Deadly Lode (Trace Brandon Book 1) (39 page)

Chapter
3
7

S
ince
I was in Spokane, I called Cyrus as soon as I left the airport.

“
Cyrus, it
’
s Trace
. G
ot a minute
? I
t
’
s important.
”

“
Sure, Trace. Where are you?
”

“
I
’
m at
the Spokane airport. I
’
ve been up at the mine with Jim Lee
. I
just
put him on a plane
. And
then I
had a
c
oke
with Special Agent Beau Monroe of the FBI.
”

“
What? You met with the FBI at the Spokane airport?
”

“
Yep, they called while I was up at the mine and requested a meeting in Spokane. As I had to drop Jim off, we met at the airport.
”

“
What did they want
? A
re we
in some kind of trouble?
”

“
Not us
,
or the company. But Malcolm is.
”

“
Malcolm? What the hell did he do?
”

“
First off, Cyrus, Rosenburg didn
’
t have a stroke. He was killed by a pro.
”

“
Look, I hated that prick for killing Thorny
,
but I didn
’
t take him out.
”

“
I know,
Cyrus,
be
cause the guy that whacked Rosenburg evidently tried to kill Malcolm a couple of days ago
,
in Vancouver.
”

“
Is Mal al
l
right?
”

“
Yeah, he skated
,
but the assassin didn
’
t make it.
”

“
Police shoot him?
”

“
I don
’
t think so. From what little Agent Monroe would tell me,
there
was some kind of accident.
”

“
I
’
ll call Mal and get the lowdown. Jesus, first Thorny, the
n
Rosy
,
and now someone tries to hit Mal. What in the hell
is
going on?
”

“
Same question I
’
ve been asking
.
T
he FBI thinks t
he common denominator is
Montana Creek Mining
,
and
the
Pantelli
family.
”

Cyrus
hung up,
leaned back in his black
-
leather office chair, put his feet up on his desk
,
and dialed Malcolm Trueblood
’
s cell phone number.

“
Malcolm, it
’
s Cyrus.
”

“
I
’
ve been expecting your call.
”

“
What in the hell is going on?
”

“
I got mad about being dumped from Montana Creek Mining
’
s board. You know
,
Cyrus, it was quite humiliating. I
’
ve spent my whole life building my reputation. And then to get dumped like some two-bit shyster. Anyway, I compounded the problem by doing something stupid.
”

“
You tried to cut some kind of deal with the
Pantelli
family?
”

“
How
did
you know?
”

“
The FBI met with Trace
today
,
in Spokane. Seems Rosenburg didn
’
t die of natural causes. They think the same guy who whacked Rosy tried to hit you the other night. The one common denominator that keeps popping onto their radar screen is all the parties of interest, dead or alive
,
are
,
or were
,
shareholders in Montana Creek Mining.
W
hat kind of deal did you try and cut with the
Pantelli
s?
”

“
I wanted them to help me blackmail you. The plan was to get you to sell us your interests in Montana Creek Mining
,
at a discount.
”

“
And why in the hell would I do that?
”
Cyrus asked, already knowing the answer.

“
To keep us
,
me
,
from going to the regulators with information on insider trading.
”

“
I see
, a
nd how did the
Pantelli
s react to your proposal?
”

“
They threw me out of their office and told me to get out of Vegas by sundown
,
or they
’
d plant me in the desert.
”

“
Jesus Christ, Malcolm. What in the hell were you thinking? You should have come to me. You
’
re way out of your league with the
Pantelli
family.
”

“
Look, Cyrus, I was pissed off
,
and I made a big mistake. Ever make one of those
? A big mistake?
”

Cyrus ex
haled
,
blowing air from his cheeks
.
“
Yeah, kid, once or twice. Okay
,
spilt milk
, but
w
e
’
ve got a big problem here. I suspect the
Pantelli
s
were
worried you
’
d go public and the information would hurt Montana Creek Mining
’
s share price. And therefore the
i
r investment.
”

“
They
’
d kill me over that?
”

“
In a fucking heartbeat, Malcolm. Are you starting to
get
the picture here?
”

“
Yeah, I
can see I
’
m in deep shit.
”

“
Uh-huh
. Okay, here
’
s what we
’
ll do. I
’
ll call the
Pantelli
s and tell them I
’
ve talked to you
,
and you
’
r
e
squared away. Not a threat of any kind. And that you
’
re taking a transfer to the Caymans to manage some of my offshore interests.
”

“
Caymans? Jesus, Cyrus, what is this
,
exile?
”

“
Look, Malcolm, it
’
s offshore, out of FBI jurisdiction
, and
i
t
should
satisfy the
Pantelli
s
. Y
ou
’
ll get to live
,
and
you
’
ll have plenty of company with other expats
with
similar problems.
W
hen the heat dies down, I
’
ll bring you back to Vanco
u
ver.
”

“
Why are you helping me like this? I tried to use the
m
ob to blackmail you.
”

“
Well, Malcolm, let
’
s just say it
’
s
partly
my fault you got into this predicament. I knew you weren
’
t cut out for the down and dirty part of this game. I should have kept you above it.
So, I
’
ll help square it this time. But don
’
t ever try and go around me again. Fair enough?
”

“
Yes,
i
t
’
s fair enough
, a
nd you
’
re right. I thought I
’
d like the darker side
,
but
I don
’
t think I
’
m cut out for it.
”

CHAPTER
3
8

I
’
d submitted a news release to the Vancouver Stock Exchange and posted our latest assays
,
uranium, gold
,
and copper
,
on our website. It didn
’
t take long for the investment community to take notice. Our shares hit four dollars
Canadian
the day
after
the information was released. Even better, the company now met all the qualifications for a Toronto Exchange listing.

I called
Wally
,
and I got him working on the filing
s
for
a
T
oronto Stock Exchange
listing.
I also asked him to check in with Jerry Smyth and see how the
engineering
report was progressing. Wally said he
’
d get on both items. He also suggested we m
ight
want to amend the
report
to include the newly discovered gold and copper values.

I agreed.
Then Cyrus called.

“
Trace, it
’
s Cyrus
. G
ot a second?
”

“
Sure, Cyrus. What
’
s up?
”

“
Couple of things, Trace. First off, damn good work on the news release and core results. The stock price has really reacted.
”

“
Yeah, thanks. We
’
ve got a lot of happy shareholders today.
”

“
Which brings me to the next item
. . . M
alcolm.
”

“
Did you speak with him?
”

“
Yes, I did. Turns out he was really pissed about being dumped from your board and tried to take it out on me by cutting a little deal with our shareholders
,
in Las Vegas.
”

“
Great.
”

“
Yeah, he got in way over his head
,
and I
’
m going to have to try and bail him out.
”

“
What
’
s the plan?
”

“
Plan is, I call the
Pantelli
s and convince them he
’
s not a threat. And that he
’
ll be transferring to my Cayman Island operations
,
for the foreseeable future.
”

“
Think it
’
ll work?
”

“
Yeah, I think it
might
. If the
Pantelli
s did try and hit him, they
probably
won
’
t try again if they don
’
t have to. There
’
s too much heat
right now
. Hell, the FBI
’
s
tossing their name around
like confetti
.
”

“
Jesus, what a mess.
”

“
Yeah, but I think it will all work out. The
Pantelli
s are only interested in one thing
,
and that
’
s making money.
”

“
Well, they
’
re making money today.
”

“
Aren
’
t they though
?
”
Cyrus
said with
a chuckle.
“
Hot damn, four bucks a share.
”