Fatal Checkout

A story about lives in criminal San Francisco after sail gave way to steam. Coal, steel and shipping shaped most lives and fortunes, followed by gambling and crime. Possibly the largest outfit operated under the Irish Kelly family, reaching the height of their power as a result of World War 2. Inevitably, age and growth brought the need for delegation, fuelling jealousies and vengeance. Murder was commonplace and the big man, Jerome Kelly met his end in the turbulent waters almost directly under the mighty Golden Gate Bridge.

A considerable change in judicial processes engendered massive restructuring within corporate operational practises, bringing legitimacy where it was not thought possible. Control came to Mario Fantoni who had steered the organisation through this huge reshaping. However, he couldn't escape the net and was taken out on his front doorstep, just when he was working to save his struggling marriage.

In time, his widow, unable to fill the established roll, and having come from a life in light entertainment, moved on with her new partner into the elite world of equestrian breeding. This development, far removed from lives previously filled with violence and uncertainty, brought comforting inner happiness to Rita Jardine and Mark Fallon. Their business venture grew, moulding the lives of a close knit circle of professionals, destined now to indelibly share their future, as well as their lives on the vast stud farm south of San Francisco, in the beautiful, raw majesty of the Sierra Nevada.