3 Bad Guys Get Caught

by Marie Astor

  “So I’m supposed to just sit back and not say anything when you go out cavorting with other women?”

  “For crying out loud, I’m not cavorting with other women! I only went out with her to get information. Or perhaps you’ve been able to get leads? ‘Cause I’m ready to drop the whole thing right now and tell Ham that we couldn’t get any more info on Libby and let him go back to the client with that. If the whole thing blows up months later, which it probably will because Libby’s opponents will use any edge they can to get the scoop, we’ll just tell Ham that we couldn’t compromise our ethics to get the information. I’m sure he’ll be thrilled to hear that. Oh, and the fact that we also missed a possible lead on the location of Muller’s money will be the icing on the cake.”

  “I’m sorry.”

  Dennis rubbed his forehead. “No, I’m the one who’s sorry. I should’ve never put you in this position. God knows if the tables were reversed, I’d be pissed too.”

  “I don’t mean to be so selfish. It’s just that I can’t stand the thought of you being with her.”

  “Janet, honey, I’m not “with her”! I was simply going through the motions to get information. All we did was walk in the park and have cocktails on the Metropolitan roof.”

  “You had cocktails on the Met roof?” Janet repeated in a hushed whisper. “That’s our special place—”

  “It’s still our special place; ours and no one else’s. Janet, baby, if you think that I’m feeling good about this … The fact that I had to stoop to such tactics means that I’m a piss-poor investigator.”

  “No, you’re not. You’re a great investigator. You’re always coming up with the best ideas. I tried to imitate you by getting a job at Panther, but it hasn’t gotten me anything but aggravation. Even this whole thing with Mila, as much as I hate it, I can’t deny that it was a smart thing to do. You have a way with women; she’ll cave in and tell you everything. You’ll see.”

  “I won’t do it unless you’re okay with it. It’s not worth jeopardizing what we have.”

  “It won’t. I won’t let it. I’m sorry for being such an idiot, for giving you such a hard time when you didn’t do anything wrong. I mean, you brought champagne and strawberries, and here I am, being a total bitch.”

  “Chocolate covered strawberries. You couldn’t be a bitch if you tried.” Dennis opened the box and pulled out one of the strawberries, bringing it to Janet’s mouth. “Try it.”

  “It’s dessert and we haven’t had dinner yet. I was going to make steak, your favorite, and now I’ve ruined everything.”

  “You haven’t ruined anything. I like having my dessert before dinner.” Dennis pressed the strawberry to Janet’s lips. “Take a bite.”

  She bit into the strawberry. “These are good.”

  “Let me see.” He locked her lips in a deep kiss. “Mmm, tastes delicious.” He nibbled on her earlobe, moving his lips down her neck, grazing her collarbone. Desire stormed inside him; he wanted her then and there, eager to erase the stupid bickering between them with hot, passionate sex. Janet moaned something indiscernible in his ear, which by the tone of her voice and the look on her face he took as acquiescence, so he lifted her into his arms and carried her to bed.

  Chapter 11

  Before the start of her next shift at Panther, Janet had promised herself that she wouldn’t let things get weird between her and Mila. After last night she had no doubt about Dennis’s feelings. The fact that he made hot, passionate love to her after she had been a total bitch to him proved that he desired her and only her. Not that it excused her behavior last night; she was not proud of it in the least, and she resolved never to repeat it again. Well, at least she resolved to do her best never to repeat it again.

  But when Janet walked through the doors of Panther, she found her voice strained and her smile contrived replying to Mila’s greeting. The night of mind-blowing sex with Dennis provided poor consolation against Mila’s mile-long legs, killer rack, and luscious lips. The girl was oozing sex. How could any man in his right mind find her resistible? Dennis could and did, Janet assured herself, as she headed downstairs to change into her uniform. He was only seeing her to get information, and if Janet wanted him to stop seeing Mila, she’d better figure out a way to get the information they were after, which meant that she had to stay close to Mila. Of course this was easier said than done, and when Janet walked back upstairs, one look at how sexy Mila looked bantering with customers was enough to send her reeling. So she busied herself with work, keeping her head down as she hurried from table to table, taking orders, explaining the degrees of gaminess in broiled elk and the level of tartness in the duck plum sauce.

  Janet must have looked particularly grim when she was dropping off the drink order for one of her tables because Jason pushed a shot glass her way and said, “Drink this while I fill your order.”

  “Drinking on the job is against the rules,” Janet retorted. It was bad enough that the only result of her working at Panther consisted of swollen feet and wrecked nerves; she wasn’t going to ruin her chances of getting a lead by breaking the rules.

  “Do you always play by the rules?” Jason asked in that charming brogue of his.

  “Yes, I’m a good girl.”

  “Well, Janet, you’ll find that sometimes it’s all right to let your hair down and loosen up a bit. Now down that shot or your customers will have to go without their drinks.”

  “Jason!” Janet hissed. “I won’t let you get me fired.”

  Jason crossed his arms on his chest. “Any time now. I’ve got all night.”

  Janet looked over her shoulder for any signs of Roman; the last thing she needed was to give him another chance to bug her. He wasn’t anywhere near, so she picked up the shot and shutting her eyes, brought it to her lips. She expected the liquid to scorch her throat, but instead it went down smoothly, filling her mouth with a mixture of tanginess and sweetness. “It’s delicious,” Janet said, feeling refreshed and forgetting to be annoyed at Jason.

  “Told you so.”

  “What it is? One of Panther’s special cocktails? I thought I knew them all by now.”

  “This, my friend, is my own invention: something that I make only for my friends and people who are special to me.”

  “Thanks.” Janet willed herself not to blush. Jason was one of those men who absolutely had to flirt with every woman in sight.

  “You’re welcome. You looked like you needed one.”

  “I did. This job is starting to get to me.”

  “Well, if you think it’s bad now, just imagine what it will be like when the old man comes to visit.”

  “The old man?”

  “The owner—Petr Kovar. Don’t tell me that you don’t know who owns this place.”

  “Oh, yeah, but I didn’t know he’d be coming in personally.”

  “I overhead Anton and Roman talking; they were saying that the old man is supposed to fly into town in the next few days. Anton is going back to the old country to accompany the patriarch, and Roman is going to be in charge while he’s gone and is supposed to keep a tight ship.”

  “Oh, brother,” Janet groaned to conceal her excitement. Finally, all those hours of slaving away at Panther were going to pay off.

  “Here are your drinks.” Jason put two martinis on the bar stand and signaled to one of the busboys. “Janet, any time you need a pick me up, you stop by my shop here.”

  “Thanks Jason, but my tolerance isn’t as high as you think.”

  “You silly girl, did you really think I’d let you drink on the job? There was no alcohol in that drink: just some elderflower water, thyme, rhubarb and grapefruit juice. A mix of electrolytes and antioxidants to get one’s juices flowing again.”

  “Thanks Jason.” This time Janet’s face turned crimson red. Smooth, real smooth, she thought.

  Janet got back to work and had been successful at avoiding Mila until there was a lull.

  “Come out with me for a cigarette,” Mila wh
ispered into Janet’s ear, grasping her elbow. Saying that she didn’t smoke was not an option, so Janet accepted the invitation.

  “You haven’t talked to me all day,” Mila said, accusatory notes lacing her tone, as she lit her cigarette. “Things aren’t going to get weird between us because I went out with Dennis, are they?”

  Janet shrugged. “No. Why would things get weird? Dennis is my cousin. As far as I’m concerned, he’s free to see whomever he wants.”

  “Are you sure? Because I’ve known some cousins who were, you know, more than cousins.”

  “Ew, gross!”

  “Yeah, but people still do it. So, if you don’t mind me seeing Dennis, can you tell me more about him?”

  “I thought you were pretty serious with Anton.”

  “A girl’s got to keep her options open if you get my drift.”

  “I get it.”

  “So, back to the subject of Dennis. Tell me more about him.”

  “I don’t see him that often; we’re not really that close.”

  Mila raised a doubtful eyebrow.

  “I do know that he’s really good at his job; he’s busy all the time, that’s why I don’t get to see him much,” Janet added hurriedly, figuring that she had to give Mila something.

  “That’s good to know. Can you tell me if he likes women?”

  “Sure he likes women. Why would you ask that?”

  “Because yesterday, when we went out, he seemed to be totally uninterested.”

  It took all of Janet’s willpower to keep a happy grin off her face. Mila’s arrogance was beyond belief. Just because a guy wasn’t interested in her in particular was supposed to imply that he wasn’t interested in women period? “Well, there is one thing about Dennis that you should know. It’s kind of embarrassing, so I didn’t want to bring it up, but because we’re friends, I think it wouldn’t be fair of me not to tell you.”

  “I knew there was something wrong with him!”

  “You see, he used to be something of a womanizer … I believe the term used was sex addict. He even went to rehab for it.”

  “There’s a rehab for sex addicts?”

  “Apparently. Look, please don’t tell him that I told you this, but after he finished his stay at rehab, he decided to do this sex abstinence thing. I guess it’s kind of like quitting smoking cold turkey.”

  Mila dragged on her cigarette and smiled. “Cold turkey, huh? Thanks for telling me.”

  “I hope this doesn’t get in the way of things.”

  “Oh, it won’t. I like a challenge. I’m going to see him again tomorrow.”

  “Great. I’m sure you’ll have a wonderful time. He’s really a very nice guy. A real gentleman.”

  “I bet. Come on, let’s get back before Roman starts yapping at us.” Mila ground out her cigarette and went inside.

  Janet lingered behind, taking a turn around the building to clear her mind. She was experiencing an acute case of remorse; despite her best intentions, she had put her foot in it again. Her intention had been to keep Mila’s dirty paws off Dennis, but now it was starting to look like she had only added oil to the fire. What if Mila were to tell Dennis about the whole sex addict nonsense? The prospect was mortifying.

  Janet was about to turn the corner to go back inside when she saw Anton and Roman coming out from what looked like a service entrance on the far corner of the building. She had never been to the other side of the building, but was fairly certain that Panther’s premises did not extend that far. What were the two brothers doing there? Luckily, the two of them were so engrossed in conversation that they didn’t notice her. Janet quickly ducked around the corner and slipped inside Panther.

  ***

  The day dragged on endlessly as Mila waited for the hour of Anton’s departure. His flight was not until six p.m. She had feared that he would want to spend the day in some crazy sex marathon, but to her relief, he had only wanted her once, in the morning, and had spent the whole day cooped up inside his office. As usual, he didn’t tell her what he was doing, but Mila guessed that Anton was preparing for the meeting with his uncle. His demeanor visibly changed when he spoke of the old man, always with great reverence, and Mila suspected that Petr Kovar kept his nephews on their toes. While Anton was locked up in his office, Mila called up Dennis and arranged to meet him at eight p.m. Anton had told her to take the night off, so the timing had worked out perfectly.

  Mila’s lips curled in a smile at Janet’s ridiculous story; a recovering sex addict! Under a different set of circumstances, she would’ve loved to see Dennis fall off the wagon, but that was not the reason she wanted to see him tonight. She needed him for his skills, and according to him and Janet, he was good at his job. Not that either of those sources was much of a reference, but then it wasn’t as though Mila had her pick of specialists to choose from. Anton watched her like a hawk, taking almost every penny she earned for “safekeeping.” She managed to squirrel away a little bit of money, but it was hardly enough to hire a top notch hacker. Not that she knew where to go looking for one in the first place. Hence, her usual manner of pay: sex, but Dennis wasn’t interested in sex. While she had at first thought that it could be a hindrance, she now realized that it could be a very favorable game changer. Up until now Mila had always used sex to get what she wanted out of men. It had worked with David, until he went to jail, but it had backfired terribly with Anton, turning her into his sex slave. Since Dennis wasn’t interested in sex, perhaps she could appeal to his sense of ethical conscience; be the damsel in distress and let the recovering sex addict redeem himself by saving her.

  Just then the door to Anton’s study opened, and Mila heard his heavy footsteps in the corridor. She busied herself with tending to the pots on the stove. She had taken the preemptive step of cooking Anton’s favorite dishes: goulash and potato dumplings.

  “Mmm, smells good!” Anton slapped Mila’s behind as he staggered into the kitchen.

  “I made goulash. Are you hungry?”

  “Starving.” As usual, he sat down at the table, waiting for her to serve him. God forbid the man ever carried his own plate; his hands just might fall off.

  Mila heaped Anton’s plate with food and set it before him. She quickly eyed the clock on the wall: it was three p.m. Anton would have to get going soon to make his flight.

  “Come here and sit next to me. I don’t want to eat alone.” Anton patted the seat next to him.

  The thought of food turned her stomach, but Mila put two dumplings and a bit of goulash on her plate and joined Anton at the table.

  Anton nodded approvingly. “Good, you need to eat. You’ve been looking tired lately.”

  Mila couldn’t help being surprised by the change in Anton’s attitude. She had been losing weight steadily since she started living with the man; he literally made her sick, but up until now Anton only seemed to delight in her lack of appetite.

  Anton ate greedily, shoving large chunks of food in his mouth. Finally, he was finished and mopped up the remnants of sauce from his plate with a piece of bread. “That really hit the spot. You’ve become a wonderful cook, Milochka.”

  “Thank you.” Mila smiled. In the hellish months that she had been with Anton, she had turned from someone who had never so much as held a soup ladle in her hands into a skilled cook. She knew how to make dumpling batter from scratch, cook a variety of stews and soups, roast pork, and even make her own sauerkraut and pickles; all the skills that her mother had thought to be extremely valuable and had fruitlessly tried to instill into her when she was a teenager. Mila thought of her mother who had spent her whole life working a nine-to-five job and slaving away in the kitchen— a life that Mila had been determined to avoid, but had ended up falling right into. At least her mother had loved her husband, when they were first married at any rate, but Mila couldn’t stand the sight of Anton.

  Anton patted Mila’s hand, startling her by the unexpected gesture since usually he chose other parts of her body to express his affection. �
�I will miss you, Milochka,” he said gruffly, almost choking. “When I come back, we’re going to have a talk. I want things to be formalized between us. Maybe have a few kids running around.”

  Oh, my God! Mila thought. Was Anton proposing marriage over an empty plate of goulash? A nightmarish vision flashed before her eyes: she standing at the stove with two rugrats tugging at her skirt. “Yes, Anton. I will miss you so,” she forced herself to say.

  “I’d better get going now.” Anton pushed back his chair, almost knocking it over.

  For a moment Mila worried that she had overplayed her hand with the goulash, and in a fit of sentimentality, Anton might drag her to the airport to see him off.

  “Be a good girl now,” Anton instructed her. “I will call you whenever I can.” He grabbed her into his arms and kissed her roughly, filling her mouth with paprika breath. “I don’t like long goodbyes. Time for me to go,” he said, pulling himself away from her.

  “Goodbye, honey. Come back soon,” Mila purred, barely keeping the glee out of her voice.

  Anton headed into the foyer where his packed carryon bag stood propped against the wall. “Lock the door behind me and don’t you let anyone in,” he instructed her as he put on his jacket. In a matter of minutes he was gone, the front door shutting behind him.

  Mila waited until she heard the sound of Anton’s footsteps recede down the hallway, followed by the faint ring of the closing elevator door. “Woohoo!” she let out a cry of joy. This was the first time she would have a few days to herself without Anton telling her what to do, Anton grabbing her, Anton screwing her. If things went as planned, she would never have to see the pig again.

  ***

  Mila walked into the bar where she and Dennis had agreed to meet. He was already seated by the bar stand, waiting for her. She waved, but he didn’t seem to notice as his back was towards her. Good, she was going to surprise him. She had selected their meeting place herself. It was a small bar off the beaten path in SoHo, empty most of the time: just the kind of place she needed to talk to Dennis about the job she had for him.