Just before his wedding to Anne, Mike went back and rounded up his bride, as well as Stephen and Christie, and told them it was about time to move on into the room and meet the judge and a few others that Mike felt like Steve and Christie should meet, given what was coming at them in a short time.
When they got to the judge, the judge shook hands with everyone and said in a serious voice, "Mike I hope this marriage lasts longer than the honeymoon this time. I am getting tired of signing all those annulment papers." Mike's face fell and all color drained from it as he was so shocked he did not know what to do or say, so he just stood there and looked back and forth between Anne and the Judge before Anne says "Michael, How could you?" Then taking pity on a poor speechless Mike, she said, "Uncle Roger, it looks like we got him pretty good. What do you think?"
The Judge said that if he was any more shocked they would have had to start CPR. Best laugh he had had in years. Mike finally found his voice, although it was a bit squeaky at the moment and he looked at Anne and said "Uncle Roger?"
Anne smiled at him mischievously and said "What?? I am not allowed to know important people also?" and laughed some more at his confusion. Anne then explained that the Judge was an old friend and the father of her college roommate and that he enjoyed a good joke as much as anyone did.
Mike quietly said sort of under his breath, "Wonderful. Simply wonderful. My future wife is a very devious woman and I just now found it out".
Then the Judge got everyone's attention and said to find a chair and let's get this wedding done before one of the participants had a heart attack, which brought laughter from the crowd that had gathered.
"Dearly beloved and honored guests, we have gathered together to honor and witness the unions of these fine couples into the state of matrimony" and continued with a short service lasting only a few minutes in reality. The vows were made and the rings placed onto the proper fingers and the Judge pronounced them husbands and wives and told the grooms to bestow the customary kiss upon their bride and then introduced the two couples by their new legal married names to the crowd and to the world, and with that the ceremony was over.
Everyone gathered at what was actually the front of the room but had been the back of the ceremony for a plate of cake and punch that the hotel had supplied. Everyone was happy. As time wore on, Stephen began to get nervous and edged over to Mike and whispered "I hate to break up a party, but we have some work to do pretty quick now."
Mike agreed and then told Stephen that he had sort of discussed the situation with the judge before so he knew the basics of what was going to happen that morning. He moved them over to where the judge was engaged in conversation with a media type that Mike had seen before. Waiting until the judge noticed him and called him over, they told the judge they thought it was time to go confront Mike's grandfather and asked the judge if he would like to accompany them. The judge thanked them and said he would give anything to have been able to see the reaction to all this from him, but that there was a possibility the case might come before the judge and he really did not want to recluse himself from the bench for that battle. He did say that to make it all look more convincing that he had two black Suburban's outside with two men wearing dark suits in each to create the illusion of members of the FBI and Justice Department without having to be guilty of impersonating an officer of the law.
They quickly discussed how to go about making the confrontation and again what to demand in the form of payment for past and future deeds and silence about those deeds. They had decided that they would demand that he move 51 percent of all his stocks into a trust for the three blood relatives, Christie, Mike, and his father; resign from all boards and ask that his family replace him on those boards; resign from any company in which he is listed as a corporate officer; Move 60 percent of all liquid assets into trusts with his kids and grandkids names on it; and lastly, place all his remaining holdings into a blind trust denying him the ability to manipulate those funds, thus removing him from the public eye. This would be done or all the information and proof of wrongdoings would be given to the authorities at that time and they would move forward with lawsuits and also press charges of murder and attempted murder, crimes which had no statute of limitations and extradition was guaranteed.
Yes, it sounded great when they said it. Now, if it only worked even close to that way for real.
As soon as they could excuse themselves from the celebration of the weddings, the two freshly married and exuberant couples and Mike's father William left and went out to the SUV parked outside that the two couples would use and also Willian's car, a newer looking Bentley. Stephen did a double take for a minute and then remembered that both William and Michael were very successful attorneys that had tried and won several very large law suites recently. Many people had told Steve that the mere mention of their names made opponents consider changing their pleas or stories or attitude towards discussing settlement terms. It was said that they could be as vicious as a pack of hungry sharks in the water.
They also had the two back Suburban's that were there as window dressing and to create the illusion of government involvement or interests in this matter. Now was going to be the time for each of them to present the best poker face and serious look they could if they had any hope of making William's father capitulate and surrender the money without a huge fight. They had purposefully asked for the moon and all the stars in hopes of settling for maybe just the moon and a handful of stars without a fight. Time would tell.
They pulled up in front of the mansion that Williams father Robert owned and lived in. It had a circular drive in front with a turnout towards the 4 car garage down the left side of the house. Their four autos did little to fill the highway sized driveway.
After they parked, Mike walked back to the "government SUV's" and spoke for a minute giving the illusion of giving final instructions. And then all 5 went to the front door and rang the doorbell. When it was answered, Williams father Robert was the one to answer it himself as his house staff was off on Sunday. As soon as he saw who was on the door step he started to close the door quickly but not quickly enough as William had already stuck his foot into the gap to prevent such a thing from happening and then William said rather sharply "Hello, Father. Have you missed us? Well, we have come to talk." And with that shouldered the door open and led the way inside with Stephen dragging up the rear and ready to close the door if it was still open. It wasn't as Robert had shut it quickly once they were all inside.
"What's the meaning of this outrage? I have not invited you people to my home and I want you to leave and leave now otherwise I call the police."
"Go ahead and call them, Father of mine, it will save me the trouble later. Of course I do have a couple of teams of feds, namely the FBI and Justice Department standing by, but if you want the city boys involved then so much the better. Want me to make the call?" asked William.
Everyone swallowed hard when Robert picked up the phone on the table and dialed 911 and asked for officers to come to his home to remove uninvited people.
At the same time, William took out his cell phone and called the detective bureau and asked to speak with Captain Pruitt. When the captain came on William identified himself and asked for detectives to come at once to the address there to investigate a double murder, numerous charges of money laundering, bank fraud, stock manipulation, and that is just for a start as the list of city, state, federal and international laws broken were staggering.
"And who is supposed to have done all this? Asked Captain Pruitt."
"My own did father did it over a period of 30 years. The two murders were his first wife and my mother, and another woman he had made pregnant and was supposed to marry but killed instead. I have her daughter and son in law here with me so DNA will be easy to assess. Details are still coming out as we speak and will for some time, but there will be some digging to do also. By the way, Jim, your detectives best hurry as the rest of us are about to be arrested for trespassing. No, we not break and enter, but we did not leave when told to. We will be right here waiting for your boys to arrive and for the show to begin. In fact, I have waited for 30 years or more for this moment to arrive. You probably need to notify the FBI and Justice Department or US Attorney to get here quickly also" exclaimed William
When William disconnected from the Captain, he quickly hit a speed dial number and it was answered on the first ring by someone. William started speaking immediately, "Smithers, it is on. Use your list and follow it completely and in order. Make sure that you get the feds to do the lockdowns on all the banking and investment accounts at all financial institutions and the stock exchange. Make double sure he is on the no-fly list and his passport is suspended indefinitely. You make the calls and follow up on them. We may have to spend the night in jail. I am not certain yet, it all depends on timing and such. Stay on duty tonight and make sure that you and whoever else you may need are at the courthouse before 730 in the morning with plenty of coffee and Danish and the hand full of the lawsuits I have outlined for you already. Make sure that all the newspapers and every local and cable TV station get a heads up. In fact, make a handout listing each lawsuit and the parties and amount involved. Make sure to spell the names correctly. The synopsis of the murder charges is there too, and these can be leaked but not released. Of course, they could accidently be included in the original file packet. You figure something out. As soon as the charges are made it will all be public information anyhow."
"We were going to try to talk it over with the old bastard but he started calling the cops on us, so we figured he did not want to talk, so here we are. Most of the work has been done for you already, but you may need some help. Go ahead and call in anyone you want. Oh, and there is a list of characters for this play on my desk. Make sure that is included in the press packets. If there are requests for media interviews, tell them that as soon as I get out of jail I will gladly talk with them. You could also use a little face time, you know. It has been a while since you had any limelight shine on you, Buddy. Hey, come to think on it, we could have a TV crew or a news print crew just happen to be at the jail later when we get there and we could start the whole process a little earlier. It would mean having to make more copies of the charges, reports, and character lists but what the heck... Talk it over with some of the guys and go for it if you like it. Got to run now as I hear sirens coming. Our tax dollars at work you know. Later, Smithers."
As soon as William was off the phone, Robert was in his face demanding to know what the meaning of all this was and why was he trying to drag the family name through the dirt like he was and didn't they teach him the meaning of libel and slander in his law school"
William looked at his father face to face for the first time in several years and said "You always told everyone that you had a mind like a steel trap and never forgot anything or anyone. Ever. So how is it that you forgot all about my mother and that little push you gave her up on that ridge that day that killed my mother and let you cut me out of my rightful inheritance and then there is the matter of you giving Christine's mother a nice shove sideways and sent her off a cliff to her death that time. Remember now? I know you seem to have forgotten your daughter and son after you killed their mothers. And once more, you somehow wound up with someone else's trust fund money and also their inheritance. Funny how that happens, isn't it, Father" and spat when he said the word.
"We came to talk and try to settle, but you had other ideas, so we will play it your way. Here are the cops. Let the games begin. But before anything else, let me introduce you to your daughter and her husband, Stephen and Christine Armstrong. Not that you will ever make their Christmas card list." Said William.
"I get it now. This is a ploy, a sick attempt to squeeze a little money from me, isn't it? Well, it isn't going to work, not at all. I have had hucksters of all sorts over the years trying to steal my money and it didn't work then and it isn't going to work now. So, when you get out of jail, leave this area and never return if you know what is good for you."
"Well, Father, let me say this. Collectively, we had many times the cash that you have. So, what do you think of that?? Kind of shoots holes in some of your theories, doesn't it?"
"Welcome, guys, as the police officers came in the door. He is the one that called you for the trespassers, which would be us. When the next batch and the detectives arrive, along with the FBI, The NSA, Homeland Security, Securities and Exchange Commission, State Bureau of Investigation, and who knows what or who all else, the person that called is us here and the lying and murdering Son of a Bitch that killed our mothers and stole our money is that rotten bastard over there, my own father, such as he is." Stated William.
"Officer, this is my house and these people entered forcibly and refused to leave. I want them all arrested and charged with criminal trespass and breaking and entering. And I want them out of my house right now. I do not want to ever see any of them again. If they are arrested and they promise to never return, I won't make additional charges against them." Said Robert.
"Oh, let him charge us. Anything and everything he wants, although we did not break and enter as he opened the door and we came in and would not leave until the authorities showed up. We have him by the short curlies now and will keep him there for a long time, too." replied Mike this time.
The local cops looked back and forth between each other not knowing what to do considering the enormity of the possible charges being mentioned so it was decided to simply ticket each of the accused trespassers and watch to see what the feds did.
After the assorted federal authorities arrived and had interviewed each person, the senior FBI agent said that the younger family members could leave as he had all their information and that the senior Mr. Morgan was going to be detained and taken to their headquarters for further interviews and interrogations.
As the FBI agent had stated, the two couples were starting their married life, but not their honeymoons as yet, so they went to their respective hotel rooms to set up and engage in many, many rounds of practice for the honeymoon, trying to get it right but somehow always perhaps just trying a bit too hard and thus failing in their quest and thus forcing the engagement of yet another round of wonderful lovemaking. As it turned out, each couple was so in love with their new spouse that nothing could or would separate them until their phones started ringing later that next morning.
Somehow the media had found out that Robert Morgan, one of the state's wealthiest citizens had been taken into custody even though he was in his 80's, for suspicion of a multitude of crimes, as well as his attorney, accountant, and most of his board of directors and a whole host of his friends and business associates and the investigation into all their affairs promised to bring a lot more charges to a number of people in the near future. That investigation could take years to complete and have all the proper charges filed. Lawyers were going to get even richer and their younger associates way overworked.
The media had also discovered that Robert had been named as the prime defendant in a host of lawsuits pertaining to his business dealings, mentioning stock manipulation, price fixing, money laundering, frauds of various sorts, insider trading and outright theft of funds and inherited stocks, tax evasion and then there was the wrongful death and abandonment and child neglect charges and law suits list just went on and on with promises to continue for a while. Basically being sued for every penny he has and every bit of property and every board seat and all of his financial and real estate interests with the lawsuits saying he would not have these properties if it wasn't for the money and inheritances he stole from two dead wives and two abandoned children.
It was even joked that he might have to defend himself as he would not have enough money to hire even an inexpensive attorney. Of course there was always the publicity hungry lawyer that might take his cases or part of them Pro Bono for the publicity and free advertising that it would give his firm. Who knew at this point, but in each lawsuit it was requested of the court to freeze any and all assets until final determination of awards were made and published. It was also requested that the persons bringing forth the suits, his son, grandson, son-in-law, daughter, daughter-in-law, and grand daughter-in-law be given un-compensated control of his various companies to ensure their continued operation and operation at a reasonable profit for the future owners whomever that might be, which statement was given the most thought by the judge and laughter by the court spectators. In the end, he allowed the request and asked pointedly if the family wanted to fill the positons subject to the court's approval or if they would like the court to name temporary replacements for those key positions.
Mike stood and looked at the Judge, and said "Your Honor, if it please the court, this family feels strongly that in order to ensure the best interests of the family as a whole are protected we need to make sure that we have at least one family member on each board or panel. We have a total of 6 family members available, 3 men and their respective spouses. If the court wishes, the family can produce a list that suggests the best person for a particular position. We would only ask for a short recess to have that list typed and then reproduced in sufficient numbers to satisfy the court's requirements. Thank you, Your Honor." And he sat down smiling inside as he had just been handed what the family wanted so badly, family members on every board even if they had never had one there before. Only time could tell how far the crimes and Robert's influence extended.
William had the thought that Angie, as good a CPA as her firm has, wasn't going to be nearly enough to conduct the necessary audits on all the companies, corporations, businesses, and individuals that might owe the family money. He would have to have a serious talk with Angie about that situation and right away, too. He thought he should call her and see about lunch and making the enquiry and letting her start with compiling a list of firms to bring on board as needed as well as a rough estimate the cost of an audit of the firm's financial history. This complete audit could take months and cost millions but would prove to be well worth the cost.
They judge quickly looked at William and said that the court was going to order such a list be presented and that it should be ready to present when court reconvened at 3 PM that afternoon and court was dismissed until then.'
In the essence of time, the family went down to a coffee shop that was not overly busy and took a large table and opened brief cases to remove the list of known companies that would have a new board member and company officers on board and then the name of a family member or members to post there. Once seated and down to business, Mike pulled a list from his briefcase and handed it to his dad. William looked at it and the first thing he saw was Angie's name listed as his wife, and he kind of grunted and said "Uh, Mike, you have Angie listed as my wife and that isn't so. This could be perjury you know."
Angie quickly looked from Mike to William and said "What? You don't want to make me an honest woman or what?" and smiled—sorta, as she waited for his answer.
"No, that is not it at all. We just started dating and I know I think the world of you and hope you do me, but, well, you haven't asked me yet." And laughed at her facial expression.
Angie looked at Mike said "Is it too late to change that list and take my name off of it?"
"Sure is. You are stuck with us, so why not make it legal?" Mike replied.
"Alright. Okay William, let's go get married."
"That's not much of a proposal." William said
Angie was getting red in the face and looked at Mike and said "Do you do criminal defense because I am getting ready to kill one son of a bitch that deserves it? Could that make it justifiable homicide? Okay, then.
"William Mark Morgan, will you marry me?" She asked with what looked like pain on her face.
"Now why didn't you do that the first time. Think of the time we could of saved. Of course I will marry you and be very happy to have done so. I love you and look forward to a long and happy life with you. Yes, Angie, I will marry you. Preferably right after lunch before the hearing restarts so we are not guilty of perjury." William said.
"That the only reason you want to marry me?" Angie asked
"Well no, but that is all I choose to talk about in front of the children." He said to the outburst of laughter from everyone except Angie.
"I didn't know he was like that or I might never have had the first date with him. But now I Iove the bum to pieces. I guess kind of like you all do. Right?"
"Yes, you are right and we do need to get you married unless you just want a large fancy wedding, a small one in front of a judge like we had this morning is just fine.'
"No, no plans for a large wedding. Heck, yesterday I didn't even have plans for a wedding. Okay, what do we need to do here, smart ass?" She asked, looking at William the whole time.
"We get into the car and head towards the courthouse and stop somewhere along the way at a jewelry store and buy you a nice ring, either a diamond for you and a band for me or matching bands for each of us. Then we go to the court house and find a judge napping peacefully someplace and ask him to marry us while court is in recess, then we say our vows and return to our courtroom and present the legal papers to the court and await his decision. Then we go to your place and let you pack a few things and then and then we move you into my place for a bit and then we go on a nice trip after all the dust had settled and we start and someday finish our life together. At least that is the way I foresee it all. Does that work for you, my dear future wife?"
"It does indeed work for me. In fact, it probably couldn't have been planned any better with my college sorority doing do the planning. What judge did you all use?" She asked, smiling broadly.
Everyone laughed at that and they said "The first one not doing anything." Angie burst out laughing with them and said "Actually, he was in the hotel coffee shop and consented to perform the weddings. He is a good guy, so let's go see if he is busy so we can have him make a clean sweep of our family marriages, a trifecta if you will." and off they went down the long hall to Judge Webb's courtroom and as luck would have it, caught him coming out of the courtroom and approached him with their request. The look on his face to see a third couple in the same family wanting a fast marriage was almost too much for the Judge who had to ask if there were any other members that needed to get married and if so they could try for a pavilion at the park. And laughed loudly at his own joke.
"No, Your Honor, we are the last couple in our family so there won't be a repeat. We do appreciate what you are doing for us and believe me, there is a good reason for the hurry other than that our actual love for each other and our desire to be united as one." Said William.
"Ah, that was so sweet." Angie interjected. "You high profile and talented lawyers think so fast on your feet. I love it and you."
This brought more laughs from the group and Judge Webb told William that he would need to be careful with this this one as she seems pretty darn sharp. This brought more laughs and William said that she was a CPA and the judge said, "Wow! Facts versus figures. This ought to be interesting." And this produced yet another round of laughs. They moved into the courtroom and Judge Webb stopped in the aisle and turned to look at the whole group and said "Excuse me for asking something here that might be outside my legal right to know, but does this group have a legal action being presented in another court?"
"Yes, Sir. We do have a group action under consideration in Judge Palmer's court. Is that going to present a problem?" William asked.
"Not at all. Neither action has even the slightest thing to do with the other so it doesn't matter." Said the judge.
"Actually, it does sort of have something to do with each other. We have some time so could we sit and have an informal and off the record discussion between friends without compromising my cases or either of our careers?" asked William.
"Let me lock that door and we won't be bothered and I promise I will not let this discussion enter into even a gray area open to misinterpretation. Okay? There is coffee in my chambers, but I think we would be more comfortable talking out here as this particular courtroom doesn't have the amenities that some of the others have." And everyone agreed and the girls went into the judge's private chambers and brought back coffee for everyone along with cream and sugar for those that might want it. After all, some of this group was still virtual strangers even thought they were now related by marriage. Family gatherings was going to be so much fun they all thought.
"Robert Scott Morgan, the industrialist, capitalist, businessman, liar, thief, stock manipulator, murderer, and who knows what all at this time what all else is my biological father, and Mike's grandfather. He is also Christine's biological father and that makes Christine my half-sister to boot. He killed my mother soon after I was born in the mountains of Switzerland in what was supposedly a skiing accident. He then abandoned me to relatives of my mother and stole all her money and went into exile. It was her inheritance and trust fund monies that gave him the capital to fund all his business ventures, which by the way were hugely successful and made him extremely wealthy. It has been said, and here we have no proof one way or another except for his word that my mother was guilty of cheating on him and that is why he left, but he has never said anything about her death.
"Now, some years later he meets and falls in lust with Christine's mother who was very beautiful and sophisticated and extremely wealthy via inheritances and trust funds but worked for Robert as a PA, and following a meeting with other crooked and not so nice associates, forced Christie's mother to consume a large amount of alcohol then he raped her and she became pregnant with that one time. He gave her some money to move to Switzerland and have the baby in a private hospital there.
After the baby was born she supposedly skied off a cliff killing herself but was actually pushed off that cliff by my father. He stole Christie's birthright and inheritance and trust fund monies but set up a modest trust fund for Christie so she would not try to investigate her mom's death or try to take legal action against Robert. He took everything that would and should have been Christine's inheritance and her trust funds and all the family property. He says that one was an accident and also that the accusations of the infidelities were later proven to have been false and planted by business rivals who knew about his loathing for cheats. This was done for business reasons so these rivals might get the upper hand in a business deal if Robert was otherwise distracted and unable to concentrate fully.
"Through the years, he brought many others on board that had his natural avoidance of laws and ethics and most of those are on various boards of directors of many large corporations here and in Europe and each has, for lack of a better term I will say earned a huge salary and has built a large nest egg of cash and investments and amassed property holdings all through illegal and unethical dealing through and/or for Robert.
"We six, well six as soon as the wedding ceremony is finished will be the new members on those boards, either as a single member or in certain cases maybe more than one of us will be on it. We will also take over several CEO and board chairmen duties and in fact, we will control a vast business empire that will take much of our time and efforts for years to come if not forever. Mike and I are lawyers and are ready to assume those duties. Angie is a CPA and is also ready to lead. Christine is ready and is already a business woman so she knows how to cut to the chase and Anne is also in business. Stephen is going to be new to the corporate world, but rest assured he is no novice at business. He is a rancher and many other things that will provide invaluable knowledge and experience to us all.
"I was thinking that we should incorporate ourselves as a family owned holding company or corporation to operate the new family business. Off the record and as a friend what do you think, Sir?" William asked Judge Webb.
"Well", the judge said slowly as if he was thinking of what to say. "I think first that that this coffee is damn cold and needs refreshed and if someone will do that while I hash out an idea in my head, I will spring that new idea on you. And believe me, it will shock you at first but I will beg your indulgence."
Looking at his watch, the judge said that perhaps the wedding should happen right then and if there was time enough to get into the judge's idea then they would do so and if not, they could continue later in the afternoon. The Judge summoned his clerk and told her to grab someone else and to get back to the courtroom for a wedding. Yes, the same family as this morning, but that this would be the last one. He laughed as he explained his clerk's comments. He said that they would like her a lot as she was smart as a whip and funny as could be without being detrimental to her work environment. Besides, he was getting ready to fire her so he could ask her out as he was developing a love for her and could not ask her out as long as she worked for him or else he was going to quit so he could ask. He felt sure she liked him a lot also but knew she could do nothing about it. Damn laws anyhow. That brought a laugh out from the whole group.
As soon as the coffee urn was set on the table, the judge had everyone move into their proper position for the ceremony and very soon, there was another newly married couple in the room.
After the congratulations and hugs and kisses and handshakes all around, the judge asked if they had time to listen to his idea then or did they want to go to dinner after court recessed so they could have all the time needed. Waiting for an evening supper meeting turned out to be the desire of everyone.
Anne, being ever the romantic person she was, not to mention devilishly sneaky asked Linda, the Judges clerk if she might use her computer and printer for a few minutes and while doing so asked Linda to come and join them at the supper meeting. She declined saying that it was for family members and close friends only. Anne said that was horse hockey and that she had been through three weddings that day with and for them and that made her sort of family or at least a good friend. Besides, the judge was going to be there and present an idea to them and she thought Linda should be there for it all. She finally agreed and the two of them decided to let Linda make the reservations in a very nice restaurant that was well known for serving good food and lots of it. She would order the family style meal where everything was brought out on platters and placed on the table for each person to fill their own plate, with what they wanted. She ordered a whole variety of food at Anne's request and told her not to worry about the bill as she was sure that they could collect enough from each of them to pay for the meal. They all had another good laugh and said that they had to leave to get to court for the rest of the day.
They said their goodbyes and reminded everyone of the 6:00 PM meeting time at the restaurant. And then they departed together for the scheduled court appearance at 3:00.
Once inside the courtroom and seated at their table as plaintiffs William leaned over to Angie and said, "Little girl, you are as mischievous and as dastardly sneaky as they come, not to mention hopelessly romantic. So when have you scheduled the Judge's wedding for?" This brought a huge round of laughter from the table and caused the court reporter to give them a look that could freeze water. Of course, this brought on another round of laughter. Everyone knew that this laughter was needed as things had been awful tense for most of them over all this whole mess.
Shortly the Bailiff called everyone to their feet as the judge entered and assumed his positon of authority and then told everyone to be seated and started right in by asking if the family had its list of which family members the family thought should be assigned to which company and why in some instances. The judge looked at it carefully and asked the States Attorney if he had seen it and if he had, were there any objections. There weren't any objections so the judge issued the order implementing those changes to the assorted boards of directors beginning the following Monday as this was Thursday and it would take a bit of time for his clerks to type up the individual legal orders for each company placing a family member in the place of an accused member of that board regardless of job description or title. In some cases, there would be a new CEO at the helm, or a new COO, or CFO or whatever. It seemed as if old Robert had his fingers in lots of pies. Fingers, Hell. He was in them up to his elbow most of the time and sometimes even deeper. It was unknown how these changes would be met and received but each family member had the right to replace anyone in any positon for any reason without fear of reprisal by anyone as long as they were acting in the best interest of the company. This was the only action before the court so court was recessed before 330 and it was suggested that they move the supper up as far as they could so they could have more time to discuss business if Judge Webb and Linda could get away earlier. They called and agreed to meet now at 5 PM.
Anne had called her own company to start working on full audits of the people named in the charges and cross referencing them several ways to see if conspiracy charges were also warranted, which was almost a given they thought. A running total of misappropriated funds was also to be kept listing all the parties involved and the known actions before and after the theft. It was going to be very hard to come up with a fair but accurate accounting of money that was due to be refunded to the family. Through different forms of investments, both legal and illegal, a huge fortune had been made, and it could have been said that all the money and property belonged to the family as they were where the money came from to start those investments. William had heard one States Attorney say that he thought that the original amount plus reasonable interest was all that should be returned to the family and the rest should go to the state. That was an idea the family would fight like crazy if it came up. The family wanted it all less a nominal tax payment except the word nominal was never allowed to be used in dealing with the state or federal tax people as they would almost certainly break out in hives at the word. They wanted it all for themselves, and quite often got it.
Anne also picked several competent private CPA firms to conduct audits of the companies involved to see if the funds could be separated into company and private monies and if so, how much. Etc. as they did not want to deprive the guilty people's families from any money they rightfully had by whatever way they got it. However, that money received for stock manipulation would become family money if the law allowed it and they thought it would.
Soon the legal dealings for the day was over. The family had gotten what it wanted, at least for now, but knew that they would receive challenges for every penny from the people's families and also from the state and federal people that that wanted the whole pie. It was going to be interesting to say the least, so it was a good thing that the new family was quite wealthy as it was going to take a huge bank account to fund all the legal action suits and to defend a bunch also.
It is a common practice for large corporations and people with seemingly unlimited funds to keep throwing new actions in front of the other side in legal matters that would require a fresh batch of money to be spent in the hopes that the party would just give up when they ran out of money. In this case, however, this family had the funds to weather any such storm, and in fact could play the villain if need be. All in all, this family as it now stood had about $1.6 billion between them, so they could weather a storm quite well. Plus, two of them were lawyers so they could generate paper as fast as anyone and do it cheaper, too.
The day in court finally over, each member decided to go their own hotel room and dress for dinner even though it could be called business casual, they would dress nicely. The Judge would drive Linda as they worked together and lived fairly close to each other so he could see her home instead of her taking the public transportation she normally used as parking around the Harris County Courthouse was almost impossible to find unless you spent a fortune on a rented spot and even then you might find someone already in it when you arrived. Anne kind of wondered if either of them knew what she had done, but did not care if they figured out that she had given them a small nudge or not. It was the right thing to do so she did it.
Anne had gone to their suite with her new husband and they made it almost to the far side of the living room before the explosion of clothes happened. An hour later found them trying to quickly shower together without getting sidetracked so they might get to the restaurant on time. Strangely enough, the two other newlywed couples had the same sort of problem. Everyone arrived at the restaurant about the same time and were shown to the private conference and eating room Linda had reserved. It had a large table that would hold all the food and then a slightly larger one that held the 8 diners. There was an awful of food, which turned out to be a good thing as everyone had missed lunch due to the wedding, including Linda so they were all starved and did not worry all that much about manners or appearances.
Once they were all eating, the judge asked how their afternoon session went and was told that they got all they asked for over the initial objection of the state and federal tax people. When asked about why the state or federal government would care who sat on a board, the judge said that the right person on a board could make things easier for either or both entities as they might quash or help expedite law suits for example.
As they finished eating, the table was cleared and fresh coffee and fresh wine were both placed on the table and the waiter told to give them some time now.
William looked at the judge and said that he was the one that wanted to talk about an idea of his so the floor was his for as long as he wanted it. Within reason, of course.
The Judge stood and said that with a table situation, he felt better standing and being able to walk if need be. Run if what he wanted to say was ill received.
"You people let me perform one of my favorite duties as a judge and that is when you asked me to perform your wedding ceremony. For that honor, I thank you from the bottom of my heart.
"Now, none of you really know me personally nor professionally. I am new to this area, having been brought down to fill an open slot for a judge here and as I had no cases scheduled for almost 6 months back home I did come here when asked and now here we are.
"Where are we you might ask, well let me tell you. You nice folks are up the creek without the proverbial paddle, and here is why. You do not have the experience in business law that you need. Yes, you can form corporations, file law suits and such but the heavy deep down and dirty, and believe me business is dirty as it must do with money; yours and other people's money. This is a little out of your realm of expertise. And the more money that is involved the dirtier it gets, and with the amount of money involved here not to mention all the involved companies and individuals, well it is going to get really nasty before it is resolved and there will be a myriad of hard feelings for years or decades afterwards.
"You nice people are totally in the right. However, being right doesn't win cases like this, having the best lawyer does. Both of you are sharp as tacks but out of your element I am sorry to say.
"What I propose is that you adopt me as a distant family member on a temporary basis. Meaning you people handle the boards and business decisions and let me handle the legal issues. We could do this one of several ways, but upon reflection, I think the best way would be to let me work for you for a simple salary and then perhaps a small percentage of what I save you and believe me, I will save you a ton of money due to my experience as I have tried a number of cases of this kind.
"Looking past tonight, I do not know what kind of offices nor how much room he has, but it will be impossible to use Williams place as an office and headquarters. You are going to be a very large multinational corporation with many different types of business interests in many locations, both here in the US and in several countries.
"You are going to need a large headquarters area and even before the trials start, a large staff of assorted people to help you. Some of you will have offices at your new companies but some boards are simple rent a member types where you come in once every six months and pick up your check, play a round of golf, then go home. And for that you are paid through the nose,
You need a place with lots of offices and meeting rooms and rooms for secretaries, PA's and such, and I do mean lots. I hope you understand this. I will sit down now and turn the floor to William."
The senior family member stood and was quiet for a minute before saying "Judge Webb, you are quite right in all that you say. What you said would have eventually dawned on us, but quite likely too late to find a solution in time. Therefore, I propose a toast to our newest cousin. Anyone disagree for any reason, speak now, please." There were no objections and handshakes, hugs, and kisses went out to everyone.
Judge Webb turned to Linda, and said "Linda, I hate to put you in the spotlight like this in front of my new family, but I cannot wait any longer. I have to make a statement and then ask a question. I had already told the family that I was either going to quit or else fire you and face a wrongful termination suit, but I think the world of you for so many reasons and would dearly love to date you and possibly even more very soon, I think that much of you. So would you see it in your heart and mind to forgive me this embarrassment and also say you would be willing to go out with me and possibly form a relationship?"
Linda looked at the judge and said, "Are we still working for the same people?"
The judge said "Legally yes, as I cannot tell them of my resignation until tomorrow, but effectively no as I will resign the bench tomorrow and we have witnesses to that that statement."
"In that case. Yes, I would love to go out with you anytime, right now included. I, no, we have to thank Anne as she figured it out while we were having coffee at the courtroom. So thank you, future Cousin-in-law. This brought a laugh from the table except from the Judge who said he had only asked for a date. Linda's reply was "close enough. Close enough for me anytime."
Mike laughed and said that it looked like they would need to find another tame judge soon
Then Mike surprised everyone when he told them that he wanted to show everyone something the next day after the Judge had submitted his resignation and cleaned out a part of his office. It seems that one of the disputed properties that the family sort of owned was a large professional office building that was just what the family needed at the present time. It was mostly even furnished with fairly nice furniture that the executives of the family might want to replace and pass down the ladder. Nice stuff, but not corporate exec stuff. He said he could show them that evening or anytime the next day. On second thought, as much as I hate to, let me suggest that we do it now as tomorrow is going to be a busy day for lots of us as we prepare to visit our new companies on Monday. Everyone agreed and William settled the bill and tip and gave every one the address for the office building and they left to look at a part of their future. It looked like a convoy heading there with all the vehicles in a line.
The building was pretty new and siting on a large lot with lots of parking and a large fenced area in back with a locked storage area. Why it was empty was anyone's guess. The building itself was a six-story building that was mostly square and built with white limestone exterior walls and columns. A very pretty building indeed. William had procured the keys from a realtor earlier so they entered and walked into what was an attractive reception area with quite a bit of seating room and then several offices in suites around the rest of the room. The group took the elevator to the top floor and found another but smaller reception area and executive offices with private bathrooms for 10 people, each with an adjoining smaller office for a personal assistant and then an area for a secretary. These office areas, William said, would be the family members, and one for their head of security and one for human resources perhaps. The other offices would be distributed according to who you worked for and what position one had at that time.
All in all, it looked just about perfect for the family and after a quick tour of the other floors and some discussion between the members, it was decided that they should use the building and if necessary, to simply buy it. The enormity of the future combined corporation headquarters size had not fully soaked in to minds of the family members as yet, but none of them foresaw any real growth or influx of additional business or the headquarters in the foreseeable future but if additional space should ever be needed, several possibilities were available such as adding an additional floor or two the idea of which did not seem original as it looked like the building had been designed and built with that possibility in mind.
Another possibility would be the addition of modular offices in the unused rear open area out back or even the building of another building from scratch. It would all depend on need and who could tell what would happen by then, especially with so many new companies coming onboard that they basically knew nothing about. It was remembered that each new company had its own offices and would be mostly just forwarding reports of sales and accounting to the corporate headquarters for review and acceptance.
Everyone was so happy that everybody seemed to actually like each other and there did not appear to be any jealousy or envy of any sort and that the mutually agreed on plan for the placement of family members based on experience and training of the family member versus the needs and requirements for a management position.
The only foreseeable problem with the existing boards any of them could envision was a combination of fear and anger. Fear for their own jobs and futures, and anger that a member of their management team had been guilty of underhanded and illegal actions and were now facing charges for those crimes and who know what might be said in an effort to lessen the pressure on the accused. So, yes, everyone was nervous. Very, very nervous and therefore they were going to be afraid to welcome a replacement member to their team for lots of reasons. It was going to take some time and serious efforts to win them or at least most of them over. It was feared that in some cases major replacements of board members might be necessary. Only time would tell, but the family had in mind to only remove those members under suspicion of illegal or unethical dealings. At least for now, but bad attitudes would not be tolerated and would be dealt with quickly and severely.
William looked at the judge and asked, "Judge, you know your lady and I need to ask first what your future plans are concerning her. We can talk in private if you wish, but would prefer we do not keep any secrets from each other as you have probably noticed. Should you two marry, it would give us another cousin-in- law to help shoulder the staggering load we have taken on and would hope she will be of great assistance to you. Is she also planning on becoming a lawyer?"
"William, Linda and I have been working together for about a year and a half or slightly longer, and I have nothing but the upmost respect for her, and I mean all of her. Besides being a beautiful woman with a prize winning personality and award winning smile and killer sense of humor, she has one of the sharpest minds I have ever had the pleasure of dealing with. Nothing seems too difficult for her to attempt nor accomplish once she sets her mind on doing so. She is one semester away from completing law school and then she has to sit for the bar exam, which will be no problem I assure you, and then we can unleash the future terror of the legal system on the unsuspecting world. So, yes, to answer your question, she will most certainly be a welcome addition to your extended family.
"Besides all that, while we have gone to numerous functions since we stated working together, we have not even had a single time alone such as a date due to the various laws that prohibit such activities. I am looking forward to getting to know her in hopes that she feels like I do and who knows, maybe we can gain another cousin-in-law for your family business. I guarantee we could do a lot worse than that little woman right over there, and Linda, and I hope you don't mind if I call you Honey, but Linda, Honey, right here in front of all these adopted family members and employers let me say that I think I have a love for you the likes of which I have never experienced before and never will again. I can only hope you have some of those same feelings towards me. I can tell you now that working with you will be a pleasure for me and I can only imagine the good we can accomplish together."
"Judge, and I will probably call you that forever, you are so wrong. It will be my pleasure to work with you and the rest of the family to clear up this mess and also whatever else the world tosses at us in the future. As for that future, each day when I wake up, I give thanks for that day and the opportunity to serve with a man of honor who cares about everyone, especially the innocent and wrongfully attacked people such as the family here. I am so anxious to work on these problems and I am even more anxious to work hard on getting to know the real Judge Webb and then when I have him roped and tied I plan on then dragging him to a church or courtroom, whichever is closest and having someone say, "I now pronounce you wife and husband."
"Uh... Isn't that supposed to be Husband and wife?" Asked the Judge.
"Well, that is the way it is written, but the other way just sounds so much better."
"Uh, Oh. Me thinks the Judge doth have his hands full with this one, and I, for one, cannot wait to watch the developments as they happen, and wife of mine, from this moment forward you are forbidden from having discussions with this woman for fear of her giving you ideas." Said Mike smiling.
"In your dreams" was Anne's mostly serious reply.
When they got to the judge, the judge shook hands with everyone and said in a serious voice, "Mike I hope this marriage lasts longer than the honeymoon this time. I am getting tired of signing all those annulment papers." Mike's face fell and all color drained from it as he was so shocked he did not know what to do or say, so he just stood there and looked back and forth between Anne and the Judge before Anne says "Michael, How could you?" Then taking pity on a poor speechless Mike, she said, "Uncle Roger, it looks like we got him pretty good. What do you think?"
The Judge said that if he was any more shocked they would have had to start CPR. Best laugh he had had in years. Mike finally found his voice, although it was a bit squeaky at the moment and he looked at Anne and said "Uncle Roger?"
Anne smiled at him mischievously and said "What?? I am not allowed to know important people also?" and laughed some more at his confusion. Anne then explained that the Judge was an old friend and the father of her college roommate and that he enjoyed a good joke as much as anyone did.
Mike quietly said sort of under his breath, "Wonderful. Simply wonderful. My future wife is a very devious woman and I just now found it out".
Then the Judge got everyone's attention and said to find a chair and let's get this wedding done before one of the participants had a heart attack, which brought laughter from the crowd that had gathered.
"Dearly beloved and honored guests, we have gathered together to honor and witness the unions of these fine couples into the state of matrimony" and continued with a short service lasting only a few minutes in reality. The vows were made and the rings placed onto the proper fingers and the Judge pronounced them husbands and wives and told the grooms to bestow the customary kiss upon their bride and then introduced the two couples by their new legal married names to the crowd and to the world, and with that the ceremony was over.
Everyone gathered at what was actually the front of the room but had been the back of the ceremony for a plate of cake and punch that the hotel had supplied. Everyone was happy. As time wore on, Stephen began to get nervous and edged over to Mike and whispered "I hate to break up a party, but we have some work to do pretty quick now."
Mike agreed and then told Stephen that he had sort of discussed the situation with the judge before so he knew the basics of what was going to happen that morning. He moved them over to where the judge was engaged in conversation with a media type that Mike had seen before. Waiting until the judge noticed him and called him over, they told the judge they thought it was time to go confront Mike's grandfather and asked the judge if he would like to accompany them. The judge thanked them and said he would give anything to have been able to see the reaction to all this from him, but that there was a possibility the case might come before the judge and he really did not want to recluse himself from the bench for that battle. He did say that to make it all look more convincing that he had two black Suburban's outside with two men wearing dark suits in each to create the illusion of members of the FBI and Justice Department without having to be guilty of impersonating an officer of the law.
They quickly discussed how to go about making the confrontation and again what to demand in the form of payment for past and future deeds and silence about those deeds. They had decided that they would demand that he move 51 percent of all his stocks into a trust for the three blood relatives, Christie, Mike, and his father; resign from all boards and ask that his family replace him on those boards; resign from any company in which he is listed as a corporate officer; Move 60 percent of all liquid assets into trusts with his kids and grandkids names on it; and lastly, place all his remaining holdings into a blind trust denying him the ability to manipulate those funds, thus removing him from the public eye. This would be done or all the information and proof of wrongdoings would be given to the authorities at that time and they would move forward with lawsuits and also press charges of murder and attempted murder, crimes which had no statute of limitations and extradition was guaranteed.
Yes, it sounded great when they said it. Now, if it only worked even close to that way for real.
As soon as they could excuse themselves from the celebration of the weddings, the two freshly married and exuberant couples and Mike's father William left and went out to the SUV parked outside that the two couples would use and also Willian's car, a newer looking Bentley. Stephen did a double take for a minute and then remembered that both William and Michael were very successful attorneys that had tried and won several very large law suites recently. Many people had told Steve that the mere mention of their names made opponents consider changing their pleas or stories or attitude towards discussing settlement terms. It was said that they could be as vicious as a pack of hungry sharks in the water.
They also had the two back Suburban's that were there as window dressing and to create the illusion of government involvement or interests in this matter. Now was going to be the time for each of them to present the best poker face and serious look they could if they had any hope of making William's father capitulate and surrender the money without a huge fight. They had purposefully asked for the moon and all the stars in hopes of settling for maybe just the moon and a handful of stars without a fight. Time would tell.
They pulled up in front of the mansion that Williams father Robert owned and lived in. It had a circular drive in front with a turnout towards the 4 car garage down the left side of the house. Their four autos did little to fill the highway sized driveway.
After they parked, Mike walked back to the "government SUV's" and spoke for a minute giving the illusion of giving final instructions. And then all 5 went to the front door and rang the doorbell. When it was answered, Williams father Robert was the one to answer it himself as his house staff was off on Sunday. As soon as he saw who was on the door step he started to close the door quickly but not quickly enough as William had already stuck his foot into the gap to prevent such a thing from happening and then William said rather sharply "Hello, Father. Have you missed us? Well, we have come to talk." And with that shouldered the door open and led the way inside with Stephen dragging up the rear and ready to close the door if it was still open. It wasn't as Robert had shut it quickly once they were all inside.
"What's the meaning of this outrage? I have not invited you people to my home and I want you to leave and leave now otherwise I call the police."
"Go ahead and call them, Father of mine, it will save me the trouble later. Of course I do have a couple of teams of feds, namely the FBI and Justice Department standing by, but if you want the city boys involved then so much the better. Want me to make the call?" asked William.
Everyone swallowed hard when Robert picked up the phone on the table and dialed 911 and asked for officers to come to his home to remove uninvited people.
At the same time, William took out his cell phone and called the detective bureau and asked to speak with Captain Pruitt. When the captain came on William identified himself and asked for detectives to come at once to the address there to investigate a double murder, numerous charges of money laundering, bank fraud, stock manipulation, and that is just for a start as the list of city, state, federal and international laws broken were staggering.
"And who is supposed to have done all this? Asked Captain Pruitt."
"My own did father did it over a period of 30 years. The two murders were his first wife and my mother, and another woman he had made pregnant and was supposed to marry but killed instead. I have her daughter and son in law here with me so DNA will be easy to assess. Details are still coming out as we speak and will for some time, but there will be some digging to do also. By the way, Jim, your detectives best hurry as the rest of us are about to be arrested for trespassing. No, we not break and enter, but we did not leave when told to. We will be right here waiting for your boys to arrive and for the show to begin. In fact, I have waited for 30 years or more for this moment to arrive. You probably need to notify the FBI and Justice Department or US Attorney to get here quickly also" exclaimed William
When William disconnected from the Captain, he quickly hit a speed dial number and it was answered on the first ring by someone. William started speaking immediately, "Smithers, it is on. Use your list and follow it completely and in order. Make sure that you get the feds to do the lockdowns on all the banking and investment accounts at all financial institutions and the stock exchange. Make double sure he is on the no-fly list and his passport is suspended indefinitely. You make the calls and follow up on them. We may have to spend the night in jail. I am not certain yet, it all depends on timing and such. Stay on duty tonight and make sure that you and whoever else you may need are at the courthouse before 730 in the morning with plenty of coffee and Danish and the hand full of the lawsuits I have outlined for you already. Make sure that all the newspapers and every local and cable TV station get a heads up. In fact, make a handout listing each lawsuit and the parties and amount involved. Make sure to spell the names correctly. The synopsis of the murder charges is there too, and these can be leaked but not released. Of course, they could accidently be included in the original file packet. You figure something out. As soon as the charges are made it will all be public information anyhow."
"We were going to try to talk it over with the old bastard but he started calling the cops on us, so we figured he did not want to talk, so here we are. Most of the work has been done for you already, but you may need some help. Go ahead and call in anyone you want. Oh, and there is a list of characters for this play on my desk. Make sure that is included in the press packets. If there are requests for media interviews, tell them that as soon as I get out of jail I will gladly talk with them. You could also use a little face time, you know. It has been a while since you had any limelight shine on you, Buddy. Hey, come to think on it, we could have a TV crew or a news print crew just happen to be at the jail later when we get there and we could start the whole process a little earlier. It would mean having to make more copies of the charges, reports, and character lists but what the heck... Talk it over with some of the guys and go for it if you like it. Got to run now as I hear sirens coming. Our tax dollars at work you know. Later, Smithers."
As soon as William was off the phone, Robert was in his face demanding to know what the meaning of all this was and why was he trying to drag the family name through the dirt like he was and didn't they teach him the meaning of libel and slander in his law school"
William looked at his father face to face for the first time in several years and said "You always told everyone that you had a mind like a steel trap and never forgot anything or anyone. Ever. So how is it that you forgot all about my mother and that little push you gave her up on that ridge that day that killed my mother and let you cut me out of my rightful inheritance and then there is the matter of you giving Christine's mother a nice shove sideways and sent her off a cliff to her death that time. Remember now? I know you seem to have forgotten your daughter and son after you killed their mothers. And once more, you somehow wound up with someone else's trust fund money and also their inheritance. Funny how that happens, isn't it, Father" and spat when he said the word.
"We came to talk and try to settle, but you had other ideas, so we will play it your way. Here are the cops. Let the games begin. But before anything else, let me introduce you to your daughter and her husband, Stephen and Christine Armstrong. Not that you will ever make their Christmas card list." Said William.
"I get it now. This is a ploy, a sick attempt to squeeze a little money from me, isn't it? Well, it isn't going to work, not at all. I have had hucksters of all sorts over the years trying to steal my money and it didn't work then and it isn't going to work now. So, when you get out of jail, leave this area and never return if you know what is good for you."
"Well, Father, let me say this. Collectively, we had many times the cash that you have. So, what do you think of that?? Kind of shoots holes in some of your theories, doesn't it?"
"Welcome, guys, as the police officers came in the door. He is the one that called you for the trespassers, which would be us. When the next batch and the detectives arrive, along with the FBI, The NSA, Homeland Security, Securities and Exchange Commission, State Bureau of Investigation, and who knows what or who all else, the person that called is us here and the lying and murdering Son of a Bitch that killed our mothers and stole our money is that rotten bastard over there, my own father, such as he is." Stated William.
"Officer, this is my house and these people entered forcibly and refused to leave. I want them all arrested and charged with criminal trespass and breaking and entering. And I want them out of my house right now. I do not want to ever see any of them again. If they are arrested and they promise to never return, I won't make additional charges against them." Said Robert.
"Oh, let him charge us. Anything and everything he wants, although we did not break and enter as he opened the door and we came in and would not leave until the authorities showed up. We have him by the short curlies now and will keep him there for a long time, too." replied Mike this time.
The local cops looked back and forth between each other not knowing what to do considering the enormity of the possible charges being mentioned so it was decided to simply ticket each of the accused trespassers and watch to see what the feds did.
After the assorted federal authorities arrived and had interviewed each person, the senior FBI agent said that the younger family members could leave as he had all their information and that the senior Mr. Morgan was going to be detained and taken to their headquarters for further interviews and interrogations.
As the FBI agent had stated, the two couples were starting their married life, but not their honeymoons as yet, so they went to their respective hotel rooms to set up and engage in many, many rounds of practice for the honeymoon, trying to get it right but somehow always perhaps just trying a bit too hard and thus failing in their quest and thus forcing the engagement of yet another round of wonderful lovemaking. As it turned out, each couple was so in love with their new spouse that nothing could or would separate them until their phones started ringing later that next morning.
Somehow the media had found out that Robert Morgan, one of the state's wealthiest citizens had been taken into custody even though he was in his 80's, for suspicion of a multitude of crimes, as well as his attorney, accountant, and most of his board of directors and a whole host of his friends and business associates and the investigation into all their affairs promised to bring a lot more charges to a number of people in the near future. That investigation could take years to complete and have all the proper charges filed. Lawyers were going to get even richer and their younger associates way overworked.
The media had also discovered that Robert had been named as the prime defendant in a host of lawsuits pertaining to his business dealings, mentioning stock manipulation, price fixing, money laundering, frauds of various sorts, insider trading and outright theft of funds and inherited stocks, tax evasion and then there was the wrongful death and abandonment and child neglect charges and law suits list just went on and on with promises to continue for a while. Basically being sued for every penny he has and every bit of property and every board seat and all of his financial and real estate interests with the lawsuits saying he would not have these properties if it wasn't for the money and inheritances he stole from two dead wives and two abandoned children.
It was even joked that he might have to defend himself as he would not have enough money to hire even an inexpensive attorney. Of course there was always the publicity hungry lawyer that might take his cases or part of them Pro Bono for the publicity and free advertising that it would give his firm. Who knew at this point, but in each lawsuit it was requested of the court to freeze any and all assets until final determination of awards were made and published. It was also requested that the persons bringing forth the suits, his son, grandson, son-in-law, daughter, daughter-in-law, and grand daughter-in-law be given un-compensated control of his various companies to ensure their continued operation and operation at a reasonable profit for the future owners whomever that might be, which statement was given the most thought by the judge and laughter by the court spectators. In the end, he allowed the request and asked pointedly if the family wanted to fill the positons subject to the court's approval or if they would like the court to name temporary replacements for those key positions.
Mike stood and looked at the Judge, and said "Your Honor, if it please the court, this family feels strongly that in order to ensure the best interests of the family as a whole are protected we need to make sure that we have at least one family member on each board or panel. We have a total of 6 family members available, 3 men and their respective spouses. If the court wishes, the family can produce a list that suggests the best person for a particular position. We would only ask for a short recess to have that list typed and then reproduced in sufficient numbers to satisfy the court's requirements. Thank you, Your Honor." And he sat down smiling inside as he had just been handed what the family wanted so badly, family members on every board even if they had never had one there before. Only time could tell how far the crimes and Robert's influence extended.
William had the thought that Angie, as good a CPA as her firm has, wasn't going to be nearly enough to conduct the necessary audits on all the companies, corporations, businesses, and individuals that might owe the family money. He would have to have a serious talk with Angie about that situation and right away, too. He thought he should call her and see about lunch and making the enquiry and letting her start with compiling a list of firms to bring on board as needed as well as a rough estimate the cost of an audit of the firm's financial history. This complete audit could take months and cost millions but would prove to be well worth the cost.
They judge quickly looked at William and said that the court was going to order such a list be presented and that it should be ready to present when court reconvened at 3 PM that afternoon and court was dismissed until then.'
In the essence of time, the family went down to a coffee shop that was not overly busy and took a large table and opened brief cases to remove the list of known companies that would have a new board member and company officers on board and then the name of a family member or members to post there. Once seated and down to business, Mike pulled a list from his briefcase and handed it to his dad. William looked at it and the first thing he saw was Angie's name listed as his wife, and he kind of grunted and said "Uh, Mike, you have Angie listed as my wife and that isn't so. This could be perjury you know."
Angie quickly looked from Mike to William and said "What? You don't want to make me an honest woman or what?" and smiled—sorta, as she waited for his answer.
"No, that is not it at all. We just started dating and I know I think the world of you and hope you do me, but, well, you haven't asked me yet." And laughed at her facial expression.
Angie looked at Mike said "Is it too late to change that list and take my name off of it?"
"Sure is. You are stuck with us, so why not make it legal?" Mike replied.
"Alright. Okay William, let's go get married."
"That's not much of a proposal." William said
Angie was getting red in the face and looked at Mike and said "Do you do criminal defense because I am getting ready to kill one son of a bitch that deserves it? Could that make it justifiable homicide? Okay, then.
"William Mark Morgan, will you marry me?" She asked with what looked like pain on her face.
"Now why didn't you do that the first time. Think of the time we could of saved. Of course I will marry you and be very happy to have done so. I love you and look forward to a long and happy life with you. Yes, Angie, I will marry you. Preferably right after lunch before the hearing restarts so we are not guilty of perjury." William said.
"That the only reason you want to marry me?" Angie asked
"Well no, but that is all I choose to talk about in front of the children." He said to the outburst of laughter from everyone except Angie.
"I didn't know he was like that or I might never have had the first date with him. But now I Iove the bum to pieces. I guess kind of like you all do. Right?"
"Yes, you are right and we do need to get you married unless you just want a large fancy wedding, a small one in front of a judge like we had this morning is just fine.'
"No, no plans for a large wedding. Heck, yesterday I didn't even have plans for a wedding. Okay, what do we need to do here, smart ass?" She asked, looking at William the whole time.
"We get into the car and head towards the courthouse and stop somewhere along the way at a jewelry store and buy you a nice ring, either a diamond for you and a band for me or matching bands for each of us. Then we go to the court house and find a judge napping peacefully someplace and ask him to marry us while court is in recess, then we say our vows and return to our courtroom and present the legal papers to the court and await his decision. Then we go to your place and let you pack a few things and then and then we move you into my place for a bit and then we go on a nice trip after all the dust had settled and we start and someday finish our life together. At least that is the way I foresee it all. Does that work for you, my dear future wife?"
"It does indeed work for me. In fact, it probably couldn't have been planned any better with my college sorority doing do the planning. What judge did you all use?" She asked, smiling broadly.
Everyone laughed at that and they said "The first one not doing anything." Angie burst out laughing with them and said "Actually, he was in the hotel coffee shop and consented to perform the weddings. He is a good guy, so let's go see if he is busy so we can have him make a clean sweep of our family marriages, a trifecta if you will." and off they went down the long hall to Judge Webb's courtroom and as luck would have it, caught him coming out of the courtroom and approached him with their request. The look on his face to see a third couple in the same family wanting a fast marriage was almost too much for the Judge who had to ask if there were any other members that needed to get married and if so they could try for a pavilion at the park. And laughed loudly at his own joke.
"No, Your Honor, we are the last couple in our family so there won't be a repeat. We do appreciate what you are doing for us and believe me, there is a good reason for the hurry other than that our actual love for each other and our desire to be united as one." Said William.
"Ah, that was so sweet." Angie interjected. "You high profile and talented lawyers think so fast on your feet. I love it and you."
This brought more laughs from the group and Judge Webb told William that he would need to be careful with this this one as she seems pretty darn sharp. This brought more laughs and William said that she was a CPA and the judge said, "Wow! Facts versus figures. This ought to be interesting." And this produced yet another round of laughs. They moved into the courtroom and Judge Webb stopped in the aisle and turned to look at the whole group and said "Excuse me for asking something here that might be outside my legal right to know, but does this group have a legal action being presented in another court?"
"Yes, Sir. We do have a group action under consideration in Judge Palmer's court. Is that going to present a problem?" William asked.
"Not at all. Neither action has even the slightest thing to do with the other so it doesn't matter." Said the judge.
"Actually, it does sort of have something to do with each other. We have some time so could we sit and have an informal and off the record discussion between friends without compromising my cases or either of our careers?" asked William.
"Let me lock that door and we won't be bothered and I promise I will not let this discussion enter into even a gray area open to misinterpretation. Okay? There is coffee in my chambers, but I think we would be more comfortable talking out here as this particular courtroom doesn't have the amenities that some of the others have." And everyone agreed and the girls went into the judge's private chambers and brought back coffee for everyone along with cream and sugar for those that might want it. After all, some of this group was still virtual strangers even thought they were now related by marriage. Family gatherings was going to be so much fun they all thought.
"Robert Scott Morgan, the industrialist, capitalist, businessman, liar, thief, stock manipulator, murderer, and who knows what all at this time what all else is my biological father, and Mike's grandfather. He is also Christine's biological father and that makes Christine my half-sister to boot. He killed my mother soon after I was born in the mountains of Switzerland in what was supposedly a skiing accident. He then abandoned me to relatives of my mother and stole all her money and went into exile. It was her inheritance and trust fund monies that gave him the capital to fund all his business ventures, which by the way were hugely successful and made him extremely wealthy. It has been said, and here we have no proof one way or another except for his word that my mother was guilty of cheating on him and that is why he left, but he has never said anything about her death.
"Now, some years later he meets and falls in lust with Christine's mother who was very beautiful and sophisticated and extremely wealthy via inheritances and trust funds but worked for Robert as a PA, and following a meeting with other crooked and not so nice associates, forced Christie's mother to consume a large amount of alcohol then he raped her and she became pregnant with that one time. He gave her some money to move to Switzerland and have the baby in a private hospital there.
After the baby was born she supposedly skied off a cliff killing herself but was actually pushed off that cliff by my father. He stole Christie's birthright and inheritance and trust fund monies but set up a modest trust fund for Christie so she would not try to investigate her mom's death or try to take legal action against Robert. He took everything that would and should have been Christine's inheritance and her trust funds and all the family property. He says that one was an accident and also that the accusations of the infidelities were later proven to have been false and planted by business rivals who knew about his loathing for cheats. This was done for business reasons so these rivals might get the upper hand in a business deal if Robert was otherwise distracted and unable to concentrate fully.
"Through the years, he brought many others on board that had his natural avoidance of laws and ethics and most of those are on various boards of directors of many large corporations here and in Europe and each has, for lack of a better term I will say earned a huge salary and has built a large nest egg of cash and investments and amassed property holdings all through illegal and unethical dealing through and/or for Robert.
"We six, well six as soon as the wedding ceremony is finished will be the new members on those boards, either as a single member or in certain cases maybe more than one of us will be on it. We will also take over several CEO and board chairmen duties and in fact, we will control a vast business empire that will take much of our time and efforts for years to come if not forever. Mike and I are lawyers and are ready to assume those duties. Angie is a CPA and is also ready to lead. Christine is ready and is already a business woman so she knows how to cut to the chase and Anne is also in business. Stephen is going to be new to the corporate world, but rest assured he is no novice at business. He is a rancher and many other things that will provide invaluable knowledge and experience to us all.
"I was thinking that we should incorporate ourselves as a family owned holding company or corporation to operate the new family business. Off the record and as a friend what do you think, Sir?" William asked Judge Webb.
"Well", the judge said slowly as if he was thinking of what to say. "I think first that that this coffee is damn cold and needs refreshed and if someone will do that while I hash out an idea in my head, I will spring that new idea on you. And believe me, it will shock you at first but I will beg your indulgence."
Looking at his watch, the judge said that perhaps the wedding should happen right then and if there was time enough to get into the judge's idea then they would do so and if not, they could continue later in the afternoon. The Judge summoned his clerk and told her to grab someone else and to get back to the courtroom for a wedding. Yes, the same family as this morning, but that this would be the last one. He laughed as he explained his clerk's comments. He said that they would like her a lot as she was smart as a whip and funny as could be without being detrimental to her work environment. Besides, he was getting ready to fire her so he could ask her out as he was developing a love for her and could not ask her out as long as she worked for him or else he was going to quit so he could ask. He felt sure she liked him a lot also but knew she could do nothing about it. Damn laws anyhow. That brought a laugh out from the whole group.
As soon as the coffee urn was set on the table, the judge had everyone move into their proper position for the ceremony and very soon, there was another newly married couple in the room.
After the congratulations and hugs and kisses and handshakes all around, the judge asked if they had time to listen to his idea then or did they want to go to dinner after court recessed so they could have all the time needed. Waiting for an evening supper meeting turned out to be the desire of everyone.
Anne, being ever the romantic person she was, not to mention devilishly sneaky asked Linda, the Judges clerk if she might use her computer and printer for a few minutes and while doing so asked Linda to come and join them at the supper meeting. She declined saying that it was for family members and close friends only. Anne said that was horse hockey and that she had been through three weddings that day with and for them and that made her sort of family or at least a good friend. Besides, the judge was going to be there and present an idea to them and she thought Linda should be there for it all. She finally agreed and the two of them decided to let Linda make the reservations in a very nice restaurant that was well known for serving good food and lots of it. She would order the family style meal where everything was brought out on platters and placed on the table for each person to fill their own plate, with what they wanted. She ordered a whole variety of food at Anne's request and told her not to worry about the bill as she was sure that they could collect enough from each of them to pay for the meal. They all had another good laugh and said that they had to leave to get to court for the rest of the day.
They said their goodbyes and reminded everyone of the 6:00 PM meeting time at the restaurant. And then they departed together for the scheduled court appearance at 3:00.
Once inside the courtroom and seated at their table as plaintiffs William leaned over to Angie and said, "Little girl, you are as mischievous and as dastardly sneaky as they come, not to mention hopelessly romantic. So when have you scheduled the Judge's wedding for?" This brought a huge round of laughter from the table and caused the court reporter to give them a look that could freeze water. Of course, this brought on another round of laughter. Everyone knew that this laughter was needed as things had been awful tense for most of them over all this whole mess.
Shortly the Bailiff called everyone to their feet as the judge entered and assumed his positon of authority and then told everyone to be seated and started right in by asking if the family had its list of which family members the family thought should be assigned to which company and why in some instances. The judge looked at it carefully and asked the States Attorney if he had seen it and if he had, were there any objections. There weren't any objections so the judge issued the order implementing those changes to the assorted boards of directors beginning the following Monday as this was Thursday and it would take a bit of time for his clerks to type up the individual legal orders for each company placing a family member in the place of an accused member of that board regardless of job description or title. In some cases, there would be a new CEO at the helm, or a new COO, or CFO or whatever. It seemed as if old Robert had his fingers in lots of pies. Fingers, Hell. He was in them up to his elbow most of the time and sometimes even deeper. It was unknown how these changes would be met and received but each family member had the right to replace anyone in any positon for any reason without fear of reprisal by anyone as long as they were acting in the best interest of the company. This was the only action before the court so court was recessed before 330 and it was suggested that they move the supper up as far as they could so they could have more time to discuss business if Judge Webb and Linda could get away earlier. They called and agreed to meet now at 5 PM.
Anne had called her own company to start working on full audits of the people named in the charges and cross referencing them several ways to see if conspiracy charges were also warranted, which was almost a given they thought. A running total of misappropriated funds was also to be kept listing all the parties involved and the known actions before and after the theft. It was going to be very hard to come up with a fair but accurate accounting of money that was due to be refunded to the family. Through different forms of investments, both legal and illegal, a huge fortune had been made, and it could have been said that all the money and property belonged to the family as they were where the money came from to start those investments. William had heard one States Attorney say that he thought that the original amount plus reasonable interest was all that should be returned to the family and the rest should go to the state. That was an idea the family would fight like crazy if it came up. The family wanted it all less a nominal tax payment except the word nominal was never allowed to be used in dealing with the state or federal tax people as they would almost certainly break out in hives at the word. They wanted it all for themselves, and quite often got it.
Anne also picked several competent private CPA firms to conduct audits of the companies involved to see if the funds could be separated into company and private monies and if so, how much. Etc. as they did not want to deprive the guilty people's families from any money they rightfully had by whatever way they got it. However, that money received for stock manipulation would become family money if the law allowed it and they thought it would.
Soon the legal dealings for the day was over. The family had gotten what it wanted, at least for now, but knew that they would receive challenges for every penny from the people's families and also from the state and federal people that that wanted the whole pie. It was going to be interesting to say the least, so it was a good thing that the new family was quite wealthy as it was going to take a huge bank account to fund all the legal action suits and to defend a bunch also.
It is a common practice for large corporations and people with seemingly unlimited funds to keep throwing new actions in front of the other side in legal matters that would require a fresh batch of money to be spent in the hopes that the party would just give up when they ran out of money. In this case, however, this family had the funds to weather any such storm, and in fact could play the villain if need be. All in all, this family as it now stood had about $1.6 billion between them, so they could weather a storm quite well. Plus, two of them were lawyers so they could generate paper as fast as anyone and do it cheaper, too.
The day in court finally over, each member decided to go their own hotel room and dress for dinner even though it could be called business casual, they would dress nicely. The Judge would drive Linda as they worked together and lived fairly close to each other so he could see her home instead of her taking the public transportation she normally used as parking around the Harris County Courthouse was almost impossible to find unless you spent a fortune on a rented spot and even then you might find someone already in it when you arrived. Anne kind of wondered if either of them knew what she had done, but did not care if they figured out that she had given them a small nudge or not. It was the right thing to do so she did it.
Anne had gone to their suite with her new husband and they made it almost to the far side of the living room before the explosion of clothes happened. An hour later found them trying to quickly shower together without getting sidetracked so they might get to the restaurant on time. Strangely enough, the two other newlywed couples had the same sort of problem. Everyone arrived at the restaurant about the same time and were shown to the private conference and eating room Linda had reserved. It had a large table that would hold all the food and then a slightly larger one that held the 8 diners. There was an awful of food, which turned out to be a good thing as everyone had missed lunch due to the wedding, including Linda so they were all starved and did not worry all that much about manners or appearances.
Once they were all eating, the judge asked how their afternoon session went and was told that they got all they asked for over the initial objection of the state and federal tax people. When asked about why the state or federal government would care who sat on a board, the judge said that the right person on a board could make things easier for either or both entities as they might quash or help expedite law suits for example.
As they finished eating, the table was cleared and fresh coffee and fresh wine were both placed on the table and the waiter told to give them some time now.
William looked at the judge and said that he was the one that wanted to talk about an idea of his so the floor was his for as long as he wanted it. Within reason, of course.
The Judge stood and said that with a table situation, he felt better standing and being able to walk if need be. Run if what he wanted to say was ill received.
"You people let me perform one of my favorite duties as a judge and that is when you asked me to perform your wedding ceremony. For that honor, I thank you from the bottom of my heart.
"Now, none of you really know me personally nor professionally. I am new to this area, having been brought down to fill an open slot for a judge here and as I had no cases scheduled for almost 6 months back home I did come here when asked and now here we are.
"Where are we you might ask, well let me tell you. You nice folks are up the creek without the proverbial paddle, and here is why. You do not have the experience in business law that you need. Yes, you can form corporations, file law suits and such but the heavy deep down and dirty, and believe me business is dirty as it must do with money; yours and other people's money. This is a little out of your realm of expertise. And the more money that is involved the dirtier it gets, and with the amount of money involved here not to mention all the involved companies and individuals, well it is going to get really nasty before it is resolved and there will be a myriad of hard feelings for years or decades afterwards.
"You nice people are totally in the right. However, being right doesn't win cases like this, having the best lawyer does. Both of you are sharp as tacks but out of your element I am sorry to say.
"What I propose is that you adopt me as a distant family member on a temporary basis. Meaning you people handle the boards and business decisions and let me handle the legal issues. We could do this one of several ways, but upon reflection, I think the best way would be to let me work for you for a simple salary and then perhaps a small percentage of what I save you and believe me, I will save you a ton of money due to my experience as I have tried a number of cases of this kind.
"Looking past tonight, I do not know what kind of offices nor how much room he has, but it will be impossible to use Williams place as an office and headquarters. You are going to be a very large multinational corporation with many different types of business interests in many locations, both here in the US and in several countries.
"You are going to need a large headquarters area and even before the trials start, a large staff of assorted people to help you. Some of you will have offices at your new companies but some boards are simple rent a member types where you come in once every six months and pick up your check, play a round of golf, then go home. And for that you are paid through the nose,
You need a place with lots of offices and meeting rooms and rooms for secretaries, PA's and such, and I do mean lots. I hope you understand this. I will sit down now and turn the floor to William."
The senior family member stood and was quiet for a minute before saying "Judge Webb, you are quite right in all that you say. What you said would have eventually dawned on us, but quite likely too late to find a solution in time. Therefore, I propose a toast to our newest cousin. Anyone disagree for any reason, speak now, please." There were no objections and handshakes, hugs, and kisses went out to everyone.
Judge Webb turned to Linda, and said "Linda, I hate to put you in the spotlight like this in front of my new family, but I cannot wait any longer. I have to make a statement and then ask a question. I had already told the family that I was either going to quit or else fire you and face a wrongful termination suit, but I think the world of you for so many reasons and would dearly love to date you and possibly even more very soon, I think that much of you. So would you see it in your heart and mind to forgive me this embarrassment and also say you would be willing to go out with me and possibly form a relationship?"
Linda looked at the judge and said, "Are we still working for the same people?"
The judge said "Legally yes, as I cannot tell them of my resignation until tomorrow, but effectively no as I will resign the bench tomorrow and we have witnesses to that that statement."
"In that case. Yes, I would love to go out with you anytime, right now included. I, no, we have to thank Anne as she figured it out while we were having coffee at the courtroom. So thank you, future Cousin-in-law. This brought a laugh from the table except from the Judge who said he had only asked for a date. Linda's reply was "close enough. Close enough for me anytime."
Mike laughed and said that it looked like they would need to find another tame judge soon
Then Mike surprised everyone when he told them that he wanted to show everyone something the next day after the Judge had submitted his resignation and cleaned out a part of his office. It seems that one of the disputed properties that the family sort of owned was a large professional office building that was just what the family needed at the present time. It was mostly even furnished with fairly nice furniture that the executives of the family might want to replace and pass down the ladder. Nice stuff, but not corporate exec stuff. He said he could show them that evening or anytime the next day. On second thought, as much as I hate to, let me suggest that we do it now as tomorrow is going to be a busy day for lots of us as we prepare to visit our new companies on Monday. Everyone agreed and William settled the bill and tip and gave every one the address for the office building and they left to look at a part of their future. It looked like a convoy heading there with all the vehicles in a line.
The building was pretty new and siting on a large lot with lots of parking and a large fenced area in back with a locked storage area. Why it was empty was anyone's guess. The building itself was a six-story building that was mostly square and built with white limestone exterior walls and columns. A very pretty building indeed. William had procured the keys from a realtor earlier so they entered and walked into what was an attractive reception area with quite a bit of seating room and then several offices in suites around the rest of the room. The group took the elevator to the top floor and found another but smaller reception area and executive offices with private bathrooms for 10 people, each with an adjoining smaller office for a personal assistant and then an area for a secretary. These office areas, William said, would be the family members, and one for their head of security and one for human resources perhaps. The other offices would be distributed according to who you worked for and what position one had at that time.
All in all, it looked just about perfect for the family and after a quick tour of the other floors and some discussion between the members, it was decided that they should use the building and if necessary, to simply buy it. The enormity of the future combined corporation headquarters size had not fully soaked in to minds of the family members as yet, but none of them foresaw any real growth or influx of additional business or the headquarters in the foreseeable future but if additional space should ever be needed, several possibilities were available such as adding an additional floor or two the idea of which did not seem original as it looked like the building had been designed and built with that possibility in mind.
Another possibility would be the addition of modular offices in the unused rear open area out back or even the building of another building from scratch. It would all depend on need and who could tell what would happen by then, especially with so many new companies coming onboard that they basically knew nothing about. It was remembered that each new company had its own offices and would be mostly just forwarding reports of sales and accounting to the corporate headquarters for review and acceptance.
Everyone was so happy that everybody seemed to actually like each other and there did not appear to be any jealousy or envy of any sort and that the mutually agreed on plan for the placement of family members based on experience and training of the family member versus the needs and requirements for a management position.
The only foreseeable problem with the existing boards any of them could envision was a combination of fear and anger. Fear for their own jobs and futures, and anger that a member of their management team had been guilty of underhanded and illegal actions and were now facing charges for those crimes and who know what might be said in an effort to lessen the pressure on the accused. So, yes, everyone was nervous. Very, very nervous and therefore they were going to be afraid to welcome a replacement member to their team for lots of reasons. It was going to take some time and serious efforts to win them or at least most of them over. It was feared that in some cases major replacements of board members might be necessary. Only time would tell, but the family had in mind to only remove those members under suspicion of illegal or unethical dealings. At least for now, but bad attitudes would not be tolerated and would be dealt with quickly and severely.
William looked at the judge and asked, "Judge, you know your lady and I need to ask first what your future plans are concerning her. We can talk in private if you wish, but would prefer we do not keep any secrets from each other as you have probably noticed. Should you two marry, it would give us another cousin-in- law to help shoulder the staggering load we have taken on and would hope she will be of great assistance to you. Is she also planning on becoming a lawyer?"
"William, Linda and I have been working together for about a year and a half or slightly longer, and I have nothing but the upmost respect for her, and I mean all of her. Besides being a beautiful woman with a prize winning personality and award winning smile and killer sense of humor, she has one of the sharpest minds I have ever had the pleasure of dealing with. Nothing seems too difficult for her to attempt nor accomplish once she sets her mind on doing so. She is one semester away from completing law school and then she has to sit for the bar exam, which will be no problem I assure you, and then we can unleash the future terror of the legal system on the unsuspecting world. So, yes, to answer your question, she will most certainly be a welcome addition to your extended family.
"Besides all that, while we have gone to numerous functions since we stated working together, we have not even had a single time alone such as a date due to the various laws that prohibit such activities. I am looking forward to getting to know her in hopes that she feels like I do and who knows, maybe we can gain another cousin-in-law for your family business. I guarantee we could do a lot worse than that little woman right over there, and Linda, and I hope you don't mind if I call you Honey, but Linda, Honey, right here in front of all these adopted family members and employers let me say that I think I have a love for you the likes of which I have never experienced before and never will again. I can only hope you have some of those same feelings towards me. I can tell you now that working with you will be a pleasure for me and I can only imagine the good we can accomplish together."
"Judge, and I will probably call you that forever, you are so wrong. It will be my pleasure to work with you and the rest of the family to clear up this mess and also whatever else the world tosses at us in the future. As for that future, each day when I wake up, I give thanks for that day and the opportunity to serve with a man of honor who cares about everyone, especially the innocent and wrongfully attacked people such as the family here. I am so anxious to work on these problems and I am even more anxious to work hard on getting to know the real Judge Webb and then when I have him roped and tied I plan on then dragging him to a church or courtroom, whichever is closest and having someone say, "I now pronounce you wife and husband."
"Uh... Isn't that supposed to be Husband and wife?" Asked the Judge.
"Well, that is the way it is written, but the other way just sounds so much better."
"Uh, Oh. Me thinks the Judge doth have his hands full with this one, and I, for one, cannot wait to watch the developments as they happen, and wife of mine, from this moment forward you are forbidden from having discussions with this woman for fear of her giving you ideas." Said Mike smiling.
"In your dreams" was Anne's mostly serious reply.