Buying Brazil (Buying Brazil Trilogy Book 1)

by Arthur Rawl

  The bathroom door opened and von Lieghter went around the table, picked up his document case and continued around the table to the door with his hand outstretched.

  “I am delighted at the thought of working with you Herr Matthews. I see some of your step father’s traits rubbed off on you. Courtesy and caution in equal measure, it was always his way of doing business. I feel confident you will help us achieve success.”

  “Thank you, you are very kind. My step father was a very positive influence particularly because my father died when I was still young. I feel it was his most important legacy for me. Until lunch tomorrow, I have asked my associate Robin Stephens to join us. She is my right hand and has been with me for many years. She has also had a little more time to learn about São Paulo than I and may be able to make suggestions about places to go while you are here.”

  His careworn face cracked in a warm smile, “You are very kind, thank you, good morning.”

  He turned and walked to the outer office where Robin was waiting. Greeting her with a slight bow taking her hand with the formality of bygone gestures that still remained alive in a few closed drawing rooms in Europe and places like Brazil’s rural Santa Catarina State where some of the past’s powerful still lived a defeated dream.

  The sound of the front door closing behind them started me reviewing what I had learned from von Lieghter. Damn, if Aranni was his old Berlin friend then Aranni probably played a role in opening Brazil’s doors to some of the Third Riech’s most hunted post-war refugees. A role that could have earned him their loyalty and support as well as that of their comrades whenever and wherever there was a need … even in a place like The Hamptons. Looking out at the clear blue sky I began wondering whether Aranni was in Berlin and whether I wanted to find out. More importantly, I questioned if the answer was relevant to me here and now or to my role in the new BrasTel deal.

  Then I wondered why these questions would have importance in today’s Brazil except perhaps in a few isolated mountain towns in Santa Catarina State where rumors and ever-popular Brazilian gossip claimed there was a community of ex-SS officers and their families? True to their Portuguese heritage Brazil and Brazilians were more than happy to let people live their lives unmolested as long as they chose to remain unnoticed faces in the crowd. Their pasts simply became lost within the complex weave of Brazilian life and among the diverse mixture of its people.

  Why should I, an outsider, and guest in Brazil worry about who was building its future? Aranni worries about his grandchildren the same as any grandfather in any country on earth. The difference, he is able to do a great deal more to protect them because of the greater power and wealth he controls.

  Like my step father who put the Second World War’s dark shadows behind him in order to help rebuild the lives of his former enemies, the United States led the rebuilding of both Germany and Japan. Their common goal was to help prevent the anguish and pain suffered by the defeated from becoming a debilitating infection. The kind of infection that could multiply in strength and in the end bring about the plague of World War Three just as the seeds of World War Two were planted and made fertile by the pain and hardship suffered by almost every German after World War One. Like my step father and the great powers each did in their own way should I also look past yesterday? More importantly, did I really have the choice other than to do so because of the real and deadly threats confronting me?

  “Carl, I got our client through security and,” dropping a large brown envelope on my desk, “this was downstairs. It was just delivered.”

  “Thank you. Please have some lunch brought in for us later. There are some things I think you need to know and I think this could be the most secure place to discuss them because of how the building is run.

  “That’ll be a pleasant change. I’ll get us something expensive.”

  I picked up the envelope, weighed it in my hand, turned it over and then back to the front. The return address was ‘Reuters News Service – Brazil’. Inside was a single page containing several lines of text below a headline, “Comte del Eccio Succumbs to Injuries”.

  Chapter 24

  Speechless, Robin sat staring across the table at me. Our lunch had quickly turned into an interrogation and with each answer Robin’s face turning a deeper shade of red. Yes, maybe it was time for the truth but not quite the whole truth.

  “Robin lighten up a little please. We’ve done rather well so far and in no more than a few more weeks this deal will be history.”

  “You bastard! You’ve put a target on my back. I can’t even pee without someone looking over my shoulder and you say lighten up. God damned deal … we’ll probably be history and not the deal. How the hell could you get us into all this shit? You were always smart enough not to get involved in the client’s problems. I don’t understand … I’ll never understand. Damn you Carl.”

  “Are you through?”

  “No! I don’t care how much money you think we’ll make or how bright you think our future will be. Think about it, we know too much, understand? I’m not going to live long enough to spend what I have. We’re in too deep with the wrong … the worst kind of people. When they don’t need us to front for them anymore we’re as good as dead meat.”

  “I can’t give you a good reason why, but I’m absolutely sure you’re wrong Robin. Call it intuition, call it whatever you like but you’re wrong.”

  “Yeah, your intuition … it’s been good, too damned good. In the past it was golden but this time its dropped you flat on your ass and you’re taking me down with you. I …”

  The low ringing of the phone seemed to momentarily bring sanity back into the office, “Get that and do so calmly please.”

  Robin sprang from the chair and half ran into the outer office, “Yes I’ll tell him.” She reappeared in the office doorway hand on hip wearing a burning scowl on her face, “Our landlord is on the way up. He asked to be announced.”

  “Put your friendliest face on please and let’s make a proper impression on him.”

  “I’m not feeling very proper right now.”

  “Thank you, I know you’ll make an effort.”

  “You …”

  The sound of the front door opening brought Robin back to earth. “Go welcome our guest please. I’ll be in the conference room.”

  “Right, whatever you say boss.”

  To be truthful, I wasn’t surprised to see General Aranni being led in. He was wearing a dark blue suit, a white shirt and a British style club tie and looked every bit the English gentleman. Tanned, relaxed and seeming to smile.

  “Good morning Senator. Let me introduce my colleague Robin Stephens.”

  A very brief but formal nod of his head, “I am delighted to meet you Miss Stephens. Our mutual acquaintances at BrasTel have spoken very highly of you.”

  “Robin, this is our friend and benefactor Senator Ignacio Aranni a leading member of the Federal Legislature and a much-revered retired General Officer in the Brazilian Army.”

  “I’m honored to meet you Sir and very thankful to you for the use of this beautiful old office.”

  “Your thoughts are welcome, thank you. I built this suite many years ago and you have rekindled its brightness with your youthful charm and energy.”

  Robin’s face turned red again. This time she was blushing, I couldn’t believe it.

  Pulling out the chair at the head of the table, “Please be seated Senator. Would you like coffee?”

  “That would be very kind. If possible, a little milk and sugar please. Also, please show my man where the service area is and tell him to make himself comfortable. I will not be long.”

  Watching him it was clear that we had grandfather Aranni with us. But, I was sure the other Aranni wasn’t far below the surface. The way he meticulously arranged the coffee cup, creamer and sugar bowl Robin placed in front of him was testimony the General was present and in command of the lowly Senator.

  “I had forgotten how comfortable this room is. I ha
ve not used it since the early nineteen sixties. My business office occupies the rest of this floor and the one below. This space saw many important, shall we say, non-business meetings during 1962, 1963 and early 1964. For some reason I have left these rooms to rest. They hold many good memories”, his eyes seemed to cloud, “and many other kinds of memories. Perhaps I did not feel the need to disturb them. Now, sitting here it is almost possible to hear voices from the past as if opening the front door again gave them new life.”

  “Fresh air is always good Senator particularly for beautiful rooms like these.”

  “Perhaps it is, I hope so. Using these rooms seems appropriate because part of today’s mission involves the past. Please allow me to speculate for a moment Mr. Matthews. I believe you and Miss Stephens have wondered how a simple business transaction, negotiating to buy something its owner most certainly wants to sell, could be so much more difficult from the many others you have easily completed in the past. I think more accurately you worry why there have been so many, shall we say, unusual events. You ask yourselves why you have not suffered unfortunate things when they have fallen upon others involved in the same transaction. It would be easy for me to say Brasil is a seductively deceptive and complex place where the surface calm covers turmoil below. I think it more accurate to say my country is a growing 500-year-old adolescent who still needs some parental guidance to avoid the bad influences that constantly spill across its borders from our neighbors and from across the oceans.”

  Robin interrupted “Yes Senator your analogy may be appropriate but still it does not shed light on why Carl and I need constant protection and more importantly why we are considered worth the effort.”

  “Yes Miss Stephens,” his words clipped by his dislike of interruptions, “I believe that to be your most troubling question. To be completely open, it is because of an old debt I can in some small degree finally start to honor in a way more meaningful than simply remembering its truly heartfelt existence. To a lesser extent it is also because Mr. Matthews has a history that tells me he can be trusted.”

  Robin and I exchanged a questioning look. She shrugged her shoulders as if to say ‘not a clue’.

  Aranni turned back to me seeming to forget Robin’s presence, “You do not remember your father other than what you have been told by others Mr. Matthews. I do remember him and will forever. You know he died a hero as did his father and his father’s father.”

  “Yes, my mother told me he earned the Victoria Cross, how he gave his life to save others.”

  “That is correct. My life was one of those he saved. He did so without a moment’s hesitation or thought for his own safety. There is no question in my mind he was the best soldier and truest comrade in arms I ever met even though I knew him only a few minutes. To protect his line, his son, is both an absolute duty and a high privilege for me.”

  I felt as if lightening had struck me. He knew my father … he was there. “Please Senator tell me anything you might remember of him, what you remember of that day. No one has been able to tell me more than just the few words on the Royal Warrant that came with his medal.”

  “I remember a great deal. I see it every night when I try to go to sleep. It is the day that changed my destiny and that of my country. After that day I felt I carried the great burden to change the lives of the Brasilian people, my people because he changed my life. I will tell you of that day …”

  Aranni talked slowly, emotionally for more than half an hour. His eyes wet with unshed tears. His voice at times low as if he were talking to himself. Appearing spent by emotion he became silent, eyes downcast. Minutes of silence passed then, “I have brought this for you to read. This ties me to him, to you … forever. It is my duty, my honor to keep the memory of this man, your father, alive as long as I live.

  Aranni pulled a worn brown letter-sized envelope from his inside jacket pocket. Reverently he smoothed nonexistent wrinkles from the envelope worn from decades of his repeated visits and handed it to me. “This came to me almost a year after his death.”

  It was from Her Majesty’s Ministry of Defense addressed to Sub-Lieutenant Ignacio Aranni, The Army of the Republic of Brazil. I started to open it and then stopped and pushed it back to Aranni, “I can’t touch it … it would be like opening his grave. Please, just tell me what does it say?”

  “The letter tells me of the Victoria Cross and there is a transcript of the citation that was with it.”

  “How did you know I was his son? Matthews is a common English name.”

  “I knew he had a son because one of the men from his unit said he had just received a letter from your mother with pictures of you. He was showing the pictures around that morning and telling them all his son was a year old.”

  “No that’s not what I mean, how did you know it was me, that I was his son? It’s crazy. Why would you even think it possible?”

  “My colleagues over many years have told me I must have a sixth sense. I do not know what they mean but yes at times I have feelings, intuition perhaps that have guided me and my decisions. I believe all people have them but they do not see them within themselves so they do not heed their guidance. When the BrasTel people told me of the people Lazer had sent I heard your name and my intuition told me I should ask our military attaché in London to look into your background.”

  “To be truthful I find it bizarre. Half way around the world and I’m recognized by one of the men my father saved more than four decades ago. From your point of view I was someone on the wrong side of the BrasTel transaction. It must have been difficult for you once you had confirmation.” I thought for a moment and it became clear, “Of course, the business with Skip and all of its fallout was your doing so you could maneuver us to the other side of the table. Then, when the Italians got in the way you removed them. I assume you now feel your debt has been settled with the death of Conde del Eccio.”

  “My debt is a life not a death, a long life like the one given to me by your father. It is for the gift of grandchildren your father never enjoyed. So many other things your father gave me that I owe him for. A medal is hollow recognition if we ever forget the obligation, the duty those who were there that day owe because of the terrible price he so willingly paid. No Mr. Matthews, del Eccio was no more than a detail.”

  Seconds turned to minutes crawling past while silence filled the room as he and I sat staring into each other’s eyes.

  “Where do we go from here General?”

  “You finish the work for your new client. I can assure you there will be no more unusual things to worry you. The transaction should be as uncomplicated as any similar business deal you have done in the past. I am sure each past deal had its unique challenges and there will be some in this one also. You are facilitating your client buying a piece of Brasil. As you imagine buying Brasil will be a unique undertaking for you as it has for those who have done so in the past.”

  “That simple, there is nothing else I need to know? There are no warnings or cautions beyond those that were so carefully delivered to me recently?”

  “There are none. In your assignment, no, there is nothing else although your client will have to walk a political tightrope to reach his goal. He is an experienced man who understands such situations from his work with the victorious allies after the last European War. I am not concerned about the final outcome. There is one non-business matter, my ward Alana. I am waiting for her to come to me to ask for my blessing. Then you and I will have another conversation. She is like a daughter to me and I gave her parents my word I would protect her.”

  “You are well informed General as I am sure you usually are.” He held up his hand, “You must forgive me but I must go. We will continue our discussion another day. Miss Stephens I hope the ramblings of an old man did not bore you. Perhaps when BrasTel is done you and Mr. Matthews will come to my home for dinner. And yes, before you ask, BrasTel’s VIP protection policy does require continued protection once there has been an incident of any kind on Br
asilian soil involving a Company guest. I could not convince them not to do so even if I tried.”

  Aranni slowly stood turning the heavy chair aside taking a step toward me with his hand out. “Thank you for allowing me to help you. I thought it time to come out of the shadows so you would understand many things that must have been unclear.” “I closed both of my hands around his outstretched hand, “Thank you for sharing your very personal memories with me General. You have brought light into a dark corner of my life. I am very grateful … but there are still questions.”

  “They must wait for another day.” Then with a slight bow and in a commanding voice he said only, “Good day.”

  I walked with him opening the conference room door to the outer office where his body guard stood waiting. Together they left marching out the front door with a crisp military cadence, the guard a half a step behind and to Aranni’s left.

  Robin remained standing by her chair in the conference room until I returned looking for her. Seeing me she slumped down into the chair pointing at the one I had occupied. Her way of telling me I should sit down.

  “I know who he is Carl. I read about him in the old candy deal background memo about Brazil. He led the junta in 1964. He pacified the opposition with the use of the army and with brute force but without a lot of blood.”

  “Yes he did and he also led re-democratization when other leading members of the junta were against it.”

  “Right and those ‘other’ members started dying one after the other. More to the point there are a lot of people who believe he’s still pulling all the strings down here. I didn’t believe it until today.”

  “Brazil is not England or the United States. You heard him Brazil is a 500-year old adolescent. It may only now be taking its place among the nations of the world and I’m sure you’ll agree that place is at best fragile. You’ve been here long enough to feel the undercurrent”

  “Yeah I have. But, the one important thing I learned today is I’m not going to be washed away by it because we’ve joined up with the guy who’s holding the biggest gun. By the way, who the hell was del Eccio?”