Buying Brazil (Buying Brazil Trilogy Book 1)

by Arthur Rawl

  “I don’t envy you. Where are you meeting her?”

  “My driver is picking her up at the Maksoud at five-thirty and I’ll walk around the corner to your favorite restaurant at six.”

  “Your driver will be called and told to expect a security car to be following him from the Maksoud and whenever he is driving either or both of you. His job will now include providing scheduling information to a contact at BrasTel security. I’m sure you understand you will not walk to the restaurant. You will be driven by a car. I will give you the details a little later. Please do not do anything impulsive like running out for the newspaper without your escort from today until this risk is resolved.”

  “I understand and appreciate the situation Juan. I just had to kill someone and feel like shit about it. Right now, all I want to do is keep my head down.”

  “Yes, but that is now. Tomorrow will be a new day and you will start putting today behind you and start looking to the future. Tomorrow and every day after it you have to be sure to avoid carelessness.”

  “I understand but … alright I understand.”

  “We will act as quickly as we can to free you of this burden but it must be handled with delicacy. Until then you will have to trust us.”

  The car passed through the gate onto the drive into Juan’s building, into another Brazil I hadn’t seen before. Behind the flower filled bushes was a guardhouse manned by a heavily armed uniformed guard. Another was patrolling the perimeter on a walkway bordered by short carefully manicured dark green shrubs and a third at the garage entrance closely looking over both the car and occupants as we crawled past entering a different fortress Brazil. One as secure as the grandest mansions in the Jardims.

  We stopped in front of an immaculate subterranean lobby of brilliant brass, polished marble and armored glass. The two rear doors were opened by liveried doormen and a third swiped an electronic card through a reader. The heavy glass door slowly swung open accompanied by the low hum of its electric motor.

  “Come, our breakfast must be waiting.”

  Juan hurried past a line of four spotless brass and stainless steel elevator doors to a fifth facing us at the end of the short hallway. He held his hand up to a glass scanner plate and the elevator opened. I followed him into the glossy redwood lined elevator but my thoughts were still in the café. Its spotless brass control panel had only six buttons PH, Lobby, Lower Lobby in one column and Open, Close and Emergency in the other. A small door was set into the bottom of the panel which I imagined housed a telephone and other controls.

  Juan turned to me, “The elevator moves quite fast but don’t worry, it has always managed to stop inside the building.”

  “Thanks for the warning.”

  “I am more than a little concerned about you. You have had enough excitement for this morning and did not want to add more unnecessarily.”

  Seconds later the wide doors opened on a reception room paneled in glossy redwood matching the elevator. The white marble floor was partially covered with a red brown oriental rug that was at least nine by twelve feet and so thick it was like stepping onto three or four inches of firm foam rubber padding. The only furniture were two matching chests one at either end of the room. On top of each was one of a matched pair of large white porcelain urns filled with matching arrangements of subdued pastel flowers of white, yellow and rose perfuming the space with the scent of a well-tended European garden in late spring.

  “What floor is this?”

  “It is twenty-four and we also have the one above as part of the penthouse suite. My uncle built this building during the Golden Years when they gave up their country estate. They felt safer here. When my aunt died five years ago, they left their Brazilian holdings to me because they had no children and, because in Spain my older brother inherited all of my father’s holdings. Naturally I was taken care of but my uncle who was also a second son felt it was not enough and that I could build a future for myself here in Brazil. It has been so but my friend, the end of the story is still to be written.”

  “I’m sure it will be a very long and very fruitful story.”

  “Thank you, I’ll show you where to freshen up before we eat. You look as if you need it.”

  Two hours later I had been fed, my hand examined and diagnosed with a bad bruise for which I was given a tube of anti-inflammatory ointment. I was also given a small envelope containing half a dozen sleeping pills in response to the explanation of how I had hurt myself.

  “Don’t be worried if you experience some troubling dreams. It is a normal reaction to a threatening event particularly when forced to resort to the kind of measures you used. It is no more than the delayed but yet normal conflict between conscience and survival instincts there had been no time to resolve when the event occurred.”

  “Thank you doctor, you seem to always be cleaning up my messes.”

  “It is not such an uncommon thing. Today life in Brazil is much less certain than in the past. We make progress but the price for us all is high. You should go home and sit quietly looking out the window and thinking only about the future. The past is unimportant. What we do with our future is everything. Now if you will forgive me I have patients waiting.”

  He left pausing in the reception hall to exchange a few hushed words with Juan who hurried back to me after the elevator doors had closed behind the doctor.

  “He said there is no significant damage and you should only be troubled with a little stiffness for a few days. My car is available to take you home if you feel up to it. If not, we will have more coffee and look out over the city and wonder about what secret meetings are transpiring between our neighbors.”

  “Thank you but I think I’ll take the doctor’s advice and go home and think about only tomorrow for a while.”

  “Then I will take you to the car my friend. Later, at five forty-five a black VW sedan will be out in front of your building. Do you remember the very tall man from this morning?”

  “Yes …”

  “He will be with the driver so you will be certain of the car. He will remain with you during dinner and go with you and your driver to take Sra. Robin back to her hotel. When you get there he will introduce her … her escort. I have chosen someone who will understand her personality. It is up to you to prepare her for such a person. The plan for tomorrow is the same man will be with your driver when he comes for you in the morning. We will talk once you get to your office tomorrow. Ah yes, one more thing, I have made some calls and your Italian matter should be attended to very soon. I will give you relevant details when the matter has been dealt with.”

  When we reached the garage Juan stopped me. “You and Sra. Robin will have to become accustomed to less privacy. I have dealt with this situation all my life and it has become normality for me. It will eventually become normality for you if you do not fight it. It is a small price to pay to sleep well at night.”

  “I understand but as you said, for you it defined your normality when you were a child. Robin and I are not children so accepting necessity will be first and should be easy because we are adults although at times I worry about her very American point of view. Changing our understanding of normality will be much harder to accomplish if it can be done at all.”

  “BrasTel’s VIP Security personnel have been trained to protect people who are unaccustomed to being protected by someone else. I am confident they will provide all necessary assistance and guidance for the both of you. I also believe Sra. Robin will eventually find comfort in knowing she is not alone in a strange country.”

  I slid into the back of the waiting car but reached out and took Juan’s hand before closing the door, “Thank you Juan. This is a completely new world for me and knowing you are here watching out is a great comfort.”

  Chapter 22

  Robin was seated in Juan’s usual booth when I walked into the restaurant at six after stopping outside to give José Carlos the note and boxed earrings to deliver. First I thought the restaurant must be associati
ng my name with his but then I decided it was more probable he called to be sure we were seated in a safe spot not visible from the street. She hadn’t waited for me to start on a bottle of Antartica, Brazil’s favorite beer.

  “Good evening, have you been waiting long?”

  She held up her glass and indicated with two fingers the amount the beer in it was down from the top, “… about that long.”

  “Not much. Did you enjoy your holiday?”

  “I was hoping for a little more time off but it makes the vacation pay really outstanding.”

  “What can I say? I delivered your resignation letter into the waiting hands of the Board and hurried back. I was afraid you’d miss me.” I took the package of business cards out of my pocket and held them out to her, “These are for you.”

  She tore back the wrapping paper and pulled out a card, “I see I got a promotion. Associate Managing Director, pretty fancy title, what does it pay?”

  “The base pay is double what you were making at Lazer but I expect you will make a lot more than that.”

  “I hope I live long enough to collect it. Hey, London and Vienna with outstanding addresses. Damn you, how long have you been lying to me?”

  “Calm down, it was only a sin of omission for your own good.”

  “The last time I checked I was free, white and twenty-one. I assure you I’m quite capable of deciding what’s in my own good.”

  “I agree completely, now do you want dinner or do you want to complain some more?”

  “Both, why isn’t São Paulo on the card?”

  “As before, we are just tourists casually looking after a client matter. The difference is now our client is an older Austrian gentleman who will be in our office at ten Monday morning and not some big mouthed American with delusions of world domination.”

  “Talking about big mouthed Americans, how did Sam take the news?”

  “Which news, our leaving Lazer or the fact that the BrasTel deal cratered and it was all over the print and electronic media when I got to New York?”

  “You’re kidding me. Who leaked it?”

  “An official announcement was released by the Brazilian Government. A copy of this letter was included.” I handed her the copy Juan had given me before I left for New York. “I had barely landed when the Lead Independent Director called to be sure I would be at the meeting.”

  She read it, shook her head in disbelief and read it again. They don’t mix words do they? I don’t believe it. I’ll bet Sam was ready to throw us under the bus and then the whole thing gets publicly dropped on him before he can do anything. Maybe there is something called justice. Tell me about the Board meeting.”

  “There isn’t a lot to tell. A lot of noise and squabbling to start until Sam settled them down. A little talk and then the Lead Director asked for my summary of what happened. I gave it to them without any color, just the facts as I saw them. I finished with the fact that Sam fired me before he left Brazil and my lawyer would be in touch to settle my contract. Then I gave Sam your letter of resignation, closed my bag and walked out.”

  “You stuck it to him good. I hope he figures out it was from both of us.”

  “I didn’t have to, he did himself in when he forgot everything else but Skip. I’m not sure I would have done anything differently if I were in his shoes. You probably remember I told you I had been working the situation here in Brazil. All I can say is we have some powerful friends who chose to look out for us. But be sure of two things, they did it for their own purposes and when the smoke clears our hands remain clean both here and in the States.”

  “What do they want us to do with our clean hands?”

  “Work with our new client and help him shape a successful deal for BrasTel.”

  “I assume he has the inside track.”

  “I don’t know that for a fact. That said we are to receive VIP treatment from BrasTel including their customary security coverage.”

  “… security coverage, why do we need security?”

  “I don’t know whether we do but it’s something we are going to put up with because they feel our safety is their responsibility as our hosts. It’s probably an old world thing transplanted to the new world and we have to be sure not to hurt their feelings.”

  “Hurt feelings like what happened to the Italians who got shot up several weeks ago.”

  “I have always been amazed by your imagination and how it neatly puts the unrelated together to form the non-existent. Just look at your security as you now have someone to carry your packages.”

  “Sure, how long are we going to be eating Brazilian food? Not that the food isn’t good and damned cheap. It’s just that this deal has been more than a little weird since the beginning and I don’t want to be around when it gets out of hand.”

  To change the subject I signaled the waiter, “I’m hungry. Let’s order and then I’ll tell you about the new deal while we wait.”

  Robin ordered the special fish, sea bass, and I ordered my favorite, the cassoulet and an hour later she seemed satisfied with the information she extracted from me with the caring of a clumsy dentist and quite happy with her fish dinner and the Portuguese Vino Verge I had ordered to go with it.

  “I should start going to the fancier restaurants; that was really good. What about the price?”

  “It will be a great deal more than you would pay for dinner at McDonalds on Ave Paulista but far less than we would pay for a comparable meal in New York or London.”

  “I don’t go to McDonald’s, well not very often.”

  “One more thing you should know Robin, our fee will be over thirty million US. It is my intention to split whatever we net with you sixty-forty. I trust that will be enough for you to be more selective with restaurants.” This was the first time in all the years I had worked with Robin she was speechless. “I told you I would look out for you. All we have to do now is focus on this deal and get it done as quickly as we can.”

  “That’s enough for me to go back home, buy a ranch somewhere they don’t have office buildings and just enjoy life.”

  “Yes, but I hope you will choose to come back to London for a few years after which you will be able to buy a bigger one and all you need to go with it.”

  “At the moment, I don’t know what to say but I’m damned sure that will change quickly enough.”

  “No answer is necessary right now. Let’s finish the deal and then worry about what comes next. I sent José Carlos on an errand. Call and see if he’s back please.”

  She was on her cellphone for no more than a few seconds, “He’s outside.”

  “We’ll take you back to the Maksoud and then José will take me home. When we get to the Maksoud your security man will be there. Oh, have you noticed your room is now in the name of some Chinese Corporation you never heard of before?”

  “No, I didn’t. When I tried to pay my bill yesterday they said it was taken care of. I assumed it was just part of the new arrangements you told me about before you left for New York.”

  “I’m told you and I have moved to some undisclosed addresses for security purposes. My apartment is now leased to someone else although like you, I’m still in residence. I told my friends they were being silly but they said this is just normal procedure for VIP guests.”

  I could see some outburst trying to make its way through her twisting lips but all that managed to get out was, “Great.”

  Pointing as we walked through the front door, “There’s José. The black car behind him will always be there when either or both of us are with him. Just learn to ignore it. From what I’ve seen it’s the way the upper class does things here.”

  With just a little too much energy for a public place, “That’s one reason I prefer the States. We don’t have a formal upper class like here. No A, B, C and D buckets to drop people in to make sure that most of them know who they’re not.”

  I took her arm and walked to the bakery window next door and one of the security men got out of
the chase car and followed us down the sidewalk, “Robin, we’re trying to be invisible as possible, please keep it down and non-controversial in public.”

  “What is this, a dictatorship? I thought there was freedom of speech here.”

  “There is … for Brazilians. This country is still recovering from some tough times and Brazilians don’t deal with criticism from outsiders very well. Remember please, we are guests working for Brazil even if it is somewhat indirectly.”

  She continued in a much lower voice, “That’s right … it’s a shell game isn’t it? BrasTel is going from one Brazilian pocket to another. I’m right aren’t I?”

  “… officially no.”

  “Thank you, it makes things a lot clearer. Now I understand our baby sitters and the way Sam was handled as well as the rest of the damned security crap. Someone feels we’re useful.”

  “I said so before. This engagement is not so different from many others we’ve done. A takeover is a takeover no matter what you call it or who is involved. There are always secrets, always a back channel and control of the target is always what’s at stake. So this is nothing new except the scale of the game.”

  “Yeah, it’s not about industry position it’s about National stuff, really big stuff that can be dangerous to play with. That’s why all the security. It reminds me of my first deal. The client’s business was growing like a weed and he had all the money he needed from two big trans-national companies but he kept getting more and more unhappy. When I asked him what was wrong he told me it was like sleeping with elephants, during the night either one of them could roll over and crush you to death without even knowing it. That’s why I think it’s safer to play in our own league.”

  “How un-American Robin. You just said there were not any A, B and C classes in the US and you just said there are places you shouldn’t play because you don’t fit in.”

  “I’m talking about wearing a gold Rolex and a diamond necklace openly in a poor gang-ridden neighborhood. You can go there anytime but it certainly isn’t smart.”