Deadly Lode (Trace Brandon Book 1) (49 page)

“
Same goes for me, Trace,
”
Crispino said,
extending his hand
.
“
A
nd please call me Pino.
”

“
Have a seat, gentlemen,
”
Al said, sitting back down.
“
What
’
ll you have to drink, gents?
”

“
Crown and water on the rocks for me,
”
I replied.

“
Ditto,
”
Cyrus said.

Al motioned a waiter
over
,
and gave
him
our drink orders. He and Pino were both drinking
red wine.

Al
started
the dialog
u
e.

“
First off,
just let me say
,
Pino and I are very pleased you
’
d both take time from your busy schedules to come to Vegas to meet with us.
And just to clarify, Pino and I are partners in all our family business ventures, including our investment in Montana Creek Mining.
”

“
Our pleasure gentlemen
,
”
I replied
.
“
I
’
m pleased
to meet you both
. I
’
d like to
t
hank
you
for your investment in Montana Creek Mining
,
and
for inviting us to this meeting
. Same goes for
the comp
’
s
,
and for the chips.
”
I paused and smiled
.
“
I
’
ve
managed to
donate
half
of
mine
back
to the casino
, b
ut Cyrus is a winner.
”

Al laughed
.
“
Cyrus always was a good gambler. It
’
s one reason I
’
m glad he
’
s also a shareholder
,
and an advisor to you.
”
Al looked across the table at Cyrus
.
“
Y
ou
’
ve
been involved in mining for, what, forty years?
”

“
Just about,
”
Cyrus replied
.
“
L
ong enough to know a good deal
when I see one
.
”

“
Well
put
, Cyrus
,
”
Al said, opening his menu
.
“
Let
’
s order
,
and then we can visit a bit. I think you
’
ll find everything on the menu is first class.
”

I
’
d eaten so much seafood in Toronto, I was craving a steak. I ordered a
p
orterhouse with all the fixin
’
s. Cyrus did likewise while the
Pantelli
brothers both had the veal.

Al was right
;
the meal
was
first
class
.

“
My compliments to the chef, Al. I come from Black Angus
,
country up in Ellensburg, Washington. But this is as fine a steak as I
’
ve ever sunk a tooth into.
”

“
Thanks, Trace,
”
Al replied.
“
We brought i
n
a hell of a chef from New Orleans
, a
nd we
have access to
some of
the best beef in Nevada.
”

We all ordered coffee and
then
got down to
business
.

“
Trace, as I mentioned on the phone, the offer we received from this Lei Chang character is quite impressive. He
’
s talking a twenty percent premium to the market price of the shares
, a
nd I sense he
’
ll go higher. But
,
there
’
s no deal unless you commit to sell your shares too.
”

I nodded
.
“
Yes, I am aware of Lei Chang and the company he heads, U
RAN
-China
Nu
c
lear Corp. And
,
as I mentioned on the phone, there could be some roadblocks to a Chinese company taking ownership of US uranium reserves. Uranium is a strategic mineral and closely regulated by the
f
eds.
I
’
m not sure the government would allow UCNC to take control of Montana Creek Mining
.
”

Pino put his coffee down
and looked at me.

“
Trace,
Chang said if he acquired our shares, yours and ours, he
’
d tender for the balance of the outstanding shares at the same price. D
on
’
t you have a fiduciary responsibility to allow your shareholders to decide if selling to Chang
’
s company is in their best interests?
”

“
Look, Pino,
”
I said,
“
I appreciate your situation, but Chang
’
s proposition is predicated on me selling my shares. Neither you all, nor the shareholders
,
are going to dictate
when
,
or to whom I sell my shares.
”

I turned to Cyrus
.
“
W
hat
’
s your take,
partner
?
”

“
Well, if we sell to the Chinese
,
we could make a lot of money
,
p
rovided the U
.
S
.
g
overnment lets the deal go through. On the other hand, we could approach International Uranium Corporation to m
atch
Chang
’
s offer. IUC
’
s managing director
, Jim Lee,
sits on our board
,
and they already own twenty percent of Montana Creek Mining.
”

I nodded in agreement
.
“
K
eep in mind
,
Jim Lee will not get into a bidding war with the Chinese.
However, neither will they
have any regulatory problems taking control of Montana Creek Mining. We might get a bit less than the Chinese c
ould
offer
, b
ut we
’
d
know the deal will close.
”

“
One other point, gentlemen,
”
Cyrus added
.
“
T
here may be other suitors who show up once the word
’
s on the street that Montana Creek Mining is in play.
”

I looked around the table
.
“
Okay fellows,
I
’
ll cut to the chase and save us all a lot of time.
I
’
m not inclined to sell
my shares
to the Chinese. If Chang wants to put out a tender offer for all of our outstanding shares, more power to him. If a
ll the other shareholders agree to tender their shares, I
’
ll
do likewise
.
I won
’
t stand in the way. Majority rules with me
, b
ut the ball
i
s in Chang
’
s court. I won
’
t agree to a separate sale of my shares
, n
ot to anybody.
”

Al
ex
haled
loudly and
clasped
his
large
hands
together.

“
You know, Trace, if Chang doesn
’
t make an offer for all the outstanding shares, we could lose this opportunity. It could cost my family a lot of dough.
”

“
Maybe in the short run, Al.
But in the long run, I think you
’
ll make more by holding your shares.
”

Al looked over his clasped hands at Pino
for a long moment
and then returned his gaze to me.

“
Fair enough, Trace. My brother and I appreciate you and Cyrus taking the time to come down here
to
discuss this situation. For now, I believe we
’
ll, as you sa
id
, leave the ball in Chang
’
s court
, b
ut we
’
ll be monitoring the situation
. . .
very carefully.
”

As we all stood to leave, Cyrus looked over at Al
.
“
Too bad about Malcolm, wasn
’
t it?
”

“
What, that the fuckin
’
rat has to spend a few years in the Caymans drinking
p
i
ñ
a
c
oladas and banging native girls?
”

“
He didn
’
t make it to the Caymans, Al. His plane
exploded en
route
. He
’
s scattered over a couple hundred square miles of the Gulf.
”

Al didn
’
t flinch
.
“
N
o shit
. H
is plane blew up?
”

“
Yeah, first Thorny, then Rosenburg
,
and now Malcolm
,
”
Cyrus replied
.
“
It
’
s getting to be dangerous
being involved with
Montana Creek Mining, isn
’
t it?
”

Al extended his hand to shake with Cyrus
and looked him directly in the eye.

“
Sometimes bad things
happen
to good people
,
my friend.
”

“
Yeah,
they
sure seem to,
especially lately
.”
I said, looking at Al and Pino.
“
Beats any actua
rial table I
’
ve ever seen.
Th
ree dead shareholders in less than six months. Hell,
I decided I should take some precautions. So, I set it up where
if my plane goes down or I eat a poison tree frog, all my shares go to the general fund at Central Washington University
, m
y alma mater.
”

Al and Pino looked at me
.

“
V
ery generous of you, Trace,
”
Al said, glancing from me to his brother.
“
You
’
re not insinuating we had anything to do with those deaths, are you
?
”

“
Nope
, b
ut
like Cyrus said, owning shares in Montana Creek Mining seems to come with a bit of risk. I
’
m just making sure my shares are well
-
placed should something happen to m
e
.
”