Southern Justice, Part 21

I’m Fixin’ To present part 21 of Southern Justice.

Friday morning, the day scheduled for the reading of Rick Senior’s will arrived, and the boys were huddled in another meeting prior to their departure to B. Wendell Hormel’s office. Since Wednesday’s meeting Jones had continued his attitude of pessimism to the point where Rick Junior was prompted to say, “Come on Jones, Pop would never do anything like what you’re suggesting. I think he probably left his new wife and widow something, but not Pic-Ric Products—no way!”

“I sure hope not,” Jones glumly replied.

Chris stood up and said, “Well, let’s just go to the meeting and find out. We should probably ask Vickie to come along. We’ll need someone take notes for the record.”

Across town, the host was also discussing the impending meeting. B. Wendell was warning Jackie of the possible repercussions when he read the will. “I don’t know what kind of reactions we can expect from your stepson when I read the will, so—-”

“Please don’t refer to him as my stepson, B. W., it sounds ridiculous.”

“Then how would you prefer I address him?” B. Wendell inquired.

“His dearly departed father called him Junior. His two partners refer to him as Rick Junior—I think the latter will suffice,” Jackie informed her lawyer.

“Fine, Rick Junior it is,” B. Wendell assented. “Now, as I was saying, we have to be prepared for his reaction. I suspect he will simply depart in a mild state of shock, however, there is a possibility he could become angry and even violent.”

“Why do you think that?” Jackie asked.

“How would you feel if you found out your wealthy and recently departed father didn’t leave you a dime?”

“I suppose I would be shocked, hurt and highly teed off.”

“Exactly, all of those,” B. Wendell told her. “So this is how I have prepared—first, we’ll be friendly and cordial to put him at ease. Then I’ll read him your will which left everything to Rick Senior, which of course reverts back to you now that he is deceased. After that, without giving him a chance to catch his breath, I’ll announce the assets his father left to you, including Pic-Ric Products.

“I’ll go on to say that as soon as the will is probated you’ll be arriving at company headquarters to take charge of the day-to-day operations, and that we shall advise him of this date in the form of a letter. Then we’ll thank him for his time. How does that sound?”

Jackie sat in thought for a few moments before she responded, “It sounds like you have a good plan B. W., but what if at that point he decides to murder us both before he walks away in shock?”

B. Wendell chuckled as he said, “I have an associate who will be joining us in the conference room. You’ve met Ray McKinley, the ex-cop who works for me. At the first sign of trouble Ray has instructions to remove your step—uh, Rick Junior from the building. This will be a piece of cake.”

Meanwhile, in B. Wendell’s outer office, Patty Osborn, his number one trusted assistant, whom had been assigned the task of meeting Rick Junior and escorting him into the conference room and remaining for the duration of the meeting, had relieved the receptionist and sat patiently waiting for the arrival of their guest. While she waited she became lost in thought.

She had been working for B. Wendell for six long years and had detested him the entire time. Her consolation was that he paid her well and let her work flexible hours, which had enabled her to attend law school. She had graduated six months earlier and recently passed the bar exam and received her license to practice law in Georgia.

Now she had a plan. She had six files which she had never passed on to her boss. Her plan was to ask him for three of them when she left. If he refused she would simply steal the other three and start her own law practice.

During the last six years she hadn’t dated or taken a vacation. A girlfriend cut her hair for her and all her clothes came from Wal-Mart and were frumpy enough to cover what she knew to be a very lovely body. The last time she had worn lipstick was at Christmas when she had visited her mother in her little hometown.

She remembered her mom telling her how pretty she looked and how she should wear makeup more often. She was immediately regretful she hadn’t taken that advice when a voice snapped her back to reality: “Uh–hello. Excuse me please.”

When Patty looked up she saw the most beautiful and exciting looking man she had ever observed. After he spoke she couldn’t find her voice and just sat there and stared at him.

An awkward moment or two passed before the handsome man leaned forward, looked directly into her dazed eyes and said, “I’m here for an appointment with Mr. Hormel.”

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