3 Bad Guys Get Caught (17 page)

That was it, Janet remembered, George
Roshroom, an owner of an online food delivery business that had blossomed into
an empire over the past five years. “May I show you to your table?” Janet
hurried to ask before George’s face turned completely crimson.

“Yes, please,” he said.

Janet seated them at a table that was
halfway between the worst and the best; George Roshroom was a big fish, but he
certainly wasn’t the biggest. Then she went over to the bartender and asked him
to send two complimentary martinis to the table; she hoped that it would put
George in good graces with his demanding companion.

“So what’s the name of this place?”
Janet asked Roman when she got back to the hostess stand.

“Maybe you’re also gonna ask me what’s
our tax id number?” Roman smirked. “This place doesn’t have a name because it’s
not supposed to exist.”

“Oh, I see. How silly of me.” Janet
smiled sweetly.

“Don’t worry, Janet. You’re doing good.”

Over the next hour the place became
filled to its capacity. Janet had counted one famous actor, three not so famous
ones, two directors, three entrepreneurs, and one bestselling author. There
were also numerous important and rich looking people whom she didn’t recognize,
but they had the requisite emerald or charcoal cards, and she escorted them to
their tables. To her surprise, there were no politicians, but then the night
was still young. She was about to ask Roman if she could leave her post for a
bathroom break when the drapes parted and she was faced with the state
governor. The woman who accompanied him was not his wife. It took Janet a
moment to realize that the woman on the governor’s arm was a Playboy Bunny; she
had seen her on the cover of some gossip magazine.

“Good evening and welcome,” Janet
greeted the pair, keeping the eye contact to a minimum. She ushered them to
their table; the best table in the room Janet had kept open just in case.

“Great work, Janet,” Roman praised her.
“You can take your break now. I’ll keep watch.”

Janet rushed to the bathroom where she
promptly kicked off her shoes and massaged her toes. If she was going to do
this again tomorrow, she was buying her own pair of navy stilettos.

A few minutes later she was back at her
post with more arrivals to greet.

Pretty soon there wasn’t an empty inch
of space left, let alone a table. People crowded at the bar, the game tables
and the aisles. Janet had casually walked by the game tables and saw that the
minimum bet was one hundred dollars. It was amazing that there were that many
people willing to spend all that cash for the thrill of being in a place that
wasn’t supposed to exist.

Janet checked her watch and was
surprised to see that it was almost one o’clock. All that adrenaline made the
time fly by. Suddenly, she realized how tired she was.

“Until what time do you need me here,
Roman?” she asked.

“Didn’t I tell you? We close at five.”

“Five a.m.?”

“That’s right. I said it wasn’t going to
be easy money.” Janet must’ve looked really miserable because Roman’s voice
softened, “You can leave at three. I’ll handle the rest. We don’t really get
new guests after three.”

“Thanks. Let me know if you want me to
fill in tomorrow. I’ll get a pair of my own shoes; these are killing my feet.”

“What do you mean?”

“They are two sizes too small.”

Roman shook his head. “That bitch
Regina. Go and change into your own shoes, Janet. I don’t think anyone is going
to notice if you get my drift.” Roman eyed Janet’s boobs pointedly.

“Thanks.”

After Janet changed into her shoes, it
got easier. She couldn’t believe that the evening was actually happening. She
couldn’t wait to see Ham and Dennis’s faces when she told them about tonight.
Aside from chewing her out for not following protocols, they were bound to be
impressed.

By the time three a.m. rolled around,
Janet was about ready to pass out.

“All right, Janet, get out of here. Good
job. Get some sleep and I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Good night, Roman.”

“Wait up, here’s the rest of the money.”
Roman handed her four one hundred dollar bills.

“Thanks! Now I won’t be behind on my
rent,” Janet played up the poor little girl act. She wondered if she’d have to
surrender the money as evidence; not for nothing, she could use another pair of
shoes.

When Janet opened the door of her
apartment, the light was on. She instantly thought of Dennis and felt a pang of
guilt; she should’ve called him and told him she was going to be late. She
heard Baxter’s feet scrambling down the hall. In a few moments he was there,
pawing at her legs.

“Hey there, boy,” she whispered,
wondering if Dennis was still there.

Her question was answered moments later
when she saw Dennis sprawled out on her couch. He still had his clothes on; his
head was tilted back and he was snoring loudly.

Forgetting about her own fatigue, Janet
took off his shoes and helped him onto the couch. Then she covered him with a
blanket. She assured herself that she was acting out of the best intentions by
not waking him up. Dennis needed his sleep, and she wasn’t prepared to talk to
him about the night’s events just now.

She showered, washing off the makeup and
the grit of her night at Kovar’s casino. This was going to be a huge case.
Needless to say Kirk & Associates wouldn’t get the official credit for it,
but she was sure that their share of assignments was going to triple from now
on. She got out of the shower, dried herself with a towel, and tiptoed to bed.
She was asleep the moment her head hit the pillow.

***

The next morning Janet woke up from the
comforter being yanked off of her. “Good morning, sunshine,” said a rough
voice: Dennis’s voice.

“What time is it?” Janet groaned.

“Eight a.m.”

“Eight a.m.?” she whimpered.

“That’s right. I’m late because of you.”

“I didn’t want to wake you when I got
home last night.”

“That’s very considerate of you. It
would’ve been nice of you to also set the alarm clock.”

“Sorry.” Janet drew the cover up to her
chin. She owed Dennis a long explanation about last night.

“We need to talk,” Dennis said. “Why
don’t you shower and I’ll get the coffee going. We don’t have much time; I have
an appointment at ten.”

Janet staggered out of bed and headed
for the shower. She set the water at the coldest setting and got in. The ice
cold water bludgeoned her, but she forced herself to stay under it. She needed
to be awake for what she was going to tell Dennis.

Fifteen minutes later Janet walked into
the kitchen. Dennis had set two cups of coffee on the table and two toasted
bagels.

“What, no eggs?” Janet asked. She had
really been hoping for some bacon and eggs.

“You’re out of eggs. I was lucky to find
these frozen bagels.”

“Oh, sorry. I forgot to go shopping.”

“Like you forgot to call me and tell me
you were going to be late last night?”

“Sorry. Something came up last minute.”

“Do you know how worried I was? I didn’t
know what to do. I called you a hundred times, but you wouldn’t pick up. I
almost went over there to look for you.”

“I’m sorry, but when you hear what
happened, you’ll understand. I have some really important news.”

“So do I; I think I should go first.”

Janet was about to object, but the
somberness of Dennis’s expression made her change her mind. Besides, she could
use a few minutes delay to fortify herself with coffee. “All right. I’m
listening.”

“I told Ham about Mila and her hiring me
to do a job for her.”

“And?”

“He was very pleased.”

“Well, that’s great news. Today is the
big day, right? Are you ready?”

“I think so. Ham had arranged training
for me with this guy who’s an expert in the field. Mila gave me the model
number for the safe, and I spent half a day yesterday practicing on mock-ups. I
think I got the hang of it. Then we spent several hours tinkering with
simulated bank firewalls, so I think I’m in good shape. I have another training
session scheduled today.”

“That’s wonderful. I think you’ll knock
it out of the park. I can’t wait to see the reaction from the Feds.”

“About that—”

“Yes?”

“Ham thinks it’d be best if you
terminated your involvement with Panther. He’s worried that Mila will blow your
cover; it’s just way too dangerous.”

“I think you should hear what I have to
say first.”

“Janet, you don’t understand. Let me
rephrase myself. Ham wants you to pull out of Panther and get back to the
office. He’s dropping the Libby case, and he’s got a new assignment for you.”

“He’s dropping the Libby case?”

Dennis looked away. “Yes, he said it’s
taking too long; he’s going to go back to the client and say that Libby is
clean. Since we got a sure lead for Muller’s money, he wants us to focus on
that.”

“We got a sure lead? If it weren’t for
me getting that job at Panther, there’d be no lead. Now you’re going to get all
the credit, while I’m gonna be stuck at the office, doing some crappy
background check.”

“Janet! I tried to talk him out of it.”

“So you admit it; you admit that that’s
how he thinks of us.” Janet took Dennis’s silence as acquiescence. “Well I’m
not quitting Panther, not when I finally found something that’s way bigger than
tracking Muller’s money. Do you know that Kovar is running an underground
casino, right here in New York City?”

“What?”

“You heard me.”

“Janet, this is huge. We’ve got to tell
Ham about this.”

“Why? So he could take me off the case
and give it to you? I don’t think so. I’m going to see this thing through, and
I’m going to get the credit for it.”

“Janet! This is way too dangerous. Is
that why you were late last night?”

“Yes. The casino hostess called in sick,
something about a drug overdose, and Roman asked me to fill in. It’s this huge
operation in the same building as Panther and no one even knows.” Janet halted.

“In the same building as Panther?”

“Yes, they must’ve done a great job
soundproofing it because you can’t hear a thing. You go through a side
entrance, down into the basement, or maybe sub-basement, I wasn’t sure. They’ve
got roulette, craps, black jack; I couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw it.”

“Janet, this is huge! We’ve got to talk
to Ham right now.”

“With one condition: I’m staying on the
case. I have to be on it; Roman trusts me.”

“You know it’s not up to me, but I
promise to try my best to convince Ham.”

Janet sighed. She knew that Dennis was
on her side, but she couldn’t help being angry at him. Sure, Ham’s double
standards weren’t Dennis’s fault, but it didn’t make her feel any better. That
wasn’t fair either; deep down she knew that Ham’s reaction came from his
concern for her safety. While she would be the first to admit that she could be
pigheaded at times, she wasn’t pigheaded enough to jeopardize a case. Last
night had been reckless enough. “All right. I’m going into the office right now
to talk to Ham.”

“I’m coming with you.”

“You can’t. You’ve got training.
Wouldn’t want you to blow it with Mila tonight.”

“I still have some time. I can at least
be there for a little while.”

“We’d better get going then.”

***

Half an hour later, Janet and Dennis
stood in the doorway of Ham Kirk’s office.

“Janet, so good to see you! Dennis!” Ham
frowned. “Shouldn’t you be at that appointment?”

“I’ll be leaving shortly, sir, but
first, Janet and I have some very important news. Wait, that didn’t come out
right. Janet has some very important news. You’re on, partner.” Dennis squeezed
Janet’s hand for reassurance.

Janet took a deep breath. “As you know,
I’ve been working at Petr Kovar’s restaurant, Panther, as a waitress in hopes
of discovering a link between Kovar and Libby.”

Ham nodded. “Janet, that was a mighty
good try. Sometimes even the best investigators come up flat. It’s time to
close the case. I’ll give our findings to the party senior management and let
them decide. It’s time for you to hang up your waitressing shoes, forgive the
pun.”

Janet looked directly at Ham. “While I
haven’t found that link, last night I learned that Kovar runs an underground
casino in the same building as Panther.”

Normally, Ham’s expression was always
hard to read, but the look of surprise on his face was priceless. “Please go
on,” he managed to say in an even voice. “I’d love to learn more about it.”

“It’s in the same building as Panther,
but you enter through a side entrance,” Janet explained. “You’ve got to have a
special card to get in. There are several checkpoints, with bouncers at each
location. When you first enter, there’s this cluttered storage room, but then
you go downstairs and it’s like you’ve been transported to Atlantic City or Las
Vegas; roulette, craps, black jack, you name it, they’ve got it. Their
clientele is highly exclusive; last night I even saw the governor there, and he
wasn’t with his wife.”

Ham looked blown away. “Janet, this is
huge. We’ve got to get the FBI on this right away.”

“It’s our case,” Janet blurted out.

“It’s our lead and we’ll get credit for
it, but it’s way too big for us to handle on our own. I can’t let you subject
yourself to that kind of danger.”

She nodded. “I understand.”

“Dennis, in light of the current
developments, we may need to put the Mila operation on hold. I’ll let you know
once I speak with my contact.” By the look on Ham’s face it was clear that this
was to be a private conversation.

“I’ll be in my office should you need
me,” said Janet, getting up.

“I’ll be waiting for your instructions,
sir,” Dennis added.

Dennis followed Janet into her office.
“Well, I think that went well.”

“You think?”

“Considering the circumstances.” He
paused. “That was one hell of a thing you did last night, Janet.”

“I’m sorry.”

“No, I’m sorry. I’m sorry for making you
think that it was a competition between us. I would never want that. I—” Dennis
broke off.

“You?” Janet baited her breath,
wondering if he was going to finally say it.

“I care so much about you. I’d go crazy
if anything were to happen to you. I would never, ever, in a million years take
credit for your work.”

“I know that, Dennis. I care about you
too. You’re my rock. In fact, you were my inspiration for last night.”

“Thanks!”

“Well, you were.”

“It makes me feel great to know that you
associate me with breaking the rules.”

“Well, you’ve been known to break a rule
or two before.”

“Guilty as charged. If that’s the kind
of example I’m setting for you, I’m ready to quit right now.”

“Oh yeah? And what would you do?”

“I don’t know, get a private investigator
license or work for Laskin—I’m sure he’d hire me.”

“You’d work for Laskin because of me?”
Janet grinned. She needed no further proof for Dennis to demonstrate his love
for her.

“Janet, for you I’d do anything. No job
is worth putting what we have together in danger.”

“I know. I’m sorry about last night. I
should’ve called you, but I was worried Roman might suspect something and then
we’d lose the lead.”

“Janet, no lead is worth risking your
safety. I don’t know what I’d do if anything happened to you.” Running out of
words, Dennis pulled her toward him, enveloping her in his tight embrace. His
lips touched hers with tenderness at first that then grew into passion as he
kissed her with abandon.

“Hmm! Pardon me for intruding,” Ham’s
voice startled them.

“Sorry, sir, but all this excitement
seems to have gotten the better of me,” Dennis apologized, crimson red.

“Yes, I can see that. Sorry to interrupt
you two love birds, but as the proverbial saying goes, duty calls.” Ham
chuckled. Then his expression grew serious. “I just spoke with my contact; both
operations are a go. Janet, you are to report to this address to be briefed.”
Ham gave Janet a piece of paper with an address. “Ask for Jeffrey Falk upon
arrival.”

“Can I come with her?” Dennis asked.

“No. You, my friend, have an
appointment. Your rendezvous with Mila is on tonight, and you’ve got to give
top performance. Our FBI contact will instruct you on the procedures. I’m
guessing that they are probably going to keep Mila in protective custody.”

“Protective custody?” Janet repeated.
“Is that a code word for jail? She didn’t do anything wrong.”

“Didn’t do anything wrong?” Ham cocked
an eyebrow. “What about stealing fraudulent funds? She did have the option of
volunteering the information to prosecution.”

“Mila’s not a bad person,” Janet cut in.
“She just kind of lost her head in a chase for—”