Deadly Game. R. B. Conroy

Mr. Crane. Just water to drink?”

      “I’ll have an ice tea,” Ted said.

      “Thank you, fellas.” The waitress finished her notes and hurried off.

      Alex’s expression changed quickly after the fun exchange with Libby. He looked directly at the other men. “I’m a little pressed for time so I’ll get right to the point. Gentlemen, I think we may have a problem brewing at Midwest.”

      Their smiles faded, the men listened intently.

      “You’re both aware that I want to pay back the TARP money to the Feds in its entirety.”

      The men nodded.

      “Strom and I have already had a few lengthy conversations about this recently so let me bring you up to speed Ted. If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to jump in at any time.”

      Ted nodded again.

      “I don’t think it’s a secret to anyone that I was opposed to accepting these funds last fall.”

      “Yes, that was kind of Barnes’s baby,” Strom offered.

      “It certainly was Strom, and Barnes doesn’t want to pay the money back. He seems hell bent on stopping me; he’s more determined than I’ve ever seen him. I’m not sure what’s driving him.”

      “He has a dog in this fight for certain, Alex. He owns quite a bit of Midwest stock as I’m sure all of the board members do. I don’t agree with Barnes, but maybe he sees his investment being threatened and he thinks that keeping the bailout money will help. It could be as simple as that,” Ted said matter-of-factly.

      Alex scribbled nervously on his napkin. “You’re right, Ted. Barnes and several of the board members are getting older and their retirements are an issue, but I don’t think Barnes is that worried about his Midwest stock. He has huge holdings and is a very wealthy man. It’s more than that with him—he’s on a mission. I’ve never seen him so determined. And as of late, I have discovered some things that concern me.”

      “Such as?” Ted queried.

      “Well, you know our friend, Vito Taglioni, over at First Financial Services?”

      “Yes, yes, I know, Vito. Who doesn’t?”

      “Well, First Financial handles all our big bond deals here in Indy. The other day, I discovered, quite inadvertently, that Vito has opened satellite offices for First Financial in all the cities where Midwest has offices.”

      Ted’s eyebrows rose slightly. “Well, he certainly has the right to open an office wherever he likes as long as he gets all the red tape right.”

      Alex felt exasperated. “That’s not all, Ted. Barnes has opened offices in all the same cities and he and Vito have been making a fortune for the past year peddling those bonds. Something smells fishy and I don’t like it.”

      “I’m sorry, Alex. But Vito has every right to open a storefront in any city he chooses,” Ted replied.

      Agitated, Alex scribbled more aggressively. “Isn’t that a conflict of interest or something with Barnes?”

      “Not unless he handles your account himself—which I’m certain that he doesn’t. Otherwise, the man has a right to make a living.”

      “A very good living!” Alex squirmed in his seat.

      “No law against that.”

      Alex pushed on. “Remember when Nicky and I went to Europe last year?”

      “Yes.”

      “Well, in my absence Barnes asked Strom to call an emergency meeting of the board.”

      Ted replied, “As a board member, Barnes has every right to do that, even though it seems inappropriate with you out of town. Did he document the meeting so you would know what took place?”

      Alex grimaced. “He documented it alright, Ted. Barnes is no dummy. But what he did in essence, without making it appear so in the minutes, was open the flood gates on subprime mortgages, something he knew I was vehemently against. The result was that he and Vito got rich and now Midwest has millions of dollars worth of bonds going belly-up every day.”

      Ted leaned back against the shiny cushion on the booth. “Did the board approve the action?”

      “Yes….yes they did; but they didn’t know his objective. He did a masterful job of masking his intentions. He merely made a motion to leave the decision on how to acquire more mortgages up to the local managers in each town and the board approved.”

      “And?”

      “And….those managers and their originators are on commission, Ted! You can’t leave underwriting decisions up to them! They love subprime—any warm body can qualify for a subprime mortgage. The board gave them the green light and they started making mortgages to anyone who walked in the door! Barnes knew it would be a disaster for the bank, but he also knew that he and Vito could make a fortune in the meantime. And all this happened while I was out of town.” Alex shook his head in disbelief.

      “Inappropriate maybe, but certainly not against regulations. Ignorance is no excuse under the law. Your board should have known better than to approve such a potentially problematic policy, especially with you not at the meeting.”

      Strom’s face flushed with embarrassment. He felt the sting of the attorney’s insinuations.

      The usually measured Alex leaned forward and rested his elbows on the table top. “Damn it, Ted! Something stinks here and you know it! With Barnes’s political ambitions and close connection to the current administration in Washington, who knows what he’s up to? Midwest did over six hundred million in mortgages out of our Chicago branch alone last year—a billion six total in all offices. And for some reason our controller, Jack Montrose, has been running up to the Chicago branch every other week lately. Something is not right here, Ted.” Slightly embarrassed by his uncharacteristic outburst, Alex glanced around the room.

      “Hmmm…..Montrose. Wasn’t he Barnes’s hand-picked man?” Ted queried.

      “Yes, Barnes highly recommended him when Stackhouse retired—said he was the smartest CPA in town. We interviewed several people and Jack held up well during the interviews, so with Barnes’s blessing, I hired him.”

      Ted leaned forward, rubbing his hands together. “Why does Montrose say he is going to Chicago?”

      “He says Louie Compano and his father made a mess of things. He claims the files are a disaster and many of the entries on the computer are incomplete and coded improperly and they are requiring a ton of file maintenance.”

      “How big is Jack’s staff?”

      “He has ten accountants under him.”

      “But he always goes himself?”

      Alex’s eyes narrowed, “Yes. He said that it’s such a mess up there that he has to go personally. He doesn’t feel he could trust it to one of the younger accountants.”

      “Aren’t they all CPA’s?”

      Alex nodded.

      “Hmmm…well, it’s probably fine, Alex, but I would keep an eye on that Chicago situation. You might want to poke around a little bit—maybe talk to Compano and see what he knows. But we all know Louie is not an organized person. His shop could be in a mess. It’s probably just what Montrose suggests.”

      Alex was taken aback by his good friend’s lukewarm support of his suspicions. He sat up, his face flushed red. “Damn it, Ted! You’re on retainer here, but you act like some attorney I just bumped into in the men’s room a few minutes ago. Something smells to high heaven here. I don’t give a hoot what the regulations say! And when I tell my over-paid, hotshot attorney about it, I shouldn’t have to sit here and endure endless references on how everything appears to be normal. I’m starting