by John Gubert
Di Maglio laughed, “And they don’t know that he’s worse than me. He’ll make a super fortune in the banking world. But once its doors are closed to him, he’ll look for a new field and a new challenge.”
“Daddy, he’s not going into your business,” retorted Jacqui. “And that’s final.”
“Oh, so you do rule the roost. I see you decide for him. Is that modern equality?”
“Mr Di Maglio, we have business to do. We will do it and you will get richer by a few billion. Then I will no longer be in banking and our business partnership will end. Have no doubt about it, Jacqui wasn’t talking for me. She was saying what we both think. If you want to be welcome to spend time with us, respect that decision. Otherwise you may be a bit lonely.”
Di Maglio glared at Charles but said nothing. That surprised him, “You said tomorrow we have some business to do. I suggest we leave it till then. But tomorrow we need time to discuss Rastinov. His actions are becoming bloody outrageous.”
At that point Claire came back with Juliet. It was strange, it happened every time with Di Maglio. His hard features softened. His steely eyes became benevolent. His aggressive stance relaxed. He was the adoring grandfather. Juliet jumped down and kissed him. He went over to the table and picked up a large package, cheerfully wrapped in Mickey Mouse paper.
There was a scream of pleasure as the paper was ripped off. The parcel was opened and the pleasure turned to horror on the little girl’s face. The horror turned to fear as she burst into uncontrollable sobs and ran for protection to Jacqui. Charles looked at the parcel. He stopped in shock. Inside it was the head of Magya. He covered it up. Di Maglio looked shocked. He controlled himself well.
“Who the fuck’s that?” he queried.
“Her name was Magya. She was one of the women who came here yesterday,” replied Charles.
He muttered, “The parcel had a small doll’s house in it. Someone switched it. But where could that happen? How? I’m always under guard.”
“Where did you buy it?”
“Near here. I went into a small toyshop. I bought it here. It was in my suite all afternoon. Then I picked it up tonight.”
“Someone switched it. They’re good if they can get close to you. We’ll have to tighten security and establish how we tackle them. This has to stop.”
“I don’t like my present. The face looked like that nasty lady the other day.”
Juliet’s comment surprised them. Charles hadn’t realised that she would not recognise it as a real head. That was all the better.
“Grandpa’s sorry,” he told her. “He bought you a doll’s house and asked the shop to wrap it. They must have mixed it up with someone else’s present. He’ll go back there and get the right one tomorrow. Don’t worry. Give him a kiss for the thought. You’ll get the right present tomorrow.”
The explanation satisfied her. She gave him a kiss. The atmosphere returned to normal; at least normal for an evening with Di Maglio. They had dinner in a pretty formal way. They talked about a variety of things. Di Maglio’s brother, Aldo, joined them, but Di Maglio overshadowed him. Giovanni was quiet and thoughtful. Claire was withdrawn. Jacqui fussed over Juliet. It was hardly convivial. They were all relieved when it was over.
Di Maglio broke up the evening, saying that he would go to bed. He was tired. They all said “goodnight” and headed to their rooms.
As Claire was about to leave, Charles said, “Claire, if Jacqui agrees, I would like you and her to return with Juliet tomorrow night. I’ll head out to Washington on my own and then back to London via New York. I don’t like the way things are going with the Russians. We meet the new nanny for the first time tomorrow. The other one is still not up to travel. I don’t want Juliet to be alone with someone new.”
Jacqui and Claire both agreed. After Claire had gone and Jacqui had put Juliet to bed in their room, they sat together. Charles turned to Jacqui, a worried look on his face.
“There’s something strange about the whole episode today. I can’t quite put my finger on it. I can’t see how they managed to swap the parcel. Professionals surround your father. There’s no way someone could get by them. And his reaction was muted. It could be part because of Juliet, but I don’t think that’s the reason. What do you think?”
“You mean that the whole thing could be a set-up. But why would he do that?”
“Everything has been so strange. The attack in New York was stupid. The bomb here was useless. The helicopter on the motorway was risky and a waste of space. And the women who broke in timed everything so badly that it was unbelievable. Now we’ve had Magya’s head. It doesn’t add up.”
“We’d better keep an eye on my father. Perhaps we need to do a solo; better, though, to do that after we’ve bought his banks. I think we can trust Claire to work for us. I think she’s about to quit the business. She implied that when we talked on the beach. Once you talk of that type of future, you are about to leave the violence of her type of work. I’ve seen it before.”
“Jacqui, can we trust Maria?”
“Trust her totally. The money you’ve promised her will be the bonus she’s been looking for. She’ll move on then. There’s no point in her going back to my dad. And her role with us will be over.”
“Can we trust anyone else?”
“I guess it’s just each other.”
Charles nodded, “We’ll keep an eye on what happens tomorrow. I want to be sure that we follow up on anything strange. But we should be careful all the same. We could be wrong about it all. We need to act as if we are in the gravest danger.”
The next day, they all met in the presidential suite taken for Di Maglio. It was a bizarre gathering.
Di Maglio sat at the head of the table. He was only medium height. He was a broadly built man. His hair was still black and Charles doubted he used any colouring. For a man in his late fifties, that wasn’t bad. He didn’t so much look at everyone, he glowered. His aim was to intimidate. He did that at all meetings. Charles suspected he alone was indifferent to his mood.
Giovanni sat next to him. He looked worried. He was uneasy. The owl-like eyes blinked nervously. The cadaverous face on the thin neck was more pallid than usual. The claw-like hands were knotting and un-knotting themselves. The shirt appeared to have expanded or the neck shrunk, and in the wide gap in front of the starched collar his prominent Adam’s apple bobbed about erratically. They had never seen him like that.
On the other side sat Aldo. He was rarely around now as he was semi retired. He was a softer version of Di Maglio. Taller, he was quite dapper. His hair receded and hung in grey strands over his ears. He was licking his lips and chewing at a half smoked cigar at the same time. He darted glances at Jacqui from time to time. He had a guilty look about him.
Then there were Jacqui and Charles. They were dressed casually in contrast to the rest. They looked fresher and healthier than them. Charles realised how out of place they appeared in this gathering. He saw clearly how right Jacqui was. They needed to get out of this environment as soon as they could. He told himself, there and then, their business dealings with Di Maglio would finish by the end of the next year.
Di Maglio opened the meeting, “We have two issues to discuss. The first was planned. The second relates to the Rastinov affair. They are linked, though. First of all, Giovanni will run you through my business interests so that you understand what I plan to do next.”
Giovanni stood up and switched on a projector. He spoke to slides. The first slide started rather pompously with the words, “The Di Maglio Global Empire.”
Giovanni cleared his throat and started speaking to the slides, “The interests can be split into two. On the one hand we have the core businesses and, on the other, the commercial interests.
The core businesses can be split three ways. They are drugs, prostitution and protection. Drugs have two arms and they are kept separate. There is drug procurement and drug distribution. The distribution is wholes
ale and global. We have no street business, that’s all freelance. Prostitution is a single business. We operate the infrastructure for the prostitutes, including security and premises. That ranges from rooms in our hotels to apartments to clubs. The prostitutes are all freelance and pay us a proportion of their earnings. Protection is only operated in the States. We operate mainly through security firms; most are fronts. The business is fairly classical. It’s just most of the methods that are different from legitimate providers.
The commercial interests can be split two ways. They are the related and the other businesses.
The related businesses are casinos, hotels and pharmaceuticals. The gambling and hotels provide opportunities for prostitution, enable us to launder money and give us business contacts. The pharmaceuticals give a cover for some of the drug procurement businesses although they have legal sides. There is also a research and hospital division under pharmaceuticals that lets us give medical care to our people if they need it away from the eyes of the authorities.
The other businesses are mainly financial services and you are acquiring those almost in their entirety. They are helpful but the regulation is tough and we could use trusted third parties for our needs. You can now buy a crooked banker fairly cheaply in several jurisdictions.”
He looked around for questions. There were none, so he continued, “The businesses are all profitable. The core businesses have a limited amount of assets. These are mainly property. We value the property at around half a billion dollars. But they produce around a billion and a half dollars a year after immediate expenses. Those exclude the bribes we pay.
The related businesses have more assets. These are around a billion and a half dollars. But we earn around half a billion from them and so I guess they’re worth around three or four billion if I were a seller. The other businesses, the banks, have a value of around a couple of billion on our agreed valuation and produce around three hundred million dollars before tax each year. They were investments to legitimise our money. We needed to pay tax somewhere. But we knew that the IRS wouldn’t be able to tell the difference between us living on a couple of hundred million or a couple of billion.
In all, we have assets of around four billion earning over two billion before tax. I guess we pay a hundred million of tax at the most. Outside your proposed deal, Charles, we have two billion of assets earning a couple of billion each year. Not bad, eh? Obviously that excludes the private accounts of Mr Di Maglio in different banks; that’s family money and not business assets.”
Di Maglio intervened, “Now let me tell you what I want to do. The businesses are all run from a core central team of three, namely me, Giovanni and Aldo.
Beneath that we have five trusted lieutenants – they run drugs, prostitution, protection, the commercial interests outside banking and then there is a logistics guy who handles transport, guns and the like. Those five form the executive council, which Giovanni chairs, and also represents the banks.
Then we have about a hundred foot soldiers, ranging from girls like Claire through to enforcers. I need a successor. We are too old to keep this game in check without one. We don’t want to retire yet, except for Giovanni. So my plan was that Charles should replace him when he has left banking.”
“No deal,” Charles said without hesitation. Di Maglio glared at him with unconcealed loathing.
“OK, I understand. That’s why I decided to put the core business, that’s drugs, prostitution and protection, for sale. I talked to a few contacts and they would pay me good money for it. Not as much as it’s worth but still good. One offer is for two billion and then half the profits for twenty years. I doubt I can trust anyone that long.
There is another for three billion and then half a billion a year through me continuing to own the related businesses, that’s the casinos, hotels and pharmaceutical operations. The buyer would pay more than I do at the moment for the services offered. That’s the most attractive. It’s from a Greek syndicate.
That was the one I was planning to take. I would cut my staff to twenty or thirty to manage the new businesses. I’d pay off the others with bonuses, but they could work for the new owners if they wished. I would have a big chunk of cash, especially when you delivered. And I would still have a good earner and something to do with my time.
Then we hit a problem.”
He paused and took a drink of water, before looking Jacqui straight in the eyes. His forehead was glistening with perspiration. His face was flushed. His look was quite malevolent. Charles felt Jacqui tremble. But her face betrayed nothing.
They both looked around the table. All the others were uneasy. Aldo just studied the floor. Giovanni was looking fixedly at Di Maglio. None of them made eye contact with them. It was as if they were trying not to.
Di Maglio continued, “We were advised that the Russian Mafia wanted to buy out the business. We have had a working relationship with them for some years. You know all about that. They offered us the value of the assets or two billion and nothing else for all the businesses. And they said that the price of rejection was trouble.
We ignored that. Everybody talks tough in this business. Nothing happened for a bit. Then about two weeks ago there was an incident.”
He looked around at them. He waited. He was playing with them, intentionally keeping them on edge.
“One of my supply planes was hijacked. It had also some of my top guys on board. They were all coming back from Columbia. They were all killed. The plane was destroyed. The drugs disappeared.”
He stopped again. Then he continued, “And the next day I got a message from Rastinov to say he was in town. He hoped I’d liked the welcome back show he’d launched. Then we had the incidents with you. That’s the threat. By the way he wants the banks as well.”
“That’s no problem,” Charles said. “We can scupper that. If we give his identity to the regulators, they’ll refuse ownership transfer.”
Di Maglio, amazingly, hadn’t considered that. He looked surprised and angry. He turned to Giovanni, who confirmed the comment. Charles was now really surprised. Giovanni was smart and would have known that too. He should have told it to Di Maglio. The fact that he hadn’t most likely meant he hadn’t known about that part of the deal. Why hadn’t Di Maglio told him? Had they had a disagreement? What was Di Maglio hiding? Or had he just thrown that in to get Charles on board somehow?
He then said, “The only way out of an outright war with the Russians is to keep all the businesses in the family. The problems would go away if we were not selling. Our weakness is down to changing ownership.”
“Rubbish!” said Jacqui vehemently. “The change of ownership is an excuse. We’d have trouble, irrespective. Rastinov wants the business. Either you manage him and his people as you did before, or you have trouble. That’s your choice.”
“I agree with Jacqui,” Charles chimed in quickly. “This is nothing to do with the deal we are running, or your plans. This is a family issue about how to handle Rastinov. I’d go through with the deal with the Greeks and then attack him. You still have the people for that and, just like the last time in the South of France, you can buy good mercenaries.”
Di Maglio glared at them both, “So you won’t help the family?”
Jacqui came back, “The family don’t need us. You sell to the Greeks. You pick up the three billion and the annual income from the retained operations. You’ll make a few billion from our plans even after you have given the bank to Juliet. You must have billions stashed away elsewhere. You can sort the Russians out. This is hardly the worst problem you have ever faced.”
He looked even angrier. Charles realised that he had to find out why the others were so stressed out. He turned to Aldo. He was the weakest. “What would you do?”
He mumbled, “I agree we should try to keep all in the family. Then it’s a local problem. Otherwise, it’s more difficult.”
Charles stood up, “Gentlemen, I have lots to do. I can’t help ou
t in gang warfare. My speciality is finance. Do tell us what happens.”
With that he moved to the door. Jacqui followed saying, “You’ll come down to our suite later to see us won’t you?”
Di Maglio didn’t answer, he just glared. As Charles got to the door, he asked Giovanni when he would leave for Washington. “We should tell the pilot so he logs the flight.”
“Giovanni will fly with me to New York,” snarled Di Maglio. “He’ll join you in Washington tomorrow morning. You two can catch a scheduled flight.”
“Oh, I’m heading back to London tonight with Juliet. Charles will be on his own,” announced Jacqui. “He’ll arrange protection. So you can have your men back when we leave. But I’d like Claire to accompany Juliet, the nanny and me.”
Di Maglio shrugged his shoulders and looked at her almost as icily as he had looked at Charles.
Outside Charles commented, “I doubt I improved relationships with your father.”
“I agree. But he needed a clear message and he got one.”
“There was something strange about the meeting. It was a game. What was the truth?”
“I don’t know. He is not usually that inept. Perhaps it was a bad day. But we’ll have to keep tabs on events. And I think we should step up the search for the island, it’s too unpleasant in the cities.”
The rest of the day was spent in the office. Maria offered to fly out and give support if needed, but that was declined. “Your role is to monitor the office. I’ll be back on Friday morning. And I want you to join Claire and sort out the security arrangements. She and Jacqui will be back first thing. Jacqui will be in the bank office before lunch.”
He talked to the Honourable James. Most of what he said was inconsequential, but one comment caught his attention. “There’s a buzz in the market about our deals in America. It appears that someone on your side of the pond has been talking. They say that there is Mafia involvement in some of the West Coast banks. I had a chappie I know at the Bank of England call me about that.”