Chapter Eight
“It could be a big contract.”
Hawk sat in what was essentially a briefing room in Ed’s office.
PSS, or Private Security Specialists, ran out of an industrial unit in Sherman Oaks.
The actual offices themselves weren’t all that glamorous, nor did they need to be.
There were times when a team assembled there for a briefing on an assignment, but most often, they were dispatched with a phone call.
Ed had a small fleet of blacked-out Cadillac Escalades, Chevy Tahoes, and a few sedans.
Most of which went home with whoever needed them.
There was, however, room for half of Ed’s vehicles in the industrial gated lot if they needed to be parked there.
Everyone licensed for armed escort used their own weapons. Though there were a half a dozen standbys of different calibers should the need arise.
The storage room held enough tech to make James Bond jealous. Everything imaginable for communications, spying devices for both visual and audible needs. Infrared night-vision equipment and, of course, bulletproof jackets that were high-tech enough to hide in plain sight.
Ed had built quite the business that thrived in the greater Los Angeles area.
“Do we know who runs their security now? Is it an outside service?” Ed asked.
Hawk had received a call from Chase Stone after business hours Tuesday night.
He’d asked if Hawk could assess the security system in place at Stone Enterprises and consult on what needed to be updated or changed.
“ I know you weren’t there to drum up business, but finding people in this world that do the right thing even when they’re not expecting a payoff is rare, ” he’d said.
Hawk agreed to bring it up with his boss and see what he could do.
“I’ll get that information when I go in. If I go in.”
“When did they say they wanted us?”
“Sometime next week is fine. A building as large as theirs will take some time, that is, if they want us to implement whatever it is we find.”
A giant whiteboard took up one wall of the room. On it were the liquid schedules of employees like Hawk, Stevie, Charlie, Teach, and Carl. Whenever someone on payroll took up a permanent placement, they were taken off the board, and only when needed, one of the fluid team would fill in.
“Stone Enterprises is huge. If they like us at the office, it may spill out into their hotels and resorts,” Ed mused.
Hawk hadn’t even thought of that. “If that happens, I want a finder’s fee.”
“If that happens, I’ll bring you in as a partner and you can run the entire Stone leg. And it will be a leg.”
Hawk gave a fake shiver. “Management ...”
“Don’t pretend you don’t like being in charge.”
“Small teams, solo assignments, and only short durations. You know that’s how I roll.” And for good reason. Detachment, detachment, detachment.
Ed looked at the whiteboard and moved a few names around before adding a line item for Stone Enterprises on the bottom. “Start Wednesday. Take Stevie with you. See how much she can hack from the street. Let’s see how weak their security really is. If you need more people, just yell.”
At the head of the table in the conference room, Alex addressed the board, with Chase on her right and Max on her left.
Directly behind her, Dee sat typing, jotting down the notes of the meeting in real time.
A little over half of the faces on the board were friendly, another quarter tipped toward the dislike side. Uncomfortable with Alex at the helm, and the Stone children in general. The remaining were downright hostile.
Melissa, their father’s gold-digging disgruntled widow, only had a seat at the table because she’d bought out another hostile board member by the name of Paul Yarros. A man Chase, Max, and Alex were not unhappy to see go. But to be replaced with Melissa was a shock all of them had yet to get over.
The woman knew how to shop, spend time at the spa, and spread gossip. Running a business or weighing in on any of the executive decisions involving Stone Enterprises was not in her wheelhouse.
But the woman had been scorned after their father’s death. She thought she deserved ... and likely counted on, an inheritance that went above and beyond what she’d signed in a prenuptial agreement.
She’d been wrong.
The millions she did receive would have sufficed for any other person on the planet, but not a woman accustomed to luxury cars, estates all over the world, and a private jet to get you there.
The moment the reading of the will had been made public, Melissa had been seen talking with members of the board and executives across their industry.
Alex was still trying to figure out how she obtained the capital to have a place on the board, but so far, she had yet to learn anything.
So, Alex did what she had to do when looking at the young woman. She ignored her at all possible costs. Why pretend they liked each other? There wasn’t a person at the table that would fall for that.
And then there was Floyd Gatlin. The second double face at the table. He might still have the title of vice president of Stone Enterprises, but the reality was, something would have to happen to Alex, Chase, and Max before the role of CEO was passed on to him.
And he hated that.
The fabricated late invite to the Bakshai reception was only one example of the antics the man used to unnerve Alex.
He raised alarms before press conferences, did what he could to shake Alex’s resolve during board meetings, and tried hard to bring doubt of her ability to run the company.
While everyone knew the company was technically run by her and Chase, with Max as more of a silent partner who diverted his vote to his siblings, everyone knew where most of the responsibility lay.
On Alex.
“We have a lot to go over and would like to get you out of here before happy hour,” Alex began. Considering it was ten in the morning, there were a few smiles at her attempt at humor. “Arthur, you have the floor.”
Arthur Ripley, the CFO, presented the end-of-year statements that sat in a binder in front of each member.
Alex watched as Melissa opened the binder and turned the pages. The information on those pages wasn’t for the public, and Alex couldn’t help but wonder if Melissa would keep the data to herself.
A lot of numbers and noise were discussed and summarized before Arthur concluded, “Early numbers have proven that avoiding the acquisition of Starfield hotels was the right decision. There would have been a sharp decline in our overall growth had we taken that on, as Alex and Chase pointed out late last year.”
“There’s an awful lot of red in this report,” Mrs. Monroe said from the far end of the table.
“Too much,” Mr. Fergese added.
“Last year yielded more negative press affecting our market stability than it ever had in the past,” Floyd stated.
“Press that couldn’t be avoided,” Chase said.
“We lost our CEO last year. This could have been worse,” Mrs. Monroe stated.
Melissa made a breathy noise as if mentioning Aaron Stone’s passing actually hurt her.
Alex glanced at Chase. Neither of them said a thing.
They’d been in the room when their father’s will had been read. Like a scene from a soap opera, Melissa played the devastated widow until she realized it wasn’t going to award her with more money. Then all that “grief” turned to anger.
“If we can just stay out of the negative side of the press, maybe we can see some growth this year,” Floyd stated.
Alex looked past their vice president. “Unless you have more, Arthur, I’d like to address what will be needed for growth.”
“I’m done.”
Alex smiled. “As you all know, before coming here, my area of expertise lay in acquisitions and mergers. Four years ago, when the world was all but shut down and businesses were folding everywhere, fire sales of lucrative companies, or what was thought to be lucrative companies, happened everywhere. Which brings me to the Casa Noel hotel chain that we acquired during that time. At the time of that sale, I was on the team at Regent that Stone Enterprises bid against. I personally wasn’t happy that Stone acquired it.
Admittedly, when we took over as CEOs, Casa Noel was one of the first files I digested. ”
She paused and picked up the binder with Casa Noel’s stats.
“Regent was in a much stronger position to turn Casa Noel around at that time, but this company kept driving the number higher, and Stone took it on. Even on sale, this was a bad decision.”
“Fire sales, as you call it, is how a lot of growth has accumulated,” Floyd said.
“Accumulating more just to have more acquires nothing but debt. And that is what Casa Noel is for us. There hasn’t been one year where the company at large came into the black. They’ve been operating at a loss, and the only good that does is allow us the tax cut.”
“Your father believed there was great potential with Casa Noel,” another board member voiced from the end of the table.
“If we were flush with capital to turn them around, that could maybe happen. But we don’t have it. Keeping the property and pumping profits into it from other areas isn’t the answer.”
“Are you suggesting we sell?” Mrs. Monroe asked.
Alex glanced at Chase. “Ultimately, yes.”
“These properties sit on some of the best real estate in South America,” Mr. Fergese pointed out.
“I remember Aaron talking about this. He believed it would turn a profit eventually and, if nothing else, could be sold later at a huge profit,” Melissa said.
Alex’s jaw actually dropped. If there was one thing Aaron Stone never did, it was discuss his company and business with the women in his life. Least of all Melissa.
“I remember that,” Floyd said.
“Only it isn’t turning a profit. And the only growth is property value over time.
And depending on the month, that shifts,” Alex said.
“In order to recover what we spent on this, we’re going to have to make Casa Noel look like it’s growing to attract a buyer.
And that will take some time. We send a team in and figure out how to cut ten percent of the operating expenses.
That happens immediately. If we have to close down one of the hotels, or separate it as a single property and unload that, then that’s what we do. ”
“That could put us in the black?” Arthur asked.
“Not long term, not with the value of the dollar in the countries where these hotels live.”
“It feels like we’re going backwards,” Fergese said as he slumped against the back of his conference chair.
“You’ll still get your distribution checks,” Chase reminded him.
“I hate putting people out of work. And sadly, Max’s report on Stone Holdings is going to show another weak link in Stone Enterprises ...” Alex said with a sigh.
The door to the conference room opened, and Kira poked her head inside. “Uhm ...”
Chase took to his feet and started to the door so that Alex could continue.
“We’re closing down more?” Floyd asked.
“We expanded too fast,” Alex pointed out. “It didn’t go unnoticed. And the numbers don’t lie.”
Fergese, the man on his right, and Floyd all started debating at the same time.
Chase came back into the room and first whispered in Max’s ear.
Max, who had looked rather bored, sat taller and gripped the edge of the table.
When Chase leaned close to Alex, she sensed something was wrong.
“Security is outside. There’s a bomb threat for the building,” Chase whispered.
Alex flinched.
“The authorities have been called. Security is setting off the fire alarm to evacuate the building to avoid panic.”
Her heart started to pound.
Alex looked at Max and then Chase. “Is this real?”
Chase shrugged his shoulders and turned to the room. “I need everyone to stop talking.”
Floyd was deep in a conversation with Arthur.
“We have a situation,” Chase said again, right before the lights in the room flickered and the alarm in the building blasted.