Chapter 18

It was nice to watch Tamara get ready. No nonsense and no wasted moves. The more I saw of her, the more I liked her. She was ready about five minutes before her cell phone rang. "No, you don't have to come in," Tamara said. "I'll be right out."

Tamara came over to where I was laying on the bed and kissed me. "I'll call you as soon as I know where and when we'll have dinner," she said.

"Be sweet and I'll catch up with you two later," I said as she walked out the door.

I grabbed my phone and called Bob. "Hello Bob, John here," I said when he answered. "I'm in Scottsdale and ready to contact McKenzie." I verified McKenzie's phone number.

"By the way, John," he said. "Tom received the prospectus and reviewed it. He called me with a couple of questions and probably needs to talk to you before you talk to McKenzie."

"I'll call him when we get off the phone. On another subject, have you looked into the leases of the tenants of the office building?" I asked.

"I have been checking on them. There are currently twenty tenants on the four floors. All but two have leases that expire within the next nine months. Those two are in the first year of a three-year lease. They occupy most of the second floor," he told me.

"Can you poll the tenants and determine which ones would like to renew their leases? I would like at least half of the top floor available for my uses. I want the north half, I really like the view of the mountains but I also like the view of the valley to the west," I told him. "If the tenants that occupy the part I want plan to renew, then we'll have to offer them something to change to another floor."

Bob said he would check into it. I have been extremely pleased to find him after coming into my money. He was related to a dear friend and didn't charge me a lot for his services. I paid him a flat monthly fee and he usually piggybacked on my deals or I on his. I totally trusted his judgment.

After saying goodbye to Bob, I called Tom. "Hi Tom, Bob suggested I call you," I said.

"I received the prospectus this morning and your suspicions were well founded. The wording of the contract states that you would be buying into the consortium and that the consortium loans the money to McKenzie's company. The fine print states only a guarantee of one percent per annum. McKenzie's company has five years before having to pay any money to the consortium," he told me.

I started to say something but Tom asked me to wait until he finished. He continued, "The payback is to come from the net profit, after expenses. John, he will have unlimited use of the investment capital without having to answer to the consortium. The expenses are totally under his control."

"Bob said McKenzie's track record was very good and Bob is planning on coming in for $500,000 of his own money," I said.

"John, the only way I see this as a viable investment is for the project to be under the control of the consortium; a joint partnership if you will. As your attorney, I advise you not to accept this deal on the terms presented," Tom told me. I always loved how the tone of his voice changes when he went into his professional mode.

"Hmmm... I'll let him show me the property and try to get the names of the other partners. I promise I'll not sign anything nor give McKenzie any funds without your okay. How does that sound?" I asked.

He thanked me for having faith in him. Hell... he was the legal eagle of my team. You didn't hire professionals if you were going to second guess them in their field of specialty.

I called McKenzie next. "Hello, Mr. McKenzie, this is John Kegler. How are you today?" I greeted him.

"John, I'm so glad you called. I'm looking forward to meeting you. Are you in town?" he asked.

"Yes, I'm staying at the Scottsdale Resort & Athletic Club. We just checked in a little bit ago," I told him.

"We? Did you bring your wife?" he asked.

"I'm not married, but I did travel with my girlfriend," I replied. Hmmm... that was the first time I had actually referred to Tamara as my girlfriend. It just rolled off my tongue so naturally. "She has business in Phoenix so I used that as a reason to travel over here and meet with you and the other partners."

"Bob told me you were coming so I called all of them and we've scheduled a little golf game on Wednesday. How does that sound?" he asked me.

"Golf on Wednesday sounds good, but what about tomorrow? Are you free to show me the property and any of the plans that have been made?" I asked.

"Absolutely, I have a meeting at nine am tomorrow and will be free about eleven. How about I pick you up at your hotel about eleven-thirty and we can do lunch. Then I'll take you to my office and after that, to the property? If you don't have dinner plans, we can arrange that as well," he added.

"I don't know about dinner plans without consulting my lady, but the other sounds good. I'll see you at eleven-thirty tomorrow," I responded.

"One more thing, Mr. McKenzie," I started.

"John, please call me Jim," he interrupted.

"Okay, Jim, where are we playing golf on Wednesday?" I asked.

"Phil Jackson has made arrangements to play at his home course, Grayhawk Golf Club. I hope that's acceptable?" he asked.

I told him that was great and I'd see him tomorrow. I hung up and thought a minute. Jim, call him Jim; I have always had problems with Jims.

I looked at the clock and it was going on five; I figured I would have heard from Tamara by now. I didn't have a problem with her not calling yet; after all she is a big girl.

Next on my list was Trish. She answered on the second ring, "I was hoping you would call. Today has been really strange," she said.

"Whoa, slow down, tell me all about it," I said.

"First, I called in to work told them I wouldn't be in today. Francine, the receptionist, asked me to wait a minute and put me on hold. Jim picked up the line and asked me where hell I was. He said he had gone by the house last night and my car wasn't there. He told me he stayed there waiting on me to come home. He was really pissed," she said.

"Go on," I told her.

"I told him I wasn't coming in today and that I was giving my two weeks notice. He was really furious and started calling me names. I just hung up. He kept calling me back but I never answered any of the calls. I called the corporate office and spoke to the Regional Manager. I told him that I was giving my two weeks notice and that since I had two weeks vacation coming, I wouldn't be coming back to work. I told him I would also need to go to the office to clear out my desk. I told him that Jim had gotten both belligerent and vulgar. The Regional Manager knew Jim and also knew he and I lived together. He asked what was up? I filled him in on the breakup but not the physical abuse," she continued. "He said he would fly in to town on Friday. He would meet with me and escort me to the office to gather my things."