Page 17 of The Money Man
His deep chuckle seemed to vibrate through every cell in her body. “You enjoy striking terror into the hearts of hotel managers?”
“It’s a novel sensation because I’m about as terrifying as a kitten.” She padded toward her office on bare feet.
“You underestimate yourself. I’d be very afraid to have you audit my finances. You’re quite ... thorough.”
Gratification tingled through her. The mighty Derek Killion at least pretended to think she was good at her job. “As long as you aren’t using imaginary numbers, your audit would be fine.” A little math humor to cover her reaction to his words.
He laughed, a delicious rumble of amusement. “I try to keep my imagination and my accounting separate.” He paused. “Until recently, I’ve succeeded.”
His tone was odd, almost surprised, and she wondered if it was possible that Natalie was right. Maybe Derek did have an occasional nonprofessional thought about her. He did seem to flirt with her every now and then. Awareness flickered along her veins.
“Tell me about your meeting with the manager,” he said, his tone changing to business. The shift was like a glass of cold water in her face, which maybe was a good thing.
“Woertz—that’s the manager—knew nothing about the software. He was just taking Myron Barsky’s money for the meeting. He says that the hotel chain’s head office encourages that.”
“Sure. They buy cheap wine and beer and then quadruple the price they charge the company making the presentation.”
“He didn’t know what position Barsky holds with BalanceTrakR. The only thing on Barsky’s business card was his direct phone number, which I talked Woertz into letting me copy.” She expected a pat on the back for that.
Instead Derek snapped at her. “Do not call Barsky yourself. Leland and I will handle that.”
“I had no intention of calling him,” she said with a snap of her own. She wasn’t an idiot.
“Good.” He didn’t apologize this time. “I would prefer that you not be involved in this any further.”
“You do remember that I’m the one who found this problem, and that my clients are the ones with the discrepancies, right?”
“But there’s no need for the people at BalanceTrakR to know that.”
“It’s just a small software glitch. Seriously, I’d be devastated if I knew that my software system was shortchanging my clients, even for tiny amounts of money. I’d want to straighten it out right away.”
“Your faith in your fellow accountants is admirable but naive,” he said. “Alice, please listen to me. I’ve experienced some ugly confrontations with people who don’t like having their mistakes pointed out. I don’t want you involved for your own good.”
His plea seemed to come from the heart, so she simmered down. “I know you think they’ll smear my reputation, but what about KRG’s?”
“We have the resources to handle a little smearing.”
Her insides melted and her anger evaporated in a plume of steam. When he said that he sounded just like a sexy duke.
Derek found Leland in the room nicknamed “Mission Control” because of the number of computer screens arrayed on desktops and walls.
Leland ignored him for a few seconds as he stared at a screen covered with letters, numbers, and symbols that Derek could not decipher. The artificial light from the monitor gave the computer wizard’s tousled hair a bluish tint. The other man hit a few keys before swiveling his chair around to face his partner. “I know,” Leland said. “You’re pissed that your bookkeeper went off on her own little fact-finding mission because of something I said, so you came to warn me off doing it again.”
“You said that the program came from Eastern Europe or Russia,” Derek pointed out as he crossed his arms and glared down at Leland. “You know the kind of people who write that code. Nasty, unscrupulous people who wouldn’t hesitate to destroy Alice’s reputation if she got in the way of their profits.”
“She was questioning an employee at a second-rate hotel chain in suburban New Jersey. He’s not involved with the Russians. And sit down, for God’s sake. Your intimidation tactics won’t work on me.”
“You don’t know that he isn’t involved,” Derek said, continuing to stand.
Leland tilted his chair back. “I’d say that the odds are against it,” he said, his drawl as thick as molasses. He used his accent when he wanted to defuse a confrontation but Derek was on to his tricks.
“You don’t play odds when you’re dealing with criminals.”
“They’re not necessarily criminals. They’re just not big on quality control.”
Derek grabbed a rolling chair and sat. “You’ll be getting an email from Alice about the interview with the manager. That’s the end of her involvement in this investigation.”
Leland raised his eyebrows. “Is Alice okay with being cut out? She was the one who found the problem, after all.”
