Profit Prophecy novel · Chapter 10 of 24
Chapter 10: Dealership Floor
The Maddox Motor Group flagship sat on Route 28 behind a row of flags, forty acres of chrome and balloon strings.
I walked onto the showroom floor on Saturday at ten, the busiest hour of the week, with Dex at my left and a leather portfolio under my arm.
A dozen families stood among the cars.
A little boy was honking the horn of a white SUV while his father pretended not to notice.
Gerald stood at the center of it all in a navy blazer, talking to a couple with the practiced sorrow of a man selling a hearse.
He saw me, and the sorrow vanished.
"Excuse me," he told the couple, and crossed the carpet with his hand already up.
"Mr. Brannigan. What a surprise. Is this about the note? Ms. Taliaferro and I have an understanding."
"It's not about the note."
"Then I can give you ten minutes. In my office."
"I'll stay here."
I put the portfolio on the hood of a silver sedan.
People were looking now, two salesmen in matching ties and a woman by the coffee machine.
Gerald lowered his voice to the tone he used for a customer who wanted to haggle.
"What do you want?"
"I want to buy the lot," I said. "This showroom, the service bays and the forty acres under them. Three point two million, cash, today. My lawyer drew up the terms last night."
"Not for sale."
"It's more than it's worth."
"It's a family business. My father started it with a single used truck."
"You told a room full of people you started it yourself."
His jaw worked.
"I expanded it," he said. "That's different."
"Three point two," I said. "Think about it."
"There's nothing to think about. I'm not selling to a delivery boy who got lucky at the stock market."
The word *boy* hung in the showroom.
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