Shell Game (Stand Alone 2) (33 page)

“I’ll do my best,” Paul said, “but I have to tell you, it’s not probable. The courts are not prone to interfere in matters like this since we’re asking the court to abrogate the bank’s rights under the loan security agreement and promissory note you signed.”

“We’re asking the court to intervene because, in part, actions directed by a sociopath are impacting our company,” Katherine interjected.

Paul nodded. “In my opinion, Gerald Folsom
is
a sociopath, but we can’t prove he’s done anything illegal.”

“What specific actions can the bank take tomorrow?” Carrie asked Paul.

“It will formally notify you you’re in default on the loan and demand payment within the grace period provided for in the loan documents, which is fifteen days. They could, theoretically, immediately change the locks on all the doors at the restaurants and offset the money in your bank account at Broad Street National Bank against the loan balance.”

“That would ruin our business,” Nick said. “Even if the bank changed its mind later, or we raised the money to pay off the loan, we’d probably never recover.”

“And our employees would be out of jobs,” Edward said. “We’ve got great people. They’ll be able to get jobs pretty quickly at other restaurants. Even if we were able to re-open the restaurants later, we’d have to begin with new crews. That would take months.”

“When are you going to tell the employees what’s going on?” Katherine asked.

“We’ve scheduled a 9 a.m. meeting on Saturday with all our managers. Assuming the restaurants are still open, the employees will still work their shifts until further notice. The managers will speak to each of their teams.”

Edward’s desk phone rang. After looking at the console screen, he saw it was Broad Street National Bank. He looked at Paul and said, “It’s the bank. Should I take it?”

Paul shrugged. “Sure, why not? Maybe we’ll learn something.”

“Winter Enterprises,” Edward said into the receiver.

“Mr. Winter, it’s Sanford Cunningham at Broad Street National Bank. I’m glad we connected. There’s something we need to discuss.”

“I’m putting you on speaker, Mr. Cunningham. My partners and our attorney are here with me.”

Cunningham voiced no objection.

“What can we do for you, Mr. Cunningham?” Edward said.

“I am calling as the bank owner’s representative. You are aware you were officially in violation of your loan agreement with the bank at 5 p.m. today?”

“Of course we’re aware of that,” Edward said.

“Mr. Folsom has decided to make you an offer he hopes you will find attractive.”

Edward made eye contact with Paul, who looked surprised.

“We’re listening.” Edward asked, suspicious.

“The bank has the right to close down your operations in the instance of non-payment of your loan. We realize closing down your business locations will not be good for the real estate, the business operations, or the employees. Mr. Folsom’s proposal is as follows: If you agree to sign over all your rights to the business and assets, including the franchise agreements with Hot N’ Chili, Inc., the bank will immediately agree to forgive your bank debt.”

“And if my client refuses to accept your offer?” Paul asked.

“Then the bank will exercise its right to change the locks on all of your properties, close the restaurants, and fire the employees. But there’s one other part of the offer I need to bring to your attention. If you agree to our terms, Folsom Financial will sign a management contract with Winter Enterprises to manage the restaurant business for the next two years, with renewal options thereafter.”

“How long is your offer open, Mr. Cunningham?” Paul asked.

“Until 5 tomorrow evening.”

“What about the cash balances?” Paul asked.

“They would be part of the assets you sign over to the bank.”

“So, let me get this straight,” Paul said. “You want Winter Enterprises to sign over $50 million in real estate, over $3 million in cash, and franchise rights worth millions, in return for forgiveness of $20 million in debt.”

“And no exposure to a deficiency judgment should the ultimate sale of the company’s assets yield less than the total debt and related legal costs,” Cunningham added.

“Anyone have any questions?” Edward asked. When no one asked anything, he said, “We’ll be in touch.”

No one spoke after Edward hung up—it was as though all the oxygen had been sucked from the room—Edward looked at his mother and saw she was crying. He stood, walked around his desk, sat next to her on the couch, and put an arm around her.

“It’s better than the alternatives we had just a few minutes ago,” he said.

“Is it?” Katherine said. “You’d be working for that sonofabitch, Folsom. He stole your father’s bank and now he’s taking the business you’ve built.”

Edward kissed his mother on the cheek and stood. “Mom, I will never work for a man who has visited so much evil on this family.” He turned to look at Nick. “How do you feel about running Winter Enterprises?”

Nick’s head came up and he looked suddenly ghostly pale. “I thought we agreed if we lost the business we would start all over again. As a team.”

“Think about it, Nick. Without either of us there’s no Winter Enterprises and Folsom’s deal would collapse. All of our employees would be out on the street. Although most of them will find other jobs, in this economy, some will still be unemployed after their severance pay runs out. If you stay on, they keep their jobs and, at the end of two years, if you want to, you can walk away from Folsom and join me. But at least you’ll have an executive job in the interim.”

Nick looked around at the group and shook his head. “This is emotional blackmail,” he said.

Edward smiled. “It’s also the right thing to do.”

“Let’s see what happens with my request for an injunction,” Paul said.

“Does anyone think Folsom’s offer is beyond surprising?” Carrie asked.

“Yes,” Edward said. “But it makes sense on two levels. One, he knows no one can run this business better than we can, which means he’ll make more money with Winter Enterprises and its employees at the helm than without.”

“And the second level?” Carrie said.

“I can answer that,” Katherine said bitterly. “Nothing would give that bastard more pleasure than having Frank Winter’s son taking orders from him.”

“Oh, my God!” Betsy suddenly cried. She wrapped her arms around her stomach and leaned forward as though she were in terrible pain.

Stunned silence struck the room and no one moved.

“The baby!” Betsy shrieked.

Betsy Winter’s obstetrician walked exhaustedly from the hospital operating room to the waiting room, her head down and her hands in the pockets of her green surgical scrubs.

“How is she?” Edward asked, his face drawn with stress and fear.

The doctor looked up at Edward, as members of his family and friends gathered around him. “Betsy’s fine.” The doctor smiled. “And so’s the baby. You have a healthy son.”

Edward moved back a step as though he’d been struck. “The baby? Betsy wasn’t due for another six weeks.”

“All indications were this pregnancy would go full term. Everything was fine, Mr. Winter; I don’t understand why the baby came prematurely. Has Betsy been under any undue stress lately?”

Edward thought about the strain they had all been under, but it hit him that he had not considered Betsy’s pregnancy might be impacted by troubles at work. He had not considered Betsy at all. The business had occupied all his thoughts and time. He felt sick with guilt.

“Can I see her, Doctor?”

“Of course. Come with me.”

Edward followed the doctor to the recovery room and spied Betsy in a gurney bed in the middle of the room. She looked pale and tired, strands of wet hair plastered to her forehead. He rushed to her, took her hand, and kissed her lips.

“I’m so sorry, honey.”

“About what? We have a beautiful son.”

“About not thinking about you. About being so focused on the business. Nothing is more important to me than you, but that’s not the way I’ve acted lately.”

Betsy patted his cheek and squeezed his hand. “Everything’s going to be all right, Eddie. I just know it.”

“Everything is just right,” he said. “You’re okay and we have a son.”

A nurse interrupted and told them she had to get Mrs. Winter up to her room.

“Why don’t you go take a look at your son,” Betsy suggested. “By the way, I’ve been considering names. I know we’ve talked about it, but I’ve made up my mind. Franklin Edward Winter, after your father.”

Edward found the maternity ward and located the bassinette with “Baby Winter” on the end. He hadn’t thought about what the premature baby would look like, but was shocked to see how small his son was compared to the half-dozen other infants in the room.

“It’s amazing how big he is considering he came six weeks early.”

Edward looked at his mother. “I didn’t hear you come up. He looks so tiny.”

“Five pounds, six ounces isn’t that tiny. My God, if he had gone full term he could have been a twelve pounder.”

“Where are the others?” Edward asked.

“Waiting for you to tell them it’s okay to join us.”

“All things considered,” Edward said, “I’m pretty lucky. Great family and great friends, and now a son.”

“Yes, son, you’re a very lucky man. Have you named the baby yet?”

“Betsy has. She named him after Dad. Franklin Edward Winter.”

Katherine stepped into her son’s arms and hugged him. It took several minutes before she stopped crying.

FRIDAY

JULY 29, 2011

Carrie called her old Army compatriot, Darren Noury, at 7 a.m. and asked him to meet her.

“Everything okay?”

“I’ve still got concerns.”

“I’ll bring Mike with me,” he said, referring to Mike Perico who had helped out in Pastorius Park.

“I’m at the Northwest Marriott Hotel. In the coffee shop.”

“We’ll be there in thirty minutes.”

“You sure Mike’s available on such short notice?”

“Naturally. He’s always ready for action.” He laughed and hung up.

Darren called Mike Perico on his cell phone. Mike, a pharmaceutical rep for one of the big drug companies, usually started his days at 7 a.m. and finished at around 3 p.m.

“What are you doing?” Darren asked.

“Meeting with a bunch of interns at a hospital. I brought in donuts. I’m about to tell them what a great drug we have, then I’ll give them a bunch of pens and note pads.”

“That stuff really gets them to prescribe your products?”

“Mostly the donuts.”

“Carrie called. She needs to see us.”

“Gee, I don’t know if I can break away right now. I’ve got eight interns hanging on my every word. Besides, I’ll have to report to my boss about this meeting. I can’t very well tell him I paid for donuts and then walked out.”

“I think we’re talking about bad guys here.”

“Action?”

“Carrie attracts action like sugar attracts ants.”

“Where and when?”

“Northwest Marriott Hotel coffee shop at 7:30.”

Carrie was seated in a corner booth when Darren and Mike arrived. She thanked the men for coming on such short notice.

“What’s up?” Mike asked, his bright blue eyes sparkling with excitement.

Carrie looked at Mike and then at Darren. They were both calm, but she sensed the adrenaline running through their veins. Two good looking guys—recruiter poster perfect—ready to take on trouble whenever a friend called. She understood once again why she loved being an officer in the U.S. military.

“As I explained before we did that thing in the park, my mother befriended a woman named Wendy Folsom who was badly abused by her husband. An assassin was hired to kill Wendy. The assassin entered my mother’s home and would have completed the job if I hadn’t interrupted her.”

“Interrupted?” Darren said, a smile creasing his face.

“I got her to tell me who hired her by agreeing to let her go. I didn’t see any point in telling the police what her real purpose was; I figured whoever hired her was a middle man anyway. The police would never have been able to pin anything on the client unless the guy who brokered the hit rolled over. And as I learned during my meeting in Pastorius Park, the broker wasn’t willing to disclose who hired him.”

“The middle man was the guy in the park?” Darren asked.

“Yeah. But as I said, he clammed up. So I never did find out who paid him to murder Wendy.”

“But you think you know who hired him, don’t you?” Mike said.

“I’m pretty sure it was her husband, Gerald Folsom. And I don’t think the guy’s going to stop trying to take her out.”

“What else?” Darren asked.

“What do you mean, what else?” Carrie said.