Chapter 15

Brian was up early to go to the law office but he let the girls sleep in. He had a shower and a bit to eat and, after looking in to see them still sleeping, left the girls undisturbed and called Gary to let him know he was ready. They met in the lobby and got in the limo.

"Ok Brian, slip this vest on and start wearing it whenever you go out. It's lightweight but can stop most shot smaller bullets and knifes" Gary instructed him as he handed it over.

Brian took off his suit jacket and shirt and put on the thin vest and got re-dressed.

"Ok, remember they are probably still recording everything in their building so just talk about trivial stuff with Miss Burns and nothing but accounting or lawyer stuff to us. Tim Kerr will be your accountant and I, Gary Deacon will be your lawyer for this morning" Gary continued. "I talked this over with Mark, Henry and your Granddad and we all figure this should be pretty safe but we will sit on either side of you in the boardroom and have Stacy sit beside Tim and will cover you both if the something happens. Don't be a hero and just get under the table if the shit hits the fan. It's our job to handle it; it's your job to survive and get back to those lovely ladies of yours."

"Amen to that" Brian said with a grin.

"Besides, I do not want to be the one to tell them that you got hurt again. The women in your family and your two girlfriends scare me and, with the money they have, you can bet that they will make the person responsible pay in a most horrible manner" Gary said with a shudder.

Tim added "I don't know who would be worse, your grandmother, your mother or Heather."

"Probably my mother, because she would want to do it herself" Brian answered. "Grandma would pay someone to do it but it would be cleaner and Heather isn't old enough to get real vengeful yet."

Gary piped up with "All three of them would be downright terrifying if they were after me so let's not give them any reason to get angry shall we?"

"Good answer" Brian said with a grin. "Ok, we've made tentative plans to go to the house in Miami for a week or so on Wednesday morning. It would be just Heather and Emmy accompanying me in the plane along with our security escort of course. The plane sits ten or eleven so with the hostess April that leaves up to six or seven seats for security. After a week in Miami it's off to the West coast for Emmy's audition and then we start to visit all of my assets, residences, hotels, resorts and companies, starting out in the west coast and then heading east."

"Ok, I'm thinking a permanent team of four, three escorts plus a team leader to travel with you full time. We can hire more at each location if needed. We will have to give them days off sometime so we'll either fly in another team or you'll have to schedule a stay at home day with rental security at a secure residence or at one of your hotels or resorts" Gary said.

"Well, I'm not going to tell you how to do it but I would suggest rotating teams of four with a week on and a week off, with the off week paid for of course. I'm sure we can get some discount or free rates at the resorts or hotels I own for the off team if they don't have somewhere else to go. Let me know the extra cost and we'll get a contract signed before we leave for Miami" Brian responded.

"Ok, that's more than generous Brian, thanks" Gary said. "I'll get it all set up for Wednesday morning and have the team check the plane before you take off. Let's keep this trip a secret as long as possible between you folks and us."

"I have to tell Miss Burns as she has to let me know where the house is in Miami and how to get in and stuff. We also have to let the crew know in advance" Brian told him.

"Don't tell her until we can get her out into the car later today" Gary cautioned. "I will work with her on what we need to get into the residence including all security codes and any keys for the house and the vehicles down there. We will meet with the crew and do a security check and get a non-disclosure agreement signed by all three."

"That sounds good to me Gary" Brian agreed. "We had better get all the keys and codes for all the residences and contacts at all the hotels and resorts so we can pop in without a lot of crap to get into each on. I will set up a travel agenda on the secure laptop and keep you updated whenever it changes."

"I'll handle that and get them to the team leader for Wednesday morning" Gary assured him. "Now, your team asked us to get a few more documents secured with us before they got in. Don't forget to ask for the full meeting for nine sharp first thing."

They pulled up to the law firm just before eight and all three of them piled out of the lime and went inside. They were shown into Stacy's office and Brian introduced Tim and Gary to her.

"So what can I do for you this morning Mr. Trainer?" Stacy asked.

"First, we only have a few things to go over and we'll have everything we need. Can you have the partners and the owners of the other two firms here for nine so we can have the final sign-off with everyone present please?" Brian asked.

"Sure, let me handle that right away and then we can go over whatever else you want while they get here" She replied. "Excuse me for a moment and I will have some calls made immediately."

She left the office and the men sat quietly waiting for her. Brian did a scan and found only one partner in the building so far and he was concentrating on how he was going to get an intern to have an affair with him. He was watching her on his computer as she was working at her desk and he was salivating over her body.

Brian moved on to find Stacy and she was busy making sure all the partners were reached so they could get here to be arrested. She had happy thoughts when she pictured Gibbs and Charleston getting put in prison with a big mean looking cellmate. Brian chuckled to himself over her thoughts.

Stacy came back in and said "Ok, we got hold of some and their secretaries are in the process of getting the rest in now. What do you need in terms of documents gentlemen?"

Gary handed her a list and replied "Can you get us the ones on this list and bring them here please? We need to review them and give Mr. Trainer an ok before the meeting."

"Sure, the partners made it clear you were to get anything you need" Stacy said. "Give me a few minutes and I'll have them here. I'll send in Robin with some coffee, muffins and a diet coke for you Mr. Trainer."

"Thanks for remembering Miss Burns" Brian said smiling.

She stood up with a smile and left the office.

After a few minutes, the long legged beauty from Friday came in, dressed in a short skirt and tight blouse, and set down a tray with two coffees, cream and sugar, some muffins, a diet coke can and a glass of ice.

"Good morning gentlemen, is there anything else I can get for you this morning?" Robin said in a sultry voice and a smile on her face.

Brian looked at the two men beside him and they were blatantly staring at her.

"My two colleagues would love you to stay and chat with them for hours Robin, but I'm afraid that they have things to do. I think we'll be fine for a while thank you. Perhaps if you find either of their drooling cute, you might want to give them your number or if not, get one of the lawyers to file a restraining order against them"

She looked them over and said "I'll certainly think about that Mr. Trainer. I gather giving you my number would be a waste of time?"

"I'm afraid so, I've been taken off the market" Brian responded with a smile.

"All the good ones are" she said with a pout.

She left with a bit of an extra wiggle in her step and closed the door behind her.

"Damn, she's fine!" Tim exclaimed.

"What a fox" Gary agreed.

"That one would eat both of you alive and spit out just your bones, picked clean" Brian warned them as he reached for the coke can and the glass of ice.

"True, but what a way to go!" Tim replied with a grin.

Brian quickly read Robin's mind.

"Damn, I was hoping to snag him if I could get close to him while those women weren't around today. I'll have to ask Miss Burns about the dark haired guy beside him. He looks handsome enough and he's probably an accountant or a lawyer that could take care of me in a nice manner."

Pretty typical, Brian thought. Tim wouldn't stand a chance if she really wanted him.

The three men chatted about sports for a bit and he got their views of the Jets, the football team he had a stake in. Neither was a fan of hockey so that was out as a topic and Brian didn't watch baseball.

Stacy came in and gave them some of the documents they had requested.

"Here are some of them gentlemen. I'll bring the rest soon. All the partners except Charleston are on their way in as well as the two owners. Mr. Charleston says he is indisposed and can't make it" she informed them.

"Unless, he's in the hospital on his death bed, I would especially request him to be here and on time, as he is the person who wrote the proposal up" Brian said with a smile.

"Yes Sir, I will have one of the senior partners make sure of it" Stacy said with a similar smile on her face.

She left and the three men looked at each other.

Brian said "Gary, you're looking a bit grey there. Maybe you should go get some fresh air for a few minutes while we wait. I need you here as much as we need Mr. Charleston here."

"That's a good idea; I'm am kind of queasy. I'll be back in a few minutes" Gary replied as he stood up and left quickly.

Tim and Brian looked at each other and shrugged their shoulders. Brian wasn't sure if he would show but I guess they could pull him in when they raided his home. Brian scanned the building's occupants and found two more partners in and found that they were just excited that the deal looked like it was going to be signed.

Stacy and Gary came back in a few minutes later with good news.

"It looks like Mr. Fowler convinced him to come in" Stacy said grinning.

"Good. Gary, everything ok?" Brian asked.

"Yes Sir, I'm ok now" Gary replied.

"Good to hear it Gary. Stacy, do we have the last of those documents?" Brian inquired.

"Right here Sir" she replied, handing them to Gary.

"Fantastic. We'll review them and if all is in order we should be ready when your team is assembled" Brian said.

"I'll leave you to it then" Stacy said as she left her office and shut the door.

Gary made sure they had every document on the list and then put then in his metal briefcase and locked it. Brian looked at his watch and saw they had five minutes to go so he scanned and found everyone assembled except Charleston. He scanned out as far as he could but he wasn't in range yet.

"Time to go Sir" Gary said, jolting him from his scan.

"Oh, sorry, I was daydreaming there for a second" Brian said as he shook his head.

They stood up and walked out of Stacy's office and went down to the conference room.

Mr. Fowler greeted him warmly "Mr. Trainer, so good to see you this morning. I trust you had a good weekend?"

"Good morning Mr. Fowler. Our weekend was busy to say the least" Brian replied.

Brian did the introducing of Gary and Tim to each partner and owner which took up a few more minutes.

Stacy came in with a folder and a box and sat down beside Tim as per the plan. She kept the box but put the folder in front of him. The rest of the men sat down again and got settled. Robin came in with the coffee cart and muffin tray and then brought Brian his requisite diet coke and glass of ice.

Everyone was served and had their coffee properly sweetened by five after nine except for Charleston.

"Do we know when Mr. Charleston will be joining us Miss Burns?" Brian asked to stall for a few more minutes.

"He should be here any minute Mr. Trainer. I will check on his status right now" she replied as she got up and pulled out her cell.

"Sorry or the delay Mr. Trainer, Mr. Charleston was not feeling well and was not going to come in today or he would usually be in by now" Mr. Fowler informed him.

"I'm sorry to drag him in here but Gary has a question for him and since he wrote the proposal up I thought it best he was here at this special time" Brian informed them.

"I agree totally Mr. Trainer, he should be here to be part of this occasion for all of us" Mr. Fowler replied with a smile.

Stacy came back in and said to the room "He's just parking up the street now gentlemen; he should be here in a few minutes."

"Thank you Miss Burns" Mr. Fowler replied.

Brian quickly scanned the room and the men could barely contain themselves with glee that their treachery wouldn't get caught or their retirements' were secure. Gary was thinking that he was glad they moved the time back to 9:10 to make sure everyone was in the room. Stacy was worried that the authorities would barge in before Charleston got here and he would bolt as soon as he saw a bunch of people come in at once.

"Miss Burns, after we are done here, I need to go over a few things with you so please make sure we connect sometime today" Brian asked.

"Certainly Mr. Trainer, I'll make sure to find you when this is all over" Stacy replied.

Finally, to everyone's relief, Charleston walked in slowly and sat down before saying "Sorry everyone, as you can see I'm in pretty rough shape, I was mugged over the weekend and on top of that I have a severe case of the flu. I planned to take time off for a couple of days but I wanted to be here for this occasion Brian."

"Sorry to drag you out of bed Mr. Charleston, but hopefully this won't take long. Can we get you a cup of coffee?" Brian asked.

"That would be great, thanks" he replied.

Brian got up and poured him a cup and brought it over to him, thinking it was unfortunate that he didn't have some arsenic with him. It was 9:10 on his watch he saw as he sat back down and grabbed a muffin before he pushed the muffin plate over to Charleston. He grabbed one as well and sat back. Brian broke the muffin apart and put a piece in, hopping no one would make him talk while he was eating. It bought them another minute but he could see everyone was getting restless.

"Ok, now that we're all here I have a couple of questions before we sign. Tim here found a clause in this proposal that says something about increasing the percentage your firms get to split after next year" Brian said. "Can someone explain why that needs to be in there?"

"Mat, could you take that one please?" Mr. Fowler asked.

"Yes Sir. Brian, that's in there because the bigger the fund gets, the more work we will have to do to manage it. It compensates us for the extra manpower we have to bring in" Charleston explained.

"I'm not a math wizard, but your new 3% grows as the fund grows" Brian explained. "The increase from 2 to 3 percent alone gets you another extra 6 million alone next year if the fund grows at 10%. If we go to 4% the following year, you would get a whopping 13 million more than the 13 million the current 2% would already get you.

Now, I may be new to high finance, but an extra 13 million would buy me 130 new employees at 100k a year. Where do you plan to put all these people?" Brian asked mildly.

"Each firm would have to expand somewhat to accommodate the extra employees required Brian. I'm not sure if your calculations are correct either. We could meet offline and check your figures if you wish" Charleston replied.

Brian finally heard a commotion coming down the hall.

"Sir, they are in a sensitive meeting and I can't let you in there" they all heard the receptionist say loudly.

"This allows me to go anywhere in this building Miss. Please step aside or you will be removed" a man's voice was heard.

"What is going on out there" Mr. Fowler asked, plainly irritated. "Can someone please see what is going on? I'm sorry for the disturbance Mr. Trainer."

Gibbs was closest and got up and opened the door which made the receptionist fall into the room into him. Sutherland and a few others came right in behind her, a couple of uniformed policemen, some obvious detectives and then some better dressed lawyers or accountants.

"What is the meaning of this?" Mr. Fowler said in outrage. "We are having a private meeting here with an important client."

John stated "I am assistant district attorney John Sutherland, and I'm afraid this meeting is over. I have warrants here to search and seize all documents, all computers, all files, all phone records, all back up media and extra storage at this facility. Additionally, the accounting firm, the investment firm and all of your residences are also being searched as we speak, as will any other facility that we find you have stored any records at.

Furthermore, I have arrest warrants for all partners of Ravenhurst Law firm as well as the owners of the two other firms for embezzlement, theft, various crimes across state borders, etc. all pertaining to your management of the BT trust fund."

"What are you talking about? What evidence do you have to support such outrageous claims?" Mr. Fowler asked.

"When you buy companies for the fund, it's usually a good thing to purchase a real company, not a fabricated one in Georgia, isn't that right Mr. Gibbs" John asked, looking at him.

Gibbs looked shocked and blabbered "I have no idea what you're talking about."

"Tell it to the judge Mr. Gibbs" Sutherland said. "In a minute we will read all of you your Miranda rights and take you downtown for processing. Mr. Trainer, you had something to say before you left?"

"Thank you Mr. Sutherland" Brian said. "Gentlemen, the laundry list of discrepancies, potential crimes and probable outright theft by some or all of you has made my decision easy. I have moved the management of the trust fund to another firm as of yesterday. You no longer have access to any of the files, accounts, companies, hotels, resorts residences, the stocks or bonds or anything else that has anything to do with the trust fund. Any such attempt to access them or to contact any of the companies' employees will now also be a crime and will be prosecuted. Our relationship is now over. Good luck gentlemen, you will need it."

He stood up with Gary and Tim and quickly left to exit the building in the accompaniment of one of Sutherland's lawyers who was at the apartment over the weekend. Once they were outside Brian turned and asked "What about Miss Burns?"

"She will be pulled out first as they will go by lowest to highest seniority. They will take her to her office first to get anything she needs and then take her directly over to her new law firm and set her up with a copy of all the files and documents" the lawyer said.

"Ok, good. Can you have her call Gary and I when she's all set up over there please? We also need her to grab all the security codes and keys for all the residences and other places I own so they are not confiscated."

"No problem Mr. Trainer, I'll pass the message and instructions as soon as she's in her office here" he replied.

Gary handed over the documents they had retrieved from Stacy to the lawyer and then said quietly "Careful what you say in that building, everything could be recorded."

"I better tell John that now. We'll call you if something comes up Mr. Trainer" he replied as he turned to walk back in.

The three of them got into the limo and drove back to the hotel.

"That went well except the timing" Brian said. "I thought they were coming in at nine?"

"I got a hold of Mark and told him about Charleston being late and they agreed to delay until he got here. I couldn't let you know because of the eavesdropping" Gary told them.

"Well I'm glad that is finally over" Brian stated and settled back in the seat to relax.

Brian was looking out the window when he saw the famous Tiffany's jewellery store up ahead.

"Can we stop for a few minutes guys?" Brian asked. "I need to get some things at Tiffany's for my ladies."

"It should be ok" Gary said. "I'll come in and Tim can stay by the car watching the outside."

Gary knocked on the dividing window and told the driver to pull over at Tiffany's for a few minutes. Brian and Gary were soon walking into the elegant building. It looked like it had just opened so it wasn't busy.

Brian led Gary over to the ring section. There were several glass displays filled with different designs and different prices. He perused the diamond rings but didn't see anything he liked in the first three or four. Brian kept moving to the right and finally found a glass case with the bigger diamond rings.

"Now we're talking" Brian muttered. "You know anything about rings or diamonds Gary?"

"The bigger they are the more expensive they are, is about all I know" Gary said with a grin.

"Thanks, you're a big help" Brian said dryly.

He looked around and saw a trio of woman standing behind a counter a bit away and walked over to get some help. They were talking amongst themselves and ignored him though he was sure that they had seen him. He looked around and saw a younger woman just finishing helping out a couple buy some of the less expensive jewellery that Tiffany's carried for tourists. They thanked her profusely and she smiled and told them to enjoy their visit. He walked over near her and went back to looking in some cases.

"Hello, welcome to Tiffany's. Can I help you with something Sir?" she asked with a genuine smile.

"Yes you can Miss. I need to buy two rings and matching earrings, preferably with diamonds. I don't know a thing about jewellery or diamonds so I need help" he told her.

"Ok, let's see what we can find for you Sir" she responded with a smile while leading him to the cheap end of the diamond ring aisle.

"We've looked at this end but they are pretty small. I found a couple I like down here" Brian told her as he led her to the last display unit at the far end.

"Sir, these are the high end price items, I've never sold any of these" she told him. "I will get one of the other sales representatives to help you."

"No, you know about rings and diamonds right?" he asked.

"Yes, but" she started to say.

"Do you work on commission?" he interrupted her.

"Yes, but" she answered.

"Good, I want you to help me" Brian said with finality. "Those others ignored me for some reason while you came right over to help. So, I need two rings with the same size stone that look very similar or are identical. The earring pairs should match and look the same as the rings. I want high quality impressive sets to show both of them how special they are to me."

"Ok, what kind of budget are we looking at Sir? The ones in this case go from $15,000 to $500,000 for one ring" she said looking a bit worried. "We can look further down in the less expensive cases if that's out of your budget."

"No, this case is fine. Now, I like that ring there, do you have two of those?" Brian asked.

"I can check with the manager Sir. I don't mean to insult you Sir, but that ring is $202,000 for just the one. The manager will be mad at me if this is a joke" she said.

"The cost is not a problem" Brian said, looking around for Gary.

He saw him sitting over by the wall watching him in amusement. Brian motioned him over.

"Gary, this young lady needs convincing I can afford the rings in this case" Brian told him.

Gary looked at the prices on the rings in the case and then said with a grin "You can't decide so you're buying them all? Maybe you should just have them come in and help you Brian."

"Gary, I'm just buying two rings from this case, not all of them" Brian said exasperated. "And then the matching earrings for each."

"Oh ok" Gary said with a smile. He turned to the girl and said seriously "He can afford all the rings in that case, let alone just two of them."

"Ok, but the manager will probably ask for some proof, so please don't get angry. We have a lot of people come in and have the reps go through everything and then just walk out laughing at the end. I'll go find the manager to help us out" she said with a smile.

"I saw you picked her out rather than the three bitches over there. You know you're going to make her year with this commission" Gary remarked.

"She deserves it more. She probably works harder for her pay check than all three of them together and it's probably only a quarter of one of theirs" Brian stated.

He saw the young sales rep talking with an older distinguished man who looked a bit displeased with her as she was explaining her situation. He looked over at him and then decided to come over.

"Good morning gentlemen. Donna tells me you wish a pair of the oval diamond ring in platinum in this case and some matching earrings. I do not wish to insult you but could you provide some indication of your ability to purchase the rings please" he asked in a polite manner.

"Certainly" Brian said, liking his approach. He reached for his wallet and handed him the credit card connected with his personal account. "I'm sure you must have a machine that can check the credit limit or lack of one on that."

"Yes we do Sir. On another note, Donna is not one of our usual sales representatives for these items, I'll have one of our more experienced reps come help you with this purchase" he told Brian as he started to motion one of them over.

Brian replied "If you do I will walk out of here without buying a single thing. Those three more experienced reps ignored me when they plainly saw I was trying to get them to help me. On the other hand, Donna here came up to me without me even trying to get her attention and has been very helpful. If you wish to help Donna gain some experience that would be fine, but she gets the full commission on this purchase."

"As you wish Sir. I'm sorry about the poor service you have received so far. Donna and I will do our best to make the rest of your shopping experience a more pleasant one" the manager told him. "Donna, could you take these gentlemen over to the earring display case and see if you can find some matching earrings and I will join you shortly after I have swiped the card, though I have the feeling what I will find when I do."

"Yes Sir" Donna replied. "Gentlemen, the diamond earrings that would match that ring are over this way."

They walked close to the three other sales reps who were watching Donna with smirks on their faces as she showed Brian and Gary what she thought would look good with the rings.

"Do your friends like long dangling earrings with multiple stones or shorter single stones closer to the earlobe?" Donna asked.

"They both wear short ones. Let's go with a single large stone that hangs down a short bit. Can we get a matching stone to the ring but a bit smaller? Brian asked.

"Let me look through the catalogue quickly while you look through the case" Donna suggested.

Brian looked and didn't see anything so he moved down a bit. That gave one the other sales rep the opportunity to move close to Donna.

"Donna, you have a customer over in the trinket section. Why are you over here wasting your time with these posers?" she asked in a snarky voice.

"I'm doing my job Susan unlike you, so leave me alone" Donna said as she kept looking through the book.

"Gary, this reminds me of that movie with Julia Roberts when she went back to the store and asked the snotty sales women if they worked on commission" Brian said loudly.

"Aw yes, the old 'Big Mistake' line Mr. Trainer" Gary played along.

"Yes. Susan, please don't disturb Donna from her excellent work" Brian said.

Susan shot him a dirty look and stomped away as the manager watched closed by.

"I trust everything is order?" Brian asked.

"Yes Mr. Trainer, though I had to place a call to the bank to verify the amount. It seems the card has a limit, though quite a high one of ten million" the manger remarked.

"Ok, let's get this finished up please. Do you have two of those rings?" Brian asked.

"Yes we do Mr. Trainer" he replied.

"Good, now I don't see anything that matches it in a single stone earring. Donna, did you find anything in the catalogue?" Brian asked.

"This pair looks promising Mr. Trainer" she said as she turned the book to face Brian.

"It certainly matches well. What do you think?" Brian asked, turning the book to the manager.

"That would be most suitable. Good choice Donna" he said, smiling at her.

"Great, now let's get two pairs of those and the two rings into two boxes so we can get back to the hotel" Brian said.

"I'll get the rings and earrings out of the vault Donna, while you run the card through" the manager said.

"Yes Sir" she said as she grabbed the card from him before he left.

"Mr. Trainer, do you know the ring sizes of your friends?" Donna asked.

"No, crap I don't have a clue" Brian said. "Can they come in and get them sized in a bit? We're just down the street at the Plaza."

"That won't be a problem Sir. We will handle it on the spot when you come in" Donna assured him.