Michael Balkind - Sudden Death

She reached for a glimpse of the price tag but Reid ripped it off, say ing, “Oh no you don’t.” He handed Michael his credit card.

After hugs and kisses, they went to an electronics store and bought a huge high definition TV and DVD player for Reid’s mom. He made sure it would be delivered the next day because he couldn’t stand another day of watching her antique TV. On the way back to the house, they picked up several pizzas for dinner. They ate early and went to see a movie.

The following day, they went back to Westchester Country Club. When Reid explained to Steve that yesterday’s unexpected trip to the studio caused him to miss their lunch date, Steve said, “Don’t worry about it. I was just about to go grab a bite. Why don’t you all join me?”

The main dining room was crowded. Tour golfers who had begun to arrive for the tournament greeted them throughout the meal.

After lunch, they walked the back nine. Reid and Buddy discussed dis tances, bunker locations and possible pin placements on the greens. They got back to Joan’s house around 5 p.m. to find Joan, Hunter and Judy hard at work in the kitchen. They were making linguine with white clam sauce, one of Reid’s favorite meals.

“Hey, what’s with the TV?” Joan asked. “It barely fits in the room. My old one worked just fine. You didn’t have to get me a new one.” “You’re welcome, Ma. Just enjoy it.” “Thank you, it’s wonderful,” she said. Turning to the others she said quietly, “I think some of these gifts he’s buying me are more for his enjoyment than mine.”

“Hey, I heard that. Maybe you should wait till I leave the room before making comments like that.”

“Sorry, honey. Look, I love the car and the club membership, but the TV…you know I couldn’t care less about what kind of TV I watch. I barely watch it anyway. But if it gets you to visit more often, then I love it.” “Sure, Mom. Whatever.” Joan shrugged. Everyone sat down for dinner and talked about the day. They decided to go to the beach the next day, Saturday. Shane needed to go home first to pick up a bathing suit and more clothes if she was staying through the weekend. Reid offered to take her shopping instead, before going to the beach.

The group crammed into the den after dinner to watch the commer cial. When the TV was turned on, Joan commented enthusiastically, “Wow, what a great picture! This TV is great! I love it!” Everyone had a good laugh. They started the video. What Reid wasn’t prepared for were the outtakes that Aimee included at the end. They were hilarious. The comments afterward ranged from roasts to high praise. When everyone settled down, they started a movie. Betsy brought in popcorn and Hunter’s homemade brownies.

As much as he had tried, Reid couldn’t concentrate on the movie. Thoughts of the threats were consuming him. He looked around the room. He was upset and annoyed. Why had it taken a death threat to get him to spend time with the people he loved? Was someone really going to take all this away from him?

In the morning, Reid took Shane to buy a bathing suit and some other necessities. While shopping, they chatted. He told her about his childhood years, the fact that no matter how hard he tried, he remembered absolutely nothing about his father. He explained that although his father had left them financially okay, his mother had to work as she raised Reid and his sisters. He admitted that he probably would not have been able to attend college without his scholarship. He was currently covering Hunter’s tuition at Julliard.

He informed Shane that his reputation as “The Bad Boy of Golf” was really nonsense. The press irritated him and he occasionally put them in their place, but only when they deserved it. He was courteous on the golf course and only gave other pros a hard time if they didn’t respect course etiquette. There were times when he didn’t give many autographs, but he would never treat a fan disrespectfully. Overall, the label “Bad Boy” was untrue, but it had a good effect and he enjoyed the notoriety. Buck agreed that Reid should continue to give the press a hard time, but just enough to stay in the limelight. “Sometimes I push them too far, but I’m never the instigator.” She smiled at that statement. “What?” he asked. “I didn’t say anything.” “Cute as it was, that smile said a lot,” he accused her. “Oh, don’t go getting all sensitive on me.” He shook his head and laughed, then continued to explain the ICSF and AllSport. They talked about spending a long weekend at AllSport as soon as they could both find the time. He described his homes; the house he shared with Buck at AllSport, his apartment in New York and his townhouse in Florida.

Shane explained her career as a freelance writer. She wrote regularly for three magazines and often worked on newsletters for various organizations. They both agreed a newsletter could be good for the Inner City Sports Foundation. It would be an excellent tool for informing regular contributors as well as soliciting new donations.

Reid learned that Shane’s parents had retired and lived in Florida. One of her brothers was an attorney living with his family in Telluride, Colorado. Her other brother was a struggling entrepreneur with a lot of good ideas but little to show for them. They grew up in Cherry Hill, New Jersey and only recently scattered around the country. She didn’t get to see them as often as she wished. She told Reid that although she had known Jamie Freed for about four months they had only started dating recently. More importantly she had not gone out with him since she had met Reid.

They made a quick stop at a sports shop, where Reid bought boogie boards, a Frisbee, and some lacrosse sticks. He hoped one of the bodyguards would know how to throw a lacrosse ball.

When they got back to the house, Reid went down to the basement to look for his lacrosse stick. What he found brought on a rush of emotions. Piled in a corner was his old football equipment. He rummaged through the gear, picked up a partially deflated football and sat for a few minutes, flipping the ball from hand to hand, reminiscing.

His mood was melancholy when Hunter came down and found him. She sat next to him. “Miss it, huh? Well, it certainly would have been a different life for you. We used to get so worried every time you played.”

“Yeah, I got banged around a lot, but I do miss it,” he got up, found his lacrosse stick and said, “Come on, let’s go to the beach!”

They went upstairs, rounded everybody up and packed the vans with beach gear and coolers filled with lunch.

The roads were fairly clear until they neared the beach; then they hit typical Summer Saturday Long Island beach traffic. Double team security meant that they now had teams one, three, four and five with them. Greeny and Mench, nicknamed the “assassinators” due to their expertise in finding and eliminating assassins throughout the world, were in the rear of the vans, scanning traffic for any suspicious vehicles that might be tailing them.

Upon arrival at the beach, the security teams disembarked before everyone else. After a quick survey of the area, they gave each other silent all-clear signals. The group carried the sports equipment and coolers down the boardwalk to the crowded beach and made camp high up near the dunes. Reid immediately challenged anyone to a Boogie Board race. Shane and Betsy accepted and grabbed boards. “Come on, Joel,” Reid said. “Are you a chicken?” He did a ridiculous chicken impression and got a few laughs. “Not today, Reid. Sorry.” Shane had picked up on the change in the security team’s behavior.

They seemed to have stepped up to a more serious level. “Reid, what’s going on?” she asked. “Why are Joel and the others suddenly much more serious?” “Yeah, I noticed it too,” Betsy said. “What happened?” Reid put his head down and said, “Now please don’t overreact. I don’t want everyone panicking. I got another threat yesterday at the golf course. I didn’t want to worry you guys more than you are already.”