3 Bad Guys Get Caught (3 page)

Janet shook her head. “It never really
crossed my mind. Do you really think so?”

“I know so. Adam used to do it all the
time. He still does it now and then. That’s how men are; they want us to swoon
over how powerful and smart they are.”

“So how do you do it?”

“Do what?”

“How do you not get pissed off at Adam?”

“Oh, that’s easy. We just don’t get
assigned to the same cases.”

“I don’t think I have the same option.
Our agency is too small.”

“Have you tried talking to Dennis?”

“Nope. It’s only just happened this
morning.”

“Well then, talk to the man and see what
he says. Communication is key to a healthy relationship.”

“What an excellent idea, Katie. Did
anyone ever tell you that you’re a genius?”

“No need to get sarcastic. Just talk to
the guy. It’s not healthy to carry grudges inside.”

“All right, I’ll talk to him,” Janet
said to get Katie off her back. She doubted she would broach the subject with
Dennis; at least not tonight. Dennis loved being the star, and he deserved to
be: he was a damn good investigator, quick on his feet, always coming up with
ideas. Yes, sometimes those ideas were unorthodox to say the least, but mostly
they worked. It was one of the reasons why Janet was so crazy about him. She
just didn’t want him to leave her in his shadow.

Janet readjusted the silverware for the
umpteenth time. The table in her kitchen was set for a romantic dinner,
complete with candles. Two steaks lay in the fridge, dry rubbed and ready to be
thrown on the stove. Crystal glasses sparkled, waiting for the wine to be
poured into them, but without Dennis there it was all a waste. Even Baxter was
not his normal self, as he lay on his mat, listlessly staring at the floor and
ignoring Janet completely. Janet eyed the clock on the wall. It was ten past
eight and still no sign of Dennis; he was supposed to be at her place at seven.
She had tried his cell phone, but it went straight to voicemail. She didn’t know
whether to be angry or scared. What if this Julius Libby character was
dangerous?

She was just about to try Dennis’s phone
again when there was the sound of the turning key in her front door lock. Her
heart jumped with joy, and she forgot all about being mad or scared. She and
Dennis had recently exchanged the keys to their apartments, so it had to be
him; unless, of course, it was a burglar. Normally, the latter possibility
would not enter her mind, but she was beginning to get paranoid.

“Honey, I’m home!” Dennis’s voice boomed
from the foyer, and Janet was no longer confused about her emotions. She was
mad.

“Just where do you get off being an hour
late and not calling me?” she fumed, as she rushed to the front door. Her
tirade was obscured by Baxter’s joyful barking, and she was just about to
repeat it, but stopped short when she saw Dennis holding a huge bouquet of red
roses.

“I’m sorry. I lost track of time.”

“Why didn’t you pick up your phone? I
was worried.” She wanted to stay mad at him, but she just couldn’t. He looked
so handsome, holding the flowers out to her as a peace offering.

“I turned my phone off for the meeting
with Libby, and then I went back to the office, thinking you’d be there—”

“Why did you think I’d be at the office?
We were supposed to meet here at seven.”

“Because I thought you’d be doing
research on Libby, and I wanted to help you.”

Janet lowered her eyes. She did have a
tendency to exaggerate things at times. “Oh, I had to leave. I had this thing
with Katie; a tasting for her wedding cake. Sorry about that.”

“No problem. I was going to call you,
but I lost track of time and I forgot to turn my phone back on.”

“Did you find something on Libby?”

“Yes and no. It’s not enough to make a
conclusive decision. Do you mind if I sit down to tell you? I’m beat.”

“I’m sorry!” Janet took the flowers from
Dennis, and he drew her close into a long, passionate kiss.

“I promise to never lose track of time
again,” he said, pulling away from her.

“You’d better not,” she murmured, but it
was just for show; she wasn’t mad at him anymore.

Janet polished off the last bit of her
steak and leaned back in her chair. Her cooking skills were definitely
improving, even if she did say so herself.

“This was delicious, thank you,” Dennis
confirmed her opinion.

“I aim to please.” She grinned. “Now,
can you tell me about Libby?”

“I thought we agreed not to bring work
home.”

“When did we agree to that?”

“We did,” Dennis said evasively. “I’m
not sure I want to talk about Libby at this time of the night. There are other
things I’d rather be doing.”

Normally, Janet would have happily
picked up on Dennis’s suggestion, but she wanted to know what was going on.
“Tell me about Libby.”

“He’s polished, too polished for my
taste: an art lover and a connoisseur of fine things in life.”

“That’s not a crime in itself.”

“He’s living way beyond his means.”

“He made his fortune from an investment,
or at least that’s what he claims.”

“So I see you did your research.”

Janet nodded.

“Are you satisfied with the results?”

“No. We should dig deeper. I was going
to talk to you about that.”

“I did dig deeper, and I don’t like what
I found. In fact, I dislike it so much that I wish I could go back and bury it
back where I found it.”

Suddenly, Janet understood the reason
for Dennis’s reticence. He didn’t want to involve her in the case because he
was worried about her safety. There was just one problem with that: they were
partners, which meant that she was in all the way. “What did you find?”

Dennis sighed. “You’re not going to
leave it alone, are you?”

“What do you think?”

“Right. The company that made Libby all
his money; did you see the investor who bought the majority stake in it after
it went public?”

“No, I didn’t get that far. I had to
leave to meet Katie,” Janet muttered, feeling like a novice. She should have
checked it.

“Petr Kovar.”

“The Petr Kovar?”

“Yes, the multi-millionaire Petr Kovar.”

“Well, he is a reputable businessman.”

“He is a gangster and a money
launderer.”

“Those are just rumors.”

“Very persistent rumors.” By the look in
Dennis’s eyes Janet knew that he wasn’t kidding.

“Well, then we should dig deeper.”

“We don’t have much time, and we’ll need
help.”

“Let’s talk to Ham and see what he wants
us to do.”

“No, I don’t want to involve him just
yet. He might get alarmed and scare Libby off. We need to get more details.”

“So what’s your plan?”

“I want to talk to Laskin.”

“Since when do you go to Peter Laskin
for help?” Laskin had been their coworker at the Treasury. The only way to
define Dennis’s and Laskin’s relationship was bickering and constant egging-on.

“Since when I need someone who is a damn
good investigator, someone I can rely on.”

Dennis sure had a point; Laskin might
not have had Dennis’s charms, but he was great at analytics. Janet wasn’t the
only one who thought so. Since Ham’s departure from the Treasury, Laskin had
been promoted to head of the department.

“What? I always knew Laskin was good. I
just liked messing around with him.”

“Let’s hope he won’t hold it against you
when we go asking him for help.”

“Come on, I’m a likeable guy. It’s
impossible to hold a grudge against me.”

“Impossible? I don’t know about that.”

“Impossible.” Dennis rose from his
chair, stepping closer toward her. He pulled her to her feet, pressing her
close to him. “Or are you of a different opinion?” he asked, the heat of his
muscular body pressing against her.

“Impossible,” Janet murmured, all gooey
inside. Sex with Dennis Walker was definitely better than any rush she had ever
felt from solving a case.

***

“Promise me one thing,” Janet said just
as Dennis was about to enter the Treasury building.

“What’s that?”

“That you won’t pick on Laskin.”

“When have I ever picked on Laskin?”

“All the time. Just don’t forget that
back then we were all coworkers, but now Laskin is a pretty big cheese; he’s
got Ham’s old spot, and we need his help. So please don’t piss him off.”

“Fair enough.” Dennis pulled open the
door. “After you, my lady.”

After signing in with the security desk,
Dennis and Janet waited for an escort to walk them over to the offices
upstairs. Janet had half-expected Laskin to come down and meet them himself,
but when she saw who Laskin’s assistant was she knew why he didn’t.

“Ann!” Janet exclaimed, at the sight of
a trim brunette in her fifties approaching the security desk. “It’s so
wonderful to see you!” Ann used to be Ham Kirk’s assistant. She had been forced
into retirement by Ham’s unscrupulous successor who preceded Laskin, and Janet
was glad to see that Peter Laskin had put things back in order.

“It’s great to see you, Janet!” The
usually reserved Ann opened her arms for a hug.

“Ann, you look even more wonderful than
I remember,” Dennis complimented his old friend.

“Dennis! I see you’re still the charmer
I remember.”

“I try to be, but Janet keeps me on a
pretty short leash. She doesn’t like it when I flirt with other women, but I’m
sure she’ll make an exception for you.”

“Hey! Where did that come from?” Janet
exclaimed. When Dennis got carried away there was no stopping him.

“Peter told me that the two of you were
together. Already you’re bickering like a married couple!” Ann chuckled. “Let
me get you two upstairs before Peter starts wondering where you are. He’s
awfully busy these days.”

“Are there lots of cases?” Janet asked.

“Tons, but we hardly have the staff to
assign the workload to. With the budget cuts and the layoffs, we’re barely
functioning.”

Janet shot Dennis an alarmed look. How
was Laskin going to help them when he was swamped himself?

Janet and Dennis followed Ann into the
elevator and afterwards into the long, official-looking hallway. They walked
past the row of offices until they reached the last office in the row. There,
Ann stopped and knocked on the door.

“Come in!”

“Well, I’ll leave you to it,” said Ann,
walking away.

“Nice digs you got here, Peter,” Dennis
said by way of hello, strolling into Laskin’s office.

Here we go, Janet thought, just like old
times.

Peter Laskin was seated behind an old
paper-laden desk.

“It’s good to see you too, Dennis,” the
tone of Laskin’s voice made it clear that he wasn’t offended in the least. “How
are things in the freelance world?”

“Things are good. We’re getting lots of
work at the agency,” Dennis said. “There’s no red tape and we pretty much make
our own hours.”

“Sounds like you’ve got it made. How
about you, Janet? Do you like your new job? Because if you don’t, I could use
an investigator of your caliber around here.”

“Hey!” Dennis cut in.

“Let the lady answer,” Laskin brushed
Dennis off.

“It’s great,” Janet assured Laskin. “You
know how Ham is; every day I learn something new from him.”

“I remember,” Laskin sighed. “I wish I
had a boss like that now. All my boss wants is numbers, but when I ask him for
additional staff, I get the cost-cutting spiel. You’re sure you won’t consider
coming back? After all it must be a pain working with this guy,” said Laskin,
pointing at Dennis.

Dennis opened his mouth, “What the—?”

“He’s not too bad,” Janet cut in. “We
make a good team.”

“That you do,” Laskin agreed. “I always
felt like a third wheel around you two.”

“That’s not true, Peter. We never
would’ve nailed David Muller without your help.” During their last
investigation at the Treasury, Laskin had gone undercover, romancing Muller’s
girlfriend, Aileen Finnegan. It was through Aileen that Laskin found out the
date and time of Muller’s meeting with Aileen’s father, District Attorney
Cornelius Finnegan. Now, both Muller and Finnegan were serving time in jail for
insider trading. “By the way, how are things with Aileen?”

“It took a while, but she forgave me.
We’ve been going steady for about six months now. I’m taking her away this
weekend. I’ve got big plans.” Laskin adjusted his tie, reaching inside his
pocket. He produced a small velvet jewelry box. “What do you think, Janet?” he
asked, popping the box open. Inside was a one carat diamond solitaire in a
simple white gold setting. “Picked it up from the jewelers’ this morning. I’m
going to pop the question.”

“I think it’s beautiful,” Janet felt her
voice catching, suddenly jealous of Aileen. She knew it wasn’t rational; she
didn’t even want Laskin in that kind of way. What she did want was for Dennis
to pop the question. The realization had caught her by surprise. She had never
thought of it until today. Perhaps it was all the wedding stuff around her:
first Katie and Adam, and now Peter and Aileen.

“A lovely ring indeed,” Dennis offered.
“I’m very happy for both of you, but perhaps now we can get back to the matter
at hand?”

“By all means.” Laskin hastily tucked
the box away into his jacket pocket. “So, what can I do you for?”

“Thanks for seeing us on such a short
notice, Peter,” Dennis began, his voice somewhat stiff. “We were hoping that
you could help us on a case.”

“Here I was thinking that you were
trying to get some contract work out of me. Not that my department budget could
be stretched to fit your rates, but I’m digressing. What is it you need help
with?”

“Analytics,” Dennis paused. “It would
mean a great deal to us if you could handle this matter personally.”

“Of course I’m going to handle it
personally, Dennis. What did you think I was going to do? Assign one of my
analysts? I’m not authorized to spend department resources on non-work matters.
Now, what exactly is it that you need me to do?”