Читать книгу Deadly Game - R. B. Conroy - Страница 15

Chapter 7

“Strom?”

“Yes.”

“It’s Alex.”

“Hi Alex.”

“Can you meet me on the circle for lunch in a few?”

“Yeah, sure Alex. Usual place?”

“Yeah.”

“I’ll be there.”

“Thanks.”

Alex hit Erica’s line.

“Yes Mr. Crane?”

“Would you call Blue and Gates and see if Ted can meet Strom and me for lunch at the Circle Deli?”

“Certainly, sir.”

………

Alex walked briskly down Meridian Street toward the thirty story Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Monument. He turned left off Meridian onto the circle drive that bordered the monument and headed for his impromptu luncheon with Strom and his bank’s attorney, Ted Blue.

Several passers-by nodded as he made his way down the busy sidewalk to the Circle Deli. Alex loved Indianapolis; it was big enough to provide many of the cultural advantages so often identified with the big cities while still maintaining its small town charm. As he maneuvered along the wide sidewalk, he felt a tap on his shoulder.

“Hey, big guy.”

Alex turned to see his stylishly dressed attorney, Ted Blue, who was just a step behind.

“Hi, Ted. Did Erica get ahold of you?”

“Yeah, I was here at the Title Company finishing up a mortgage closing, so it worked out great. But there is only one thing.”

“What’s that?”

“The meeting is over lunch so I can’t bill you.”

“When did that ever stop you?” Alex grinned at his old high school friend. Ted was a full partner in the largest and most successful law firm in Indianapolis. Graduating with honors from the IU School of Law, he was one of the most sought after legal minds in town. Alex felt fortunate to have him as his lead counsel at Midwest. A man of integrity, he trusted his old friend completely and loved his aggressive, take no prisoners, style.

The two men walked a short distance and then left the busy sidewalk and entered the Circle Deli. The restaurant’s friendly greeter, Monica, smiled warmly.

“Hello, Mr. Crane.”

“Good morning Monica, and how are you?”

“Just fine. Thank you, Mr. Crane. Mr. Winslow is already here and he’s sitting at your favorite table.”

“Oh great.”

“Follow me.”

“Lead the way.”

The men fell in behind Monica as she wove her way through the crowded restaurant. Several of the businessmen and women in the room nodded at the well known men. As they approached the table, Strom was busy reading the menu and didn’t notice them.

“Hello Strom.”

Strom looked up from the menu, “Oh, hi, Alex.” The two shared a vigorous handshake. The ritual duplicated itself with Ted.

“You’re early, Strom. You’re getting fast in your old age,” Ted quipped.

“Old age! Want to arm wrestle smart-ass?” Strom retorted. A broad grin broke out on his wrinkled face.

“I wouldn’t do it, Ted. You were a punter in high school. Strom was an all-state tackle.”

“I’ll pass.” Ted smiled at a grinning Strom.

Alex lifted his menu. “What’s good today?”

“They have ham and Swiss with a cup of minestrone on special,” Strom offered.

“Sounds good to me,” Alex replied.

“Me too,” Ted said as both men tossed their menus on the table.

Just seconds later, the smiling waitress approached them. “Oh boy, my three favorite dirty old men are here today,” she joked as she banged three sweaty glasses of water on the table.

“Hey! We’re not all old, Libby!” a smiling Alex exclaimed.

“You’re old to me, Mr. Crane.” she retorted.

The powerful men laughed out loud; they loved being brought down to size and the feisty Libby never disappointed.

“What’ll it be, fellas? I ain’t got all day!” The cheeky waitress kept the needle in.

“We’ll have three of those ham and Swiss specials,” Alex said. “And give me the check please.”

“Will do, Mr. Crane. Just water to drink?”

“I’ll have an ice tea,” Ted said.

“Thank you, fellas.” The waitress finished her notes and hurried off.

Alex’s expression changed quickly after the fun exchange with Libby. He looked directly at the other men. “I’m a little pressed for time so I’ll get right to the point. Gentlemen, I think we may have a problem brewing at Midwest.”

Their smiles faded, the men listened intently.

“You’re both aware that I want to pay back the TARP money to the Feds in its entirety.”

The men nodded.

“Strom and I have already had a few lengthy conversations about this recently so let me bring you up to speed Ted. If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to jump in at any time.”

Ted nodded again.

“I don’t think it’s a secret to anyone that I was opposed to accepting these funds last fall.”

“Yes, that was kind of Barnes’s baby,” Strom offered.

“It certainly was Strom, and Barnes doesn’t want to pay the money back. He seems hell bent on stopping me; he’s more determined than I’ve ever seen him. I’m not sure what’s driving him.”

“He has a dog in this fight for certain, Alex. He owns quite a bit of Midwest stock as I’m sure all of the board members do. I don’t agree with Barnes, but maybe he sees his investment being threatened and he thinks that keeping the bailout money will help. It could be as simple as that,” Ted said matter-of-factly.

Alex scribbled nervously on his napkin. “You’re right, Ted. Barnes and several of the board members are getting older and their retirements are an issue, but I don’t think Barnes is that worried about his Midwest stock. He has huge holdings and is a very wealthy man. It’s more than that with him—he’s on a mission. I’ve never seen him so determined. And as of late, I have discovered some things that concern me.”

“Such as?” Ted queried.

“Well, you know our friend, Vito Taglioni, over at First Financial Services?”

“Yes, yes, I know, Vito. Who doesn’t?”

“Well, First Financial handles all our big bond deals here in Indy. The other day, I discovered, quite inadvertently, that Vito has opened satellite offices for First Financial in all the cities where Midwest has offices.”

Ted’s eyebrows rose slightly. “Well, he certainly has the right to open an office wherever he likes as long as he gets all the red tape right.”

Alex felt exasperated. “That’s not all, Ted. Barnes has opened offices in all the same cities and he and Vito have been making a fortune for the past year peddling those bonds. Something smells fishy and I don’t like it.”

“I’m sorry, Alex. But Vito has every right to open a storefront in any city he chooses,” Ted replied.

Agitated, Alex scribbled more aggressively. “Isn’t that a conflict of interest or something with Barnes?”

“Not unless he handles your account himself—which I’m certain that he doesn’t. Otherwise, the man has a right to make a living.”

“A very good living!” Alex squirmed in his seat.

“No law against that.”

Alex pushed on. “Remember when Nicky and I went to Europe last year?”

“Yes.”

“Well, in my absence Barnes asked Strom to call an emergency meeting of the board.”

Ted replied, “As a board member, Barnes has every right to do that, even though it seems inappropriate with you out of town. Did he document the meeting so you would know what took place?”

Alex grimaced. “He documented it alright, Ted. Barnes is no dummy. But what he did in essence, without making it appear so in the minutes, was open the flood gates on subprime mortgages, something he knew I was vehemently against. The result was that he and Vito got rich and now Midwest has millions of dollars worth of bonds going belly-up every day.”

Ted leaned back against the shiny cushion on the booth. “Did the board approve the action?”

“Yes….yes they did; but they didn’t know his objective. He did a masterful job of masking his intentions. He merely made a motion to leave the decision on how to acquire more mortgages up to the local managers in each town and the board approved.”

“And?”

“And….those managers and their originators are on commission, Ted! You can’t leave underwriting decisions up to them! They love subprime—any warm body can qualify for a subprime mortgage. The board gave them the green light and they started making mortgages to anyone who walked in the door! Barnes knew it would be a disaster for the bank, but he also knew that he and Vito could make a fortune in the meantime. And all this happened while I was out of town.” Alex shook his head in disbelief.

“Inappropriate maybe, but certainly not against regulations. Ignorance is no excuse under the law. Your board should have known better than to approve such a potentially problematic policy, especially with you not at the meeting.”

Strom’s face flushed with embarrassment. He felt the sting of the attorney’s insinuations.

The usually measured Alex leaned forward and rested his elbows on the table top. “Damn it, Ted! Something stinks here and you know it! With Barnes’s political ambitions and close connection to the current administration in Washington, who knows what he’s up to? Midwest did over six hundred million in mortgages out of our Chicago branch alone last year—a billion six total in all offices. And for some reason our controller, Jack Montrose, has been running up to the Chicago branch every other week lately. Something is not right here, Ted.” Slightly embarrassed by his uncharacteristic outburst, Alex glanced around the room.

“Hmmm…..Montrose. Wasn’t he Barnes’s hand-picked man?” Ted queried.

“Yes, Barnes highly recommended him when Stackhouse retired—said he was the smartest CPA in town. We interviewed several people and Jack held up well during the interviews, so with Barnes’s blessing, I hired him.”

Ted leaned forward, rubbing his hands together. “Why does Montrose say he is going to Chicago?”

“He says Louie Compano and his father made a mess of things. He claims the files are a disaster and many of the entries on the computer are incomplete and coded improperly and they are requiring a ton of file maintenance.”

“How big is Jack’s staff?”

“He has ten accountants under him.”

“But he always goes himself?”

Alex’s eyes narrowed, “Yes. He said that it’s such a mess up there that he has to go personally. He doesn’t feel he could trust it to one of the younger accountants.”

“Aren’t they all CPA’s?”

Alex nodded.

“Hmmm…well, it’s probably fine, Alex, but I would keep an eye on that Chicago situation. You might want to poke around a little bit—maybe talk to Compano and see what he knows. But we all know Louie is not an organized person. His shop could be in a mess. It’s probably just what Montrose suggests.”

Alex was taken aback by his good friend’s lukewarm support of his suspicions. He sat up, his face flushed red. “Damn it, Ted! You’re on retainer here, but you act like some attorney I just bumped into in the men’s room a few minutes ago. Something smells to high heaven here. I don’t give a hoot what the regulations say! And when I tell my over-paid, hotshot attorney about it, I shouldn’t have to sit here and endure endless references on how everything appears to be normal. I’m starting to wonder what I’m paying you for!”

Eyes wide, Ted twisted nervously in his seat. “Sorry Alex, I’m just trying to look at both sides.” He paused as if in deep thought and then continued, “Greed can be an ugly thing, Alex, and you’re right, these boys have been surprisingly active the past couple of years. I am going to request the necessary documentation on all of Vito’s branch applications just to be sure they’re up to snuff. Those approvals happened awfully fast. At the same time, I’ll request random photo copies of several of their mortgage files to be sure they are following the guidelines set by the local managers. Something tells me that these guidelines have never been put into writing. Also, I want a full accounting of all transactions by both First Financial and O’Brien and Son that involved Midwest, including the complete money trail. I want to know who got paid for doing what and when. In the meantime, if you don’t mind, I will ask your outside auditors, Dulin and Dulin, to do an audit on Louie’s office. Particularly in regard to all the file maintenance Montrose has been doing lately. If we find a rat in the woodshed, I’ll move in at a moment’s notice; I promise you that.”

Alex leaned back, sighed and shook his head. “It’s about time you came to life, I was beginning to wonder. Maybe I’ll leave you on retainer for a little while after all.”

Ted shook his head, “On retainer for a while my ass! I’m the best attorney in town and you know it.”

A calmer Alex grinned.

The ice rattled as Strom lifted his water glass toward the center of the table. “We have some real challenges in front of us, fellas. Let’s all work together and get to the bottom of this thing.”

The men touched glasses and smiled warmly at one another. The conversation soon shifted to more personal topics. All sense of divisiveness quickly vaporized as the close friends reminisced about silly pranks on the golf course and other special times together.

“Grubs up!” The smell of minestrone filled the air as the brusque waitress arrived and banged the long plates on the table. “Enjoy fellas, and please don’t slobber on yourselves.” Libby grinned as the men roared their approval.