“It’s going to entail a lot of travel too. I’m heading for Asia in two weeks to hit their Tokyo and Singapore offices,” Derek said. Not because the project required his physical presence in those places but because top Argon management wanted to see the face of the founding partner who’d promised them his special attention in order to win their business.
He’d gone after the Argon International project with every resource at his command because it was a huge feather in the cap of KRG Consulting. A lot of major corporate players had set their sights on the Argon business so it was a triumph when he’d won it, capturing a revenue stream that would make this a banner year for the firm. However, the sense of accomplishment was fading under the weight of the short deadlines and the complexity of the task.
The third KRG partner, Leland Rockwell, strolled in, wearing his usual uniform of jeans and a T-shirt, and slid his laptop onto the table. “I hear we are taking on the foreign-currency hedging issues of Argon International, thanks to Derek’s brilliant financial plotting. Nice work. We should have a celebratory dinner since that’s going to bring in a ton of money.”
“I wish I had the time,” Derek said. “I’ll take a rain check for when we complete the project.” The truth was that he didn’t feel like celebrating. Neither the money nor the prestige seemed all that meaningful in the face of the tedious work and travel that came with it. What the hell was wrong with him? He’d never shied away from a big job before.
“Too bad,” Leland said, flipping open his laptop and adjusting his tortoiseshell glasses. “I guess that means you won’t be able to enjoy the first hit on another project of yours.”
Leland swiped across his screen a couple of times and the wall display lit up. Derek recognized the KRG Small Business Initiative header and all the gratification he should have felt about Argon surged through him.
The SBI had been his idea, born of his dissatisfaction with the constant emphasis on bringing in the big corporate accounts like Argon International. Of course, KRG Consulting needed those—he couldn’t ignore that because a lot of people’s livelihoods depended on their profitability—but Derek remembered the company’s roots, the years of struggling to get traction in a highly competitive market. Without the kindness of a few mentors who had believed in three young MBAs with degrees on which the ink had barely dried, KRG would have failed. Derek wanted to pay it forward.
“It only took four days for someone to find us,” he said, leaning toward the screen as anticipation focused his interest. “Who is it?”
“It’s from a bookkeeper in New Jersey,” Leland said, scrolling down the screen with his long, nimble fingers. “She handles seven clients on the same accounting software. She recently noticed that four of them have small shortfalls that she can’t account for. Seems pretty straightforward, so I’ll handle it while you focus on Argon.”
Frustration made Derek drum his fingers on the tabletop. “How long could it take me? Fifteen minutes?”
“You could probably do it in your sleep, Killion,” Tully said. “But you’re going to need all your shut-eye to stay sharp for Argon. Let Leland handle it.”
“The SBI was my idea and accounting is my area of expertise,” Derek said. “I want first crack at it.”
His partners weren’t opposed to the SBI, but they weren’t committed to it in the same way that he was.
“You just turned down a celebration dinner,” Tully pointed out. “Why do you have time for this?”
Derek shrugged. “Consider it a burnt offering to the business gods who brought us Argon. We should never forget to be grateful for our good luck.”
Tully snorted. “You and your team worked your asses off to develop the best possible proposal for Argon. There was no luck involved.”
Derek shot a wry glance at his partner. “There’s always luck involved. Honestly, though, I look forward to dealing with a problem that I can solve with just my wits and a calculator.”
At that, Leland looked up from his screen, his thin, intelligent face lit with wry amusement. “Alice Thurber seems pretty sharp from her summary of the problem. The answer might be harder to find than you think.”
Just as Alice was pouring hot water through the loose-leaf tea in her bone china teapot, her cell phone tinkled its minuet ringtone. She glanced at the caller ID and groaned.
She was very particular about how long her tea steeped, four and a half minutes being optimum, but this was a call she needed to take. “Thurber Bookkeeping.”
“I’m calling for Derek Killion of the KRG Consulting Group,” a woman’s smooth voice said. “Is this Ms. Alice Thurber?”
“Yes, it is.” Alice tried to sound confident and professional.
“Hold for Mr. Killion, please.”
A prickle of surprise and anxiety ran through Alice. Derek Killion was the K in KRG. She hadn’t expected the big guns to handle her little problem.
“Ms. Thurber, this is Derek Killion.” A mellifluous baritone flowed into her ear. “We received your request for assistance through our Small Business Initiative, so I’m getting in touch to see how I may help you.”
“That’s great . . . I mean, I appreciate it,” she stuttered. His voice was so perfectly modulated that little tingles danced through her ear.
“I’ve read your description of the problem and believe I can help you. Excellent presentation, by the way. If I sign a confidentiality agreement, would you be willing to share your clients’ books with me via computer?” he said. “I assure you that our cybersecurity is excellent. Also, I will, of course, help you confirm that I am really who I say I am before you send such sensitive information.”
“I can imagine that your security is top notch,” Alice said. One of the KRG partners, Leland Rockwell, was famous for his expertise in defending against hackers. He was rumored to have helped the US government more than a few times. “I’m glad you understand my need to protect my clients by checking on your identity.” Of course, Derek Killion handled corporate information that was infinitely more valuable than her clients’ so he would expect her to check up on him. However, his offer still impressed her.
“Once you’ve verified my identity, I’ll email you the instructions on how to give us access.”
He seemed to be about to end the call, which surprised Alice. She hurried to speak. “I think you should know that every month I do one client’s books by hand and then compare it to the software’s balances. Once I caught the second discrepancy, I began checking all the balances by hand. That’s how I discovered the next two.”
“I’m impressed by your diligence on your clients’ behalf.” His tone held a touch of impatience.
“My clients may be small but I owe them perfectly balanced books.” Alice wanted him to know that she took pride in her work, even if she was a small-town bookkeeper. “Anything less is unacceptable to me.”
“An admirable attitude,” Derek said.
Alice was incredulous when he didn’t ask any questions. “Would you like to know where I found the discrepancies?”
“No, I prefer to come at the issue with fresh eyes,” he said, his tone downright brusque now. “I’ll be in touch when I’ve found the problem. Goodbye, Ms. Thurber.”