme to launder money via the Cayman Islands by several Chicago-based men in the financial services industry?”

“It was in all the papers,” I replied.

“Did you meet with any of those men?”

“Objection!” Deborah said quickly and firmly. “Mr. Adams is not at liberty to speak on that topic.”

“It’s a valid question, Counselor.”

“And one he may not answer based on an agreement with the government. That case is still pending. I will note, for the record, my client has not been charged with any crimes, nor have any civil actions been taken, and he is not suspected of any illegal activities.”

The line of questioning KIND of made sense - looking for ties between me and offshore tax havens, or ties to money laundering operations, but I couldn’t imagine how they would tie it all together to make me look guilty of something I hadn’t done.

“Mr. Adams, at any time, have you made or been involved in, money transfers via any offshore accounts?”

There was NO WAY they knew about the money I’d redirected away from Tony and Connie, and nothing which could tie that to me.

“No.”

“Has NIKA been involved in any such transfers?”

It was remotely possible we’d been paid via some offshore account for something, so I wasn’t going to categorically deny it.

“To the best of my knowledge, no.”

“What is the nature of your relationship with Samantha Spurgeon?”

“My family took her in when her father got in trouble with the law, and we’ve done business together.”

“You’ve flown on her private jet a number of times?”

“Yes.”

“Ever fly to the Caribbean?”

“What’s the point of this line of questioning, Counselor?” Deborah asked.

“Technically, I don’t need one, but it’s to establish facts related to the conspiracy claims.”

“Go ahead and answer, Steve.”

“Yes. The vacation to Saint Martin.”

“So it was a business trip, then?”

“No, it was a vacation. A week in her family home on the French side of Saint Martin.”

“Who else was there?”

“Objection!” Deborah said. “Asked and objected to.”

“He flew down on her jet, Ms. Rice. That’s enough to allow me to ask the question.”

Deborah frowned, but nodded to me.

“Six of Ms. Spurgeon’s friends. None of them have any business dealings with either of us.”

“You were in Saint Martin with seven eighteen-year-old girls?”

I smiled, shrugged sheepishly, “Yes.”

“Fuck!” Dante whispered under his breath.

And that was EXACTLY what I’d done there. Now Dante wasn’t just red with anger, he was positively green with envy.

“I think that’s enough along that line of questioning, Counselor,” Deborah said firmly.

“I think you might be right,” Mr. Ball said, shaking his head. “Mr. Adams, did you meet with Noel Spurgeon at his daughter’s wedding?”

“Yes,” I replied.

“And later in prison?”

“Objection!” Deborah said. “Again, he can’t answer while the criminal case is progressing, and even after, he’ll need permission from the government.”

“I’m not asking what was said, Ms. Rice, just if he was there. Please don’t make me go through the trouble of subpoenaing the records.”

She nodded to me.

“Yes, I was there, twice.”

“And did you also visit a Ms. Lisa Glass in prison?”

“Yes. Her father is a good friend. I accompanied him to see her.”

“What do you know about the murder of Brandon Littleton?”

“Steve, do NOT answer,” Jamie exclaimed quickly, speaking for the first time. “Counselor, that question is completely out of line and has nothing to do with the issue at bar. Nobody at NIKA will answer ANY questions about criminal matters completely outside the scope of your lawsuit. If you attempt to ask again, I’ll seek a protective order and ask for sanctions.”

Mr. Ball moved on, un-fazed which told me he’d never expected to get an answer.

“Mr. Adams, what was your relationship to Alderman Fred Roti and Ambrosio Medrano?”

“Jamie?” I asked.

“Counselor, I need some time with my client, please.”

“Certainly. We’ll take a short break. Ten minutes?”

“That should be sufficient,” Jamie agreed.

Once again, the three of us used the restrooms, then huddled in my office.

“You get what they’re going for here, right?” Jamie asked.

I nodded, “That I’m as dirty as they come. Guilt by association, if you will.”

“Right now, they don’t have a smoking gun that I’m aware of,” he replied. “Do you think they have anything?”

I shook my head, “Just innuendo. I’ve never been charged, which you know, and except for the San Antonio cops, nobody liked me for Littleton’s murder.”

“OK. Here’s what you say - you met with them as a favor to Alderman Bloom, which is true, and that you had no actual dealings with them beyond that.”

“Are you sure you want me to say that?” I asked.

“If Larry Bloom is dirty, I’ll eat my wingtips.”

“I hope you like shoe leather,” I replied flatly.

“Son of a bitch! Do I even want to know how you know?”

“Somebody asked me some questions which made it pretty damned obvious. You’ll read about it soon enough. But keep this to yourself, Jamie.”

“Got it.”

He knew I had friends at the Trib, and my comment gave him the clue he needed without me having to say it.

“I think I’ll just say that I’ve met with several Aldermen, which is fairly normal for any business in Chicago. It’s not like the fact that the city is completely corrupt is a secret, even in Dallas.”

“True. And Steve, was that serious? Saint Martin?”

I grinned, “Very serious.”

“Jesus Christ!”

“Jealous, Jamie?” I grinned.

“I don’t EVEN want to think about it. But you sure got Dante’s attention.”

“I know.”

“You are a smug bastard, you know that, right?”

“Yes.”

Jamie laughed and shook his head, while Deborah did her best to fight the smirk that kept threatening to break out on her face.

We returned to the room and Mr. Ball had the reporter read back the question.

“I met with several Alderman, including Bloom, Roti, Medrano, and others who I can’t recall now, as part of business development.”

“And you have contracts with a number of local unions?”

“Yes, and several Orthodox Christian churches, too,” I replied. “I can have the Russian bishop in the city vouch for me, if you’d like.”

“Probably not necessary,” Mr. Ball said with a soft smile. “Going back to the tax question, how was the REIT involved in your sale of your old building and the purchase of the new one.”

“As the seller of this building and the buyer of the old one,” I replied. “We didn’t use any tax shelters, as I said.”

“You have at least one LLC established.”

“Yes.”

“What do you use the LLC for?”

“Intellectual property,” I replied.

“By which you mean patents and copyrights?”

“Yes.”

“What is the name of that LLC?”

I looked to Deborah and Jamie who both nodded.

“Patent Partners.”

“And the other principals?”

Two more nods.

“Samantha Spurgeon and Melissa Mascioli.”

“Are you in any other partnerships?”

“An LLC which owns the dojo where my karate school operates. The other members are either black belts from the dojo or parents of students of the karate school.”

“Any other partnerships?”

I knew what they were looking for, and wondered if they had anything from DCP which showed our agreement whereby I could buy Lone Star, personally. Technically, it wasn’t a partnership because it was just me. But I could misdirect a bit.

“We have several business partnerships,” I replied. “With M&M Engineering, with the Russian Orthodox Archdiocese, and so on.”

“I meant you, personally.”

“I’m a limited partner in several going concerns where I provided seed capital and I’m receiving dividends, but I have no control over any of those organizations.”

“Would you list them?”

“The Apple Orchard Bed-and-Breakfast near Montpelier, Vermont; Lou’s Diner in Rutherford, Ohio; and Confluence Group in Pittsburgh.”

“What’s that last one?”

“A political campaign consulting firm run by a friend of mine.”

“Do you have investments in non-publicly traded companies besides the ones you mentioned?”

“No. I hold individual stocks in listed companies, and shares in two REITs, which, while not exactly public, are registered with the Federal government, and are tradeable, with certain restrictions. In the past, I was also a limited investor in an architectural firm, but my shares were redeemed by the firm years ago.”

“You tried to buy out Lone Star systems a few years ago, right?”

“Yes, that too, was in all the papers.”

“Did you, in the course of that buyout, make a secret side-deal with DCP?”

“I made a deal with DCP, part of which was to be kept confidential until the deal was closed. It wasn’t a ‘side deal’.”

“What was the nature of that deal?”

The line of questioning made me very suspicious that Dante was NOT the person who backed Nathan Edwards, and THAT made me even more curious as to what had gone on. We’d find out for sure when we deposed Dante and Nathan Edwards, but for sure something didn’t add up.

“A guarantee that if the deal fell through I would control the intellectual property which had belonged to Lone Star.”

“And why did you make that deal?”

“To protect against exactly what happened,” I replied.

“Do you still own that intellectual property?”

“I never owned it personally. It was held by Patent Partners, and sold back to Lone Star as part of the rescission of the purchase agreement.”

“If the LLC owned the intellectual property, how did Lone Star continue to operate?”

“Via a licensing agreement,” I replied.

“Did you provide a copy of that agreement?”

“It was deemed non-responsive by the LLC,” Deborah interjected. “I can’t release it to you.”

“On what grounds?”

“That enough time has passed and everything has returned to the status quo ante, such that it has no bearing on this situation. It’s no longer in force, and ceased to be in force when DCP breached the terms of the purchase agreement.”

“Mark,” Mr. Bradenton said, speaking for the first time, “we can ask DCP or Lone Star for copies of any agreements. That way we won’t have to fight the LLC.”

Mr. Ball nodded, “OK. Do you know who provided the capital to Nathan Edwards?”

‘Holy shit!’, I thought. Either it wasn’t Dante, or this was the biggest con in the history of the universe. I was damned sure it was the former, though at this point, nothing would have surprised me.

“I have no idea,” I replied.

We were missing something; something VERY big. Dante’s team either knew what it was, or had a strong suspicion. Whatever it was, it was very likely related to Lone Star, and I had a sudden fear that whatever it was, it was so big that it was going to cause us to lose. And the thought of losing to Dante made me feel physically ill.

“We need a medical break!” Mary said, hopping up from her seat and coming to my side.

“Take the time you need, Doctor,” Mr. Ball said.

“What a load of crap,” Dante spat under his breath.

I let Mary lead me back to my office where she had me lie down on the couch in the «yōshitsu» room. She took my pulse, checked my respiration, checked my blood pressure with a cuff she took from her bag, then took my temperature.

“You feeling OK?” she asked. “You looked a bit pale, but now you look better.”

“I had the realization that something is terribly wrong and not only do I not know what it is, but whatever it is could cost us this lawsuit.”

“I’m no lawyer, but it doesn’t seem like they’ve pinned anything on you or your company.”

“That’s not how this works,” I replied. “This is a perfectly legal fishing expedition. What concerns me is the pond in which they’re fishing. I didn’t see it at first, but now I’m more than a bit concerned that our partners in Texas aren’t what they seem to be.”

“But you did a full due-diligence!” Deborah said from the door.

“Yes, but we might have missed something, or, more likely, there was something else going on, behind the scenes, with Nathan Edwards, that Dante’s lawyers think will give them a win. Could DCP and Lone Star settle without our agreement?”

“Yes. Including stipulations which could be very harmful to us.”

“Son of a bitch,” I sighed.

“What are you thinking?”

“That I have no idea what they know or suspect. We missed something. I missed something. I’m missing something.”

“Doctor Mary, will he be able to continue?” Deborah asked.

“I think so,” Mary replied. “His vitals are OK, but he went pale and I suspect he had a momentary drop in his BP which was bordering on causing a syncopal event.”

“You’re sure he’s OK? I can stop this for medical reasons and they can depose the next person.”

I shook my head, “I’m fine, I think. I don’t want to give them any more rope with which to hang me. Unfortunately, the fact I paled tells them that I’m very worried.”

“Dante suddenly looked smug,” Deborah said. “That was after he was totally on-tilt and upset. Then he got upset again when Mary called her medical time out.”

“OK. Let’s go back.”

“Wait a sec. What do you want me to say to the others before their depositions?” Deborah asked.

“I don’t think there is anything TO say,” I replied. “Nobody here has a clue what they’re looking for. You, Jamie, and Kimmy are going to have to try to figure it out as they go along. When will I see all the deposition transcripts?”

“Each of you will get a copy within a few days with the right to revise your answers. Once you’ve done that, you sign, and that’s the under-oath deposition. It’s not final until then. Once its final, then the depositions are distributed.”

“So I can change an answer?”

“Yes, but you can’t get cute. If it’s material, they get a second chance to depose you.”

“I take it someone has tried that before?”

“If you come up with something novel that the courts haven’t seen, you’ll end up in a textbook!”

“Hmm. Medical textbooks, legal textbooks, but not computer textbooks!”

“I think that’ll be Beth, Dave, or your former professor.”

“I think you’re right. Let’s go.”

The three of us made our way back to the conference room so we could begin again.

“Mr. Adams, are you well enough to continue?”

“Yes. As my doctor certified, I’ve suffered from syncopal episodes since I was a teenager. There is no known medical cause that the doctors have found. Doctor Whittaker says I’m OK to continue.”

“When Mr. Edwards made his offer, DCP revealed the codicil, right?”

“Yes.”

“And there were a series of lawsuits that were eventually settled or dismissed?”

“Correct.”

“And the end result was that the Lone Star intellectual property was returned in exchange for a cash payment.”

“Correct.”

“When Nathan Edwards defaulted, DCP approached you to buy Lone Star but you refused, correct?”

“Yes.”

“Why?”

“It made no financial sense for us at that point. We’d already taken quite a few of their customers and were winning most competitive deals.”

“But they’ve made what might be called a miraculous comeback.”

“That’s not a question, Counselor,” Deborah said.

“Did you expect them to make the comeback they did?”

“Not in the timeframe they did, but I knew it was possible because they had a good product and loyal customers who had stuck with them even in the face of us trying to lure them away.”