16 June 2005 – New York

James awoke to the smell of food again. It didn’t seem to be as good as before, he thought for a moment that he might be getting used to it. He got up and got dressed in a fresh suit that he had brought with him. Then he made his way to the dining room again and partook in what looked like a breakfast buffet. But it was just him and Tommy, who was already eating.

“I was trying to wait for you, but Romereo’s cooking just begs to be eaten fresh.”

“No problem on my part. I would have too.”

As he finished his sentence and took a seat, one of the most beautiful women he had ever seen walked out in what appeared to be Tommy’s dress shirt from the previous day. He stared at her as she brushed a bit of her red bangs from her face as she grabbed a piece of fruit off one of the dishes. “When I am done with a shower I was going to Macy’s to do some shopping, is that okay?” The look in her eye as she spoke to Tommy reflected a sort of admiration for him, at least as far as James could tell.

“That’s fine baby, just tell Sam downstairs and he will have the car take you and then home. If I am available tonight would you care to visit again?”

“Anytime.” She winked , grabbed a second piece and headed back to the bedrooms.

After she left James just looked at tommy for a moment. “I really don’t know you , do I?”

“Better than anyone else. I have a friend with benefits in more eras. Like I said, I have needs like anyone.”

“I remember back in school when you couldn’t even get the courage to ask the girls we hung out with on a date.”

“Well a lot has changed since then. It’s amazing what kind of confidence a guy can get by joining the military and accomplishing a few things.”

The two had a filling breakfast and then made their way to an elevator that the servants used to come and go. This time the buttons showed all 15 floors. Tommy pushed the one for the fifth floor and the doors closed. Moments later it stopped and dinged. The doors opened to a lobby that was full of people coming and going.

Tommy led the way. They went past the receptionist and down the main hall. There were offices along both sides. Then they entered a large open area with dozens of cubicles with people on phones. James thought it resembled a bull pen at a trading firm. Tommy then turned down another hall and went to the end. He opened a door and went it. James followed. Behind a desk sat an older man that had a slight resemblance to Patterson from the future. James figured it must be the elder lawyer before he retired.

“Mr. Matherson, I didn’t know you were coming down or I would have had someone escort you here.”

“You are fine Robert, and please, just Todd is fine. Then again I should just give up. It’s been thirty years and you still insist on formalities.”

“You are my boss, and I like to keep it professional. Looking as healthy as ever sir.”

“So how are things?”

“Very well, as usual. Your guidance as always has made things very good. And who do we have here?”

“This is James. He is kind of a financial specialist that I have brought it to play a hunch.”

“Of course I am here to help in anyway that I can.”

“We need to bring him up to speed.”

“On?”

“The whole thing.”

At the mention of this. Robert lost the smile on his face. He then went and closed the door after saying something to his secretary. “Are you giving me clearance to discuss this sir?” Tommy nodded. Robert then went to his want and moved a picture of horses running across a field to open a safe. He then opened the safe. He then presented a document to Tommy. James glances at it. It was a release form. Tommy wrote in James name and then signed it.

Robert then took a quick Polaroid of James, stapled it to the document and slipped it into a folder so just the signatures were showing. His secretary then came in, signed and notarized it. She left then Robert turned to a filing cabinet that James hadn’t noticed had two combination locks on it. He opened the bottom drawer, placed the document in it and then closed it.

There was a knock from a side door in the office. James had assumed it was a bathroom. But then it opened and a familiar faced came in. “They are ready for you Dad.” It was Patterson Jr. Robert made his way to the door, Tommy followed him and James him. They went into an adjoining office and into another door that led to a conference room. Two well dressed men and two better dressed women were sitting there waiting for them.

Three other people were placing drinks and snacks on the large conference table. When they finished they left the room. Jr went to the door and locked it, all three of the locks. One of the men got up and opened a briefcase that was on the table. He pulled a device from it and began walking around the room. James could only assume he was looking for bugs, he based this on what he had seen in movies.

Once the man was done he placed the device back in the case and then sat back down. The eight of them were now alone. Robert pointed to an empty chair for James to sit in. Tommy took the chair at the head of the table. Robert remained standing and took his place behind Tommy. Tommy then turned the chair to face him.

“We all know why we are here. The form has been signed and James here is now able to hear about the full operation as Mr. Matherson has requested. We are all cleared.” All the others looked satisfied.

Tommy turned to James. “According to all of the agreements everyone here has signed, even talking about the scope of things to each other is grounds for them to be sued into oblivion, so on such occasions that I want them to talk I have to sign a document relieving them of that fear. Like I said I had very good lawyers draw up for any contingency.”

“Where do you want us to start?” Robert asked.

“How about the purpose and scope of what we are doing here.”

“Very well.”

The group went on to explain that the building they were in was a service center that conducted business on behalf of many companies. In fact, it was one of eight such centers that the company operated. They had locations in Chicago, Los Angeles, London, Paris, Dubai, Hong Kong, and Tokyo. The secret that only the people in the room knew though was that all of the companies they helped were in fact all owned by Todd Matherson or others that he had stakes in. There were shell companies, subsidiaries and other entities that were by others on his behalf. Through a complex web of paperwork, deals and other ways they al led back to Todd.

None of I was illegal though. They had a division of lawyers that made sure everything was above board. Even all of the taxes that were paid and accounts not located in the USA were more than legal. They made sure that taxes were paid. All funds even came back to the USA. When the time came to consolidate there was no way they could be hit with anything.

When the time came for James to bring them in on the deal he was working on, the finance experts disagreed saying that housing would never go bad. He had to show them actual proof by making them actually look at some of the assets in the very securities they said were good to make sure they understood the scope of things.

Robert was instructed to start assembling the team of lawyers and experts that his son had handed them in the future. He did not know this part though but would do as instructed. They all would. No matter what their advice was, they all knew to go with whatever Todd wanted. They trusted him implicitly. They were all rich because of him, they still felt it was good to advise him regardless of the fact that he already seemed to know everything.

When they were all done, they left except for Robert.

“I think we can show him the ledger now.” Robert nodded and left the room. Soon he returned with an armed guard in tow. The guard placed a case on the table and unlocked it from his wrist. As he finished James noticed two more guards outside holding shotguns. The guard who brought it in left the room. Robert then inserted a key into a lock on it. Tommy then entered the combination code and opened the case. He pulled out an old worn ledger and placed it on the table. “This gets updated everything I visit. I did it this morning before breakfast. It has a summary of all the assets.” He opened it to the back and pushed it towards James.

James looked down at the page and say huge totals with the written next to them. Below that was a total. The total was over eight hundred billion. His jaw dropped.

“That is the net worth of Todd Matherson. If your plan works we might hit the thirteenth digit.”