Catching the Bad Guy (Book Two) (Janet Maple Series) (21 page)

Aileen navigated her way down the
convoluted West Village streets. The neighborhood was new to her and, unlike
Midtown Manhattan, one could not figure out one’s way by street numbers. In the
Village the streets had names, and unless you knew the sequence in which each
name followed after the other, you were lost. But Aileen was not worried. She
would learn her way around the neighborhood soon enough and there was no better
time to start like right now.

***

Janet Maple paced the floor of her
apartment while Baxter observed her curiously from the couch. It was seven p.m.
and she was expecting visitors—two visitors to be precise: Dennis Walker and
Peter Laskin. Needless to say, the prospect of Dennis being in her apartment
made Janet jittery with apprehension. Still, this option was far better than
the alternative of meeting at Dennis’s place. At least Janet would be on her
own turf, and Laskin would be there to prevent her from making a fool of
herself. The three of them needed a safe place to discuss their plan of action
for nailing Muller. Speaking at work was out of the question, and even meeting
at coffee shops or bars was risky.

So far, Alex remained completely
unsuspecting of their extracurricular activities. The majority of the credit
for this feat belonged to Janet, as she had endured several lunches with Alex
and even one after-work drink. During their rendezvous she fed Alex with
elaborate lies as to the activity of the department, assuring him that the
Bostoff and Muller case had long been forgotten. She repeatedly assured Alex
that Dennis Walker was nothing more than a pompous womanizer whose only concern
was increasing the number of female conquests, and that Laskin was nothing more
than a mindless data mining machine. Alex seemed to eat these figments right
out of Janet’s hands, an outcome that she had achieved by allowing Alex to
believe that they were indeed headed for reconciliation. She herself greatly
doubted that Alex’s intention to get back together with her was genuine. In
fact, Janet was certain that the only motivation behind Alex’s rekindled
interest in her was for Alex to be sure of the truthfulness of the information
that Janet was supplying him with. If the two of them were to get back
together, Janet would undoubtedly be on Alex’s side, or so Alex believed.

But if Alex thought that she was foolish
enough to fall for this lame ploy, he had another thing coming. Of course Janet
had to admit that she had been flattered when Alex had first showed up
unexpectedly during her evening walk with Baxter, proclaiming that leaving her
was the biggest mistake of his life. What girl wouldn’t feel flattered hearing
such a speech from her ex? But the flattery wore off quickly once Alex showed
his true colors by unleashing on Baxter for something as minor as biting off a
piece of his trouser. While Baxter had not been on his best behavior, Alex’s
reaction was downright pathetic, just like the man himself. The image of Alex’s
frightened face as he jumped away from Baxter’s scowl brought a smile to
Janet’s face. Alex was nothing more than a bully with a tough exterior that
contained cowardly insides.

“You are my knight in shining armor,
Baxter,” Janet complemented Baxter, patting him behind his ear.

The doorbell rang and Baxter jumped off
the couch, heading for the door.

“Wait up, Baxter!” Janet rushed for the
door, sincerely hoping that Laskin would be the first to arrive, for despite
all her talk about being impervious to Dennis Walker’s charms, Janet could not
vouch for her conduct if she were to be left alone with Dennis Walker for too
long.

“Hi there, Janet.”

“Good evening.”

Both Laskin and Dennis stood at the
threshold of Janet’s apartment.

“I thought you guys were going to arrive
separately to maintain cover and all that,” Janet replied, stunned by the look
of her guests: both men were panting for breath.

Dennis shrugged. “That was the plan, but
our timing overlapped.”

“I see. Come on in.”

“I thought we might get hungry.” Dennis
motioned at the pizza box he was holding under his arm. “And thirsty.” He
handed Janet a beer six-pack.

“Wonderful. You must have psychic powers
because my fridge is empty.”

“Nah, I just remember it from last
time.”

Laskin cast a questioning glace at the
two of them, and Janet flushed. The last time Dennis Walker had been a guest in
her apartment was when they were investigating the Bostoff case together. In
fact, there had been several last times, as the two of them had made Janet’s
apartment their meeting spot to discuss the evidence they were gathering for
the case. And then there had been one occasion when Dennis had spent the night
on Janet’s couch. She still remembered the sound of his breathing while she lay
unable to fall asleep in her own bed. When she woke up the next morning, Dennis
was gone, leaving her with nothing more than speculations as to what might have
happened had she acted differently.

“Have a seat on the couch,” Janet
offered. “I’m going to get plates from the kitchen.”

A few moments later they were gathered
on Janet’s couch, digging into Dennis’s pizza. “This is what we’ve got so far,”
Laskin began. “While attending the Bostoff wedding, Janet and I established
that Muller is dating Aileen Finnegan.” Laskin paused to chew the last bit of
his pizza slice.

“Peter, didn’t your parents teach you
that it’s rude to talk with your mouth full?” asked Dennis, tilting the beer
bottle to his lips.

“Dennis, I think that you will forgive
my faux pas once you learn what Janet and I have discovered.” Laskin paused for
emphasis. “Aileen Finnegan is the daughter of New York Attorney General
Cornelius Finnegan.”

“Janet already told me about that.”

Laskin continued unperturbed.
“Excellent. Nonetheless, this important piece of information warrants
repeating, as it is vital to the premise of our case. From Aileen Finnegan I
learned that Muller has established a charity, Phoenix Fund. Apparently, all
proceeds go to funding education efforts in the area of finance.”

Dennis yawned. “How noble of him.”

“That was precisely the reaction Janet
and I had. Muller does not strike me as the charitable type. So, I’ve begun the
process of looking up trading activity for Phoenix Fund. The analytics will
take some time, but I hope to have some data for us to look at in about three
to four weeks.”

Dennis groaned. “Three to four weeks?
For all we know, Muller could be brewing something this very moment. In two
weeks he could be gone to the Bahamas or Mexico.”

Laskin threw up his hands. “You’ve got a
better idea?”

“Tell me more about this Aileen Finnegan
character. What’s she like?”

“Average-looking, not the type of girl
that Muller usually dates,” Janet cut in. “And I don’t think he likes her very
much. I’m pretty sure that the only reason he’s dating her is her father.”

“What makes you so sure?” Dennis asked.

Janet paused; she didn’t exactly feel
comfortable about summarizing Muller’s attempts to pick her up.

“Muller was flirting with Janet,” Laskin
offered. “It was quite obvious, and in my mind extremely rude to his date.

Dennis’s eyes lit up. “Oh, was he?”

“It was nothing like that, Dennis.”
Janet had had it with Dennis’s sarcastic comments. After all, Laskin and Janet
were the ones who had found the information about Muller, and Dennis was just
being sore for having missed out on the action. “We danced to a couple of Frank
Sinatra songs, but that was it. Muller told me about his charity. His overall
demeanor made it clear that he did not really care for his date.” Janet halted,
reluctant to reveal the more sordid details of her conversation with Muller.

“The two of them danced for quite a
while, so I had to keep Aileen occupied,” Laskin added.

“Excellent. And did you by any chance
get Aileen’s phone number?”

“As a matter of fact I did. I told her
that I had an information security consulting business, and that I was looking
for PR representation.”

Dennis rubbed his forehead. “Jeez,
Peter, couldn’t you have come up with something more upbeat? An online pet
supplies store would have been a far better choice.”

“Janet didn’t think there was anything
wrong with an information security consulting business cover.”

Dennis glanced at Janet, and she
shrugged. She really did not see a difference either way and thought that
Dennis was just gloating.

“Never mind. Have you called her yet?”
asked Dennis.

Both Janet’s and Dennis’s eyes focused
on Laskin who had suddenly turned crimson red. “Well, no. I thought it would be
best for us to meet first and decide on the course of action.”

Dennis shook his head. “I can’t believe
we’re even discussing this. Look, Peter, it really is quite simple. When you
get home tonight, dial Aileen’s number and ask her out.”

“What if she refuses?” Laskin asked
feebly.

“If she refuses, we’ll explore a
different avenue. But right now this seems like our surest bet.” Dennis eyed
Laskin suspiciously. “You’re not actually attracted to this girl, are you,
Peter? Because if you are, we’d better come up with something else. We can’t
afford to botch this.”

Laskin straightened up with indignation.
“Unlike you, Dennis, I don’t run after every skirt that walks by.”

“Then what are you waiting for? Get out
there and find out everything you can about her!” Dennis clasped the lapels of
Laskin’s jacket and steered him toward the door. “We’ll reconvene here in a
week’s time,” he added as he shoved Laskin out the door.

“Well, I think that went well,” said
Dennis after Laskin was gone. “We’re off to a great start.”

“Sure, but I think we could have
discussed a few more details, like where should Laskin invite Aileen, as well
as make sure that he has a sound cover.”

“Laskin is a pro at this kind of thing.
He’ll be fine.”

Janet raised an eyebrow. “Didn’t you
tell me that Laskin sucked when it came to field work? And that his best
strength is being stuck behind the desk?”

“He used to suck, but he’s learned a lot
from me, and he is a lot better now. I mean he has to be, or why would you pick
him over me as your wingman?”

Janet groaned. “Is that why you kicked
Peter out? To bicker over this nonsense with me? I already told you why: I
thought you’d be otherwise engaged. And, as it had turned out, Laskin is pretty
good in the field.”

The hurt expression on Dennis’s face
made it clear that Janet’s remark had hit him hard. “Better than me?”

“Do you really expect me to answer that?
Come on, Dennis, you know better than that. Right now is not the time for us to
fight among ourselves. Alex is breathing down our necks, and Muller’s got
Finnegan in his back pocket. Unless we act together, we don’t stand a chance.”

“What was that about Alex breathing down
your neck?” Dennis took a step closer to Janet. “I don’t think I like the sound
of that,” he added, taking another step closer to her, too close for Janet’s
taste.

“Enough, Dennis! I thought this was
important to you. I thought you wanted to get back at them for what they did to
Ham, for what they did to our case and our careers.”

Dennis straightened up, taking a step
back. “Of course I do. But I need to know that you’re with me, Janet. I need to
know that you’re not falling in love with Kingsley all over again.”

“Are you kidding me? Is your opinion of
me that low? I might have been a fool for falling for him once, but not twice.
I thought we’ve been over this already.”

“We have, but I need to be sure.” Dennis
rubbed his forehead. “I need to know …”

Dennis halted, and Janet held her
breath. Was he going to say it? Could it be that he too felt the same way as
she did? “I need to know that you’re my partner, Janet,” came Dennis’s words.

Doing her best not to sound
disappointed, Janet reassured him. “I am your partner, Dennis. You know that.”

“I do now.” Dennis stood up. “I’m sorry
about this. I didn’t mean to make a scene.”

“That’s all right. I’ve got your back,
Dennis, and now I know that I can trust you with mine.”

“You mean to say that you doubted me
before?”

“Let’s just say that I wasn’t sure about
your priorities, but I’m sure now.”

“Good night, partner.”

“Good night, Dennis.”

Janet shut the door behind Dennis and
pressed her back against it. Then she groaned with exasperation. “Good night,
partner” were not exactly the words she wanted to hear from Dennis Walker, but
apparently that was all she was going to get out of the man.

Peter Laskin stared at his watch. He was
supposed to meet Aileen Finnegan for drinks in exactly one hour. How hard could
it be to take a woman out? The answer of course depended on who was being asked
the question. If the question were directed at Dennis Walker, the answer would
most likely be “a piece of cake” or something to that effect. But if the
question were addressed at Peter, the answer would be “nerve-wracking,”
especially when the outcome of the said invitation could impact Peter’s career.
Peter had never been a ladies’ man, so the idea of using his male magnetism on
Aileen Finnegan in order to get the needed evidence on Muller was as appealing
to Peter as getting his chest waxed, not that he had ever waxed his chest, or
planned to. He would rather spend hours behind his desk, analyzing rows of
data, than take his chances romancing Aileen Finnegan.