“I don’t know, Jay, I guess when it happened, I didn’t take it seriously. Obviously now I see it in a different light. Give me some time; if I think hard enough, I’ll probably come up with more. I realize now how important it is.” “It’s not just important, Reid, it’s vital.” “You’ve made your point, Jay. I promise.” “Good…okay,” Jay shook his head and sighed. “It never ceases to amaze me, just as I think we’re narrowing it down, the list grows. Happens all the time… Oh well, I’ll follow it up, thanks Buck. Good job on the temporary press room downstairs. It’ll save us a great deal of time.”
The room was packed, wall to wall. Jay handled the meeting without any bickering between Reid and the press. They finished in about 15 minutes and Jay promised another 15 the next day. The press appreciated that he was openly communicating with them.
A reporter from the Post approached them as they left the room. “Gentlemen, I think we need to talk. Can we go somewhere private?” “What’s so important that you can’t say it here?” Jay asked. “I received an anonymous tip.” “Let’s go to my office,” Buck said. The reporter introduced himself as Eric Fisher, a sportswriter from the
Post. In the elevator, he started to say, “I received a…” Jay cut him off, “Not yet, Eric, the walls have ears.” They all remained quiet until they entered Buck’s office. Eric began immediately. “As I was saying, I received an anonymous call this morning. The caller had a deep voice, probably male, and was anything but educated. He sounded like he was from the hood, as they say. Anyway, he told me that the threat to Reid should be taken very seriously. Reid can play golf in any tournament, but he cannot win. Second place is fine, but he can’t win. If he wins, he’s dead.” Eric looked at Jay. “That’s almost word for word what he said. Then he hung up before I could ask any questions.” “Did you get a chance to record any of the call?” asked Jay. “No, my phone tap was in my car.” “We need to call the phone company for a trace,” Jay said. “I already called them; they’re working on it,” Eric said. “You know the red tape there.” “Thank you for informing us,” Jay said. “Do you have a business card?
I may need to contact you.” Eric and Jay traded business cards. As he stood up to leave, Eric turned to Reid and said, “Good luck.” Once he was gone, Jay said, “Oh yeah, I almost forgot. We had a breakthrough on the source of the note paper. The blue dye in the paper is only used by one manufacturer, and they sell it exclusively to The Office Warehouse. Lucky for us they only have four stores, two in LA and two in NY. We’re checking to see which ones recently sold any of the blue paper. Gentlemen, I think we are getting close.”
“That’s excellent,” Buck said. “I hate to break up the party, but we need to get downtown to Tri-Beca. Carl and the advertising team are meeting us at the studio. Jay, you’re welcome to come, if you want.”
“Thanks, I think I will. I’ve got a feeling this clown is close by. The more eyes we have watching, the better. Let me call my office. I want them to start researching that phone call. We also need to check out Rogers, Turner and those basketball players. I’ll be ready in a minute.”
Chapter 20
Buck’s car and driver were outside, waiting. When they arrived at the stu dio, Tom Davis met them at the car and brought them in. They entered a nondescript building through an unmarked black metal door. Without Davis, they never would have found it.
They rode a freight elevator to the third floor. “What a dump,” Reid commented on the way up. Tom smiled, but said nothing. As the elevator door opened, they all realized how wrong he was.
They entered a lobby that could best be described as futuristic: clean, bright and stark. White walls surrounded chrome and glass tables and counters; oversized white leather couches formed a big U in the waiting area. The eye was immediately drawn to the only source of color in the room: a huge, blue neon ‘One’ on the wall. As they approached the receptionist, she said, “Welcome to Studio One. Mr. Freedman and Mr. Hyman are waiting for you in back. I’ll buzz you in, then just follow the hallway. I’ll let them know you’re coming.”
They walked through a long, white, tunnel-shaped hallway lit by a mixture of fluorescent lights and blue neon. As Reid reached for the knob on the huge door at the end of the tunnel, the door slowly swung away from them, opening automatically. What they saw blew them away. They were in a cavernous, seven-story room that spanned almost the entire floor of the building. From across the room, Carl was waving them to a table in front of a massive object. The structure behind him was shrouded in haze. As they got closer, they saw the set. It was amazing. It looked like a tee box, fairway and green in the middle of a glacier. The flag on the pin was embroidered with a picture of a frozen golf ball with the word FREEZE underneath. Next to the tee box was another huge ice golf-ball, similar to the sculpture at the party in Augusta. This one, however, had big blue letters frozen inside, spelling FREEZE. Carl walked over to them, and Buck introduced him to Jay. Carl, in turn, introduced them to David Freedman, the owner and creative mind behind Studio One. David was tall and thin with dark curly hair, a goatee and an earring. He was dressed surprisingly conservative for a creative guy, wearing freshly pressed khakis and a button-down Polo shirt. They also met Aimee, the creative director from the advertising company, who had developed the whole campaign. Aimee was a pretty girl with a big smile. Her outfit was professional yet provocative, revealing enough to stir Reid’s imagination without being too seductive. She wore a revealing, clingy, azure blue blouse and low-slung tight jeans. Her four-inch stiletto heels, while elegant, resembled lethal weapons.
“So what do you think of the set?” Carl asked, jarring Reid from a mes merizing stare. “Truly unbelievable,” Reid said, thinking, and that’s with her shirt on. “Amazing,” Buck said. “Wow!” Jay exclaimed. “Great, that’s exactly what we’re looking for,” David said. “Let’s spend a few minutes discussing the schedule we’ve set up. Go ahead, Aimee,” Carl said. “Well, first we’re going to take enough stills for the magazine and bill board ads, then we’re going to film the commercial,” Aimee said. “Wow,” Reid said. He had never really thought about the extent of a huge advertising campaign. He was trying to picture himself on a billboard. “Me on a billboard? Now that’s a scary thought.”
“A little overwhelming, Reid?” she asked. “Don’t worry, you’ll get used to it. I’d like to do the stills tomorrow and start the commercial as soon as we finish, if that’s okay with you guys, of course. Reid, you need to take your scripts home and memorize them. There’s not much to them, just a few lines, but it’s extremely important that you know them cold. This is an expensive shoot, so the less time we spend on re-takes the better. Okay?” He nodded. “Sure, no problem.” “Okay,” Carl said. “Guys, I’ve got a surprise for you, but first you have to promise to keep this absolutely confidential. You all heard me explain the other night that our next ball is called Heat. Well, take a look at these.”
He reached into his pocket and took out a sleeve of balls and handed one to each of the guys. Each ball had a streak of flame on two sides with the word Heat underneath.
“I like it,” Reid said. “I have one question, though. If I’m standing on ice for the Freeze campaign, what will I be standing on for the Heat campaign?” “You’ll see in a few weeks,” Aimee said coyly. “I can’t wait,” Reid said with sarcasm. “If we’re done for today, I have one last request,” Buck said. “Would you mind taking a picture of me on the set using my camera?” They took some quick pictures of Buck and then of all four men together. “Carl, we’re going to a party later at Ross Misrok’s. Do you want to come?” Buck asked. “Misrok’s? Sure, should be fun. Thanks, Buck.” “Where should we pick you up?” Buck asked. Carl gave them the address of his brownstone. “We’ll pick you up around 9.” “Great,” Carl replied. “Thanks, Aimee. Thanks, David. See you tomorrow,” Reid said. “Gentlemen, before you leave,” Carl added, “may I have my balls back?” Rolling his eyes, he added, “Sorry for the pun. It’s hard to avoid them in my business.” They all chuckled as they gave him the balls. “See you in a while,” Carl said. “Adios,” Reid said.