After the Win Pt. 04

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.