Sudden Death by Michael Balkind

held out a sealed envelope with Reid’s name on it. A picture of an eagle was in the top left corner. “I met with Carl earlier; Eagle’s lawyers are working on the contract and payment terms. He asked me to give you this as a good-faith payment.” Reid took the envelope, slowly opened it, peeked inside and smiled. “Let me see,” Buck said. Reid looked up with a grin and shook his head as he started to put the envelope in his back pocket. “Real funny. Hand it over,” Buck demanded with an annoyed grin. Reid handed him the check. “Two million…
nice
,” Buck said. They raised their glasses and clinked them. “Yeah, it’s a good start,”
    Reid chuckled. During dinner, Reid was grateful that Buck understood his need to focus inward and keep conversation to a minimum. After dinner, Buck said, “Let’s go out to the patio for a cigar.”
    Reid ordered Navan cognac for Buck and a Perrier for himself. He told Buck, “I want you to try this cognac. It’s infused with vanilla and goes great with a cigar. I think you’ll like it.”
    “Sounds interesting,” Buck said as he put his legs up on a patio chair next to the one he sat in. He was under the awning at the edge of the slate patio. Reid preferred a lounge chair under the brilliant starry sky. He loved to stare at the night sky and spot shooting stars. The vast power and depth of the solar system always awed him. Reid was pleased that, except for Buck and him, the patio was empty. Buck pulled two Fuente Opus X’s out of his black leather cigar holder. They cut and lit their cigars. A few players approached to say hello. Reid was polite but made no small talk. He wished them luck in the tournament while puffing on his stogie. Some took the hint and moved on. One guy asked Reid’s opinion about a specific hole on the course. Reid just shrugged and let a plume of smoke billow from his lips. The guy walked away mumbling, “Arrogant bastard.” Reid meant no harm; he was just getting focused. Veteran players knew to just stay away.
    Having drunk half his cognac, Buck commented, “Hey, you were right about this stuff,” he held up the snifter and twirled it, sending the amber liquid into a spin, “it’s excellent. What’s it called again?” “Navan. It’s made by Grand Marnier.” “I’m gonna order another. You want anything?” “No thanks,” Reid said, “I’m heading up to bed; enjoy the rest of the evening.” Buck replied, “I’ll be up in a little while, I need to get to sleep soon, too, so I can head over to the club early. The press will be all over Carl, and I want to control them as much as possible.”
    “Speaking of the press, sorry for blowing it at the conference the other day. I really need to bite my tongue when I’m with them. They just get me so damn mad. It’s like they try to piss me off.”
    “Of course they do. A story about a Reid Clark tirade sells newspapers and helps ratings. They’re going to continue to provoke you. You just have to learn to let it go. Let’s not discuss it right now. Go on up and get some sleep.”

Chapter 7
    Reid ran to catch the closing elevator. As he entered, chatter from the other players already aboard silenced.
    He looked at each face. They all avoided eye contact. It was so blatant, Reid couldn’t help laughing. “Okay guys, what were you talking about? Let me guess.” He looked up and scratched his chin. “How quickly will Reid blow the endorsement deal?” No one said a word. “Well?” Continued silence. “Come on, admit it,” he said grinning. Slowly they all began to laugh. “Am I really the hot topic of the week? Don’t you guys have anything better to talk about, like golf maybe?” The elevator reached their floor and they got out saying, “Good night,
    Reid.” “Good night, gentlemen.” As the doors closed he heard them break out in laughter. The message light was blinking when he entered the suite. Thoughts of Jennifer barged into his head. Damn! Not now. Not when