To Catch a Bad Guy (Book One of the Janet Maple Series)

by Marie Astor

“Did you have a nice weekend?” Lisa stood in the doorway of Janet’s office.

  “Yes, I did.” Janet hoped that Lisa would not ask for details, for Janet would be hard pressed to come up with a convincing story. She had spent the weekend cooped up in her apartment, with the exception of morning and evening walks with Baxter.

  “So did I.” Lisa grinned, sliding into one of the chairs that stood opposite Janet’s desk. “Paul proposed.” Lisa produced her left hand as confirmation of her words. On her ring finger shone a gorgeous sapphire set in diamonds.

  “Lisa, congratulations!” Janet leaned in to examine the hefty piece of jewelry. One did not have to be a jeweler to see the stones of stunning clarity and the exceptional workmanship. “The ring is beautiful.”

  “To tell you the truth, I wanted a diamond, but this was Paul’s mother’s ring, so I kept quiet.”

  “So, when is the wedding?”

  “Oh, I think in a year from now. We’ll need time to get the whole thing organized and to give people time to RSVP. There’s so much to do. I’ll have to start looking at venues, seeing caterers, and then there’s the wedding dress…” Lisa clasped her forehead in a gesture of utter exhaustion. “It almost makes me wish we could elope, but then I’ve always dreamed of a big wedding…Will you be my maid of honor?” Lisa’s eyes lit up.

  “Yes.” Janet nodded. Even though she knew that being Lisa’s maid of honor would really mean being Lisa’s wedding planner, she was happy to take on the task. Lisa might have her faults, but in moments like these, years of friendship mattered more than petty grudges.

  “Oh, goody!” Lisa squealed. “I’ll tell my mom; she’ll be so excited! She misses you, you know. You should say hello the next time you go to see your folks. Remember all those sleepovers we had in school?”

  Janet nodded. Lisa’s slumber parties had been impressive. Every girl in the class had hoped to be invited. Lisa’s mother, a marketing executive at Estee Lauder, would give out makeup sample kits to all of Lisa’s friends – pretty pouches with lip gloss, perfume, and scented soaps inside them. A slumber party at Lisa’s house was an event to prepare for. You didn’t just dress in any old pajamas. Every party had a theme: Lisa had thought that it would be a wonderful idea for all the girls to wear matching pajamas, and once the invitees were selected, she would reveal the outfit for the party. Then every girl who had been invited would have her parents drive her to the mall to buy the pajamas of Lisa’s choice. There was one occasion when Janet’s parents were not able to drive her to the mall until the weekend, by which time the pajamas in her size were sold out. Janet’s panic was replaced by gratitude when Lisa presented her with a brand new spare pair. Ever the caring friend, Lisa had bought an extra pair specifically for Janet.

  They were twelve then, and it seemed that nothing would ever come between them. But already talk of boys was finding ways into their conversation, with some girls, including Lisa, boasting of their first kiss – the having-been-kissed status separating the popular from the nots, and Janet had to admit that even now, seventeen years later, she found herself in the latter crowd. Only now the popularity ranking had been raised from a kiss to an engagement.

  “But I digress,” Lisa sighed. “Believe it or not, I actually have a work-related question to ask you. I just got this audit notice.” Lisa pushed the fax from the SEC across Janet’s desk. “Can you believe the nerve of these buggers coming in at a time like this? How am I supposed to plan my wedding with these jerks hovering over my back?” Lisa frowned. “Anyways, I’m sure Tom will help us handle most of it, but we’ve got to pitch in for appearances’ sake. My paralegal, Meredith, will help you. Let’s start by reviewing the client forms to see if we need to add any disclaimers. I’ve been meaning to get to it, but I kept putting it off…”

  “Sure.” Janet nodded. As luck would have it, she was very familiar with the subject. She had worked on several cases on these matters at the DA’s office. “Where are the client files?”

  “The form templates are on the shared computer drive.”

  “But where are the actual files?” Janet inquired. “I might as well take a look to make sure everything is in order.”

  Lisa perked up. “Oh, sure, that’s a good idea. The Operations group handles all of that. My paralegal, Meredith, can show you where they sit.”

  “Sounds good. I’ll get right on it.”

  “Thank you, Janet. You’re a lifesaver. Without you, I’d be in a pickle.”

  After Lisa left, Janet opened the shared computer drive that Lisa had mentioned. She was relieved to see that the client agreements and disclosures were up to the industry standards. So far, things looked good. Now, if she could also confirm that these forms were diligently completed and maintained, she would be in lawyer’s paradise.

  Janet noticed several folders with the names of the employees of the legal group, including Lisa’s and was interested to see a folder entitled Fred Rossingram. The name did not ring a bell; she clicked on the folder and found a variety of letters and documents with dates predating Lisa, leading her to conclude that Fred Rossingram had been Lisa’s predecessor. The last of the documents with his name dated a little less than two years ago, which was shortly before Lisa’s start date. Janet thought that it was strange that Lisa had never mentioned Fred Rossingram, but even more peculiar was the caliber of work that Rossingram did for the firm – the work that was now being outsourced to Tom Wyman. But as interesting as this discovery was, Janet had a pressing assignment to attend to.

  Janet picked up the phone to call Lisa’s paralegal, Meredith.

  Half an hour later, Janet was walking down the trading floor accompanied by Meredith.

  “So, how do you find working here so far?” Meredith inquired.

  “I’m learning a lot.” Janet prided herself on being an honest person, but she could not very well answer Meredith’s question truthfully. “How about yourself? Do you like it?”

  “Can’t complain,” Meredith chuckled. “I worked for a senior partner at a law firm for fifteen years; the pace is much calmer here, so that’s the good part.”

  “Do you miss your old place?”

  “I do,” Meredith admitted. “I used to know the entire firm like the back of my hand. It was a small firm with only three partners, and they all retired and sold off the practice.” Meredith sighed. “I’ve been here for a year, and between you and me, I still can’t seem to make heads or tails of things. That Tom Wyman fella sure likes to convolute things.”

  Tell me about it, Janet thought.

  “Let me introduce you to the Operations folks,” said Meredith after they had reached the far end of the trading floor.

  “Rosemarie, I’d like to introduce our new assistant general counsel, Janet Maple. Janet, this is Rosemarie March. She is in charge of the Operations group.”

  “Hi, Janet, it’s a pleasure to meet you.” Rosemarie rose from her chair. She looked to be in her mid-forties and was rail-thin, with red hair pinned up haphazardly. “So you’re working for Lisa, huh?”

  “Yes.” Janet nodded. “And I was wondering if you could help me with the audit request we received.”

  “Sure, love, I’d be glad to. Lisa usually never makes it to our neck of the woods. What do you need?”

  “If you could just show me where the customer files are.”

  “I’ve got the hard copies right here.” Rosemarie motioned at a filing cabinet behind her desk. “How far back do you need to go?”

  “Oh, just this year.”

  “Here you go, honey.” Rosemarie pulled out a large stack of manila folders. “This is for the past three months. Once you’re done with these, just holler, and I’ll give the next three months.”

  “Great, thank you, Rosemarie. I’ll look over these at my desk and will bring them back to you when I’m done.”

  “No problem.”

  Janet stuck the files under her arm. As she walked down the floor, she opened one of the folders and skimmed through it
s contents. The client was a hedge fund called Emperial – a recently opened account. The first thing that caught Janet’s eye was the missing address and ownership information, but that did not make any sense. It simply had to be in the folder somewhere. She would just have a closer look once she got back to her desk.

  Suddenly, Janet heard running footsteps and felt a rough push. Good thing she was wearing flats; otherwise, it would have been impossible for her to maintain her balance. But while Janet managed to stay on her feet, half of the files dropped out of her hands and fell to the floor.

  “Sorry, miss!” The man who had just rammed into Janet called over his shoulder. “I’ve got to get back to my desk!”

  “Are you okay?” Dean Snider had materialized out of thin air and was scooping the files from the floor.

  “Hi.” Janet blushed. It seemed that every time she ran into Dean, she needed rescuing. “I’m fine, thank you. It was my own fault. I wasn’t looking where I was going.” She bent down to pick up the rest of the folders.

  “That guy is a jerk for running you over like that and not even stopping to make sure you were all right.” Dean looked at her. They were both kneeling on the floor. Dean smiled and Janet felt her entire being tingle. It was not an alarming tingle like she got when Tom Wyman’s knee brushed past her thigh, but a pleasant one. She did not know much about Dean Snider, but she wanted to get to know him.

  “These look important.” Dean peeked at the folders, as he handed them to Janet.

  “They are.” Janet confirmed. “These are customer files; I was taking them back to my office to make sure everything is in order for the upcoming audit.”

  “And are we in good shape?” Dean grinned.

  “I think so,” Janet answered. “At least I hope so.”

  “That doesn’t sound very promising,” Dean probed.

  “I haven’t really looked through them yet, as I was interrupted,” Janet alluded to the embarrassing incident.

  “Well, I hope that you find everything up to your satisfaction.”

  A yell from one of the desks interrupted them. “Dean, over here, my computer email won’t open up!”

  “I’ve got to get back to work.” Dean shrugged. “It was nice seeing you again, Janet.”

  Janet smiled: it was nice seeing Dean as well. “You too. Thanks for your help.”