Code-5 (Adventures of a Baby Boomer Book 1)

by Thomas Shaw

  “We have a large selection of “Ping”… in fact, that is my favorite brand,” Jose said, with a huge smile.

  Jose led Donny through the pro-shop to a door opening into a large workroom. There were two rows of work benches with shelves of heads, shafts and grips of every size and make.

  “I have the new “Ping” driver heads that just came on the market,” he held up a #1 driver with what looked like a grapefruit on a stick. It was huge.

  “Let’s start with that,” Donny said with a laugh.

  Minutes later Jose had “spun-welded” a Carbon-Carbon shaft to the huge driver head fitted with a “monster grip”, the latest development in Ping’s arsenal.

  Jose had hung a catch net in the back corner of the room with a tee-pad like you see at a driving range, for Donny to give his new clubs a practice swing. The resounding crack the driver made as Donny struck the ball sounded like a .45 pistol going off in the workroom. “What a powerful swing,” Jose said, feeling comfortable that Donny knew exactly what he was doing.

  They went through all the woods and were about to start on the irons when Donny stopped him. “We may have a problem with the irons,” Donny said, with some trepidation.

  “What do you mean?” Jose said totally confused.

  “I’m a lefty when it comes to the irons,” he stated.

  “No problem,” Jose smiled. “I have another customer who is left handed and I keep a complete stock of heads just for him.” They went to work on the irons and forty-five minutes later Donny had a complete set of personalized clubs at the expense of his host. It was about fifteen minutes after seven when they selected the golf bag to hold the new clubs.

  “I’ll take you to the driving range so you can warm up,” Jose offered, motioning to the golf cart.

  “I have a better idea,” Donny said. “Why don’t you let me buy us breakfast?”

  “Are you sure you don’t want to try out your new clubs?” Jose said with true concern.

  “I’ll have the rest of the day to get used to these clubs, but to tell the truth, I’d like to hear about hole placement and what to watch out for while I’m out there on the course,” Donny said in earnest.

  There were few golfers at this hour in the Breakfast Bar, so they had ample time to have a quick bite and for Donny to hear the entire do’s and don’ts about a golf course Jose knew by heart. “You won’t remember half the things I’ve told you,” Jose said. “I must sound like an old man talking about a past love.”

  “More like a current love,” Donny laughed.

  They had just finished their breakfast when Juan walked in.

  “I’ve been looking for you two,” Juan said as he shook hands with both men. “I thought you would be on the driving range going through the second bucket of balls. Did Jose set you up with some clubs?” Juan asked, with a quizzical look.

  “Of course,” Donny answered with conviction, “Jose has been very helpful. Let’s go hit a couple of balls and I’ll be ready to go,” Donny said, standing up from the table.

  “Thanks again for all your help,” Donny said, shaking hands firmly with Jose. He shook back with the same firmness. A true bond had been formed.

  “I’ve got my cart out front. Why don’t you ride with me?” Juan said, with his usual take charge attitude. When they arrived at the driving range the two employees’, aka body guards, were halfway through their bucket of balls.

  “You boys need to wrap it up; our tee-time is in five minutes,” Juan said, seeming a little miffed that Donny hadn’t even been to the driving range but was having breakfast instead.

  Donny jumped out of the cart, pulling out a #3 wood on the way, and then grabbed three golf balls from one of the buckets. He tee’ed up on the rubber tube sticking out of the green mat; a no, no in this golfing group.

  After a couple of quick warm up swings, Donny took a healthy whack at the ball. The ball sailed straight for about a hundred and fifty yards then sliced sharply to the right, hitting the retainer fence.

  All eyes were on Donny, but no one said a word.

  Donny tee’ed up another ball and whack, this time it broke to the left and would have sailed out of bounds on any golf course. A few muffled chuckles came from the onlookers.

  Donny tee’ed up, with the third ball. This time it flew straight down the driving range and bounced off the 175 yard marker.

  “Now that’s a golf shot,” Donny said, putting his driver back in the bag. “I’m ready.”

  Juan smiled to himself, thinking that this was going to be easy money.

  On the way to the #1 tee Juan explained how they always played for a hundred dollars US per hole. A tie would roll over to the next hole until someone won.

  “Sounds like my kind of game,” Donny said, with a smile.

  After a unanimous vote it was decided that Donny would tee off first. The first hole was a 425 yard par 4 with bunkers lining the left side of the fairway.

  Donny took one practice swing with his new driver, then addressed the ball and whacked a low drive with a lot of top spin, right down the middle of the fairway. Remembering what Jose had said about this hole, he used the top spin to get another 30 yards on this freshly mowed fairway. His ball finally stopped rolling at 275 yards.

  The other threesome looked at each other and silently thought, this was going to be a little more challenging than they thought.

  One by one they followed.

  One landed in the bunker of the left, another in the rough on the right.

  Juan drove his ball a respectable 200 yards right down the middle.

  Since Donny was closest to the green, he waited at the back of the pack until everyone had taken their second shot.

  No one made the green but Juan was the closest by laying up about 20 yards in front of the first hole. The threesome looked on in amazement as Donny addressed the ball, left handed, with his #7 iron. With no practice swing, he took a full stroke at the ball. A three inch divot flew about 20 feet while the golf ball launched into a high arch straight toward the pin. A hundred and sixty yards later the ball dropped down on the backside of the green just pin high. The backspin pulled the ball to a mere four feet from the hole. Jose’s explanation of how to play this particular hole was paying off.

  Juan made his par, while the other two made bogie and double bogie.

  Donny won the first hole with a birdie.

  At the end of 9 holes, Donny had tied 4 holes and won the other 5, giving him 9 wins or $2,700.00 so far. By the time they were coming into the 18th hole, the word was out that there was an American who played both right and left handed and was as good as Tiger Woods.

  As they approached the 18th tee, there was an abnormal number of golf carts parked around the area and over a dozen people had grouped together to watch the “Americano.”

  This last hole was a long 510 yard par 5. It went slightly downhill for about 275 yards, and then made a hard dogleg to the right then slightly up hill to the 18th green. There was a heavy growth of pine trees on both sides of the fairway.

  Having won the last hole, Donny was the first one to tee off. He took out his #2 iron, tee’ed the ball up extra high and took several practice swings. Left handed of course. The crowd marveled at his style. On this particular hole it was customary to lay up about 250 yards at the bottom of the dogleg. Then without hesitation he walked back to his bag, replaced the #2 iron and pulled out the big Ping driver. He walked back to his ball, realigned his shot, and without any practice swings took a full stroke at the ball sending it up over the trees straight towards the green. The resounding report the ball made assured the crowd that this ball was on a long ride. It started out low but slowly began to climb as it approached the trees. After several long seconds the ball began to drop below the tree line and was out of sight. After another long five seconds you heard a roar of applause from the unseen crowd of people who had collected at the 18th green. One of them was Jose.

  Juan was the next player to tee off. Using his #2 driver,
laid up at the bottom of the dogleg.

  The next player tried to compete with Donny’s shot but the unmistakable sound of a golf ball striking a tree ended his hopes. Donny’s ball was lying in the middle of the fairway about 100 yards from the green. A full swing with his #9 iron dropped the ball on the back of the green, allowing the back spin to draw the ball back to within 6 feet of the hole, leaving a short downhill putt. Donny waited for the rest of the party to putt out and then took his final turn. It was a straight in, and he put the ball right in the middle of the cup.

  The Eagle on the 18th hole gave Donny an amazing 1 over par and total winnings of $5,400.00. Donny insisted on buying drinks for everyone at the Clubhouse bar. After much spirited conversations they headed back to the Castaic mansion. It was 4:30 in the afternoon.

  18

  When they arrived back at the mansion everyone went their separate ways, with instructions to meet at 7 o’clock for cocktails.

  When Donny returned to his room he found a package waiting for him at the foot of his bed. Without opening it he took off his clothes and stepped into the shower for some much needed relief and a quick nap. The strain of playing golf via his special training took more out of him than a normal person. Two hours later he was dressed for the evening. On SAM’s instructions he took a small locket type package from a secret compartment in his travel case and headed out the door. He walked down to the veranda that over-looked the enormous swimming pool. This was the place he had first met Juanita. There was a four foot concrete railing running across the end of the veranda separating it from the pool. Based on Donny’s’ information to SAM about the camera coverage, he was instructed to stand at a specific location along the railing next to a five foot tall statuette. A maid soon appeared and asked if he would like any refreshment.

  “Sure,” Donny said. “Are you familiar with a drink called Camaica? You spell it like Jamaica but with a C. It’s a tea made from this special flower. ”

  “I’m very familiar with that drink… its Mrs. Castaic’s favorite beverage.”

  Donny leaned on the cement railing sipping his tea looking out at the pool. He hadn’t been there long when Juanita walked up beside him, just like SAM had predicted.

  “Well, Mr. Donny Briscoe, you are now the talk of the town, as they say in American. I am amazed how you men are so consumed with hitting a little ball with a stick and chasing it for a couple of miles over real-estate covered with obstacles.”

  “Well, you have a point,” Donny agreed. “Would you like to join me for a glass of tea?”

  “Yes, thank you for asking,” as she motioned to the maid hovering just out of hearing range.

  “I tried to call the Cisneros family last night but it appears they are away on vacation. I’m anxious to let them know I’ve run into you, all the way down here in Mexico City.”

  “Be sure and send them my best wishes when you talk to them,” Donny said with sincerity.

  “You know, you bring up a good point when you ask about what makes a man so consumed with some of their strange activities,” Donny continued, “I may just have the answer.”

  Before Juanita could react, Donny said, “A few years ago while I was on a job assignment in China, I met a Tibetan Monk who showed me a method of meditation that gave me insight into the human psyche far beyond anything I had ever experienced. I think it’s one of the reasons I can play golf so well.”

  “You don’t strike me as a man of meditation,” Juanita said skeptically.

  Donny knew that Juanita was consumed with the arts of meditation from information he received from SAM.

  “Would you be interested in seeing how this method of meditation works? It’s very straight forward and easy to show someone else… like your husband,” Donny said, pressing the point.

  “Sure… I’m very interested in methods of meditation.”

  “Let me have a single strand of your hair. From the back would be better, it needs to be over a foot long,” Donny said.

  Juanita plucked out one of her long brunette hairs about fifteen inches long. Don took the ring off his pinky finger and tied one end of the hair to it. He took the other end and wound it several times around her index finger, leaving about eight inches between her finger and the ring.

  Because they were standing close together, the cameras were unable to see what he was doing. He then had Juanita turn toward the pool, placing her elbows on the top of the railing with both hands clasped together. This allowed the ring to hang just above the outside portion of the railing.

  “Now, I want you to pay close attention to my voice… as I speak to you in a slow consistent manner,” Donny said already setting a cadence.

  “Without moving your hands I want you to let the ring swing back and forth… back and forth.” Don started to match his cadence with her breathing.

  “Let the ring swing back and forth… back and forth.”

  He placed his shoulder next to hers so the cameras could only see their backs.

  The cadence went on for a full minute when Donny said, “Open your eyes.”

  Juanita opened her eyes and was amazed to see the ring swinging back and forth, but she wasn’t moving her hands at all; at least that’s what her conscious mind thought.

  “Leave your eyes open,” Donny instructed. “Now without moving your hands let the ring swing in a circle… let the ring swing in a clockwise circle.” Donny repeated these instructions several times and slowly but surely the ring went from swinging back and forth into a clockwise circle.

  As Donny repeated the suggestion that the ring would swing in a bigger and bigger circle, the ring started to jump in an irregular manner as the circle became bigger.

  “Close your eyes and let yourself relax into a deep trance,” Donny said, maintaining the cadence.

  Juanita’s head dipped forward slightly and the ring begin to make smaller and smaller circles.

  “Just relax into a deep trance,” Donny was saying as he removed the strand of hair and replaced the ring on his finger.

  A quick look around assured Don that they were still alone. “I want you to do exactly what I instruct you to do,” Donny said, still keeping the voice cadence.

  He reached into his shirt pocket and pulled out the locket and pressed a small button, the spring loaded lid popped open. Inside the locket was a small round disk about the size of a lower case “o” on a laptops keyboard.

  With her hands in an upright position, Donny gently reached over and took hold of her right hand, turned it slightly to the right he pushed her middle finger up until it was straight out. He then took the open locket and pressed it against her perfectly manicured finger nail. The special adhesive held the small disk to her fingernail as he removed the locket. The reversed side of the disk automatically changed to the same color as Juanita’s finger nail polish.

  “After dinner tonight, you will ask your husband to meet you in your bedroom in a seductive manor. You will then go to your bedroom and put on a suggestive nightgown. You will encourage your husband to have sex with you. During the process of having sex you will press the top of your right middle finger nail against the small of his back. When you finish having sex, you will tell your husband these exact words.”

  “Why don’t you check to see if your “product” is safe? We’ve had a lot if strangers in our home these past few days.”

  You will immediately go to sleep after you have made this statement.”

  “Do you understand?” Donny said softly.

  “Yes,” she responded.

  “If you hear the words, the swallows have returned to Capistrano, you will immediately relax into a deep trance like you are in now and do exactly what you are told.

  “Do you understand?” Donny asked again.

  “Yes,” she responded.

  “In a moment I am going to count to three and ask you to open your eyes. You will do exactly what I’ve asked you to do, but your conscious mind will have no memory of these instructions. You will only re
member that we’ve had a pleasant conversation about the ring swinging back and forth.

  “Do you understand?”

  “Yes.”

  Donny replaced the locket back in his shirt pocket and counted, “One… Two… Three… open your eyes.” Juanita’s eye lids fluttered a couple of times then she turned to look at Donny. “That was interesting… the ring was swinging back and forth without any movement from my hands,” she said, with amazement. “How did you do that?”

  “I didn’t do it… you did,” Donne said, breaking the rapport. “I’m going back to my room to freshen up. I’ll see you at dinner.”

  “Yes, I’ll see you at dinner,” she answered, seeming a little confused.

  Back in his room Donny pretended to talk into his cell phone while he conversed with SAM about the upcoming events.

  19

  The men met for cocktails promptly at 7 o’clock. Naturally the conversation was focused on their golf game. Where did he learn to play like that, why did he play right handed with the woods and left handed with the irons?

  There was a good amount of joking going on, but the under tone was serious. There was definitely going to be a rematch tomorrow, same time – same place. After all, they wanted a chance to get their money back.

  Donny tried to shift the conversation over to business but this group would have no part of it.

  Finally the dinner gong rang and Donny was spared any further examination. Once again dinner was incredible with Mexico’s finest aged beef as the main course.

  The conversation about the day’s game of golf dominated while Keri Ann was unusually distant and Juanita seemed more animated. As dinner drew to a close, Juan was about to suggest that the men retire to the study for a B&B with a Cuban cigar when Juanita stood up, walked behind her husband and whispered something in his ear. She straightened up, excused herself saying she would see everyone tomorrow morning.