They opened the door.
“Can I talk to you now?” Jill came in.
“Talk,” Sam said.
“You can’t run your kind of business and have people doing their own thing. I know there is never a good reason to breach security.”
“But?”
“No but. You should fire me.”
“Then why did you do it?”
“At the time I thought you’d understand, because of the danger to Grady. Then when I mulled it over, and after Paul started literally shaking me, I realized maybe you wouldn’t. Originally, I thought, maybe you’d get mad but somehow… overlook it.”
“But why did you think I’d understand?”
“Because our research shows that Samir Aziz is probably dangerous and that Chellis is perhaps deadly, but so clever that we can’t prove it Chellis will kill Grady because she’s the key to getting Jason free of Grace’s control. Aziz will abduct her for the same reason. There isn’t a safer place than here. Finally, I have a feeling about this girl. We can trust her. She should work here. That’s why I did it.”
“There is a safer place than here. Even if you were right, that doesn’t justify-”
“You’re not listening. I told you it doesn’t. That’s why you have to fire me.”
“Unless we come to some…”
“Understanding.”
“Like what? I have a strung-out stripper kid in the bowels of my office.”
“Sam, don’t call her that.”
“You’re right. She really has nothing to do with the rank piece-of-crap trick you pulled on all of us.”
Sam took out a single Marlboro, his last.
“You don’t smoke. Do you?”
“Hell, no. I quit long ago.”
“Besides, that’s against company policy.”
He tossed it in the wastebasket. For as long as he could remember he had never seen her look this worried.
“We all talked about it. Your mother asked me a lot of questions. And we came up with something.”
“Okay,” Sam said. “What is it?”
“Of all my material possessions nothing means more to me than my car. We’ll all take a blowtorch and cut it into two-inch squares and we’ll put the squares in a giant box by the door to rust.”
“And everyone agreed to this?”
“No, that’s not all. For Paul that wasn’t enough.”
“Okay, what else?”
“I made a deal with Paul to drive some piece-of-crap car for a year. He will pick it out and it will come complete with rust spots. That is, if you agree to all this.”
“This is bizarre. It’s kindergarten. Tell me honestly: Would you do the same thing if you had to do it over?”
“No. I would ask you and if I couldn’t convince you, I would leave it alone.”
Sam thought for a moment. Two years ago she would have been out of the building by now. Getting soft in this business was scary.
He made sure to take his time and look her square in the eye. She took that to be his answer.
She turned and opened the door and walked through the office, aiming for the exit. They could all see the sorrow on her face and Sam saw the anger in their eyes.
“Jill,” he shouted as she waited for the heavy door to open. “If everybody agrees, then it’s okay by me.”
“I can stay?”
“Yeah. I just wanted you and everyone else to see exactly what it’s going to be like if anybody does it again. Anybody.”
Sam shut the door, wondering if he had done the right thing.
There was a knock. He opened the door and found Grady bursting at the seams to speak.
“Can I talk now?”
Sam nodded.
“I think I can do the job. I know you can trust me,” Grady said, looking at Sam. “You don’t even have to pay me.”
“You don’t know what you’re asking. We will be on your ass for two years. You’ll have to be in school and getting grades.”
“Fine.”
“If you drink even once you’re fired. There is no compromise on this job.”
“Fine.”
“You would have to counsel with Spring by telephone twice a week for the first three months when she’s available. And you will have to go to a substance abuse group chosen by Spring.”
“Fine.”
“You would have to live with Jill and exercise five days a week with her. I would tell her to torture you.”
“Fine.”
“You would have to take a polygraph should Jill ever ask for one. But most probably, if I think you are dishonest in any respect, you’re fired. I wouldn’t trust you for a long time.”
“Okay.”
“You do as Jill says at all times without question.”
“I know.”
“You never tell anyone about the company or your work without my permission. Break that rule and you’re fired.”
“Uh-huh.”
“What is uh-huh?”
“Yes. I agree.”
“You’ll see a lawyer and sign a contract. With the help of Spring and Jill you are going to create guidelines that will give a lot more structure to your life.” He hesitated. “It has to be a structure the rest of us can believe in.”
“I know.”
“You still want to work for my company?”
“Yes.”
“Pay starts at ten dollars an hour. Nice even number.”
“You won’t be sorry.”
“Time will tell.” He looked up to see Jill standing behind Spring.
“And, Jill, you are committed to this?”
“Absolutely,” Jill said.
“You know Jill is doing this for you?”
Grady nodded and held out her hand to shake Sam’s.
“I’ll shake your hand in a month. Right now performance talks. We both made a decision today. I’m counting on you to make it a right decision.”
When Sam left the conference room he noticed that Anna was talking to Spring.
Great.
Twenty-six
An hour later, Sam introduced Anna to Grogg and Big Brain. She learned that Sam had roughly fifty people
