After Dad Left Chapter 4, part 1 of 2

After Dad Left
Chapter 4, part 1 of 2

I graduated with a master’s degree in accounting in November, well ahead of anyone’s expectations. I was barely twenty-one years old and already studying for the CPA exam. I contacted Amanda Peat once a month before my graduation so she could prepare things for me.

I was scheduled to be at Butler, Land, and Reyes on December 5th to meet with Richard Butler and get settled in. As expected, I was extremely nervous because I was on my own. Before, the campus had been my comfort zone, but now that was gone.

On December the fifth, at eight-thirty in the morning, when I opened the front door to Butler, Land, and Reyes, my life changed forever. I looked at the directory board in the lobby and saw that Amanda Peat was on the third floor, room 317. I took the elevator up to the third floor and got out. I followed the hallway to the frosted door marked three seventeen. I opened the door and walked into a small outer office where a young woman was seated behind the desk. I was wearing a pair of blue jeans, sneakers, and a white pullover shirt that was a bit too small. She looked up and smiled at me.

“How can I help you?” she asked.

“I’m here to see Amanda Peat,” I answered.

“You’re Mr. Williams?” she asked, looking me up and down.

“Yes, I am,” I replied.

She picked up the phone and notified Amanda Peat that I had arrived in the lobby. The side door opened less than a minute later, and Amanda asked me to follow her to her office. We started right away, filling out forms and applications for virtually everything. For the next two hours, I filled out paperwork for a 401K retirement package, health insurance, and an application for a bank account at the company bank, which was only two doors down from our office.

She then issued me a company credit card and recorded the number in her ledger. She told me they would explain the credit card to me later. I then followed her down the hall to the IT office. Within the next hour, I was issued a Mac Book Pro, an IPAD, and an iPhone. They even gave me a shoulder bag with the company logo to place all the equipment. We finally finished up around eleven o’clock. I was sitting in Amanda’s office lobby when Robin Woods opened the door.

Though I was unsure, if possible, she looked even prettier than the first time I met her. She was wearing a fire engine red dress with a slit up the right side to mid-thigh. She had on sheer stockings and a pair of red spiked heels.

“Hello, does Amanda have you ready to go, Tim,” she asked.

“Yep, he’s ready for the shark tank, Robin.” Amanda laughed.

“Ok, follow me,” Robin laughed.

I thanked Amanda and followed Robin back to the bank of elevators. Robin told me we would meet Richard Butler on the top floor. As Robin stated, the higher the floor you were on, the more important you were. We exited the elevator on the top floor and walked over to a large lobby, where an older woman, perhaps in her early fifties, was sitting behind a large desk. There was a nameplate on the desk that had Carla Davenport on it.

“Carla, I would like you to meet Tim Williams. Tim, this is Carla Davenport. Carla is the most important woman here; remember that.” Robin laughed.

“Nice to meet you, ma’am,” I said, shaking her hand.

“Same here, Tim; I heard many nice things about you,” she replied.

She motioned us to follow her down the hall to a large set of double doors. She knocked loudly twice, opened the right door, and ushered us through. An older man in a suit was sitting behind the desk on the phone, talking to someone. I followed Robin to the three chairs in front of the desk facing Richard Butler. I sat down next to Robin as quietly as I could as Mr. Butler ended his conversation. He hung up the phone and immediately turned to the two of us.

“Jesus Christ, Robin, did I hire a CPA or a middle linebacker?” he laughed, shaking my hand.

“This is Tim Williams. Tim, this is Richard Butler,” she said, making introductions.

“Just how big are you, son ?” he laughed.

“I’m right at six foot one and about two hundred nineteen pounds, sir,” I replied.

“Damn, you must have logged a lot of hours in the gym,” he stated.

“All I ever did was study or work,” I answered.

“Well, it’s safe to say you excelled at both,” he replied.

In the next thirty minutes, Mr. Butler informed me that I was already enrolled at SMU for the next semester and would be taking some civil litigation courses, although I would not be required to pass the bar. These classes were strictly related to divorce, family law, and personal injury. Of course, as Mr. Butler stated, the faster I finished my classes, the better it would be. So, I only had to finish one year of law school and pass the CPA exam, which was no big deal.

Finally, when the list of my requirements seemed to end, Richard added one last thing.

“Tim, please don’t take this the wrong way because I don’t want any bad feelings between us. I want you always to be straightforward as I will be with you. I feel we are the best law firm in Dallas, and I want all our employees to present themselves in that manner. When you come to work here, you must always wear a suit and tie, no exceptions,” he began.

“I know you are just graduating from school and probably unprepared for this. I spoke to your high school principal, Mr. Peterson, who gave me insight into your early years. I also spoke to many of your teachers at college, including your guidance counselor. Everyone has high praise for you and what you have accomplished.

I’m investing much time and money on you, so I had to be sure,” he continued.

“Amanda issued you a credit card with a fifty-thousand-dollar limit. Robin will take you to Porters Men’s Wear to see Jacque. He is the best. I got most of my clothes there; trust me, you will not be disappointed. Put whatever you spend on the card and get with Amanda, and she will make a weekly deduction from your payroll check until you pay it back,” he said.

“Yes sir, I will,” I replied.

We both got up and left Mr. Butler’s office, closing the door behind us. We got in the elevator, and Robin pushed the button to her floor, where we had to stop momentarily. I leaned against the elevator wall and exhaled, catching Robin’s attention.

“It's a little overwhelming. Don’t worry; I felt the same way, Tim,” Robin laughed.

We exited her elevator and walked down a long row of desks occupied by younger women for the most part. By the time we got to the middle of the row, I was sure all eyes were on us. Robin quickly went into her office, grabbed her purse, and returned. I followed her down the row of desks, where she informed the receptionist we were going out to lunch and a meeting. She pressed the button, and the elevator doors opened once again. We got in, and she pushed one for the lobby, and the doors closed.

“Boy, are you going to be the talk of the building?” Robin laughed.

Robin decided we should see Jacque at Porter’s before lunch, so she drove to Porter's Men’s Wear and parked on the side of the building. I followed her in, and she walked across the store and hugged an older man with a tape measure around his neck.

“Jacque, this is Tim Williams. Mr. Butler told me to tell you to do what you do,” Robin laughed.

“Hello, Tim. Come with me,” he said, heading to the middle of the store.

He led me to a small opening in the middle of the store, where several elevated platforms were worn. He asked me to step up on one of the shorter ones and remove my pullover shirt. I had a sleeveless undershirt and quickly pulled the outer shirt off. I could see the look on Robin’s face as I handed her the shirt.

Jacques took the tape measure and started measuring my chest and its width. He checked the length of my arms and then around my waist. Finally, he got off the platform and checked my inseam, writing the measurements down on a small pad and putting them back in his pocket.

“No, no good. Jacque cannot do this. Everything is too big. Here, here.” he said, pointing to my chest, shoulders, and arms. He complained that I would have to alter everything but the pants.

“Jacque, how long,” Robin asked.

“Seven, maybe ten days, I don’t know,” he sighed.

“Ok, no problem,” Robin replied.

“Ok, you big man, come with me,” he suggested, leading me to a large rack of suits.

Robin sat in the chair and crossed her legs, glancing at me at her white panties. She leaned back in the chair, took out her cell phone, and began to look through the messages. I had to believe Robin was taken; no woman this good-looking would not have a husband or boyfriend.

He instructed, “OK, you need two black suits, one brown and one blue, and then you can choose other colors.”

Jacque picked out the two black suits, the brown and dark blue ones. I moved along the aisle, where I found a charcoal grey suit and a lighter grey suit for the time being that gave me five suits. Jacque explained that all these suits had to be dry cleaned, but you could wear them two to three times before having them dry cleaned.

He then explained that shirts were critical and needed to be cleaned after every use. I needed at least three to four shirts per suit. Same with ties, at least three different times per suit.

Jacque had an associate lay all the suits on a table, where he quickly began to pull shirts from the rack and match them. He wrote everything down as he went, then promptly went to the time. I was done after fifteen ties, five pairs of suspenders, three belts, eighteen pairs of socks, and six pairs of shoes.

I followed him to the register, where he began to ring up all the items he had written on his pad. After he finished, I handed him the credit card Amanda had issued me. He informed me that there would be another charge for the custom-made shirts and the suit alteration and gave me the receipt. I did not look at it and followed Robin to her car. Once she pulled away

I then glanced at the receipt, which showed I had already spent over eight thousand dollars. I would have to get with Amanda and figure out how to repay this. Robin drove across town to a small restaurant where we had lunch, and she filled me in on how the office operated. Co-workers dating other co-workers was prohibitive, but it happened all over the building. The key was to keep it deficient, crucial, and discreet. Married men were sleeping with married women and vice versa. Employees at Butler, Land, and Reyes worked hard, but they played hard, too.

We then went to the apartment complex, where the firm had three apartments rented for different purposes.

Sometimes, they had to bring in people to testify in court; other times, they would let a potential witness use one, or now and then, if an employee found themselves displaced and needed shelter. All the units were wholly furnished; all you needed were your belongings.

Within a week, I was settled in the apartment, going to class at SMU during the day. I was given a Toyota Camry to use and studied for the CPA exam. Since it was the first part and a test was scheduled in two weeks, I signed up to take Auditing and Attestation, which I had been studying for about two months.

I passed the first section of the exam with a ninety-two score. I immediately dove into Business Environment and Concepts. After two months of studying, I took the second part and scored a ninety-five. The third part was the most challenging, but I decided to take both parts three and four three months later. Several weeks later, I was informed that I had passed both parts three and four with scores of eighty-eight and ninety-six, respectively. During this time, I constantly checked in with Amanda Peat and Robin Woods to notify them of my progress. Two days after I informed Robin Woods that I had concluded all the CPA testing, she told me Richard Butler wanted to meet with me.

I had picked up all my clothes from Porter's Men’s Wear, hanging neatly in my closet. This was my first time wearing a suit, and I was unsure of myself. I picked out one of the black suits, with a white shirt and a red tie. As I dressed, I could see why everything was so expensive. All my clothes had been altered, and everything fit exactly as they should. Usually, the chest and shoulder area were a bit too large to get a shirt big enough for my upper arms. This time, everything fits exactly as it should.

I had an appointment at ten o’clock with Richard Butler in his office. I arrived at nine forty-five, and Carla Davenport asked me to have a seat. She commented on how good I looked in the suit. Several minutes later, Carla ushered me into Richard’s office. Two other men were sitting in his office on the sofa against the right wall. Both stood immediately.

“Tim, I want you to meet my partners, Carlos Reyes and Jeremy Land. Guys, this is Tim Williams,” he said, introducing us.

“We have heard a lot about you. It’s finally nice to put a person with the name,” Carlos Reyes stated.

“Thank you, sir. It’s a pleasure to meet you,” I replied.

“Sir?” Carlos laughed, looking at Richard Butler.

“Forget it, Carlos. This boy is old school. Get used to it,” Richard replied.

Everyone sat down, and Richard complimented me on everything I had achieved. I was not yet twenty-three years old, but I had a master’s degree in accounting, was soon a licensed CPA, and was six months short of passing four law classes. But as Richard explained, that was school, and it was time for me to hit the ground running. As Richard stated, I now needed practical experience, and there was no time like now.

He explained that I would work on Robin Woods' floor for now. She would look after me and help me with anything I needed. My office was already furnished and ready; I would begin today. He then instructed me to go down to Robin’s floor, and she would set me up. I thanked him, got up immediately, and began to turn around.

“Tim, by the way, nice suit,” Richard stated.

“Thank you, sir. Jacque did a great job with everything,” I replied.

“He always does,” Richard assured me.

I took the elevator to the eighth floor and approached the receptionist. I leaned over and told the young woman I was there to see Robin Woods. She immediately smiled at me and began to pick up the phone.

“Nice to meet you, Mr. Williams; I’m Terri Clark,” she said softly.

“Nice to meet you too, Ms. Clark.”

A weird thought entered my mind as I stood at the reception desk waiting for Robin Woods to enter the hallway. At this very moment, I had a three-million-dollar education, a thousand dollars in clothing, and twenty-eight dollars in my wallet. I must have smiled at the irony because Terri asked if everything was okay. I confirmed it was as I noticed Robin Woods walking toward me.

She motioned me to meet her, and I immediately began down the long hallway. Robin was wearing a concise, pure white dress with white heels. Watching her ass sway back and forth as she walked was an incredible sight to see. We went down to the end of the hallway, where she took a left and entered a large office.

“This is you for the time being.”, Robin announced.

I looked around the office in awe of my surroundings. I had three bookcases full of leather-backed books. I saw three essential books on one shelf: Quick Finders, The Tax Book, and the US Master Tax Guide. On a shelf next to those was a complete set of law books, including Casebooks, Legal Citation Guides, Law Dictionaries, Legal History Books, and Legal Treatises.

I had several different dictionaries, English books on Prose, and a large set of books for English to foreign language translation. A twenty-seven-inch IMAC computer, keyboard, mouse, and significant external hard drive sat on the desk. Across from the desk were two high-backed leather chairs facing the desk. To the left was a small leather sofa for extra seating, and on the right, a table with four chairs to work on. A small ice box in one of the cabinets had soda, juice, and other things.

“Well, it looks like I have everything I need to start working except something to work on,” I explained to Robin.

“Don’t worry, that will be down shortly,” Robin laughed, turning and walking to the office across the hall.

I removed my jacket and hung it on the coat rack behind the door. I sat behind my desk and opened the drawers, finding all the office supplies. One thing about this place was that you had what you needed to work.

Several seconds later, my phone rang. I picked up the receiver and pressed the flashing light. Terri informed me that I had several boxes of files coming down the hallway along with someone named Mark Berger, an attorney.

Terri had also notified Robin; she walked into the office as soon as the courier did with the large cart of file boxes. He unloaded them next to the table as Robin directed him to and left quickly. All the boxes were labeled Jameson vs. Jameson, no doubt a divorce case. Several moments later, a middle-aged man walked into the office. Robin introduced him as Mark Berger, one of the attorneys in Civil Law. Mark Berger specialized in family law and had been with the firm for several years.

“So, this is the boy wonder,” Mark stated, shaking my hand.

“Cut your shit, Mark. Get to the point at hand,” Robin sternly replied.

Mark explained that he was handling Helen Jameson in a divorce against her husband, Mark Jameson. They jointly owned Jameson Enterprises Inc., which consisted of three rental car companies, two travel agents, four insurance agencies, one payroll company, four tire dealerships, and one car dealership. Mr. Jameson had a knack for finding floundering businesses, buying them, and restoring them to profitability.

Helen Jameson’s concern was that she felt that, for several years now, her husband had been hiding money from her. She caught him cheating five years ago, and she was pretty sure he was still seeing the same woman. She was also convinced that he had been moving money from the companies as a nest egg for the future. That suspicion got even worse when he filed for divorce several months ago out of the blue. My job was to go through company records for the last few years and find anything out of the ordinary if it was there. I also checked the personal income tax returns and investments, looking for anything unusual.

After Mark Berger left the office, I moved over to the table and started to separate my business and personal holdings. Four years of files were in six different large boxes. I decided to tackle the business income tax returns first, noting they would be more complex. I was still up to my ankles in files when Robin walked in at five that evening.

“Time to go home,” Robin said, leaning into the doorway.
“I’m going to stay a while longer,” I replied.

“Ok, see you tomorrow,” she waved.

I left about seven o’clock that night, bringing home one box of files consisting of business income tax returns. I sat up late that evening going over almost every business the couple owned. All companies except the car dealership and the rental car business broke even or lost a few dollars. Not that this was unusual at all. Most smaller companies did not want to show much of a profit. That way, their tax burden would be lower. The easiest way to achieve that goal was to make significant expenditures, give employee bonuses, or give the owners huge bonuses. In almost every company that showed little or no profit, that is what was done. I finally laid down after midnight and fell fast to sleep.

I got to the office early and went right back to the files. Robin Woods arrived at almost 8:45 in a very business-like pantsuit. Terri had already brought me coffee, and I was well underway. Robin waved hello and walked into her office.

I realized quickly that going through each company’s financial report would be brutal. So, I tackled Jameson’s income tax returns first. After going through the last four of Jameson’s tax returns, I felt I was missing something but could not put my finger on it. I had been trained in accounting, and when it came to business, there were only credits and debits. Every expense had to be categorized, and every credit had to show a source.

I noticed that almost every company they owned had dealings with a corporation called JSI Holdings and Investments. Even on the personal income tax returns, profits were listed from JSI Investments. I removed the rest of the files from the table and left only the corporate and individual returns on the table.

I started with the earliest one and listed precisely what the Jamesons took as salaries and bonuses. Then, I took the corresponding personal returns for the same year and added the wages. In all four returns I had, the Jamesons' returns did not precisely reflect the checks written as salaries and bonuses; they needed longer.

That evening, I compiled a list of the differences in salaries and bonuses shown from corporate returns and corresponding W2 forms and compared that to wages reported on personal returns. After seeing the numbers side by side, I noticed a severe discrepancy. In the four years of returns I had just reviewed, we looked at over three million dollars unaccounted for. Then, there were numerous transactions involving JSI Investments, both on the corporate and personal sides.

That Friday morning, I arrived at work early again and dove into seeing what I could find out about JSI Investments. After a few hours of checking the internet, I found nothing. They were licensed in Texas and had been in business for about seven years. Its corporate manager was listed as Robert V. Celeste. There was a number listed but no physical address. I called the number to see if they had an office nearby. The phone rang several times and finally went to voice mail. I left a message asking someone to call me back at the number on my desk for Terri Clark.

Just about that time, Terri came into my office with the stack of payroll checks for our floor. A courier dropped off the checks on every floor before lunch on Friday.

“Your first paycheck, Tim.”, Terri said, handing me the envelope.

She left quickly and walked into Robin’s office to hand her a check. I opened mine and had a check for seven hundred and ninety dollars. That was after taxes, my 401K contribution, and the one hundred dollars a week I paid back the firm for the clothes. I got up and grabbed my jacket when Robin came walking in.

“Going out for lunch?” she asked.

“I was going to the bank to deposit this check, but I am kind of hungry,” I admitted.

“Great, there’s a diner around the corner. Come on,” she replied.

We walked to the bank together, and I deposited my first payroll check. We then walked around the corner to the Manhattan Diner, which was quite large. They seated us immediately, and we both ordered lunch.

“So, how are you coming along on the Jameson files?” Robin asked.

“Not bad. I think there may be something to what Mrs. Jameson said. The money between corporate and personal does not add up. Then there is the investment company, which I can’t find someone to speak to.”



To be continued