Podcast 4 of the novel BEWARE THE ABANDONED chapter 7 on 16 January 2023

One reader of “BEWARE THE ABANDONED”, in her Amazon review, wrote, “..I just finished this thriller book, BEWARE THE ABANDONED,  I could not stop reading it. Last night I finished it and went to bed at 4 a.m. What a great book. You really have done your research, and it is almost scary how much you know and how you planned his escape. PLEASE, PLEASE, I need a second book. We now need to know how John C. is going to carry on". 

I  am just a story teller. Far be it for me to cause sleepless nights and stress in anyone's life. If you become impatient, waiting for me to narrate and post the next chapters of “BEWARE THE ABANDONED”, you can easily obtain an e-book version of the book in a few minutes from amazon.com.

I have started a sequel to “Beware the Abandoned”. However, it will be several months before it is completed.

BEWARE THE ABANDONED, the first novel to be narrated, is a story about John Cross He was an abandoned child fighting for survival on the mean streets of Los Angeles, when The Sanctuary (a capitalist, non religious sect) selected him to be trained to accumulate great wealth. The Sanctuary searches the world's slums for the brightest and most creative abandoned children.

John's financial success allows the sect to search for more abandoned children to grow their wealth. How John Cross realized his wealth is of little concern to The Sanctuary. What is critical to them, is keeping their money maker ahead of his pursuers - the mob and the FBI.

The murders in Paris, Las Vegas and Delaware were removals of obstacles in the path to wealth. Will his latest romantic interest also become an obstacle? The FBI and the mob are closing in fast on his hideaway in a small beach town on the Delaware Coast.

The next novel  that will be narrated is DUEL. This action packed novel is set in Washington, Canada and the Caribbean. DUEL explores a confrontation between the Peoples Republic of China and the United States.  China dared to lease an old, abandoned, British naval base on a the small Caribbean island of Saint Matts. The Caribbean is viewed by the US as their private late.

Rob Lyons, a State Department analyst, is sent to Saint Matts to determine why the Chinese would dare threaten US security. Assassination, political intrigue, corrupt politicians, new technologies, romance, monkeys, lawyers and the threat of a nuclear war make it a page turner.

The third novel to be narrated  is USING DROUGHT USA.  It is an action packed/thriller  set in Washington, California and Canada. In an election year, the President is engineering an invasion of Canada to channel water from the Great Lakes, on its northern border, to the parched South West United States. The president is sure the 80,000,000 Americans in the water deprived states will reward him with their votes. 

Rob Lyons is sent, by the State Department, to obtain the support of Canadian separatists in Quebec and Alberta so the US can do as it wishes in the Province of Ontario. In exchange for their neutrality, the US will help these two separatist provinces to form independent republics. 

A greedy lobbyist in Washington leaks the President's secret invasion plan to the Canadian government. Rob Lyons soon becomes a hunted fugitive fleeing across a frozen landscape.

If you become impatient waiting for these books to be broadcast. You can easily order them from amazon.com. For more information on Ian Duncan MacDonald visit his website www.informus.ca. Here, you will learn about his six investment books. The last two being "New York Stock Exchange's 106 Best High Dividend Stocks" and its companion book "Canadian High Dividend Investing - 215 Stocks Analyzed and Scored". You are  also invited to listen to his 150 weekly "SAFE DIVIDEND INVESTING"  podcasts.

Transcript

CHAPTER 7

PLAYER INDUSTRIES

John drafted a letter to Mike Asino at Player Industries.  He mailed it and waited. He didn’t get a response.  A week later he tried phoning Mike Asino and could not get through.  

Asino, proved to be almost impossible to reach.  However, each day John would phone and leave a message. This continued for weeks.          

One evening, when he was home, watching a baseball game, the doorbell rang.  He had not been expecting anyone.  He opened the door.  A tall, distinguished stranger in a suit was standing there.

“Mister Cross, my name is Joe Palarmo.  I work for Mister Asino.  He understands that you would like to meet with him.”

Surprised, John responded, “Mike Asino of Player Industries?”

“Yes, can you come with me now?”

“Sure.  Let me put on a suit.”

“Don’t bother.  Mister Asino isn’t wearing a suit.”

A large, black, Lincoln town car was idling in the driveway. John got into the back, along with Joe Palarmo. They took the Southern Highlands Parkway.  Palarmo said nothing during the entire trip.  

The chauffeur pulled off the highway onto a street lined with ostentatious mansions built around a golf course.  When they reached the Asino’s mansion, they drove down a ramp into an underground garage. John counted parking spaces for a dozen cars.

The Lincoln pulled into a parking spot, next to an elevator. They took the elevator up to the second floor and exited onto a wide corridor, tiled in white marble. Joe crossed to a door and knocked before opening it.

John entered a large office. Joe Palarmo closed the door behind himself as he left.  Mike Asino was sitting behind an ornate, antique, mahogany conference table that could seat ten people.  John recognized him, from pictures he had seen on the internet Asino was often photographed presenting checks to charities. With a dismissive hand gesture, he showed that John should take a seat across from him.  He did not stand or offer to shake John’s hand.

John guessed that Asino was in his early fifties. He was wearing a tight, black, Lacoste golf shirt that showed off a tanned, well-muscled, hard looking torso. His salt and pepper hair was cut short.  Dark brown, intelligent eyes stared at John as if he were a bug under a magnifying glass.  John could felt that this was not someone you would want to have as an enemy.  In a quiet voice, he enquired, “You wanted to meet?”

“Yes, I do.  I can save Player Industries several million dollars.”

“How would you do that?”

“The larger the organization, the harder it is to keep close tabs on all the account receivables. As I understand it, each of your companies manages their own receivables.  If one company has a problem collecting money from a customer, that customer can continue buying from all your other companies, until they too become a receivable problem. I propose merging all your companies' receivables into one database.  Then, a consistent credit policy, can be applied to every customer.  Consistency is the secret to minimizing account receivable problems.  For example, some of your companies are placing their accounts out for collection at ninety days past due and some at one hundred and twenty days, some even later.  This makes you a source of interest free money.

John noticed that Asino was staring at him.  He continued, “I propose, that on your behalf, FICA will send out ten day final notices, to all your slow payers, as soon as they reach sixty days past due. At seventy days all unpaid accounts would be placed for collection with FICA.  Your slow paying customers have trained your credit managers to wait for payment.  You now have to train your customers to pay promptly.  When you do, you will see a big drop in your bad debt losses, a reduction in your borrowing costs and a big increase your cash flow.”

John had been preparing this proposal ever since he had first talked to Bill O’Malley about landing Player Industries.  He wondered if the proposal was too critical and blunt, but he felt he had nothing to lose.  Asino interrupted, “Wouldn’t we lose sales if we tightened up on our credit terms?”

“No, you increase sales when you make your customers adhere to your terms of sale.  Past due companies go to other suppliers to avoid confrontations with suppliers whom they are past due. If you keep them current, there will be no interruptions in their ordering.”

“What would it cost?” 

“For us, to set up and co-ordinated the account receivable service will cost you nothing.  Our contingency rate, when the occasional account gets placed for collection, will cost you 16% of the first $1,000 collected; 8% of the next $9,000 and 4% of the balance. If you check with your companies, you will find that these rates are lower than what they are now paying. So, not only will we be reducing your bad debts to a small fraction of what they are now but the increase in sales will cost you nothing.  I can have it in place within a month.”

With this closing statement, John shut up and remained still.  Asino made no immediate response. He continued to stare at John.  The room was silent.  John waited because he knew to continue talking could kill the sale.  After what seemed like an hour but was only seconds, Asino responded, "Thanks for coming.  I have found your proposal interesting. I need to discuss it with my financial people.  They’ll be back to you if they think it has merit."

Asino stood, came around the table, shook John’s hand and escorted him to the door. Outside, Joe Palarmo was sitting on an ornate, wrought iron, chair waiting to escort John home.

Three days later, John received an invitation from a Senior Vice President at Players Industries, to meet with the financial heads of their various companies. At this meeting, he was to explain what they would need to do to set up the proposed new account receivable system.  

Within three months, Players Industries was generating 10% of FICA’s revenues. John said nothing to Billy.  Billy said nothing to John.  Billy just waited for the axe to fall.

A year after their first meeting, John again had an unexpected knock on his front door. Joe Palarmo was again there to escort him to a meeting with Mike Asino.  This time, when Joe knocked on Asino’s office door, it a smiling Mike Asino opened it. He stuck out his hand to shake John’s hand. He led John over to a corner of the office where three leather love seats surrounded a low square coffee table.  They took seats across from each other.

“Can I get you a drink, John?”

“No thanks.”

“It’s been a year since we first met.  What you proposed worked well.  You’ve contributed to the profits of Player Industries.  I wanted to thank you.”

“You’re welcome.”

“I see great profits for the collection industry.  It is a business that I had never considered getting involved in.  It has so much potential that Player Industries wants to buy FICA and market it across the country.”

John interrupted him, “I’m flattered that you see the potential for FICA but it is not for sale.”

Asino’s warm, friendly persona, became as hard and cold as granite.  He continued, “How we resolve this is up to you. The easy way is for me, tomorrow, to put a million dollars in an account that my banker will set up for you in the Cayman Islands.  However, if you choose not to work with me, I will save my million dollars and you will receive nothing. Easy or hard, I will take over your business before the end of the month.”

“Based on its profits, FICA is worth at least five million dollars.”

“What is your life worth, John?” 

This statement hung in the still room.  Asino continued, “Go home and think about my offer.  I’ll give you forty-eight hours to consider it. You know how to get hold of me if you want your million dollars. This is a onetime offer.”

Asino did not get up to shake John’s hand.  After a minute of sitting there, in silence, staring at Asino, John accepted his dismissal. He stood, crossed the room and saw himself out. 

As he rode down in the elevator, his mind raced. Billy had warned him.  Why hadn’t he listened to him? Was Asino bluffing? Could Asino take the business away from him without destroying it? His street fighter instincts had kicked in.  These instincts would not allow him to walk away from his business without a fight.

On the third day, FICA received a letter from a Senior Vice President at Players Industries telling them that their business relationship was severed. He told them immediately cease working on all Player Industry collection claims. John waited further repercussions. 

On the fourth day, Patty appeared at John’s office door.  She looked distraught.

“What’s up Patty?”

“John, have you made changes with the bank that you haven't told me about?”

“No.  Why do you ask?”

“Our trust account is empty.”

“What do you mean empty?”

“There is no money in it.”

“Maybe you or the bank have got our accounts mixed up?”

“Haven’t I controlled the trust account since we opened our doors?”

“Yes, you have.  It must be a banking error.  Have you talked to them?”

“Of course, I talked to them.  They thought it was strange when they processed a series checks from us before the twenty-eighth of the month.”

“Checks? What checks?”

“They emailed me copies of the checks.  They were all made out to Player Industries and all of them had your signature on them.”

John stared at her in disbelief.  He had hoped that Asino was bluffing.  Now he knew he wasn’t.

As FICA collected money for their clients, it was all deposited into FICA’s trust account.  Under the law, there are only two reasons for a collection agency to withdraw money from a trust account. One was to receive the commissions for their collection work.  The second reason was to remit to the client the amount collected, less the collection agency's commission. This distribution of funds always took place at FICA on the twenty-eighth of each month.

FICA’s earned commissions only represented about 12% of the money on deposit in the trust account.  The total dollars, now missing from the trust account, would be equivalent to all of FICA’s income for the entire year.  

 John concluded that Player Industries had forged FICA’s checks. This misdirection of funds had effectively put FICA out of business. There was no money to pay the other customers what had been collected for them. Without a transfer of funds from the trust account to their operating account, FICA could not pay employees, the rent or the phone company.  FICA was insolvent.  As soon as the word got out that FICA’s trust money had disappeared, no company would ever entrust FICA with their collections again. As a business, it would all be over.

Since his signature was on the Player Industries’ forged trust account checks, John felt he would be lucky if he did not end up in jail. It would be difficult to prove he had nothing to do with the money ending up with Player Industries. They were not about to help him.  

John could predict the future.  Billy, Patty and all the other employees would be without jobs. The Commissioner of Collection Agencies would close FICA.  He would lose his house, his Cadillac Escalade and all the expensive toys that he had bought on credit.  With his connections, Asino would make sure that by tomorrow the state auditors were aware of their insolvency. 

John weighed his options.  In his mind there was only one option.  

He phoned Players Industries. He was immediately put through to Mike Asino.  John figured Asino must have left instructions to put him through.

“John, what a surprise. To what, do I owe this phone call?”

“You’ve won.”

“But I always win. Now, what can I do for you?”

“I’ll take you up on your offer of the million dollars.”

“Oh John, it is too late for that.  The forty-eight hours has passed.  The best I can now offer is that you will not go to jail and your employees will not lose their jobs.  This new offer is good for only two hours.  I’ll see you are sitting in a cell before the sun goes down tonight unless you get down here and sign over your shares. As soon as this is done the money will be returned to the trust account.”

John next heard the click of the phone being hung up. Almost too agitated to drive, he did get to the Player Industries office.  Here, he was led to the office of their corporate lawyer.

Their lawyer explained each clause in the agreement. He drew attention to a clause that stated that John was terminated for cause with no hope of suing for future compensation.  Receiving John's shares, gave Players Industries total control of FICA. 

 The value of the fifteen percent of the shares that The Sanctuary owned and the five percent that Patty and Billy each owned, would be in jeopardy.  John hoped Asino would understand how valuable the two employees were to the success of FICA, but he had his doubts that he would.

John Cross had massive personal debts and no way to pay them. He was insolvent and expected his creditors would soon seize their secured assets.  The two years of planning and programming in France and the years spent establishing the business, would now only benefit Mike Asino.  

Street fighters don’t cry. They get angry. As he drove away from Players Industries he was already plotting his revenge.  Mike Asino would soon learn that he had robbed the wrong person. On the mean streets of Los Angeles, John Cross had learned about retaliation and how to respond to disrespect.

For twelve years, The Sanctuary had groomed John Cross. Their share of the profits from FICA could have saved hundreds of children.  John would not allow Michael Asino to divert him from fulfilling his responsibility to The Sanctuary.