Chapter 6: Three Rules

Summit's Lisbon office occupied the fourth floor of an old stone building above the river.

It had tall windows, white desks and a view of cargo cranes in the distance.

Howard Penrose was waiting at the elevator with both hands out.

"Miles. You look terrible. Come in."

He shook my hand for a long time.

He was a broad, rumpled man in a gray suit, and he smelled of coffee and cough drops.

"I'm sorry about the mess at home," he said. "Kate told me what happened at the party."

I looked at Kate.

"You didn't," I said.

"Howard called me from the airport yesterday and told me what your mother did," Kate said. "I wanted to know who I was hiring."

"And?"

"I'm still deciding."

Howard cleared his throat. "Your salary starts today. Two hundred and ten thousand a year, paid into a local account."

He pointed down the street.

"The company apartment is two blocks away. Anything else you need, ask Kate."

"I'll ask Howard," I said.

"No," said Kate. "You won't."

She led me down the hall to a glass-walled office with two desks.

"This is yours."

"It's next to yours."

"It's across from mine. We share the wall."

She sat down, folded her hands and looked at me for a long moment.

"I have rules," she said.

"I thought you might."

"One. You report to me. I don't date people who report to me, and I don't hire men who need to be rescued."

"Understood."

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