Chapter Thirty-Five
Grace
"Heya, kiddo!" Mike said when I walked into his office. "How was the ride back to town?" The ride back to Chicago had been uneventful, but we'd hit traffic as we crossed onto the Skyway and I had arrived later than I'd expected.
"It was all right, a little congested on the south side, but all in all, not bad," I said pulling up a chair and waiting for him to tell me what he wanted done.
"Kid, I need you to go over the financials for Miter and see if there's anything we're missing," he said as he tapped the screen in front of him and brought up a chart that Jess had been working on. "This just doesn't seem right to me. Does it look right to you?"
"I don't know, can you give me a few hours to go over everything with a fine tooth comb and double check," I asked as I stared at the screen and immediately noticed that there was something very wrong with the chart. "Mike, that looks fishy to me. Where's the file?"
"It's on your desk," he said. "Go check it out and report back to me in an hour."
"An hour to do a rundown of all the financials?" I said shaking my head. "Can't be done."
"It has to be done, kiddo," he smiled up at me. "The meeting is at four. I need you there with your findings, but no surprises. Got it?"
"Got it," I said as I grabbed my bag and headed to my office. Once there, Jess stuck her head in and welcomed me back. "What's going on with Miter?"
"I tried to tell him that the company is on the skids and that any kind of merger is bad news for the company that's acquiring them," she shrugged. "He didn't believe me. He said he needed you to look at the paperwork."
"Sorry, Jess," I said as I spread the file out on my desk and powered up my computer.
"Nah, he gave me a big account to work on in the meantime," she smiled. "Dinner at Girl and the Goat with the client tonight."
"Lucky duck!" I said feeling a little envious of her culinary adventure. I'd been wanting to eat at Girl and the Goat since it had opened, but reservations were tough to come by and the cost of dinner was more than a little out of my price range.
By three, I'd identified the problems and had reworked the numbers so that they accurately reflected Miter's financial status. I walked down to Mike's office to break the bad news, and his secretary waved me right in.
"Mike?" I said pushing the door open and peeking inside. He was bent over his desk, head in hands sighing deeply. "Hey, Mike? What's wrong?"
"Kid, this is a shit sandwich of a day," he said standing up and walking over to the window. "Tell me what you've got, and it better be good news."
"Well, I'm not sure how good it is," I said hesitating to tell him what I'd found. I showed him the numbers and explained where that put Miter in terms of liquidity.
"So, if we have to, we can make it work?" he asked.
"Yeah, I suppose we could," I said wondering where this was headed.
"Good, then meet me in the board room at four, and bring your most positive spin," he said smiling as he turned back to the window and looked down at the river. "If we can't make this work, then we're going to be in deep trouble, but let's not ask for it, shall we?"
"Mike, is there something you want to tell me?" I asked wondering if I really wanted to know the answer to my question.
"Nah, it's all good, kid," he said in a sudden burst of energy. He spun around, marched to his desk and punched the intercom button as he yelled, "Betty, make sure you order lots of food and drinks for the meeting!"
"Already taken care of, Mike," came the reply.
"My dad always said that if you can dazzle them with what they want to hear, then feed them what they want to eat," he muttered as he tapped the computer screen and cursed softly under his breath. "Conference room. Four o'clock. Be there."
I saluted him with a smile then left the room. At four, I reported to the conference room and found Mike sitting at the table surrounded by two other men.
"Grace Miller, I'd like you to meet Victor Vasquez and Gordon Wallace. Gentlemen, Grace is in charge of the financials on this deal," Mike said as he gestured toward the open chair on the opposite side of the table.
I shook their hands, but stood staring at Gordon Wallace as the pieces began clicking into place. There was no doubt he was related to Adam, but I wasn't about to ask any questions. Instead, I smiled and then took my seat waiting for Mike to cue my presentation.
"...And Riser Tech can solve the challenges of merging your companies no matter what systems you're using," Mike said as he turned to me. "Grace will now walk you through the financials, so that you can see what each of you will be responsible for as you prepare to merge. Grace?"
"Thank you, Mike," I said as I stood up and pressed the button that lit up the screen at the far end of the conference room. Both men listened intently as I talked about how Riser Tech would help them consolidate their assets and make the merger seamless. Several times during the presentation, Gordon stopped me to ask a question, and when I turned to look at him, I had to silently remind myself that I didn't know whether he was related to Adam.
When it was all over, Gordon and Victor stood and shook our hands and thanked us for the work we'd done to make the merger go smoothly.
"I'd like to thank you both by inviting you to the reception I'm giving at the London House tomorrow night," Victor said. Though he must have been nearing seventy, he was still quite tall, dark, and handsome, and when he smiled at me, I felt myself blushing a little as he exclaimed, "Bring your boyfriend, Señorita! All are welcome at the celebration!"
I'd wanted to ask Gordon whether he had a son, but he'd slipped out of the room and was gone by the time I'd finished agreeing to attend the Velasquez party the next night. I made a mental note to call Adam and ask him about the connection just as Mike slapped me on the back and said, "Come on down to my office, kiddo."
I followed him hoping that he had been happy with the presentation and that maybe I'd even get a raise out of it. Back in his office, Mike pulled out the bottle of Johnnie Walker Black that he kept stored in his desk and poured us each a glass.
"Here's to smart women and the smart things they are able to do," he said holding his glass up and toasting me. "You done good today, kid. So good, in fact, that I'm promoting you to Director of Auditing."
"What about the current head of the department?" I asked as a feeling of dread started to creep in. "Where's she going to go?"
"Deborah? Oh, I'm making her VP of Finance and moving her up to the executive floor," he said smiling. "Don't worry, kid, you should know by now that I'm not the cutthroat type."
"Sheesh, Mike! Give me a heart attack why don't you?" I laughed as I raised my glass and clinked it against his. "Thank you for the opportunity."
"Opportunity, hell," he scoffed. "You've earned it, kid. Besides, now I can pay you bigger bucks and keep you closer to the office!"
"You're a slave driver, Mike Killian!" I laughed as I sipped my drink. The thought of my family suddenly crossed my mind. "But Mike, my—"
"Yeah, you need time off to help your family," he said thrumming his fingers on the desk as he drank from his glass. "I know, I know. We'll figure something out, but I'm going to need you here for the new account we're bringing in at the end of the month."
"Just let me go home and figure out how to wrap things up so my brother and sisters will be okay," I said. "It shouldn't take me more than a week or two."
"One week," Mike said. "You have one week to wrap it up and get back to the office. I can't afford to have you out longer than that."
"Got it," I said as I set the glass down. My mind was racing as I tried to figure out how I was going to make everything happen in one week. There was the store, the farm, and the turbines. Adam! I stood up and headed for the door saying, "Mike, I've got a few things I need to take care of, do you mind?"
"Nah, go ahead, kid," he said waving me off. "I'll see you tomorrow night at the London House, right? You need a car?"
"If it's not too much trouble," I said smiling at his thoughtfulness.
"For you? Not a bit, kiddo," he said as I nodded and headed back to my end of the office. I needed to call Adam and find out what he and Verity had planned for next week, and then I needed to figure out how I could settle the store accounts before Uncle Amos put us completely out of business. As I thought about the challenges that were going to have to be overcome in the next seven days, all the questions I wanted to ask Adam about Gordon Wallace slipped from my mind.