Chapter 72

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October 19th, 1998

Richard leaned back in his chair. His attempts to locate Pat all failed and he was considering a new course of action to recoup his losses on the Long Island home.

“Hello Mr. Hathaway.”

Richard nodded at the man who’d just entered his home office. “Dale, just the guy I needed to see. You know that ‘situation’ we’ve been dealing with?”

Dale nodded hastily.

“Good, good. I need you to shut that down.”

“But sir, we’re on the brink of-”

“Shut it down Sampson.”

The man wore a confused expression, but accepted his order.

Richard stood up and walked over to his miniature refrigerator. He pulled out a decanter of Scotch. He reached up onto his award and accolade shelf and pulled a few glasses down.

“Have a seat.”

The other man sat down so fast Richard could hear the seat deflate.

“We need another plan.” Richard started as poured generous amounts of Scotch into each glass. “What’s the use of going after this woman, when she has nothing?”

Dale nodded.

Richard smirked, handing the man a glass. “We need to go after something bigger, something more lucrative.”

“Like what?”

“Something that would not only make us that investment back plus a shit ton more, but something that could hurt her.”

Dale nodded slowly.

“Something like...I don’t know, the massive fortune that’ll go to those damn adorable grandkids?”

Dale laughed. “You’re kidding, right?”

Richard sat just off the edge of his desk.

“Does this look like the face of a man who’s ‘kidding’?”

“Ah come on, boss, my wife loves Mariah Carey’s music.” Dale responded.

“So? I do too. Her and that husband of hers are two talented individuals.”

“Then why involve her in this?”

“Look Dale, it’s just business.” Richard responded.

Dale sighed. “What exactly do you have in mind?”

“Well, the son, Morgan is his name, is responsible for burning down the property. Maybe we can dig some dirt up on him, get him charged, and get that sister to shell out the money for an attorney.” Richard said.

“But what would that do?”

“Are you an idiot?” Richard asked incredulously.

“No sir-”

“Then stop asking stupid questions. We know that the siblings are close--Mariah won’t even make a public statement about her brother burning the house down. We get into that circle, give the son some bad legal advice, extort the filthy rich daughter, and publicly humiliate their mother.” Richard explained.

“How am I supposed to go after one of the biggest stars on the planet? That’s not an easy circle to break-”

“Wrong.” Richard interrupted.

“I’ve been there--to the property. I’ve checked it all out.”

“We’re taking down Michael too?” Dale asked.

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