Читать книгу Bahama Crisis - Desmond Bagley, Desmond Bagley - Страница 10

Billy went on his tour a couple of days later after looking around Grand Bahama, but Debbie stayed on at the Royal Palm. Billy confided in me that he had brought her along in an attempt to cure a fit of the blues; apparently Debbie had been having man trouble – an affair had turned sour. Anyway, she fell into the habit of going to the house and using the pool, and she and the children became friends in jig time. Debbie would pick up the kids from school and take them home and then stay on to lunch with Julie. Julie must have liked her because she put off her trip to Florida until Billy came back.

As for me, I was damned busy. I rousted Jamieson, the chief accountant, who fairly set the computer smoking as we figured the net worth of the company as at the end of that month. I wanted to have all my ammunition ready and dry for Billy when he came back because I had the notion he would be ready to talk turkey.

One evening after Julie had put the girls to bed I told her about Billy’s proposition and asked what she thought of it. She was ambivalent. She saw the possibilities for expansion, but on the other hand she said, ‘I don’t know if it would be good for you – you’re too independently minded.’

I knew what she meant. ‘I know I like to run my own show and that’s my problem – how to extract forty million bucks from the Cunninghams without losing control. I have a few ideas about that and I might be able to swing it.’

She laughed at me. ‘I always knew I married a genius. All right, if you can do that then it won’t be a bad thing.’

I had to consult my sisters, Peggy and Grace. Both had stock in the West End Securities Corporation, enough for them to have a say in any decision as big as this. Peggy lived on Abaco with her son and daughter and her husband, Bob Fisher, who ran the Abaco Sands Hotel for the corporation. Grace had married an American called Peters and lived in Orlando, Florida, with their three sons. It seemed that the tendency of the Mangans to produce girls was confined to the males. It meant some flying around because this was not something that could be settled on the telephone, but I had written agreements by the time Billy came back.

He returned to Grand Bahama after eight days, having gone through the Bahamas like a whirlwind. He was armed with so many facts, figures and statistics that I wondered how he had assembled them all in the time, but that was like Billy – he was a quick student.

‘You were right,’ he said. ‘The Bahamas have potential, more than I thought. You didn’t tell me about the Hotels Encouragement Act.’

I laughed. ‘I left you to find out yourself. I knew you would.’

‘My God, it’s like stumbling across a gold mine.’ He ticked the points off on his fingers. ‘No customs duty on anything imported to build or equip a hotel; no property taxes for the first ten years; no company taxes for the first twenty years. And that applies to hotels, marinas, golf courses, landscaping – anything you can damn near think of. It’s incredible.’

‘It’s why we’re going to have two million tourists next year.’

He grunted. ‘I’ve been thinking about that. I was talking to that tourism guy, Butler. He told me that eighty per cent of your economy and two-thirds of your population are supported by tourism. That’s a hell of a lot of eggs in one basket, Tom.’ His voice was serious. ‘What if something happens like war breaking out?’

Something told me I had better come up with the right answer. I said lightly, ‘If World War III breaks out everybody’s eggs get broken.’

‘I guess you’re right at that.’

‘Are you ready to talk business yet?’

‘No. I’ll be speaking to Billy One and Jack today. I’ll let you know the decision tomorrow.’

I grinned. ‘I promise I won’t bug the switchboard. I won’t be coming in to the office tomorrow. Julie is leaving for Miami and I like to see them off. Why don’t you come to the house and bring Debbie along?’

‘I’ll do that.’

So Billy and Debbie arrived at the house next morning at about ten o’clock. Debbie joined the girls in the pool and I winked at Julie and took Billy into my study. He said, ‘I think we’re in business.’

‘You may think so, but I’m not so sure. I don’t want to lose control.’

He stared at me. ‘Oh, come on, Tom! Forty million bucks swings a lot of clout. You don’t want us busting in as competitors, do you?’

‘I’m not afraid of competition. I have plenty of that, anyway.’

‘Well, you can’t expect us to put up all that dough and not have control. That’s ridiculous. Are you joking or something?’

‘I’m not joking,’ I said. ‘I’m perfectly serious. But I’d like to point out that there are different kinds of control.’

Billy looked at me speculatively. ‘Okay, I’ll buy it. What’s on your mind?’

‘I take it you’d be setting up a corporation here.’

‘That’s right, we would. I’ve been talking to some of your corporate lawyers over in Nassau and they’ve come up with some great ideas, even though they’d be illegal back in the States. This sure is a free-wheeling place.’

‘Rest easy,’ I said. ‘As an offshore tax haven we’re positively respectable, not like some others I could mention. What would you call your corporation?’

‘How would I know? Something innocuous, I guess. Let’s call it the Theta Corporation.’

I said, ‘I run three hotels with a fourth building for a total of 650 rooms. That’s a lot of bed linen, a lot of crockery and cutlery, a lot of kitchenware and ashtrays and anything else you care to name. Now, if the Theta Corporation is going to build and equip hotels it would be better to consolidate and keep the economy of scale. You get bed sheets a damn sight cheaper if you order by the 5000 pair rather than the 500 pair, and that applies right down the line.’

‘Sure, I know that.’ Billy flapped his hand impatiently. ‘Come to the point.’

‘What I’m suggesting is that the Theta Corporation take over West End Securities in return for stock.’

‘Ha!’ he said. ‘Now you’re saying something. How much stock?’

‘One-fifth.’

‘We put in $40 million, you put in West End and take a fifth of the stock. That makes it a $50 million corporation, so you estimate West End as being worth $10 million. Is it? What’s the book value?’

I said, ‘Jamieson and I have been working it out. I put it at $8 million.’

‘So you put in $8 million and take stock worth $10 million. What kind of a deal is that? What do we get for the other two million bucks?’

‘Me,’ I said evenly.

Billy burst out laughing. ‘Come on, Tom! Do you really think you’re worth that?’

‘You’re forgetting quite a few things,’ I said. ‘If you come in here on your own you come in cold. I know you’ve picked up your facts and statistics and so on, but you don’t know the score – you don’t know the way things get done here. But if you come in with me you begin with a firm base ready for expansion, eager for expansion. And you don’t only get me, but you get my staff, all loyal to me personally. And don’t forget the Bahamas for the Bahamians bit. Call it goodwill, call it know-how, call it what you like, but I reckon it’s worth two million.’

Billy was silent for a long time, thinking hard. ‘Maybe you’re right,’ he said at last.

I gave him another jolt. ‘And I get to be President of the Theta Corporation,’ I said calmly.

He nearly choked. ‘Jesus, you don’t want much! Why don’t you just pick my pocket of forty million bucks and have done with it?’

‘I told you. I don’t want to lose control. Look, Billy; you’ll be Chairman and I’ll be President – the Cunninghams retain financial control but I have operational control. That’s the only way it can work. And I want a five-year contract of service; not a cast iron contract – that fractures too easily – an armour plate contract.’

Billy looked glum, but nodded. ‘Billy One might go for it, but I don’t know about Jack.’ He drummed his fingers on the desk and said cautiously, ‘If we take over West End we get everything? Not just the hotels part of it?’

‘You get all the trimmings,’ I assured him. ‘Tours division, car hire fleet, merchandising division – the lot.’

‘Before we go any further into this,’ he said, ‘I’d like to have your ideas about expansion. Have you given it any thought?’

I pushed a folder across the desk. ‘There are a few ideas here. Just a beginning.’

He studied the papers I had put together and we discussed them for a while. At last he said, ‘You’ve obviously been thinking hard. I like your idea of a construction division.’ He checked the time. ‘I need the telephone. Will you give me half an hour? I might have to do some tough talking.’

I pushed the telephone towards him. ‘Best of luck.’

I found Julie holding Karen in her arms and looking faintly worried. Karen was sniffling and wailing. ‘But I want to go!’

‘What’s the matter?’

‘Oh, Karen’s not well,’ said Julie. ‘I don’t think she should come with us. That cold in the head has sprung up again and she’s got a temperature.’

‘It’s not fair!’ cried Karen. ‘Sue’s going.’

I put out my hand and felt her forehead; Julie was right about the rise in temperature, but it was not much. ‘Maybe we should cancel the trip,’ said Julie.

‘Put her to bed and we’ll talk about it.’ I looked around. ‘Where’s Sue?’

‘On Lucayan Girl helping Pete or, rather, getting in his way. I’ll be back soon.’ Julie walked into the house carrying Karen who had burst into tears.

I found Debbie relaxing by the pool and dropped into a chair next to her. ‘Poor kid,’ she said. ‘She’s so disappointed. How ill is she?’

‘Not very. You know how kids are; their temperature goes up and down for no apparent reason. She’ll probably be all right in a couple of days. But Julie is thinking of cancelling the trip.’

‘I’ve noticed something about this household,’ said Debbie. ‘Apart from Julie and the girls there are no women in it. If Julie wants someone to look after Karen I could do that.’

‘It’s a kindly thought,’ I said. ‘But if it comes to the push I’ll take Karen to the Royal Palm. We have a very efficient and charming young nurse there whom Karen knows very well. I’ve done it before when Julie has been away.’

‘Then talk Julie out of cancelling. It would disappoint Sue so much.’

‘I’ll do my best.’ Presently Julie came out of the house, and I asked, ‘How is she?’

‘Rebellious.’

‘You don’t have to cancel the trip. I don’t want two gloomy kids sulking about the house. Debbie has offered to look after Karen, and there’s always Kitty Symonette at the hotel.’

‘Thanks, Debbie. That’s good of you.’ Julie thought for a moment. ‘Very well – we’ll go.’ She looked at Debbie. ‘Don’t let Karen play you up; that little minx is full of tricks.’

I stood up. ‘If everything’s aboard I’ll come and see you off.’

Just then Billy came striding out of the house and beckoned me with a jerk of his head. He said, ‘There’ll be a squad of lawyers and auditors flying in to look at your books. If everything checks we have a deal.’ He laughed and put out his hand.

So it was with a light heart that I saw Julie and Sue away on Lucayan Girl. I told Julie about the deal and she was delighted, and then we went out to the lagoon where the Girl was ready to cast off, her engines already ticking over. Sue was running about taking photographs with the camera I had given her for her birthday; her teacher had set her the exercise of a photo-essay as her homework for the Christmas vacation. By the look of her both she and her stock of film would be exhausted before the voyage began.

I had a word with Pete who was coiling a rope in the bows. ‘Got a crewman?’

‘Sure.’

‘How is he?’

‘He’ll do,’ said Pete laconically. Knowing Pete that meant the young fellow was pretty good.

‘Where is he?’

‘Below – greasing the shafts.’ Pete raised his voice. ‘All right, then; all aboard that’s goin’ aboard.’

Sue scampered aboard and Julie kissed me and followed more sedately. ‘Cast off the after line, Miss Mate,’ said Pete. He cast off the forward line and quickly went to the helm on the flying bridge. The engines growled and Lucayan Girl moved slowly away.

We watched as the Girl went down the lagoon and turned into the channel which led to the open sea and so out of sight. I said to Billy, ‘I think we have work to do.’ I stooped to pick up Sue’s camera which she had left on a chair. ‘Sue will be mad enough to bust. When Julie rings tonight I’ll tell her to buy another. We mustn’t disappoint teacher.’