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us.”
    “Right… To pay back the debt, they will need to borrow the money. They won’t want to use all their cash.”
    “And,” Nick continued, “The debt ratio for the financing can go as high as eighty percent. We’ll probably only need to raise about twenty percent of the purchase price.”
    Nick smiled… It sounded like a good deal. Bryce frowned… It sounded like a bad deal – for that company.
    “Why did you want to acquire this company, Nick?” He glanced at the prospectus in front of him. “What is it again? Acme Manufacturing in Gardnerville?” Gardnerville, a town sixteen miles south of Carson City… Jesus, not again…
    “I caught a rumor that a major car company wants to manufacture their parts there. They want to tear it down and building a bigger facility. If we acquire, then the car company has to buy it from us.” Nick smiled broadly and practically licked his lips. “We’ll make a killing…”
    “…Sure. No business tax in Nevada.”
    “That’s right. So, you’ll start work on it immediately?”
    “Yes, sir,” Bryce said as he picked up all the paperwork in front of him and grabbed his briefcase. He headed for his office and shut the door softly behind him. When he slumped down in his chair, all the air seemed to whoosh out of his lungs. Bryce couldn’t seem to catch his breath.
    What was the matter with him? Hadn’t he done this type of deal eagerly for the past five or six years? He had, indeed, but now that his conscience had reasserted itself, the deal didn’t seem as palatable as it once might have. He knew that the company to be acquired definitely wouldn’t want them coming in and taking over. Bryce had been down this battle-scarred road before. He sat there thinking… Suddenly, he brightened and checked his jacket pocket for her business card. He’d talk to Beth – See what she had to say. Maybe she could talk him through this one.
    With his finger punching in the digits on his cell phone, Bryce sat back surprised . Why would he need to talk it over with Beth? Surely, she’d hate it . Maybe that’s what he was looking for – Permission from a decent person to become something else… someone else... It had been so long since he’d done the right thing, he wasn’t sure how it was done anymore. Beth would know…
    His call went to voicemail and Bryce left her a message.
    I just want to talk, if you have a minute. Please call me back, Beth…
    Would she call? He gave a short laugh… Not likely. She was probably thrilled to have been rid of him the first time. A second go-round was not likely to be high on her list of fun things to do. Bryce realized he was a bad risk, especially for Beth.
    Taking her card in his hands, he poised to tear it into two pieces. He should leave her alone…She had a good life as a musician and probably didn’t want to deal with his baggage again. Be all that as it may, Bryce couldn’t rip up the card. It was his only current link to… sanity? Redemption? … Whatever was happening to him, the card was the life preserver he knew he’d need. He tucked it back into his jacket pocket.
     
    * * *
     
    Eva had spent part of the morning talking Beth off a proverbial ledge. Beth had called her crying about something and it had taken two more cups of coffee to get the story out of her.
    “… But I thought you said he wouldn’t call…”
    “Well… I…I guess I was wrong,” Beth blubbered.
    “You were all right yesterday and it sounded like dinner went well.”
    Beth picked another tissue out of the box. “…Um…” She blew her nose.
    “Didn’t it? Or did he say something to upset you?”
    “He didn’t say anything to upset me.”
    “…Then what did he do?”
    A big pause while Beth pulled another tissue from the box. She dabbed her eyes this time.
    “He still exists… the Bryce Barron I knew still exists.”
    Eva got her a glass of water.
    “Here drink this.”
    Beth took a sip and tried to swallow.
    “Of course, he