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

  ***

  Candace Bostoff knelt by her husband’s chair and looked into his face – the face of a man weighted by care and worry. From the moment she had seen Jon’s car in the driveway, she had sensed that something was terribly wrong. Jon never left the office early: not for kids’ school plays or soccer games or ballet performances; not even when their youngest, Ollie, had fallen off the bike and broken his leg, ending up in the hospital ER. But Jon was home now.

  For some time, Candace had intuited that Jon was under a lot of pressure, but despite the many approaches she had tried, she could not seem to find a way to get through to him. Ever since he had taken on more responsibility at the firm, Jon had become increasingly distant and short-tempered. It was as though the husband she knew and loved had been replaced with a career-obsessed automaton. The past few weeks, the tension had escalated, as Jon often seemed to be in the world of his own, snapping at her whenever Candace tried to ask what was on his mind. Everything is fine, he would assure her, patting her arm. Just work stuff; that’s all, baby.

  “We have to talk, Candy.” Jon squeezed her hand. “I’ve done some things that I’m not proud of.”

  “Jon, you know that there’s nothing you could tell me that would turn me away from you. I’m your wife, and I’ll stand by you, no matter what.”

  “I am afraid you will change your mind once you hear what I’ve done,” Jon muttered. “I am so ashamed.” Jon pressed his hand against his eyes.

  Candace felt shivers running down her back. For the first time in her life she saw her husband cry.

  “You can tell me anything, Jon. I will always stand by you,” she repeated firmly. “What is it?”

  Over the next hour, Candace listened to the story of her husband’s entanglement in the net of his own creation. He had wanted to succeed; he had longed to make her proud. She wanted to scream at his foolishness. He had always been successful, and she had always been proud of him. Nothing would ever change that. Everyone could make a mistake: it was only too easy to stray off the right path. The difficult part was to find one’s way back to it. She would never let go of her husband’s hand – together, they would overcome their current predicament.

  “Jon, you know what we have to do, don’t you?” Candace looked into her husband’s eyes.

  “Yes. I will call Wyman to start the defense proceeding; he’ll get those jackals off my back.”

  Candace laid her hand on Jon’s arm. “You have to come clean, Jon. If you cooperate with the investigation, they’ll lessen the charges.”

  “Admit my guilt? Never. Let them prove their accusations first.”

  “Jon, they could keep digging for years. Muller arranged it so that all the blame would be placed on you: you own Impala group, not Muller. With a lack of evidence, the entire case could be hung on you. But if you come forward and give valuable information to the investigation, the regulators will cut you a deal. They would much rather go after Muller and his friends: an organized string of corrupt hedge funds would make for a juicy case.”

  “What about Date Magic? The minute they hear that I admitted my involvement, they’ll fleece me.”

  “You can offer them a settlement; besides, once they know about the hedge funds involved, they’ll go after them instead.”

  Jon clasped his head with his hands. “If I admit my guilt, I will have to forfeit all the profits that I’ve made in the past three years. It will ruin us.”

  “It will not ruin us. I have my inheritance. You never let me spend a penny of it. I’ve invested it, and it has grown over the years. It will cover the legal fees.”

  “Candace,” Jon halted. “I will probably be barred from the industry. How will I make a living and provide for you and the kids?”

  “We’ll figure it out, Jon,” Candace paused, determined to be strong enough for Jon to lean on her. “You seemed so preoccupied with your work that I didn’t get a chance to tell you that I started my own antiques business. The profits have really started to pick up. It began as a hobby, but now, I think it could grow into something real. It could be a new life for us, Jon. I’d love to have you as my partner.”

  Jon’s eyes brimmed with tears. “You are incredible, Candace. I’m so lucky to have you as my wife. Will you ever forgive me for letting you down like this?”

  “There’s nothing to forgive, Jon. You got mixed up with unscrupulous people, and you made some bad decisions. Now, everything will depend on what you’ll do to remedy your mistakes.”

  Jon sighed. “Are you sure about this? Is this what you want me to do?”

  “Yes.”

  “All right. I’ll call Wyman right now.”

  “Not that thug.” Candace felt a wave of nausea at the memory of Jon’s weasel-like attorney. She had met Wyman when he came over to the house for dinner once, and she did not like the man one bit. “We’re going to use my family lawyer for this. His firm does litigation. I’m sure he’ll be able to help us.”

  “Your family lawyer?”

  “Yes, but don’t forget that even family lawyers have to abide by attorney/client confidentiality.”

  “I have to make sure that my brother and father will not be implicated. They knew nothing about any of this – it was all my own doing. Oh, God, my father – I’m so ashamed…”

  “We’ll talk to them together, Jon. I’ll be right by your side.”

  “Candace, I’ve been such an ungrateful fool. I threw away my own happiness.”

  “No, Jon, you didn’t. I would never let you do anything like that.”

  “I love you.”

  “I love you too. But there’s no time to waste. Every minute counts. We should call the lawyer now.”

  “First, I have to speak with my father and my brother.”

  “Of course.” Candace nodded. It was going to be a long, tough road, but she would follow her husband every step of the way.