Billionaire's Retreat

Billionaire’s

Retreat
Book – 1

Titillating

Romance

Murder Mystery

Suspense Thriller

Rare Jewels Publishing Company

Also
by
Eddie Johnson:

Love’s Wicked Game

Reaching For
Celestial
Heigh
ts

The author prohibits any reproduction of this book without his authorization. Brief excerpts are permitted for reviews and articles. Any r
e
al life individual resemblances are purely c
o
incidental. Situational dialogue and character interactions are products of the author’s
ima
g
ination.

First Printing  2012

Copyright
© 2012

Eddie Johnson

www.RareJewelsPublishing.com

Chapter 1

Sarah Giltry grew up as the eldest child in a military family. Her father was Marine Se
r
geant Thomas Giltry, a
r
etired Vietnam War
o
fficer. Sarah an intelligently bright
child
fi
n
ished at the top of her high school class.
A
manda her only sibling was evenly gifted
.
Their
mother
Serena
was a typical military
wife. She worked as a substitu
t
e teacher
,
a perfect job
for
someone with
a
family which
moved frequently
.

Fast forward, a
t thirty years of age, Sarah Giltry was a successful
i
nterior
d
e
signer
in the Los Angeles area.

On a dreary
day in December, upon boar
d
ing
a
flight departing
the
Dallas
/
Fort
Worth
area
, she introduced herself to the elderly woman seated to her right. “Hi
,
I am Sarah Giltry.” 

“It is nice to meet you, Sarah. You can call me Bridget. My full name is Bridgettia
The
o
dora
Titanimum.”

“It’s my pleasure to make your acquain
t
ance.”

The flight continued for about 20 minutes before silence was broken between the two.
Bridget said, “I’m on my way
home
to Los Angeles.
”

“What a coincidence I’m also returning to the City of Angels.”

“One of the perks of being wealthy and r
e
tired is that you get to travel often.
”

“
That’s nice.
Most of my travel is work r
e
lated.”

“What’s your profession, darling?”

Sarah responded,
“
I’m an interior desig
n
er.”

“My husband and I could possibly make use of your
expertise.
We’re currently looking for an interior designer. I would like to hear about
one of your
new or current project
s
.”

“
While in Dallas, I made a pitch for a m
i
nority subcontracting position with Brisband Construction. The company is hoping to win
a
pproval to refurbish several
city
government buildings.”

“Your work must take up a lot of your time. Your husband has to be quite forgiving of your lack of attention to
wards
him.” 

“Well Bridget he was that type of man.  He understood that my work made me happy.
”

“
Where
did you meet?”

“We met while I was attending
Texas
M
e
chanical
&
Industrial
University
, off campus, at a friend’s wedding reception. We dated a
l
most a year before tying the knot.
”

Sarah suddenly became quiet.
Bridget n
o
ticed a distant look in
her
eyes. “Are you oka
y
?”

“No.”

“What’s wrong?”

“I was just thinking about my husband. A
f
ter retiring from the
fire department
in Dallas
, he has been missing for about six months.
He left a cell phone
message
saying
he would be going out to have a drink with a friend.
Those were the last words I recall him uttering. My
husband’s name is Jared Jones.”

“
That really saddens me.
I’m sorry your husband is missing.” 

“I keep hoping he is still alive.
The pain
r
e
sulting from
him no longer
being
around has been devastating, to say the least.

After a brief silence the conversation changed back to Sarah’s interior de
signing
. 

“My husband Woodrow and I recently pu
r
chased a large colonial castle style structure with 86 rooms. It has a large dining and ba
n
quet hall to entertain guest. We have been
looking for someone to refurbish it. Our plans are to lease it to small companies and organ
i
zations looking for a social or corporate get
a
way
.
So far we have interviewed one interior de
signer
and are looking to interview at least two more.” 

“I would be delighted to have the opportun
i
ty to make over your castle.” 

They exchange
d
business cards. 

Sarah said, “I will contact you to arrange for us to meet at your earliest convenience.”

“You seem really young to have been ma
r
ried to someone who retired from a fire d
e
partment.”

“My husband was 54 years old.” 

“You can’t be anywhere near 54 years of age. You look like someone in her mid twe
n
ties.”

“You’re almost right. I turned 30 years old the first of last month. We had only been ma
r
ried for four years. He used to tell me that I made him feel young again.  His words often were, ‘you gave me back my youth’.” 

“I can imagine you probably lit a fuse in him that had long since burned out.” They laughed
.

C
hapter
2

Sarah spent a week in Dallas during the Christmas holiday season.
When she first a
r
rived, she called her best friend Lucinda
Stallings
.
“
Hello Lucinda.  I’m here in Dallas. This morning, I checked into a lavish dow
n
town high
rise
apartment
. Brisband Constru
c
tion is footing the bill.”
 

“That’s great Sarah.” 

“
This Tuesday, t
hey
will make a pitch geared towards winning a bid for a
gover
n
mental building
renovation
s
project
.
My co
m
pany has been selected as a subcontractor pending them getting the nod
.
”

“It’s wonderful that your business is flou
r
ishing.  How is my friend?” 

“I’m fine.
”

“
How is David?” 

“He appears fine when I’m not threatening to divorce his
ass
. The longer we’re married it seems the more I cannot stand his presence.” 

“That doesn’t sound right.”  

“Well Sarah, I think we should go out and celebrate since you’re in town. I am going to whip up some food for David and leave him a note that I’m out with you.”

Lucinda arrived at the
lavish quarters
where Sarah was awaiting. They decided to go to Zola’s Dance Emporium, a newly esta
b
lished adult bar and dance club. 

They talked, drank, and danced late into the night while turning down offers from over a half dozen males.

The next day Sarah dropped in on Harry
.
His construction company occupied the
top floor
suites in a nearby office tower. They di
s
cussed her verbal presentation along with vi
s
ual aides that w
ould
be used to depict her plans for the project.

After their meeting, they joined other top
level managers for a power lunch. She found out a celebratory ball would take place mid February.
They felt confident
that they would be awarded the contract.

Sarah said, “I will try to keep my calendar free
.
I would love to fly back to share in the celebration.”  

The next night
,
Sarah
had just disrobed to get
ready for bed
when
she heard a
k
nock
.
G
rabbing a robe, she answered the door
after hearing
David
asking to come in for a brief stay.

“What are you doing here David Stallings? I never liked you dropping in even when my husband was still around.
Y
ou were always flirting with me even in his presence. I still do
n
o
t trust you. You need to go home to your wife. Does Lucinda know that you’re here?”

“Sarah, I only stopped by because Lucinda told me that you’re in town. She said you hung out with her at Zola’s
.
I only want to know how you’re faring without Jared. I still miss him. We were always so close. You are one of the few connections I still have to that part of my life.”  

“David
,
you can come in for a
little while.
However, you will have to promise me that you w
on’t
take this visit the wrong w
ay.” 

“What are you talking about?” 

“
I’m referring to how you look at me
. You look at me as if you would like for us to b
e
come romantically involved.
”
  

“Sarah
. T
hat is
c
razy. I admir
e
your beauty. However, I could never betray the trust of my best friend.” 

“Would you like a drink? When you knocked, I was get
ting ready for a
nightcap
.
” 

“I’ll have what ever you
’re
having.” 

He sat at the din
ing room
table. Sarah r
e
turned with the drinks. They reminisced about the retirement party that Jared had a few weeks prior to his disappearance.
David asked,
“Did the police ever check out the lead on the firefighter that
fought with J
ared? The two of them could never stand each other at work.
Then he showed up at Jared’s party uninvited. After getting loaded on booze, he started di
s
respecting you. Jared told him to lay off his wife. However, he did not listen. He grabb
ed
hold of your arm
s
trying to
force
you to dance with him. The next thing I knew Jared had sucker punched him in the face. The two then became embroiled in a slugfest. I remember
guest escorting the party crasher to the door
after pulling them apart
.
He advised Jared b
e
fore exiting
that this was not over.”

“Well David, the police w
eren’t
able to find any evidence to tie him to Jared’s disappea
r
ance.”

“What was his name?” 

“If I remember correctly his name was De
n
nis Summerfield. Jared always referred to him as a jerk.”  

“Sarah, it’s getting late. I am going to be leaving. Can I get a nice friendly hug?” 

She stepped toward
s
David
. T
he
y
held each other close.

“Goodnight Sarah.” 

“Goodnight.”

Prior to Jared going missing, Sarah had been negotiating a lease to move her company to Los Angeles. She wanted to be closer to her main clientele. For an extended amount of time, she had been traveling between her Los Angeles condominium and their home in Da
l
las. Since Jared had retired, there wasn’t any reason why they shouldn’t move. She made the move after his disappearance and sold the house in Dallas.

The next morning it was time for the
City C
ouncil meeting. Brisband Construction made a pitch as planned including Sarah
’s
interior
design
ed
component.
The council would select the winning bid the first Tuesday of February after considering their proposal along with two others.

In the afternoon, Sarah participated in a live television newscast focusing on her quest to find her husband.

The news anchor stated, “Your husband has been missing for over six months. How are you coping in his absence?”

Fighting back tears Sarah res
ponded
, “It has been hard. No one can imagine the mental anguish I have endured since he has been gone. I wish someone would step forward with information
.
”

“Tell us about the reward you are offering. We will display his picture as you provide the details.”

“I have set up an award of $250,000.00 for anyone who can provide the whereabouts of my husband, Jared Jones. Please, take a close look at this photograph. If you have the i
n
formation needed to find him, contact any of the local law enforcement agencies.” 

Saturday morning, Sarah packed and by early afternoon was at the airport awaiting her flight back to Los Angeles.