CHAPTER 2

At home, in Traverse City, the boys were safe and they were asleep and Susan Wells was in bed and was under the covers in their king size bed all cuddled up at 7:14 am, Michigan time – 6:14 am Dallas time – but she was not asleep. She had not slept for most of the night. She did not feel safe. She was worried sick about where David was. And this was not unusual lately.

She had talked to David yesterday at lunch time. He said he would call her from the hotel when he got back about 10 Dallas time. He said that he had just finished playing a round of golf with Jack Henderson, Billy Gent and Tom Sorenson they were “sealing the big deal” – doting the i’s and crossing the t’s and not to worry - it’s in the bag - a slam dunk. And that they might go out for a drink after dinner to celebrate but he’d call and let her know first how it went.

She had left a steamy and loving message on his cell phone about 9 anticipating his call in an hour – telling him that he is such a stud and that she couldn’t wait for him to get home so she could ride him like a Texas bucking bronco – it made her giggle and almost blush just to say that.

But now all she could only imagine is that he’s hurt somewhere – lying in an alley, mugged by some street person and they took the deposit check – those thoughts seemed crazy but it just wasn’t like him to not call her and let her know where he was – she hated that – he only did that when he was out with his brothers talking business and he would just loose track of time and forget or when he was out with his old college buds and they got too drunk - she hated to talk to him when he was drunk – it made her angry, very angry – so they’d agreed he’d never call when he’d drank too much. But that couldn’t be it – he couldn’t have gotten too drunk – he was with that wealthy Texan, that Henderson man who only drank red wine. And besides he said he’d call when he got back to his room because he knows how she worries when he drinks lately.

She was terrified, she just couldn’t help it, something felt very wrong, - since 11:30 she had left messages on his cell and at the hotel – it seemed lately it was always her weakness to be unreasonably afraid – she never used to be that way – but some how over the last 4 years since MFI was launched and David, Robert and Richard were now on their own using their homes as collateral for all of the business loans – this big deal deposit was promised by David to pay off the 2nd and 3rd mortgage loans on the house - she had just become less secure and less certain of her instincts lately – her confidence in her own decisions and in those instincts; that David used to call “a fine woman’s intuition “ - those instincts that David consulted and trusted in her to share with him over the years when she had doubts or questions – but recently her feelings seemed to be too intense – and she wasn’t sleeping well - so she agreed to talk to a doctor - and the doctor had said that she was having a tendency to over exaggerate and she just needed to calm down – so the doctor had prescribed those pills - she hated those pills, because they made her feel funny, and she didn’t like that feeling – and sometimes during the day she’d feel even more anxious and then later those pills would make her feel confused and numb.

But her just wanting to hear from David had exhausted her so now all she wanted was to stop the anxiety, stop the thinking, stop the images - so she had taken 2 more of those pills about 2 hours ago and now sleep seemed like a good idea - so at 7:15 am Susan Wells fell asleep - she fell into a dreamless and worry free sleep.