THE BRIDGE TO CARACAS (Volume 1 of The King Trilogy)

CHAPTER 24

Seventy-two hours later, Mike was in New York, his nerves jangling as he sat in the vast and ornate waiting room at the head office of Golden National Oil. What had he been thinking? Even if he could find the money, it was possible that XG would drag him down just as thoroughly as it had Bell....

His thoughts were interrupted by the approach of a tall, handsome man in his early fifties. His neatly groomed, graying hair complemented his perfectly tailored, black pinstriped suit. His dense black eyebrows and deep set brown eyes defined wealth and power. "Mike King?" the man asked, his voice resounding with authority.

Mike sprang to his feet. "Yes...Mr. Conrad?"

"Call me Paul. Welcome to New York, Mike. Did you have a pleasant flight?"

Mike nodded. "Fortunately, I picked up a late cancellation. It was very kind of you to see me on such short notice. I'm sure you're very—"

"Don't mention it," Conrad interrupted. "In fact, I'll share a little secret with you. When you told me you were looking for gasoline, I was prepared to fly to Toronto to see you. I'm sure you know we have a lot of it to sell."

"And I have a lot of it to buy," Mike responded.

"Let's go into my office."

They sat together on one of two brown suede covered couches, and Conrad's secretary delivered a silver plated urn of hot coffee.

Conrad crossed one leg over the other and leaned backward. He stared at his guest. "Mike, I must confess I salivated when you told me the volume. I hope you're interested in placing the whole thing with Golden National."

"If the price is right," Mike said, sensing it was too early to reveal who the real buyer would be.

"I can assure you it will be."

Mike sipped his coffee. "Paul, I'm curious to know why you chose to build a refinery in Buffalo."

"The location was easy. The site we picked had access to pipelines from all directions—it's on the St. Lawrence Seaway, and Buffalo is close to the center of gravity of industrialized North America. But the timing...." He shrugged. "The decision became very difficult when we considered the surplus of refining capacity in the United States and Canada. But when we factored everything into the equation, it was still the best option. We have been extraordinarily successful in finding crude oil in the past seven years, and had to satisfy ourselves with normal crude profits. The refinery is the great multiplier. As you know, the sum of the parts of a barrel of crude is a lot greater than the cost of that barrel. Instead of selling our production to the highest bidder, we can sell it to our refining division for a lot more, and the markup is tax free."

"How is it tax free?"

"Our Bermuda trading company makes the profit on the sale of crude to our refining division. According to Bermuda tax laws, profits generated by Bermuda corporations outside the territorial limits of the country are received tax free...."

"Well there you have it." Mike set down his coffee. "What are you going to do with all the gasoline you produce?"

Conrad frowned, his lips tightened. "We have two less than palatable choices. We're going to have to wholesale it or drink it. We'll have to live with the former until we establish a retail distribution system of our own. Fortunately, we have money coming out our ears, so we plan to build or buy retail distribution as soon as possible."

Conrad's words were music to Mike's ears. The company was swimming in money and desperate for customers. Even better, the president of the company had welcomed him like royalty. Mike locked his blue eyes on Conrad's. "What would you say if I told you that International Fuel Brokers was not the prospective purchaser?" he asked, his heart pounding.

Conrad raised his eyebrows, but seemed otherwise unperturbed. "Who is?"

"Me. Actually, it's a partnership I hope to form, after acquiring XG Petroleums."

Conrad gave Mike a knowing grin. "This is interesting. I think you're going to have to tell me a lot more."

"Not long ago, I was responsible for influencing the decision of IFB to acquire a fifty percent interest in XG. The deal worked well until the gas wars devastated XG's bottom line. IFB gave me a directive to liquidate its interest in XG, but...the more I looked at XG, the more I saw it as an opportunity."

"What's your objective?" Conrad asked.

"I'm not sure I understand," Mike said, perplexed.

"Did you want to become an owner or did you see a profit opportunity?"

"Both. I want to have more personal control over my future, and I believe that being an independent gasoline retailer is still a profit opportunity. Particularly with XG."

Conrad blinked. "And why is that?"

"XG is a monster," Mike said in a rush. "It operates far too many outlets. Only twenty-five of them make money. Furthermore, it doesn't own any real estate. It pisses away cash flow on ridiculous rent payments. And it isn't involved in a single ancillary or secondary business. That's the real killer. XG has all the infrastructure, but no one willing to make the big changes. I believe diversification is the essential component of any gas war survival plan. If I owned XG, I would cut and keep on cutting until all we have left is profit. I'm absolutely convinced the company can be turned around, and I want to be the one who does it."

"Impressive," Conrad said, smiling and nodding approval. "Obviously, you've done your homework. Tell me, who is your intended partner?"

"Tom Fletcher. His home and office are both in Toronto. He's experienced and his primary business is real estate. He owns over thirty small to medium sized shopping plazas, most of which include retail gasoline outlets."

"I don't think you've given me a complete answer. What I want to know is why you think you'll need Fletcher as a partner?"

Mike resisted an urge to argue. "Fletcher's experience in real estate development will be a tremendous asset."

Conrad glanced at his watch. "Will you be staying in New York tonight?"

"I'm prepared to stay for so long as it takes to make a deal. If you tell me it can't be done, I have no reason to stay."

"You have a lot of courage, son," Conrad said with a broad grin. "If your expedition into XG doesn't work out, come and see me. I'll give you a job in a heartbeat."

Mike's jaw sagged as he stared at Conrad. "Does that mean you can't do anything for me?" he asked, flattered yet discouraged by the finality of Conrad's statement.

"Quite the contrary. It means I can and I will. You came to my office with two things Golden National needs. If I can't have one of them, there's no way I'm going to let the other one get away. I would love to have you come to work for me, but I know you won't. It's obvious you want to go it alone so badly that you can taste it." Conrad stood and shook Mike's hand. "Have dinner with me. I'm going to make you an offer you won't believe."