by Marie Astor
***
Back in his apartment, Dennis draped his jacket over the hanger and loosened his tie. It was almost midnight, and he had to be at Bostoff at seven thirty a.m. tomorrow – the same time he was always required to come in, lest some dimwitted trader need help to turn on his computer. Judging by the quality of traders that Bostoff hired, it was no wonder that the company had to cater to corrupt hedge funds. The kind of dullards Bostoff hired were no doubt cheap, but they were also incapable of generating any respectable business. But then, Jon Bostoff was not interested in respectable business, so he hired the kind of people who would not bat an eyelash at the slimy schemes Dennis suspected Bostoff Securities was engaged in. If only Hank Bostoff knew about the sort of outfit Bostoff Securities was turning into under his son’s stewardship…
By now, Dennis knew enough about Bostoff’s business to understand that the corrupt direction in which the firm was heading was all Jon Bostoff’s doing. While still nominally in charge of the company, Hank Bostoff had little idea about his son’s business methods, and Paul Bostoff had no business in the world of finance. This realization saddened Dennis. He could only imagine the disappointment Hank would endure once the investigation would commence – the same kind of disappointment Dennis had, albeit unwittingly, caused his own mentor in what now felt like a different life, many years ago.
Dennis turned on the shower and stood under the pulsating stream of water, willing his brain to go blank, but failing. Bostoff Securities investigation was proving to be much more difficult than he had expected. Since he had started working for the Feds and then the Treasury, Dennis had relentlessly plowed away with the assignments put in front of him. An investigation was just that: an investigation. It was Dennis’s duty to bring the culprits to justice to atone for his own mistakes: mistakes that continued to haunt him, no matter how many crooks he caught and how many schemes he exposed. Dennis closed his eyes and turned his face under the water stream. Janet’s face hovered before his eyes, reminding him just how hopelessly naïve he had been. An investigation – any investigation – involved people, and Janet Maple was among the people who would get hurt once Bostoff’s corrupt operations were exposed.
Dennis wanted to protect her, but the only way for him to do that was for Janet to become his ally. By now, Janet Maple had to be on to Bostoff; Dennis was sure of it. He had sensed that she had wanted to share her suspicions with him tonight, but had changed her mind at the last minute. She did not trust him enough yet. He needed to build his trust with Janet slowly, something that was easier said than done because of the deadline that his boss had given him – three weeks before the Feds would take over the case. Take it easy, Dennis thought. How difficult could it be to become Janet Maple’s confidant? It was obvious that she liked him. The only problem was that he liked her too.
Chapter 18