Dawson's Web by William Hutchison Read Free Book Online

should pose no problem at all, as he often worked late, or at least, that’s what he told her. He leaned back into the car window and gave her another kiss. This time it was much more passionate, and it was all caught on camera, unbeknownst to him.
    “See you at seven. Good luck on your interview, Charlene. Break a leg.”
    He turned and got into his Jag, wiped the lipstick from his mouth and drove back to his office.

Chapter 7
     
                  Sarah Tidwell arrived twenty minutes early to her second meeting with Hans and had to wait in the lobby watching his secretary busy herself surfing the internet and taking calls.
    Sarah wondered if Hans knew how much time she was wasting on his dime, but, given his secretary’s 36 DD’s, Hans probably didn’t hire her for her typing skills.
    “Scumbag,” she muttered to herself.
    Hans arrived promptly at 11:00 am, as he promised, walked briskly into the room and opened his office door motioning for Sarah to come inside. As she got inside, he took her hand and gave it a small kiss before seating himself behind his desk. This time, the papers were neatly stacked.
    “I see you didn’t rearrange my files this time, Sarah. Am I to take this as a sign this interview will be more positive? Or am I mistaken?”
    “That depends on you, Mr. Morganstern. It depends on your truthfulness and when you answer my questions.”
    “Please call me Hans.”
    “Ok, Hans. Let’s get started.” She sat the small tape recorder on his desk facing him.
    “You don’t mind if I tape this do you?” Her tone was pleasant, but all business, something not lost on him. He’d have to be careful with his answers. She would probably have access to the interview he did with the SEC three months earlier.
    “I don’t mind at all, Sarah. I welcome the chance to get my side of the story out.”
    “Okay, let’s start with your background. When did you get into the real estate mortgage business? What was your motivation?’
    A softball question if he ever heard one, Hans thought.
    “I got into real estate back in the early 80’s after I graduated from business school and couldn’t get a job on Wall Street. I was introduced to real estate sales by a former roommate in college who dropped out after only completing two years. I ran into him in the city and he convinced me to join him to sell properties in New Jersey. Judging from the Ferrari he was driving and the amount of cash he spent when we went out, I figured the money must be pretty good.”
    “So you were in it for the money?”
    “Sure. Why not? It was the 80’s. Coke was expensive and so were women, and I was broke. Hell, I couldn’t even make payments on my student loans, and I was getting sick of eating Top Ramin. If I sold only two properties at $300K a month, I stood to make over $30K. That’s over $360K per year.”
    “I can do the math.”  She wasn’t impressed by his “I was a starving graduate” diatribe.
    “Sorry. Yes. I was in it for the money. I enjoyed it. Pretty soon, I was making over a half a million a year. But when I looked at the financing fees we paid to the mortgage brokers, I started thinking if we did what they were doing, it might be a hell of a lot easier way to make money. So, my friend and I started our own mortgage company and through the 80’s and 90’s, when real estate was skyrocketing, we made a killing.”
    Hans smiled. This is the same thing he had told the SEC earlier. This interview was going to be a piece of cake.
    “What about early 2000’s? What changed?”
    “Let’s see,” Hans leaned back. He had to be careful here. “In the early 2,000’s, because real estate prices were skyrocketing, several classes of people were being forced to rent because they couldn’t buy. The internet bubble had pumped billions into the housing market and homes were becoming unaffordable. Our business started dropping. But the Fed stepped in and eased the loan qualification standards. And, well,