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

by Marie Astor

Janet frowned at the client files on her desk. The clients that had caught her eye were Emperial, Creaton, Rigel, Gemini, and Sphinx. All five were hedge funds, and all five were missing address and ownership information. Janet had run background checks and found that every single one of these companies had pending litigation against them. Emperial appeared to be the most notorious of the group, with several financial blogs alluding to Emperial’s having had a hand in the recent meltdown of several well-known stocks.

  Janet was thinking of the best way to present her findings to Lisa. Lisa’s initial assignment had only included checking the verbiage of the client forms. Through her own initiative, which she now regretted, Janet had unearthed deficiencies in Bostoff’s operations. Now, she had to find a way to fix them, even if that meant upsetting Lisa’s bridal mood.

  The door to Lisa’s office was closed. Janet was glad of the excuse to put off the unpleasant task, but to satisfy her conscience, she gingerly knocked on the door.

  “Come in!” Lisa called through the door.

  Janet forced herself to straighten her back and open the door.

  Lisa was on the phone with her legs propped on her desk. She motioned for Janet to sit down.

  “Yes.” Lisa waved her hand impatiently. “I was calling to confirm my appointment for a facial – yes, today at five. Perfect, thank you.” With a groan, Lisa hung up. “These people have no idea of customer service. They charge five hundred dollars per visit and have the nerve to put you on hold!”

  Janet nodded politely. She did not really have much to say on the subject of a five-hundred-dollar facial, but the mysterious processes it involved had to be worth it.

  “I know – five hundred dollars is a lot, but they are really very good. It’s this Japanese place, and after they do their magic, your skin literally glows. I only go there for special occasions, and next week is my and Paul’s company engagement party. I would have preferred an appointment next week, but they only had a slot for today, so I’ll sneak out a little early. You’ve got my back, right?”

  “Of course.”

  “Thanks.” Lisa sighed. “And here I was hoping that after I got engaged, I would not have to ask a question like that, but somehow Paul has gotten it into his head that I actually enjoy working here. He thinks I want to contribute to the company.” Lisa rolled her eyes. “I guess I should take credit for that. I’ve always been a good actress. Remember the time I played Juliet in our high school play?”

  “I remember.” Janet struggled to keep a straight face: Lisa had recited her lines monotonously, but the low-cut bust line of her costume had more than made up for that lapse, at least with the male audience.

  “Those were the days: we were so full of hope and promise…” Lisa looked away wistfully. “Well, I guess I’ll just have to keep my act up until Paul and I tie the knot. Once I’m Mrs. Bostoff, I’ll be home free. But enough about me. How are you doing? Everything okay?”

  “Actually, Lisa, I wanted to talk to you about the client forms …”

  “Ah, yes, how’s that going?”

  “Well, I found some things that may be of concern…”

  “Are the forms missing any items that we should be asking for?”

  “The forms are perfect, but…”

  “Whew, you had me worried there.” Lisa mock-wiped her forehead.

  “But some of the documents are missing,” Janet continued. “I found five customer files that are missing addresses and ownership information.”

  “Only five? That hardly sounds alarming.”

  “Yes, but there is a pattern: Emperial, Creaton, Rigel, Gemini, and Sphinx are the hedge funds that we are missing this information for, and all of them have had regulatory sanctions in the past.”

  “Hmmm… It’s probably nothing more than a simple omission. Have you talked to the Operations group about this? I think the woman’s name is Rosemarie.”

  “I was going to talk to her next, but I wanted to speak to you first. Here is some information on these hedge funds that I found online.” Janet handed Lisa the printouts.

  Lisa glanced at the papers that Janet placed on her desk. “These days every firm on the street is getting smacked. Just remember that you don’t work for the DA anymore, and in the real world things aren’t always perfect. I’m sure there’s a perfectly reasonable explanation for all of this. Just talk to Rosemarie, okay?” Lisa’s tone sharpened, “I don’t want this to become our problem. Let Rosemarie resolve it, got it?”

  “Yes.” Janet bit her lip. Without her boss backing her up, how was she to do her job?

  “Oh, and Janet – did you sign your new hire forms? Jon was asking me about them.”

  “I meant to do that. I’ll drop them off with human resources.”

  “Oh, I almost forgot.” Lisa perked up. “This weekend, my folks are having a little party to celebrate my and Paul’s engagement. You’re coming, right?”

  Janet nodded. She had told Lisa that she would be going to Long Island to visit her folks and there was no escape now.

  “Great, it will be so much fun!”

  “I’m looking forward to it already.”

  “Well, I’ll be leaving soon – I need to run some errands before my appointment.” Lisa reached for her purse.

  After Lisa left, Janet headed for the Operations area, hoping that Rosemarie would have the answers she needed.

  “Hey there, Janet.” Rosemarie looked up from her desk.

  “Hi, Rosemarie. I don’t mean to bother you, but I’m still learning the ropes, and I had some questions I was hoping you could help me with.”

  “Sure, Janet, pull up a chair. What can I do you for?”

  Janet took a seat. “I was looking through the client files and found that some accounts were missing some information.”

  “Which accounts are those?”

  “Emperial, Creaton, Rigel, Gemini, and Sphinx are all missing ownership information, and addresses.”

  Rosemarie rubbed her neck. “These are major clients; I’m sure there’s an explanation for each of them.” Rosemarie punched in a few keys on her computer. “Just as I thought. The information has been requested from the clients. It’s company policy to open an account while pending document submission.”

  “I understand completely. Big clients have to be accommodated.”

  Relief flashed in Rosemarie’s eyes. “The kind of revenue we’re getting from these boys warrants any number of paperwork exemptions, if you get my drift.”

  “Of course. They are major players in the market.”

  “That they are.” Rosemarie pointed to the pile of paper on her desk. “These are the trades from last week. Just look at the volumes from Emperial.”

  The report had hundreds of entries, and Janet needed more time to make sense of it. “Do you mind if I take a look at these at my desk? I just want to make sure that there’s nothing for the auditors to be alarmed by.”

  “Well, I need this copy, but Jon authorized your access, correct?”

  Janet nodded. “I’ve been asked to help with the audit.”

  “The reports are saved on the Operations computer drive. It’s password protected.” Rosemarie scribbled the password on a Post-it. “Here you go. Make sure to commit it to memory. We would not want anyone who isn’t authorized to get access to this data.”

  “Thank you, Rosemarie, you’ve been most helpful.”

  With her heart racing, Janet walked back to her office. She had not exactly lied to Rosemarie, but she did not tell her the truth either. The truth was that Janet was disobeying her boss’s instructions.

  “Busy day?” Dean Snider poked his head through the doorway of Janet’s office.

  At the sight of the unexpected visitor, Janet wished she had kept the door closed. “Um, yes. I’m catching up on some work, preparing for the audit.” Janet hoped Dean would take the hint and leave. Under a different set of circumstances, chatting with the cute IT engineer would have been fun, but not when there were piles of co
nfidential reports on her desk: reports she was not supposed to have access to.

  “Sounds serious.” Dean eased himself into Janet’s office. “Wow, just think of all those killed trees.” Dean clicked his tongue, eyeing the stacks of paper on her desk.

  Janet blushed. Dean did have a point, but if he had any inkling about the kind of information she was looking for, he would understand that, although important in the grand scheme of things, environmental concerns were the least of her current worries. “I’ll be sure to recycle when I’m done.” Janet eyed the door pointedly, hoping that her insistent visitor would get the hint.

  “You don’t look like you’re having a good day.” Dean flashed Janet a smile that was intended to charm her, but instead annoyed her. Ignoring her mute stare, he continued, “I think I’ve got something to cheer you up. There will be a company party next week.” Dean placed a color-printed leaflet on Janet’s desk. “And I was hoping that you would agree to be my date.”

  Janet picked up the leaflet Dean had put on her desk: it was an invitation to Lisa’s and Paul’s engagement party. “I’ll have to go. Lisa is my boss.”

  “And Paul is everyone’s boss,” Dean added. “So, yes, I think it’s a good idea to attend, but that still doesn’t answer my question. Will you be my date?”

  Janet lowered her eyes. She wanted to say yes, but she had already promised Lisa that she would talk to Tom Wyman at the party. Not that Janet was particularly interested in keeping her promise, but she knew only too well that when Lisa had her mind set on something, she never took no for an answer. But just because Janet could not say yes did not mean that she had to say no, at least not exactly. “I didn’t know it was necessary to have a date for a corporate party.”

  “Is that a no?” Dean’s fallen expression made him look even more endearing.

  “I didn’t say that.” Janet had to admit that she liked toying with him. “Tell you what – I am going to be there, and you are going to be there, so there’s no reason why we shouldn’t be able to have a drink or two, as coworkers.”

  “Coworkers.” Dean mulled the word over. “I’ll take that to start with, as long as you promise me a date in the future.”

  “The future is unpredictable,” replied Janet. Dean Snider was bringing out the flirt in her.

  “I’ll take the absence of a definite no as a possible yes. And now I will let you get back to your work. I’ll be looking forward to next Thursday,” added Dean before closing the door behind him.

  Me too, Janet thought. Dean Snider certainly was not nearly as dashing or successful as Tom Wyman, but there was just something about the guy that made Janet spark every time she saw him.