Dallas 2.0:Sessions:20160507

Friday evening, April 29, 2016. Benjamin Grimes is in a Dallas city park, preparing to test out the drone he recently bought and quite aware of the two attractive ladies who appear to be watching him. Nathan Rahl is downtown, wining and dining some potential clients. Clyde Wheeler is also downtown, playing against five other men in a private poker game. Kefya North is riding up from Waxahachie with some friends to enjoy folk music at Poor David's Pub.

A cop walks up to Benjamin and begins hassling him about the drone, trying to claim that flying it in the park violates some city ordinance. Benjamin points out that the park is public property, he is fully 200 feet from the boundaries of the park, and (bringing up the text of the ordinance on his smartphone) the ordinance does not apply. Nevertheless, the cop orders him to land the drone and to go fly it in a "non-residential area." When the cop leaves, the two women -- Brenda, a brunette, and Christa, a blonde -- approach Benjamin and invite him to take them dancing and drinking.

Of the gentlemen with whom Clyde is gaming -- Hector, Herman, Joe, Jorge, and Kirk -- the latter is having a phenomenal run, and Clyde finds himself about $1000 down. But then his luck turns, and he proceeds to systematically wipe all five of the others out, rising from the table with around $70,000 in his pocket. He offers to buy everyone a round of drinks, and somebody suggests Poor David's Pub.

Nathan, having successfully signed a couple of new clients, walks outside just as six men emerge from a club nearby. He recognizes one of them, Clyde Wheeler, from having done a background check on him a few months ago. He recalls the young man's sad story: drafted into professional baseball at 19 and called up to the majors a few years later, Clyde suffered a knee injury and never regained top form. After several more years in the minors Clyde retired from baseball in 2015, but tragically his wife and child were killed shortly afterward in a bus accident. Winstar Casinos had requested the background check, but from what Rahl Security could learn, Clyde's consistent wins at the gaming tables were not the result of cheating.

Nathan observes one of the other men talking on a cellphone while staring at Clyde. Nathan gets into his car and discreetly follows Clyde and the others. Clyde finds a parking place and heads into the pub, while the man who was on the phone earlier hangs back, waiting for someone. Nathan checks Clyde's car for tampering and attaches a tracking device. Meanwhile, the suspicious-looking man has been joined by a couple of thugs. Nathan phones one of his most capable people, ex-cop Orley Anders. "Come down right away. You might have to intervene in a beating."

Clyde remarks snidely to Kirk, who has arrived several minutes later than everyone else, "Did you get lost?" But then he adds, "Get whatever you want. I've opened a tab under 'Wheeler'."

Kef tries to enjoy the music, but the crowd makes her uncomfortable. She sees a man and two women come in and are shown straight to a table that Kef knows was vacated only seconds earlier, as though these people were expected. The brunette, in particular, seems to be the callous and manipulative type. Kef notices the man wince slightly, though he quickly covers it up with a smile. In a flash, she sees the brunette shoved hard against the bar by a big man with a scarred face.

Brenda's gaze roves around the crowd. When Benjamin asks, she admits that she's looking for "someone that owes me something" and suggests "maybe we can follow him." She describes him as 6'2" with thinning black hair and a scar on his left cheek from jaw to ear. Benjamin: "I am not looking for trouble, I am looking for fun!" Brenda: "Oh, we'll have fun."

Nathan notices the olive-skinned Middle Eastern man sitting with two women who are pretty obviously (to Nathan) acting more drunk than they really are. Working his way over toward Clyde's table, he surreptitiously takes pictures of the six men.

Benjamin, in turn, notices someone come in and signal toward a table of six men. He recognizes the man as one of his former students, though he can't recall his name.

Nathan picks up on Orley's signal and phones him. "The target is Clyde Wheeler; the person who is upset and hired some thugs is the one sitting to his left." Orley: "My krav maga instructor is here, too." Nathan: "Go over and say hi. What a coincidence. I bring somebody dangerous -- you -- and here is someone more dangerous -- your 'Yoda'."

A tall, solidly-built man with dirty blond hair and a scarred left cheek scowls when he sees a man sitting with Brenda and heads straight for the bar. Benjamin: "Brenda, is this the man you are looking for?" Brenda: "That's Randy. He's a bruiser. It shouldn't be a problem."

Orley approaches and greets Benjamin. "You're one of the best fighters I've ever seen." Brenda's eyes widen -- in stature Benjamin seems ordinary -- as Benjamin modestly replies, "I am not such an athlete. I am in the teaching."