Chapter 26

The first thing Cindy noticed when she drove on to the property of Chicago Steel Company were the other two red Mazdas. She had talked with Dan Burke and he agreed to meet her at the plant. Checking her watch, she found she was fifteen minutes early. After parking her car, she walked over to watch a workman signaling a crane operator who was moving scrap. She stood aside and watched in fascination as very small hand movements from the flagman were translated instantly into very small motions of the giant track-mounted gantry crane.

The flagman gave a shutdown signal to the crane operator and started walking toward Cindy. While still about ten yards away, the hard hat was lifted off and beautiful auburn hair came spilling out. My God! she thought. It's Kelly.

The girl grinned as she walked over and wiped her face with her sleeve, spreading a big black smudge on her cheek. Cindy just stood there shaking her head with a wry grin on her face. "Don't you think this is taking customer service a bit far?" she asked.

Kelly grinned and said, "I just wanted to see what's under the top layer of junk. Want to join me?" She flipped Cindy a hard hat and put hers on again.

They made their way through a narrow path the gantry had cleared and reached the center of the pile. Kelly whistled softly as she saw what had been uncovered. The girl pointed out what were obviously parts for steam locomotives commenting they had to have been put there no later than the 1940's and likely much earlier than that. As they made their way out of the scrap pile and headed towards the office shed, Kelly told her that the electric mill was operating on the north end of the property and the company was currently only handling scrap sales. Arrangements had been concluded to put in a small electric furnace and test the suitability of the reworked steel for further processing.

The diversified corporation that owned Chicago Steel was favorably disposed towards a management buy-out of the facility. Although nominally quite valuable because of its lakefront location, as a practical matter the facility had been written down to a value of zero on the balance sheet. Moreover, there were grave hazardous-waste concerns affecting the salability of the property. As a result, the facility was considered a millstone around the corporation's neck and its executives were delighted at the prospect of getting out from under it.

Walking into the shed, Cindy was glad she was wearing a sweater. It was cold. There were only a couple of electric space heaters trying to warm the building that was so flimsy it was almost porous to the cold wind blasting in off the lake. As she entered, Cindy saw April sitting in the corner going over financial information with a man she assumed to be the chief financial officer.

A tall brown-haired man came forward with his hand outstretched. "Hi! I'm Ted Collins and you must be Cindy Martin. I've heard so much about you." Turning to Kelly he said, "I don't believe I've had the pleasure."

Kelly introduced herself and turned as a cold blast of air came rushing in when the door was opened again. Cindy saw Kelly's eyes widen as a huge man came through the door. He was over six four and pushing 250 pounds. He had black hair, piercing blue eyes and a very friendly smile.

Ted Collins grinned and said, "Kevin, I'm really glad you could make the meeting. I wanted these folks to meet you." Turning back to Cindy he said, "I'm very happy to introduce you to Kevin Cavanaugh. I understand from April you're quite a Bears fan. If you are, I'm sure you recognize the name."

Cavanaugh was the Bear's starting tight end, and was known as a fearsome blocker. Cavanaugh grinned and shook hands quickly, but it was apparent his attention was drawn to Kelly.

He walked over to her and Cindy was fascinated by the girl's reaction. She appeared to be shy and almost fearful. Ignoring the others, he took both of her hands in his. Then he released a hand and gently moved a stray lock of her beautiful auburn hair away from her face. "Hi, Irish! I've been waiting for years to meet you," he said. Then he tipped up her chin and kissed her softly and gently.

The girl's arms appeared to reach out automatically and link behind his neck. Electricity just flowed between them. Both Cindy and April were smiling warmly as they watched.

They both winced a moment later when Kelly stepped back and then slapped Kevin's face with all her might. "You have one hell of a nerve, you big ape!" she exclaimed with green fire flashing from her eyes.

Kevin Cavanaugh just shook his head and smiled. "Well, the name is certainly accurate," he said. "Only an Irish girl would greet her true love with a roundhouse right." Kelly started to sputter, Kevin began to laugh, while both April and Cindy were trying to stifle their giggles.

Cindy had never seen the tall redhead look so beautiful. "I'm not sure it's safe to ask, but where did you two first meet?" she asked.

"I have never met this ape before in my life!" Kelly exclaimed, "but I did see him drop a bunch of passes in South Bend before Notre Dame gave up on him and sent him to the Bears."

Cindy found she liked Kevin Cavanaugh very much because he reminded her of a bigger Dan Burke.

Kevin grinned and shook his head sadly. "Is that the way to speak of the future father of your children, Irish?" he asked innocently. "The fact is there are a number of the Bears who will testify that I announced I was going to marry you months ago. I go down to Calumet City all the time just to see you dance. You're great! And you have a magnificent body, too."

Suddenly Kelly blushed red as a beet. "Do you mean to say you have seen me... strip?" she demanded.

"Well, I thought it would help you keep your job if there were customers in the joint. I thought you were doing it for customers. I mean, you don't need such a public place to strip just for me. Isn't that the way you keep your job? Pack the place with customers?" He grinned at her and asked, "And is this all the thanks I get?"

The others just laughed and Ted Collins told them that, aside from being a professional football player, Kevin was a metallurgical engineer from Notre Dame, had his master's degree and was well along in his course work for his Ph.D. He was considered to be the foremost authority on electric steelmaking and electric-furnace quality control. Furthermore, he had been elected to Tau Beta Pi, the engineering equivalent of Phi Beta Kappa.

Kelly murmured, "Oh great! A guy who can only communicate in equations."

Kevin looked at the three women together and quietly whistled. "You have to be the three most beautiful women in the world!" He grinned at Cindy and said, "Miss Martin, as beautiful as you are, and in spite of how much I love blue-eyed blondes, I'll have to take a pass. You aren't quite tall enough for me."

Turning to April, he shook his head and said, "Unfortunately, you share Miss Martin's height problem, and I happen to know Ron Jackson is a very jealous man." Kevin looked sad as he continued: "He's won too many games for us this year. I can't afford to destroy his morale by taking you away from him." He looked at her with his eyes wide and said, "I hope you're an understanding person, April? Everyone on the team says you are. You do know, it's just in the interest of team unity, don't you?"

April's eyes were dancing as she very solemnly said that she appreciated the great sacrifice he was making.

He smiled a beaming smile and said, "I'm so glad you two girls are so understanding! I guess that leaves me stuck with Irish, here. At about five feet ten, she's more my size, anyway. You do have a name, don't you? Something more than Irish?"

Kelly just glared daggers at him. Cindy said, "I'm terribly sorry, Kevin. I would like to introduce you to Kelly Kathleen McBride. Like you, she's a graduate of Notre Dame. She majored in English and philosophy and was elected to Phi Beta Kappa."

She grinned and added, "Isn't it wonderful the way God works? Here she is, particularly strong in the area in which she believes you're weak. She can even explain the meanings of some of the big words to you. I think it's neat. By the way, Kevin, have you named your first six children?"

Kevin looked at Cindy very solemnly and said, "Only the first four. After all, the mother should have some input, don't you think? I thought I would let her name the next four and then we'll collaborate on names for the rest."

Kelly just glared at him and sputtered with rage. Finally, she said, "Kevin Patrick Cavanaugh, I wouldn't marry you if you were the last man on Earth! My God! You don't want a wife, you want a brood mare."

The byplay between Kelly and Kevin stopped suddenly when Dan Burke entered the tiny office. Dan looked around and again noticed how beautiful all the girls were. He noted there was a new addition to their costume. All three girls were wearing identical heavy gold link chains around their necks like slave collars.

He had heard the story from Janice. She had had one made in 18-carat gold for Cindy, claiming all slaves should wear collars. The chain was a wide chain-link necklace that was very heavy because of the weight of all its gold. Then Kathy Cartwright insisted all the junior slaves must have slave collars, too. The result was April and Kathy formed a small club. The catch on their necklaces was engraved with the ornate letters C and S.

Kathy explained with a grin it stood for Cindy's Slaves. It was presented to every girl who served naked as a slave at the Stewart's. Dan found out that Kathy, April and Janice split the cost and they were presented to all of the girls who qualified. He knew they were worn proudly as a part of the uniform.

April took the lead in presenting the investment proposal to Dan. When she finished the numbers, he was astonished to hear Kelly giving a detailed operational explanation of the way the steelmaking operations would work. In response to a question from Cindy, she said she had worked a couple of summers in a steel mill during college because it paid so well. That was when she became skilled in controlling a crane with hand signals.

She grinned and added, "I was always so damned hot, maybe it got me into stripping. Coupled with the fact that the guys on the crew would work stripped to the waist and razzed me because I wouldn't."

Kevin said, "Why not, Kelly? You have a beautiful chest. What were you ashamed of? Or didn't you have your full bust development then?"

She glared at him and continued with the explanation. Ted Collins then introduced the management team, explaining that Kevin was a critical ingredient because of his knowledge of electric steelmaking. Cindy watched with pride as her people made the entire presentation. Dan then proceeded to comb it out, asking every kind of question he could think of. Finally, he turned to Collins and asked, "Ted, is this something you and your people really want to do? Do you or your people have any questions?"

"I don't, Dan. We do have one, though. People: We have enough people to get started, but I'm a little concerned about staffing up. Do you have any ideas?"

Cindy smiled and said, "That's not a problem. One of my other officers, Kathy Cartwright, can line up three full staffs if you ever need that many. She has a line on top steel men from Poland, Czechoslovakia, Germany, Northern Ireland, and the United Kingdom. There are some Poles she has spoken to who can't wait to have the opportunity to make the best damned steel in the world in the best country in the world!" She smiled and added, "They are really good steelmen and good workers. Are you interested?"

"Sam Smith can get you up to 500 blacks he'll personally vouch for. They will work!" April added.

Cindy explained Kathy's language fluency and guaranteed the men would be ready as soon as they were needed. Then Collins said, "I guess that takes care of the staff, then. Now all we need is the money."

Cindy said, "The deal we're offering is $500 million. $100 million will be for 80 percent of the equity; there will be two investors. The remainder will be bank term debt. Chicago Trust will put up $400 million, but there's another Chicago bank that may participate with us. You'll have 20 percent for your management team and we will want to know how you're going to divide it. You'll have the opportunity to increase the management holding to a total of 40 percent within ten years. How does that sound to you?"

"It sounds like I'm dreaming," Collins replied. "How long will it take you to line up the money. And where, in Heaven's name, are you going to find two people to put up $100 million?"

"That's the easy part," Cindy said with a smile. "I mentioned Kathy Cartwright, who is also in my division. Half of the money is hers. The other half is coming from April's mother." The bankers smiled as they watched Ted and Kevin's jaws drop.

Kevin recovered first. He looked at April speculatively with his eyes dancing and said, "April, maybe I was a little hasty. The more I think about it, the more I realize you're really not that short. I realize now I wasn't being fair. A guy should make allowances for the less fortunate. And hell, a guy can carry this team loyalty stuff too far."

April just frowned and shook her head, but her eyes were dancing with glee. "You're too eager, Kev ... and too late. Now I see you only love me for my money. I'm sorry. You had your chance and you blew it."

Kevin pretended to be crushed. Ted had recovered by now and was looking down at the table top, slowly shaking his head. He looked at Cindy and said, "I don't know what to say. You're telling us that two investors and a bank are willing to put up half a billion dollars! And the investors are close personal friends, to say the very least. Wow! What a responsibility!" He shook his head again and asked, "What's the next step?"

Cindy looked at Dan. "Dan Burke is the best financial analyst in the business, Ted," she said. "Dan, I want to make the loan. What do you think the reaction will be in the bank?"

"Instant approval. This is a win-win-win sort of deal. We do something for the community, for the region and for the people. How can we lose?"

The discussion became more general with Kevin discussing the economics of electric steelmaking. It appeared they would be able to sell at a profit with a price just slightly more than half the delivered price of competition. Then they took a tour and watched through dark goggles as the electric furnace turned out a small batch of steel. Cindy was impressed with Kevin's knowledge and, surprisingly, Kelly's.

As they were preparing to leave, Kevin took Kelly in his arms and kissed her again, soundly. Cindy shook her head in amusement as she saw the unmistakable signs of the girl's knees giving way. Again, they all winced at the sharp sound as she slapped his face and stalked away. She saw Kevin slowly rub his cheek as he watched Kelly move and noted the love in his eyes as he watched her go.

It was now mid-December and the Bears were playing their last regular-season game against the Dolphins in Miami. Surprisingly, Jan and Peter Stewart decided to go down to see it. Because Miami was out of play-off contention and its stadium was so large, getting tickets was not a problem. They had chartered a plane and planned to take Dan and Cindy, along with Susan and April, down with them.

In spite of her size, Cindy thought Kelly looked very cute and woebegone when she came into the Stewart kitchen early one morning the week of the game. They were meeting to review the loan proposal in its final form before sending it forward, but Kelly had arrived over an hour ahead of the meeting. As usual, Cindy was wearing no clothes and Kelly quickly shed hers. They sat at the kitchen table with coffee and Cindy waited for Kelly to say something. It was obvious something was bothering the girl.

Finally, still looking into her cup and idly stirring the coffee, Kelly said, "Cindy, I have a great favor to ask: Could I come down to Miami with you? I would be happy to pay my own way."

"Of course you can, honey!" Cindy replied, "but that's not what's on your mind, is it?"

"It's Kevin," she said softly. "What should I do?" Cindy noticed that tears were rolling down her cheeks. In spite of it, she looked lovely. Then she started to cry in earnest. "Cindy, I'm a filthy stripper! Everyone and his brother-in-law has seen me, has seen my cunt, and I've tempted them. I don't deserve a guy like Kevin! But, God, I love him so!"

"How long have you been in love with him?" Cindy asked quietly.