She Said, I Still Want a Divorce

By Kenneth Allen

Judy Baxter is a fine, intelligent, attractive woman with strong business and marketing skills. She was born that way, and she used her feminine charms to achieve her goals in life. She felt constrained in a good marriage. She had two children, whom she loved, but was willing to sacrifice everything to achieve her goals. Plus, she wanted control not only of her life but also of her everyday activities. She wanted fame and fortune.

To reach her goals, she had to divorce her loving and loyal husband and children. Her decision was not taken lightly, but it was an easy one for her. She enjoyed and even craved sex. To reach her goals, she had to seduce men in high positions. That was easy. She took control over them by offering her charms and body. She chose wisely and sought to never cause her men any embarrassment or harm. Fortunately for her, she rewarded her men by achieving high levels of success for them in their businesses.

Once she had achieved fame and fortune, she once again falls in love and is taken into a whole new world of international arms dealing and terrorism. It wasnt her choice. She was just there at the time. Her continuing story will grip you.

She Said, I Still Want a Divorce is a compelling read that shows how easy it is to be engulfed in life-threatening situations.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris AU
• Release date: Sep 6, 2016
• ISBN: 9781524516529

Kenneth Allen

Kenneth Allen has been busy every day of his life. He cannot stay still. He has travelled extensively around the world by road, air, and sea for more than fifty years, and he still does.Every day he sees stories that need to be told. He could never write them all. The author of many books, he spent several of his early years editing and publishing monthly magazines and writing articles for numerous publications.He has produced several movies films, one of which won the highest award in the Australian Film Industry and gained him international exposure and recognition. All his films can be found in the Australian Film Archives in the nation's capital, Canberra.He has been successful in founding many different businesses over a long business history and is still a director of several companies. He is the founder and owner of a national auto finance company in Australia that was established twenty years ago.He has a large and close family. Happily, many of them also live in the same coastal village as he and his wife, Joan. The village is located two hundred kilometres north of Sydney. Many of his family work at the head office of the finance company, which is in the same small village. His marriage to his long-su ering wife is often a blur due to their constant travel, business, and family responsibilities. However, they are all a great part of his life, which would have been very poor without his wife's undeniable contribution.Terrorists Don't Choose Their Parents examines the lives of several people caught up in the awful world of terrorism. They are not real people, but they could be. They represent people in different walks of life, but in every case, they are consumed with one desire: success, happiness and the seedy world of terrorism.Every time Kenneth writes a story, he is aware that it will be read by someone who loves stories. He cherishes every reader who reads his stories. He knows that every person also has a story to tell, but not everyone has the time, desire, or ability to tell their story. Such a pity.

Book preview

Chapter 1

Judy Baxter was at the top of her game. She had arrived as one of the world’s leading fashion buyers. However, unlike other buyers, she also was part owner with the world-renowned fashion designer Brendon Proude, of the new International Fashion Label, Excalibur.

Since its launch, the buying public had enthusiastically accepted the label. Sales had exceeded all expectations.

She had arrived where she was now, only since she announced to her husband, ‘I want a divorce.’

Her professional standing and her income had grown enormously since she said those fateful words, ‘I want a divorce.’ No longer was she confined to suburbia and motherhood. She had done her duty there. Now she was concentrating on rebuilding her life.

She believed she would never achieve her goal if she had not decided to divorce her husband. Her life was now one of excitement, not daily mundane drudgery. That was due to her decision to pursue her goal, whatever the personal cost. She now shared it with many new rich and famous friends, not just her former neighbours and family. They were now a different part of her new life which had blossomed since she decided she wanted more.

She was contemplating her present life 38,000 feet above the ground as she flew from Australia to New York, on board a private international executive jet. The private jet was owned by Lord Air.

Anthony Lord, whom she met by chance in a bar at the Airport Hotel in Sydney, had installed himself in her life. She had no objections. She had thought at the time, their meeting would be a one-night stand. It didn’t work out that way.

Her only concern was she knew very little about him.

She knew he was rich. He had told her he owned new car franchises, imported cars, and dealt in gold, but it didn’t satisfy Judy’s curiosity. He was just too wealthy. He must have other income, otherwise, how could he afford a luxury yacht, a private executive jet, a harbour front mansion in Point Piper.

His address was coincidentally in the same exclusive area in Sydney where she had recently bought her new home.

She knew he had been married before and she also knew not only was she attracted to him but also intrigued by him and his wealth. Where does it come from?

He had, several times previously when they shared the same bed, mentioned to her he couldn’t divulge a lot of the ‘sensitive’ business matters he was involved in around the world.

He was very mysterious and Judy was on a mission to unravel his mystery.

When he invited her to join him on his private jet to the USA, she jumped at the idea. It was the first time she had flown on any private jet, let alone the jet belonging to the mysterious Anthony Lord. She had work to do in New York and elsewhere in the US of A anyhow. Would this present her with an opportunity to unravel her mysterious man?

‘A penny for your thoughts?’

Anthony Lord had looked intently at her from his armchair-like seat opposite. A small but very adequately sized table was between them. It seemed they were about to be served refreshments by his personal crew.

‘I thought you had left me for a moment. Dinner will be served soon. Would you like a drink first, or can’t you drink and think at the same time?’

‘You should know better than that. A woman can do many things at once. Yes, I would like a drink if you’ll have one with me.’

‘Nothing would please me more.’

His private and very beautiful stewardess needed no prompting. She knew what was going on and professionally joined them and asked, ‘What may I bring you?’

Anthony gave Judy no chance to answer.

‘We’ll open a fine champagne. We already know from previous experiences, we enjoy the bubbles.’

Her mysterious man had taken control. She felt he had the prerogative. After all, it was his jet. They had only been in the air for about thirty minutes. The jet had levelled out at its cruising altitude of 38,000 feet after leaving Sydney. It was mid afternoon Sydney time.

Anthony had earlier informed her they would arrive in Honolulu at about 5.00 a.m. local Hawaii time for refuelling before continuing to mainland USA.

Anthony caught her attention again.

‘I think that penny for your thoughts has inflated to a dollar. What’s on your mind?’

‘Sorry. I was just in a dream. I’m here in your magnificent private jet. I am with you on another of my life’s memorable adventures. It’s all been surreal and somehow, although I am coping with my new lifestyle, I still can’t believe what’s happening to me.’

‘Well, it is happening to you and from where I sit, it suits you!’

‘Thanks. You say the nicest things or are you just trying to impress?’

‘I mean every word sincerely, Judy Baxter. You are the best thing which has happened to me recently, and I’m not about to change or disrupt it any time soon.’

The stewardess returned as they were speaking and placed a white starched table cloth on the table. From her gold serving trolley, she held up a bottle of vintage French Champagne for Anthony’s approval. When he nodded his consent, she placed two glasses on the table and poured a sip in his glass for him to approve for temperature and taste.

‘Perfect. Thanks, Mandy.’

She turned her attention to Judy’s glass, filled it, and then completed the filling of Anthony’s glass.

‘I thought you may like these shrimps and sauce to complement the champagne, Mr Lord.’

‘Great idea. You know how much I love shrimps and I have a feeling Ms Baxter will love the sauce.’

As Mandy left their table to return to the galley, Judy was intrigued. Anthony, her mysterious man, had referred to her as Ms. Was this a pointer to the future or simply her present situation? At least she had learnt something else about him. He likes shrimps with champagne.

Judy took hold of her glass and looked into Anthony’s eyes as he bent over the table and touching his glass with hers said, ‘To you, Judy Baxter!’

Judy looked at him and replied, ‘I would prefer a toast to us. Drinking a toast to me, here in your jet over the Pacific Ocean seems wrong. Hopefully, from today, we will always toast us!’

Anthony responded,

‘Always to us Judy Baxter!’

Chapter 2

As they sipped the champagne and nibbled the shrimps, Judy decided to begin her interrogation of Anthony Lord. She was determined on this trip to find out more of how he earns his millions.

‘You haven’t told me why you’re going to the USA?’

‘Business!’

‘Are you able to tell me what kind of business.’

‘Not really, not in detail. I will say it is a deal one of my companies is putting together for a medium-sized country. I am sourcing the products in the USA. It is a very large consignment of heavy materials. The sale is huge and the supply will continue for years to come.’

‘How exciting. Is it guns or something!’

As Judy uttered the ‘guns’ word, she noticed a tiny movement in Anthony’s body which gave her the feeling she may have ‘hit the nail on the head’. She immediately thought, ‘Maybe he’s a gun runner or arms supplier. I hope I haven’t said the wrong thing.’

‘I didn’t tell you; between you and me, you’re close to the money. Every country, including Australia, needs arms, tanks, jets, other types of military aircraft, ammunition, clothing for its armed forces, IT equipment, medical supplies, and a thousand other items, including toilet paper.

‘Countries, governments, and individuals need people like me to negotiate, sell, and supply them with all of these items, which includes food. It is a huge market. I am but one player in the market.’

At last, Judy was getting somewhere. Soon, she will know the answers to many of her uncertainties about the man sitting opposite as they flew to the other side of the world. She decided in her mind though not to prejudge him. What he does to earn his fortune is his business. After all, she had found him to be very attentive, not too possessive or demanding, and a perfect gentleman.

‘How did you get into this business, not to mention all your other businesses?’

‘My late father was a career diplomat in many parts of the world. I grew up living in a suitcase. As a young man, my father introduced me to heads of governments, or aspiring heads of governments in many countries. It is how I was introduced to the arms market.

‘My father was highly regarded wherever he went and people trusted him. When he suddenly passed away, several of his international friends and associates made contact with me. By then I was already entrenched in the car business and bought and sold gold.

‘The friends of my late father had researched me and one of them asked if I would fly to his country and see him, on a business matter. He had, in advance, forwarded a return first-class air ticket, so I couldn’t refuse.

‘He was, by then, president of an African country. They were about to engage in a conflict with a neighbouring country and he wanted to secure arms supplies surreptitiously. It was the start of my interest in the international arms business. I became a dealer.’

‘Is it a seedy world of business as it seems to be, for me, an outsider?’

‘It can be. It can also be very dangerous. You always need to know who your friends are and who are friends with whom. To do this I engage men and women all over the world and a clearing house, to keep me informed.’

‘Are you happy to be in this business? Do you feel threatened?’

‘I’m happy to be in the business, and no, I don’t feel threatened. I try always to keep under the radar. The seedy people in the industry will always exist. There’s too much money to be made by the fringe dwellers who source their arms in any way they can.

‘My business is one of many legitimate ones. But in the end, I never know, if what I supply to say a legitimate buyer is not stolen by the illegal traders or even sold on by someone working from within the governments or buyers organisations to whom I sell.

‘Public servants, shipping agents, or even the governments themselves can earn multimillions of dollars in this business by selling arms supplied by the likes of me, to a third party. The third party even may sell a shipment to a desperate buyer who needs them to wreak havoc in other parts of the world. At every stage, the costs escalate and new millionaires are born.

‘How many times in our lives have we seen dictators come and go but always, it seems, go with insurmountable sums of money stashed away in secret tax havens. This industry is but one through which they can make themselves rich.

‘It also harbours men and women who act as go betweens. They purchase arms from whatever source they can at whatever price and sell them on to their contacts who need them to win a war.’

‘Have you thought of quitting the business?’

‘No! It’s an exciting balancing act. We have to always make sure the balance of power is retained in the world. Every day there is someone believing they should control the world at any cost. They think it in the name of religion or fanatical philosophies, or simply for money. The world will never change. There will always be someone somewhere who will seek absolute power or even power absolutely.

‘If I don’t sell arms, someone will take my place. I enjoy the challenges it presents and I always try to make the right decisions. I learnt very early to make decisions with care, great thought, and perspicacity. Now, however, is a great opportunity to change the subject!’

Anthony’s tone changed. It was suddenly quiet and personal.

‘I gave my decision to pursue you a great deal of thought. It took me every bit of one second to know I had to meet you the moment I first set eyes on you in that airport hotel bar. Nothing has changed my desire to be with you since that moment. You were stunning when I first saw you. You are stunning now!’

‘You do know how to change the subject. Your story was just getting interesting. I still want to know more about you.’

‘Be patient. You will learn all you need to know about me in due course.’

‘Will that be enough? Will I be satisfied?’

‘You will have to be, Judy Baxter. You will ultimately know as much about me, as I know about myself!’

Judy had no answer to that statement. She felt a little better than when she woke up this morning. Anthony Lord in the arms business! That came as a surprise, but it has to be better than drug dealing! She held up her wine glass and with a look which said it all, repeated,

‘To us.’

Anthony looked with piercing loving eyes and repeated,

‘Always to us.’

‘If this table wasn’t between us I would kiss you.’

He looked at her as she spoke those words and with his right hand he pressed a button. Mandy immediately appeared, cleared the table after placing their glasses on a holder attached to their seats, and returned to the galley.

The moment she left them, Anthony pressed another button and the table disappeared into a hidden recess. Judy stood and fell into the arms of her now not so mysterious man. He had anticipated her move. Their embrace seemed to last forever and was only broken when he spoke,

‘I’m falling in love with you, Judy Baxter.’

‘I know, the feeling is mutual.’

They resumed their seats and the table returned to separate them. Mandy appeared,

‘When would you like me to serve dinner, Mr Lord?’

Anthony looked at his watch and replied, ‘About one hour would be good if it suits Ms Baxter?’ She looked up and nodded in agreement. Anthony continued, ‘Advise the captain I will be making a few phone calls from my office desk for the next hour please.’

‘Yes of course.’ She returned the tablecloth, replaced their wine glasses, and poured the remainder of the champagne. ‘Is there anything else you need just now, Mr Lord?’

‘No thanks. All is good.’ Mandy once again retreated to the privacy of the galley.

‘Where did you find her.’ Judy tried not to sound too nosy or even curious. Her jealous streak was obvious.

‘When I took delivery of this new jet, I asked around for someone to take the job. She is trained by Singapore Airlines, is single, and is able to meet the demands of my schedule. She is the perfect choice. If ever she is unavailable I also have a pool of airline-trained freelance stewardesses on whom to call.

‘Forgive me, I’ll have to leave you alone for a few minutes, I need to complete some work and make a few calls. There are some magazines available for you, or the audio visual programme is available. Call Mandy if you need anything.’ He moved to the rear of the aircraft. Judy was left alone with her thoughts.

Chapter 3

By the time Anthony had reached his ‘sky high office’, his phone was alive with an incoming call. When he sat at his desk and lifted the receiver, he could tell the voice on the phone was very agitated. It was the head of his company in the United States.

His company, All Nations Armco, was well known throughout the world in the armament business as ARMCO. It was respected due to its record of delivering contracts on time and on budget.

George Devine had been USA manager of All Nations Armco for five years. Anthony Lord had full confidence in his manager and always took on board what he said. He became agitated only when business matters were threatening to delay orders, or even worse, when long-standing orders were being cancelled due to a far flung military conflict settling down or suddenly ceasing.

On this occasion, it was the latter. A North African insurgency, which had been ongoing for the past three years, had suddenly halted.

Armco were about to ship a third $155 million order of military hardware which had been placed a few months previously. The order had been cancelled only thirty minutes before Devine’s phone call to his boss.

‘Sorry to be the bearer of bad news. Have you left Australia yet?’

‘Yes, we’ve been in the air about one hour. What prepayment have we received for the shipment?’

‘$75 million with the order placement. They are aware there are no deposit refunds, but having dealt with this party for several years, I have a feeling they will not accept a nil refund. Their leader is a tough and fairly uncompromising character.’

‘Do you have any other possible buyers for the goods?’

‘I have in mind one possibility. The Middle East’s most notorious arms dealer. I know we don’t like dealing with him, but he’s always looking for this kind of hardware. If we don’t or won’t supply him, he’ll buy from Russia or China anyhow. He prefers to buy from us due to our product quality and the security of supply.’

‘What price will he pay for this order, assuming he will accept the full shipment?’

‘He won’t hesitate to pay $200 million, maybe more.’

‘Contact him, give him the we can now supply story and gauge his response. I’ll advise the pilot we’ll fly into your Nevada airstrip instead of LA if possible. Tomorrow, when I arrive, we’ll call the original purchaser and try to placate him. Thanks for the early heads up. Between us we’ll find a solution.’

‘Thanks, Anthony. I thought you’d want to know immediately. I hope I didn’t disturb you.’

‘I’m always available to you, George. See you tomorrow.’ Anthony hung up, called through to the cockpit, and spoke to his pilot.

‘Brad, is it a convenient time to speak to you in person. We have a problem.’

‘Come right up. I’ll unlatch the door and make arrangements for a relief driver to take over the controls.’

Anthony rose and began the walk to the front of his jet. As he walked past Judy, he saw she was resting. She didn’t see him walk past. She looked so beautiful just relaxing in her armchair.

He reached the front of the jet at the same time as Bradley Palmerston, his head pilot, was exiting the cockpit security door.

Anthony always insisted on abiding by every international law of the air. He could easily relax the locked cockpit door policy on his private jet, but he had instructed that there would be no exceptions, even for him.

He was convinced, laws were there for a reason. He could think of no reason to relax them. He always made certain there were four qualified pilots on board any long haul flight and two on short flights.

‘Thanks for the time Brad. Are you able to prepare a new flight plan. We won’t now land in LA if we were able to change our current plan. Instead, I’d like to fly direct to the private airstrip at our factory in Nevada. Do you foresee any problems?’

‘Not immediately. I’ll hop onto it straight away. If all goes well, I should be able to submit a new flight plan within the hour. I’ll inform you as soon as I have approval.’

‘Thanks.’ Anthony walked back to his office, noting on the way Judy was sound asleep.

When he sat at his desk he checked his emails and began to answer them, it was then he noticed one from his security agency who always wrote in code to protect security. When he encrypted it, he was taken aback by what he read.

‘We have been notified you are in imminent danger. An anonymous arms dealer is demanding from you, a shipment of 10,000 automatic attack rifles be delivered in ten days. Your company has replied it is not able to supply for approximately forty-eight days.

‘It goes on to state, if the order is not delivered on time in ten days you will be held personally responsible and eliminated!

‘Your company has advised them only Russian-made rifles are available and have further notified them your normal terms for fast delivery have a 60 per cent surcharge. Await your instructions.’

Anthony read it a second time. Was it a hoax? How could he be expected to supply an unknown buyer. Why would someone anonymously want to threaten him? He composed an email to his manager and enclosed the agency’s letter.

‘Flush out the anonymous buyer. Advise him I will deal with his order personally. Mention his threat had better be a joke!’

He dealt with the balance of the matters on his desk and asked Mandy to bring him a glass of iced water. She arrived with the water Anthony sought.

‘Please sit for a moment, Mandy. There’s a few things you need to know.

‘I have asked Brad to alter our final destination to our private factory airstrip in Nevada.

‘Ms Baxter will share my bedroom this evening should she wish, I’ll be rejoining Ms Baxter shortly. When I do, you may serve dinner.

‘Mandy, thanks again for accepting this position with Lord Air. I hope it will live up to your expectations. Sorry about having to divert from LA.’

‘I am very happy to be working with you Mr Lord. As for the change of plans, that goes with the territory. I can always handle that! Will that be all, sir?’

‘Yes. Thanks again.’

When Mandy departed, Anthony once again became engrossed in his work. He found it impossible to not think of the veiled threat from the anonymous buyer. He had just told Judy he never felt threatened. Out of the blue, he receives a threat on his life.

He also wondered who would make such a threat over a relatively small order. He concluded it must be from a wannabe small despot, trying to make out how tough he was to his followers. Nevertheless he’ll take it seriously and take extra security precautions. In his business, you can never be too careful.

Changing flight plans over certain countries in private jets was often done to divert knowledge of a person’s whereabouts to anyone who may wish them harm. Over the vast Pacific Ocean such changes are not normally necessary. Perhaps his message may offer another reason to change his flight plan.

Anthony realised he couldn’t hesitate to report the email to his head pilot. In fact, it was a matter of urgency. His pilot was the one with the ultimate authority on matters of safety. Anthony Lord had no desire to keep any information like his email from him, even if he thought it seemed a low-grade risk. He called Mandy and asked her make arrangement for him to again see Brad.

The downing of a Malaysian Airliner by a ground to air missile had sent warnings through the world and everyone had taken note. New procedures were being introduced within the industry to prevent similar incidents. There had been a tragic loss of life when the Malaysian Commercial passenger flight was blasted out of the sky.

Anthony forced himself to move on to other thoughts and matters. He soon finished the calls he had to make and returned to where Judy was peacefully sleeping.

He leaned over and kissed her on the cheek which caused her to stir and open her eyes.

‘Wake up princess. Almost time for dinner.’

Judy smiled and stood up. She returned his kiss.

‘Allow me a few moments and I will refresh myself and make myself beautiful.’

‘You will not improve on your current beauty my love. But you’re welcome to try.’

Judy made her way to the comfort room just as Mandy approached and advised Anthony his head pilot was able to see him.

When Anthony reached the air crew area, Brad was already waiting for him.

‘Mr Lord, we’ve been granted the flight plan change you requested but I have just received a strange message.’ Brad handed him a note. It read,

‘Your aircraft may be in danger. Suggest you speak to Anthony Lord.’

When Anthony read it, he looked at Brad with a look which revealed the cold shiver which raced down his back didn’t escape him.

‘Brad, I too have had a strange threat delivered to me by email. I was about to alert you to it. I received it only twenty minutes ago and have set the wheels in motion to throw a little light on the subject. That you should receive a similar message at the same time is very disturbing.’

Anthony handed Brad the email exchanges he had received in order for Brad to assess the whole story. When he had read it, they looked at each other.

‘Mr Lord, I have never had to deal with a matter like this before and there are detailed procedures which I must follow. Please excuse me while I return to my flight deck. When I have details of what we should do, if anything, I’ll fill you in. Please excuse me.’

Anthony knew as Brad returned to his flight deck, he would have to compose himself and show no signs that something was amiss. This was something new to him also and he would just have to deal with the fallout.

He lived by the principle, ‘A problem cannot be solved until you first learn what is the problem.’

Chapter 4

When he returned to his seat, Judy was returning from the comfort room. He looked at her,

‘You must have found a magician in there, you are now even more beautiful!’

‘What do you want.’

‘How about you having dinner with the owner of Lord Air?’

‘Sounds fine. Will you be serving desserts later?’

‘Probably. We have some nice strawberries on board.’

‘You cad and tease. I think I may have to work a bit harder on you.’

The moment they resumed their seats on each side of the table, Mandy appeared and set the cloth and the silver service. She added two sensational-looking wine glasses and, directing her attention to Anthony, said, ‘I have taken the liberty of chilling a French Rose to enjoy with the rare roast lamb so long as you are happy with my choice, Mr Lord.’

‘You have chosen well, thank you, Mandy.’

She, after Anthony had completed the taste test, poured the wine and retreated to the galley. He raised his wine,

‘To us, Judy Baxter.’

‘Always to us.’

Mandy served the French soup.

The dinner was superb. How it had been kept so fresh amazed Judy. It didn’t matter, she was so happy.

When they had completed dinner, Mandy interrupted