Chapter 20: The Gate

I got to headquarters at eight, with Ottavio's coat over my arm and a hair tie in my teeth.

The lobby was full.

Nobody had been told to come. Half the staff stood along the walls with their coffee, and the other half had stopped on the stairs.

Ruggero stood at the center of the marble floor, by the security desk, in a fresh suit.

He had shaved. He had his smile back. He had brought a lawyer, who was holding a briefcase and looking at the ceiling.

"Caterina," Ruggero said, warmly. "Thank God. Let's settle this like adults."

I tied my hair back.

"Where's your desk?"

"I came for it. And for my personal files."

"Your desk is on the loading dock. Security can show you."

The head of security stepped forward.

"And your files are in your lawyer's hands, since the sheriff's office took the originals," I said. "You're welcome to the pens."

Somebody on the stairs laughed.

Ruggero's smile held, but it slid a little to one side.

"You can't run this company alone. You don't know the first thing about the accounts."

"I know a girl who learned them in a week," said the young finance clerk, from the back of the crowd.

I turned my head.

She was holding a folder against her chest, red to the roots of her hair.

"The auditor taught me too, Miss Bellandi. I can show you the transfer logs."

"Thank you," I said. "Come by at noon."

Ruggero opened his mouth again.

The revolving door turned behind him.

A woman in a green parka and sneakers came through it, holding a girl of about nine by the hand. A man in a windbreaker followed with a clipboard.

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