Hampton Manor (4 page)

Lauren had been deeply depressed over the miscarriage and the resulting loss of her husband’s affection. His fraudulent activities just added to the burden. She was tired physically and worn down emotionally. That all changed once she won her freedom. With money, she bought back her youth and beauty. She frequented the best clinics and spas in California and Arizona. Three months and a hundred thousand dollars later Lauren re-emerged into Old Brooking’s social scene looking at least ten years younger than her thirty eight years.

Chapter 6

Kane Masterson, CEO of Preston Industries, smiled as he sipped the eighteen year old Glenlivet scotch. It was his second glass of the morning and it was only 10 a.m. Drinking in the morning was not normal behavior for Kane, but today was a very special day. He was celebrating the events of the last two hours. Events that would reshape his destiny.

He arrived at his office at exactly 8 a.m., anxious to receive a call from a contact at the SEC that would confirm that shares of Preston Industries were estopped from floor trading at the stock exchange and that they were being subrogated three to one by shares of Hampton Industries.

The second call would be from his broker, confirming that all of his newly acquired shares of Hampton Industries were sold at the market. Give or take a few hundred thousand for fees, Kane anticipated proceeds from the transaction to net in the neighborhood of twenty million dollars; a neighborhood he has wanted to move into all of his adult life.

Both calls were received by 9:30.

At age thirty-five, Kane Masterson had been the youngest CEO in the company’s history. A graduate of Northwestern and Wharton, he was recruited by Preston Industries as a Senior Financial Manager. He rose rapidly through the ranks of the finance department, earning a reputation as a corporate hatchet man. His streamlining of the six corporate divisions saved the company three hundred million dollars and cut payrolls by thousands of jobs. These successes earned Kane a promotion to Vice President of Finance and a year later to the position of CEO. His ascent from Senior Manager to CEO took eight years. During the year prior to becoming CEO, Kane distinguished himself by managing Preston’s successful defense against the hostile takeover bid by Hampton Industries. Now the takeover was finally going to happen, but it was on his terms.

His calendar had only one entry for today, a 12noon meeting with Adam Hampton III. This was a meeting he looked forward to with anticipation. Two weeks earlier it was confirmed that Adam Hampton III had finally garnered enough stock to acquire Preston, the takeover that Kane covertly maneuvered Adam into making by releasing for sale, through dummy receiverships, privately held blocks of Preston shares. Adam was unaware that Kane was holding a trump card and that Preston, rather than becoming a crown jewel in the Hampton Industries group of trading companies, would become a drain on the corporation’s bottom line. Within a month, five key customers and four trading partners planned to transfer their business to a European consortium. The contracts had already been signed. Kane knew that this loss would precipitate a drop in Preston’s sales of at least forty percent and profits by more than fifty. This tightly held information was Kane’s dirty little secret. He came upon the details of the plans completely by accident; through a friend of a friend. There would be no possibility of him being accused of insider profiteering. He would have the last laugh after all and would walk away a multi-millionaire. Adam Hampton III would be left with egg on his face, the laughing stock of Wall Street.
Poetic justice if ever there was.

Kane’s reverie was interrupted by the phone. It was his mother.

“Hi, mom! Did you call to console me?”

Kane planned to carry on the pretense of being a defeated man, even with his mother. He couldn’t risk telling anyone about his plan, especially Evelyn Littleton who wasn’t exactly tight lipped when it came to juicy gossip, especially about the Hamptons.

“I’m so sorry, Kane. Is there anything I can do for you?”

“It’s not so bad, mom. Actually, I’m quite fortunate. The bastard made me a very rich man by bidding up Preston stock. Finally all those stock bonuses are paying off.”

“When can you walk away and leave it all behind you?

“It’s going to a while. I agreed to work with them for at least six months, that is if they can stand having me around that long. I’ll know better in a couple of hours. I have a noon meeting with the big man himself. It’s a one-on-one so I guess that by the time the meeting is over, I’ll know where I stand. Actually, I’m looking forward to it.”

Evelyn was quiet on the other end.

“Mom, are you still there?

“Yes, I’m here dear. I was just thinking what a shallow victory it must be for them after all these years. From what I hear, his father has a very advanced case of Alzheimer’s disease. I doubt that he can even comprehend what has happened. Although, I can’t say, that under the circumstances, I really feel any sympathy for him or for his family.”

“I understand your feelings, mom. But you also need to understand that if his father hadn’t made the initial run on the company several years back, I probably wouldn’t be where I am today. I realize now that all we did was postpone the inevitable, but since that time our stock price has doubled. They’re paying a very high price with the three shares-for-one formulation for the remaining shares outstanding. To me it looks like their drive for revenge led them into making some unwise business decisions that will come back to haunt them. It’ll take years to make the merger pay off. I don’t know that their Board of Directors will have the patience to wait for a return on their investment. Their stock will eventually reflect the high cost of their decision to buy up Preston’s shares.”

“That’s the other thing I wanted to talk to you about. Would you do me a favor and call Jerry? Have him sell the new shares of stock I’ll receive from the takeover. I don’t want to own any part of that company, even for one day.”

Kane had given his mother blocks of Preston stock for the past five years in deference to her persistent refusal to provide a list of gifts he could get her for mother’s day, her birthday and Christmas. Much to his surprise and relief, she was pleased with his choice. This morning Evelyn Littleton’s fifteen hundred shares of Preston Industries had grown to forty-five hundred shares of Hampton Enterprises.

“Sure, mom. I’ll take care of that as soon as we’re finished. Do you want to leave the proceeds in the account or should I have Jerry cut you a check?

“Oh, you can leave it there for now. We’ll find something else to invest in. Maybe you’ll start up your own company and need a few investors. I’ll always be there for you.”

It got quiet again. Kane’s mind raced for something else to discuss with her. He suspected that her spirits were low because of her pending divorce, but preferred not to venture into those waters. He took the safe path, instead.

“What’s going on with my sisters?”

“Nothing much. I haven’t seen or heard from either of them in several weeks. I think Melanie is away on a trip, so I don’t expect to hear from her until she returns. She never sends cards or anything. Bridget is taking some courses during the day. I think she wants to get a teaching certificate. That’s about it.”

“How about those darling grandchildren of yours? Do you see much of them?”

“They’re as precious as ever. No, I don’t get to see them as much as I used to, but when we do get together we have a lot of fun. They haven’t tired of visiting their “nana” yet. Tell me, what else is new with you? What will you do with yourself when this is over? Have you made any plans?”

“Once my obligatory time is done, I’ll have to find something to work on. I’ve sent out a few feelers, but I don’t have anything specific yet. New England is kind of tight right now due to the economy. I may have to make a move to the west coast.”

“Oh, I hope not. I would miss you terribly. What about your love life? Are you seeing anyone special?”

“Not right now, mom. I was dating someone from an economics research firm. She was a very bright lady, but a real Jekyll and Hyde. She was all business during the day, but at night she turned into a swinger, complete with drugs and sexual deviation. I survived one night with her and made a clean break. When I find the right one I promise that you’ll be the first to know.” He hesitated for a moment. “I think I’m going to have to cut this short, mom. My meeting with Adam Hampton is at twelve and I have to put some last minute figures together for the meeting.”

“Well, don’t you let him put anything over on you. I hear he’s a slick one. That whole family has a bad reputation when it comes to dealing with people. The less you have to do with him, the better.”

“Don’t worry about me, mom. I can take care of myself. I’ve dealt with shrewder people than he will ever be.”

“Well I certainly hope so. Take good care of yourself, son. Don’t take any nonsense from those people. I’ll be praying that everything works out well for you. Bye for now!”

“Bye, mom!”

He made a hurried call to his mother’s broker and placed an order to sell at the market.

Kane was now ready to take on Adam Hampton III. It was an encounter he has looked forward to with anticipation for the past three months. Things were going according to plan.

Chapter 7

Evelyn Littleton placed the phone back on the cradle. She always felt good talking to Kane. He seemed to understand her better than her two daughters did.

Evelyn was in the midst of her fourth divorce. She’s being sued by her husband Donald Bartley for twenty thousand dollars a month support, claiming a disability that prevents him from supporting himself in the style to which he became accustomed. She decided not to contest the divorce in spite of the substantial evidence she had that Donald was a homosexual and was planning to move in with his lover of several years as soon as the monthly payments began. Evelyn had the worst luck when it came to men. Her first husband ran off with his secretary. The second disappeared thirty five years ago and the third died in prison while serving a thirty year sentence for mail fraud.

Evelyn Littleton is one of Old Brooking’s social elite. The family is “old money”, first moving to town in 1836 and into the current residence in 1930. In addition to Kane, she had two daughters, Melanie thirty-eight, from her first husband John Cadbury and Bridget, thirty three, from her third, Bruce Mason. Her daughters, both married, have produced four grandchildren. Kane on the other hand was wedded to his work and seemed to have little interest in marriage or children. His birth certificate shows him to be the son of Evelyn’s second husband, Peter Masterson who disappeared without a trace in nineteen seventy four, three months prior to his son’s birth. Evelyn was glad that Kane never showed much interest in his biological father. Whenever she allowed her thoughts to go back to those days, a tsunami of painful memories flooded in. Her belief was that it was best to let sleeping dogs lie.

Chapter 8

Adam Hampton III handed his gold embossed card to the receptionist at Preston Industries two minutes before noon. She nervously reached out for the card and dropped it on the counter. Adam picked it up and held on until he was certain that she had a good grip on it.

“These gold ones are a bit heavier. They take some getting used to,” he quipped, giving her comforting smile.

She relaxed immediately and smiled back in reply.

“Mister Masterson is expecting you, sir. George will take you to his office,” she said, gesturing to a uniformed guard.

George stepped up to the desk. “This way, sir. We’ll need to take the elevator.”

Kane’s office was on the third floor of the six story building. They exited the elevator and walked to the end of the long hallway. Kane’s secretary greeted him as George retreated to the elevator.

“Good afternoon, Mister Hampton. I‘m Betty Easton, Mister Masterson’s secretary. He’s expecting you.”

Adam was impressed by the women he had seen so far. The receptionist and Kane’s secretary were both very beautiful, several notches above the women at Hampton Industries. He made a mental note to talk to his Vice President of Human Resources. There was no reason why the females at Hampton shouldn’t have both beauty and brains.

Betty opened the door and led him into a modestly decorated executive office.

Kane rose immediately and walked to greet Adam. “Kane Masterson,” he proffered, “It’s a pleasure to finally meet you.

“Adam Hampton. I’m pleased to meet you too.”

Kane gestured Adam to a couch. “Please have a seat. Can Betty get you anything?

“No thanks. I had an early lunch today.”

“I’ll have a bottle of water, Betty,” he said as he sat down in a chair opposite Adam. When the water arrived they settled down to the meeting they both had been anticipating, but for different reasons; a meeting of the victor with the vanquished, for Adam, and a meeting of the master manipulator with the sucker, for Kane. Each would leave the meeting satisfied that their goals had been met. Only time would tell who the ultimate victor would be, although the odds at the moment appeared to be in Adam’s favor.

With the social amenities out of the way, Adam presented Kane with the schedule for the next four hours that included a review of operating results, interviews he would have with key executives and a final hour for both to express any concerns about the plans to integrate Preston Industries into Hampton Industries.