To Catch a Bad Guy Read Online Free PDF

before
Alex had told her that he just wanted to be friends, Janet used to hire a dog
walker to take Baxter for his daily hour at the dog playground. But then Janet
and Alex broke up – no – the idea of being friends had not fared well, and
Janet had lost her job. She no longer had the income to hire a dog walker, so
she became Baxter’s own walker. In fact, it was those early morning and late
night walks with Baxter that helped her keep her sanity as she brooded over the
sudden change in her relationship with Alex and the circumstances of her being
downsized from the DA’s office.
    It was Alex’s idea to
get a dog in the first place. He thought of it as a prelude to their moving in
together. It seemed silly to maintain separate apartments when Alex was
practically spending all his time in Janet’s apartment. It was silly, except
for one thing – at the office they had kept their relationship a secret. This
secrecy was the result of Alex’s insistence. He maintained that announcing that
he and Janet were involved could harm them professionally – at least that was
the reason that he voiced, and if there were other reasons that Alex had kept
unsaid, Janet tried not to think about them. ‘Soon’ was the word that Alex
liked to use a lot: soon we will tell people at work about us, soon we will
move in together, soon. As it turned out, getting a dog was the only part of
Alex’s promised plan that had materialized. One night Alex showed up at Janet’s
apartment with Baxter in tow, and Janet was instantly smitten. It did not
matter that Baxter became Janet’s sole responsibility – she did not mind taking
him for his morning walks and carrying him to routine doctor appointments. She
was used to making things work behind the scenes. In fact, looking back, she
suspected that her prowess in seamlessly taking care of things had been the
glue that kept her and Alex’s relationship together.
    They had started dating
in their last year of law school. Their paths had crossed frequently during
Janet’s first two years at Columbia Law, but even though she had been keenly
aware of Alex’s intense dark brown eyes and his closely cropped hair, which so
becomingly framed his chiseled features, Alex was hardly aware of Janet. At
least he had never let on about it until the last year. Then, in the beginning
of the fall semester, she had found herself in the same class with Alex
Kingsley, and things were never the same. At first she had thought that Alex
was only interested in her studious class notes, which she let him copy, but
when he asked her to a movie, Janet began to have an inkling of hope. Alex’s
invitation had been casual, but the movie turned out to be a French film with
subtitles; afterwards they enjoyed a stroll around the Lincoln Center,
concluding their outing with dinner and drinks at one of the cafés across from
the Metropolitan Opera. Sometime after coffee, Alex had leaned in to kiss her,
making Janet the happiest girl on earth. Alex was perfect – he was handsome,
charismatic, and best of all, Alex made Janet feel like she was part of
something incredibly exciting by sheer virtue of being his girlfriend.
    Janet turned the front
door key and heard the tapping of Baxter’s paws, accompanied by his baritone
bark, as he raced to the front door to greet her.
    “Baxter!” Janet scooped
Baxter up into her arms. “I missed you, boy. Have you been a good dog or have
you been naughty?” Janet flashed Baxter an all-seeing look. He was a year old
now and mostly well-behaved, but as a puppy he had a penchant for chewing up
Janet’s shoes (for some reason Alex’s shoes had never appealed to Baxter), and
every now and then Baxter experienced a relapse.
    Janet started to unpack
her bag from the pet store. In addition to the Pedigree, she had also bought
some doggie treats, and she started to open the package now to give some to
Baxter. At the sound of the wrapping being torn, Baxter trotted next to Janet
and sat back,