by Marie Astor
Janet felt the usual sting of chagrin that the mention of her former employer never failed to trigger. Yes, her legal career had begun with a position of assistant district attorney at the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office, but her promising start fizzled to a disappointing conclusion after she was downsized from the DA’s office in the middle of an important case.
As if reading her thoughts, or more likely her expression, Dennis cleared his throat. “David Muller has wreaked enough havoc. It’s high time he was brought to justice.”
“I sure hope that’s going to be the case.”
Dennis frowned. “Why the hesitation?”
“For the very same reason you just mentioned: the case hearing has been postponed three times already.”
“I guess we’ll find out soon enough.”
As if on cue, there was a knock on the door of Janet’s office. The head of the Investigations department, Hamilton Kirk, stood in the doorway. “Dennis, Janet, may I speak to you a minute?” As always, Ham’s facial expression was inscrutable, but the serendipity of his appearance made Janet look at her watch. It was after three p.m.: the Emperial case decision had to have been reached by now, and if the news were good even Hamilton Kirk would not have been able to resist the joy of announcing it.
“Of course, Ham.” Dennis’s tone was smooth, but not smooth enough for Janet to miss the hidden notes of apprehension in his voice.
Together, Janet and Dennis followed Ham into his office. Just why Ham had to insist on going to his office was beyond Janet. Although much smaller in size, her office would have provided sufficient privacy for their discussion, but then she had gotten used to not questioning Ham’s idiosyncrasies.
The moment they reached Ham’s office, Janet understood her boss’s request. Hamilton Kirk had worked for various departments of the Treasury for over twenty years, during which he had acquired vast office paraphernalia—certifications and commendatory plaques, reference guides, and never-ending stacks of bulging folders that contained case materials—but now all of these items were neatly packed in cardboard boxes that lined the floor of Ham’s office.
Both Janet and Dennis looked questioningly at Ham.
“I’m sorry, team,” Ham paused to swallow. “As of today I’m retired.”
“Retired? And you are springing this on us now, when you’re already packed?” Dennis eyed Ham reproachfully.
Ham patted Dennis’s shoulder. “I only found out this morning myself.”
Janet had to make an effort to keep her jaw from dropping. “What do you mean?”
With a sigh, Ham stepped over the row of boxes and sat behind his desk. “Sit down, you two.”
Mechanically, Janet and Dennis sank into the chairs opposite Ham’s desk.
“I know that our job is not easy: we try to do what’s right the best way we can with the few resources we have, and, let’s admit it, on measly pay. I have worked in this place for over twenty years, and until this morning I still believed in such a thing as justice. But now I know that I have been a naïve fool.” Ham shook his head. “They are kicking me out—”
“Who’s kicking you out, Ham?” Dennis cut in.
Ham went on, ignoring Dennis’s question. “Although I must say that the severance package is quite generous. Finally, my long-awaited dream of retirement has come true—the only funny thing is, is that now that it’s here it doesn’t feel nearly as good as I thought it would. In fact, it feels like being thrown out into a dumpster.”
“Who is kicking you out, Ham?” Dennis repeated.
“My boss,” Ham replied simply. “I’ve worked for the man for over ten years. This morning he calls me up from Washington. ‘Ham,’ he says, ‘it’s been wonderful to have you with us. In recognition of your stellar service, the most notable of which was your work on the Emperial case, your pension is now fully vested. Your retirement starts today.’” Ham shook his head. “He didn’t even have the decency to give it to me straight.”
“Give what to you straight?” Dennis demanded.
“Oh, come on, Dennis. If you plan to stay in this trade you’ve got to wise up or you’ll end up an old fool like me. David Muller has friends in high places. As of this morning, the Emperial case has been dismissed by our Enforcement Division for lack of evidence. I am now retired, and next week your new boss will be coming in. His name is Alex Kingsley. He’s some young hot shot from the DA’s office.”
“Alex Kingsley?!” Janet exclaimed.
Dennis shot Janet a sharp look. “Why, you know him?”
“Briefly,” Janet replied, cursing her cracked voice and flushed face for betraying her agitation. “We’ve worked together,” she added noncommittally. After all, she could not very well admit that Alex had been much more than her coworker at the DA’s office. Janet had known Alex since they had met at Columbia Law, from which they had graduated in the same class. Alex had been her boyfriend for almost five years; he had been the man she had thought would be the one. And last but not least, not only had Alex taken credit for Janet’s work on most of the cases that the two of them had been assigned to at the DA’s office, he got a promotion that should have been Janet’s. Then he put the icing on the cake by breaking up with her and suggesting that they remain friends. Needless to say, Janet had refused, and several weeks later she had been downsized.
“Who is this guy? Does he have the credentials for the job?” Dennis asked.
“Er …” Janet’s face grew warm. Her personal opinion of Alex was that he was not worth the ground he walked on, but then she was biased. Alex did graduate from Columbia Law, albeit only because Janet had contributed to that fact substantially by letting him copy her homework assignments and class notes, but who was counting, right?
“Dennis, listen to me,” Ham snapped. “As far as the big men at the top are concerned, Kingsley’s qualifications are irrelevant. The only thing that matters is that he’s the man they want for the job, and I’m not.” Ham looked away. “All the years of hard work down the drain … If there’s one thing I learned through this experience is that moral flexibility is paramount. If I had caved in when they told me, I would still have my job today.”
“What do you mean, caved in?” Dennis asked.
“Our Enforcement Division had postponed the hearing three times. I should have gotten the hint.”
“You mean they are in on it?” Janet blurted out.
“Hank Dooley, the chief of Enforcement, is a political shark. He’s got his eyes set on Washington, and he’ll do anything to get there—” Ham broke off, shaking his head. “There’s no use talking about this now: what’s done is done, and I don’t intend to spend my time dwelling on the past. As much as I’ve enjoyed chatting with you young people, I ought to get going. I have a dinner date with my wife, and Neely doesn’t like it when I’m late. Boy, she’s going to be excited about the retirement package.” Ham rubbed his chin, his eyes brightening up. “You know, I think I’m starting to warm to this retirement idea after all.”
“We’ll miss you, Ham.” Dennis’s voice was somber and sincere. “I’ll miss you.”
“I’ll miss you too, both of you. This is not the way I expected my career to end, but when life slips you lemons the only thing to do is to try to turn them into lemonade. Make nice to the new boss. I hear he’s been told to clean ship, so don’t give him any pretext to do so.” Ham rose from the chair and extended his hand to Janet. “The few months we’ve worked together have been a pleasure, Janet. I’m sure you’ll have a stellar career, regardless of where it might be.”
“Thank you, Ham.” Janet tried not to read too much into the “wherever it might be” part.
“Dennis, I don’t mean to sound patronizing, but you were truly like a son to me and you always will be. I know I busted your chops at times, but that was only because I wanted to see you reach your full potential. You are a damn good investigator, and if it were up to me I would name you as my successor. But, as things stand, it’s no longer up to me.
I hope there won’t be any hard feelings.”
“None, sir. Thank you, sir. It has been an honor and a pleasure to have worked with you.”
Ham nodded. “Thank you, son. I’d better get packing: they want me off the premises by five.”
“Goodbye, sir.” Janet took one last look at Hamilton Kirk. Unlike Dennis, she had not worked with the man for long, but in the brief time that she had known Ham she had grown to respect him greatly. Ham was honest, principled, and fair. These were qualities that were rare in any man and were certainly not among the traits that Alex Kingsley possessed.
Chapter 2
Janet Maple stared at her cup of coffee and untouched bagel. She did not have much of an appetite this morning, but neither would most people in her situation: having your ex as your new boss was not exactly a heart-warming prospect.
There was a knock on the door of her office. “Come in,” Janet called out.
“Janet?” Ann Smith, Ham Kirk’s former secretary, walked into Janet’s office. Ann had worked for Ham for the past ten years. The shock of the previous day’s events was written on her face.
“Hi, Ann.” Janet was always glad to see Ann, but this morning she was especially so. She was about to say how horrible it was that Ham had been let go, but Ann interrupted her.
“Janet, Mr. Kingsley would like to see you.” Ann’s lips were drawn together and her eyes downcast.
The idea of Alex being addressed as Mr. Kingsley seemed preposterous. “But he wasn’t supposed to start until next week.”
“Apparently, his start date has been moved up,” Ann replied matter-of-factly. “He said he wanted to see you right away.”
Janet was about to ask her what it was about, but seeing the closed-off expression on Ann’s face, decided against it. “Very well. Tell him I’ll be right there.”
After Ann left, Janet took a moment to collect her bearings. The thought of Alex—correction, Mr. Alex Kingsley—made her cringe. The man was positively evil: suave, ambitious, and pretentious beyond bounds. The pompous prick did not even have the decency to say hello. Instead, he had sent his secretary to do his bidding.
On her way to Alex’s office, Janet stopped by Ann’s desk and immediately understood the reason behind Ann’s strange behavior: Ann’s cubicle was filled with cardboard boxes. “Ann, I’m so sorry.” Janet touched Ann’s shoulder.
“I was offered a generous severance package, and I opted to take it,” Ann replied evenly.
“But he can’t just force you out! You’ve worked here for years!”
Ann looked away. “I believe that Mr. Kingsley will be hiring an assistant of his own choosing. My severance is conditional on the confidentiality agreement that I signed,” Ann added.
Janet shook her head: it had not even been twenty-four hours since Alex’s arrival but already he was reshaping the department according to his needs. “I understand. Good luck, Ann. I sure will miss you.”
Alex’s office door was open, but Alex was busy looking at something on his computer screen.
Janet knocked and waited for Alex to acknowledge her presence. In the few hours that Alex had been the occupant of Ham’s old office, he had transformed the space into an unrecognizable state. Ham’s modest office furniture had been replaced with an antique wooden desk and two plush armchairs that faced it. The chair that Alex sat on looked like a throne made of leather. The formerly empty walls were now lined with paintings in heavy frames. Next to Alex’s desk stood a gigantic bookcase with glass doors; its shelves were filled with law tomes with brand new bindings.
“Janet, how wonderful to see you!” With his arms outstretched, Alex rose from his chair.
“Mr. Kingsley.” Janet smiled brightly, extending her hand.
“Why so formal?” Alex exclaimed. “That’s no way to greet an old friend.”
Before Janet could say another word, Alex had her in his embrace. Janet’s head spun from the onslaught of memories: his scent—he still wore the same cologne—along with the familiar sensation of his arms around her, transported her to a different time. A time during which she had been a happy fool, but happy nonetheless.
“You look wonderful,” Alex remarked.
“Thank you.” Janet noticed the stray grays on Alex’s temples and the deepened lines on his forehead: all that climbing up the corporate ladder was beginning to take its toll on him. Still, she would be a liar to deny that Alex remained a very handsome man.
“So, how do you like your work here at the Treasury?” Alex asked. Nothing about his demeanor betrayed the least bit of discomfort.
Janet found Alex’s poker face astounding. The man had to feel at least a little bit awkward: he had, after all, nearly ruined her life. But then it was also possible that Alex was incapable of remorse. “Great,” Janet answered. “The work is challenging and rewarding. I’d be happy to walk you through the cases I’ve worked on.”
Alex waved his hand. “There’ll be plenty of time for that later. I’m going to cut right to the chase, Janet. You are the first person I called into my office, and the reason I did that is that I need an ally.”
Janet waited for him to continue. Alex was even ballsier than she remembered. What on earth made him think that she would be his ally?
“Janet, there have been reports of employees of this office using questionable methods during investigations. Now, I’m always in favor of personal initiative, but the rules are the rules. We can’t have vigilante agents compromising the Treasury’s reputation.”
Janet gulped. She was fairly certain which employee Alex was alluding to: Dennis Walker did not always play by the rules. At times he liked to bend them a little. Like the time when Dennis and Janet had gotten Tom Wyman, who was a retained legal counsel, drunk on straight vodka martinis while their own martinis were made with olive juice and vermouth by a well-tipped bartender. While Wyman was out in a drunken stupor, Dennis had downloaded vital evidence from Wyman’s laptop. That evidence had been the cornerstone of the Emperial case until the Treasury’s Enforcement Division postponed the hearing, and finally rejected the evidence as inadmissible.
“I am asking you to be my eyes and ears, Janet.” Alex leaned across his desk, his eyes locking on Janet’s face. For a moment his face lost its well-composed mask. “Look, Janet, I know that you must have plenty of reasons to hate me. I wasn’t exactly a prince. But a lot is riding for me on this job. If I do well here the sky will be the limit for me, and trust me, I will not forget you in my next move up.”
Just like you didn’t forget me before when you dumped me, alone and unemployed, while you were busy being the DA’s superstar? Janet thought.
“I was sent here to clean house, and I need to know if you are going to be on my team. Do we have a deal?”
Janet’s reasoning told her that she should say yes. She wanted to say yes, but as all the memories of Alex’s betrayals flashed in her mind, her lips refused to obey her. “Alex, you may be charming and clever, but you are deceitful and dishonest. So far, you have been able to fool people into liking you but you won’t always be able to do so. I’m sure that if you would have been in my place, you would have said yes. But that’s just it: I’m not like you. I won’t spy on my colleagues who have supported me and accepted me. We work as a team here, and you have a choice of either becoming a part of it or not.” Janet rose from her chair. “Should you have any work-related questions, you can find me in my office.”
Alex’s face remained impassive, his smile growing ominously brighter. “You are forgetting one very important thing, Janet. I can fire the whole team, one by one.”
“Not without cause, you can’t. And the rest of us aren’t retirement age, so you won’t be able to get rid of any more people by offering them early pension packages.”
Before she said more things she would regret later, Janet stormed out of Alex’s office. She was so mad that she barely looked where she was going. There was a man walking toward her, and Janet bumped right into him. “Whoa, Janet. Are you
all right?” Dennis Walker was standing only a few inches from her, his hands gripping her shoulders. “You almost knocked me over.”
“Sorry, I just had a meeting with our new boss. I guess I’m a little rattled.”
“He’s here? I thought he wasn’t supposed to start until next week.”
“So did I, but apparently he’s anxious to get a head start.”
“What was the meeting about?”
“Dennis, I can’t talk right now. I have a conference call.” Janet used the first excuse that came to her mind.
Unlike her, Dennis would have taken advantage of the opportunity to ingratiate himself with Alex. Truth be told, Janet was now having second thoughts herself. Her bravado was beginning to evaporate, and she worried that she might have gotten both Dennis and herself into very hot water.
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