Mayfield Enterprises Pt. 02

The two of them were back in less than a half-hour and said that they accepted our counteroffer. They never even asked to look at the financials of the business. That convinced me that they wanted the Deadwood Hotel and Casino for something other than the income it would provide.

I talked to CJ and Micki, and we accepted Benson's offer.

It took two months to close the deal and turn over the property to Benson or whoever he represented. As soon as all the papers were signed, CJ, Britney, and I got in our Toyota Highlander and headed to Ashville, North Carolina. We had already bought a house in Ashville and our furniture had been delivered along with the Corvette, a week earlier.

I had settled my issues with Micki and no longer carried the anger I felt toward her. That allowed CJ, Micki, and I to work closely together to make Mayfield Enterprises successful.

I even talked Micki and CJ into letting Mayfield Enterprises buy three of the Standard Auto Services Corporation franchises, in southern Virginia near the North Carolina state line.

Our second child, a boy we named Thomas Matfield Jr. was born in October, and Micki announced that she was pregnant and was due in April.

The next twist in my story came in April shortly after the birth of Ashely, Micki's little girl. I was in my home office when I got a call on my business phone. The caller identified himself as Agent James Seymore. He said that he was an investigator for the Internal Revenue Service, and he wanted to talk to me. I felt a knot tightening in my stomach as I consider the possible reasons the IRS would want to speak with me. I knew our tax returns for the last few years were clean but if they audited Mayfield Enterprises from 2012 and 2013, they may start asking questions about where all the money used to start Mayfield Enterprises came from.

I invited Mr. Seymore out to the house and called Micki and told her what was happening and that she should come over to the house too. CJ was already home, and Micki arrived a few minutes before James Seymore.

When I opened the door for him, Agent Seymour showed me his badge and said, "I'm Agent James Seymore, are you, Thomas Mayfield?"

I acknowledged that I was, and invited Agent Seymore into the house

I led Agent Seymore into the living room and introduced him to CJ and Micki and offered him a cup of coffee. He said that he would love a cup. When we were all seated with our coffee Agent Seymore started talking.

"The reason for my visit is to ask you some questions about the sale of the Deadwood Hotel and Casino to the Treadway Syndicate."

"Treadway Syndicate? This is the first we have heard of that name. We never knew the real buyers. We only dealt with their agents, and they never told us who they represented. Was there a problem with the sale?" I asked.

"No, not from your end. Over the years, Treadway has made some, I'll say, interesting purchases of businesses such as your business in Deadwood. What flagged this was the price they paid. $6 million for a business that grossed only $900K a year. Treadway has a habit of overpaying for properties they purchase. Now, did you advertise your property for sale, or did they approach you?"

"At the time we had no plans to sell the Deadwood. Their agents came to me and offered us $4 million, and I turned them down. They upped their offer to $5 million, and we countered at $6 million, and they accepted the deal."

"Didn't you think the offer was high for that property?" Agent Seymore said.

"Of course, we did, but their $6 million was a lot of money and it allowed us to pursue new business opportunities. I will say that their offer made me suspicious. I was struck by the thought that they might use the casino to launder money, but I figured it was better to not ask questions and just take their money." I said.

"Have you had any contact with anyone connected with the Deadwood Hotel and Casino since the sale?"

"No, we haven't. So, what do you think is going on?" I said.

"I am not at liberty to say anything more about our investigation," Agent Seymore said. He gave me his card and asked us to call him if anyone from the hotel contacted us. Then he thanked us for our time and left.

"The IRS knows a lot more about what is happening in Deadwood than we will ever know," I said. "I wonder if the IRS investigated us when we bought the hotel."

"I would not be surprised," Micki said.

Chapter 19

The last twist in my story happened in June. Micki, her husband Jimmy, and Ashley came over to the house for a cock out and while we were enjoying an adult beverage, I heard the phone in my office ringing. I was tempted to just let it go to voice mail but decided to answer the call.

I was on the phone for more than a half-hour before returning outside to join the others. CJ looked at me and asked, "What's wrong?"

I tried to keep the worried expression on my face, but I couldn't hold it that long. As the smile started to spread across my face I said, "You are not going to believe what that call was about."

"Don't just stand there, start talking," CJ said.

"The call was from the Chief of Police and the Mayor of Deadwood. They told me that Greg Hadley, who was still head of security for the Deadwood Hotel and Casino, came to the Deadwood police and told him that he had seen some suspicious activity late at night. He told them that a box truck pulled up to the back of the hotel and unloaded several boxed and took them down to the basement and locked them in a room down there. Greg said that he was able to get into the room and open one of the boxes. It was full of packets of drugs and Greg brought several packets to the police station as proof of what he found. The chief got a search warrant and then contacted the South Dakota State Police to assist in serving the warrant. The next morning, they had ten officers from the Deadwood PD and twenty South Dakota State Troopers ready to move in with the warrant.

"By noon the police had found ten kilos of heroin that was cut with fentanyl and packaged in packets. The management of the hotel and casino were arrested, and all employees were questioned. The next day the FBI and IRS agents descended on Deadwood. They were upset that the local police had reacted first. The combined investigation found that the Treadway Syndicate was not only smuggling drugs through the hotel, but they were also using the casino to launder the proceeds of the drug business.

"The Deadwood Police PD and the State Police quickly imposed South Dakota's Asset Forfeiture Law and took possession of the Deadwood Hotel and Casino property. The mayor said the reason they called me was to see if we would be interested in buying the hotel and casino from the city of Deadwood and the state of South Dakota. They are offering us the property for $2 million."

CJ said, 'Holy shit," and then covered her mouth with her hand and said, "Excuse me."

"How soon would we have to make a decision?" Micki said.

"They said we could have a couple of weeks to decide. But we shouldn't wait too long as the feds are trying to get a piece of the action, and that could drive the price up."

"You know the publicity from this could make the Deadwood Hotel famous. We could increase room rates and probably get more visitors," CJ said.

"We could do it, but I don't want to live up there full time. We would need to find some trustworthy people to manage the business so we would only have to visit the property every couple of months. What do we think?"

Micki said, "Let's do it." And CJ agreed.

Epilogue

March 2020

Since we repurchased the Deadwood Hotel and Casino business has been great. Since the reopening the hotel, casino and saloon have been grossing just over $1.5 million a year, and our other businesses are doing quite well. The only dark spot in our future is the covid 19 pandemic that is just starting to get bad in the US. There is no doubt that Mayfield Enterprises will take a financial hit, but CJ, Micki, and I have enough money in the Grand Cayman Bank, to weather that pandemic. Our concern is for all our employees. We plan to keep them employed as long as we can.

It still amazes me that all the good things that have happened to me over the last seven years started with a sociopathic conman who was willing to kill to achieve his goal of gaining wealth by taking other people's money. He's gone now, rotting away in a grave he didn't realize he was digging for himself.

Now I am the President and CEO of the company he formed in my name. I took over his Corvette, we took over Nesco, the company had started as a place to launder his money. We got control of his Numbered account in the Cayman Islands, as well as his house down there. And finally, we ended up owning the hotel and casino that he wanted for himself. On top of all that, if it wasn't for the asshole messing in my life, I would never have met CJ.

In the end, the asshole's greed destroyed him and made me a happy and wealthy man with a great family.

The End