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“Didn’t work out?”
“Hell, Devine, we weren’t looking to get married, just have some fun.”
“And did you?”
“Yeah, she was cool. Nice girl. Why, did she say different?”
“No, I didn’t even talk to her about you,” said Devine.
“I’ve dated lots of women. And we all had good times. Up here, that’s important. Otherwise you could go stir-crazy.”
“But you have all your business interests.”
“Business is business, pleasure is something else.”
Devine decided to change gears. “So what’s your criteria for investing? Free cash flow in what time period? ROI minimums? Growth prospects? Do you have a typical exit strategy or do you just reexamine every so often? And what’s your stop loss plan? And do you invest solo or with a fund or a syndicate?”
“You sound like you know your way around a balance sheet and P and L statement.”
“I have my MBA. Worked on Wall Street for a time.”
“Why the hell did you leave? You make it there you had to be pulling in serious bucks.”
“Just wasn’t for me.”
“Okay,” Dak said incredulously. “I have some financial backers for my investments. That was another reason why I was in Boston, to meet with them. I’ve got a proven track record, so they trust me. We like to be cash flow positive within eighteen months, but there’s wiggle room there on a case-by-case basis. Exit within five years unless there’s a compelling reason to get out earlier or stay in longer. Flexibility is the key. ROI expectation is high. A hundred percent is the minimum. We shoot for the moon.”
“Do you insist on board representation?”
“We always take at least one board seat and more depending on our investment piece. But keep in mind this is not Apple or Google, these are start-ups. They actually need our business expertise. I usually like to have my hand in, and we just closed our twentieth deal last month. And the other nineteen? I think we’re going to hit home runs in all but two.”
“That’s a much higher percentage than the Wall Street boys have.”
“I get to really dig into the business plans and meet the people before the dollars go in. And then I’m right here watching my investment and jumping in or pulling the plug if I have to.”
“You ever think of going somewhere else?”
“Every second of every day. But I’ve got time on my side and a plan, a big one.”
“The new Silkwell empire?”
“The new Dak empire.”
The two men ate their meal and then went their separate ways. As Devine was walking back to the inn, he looked to the sky, which was growing cloudy. The wind was picking up. He could feel the barometric pressure dropping as the storm system moved in. He was halfway back to the inn when he was confronted by three men who stepped out from the darkness in a particularly lonely area of Putnam. And these men were not drunk and stupid local yokels like the ones who had followed him out of the bar. They got Devine’s immediate attention primarily for one reason.
They look like me right before I go into battle. Calm, focused, and lethal.
CHAPTER
27
THREE GUNS TO HIS ONEmade it a quick end to a fight that never materialized. Devine was disarmed and pulled into an alley, where his hands were zip-tied behind him, and then he was taken to an SUV with blacked-out windows that was parked there. No hood was put over his head and he wasn’t blindfolded.
They aren’t worried about me knowing where I’m going because they know I won’t be coming back.
He studied the three men. One driving and one on either side of him. They hadn’t uttered a word; they had let their weapons and hand signals do the messaging.
He guessed two of the men’s ethnicity to be Middle Eastern, and the third was clearly Asian. This was business to them and they deployed the ideal skill set to get the job done. They were all around six feet, lean and wiry, without the big flashy muscles that most people believed signified great strength and fighting ability.
