Michael Balkind - Sudden Death

They each took turns throwing out possible suspects. Buck started by saying, “David Jordan.” Jay looked at Reid and asked, “Will you elaborate?” “Of course. David Jordan was my first agent; I fired him when I hired

Buck. He obviously knows that he missed out on the big money.” Susan rapidly took more notes. “Okay, next name?” Jay said. “Eli,” Buddy said. Reid explained, “My former caddie, Eli Saline, also felt shafted when I fired him. We had a standing offer that I would pay him a big bonus when I reached $5 million in earnings. I let him go when I was at $4 million, obviously without the bonus.”

Reid let them finish their notes. “There’s also Jennifer, my most recent girlfriend, who is hopefully moving out of my apartment as we speak,” he said with a grin. Jay nodded with a raised brow. Hunter chimed in. “What about all your past girlfriends? You used to go through about one a week.” “I’m not that bad, am I?” Reid asked hesitantly. “Well, I guess I’ve pissed off a few. Let’s see.” He looked up and rubbed his chin. “Hmmm, there’s Mikaela, Alyssa, and Sydney. They definitely were not pleased when I dumped them.” Buck threw out one more name. “You have to check out Mike Gatto.” Reid nodded, saying, “Right! Add Gatto, along with Hubie Van Meurs and Mike Mard, my three partners in GolfCo. We each put $2 million into a golf course project. We were going to use my name as the promotional draw. After years of legal battles with environmentalists, we gave up. It was like throwing our money into a water hazard. The failed project drove Gatto and Mard into bankruptcy. They begged me to continue funding the lawsuit to keep it alive. It was going to be an exercise in futility, so I walked away from the whole deal. They never forgave me.” “Don’t forget about Bruce,” Betsy said. Nodding again, Reid said, “Right, Bruce Porter. We grew up together, our parents were friends. He had big money problems and he drank like a fish. I told him I would help him financially if he dried out. He would clean up his act for short periods, then fall off the wagon. When I stopped giving him money, he threatened me.” As Jay entered the name on his BlackBerry, he began to laugh. “What are you laughing about?” Buck asked. “It’s rare to see a suspect list grow this long this fast,” Jay responded.

“Can any of you add more?” Nobody said a word. “How about any players on tour with you?” Jay prompted. “There’s always a few who don’t like my attitude or cockiness or more likely the fact that I beat them regularly. They would definitely benefit if I was gone.”

Susan scribbled notes furiously and Jay kept pecking at the tiny key board.

After another period of silence, Reid said, “You know what? As long as we’re throwing out longshots, there are some athletes we’ve thrown out of AllSport, our training camp for The Inner City Sports Foundation. We have a rule at ICSF. If you stay clean and trouble-free, you can stay at camp. No drugs, no alcohol, no screwing up. Two strikes and you’re out. A few of the characters we’ve gotten rid of were pretty pissed off when they left. But how seriously can you take an idle threat from a crackhead?” “Try very,” Jay said. “Yeah, I guess so… Hey, I’ve got one more addition. There were some hecklers that I had the police remove from the course during a tournament a few weeks ago. They were pissed and they told the cops that I should watch my ass.” Silence again. Jay finished typing and looked up. “Is that it?” He looked around the table. No one said a word. “Good. Reid, we have a lot of potential suspects, but I’m sure if you think hard, you’ll come up with more. Please work at it.” “I will.” “Okay, let’s move on. Who had access to your clubs between yesterday and this morning?” “We were just discussing that when you arrived. Go ahead, Buddy,”

Alto said. “I gave Reid’s bag to the guys in the bag room. I think there were four of them.” “I’d like to interview them here rather than downtown,” Alto said. “I agree. Let’s get their names and run background checks,” Jay said. “We’ll set up two rooms; Alto you take one and I’ll take the other. It’ll speed things up. Can you have someone run the backgrounds and then start researching all the people on this list?” “Of course,” Alto said. “Excuse me for interrupting,” Buck said, “but how long are we going to be needed here? Reid’s had a long day and needs to relax. Jay, please tell us what you expect from us, so we can make our plans. We are supposed to play golf with the president and first lady tomorrow, if that’s okay. Then I want to head back to New York. I’ll have to charter a larger jet to fit everyone. Should I reserve it for tomorrow or Tuesday?”

“As long as you’re with members of the team, you can go almost any where you’d like,” Jay answered. “But the less you wander about, the better. We have reserved the rooms surrounding your suite at the hotel. It would be best if you can stay there. Just make sure you let us know if you need to go anywhere. Your game with the president needs to be cancelled. You’ll have to explain the situation to him. He’ll understand. As far as going back to New York is concerned, we can leave tomorrow. Frank and his men can cover things down here.”

“Okay,” Buck said. “Reid, I’m going to go speak with the President, then we’ll head to the hotel. We have a lot of work ahead of us and you need to get some rest.”

“Fine, but I’m coming with you to speak with the President. It would be more respectful if I tell him myself.”

“Respectful? Ha, you never show me any respect,” Buck said with a laugh.

“Yeah, and don’t expect me to start now. My respect comes the hard way; you have to earn it.”

“Well pal, if the extra $15 million wasn’t enough to earn it, then your respect is out of my reach.”

“Hmm, maybe you’re right… Okay, I’ll try to show you some,” Reid conceded. “Yeah, sure, in my dreams,” Buck replied. “Enough already, you two. Go speak with the President, then get out of here,” Jay said. “Stu, Joel, stick to them like glue. Keith and Bill, you’re back-up, team two. Judy, Jared, team three. You’re assigned to Betsy and Hunter. Don’t let them out of your sight. Jeff and Kenny, team four. I want you to go to the hotel before Reid and Buck get there and do a complete sweep. Ladies and gentlemen, I only want to say this once. You will not find better protection anywhere in the world than the team assembled in this room. We will keep you safe, if, and only if, you work with us. There may be times you question our judgment in certain situations, but I need to ask for your complete trust. You must be prepared to do anything that any member of the team asks, at any time, no matter what. Without that commitment from each of you, we cannot do our job effectively. Do you all understand and agree?” Some answered yes, some nodded. They all obviously agreed. “Good. Okay, go ahead, get out of here,” Jay said, “I’ll catch up with you at the hotel later. Frank, let’s stay here and put a game plan together. I want to bring you up to date on the e-mail threats that preceded today’s threat.” “E-mail threats?” Alto asked. “Yeah, they received some threats at ICSF’s e-mail address. The first was checked out by the feds, who considered it a hoax. To tell you the truth, I had agreed until now. I’ll fill you in after everyone leaves.” “You got it,” Alto said.

Reid and Buck found the President and first lady in the main dining room. Secret Service agents were seated at nearby tables, giving them some privacy. At the President’s request, Reid and Buck took seats at his table. Reid quickly explained the situation and apologized for not being able to play golf with them. The President was curious about the threat and wanted to help. He offered Reid Secret Service protection.