by John Gubert
The money had been lent by IBE and they had paid it a fee out of the loan. They had enough money retained in the shell companies to pay the interest for about a year and had effectively shipped the rest out through a variety of routes into their own deep pockets.
In total, they were close to four billion dollars to the good and the big game had not yet begun even.
Charles talked through their next steps with Jacqui, “I need to get the US acquisition done and dusted fast. We are getting it for a song. And in any case your father’s shares are going to a trust for our children, although in a few months the rump of them is going to be almost worthless unless I can manage to engineer that second coup with Associated.
I also need to get rid of Stephens. He is becoming tedious. One day he’ll blow his mouth. Soon he’ll have delivered all we want and we’ll waste him. We’ll get Maria to do the necessary. We’ll let his deputy handle things from then on. We can still use the same computer programme to value the assets at whatever we want. The new man won’t understand it and we’ll pay him enough to ensure his silence. That will incriminate him when all comes to light and the trades are shown to be loss making.”
The day for signing came. Charles and Jacqui decided to be there early and were waiting well ahead of Di Maglio. Charles had bought three bulky red folders. One was embossed with the name of Di Maglio. One was embossed with the name of International Bank of Europe. And the third was embossed in the name of the US Administration. They all looked identical, but Di Maglio’s was missing that one crucial page. The page where he gave the added warranties that would be his downfall.
Charles extracted a second slim document. This was the deed they had agreed with Giovanni to allow Di Maglio to pass his shares in the combined operation to his grandchildren. They had considered he might now refuse to do that. But there was no purpose. He had nothing to gain by such action and everything to lose. For the planned deed had already been made public to the US Administration as part of the proof that Di Maglio no longer would have a say in the US bank.
There was a third document. This covered the split of the profits. This was different from the original split. They were now going to give Di Maglio only thirty per cent against the forty they had promised. The balance of ten per cent was going to Juliet.
Charles had manipulated things carefully. They would be busy. All three documents had to be signed for the deal to be finalised. That allowed him to hurry the proceedings along, particularly the initialling of the forty odd pages on the three copies of the sale agreement. That was seen as just administrative at this point as each party had already scrutinised each word in a draft.
Di Maglio entered the room with Giovanni. The broad shoulders, the slightly hunched back and the dark brooding look spelt menace for everyone else in the room. He seemed to be darker than usual and his face was engulfed in the spectre of an afternoon shadow. He stared grimly at each of the others.
He looked the Honourable James up and down. His sneer grew as he took in the hand-stitched shoes, polished to an immaculate shine. He looked at the razor sharp crease of the pin-striped double-breasted suit from a well-known man in Jermyn Street. The white shirt and the old school tie were noted. And then the sneer grew to vicious animosity as he looked at the carefully manicured hands, the immaculately brushed grey hair and that disdainful look that is so unique to the English aristocracy.
He looked at McGarth in his dark blue suit with a button down shirt and matching blue tie. He must have sensed the emptiness of the smile, the boredom in the eyes and the eagerness for lunch. He must have approved secretly of their selection of a chief executive of the US interests. The blandness of the man shone through. This was a cypher, descended from a suitably aristocratic family. This was a unique opportunity to lead the charge to oblivion and default. This was the man who would undoubtedly be visiting a penitentiary soon. And the sneer on Di Maglio’s lips turned to a thin smile. McGarth took that as a welcome and moved forward to shake his hand. The grip of iron that typified a Di Maglio handshake made him wince before he was ignored by the slow roving of their visitor’s eyes.
He saw Charles and nodded. It looked like a curt nod of dismissal rather than greeting. He then noticed Jacqui and started. He had not expected her. Nor had Giovanni, who had been watching this play for a few minutes and had seen Jacqui moments before. He made a move towards her and she moved back.
Charles interrupted the proceedings, “Gentlemen, as this is a private deal and we have also family matters to attend to, I would like us to start the proceedings now.”
Di Maglio sat down on one side with Giovanni on his right. Charles was opposite him and the Honourable James sat opposite Giovanni. Charles signalled McGarth to take a seat at the end of the table between the Honourable James and Giovanni. Jacqui approached her father and moved to the end of the table. He made to talk to her but Charles quickly interrupted him.
“Gentlemen, we have two documents to sign. The first is for the sale of PAF to International Bank of Europe. The agreement has been completed and vetted by our lawyers and a copy is in the folders here. Mr Di Maglio and I need to initial each page of each copy and then we need to sign the document, with Mr Petroni and the Honourable James as the witnesses.
There is also a second paper to sign as well and the lawyers have again vetted this. This relates to the transfer of shares in IBE, the shares resulting from this transaction, to a trust in favour of Miss Juliet Rossi and any brothers or sisters she may have.
I suggest we sign the first and then the second. We will need Mr Petroni as a witness for the second. Perhaps at that point Mr McGarth and the Honourable James can go for a cocktail before lunch. I am sure we all deserve one after this momentous deal.
The lawyers are outside and will take the relevant papers to the Federal Reserve and then others will issue the required press releases. Are there any questions?”
There were none and Charles produced the first two folders. They were the ones for Di Maglio and him. He suggested they initial all pages and then sign their own agreements first. This they did, with Giovanni checking the pages that Di Maglio signed. But he obviously failed to notice the gap in the numbering, concentrating as he was on the text of the agreement. He finished the initialling and Charles and he exchanged copies to countersign. Giovanni did not pay much attention to this one and they saw Di Maglio initial the critical page thirty-three without stopping. Two copies were signed. They now needed to go on to the US Administration document.
Charles had at one time considered forging the initials on the critical page 33, but he had felt that was too dangerous. There would be a challenge and he needed these documents to stand up to the closest scrutiny. Jacqui kept a close eye on the proceedings. Giovanni was looking again at the paperwork. This was more from boredom than anything else. He had checked out the first copy and had found no fault. He suspected nothing. He knew nothing. But they knew his first loyalty, if not all his sympathies, would rest with his boss and he would alert him to any irregularity. They needed to distract Di Maglio and Giovanni this time round. Charles caught Jacqui’s eye and she nodded.
Charles had instructed the heating to be turned up in the room and it was warm. Jacqui waited till Di Maglio had signed page thirty and then she fumbled in her bag. As he signed the next page, he turned to her inquiringly; she stood up. She looked pale. How she managed that Charles would never know.
“I feel a bit wobbly,” she announced. “Charles, I’ll go and sit down outside for a moment.”
Both Di Maglio and Charles had got up. The others looked on curiously. Di Maglio took her by the arm. She didn’t resist and seemed to sway, “Sorry, it’s just that I’m pregnant. I ‘m not usually so pathetic.”
Di Maglio looked stunned. “You never told me,” he said.
“I wanted it to be a surprise for later today. Look, it’s all right. I feel OK again. Let’s carry on with the business.”
Giovanni looked perplex
ed. The others mouthed congratulations and started to look at Jacqui strangely. It was as if she had done something freakish. It was all strange but it had served its purpose. The diversion had been planned if ever the new pages were being scrutinised closely by Di Maglio or Giovanni. It took everyone’s mind off the papers. Charles sat down again and so did Di Maglio. The next page or two had been initialled before Giovanni started looking again. And by that time the pages were normal. They had got past the vital page thirty three.
They signed and countersigned before Charles produced the next set of papers.
“I think at this point we can excuse Mr McGarth and the Honourable James.”
They needed no second invitation and headed to the adjacent private dining room for the first of their stiff lunchtime Martinis.
Once they had left, Charles produced the document moving the shares in IBE into the trust for Juliet and any brothers or sisters. Di Maglio looked at the document. He turned to Jacqui who had by now returned to the table.
“You didn’t tell me you were pregnant even when you were in the Geneva compound with me. At that time you didn’t know I was involved.”
Charles interrupted. This was an ideal way of making him feel even more insecure. Now Claire was dead it didn’t matter if he knew. “Wrong. We were aware that you were involved. We followed the kidnappers through to Geneva. It wasn’t chance that we were there. It was just chance that we found Juliet like we did.”
“Whom do you mean by “we”?”
“Claire and I tracked them. We followed them to Newhaven and then on through Dieppe. We actually thought that they were Russians. That’s why Claire was helping. She was obeying your instructions to protect us.
We almost managed to grab Juliet when she was handed over. But it was too dangerous. So we followed on. We thought they’d head on to the Russian compound in Uzes. But then they branched off and went to Geneva. It was only at that point that we knew it was you.
Till then we’d suspected you. There were too many unusual events. You’re too good to have made such mistakes. At least you’re too good to make them on purpose. By trying to make it look like a load of ham-fisted Russians you gave your game away.
We thought Juliet was in the compound. Claire and Jacqui were there to find her. It was only then that Claire worked against you. She was disgusted that you would stoop as low as to betray your own granddaughter.”
Di Maglio had turned pale at this and muttered something under his breath.
“Pass the papers.”
He skim-read the document and signed it. Giovanni countersigned and they did the same with the two added copies. This time there were no false pages. All documents were identical. And they had agreed that one copy could be lodged with the US authorities so that they had clear knowledge of the new ownership structure.
Di Maglio looked at Jacqui. He looked sad and embarrassed. But the words that followed were brutal.
“You’re just like that bitch of a mother of yours. You’d betray me at the drop of a hat, just like your mother. You’re not my daughter other than in name. I don’t know who your father really is. But I had some blood tests done years ago and it’s not me. So you’re a bastard and you act like one.
I’ve still signed the agreement to give your kids some of my money. So they get the bank. That’s going to be worth a few billion. So they owe me. And perhaps they’ll appreciate that. Perhaps they’ll be happier to follow in my footsteps than you were.”
Jacqui looked shocked and bit her bottom lip. Charles slipped his hand under the table and squeezed her knee. She read the message. Put it out of your mind. We need to get at him first. This could be a diversion. It sounded true. The bitterness would have been hard to fabricate. But you never knew with a man as evil as Di Maglio. There were no boundaries for him.
Charles picked up the last document and said, “There is another document. I have drawn up and that is an agreement on the split of any profits. This has just one copy. And I’m going to keep it.”
Giovanni and Di Maglio looked surprised. But it was Giovanni who spoke first.
“What does it say?”
“It advises of the change in the split of any profits we make.”
“We agreed that in London at the start of the deal. There will be no changes,” snarled Di Maglio.
“And think what has happened since.” Charles stood up and spat out the list of events, thumping the table with his fist each time but keeping his voice low.
“You tried to fake a mock assassination in New York. You organised a phoney explosion in California. You had us attacked on the freeway. You staged an abortive kidnap attempt in Los Angeles. You gave Juliet the head of a dead woman as a present. You tried to have me roughed up at the airport in LA. We were waylaid in Sussex. You kidnapped Juliet. Fuck you. The deal’s been changed.”
“Then it’s off.”
“Too late you’ve signed. And try to draw a gun and Jacqui will kill you first.”
Di Maglio glanced down and saw that Jacqui had taken a gun from her bag. It was pointing at him. There was no sign of emotion in her face. It was set hard and cold. And the gun was a real one. This was for stopping and killing. This was not for warning and wounding.
Giovanni again tried to calm things down, “What changes are there?”
“To ensure that Juliet is recompensed for the kidnapping, she is in for ten per cent of the profit. The clause also allows Jacqui and I to split out that ten per cent with any other children we have together.”
“What if you remarry? What if she comes to her senses and sees you for the piece of shit you are?” spat out Di Maglio viciously.
“I said children we had together. In any event, Jacqui is married to me and not to someone like you. We plan to stay together. But, once this deal is done, you’re out of our lives.”
“Who passes Juliet the ten per cent?” asked Giovanni although he had evidently already worked it out.
“He does,” said Charles jerking his head towards Di Maglio. “His share was reduced from forty to thirty once he started playing dirty tricks. And there are two other clauses.”
Charles paused but there was no response. At least nobody said anything. Giovanni just sat there quietly. Di Maglio glared at him with a hatred that was so intense that he started to feel uneasy. He steeled himself to repel that look. The hatred was blind. The malevolent feelings of a twisted man blended with the darkness of soul that only he could muster. And that communicated itself through a glare of such intense evil. It made Charles question if they were not better seeing him dead rather than defeated. He would need to keep that in mind.
“The two other clauses are simple. There is a survival clause. If any party dies or disappears before the deal is completed, then the split of profits they would have received is redistributed.”
“Run that by me,” said Giovanni. He did that on purpose. He wanted to gauge Di Maglio’s reaction.
“If you, Maria or Mr Di Maglio were to die before the distribution date, then the clause would rule and your shares would be redistributed proportionately between the survivors.”
“I’ll see it through,” snarled Di Maglio. “But I wouldn’t be so sure of your chances.”
“The second clause excludes you, Maria or Giovanni from benefiting from the death of Jacqui or me. The distribution would then be as indicated in our wills. Those are not part of this agreement.”
“Do we have to agree to this shit?” Di Maglio asked in a hoarse voice.
Giovanni nodded. “He has us caught. There was no written agreement. And he can pull out of the bank sale, too, if he wants on the basis of the kidnapping. And then our banks will be worthless and we could be exposed to other scrutiny.”
Di Maglio exploded in rage and Giovanni went as white as a sheet as the fury was directed against him. “Why the fuck did you let him do that? You screwed up badly there.”
“It’s not abnormal in this sort of agreement.
I didn’t know your plans. But there is a clause on mutual trust and openness during negotiations.”
Di Maglio glared malevolently at Giovanni, “Who do I trust? Do I trust that conman over there? Would I ever allow that bitch who thinks she’s my daughter into my inner circle? This better work or you’ll regret it.”
Di Maglio reached over and signed the document. Charles followed suit. After Giovanni countersigned with a trembling hand, Charles calmly picked up the document.
“I think we have finished. I hope you’ll stay for lunch,” said Charles with a sardonic smile.
Di Maglio looked at him and growled “no.”
“And you, Giovanni?”
“I have to as we need to see the lawyers and then go to the New York Federal Reserve,” he replied. He turned to Di Maglio, “I’ll join you around five this evening. Can we have a moment together?”
Giovanni pulled Di Maglio to a corner and they talked sombrely for a few moments. They knew that he was working to calm him down. There was no way for Di Maglio to try to get even with them yet. He would best wait till after the scam. But then he would be broke. He’d have the odd few millions stashed away. But he’d have nothing else.
If he had no cash, his Empire would crumble. You don’t buy goods like that on credit. And you need hundreds of millions of credit, and credit in the form of cash. He would be destroyed. Without wealth he wouldn’t know whom to trust. Others could buy his people. They would want to survive. There would be other drug barons to help them on their way.
Giovanni returned, still pallid and perspiring. Di Maglio, his face etched into a furious glare, strode out of the door without a backward glance.
Charles picked up his folder and checked it had the right document. The sale agreement went from page thirty-two to thirty-four. He slipped the trust agreement in front of the sale agreement. He then tied the cover together and handed the flawed documents to the unsuspecting Giovanni.