Podcast 12 -Novel - Beware The Abandoned -Chapter 20 The Heiress - on 11 March 2024

One reader of “BEWARE THE ABANDONED”, in her Amazon review, wrote, “I just finished this thriller book, BEWARE THE ABANDONED, I could not stop reading it. Last night, I finished it and went to bed at 4 a.m. What a great book. You really have done your research, and it is almost scary how much you know and how you planned his escape. PLEASE, PLEASE, I need a second book. We now need to know how John C. is going to carry on". 

I am just a storyteller. Far be it from me to cause sleepless nights and stress in anyone's life. If you become impatient, waiting for me to narrate and post the next chapters of “BEWARE THE ABANDONED”, you can easily obtain an e-book version of the book in a few minutes from amazon.com. I have started a sequel to “Beware the Abandoned”. However, it will be several months before it is completed.

BEWARE THE ABANDONED is the first of my novels to be narrated. It is a story about John Cross. He was an abandoned child fighting for survival on the mean streets of Los Angeles, when The Sanctuary (a capitalist, non-religious sect) selected him to be trained to accumulate great wealth. The Sanctuary searches the world's slums for the brightest and most creative abandoned children.

John's financial success allows the sect to search for more abandoned children to grow their wealth. How John Cross realized his wealth is of little concern to the Sanctuary. What is critical to them, is keeping their moneymaker ahead of his pursuers - the mob and the FBI.

The murders in Paris, Las Vegas and Delaware were removals of obstacles in the path to wealth. Will his latest romantic interest also become an obstacle? The FBI and the mob are closing in fast on his hideaway in a small beach town on the Delaware Coast.

The novel that will next be narrated is DUEL. This action packed novel is set in Washington, Canada, and the Caribbean. DUEL explores a confrontation between the People's Republic of China and the United States.

The third novel to be narrated  will be USING DROUGHT USA.  It is an action packed/thriller set in Washington, California, and Canada. In an election year, the President is engineering an invasion of Canada to channel water from the Great Lakes, to the parched South West United States. The president is sure the 80,000,000 Americans in the water deprived states will reward him with their votes.

 For information on the author, Ian Duncan MacDonald, visit his website www.informus.ca. Here, you will also learn about his six investment books. The last two being "New York Stock Exchange's 106 Best High Dividend Stocks" and its companion book "Canadian High Dividend Investing - 215 Stocks Analyzed and Scored". You are also invited to listen to his 150 + "SAFE DIVIDEND INVESTING"  podcasts. 

Transcript

Podcast 12 on 11 March 2024

BEWARE THE ABANDONED

Chapter 20 – The Heiress

Mid-morning, two years after John Cross purchased the golf course, he stood in the club’s small pro-shop with two corporate executives.  They had travelled from D.C. to see whether the Golf Club would be suitable for their next sales meeting. Fifty of their employees would be coming.   With the kickbacks the Benji Beach Golf Club got from the local hotels, the three-day event could bring in more than $150,000 in revenue. 

The executives had told John that, for the three days, they would like to hold their meetings in the morning and play golf in the afternoons.  Eager to show them how great the Benji Beach Golf Club could be for their sales meeting; John had asked them to drive down from Washington and join him for a round of golf and lunch.  

A third executive who was to join them had to attend to some disaster.   As they stood, listening to Andrew Brown, the golf pro, selling the virtues of the course, an attractive woman entered the pro shop.  She waved at Andrew who smiled and waved back.  The two prospective customers looked her over.

“Who is that?” whispered the taller executive.

“That,” Andrew replied, “Is Miss Naomi Green, the heir to the Greenline Engines fortune.”

John’s back was to her.  He had missed her entrance.  He turned, to see what had captured their attention.  She flashed him a big smile. 

That she had obviously got their attention amused her. All four of them smiled back at her, convinced that her smile had only been meant for them, and them alone.  Andrew asked, “How are you today, Miss Green?”

“I’m fine, Andy, but I hoped that I could get in a round of golf this morning.  Will anyone be needing a fourth?”

The executives did not miss this opportunity.  The taller one responded, “We’re missing a fourth. Why don’t you join us?”

John, amused at this added club feature, could see it helping him close the sale. He was not about to object to his guests’ fantasies about playing golf with a beautiful woman.

"Are you sure?" she coyly replied.

The two executives abandoned John and Andrew and moved closer to Naomi. 

“Oh, we would be more than pleased to have you join us.” They introduced themselves. She shook their hands and was obviously enjoying their drooling attention.  John glanced at Andrew, who gave him a nod as if to say she really is something.  The short, white, golf skirt did an excellent job of showing off her long, tanned legs.  Naomi Green appeared to be an excellent example of good health. She was neither thin nor fat.   With her blond hair tied back, it emphasized her high cheek bones and hazel eyes.

  John was more than just attracted to Naomi.  That bothered him. He had always seen himself as an island, a fortress. Not needing anyone. Totally focused on only growing his business for the benefit of The Sanctuary. 

 Andrew and John joined the two grey-haired executives. They were monopolizing Naomi’s attention like a couple of high school kids.  

Andrew interjected, “Naomi, I've got someone I'd like you to meet.”

John Cross smiled at her. Naomi smiled back.

“This is Raymond Powell, the owner of the golf club. Raymond, this is Naomi Green. Her Dad's been a member here long before I showed up.”

“Glad to meet you Mrs. Green.”

“It's Miss Green. Pleased to meet you Mr. Powell.”

“It's just, Raymond. Can I get your clubs for you?

“My, my, my - such service. Why thank you Raymond.”

The foursome teed off.  Naomi joined John in his golf cart.  The two executives shared a cart.  They would have preferred to have ridden with Naomi.   

John admired her swing.  The ball soared straight and true.  She was a great golfer. The executives were more intent on watching her than concentrating on their game.  After watching her execute a beautiful shot on the tenth hole, he nodded to her and said, “Very nice. You are very good.” It was his turn. He teed off.  The ball landed a few feet from the hole.

Naomi laughed after his shot and said, “Thanks for that last compliment. After your shot, it is a real compliment. I believe I'm looking at our next club champion.”

“No, that's not about to happen. I like to keep a low profile.  Will you join us for lunch?”

“You're winning. I'd be glad to join you for lunch but only if I pay.”

“That’s nice of you to offer but it's my club and you, and the other two gentlemen, are my guests. You can help me convince them to hold their sales meeting at Benji Beach.”

During lunch, the two executives kept checking their watches.  John had advised Matteo Dafina to prepare a special meal that would impress his guests.  They raved about the food but were anxious to get back to Washington before rush hour turned its streets into one big parking lot.  They skipped dessert. Thanked John for a great day and assured him that they would complete things in the next few days.  

After they left, John and Naomi sat sipping their coffee and enjoying a plate of fresh fruit and imported cheeses.  Naomi told him how much she enjoyed the elegance of the member’s private dining room.  John smiled and said, “It pleases me to hear you say that.  With all the changes, I made to the club that I expected to lose the long-standing members.”

“Quite the contrary.  You’ve breathed life into this club.  It was dying before you took it over.  The ladies especially like the little touches you’ve added.  Those with children especially appreciate the babysitting service.  Since they all worry about their weight, they’ve also raved about the low calorie, low sodium, healthy lunches that you’ve made available at Matteo’s. When they are having a busy day, and don’t want to cook, they appreciate being able to bring home your great food for their kids.  The kids like your pizzas. So, do their husbands.”

John laughed as he said, “Enough! I’m getting a swelled head but I’m disappointed that you didn’t mention the new wine list.”

“Oh, I noticed the wine list, monsieur. C’est tres elegante.”

What wine is your favorite?”

“Yesterday I had warm Haku Tsuru Junmai Ginjo sake to go with my miso-rubbed roasted chicken breasts and sushi rice pilaf.”

“My God, that rolls off your tongue like liquid honey.”

"The women members, were so glad to see you getting away from steak and more steak."

“Hey, we do great steaks too.”

“You do, but a choice is nice.”

“Tell me about yourself.”

“Not much to tell. I'm thirty-one, spoiled, independent, selfish and like playing golf. Oh, yeah, and I've got an MBA from Harvard.”

“And what do you do with your MBA from Harvard?”

“What do you mean by, do? Do you mean where do I work?”

“Yeah.”

“I don't work.”

“That's interesting. You must share your secret with me.  It sounds like a great trick if you can pull it off. You don't look like you are starving.”

“What? Now you're telling me I’m fat?”

John smiled as he said, “Oh, you are far from fat. I would say you are perfect.”

Naomi laughed as she responded, “Oh, I am far from perfect. I don't work because I am the only grandchild of a wealthy man. He provided for me in his will. My father taught me how to invest that money in the stock market and I live off the income of well diversified stock portfolio. The MBA was to get a better understanding of the business world, not to get a job.”

“Beautiful, smart and rich too. Here's a toast to Naomi Green, may the wind be always at her back.”

They raised their glasses and clinked them. As they did, John couldn’t help comparing her aristocratic life of privilege to his escape from dire poverty.  A background that never let him escape the nagging fear of being dragged back into poverty.  He felt he should let her know, they had something in common, so he said, “Although I didn’t get an MBA from Harvard, I did get an MBA from a small, obscure, university in the Southwest.”

“Why am I not surprised?  Are you from the Southwest?”

“Yeah, I was born in Los Angeles.  When I was twelve, I was orphaned. After that, an institution in New Mexico took me under its wing and educated me.  They prepared me for a life in business. I was lucky.”

“Was this a religious institution?”

“Not as you would see it.” 

“Are you religious?”

“Do you mean in the conventional sense, of a belief in some ancient, omnipotent being, flying around in the heavens, controlling everything?”

“Yeah.”

“No, I am not religious. I am not able to conceive of something that is so powerful that it is inconceivable.  An omnipotent being, is too far removed from my reality. Even if such a being might exist, I saw too much horror as a kid that I cannot believe that anything, other than myself, is in control of my actions and my destiny. What I do believe in is random luck and coincidences. People do get hit by lightning bolts. Just like I had the good luck of being plucked off the streets of Los Angeles as an abandoned child.  I would probably have died on those streets and never have had the good fortune of meeting you.”

“That sounds heavy. What are these horrors you have seen?”

John caught himself.  He was from Los Angeles.  Raymond Powell was from Phoenix.  He chastised himself for getting sloppy and letting his guard down. Such a lapse, with the wrong person, could cost him his life. All it would take is one mistake like that at the wrong time and either the FBI or the Las Vegas mob would have him. He had better lay off the wine.

For several uncomfortable seconds, all the raw memories, from his youth and his flight from Las Vegas, washed over him.  He responded, “Sorry, but I don’t talk about the past.  What is past, is in the past.  I gain nothing but depression by dredging it up. I live in the present, and I look to the future.”

Naomi knew when to retreat, “Raymond Powell, you are an interesting man.  I have never met anyone quite like you. You are not like the boys I grew up with.”

He replied, “You should run for the hills. I could be dangerous.”  

“True, but I like to live on the dangerous side.”

John laughed and replied, “I’ve never met anyone quite like you either.  I want to know you better.” 

 "I would like that."

“I don’t feel like working and you don’t have to work. Let's drive up the coast.  We'll see a movie in Dover and then get dinner?”

“That sounds like fun but I need to change and freshen up.  Could you pick me up in an hour?”

“Great.  Where do I find you?”

From her purse, Naomi took out a small note pad and wrote her address and phone number on it. She slid it across the table to John.  He picked it up, looked at it and smiled.

“I know where this is. It must be in one of those exclusive, giant, beach houses north of town.”

John pulled her chair out and walked her to her car.  It was a silver BMW 6501 convertible. He had expected nothing less.  It gave a throaty growl as she pulled out of the parking lot. He went upstairs to his apartment to shower and change.