To Save a Son (3 page)

The new venture meant that Franks spent even more time away from Tina and the children. The family traveled with him to America when he planned the promotional campaign, but Tina and the children stayed in Westchester, and this time Franks remained in Manhattan, only getting up on weekends. David caught the measles, so they couldn't travel with him on the maiden voyage. Franks wasn't satisfied with the way the shakedown cruise went, and so he took the second trip as well, which meant he was away a month longer than he intended.

As soon as the Caribbean operation became established and the family returned to England, Franks made a conscious effort to devote more time to them. The Maidenhead house was adequate, but Franks decided upon something bigger. He took whole days off to drive around with Tina and visit estate agents, and let her be the one to decide upon the estate at Henley. It was walled for a large part and covered thirty acres, part sloping down to the Thames, where there was a boathouse. The main house had six bedrooms, and the separate original stabling had been converted into garages with staff accommodations above, and there were two separate staff cottages as well. It meant, for the first time, that the nannies could sleep away from the main house, so although everything was larger, the impression was of greater privacy. There was already a tennis court, but Franks had it enlarged and installed a swimming pool, fenced and gated for safety. He established a routine of not going into the London office until Monday afternoon and always returned by midday on Friday, guaranteeing the tennis weekends they both enjoyed. He registered David for Harrow and entered Gabriella for a prep school in Ascot in preparation for Roedean.

Life, he determined, was very good. The thought came to him sitting with Tina beside the pool. They were wearing the tennis gear from which they hadn't bothered to change, sipping the drinks Franks prepared.

As if aware of his thoughts, she said, “Everything's so wonderful; so safe.”

Franks looked beyond the immediate fence, to the distant encircling wall around the estate. He felt safe, too: protected behind that high barrier, invulnerable from everyone and everything. Franks regretted so much that his father hadn't let him do what he'd wanted much earlier. And not just to prove himself, either. His father had earned the security of his own protective stockade. He said, “I'm thinking of extending further. The Caribbean is a hell of a market. We couldn't go wrong with hotels out there.”

“Promise me it won't interfere with the way things are now; I like having a husband who spends so much time with me and who loves me.”

Franks stood and leaned across her chair, kissing her. “I promise,” he said. “Why don't we all go out? While I'm having a look at the islands you can spend some time with your parents again.”

They went two weeks later. Franks stayed in Westchester for the weekend and Nicky came up from New York. At the family meal on Saturday night Nicky introduced the subject.

“Interesting islands in which to start a business,” he said. “Ever thought about American finance?”

“No,” Franks answered honestly.

“What are the London rates?”

Franks shrugged, unsure he wanted to discuss business in such detail. “Varies,” he said. “Lately it's averaged out at about eleven but sometimes it can go as high as fourteen, long term.”

“Money's cheaper in New York,” assured Nicky.

“Listen to him, Eddie,” advised Enrico. “Best corporate and investment lawyer in the city now.”

“Why don't we talk about it on Monday?” invited the man.

Nicky was coming to him, seeking the approach, thought Franks. He enjoyed the sensation. “Why not?” he accepted.

5

The sign on the door said “Vice President,” and Nicky's suite of rooms justified the title. There were three outer offices, each with its secretary, and a final anteroom for the personal assistant—her desk sign identified her as Maria Spinetti—before Nicky's own corner office, with views along Wall Street on one side, opening into a panoramic picture of the twin towers of the Trade Center, misted in the early morning heat. Wide doors were set into another wall. They were open when the secretary led Franks in, showing a long conference room dominated by a central table around which were at least a dozen chairs. Nicky's desk matched the size and opulence of the room, a massive inlaid affair with a telephone bank at one edge. His seat was high-backed, and buttoned leather, and the same color of leather covered two facing chairs and a couch in an area away from the desk, fronting a small table. Nicky led him there and offered drinks, which Franks refused, taking coffee instead. It was served by Maria, a severely-suited, tightly-coiffeured woman. Franks thought she was very attractive and knew it, and she was vaguely inviting in nearly every movement she made. He gave no reaction; he wasn't interested in her or any other woman apart from Tina.

“Impressive,” said Franks, gesturing around the suite as Maria left.

“Room like this adds two zeroes to every contract and the clients expect it,” said Nicky boastfully.

By comparison, Franks' office in London was a box, and a pretty small box at that. But it was still Nicky who was making the approach to him. Franks looked at his surrogate brother, thinking how well Nicky fitted into the surroundings. He'd always been heavy, from as long ago as college days, but the immaculate suiting, the material the sort that had a shine to it, reduced the appearance. His hair was thick and curly, without any obvious style, and hair thickly matted the backs of his hands as well. Franks thought passingly of Maria Spinetti in the outside room, guessed there could have been a lot of other Marias, and wondered why Nicky was still a bachelor.

“You said on the weekend that money was cheaper here than in London,” said Franks, immediately businesslike.

“You've got a damned good track record,” praised Nicky. “Half a dozen banks here in New York would fall over themselves to get you as a customer.”

He'd had a pretty damned good track record before he tried to set up the cruising idea, and the English banks had twisted and squirmed, reflected Franks. Guardedly he said, “It might be worth thinking about, after I've had a look to see if I think it's worthwhile. You could arrange the introductions?”

“No problem,” assured Nicky at once. “There's always private investors, too.”

Franks shook his head. “I've always used bank money and kept the companies private. I told you that.”

“Always worth considering something different,” pressed Nicky. “This will be a new venture, after all.”

“I'm accustomed to running a one-man operation,” said Franks. “I don't know that I could work with a board who might oppose me too often.”

“I'm thinking of financial investors, not active directors,” said Nicky.

“Are you talking generally?” asked Franks. “Or do you actually know some financiers who might be available?”

“So you're interested?” demanded Nicky.

“In the most general way,” cautioned Franks. “I haven't been to any of the islands yet, to gauge the potential. I haven't decided whether to switch my financing from England. And I haven't decided that I want to change my usual company structuring to include anybody else.”

Nicky raised his hands, in retreat. “Okay, okay; I'm not hustling. Just wanted to be sure. To see if there was a deal anywhere.”

“There
might
be a deal,” said Franks, happy at his control of the meeting.

“How long are you planning to be down there?”

“For as long as it takes,” said Franks unhelpfully. “I'm not going to make any commitment about anything until I'm sure.” Nicky would be working for him, Franks decided. He liked the idea.

“Mamma will enjoy having Tina and the kids with her for some time,” said Nicky.

If he did create anything on the islands—and with the cruise ship already established—they would need a home of their own in America, thought Franks. That would please Tina. He said, “Don't make any approaches until I get back.”

Nicky raised his hands between them again. “You're calling the shots.”

Franks felt the best satisfaction yet. He said, “It would be good to be able to set something up.”

“I'd like that, too,” said Nicky. “Remember Poppa said we'd make a hell of a combination?”

Franks expected Enrico to mention the meeting during his last night in Westchester, but the old man didn't, and Franks decided against doing so. He
hadn't
decided anything yet. Nicky and the old man had obviously discussed it, and Franks thought that if he raised the question they might think he was more interested than he was. He spoke to Tina about it, though, when they were alone in their room and he was packing for the following morning's departure.

“What are you going to do?” she said.

“Too early to decide yet,” he said.

“I'm not sure about mixing business with family,” she said. “What happens if you have a fight?”

Franks turned away from the open suitcase, leaving the packing until the following day, and got into bed beside her. “It's a good point,” he admitted. He still liked the idea of Nicky working for him.

“Would it mean spending more time in America?”

Franks smiled at the question, leaning across and kissing her. “Might even buy a house.”

“I'd like that,” she said at once.

Franks flew first to Bermuda and found he was already known from his businesses in Europe as well as from the success of the cruise liner. From the initial meeting with the tourist minister he was satisfied they would welcome the development. There were subsequent meetings with other officials, particularly with the island's development board. Franks hired a car to explore the island, isolating prospective building sites, aware from the earlier meetings it would not be possible to buy existing properties. He found three possibilities, and from further meetings with the government learned that there would be no possibility of government finance. They wanted his hotels and his reputation but not any financial risk.

Franks telephoned Tina twice and flew to the Bahamas at the end of the week. He scheduled meetings in advance of his arrival, as he had in Bermuda, with ranking officials. This time he hired a small aircraft for several days to visit the outlying islands and realized that here, too, he would have to build. Once again there was a reluctance on the part of the island government to commit itself financially.

At the end of a fortnight Franks was sure he could operate successfully in both places. He would have preferred not to have to build and for the governments to be more willing to involve themselves, but objectively he recognized that the attitude reflected his customary way of working, not a reason for refusing to go ahead. As Nicky Scargo had said, it was a new venture. So maybe new ventures required new approaches. The reflection upon Nicky was a conscious one, the decision to be made there as important as the operation itself. Realistically Franks accepted the attraction: to raise finance through Nicky would establish an employer-to-employee relationship with someone with whom he'd competed throughout his life. And just as realistically, Franks recognized the feeling as stupid and juvenile, and one about which he should feel ashamed, after everything the Scargo family had done for him. Franks knew he would never completely succeed, but he made a conscious effort to subjugate the attitude and to consider instead Nicky's offer simply upon its business attraction. The English banks
had
been difficult over the cruise liner. And sometimes they did charge as high as fourteen percent. So there were sound and proper business reasons for exploring things further with Nicky. And that's all it would be, an exploration. He'd call as soon as he returned to New York. If he didn't like the way things went, he could always withdraw and go back to his traditional sources of finance; it wouldn't hurt, anyway, to let them know he was negotiating with other banks.

His telephone call got routed through the secretaries to the efficient and provocative Maria Spinetti, and Franks was connected to Nicky without any delay.

“How's it look?” demanded Nicky.

“Pretty good,” said Franks.

“Interested in my offer?”

“I'd like to go into it further,” said Franks guardedly. “See how it compares to anything I could get from England.”

“Why don't we lunch tomorrow, so I can set out the options formally? Then talk it through properly back here in the office in the afternoon.”

“I'm still only making a comparison at this stage, against anything I might be able to set up back home,” qualified Franks.

“No obligation,” assured Nicky. “Absolutely no obligation.”

6

They ate in a business club off Fulton Street, and Nicky was greeted by an impressive number of people as they entered and made their way to what was obviously a permanently reserved table. They ordered immediately so they could start talking at once, and the lawyer listened without interruption as Franks outlined the trip through the Caribbean.

“So okay,” said Nicky when Franks finished, “what's the bottom line, for the complete development?”

“I'd estimate thirty-two million pounds,” said Franks. “I'm only interested in a class development. That's always been the keynote.”

“At a rough conversion, forty-eight million dollars, although there'll obviously be currency fluctuations,” said Nicky. “That doesn't seem to be a problem, to me.”

“Sure?”

“It's my business to be sure,” said the lawyer. He smiled. “I asked around, to test the feeling. Chase Manhattan and Manufacturers Hanover are interested and said the talking could start at twelve percent. Citibank wants to come into any discussion and thought eleven might be the price if the borrowing were over twenty million dollars.”