Fatal Alliance

By Elizabeth Farris

When two college football players are reunited a few years after graduating a couple years apart, it seemed as though fate might deal them both a great hand. One went on to make a fortune in the stock market. The other, slated for NFL greatness unfortunately ended up on skid row after an injury ended his football career.

But after a chance encounter, the two men end up teaming up once again. BJ, the billionaire, takes Jake (his buddy) under his wing and introduces him to a world of lavish excess beyond Jakes wildest imagination. However, BJ has a dark side hidden beneath his extreme wealth.

Will the brotherly bond the two men once again share be able to withstand the horrible deeds of one of them? Will the alliance that was built on trust and love be torn down by deceit and betrayal? One woman stands in the balance.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Nov 11, 2014
• ISBN: 9781503514041

Elizabeth Farris

Elizabeth Farris is the mother of three grown children. She lives in Fort Thomas, Kentucky, with her husband. She currently has two previously published novels, The Water’s Edge and Deadly Secrets.

Book preview

COPYRIGHT © 2014 BY ELIZABETH FARRIS.

LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CONTROL NUMBER:          2014920149

         ISBN:          HARDCOVER          978-1-5035-1403-4

         SOFTCOVER          978-1-5035-1405-8

         EBOOK          978-1-5035-1404-1

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to any actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.

Rev. date: 11/07/2014

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Contents

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Sixteen

Chapter Seventeen

Chapter Eighteen

Chapter Nineteen

Chapter Twenty

Chapter Twenty One

Chapter Twenty Two

Chapter Twenty Three

Chapter Twenty Four

Chapter Twenty Five

Chapter Twenty Six

Chapter Twenty Seven

Chapter Twenty Eight

Chapter Twenty Nine

Chapter Thirty

Chapter Thirty One

Chapter Thirty Two

Chapter Thirty Three

Chapter Thirty Four

Acknowledgements

I want to thank all my friends who provided support and ideas for this book. You all are always a wealth of information, whether you know it or not. I especially want to thank Ed Bird, whose expertise in aeronautics was very valuable and also for his research on some of the other aspects of my main character. A special thank you to my good friend Gail Nicastro, who allowed me to use her as a character. I hope you enjoyed my portrayal of her.

CHAPTER

ONE

The two minute warning stopped the clock in what was turning out to be one of the greatest Ohio State vs Michigan football games in its history. The score was tied. Ohio State had the ball with the final two minutes ready to tick away. The game had been electric right from the beginning and both teams, it seemed, were ready to play to the death.

BJ Ferris knew the adrenalin that each player was feeling at that moment. He had been there on that same field, only a few years prior. He didn’t have the talent to take it to the professional level, but in his mind, college football was where it was at. His four years at Michigan had served him well and had been an experience in his life that he would never forget. The friendships he made would be lasting. His football career, however short, taught him teamwork and pride. His excellence in academia had opened doors and his ambition would take him further than he could ever have imagined.

The whistle sounded the end of the break and both teams returned to the field. The ball was on the fifty yard line and it was looking as though Ohio State would move the ball close enough to score a field goal. By 4th down, they hadn’t moved the ball as far as they would have wanted, like into the end zone. A fifty five yard field goal was not impossible, but not likely either. But they were willing to give it a try.

The crowd erupted as the ball turned end over end toward the goal posts to fall only inches past the lower cross bar. They had done it. Ohio State had scored the go ahead field goal with only seven seconds remaining on the game clock. The crowd erupted into a frenzy.

BJ watched in dismay but would not give up hope until the last second ticked off the clock. Ohio State would, no doubt, kick off and force the Michigan team to bring the ball all the way back with only seven seconds to work with. It was practically a lock for the Buckeyes.

The Ohio State fan base was still celebrating when the kick off sailed down the field and looked as if it would go all the way to the end zone for a touch back. The kick was into the wind and as the ball slowed, the Michigan special teams kick returner was there waiting on the one yard line. There would be no fair catch as time had expired. Catching the ball practically in the end zone, the young speedster tucked the ball and ran wide right. To the twenty. To the thirty. The celebrating crowd took notice. A quick spin move and he dodged another tackle. He crossed the fifty yard line and the sea of scarlet and grey silenced. There was only one obstacle in his path to the end zone. The kicker was Ohio State’s last hope to bring him down. He was closing in but he didn’t have the speed. Within ten feet, he lunged at the runner and caught his ankle as he pounded into the ground. The crowd heaved in a breath as the runner maintained his stride and dove across the goal line.

It was a miraculous finish. Michigan had gone ninety nine yards with seven seconds left to win the game. Ohio State fans stood dumbfounded, wandering what had just happened as the Michigan fans rushed onto the field.

Yeah, yeah, yeah one excited fan was yelling a few rows behind BJ. The voice was so familiar. He had heard that voice and those words many times before. Turning around and looking toward the voice, he couldn’t believe his old college roommate was standing there screaming into the crowd. He smiled. He hadn’t seen his old buddy for several years. They had lost touch once BJ graduated. Jake was just starting his junior year at Michigan at that time but they had forged a great friendship in the two years they roomed together playing football.

Jake, hey Jake he yelled waving his arms to get his attention. Hearing his name, Jake looked down at the familiar face and couldn’t believe his eyes. A broad smiled raced across both their faces as they scrambled to get to one another. When they finally reached each other, the friendship the two had shared, which had remained dormant for the last few years, reignited as if it had never faded.

My God BJ, it’s great to see you. They wrapped their arms around each other like two lost friends who had finally found each other, which actually wasn’t far off.

Man, it’s great to see you too. Let’s go grab some dinner and we can catch up BJ said relinquishing his bear hug.

Sounds great. Exiting the stadium was quick since the Ohio State fans made a quick retreat and the Michigan fans were still on the field in a frenzied celebration. Neither BJ Ferris nor Jake Jacoby had seen one another since BJ graduated, however, BJ had followed Jake’s career which had him on track for the Heisman Trophy and undoubtedly a first round pick to the NFL. BJ had lost track of his buddy after the fateful accident in Jake’s senior year that left him with not only a broken back, but he also lost out on the Heisman Trophy and a very lucrative NFL career. The blow was devastating to BJ who couldn’t even imagine how hard for Jake that had to be. Losing everything he had ever strived for. All taken away in one ill fated play that left Jake almost paralyzed. BJ had never seen his buddy after that. He had tried to contact Jake in the months after the accident, but Jake wouldn’t return his calls. BJ just figured it was too hard for him to cope with and moved on hoping that one day their paths would cross again.

BJ’s driver had pulled the Limo around just as they exited the elevator to the parking garage. Jake’s eyes widened as the driver opened the rear door and BJ motioned for Jake to get in.

Nice was all Jake could muster as he slid across the seat and watched as BJ slid in beside him. BJ gave instructions to the driver as they pulled out of the parking garage.

What’s with the limo? You always travel in style like this? Jake was just joking and figured BJ had rented it for the big game.

BJ smiled at his good buddy and said Nah, this was all they had. I usually prefer something a little bit nicer. I typically take the Bentley when I’m back home. Jake saw the twinkle in BJ’s eyes and figured he was just goofing around.

Yeah, me too Jake replied in jest. A couple minutes later, the limo pulled up to the curb at a local hangout the two used to frequent back in their college days. When Jake saw the place, a wide smile spread across his face as he remembered all the fun times the two of them had had there.

A blast from the past BJ said with a wink and the two men scrambled out of the open limo door. It was as if fate had dealt Jake a nice hand for a change. Winning the field level tickets to the biggest game of the year had been the high point of his life, after football. And now running into his best buddy from college was icing on the cake. They had been like brothers in college. Rooming together and playing football together had forged a strong bond between the two that most brothers didn’t share.

Jake blamed himself for letting their friendship fade away but his mental state had not allowed him to move past his accident. Soon depression set in and he found himself at the bottom of a very deep pit with no will to climb out. He would not drag his good buddy down with him as he knew BJ would stand by him no matter what. He just couldn’t let that happen so he refused to return BJ’s phone calls.

Walking into Wolverines, the cheers of the fans was electric. Although painful, it brought back memories of the days when those cheers had been for him, the star quarterback. But he wasn’t going to let the painful reality of it deflect from the one day he could put it all behind him, at least for a short while. Seeing BJ again had been a sheer coincidence and he would relish the time they would spend reminiscing and recapturing the bond they once had.

They found a small table off in the corner away from the bedlam that was increasing by the minute near the bar. After taking their seats, they ordered a round of beers and began what was to become a long journey that would not only take them back in time, but well into the future. A future neither of them could foresee

CHAPTER

TWO

As the two old friends sat and talked, it was strange how their lives, which had been on the same course during college, had somehow drifted so far apart. They were at two different ends of the spectrum. Jake, who was on track for greatness as Heisman Trophy winner, number one draft pick into the National Football League and who knew where else from there, was now a broken man. Penniless and unemployed, he had run-ins with the police, had begged for his dinner when he was on the verge of starving, his will to live was only hanging on by a thread. The two tickets that he had won by answering a question on some radio give-away, where he had to borrow someone’s cell phone just to make the call, was the only decent thing that had happened to him in a very long time.

He even had to sell one of the tickets in order to have money to actually go to the game. But it didn’t matter. He was going to the big game and he was going to enjoy it like he was still out there. It was a glimmer of sunlight at the end of a very long, very dark tunnel.

BJ, on the other hand didn’t have the athletic talent that Jake had but he had just enough to make the team. He knew he wouldn’t have a football career once college was over so he focused on his academics. That would at least give him a fighting chance in a world that didn’t offer many. Finance was his major and he excelled at it without putting forth much effort. Numbers came easy to him and he learned everything he could about the financial industry. Wall Street was his goal and he couldn’t see any obstacle too big to hold him back. He even thought that he could be Jake’s financial advisor once the big dollars of an NFL career started rolling in. All the stepping stones were falling into place and the only task left was to follow them where they were bound to lead.

Unfortunately for Jake though, his dreams came crashing down around him. It had desperately saddened BJ but BJ knew his career would go on. If only there was some way he could help Jake. But that was not to happen. Jake, as far as BJ knew, curled up in a ball and died. It broke BJ’s heart but there was nothing he could do.

BJ turned his focus on his career and before long was pulling in six figures with a big Wall Street firm. With his finesse with numbers and his ambitious spirit, it didn’t take long before he ventured out on his own and made a fortune in stock trading. He was a natural for finding the good ones, buying them, then selling them off at precisely the right time to make huge profits. His bottom line grew by leaps and bounds and he soon found himself with so much money, he needed to offset some of his tax liability. Toys were the answer. He bought houses, a yacht, a one hundred ten foot house boat on Lake Cumberland, among other things a filthy rich young man might need at his disposal.

So Jake, what are you going to do from here? BJ asked, sincerely concerned for his good friend.

I don’t know, buddy Jake replied. I guess pretty much the same as always. BJ knew exactly what that meant without Jake actually spelling it out for him. He couldn’t bear the thought of his good friend pan handling on the streets when it was no fault of his own that he was there at all. Jake had been dealt a bad hand. He hadn’t brought any of it upon himself and it was only right that someone should help him out. If Jake had made it to the NFL, people would swarm around him just to get his autograph. Where were those people now? Was he less deserving of their attention now since an injury took his glory days away? Not in BJ’s mind.

Hey Jake, why don’t you come back to New Orleans with me. There are lots of things you could do for me that I would pay you handsomely for. Before BJ could continue, Jake held up his hand.

Look BJ, I don’t need your pity. I…

Stop it Jake. You know me better than that. It’s not pity that I’m offering. It’s a real job that pays real money. Besides, I have more money than I know what to do with and there isn’t anyone I would rather offer it to than you. Jake knew that what BJ was saying, he meant. They were best friends before either one of them had any money and if the tables were turned, Jake would have made the same offer to BJ. But Jake’s pride had taken a terrible hit over the last few years and it was hard to allow his good friend to see just how low he had gone. But it was a way out of the endless pit that seemed to swallow him deeper and deeper each day. Deciding his life probably depended on it, he turned to BJ, struggling to hold back a tear that was forming in the corner of his eye.

Alright BJ, I don’t know how to thank you. I promise, I’ll work my ass off for every dollar I get. A smile beamed across BJ’s face and the two men shook hands and fell into another friendly embrace.

BJ ordered another round of beers as they discussed their plans. The next day, they would leave on BJ’s private plane headed for New Orleans. Sitting in BJ’s luxurious private jet, Jake was overwhelmed at the sheer magnitude of BJ’s wealth and generosity. It took only a couple hours and they were disembarking the airplane at a small nearby airport. One that catered to smaller air craft.

Just as BJ had mentioned before, there was a brand new Bentley waiting just beyond the tarmac. Jake’s lips curved in a smile as he thought BJ hadn’t been joking at all about the Bentley. Both men climbed in the back seat, Jake savoring the soft feel of the leather seating, BJ not seeming to notice at all.

A short fifteen minutes later, the Bentley pulled into a gated residence