Chapter 30
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Sitka, AK
Chilton laid his hand on the receiver, held his breath, and counted three rings. He picked up the phone and put on his best busy, disinterested lawyer voice. “Chilton and Associates, can you hold, please?” He didn’t wait for the other party to acknowledge and pressed the Hold button.
This is the big one.
The second hand on his watch made a full revolution before he took a swig from his flask, turned off the old radio atop his filing cabinet, exhaled slowly to calm himself, and took the call. “This is John Chilton.”
The woman’s voice on the other end of the line was businesslike. “Mr. Chilton, this is June from Gateway Arch Development of St. Louis. How are you today?”
Chilton wanted to play dumb. “I’m doing well, Miss June. What can I do for you?”
The woman continued, her tone steady. “I’m calling regarding your letter about a property we’ve tried to purchase in Southeast Alaska?”
Chilton took a deep breath. “Ah, let me see…I think I recall…may I have a minute to pull the file?”
“Certainly.” He put the phone receiver down on top of the file, which was already open on his desk. He turned around and made some racket opening and closing his empty file cabinet drawers, then counted to ten.
“Ah, yes. I’ve got the file. I remember now.
I’ve reviewed your previous offer letters.
It seems your company has been sending ridiculous lowball offers on this property for years, and my client refuses to be swindled out of a great deal of her inheritance and wants nothing to do with your offers.
I hope we won’t need to go to court over this.
Doesn’t look good, a big rich firm trying to cheat a poor grieving widow… ”
June’s voice became more friendly. “Oh, no, sir. That was never our intention. We made our offers prior to her husband’s passing, but we are still interested in the property.”
“Did I…um,” Chilton tried to gather his thoughts. He counted silently to five. “My client has expressed that she isn’t interested in selling—”
“We are prepared to make an extremely generous offer to her,” June interrupted. “To be clear, we want the entire island, including the cabin.”
The receiver shook in Chilton’s hand. “I doubt,” his voice sounded weak and gravelly. He cleared his throat and exhaled, clearing his lungs. “I doubt”—he felt stronger—“that she will be interested.”
“I am confident,” June enunciated, “that she will reconsider after hearing our price.”
Chilton thrust a fist silently into the air. “Well, that’s interesting, June. May I tell my client the value of your sudden case of conscience?”
Chilton almost let out a whoop when he heard the number. “I…” Chilton cleared his throat again. “I will have to present this to my client, of course, but this is definitely much more realistic as a starting point. Would it be okay if I get back to you, say, early next week?”
June’s tone went serious again. “Well, sir, we have a bit more urgency on our side. We have several other deals closing next week, and our team needs to clear this. What if we offered, say, ten percent more if your client could agree to close this week. Our manager could be on a plane tomorrow to come out and sign the papers.”
Chilton liked the way this was going but wanted to keep his enthusiasm dialed back. “Hard to see why it’s suddenly urgent after…Tell you what. Make that fifteen percent and I’ll suggest to my client in the strongest possible terms that she should take your offer and sign this week.”
“Mr. Chilton, I do have the leeway to make that increase.” June’s pace picked up, sounding impatient. “You have a deal as long as we have your verbal answer by midnight tonight.”
Chilton knocked over a coffee cup full of pens and began tidying them with one hand. “You can expect my call. May I have a number where I can reach you? Oh, and that’s midnight your time or mine? It’s much earlier here.”
“How about”—June’s voice sounded more strident—“anytime before close of business here tomorrow.”
“Sounds good to me, June. Chat with you soon.”
Chilton hung up the phone and let out a huge breath.
That was too easy. Should have probably held out for more.
Who am I kidding? This is THE deal. That’s several years of income at least right there, assuming I can convince Anya she agreed to a 30 percent retainer.
Chilton picked up the phone and dialed Anya’s number. He drummed his fingers on his desk until her tape machine picked up the call. “This is Anya Baron. If you are hearing this, I’m probably out fishing, and it may be several days before I get your message. Please leave your message at the beep.”
“Anya. It’s John Chilton. Call as soon as possible. It’s urgent.”