To Catch a Bad Guy (7 page)

Duke University turned
out to be very different from Connecticut. The anticipation of the great and
wonderful things that were bound to take place during his college years was
desecrated by the cool reception that Jon received upon his arrival on campus.
His roommate, Connor Hale, made it clear that he did not socialize with anyone
whose daddy had not gone to Duke. The white Ferrari that Connor drove made
Jon’s red Mustang look plebeian, and when Jon tried to ingratiate himself with
Connor by letting him copy his homework assignments, Connor cut off any
possibility of social ties by putting a crisp fifty-dollar bill on Jon’s desk.
Still, Jon did not despair. After rigorous tryouts, he made the lacrosse team,
and his prowess with the sport gradually began to win him the respect of his
classmates and even got him into a fraternity. Yet, despite these tokens of
acceptance, Jon was keenly aware that he was never really one of the team. His
social background doomed him to remain an outsider.

All of that changed
when Jon kissed Candace Covington at his fraternity’s party. Unlike his
classmates, most of whom were heavily drunk halfway into the night, Jon had
kept his wits about him. Even back then he knew how to handle his liquor, and
that night he stayed away from alcohol entirely. He had already been inebriated
by Candace’s beauty. So, after chatting her up most of the night, he had
decided to go all in and kiss her. Even after almost twenty years of marriage,
Jon had not stopped wondering just why Candace did not slap him when he leaned
into the velvety smoothness of her lips that night. Instead, she had answered
him, openly and fervently, ushering a whole new era of his existence.

Finally, the bedroom
door opened and Candace entered the bedroom, bringing Jon back to the present. “Sorry
I took so long,” Candace whispered. “I was putting Ollie to bed.”

Jon’s eyes lit up at
the sight of his wife. He lifted himself up on his elbow to take in the view.
And what a view it was: clad in a black lace corset from Agent Provocateur,
with black stockings, garter belt, and black stiletto heels that Jon had gotten
her last week, his wife looked hotter than a Playboy model. “Some things are
worth waiting for.” Jon kicked the comforter to the floor. “Come here, you.”

Giggling, Candace
jumped into the bed next to him. As Jon undid the laces on the back of his wife’s
corset, he got as hard as if he were a buck of twenty, ready to go on for
hours. Candace never failed to illicit this reaction from him, and for that
alone he loved her to no end.

At a quarter to five on
a Friday afternoon Janet was staring at the clock on the wall of her office. She
was beginning to have serious doubts about her qualifications as an attorney.
She had been on the job for a week, and she had yet to claim one completed task
to her name. What kind of firm hired a lawyer to sit around and do nothing all
day? She wanted to think that next week things would be different, but all of
her experiences at Bostoff Securities spoke to the contrary. Take the recent
meeting with the Bostoffs: Hank, Jon, and Paul. Jon Bostoff’s demeanor had
seemed to stiffen when Janet mentioned her past experience at the DA’s office.
And the whole set up with Tom Wyman just seemed strange to begin with.

The way Janet saw it
there were two options: either Bostoff Securities was a clean shop, and she
simply had failed to understand its intricate operations, or her employer was a
crook. Sooner or later all crooks got caught. Granted, she had only been on the
job a week. Her experience working for the DA did not exactly make her the most
trusting of people, but she figured that if it looked like a duck, swam like a
duck, and quacked like a duck, then it probably was a duck.

Short of quitting,
which due to the mounting pile of bills she had accumulated while unemployed
was not an option, there was nothing Janet could do at the moment to change her
situation. What she needed now was a drink—a vodka martini would get her mind
off things. Thankfully, she would not have to wait long. She was meeting her
law school friends, Katie Addison and Joe O’Connor, at Smith and Wollensky for
drinks at six.

“You’re still here?”
Lisa appeared in the doorway of Janet’s office.

“Yeah, I’m waiting to
meet Katie and Joe for drinks.” Janet immediately regretted her lapse, lest
Lisa invite herself to join them.

“Oh, that sounds like
fun.” Lisa yawned. “But I’ve got a date with Paul. I think he is going to pop
the question this weekend.”

“You think so?” Janet
tried to force excitement into her voice. She had no doubts that Lisa actually
possessed an ability to physically bend men to her will. If she wanted Paul to
propose marriage to her this weekend, the poor man would no doubt oblige.

“Yes, I think so. We’ve
been dating for a year; this weekend is our anniversary, and Paul is taking me
to a secret getaway.”

“That sounds like fun.”

“Now, if you would just
give Tom Wyman a chance, you too could be wearing a diamond on your finger in
the near future.”

“I don’t think I’m his
type,” Janet lied. From what she had seen of Tom Wyman, every woman was his
type, at least for one night, but Janet was not looking to be somebody’s
disposable fun.

“Well, maybe if you
weren’t so prim all the time. Are you going out like that?” Lisa eyed Janet
critically.

“Yes,” Janet mumbled,
already anticipating what was about to follow. Since her unsuccessful
flirtation with Tom Wyman, she had reverted to her conservative business
attire.

“Nothing. You look
perfectly swell to take someone’s statement, but I doubt any guy is going to
ask you for a date with your hair tied up in that bun of yours and your blouse
buttoned up all the way to your ears.”

“Good.” Janet pressed
her lips together. If Lisa refused to observe boss-employee boundaries, she
would do the same. “That’s precisely the effect I’m going for.”

“Well, have fun.” Lisa
lingered, no doubt waiting for an apology, but Janet sat back in her chair with
her eyes fixed on her desk.

And then the impossible
happened. Lisa smiled wanly and shifted on her high-heeled shoes.

“Look, Janie, I’m
sorry. I didn’t mean to tick you off. I know it’s the end of the week, and
you’re probably tired and all. I just want you to be happy, that’s all.” Lisa
halted. “And, truth be told, I’m a bit nervous about Paul. What if he doesn’t
propose? I don’t think his brother likes me…”

Janet blinked. “I know
you mean well. I’m sorry.” And just like that, Janet was back, apologizing to
Lisa the way she had done countless times before during all the years of their
friendship. “And don’t worry about Paul. The two of you are great together, and
he doesn’t look like the kind of man who would let anyone sway his mind,” Janet
counseled with the confidence of a relationship expert, trying not to think
about the fact that her latest relationship had ended with heartbreak instead
of an engagement.

At six o’clock on the
dot, Janet was seated at the bar of Smith and Wollensky. A dirty vodka martini
with three olives was in front of her. Janet bit into an olive and washed it
down with a sizeable gulp of the martini, wishing that Katie and Joe would get
there already. Ever since she had turned old enough to enter the establishment,
she had hated sitting alone by the bar. Tonight was no exception, as Janet
worried about her outfit, courtesy of Lisa’s comments, and wondered whether any
of the noisy suit types crowding the place were checking her out. Not that she
was interested, but at the moment, male attention would be a welcome boost to
her ego.

“Janet!”

Janet turned around at
the sound of the familiar voices.

“Joe! Katie!”

“Congratulations on the
new job! Come here, you!” Katie held out her arms for a hug. “I feel like I
haven’t seen you in ages. You look great.”

“Thanks, you look great
too.” Katie was dressed in a gray sheath with a matching jacket and
conservative two-inch pumps, instantly making Janet feel better about her own
outfit.

“It’s good to see you,
Janet.” Joe beamed at her, his hazel eyes twinkling.

“You too, Joe.” Janet
felt warm from the compliment. She liked Joe; he was a good friend. There had
been one late study night, just as Janet had started seeing Alex seriously,
when Joe had hinted that he hoped they could be more than friends, but at the
time Janet had been too enamored with Alex’s charms to consider Joe. She had
always thought of him as a safe, cuddly teddy bear. After graduation, Janet and
Katie saw each other regularly, but even though Joe and Katie worked for the
same law firm, Joe always seemed to have an excuse not to come when they
invited him to join them for drinks. Tonight, Joe looked very much the part of
legal counsel in his dark navy pinstriped suit that was expertly cut to fit his
muscular physique.

“I see a table opening
up.” Katie headed in the direction of the emptying table close to the bar.

“After you.” Joe waited
for Janet to pass.

“So, tell us everything
about your new job,” said Katie after they had ordered drinks.

Janet decided to omit
her misgivings about Bostoff Securities for the time being. “Oh, it’s only been
a week – I’m still learning the ropes. How are things with you guys?”

“What can I tell you?”
Katie shrugged. “If I have to proofread another contract, I’m going to hang
myself.”

“I told you that you
should have gone for litigation.” Joe chuckled. “The hours are crazy, but the
work is so much more interesting.”

“Yes, it may be
interesting, but it’s way too intense for my taste.” Katie shivered. “I can’t
imagine myself being up before the judge and the jury.”

Joe shook his head.
“That’s the best part. Not that I’ve gotten to do much of it yet. I’m mostly
doing research for the senior lawyers and helping with witness prep, but lately
the senior partners have been letting me come along to court with them.
Already, I’ve learned so much. I can’t wait to actually be up there, defending
my own case someday.”

“You will.” Janet
smiled. Joe’s passion reminded her of the way she had felt when she started her
job at the DA’s office. Only she had wanted to bring wrongdoers to justice
instead of defending them, and now she was in a different boat entirely. Her
employment with Bostoff Securities had not been a long one yet, but Janet
doubted she would ever be as passionate about her current occupation as Joe
was.

“It’s a good thing you
switched jobs, Janet. Otherwise, we might have faced each other from the opposite
sides of the defense,” said Joe.

“Well, if you put it
that way.” Janet managed a smile. “But to tell you the truth, I miss the DA’s
office. I guess I was a better sleuth than I am an attorney.” She shrugged.

“You don’t sound very
excited about your new job. Is everything okay?” Katie cut in. “Or is it
because of Lisa?”

“Partially,” Janet
answered evasively. She knew that Katie had no special place in her heart for
Lisa, but old loyalty prevented her from agreeing. Besides, Lisa did get her
the job, and for that she deserved credit, even if the job did not turn out to
be anything like Lisa had promised it would be. “I’m still learning about their
business model, but some of their practices seem a little unorthodox…”

“Welcome to the real
world, honey!” Katie smirked. “In addition to drafting contracts, I’ve had the
pleasure of helping some of the financial firms with their regulatory battles.
I’m talking major names, which, of course, I can’t name, but you’d be surprised
to hear what goes on inside some of these so called reputable firms. Some of
the stuff they do for their clients is bordering on tax evasion and insider
trading.”

“And no one is doing
anything about this?”

“I didn’t say that. The
regulators slap them on the wrist now and then; they pay a fine and go on their
merry way, doing the same thing all over again. Are you going to tell me that
every investigation you were on at the DA’s office resulted in a successful
finding?”

Janet shook her head.
She knew only too well that it did not. At least not her most recent and most
intricate case – the one that she had been sure was going to get her a
promotion, but instead got her fired. Correction: downsized.

“You listen to me,
Janet.” Katie leaned across the table. “If you want to succeed at your new job,
you’ve got to change your mentality. You aren’t catching the bad guys anymore.
You’re covering their butts. And if they happen to cut a few corners here and
there, you’ve got to come up with a way to make them look like they’ve crossed
all the T’s and dotted all the I’s.”

Joe nodded. “Katie is
right. Let’s face it. An innocent client rarely needs a lawyer, and when you’re
an in-house counsel, the client expects you tell them what they can do, not
what they can’t do.”

“I know.” Janet nodded.
Suddenly she felt completely out of touch. She had thought she had gained
substantial experience during her time with the DA, but now it seemed to her
that she had only gleaned the surface of things.

“Sorry to burst your
bubble, Janet.” Katie smiled guiltily. “But I couldn’t be this frank with you when
you were in prosecution. Take my advice. If you want to make it in the private
sector, you’ve got to become more lenient.”

Janet nodded. “You may
be right. Like I said, I’m not jumping to any conclusions. I just need more
time to learn the ropes.”

The conversation was
interrupted by a petite blonde appearing by Joe’s chair. “Hi, baby, I’m so
sorry I’m late!”

“Daphne…I didn’t think
you were coming.” Joe pushed back his chair. “Janet, this is my fiancée,
Daphne,” he added awkwardly. “Daphne, this is Janet. We went to law school
together, and you’ve already met Katie.”

“It’s a pleasure to
meet you, Daphne.” Janet hoped that her smile looked genuine. She did not have
anything against Daphne per se. She did not even know the girl, but something
inside her had constricted when Joe had called the pretty blonde his fiancée.

Daphne settled into the
chair next to Joe, prominently displaying her left hand on the table. Her ring
finger was adorned with a sizeable diamond. “Isn’t it lovely? We just got
engaged last week. I’m still getting used to the feeling of it.”

“It’s beautiful. How
long have the two of you been seeing each other?” Janet’s curiosity was getting
the better of her.

“Oh, we’ve been dating
on and off…” Joe started.

“For two years,” Daphne
cut him off. “I finally had to put my foot down and say, ‘You either propose,
mister, or else!’”

Janet sipped her drink.
For a future litigator, Joe was certainly very easily bulldozed when it came to
his personal life. But then maybe that was exactly what he needed – someone to
take charge when he got home after a long day in the courtroom. In any case,
Janet would never find out for sure. She had missed that boat. Not that she had
wanted to be on it – not really. If she had, she would have given Joe a chance when
he had asked her to.

Later in the evening
Janet and Katie were waiting for a cab together. They had let Joe and Daphne
take the first cab, not so much out of generosity, but rather to get rid of
Daphne, who had grown overly chatty after her second Cosmopolitan. Joe seemed
embarrassed as he climbed into the cab after Daphne, bidding them a hasty
goodnight.

Katie shook her head.
“Joe didn’t tell me he got engaged to that nutcase. It just proves that he’s
working too much. He’s got no time to date. That’s one of the hazards of being
a lawyer in a private firm. You either end up single, like me, or hitched with
a nutcase, like poor Joe.” Katie sighed. “You should have given Joe a chance
while he was still available,” she added pointedly.