3 Bad Guys Get Caught by Marie Astor Read Free Book Online Page B

Suddenly it struck him: it was only five o’clock and
Panther was not yet open for dinner. Just then the restaurant door opened and
Janet was admitted inside. What are you doing? Dennis thought, as he crept
closer to get a better view. Through the glass panels in the front wall he
could see the staff getting the place ready. Janet was talking with one of the
girls dressed in a black dress; the girl had an authoritative air and seemed to
be giving her instructions. Then the two of them moved deeper inside the room,
disappearing from view.
    Dennis wished he smoked; at least then
he would have a reasonable excuse to be standing on the curb, waiting for God
knows what. Still, he decided to take his chances and raised the collar of his
jacket. He tinkered with his phone; maybe he was just passing the time, waiting
for a friend, or maybe he was a lost tourist looking for directions.
    A few minutes later Janet came back into
view. She was now wearing a black dress, similar to the dress that the girl she
had been talking to earlier had on. A man with a bovine expression on his face
approached her and said something to her; by the look on his face it was
apparent that he ran the place. His face looked familiar; after several moments
Dennis realized that the man resembled a younger and less impressive version of
Petr Kovar. What are you doing, Janet? Dennis wanted to scream. Get out of
there! But he didn’t; instead, he forced himself to be calm and slowly walk
away. Janet was already in up to her ears; the last thing he wanted was to ruin
her cover.
    As he walked back, Dennis was consumed
by a mixture of emotions that consisted of pride, irritation and plain concern.
Getting a job as a waitress at Kovar’s restaurant was a very smart move, but it
was also a very dangerous move. Part of him was proud of Janet for doing it,
and another part of him was pissed. He wished Janet had talked it over with him
first, but the deed was done now and the only thing left for Dennis to do was
to support her.
     
    ***
     
    Janet’s feet throbbed with fatigue and
her head felt like it was about to explode. Whoever said that waitressing was
an easy way to make a buck was a liar. She looked at the clock; it was one
a.m., and finally her shift was over.
    “You did well today, Janet,” said Mila.
“Here’s your portion of the tips.”
    Surprised, Janet counted two hundred
dollars. That was pretty good indeed, but that was not what she was there for.
    “You’ll do better next time,” Mila
assured her, misreading the disappointment on Janet’s face.
    The front door swung open, and Mila
frowned. “We’re closed,” she yelled, storming off.
    Janet was about to head downstairs to
change, but she heard Mila calling her and turned around.
    Mila returned accompanied by a
burly-looking man who resembled the man Janet had met earlier, Roman. His arm
was wrapped around Mila possessively, clutching her butt.
    “Anton, this is Janet Maple, our new
waitress. Janet, this is our manager, Anton Kovar.”
    Janet struggled to keep her face
neutral, while Anton’s oily gaze sized her up. How could she have been so
dense? Roman resembled Anton, but more importantly both men resembled Petr
Kovar. It was only now that she’d heard Anton’s last name that Janet made the
connection: Roman and Anton were related to Petr.
    “Nice to meet you, Janet,” Anton spat
the words out, erasing their meaning. “Mila tells me you worked hard today. I
like hard workers.”
    “Very nice to meet you too, Mr. Kovar,”
said Janet, lowering her eyes demurely. She had to make him believe that she
actually needed this job.
    “My brother, Roman, said good things
about you too. He helps me run the place. Keep up the good work.”
    “I’ll see you later, Janet.” Mila
nodded. “Good night.”
    “Good night—” Janet stopped short, as
Anton groped for Mila, closing his hungry mouth on her lips. So her slaving
away as a waitress had not been a waste after all; Mila was