C
hapter
1
5
Construction finally wrapped up
on the Bi
l
lionaire’s Retreat
. Bridget and Woodrow were ready to make the lavish lodging accommod
a
tion public. The exterior now had
new lan
d
scaping
, a pool,
and four tennis courts. The
i
n
terior of the building was completely retrofi
t
ted according to Sarah’s
d
esign
that
tran
s
formed
it
into a
plush
vacation resort
getaway.
Sarah took the Titanimums over to their new resort for a walk
through. They were
n
o
ticeably
pleased with their new
Olympic size pool. The retreat would play host to
corporat
e and group
engagements for swimming
and
or tennis camps
.
Brisband and Johnny
Davis
had their bails
posted
while they
await
ed
their scheduled
court date
.
Johnny tried
a few times to
call
and text messag
e
his mistress
,
Sarah. Wisely, she refused his attempts for conversation. In addition, Johnny’s marriage
was on
the rocks. Vera was having difficulty showing affection for her husband. They were now sleeping in separate bedrooms.
The topic of divorce crept into their daily conversations.
The Titanimums would host Woodrow’s
o
il
t
ycoon friends in their
first
bash to be held at the resort.
Sarah and her business partner
r
e
ceived
guest
invitations from the Titanimums to attend the
festivity. They were given the o
p
tion to bring mates.
Chris sex change operation
had taken
place without a hitch. Chris’ legal name was now Kristy Kane. At work, everyon
e
made a co
n
certed effort to verbally address her in a ge
n
der
appropriate manner
.
Kristy’s successful makeover had transformed her into a go
r
geous woman.
Saturday night
, Clyde Jeffreys an ex
bus
i
ness associate of Brisband was suddenly shot while leaving a
n
after hours
night
club. The wound was superficial since the bullet only grazed his left side. A second bullet rang out
,
missed him
,
and
then
became embedded in a nearby car.
The gunman turned, ran in the opposite direction, and then disappeared into a darkened alleyway. A couple emerged from the nightclub as other
s
rushed over to the vi
c
tim. The young lady was talking on her cell phone. They noticed the guy lying on the sid
e
walk bleeding. She t
old
her girlfriend, “
Becca
g
irl, I’m going to have to call you back.”
“What’s wrong Belle?”
“I need to call 911 to report an emergency.”
The police arrived minutes later. They cleared the crowd away as the paramedics reached the scene. After providing prelim
i
nary care to the victim, they placed him on a stretcher and
then
lifted him
i
nto the awaiting
ambulance
.
The police questioned some of the people on the street. A few of them said they saw the shooting. They explained the shooter wore black gloves and a long black mask that co
v
ered his face, which sagged down beneath his shoulders. Belle provided additional info
r
mation to the officers. “Earlier in the night, I remember
ed
seeing the victim talking with an elderly white man
at Club Spears
. They were sitting at a table drinking when suddenly they became embroiled in an argument. The
older
guy got up,
hurriedly
walked away
,
while swearing at the
younger
guy. The music was playing loud. I could not hear what they were saying.” She gave a full description of the ol
d
er gentleman to the officers.
The next day, Sarah telephoned Lucinda.
“Hello.”
“Hi Lucinda, I need to ask you for a favor.”
“A favor…”
“I have a billionaire friend opening a Resort. I have been invited.”
“So what does that have to do with me?”
“I need someone to accompany me.”
“Don’t you have a man who can do that? A nice looking woman like you has to have a man.”
“Lucinda, don’t fuck with me. You know my man was Councilman Davis. We are no longer on speaking terms. He is trying to hold on to what’s left of his marriage.”
“I am going have to decline your offer.”
“Why?”
“I also ne
ed to do my part in keeping my
marr
iage
intact.”
“What is wrong with your marriage? I have always been able to depend on you.”
“Well David seems to be developing a co
m
plex when it comes to me being involved with people on a higher social economic level.”
“I don’t understand.”
“
E
very since I informed him
of my plan to use an education trust fund that my father set aside for me
,
to become
an attorney
,
he feels threatened
because of his blue collar worker status
.”
“Lucinda it may be time you move on and leave him.”
“I am astonished that you would even su
g
gest I end my marriage. David and I have so many wonderful memories.”
“Don’t worry about it. I have another friend that might jump at the opportunity to mingle with the wealthy.”
After disconnecting with Lucinda, she called Shereka Oakley the treasure
r
of her fundrai
s
er.
“Hi Shereka, this is Sarah.
“Hi Sarah, I
t’s nice
to hear from you. Are you in Dallas?”
“No. I’m at home in Los Angeles. A billio
n
aire friend of mine has invited me to attend the grand opening of his new resort. Would you
like to accompany me to the festivity?
”
“I’m sure that I can rearrange my sche
d
ule.”
“Good, I’ll foot the cost for your flight and weekend stay. I can’t wait to hangout with you here in Los Angeles.”
“Sarah. I have been talking with Vera.”
“And how is Vera?”
“She is doing find.
”
“That’s good to know.”
“
I may have convinced her not end her ma
r
riage and not to be sore with you. I told her that you could not have participated in the a
l
leged bribe.
D
on
’t
be surprised if Vera asks for your forgiveness. Vera needs you and Johnny. ”
“Your intentions are good
. How
ever, I am capable of fighting my own battles.”
Chapter 16
Clyde Jeffreys was now out of the hospital. He was relaxing at home with his wife Millicent having a conversation about their current predicament.
She said, “I warned you
,
if you turned in Brisband that your life could be
in jeopardy.”
“You are probably right. I believe he may have pulled the trigger.”
I remember being at Club Spears talking with Brisband about how he shortchanged me on
illicit
jobs.
W
e got into an argument and he stormed out of the joint.
“Clyde, I love you. I can’t imagine life wit
h
out you. It would be a tragedy for our new born daughter to be raised without her f
a
ther.”
The following month, Sarah and her mother in law attended the city’s annual firemens ball.
Mrs. Jones was overwhelmed with pride and anger when she and Sarah both were presen
t
ed with an award of valor posthumously on behalf of her son.
As Sarah was leaving, Mrs. Jones a
p
proached her from behind. “Wait up Sarah.”
“Hi Mrs. Jones, I thought you had already left. How long will you be in town?”
“I’m going to be leaving tomorrow?”
“What’s wrong Mrs. Jones? You seem to be stressed.”
“You are right. I heard that you are a su
s
pect in a
bri
bery case. The only reason you were not jailed is because they lacked evidence of your participation.”
“Is that why you stopped me? So you could prod me about something you don’t know about?”
“Well, you wanted to know why I am tro
u
bled.
I believe you
had something to do with my son’s death. Rumor has it that you were having an affair with the City Councilman that is reported to have taken the bribe. How could you have done that to my son? I used to live here
;
remember, I still have friends loca
l
ly, and their eyes are on you.”
“Mrs. Jones, you are wrong. I loved your son. I had nothing to do with the death of my husband.”
Tears streamed from her mother in law’s face, “You caused my son to lose his life. You killed him! You killed him!”
“No
,
Mrs. Jones
,
I didn’t kill him.”
“Go Sarah! Just get out of my face!”
Sarah dropped her head as she turned wal
k
ing away.
An elderly gentleman asked, “Are you a
l
right Ma’am?”
“No, but I’m going to be okay.”
Chapter 17
Woodrow
invited Sarah over to the retreat on a weekend prior to its grand opening. Sarah soon found out after arriving that
Woodrow
was alone. She walked over and whispered i
n
to his ear, “Where is Mrs.
Titanimum
?”
He whispered so as not to be overhead by the couple that had arrived with Sarah. “I left her at home. I didn’t think she would want to come.”
“I hope you don’t mind that my friends
Vonda
and Manfred will be sharing our eve
n
ing.”
After
Mr. Titanimum was formally
i
n
troduced to Sarah’s accompanying guest, they all drank, swam, and lounged
around
the pool deck.
Eventually,
Woodrow
and Sarah stole away to an awaiting penthouse suite.
They downed a few drinks before retiring to the adjoining p
a
tio where a daybed awaited with a lofty view of the campus forty acre lake. As the sun reached its apex in the sky, caught up in the moment, they made love.
Out by the pool,
Vonda
was lying in Manfred’s lap as they
relaxed
in a recliner
. Vonda
stood to her feet
.
M
anfred
watched as
she dived into the pool swimming its entire length on her back.
Vonda
called out, “Come join me.” He
entered
the pool. As
Manfred
started swimming toward her,
Vonda
swam away from him. He grabbed her legs when he finally caught up to her. She yelled, “
S
top, let go of me!” Manfred let go and
then
backed away. She maneuvered her body to an upright position. After allowing
Vonda
to calm down, he lurched forward wrapping his arms around her in a bear hug fashion. They engaged in a
steamy
kiss. He relinquished his grip
and then watched as she broke the aqua blue surface
,
after falling bac
kwards.
When they were back at poolside, Sarah walked up startling them
.
“Are you guys ready to go?”
Vonda
answered
, “We were hoping you and Woodrow would give us a grand tour of the retreat.”
“Come along. We will do a quick walk through.
Woodrow
and I have other things to do.”
Earlier the same day at the police station, Detectives Tasha Beebe Gibbons and Eric N
o
lan questioned Ben Thomas about the Clyde Jeffreys shooting. Detective Gibbons stated,
“
Do you recall anything from the
night of the shoot
ing, which
might help us in our investig
a
tion?”
“The night of the shooting, I was leaving work when I noticed a man emerging from an alley. He removed a mask fitting the descri
p
tion of the one worn by the alleged shooter. The mask covered his face and went down past his shoulders. I remember the guy being an e
l
derly white man. He was of medium height, wearing black pants, and a solid light colored
long sleeve
shirt. He had a neat crew cut hai
r
style and a nice shaped mustache.
Detective Nolan interjected, “After he emerged from the alley where did he go?”
“He walked a short distance to a dark blue BMW.
”
“And then …”
“He stared in my direction as I stood across the street. A few seconds later, he got into his vehicle, slowly pulled away from the curb b
e
fore hitting the gas pedal peeling off down the road.”
“Tasha, I think it is time to bring out the photos.”
“Excuse me gentlemen.” She left the room. A moment later she returned with a photo a
l
bum. Ben looked through it until he reached the last picture. His demeanor suddenly changed.
“Tasha said, “Is there something wrong?”
“Yes, that’s the man, I saw that night.”
“Are you sure?”
“I am sure that’s your man.”
Later that evening, Clyde Jeffreys received a phone call. “Hi Clyde, this is Detective Eric Nolan. We have a good lead as to who may have shot you. I would like to drop by to di
s
cuss our latest findings.”
“Okay. That would be fine.”
“Are you at home?”
“Yes.”
“Good. I’ll be there in twenty minutes.”
“Millicent said, “Who was that on the phone?”
“It was Detective Nolan. He is coming over to provide me information about the man
who
he thinks may have been my shooter.”
The minutes quickly passed, the doorbell rang
.
Millicent answered the door. “You must be Detective Nolan.”
“Yes, you must be Clyde’s lovely wife, Mill
i
cent.”
“There is no need for flattery Detective. Clyde will be right with you
.
Have a seat.
And if you will excuse me
; I
am preparing dinner.”
“Sure dear.”
Clyde entered the living room. “It’s nice to meet you. May I get you something to drink?”
“No, I make it a habit not to drink while I am
on the job.
”
“You are a smart man.”
“Someone has come forth saying he saw your possible assailant leaving a nearby alle
y
way on the night of the shooting wearing a mask. The guy stopped briefly while removing it resulting in our witness getting a good look. He matched the description of Mr. Brisband
. According to you, Brisband had met with you earlier th
e
same night.
The witness also was able to pick Brisband’s picture from a photo album
.
”
“That
’
s good news.”
“
There is one question
that
involv
es
Brisband
,
which I definitely need
you to
a
n
s
wer
.
”
“Okay
.
”
Why would
he
want to kill you?
”
“Well it all started over a half year ago
.
A
c
cording to
Brisband
,
Jared Jones a recently
retired Dallas firefighter had accused him of having an affair with his wife Sarah
.
He wan
t
ed me to kill Jared
.
”
“
And …
”
“
B
risband
said that Jared
knew of his cri
m
inal dealings
and
could possibly
turn him into
the authorities
.
Well,
I refused
to kill Jared. Up until th
at
point
my work for Brisband only involved me threatening and roughing up some people
.
I told Brisband that I would no longer be working for him.
S
hortly thereafter,
I got a
job
a
s
a
rent collector/handy man
at
a run down
tenement
building.
It doesn’t pay a lot
,
but it is honest work.
Mrs. Sarah Giltry
is a
well known business woman in the comm
u
nity. Her husband did not deserve to die”
“I’m still not
completely
clear as to why he would want to kill you.”
“Well, if I tell you the rest of the story it probably w
ould
make sense.”
“Okay. I’m listening”
“After refusing to kill Jared I notified the
cops
of Brisband
’s
intent to
have
Mrs. Giltry’s husband
killed
. In addition, I provided the
m
information regarding a potential bribe
which
he was contemplating involving a local go
v
ernment contract. To this day
,
I have no clue
as to who would have leaked this to Brisband.
The Police had
assured me that my identity would be kept confidential and that I’d be gi
v
en immunity from prosecution.
Over six months later,
not knowing about the leak
,
I
met with
him at Club Spears on the night
of my attempted murder.
He had lured me there by saying that he wanted to make good
on money
, which I had been short paid.
Once I got there
,
I found
out
there was a stipulation to him
providing the loot.
He went on to e
x
plain,
all I
had
to do was to still commit a murder for him. I
again
refused to kill anyone. Brisband said that
I would have to die
because
of my knowledge of his illegal
cr
i
minal
activ
i
t
ies.
He then appeared upset and stormed out of the
club
.
The Feds
have also been tipped off to
his trafficking activity as result of
the
i
n
formation
which
I
supplied
to the local police.
”
Millicent entered the room. “Is everything alright?”
“The good detective believes Brisband is the man that shot me.
I agree with him.
They would like to see him back behind bars.”
“I know your intentions are good. However, I don’t want you endangering my husband.”
Clyde spoke up, “He is right Millicent.
All of the evidence seems to point to Brisband.
If we do nothing then my life could still be enda
n
gered.”
“Alright dear
…”
Nolan said,
“
I am going to be leaving. I have all the information I need
,
for now.
”
Millicent
asked
, “
W
ould
you
like to join us for dinner?
”
“The Detective
quickly
turned down her o
f
fer
, “
No. Thank you.”