Catching the Bad Guy (Book Two) (Janet Maple Series)

by Marie Astor

  “A childhood friend of mine has just been elected to the board of directors of a very prominent company. Let’s say this friend of mine were to come into some valuable information”—Finnegan paused, twirling his thick thumbs—“would there be a way for us to capitalize on it?”

  A wave of relief washed over David. Now, there was a topic he was more than happy to discuss. “Certainly, as you know, information is the ultimate form of currency,” David spoke slowly, eyeing Finnegan meaningfully. “The regulations around insider information are strict, but there are a number of structures that could be formed in order to maintain anonymity.”

  “Like the setup you strung together for Emperial?” Finnegan’s tiny eyes glinted. “Look, David, I hold the post of New York State attorney general, and before that I was the Manhattan district attorney. I know all about rules and regulations and, best of all, I have the contacts to make sure the regulators keep their noses out of our business.” Finnegan raised his glass to his lips. “Now you, David, are said to have the trading expertise to get the thing done.”

  “Yes, sir,” David replied evenly. Did the old man really have to rub David’s nose into it?

  “Now, Muller, I hope you didn’t take me the wrong way. I was just busting your chops. I want us to be partners, and I want us both to make money while doing it. So, how about you open up a new hedge fund and we get to work?”

  “Certainly, I could do that. What kind of trading volume are we talking about?”

  “David, do you really think it’s going to be just us? There are people I need to include to insure that our interests are protected. You are not the only one who wants to get rich.”

  David stifled a smile: the regulators were even more corrupt than the rogues who were trying to get around the rules.

  There was a light knock on the door and the waiter entered the room. “Sir, Miss Aileen is here,” he announced.

  “Thank you, Johnny.” Finnegan wiped his face with a napkin. “I think I’ll be going now.”

  “Aren’t you going to dine with us?” David asked, half elated, half alarmed. The thought of not being subjected to Finnegan’s scrutinizing eyes was a relief, but the prospect of being alone with Aileen’s passion was alarming.

  “Not tonight.” Finnegan rose from his chair. “I believe that we’ve discussed everything we needed to discuss. Let me know as soon as you have everything up and running. And David, I trust that you will keep Aileen out of this? There’s no need for her to be troubled by any of this.”

  “Of course, sir.”

  At that moment the door swung open and Aileen was ushered into the room by the waiter. “Hello, girlie!” Finnegan exclaimed and kissed Aileen on both cheeks. “You’re looking mightily swell tonight,” he added.

  “Oh, daddy!” Aileen blushed, glancing at David coquettishly.

  Here, even David could not help feeling moved. Aileen was trying so hard for him: she had been losing weight and even though she was still plump, tonight she looked almost cute. She had put a lot of effort into her look. Her flared skirt concealed her wide hips and her freckles were almost invisible under expertly applied foundation. Her red hair was expertly pulled up and her eyes were shining with the happiness of seeing him. But no amount of mascara or perfume would ever make Aileen come close to Mila’s beauty.

  “Hello, lovely,” David slipped into his British accent as he often did around Aileen. What could he do? The girl was a sucker for Jane Austen.

  “I’ll leave you two lovebirds alone,” Finnegan grunted.

  “Aren’t you staying for dinner, daddy?”

  “What would two young folks like you want with an old goat like me? No, I’m heading home to keep Mrs. Finnegan company. Goodnight you two. David, I look forward to hearing from you.”

  “What was that about?” asked Aileen after Finnegan had left.

  “Oh, nothing important. Just a few investment ideas your dad asked me to look over.” David smiled with self-satisfaction. A plan for getting out of Finnegan’s hold on him was slowly beginning to form in his head.

  Chapter 10

  Janet walked into Delmonico’s where she was meeting her childhood friend Lisa for lunch. Lisa was already sitting by the bar.

  From grade school to adulthood, Janet’s friendship with Lisa had been tempestuous to say the least, but somehow it had managed to make it through even the roughest of trials.

  Lisa smiled and waved, quickly slipping off the bar stool. “Janet!” Lisa opened her arms for a hug.

  “It’s great to see you, Lisa,” said Janet, returning Lisa’s embrace.

  The hostess showed them to their table.

  Janet leafed through the menu. She was not very hungry, had not been hungry ever since Alex became her new boss.

  Lisa opened the menu. “I’m starving. I think I’ll have a burger.”

  “Burger sounds good,” Janet replied. She was not about to bother Lisa with her work troubles, not when Lisa was only a month away from tying the knot with Paul Bostoff.

  “That’s right. To hell with the wedding diet,” Lisa cheered.

  “You don’t need a wedding diet. You look great.”

  “Thanks. It’s the wedding preparations. We’re just so happy. Paul’s marketing company is doing really well. Jon is doing well too. He opened a white collar crime consulting business. Believe it or not, already a ton of clients have signed up.”

  “I believe it.” Jon Bostoff certainly knew the subject matter firsthand.

  Lisa reached across the table and squeezed Janet’s hand. “Thank you, Janet.”

  “For what?”

  “For putting an end to that madness that Jon got us all in.” Lisa halted. “I’ve never really spoken to you about this, but I know that I should have. I had my head in the clouds, or to be more specific, up my ass. Had it not been for you, things could have turned out really badly for all of us.”

  “Do you really feel this way?” Janet asked. She was not sure how she herself would have reacted had she been in Lisa’s shoes. Lisa had been the general counsel at Bostoff Securities, and it was Lisa who hired Janet after Janet had lost her job at the DA’s office. Shortly afterwards, Dennis Walker had entered the picture. Janet had been torn between her loyalty to Lisa and Dennis’s offer. Dennis had promised immunity for Lisa but not for Paul Bostoff, Lisa’s fiancé and the company’s chief operating officer. The affairs of Bostoff Securities looked grimmer by the minute, even if neither Paul Bostoff nor his older brother, Jon Bostoff, realized it. The Treasury was not the only regulator investigating the firm: Dennis had warned Janet that the SEC and FBI were hot on the trail. In the end, Janet decided to accept Dennis’s offer. She had spent months agonizing over her decision, but, surprisingly, they had all survived, and even more surprisingly, Lisa and she were still friends.

  “Yes. Jon had gotten himself into such a mess with that snake David Muller! Jon was so desperate for the firm to make money that he was willing to do almost anything for it. The whole thing was headed for disaster. But then why am I telling you this? You are the one who discovered it all in the first place.”

  Janet shook her head. “I didn’t do it on my own.”

  “Yes, you did. But then I guess you do have a point. If I hadn’t dragged you into Bostoff Securities in the first place you would have never had to deal with the mess that was going on there. And there I was, thinking that I had done you a great favor, while it was you who saved me.”

  All this praise made Janet feel uncomfortable. In the light of recent developments, she did not really feel like a hero. Janet frowned. What was the use of hiding the truth? Muller’s exoneration would become public soon enough. She might as well tell Lisa now.

  “What’s wrong?” Lisa asked.

  “The case against Muller has been closed due to insufficient evidence.”

  “What?”

  Patiently, Janet recounted everything that had happened at work since Alex became her boss.

  “The Alex Kingsley?” Lisa
asked.

  Janet bit her lip. “There is only one, as far as I know.”

  “This reeks of foul play. You’ve got to figure out who is behind all of this.”

  “That’s what Dennis is saying, but I just don’t know. Alex must have the backing of some really powerful men, and I just don’t think that Dennis and I will be able to bring them down.”

  “You’re not going to give up without a fight, are you? You can’t let Alex repeat what he did to you at the DA’s office. You’ve got to stand up to him.”

  “I don’t know if I can.”

  “Sure you can. You’ve always been the one talking about justice and fairness. I used to make fun of you for that, but now I know that you were right. You have to make things right—if not for yourself, then for Jon and me.”

  Janet lowered her eyes. She had spent the majority of her career chasing after the bad guys. Granted, her chasing did not involve any actual running or gunfights. Her job was mostly done behind the desk, raking through rows of data. But the crooks she was after could do just as much damage as those with guns, like the Ponzi scheme crooks who had stripped her grandfather of every penny he had ever earned, sending him into fatal cardiac arrest. “Muller will not get away with it, not if I can help it.”

  “Good. Oh, I almost forgot to tell you, can you believe that he had the nerve to RSVP for the wedding?” Lisa exclaimed.

  “You mean you invited him in the first place?”

  “Long before the whole ordeal began, Jon had asked to include Muller on the guest list. Somehow, his name was never taken off and an invitation was sent to him. Still, I can’t believe that he actually accepted.” Lisa narrowed her eyes. “But now that I think about it, it might be a blessing in disguise.”

  “How?” Janet stared at her.

  “Have you picked your date for the wedding?”

  “I … um …,” Janet stammered. In a fit of unchecked optimism, she had selected the “plus one” option when sending her reply to Lisa’s wedding invitation. At the time, she had genuinely thought that she would have a date, and that Dennis Walker would be that date.

  Lisa was too excited to pay attention to Janet’s love life. “You have to bring Dennis as your date.”

  “What? Why?”

  “Don’t you see? It will be an excellent opportunity to get close to Muller. Dennis will weasel the information right out of him.”

  “What makes you think so?”

  “Isn’t Dennis supposed to be this top notch sleuth? He certainly managed to pull the wool over everyone’s eyes when he was masquerading as an IT engineer at Bostoff Securities. David Muller should be a piece of cake. You told me that neither you nor Dennis had actually met Muller face to face, right?”

  “That’s right,” Janet confirmed, none too happy with where the conversation was heading. “The Enforcement staff questioned him. We never met with him in person.”

  “So it’s perfect! Ask Dennis to take you to the wedding, I’ll arrange the seating chart so that you’ll be at Muller’s table, and the rest should be a piece of cake.”

  “There is just one problem. I don’t think that Dennis will agree to be my wedding date. He is seeing somebody,” Janet blurted out. Sure, she wanted to help Lisa, but the thought of asking Dennis Walker out, even for a purely professional reason, literally made her stomach cringe.

  Lisa stared at Janet. “I don’t care about Dennis Walker’s social life. We’ve got to play every card in the deck, and I’m not taking no for an answer. After everything the two of you put the Bostoffs through, you owe it to them and to me to make things right.”

  ***

  Janet lingered in the hallway section that led to Dennis Walker’s office. It shouldn’t be that hard to ask a man out on a date, should it? she thought. And it’s not even a date; it’s an opportunity to find out what David Muller is up to. No need to get worked up about it; just two coworkers joining forces on an undercover assignment—an undercover assignment with romantic possibilities …

  Janet braced herself; she had promised Lisa to get Dennis to come. The door to Dennis’s office was half ajar. Janet was about to walk in when she heard the sound of Dennis’s voice. He was on the phone. She hesitated; she was not one to eavesdrop, but when presented with an opportunity it was hard to resist.

  “Yes, baby,” Dennis’s voice, slick with suaveness, carried past the doorway. “Of course I missed you. I told you that I’ve been busy at work. Of course I want to see you. Yes, tonight would be great. My place or yours?” Dennis purred suggestively. “Of course we’ll have dinner first. Yes, Buddha Bar sounds great. I’ll make a reservation. See you soon, honey boo.”

  Honey boo. Janet’s face burned. What an idiot she had been to even think about asking Dennis Walker out. In her defense, she was going to ask him out for work-related purposes, but Dennis would have surely considered her invitation a flirtation. And the truth of the matter was that it would have been.

  Ducking her head in embarrassment, Janet rushed down the hall.

  “Janet! How is it going?”

  Startled, Janet looked up. Peter Laskin was standing a few inches away from her. If he had not called her name she would have stumbled right into him. “Peter!” Janet aimed for a smile but ended up with a scowl. “Everything is great. How are you?”

  Laskin shook his head. “Come on, Janet. You can’t bullshit a bullshitter.”

  Janet felt a shiver run down her spine. Could it be that Laskin had seen her eavesdropping on Dennis?

  “It hasn’t been great for anyone here since Ham was let go. Oh, excuse me,” Laskin coughed, “I meant to say ‘left for early retirement.’”

  Janet smiled with relief. “I couldn’t agree more. I’m just trying to stay positive, you know?”

  “I know.” Laskin scratched the spot on his head that used to be bald before he got the implants. “I’m trying to hang in there as well. What’s that you got there?”

  “Oh, this …” Janet glanced at Lisa’s wedding invitation that she still had in her hand. Suddenly, she had an idea. There was no way in hell she was asking Dennis Walker out, but she had no objections to asking Peter Laskin. So what if Laskin hardly ever worked the field? Two pairs of eyes would be better than one; besides, she did need a date for the wedding. “It’s funny you should ask,” Janet replied, lowering her eyes demurely. “I was just going to see you about it, actually. Would you accompany me to my friend’s wedding?”

  Laskin’s eyes flashed with surprise. “Why, yes, I’d be delighted. On second thought, let me just check my schedule to make sure.” Laskin fumbled with his Blackberry. “When is it?”

  “It’s on a Saturday three weeks from now.” Janet hoped that Laskin would not turn her down. Just how much mortification could a girl endure?

  Laskin traced his finger along his Blackberry screen. “I’m wide open,” he confirmed. “It’ll be my pleasure, Janet.”

  “Good, that’s all settled then.”

  “Actually, I was wondering if you’d like to grab a drink after work this Thursday?”

  “Sounds like a great idea,” Janet stalled. “But I’ve got so much work to catch up on. I’ll let you know later in the week, all right?” Her worst fear was becoming a reality: Laskin had misunderstood her invitation as actual interest in him. To be fair, he could not very well be blamed for his reaction. Normally, when a girl asked a guy to be her date, to a wedding nonetheless, the guy would be safe to assume that the girl was at least somewhat attracted to him. But Janet’s life was anything but normal, so Laskin would just have to suck it up.

  Chapter 11

  At five thirty p.m., Janet closed the door of her office. She would have liked to go home but she was meeting her law school friend Katie Addison for drinks. Katie was also in Lisa’s wedding party, and Katie had insisted that they meet to discuss some last minute wedding details.

  “Janet.” At the sound of Dennis’s voice, Janet’s finger froze halfway to the elevator button.

  “Hey
there, Dennis. How is it going?” Janet tried to sound as relaxed as possible, lest he suspect how upset she was at him having other love interests in his life—love interests that were not her.

  “I’m fine, thanks.” Dennis scratched his forehead. “Do you want to grab a drink after work? If you could just wait a minute while I grab my jacket …”

  Why don’t you ask your honey boo? Janet wanted to snap. The man’s cockiness was unbelievable. Did he really expect her never to have any plans?

  “I’d love to, but I can’t. I have a previous engagement.” Janet pressed the elevator button.

  “How about tomorrow then?”

  “I’m not sure. I’ll have to check my schedule.”

  “Oh, all right. Let me know tomorrow morning then. I found this really funky bar that I think you’d like.”

  He’s already assumed that I will say yes, Janet bristled inwardly. But then she knew that she was the one to blame for Dennis’s attitude. In all the times he had asked her for a drink after work, even when the invitation was last minute, she had never refused. She had hoped that these outings would lead to something more, but they never had. As far as she was concerned, she was done with plugging the gaps in Dennis Walker’s schedule.

  If only she could come up with a snappy remark, but her mind had gone blank from her hurt pride. Mercifully, the elevator doors opened and she jumped right in.

  “So I’ll call you tomorrow?” Dennis poked his head in the elevator, the tone of his voice a pitch higher.

  Janet merely smiled. Sometimes silence worked better than words. She had had it with Dennis Walker and his charm.

  When Janet got to the bar where she was supposed to meet Katie, Katie was already seated by the bar stand with a drink in front of her. “Sorry I’m late,” Janet apologized. She was still wired up from her earlier encounter with Dennis.

  “Oh, that’s okay. Swamped at work?”

  “Yeah. It’s getting to be really bad.” Janet grabbed the cocktail menu. “What are you drinking?”