by Marie Astor
The girl blinked at the id. “I do not have you on the list of visitors,” she replied calmly. “Mr.— I didn’t get your name.”
“Mr. Walker!” Libby’s voice carried through the glass partition. A moment later, Libby himself appeared before Dennis in all his crisp, smiling glory. “How are you, Dennis?” asked Libby, swinging the door open. “Please, come inside.
“Good afternoon, Mr. Libby. It is a pleasure to see you again.”
“The pleasure is all mine, Mr. Walker. Lillian, Mr. Walker is always welcome here. He is to have access to any records he requests.”
“Yes, Mr. Libby,” Lillian nodded, eyeing Dennis sharply.
“Please, come into my office, Mr. Walker. Lillian, hold all of my calls.”
Dennis followed Libby down the gray, threadbare carpeted hallway. Libby jiggled a door handle, pulling the shabby door open with some effort. “Here we are, please, come into my office.” Libby motioned at the worn chairs across from his desk. “Please, make yourself at home.”
Dennis sank into the dilapidated chair. The interior of Libby’s office was a stark contrast to his lavish home and to Libby himself, who seemed completely out of place in his tailored Brooks Brothers suit.
“Please excuse Lillian,” Libby began. “She’s interning with us a few days a week; a distant relative of the mayor’s, got her mind bent on going into politics,” he added in a theatrical whisper. “My regular assistant is Michael Tuller; he’s out today on a personal matter, but you can contact him for anything you need going forward.”
“Thank you, Mr. Libby.” Dennis tried not to betray his disappointment. So Libby wasn’t as obvious as he had thought, but sooner or later, Dennis would find a chink in his armor. He sure hoped it’d be sooner.
“Please, call me Julius now that we’re speaking privately. I believe that we’ve moved on to first name basis, Dennis?”
“Thank you, Julius.”
“I must admit that I was expecting you to visit earlier.” Libby leaned back in his chair, smiling easily. “You’ve shown commendable restraint.”
“I have a heavy workload. I promise not to take up too much of your time.”
“I’ve got all the time in the world for you, Dennis,” Libby assured him. “So, how can I help you today?”
“I’d like to see the office financial records for the past three years,” Dennis made his request.
“Yes, of course.” Libby picked up his phone. “Lillian, please make electronic copies of our financial records for the past three years for Mr. Walker,” he gave the instructions. “Would electronic records be sufficient?” he asked after hanging up. “We try to conserve paper usage here.”
“Yes, of course.”
“Lillian should be able to get you the records today, but I’m afraid you’ll be disappointed,” Libby added. “As you can see, we do not get much funding.”
“I am sorry to hear that.”
Libby gestured at his sagging desk. “Just look at this computer monitor; it belongs in a museum. This building is a historic landmark, and it’s falling apart. Have you noticed the winged lion mosaic in the lobby?”
“Yes, yes I have,” Dennis replied, realizing that Libby was referring to the tarnished tiles on the lobby’s ceiling.
“It’s a shame it’s in such disrepair, but I refuse to spend money to spruce up the office while we have city schools going without basic supplies and homeless are on the streets. In my new capacity as the New York senator, it is one of my goals to secure better funding for the city needs.”
“I am sure the interests of your constituents will be well protected under your charge.”
“I can assure you that if I get elected, they will be, and so far I don’t see any reason why I wouldn’t get elected. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to get ready for my next engagement.”
“I won’t impose on you much longer.” Dennis rose from his chair.
“Lillian will have those records for you. Should you need anything else, please do not hesitate to contact me.”
Chapter 8
Janet woke up from the blaring sound of the alarm clock. She felt for the snooze button and hit it with all her might. Maybe her intention to come into the office had been too ambitious. At the moment, the prospect of getting out of bed seemed impossible, but she knew that she had to get her butt back to the office, if not to preserve her employment then to save her love life.
When she had walked through the door of her apartment last night, there wasn’t anyone there to massage her feet to alleviate her fatigue and brighten her spirits; Dennis had abandoned his nightly vigils. Not that she had asked him to keep them in the first place, but now that he wasn’t there, her apartment felt empty without him. The worst part of it was that he hadn’t even called. There had been a text message instead: “Have to be early in the office tomorrow; won’t be able to spend the night. Will arrange for your neighbor to watch Baxter until the morning.”
Exhausted, Janet had collapsed into her bed, but only to lie awake, wondering if there was something other than Dennis’s busy schedule that prevented him from coming over. Lack of sleep had never stood in his way before. Maybe he was sending her a message; maybe it was her own fault. Janet kicked back the comforter; she was going to find out what was on Dennis Walker’s mind.
An hour later, Janet was walking through the worn wooden doors of Kirk & Associates. Relieved to see that the door to Ham’s office was locked, she made a beeline for Dennis’s office. Dennis was sitting behind his desk, his shirtsleeves rolled up, intently staring at his computer screen.
“Why didn’t you come last night?” Janet crossed her arms on her chest as she stood in front of Dennis’s desk.
Dennis looked up from his screen. “Well, you’re up early. How’s the waitressing gig?”
“Fine.” Janet uncrossed her arms. Dennis’s voice was unnervingly calm, but she could tell that underneath the cool exterior he was a pot of boiling lava. She didn’t want to fight with him; not over this case, not over any case. “You still didn’t answer my question about last night,” she added, almost pleadingly.
“I told you I had to be in the office early.”
You didn’t tell me, she thought, you texted me, but she decided not to nitpick. “That’s never stopped you before.”
Dennis clasped his hands behind his head. “Look, Janet, I don’t know what you’re trying to prove. I know you’re good at your job. I never doubted that. I don’t know what’s gotten into you, but if you think that I’m going to tuck you into bed when you come home at all hours of the night, smelling of liquor, you can count me out.”
“You didn’t even give me chance to explain. You can’t just shut me out like that!”
“Here’s your chance now. What have you learned about Libby’s connection to Kovar so far?”
“Well, I haven’t gotten to that part yet—”
“No? I guess all that drinking gets in the way, huh?”
“Dennis!” Janet felt her face burn bright red. “I know what it looks like, but can you please let me explain?”
“You don’t have to explain anything to me, Janet. You’re a free woman. If you want to go out drinking late, that’s your prerogative, but don’t expect me to sit around and wait for you.”
Janet bristled with anger. “The reason I went out drinking was to get closer to Mila Brabec.”
“Anton Kovar’s girlfriend?”
“That’s right.”
“What did you learn about her boyfriend’s infamous uncle?”
“Not much, but I learned something very interesting about her ex-boyfriend.”
“Come on, Janet. We have to stay focused here. Libby and Kovar are the target here, not Mila.”
“Mila used to be David Muller’s girlfriend.”
“Say what?”
Janet drew great satisfaction from the stunned expression on Dennis’s face. “You heard me.”
“How did you find that out?”
“Oh, you
know, from drinking and staying out late at night.”
Dennis looked away. “I’m sorry. I overreacted.”
“You don’t say.” She was enjoying this now, and she wasn’t going to let him off the hook easily.
“I said I was sorry! But you know that I only reacted this way because—”
“Because what?” She held her breath, waiting for him to say it.
“Because I’m crazy about you, you know that.”
“Yes, I do,” Janet kept the disappointment out of her voice. He’d told her repeatedly that he cared for her, that he was crazy about her, but he had never told her that he loved her.
“So tell me all about Muller’s ex-girlfriend.” Dennis’s eyes lit up, as he reached for Janet’s hand across the table.
“Mila’s friend, this girl Amy, also came with us and she told me the whole story. Apparently, Mila and David Muller had been together up until Muller was arrested.”
Dennis rubbed his chin with his other hand. “Do you think she’s the link to Muller’s missing money?” Dennis asked. “Imagine killing two birds with one stone.” Solving David Muller’s insider trading scheme had been the last investigation of Janet’s and Dennis’s career at the Treasury before they started working for Ham’s agency. It had also been the most difficult case to crack. Muller had the protection of a corrupt district attorney, Cornelius Finnegan, and inside tips from a high-ranking corporate executive, Kevan Magee. While Janet and Dennis had managed to get proof to put Muller and his gang behind bars, the profits from the scheme had vanished without a trace. The FBI had taken over the case and posted a ten percent reward of the missing sum as a reward. Ten percent of ten million dollars was a good chunk of change, but so far, there hadn’t been any leads. Muller swore up and down that he had no idea where the money went and so did Finnegan and Magee. There was of course the possibility that the money was well hidden and the three culprits were covering for one another, but the fact that each one of them had been offered a reduced sentence in exchange for the information about the missing funds eliminated this possibility. After all, loyalty only went so far when it came to saving your own skin.
“I think Mila might know where it is, but I don’t think she has access to the money. Or else she wouldn’t be hanging around Anton Kovar, working at Panther.”
“Maybe she’s crazy about the guy. Maybe he made her a partner in the business.”
Janet shook her head. “Trust me, Mila is not in love with Anton. From what she told me, she pretty much can’t stand him. She’s a hostess at Panther. She was all excited about getting fifty percent of my tips, which means she isn’t doing that well.”
“Mila takes a portion of your tips?”
“Yeah, it was a deal we made in exchange for her showing me the ropes and giving me better tables. I made six hundred dollars last night; of course three hundred of that went to Mila.”
Dennis whistled. “That’s a good chunk of change. You must be getting really good at it.”
Janet groaned, “Trust me, it wasn’t easy to earn.”
Dennis frowned. “Are they treating you okay there? Any fresh customers? You can still quit this whole thing, Janet. You don’t need to do this.”
“Quit now? When we stumbled on a possible lead to Muller’s money? I don’t think so. Like you said, here’s our chance to kill two birds with one stone, and I’m not letting it go. I’m a big girl; I can handle tough customers. So did you find anything new on Libby?”
Dennis shook his head. “Nothing. I paid a visit to his office to check out the usual suspects: mistress, embezzlement. At first I thought I’d struck gold with his sexy receptionist—”
“Libby has a sexy receptionist?” Janet cut in, arching an eyebrow.
“It was a purely objective observation,” Dennis hurried to explain. “You know that for me there’s no one sexier than you, Janet.”
“I was just messing with you.”
“So, where was I … Oh, yes, Libby’s receptionist—nothing there—she turned out to be a distant relative of the mayor, interning there for a few days a week. Libby’s full time assistant is a guy, so that’s out. I requested copies of office records for the past three years and looked through most of them; there wasn’t much to begin with. So far everything looks squeaky clean. I’ll go back a few more years, but I’m pretty sure there’ll be nothing there.”
“So maybe he is clean.”
“Do you really think so?”
“No.” Janet shook her head. “Or Ham wouldn’t be asking us to look into it.”
“That’s what I think, but I’m starting to worry that we’ll end up disappointing him.”
Just then the phone rang. Dennis picked up. “Peter? How the heck are you?” Dennis covered the receiver with his hand. “It’s Laskin,” he whispered. “Sure, yes, we can swing by your office now. See you in a few.”
“So?” Janet asked impatiently.
“It was Laskin. He asked if you could swing by this morning. I said yes.”
“I figured that much. What else did he say?”
“Nothing much and I have a feeling that he won’t have much to tell us when we see him.”
“What makes you say that?”
“You know how Laskin is. Every time he gets a lead, he sounds like a cat that’s swallowed a canary. The man can’t help himself.”
“How did he sound now?”
“Beaten.”
“Maybe he’s just tired. You saw how overworked he was.”
“I hope so. We’ll find out soon enough.”
Twenty minutes later, Laskin’s assistant, Ann, escorted Janet and Dennis along the familiar halls of the Treasury office building. “Just give me a moment,” said Ann, rapping on Laskin’s office door.
“Come in!” Laskin’s voice carried through the door.
“I will see you later,” said Ann, opening the door for them and taking her leave.
Laskin rose from his chair to greet them. “Dennis, Janet! Aileen stopped by.” He motioned at the redhead seated in the chair across from his desk. “She didn’t know you’d be coming.”
“Hello!” Aileen Finnegan greeted them, rising from her chair.
“We were just going over some of the wedding arrangements,” Laskin explained, blushing.
“Yes!” Aileen exclaimed. “I brought over samples of the wedding invitations. What do you think, Janet? We’ve decided on this one.” Aileen produced an elaborate ivory card from her purse.
“It’s beautiful,” Janet confirmed, glimpsing the ring on Aileen’s finger, reminded of how nervous Laskin had been about proposing. Good for you, Peter, she thought.
“Well, I’ll be going now,” said Aileen. “I have a client meeting.”
“I’ll see you tonight, honey,” said Laskin. “I’ll make pasta for dinner.”
“See you later, honey.” Aileen blew him a kiss, but Laskin drew her into his arms for a long, wet one.
Dennis and Janet exchanged silent glances: Laskin … mousy, straight-laced Laskin, was full of surprises.
“Please, have a seat,” said Laskin after Aileen had gone. He gathered the papers on his desk. “I’m afraid I don’t have good news for you, guys,” he said apologetically.
“If you need more time, we understand,” said Dennis.
“I’m afraid that’s not going to help, unless you can wait three months or so.”
“Three months?”
“That’s the average timeframe Czech financial authorities have for document requests from Czech financial institutions.”
“Czech financial authorities? What on earth are you talking about, Peter?” Dennis asked.
“Kovar’s U.S. bank account leads to a network of accounts in a small Czech bank. To see the whole picture, we need to see records showing where those transfers are going from the Czech bank.”
“Did you send them a request?” Dennis asked. “Typically, foreign banks will cooperate with the Treasury.”
“That’s right, typically,
but not this particular bank. I was told to contact the Czech financial authorities, which is what I did and was then told that the reply would take at least three months.”
“Damn it,” Dennis muttered. “I guess we should’ve expected as much. It was naïve to think that a man like Kovar would use a bank that freely gave access to its records.”
“So I’m afraid you’ll have to find some other way to get close to Kovar,” said Laskin. “Sorry I couldn’t help.”
“Thanks, Peter,” said Janet. “We’ll just keep plodding along.”
“Well, we don’t want to keep you,” said Dennis, motioning at the pile of folders on Laskin’s desk. “Are these all the cases you have to review?”
Laskin nodded. “I wish I had a clone. You’re coming to the wedding, right?”
“Jesus, Peter, you just got engaged. You’re planning the wedding already?” Dennis exclaimed.
“That’s the way it usually works, Dennis.” Laskin grinned, but then grew serious. “You see, with her father being in the news and all, Aileen’s going through a very difficult time … And I wanted to be by her side as her husband, her family. I’ve removed myself from the case, which really wasn’t even all that necessary since the Feds took over the investigation anyway—”
“Wait a minute,” Dennis cut it, “are you telling me that after all the work we did, the Treasury won’t get any credit for the case?”
“Sure the Treasury will get some credit, but frankly, I couldn’t care less if all the glory went to the Feds. They have the evidence; now it’s their turn to put it to use. My relationship with Aileen is much more important to me,” Laskin paused. “I thought she was going to turn me down, but she said yes.”
“I told you that you would find a way to convince her,” said Janet. Aileen Finnegan had plenty of reasons to hold grudges against all three of them. While Cornelius Finnegan had abused his powers as a government official, he was Aileen’s father, and the fact that Laskin, Dennis, and Janet had helped in putting Finnegan in jail would be enough to view them as mortal enemies for most people, but somehow, Aileen had found it in her heart to forgive them all. Or to be more exact, the credit belonged to Laskin who had hopelessly fallen in love with Aileen during the investigation and refused to let go.