by Alan Cook
Chapter 19
For the next six days I did my own thing. I ran
and worked my baseball card business. Each day
I checked the auction for the Wagner card on
eBay and each day I was still the leading bidder.
I tried not to think of what would happen if I
actually got the card.
I visited my father in the hospital. When he came
home on Saturday I visited him in the castle. We
didn't talk about Dionysus. I actually told him
something about my business and he was interested
enough to give me a couple of suggestions. I
couldn't remember when we had talked so much.
Jacie and I were nice to each other-the way people
are when they've been through an ordeal together.
Luz fussed around my father, cooking food for him
that he wasn't ready to eat yet, and ended up giving
it to me.
I spent a day and two wonderful nights with Esther. I
took her and her son, Emilio, to a Dodger game and
even got him a baseball autographed by Steve Garvey,
who was there for an old-timers' day.
On Tuesday morning I got a call from Arrow. Her
first words were, "Karl, we've got a problem."
I almost asked her whether she had spilled food
on her kitchen floor again and needed help with
the cleanup, but her tone of voice warned me to
be serious. I said, "What's the matter?"
"James is going to mount a proxy fight to take over
Dionysus and Elma is going to vote her shares with
him."
I hadn't spent much time thinking about Dionysus for
the last few days and this news came as a complete
shock. I stuttered incoherently for a few seconds
before my brain got into gear and I said, "What made
Elma change her mind?"
"I don't know that she actually changed her mind.
Remember, she never told us before how she would
vote. Apparently, James spent most of yesterday with
her. I went to her house this morning to work on her
finances. James convinced her that Richard is in no
shape to run Dionysus, and without Ned new
management is needed."
"Actually, Richard is well enough so that he can
probably deal with this personally in a few days."
"I've already talked to him."
I had a strong desire to scream at Arrow, but
before I could get beyond "What!" she said, "He
called me after he got home from the hospital and
made me promise, on pain of instant dismissal,
that I would let him know if I heard anything at
all about what James was up to."
Damn! This was a good way to give my father a
setback. But it was too late now. "What are your
plans?" I asked.
"Richard wants me to come to the house at noon for
a strategy session with him. I want you to be there
too."
"I can't. I have an appointment this afternoon."
My regular volunteer session at Emerge.
"This is important. Can't you change it? Please?
I wouldn't ask if it weren't important."
"Does my father want me there?"
"Karl, I want you there. You've been in this thing
up to your eyeballs and you know more than
anyone else about what James has done lately.
And you owe it to your father. Doesn't that mean
anything to you?"
I was silent.
Arrow continued, "Richard said his cook would make
us lunch."
Now I could agree without acknowledging that I
owed something to my father. "At least we
won't starve. When Luz makes lunch she goes
all out."
I didn't want canceling my sessions at Emerge to
become a habit. This was the last time I would
do it for my father or Arrow or anyone else.
# # # #
I slipped into the castle through one of the sliding
doors near the pool and delicious aromas emanating
from the kitchen immediately drew me there. Luz
was up to her armpits in pots.
I said, "The only reason I agreed to come to this
meeting was because I heard you were cooking
a feast."
"Gracias," Luz said, giving me a hug even though
she had a large spoon in her hand. "Mrs.
Patterson told me you might come so I made
more."
"Wild toros couldn't keep me away. And with you
cooking for him, Mr. Patterson will soon be well."
"Es verdad. He looks better already."
"Dionysus stock is up this morning. It is because
people know you are taking care of Mr. Patterson."
"Mucho dinero," Luz nodded. "The company will be
all right."
It was more likely that the stock was up because
something had leaked out about James' plans, but
I didn't mention that. I continued on through the
house and up the stairs to the master bedroom, an
appropriate place to hold a business meeting.
Two card tables were set up by the window,
covered with a tablecloth. My father sat in a
wheelchair in front of one of them. He wore a
blue bathrobe with his initials on it that Jacie had
bought him, with pajamas underneath. He was still
a little pale but he looked alert and ready for action.
Jacie was there, of course. Since his stroke she had
stuck to him like superglue. And Arrow was there
already. As I said my hellos I glanced at Jacie's
face to see how she was reacting to the news that
Arrow was her husband's executive assistant.
Nothing showed in her expression so she may have
found out before. Arrow was dressed in a
conservative pantsuit, thank God.
We sat down at the card tables and Luz immediately
appeared, carrying a tray with a mouth-watering
gazpacho to start off the meal. I took a spoonful,
savoring the taste and thinking that it would be
better to postpone business until after lunch, but
that was not my father's way.
As soon as Luz disappeared back down the stairs,
he said, "The purpose of this meeting is to
determine a course of action, based on Arrow's
information that James Buchanan is shifting his
plan to take over Dionysus into high gear. I
purposely didn't ask our attorney to this meeting
because I want to discuss the matter in a
non-legalistic atmosphere before doing anything."
Mindful of my father's health, I said, "Can't this be
put off for a few weeks? It will take James at least
that long to mail out proxies and do the other stuff
he has to do."
"By then it may be too late..."
"I think Karl is right," Jacie said. "Your health is
the top priority right now. And what's the worst
that can happen? If this guy gets control of
Dionysus, you always have your golden
parachute. You can retire gracefully."
With lots of cash, and stock options intact. Jacie
had a point, even beyond the fact that her
financial security would be assured.
It was obvious from the expression on my father's
face that he wasn't buying it. He said, "The
Company is at a critical place right now. We are
about to bring out some new products that are
revolutionary in concept and design. I don't trust
anybody else to do it properly. This is what I've
worked for all these years."
Luz returned, carrying strips of skinned chicken
and steamed rice. She was learning how to
prepare low-fat meals. She picked up the dirty
bowls and exited again.
I had a basic question. I asked Arrow, "Do we know
how many shares James needs in addition to Elma's
in order to get control?"
"Not exactly," Arrow said, "because we don't have
the latest figures on the shares he owns outright."
She looked at me with an expression that may
have said, "because you turned down his offer."
Or perhaps I interpreted it like that because I
sometimes wondered what would have happened if
I had played that blackjack game.
Nobody else noticed and she continued, "Our best
guess is that if he can get proxies for another 15
percent of the shares outstanding in addition to
what he and Elma have between them he can
swing it."
We discussed the possibility of this happening. My
feeling was that if he could get Elma's proxy he
could get others as well. And of course he could
buy more on the open market, but now that the
price had started to rise that was becoming more
costly. Or maybe the price was rising because he
was buying.
The discussion meandered aimlessly for a while.
Finally, my father, who didn't like to waste time, said
to Arrow, "What can we do to get Elma's proxy?"
"Prove to Elma that James is the blackguard she
suspects he is." She gave a short version of the
story Elma had told us about James and Ned and
The Game that had cost one of their friends his
life.
Prove it how? There was only one possible way I
could think of. Was I willing to do it for my father?
I realized I was. I said, "I will go to Scotland and
try to find one of the boys in their gang. Elma
mentioned some names and I wrote them down
because I figured if I saw James I'd ask him about
them. But of course he won't incriminate himself.
Elma said most people in northern Scotland live their
whole lives in one place so they're probably still
there. Dad, if you'll let me use some of your
frequent-flyer miles I can do it on the cheap."
"Does Elma still have relatives there?" my father
asked. "Maybe she can call them and ask..."
"Her parents are dead," Arrow said. "She has no
brothers or sisters. And her parents moved to
Wick from someplace else so she has no other
relatives there."
"Arrow should go with Karl," Jacie said.
We looked at her in surprise.
"It makes sense. This affects the future of
Dionysus and she's an employee, whereas Karl
isn't. And she's met this bastard, James."
Jacie was beginning to sound like my father. Was
I doomed to have Arrow tagging along everywhere
I went? Was Jacie trying to keep Arrow from
having daily meetings with my father in the
master bedroom? Did Jacie swim in the nude?
"Jacie is right," my father said, touching her arm in
a loving gesture. "Arrow, pack your bags."
Aces and Knaves copyright ©2002 Alan L. Cook
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