Stained River Read Online Free Page A

reluctant Pam and kids to a ten thousand square foot mansion in Boca Raton, spending as little time there as possible, since he kept an apartment in New York. Shortly after buying the mansion he bought another, a palatial vacation home on the southern coast of Spain near Malaga, followed by the purchase of a hundred foot yacht he kept moored at West Palm Beach; a spending orgy designed to flaunt his success. But fabulous wealth didn’t come without a price. Adding to the pressures of a failing marriage, well- heeled clients expected him to make money on their investments, no matter which direction the market turned. That's why they placed substantial amounts with his firm, Hawthorne Capital Management. If he didn't perform, they wouldn't hesitate to move it elsewhere.
    For the next few years, success was non- stop; until a surprise arrived in the mail one morning. A weighty package from the Securities and Exchange Commission was ominous. The request for endless information included lists of new accounts, terminated accounts, cross transactions, stock purchases, stock sales, trade dates, and much more. They had a month to assemble it before a formal audit began.
    Dumbfounded, in a fit of anger, Connery called an emergency meeting of his top officers including Dan Hewett, his second in command. The door to the conference room had hardly closed when he dropped the heavy package on the table.
    “In case some of you haven’t heard, we’re about to get audited by the SEC!  This didn’t arrive out of the blue. Somebody had to know about it. Why wasn’t I called? They have phones in Spain last I checked!”
    He turned and pointed toward Hewett.
    “I hold you responsible ! You’ve known about this. Why didn’t you call? I’ll tell you why! You and Walters here! You’ve had your heads up your asses! What am I paying you for?  The SEC thinks they have something big here. They want to know if the money in our client’s accounts actually exists! What the hell do they think we’re doing with it? This is a surprise, and you know I hate surprises! Do you have any clue about what’s going on?”
    He slammed his fist on the table. The more he talked, the louder he shouted. Hewett listened to the tirade and then had an opportunity to respond. He answered calmly.
    “We do have a problem, and it’s been going on for several months. I tried to tell you, but you weren’t listening. Remember? You were in Spain for three weeks. That’s when we found out for sure. I made the decision not to inform you until you returned, mostly because I didn’t have any good answers. I still don’t. Walters and I thought we could get it straightened out. Then the package arrived just before you returned. Right now, the problem looks to be software related, but I can’t say for sure. There’s been significant data loss. I need time.”
    The meeting turned more explosive when Connery learned they needed at least fifty million just to get by the next quarter, thus it became urgent for him to be at the meeting in Brasilia. It would be up to him to convince three men to invest in Hawthorne. At least one, maybe two, had other business commitments. They would cancel if there were any delays. The deal maker was a powerful businessman operating out of Brasilia with corporate connections in Venezuela. Connery read his business card.
     
    Estevo Castelo Branco
    Companhia do Azevedo, Limitada
    1800 Playa Mendoza
    Brasilia, Brazil
     
    No other information, except for a telephone number written on the back; no indication of the man's title or the business of his company.
    Their initial meeting began with a call to Connery’s offices. Cindy, his secretary, answered, thought it important enough to ring his office. She possessed a sixth sense about things that could be of importance, and he trusted her completely.
    “I have this call on hold. I think you should take it.”
    He remembered the conversation moving quickly. An accented voice spoke with