Lilies and Roses

That statement caused a collective gasp and more than a few people sat up straighter and looked around for guilty faces.

"To continue," he said, "We all have heard about those unfortunate few who have been victimized by identity theft. The thieves ruin credit standings, entire lives, marriages, and families, and also companies."

With this sudden turnabout, Megan's face was deathly white. Ron didn't look too pleased. Greg had started looking around the room and was acting a little skittish, but Gretel was looking rather calm. Pound and Jensen didn't look happy, but were hoping they were under the radar.

Ted continued, "Let me tell you a real short story. Last Friday evening, I almost missed a dinner reservation here because I was working on a project. I arrived a few minutes late and found that I had been here for over half an hour."

He smiled at the audience and heard a few nervous chuckles. "No, I'm not into time travel or anything silly. I discovered when I arrived that someone else had been using my name and using credit cards issued to my name. Yes, I mean identity theft can occur right here. I was very lucky in several ways. The credit cards were issued to the Harvey Construction Company, but my name was forged accepting all debts accrued on those cards. Now, this is the weird part. All the bills were paid on time."

More nervous laughter from the room, but Megan was squirming rather noticeably. Pound and Jensen sat there looking shell shocked. Ted was making an attempt to talk to the room and not focus his attention on them, but it was getting hard. He noticed the pale faces on the kids. What a way for them to find out their parents were criminals and were going to prison.

"I was rather remiss that night," he continued. "I bought a bouquet of flowers for Megan. I didn't get a chance to give them directly to her, so I left them for her where I knew she would find them. Sorry, dear. I meant them to be a gesture from a loving husband to a faithful, loving, but long suffering wife. I guess flowers don't mean as much now as they did when we were younger and so in love." She just sat there looking at him. She knew. Without a shadow of a doubt, she knew.

Addressing the others Ted said, "If you could bear with me a moment."

He walked to the side of the room where Fernando was waiting for him with the bouquet he had bought earlier that evening. Then he walked to Megan. She blanched as he placed the flowers in the middle of the table. Then, acting quickly, he grasped her set of rings and slid them off her finger.

Megan was stunned looking at the flowers and remembered a bouquet on the hotel bed the previous Friday, barely noticing when Ted took the rings. Then Ted looked at Megan with total contempt and flatly stated, "I put these rings on your finger on our wedding day as a token of my love, faith, and trust in you. These were my mother's and she wanted you to have them. Of course at the time, she didn't know what a cheating slut you would turn out to be. Since you don't need them any more, I'll take them home with me and pass them on to Joan when she decides to get married. That is, if she wants them."

He bent down and spoke quietly to her, "You never told me whether you got the other bouquet last Friday night, but that's all right. Under the circumstances, I didn't really expect a thank you." She sat there with tears running down her face and didn't say a word. Ron kept his mouth shut.

Going back to the dais Ted continued, "I'm sorry for the interruption, and now sir, if you please?"

A rather large man in a dark suit had been waiting at the back of the room for his cue. Picking up his briefcase, he moved to the table.

He asked, "Are you Mr. Ron Clark?"

Ron answered, "Yes, I am."

The man handed him a manila envelope and stated, "It is 815pm and you are officially served."

Then he asked, "Are you Mrs. Megan Johnson?"

Megan stared at Ted for a moment, then said quietly, "Yes, I am."

He handed her an identical manila envelope and stated, "It is 815pm and you are officially served."

Then he opened his briefcase and took out a set of legal papers and handed it to Ron saying, "This is a lawsuit naming you as a respondent in the case Johnson vs. Johnson, and charging you with alienation of affection."

He took out an identical set of papers and handed it to Megan saying, "This is a lawsuit naming you as a respondent in the case Clark vs. Clark, and charging you with alienation of affection."

Taking out more legal papers, he said, "These are restraining orders. You are not allowed within 1000 feet of your respective ex-spouses, within 1000 feet of the house where you resided with your respective ex-spouses, and you may not contact in any manner your ex-spouses or children. Do you understand?"

They both said yes. The tears were flowing down Megan's face as she realized just how far things had turned around. Ron, for once, kept his mouth shut. He knew he'd been beaten. Greg and Gretel were doing their level best to stay unnoticed. It didn't work.

The big man served Greg and Gretel with their lawsuit notification charging them with interfering with marital affection and gave them the same restraining orders. Then he closed his briefcase, nodded towards Ted and Tabitha, and left the restaurant.

The room was quiet except for the sound of Megan crying. Then Ted started again, "Just to let you know, Megan, I cancelled your usual Friday night reservation at the Marriot hotel. Also, the locks and security codes on both the Johnson and Clark residences have been changed."

Looking around the room, Ted started again, "Back to my short story now, all good things come to an end. Tabitha brought an envelope to me from one of the credit card companies. It had my name and her address. My long time friend, Congressman Mendoza, helped launch an investigation and now we know the whole stinking story. We found that Ron is using six credit cards with my name on them. Ron had to have help to get the cards and then help to use them. That help includes Jim Pound, the now former CFO at the Harvey Construction Company. Jim issued the credit cards to Ron and they created the phony paperwork. And yes, Jim, Mr. Harvey did give that phony evidence folder to the DA's office. Thank you so much for giving it to us. That was the only remaining evidence we needed to put you in jail with the others."

Greg and Ron were trying to kill Ted with their stares. Jim had turned white and Joy was now openly crying. Jim and Stephanie Jensen were looking very uncomfortable. They could only sit there while Ted exposed their plot to the whole town.

Ted continued on saying, "Sitting with Ron at his table are Greg and Gretel Howard of the Howard Legal Offices. But, Greg specializes in real estate and commercial business law, not personal identity theft or finance. That is where the Southern Development comes into play.

One of the investors in the Southern Development is a mysterious somebody from Dallas who has placed 6 million dollars into this project. As of this afternoon, the total embezzled from the Harvey Construction Company is only 4 million."

Ted smiled at Ron and said, "Have I got this right so far, Ron? Not bad for an incompetent wimp, huh?"

Continuing on Ted said, "We. Wait a second. Not we. The FBI traced the embezzled funds from the Harvey Construction Company to a Los Angeles development project. We understand the money laundering scheme now, but it took a while for me to understand why I was a target. Ron decided that he wanted Megan when they met here at a hospital fund raising function and they have been together since that time. She has been doing her utmost to aid Ron in his impersonation of me, even to providing marital comfort."

Tears were flowing down Megan's face at Ted's words. 'Well hell,' Ted thought. 'What did she expect from this if she got caught. Answer? She didn't expect anything because she knew she wouldn't get caught.'

Ted turned and accepted a brown grocery bag from the police chief. "Inside this bag are surveillance video tapes from the Marriot Hotel, just up the street. Let's see who is telling the truth here."

Fernando opened the drapes covering the big screen television while Ted placed the lobby tape into the VCR player at the podium and pushed play. Everyone saw the group approach the counter and watched Ron announce himself as Ted Johnson. When the scene was finished, Ted pressed the stop button.

At that moment, Ron jumped to his feet and screamed out, "That's a lie! You miserable son of a bitch, you made a phony videotape to frame me. You piece of shit liar, I'm going to sue you for everything you've got and you're going to prison forever."

He was almost jumping up and down in his maniacal rage, his rat face turning from red to purple. Just then, one of the detectives put his hand on Ron's shoulder and shoved him back into his seat. Ron was surprised completely when he tried to stand back up but couldn't move. Nobody else at the table tried to move. The big man whispered into Ron's ear and he quit moving.

Ted removed that tape from the player and replaced it with a hallway tape. Turning to the audience he pressed play. Everyone watched the group enter suite 613.

Ted stopped the tape and noted, "Wow. Dinner reservations at 7:00 and you are here at 7:25. Did you eat fast or was the reservation time changed without telling me?" Without waiting for an answer he said, "Well, let's see how long you stayed," and pressed fast forward.

He stopped the tape as they came out of the room in their robes and noted, "9:15pm. Wow, that took a long time to change into robes to use the Jacuzzi. And look at the messy hairdos. Naughty, naughty."

"Let's see what else we have here," Ted said while changing tapes again. He pressed play and everyone heard Greg settling into the Jacuzzi and calling Ron by his real name. When Ron finished his tirade and Megan started to get up, Ted stopped the tape and turned off the machine. Fernando closed the drapes, nodded at Ted, and moved away. The room was very quiet.

Ted looked over at a very subdued Ron and a very embarrassed Megan, then said, "We'll save the rest for court, excerpts on the eleven o'clock news. They will remain in the DA's custody until then."

Then with an evil smile at Greg and Gretel he added, "While Tabitha and I filed for divorce, Greg and Gretel didn't have a reason to since they are 'swingers' and were only spicing up their sex lives. Of course, now I find out that they were never legally married. Most states don't allow incest, and this state holds that incest is a felony. I guess you two never thought anybody would find out that you are brother and sister. However, Colorado has a very strict common law marriage law. All that's needed is for a person to introduce or represent their 'significant other' in public as their spouse. You two are married under Colorado law and you never knew it. Great attention to detail for an attorney and don't forget 'ignorance of the law is no excuse'."

Looking around the room, Ted noted a lot of sad faces. "I would like to discuss some additional information concerning the victims in this scheme. I spent a little time this week with some financial advisors and some investigators and I will try to explain how the scheme worked."

"First, JR's Construction Company in Dallas lost 6 million dollars to an embezzler. That 6 million was invested in the Southern Development. Further, the Harvey Construction Company lost 4 million dollars to an embezzler and that money went into a development in Los Angeles. The embezzler was working at the Two Sisters Landscaping Company and, apparently, they were slated as the next target. Or not. Maybe it was time to settle down. Just un-invest the money from the Southern Development and then later on un-invest the money from the LA development and viola, 10 million dollars for fun."

"But not so fun for the victims. JR's lost money and were underbid on 3 major contracts. That put them out of business and cost 1500 jobs. Our company lost money and we have 1800 jobs at risk. We all know the ramifications if the Southern Development begins as scheduled and then loses that 6 million dollars. Two Sisters Landscaping has 1200 jobs, but hadn't lost any money. Yet. Plus the heartache when the LA money is pulled out. All of this is very personal to me and I'm mad as hell about it!"

Ted's outburst surprised almost everybody in the restaurant and got him total attention.

"Let me explain my involvement," he continued. He looked rather agitated, but was maintaining control.

"Now is the time, I think, for a history lesson. Congressman Mendoza mentioned earlier tonight that I was probably the richest man in the state. Well, let's find out, shall we?"

Looking over at Megan he said, "You know, Megan. You really should have paid more attention to me when I tried to tell you about my family. I knew it was dry as dust, but to me it was important. Family is always important. You didn't want to listen then so try and keep up now." Megan just stared at him.

He looked over at Joan and said, "Another digression, please? Joan would you please step over here?"

She looked shyly back and then stood and approached Ted, stopping next to him. Looking back at the audience, Ted motioned towards Joan and stated, "Earlier this evening, at home, I gave this necklace to Joan to wear this evening. She is very proud of it as she should be, because it was her grandmother's wish that she have it. Unfortunately, as you all know, my parents were killed in that plane crash while I was still in college. This necklace was one of your grandmother's favorite jewelry pieces. She gave it to me before I had met anyone special and asked me to keep it in the family and pass it down. Her great-great-grandfather made it for his bride out of diamonds and silver and gave it to her on their wedding day. It has been in the family ever since."

He looked around the room and then at Megan while he paused for effect, then he said, "The last time I had it appraised for insurance purposes, it was listed between 50 and 60 million dollars."

Joan looked faint as Ted put his arm around her. Tabitha came over to help get her back to sit down. Megan just gaped. 'Jesus, what a stupid self-centered bitch,' he thought.

"Sorry for the digression. Now, to start with, JR's Construction Company in Dallas started as J and R's Construction Company. Jane and Rose Smith started the company. Rose married Bob Wilson, Jr. Bob and John Harvey were roommates in college and John knew him as Junior.

When Rose grew tired of her beatings every week or two, she divorced Bob. The only thing she left Bob was in charge of the company as a manager on salary. After she left, Bob changed the name from J and R to JR's. People presumed that it was because everyone called him Junior."

He paused a moment for a drink.

"Jane and Rose moved to Los Angeles where Jane met a man named Ted Johnson and married him. Ted worked at a small struggling landscaping company, and after some time and thought, Jane and Rose bought it. Yes, they changed the name to Two Sisters Landscaping." He looked around and nodded.

"Yes, Ted and Jane Johnson were my grandparents, and Rose Wilson was my great aunt. Ted and Jane placed all of my parents assets into a blind trust for me when they died. After Ted died, Grandmother Jane and Great Aunt Rose added their estates to the same blind trust. Those assets include ownership of JR's Construction Company and Two Sisters Landscaping. Ron Clark had no idea that these three companies were connected when he hatched his criminal schemes."

He paused a moment to let the hubbub quiet down a little bit. "I told you that I met with my financial advisers this week. One of the things I did this last weekend was to go over a list of employees for each company. Jim Pound worked with Ron Clark in Dallas and moved here a year before Ron did. According to the list from LA, Ron was hired as a consultant 3 months ago. We checked the residential address listed on his resume. It seems that Ted and Megan Johnson bought that property about 4 or 5 weeks ago."

He looked over at Megan. She had her head held in her hands with her elbows on the table, her body was shaking. Ron was looking at the floor, very intently.

Nodding at Tabitha he said, "They had their hidey hole ready and no one would have found him there using my name. I was supposed to go to prison for embezzlement, while Ron and Megan went to live in LA on 10 million stolen dollars." Ted held up a handful of papers. "Tabitha and I have turned over all evidence to the District Attorney's office and arrest warrants have been issued. Various charges include embezzlement, theft, fraud, theft by receiving, conspiracy, money laundering, corporate espionage, aiding and abetting, attempted theft, filing false police reports, acquiring employment for fraudulent purposes, and attempted fraud.

Incidentally, all of the conspirators are being arrested tonight and will be in jail through the weekend, since the soonest a bail hearing can be set is Monday morning. The list includes Mr. Ron Clark, Mrs. Megan Johnson, Mr. Greg Howard, Ms. Gretel Howard, Mr. Jim Pound, and Mr. Jim Jensen. In addition, the FBI is arresting Bob Wilson Jr. in Dallas as well as an acquaintance of Ron's in Los Angeles. I know this is a huge shock for this town, this company, and for the families of those involved."

The shock on Ron's face was priceless as he learned about the rest of the gang being arrested. He'd probably been hoping to sneak out of town and let them hide him. Now he had no way out. Ever. For many years to come.

Ted turned and nodded to the Chief of Police who motioned to one of his men. The plain clothes detectives converged on all individuals present, placed them under arrest, handcuffed them, and read them their rights. They were turned over to the uniformed officers and escorted out of the restaurant.

When the chaos had died somewhat, Ted spoke again. "This hurts a lot. We all are hurting tonight. All we can do is pick up the pieces and try to move on."

I only have one more piece of business and then it is time to leave. In addition to John's retirement, Betty Martin, his loyal secretary is also retiring. She wants to go to Disneyland."

A few chuckles were heard. Maybe it wasn't so bad now. "My trusted secretary, Callie, will be moving to that position. Nobody can replace Betty, but the position must be filled. Yes, Callie, you get a raise."

She squealed and that got a few laughs also. "My able assistant Jenny Wilkes is the new Marketing Manager, George Filbert will be the new HR Manager, David Jones who is from outside the company will come in as CFO and lastly Tabitha Clark will start her position as Operations VP. This company will continue to grow and expand and needs good internal control. I trust that these people will do a good job."

He paused for the congratulatory applause to die down.

"On a personal note; Joy Pound, Stephanie Jensen, and their families had no idea what was going on and are innocent in this affair. For the next two weeks, Tabitha's family and my family will be at Disney World in Florida. Joy and Stephanie, we want you to come with us and bring your children also. We all need time away to heal. I also want to apologize to both of you for your public embarrassment and humiliation. It was unintended. I didn't know that Ron wanted to celebrate with your husbands this evening prior to leaving town."

Then he said, "You were both to be served divorce papers at the end of the month. Your husbands were also set to move to LA. I am so sorry to have to tell you this. For their part in this scheme, each of them were to receive a $500,000 payoff. They were to be paid after the 'mysterious investor' pulled his 6 million from the Southern Development.