Silent Partner by Stephen Frey Read Free Book Online

success drivers. Wars are won or lost before they’re ever fought, and the deciding factor is always preparation.”
    “I didn’t know we were talking about war.”
    “Don’t kid yourself,” he replied quickly, nodding at the door. “Every day there’s an economic war going on out there. Everybody is constantly battling for their piece of the pie.”
    “Yes, and some people have bigger forks.”
    Lawrence smiled. “Keep taking me through your background, Ms. Day. You said you worked for Sumter Bank in Richmond.”
    “Yes, a bank you own 8 percent of, Mr. Lawrence. Which, I have to believe, has something to do with why I’m here.” She saw that he was about to speak up. “I checked Free Edgar and the 13-d filings,” she explained, anticipating his question. “The 13-d is the report that requires investors like you to inform the Securities and Exchange Commission that he or she has acquired 5 percent or more of a public company. There were a couple on file. You’re up from owning 6 percent of Sumter two months ago.” She shook her head. “I did a rough calculation. As near as I can tell, you’ve got about $450 million tied up in Sumter stock.”
    “Actually, it’s closer to $4 90 million. Almost five hundred.”
    “Wow.” Angela couldn’t help reacting aloud. It wasn’t just the amount of the investment that impressed her. It was the fact that Lawrence would invest that much in one stock. She assumed his financial advisors would keep him widely diversified, so even the liquid portion of his net worth had to be huge if he could devote almost half a billion dollars to a single investment. Even if he was using margin.
    “I’ve spent $490 million so far,” he continued, “but you are correct in that my investment is only worth $450 million. The stock has dropped a few points over the last couple of months, even as I’ve been buying. Usually, the price of a stock rises as word gets out that I’m accumulating. The press calls it the ‘Lawrence Effect.’ My investment bankers are curious about why the Lawrence Effect isn’t kicking in this time. I always said hell would freeze over the day an investment banker didn’t have an explanation for something. Maybe it has. I don’t know. I hope I never find out. But I do know I’m down $40 million.”
    Down forty million. The amount was mind-boggling.
    “I don’t like losses, Ms. Day. In fact, I hate them. Even small ones like forty million.”
    “Do you mind if I ask why you’re so interested in Sumter Bank?”
    “Not at all. Sumter has a strong market position in the Southeast, and the Southeast is one of the fastest-growing regions of the country. Its earnings, and therefore its share price, have a lot of room on the upside.”
    “But Sumter’s shares already trade at almost two times book value, even with the recent decline in the stock price you mentioned. Isn’t that pretty good for a bank? I mean, it’s not as if we’re going to discover a cure for cancer or invent the next white-hot wireless device. When you get right down to it, bank stocks are pretty boring.”
    “You have your opinion,” he replied stonily, “and I have mine.”
    Angela cleared her throat, realizing how arrogant she must have sounded. Jake Lawrence and his people were probably in and out of world stock markets on a minute-by-minute basis, trading millions of dollars worth of securities every day. She executed a couple of transactions a year in her tiny portfolio. “I’m sorry, Mr. Lawrence. I—”
    “Don’t ever be sorry, Ms. Day. It’s a certain sign of weakness.”
    She looked up and saw that he was smiling.
    “By the way, do you mind if I call you Angela?”
    “Of course not.”
    “Good. And I want you to call me Jake. All right?”
    “Sure.” But she wasn’t. “Mr. Lawrence” seemed more appropriate, and she didn’t want him thinking she was getting comfortable.
    “So, Angela, where did you grow up?”
    “Asheville, North Carolina.”
    Lawrence