Chapter 6

"No. The prime is dropping fast enough it shouldn't bottom out for another two or three weeks. That'll be the time to get the loan because then I'll be able to get you 12 or 13 percent instead of 17-and-a-half or 18."

"But, Josh, I could really use the cash now. Frankie is willing to build right now if I can show him the cash. Hell, he's hurting, but if the prime keeps dropping he'll be snowed under."

"Toby, I can get you as much as you want right now at seventeen and three-quarters, but we've been doing business together for 8 years and I'm just trying to save you a little bit." He paused and furrowed his brow with the thoughts of a ' Money Man.' How best to make sure he got the loan, and save his friend some money in the process? He glanced at the racks of rifles, shotguns, and trophies, then looked at the detailed plans of the new shop.

"That cost of $32.50 a foot is really good. The house I built cost $37, and I thought I cheated the contractor... Toby, do you think you could swing it with Frankie if you had say, a quarter now and the rest the first of next month? Then we can process the main loan agreement and pick a price for the money, and take a ninety day note for the fourth part you need now."

"Now that sounds good. I'd be able to use the money I have on hand to stock-up for the move. I like it Josh. Do you think it'll be a problem to get it past the board? Damn it, if you can swing this I'll give you the Ruger XGI Special at cost, and throw in the rest of the system for nothing."

The offer brought a quick gleam to Josh's ice blue eyes. For an instant he considered grabbing the chance for the free weapon system. Then he stopped and considered what accepting the gesture would mean. He chuckled, smiled his winning smile, and stated flatly, " No Tobe. This is supposed to be a business deal. You have to make money otherwise you would never be able to pay back the loan. No." He paused and stroked the small scar midway between nose and ear. " How about this. You sell me the rifle, the reloader tools, a case of ammo, and a case of brass for the rate of the loan above true cost and you have a deal. Alright? Oh, and don't forget to add in the shipping costs. I mean it when I say True cost. "

"OK Josh." Toby grinned rather sheepishly. " I guess it would be a better deal all around, and it certainly would help pay back the loan. Hell, why don't you go ahead and take them now so I won't be tempted by a better offer."

"No, I'll wait until you sign the papers for the loan, and then I'll take out a loan so I can pay for them. " He chuckled as he reached out his hand and gripped his friend's scarred palm to seal the deal more firmly than any paper could.

"Toby, I've got to get, so thank Marty again for the great meal. I'll bring the papers and the check back tomorrow."

The retaining spring strummed as Josh pushed open the access door of the barn like building. The bright sunlight brought a grimace to his triangular but still handsome face as he strode across the old barnyard. It was going to be a good day, hell it already was a good day. First the news of the Arkansas State Government had raised the state's legal rate to 18%, and the Chase lowering its Prime Rate to 16. Then the board gave its approval for Toby's loan at 17.75%, and finally this was the day Sam and Vicky, his wife and daughter, and both sets of Grandparents were due back in Shreveport after an extended vacation in the Bahamas.

His strides slowed as he glanced at his Seiko Sundial and realized his wife's flight would leave New Orleans in less than twenty minutes. " Yes," he stated to the early afternoon sun, " it is indeed a wonderful day."

He stopped momentarily to admire the lean visage of his face in the reflection of the driver's window of his Custom Suburban. A sunglassed young man of 35 stared back at him. The face clean shaven except for a well cared for moustache. The natural, friendly lines marred only by a small sickle shaped scar that normally helped highlight the strength blazing from eyes his aviator sunglasses covered.

He smiled, straightened his tie and adjusted his mottled brown suit coat. "The coat works very well." He thought as he opened the dun colored door to step into the cab. The suit cost a lot, but did an excellent job of disguising the strength of his athletic build. It also served to hide the bulge of his Smith and Wesson Model 29, 44 magnum.

He had often worn a gun when he first joined the firm as a collector. He even had a reason to draw down on a couple of occasions, but he used bony fist once, and well placed feet during the other two incidents. He quit carrying after reaching the Vice-Presidency, but a recent rash of violent attacks aimed, it seemed, at more affluent members of the community caused him to reevaluate his decision. The well planned attacks had the police completely stymied. They had no ideas or leads in the four homicide cases, but one common factor stood out. All four were members of the Texarkana Combat Shooting Club,

and Josh was the current president. The Miller County Sheriff had deputized the remaining five members and issued permits allowing them to carry weapons for self-defense.

He thought back to the first time he strapped on a gun, a " Saturday Night Special " purchased the day after he and Tab were attacked during a race riot fourteen years before. He remembered the power he felt with the completion of so small an act. He savored those memories, the fun he and Tab had sneaking out to the pond with their pistols, rifles or shotguns. Those days were far gone. He had struggled to build a life for himself after flunking out of school, and had made it. Vice-President at the largest bank in town, married more than ten years, a child, and a fine, secure place in the community. He smiled again as he wondered what the community would say if they knew he also had one of the largest collections of guns, powder, bullets in the entire state of Arkansas.

The existence of the tremendous weapons store was known to only two people, and the other was ignorant of the actual size of the current hoard. Tab had helped him plan and build " The Haven," and he was the only who knew of the hoard's whereabouts. The thought of Tab's astonishment at how much beyond the original plans he had gone, brought a quick laugh and an intense desire to do just that, to have Tab take a vacation here and see how far he had gone. It had been months since he last thought about Tab. He wondered aloud what his old friend was doing as he double clutched to pass a pair of gasoline trucks moving south with him...