Money for Nothing: A Vance Courage and Lauren Gold Novel (Gold & Courage Series Book 5) by Karen S. Gordon

Author:Karen S. Gordon [Gordon, Karen S.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781954296046
Publisher: Gordon Productions, LLC
Published: 2022-04-25T16:00:00+00:00

21

ASHEVILLE, NORTH CAROLINA

SUNDAY LATE MORNING

Walter Isaacson pulled his red silk bathrobe tighter around his middle-aged paunch and tied the belt into a neat bow, then gazed out the crystal clear picture windows of his luxury A-frame cabin. He blew the steam wafting from his responsibly farmed Arabica coffee, then sipped from his personalized Tire Fiefdom mug. He wished he could take the credit for the breathtaking view of the lush green treetops at the base of the Blue Ridge Mountains, but it was his wife Amanda’s idea to invest in the weekend getaway.

Amanda said it would give him a different perspective, that it’d help him to slow down enough to give them more time together. She’d spent months commuting from their mansion in Greenville looking for the perfect weekend escape that checked all Walter’s boxes: minutes from a golf course, tennis club, and restaurants, with 5-G cell service, fast internet, and easy access to a private airport.

One of his cell phones rattled on the cherry wood dining table. He glanced at CALLER ID, debating whether or not to answer it. It could be important. Larry Jones was the district manager for his top-performing discount tire stores down in Florida. He pressed the green button. “Walter Isaacson.”

“Sorry to bother you on a Sunday, Mr. Isaacson, but the main branch in Greenville suggested I call you direct.”

“Why?” he asked.

“It’s a personal favor. I’m looking for a couple of tires and thought I’d give you a try on the outside chance you might have a line on something.”

What balls. On the other hand, considering the last report he’d seen for gross sales and profit margins at the South Florida stores, it was easy to keep his cool. At least he wasn’t calling to report that another one of the stores had been burglarized again. “What are you looking for?”

“A couple of 165SR15’s for a ‘72 P 1800 Volvo convertible.”

Tires were in his blood, and if Walter died of a heart attack or stroke one day, they’d probably find a build-up of vulcanized rubber in his arteries. “We don’t carry those up here, either. You could try Cooker Tires in Virginia, they have an online store, and they usually cut us in for ten percent. A 1972 Volvo P 1800, huh. Who’s it for?”

“Thing is, sir, I was hoping maybe you had a line on some I could get a little faster.”

Walter was known throughout the Carolinas as the Tire Prince. His family had been in the business for over a century and built a regional empire before Walter took the helm at age 30. Armed with an M.B.A. from the Wharton School of Business, he’d brought the company to new heights through a series of mergers and acquisitions that included a leveraged buyout of the Tire Fiefdom chain in Florida and Georgia.

Walter didn’t think twice about going in for the slaughter when he’d heard rumors that the business was strapped for cash, gasping during the Great Recession. He agreed to meet the family’s matriarch, Betty Lou Barnes, who’d invited him to a dinner at the best steakhouse in Palm Beach.

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