Deadly Lode (Trace Brandon Book 1) (23 page)

“
Not many
.
By the way,
I
’
ve seen your recent filings and noted that you put IUC
’
s Jim Lee on your board. I believe
IUC
now own
s
a twenty percent interest in Montana Creek Mining
.
”

“
Yes, Jim
’
s now on the board.
”

“
Well
,
there you go, Trace. My interest is close to theirs
,
and I expect board representation.
”

“
Valid argument, Cyrus. Let me run it by my board
,
and I
’
ll get back to you.
”

“
Fine, Trace
.
I
’
ll wait to hear from you.
”

I hung up and
got all our directors on a
conference
call.

“
Well,
I guess
we don
’
t have to worry
about
Rosenburg
’
s shares
any longer,
”
Wally said.
“
Cyrus is right
,
of course
. H
e owns or controls enough shares to seek board representation
, a
nd we
’
ve set a precedent by
putting
Jim on
the board.
”

“
I agree, Trace,
”
Will concurred.

“
Is there some reason why we wouldn
’
t want to bring
Cyrus
or his representative on the board?
”
Jim asked.

“
It won
’
t be Cyrus,
”
I replied.
“
He
’
s got a federal felony charge for tax evasion. It
’
ll be Malcolm Trueblood
,
CEO of Twisp River Resources.
”

“
What
’
s his background?
”
Jim asked.

“
MBA from Stanford, fifteen years with
GoldEx
,
and last five years with Twisp,
”
I replied.

Jim whistled
.
“
P
retty impressive
. S
o what
’
s the bad news?
”

“
H
is association with
Cyrus
,
”
Wally said
.
“
Cyrus is a notorious stock promoter, pump and dumper
,
and big
-
time short seller
.
Hell,
he
’
s been known to
short his own deal
s
.
”

“
I see
,
”
Jim
replied.
“
Not a group we
’
d really like on the inside.
”

“
Not my first choice,
”
I replied.

“
Well, if we don
’
t bring Malcolm on, we
’
ll likely face a legal action, which we
’
ll lose
, a
nd which could have a negative effect on our share price
,
”
Wally added.

“
Agreed,
”
I
replied
.
“
Well,
Malcolm
’
s
only one vote
on our board
, he
’
s got a hell of a resume
,
and he does represent almost twenty percent of our outstanding shares. I vote we bring him on, emphasize his resume
to the investment community
,
and make the best of it. All in favor, say aye.
”

With no real alternative, the measure carried unanimously.

“
I
’
ll call Malcolm and let him know he
’
s been appointed to the board,
”
I said
.
“
The shareholders can ratify it
at the next
a
nnual
m
eeting.
”

Peter Manetti
disembarked from his
Continental flight
and
cleared customs
,
using a bogus passport in the name of Joseph B
aglio. He rented a car, drove to the ferry landing in downtown Vancouver
,
and crossed the harbor to North Vancouver. Fifteen minutes later he knocked on
Rosenburg
’
s front door.

Rosenburg answered the door and
instinctively
stepped back a
half
-
step
when he got a look at
t
he Chemist
.

“
Mr. Rosenburg
,
I
’
m
Peter Manetti
. I believe Mr.
Pantelli
contacted you?
”

“
Yes, please come in. I
’
ve got your package in my den. Please follow me.
”

“
No. I was instructed to take deliver
y
in the
f
oyer. I understand the last transaction completed in your den didn
’
t turn out so well for one of the participants.
”

Anger flickered in Rosenburg
’
s eyes.

“
Is there a problem
,
Mr. Rosenburg?
”

“
No, no problem. Please wait here
,
and I
’
ll get the package.
”

Rosenburg returned with a briefcase and opened it for
Manetti
’
s
inspection.

“
Want to count it?
”

“
No, I
’
m sure it
’
s all there
,
”
Manetti
replied,
closing the briefcase and turning toward the door.
“
I doubt y
ou
’
re dumb enough to short the
Pantelli
family
.
”

Peter
returned to the Hotel Victoria
, counted the money
,
just in case Rosenburg
was dumb enough
,
and called Al
Pantelli
.

“
Mr.
Pantelli
, I
’
ve got the package
,
and it
’
s complete.
”

“
Okay,
I
’
ll send the
c
asino
’
s jet up tonight to pick up the package. Meet the plane at the corporate terminal and give the
package
to the pilot. W
hen
you
’
ve completed all your business,
take a commercial flight back to Vegas.
”

“
Understood
.
I should
have this wrapped up
in a couple of days
.
”

“
Perfect
.
I
’
ll have the jet
up there in about
t
hree hours.
”

Manetti
met the jet
, handed the briefcase to the pilot
,
and returned to the Hotel Victoria to
prep
the delivery system for the
nerve
agent.

After our impromptu board meeting, I called Cyrus.

“
Cyrus, Trace Brandon. Just wanted to let you know
.
I
’
ve contacted the other board members
,
and we
’
ve voted on adding Malcolm to our board.
”

“
And?
”

“
The resolution passed unanimously
. Malcolm Trueblood is now a director of Montana Creek Mining Corporation.
”

“
Thank you, Trace. I appreciate it
,
and I think it is fair. After all, I do have a hell of a stake in your company.
”

“
You mean
,
our company
,
don
’
t you?
”

Cyrus chuckled
.
“
Y
es, our company.
Don
’
t worry
,
Trace
. We
both have the same long
-
term goal.
”

“
Which is?
”

“
Whatever
best
benefits the shareholders
of
the company
.
”

“
Glad you feel that way. Do you want to notify Malcolm
,
or should I call him?
”

“
I am scheduled to call him this morning on another matter. I
’
ll tell him you
’
ll be calling him.
I believe his appointment should come from the
c
hairman of the board.
”

Peter Manetti
didn
’
t get the moniker of
“the
Chemist
”
by accident. In another life
,
he
’
d earned a PhD in
c
hemistry from LSU. After the death of his wife
,
Julie
,
from an especially
virulent form of colon cancer,
he
’
d grown increasingly bitter
and
hateful
.
Molecule by molecule
his soul
, like his wife
’
s cancer,
metastasized into pure evil.

For this job,
Manetti
brought
an
organophosphate
pesticide he
’
d upgraded to military toxicity. Originally marketed to the public in the 1950
’
s under the name
OPP
-D
,
the compound
had
killed
nearly as many
farmers
as
bugs.
Realizing its potential value as a chemical weapon, t
he government
had
s
ei
zed
most of the
commercial
supply
a
nd turned it over to the military
, w
ho, with taxpayer dollars, refined the compound into one of the deadliest nerve agents known to man
, VX Agent
.
Manetti
had
neglected to turn in
the
two gallons
of
OPP-D
he
’
d been experimenting with.