Don't Start Something

The wash of light from the front door highlighted the scene. Grant was lying on the ground with one dog's jaws clamped onto his wrist, with the other dog's muzzle a couple of centimetres from his face, the growl still coming from it.

I stooped to pick up the pistol. "Well look who's here, hi Grant."

"Get them off me."

"No, I don't think I'll do that, for a start, I can't give them commands that they will obey, they are not my dogs, and they're having too good a time for me to interrupt." I stooped to retrieve the package of explosives from under the cabin. "Planning to do a little percussion fishing in the creek were you?" I pulled the detonator from the package as torchlight announced the arrival of Peta's grandparents.

"What's going on here?" Her grandfather asked.

"It would appear that this man wants to harm us and Bruno and Fritz decided to join in the festivities." Bruno and Fritz were a pair of Standard Schnauzers. This breed are known for being fiercely protective and fearless in defence of their owners and property.

"Bruno, let him go." Bruno released Grants wrist and there was a large amount of blood oozing from the wound. "Sit." Both dogs now sat centimetres from Grant, who now thought better of making any sudden movements. "The police are on their way. As soon as these two heard something and headed out to investigate I called them."

"I'm glad that we made friends with them this afternoon, I wouldn't like to be on their wrong side."

"We might as well make ourselves comfortable." He said to us. "You'd better keep pressure on that wrist, or you'll bleed to death." He said to Grant. "Stay." He said to Bruno and Fritz, who stayed.

Twenty minutes later headlights and flashing red and blue lights announced the arrival of the police. Peta's grandfather went out with his torch and signalled for them to come over to the cottage.

"What's happening here John?" Sergeant Ford asked as he climbed out of his car.

"This man came here to plant an explosive device under this cabin, where my grand-daughter and her friend were staying. Bruno and Fritz decided not to allow him to blow them up."

"Looks like I'd better call the Ambo's, he doesn't look like he'll bleed to death while we wait, so we'll let the dogs mind him until they get here. Let's go inside and have a coffee in the meantime."

Sergeant Ford looked over the explosive device as we waited. "This guy was serious, there's more than enough here to wipe this cabin off the face of the earth and everyone in it." He picked up the pistol and turned it over in his hand. "Not the kind of weapon that a law-abiding citizen would carry, I would hazard a guess that it's not registered in the small arms registry. Do you know him?" He asked us.

"Yes, his name is Grant Beresford and he's involved in some share transactions, along with my in-Laws that we're trying to prevent."

"Ah, money, the love of which is the cause of a lot of our problems. If greed and lust didn't exist, I'd be doing nothing other than investigating car smashes and issuing speeding tickets."

The ambulance arrived and John went out to call off the dogs so that they could treat Grant. Grant tried to sit up but Bruno growled at him and he put his hands up in surrender and slumped back to the ground. Sergeant Ford walked to the ambulance as Grant was loaded into it. "I'll get one of our guys to meet you at the hospital and babysit him until tomorrow, he has a lot of questions to answer."

"Okay Sarge, see you back at the hospital." They didn't bother with the siren as they left, there was no-one out here to warn.

"There's two cars parked up on the road, so maybe there's another guy around, we'll check on them on the way out. We'll need for you two to come into town tomorrow to make a statement. In the meantime I'll make a few enquiries of my own. Good night all."

We watched as they drove off the property and stopped on the road to investigate the two cars. When they hadn't moved for some minutes I decided to go and investigate. There was a dead body beside one of the cars, it had a gunshot wound in its back. "Go back, we'll have to wait for the ambulance to come back, but there's nothing that you can do here."

It was soon quiet. Peta and I sat on the sofa, each with a dog's head on our lap. These were nothing like the two dogs that had captured Grant and then stood guard over him, not allowing him to move.

"I have a horrible suspicion that things are going to get much worse before they get better." I was vocalising my thoughts.

"What surprises me is how could Emma even think that Grant was better than you?"

"There's no accounting for taste, is there?"

"I think that I have very good taste."

"I have no complaints on that score. I think that we're safe enough for the time being, what say we send the dogs back up to the house and go to bed, although I don't know that I'll be able to get to sleep after what has happened tonight."

"You were thinking of sleeping were you?"

"Eventually, yes." We walked the dogs to the door and they ran off up to the house.

We called into the police station the next morning to be confronted by a barrage of questions and some explanations.

"Who is Eliza Preston and Emma Macklin?"

"Emma is my wife, and Eliza is her mother, why?"

"Our little songbird over at the hospital is claiming that they hired him to kill you and even provided the wherewithal. You have a very strange family if the women can lay their hands on C4, let alone a silenced Glock."

"I think that you'll find that they are all in this together, finding out who is responsible for what my take some doing. They'll blame each other, leaving you to prove who is innocent of each charge."

"I've spoken to my bosses in town, they are going to arrest the ladies this morning by the way, but I think that they will jointly charge each of them with the whole lot."

The direct threat having passed, Peta and I headed back into town to be met by an irate wife and Mother-in-Law. They had made a brief court appearance, nothing more than the charges being read and pleas taken. Bail was set at $500,000 each and they had to hand in their Passports to prevent them fleeing the country. Given their present situation, I'm sure that they could find a way to get out of the country.

Martin was on his way back from London to join the fight to save the company. It began with a meeting attended by Morgan Alexander and Martin representing the company, and Brandon Phelps and Eliza Preston representing their interests. It was held before a Referee appointed by the court to mediate between the parties to see if a court hearing could be avoided.

"It is our submission," Phelps began, "that the provisions of the Will of James Oliver could not possibly cover all business contingencies. While it may have been perfectly adequate at the time that it was drawn up, the rules governing the conduct of business has changed significantly. The course of action that Mrs Preston has proposed fall within the current rules."

"That may be the case under normal circumstances, but the underlying reasons for the conditions that he placed on his Will remain the same, and that is the need to ensure that the business is run in a proper manner. For the past twenty years the company has been run efficiently by Mr Oliver's Son-in-Law, Mr Martin Preston, who he groomed for the job. His main aim was to ensure that the business was quarantined from outside influences that were detrimental to the smooth operation of the company. Mr Preston in turn, has been grooming his Son-in-Law, Mr Ewan Macklin, to take over his role as CEO, and that was until Mrs Preston used her influence and had Mr Macklin dismissed from his position. The company is facing litigation in that matter brought by Mr Macklin for wrongful dismissal. We, acting on behalf of the company, have advised the company to settle the matter out of court and pay Mr Macklin compensation commensurate with his worth to the company."

"In this case before the courts, the transactions carried out by Mrs Preston were viewed to be detrimental to the company wellbeing by both Mr Preston and the other Trustee. The changes sought to be carried out by Mrs Preston, with no prior reference or knowledge to the company management, require a 75% vote of the shareholders to be approved. The combined shareholding of Mr Preston and the other Trustee is 49%, enough to block these transactions."

"Mrs Preston holds a 51% majority and can make decisions on behalf of the company without seeking approval of the other shareholders."

"Mrs Preston may have held 51% of shares before she embarked on this action, but this is no longer the case, if we withdraw our injunction and allow the transfer of shares to stand. Transfers, as it happens, to Grant Beresford, a man currently under arrest for the murder of a," She paused and glanced at her notes. "Mr Vance Holden, an investigator hired by Mr Beresford to locate her Son-in-Law, Ewan Macklin and his P.A. Ms Peta Shortland, and the attempted murder of those two persons. This man has implicated both Mrs Preston and her daughter, Emma Macklin, in the planning and execution of these offences. Both of them have been charged with attempted murder of Mr Macklin and Ms Shortland. We put it that, because of these charges, Mrs Preston is no longer a fit and proper person to be in control of this company."

Phelps held a whispered conference with Eliza that went on for several minutes.

"In addition," Morgan added, "If my learned colleague would obtain a copy of the Memorandum of Intent written by Mrs Preston's father, James Oliver, he will see that Mr Oliver had made provisions for just such an eventuality. He did not trust Mrs Preston to be able to resist the suggestions of a, let's not beat about the bush here, con-man interested only in getting his hands on a perfectly good company and stripping it of all its assets and goodwill. Mrs Preston had succumbed to this man's influence many years ago when he sought to marry her daughter. Who, it must be said, had the good sense to resist this and marry Mr Macklin."

"This did not deter Mr Beresford, who had kept in touch over the intervening seven years and gradually insinuated himself into the life of Emma Macklin by means of untrue statements regarding Mr Macklin's fidelity. Having driven a wedge between the Macklin's he proceeded to implement his plans to obtain a substantial shareholding in the company. This is what this injunction is all about, the prevention of this scheme to wrest control of this company from its rightful owners and place it in the hands of a corporate manipulator who has the interests of only himself in mind. I move that this injunction should be upheld and that no further discussion or negotiation be entered into."

"Mr Phelps?" The Referee asked.

"We need time to peruse the documents referred to by my learned colleague, before agreeing to a ruling on this injunction."

"I will set a time for one week from now for further discussion on this matter, in the meantime the injunction stands. All previous share transactions are to be rescinded and the shares returned to Mrs Preston. I have read briefly the Memorandum on Intent provided by Ms Alexander, and rule that the previsions therein are legal and binding. Mrs Preston is unable to trade any shares in this company."

Eliza went immediately into damage control, and the first that I knew of it was a knock on my door. Peta answered it and came into the kitchen where I was busy preparing my specialty, Chinese takeaway. This required a run to the nearest Chinese, and then emptying the containers onto plates. "Emma is here to see you." Emma had followed her. She looked first at me and then Peta, and silently asked the question, 'are you two fucking?'

"What can I do for you?"

"It appears that Mother was a little overzealous when she had you fired. She has sent me to tell you that you can start back tomorrow, and I'm here to tell you that you can come home with me now."

"What if I don't want to?"

"Don't want to what?"

"Both. What if I were to tell you that I have found a new job, with a little help from your father, and that I am in the process of moving on with my life?"

"Then I'll just have to crawl back into my hole and try to forget all about this, about what a fool I've been listening to the bullshit that Grant told us about you. I don't usually beg, but I'm begging you to forgive me and come back."

"Can I have time to think about this? After what I've been put through the past few days I want to be convinced that this will never happen again."

"I can understand that, and I'm prepared to give you as much time as you need to make a decision. One thing before I go, you and Peta, are you?"

"Are we what?"

"Lovers." She was expecting the worst answer, so I thought that she needed to suffer a little.

"I can only handle one phase of my life at a time, and I need to clear one before entering the next." She's not to know that I'd managed to clear her phase, and move on to the Peta phase, in a very short space of time. I needed to know more about what happened with the meeting today, before I fully commit myself one way or the other. Was she genuine, or was this damage control? If she was genuine, I would have a problem, were my feelings for her strong enough for me to forego what I knew deep inside life with Peta would bring? The short answer was no, but she could make life difficult for me, for us, that is Peta and me, if she was genuine.

Emma left, she had aimed a kiss at my lips but got my cheek instead, and this worried her. "See you." I said as she stood searching my face for some sort of confirmation that she was in there with a chance.

"So what happens now?" Peta asked.

"As far as I'm concerned right now, there is just you and me against the world, she can chuck as big a hissy fit as she wants, but I'm not going there again. Before I've come to know you I might have been tempted, but now, no. Having said that, I won't tell her that just yet, I want to see what lengths she and her conniving mother go to, to hang on to what they had."

The next knock on the door came some three hours later and interrupted a tender moment between me and Peta. It was Martin, fresh off the plane from London. "I suppose you've heard the news, hi Peta, that the court has ordered the transfer of shares to stop and, those already transferred to be returned."

"I know, I know that something has happened because Emma called by to try and patch up our marriage and tell me that I could go back to work. She seemed a little put out when I didn't fall on her neck and pack my bags to go home."

"Does that mean that you and Peta are thinking of a long term relationship?"

"Yes. While I still have feelings for Emma, they are not strong enough for me to want to go back to what my life was like with her, it was going downhill, even before this happened."

"Good. There have been some very interesting developments."

"Such as?"

"There is a clause in the original Memorandum of Intent made out by my Father-in-law that means that, if Eliza, or Emma when she inherits, make any attempt to shift shares out of the family Trust, they forfeit their rights to income from those shares and that the income reverts to a nominee, in this case me, and when I die or retire, to my nominee, in this case you, given that you are the person that I am grooming to assume that role. This could cause problems if you and Emma are no longer married, but if she is found to have been knowingly involved in the share transfer attempt, she forfeits all claims to any benefits from this Trust."

"This is really a complicated scenario."

"Tell me about it, if I hadn't had it explained to me by the Lawyers, I wouldn't have understood it either. By the way, the other Trust is administered by the company Lawyers."

"So, where do we stand?"

"It's business as usual, I expect you and Peta back on the job tomorrow, and in the mean time I'll have Morgan look into pressing ahead with the injunction blocking the transfer of the Trust documents and invoking that clause so that Eliza is removed from ownership and receiving benefit."

"You're enjoying this, aren't you?"

"You'd better believe it. You wouldn't know how much it hurt working my butt off for the company, and seeing the earnings disappearing down the gaping maw of Eliza's shopping extravagances."

"Morgan, who is Morgan?"

"Morgan is the Lawyer who handles the company's legal matters, it was she who told me about the Memorandum of Intent that made this all possible."

"Oh. Okay, we'll see you in the morning then."

"What was that all about?" Peta asked.

"It would appear that Eliza and Emma, because of their involvement in this, will lose any benefit that was due them from the company profits."

"Ouch, they're not going to be happy, and they'll not take it lying down if I know them."

"There's not a lot that they can do according to Martin, who has had legal advice that they forfeited any rights when they attempted to transfer the shares."

Peta kissed me. "Are you going to let me show you why you can never go back to Emma?"

"And how do you intend doing that?"

"Like this." They tell us that actions speak louder than words, well let me tell you, her actions positively shouted at me, and by the time exhaustion took over, I was ready for sleep. But sleep didn't come easily. There was something bothering me about this whole mess, and it kept me awake for hours.

I sat at my desk looking at the carton that Peta had placed there, trying to get the motivation to take my stuff out. She was off somewhere getting stuff and I was still trying to get my head around the past few days. To keep my mind occupied I cranked up my computer and began a search of the company the Beresford worked for, or should I say companies, there were dozens of them, mostly holding companies. Way down in the depths of the list was one that caught my attention. I scrolled down to the information page and began to read. What I was reading filled me with horror. I was being used and I didn't like it. I heard Peta come back into her office. "Peta, could you come in please?"

"Yes." She came in and sat down on my desk. "What is it?"

"Take a look at this." I pointed to my screen.

"Fuck, Ewan, do you know what this means?"

"Yes, it means that you and I are going to begin digging before it's too late. I can't believe that I could fall for something like this."

"Don't knock yourself out over this, it would seem to be an almost foolproof plan to gain control of this company."

"Can you do a search for a Lawyer who specialises in company law? Don't try the bigger firms, the legal profession are an incestuous bunch, and piss in each other's pockets all the time."

"Will do. What are you going to do?"

"Apart from act as if there's nothing wrong, I'm going to try to find out as much as I can about Company Law and Trusts."

"Good luck with that, not many people can understand it. I think that it was deliberately written in such a way that the only way that you can get your head around it is to hire a Lawyer."

"I studied some Business Law as part of my degree, so I'm not starting from scratch."

"I still say good luck." She did a quick look around and saw that no-one was watching, and kissed me before going back to her office.

It turned out to be a busy day and a busy night for us. The offices were empty of personnel long before we left, our heads spinning with what we had discovered.

"Who are we able to trust, I don't know anymore?" I asked as we pulled out of the car park.

"I'm not the person to ask. I would have thought that Martin at least was trustworthy, but now, I'm not so sure."

"I'm leaning heavily towards not trusting him. I don't think that we're the only ones getting shafted here."