The Shepherd of Ashburn Court Pt. 01

Chapter 2

Ashraf Khaleel was a very successful businessman. He had the drive and charisma to succeed in the bloodthirsty environment of a Financial Market Investment house. He owed everything to his parents who'd immigrated to the US just before he was born. They wanted nothing but the best for their son and ensured he had the best education and lavished love, attention, and money on the boy as he grew to manhood. Had they lavished him with lessons in humility and compassion for the less fortunate maybe he would have had a more well-rounded personality instead of being the self centered prick he'd turned out to be.

His dark, handsome looks, his intelligence, and his confidence were a potent mix and he typically got what he wanted. He was 5' 8" and slim but he kept his body in peak condition through a disciplined regimen of exercise. He'd even done a little modelling in University as a lark. A woman he'd been after asked him to pose for some magazine spreads. He'd enjoyed the attention and had taken his pleasure from her when the shoot was done but dropped her the next day as he realized that modeling didn't hold his interest.

He'd met and pursued Catherine McGovern in University as well. She was two inches taller than Ashraf, with straight white blond hair. She was also strong and svelte from being on the swim team. She would have been the perfect trophy wife except for her annoying tendency of opening her mouth and showing her intelligence. Luckily for Ashraf she had a blind spot for him and didn't realize just how self-focused he was until after the birth of their first child, a girl she named Sophie. He wanted a boy and let his disappointment show. After the second daughter, Rachel, and the third, Megan, he blamed his wife for not providing him with a son. He wouldn't listen to the 'scientific mumbo jumbo' that indicated it was the man's contribution that provided the deciding factor for male children.

They bought and moved their family into the mansion on the north side of Ben's property a few years after Ben bought his.

Daniel Wallace was also a very successful businessman. He also had drive and charisma and was doing exceptionally well as the CFO of a major Pharmaceutical corporation. He was less concerned about being physically beautiful than he was about being financially powerful. While he had two inches on Ashraf, his body was nowhere near as toned. He tried but his appetite for good food and wine had more impact than his workouts.

His wife Gabriella had been born into a very poor family and this may have influenced her a little too much when prioritizing financial security over other aspects of their relationship. When they'd met in University she'd been swept away by Daniel's charisma and financial prowess. Daniel was dazzled by her lustrous raven hair, her intense green eyes and her sexy curves. She was only an inch shorter than him and dancing with her was a dream as they fit together so well.

Gabriella had provided her husband with a daughter, Miriam, the child Ben rescued, and a son, Daniel, Jr. They had agreed to call their son Jacob after her father but Daniel had somehow out maneuvered her at the hospital and registered his son under the name Daniel, Jr. She knew Daniel used the fact that he had a son to goad his drinking buddy, Ashraf.

As the years in their marriage passed Daniel's passion for Gabriella was replaced with his passion for accumulating wealth. She'd tried to get him to join her for marriage counselling but he called that a blatant waste of money. Gabriella had a lucrative business of her own importing high end fashion accessories from Milan and Paris so she insisted she'd use her own money but he refused.

The Wallace's had moved into the mansion on the south side of Ben's on the other side of the public access pathway a year before he moved in.

During one of the neighborhood street parties organized by Gabriella and Catherine, their husbands got to talking and quickly realized they had similar drives for success and similar values when it came to how to achieve it. They were allies in a war against the lazy and stupid who didn't deserve to keep their money. They also had similar appetites for the pleasures of life. Fast sports cars, good wine, good food, cigars, high stakes poker, and fast women were out there for their enjoyment. If their wives had to be kept in the dark so they could enjoy the things that they deserved, so be it. Within a year of the two meeting they were organizing trips to Las Vegas for 'poker tournaments' or so they told their wives. In reality it was a four day immersion in the best, and worst, Las Vegas had to offer. Initially it was only the two men but as they got to know their neighbors they found others who shared their interests and who were looking for more out of their lives. The memberships for the gentleman's club grew and their annual treks to Sin City became grander.

They now had ten members in their club and Ashraf was particularly excited about this year's event. They'd reached critical mass. There were now enough members to take their party up a significant notch. He and Daniel had met with a 'facilitator' during their previous trip and they made arrangements for some of the most beautiful and young women either had ever laid eyes on to serve and service them during their poker tournament. The man assured them the ladies they'd have were guaranteed to be between the ages of 18 and 20 as his stable rotated the older ones out to ensure 'freshness'. There would be no restrictions on what they did with the ladies, short of damaging the merchandise of course. There would also be an extra special party on their final night of their trip. Each of them would make their own arrangement to fly to Las Vegas. They were all staying in the same hotel so they would meet there and contact the facilitator to get their party started.

Daniel expressed some concern that their group had too many members for their activities to remain secret. Ashraf was confident the men would keep their mouths closed. Especially after they got those mouths on the nubile young tarts in Vegas!

Catherine had been making her annual complaints about his willingness to head off on his trips with the boys but not to spend time with his own daughters. She had been after him to take them on a vacation for years but he'd managed to avoid it expressing the timing was bad due to business or the cost was prohibitive. This year his portion of the expenses for the Vegas trip was significantly higher and she found out. There had been a furious blowout and Ashraf told her they would talk about vacations when he returned. The climate in the house was positively glacial from that point on.

He parked his Benz at the airport and put his lovely but tedious wife out of his mind. This weekend wasn't about her. He smiled. It was about him being treated to everything he deserved.

Chapter 3

Ben heard the banging on his front door as he sat in the kitchen waiting for the kettle to boil. He glanced at the clock and saw it was just a little after 11p. He went to the door and looked out the peephole and saw the top of a girl's head. She appeared to be crying. He opened the door and suddenly found a young girl crushed against his chest. She was definitely crying in huge sobs.

"Miriam?" he said as he recognized the fifteen year old from the Wallace's house.

"HE'S DEAD!" she screamed and her cries got louder.

His first panicked thought was Daniel, Jr. He saw Gabriella drive off earlier in the evening so he knew Miriam was home alone with her 12 year old brother. "Who? Your brother? What happened?" he blurted, kneeling and holding the girl out by her shoulders. He looked into her face with concern.

"NO, DADDY!" she bawled and lunged forward to grab him around his neck.

Totally confused he put an arm around the girl and lifted her against him as he grabbed his keys and stepped outside. He locked the door and hustled over to her house holding the sobbing girl to his chest. The front door was open so he went inside, closed the door, and kicked off his boots.

"Where is Daniel, Jr?" he asked gently.

"He- he's sleep- ping up-upstairs." she hiccupped as she cried.

"OK, let's make sure he'd OK then you can tell me what happened. Let's be quiet though, OK?" he said and she nodded. She directed him upstairs and over to a door. They cracked it open and saw the young man peacefully sleeping. When Miriam's tears threatened to start all over he closed the door and carried her back to the living room. He sat the young lady on the sofa and sat on a footstool facing her.

"Can you tell me what happened?" he asked the sobbing girl gently.

"It was on TV. I- I watched the news. Plane crash-" the rest was lost in sobs.

The front door opened and Gabriella stepped inside. She saw Miriam crying on the couch and the big man sitting on the stool at her daughter's feet.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING IN MY HOUSE!" she bellowed in full mama bear mode.

"MAMA!" Miriam jumped up and ran to her mother who continued to stare at Ben with suspicion.

"There may have been an accident with Daniel. Miriam came over to my house just now crying. I think you'd better turn on the news." Ben said carefully.

"DADDY'S DEAD!" Miriam cried into her mother's chest.

Gabriella's face went white and she stumbled. Ben was there and caught her arm, keeping her from falling. She nodded when she had stabilized. She walked towards the back of the house where the family room was. The TV was still playing and the story was splashed in lurid colors across the huge TV screen. A charter flight crashed shortly after takeoff in the Las Vegas desert. All twenty passengers and the pilot were killed. A series of pictures scrolled past and Gabriella and Ben both froze as they saw the faces of her husband and their neighbors on the screen along with a number of young women.

Gabriella's legs gave out and Ben guided her to the sofa. Miriam crushed herself against her mother and continued to sob.

"They're not supposed to report on this without notifying the families so maybe it's a mistake?" she whispered aloud. The phone rang and she screamed a little which set Miriam off. Gabriella didn't move to get the phone so Ben walked over and picked up the handset.

"Hello?"

"Hello, this is Sheriff Clarkson of the Los Vegas Police Department. Who am I speaking with?"

"Ben Shepherd. I'm the neighbor of Daniel and Gabriella Wallace." he replied.

"May I speak with Mrs. Wallace please?" the man said curtly.

Ben looked over at Gabriella whose eyes had grown large and filled with tears. "I think you need to take this call." Ben said.

"No... no, no, no, NO!" she said and clung to her daughter and the two began to wail together.

Ben didn't know what to do so he took a few steps away and got back on the phone. "Uh, she's not going to be able to speak with you right now. Can you tell me if this call is in regards to the news report we're seeing on TV. They're showing Daniel's face on the screen and calling him a fatal victim of a plane crash. Seems irresponsible to report this BEFORE the families are contacted!"

He heard cursing on the other end of the line and the handset was muffled as the Sheriff started yelling at someone. He came back on.

"That was a terrible mistake on the part of the news channel. Listen I'm only supposed to speak with family members. Is there any chance you can get her on the phone? She needs to hear this from an official source. As awful as it is it helps in the long run." Clarkson said.

"Hang on." Ben said and went back to kneel in front of the crying woman.

"Gabriella. You need to take the call." Ben said gently.

She opened her eyes and they immediately went back to the TV screen. Ben turned and grabbed the remote and shut it off. He turned back and handed the phone to the woman who held it in a shaky hand.

"H-Hello?"

"Mrs. Wallace?"

"Yes."

"This is Sheriff Clarkson of the Los Vegas Police Department. I'm very sorry to tell you that your husband, Daniel Wallace was involved in a fatal plane crash earlier this evening. His body has been identified amongst the victims. The FAA is investigating the cause of the crash. I'll contact you tomorrow to give you details on when we will be releasing his body. Again, I'm terribly sorry for your loss."

Gabriella handed the phone to Ben, pressed her lips to her daughter's head and rocked the young girl.

Ben walked back into the hall and listened to the handset.

"Hello? Mrs. Wallace?"

"This is Ben again. She's having a quiet moment with her daughter who was traumatized by hearing about her father's death from that fucking news program!" he growled quietly so the two women wouldn't overhear.

"Yes, that was a huge mistake and we will address that as soon as we can. I need to contact the other families-" the Sheriff began.

"Many of them are from this neighborhood! I saw the faces of at least nine people who live on my street."

"What?" There was the sound of shuffling paper and a pause. "Oh shit. Look, I'm going to call your local Sheriff and ask him if he can do something to protect the families from the media. Once they catch the scent of this story I have to warn you, it's going to be a circus and it's going to get really ugly for the wives."

"What's that mean?" Ben asked.

"I'm sorry, I can't say any more except if you are close friends with these families, stay close. They are going to need as much support as they can get. Thank you Mr. Shepherd."

The call ended and Ben walked back into the room to put the handset back. He had a really bad feeling. He also felt like he was intruding on a deeply personal moment for this family.

He knelt down at Gabriella's feet once more.

"Gabriella? Are you going to be ok?" She nodded shakily. "Alright. I'm going to head home now. If you need anything or just want to talk please don't hesitate to call, ok?" he said gently.

The woman nodded and reached out a hand. He gave it a squeeze then stood to leave. Miriam jumped up surprising her mother and flung her arms around him in a big hug. He gave her a little squeeze too and she returned to her mother.

Ben let himself out of the house and ensured the door was locked behind him. He walked back towards his house and spotted someone running from the Khaleel house towards him. He saw it was Catherine and she seemed to be crying. She suddenly noticed Ben standing on the sidewalk and gave out a little shriek.

"I'm sorry! I didn't mean to startle you!" he said.

"No, it's ok. I wasn't watching where I was going." she mumbled.

"Did you receive the call from Sheriff Clarkson?" he asked quietly.

She looked up at his face in surprise. Then she connected the dots seeing him on the sidewalk outside of Gabriella's house. "Is Gabriella OK?"

"Yes, she just got home. Miriam came over to my place when she saw a news report showing her father had died in a plane crash. Hell of a way for the girl to find out! She was really upset. I took her home then Gabriella arrived. We saw the story on TV then the Sheriff called. She took it pretty hard. You must have gotten the call earlier. How are you doing?" He saw the woman was shivering. She'd come outside without a jacket and the late October winds were biting. He tugged off his sweater and handed it to her. She pulled the thick knit sweater on gratefully and immediately felt warmer.

"Thank you! I think I'm still in shock. I should go talk with Gabriella." she smiled weakly at him.

"Listen, if there is anything you need please let me know. Even if you just need someone to talk to. The Sheriff said the media is going to come after the families. It's going to get ugly. Well, like I said, if you need to talk I'm here." He nodded his head to her and made his way back to his house. She stared after him for a few seconds, relishing the warmth from his sweater then continued on to Gabriella's house.

Chapter 4

Sheriff Clarkson wasn't wrong about how the media behaved once the details got out. What started as a sympathetic tale of a small community hit with an enormous tragedy, the loss of nine husbands and fathers, soon became a sick and twisted morality play. Initially the victims of a tragic accident, the members of the suburban neighborhood Gentleman's Club were soon exposed for their 'sinful' activities. Graphic footage from a hidden camera was leaked to the press showing the men enjoying their carnal appetites in a VIP room at a nightclub the night before the crash with prostitutes. Some of those young ladies were victims of the same flight and it was discovered that at least three of them had been reported as abducted. It was discovered that the plane was operating as a Mile High Club service, a flying orgy for wealthy businessmen.

One member of the gentleman's club hadn't been on the flight. Larry Wilson, a psychologist with a fear of flying in small planes had backed out at the last minute when he saw the converted party jet. He watched it crash from the back seat of the waiting limo where one of the ladies had stayed behind with him to give him his own special party. The young woman lost her best friend that night. Having been abducted herself and forced to work as a prostitute by the men who ran the parties, she was sufficiently paranoid about her own limited life expectancy she used the chaos to slip away in the dark. She met and waved down the police on their way onto the airport's tarmac. She directed them to where her abductors were and offered to give testimony about them and the parties they threw in exchange for a ticket home. The police swooped in and captured the group with Larry. The story leaked.

The press camped out at end of the street where the local police had set up a gate to keep them out of the street. It had the unfortunate side effect of trapping the residents in their little pocket neighborhood. The first four houses in the block had to endure the noise and lights of the press encampment and none of them had lost someone.

The kids from the affected families who were attending colleges and universities had to be escorted by the police into the neighborhood and endure running the gauntlet. The image of the three blond and beautiful Khaleel sisters huddled in the back of a police cruiser hit the news outlets and the internet aggregator websites and they became instant celebrities willing or not.

When a group of daring paparazzo attempted to sneak through the nature reserve at night and climb the back fences to take pictures through the back windows of the Wallace's and Khaleel's houses they were confronted by a large man dressed all in black with a long black crowbar. None of the camera gear survived, not even cell phones, and the paparazzo reported that they had barely managed to get back over the fences into the woods alive. Three had broken ribs, two had broken wrists from trying to protect their cameras, and one had a dislocated elbow. All were badly bruised over every surface of their bodies. The man hadn't said a thing. Not even a grunt. He'd left the talking to the crow bar.

The smashed cameras were found the next day in a pile in the middle of a trail in the woods. No memory cards were found.

The police had no evidence or clues to the identity of the man in black and made no significant effort to investigate.

Catherine was sitting in Gabriella's family room with her daughters. Gabriella had her kids on either side of her on the couch. Megan, the youngest of the Khaleel daughters was texting her friends when she excitedly told Gabriella to turn the TV on to channel 23. Gabriella looked at Catherine who nodded. There was a special report on TV about a violent attack on five camera men. There was footage of them in the hospital and graphic imagery of their bruising and casts. The men had admitted to being in the backyards of the houses at the east end of Ashburn Court backing onto the reserve. A mysterious black garbed attacker had savagely beaten the men and destroyed their cameras. A statement from the police indicated it was an ongoing investigation but they were hampered by the lack of physical evidence and were asking for witnesses. The descriptions received from the paparazzo were less than helpful. The talking heads on the show reappeared and started to question if the police were actually making any effort to find the violent offender. Was this a conspiracy?