“Are you Mr. Jason Rayburn?” Tony asked.
The man’s sharp eyes took in all four of them in a quick sweep. “Yes. What can I do for you?”
They stood there awkwardly, trying to explain, but it just felt too weird. Daisy stepped in front of Tony. “We need legal advice, but you don’t look like a good enough lawyer to represent us.
The man laughed and opened the door. “Well, that sounds promising. Why don’t you come inside and I’ll let you know if I can help you?”
They followed him inside and their impressions changed dramatically. While the outside of his house looked like a neglected farm, the inside was completely different. There was an office off to one side with a large space filled on one side with a leather couch and chairs and a gourmet kitchen on the other.
The man led them over to the leather couch and waited until they sat down.
“So, what’s the problem?” he asked, getting four cups of coffee down from a cabinet. He poured each of them a cup and brought them over, handing them out.
Ivy leaned forward. “We have a legal issue. We need someone to represent us, but we need a shark. We need someone who can protect us.”
His dark eyebrows lifted. “From who?”
Marilee took control now, crossing her arms underneath her breasts and glaring at him. “We work at a diner over on Highway Sixty-Four. The owner is a horrible woman who requires us to work twelve and fourteen hour shifts without overtime pay. She steals our tips and docks our pay for arbitrary and absurd reasons.” When he opened his mouth, Marilee lifted her hand to stop him. “The last person who complained, who tried to get help, is now sitting in a jail cell, awaiting trial for embezzlement.” She let that sink in as she watched his face change from curious to sharp. “Furthermore, we don’t have the money to pay you right now, but we might have money later on.”
At the end of her explanation, a change came over the man. His smile disappeared, his eyes sharpened, and his shoulders straightened. The man was tall, but when he stood like that, all four of them felt like they needed to take a step back.
“What’s the name of the diner?” he asked, but the tone of his voice was more raw. Rougher.
“Janice’s is what she called it,” Daisy said. “We wait tables and Tony is the cook.”
The man pulled out a legal sized notepad and a pen. “Tell me your names and the name of the woman in jail.”
“What about payment?” Marilee asked, leaning forward again.
He shook his head. “Don’t worry about payment. This sounds like a perfect pro bono case.”
They didn’t understand and not working for pay made them wary. “Explain,” Ivy demanded.
The man smiled slightly. “I used to work in New York City as a criminal attorney. Suffice it to say, I got sick of the criminals I was hired to defend and left the city, needing a bit of fresh air. Hence why you’ve found me here. I only take cases I care about.” He looked at each of them. “Don’t worry. By the time I’m finished with your employer, you’ll have back wages for however long you’ve worked for her. If she tries to fire any of you, I’ll slap an injunction on her so fast, she won’t know what hit her. The injunction will include fines for unlawful termination of employment.”
“What about her stealing our tip money?” Daisy demanded, liking what she was hearing so far.
The man nodded. “I’ll be honest, unless you have evidence, and I’m talking about cameras that show her stealing the money from the tables, I doubt you’ll get any of the tip money back. But I can get you the back pay you are due, which is required by law, and get her fined for not paying those amounts already.”
The four of them looked at each other, a silent message going around to each of them. When they all agreed, they turned back to the man. “And what can you do about Mindy?” Ivy asked, her tone a bit softer now.
The man nodded again, his eyes still sharp. “Tell me her name, what you know of the case, and where she’s being held. I’ll let you know what I can do about your friend.” He paused. “I’m warning you, the back pay is going to be easy. But I don’t know the circumstances behind Mindy’s arrest, so I can’t make you promises there.”
Tony spoke for the first time. “When will we hear from you?”
He gestured to his notepad, silently telling them he needed more details. “Why don’t you give me more information? I should be able to give you news in a couple of days.”
“And you’ll keep our names out of everything?”
He laughed, the sound was rich and relaxed. “Yes. I understand your situation, the tenuous nature of your employment status, and I’ll be very discreet. Your names will not come up in any way.”
An hour later, they were driving back to LowPoint, in thoughtful silence.
“What do you think?” Ivy asked, the first to break the silence.
A long, heavy silence followed that question. Finally, Daisy spoke up. “I think Marilee had the perfect idea. If this guy knows the law and can help us, then we should hire him to represent us.”
They all nodded, agreeing that the guy had potential, but the proof would be in how he handled the situation with the illegal labor practices that Janice forced on everyone.
Chapter 4
Two days later, Janice was in a snit. “Health inspectors should all just go to hell!” she yelled. She’d gone back into her office, and most of the diner was empty as they all rested in the lull between the lunch and dinner rush.
There was a banging of…something, then silence.
“Anyone know who Janice Kenning is?” a man in a bad suit asked, standing in the doorway.
Marilee, Daisy and Ivy all looked curiously at the man, not sure what to say. They hadn’t heard from Mr. Rayburn, but obviously things were happening. The health inspector had shown up for the past two days, telling Janice that her fridge temperature wasn’t cold enough, her freezer was over packed, the storage room was under capacity, and she had to throw away everything in both areas until they were fixed and up to code. An hour after that, a building inspector arrived. The results from that were several electrical outlets needing to be upgraded and light fixtures replaced. This morning, a state inspector came through, demanding to see the tax forms for each of the employees.
Turns out, Janice had never filed employee taxes on more than half of her employees. That meant that the state inspector wanted to see all employee documents, including timesheets. Daisy, Ivy, Marilee, and Tony sat in their usual lunch booth, whispering about the additional people who had just arrived.
The inspectors took over Janice’s office, so it was fairly easy to hear what Janice was griping about since she had to pace around the dining room talking to her lawyer, or whoever was on the other end of the phone. “They’ve frozen all of my accounts, Harvey! Can’t you do something?”
They ate their soup and turkey sandwiches, pretending to talk amongst themselves, but in reality, they were eavesdropping, delighted with everything they heard.
A half hour later, they were all back at work when the sheriff arrived. “Janice, sorry to have to do this.”
Janice gave him the evil eye. “Don’t you dare tell me that you’re letting that ninny out of jail. I don’t think I can handle another piece of bad news, Jim.”
The sheriff reached behind him, shaking his head. “Yes ma’am. Ms. Lewis was released yesterday morning.”
Janice stared at the gruff-looking sheriff, her mouth falling open. “Why the hell did you do something so idiotic as that for?!” she screamed, throwing her hands into the air.
“Lack of evidence.”
She floundered. “But I told you I’d testify! She stole from me!”
Jim shook his head. “The assistant district attorney dropped all charges against Mindy Lewis after getting a report from the state inspectors office, ma’am.”
She grumbled. “You mean those ninnies in my office now? They’re doing something stupid, sticking their nose into my business. Just a bunch of liberal idiots wh
o think they can tell me how to run my business.”
Jim rubbed the back of his neck, shaking his head. “See, the reality is, you can’t violate the law.”
She stared at him again, about to squawk, but in that moment, he turned her around, taking his handcuffs out of the pocket on his belt. “You’re under arrest, Janice, for willful violations of federal labor laws.” With that, he quoted her Miranda rights as he led her out of the diner.
Janice turned back, looking at Tony. “You’re charge! Don’t let these idiots ruin anything, Tony! I’ll be back in a few hours once this stupidity is fixed!”
A moment later, she was gone.
The four of them were still standing there staring at the empty door when the state inspector came out. “I’m looking for…” and he read off each of their names.
“That’s us. What can we do for you?” Daisy answered, stepping forward. All four of them were terrified after what had just happened to Janice. Were they about to be arrested as well? They hadn’t done anything wrong, but who knew?!
The man smiled at all of them. “We need you to review these documents,” he handed each of them a printout.
“What’s this?” Ivy demanded, staring at the numbers.
“This is the number of hours each of you worked during the time you’ve worked here at this diner. It shows the number of hours you worked, the amount you were paid, the amount of overtime you should have been paid, and the interest on the outstanding amounts. I need you each to look over those numbers and certify that they are correct.”
Ivy hugged the paper close to her chest, looking up at the man, shocked that this was happening so quickly. “What will happen to Janice?”
He sighed and glanced over his shoulder at the sheriff who was still trying to put the horrible restaurant owner into the back of his SUV. “The diner will remain open while she’s presented to the courts. She’ll have the right to an attorney, but a state manager will step in to manage the business while she’s out. We don’t want to further victimize you by closing the diner and causing everyone to lose their sole source of income.”
Daisy looked at Ivy, then Marilee and Tony. A slow grin formed on each of their faces as they realized that their choice of lawyers had been a good one. Daisy turned back to the man. “That sounds like a good plan. If you’d like, I can step in to manage the diner until a new manager can take over.”
The man looked like she’d just saved his life. “Are you sure you can manage everything?” he pulled out a card and handed it to her. “We’re filing the tax forms now, getting all of the employees into the system. I’ll be in charge of the business accounts and a check should be cut to each employee forty-eight hours after they’ve certified that the hours are correct.”
“But what about all of the fines Janice has received due to the health and building inspector?”
The man shook his head. “Employees come first. Any amounts still in the accounts after the employee fines are paid will be used for the other fines. But you people must come first.”
They all nodded and Daisy immediately took over managing the diner. She stopped the fourteen hour shifts and brought in more employees, warning them that it would probably only be a temporary job. Janice would most likely fire them as soon as she got out of jail, which she surely would because…well, because people like Janice never seemed to be fully punished for the things they do to others.
But everyone was working eight hour shifts now, with three shifts total, and some of them overlapping in order to give everyone the required lunch and shift breaks. She let Tony order whatever food he wanted and the man went a bit crazy, but the increase in profits was amazing! Word of the new menu quickly spread. Because the truckers were a tightly knit group and talked amongst themselves via the airwaves, they spread the word that the food at Janice’s diner was incredible and the diner was packed from morning to night, with more people taking their food to go, because the wait for a table was too long.
Tony brought on two additional cooks, showed them how to make the meals and supervised them until they got it right. The two new women loved to cook and added their own ideas, which Tony incorporated into the menus as well. Even Jane helped out, providing smaller, take out desserts and boxes of cookies for the truckers to enjoy after they’d pulled out of the parking lot. Jane’s desserts were a huge hit and even required a special refrigerated case to display all of her treats. Because they were so beautifully decorated and incredibly tasty, it was hard to keep enough desserts in the case to fill all of the orders.
Daisy, Ivy, and Marilee supervised the new wait staff, trained them, and helped when things were busy. They even had to hire a cashier to serve all of the additional customers streaming in.
Tony was the first to bring up the issue pressing on each of their minds. It wasn’t hard though since it was the talk of the diner. The news anchors continuously reported that no one had stepped up to claim the billion dollar lottery prize. Every time someone in the diner mentioned it, joked about how they were driving over to “pick up their winnings”, the four of them would share a look.
A month after their visit to Jason’s house, they got off work at two o’clock. All of them walked out the back of the diner and all got into Daisy’s car. Thankfully, it started up again and they drove out to their spot.
When they were all once again standing around, Tony spoke up. “We need to hire Jason. He’s proven himself after Mindy’s situation.”
“Yeah,” Ivy agreed. “I guess I just…I’m not sure I want someone to tell us that we didn’t really win. I don’t want to hear that the ticket is a fluke.”
Daisy nodded her head. “Why don’t we just go find out?” she offered.
Marilee shifted her feet, saying what each of them were thinking. “Because it’s more fun to dream. And hope.”
Daisy smiled. “Yeah, but what if we really did win? What if we could fly out of here tomorrow night, bags packed to say…Aruba!”
“Paris!” Ivy offered. “I’ve always wanted to see Paris.”
“London!” Marilee laughed, clutching her hands together as she thought about all of the possibilities.
“Let’s do it,” Tony agreed.
Daisy looked at the others, who all nodded. “Okay, I’ll make the call.”
She dialed the cell phone number and smiled when Jason answered the phone on the first ring. “Jason, it’s Daisy from Janice’s diner.” She listened for a moment, then shook her head. “No. Nothing like that. You were brilliant! Janice had no idea what was coming her way and was arrested. We’ve all received back pay and I’m managing the diner for now.” She laughed and nodded, but the others could only hear one side of the conversation.
“Yes, well, we have another problem that we need your help on. Would you mind if we came to speak with you? It’s rather urgent.”
The three others stood there silently until she nodded again. “Yes. Thank you. We’re about a half hour away, if that’s okay with your schedule?”
There was a pause, then Daisy said, “Thanks so much!” Daisy ended the call, pocketed her phone and nodded to the others. “He can meet us now.”
They all piled back into Daisy’s car and she drove to the lawyer’s house. He was waiting for them, cup of coffee in his hand and leaning against the doorway.
“How’s it going?” he asked in a relaxed manner.
Daisy walked up and wondered what his genuine mental state was, the sharp, quick lawyer who dove into a situation and obtained victory or this laid back, congenial man. It was an interesting mystery.
The four of them stood in the man’s messy yard, where a chicken pecked at the ground looking for food. The outside of the house was such a contradiction to the interior. It was almost as if the man were trying to hide who he really was from the world.
“We have another challenge for you,” Ivy spoke first.
The man’s eyes crinkled at the corners, almost as if he were laughing at them, but didn’t want to hurt their feelin
gs. “Okay, so let’s go inside and I’ll see what I can do to help you.”
They shuffled inside and he poured everyone piping hot coffee. Marilee, Daisy, and Ivy looked at each other, thinking it was strange for someone else to be serving them for a change.
“Right! What’s going on?” he asked, sitting in the big leather chair where newspapers were draped over the arm and scattered on the floor around the chair.
They looked at each other, trying to figure out how to explain. Once again, the most timid of the foursome was the first to speak up. “We won the lottery,” Marilee blurted.
The man blinked and Tony chuckled. “We think we won the lottery. But we’re concerned about claiming the prize money. If we really won, we have no idea how to keep that news a secret.”
Daisy took over. “We were hoping there might be some way we could claim the ticket anonymously.”
The man nodded his head, his strong hands cupping the coffee mug. “Well, there are only five states in the country that allow winners of lottery money to claim their prize anonymously, and Kentucky isn’t one of them.” They all looked a bit desperate with that news, but he continued. “However, there are ways to set up a trust, which is a legal entity, and then the trust claims the prize money, allowing the owners of the trust to remain anonymous. Would that work?”
The four of them straightened, looking at one another quickly. “Yeah,” Ivy agreed eagerly. “I think that would be awesome!”
He smiled. “Okay, so how about if you show me the ticket and I’ll see what I can do to validate your winnings as a first step?”
They handed over the ticket as well as the newspaper article showing the winning numbers. This was the step that worried them the most. It wasn’t as if the ticket actually had their name on it or some way to identify that the ticket was theirs. It was just a ticket with the winning numbers on it.
Craving Him (Sinful Nights Book 6) Page 11