Benji in Control
by: E Walk
(© 2009-2011 by the Author)
 

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Chapter 55 

Taking On The Big Guys

As I was trying to go to sleep, I had a sudden thought, ‘Mr. Burris didn’t tell me what the people who wanted to buy the house were going to pay for the house. ‘ I looked at the clock and it was still only eight o’clock on the west coast.’

I got out of bed and went to find Mr. Burris’ cell phone number.  I dialed and It was answered on the first ring.  “Dale Burris speaking.”

“Dale, it’s Doug Christensen.  I have a couple of questions I should have asked when you called earlier, but I was still running on adrenalin.”

The voice on the line laughed, “Yeah, I guess I would have been running on adrenalin, too, if I had caught two of the  Tomasek’s most trusted operatives.  How can I be of assistance to you/”

“Dale, the money arrived at the First National Bank and the president was overwhelmed with the total.  Mr. Morgan had a question.  Did the studio have an insurance policy on Ray, Jr.'s Mother, especially since she was on location in a dangerous place?”

“Doug, I hadn’t even thought to check on that.  I’ll get on it first thing in the morning.”

“Thanks, Dale.  I have another question.  What is the selling price for Ray, Jr.’s house.”

“I put the house on the market at $350,000.00.  I’ve had two offers.  The one offer is willing to pay the asking price, if you agree to sell it as is with the furniture and all, and if they take possession on Saturday.  The other offer was for $310,000.”

“Dale, do you happen to know what Mrs. Bradford paid for the house?  Something smells a little fishy with the offer of $350,000 and the fact that they want the furniture included, especially with the housing industry being as depressed as it is today.  And why do they want the furnishings included in the sale price?  Do they know or think that there was perhaps something of value other than the films that were in the house?”

I didn’t feel much better after talking to Mr. Burris.  As I was lying in bed, I began to have doubts about Mr. Burris.  He seemed all too interested in selling the house to the highest bidder who wanted the furnishings.  ‘Why hadn’t he thought about checking on accident insurance?  Does he have connections with the mob?   I need some way to check on his background.’

I was still agitated when I got up on Tuesday.  I tried not to let the boys catch on that I had some concerns.  I decided to deflect any questions by telling the boys about the plans for the weekend.  Mikey picked up on exactly what I was saying, “Daddy, I don’t want to ride the whole way across the country again, so soon,  My butt is still tired from the last time,”

Matt and Mark chimed in, “We don’t want to fly the whole way across the country and back, either, but we want to see Harwood’s basketball game, on Friday night.”

“Guys, I’ll have to see if I can find anyone to stay with you.  You could spend the night at Cole’s apartment, on Friday, and then come home to Summerhill on Saturday, while the rest of us spend the weekend in California.”

Mark asked, “Why can’t Patty and Karen watch us?”

“Patty and Karen need some time off.  I’ll see If Alex can stay with you.  I’ll ask him this morning.  That way you could spend the night after the basketball game at Cole‘s apartment, before you return to Harwood in the morning, when everyone is fresh,  The rest of us will be riding the midnight express  to L.A.”

While everyone was eating breakfast, I called Uncle Howie.  I could tell that Uncle Howie was hardly awake.   I explained what happened last night and the conversations I had with Mr. Burris, “Uncle Howie, we need to determine if Mr. Burris is playing fair and square with Ray, Jr.”

Uncle Howie was quiet for a brief period, “Why don’t you have Rax spend the week checking the house, before Saturday, to see if he could find anything out of the ordinarily.  He can check on Mr. Burris, while he’s at it.  Do you need his number?

“Nope, I’ve got his card right here.  I’ll give him a call as soon as I get to the office.  Thanks, I may have some more legal work that you will need to help me with.  Talk to you soon.”

I made sure that the boys were on the bus before I  departed for the college.  Alexis was already there when I arrived.  I took him aside, “Alexis, I’m going to take the three oldest boys to the west coast this weekend.  We’re going to go to Atlanta for the Harwood and Georgia Tech basketball game on Friday night.   Would you be willing to go with us?  I need someone to bring the three youngest boys back to Harwood.  You could spend Friday in Cole’s apartment, and then come back to Harwood on Saturday.  We should be back late on Sunday, or early Monday.  I’ll make it worth your while.”

“Dr. Christensen, of course I’ll take care of the three youngest boys while you’re gone, and you don’t need to pay me anything.  I already owe you too much.”

“We’ll work out the details later, when I have all of my ducks in order.”

I walked into the office and looked to see if there was anything in my inbox that needed my immediate attention.  Seeing none, I picked up the phone and called Rax’s office.

“This is Roy Fox.”

“Rax, it’s Doug Christiansen.”

“Hi Doug, don’t tell me you or one of the boys is in trouble again.”

“Rax, that was mean and cruel.  Maybe I should check around for a new private investigator.”

“Doug, you must need something, or you wouldn’t have called me.  Get it off your chest and let me take care of it.”

I explained what had been happening with the house in Los Angeles.  Rax, would you be willing to go to Los Angles and check to see if you can find anything in the house that would be the reason one perspective buyer would be willing to pay the full asking price without haggling?”

“Rax laughed, “This sounds like it might be fun, as long as my partner can go with me and you spring for the expenses.  We’re just now starting to get calls, but a little more publicity might put us on everyone’s list of private eyes.”

“Rax, do whatever you need to do.  Call me if you need any assistance from here.”

I provided Rax with as much information as I knew.

“Don’t worry Doug.  If there are any irregularities, we’ll find them.  I’ll call as soon as we have some definitive information.  We’ll be there when you arrive on Saturday.  See if Cole can get us two tickets to the game in San Diego on Sunday.  That’s the least you can do, since we missed seeing the last home game because we were chasing around after Lyudmila.”

“We’ll discuss that when we get to Los Angeles.”

The week turned into an extremely busy week and so I had little time to even worry about the weekend.  I did make our flight reservations.  I tried to pack the luggage so that all four of us who were going to Los Angeles could pack in one suitcase, since we wouldn’t need any fancy clothes.

On Friday morning, Alex knocked on the door, “President Christiansen, would it be okay with you if the boys and I return to Harwood after the basketball game on Friday night?”

“Of course, but that’s going to make for a long day for you.”

I’d feel safer with the boys at Summerhill, in case something out of the ordinary would happen.  I wouldn’t know anyone in Atlanta to call for help if I needed it

“It’s your call.  We’ll leave here at three o’clock, after your last class.  That way we can get a good meal before the basketball game.”

I went to see the basketball team as they were on the bus ready to roll, “Guys, good luck, tonight.  My boys and I will be there to cheer you on.  See you at the game.”

We  stopped for dinner, but we arrived at the arena in plenty of time.  We had excellent seats.  We had eight seats in a row behind the Harwood bench.  When we were seated, I looked around and decided that Harwood must have shut down because there were a great many faces that I recognized from town and the school.”

The game started and our guys looked very nervous and were making some dumb mistakes.  The score was ten to nothing when Coach Carpenter called a time out.   Benji went down to the railing, “Guys, don’t let these punks intimidate you.  They aren’t nearly as good as you are.  Now get out there and run them up and down the floor until they start to wilt.”

The team looked up to see who was yelling at them.  They turned and saluted, and Greg yelled, “Yes sir, we’ll do what you say, master.”

After the timeout, the team seemed to settle down, and by halftime, the score was tied at 3l.  When the team came out for the second half, Greg and Coach Carpenter came over to talk to us.  Greg asked “Boss, is there anything else you want us to do?”

Before I could answer, Benji responded, “You guys need to take some three point shots to get the Georgia Tech players to loosen up.  You haven’t tried any yet.   We know that most of you can make them because we’ve seen you do it at the house.  That will make it so the other people can have some room to maneuver for good shots.”

I added, “Guys, we’re proud of what you have done so far.  You’ve proved to them that we aren’t going to roll over and die.”

The second half looked like a different game.  It looked as if Georgia Tech thought they could wear our guys out by playing a run and shoot offense.  The Harwood players proved capable of keeping up with then and Danny Coburn and Chad Schumacher started to hit from beyond the free three-point line.  Greg and Jordan were around the net to get the rebound if the shot should be errant.  The teams were trading baskets and the score was tied at 80 to 80 with a minute to go.”

Coach Lee of Georgia Tech called for a time out.  Benji leaned over to me and whispered, “Daddy, their going to try something different.”

“Benji, I’m sure that Coach Carpenter is aware of that.  Let’s be patient.  I’m sure that Georgia Tech has been caught flat footed by how good Harwood is.”

The game resumed and a Georgia Tech player took a shot and Georgia Tech was up by two points.  The Georgia Tech players were all over Danny who inbounded the ball.  He threw the ball to Greg who was at half court; he quickly turned around a sent the ball toward the hoop.  The ball went through the hoop and the score was 83-82 in favor of Harwood.   As the Tech player was trying to inbound the ball to one of his players, Greg, intercepted the ball and threw the ball to Danny.

Danny was magnificent as he dribbled all over the court and tried to keep the ball away from Georgia Tech.  There was one second left when he was deliberately fouled giving him three freethrows at the foul line.  Benji stood, “These should be automatic for Danny.  Georgia Tech can’t win now.”

Benji’s prediction was correct and Danny made all three foul shot attempts and Harwood was ahead by four with point.  The ball was inbounded but the final buzzer went off and the score was 86 for Harwood and 82 for Georgia Tech.

The Georgia Tech fans were in a state of shock, and the Harwood contingent was having a party.  We followed the team to the locker-room and I congratulated Coach Carpenter and the team. “I think Harwood will remember this night for a long time.  We’d stay and party with you, but some of us are leaving for Los Angeles. 

We made the flight and the three boys were asleep almost as soon as we took off.  Fortunately, we were in first class and were seated four across.  Benji was in the seat next to me.  I decided that since the boys were asleep, I would catch a couple of winks.

All of us were awakened by the stewardess telling us that we were arriving in L. A.  We prepared for landing even though I had to go to the bathroom, so I assumed that the three boys needed to go to the bathroom, as well.  We were some of the first people off the plane so we stopped at the first men’s room we saw and took care of business.

As we were approaching the luggage carousels, I heard a voice, “Dr. Christiansen, I have a luggage carrier for you.”

“Hi Rax, were you able to get us hotel reservations?”

“Yep, you have a suite at the Omni.  I figured you could get some shut eye before our two o’clock meeting this afternoon.  I took the liberty of ordering breakfast, so I can tell you what I have discovered so far.  I don’t want to give Mr. Burris and some other people the idea that I even know you.  There are some weird shenanigans going on with the deal on the house.  When we get together at two, insist that the contents of the house are going to be removed.  Once I drop you off at the hotel, I want the four of you to pretend that you don’t know me.”

That caused Benji to react, “What did you say your name was, sir.  I can’t remember what you said your name was?

 

Rax left us off in front of the hotel, “I’ll join you in your suite as soon as I park the car.  The waiters should have the food there momentarily.  I ordered it to be delivered in fifteen minutes from now.”

We had no sooner arrived at our suite than two young men from room service arrived with a cart of steaming food.  They quickly set the table for five places and were putting the food on the table when Rax arrived.  Benji greeted him, “Hi Mr. Poindexter, are you going to be taking us to Sunday school, this morning.”

Rax nodded, “If that’s what you would like to do.  I thought perhaps you would like to go see some sights while you’re here.”

Benji winked, “Maybe we can do that after we go to Sunday school and church.”

After the two waiters left, Rax looked around.  “Dr. Christiansen, I don’t think that Mr. Burris is involved in anything illegal.  He’s just a little lazy and is trying to make as much commission off the sale of Mrs. Bradford’s house as he can.  I had a private assessor look at the house and he appraised the house at $405,000 if it is sold furnished.”

 At the meeting at two o’clock this afternoon, at the house, there will be some FBI agents standing by if something big should go down.  I have wired the house so they will be able hear the negotiations.  I have a plan to force the opponents' hand.  It could be a big bust or it could hit a gold vein.  I’ll see you at two.”

To be continued...

Editor's Notes:  I have a feeling that there is much more to this house sale than meets the eye.  I am still pretty sure that  Mrs. Bradford's accident was not an accident at all.  We will just have to wait and see what happens, won't we?

I am certainly ready for more.

Darryl AKA The Radio Rancher

Posted: 02/18/11