Chapter 17: The Refund

"Is this a speech?" said the intern.

"It's a statement of account," said Killian. "Four lines. I copied the format."

He put the folder on the long table and opened it.

The vice president had come in at the back with a paper plate and was leaning on the doorframe.

The HR director sat in the corner with her legal pad, and Cassidy stood by the printer with her arms folded.

I sat where I was, with my pen in my hand and the ledger in my drawer.

"Line one," said Killian. "I turned down the director position on sixteen this morning. The vice president has the letter."

The vice president nodded and ate a cracker.

"Line two. Eight months of Dennis's mileage sheets, which I signed without reading. The company paid out $1,914.40 on them that it shouldn't have."

"That's the padding," said one of the sales guys. "That's his."

"It's mine for the part I signed. I've written the company a check for the full amount, and I've asked for a written warning in my file."

The HR director stopped writing and looked up.

"You can't pay for another man's mileage," she said.

"I'm not. I'm paying for the signature."

Somebody at the back said, "Oh my God," very softly.

"Line three. For two years, Cassidy Dunne was told a name I made up. Everything she did on this floor, she did because I handed her a reason."

Cassidy's arms came down.

"I can't give that back," said Killian. "So I'm putting it on the record, here, in front of everyone she works with, that the reason was mine."