To Catch a Bad Guy (Book One of the Janet Maple Series)

by Marie Astor

Chapter 2

  Janet Maple stared at her cup of coffee and untouched bagel. She did not have much of an appetite this morning, but neither would most people in her situation: having your ex as your new boss was not exactly a heart-warming prospect.

  There was a knock on the door of her office. “Come in,” Janet called out.

  “Janet?” Ann Smith, Ham Kirk’s former secretary, walked into Janet’s office. Ann had worked for Ham for the past ten years. The shock of the previous day’s events was written on her face.

  “Hi, Ann.” Janet was always glad to see Ann, but this morning she was especially so. She was about to say how horrible it was that Ham had been let go, but Ann interrupted her.

  “Janet, Mr. Kingsley would like to see you.” Ann’s lips were drawn together and her eyes downcast.

  The idea of Alex being addressed as Mr. Kingsley seemed preposterous. “But he wasn’t supposed to start until next week.”

  “Apparently, his start date has been moved up,” Ann replied matter-of-factly. “He said he wanted to see you right away.”

  Janet was about to ask her what it was about, but seeing the closed-off expression on Ann’s face, decided against it. “Very well. Tell him I’ll be right there.”

  After Ann left, Janet took a moment to collect her bearings. The thought of Alex—correction, Mr. Alex Kingsley—made her cringe. The man was positively evil: suave, ambitious, and pretentious beyond bounds. The pompous prick did not even have the decency to say hello. Instead, he had sent his secretary to do his bidding.

  On her way to Alex’s office, Janet stopped by Ann’s desk and immediately understood the reason behind Ann’s strange behavior: Ann’s cubicle was filled with cardboard boxes. “Ann, I’m so sorry.” Janet touched Ann’s shoulder.

  “I was offered a generous severance package, and I opted to take it,” Ann replied evenly.

  “But he can’t just force you out! You’ve worked here for years!”

  Ann looked away. “I believe that Mr. Kingsley will be hiring an assistant of his own choosing. My severance is conditional on the confidentiality agreement that I signed,” Ann added.

  Janet shook her head: it had not even been twenty-four hours since Alex’s arrival but already he was reshaping the department according to his needs. “I understand. Good luck, Ann. I sure will miss you.”

  Alex’s office door was open, but Alex was busy looking at something on his computer screen.

  Janet knocked and waited for Alex to acknowledge her presence. In the few hours that Alex had been the occupant of Ham’s old office, he had transformed the space into an unrecognizable state. Ham’s modest office furniture had been replaced with an antique wooden desk and two plush armchairs that faced it. The chair that Alex sat on looked like a throne made of leather. The formerly empty walls were now lined with paintings in heavy frames. Next to Alex’s desk stood a gigantic bookcase with glass doors; its shelves were filled with law tomes with brand new bindings.

  “Janet, how wonderful to see you!” With his arms outstretched, Alex rose from his chair.

  “Mr. Kingsley.” Janet smiled brightly, extending her hand.

  “Why so formal?” Alex exclaimed. “That’s no way to greet an old friend.”

  Before Janet could say another word, Alex had her in his embrace. Janet’s head spun from the onslaught of memories: his scent—he still wore the same cologne—along with the familiar sensation of his arms around her, transported her to a different time. A time during which she had been a happy fool, but happy nonetheless.

  “You look wonderful,” Alex remarked.

  “Thank you.” Janet noticed the stray grays on Alex’s temples and the deepened lines on his forehead: all that climbing up the corporate ladder was beginning to take its toll on him. Still, she would be a liar to deny that Alex remained a very handsome man.

  “So, how do you like your work here at the Treasury?” Alex asked. Nothing about his demeanor betrayed the least bit of discomfort.

  Janet found Alex’s poker face astounding. The man had to feel at least a little bit awkward: he had, after all, nearly ruined her life. But then it was also possible that Alex was incapable of remorse. “Great,” Janet answered. “The work is challenging and rewarding. I’d be happy to walk you through the cases I’ve worked on.”

  Alex waved his hand. “There’ll be plenty of time for that later. I’m going to cut right to the chase, Janet. You are the first person I called into my office, and the reason I did that is that I need an ally.”

  Janet waited for him to continue. Alex was even ballsier than she remembered. What on earth made him think that she would be his ally?

  “Janet, there have been reports of employees of this office using questionable methods during investigations. Now, I’m always in favor of personal initiative, but the rules are the rules. We can’t have vigilante agents compromising the Treasury’s reputation.”

  Janet gulped. She was fairly certain which employee Alex was alluding to: Dennis Walker did not always play by the rules. At times he liked to bend them a little. Like the time when Dennis and Janet had gotten Tom Wyman drunk on straight vodka martinis while their own martinis were made with olive juice and vermouth by a well-tipped bartender. While Wyman was out in a drunken stupor, Dennis had downloaded vital evidence from Wyman’s laptop. That evidence had been the cornerstone of the Emperial case until the Treasury’s Enforcement Division postponed the hearing, and finally rejected the evidence as inadmissible.

  “I am asking you to be my eyes and ears, Janet.” Alex leaned across his desk, his eyes locking on Janet’s face. For a moment his face lost its well-composed mask. “Look, Janet, I know that you must have plenty of reasons to hate me. I wasn’t exactly a prince. But a lot is riding for me on this job. If I do well here the sky will be the limit for me, and trust me, I will not forget you in my next move up.”

  Just like you didn’t forget me before when you dumped me, alone and unemployed, while you were busy being the DA’s superstar? Janet thought.

  “I was sent here to clean house, and I need to know if you are going to be on my team. Do we have a deal?”

  Janet’s reasoning told her that she should say yes. She wanted to say yes, but as all the memories of Alex’s betrayals flashed in her mind, her lips refused to obey her. “Alex, you may be charming and clever, but you are deceitful and dishonest. So far, you have been able to fool people into liking you but you won’t always be able to do so. I’m sure that if you would have been in my place, you would have said yes. But that’s just it: I’m not like you. I won’t spy on my colleagues who have supported me and accepted me. We work as a team here, and you have a choice of either becoming a part of it or not.” Janet rose from her chair. “Should you have any work-related questions, you can find me in my office.”

  Alex’s face remained impassive, his smile growing ominously brighter. “You are forgetting one very important thing, Janet. I can fire the whole team, one by one.”

  “Not without cause, you can’t. And the rest of us aren’t retirement age, so you won’t be able to get rid of any more people by offering them early pension packages.”

  Before she said more things she would regret later, Janet stormed out of Alex’s office. She was so mad that she barely looked where she was going. There was a man walking toward her, and Janet bumped right into him. “Whoa, Janet. Are you all right?” Dennis Walker was standing only a few inches from her, his hands gripping her shoulders. “You almost knocked me over.”

  “Sorry, I just had a meeting with our new boss. I guess I’m a little rattled.”

  “He’s here? I thought he wasn’t supposed to start until next week.”

  “So did I, but apparently he’s anxious to get a head start.”

  “What was the meeting about?”

  “Dennis, I can’t talk right now. I have a conference call.” Janet used the first excuse that came to her mind.

  Unlike her, Dennis would have taken advantage of the opportunity to ing
ratiate himself with Alex. Truth be told, Janet was now having second thoughts herself. Her bravado was beginning to evaporate, and she worried that she might have gotten both Dennis and herself into very hot water.