"OH, S..T, NOT YOU!" Pt. 02

She was already familiar with the details of the proposed takeover, the particulars of the Chinese offering, and what would happen after the buyout. She would offer the same inducements as the Chi-Coms and increase the amount of the deal by 10%. The same under-table payments would be made to the board members and they would remain.

(YEAH, RIGHT!)

The higher offering would appease the stockholders. The same personnel changes would be in force.

This was the deal that would be presented to the board. The actual deal would be a little different. But they didn't realize that.

Two days later, Carol awoke from her coma. In the meantime, Cassandra had been working with Jack Knowlend and Horace Landis to finalize the offer and the two other mergers people and Amy were scouring all the applicable documents concerning the assets and dealings of Wondra Industries. It seems that Eugene had a reputation as a lady's man and this was used by many companies to attract his business. He also was supposedly a widower, with no children, but a penchant for young, nubile 'girls'/ladies to keep him company while negotiating business deals. The Board of Directors was aware of this, and told managing partners (William Stevens, Arnie Douche, and Joseph Travis), aided and abetted by one Marilyn Standish, to 'arrange an escort' for him for the week up to the takeover meeting. But only the three male members were in on it. The two ladies on the board were told only that Eugene was being entertained while he was negotiating. NOT how or by whom.

All this just stoked Casandra's hatred for her prick ex-husband, to the point where she actually wished he would miraculously come back from the dead so that she could kill him again.

OOOPS!!

In between brainstorming sessions, Cassandra was at the hospital with Stuart and James when Carol came out of her coma. The reunion was tearful, but relieving. She was alive, and the doctors gave her a pretty much clean bill of health, other than a slight ache in her head and a bruise on the back of her skull. While she was there, Cassandra was going over Carol's personal possessions, including the clothes she had on at the time of her accident.

Oops, again!!

"Where the hell were you that you were wearing 'this outfit', and with no underwear?? And where are your rings??? Your wedding ring, and your engagement ring??? Young lady, I want all the gory details, with NO LIES WHAT SO EVER!! Understand that I know an awful lot more than you think I do!"

Carol was caught. It was a 'Come to Jesus' moment for her and Stuart that neither of them wanted to endure, but there was no way around It.

Carol tried to hedge.

"Mother, I don't feel comfortable talking about this in front of James and Lyle. It's extremely personal and somewhat embarrassing."

Cassandra lost it again.

"WHAT THE FUCK DO YOU THINK WE HAVE BEEN DOING WHILE YOU WERE IN A COMA?? Everyone here and half the hospital staff knows what happened, missy, and it's just going to get worse before it gets better. I really thought I raised you better than this. That asshole of a father didn't, that's for dam sure!!"

"Where is my daddy? I saw him at the party,..... ahh ..... before I passed out. I think I tripped and fell, and I must have hit my head when I ....."

"OH, FOR CHRIST'S SAKE, CAROL!! If you don't remember what happened, LET ME ENLIGHTEN YOU!!

"You were dressed like a high-priced call girl, to spend a week with a 'potential' business client, to save your husband's company from a Chinese buyout. You were supposed to FUCK him for a week, or whatever else he wanted to do. ALL FOR MONEY, YOU STUPID SLUT!!"

By now, Carol was almost catatonic. But to his credit, Stuart never let go of her hand, nor did he flinch from her side. He stayed with her and endured everything Cassandra dished out. Maybe a little late, but not lost on his almost ex-mother-in-law.

Cassandra thought maybe there was hope for them yet. She sighed and rubbed her forehead.

"All right, here's what we are going to do. You're going to confess everything. The money, the sex, fucking your FATHER, for God's sake, even though you didn't, and didn't know who it was at the time, and take full responsibility for everything. If you don't we will walk away from this and the Chinese can take the damned company and drive it straight to hell. Do you understand me??"

"But what about daddy? He'll be crushed and destroyed by these revelations!" she moaned.

"If your father wasn't dead, I would have served him with divorce papers days ago. He has been screwing around on me for several years, and only the fact that I controlled the purse strings and didn't need him, and quite frankly, it kept him where I could keep an eye on him, kept me from doing so. It hind-site, I should have endured the trauma and embarrassment years ago. But I was complacent."

It pushed Carol over the edge. She went ballistic and all her monitors spiked. She didn't know her father was dead; no one had told her. Stuart didn't know, and James and Cassandra thought better than to tell her yet, but now it was out in the open.

Yes, now it was out in the open. Her mind snapped, her mental state a complete waste. Nurses and a doctor rushed in and started fussing over her. Everyone else was ushered out of her room as they gave her a mild sedative to rest.

Cassandra, James, and Stuart clustered out in the hall, with Lyle standing a discreet distance to the side.

Cassandra was wiped out. She thought she may have gone too far, seeing what happened to her daughter. Stuart spoke up.

"I'll stay with Carol, mom. She needs me. I won't let her down. I think we can get past this. I want to, and I'm willing to try everything to fix this screw-up. I won't let you down.

"Once she gets better, more herself again, she can decide what we're going to do. Counseling, separation, yelling and screaming,... whatever it takes."

James listened to Stuart.

'Maybe there's hope for them after all. Now if my sister can recover and get her act together...!'

Cassandra sighed and reached out to her son-in-law and pulled him into a motherly embrace. She was crying, because for the first time, she saw a glimmer of hope for the two of them. She sniffled and kissed his cheek. She let him go.

"We're going back to the hotel. Be here for her, Stuart. Make me proud of you, and take care of my daughter."

"I will, Mom," he said, wiping the tears from his eyes.

They left and returned to the hotel. God knows they needed a good night's sleep. James called his wife and told her how much he loved her, crying as he said it.

The next day, Tuesday, everyone met in the conference room and had a buffet breakfast. Then it was back to work. Tomorrow was the big confab with the board. Cassandra, Jack Knowlend, and Horace Landis had different meetings with the five board members, three of them being men, and explained the 'facts of life' to them. They understood Dexter Industry's position and agreed to everything. They DIDN'T get Cassandra's personal position explained to them. That would laid out at the sit down the next day.

While that was happening, Amy Adams and one of the other Merger people were talking to the two female board members, and they got a slightly more 'up close and personal view' of Cassandra's position. To say that they were stunned was putting it mildly, and they were on board with the proposed REAL final outcome.

While all this was happening, an amusing aside happened, back at the hospital.

A deep navy blue Ford GT pulled up and parked under the hospital's front portico. A spry, 77-year-old gentleman unbuckled the driver's side harness, as a very muscular young man, clad in a jacket, white shirt, and tie, pulled a vinyl windshield placard out of his portfolio and attached it to the inside of the front glass. "FBI Official Business" it read, together with the Agency's shield emblazoned on it.

Interesting.

The young man unbuckled his harness and opened the gull wing door. The older gentleman was already easing himself out of the driver's seat.

'I'm getting too old for this, even though it was exhilarating to drive down here. Sigh!. Oh, well.'

The young man stood and stretched, thanking God that he was still alive after the long run from Sacramento. He retrieved his portfolio and suit jacket from the tight cockpit and shrugged it on, just as the valet attendant and a security guard walked up to the car. The older guy waved the valet man off and walked around the nose of the car, clicking the automatic door locks. The security guard was about to tell them that they couldn't leave the car there when the young man motioned to the windshield placard and flashed his badge and his credentials.

"Official business. Make sure NO one touches the car, okay??" The security guard gulped and tipped his cap.

"Yes, Sir!"

The two of them strode into the lobby. You would have thought the younger guy would have to walk a little slower, but you would have been wrong. He was hustling to stay with the older gent, who seemed to be on a mission. He strode up to the front desk and asked for Carol Miller's room.

"Fifth floor, room 519."

"Thank you, miss." Turning, he waved to the FBI agent and they moved to the elevators.

The door pinged, they boarded, and soon they were on the fifth floor. The younger man looked at the signs and gestured to the arrow pointing right. Just then a nurse walked up and asked if she could help them. The older gent said he was here to see Carol Miller.

"I'm sorry, sir, but she is in ICU, and can't have any visitors."

"She'll see me. I'm her grandfather."

WHOA!!!

"Well, be that as it may, she still can't see anyone. I don't have you on my list, and....."

"I'm her brother, Robert Wade. Am I on the list??"

The nurse was used to dealing with pushy relatives and she didn't like to be excused like this.

"NO, YOU'RE NOT EITHER. NOW I HAVE TO ASK YOU TO LEAVE OR I'M CALLING SECURITY. I DON'T HAVE TO PUT......."

Robert had had enough. He flashed his badge. He hated doing stuff like this, but, you know. This was his sister.

"How about now? Is this good enough, ma'am??"

The nurse shuddered and pointed down the hall.

"Room 519," she said.

"We know. The FBI thanks you for your assistance."

Grandpa was grinning.

They walked down to Carol's room and there was Stuart, sitting against the wall, his head in his hands. James walked up to him.

"Hey, Stuart, how's our girl?"

It shook Stuart out of his daze and he looked up to see-" Robert. What are you doing ...." Then he saw the General.

Brigadier General Robert Nathaniel Dexter, US Army (retired) had always intimidated Stuart. Which was strange, because The General, as the kids called him, really liked Stuart. But this Stuart was a mess.

"SIR!"

Stuart leaped up, almost coming to attention. The General chuckled.

"Take it easy son. Now, what's going on?"

Stuart choked and it all spilled out. From their courtship and marriage to their restlessness, their lack of money, not having the house they thought they deserved or the cars they wanted. Then the party at Stuart's new job, and the opportunity they were presented with. Opportunity??

After all, it was only sex.

Then, the nightmare, and the remorse. The gut-wrenching feelings and the despair. All leading to this.

Robert was aghast at the tale. That, and the fact that Stuart and Carol had fallen victim to the stupidity.

The General was much more direct. 'This was bullshit!', he thought.

But he was not about to do more damage than was already done, and he surmised that his daughter had already read them the riot act. He sighed and squeezed his temples.

'I'm too old for this shit. But my grandchildren are involved.'

"Where is your mother-in-law?"

"She's getting ready for a meeting with Wondra Industries. She's on the warpath."

'My girl,' he thought.

"And her husband? Somehow or other I get the feeling he's got a hand in this."

"He died. Stroke."

'Well, at least SOMETHING good came out of this shit fest.'

The General walked up to the glass wall of Carol's room and stood beside Robert. They gazed at the peacefully sleeping form in the bed. She lay there, breathing normally, two IVs hooked into her arms, numerous electronic leads running to the bedside monitors, the nasal cannula caressing her pert nose supplementing her oxygen. He turned and walked up to Stuart and knelt down. 'Oh, my aching knees!' he thought. He looked Stuart in the eyes and spoke.

"Your Grandmother says she loves you both. She doesn't know half of this, and I don't know how much I'm going to tell her. But I don't think it will matter to her. She will love you, no matter what." He stared deep into his eyes.

"And so will I, maybe. Fix this. I really believe you can. We will help in any way we can. Understand me?" he said.

Stuart nodded.

The General straightened up and said, "Let's go end this, Robert."

The two men turned and left the hospital. They went and checked into their hotel. Then they left to see if they could be any 'assistance' to Cassandra.

At Wondra headquarters, the mood was anything but jovial. The Board members filed into their main conference room, only to find the team from Dexter already set up and waiting. Cassandra and her group had assumed the 'home field' position at the table and Lyle had his laptop set up and was busily monitoring something, but the rest were just marking time.

There were several muttered comments as the five Board members and the three managing directors came in and took the other seats. Notably absent was Marilyn Standish.

Hmm, wonder where she is.

James walked over closed the doors, and took up a seat next to the doorway.

"Alright, ladies and gentlemen. Let's get to basics."

"Just a minute, Mrs. Carmichael. This is highly unusual for an acquisition presentation and we think we should proceed with the accepted norm that companies expect at such......"

"Yeah, and people in hell want ice water, too." Cassandra's voice was icy cold and rising in volume.

"This is how it's going to go. I'm going to TELL you what's going to happen. Then I'm going to close my portfolio, stand, and leave. If you don't accept our proposal, with no negotiations, before I exit the room, I'm proceeding to the front of your building, on public property, and holding a press conference, exposing everything we have learned about the past three months, including the involvement of my daughter, her husband, and my former husband, and the sordid details involved.

"And my name is Mrs. James Wade. I have already dropped the asshole's name and resumed the name of the man I was originally married to. And you, William Stevens, you scumbag, I want my daughter's wedding and engagement rings right now, or my son will rip YOUR ring finger off and feed it to you!"

James managed to not change his expression as she regarded the asshole who had fucked with his sister's marriage.

But he wasn't expecting that. Won't mind doing it, but it was unexpected.

Stevens blanched and reached in his pocket, pulled out Carol's rings, and handed them across to Cassandra.

So much for putting it in his safe.

She daintily grasped them in two fingers and placed them in a glass of water. The two female board of directors blushed and looked at the other two managing directors with unabashed disgust.

"Now, ladies and gentlemen, and I use THAT terminology with extreme prejudice, here is what you will do."

She kept shooting sideways glances at Lyle, but her friend and Lawyer only shook his head surreptitiously. She resumed.

"We will increase the offer of the Chinese by 10%, acquire Wondra Industries, and make it a wholly owned subsidiary of Dexter Industries. The three managing directors will be fired with no remuneration, no recompense, and no recommendation other than the fact that they will not be prosecuted. Believe me, if I could, I would. And then, Mr. Davis, who is a prominent member of the local Bar, and a 'staunch' advocate of women's rights, and Mr. Fellows, who is a Board member of the local women's college of law, and Mr. Lasker, who is a potential Republican Senate candidate, married with three daughters, will resign immediately.

"We have documentation linking you to the scheme and giving your tacit 'approval of the idea' to obtain 'female companionship' for my former husband to secure his buying your company."

At this point, Lyle chuckled and murmured 'YES' and looked up at Cassandra who had turned to him at his exclamation, and rewarded her with a 'thumbs up'. She grinned, and turned back to the assembled groups, her expression resuming one of intense displeasure.

"That being said, the company will immediately become the sole property of Dexter Industries. ANY QUESTIONS?"

"If you do this, it will immediately subject you and your family to intense public scrutiny, and a lot of scandal,' said Mr. Bart Lasker, with a sanctimonious smirk on his face.

"Surely you would not do this to your 'children', would you?" he sneered. By now, the two female board members were borderline furious, almost spitting nails.

None of this had been made public to the board at the meetings before this one, and they were caught completely unaware.

"MY DAUGHTER is in a coma in the hospital because of this fiasco, this disgusting scheme to use a woman to secure your financial future. Her marriage is hanging by a thread. And you think our reputation is sacrosanct?? Believe me, if I could gut you pussies and feed you your balls, I WOULD! But this is the least I can do. So don't attempt to blackmail me, you pathetic pieces of shit!!

"And all your families and your places of business and acquaintances will be made aware of your involvement, and the numerous 'romantic escapades' you engaged in with my former husband."

"MADAM, that's blackmail!!", shrieked David Fellows.

"NO, STUPID, it's blackmail if I was going to try to get you to do something to prevent it. They're going to find out regardless because it is fitting that they find out what kind of pieces of shit you three are."

Then she turned to the three cronies of her former husband and dropped the boom on them.

"AND YOU THREE ARE FIRED, FOR CAUSE. You actively secreted information from the company to facilitate the takeover of this company. You're lucky I don't bring charges against you."

"YOU CAN'T DO THAT!! Eugene promised us that we would be well compensated for our work."

"HE LIED. And he's dead. You work for me. You always have. But not anymore."

"You can't do this."

That's when the doors to the conference room opened, and in walked- Yeah, you guessed it.

The General and his grandson strode into the room, looked around, and walked to some open seats by the windows, and sat down. As he passed by James, Robert grinned, nodded, and spoke.

"Hi, big brother."

James answered.

"Hi, little brother", a surprised grin on his face. Then, ....

"DADDY!!" squealed Cassandra.

"Hello, sweetheart.," said the General. THEN ......

"Don't let me interrupt. It sounds like you're doing a fine job."

"Who the hell are you, old man?" said Malcolm Davis.

The General stared at the miscreant.

"Me? I own the company. She runs it. And it sounds like she's doing a fine job." He smiled at his daughter and motioned for her to continue.

To her credit, Cassandra never missed a beat. She turned back to the board members and continued.

"So, what's gonna be?", she said as she silently closed her portfolio.

"This is blackmail, and we won't stand for it," shouted Davis.

Cassandra stood.

"You're not a very good lawyer, are you MR. Davis? You already played that card. Well, let me show you my hole card.

She moved to the side and, with her hands on her hips, stared at the hapless individuals who would soon be out of a job.