THE TAINTED TRUST (Volume 2 of The King Trilogy)

CHAPTER 102

        Millhaven, Ontario. January 31. 11:55 A.M.

The air was bitter cold. Nearly a foot of snow had blanketed the ground and fierce north west winds howled across the ice encrusted shores of Lake Ontario. Parked near the imposing gates to Millhaven minimum security prison was Dan Turner's jet black Mercedes 300SE. He had kept the motor running to preserve heat. Karen sat beside Turner in the front seat, Kerri huddled under a blanket in the back. All three strained to focus on the gate.

Sharp at noon, the massive chain link gate began to move. Seconds later, a man wearing jeans, a brown leather jacket and a black baseball cap appeared in the opening. He hung his head to allow the rim of his cap to shield his face from the driving snow, then trudged toward Turner's car.

Kerri tapped Karen's shoulder. "You go."

Karen bolted from car and ran to Mike. She wrapped her arms around him and squeezed. "I missed you, King," she cried, tears flowing from her eyes and nearly freezing on her cheeks.

Mike dropped the small black canvas bag he was carrying and hugged Karen, thrilled to see her and grateful to be free. "I missed you too, Babe, more than you'll ever know."

She smiled. "There's someone in the car who's pretty anxious to see you."

Thirty minutes later, the four occupied a small circular table in The Loyalist, a small cozy restaurant overlooking the frozen Lake Ontario shore in Kingston.

Mike placed his right arm around Kerri's shoulders. "I can't believe it. How did you do it?"

"Miles did most of it. I just told him to make it grow. He did the rest."

"How?"

"You'll laugh at the irony, dad. He shorted crude oil at forty dollars a barrel in early October. He was within a hair of the top of the market."

Mike smiled, closed his eyes and shook his head.

Turner lifted a champagne bottle and topped up everyone's glass. "So, what are the unpredictable King's going to do with all this money?"

"What money?" Mike asked. "I thought we gave it all to the Feds."

"We sold Visconti's house, his apartment and his portfolio for a little over fifty million," Kerri said, then poked Karen's arm with her finger.

Karen reached for into her purse and removed a check. "You'll love this," she said, then handed it to Mike. "It's a cashier's check for five million dollars, made out to the estate of James Servito. It arrived in the mail in early October with no note or return address. Dan suggested we keep it until you got out of prison."

Mike stared at the check with a puzzled expression, then his quizzical frown transformed into a knowing smile. "Schnieder! The old fox kited five million from the trust!"

"What would you like to do with the shares of Forta Equitas, dad?" Kerri asked, barely able to conceal her excitement.

Mike laughed at the apparent sarcasm of her question. "Put them in an envelope and send them to Mara, Griesdorf and Visconti. Tell them to paper the walls of Visconti's office with them."

"You might not want to do that," Kerri warned.

"Why?"

"I did some horse trading with the Feds," Turner said. "I told them I would arrange an anonymous deposit of five hundred million dollars to credit their account, if they would drop the charges against your father, close the file, and put it in writing. They agreed and that's exactly what we gave them...Miles had a hundred and eighty-six million left over when he covered the short."

Mike rolled his eyes and raised his hands above his shoulders in a gesture of total surrender. "I don't want to know about it and I never want to hear about that money again." He stood and kissed Kerri's forehead. "You keep it," he whispered. "You earned every dime."

Turner refilled all four glasses, then raised his glass to eye level. "To the King family...Survivors, one and all," he declared.

With smiles and loud clinks, all four brought their glasses together. "To the King family," they repeated in unison.