Philip R. Clark
William Heinrich, a ruthlessly ambitious man, closed the door quietly behind him leaving the apartment where he had spent the night with his paramour. It had gone as planned and as he walked to his rented car which was well hidden under stately oak trees, whose branches touched each other creating a dark tunnel under which he had earlier parked the vehicle. Suddenly, he felt a sharp pain in his left side, then a second round cracked and the bullet struck him in the back of his head and he fell forward face down onto the concrete sidewalk, blood streaming from his wounds. He was motionless. He was dead.
William Heinrich closed the door quietly behind him self and walked toward his rented car which he had parked in the usual, obscure place, a short block down the street under the overreaching oak trees so famous to Houston. The stately live oak trees, their branches extended out to touch the branches on trees across the street formed a tunnel over the street much like an umbrella. So dense was the foliage that even the street lights, although meager, could not penetrate it. This afforded adequate camouflage for the car. It was well hidden. The rain, ever so lightly, no more than a mist, had made the sidewalk wet and slightly slippery. So he had to walk not only quietly, but carefully.
He was amazed at how hot and humid it appeared even at six o’clock in the morning in mid January. He had heard that a famous “Norther’ “ was headed this way and it would change all that. The dark, heavy clouds would collide with the cold air from the North and the mist would turn into rain. He walked quickly, taking long steps along the uneven sidewalk.
There were no homes facing the street on either side, as all faced those roadways that it crossed . It made the street seem almost deserted. He definitely liked it that way. He had always felt that it was never wrong to be as cautious as possible. Hadn’t he been that way all of his life? Calculating, vigilant and careful?
Yes, his time with LeeAnn had been worth it, every minute of it. It’s too bad that these little meetings are limited to trips to either Houston or Dallas or to her home in Chicago and then only when her husband was away or out of town on business. There are also those times when she could schedule her work trips to areas where he might be other than Houston.
By far Houston was the best place for her, living in Chicago, and the occasional trips she could get to Los Angeles. In Los Angeles, he had the complication of being a husband and father and the attendant duties.
Fortunately, as an airline flight attendant with some seniority, LeeAnn could get scheduling changes to suit her personal wishes without much difficulty. No one in the company thought much of her frequent trips to Texas. After all she was originally from Texas and had numerous family members in both Houston and Dallas. Douglas, her husband, as a partner in a big name accounting firm, travels almost as much as she does.
Her mother, who lived with them, cares for their two boys when they got home from school, if they are both happened to be out of town.
As a division president with a strong hands-on style, William Heidrich’s position, being national in scope, allowed him to move freely throughout the country. It was a rare for him to be home in Los Angeles for a complete month. Texas was his favorite place as he had more reasons to be there than any other place. The pleasant bonus was LeeAnn.
However, he had a Texas issue that had to be resolved. This technically, aside from the annual convention, was his most important reason to be in Texas, particularly Houston. He felt it imperative that the distributor “problem” in the Houston market be resolved, and had been with this trip, finally. Opportunistically, it was a good excuse to spend a little time with his “friend”. At least that’s what he told himself.
His prior Vice-President/Sales had refused to acquiesce to his wishes to change distributors in this important and growing market. He had waited patiently for the man to do something egregious enough to remove him and replace him with one of his own. His appointment of the replacement, unfortunately, had a fatal heart attack. The final settlement was now his, again, and could not be done by a surrogate with little experience. So it was up to him to resolve matters as he usually did, with determination and expedience. He had been getting more than a little heat from Bobby Reid, in Dallas, to get on with the scheme they had conceived so long ago. That part of the plan out of the way, he moved to complete the arrangement to Reid’s satisfaction and conclude the change over to the Dallas Distributor, who would then have all of Texas...And soon he would have all of Louisiana, once they sacked the New Orleans’ Distributor. He had promised this to his friend in North Texas, long ago. Now it was a fait accompli. After all Bobby Reid had set up the incredible arrangement he was having with LeeAnn and he felt more than a little obligated. to return the favor. Now that the situation was well on its way to resolution and the ultimate goal to be achieved, there was always LeeAnn. He hoped, or maybe just another LeeAnn.
Things couldn’t be better, or so he thought.
