Everybody Does Business

By Harry Brooks

Harry was born and raised in Philadelphia. He always had a penchant for writing, and during his business career, he was a frequent contributor to both trade and financial publications. After retiring from his business in 1989, he wrote his first novel. Since then, he has written five other novels and one unproduced screenplay. He presently writes for a local monthly publication.
Harry and his wife live in suburban Philadelphia.


Praise for Harry Brooks Novel
A Family Secret

Im always fascinated at the way a book translates into a film, but the more I get into this one, the more it becomes a living thing. Things begin to play on multiple levels, characters take on different depth and dimension, and scenes create and recreate themselves
Yabo Yabionsky
Screenwriter/Director
Hollywood, California

You cannot be neutral about the characters in Harry Brooks novels. You love them, hate them, wish them away, or want more of them. Having worked with many novelists over the past fifteen years, I can honestly say Harry Brooks has his own style. He is a very good writer.
Jay Berger
Circulation Management Associates
Springfield, Massachusetts

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Aug 14, 2013
• ISBN: 9781483675251

Harry Brooks

Brooks was born and raised in Philadelphia. After serving two years in the marines, he went into the trucking business. During his business career, he served on the board of the American Trucking Association, was chairman of two state trucking associations, and was appointed to the U.S. Senatorial Business Advisory Board Steering Committee. After retiring from his business in 1989, Brooks has published six novels, written three short stories and an unproduced screen play. He continues to write a monthly column for a local Philadelphia publication. He presently resides in South Florida.

Book preview

EVERYBODY

does BUSINESS

A Novel by Harry Brooks

Copyright © 2013 by Harry Brooks.

Library of Congress Control Number: 2013913599

ISBN: Hardcover 978-1-4836-7524-4

Softcover 978-1-4836-7523-7

Ebook 978-1-4836-7525-1

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, digital imaging, recording, or any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

This novel is a work of fiction. All of the characters, events, and places are products of the author’s imagination and in no way are intended to represent any real-life incidents. Where the author uses the names of public places, personalities, celebrities, or publicized events, they are used only to dramatize and to establish a time frame and point of reference. The story is not intended to depict any true situations.

Rev. date: 09/04/2013

To order additional copies of this book, contact:

Xlibris LLC

1-888-795-4274

www.Xlibris.com

133979

CONTENTS

Preface

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Chapter 20

Chapter 21

Chapter 22

Chapter 23

Chapter 24

Chapter 25

Chapter 26

Chapter 27

Chapter 28

Chapter 29

Chapter 30

Chapter 31

Chapter 32

Chapter 33

Chapter 34

Chapter 35

Chapter 36

Chapter 37

Chapter 38

Chapter 39

Chapter 40

Chapter 41

Chapter 42

Chapter 43

Chapter 44

Chapter 45

Chapter 46

Chapter 47

Chapter 48

Chapter 49

Chapter 50

Chapter 51

Chapter 52

Chapter 53

Chapter 54

Chapter 55

Chapter 56

Chapter 57

Chapter 58

Chapter 59

Chapter 60

Chapter 61

Chapter 62

Chapter 63

Chapter 64

Chapter 65

Chapter 66

Chapter 67

Chapter 68

Chapter 69

Chapter 70

Chapter 71

Chapter 72

Chapter 73

Chapter 74

Chapter 75

Chapter 76

Chapter 77

Chapter 78

Chapter 79

Chapter 80

Chapter 81

Chapter 82

Chapter 83

Chapter 84

Chapter 85

Chapter 86

Chapter 87

Chapter 88

Chapter 89

Chapter 90

Chapter 91

Chapter 92

Chapter 93

Chapter 94

Chapter 95

Chapter 96

Chapter 97

Chapter 98

Chapter 99

Chapter 100

Chapter 101

Chapter 102

Chapter 103

Chapter 104

Chapter 105

Chapter 106

Chapter 107

Chapter 108

Chapter 109

To Joan, my best friend and true love

PREFACE

2013

THE CAROLINA PANTHERS and the Jacksonville Jaguars each paid $206 million to the NFL for their new expansion franchises in 1993. The next expansion team was the Baltimore Ravens who paid a $530-million expansion fee for their new franchise in 1996. The cost for a new NFL franchise fee almost doubled in a three-year period. In all fairness, Baltimore may have paid such a high price in part because the NFL commissioner helped swing a new stadium deal in the city of Baltimore. So the new franchise included a state-of-the-art stadium, which has high-end luxury boxes that generate over $14 million in annual revenue by themselves. So now in 2013, the big question is, how much will it cost to get one of the new NFL franchises that the NFL is contemplating? According to ESPN and Fox Sports Network, it will cost somewhere around $750 million. The NFL has decided to expand the league to thirty-four teams. Although the NFL has not confirmed it, reputable sources have said the two new franchises will be awarded to Los Angeles and San Antonio. San Antonio is the largest American city currently without an NFL team. Bob Kraft, owner of the New England Patriots, has been lobbying the NFL commissioner to award one of the new franchises to London. That’s not going to happen.

Why does someone want to own an NFL franchise that will cost them so much money? Why does football appeal to so many people? Maybe it’s because of the tremendous physical and intellectual challenge. The athletes are courageous beyond compare, and the coaches are masterminds. The game is constantly evolving, adapting, becoming so much more than what it once was. The sport has a life of its own; and it encompasses in so many ways the very nature of human survival: self-sacrifice, competition, determination, teamwork, and striving toward success and ultimate reward.

Elliot Campbell, an extremely rich product of the great American business system, was in his penthouse apartment in New York, waiting for a call from the NFL commissioner to tell him that he has been awarded the new NFL franchise for Los Angeles. He has been trying to get an NFL franchise for over half his life. He is obsessed with owning a football team. During the last five years, he tried to buy the Miami Dolphins, and when that failed, he tried to buy the Philadelphia Eagles. Fat chance! The last time he spoke to the commissioner, he told him, I will do whatever it takes. I want to be part of the NFL. The commissioner assured him he was in the running. He thought to himself, You’re damn right. I’m in the running. I got ten million bucks that says I’m not only in the running, but I’m the winner.

In Las Vegas, Dusty Saks was having dinner at the Wynn with several friends. He was also waiting to hear who had been awarded the NFL expansion team in Los Angeles. Like Elliot Campbell, Dusty wanted to own an NFL franchise. He grew up in Southern California and was a standout football player in high school. He went to UCLA on a football scholarship and graduated at the top of his class. While there, he played backup quarterback in his freshman year, and when the starting quarterback got injured at the start of his junior year, he took over the job. Although he didn’t have Elliot Campbell’s obsession to own an NFL team, at this stage of his life, it would be a nice thing to happen.

CHAPTER 1

THIRTY YEARS EARLIER—1983

ONE OF DUSTY’S friends at UCLA was Henry Adams, the son of James Adams, a real estate developer in New York. During the summer break in his junior year, he convinced Dusty to go with him to New York and work in his father’s firm. This will be a great chance for you to get to see New York, he told Dusty. And the best part is we’ll be getting paid. Let’s do it. Although they had menial jobs during the summer they worked for Henry’s father, Dusty managed to impress him. At the end of the summer, he told Dusty, If you don’t have a better offer when you graduate, come to New York and work for me. I’ll teach you the real estate business, and who knows, maybe someday you’ll be rich.

When they returned to California, Dusty really didn’t think much about the offer from Henry’s father. Between playing football and studying for his exams, he had plenty to keep him busy. He knew eventually he would have to decide what he was going to do when he graduated. A scout from the Buffalo Bills offered him a tryout when he finished school. Can’t promise you anything, Dusty, but who knows, it might work out. You got a good arm. Dusty thanked him but said he had no interest living in Buffalo, not after growing up in Southern California. The scout agreed with him.

By the time graduation rolled around, Dusty had no clue as to what he was going to do with the rest of his life. Finally, he told Henry he was thinking about accepting his father’s offer to work for him.

Do you think he was really serious? Dusty asked him.

Absolutely, buddy. That would be great. Why don’t you give it a shot? What else you got going on?

So after graduating from UCLA, Dusty and Henry headed for New York to start their new careers.

The only regret Dusty had about leaving California was leaving Nicki. She was a year behind him at UCLA. They met shortly after he returned from New York before starting his senior year. At first, it was just casual dating, but during the last two months, they saw each other just about every day. When there wasn’t a game, they would spend the weekend together. Nicki’s mom was a single parent and very strict. Dusty met her only one time when she came with Nicki to his final game of the season. She cautioned Nicki about becoming involved with someone while she was still in school, most definitely not a football player and certainly someone who is not Catholic.

Dusty told Nicki that after he got settled in New York, she should move there, and they would live together. I want to finish school first, she told him. The night before he left, they stayed up the entire night and talked. Dusty had strong feelings for Nicki, but he wasn’t sure it was love. Nicki had no doubts. She loved Dusty.

CHAPTER 2

WHEN DUSTY GRADUATED college in 1983 and went to work for James Adams in New York, he was twenty years old. Elliot Campbell was thirty-five years old and already well on his way to making his fortune.

Elliot made his money working at one of the top leveraged buyout firms in the country. He graduated college in 1968 and went to work at Morgan Stanley. After getting his broker’s license, he looked to better himself and interviewed at several different private equity firms. One of the firms he interviewed at was Global Capital Investment Co. The man who interviewed him, Russell Ingraham, took an immediate liking to him. At the time, Elliot didn’t know it, but Russell Ingraham would eventually be instrumental in helping him become the CEO at Global Capital Investment Co.

Behind every gay man, there’s a real desire to have an awesome straight dude as your best friend—not sexually, just a good friend. For many gay men, having a close straight male friend is like capturing the Holy Grail. It helps validate the gay person’s masculinity or lack of it. This obsession with masculinity and, by extension, straight culture definitely bleeds into the straight-guy/gay-guy dynamic. Russell Ingraham was gay, and as soon as he met Elliot Campbell, he knew he wanted him to be his best [straight] friend. He knew that he had to be very careful so as not to make Elliot think he wanted to sleep with him, although that would not be terrible if it happened. A gay person, or any person for that matter, can’t ignore sexuality. After hiring Elliot, Russell was anxious for him to meet George Hampton, CEO of Global Capital. George Hampton led a double life. Although he was married and had three grown children, four years ago, he and Russell had become lovers. Russell thought he had found his straight dude after coming to work at Global Capital as George Hampton’s assistant. However, one night, they were working late, preparing for a meeting the following morning. Suddenly, George casually put his hand on Russell’s leg. Russell knew immediately what was happening. He could feel the passion in his groin. Before he had a chance to think about it, his boss reached over and unzipped his fly. Russell didn’t resist. After that night, neither man spoke about it for several weeks. Then one day, George told Russell he wanted him to accompany him on a trip he was making to Florida. Global Capital was negotiating with a national food conglomerate to buy a chain of restaurants, and he wanted Russell with him. Russell knew there was more to the trip than the restaurant deal. And he was right.

Elliot was with Global Capital a little over six months when he closed his first acquisition. He purchased a chain of fifteen auto repair shops in the Detroit area. What was special about the deal was the fact that Global owned twelve General Motors car dealerships in the same area. He knew there was terrific synergism between the two companies. And he was right. After the deal was finalized, Elliot, Russell, and George went to dinner at one of New York’s finest restaurants. During dinner, Russell had the feeling his boss was hitting on Elliot. What the fuck—does he think everybody in the world is gay?

The auto repair shop deal, very quickly, became a cash cow. Elliot orchestrated the merger of the auto repair shops into the car dealerships, and in less than a year, Global Capital was generating substantial profits from the new entity. By the end of his second year with Global, Elliot was earning almost as much money as George Hampton, plus he had acquired stock options in all of the deals he put together. It was about this time that George Hampton’s wife discovered his extramarital activities. George had taken pictures of Russell in some very compromising positions. George’s wife happened to find them when she was going through his jacket pocket before sending his suit to the cleaner. At first, he tried to deny there was anything going on between him and Russell, but his wife refused to believe him. When she threatened to call Russell, he finally broke down and admitted his affair with him. His wife was heartbroken. She had no clue. She told him she could not continue to live this lie with him. She promised to keep his secret, but she insisted he move out of the house.

What are you going to tell the kids?

She just looked at him. That’s up to you. You tell them whatever you want, and I will go along with it. But believe me, George. I can never forgive you for this. You have destroyed our family.

His affair with Russell had become more and more of a one-sided relationship. Russell found it increasingly difficult to work with George and at the same time be his lover.

George moved out of the house and rented the penthouse in a condo on Park Avenue. He knew he had to get away for a while. He told his board of directors that he had been working too hard and needed a change of scenery. He decided to go to Europe for a month while an interior decorator decorated his new apartment. While he was away, Elliot made it his business to visit with some of the board of directors to make sure they knew he was on top of things.

When George Hampton returned from Europe, he felt regenerated. The second day he was back in New York, he was having dinner with Russell in his new condo.

How do you like this place? he asked him, sounding like a proud new father showing off his new baby.

Very nice, must have cost you a fortune, Russell said.

George simply smiled. How would you feel about moving in with me? George asked.

Are you crazy? Russell said. I’m not ready to come out of the closet.

George was visibly upset. Is it that you have a new friend? George asked, more like a jealous schoolboy as opposed to a CEO of a large financial institution.

Russell became more uncomfortable and finally told George he thought it best they stop seeing each other.

George was very despondent, and as the days passed, he became more and more irritable with the people around him. In addition, he discovered Elliot was going to different members of the board of directors behind his back, discussing some of the deals he was working on. One day, he called Elliot into his office and flat out told him he did not want him talking to any of the board members without him being there. Elliot was indignant. What are you going to do—fire me? he said. I’m responsible for half the deals we look at here at Global. Go fuck yourself. With that, he walked out of George’s office. The following week, the board of directors sent George a memo, suggesting he take a leave of absence. They gave no reason or other explanation. He was furious. He called a special meeting of the board. As soon as everyone was in the room, he stood up and shouted, And who the hell is going to run Global while I’m on this sabbatical or leave of absence? The board of directors said Elliot Campbell seemed to be the most obvious choice. From what we can see, he was practically running the company now. This spawned a fight between George and the board of directors. While this was going on, Elliot was negotiating the sale of the car dealerships and auto repair shops for a price that would give Global a $10-million profit. The board of directors used this to help force George Hampton out, and in less than three years, Elliot had become CEO of Global Capital Investment Co. and was earning over $10 million a year.

Under Elliot’s stewardship, Global Capital’s focus quickly shifted away from investing their own money and doing venture capital deals to leveraged buyouts. During the seventeen years he ran the company, Global acquired over 115 companies and averaged a spectacular annual return of 80 percent. In 1985, Elliot sold Global Capital to a Chinese conglomerate for over $600 million. Between his stock options, the payoff of his employment contract, and finder’s fee, he ended up with almost $500 million. Between the money he earned while CEO of Global plus his investments over the seventeen years, his net worth was now almost $800 million. Not a bad seventeen years! One of the more questionable deals that Global did was the firm’s purchase of a pharmaceutical company that ended up pleading guilty to defrauding the government of over $25 million in bogus Medicare claims. Although he was CEO of Global and was chairman of the board of directors, Elliot was never implicated. Russell Ingraham, who had remained with the company as Elliot’s assistant and was president of the pharmaceutical company, took the rap and made sure Elliot was kept out of the investigation. Global ended up paying a fine of $50 million, and Russell paid a fine (personally) of $1 million. After all was said and done, Russell retired and moved to Florida with a lifetime pension of $350,000 a year. He also received a one-time bonus of $2 million, more than enough to pay the fine. There was talk that Elliott had paid off Russell to be the fall guy, but nothing ever came of it.

A short time after he closed the deal with the Chinese conglomerate, Elliot invested in a savings and loan bank that specialized in mortgages. The owner of the bank needed cash and was looking for investors. He made sure he had controlling interest. When he investigated the company, he discovered the founder of the company was much too lenient with past-due loans. He saw an opportunity to foreclose on some delinquent loans and make money on the resale of the property. The real estate market was still relatively good; there was no reason to sit on bad loans.

CHAPTER 3

IT TOOK DUSTY and Henry Adams almost two weeks to drive from California to New York. They planned to make their first stop at Las Vegas and spend two days there. The two days turned into five days. They both had fake IDs, so they were able to go into the casinos as well as the bars and strip joints. Henry was not much of a gambler; however, Dusty loved the action. His father was a small-time bookie in LA, and Dusty was exposed to both gambling as well as degenerate gamblers at a very early age. His father once told him, Some people will tell you that gambling is a vice without any redeeming virtue or pardonable excuse. They will tell you, in the heat of gambling, some mind you, not all, will commit dishonest, almost treasonable acts, things they would not do otherwise. I don’t believe that. I think a person who will do bad things when he gambles will do bad things even if he is not gambling. Don’t misunderstand me. I am not recommending you become a gambler. But what I am saying is that mankind has always gambled and will continue to do so, not every man but mankind in general. So, my son, if you decide to place a bet, keep in mind the odds always favors the house. So be smart. And most important, understand the game and know when to quit.

Dusty’s father died of a heart attack shortly after he started college. His mother remarried about a year ago and moved to Denver with her new husband. That was going to be the boy’s next stop. When they left Las Vegas, Dusty told Henry he wanted to come back when he had real money.

Better yet, he said, I wouldn’t mind owning one of these joints.

Their visit at the house of Dusty’s mother was very uneventful. He was glad she was happy. Growing up, he never had the feeling she was. Maybe she wanted or expected a better life than the one she had with his father. It seemed to Dusty she now had that better life.

They arrived in New York on a Saturday. Henry called his parents and told them he and Dusty were going to stop for lunch and then come home.

Absolutely not! his mother said. I have lunch here waiting for you. You and Dusty can eat when you get here.

Dusty laughed when he heard what Henry’s mother said. She sounds like a Jewish mother.

Yeah, Henry said, except we’re not Jewish.

They crossed the Triborough Bridge into Queens and, a few minutes later, were driving down a block of small brick-and-stone houses. The Adams house was in the middle of the block. They lived in a modest neighborhood. As usual, Henry’s father’s Buick was parked in front of the house. His father used the garage as a workshop and storeroom.

By the time the boys arrived at the Adams house, Henry’s mother had lunch waiting for them. Dusty felt right at home with the Adamses. After lunch, Henry’s father didn’t waste any time in explaining to the boys what he had in mind for them.

The Adamses were by no means what you would call rich. For years, Henry operated a traditional real estate business, representing people who either wanted to buy or sell their residence. He started out in the business working for one of the large national real estate companies. Shortly after Henry was born, he opened his own office. Up until about three years ago, he only dealt in residential properties. Then a client asked him if he was interested in helping him lease several stores in a strip shopping center he owned. At first, he hesitated. Then after thinking about it, he decided, why not? Real estate is real estate. During the course of renting the stores, his client had a stroke. He was not married, and the only family he had was a sister who lived in New Jersey. The client’s attorney met with James Adams and asked him to take over managing the strip mall as well as three other commercial rental properties his client owned. About a year later, the client passed away, and the client’s lawyer asked him if he was interested in buying the properties. Before he knew what happened, Henry’s father was in the real estate development business. He started building other strip shopping centers as well as investing in residential rental properties. Real estate values were shooting up so quickly in the mid-eighties that it didn’t take long for the value of a property to increase as much as 20 percent within months after Henry’s father purchased it. In three years, he had bought almost $8-million worth of real estate. Then he was approached by a builder friend, who asked him if he was interested in partnering with him on new warehouse construction. He spoke to his lenders, and they were agreeable to fund the project, so he went ahead with the deal. And everything was leveraged to the hilt. His plan was to set up a new company and separate the commercial end of the business from his conventional residential real estate office. He had visions of developing an entity large enough to either sell to a public company or maybe go public himself. He had a friend who owned a small chain of hardware stores that he recently sold to a public company. His friend came out of the deal with a lot of cash and a five-year employment contract. That didn’t sound too shabby to James.

During the first week they were in New York, Henry and Dusty stayed at the Adams house. Then they rented a loft in the Village. Dusty had sold his car before they left LA, and they drove east in Henry’s two-year-old BMW. Living in New York and having just one car worked fine for Henry and Dusty. They split all the expenses 50/50 and found that they rarely used the car. Dusty adapted very quickly to the business. His job was to oversee the maintenance on both the commercial and residential properties and help lease any available space. Henry was the inside man. He had taken an accounting course in college, and it served him well. He was into developing spreadsheets, cash flow projections, and individual profit and loss statements for each property. James Adams could not have been more pleased with his decision to bring the two young men into his real estate business.

During the first couple of months Dusty was in New York, he called Nicky a couple of times a week. He wasn’t good at writing letters. Nicki, on the other hand, wrote to him after every phone call. The time went by quickly for Dusty. He was very busy, and New York offered a lot of distractions. Before he knew it, Nicki was about to graduate from UCLA.

You’re coming back for my graduation, aren’t you? Nicky asked.

Absolutely, I told you I would. It sounded to Nicki that Dusty was coming only because he promised he would, not because he wanted to.

Dusty was only back in California a week when he told Nicki he had to get back to New York. She was disappointed; she had hoped he would stay longer. The night before he left, she told him she was offered a fellowship in London. She could go there and get her masters.

That is great, Dusty said. How long will you be there?

I don’t know, Dusty, maybe a year or so.

He didn’t tell her not to go.

That night, they made love and fell asleep in each other’s arms. When Dusty left in the morning, Nicki wondered if that was the last time she would ever see him.

CHAPTER 4

THERE IS AN old saying People make plans and God laughs! That is pretty much what happened to the U.S. economy in the eighties.

Dusty and Henry had been working for Henry’s father almost five years, when the stock markets around the world crashed, shedding a huge value in a very short time. It was Monday, October 19, 1987. In the world of finance, it was called Black Monday.

Most people remember where they were when something important happens. There are moments that hang forever suspended in time, like on December 7, 1941, when the Japanese invaded Pearl Harbor; on April 12, 1945, the announcement came over the radio that Franklin Delano Roosevelt had died; on November 22, 1963, the day John F. Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas, Texas. You cannot forget where you were or what you were doing if you are old enough to remember those dates in history.

That’s the way it was to be with Dusty. He would never forget Black Monday. Not so much because it affected him financially, he didn’t have anywhere near-enough money to feel any financial impact. It was because of the effect it had on Henry’s father and eventually the entire Adams family and then, indirectly, how it affected Dusty.

The crash began in Hong Kong and spread west to Europe, hitting the United States after other markets had already declined by a significant margin. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped by 508 points or almost 23 percent. By the end of October, stock markets in Hong Kong had fallen 46 percent. The Black Monday decline was the largest one-day percentage decline of the Dow. In December 1987, a group of thirty-three eminent economists from various nations met in Washington and collectively predicted that the the next few years could be the most troubled since the 1930s. You didn’t have to be an eminent economist to figure that one out. At the same time these brilliant minds were meeting in Washington, a group of so-called businessmen (with equally brilliant minds) were meeting at Lake Tahoe to talk about the same problem. The difference was these were the guys who had lost billions of dollars on paper. One of the leaders of that group was Elliot Campbell. His concern was not the markets in Hong Kong or how the economy was going to affect the next election. His concern was how he was going to get back what he had worked so hard to accumulate and saw it go down the toilet in an eyeblink. He didn’t give a rat’s ass about anybody else, be it his fellow millionaires or the blue-collar worker. He had one concern and one concern only: Elliot Campbell.

After the dust cleared and cool heads prevailed, the experts tried to explain to the average American investor what the events were leading up to Black Monday. New York University’s Richard Sylla put out this theory: The internal reasons for the market crash included innovations with index futures and portfolio insurance. Other probable causes for [as he put it] the decline in the market include program trading, overevaluation, illiquidity, and market psychology. Great—with that and $2, you can buy a cup of coffee.

Elliot Campbell made up his mind; he wanted to be as liquid as possible until the idiots who run Wall Street got their act together. Although he had a tremendous paper loss, he was still a very rich man. His focus would now be on the mortgage company he invested in. The first thing he would do is buy out the founder of the company. As far as Elliot was concerned, he was no longer of any value to the company. Then he would have his people review every damn mortgage on the books, and any loan that was the least bit in default but still had good resale value would be a target for foreclosure. He was out for blood, and he really couldn’t care less whose blood it was.

Basically, Elliot was an uncaring and cruel person. This prevailed both in his business and social life. He divorced his first wife when he found out she could not have any children. He remarried about a year later. Elliot wanted a child. Actually, what he wanted was a son. When his second wife became pregnant, he thought his prayers had been answered. He couldn’t wait for his son to be born. And then when his wife delivered a beautiful healthy baby girl. He was furious. He cursed his wife and the child. When they came home from the hospital, he told his wife he did not want to share the same bedroom with her. What the fuck good are you? he said. You don’t even know how to have a boy. You know I wanted a son. Before his daughter’s first birthday, Elliot moved out of the house and filed for divorce. He made a cash settlement with her with the understanding she would change both her name and the baby’s name back to her maiden name. As far as the baby was concerned, when she was old enough to understand, she was to be told her father was dead.

CHAPTER 5

DURING THE FIRST month Nicki was in London, she and Dusty exchanged telephone calls and letters several times a week. Then for no particular reason, Dusty stopped calling as often. However, Nicki continued to write to him three to four days a week. In one of her letters, she told him she was in love with London, and she wanted him to move there, and they would live together. He told her he felt the same way about New York. They promised to visit each other. Maybe she would like New York. Maybe he would like London. But something always happened to put it off. Then one day, Nicki wrote him a letter, telling him she met someone who asked her to marry him. She hoped Dusty would write back and tell her not to accept, that he would be on the next plane to London. But that was not the case. Instead, he called her and said he wanted her to come to New York. They would live together. Then who knows, maybe after a while, they would get married. He explained he was not ready to make that commitment right now. He never asked who she was going to marry. Did he really care, she wondered.

As much as she was tempted to pack up and move to New York, she knew she couldn’t do that now. If he really loved her, he would come to London. Three months later, she got married. She never sent Dusty an invitation to the wedding. She couldn’t. If she had, would he have come to London to tell her he loved her and he wanted to marry her? There is that very old cliché, One door opens, and one door closes. Maybe she would not have gotten married.

Once he knew she was married, Dusty threw himself into his work. He knew he had to stop thinking about her. She married someone else. He had his chance. Working became therapy for him. At Christmas and on his birthday, he received a card from Nicki. One year, the Christmas card he received had her picture with her husband. She looked more beautiful than he remembered. Her husband looked much older than her.

Over the next five years, he was instrumental in helping James Adams grow the real estate development business. They now had their own office building in Nutley, New Jersey. Dusty convinced Henry’s father it was less expensive to operate from there. They started a separate maintenance company. And to support all this, they employed a staff of fifteen sales and office personnel. They had built a fairly good-size operation mainly due to Dusty’s efforts. Henry was more than happy to let Dusty be the go-getter. He liked the details and the paperwork. As far as Dusty knew, they were making money. He didn’t get too involved in the financing. Henry’s father took care of that.

About two years in, Henry met a girl at a party and, six months later, told Dusty this was the girl he was going to marry. And as a matter of fact, that is exactly what happened. A year later, Henry married Doris Kramer, a nice Jewish girl from the Bronx.

How do you think your parents will feel about you marrying a Jewish girl? Dusty asked him when he told him he planned on getting married.

How would your parents feel? Henry said.

Hey, you jerk, I am Jewish!

Oh yeah, I forgot, Henry said, hugging his best friend.

I’m gonna miss you, pal, Dusty said.

Hey, I’m not going anywhere. Nothing is going to change. We’ll always be buddies.

However, things rarely ever stay the same in life. Henry and Doris bought a condo in Elizabeth, New Jersey, became friendly with other young married couples, and as a result, Dusty and Henry spent very little time together when not working.

Dusty moved out of the loft in the Village to a rented apartment in Upper East Side in New York. He was making good money, and he didn’t hesitate to spend it. He wanted his new apartment to be first class. It took almost three months, but finally, when the apartment was done, it was the perfect bachelor’s pad. The kitchen, which he would hardly ever use, was painted terra-cotta and had sleek brown-tone Bosch cabinets. The living room floor was white-tiled, set off by a black padded leather bar on the back wall. There was a large picture window on the opposite wall, which extended almost from the floor to the ceiling. His bedroom had a parquet floor with several Oriental throw rugs. The headboard of the bed was a large brass frame, with a black-and-white quilt used to cover the box spring and mattress. Dusty thought what it would be like to make love to Nicki in this bed. It was almost three years since she got married, and he still thought about her. He wondered what might have happened if he had gone to London.

He wangled a membership in an exclusive New York social club called the Boardroom, where he made contacts, made deals, and began to build his own reputation as a real estate developer. He was a regular for lunch at the New York Athletic Club and had season tickets for the New York Jets football games. Dusty was single, good-looking, and had a good job. He was living the good New York life. That is until Black Monday.

Dusty, Henry and James Adams didn’t feel the effect of Black Monday right away. Of course, whatever investments they had in stocks and bonds took an immediate nosedive, but the majority of their assets were in their business. Even though they were highly leveraged, they felt confident they could ride out the storm.

On January 10, 1988, James Adams received a registered letter from his bank, Empire Savings and Loan. It was formal notice that all unsecured loans, along with all mortgages, were being called according to the terms of the loan agreements. To avoid foreclosure, all loans had to be paid in full within twenty days of receipt of the letter. The amount of payment due, including accrued interest, was $22 million. In addition, the uncollateralized line of credit was being cancelled. The terms of that loan agreement gave Empire the right to cancel the loan in the event Adams’s receivables did not meet the requirements of the loan agreement. The amount due on that loan was $1.5 million.

CHAPTER 6

ON JANUARY 11, James Adams, his son Henry, Dusty, and Adams’s attorney were sitting in James’s office. Morris Kane, James’s attorney and personal friend for over twenty-five years, was reading the letter from Empire Bank.

How the fuck did you guys ever let yourselves get into a situation like this? Morris asked. That was a legal question.

Before anyone could answer, Dusty said, That’s not the question we need to answer at this point. The question should be, can those bastards do this to us?

Wrong, Dusty, it is the question we need to answer now. Before I can determine if we have a leg to stand on, I have to know how you got into this mess in the first place, the attorney said. Did the bank know what you were doing? Were they aware of the timeline on the sale of some of the new construction? And the loan documents, did I ever see them before you signed them, James? I need to know what you guys were thinking when you put yourself in this position.

Henry shuffled through some papers and gave copies to everyone. I’ve put together some numbers real quick, he said. "If you look at the spreadsheet marked ‘Properties Leased,’ you can see there is over $40 million of value in all of that real estate. At least that was the value before the shit hit the fan on Black Monday. My best guess is we would take a haircut of about 20 percent if we had to liquidate. Keep in mind, we had a 25-percent margin of profit built into these deals. For the last five years, we were really rocking and rolling. We were making good money. The problem is, last year, we took on a project to build a shopping mall in Atlanta. He paused and then said, This is where we got our balls handed to us. Construction costs got out of hand, we have had weather problems, all kinds of bullshit from the county and state—you name it. We began to fall back on our loan payments to Empire for the first time in twenty years. It was the first time we were ever late with a payment. Anyhow, that was when I realized everything we had was cross collateralized. But with all this, we found a buyer who will take us out. He then handed Morris a copy of the letter of agreement from what appeared to be a qualified buyer. Henry added, There is no way we can put this deal together in the next twenty or thirty days. We’re at least three to six months away from being able to close on this."

Morris looked at everything Henry had put together then asked, Is Empire aware of all this?

James Adams finally spoke up. Well, they are, and they’re not.

Morris looked at him, as if to say Go on.

James continued, I have been doing business with Empire for over twenty years. I knew Sam Clarke, the guy who started the bank. I knew him personally. I was one of his early customers. You might say we sort of grew our businesses together. A lot of what we did was on a handshake. We had agreements, of course, but Sam knew I would always meet my obligations.

So, Morris said, what’s the problem? Call your friend Sam Clarke and work something out. From what Henry shows here, after you unload the Atlanta project, you will be able to pay off the line of credit and pay down the mortgage. At the end of the day, you would end up owing about $10 million on approximately $32-million worth of income property. Sounds like a no-brainer.

Henry interrupted. Not that simple, Morris. Sam Clarke sold the bank about a year ago. He looked at his father. We didn’t think that would be a problem. Dad had been dealing with a guy by the name of Jerry Lucas who worked for Sam for a lot of years, and when Sam sold out, he called Dad and assured him everything would remain the same. Unfortunately, it turned out that’s not the case. Three months ago, Jerry Lucas was fired, and there is some hard-ass New York son of a bitch running the company, who won’t even return our calls. We have been assigned to the workout department. We had a feeling this was coming, Morris. We have tried everything we can think of to get an extension. We’ve offered them additional interest, even a piece of the Atlanta deal. The bottom line is they want everything we got, and if we can’t come up with the money in the next twenty days, we all walk away from here with just the clothes on our back.

Morris looked at his friend James Adams. He looked like a beaten man.

James, tell me, did you sign personally on any of the loans?

His friend simply looked at him and nodded.

Jesus H. Christ, Morris said. "All right, let me take a look at all of the loan agreements, and I’ll see if