emphasized bottom.
Rider continued talking as he was looking at Sal. "We were recently informed that Patea's oldest daughter, Kitiona, is here in San Francisco." He stopped and looked around the table. "We thought she had died in the fire. Then she starts the Motorhead workers talking about unionizing. And now she shows up on our door step," he stopped to gauge reactions around the table. He noticed Sal's head tilted slightly, Senator Giardina staring out the window, and the rest of the members were waiting for Rider to continue.
Neil Perkins, head of Amerastar’s security broke in. "We know Kitiona has rekindled union talk. I have two men monitoring her efforts. We also know that she was snooping around at the Times. And she has requested minutes from our board secretary for meetings dating to a year before her family's tragedy."
Wooster asked David Bowee, the head of Amerastar legal team, "Do we have any exposure?" David responded to the question with another question. "How many of the board members here were on the board at the time of the incident?"
He indicated for a show of hands by raising his hand. All but Gina Romano and Frank Jackson raised their hands. Bowee asked to meet with everyone individually that was on the board back then. They were agreeable.
"Simon, I'll have an answer for you shortly," Bowee’s said with his face showing little concern. He intended to meet with board individuals during the next week.
"We tried to make contact with Kitiona several days ago," Perkins chimed in. "We lost her but she'll surface again,” he said confidently.
"What does she want?" Gina asked.
"We'll know that when we catch up with her," Perkins said.
"What does this girl have to do with anything? Motorhead is one of our most profitable units. How does this affect our bottom line?” Tina asked.
Simon Wooster reminded everyone why Motorhead was so profitable. "If it weren't for the Senator's intervention with Congress's new minimum wage law, those peasants would have drained our profits starting with an immediate 50% wage increase. After unionizing, they would have increased our payroll another 300%."
“Don’t forget. Without the Senator securing asbestos exceptions for Motorhead, the cleanup would be another major expense,” Chase Freeze added.
Senator Giardina had used her committee position to write the U.S. territory of American Samoa out of the minimum wage bill and to include an asbestos exception. When Patea found out, he contacted the Senator thru Amerastar. She told him that he did not understand or had the wrong information. She said that she would get back to him soon. In the meantime, he was to sit tight and not spread any nasty rumors. Eight days later, Patea's home burnt to the ground, killing him, his wife, son and Kitiona’s cousin.
Giardina's eyes darted around the table. She began to open her mouth with a question, but thought this wasn't the time or place. Instead, she acknowledged Sal Venuti's glance and starred at the file folder in front of her.
Brothers asked everyone to open their briefing folder. He noted the timeline of the incidents mentioned and included several others he thought were important.
"What we're talking about is mesothelioma, a legal rainmaker,” he said. He called attention to the chart showing that the cause of mesothelioma was diagnosed as asbestosis as far back as the late 1800s. "They use to call it asbestosis. Since then, researchers have found that breathing asbestos may cause lung cancer, mesothelioma, a rare kind of cancer, and asbestosis, a type of breathing disorder,” he concluded.
"This chart says that the first documented case of mesothelioma was reported in 1953,” Raphel Sanchez said.
Gina, one of the new board members, commented, "What does that have to do with our Motorhead unit? They make brake glue for cars and airplanes, don't they?"
Brothers nodded in Gina's direction, "Yes they make brake lining glue. Our glue is used in cars and airplanes around the world." He gave Gina and the rest of the board a short description of the physical properties of asbestos.
He sounded like a child reading out of a textbook. "Asbestos is used because of its physical properties. It absorbs sound, has a good tensile strength and is resistance to fire, heat, electrical and chemical damage."
Some of the board members were beginning to understand. Chase helped the process along. "Brakes get real hot when they are used in cars or airplanes," he began. "The glue that holds the brake material together has traditionally been made with asbestos. We still use asbestos, although, some manufactures have changed to substitute materials containing ceramic, metallic, carbon or aramid fibers. Asbestos is inexpensive compared to these substitutes," he concluded.
Eyes lit up around the table. "How old is the Motorhead plant?" asked Gina.
"Motorhead was built in the early 1950s between World War II and the Korean War. Amerastar purchased it in 1976,” Brothers noted while reading from page two in the briefing folder.
Gina asked if anyone has proposed that Motorhead convert its plant and use one of the asbestos substitutes.
Senator Giardina looked up from the folder in front of her and said, "I need to get back to Washington."
Wooster and Brothers glanced each other's way. Wooster thought to himself, little girl Bonni is bored.
Wooster readdressed Gina's question. "We have an ongoing study pertaining to a possible conversion, but feasibility studies are not promising. And we are exploring selling the factory, again.”
That bit of news perked everyone’s interest. Bonni stood up. Looking at her husband she said. “Keep me in the loop.”
Brothers excused Bonni from the meeting. "Thanks Senator for making the trip west for this meeting. Your presence means a lot to the shareholders."
The Senator pushed her chair back and asked Sal to walk her out to the car. Sal glanced at Brothers who nodded at the door. Sal followed Giardina out the boardroom door.
Brothers continued with the meeting answering numerous questions about Motorhead and it’s possible sale.
Chapter 14 The Iron Kettle
Bonni, Sal and Eric left the boardroom. They picked up the Senator's two secret service agents and Sal's two bodyguards. The four protectors were indistinguishable from each other. They looked like government types with shoulder-holstered guns. The only difference was that the secret service agents were connected by wireless communication devices.
Giardina had taken Venuti's arm as they faced the elevator doors. The elevator doors opened. They stepped into a carpeted, mirror-accented elevator with the four bodyguards following.
Eric took the stairs down four flights to get the limo prepared. Senator Giardina demanded a glass of scotch be waiting for her every time she entered the limo.
Bonni looked at Sal and snapped under her breath, "I gave this Motorhead situation to you and it's turning into a mess."
Sal did not like being second guessed. Neither did he like barking women even quietly barking ones. And, he especially didn't like ones who thought that they were untouchable.
He stared into Bonni's blood shot eyes, and then reversed his thoughts. Instead of verbally beating her down with, 'You dumb bitch. Why don't you just pay the people at union
