To Catch a Bad Guy (10 page)

It was Monday morning,
and Jon Bostoff had already breached his irritation quota for the week. He
tried to restrain himself from throwing irate glances at his father, who sat
opposite from him with an absurdly cheerful expression on his face.

“Well, I think that
it’s wonderful news about Paul and Lisa getting engaged.” Hank Bostoff smiled.
“It was about time Paul settled down, and I for one am glad that he’s not
marrying an actress.”

A clueless bimbo would
be better than a money hungry schemer, Jon thought, but restrained his impulse
to vent. Until Hank Bostoff retired, he was still the boss.

“Between you and me…”
Hank leaned across the table, his face growing serious. “I was worried about
Paul for a while – that whole acting shtick… The odds of making it in that
business are so remote, I feared that Paul might become a perpetual drifter, a
shirker… But the kid has turned out real good; you both have.” Hank patted
Jon’s hand. “I am especially proud of you, Jon, for taking Paul under your
wing. Paul’s got real potential, don’t you think?”

Jon just stared blankly
at his father as he tried to come up with a diplomatic remark, but he need not
have worried: Hank was on a roll.

“Paul really proved
himself in marketing, and I think he’ll be really good in the COO role once he
becomes better-rounded in his knowledge of the company operations. And that’s
where I need your help, Jon. I need you to train Paul to become your right arm.
I built this company to pass it on to my children. Once I know that I can leave
the company safely in the hands of my two sons, I will finally be able to
retire.”

Jon wondered if this
was the beginning of Hank’s descent into senility. Paul had about as much
business acumen as a monkey. He might have been great at fussing with press
releases and advertisements, but when it came to running a business operation,
Paul hadn’t a clue, and no amount of on-the-job training was going to change
that.

“That’s something your
mother would have wanted as well,” Hank added. “She always worried that you and
your brother were not close enough. She blamed it on the age difference between
you when you were growing up, but I always told her that in time it wouldn’t
matter. Nine years seems like a lot when you’re a kid, but as you get older,
the difference vanishes.”

Jon nodded. If he were
to succeed in getting his father to agree with his point of view, candidness
was not an option. He’d think of a way to open his father’s eyes to Paul’s
faults as a businessman later, but right now there was another matter he wanted
to address.

“Oh, Dad, I meant to
ask you: did you know about Mother’s ring?” Before Jon finished the sentence
Hank cut in.

“I wanted Paul to have
it; I think your mother would have agreed.”

“But I thought she
wanted the ring to remain in the family,” Jon retorted.

Hank frowned. “As your
brother’s future wife, Lisa is now part of this family.”

Jon was too rattled up
to hold back. “Yes, Dad. I only meant to say that family heirlooms should be
passed on to children and grandchildren, but obviously you know best. Suppose
Lisa calls off the engagement, then what?” The sapphire ring that now adorned
Lisa’s ring finger had been a present from Hank to his wife on their twentieth
wedding anniversary. It was a custom design, consisting of a flawless sapphire,
framed by highest clarity diamonds in a platinum setting. The trouble was that
Jon’s mother had passed away without a chance to leave a will. At the time, his
father had been too overwrought by grief for Jon to approach the sensitive
subject, and now it was obvious that he had waited too long.

“When Paul told me
about his plans, I was too overjoyed to think about something like that… Look,
son, I understand your concern, but I think that Lisa is a decent enough woman
to return the engagement ring should she wish to call off the engagement, and
I, for one, sincerely hope that it will not come to that. And as for my
grandchildren, there will be plenty to go around for everyone. Right now I just
want to bask in the joy of seeing my sons succeed – both personally and
professionally.”

“You’re right, Dad; it
was a heartfelt gesture. I’m sorry I over-reacted.” Jon shrugged. There was no
way of convincing the old man, so he might as well make the best of it.

“I’m glad we’re in
agreement, Jon. I wanted your mother’s memory, the memory of our marriage—”
Hank broke off. “To be passed on while I was still around to see it. Who knows
how many days I have left on this earth, and to tell you the truth, without your
mother, I wish there wouldn’t be that many.”

“Dad…” Jon felt his
throat tightening with guilt. He’d been so preoccupied with his own affairs
that it never even crossed his mind to think about how his father was coping
with his wife’s death. “Dad, you know that you are loved very much by your
family; you are very important to us.” Jon stopped short; he was a pro when it
came to peddling corporate speeches in boardrooms, but when it came to speaking
from his heart, he choked.

“I know, son.” Hank
patted Jon’s hand. “Well, I’d better get out of your way. You’ve got a company
to run.”

“Okay, Dad. But you
know that I’m always there for you, should you need to talk or anything…” Jon
offered awkwardly.

“I know, son. I know.”
Hank turned toward the door. “And Jon…”

“Yes?”

“Remember what I said
about your brother: he’s got the potential to run the company as your partner.
Help him realize it.”

Jon nodded. “I will,
Dad.”

Once the door behind
his father closed, Jon pressed his fists against his temples. He had enough
worries keeping him up at night. Now, he also had to devise a way to involve
his younger brother in the business while keeping him out of the loop on any
matters of substance. God forbid Paul, with his Boy Scout mentality, should
ever find out about the changes that Jon had implemented at the firm. His
naïve, prudish brother would be the first in line to confess to the SEC and the
Feds. Still, Jon had to admit that the old man did have a point. Rather than
trying to keep Paul away, Jon should embrace his younger brother. This way,
Paul would begin to trust him and consult with Jon on his decisions. In fact,
if Jon had done just that, he could have anticipated Paul’s stupid move of
hiring that DA lawyer…

Speak of the devil, Jon
thought, looking through the glass wall of his office. There was a reason why
he had remodeled his office with glass walls. He had his eye on the trading
floor at all times, and now he saw the pesky new lawyer heading from the
Operations area carrying a stack of folders under her arm. Jon recognized the
folders as client files because he had personally made a visit to the
Operations area a few months back. He had given that woman Rosemarie a nice
raise, and in return, she was to apply relaxed paperwork standards for certain
clients. When Jon had intuited the new process to Rosemarie, he saw
understanding flash in her eyes:  she had an unemployed husband and three
children to feed. Jon knew how to pick his employees. Of course, there was
always a risk of the regulators snooping around, but Tom Wyman would take care
of that. His law firm had excellent rapport with the SEC and the Feds. Jon Bostoff
had followed enough white collar crime cases to know that the only time the
regulators ever caught on to anything was when things were leaked from inside,
so he had made sure to pay the key people properly. And now, thanks to his
brother, a former DA attorney was snooping around his firm. Jon picked up his
phone and dialed Tom Wyman’s number.

“Hi there, Jon,”
Wyman’s voice boomed in the receiver. “Business going well? But then after the
last deal you got going with Emperial, that’s really a rhetorical question,”
Wyman smirked.

“Hello, Tom.” Jon
forced himself to ignore Wyman’s cockiness. The man was a genius when it came
to setting up schemes, but that did not give him the right to be so damn
arrogant. “Thing are going well indeed.”

“So, what can I do for
you today, Jon?”

“You can help me keep
an eye on that new hire my brother brought in. Have you met her yet?”

“Yes, as a matter of
fact I gave her a brief orientation on Bostoff’s corporate structure. Between
you and me, I’d like to give her a lot more than that, but she seemed pretty
uptight.”

“You what?” Jon
exploded.

“Hey, Jon, I was just
kidding. Rest assured, Janet Maple’s honor is safe from me.”

“That’s not what I
meant, Tom. What was that you said about the orientation?”

“Well, I ah… I showed
her the entities owned by Bostoff Securities. Paul said he wanted me to train
her. I thought you knew. I thought you wanted to start doing some of the work
in-house to save on legal fees.”

“Tom, you know me
better than that. I’m never cheap when it comes to matters like that. Do you
know that Janet Maple used to work for the DA’s office?”

“I know, but she got
laid off. I checked her out – they kicked her out in the middle of an
investigation. Seems she meddled in affairs that were above her pay grade. She
was unemployed for several months before she landed here. After an ordeal like
that, I doubt she has any affinity to her previous occupation. But in any case,
I don’t think she understood much of what I told her – she seemed completely
overwhelmed.”

“Once a snitch, always
a snitch.” Jon pressed his lips together grimly.

“And besides, the
employment non-disclosure agreement she had to sign would prevent her from
blabbing, anyway.”

Jon made a mental note
to obtain a copy of Janet Maple’s signed employment agreement.

“That’s a good point. Do
me a favor, Tom, keep close to her, okay? I just saw her poking around in client
files. I don’t need a snitch in my house. And next time my brother comes to you
with any new ideas, you be sure to let me know about it.”

“I will, Jon. And don’t
you worry about Janet – it will be my pleasure to keep an eye on her.”

After hanging up the
phone, Jon Bostoff leaned back in his chair. He was feeling calmer now. If Tom
said that Janet did not have a clue what Tom was talking about when he trained
her, he had to be right - unless Tom was covering his tracks for having blabbed
about matters he was not supposed to blab about, but then Tom was not one to be
blamed for that lapse. Jon’s brother was, which reminded Jon of his earlier
resolution. If he wanted to keep Paul under control, he had to keep him close.

With a grunt, Jon rose
from his chair. He could have his secretary schedule a meeting with Paul, but a
personal visit would set the mood Jon was aiming for.

As Jon walked down the
hall to Paul’s office, he tried to conjure up a cordial and brotherly demeanor.
Getting close to Paul was a matter of business importance, and when it came to
money, Jon was willing to put his personal feelings aside.

Through the open door
of Paul’s office, Jon could see his brother peering at the computer screen with
intense concentration.

Jon rapped his fingers
on the office door, forcing hearty cheer into his voice.

“Hi there, Paul.”

Paul lifted his eyes
away from the monitor. “Hi, Jon.” Paul’s voice sounded unusually prim as he
folded his hands neatly on his desk. “What can I do for you?”

With each day that
prick gets more and more arrogant. Jon took a seat in one of the chairs facing
Paul’s desk. “Well, I just wanted to say congratulations again. This is such an
exciting time for you and Lisa - an exciting time for all of us,” Jon added
hastily.

“Thank you, Jon. Lisa
is a great girl, and I’m so happy that she’s going to be my wife.” Paul sounded
a bit warmer now. “She’s really bright, Jon, and I think she could take on so
much more in the company. I was looking through our legal bills – Tom Wyman is
charging us a fortune. If we got back to keeping more of the work in-house, the
savings would be significant.”

“Good thinking, Paul.
But there are reasons why I employ Tom. Why don’t we get together and go
through them? In fact, I think we should have a standing meeting – every two
weeks or so, to update each other on company developments and plans in our
respective areas.”

“Sounds great. I’ve got
a lot of ideas I’d like to share with you, Jon,” Paul was bursting with
enthusiasm now.

“I’m glad to hear that,
Paul. You know that Dad wants us to be partners in running this firm, and I,
for one, do not intend to disappoint him.”

“Me neither, Jon. I’m
so glad we had this talk.” Paul smiled.

“Me too, brother. How
does every other Thursday sound for our meetings? I’m thinking we’ll schedule
them during lunch. This way we can grab a bite to eat and catch up.”

“Sounds good.”

“I’ll have my secretary
send you a planner. By the way, how is that new girl working out?”

“I think she’s doing
well. Lisa told me Janet was helping her with an audit.”

“I like it – getting
right to work.” Jon rose from his chair. “By the way, I wanted to have a party
to announce your and Lisa’s engagement to the company. Nothing formal, just
drinks and hors d'oeuvres at BLT?”