After Dammerman left, Treadwell tried to get back to work on a departmental spending spreadsheet when Ashley buzzed him again. “Betty Ladd is in the lobby insisting on seeing you.”
“Shit.”
“I’ll tell her that you’re in the middle of a board meeting and can’t be disturbed,” Ashley suggested. She and just about everyone else in management knew the story between the two of them.
“No, Ash,” Treadwell said. “Send her up.” Right now maintaining the illusion that everything was fine was the top priority.
He hung up, and for a moment he stared at the pistol, and almost smiled with a little thrill of pleasure thinking about the possibility of shooting the bitch between her beady eyes. But then he put the weapon back in the drawer and closed it.
Betty got off the elevator, charged across the corridor, and burst into Treadwell’s office, her fists clenched on her hips as she stood in front of his desk.
Like a defiant schoolgirl called to the principal’s office, Treadwell thought, and he almost smiled again.
“What have you done with Cassy Levin?” she demanded.
“I checked after your call, and I was told that she works in our data center security suite. She tries to keep hackers and the like from invading our system. Apparently she had a bigger role at Murphy Tweed and was responsible for the disaster that sank the firm. Frankly, I don’t know why we hired her.”
“None of it was her fault. She warned them, but no one wanted to listen to her.”
“Her excuses, or yours, don’t matter,” Treadwell said. “So what’s the issue?”
“She called me and said that she had to talk, and that she was bringing something important. She sounded frightened. And that concerns me. A lot.”
“I talked to her supervisor, who said she’d left for lunch. Pretty normal, Betts.”
Betty shook her head. “You’re up to something, Treadwell. Goddamnit, I can feel it in my gut, see it on your fucking face!”
“I think you ought to see a shrink. Really.”
“I’m watching you. If anything has happened to that girl, I’ll make sure it comes back to you. And that’s a promise you can take to the bank.”
“Before I have security escort you out of here, I have a question for you.”
“Like what?”
“I was told that you met with my technology officer today in Zuccotti Park. I was just wondering what you two talked about?”
“Why don’t you ask Julia?”
“She said that you were pumping her with questions about BP’s activities. But in view of your position with the exchange, that would constitute an official inquiry, something you’re required to inform us about beforehand. And trust me, Betts, my legal people would have no compunction about reporting your actions to the SEC.”
“Stick it up your ass, Treadwell. It was family gossip, nothing more. Julia and I are cousins.”
Treadwell was taken aback, but just for a moment. “Family or not, if I find out you talked about BP business, I’ll nail your ass to the barn door. Guaranteed.”