Day Seventy-four - Thursday
The phone was ringing. Why would the phone be ringing? I raised up and reached for the phone on the headboard shelf.
"This is Steve."
"Mr. Sharp, this is your security company. Both pair of my guards at your locations have called in that there are suspicious vehicles parked in front of your buildings. So far no one has gotten out of the vehicles but I am calling you to let you know we have alerted the sheriff's department."
"I'll be there right away. Thank you for calling me."
Sue woke up, "What is it honey?"
"The security people called that two strange cars are parked in front of our buildings. They called the sheriff's department already but I'm going to go find out what's up."
"I'm going with you. If you need help, I want to be there."
I was going to say no but I would rather have her with me than to worry about her somewhere else. "Okay, but you have to do exactly what I tell you, no matter what."
She nodded while getting out of bed to slide into a pair of Jeans. We both wore jeans, dark T-shirts, and work shoes.
I rummaged in the closet for the AR15 I bought. I was tearing up the closet till I remembered, I had left it in the wrecked truck behind the seat, damn. I took the Mac-10 and the short barreled shotgun with the pistol grip that was in there. I grabbed the four full clips for the Mac-10 and the box of 12 gauge double 0 buckshot. I put my 9-millimeter in my waist, pocketed three more full clips and carried the other pieces out to the Mustang.
I walked over to the cop car that was now parked on the lane actually on the yard grass. "There is some kind of problem down at our buildings. We are going down there. Please stay here and watch the house, as I'm apprehensive about someone getting into the house while we are gone. If you want to wait inside, you are welcome to do so." The deputy radioed in to his supervisor and was told to secure our premise so he got out and I brought him inside. Sue was at the door ready to leave when I brought him in. I filled her in on my thinking that it would be good for him to watch the place for us while we went to the shop.
I asked him if he could confirm from his dispatcher whether anyone had been dispatched to the shop. The deputy used his mobile unit to call in. They confirmed that two units were in route, ETA ten minutes.
Sue and I drove the few miles down to the shop, taking about seven to eight minutes to get there. When I hit the outer area of the business park, I cut the lights on the car and pulled to side where I powered the top down so we would have unobstructed vision.
I rolled down a parallel street to see if I could see any thing. Just as we neared the corner of the back lot of the shop the two sheriff's cars came down our buildings' main road and stopped in the street in front of our two buildings. We could see the car in front of the door of the factory but we couldn't see the car in front of the shop building.
Just as a deputy nearest the factory started to get out of his car, there were two separate muzzle flashes by the factory door and from the car. Both rounds hit the sheriff's car but not the deputy, thank goodness. We heard another gun go off that must have been from the car in front of the shop.
I told Sue that we had best stay put so the deputies would not confuse us with the bad guys. More cars should be here quickly.
The two sheriff's cars backed up about thirty feet then I saw the two deputies slide out of the cars and go for their trunks. Both came up with what looked like MP-417 rifles. These are weapons made by H&K who build the MP-5 except these rifles are 7.62 and come with a variety of scopes. Most have a scope with an available light option. They are the choice for most military and police snipers. They both got between their cars and looked out at the two buildings.
The one deputy used his car PA, "Put down your weapons and come to the middle of the street with your hands up."
That caused more rounds to be fired from the door of the factory and somewhere in front of the shop building. The deputies both returned a couple of rounds. I heard glass shatter. There went the front window of the showroom.
A sheriff's car pulled up behind us and a deputy got out with his gun leveled. Sue and I put our hands up and explained that we came here in response to our security guards call. The deputies down on the street needed the help. He asked us for ID, and Sue and I both showed him our licenses.
He said he recognized my name. He used his radio to alert his supervisor that they needed the tactical team, as there were two separate groups of shooters attacking the deputies on site. He then started directing arriving cars down different streets so all the surrounding streets would be covered.
Occasionally a round would be fired from the factory front door but the deputies were not returning fire. I asked the deputy with us if he had the same weapon as the other deputies. He said he did.
"Get it out. Let me see if I can see the shooter in the factory doorway with it."
"You know how to use it?"
I nodded my head, "Marine, Desert Storm."
He opened his trunk and handed me the MP-417 then automatically handed me two clips. Not really thinking about it, I slid the clip home, put a round in the chamber and checked the safety position. Using his car to stabilize the rifle I sighted through the scope at the front door. I flipped the low light magnification on but the scope glared at me because the street light was at an angle, getting into my eyes.
I laid the rifle on the car then pulled my black T-shirt off then draped it over my head and the rifle scope to keep out the light glare. This time when I sighted in, I could see two men at the door with what looked like Uzi's or some kind of small automatic rifle. They were faking every one out though, as they were firing single rounds instead of bursts. A technique you learned when you were trying to conserve ammo or when you were trying to sucker someone into thinking you only had a pistol. I told the deputy what I had. He asked if I had a target.
"Two, both armed."
"Clean?"
"Very."
"Damn, I can't let you do that. Shit."
I squeezed off a round, watching the target lurch back from the hit. The son of a bitch got up. More body armor.
The other shooter in the doorway fired several shots at the sheriff's cars.
"The guys wearing armor. I'll try for a head shot."
"You can't do that, wait for the team."
"Target acquired, your sights are damned good."
With the magnification and illumination up, I could see the guys eye balls. Very slowly I squeezed the trigger. This time the head snapped back and the target disappeared. The other shooter fired wildly out of the door. I couldn't get a fix on him as he was moving down to check the fallen man and then standing up and looked like he was yelling.
All of sudden there were three more people behind the door.
"One down but three more just came to the door."
The deputy radioed to the two deputies in the street to offer a surrender again.
While the deputy was using the PA, I sighted in on another target in the doorway. As soon as the deputy was making the announcement the target raised his gun and fired a burst this time. I squeezed the trigger and watched his head snap back as the round hit him.
"Two down. Tell him to announce again. Let's see if more of them want to shoot."
The announcement began but this time no one fired. I had a target but no one was making any threatening gestures. I didn't see any weapons in the hands of the three that were standing there.
I relayed this information to the deputy next to me. Sue, who was on my left side while the deputy was on my right nudged me, "There's someone coming from the back of the building. They are running for the gate."
The deputy heard Sue and turned to watch the runner stop to look at the concertina wire atop the gate. It would be near impossible to climb the fence or the gate at this location. If he had known the property better he would have just gone to the other building and slip under the fence by the drainage ditch. We watched as he went to one of the big race day tractor-trailers parked in the yard, open the trailer door and climb in.
"Guess we know where that one is," the deputy said with a soft chuckle.
Cars and vans were arriving at the corners of the streets. The tactical team was dispersing and setting up at various points. The deputy offered the opportunity to come out again. This time three men came out of the propped open front door of the factory with their hands up. As the three men got to the street a round was heard going off from the shop building and the lead guy fell to the ground. Several deputies opened up at the same time in the direction from where the shot came from.
Someone called a cease-fire and two team members made their way to the building. We couldn't see what was happening from where we were so I stood up, used my T-shirt to wipe down the MP-5 then handed the piece to the deputy. "You did some fine shooting, deputy. You probably saved several lives by downing those two guys in the factory."
"I can't say I did that. They all know I don't shoot that good."
"I guess all your practice paid off tonight," I said while pulling my T-shirt back on covering the gun butt in my waist.
"Shit, I wouldn't have known to cover my head and the sight to see better. I bet the tact team doesn't even know that trick."
"Now you do, and you used it to your advantage. Pick up your brass deputy, there should be three casings. Remember you have a round in the chamber, but you still have a bogey in the trailer."
A tactical team member came out the back door to the shop and walked toward us. When he identified the deputy, the deputy told him there was a guy in the trailer. The team member radioed for assistance and two more of the team came out the back door toward the trailer. When they were in position, the first team member opened the door then called in for the man to give up and come out. There was some cursing and noise as the guy was obviously stumbling in the dark. He came out then stepped down to the ground to be put face first down and handcuffed.
As they brought him up to a sitting position, I saw it was one of the managers from the plant.
I told the deputy who the guy was as he was put on his feet to walk back through the building to the front.
Sue and I, and the deputy, drove our cars around to the front of the building. Both of the two big plate glass windows were shattered. There was an older Chevrolet with a ton of bullet holes in it and no glass. There was a yellow drape over a form in the driver's seat.
As Sue I went toward the factory, we saw the man on the ground that had been shot by the draped body in the car. It was the former CFO. I guess he made bail but was dumb enough to try to recover the money and drugs from the safe. The two men that were now cuffed, sitting on the ground were the other two former management types from the factory. They glared at Sue and I as we passed, but kept quiet. We looked into the doorway to see the two men I head shot. The scene was pretty gruesome. One of the deputies had lost his lunch near the doorway. I'd seen worse.
The tactical team Lieutenant was congratulating the deputy that Sue and I had been with for the excellent marksmanship. He said he was a credit to the sheriff's office. The deputy glared at me and I saluted him as we passed.
The four hired security guards came walking up the street. They explained they were there for protection and not to become an army. When they saw how many people there were, they walked up the street to stay out of the way for when the sheriff got there. They figured the safest place to be was far away. I thanked them for calling in and told them to finish out their shift then we could probably call the duty complete.
Deputies with dogs came out of both buildings saying that the buildings were clear. A county detective was coming out saying the men had gone directly to all the safes and opened them to find nothing there. They had opened a fourth safe that was in the executive bathroom between the president and the CFO's office. They must have been interrupted, as there was a large amount of money still in the opened safe. They weren't going to mess with it, as it was still intact, on the premise. Sue and I went into the building and up to the second floor then into the bathroom that we had never been into. The mirror over the sink hid the safe but it was now swung away revealing the open safe with stacks of hundreds again. I told Sue to find a trash can and bring the garbage bag.
"What are you going to do Steve?" Sue asked.
"I going to get a bonus for you and I and have some cash for us to do some nice things for others as we want without having to worry about where it comes from."
"Why do we want a bonus, especially money that's tainted?"
"Money is money. Somehow, someway, you and I should be rewarded for all of the bullshit we have put up with recently. This is that reward. This cash will buy some nice things for people but it will also give us a few bucks for a nice vacation."
"We have been through a lot lately, especially from the people of this company. I'll get a bag."
I counted out thirty-five bundles of cash, over a million and a half. I put five bundles back in the safe and closed it, spinning the tumbler to lock it. I closed the mirror then Sue and I put the garbage bag in the closet in Betty's room temporarily.
Back outside there were all forms of police and sheriff deputies everywhere. State and federal detectives were questioning the three men sitting and handcuffed. Sue and I went to the shop and used my phone to call an emergency board up company. I asked them if they cleaned up the broken glass and they said they did. They would be out within the hour.
I looked at the time display on the phone. It was three thirty-five. There goes another night's sleep. I got out a big push broom, a dustpan and a big trash bin on wheels to begin cleaning up the mess. A deputy told me to hold up cleaning, as they need to keep the crime scene intact for a little while longer, as every agency wanted their own pictures.
I went upstairs to the break room to get Sue and me a Diet Coke. We then began inspecting whether our display car was hit. None of the inside glass was hit but there were some bullet holes in the walls.
We were sitting in our shop office when our good friend, the Captain, walked in with the deputy that I had borrowed the MP-417 from. He walked up to me and said, "Good shooting. Jack here couldn't hit a wall if he were standing in front of it. As soon as the tactical officer said Jack should get an award, I knew something was up. Then Jack told me who he was with. A Marine could make those shots, but not Jack."
"Give him the credit, Captain, he tried to tell me not to fire, but the two were shooting at your men."
"They had armor on too. One had been hit in the vest, the round was still plastered into the vest. You already ran into that once today from what I heard. Amazing how you could hit a head shot at a little over four hundred yards in the dark."
"That was our job, Captain. We were trained for it. The MP-5 is a good weapon when you know how to use it."
The deputy said, "You should have seen him. He whips off his T-shirt and covers his head and the sight after the light glared at him then cool as can be he says he's acquired a target the let's go of a round. You should have heard him curse when he saw the man had on armor. But it wasn't thirty seconds later he was firing again. That time he just said, 'one down' then after they shot at the deputies in the street again, he fired and said 'two down.' This guys is good."
"You are good deputy, not me. Remember that. I had nothing to do with it."
The Captain said after the deputy left, "Noticed you two have a couple of toys in the Mustang. I hope that Mac-10 isn't fully automatic and that shotgun barrel is over eighteen inches. I'd bet you both are carrying too. You're legal though, you both have permits."
"Are you two going to go home and wake up my deputy and kick him off your couch, or are you going to stick around here for a while?"
"We'll stay until the emergency board up folks are done and we can fix the door to the factory. The door may not be broken. These guys seem to be able to go through most doorways." "Yep, they were pros alright. The two guys in the factory doorway and the one in the car are all from Chicago. They are a bunch of bad guys for hire. I'm surprised all these local guys are a part of this. You wouldn't think a few management types would be involved in some heavy duty dope dealing."
The Captain mentioned as if fishing, "The detectives said there was some money in a safe in the executive bathroom. Is it still there?"
"We closed the door and spun the lock. We'll get a locksmith to open it tomorrow. There is a lot of money in that safe. That and the money we found earlier must have been what they were after."
"Must have been, Steve. Maybe you can keep that money. The other may be considered dope money since there was the heroin found with it.
Sue spoke up, "Hope we get to keep it. This plant could use some improvements and I'll need all the help I can get to make a go of it. I need to keep all the folks working."
"Put that way, Sue, I hope you guys get to keep it too. I better check to see if we can clear out of here. The day will start pretty soon and you need to get the places cleaned up."
The state and the feds were gone, leaving only the county sheriff's men making one last check around. The deputies let the board up folks through and told them they could begin cleaning up. They also let the professional cleanup guys into the factory entrance to clean up all the blood on the floors and walls. The entrance would probably have to be painted. Thank goodness the floor was tile.
By five, everything was done and the sheriff's people and all the workers were leaving. The two security men went home. The showroom windows were boarded up and the factory entrance was cleaned and even painted. You couldn't tell what had happened. I locked up the shop and the buildings set the alarm then pulled the Mustang over to the factory entrance. Sue came out with the garbage bag and threw it into the back of the Mustang. While she set the alarm and locked the door, I put the top up on the car. We drove slowly home and found the deputy sitting on the patio. We told him we didn't think there was going to be any further threats as the ex-president was being charged with the drugs and conspiracy to commit murder. He would be responsible for the four dead men. He could even get death, but probably wouldn't.
The deputy left, so Sue and I brought in the bag and the extra weapons we had taken with us and put them all away in our bedroom. We took a shower and didn't even think of fooling around, as we were so tired. Sue wanted to count the money, so I told her to just count the one bundle. I made some coffee while she began counting.
It turned out like I had thought. Each bundle was five hundred, hundred dollar bills or fifty thousand. That was a cool one and a half million in cash. We would need a safety deposit box, quick. I had left a quarter million in the safe for the cops to find if they wanted to put their hands on it. Who could have guessed these guys could make so much money dealing drugs. I wonder how they were doing it.
I turned on the patio light at six along with the TV. The local news was full of what had happened. There was even a news truck at the shop, taking live videos showing the boarded up showroom windows. They gave the entire story and how the former management had broken into the factory to attempt to recover cash that was hidden there. They showed a picture of the former president, listing the many charges against him at this time. They even mentioned that he was deemed a flight risk so was not offered bail.
The news guys did a good job not showing the S&S logo on the building. They just said two local businesses and the business park we were in. The sheriff's department had done a good job convincing them not to demonize the business.
As people came over for coffee, some had heard the story on the news but didn't put it together, some had, others had no clue what had happened. Sue began telling a sanitized version of our night. There was a report on the previous night at Ben's office and then the war at the shop. The attorney from the night before had been arrested as an accomplice. That might have been done to keep him quiet and out of touch with the ex-president. The two stories were not linked as yet, so the news people would have several days of good reporting while this played out.
Phil and Judy showed up with breakfast. Sue and I told Tiny and Phil that we would come in a little later as we needed to check with Ben on a couple of things. Debbie finally remembered. The car dealer had called to tell me my new truck was ready. I said we would try to swing by and pick it up this morning. Sue said it was too bad, as she really liked the little T-bird but she said she liked the Mustang better as it had more muscle. So this was a case of bigger was better.
Once everyone left for work and Sue's girls were working, we put the cash into an old gym bag Sue had. We drove to the bank with the bag and a briefcase full of documents we wanted to store and rented a large box. It didn't take us long to put the money and papers in the box then left to go back home. On the way we stopped by the little gun store. I wanted to buy a couple of more 9-millimeters to have in case mine kept getting confiscated and held as evidence. The dealer said that since I had a carry permit, he could let me take them with me instead of doing the three-day wait. I bought another six extra clips and two boxes of ammo. That should be all I could possibly need for a long time, hopefully.
Sue had taken one back to the range and used up four ten round clips very fast. She said she was going to keep one in her purse instead of the .380, as she liked the balance and light weight of the plastic Glock better. The dealer had a nice shoulder rig and a clip-on holster that I bought. If I was going to have to carry, I might as well be comfortable.
We went home and stashed the extra guns. I put on a Hawaiian looking shirt that stayed out of my jeans and clipped the belt holster to my belt. Sue and I went to the Ford dealer. He had a four door F-250 that was plain on the outside but pretty nice on the inside. Pretty much like the one that got wrecked. He said that since my previous one had a V-8, this one did too. If I wanted a V-6 he could have one for me in a couple of days. I told him it didn't make too much difference as the fuel economy was about the same. The one nice extra was the step bar, making it easier for someone Sue's height to get into the truck.
I asked the dealer if the old truck was still there. He called the body shop manager to find out it was still out back waiting to be taken to the salvage yard. Sue and I went back to the truck where I pulled the AR15 from behind the seat, along with the hundred rounds and extra clips. The envelope with the adapter was lying with all of the stuff. Sue and I went to the shop and the factory. Tiny already had a glass company on site, working to restore the building to what it was supposed to look like. I told Shawna that my new truck needed the company logo and handed her the keys. She said she would take care of it.
I returned all my calls and answered all my messages then walked around the premises, answering questions about last night and business. It was pretty much business as usual. The pickup race day and the Busch trucks were getting ready to leave. The Winston Cup truck was preparing to leave a day early as well. The Winston cup guy handed me a bag saying he found it in the truck this morning when he was inventorying. It was an old Colt 45 auto. I took it inside and called the sheriff's detective unit. I told him what was found and that we would have it inside when he came for it. I told Debbie not to touch the metal but to just hand the bag to whoever came for the piece, but to make sure she got a receipt.
Across the street, Sue was showing the contractor what she wanted to have done. She had not taken in consideration the executive washroom so she had to modify her plans a little. She did end up with an office for herself, and on the other side of the washroom, was a large office for joint operations. At the end of the hallway, Sue was going to have Mike built a nice office across from Betty.
There was a locksmith opening the safe for us. When he was done, Sue had Betty count the money, then said we would take it to the bank and deposit it into the company account. There would be the federal submission of the large cash transaction, but it would be cool to have the extra for operating capital.
Mike came to me and asked if Sue and I wanted to inspect the material order that had just arrived. He said it was the custom of the managers to go over the material order together to make sure it was of good quality. That sounded a little funny so Sue and I went to the receiving area. Mike showed us the material inspection room there and left us with the large pallets of material.
I cut open the bands then we began taking off the outer wrapper. Sue and I began lifting the bolts to a big table in room. The material was rolled onto large cardboard tubes. I don't know why I looked but I glanced inside the tube. You couldn't see through it. I went to the other end but couldn't see anything from that end either. There was a long handle tool leaning up against the wall. It had a round wood disk on the end that fit into the tube. I put the disk in and pushed. I had to push pretty hard but whatever was there gave way and it pushed out the other end.
There was a long round bundle about three feet long and the size of the eight-inch tube. I knew what was coming and gently opened the package. It was the same stuff that had been in the safe.
I used the phone in the inspection room and called my friend the Captain. I told him to get down here to the factory right away and to bring the DEA with him. He wanted to know what was up but I told him to just do what I asked. I told Sue to leave everything and for us to lock up the room and wait.
I sent Sue to the front of the building and then casually sent everyone from the dock area to the work rooms, saying that I wanted them to help out cleaning up the floor in there.
The Captain had taken me seriously. Two sheriff's cars pulled up in back by the loading dock and Sue came through the door, leading the Captain and a couple of guys in suits. The Captain said, "I'm going to be so glad when this is all done so I can get some sleep."
My response was a sarcastic, "Tell me about it."
I led them into the inspection room and told them how Mike had treated the material. He said it was a ritual for the managers to all inspect material that just arrived.
It took them the rest of the morning to come up with nearly a hundred kilos of heroin and a hundred kilos of raw coke. The DEA guys said this was probably thirty million in drugs. I told them that they needed to intercept all of my material orders from that point forward at the docks so we didn't have to put up with this any longer. They agreed. I also wanted them to publicize the big drug find as much as possible so the drug people would know that it was an accidental find, and that the new owners of the factory had no part of it.
This material had been flown in on a commercial cargo aircraft. Pretty slick operation. Now I knew how they had accumulated so much money.
Mike and his men carted the material out to the floors to begin cutting it up for the contract work we were doing. Mike came back to receive some material that Sue had ordered for her fashions. The DEA went through this material as well. I showed them that all you had to do was to look through the tubes to tell whether there was anything there. They were all clear.
Mike and I took the material to where Sue was working with her select seamstresses. She gave it to the cutters then told the seamstresses to go through the first garment one step at a time to make sure the designed steps would produce the highest quality garment.
I watched fascinated, as two pieces of fabric was sewn together then handed to the next seamstress to add the next piece until the completed garment was handed to the new quality control inspector. She looked over each of the seams carefully then hung the gown on a plastic hanger. The process was repeated with the next group of seamstresses until all six sets of seamstresses had produced a garment that was inspected and hung.
Sue was beaming with happiness and excitement. She gave the cutters the sizing for the production run then told the ladies to work producing this garment today in this single color. It might be possible to do this whole production run, but she was more concerned that the products came out perfect.
The seamstresses applauded Sue for setting up and beginning her first production. We left them to work, heading toward lunch. There were deputies, feds, and even city cops all over the place. Two news trucks were there video taping the outside of the building and all the activity.
As we neared Sue's Mustang, a deputy stopped us and asked me if I could call a number he handed me. He said it was from his supervisor and that it was an important message.
I called the number on my cell phone. A Lieutenant answered then another voice answered that identified himself as the shift Captain. He told me that the ex-president had hung himself this morning after he was questioned about drugs found in his safe, and about the Chicago men who had been killed the night before. They had not even had the opportunity to begin questioning him on the drugs found in the material shipment. That only left the two men who were arrested last night to be prosecuted for the drugs. The Captain said he doubted the two would live long in prison as the drug lords would want their pound of flesh for all the screw-ups and the huge money and drug loss.
I asked if he thought the drug people would come after us since it was our purchase of the plant that began the trouble. He didn't think so, as the plant was possibly going to be closed for lack of profitability anyway. He also said they had been able to track the activity of the attorney that I had met the night before. He had made multiple calls to Chicago during the last twenty-four hours, and appeared to be responsible for contacting all of the different bad guys.
I thanked him for calling us and said we were on our way to get some rest. We were bone tired from being up all night.
I called Debbie to tell her I was going home as Sue and I needed to rest. I told her to have my new truck just locked up in the lot for tonight as I wouldn't need it.
Sue and I went home. Glenda came over and chatted with us while Sue and I had a bowl of soup and a sandwich, and after Sue talked with her girls, we lay down on the bed for a nap.
Shawna woke me about six-thirty asking if we were interested in supper. Sue heard the conversation and said she was, whether I was or not. We got up, washed our faces, and joined our friends out on the patio.
Tiny reported that the news people had made the connection between the two businesses and spoken to him, Phil, and Abe. They had walked them around the shop, without the cameramen, to give them a little idea of what we did. They told them that one of the stations had done a report on the company already. This took the excitement out of them, and since no one else had any idea of what had gone on across the street, the news folks left.
Mike was there with his wife. It looked like they were going to become new crewmembers. He was telling Sue what the contractor had accomplished so far today and what else had happened. He told her that her seamstresses were going to surprise her in the morning with a perfect production run. They were all so proud, he said, they floated out the door. He said he was impressed that Sue had kept telling them to slow down. It seemed that slowing down was getting production speed higher as there were no rejects or quality control issues.
Phil said two of his government bids came through so he had worked with the factories to make a production schedule. Phil felt a few other bids would come our way too, as he had been able to keep reducing our prices because of our discount levels.
Tiny said that Onan had called, wanting us to meet with some of their executives to begin an inquiry to see if we might be willing to sell the company to them. I asked Phil whether we could replace our product line if Onan pulled our dealership. He said sure, but he was comfortable with Onan, and would prefer to keep our relationship. He did not want to be an employee of theirs though. Tiny announced that our agreements were bulletproof and as long as we ordered at least a million dollars of equipment a year, we retained an international dealership. I told Tiny to advise them they could come and buy us all a steak, but we were not interested in selling out.
Martin came over and had Sue and I come over to the bar with Glenda and him, as he wanted to talk to us.
The park owner said he was putting the park up for sale. He said that with all of the value increases in land, he felt the park might give him enough to retire. He thought that a land speculator would snap up the place and build a housing development. Martin looked at Sue and I and said, "You two have been successful with your businesses, but mostly you have been instrumental that a bunch of folks have good jobs and all of us have gained from becoming a close knit group. We would lose that if the park goes away. I know you two have a little money, but do you think you might have enough to buy the park and protect it from being developed?"
I didn't know what to say, but Sue did, "Do you know how much he wants for the park?"
"He says the land and the business is worth nearly three million. I think you would need an appraiser to make that judgement. There is all that land in back of the park that can't be used for building, as it is a nature preserve area. That cypress swamp is over thirty acres. That should hurt the value, not enhance it for developers."
"Martin, I didn't even know there was a cypress swamp back there."
"There's a small, almost twenty acre, lake in the middle of it that is good fishing but it's just about too hard to get to."
"You'll have to take us back there, I'd like to see it."
Sue said, "We'll go see the park owner and see what we might be able to do. I don't want to move either, Martin. You and Glenda are real family to me, just like everyone else that joins us on the patio."
Glenda gave Sue a hug and said, "Let's eat, then you two might want to drop in on the park owner. I think he's going to have a real estate person out this evening."
Sue said, "Come on Steve, let's go talk to him before he signs a listing. We could save him some money. Glenda, save us some food. We'll be right back."
Sue and I walked over to the park owner's office and home. He was in his office and greeted us warmly. "I hope you two aren't mad at me for wanting to sell the park. You're two of the most dangerous folks I know." He was laughing as he said that.
"I saw your businesses on the six o'clock news. You're getting all kinds of strange publicity. Hope it doesn't hurt your business."
Sue answered, "It shouldn't. My new factory makes clothes. Steve does business all over, so it shouldn't make a difference."
"I have to ask you two something. You two obviously are making some good money. Why are the two of you still living out here in a trailer park? How come you haven't bought a big house somewhere?"
"Easy," Sue began. "All of our friends, who are like family, live here. We both started our business here and we prefer to stay." "Well, how can I help you? I guess you heard I was going to sell the place."
"We did, that's why Sue and I are here. Have you had the park and land appraised yet?"
"I did," he said opening a file folder with some forms in it. "The appraiser said the land and business were worth right at two point eight million. There is a total of one hundred sixty acres. A lot is in the protected cypress swamp. There is sixty-five acres that I rent out to the farmer over there who grows strawberries and vegetables on it. The park facility and buildings are the last sixty acres. I would have thought the property and business would be worth more, but this guy is a good appraiser."
"What would you take for the property as a cash transaction, no frills, no commissions, just money," asked Sue.
"A realtor is going to cost ten percent because this is a commercial sale. So I guess I could take ten percent off, two hundred eighty thousand. I would net about two point five two million. I'd take that if it were a quick deal."
Sue looked at me, knitted her eyebrows together, pursed her lips then smiled. "Let me use your phone."
She called her uncle right in front of the park owner. "Uncle Ben, this is Sue. I'm going to buy the park that I live in. That's right, I'm going to buy it. I want you to get with the owner and do the deal so he can retire and go to Hawaii, or where ever he wants to retire too. No sir, I have no idea as to how to run a park but I'm sure I can learn and hire good people to do it. Yes sir, I'm certain. Please get with him in the morning so we can close as soon as possible. Thanks Uncle Ben, yes, we'll see you Sunday at the latest."
"Can I write up a letter of agreement that you two are going to buy this place from me? Would you mind?"
"Good idea. Steve, run get your checkbook. I know you haven't transferred your money into your money market account so you have enough to give him a ten percent deposit."
"You have ten percent you can give me right now?"
"Is that not enough?" Sue asked.
"That's great, let me start writing."
I went to the house, got my checkbook then went back to the office. I wrote a check for two hundred fifty two thousand dollars. The owner copied the hand written agreement. We all three signed it and I handed him the check, as noted on the agreement.
"You two have just bought my life's work. This place has been good to me. I hope it will be good to you as well. Come by tomorrow and I will begin showing you how to run a trailer park."
Sue and I walked back to the patio where folks were still eating. Sue winked at Martin and we began filling our plates. When supper was over Sue and I was helping clean up when Martin cornered me. "What did you do?"
"I don't know whether we should say a lot, but we bought the park. The deal is done. Now all we have to do is do the title search and file it with the county."
"Hot damn," Martin exclaimed. "Glenda's mind will be at ease now. She's been upset all day worrying about us having to move."
"Tell her to keep it quiet. I'm sure the news will get around quick enough."
I think everyone was tired from all the craziness that had been going on lately. I know Sue and I were.
The patio was dark and we were showered and in bed by ten. We were barely cuddled when I heard Sue's regular breathing, indicating she was asleep. I drifted off with her.