Page 45 of The Money Man
He shook his head, making his glasses slide down his nose. “We have a couple of more rooms just like this. They say it reduces employee stress if we keep the spaces on a more human scale. Not as many voices all speaking at once.”
That made sense but also meant that she couldn’t get an accurate headcount. “I like that you offer support 24-7,” she said. “Not everyone does.”
“Did you also explore our user forums?” He turned to her, the smile still fixed on his lips. “We sometimes find that they have even better answers than we do since they’re out there in the trenches.”
Here was the key question she and Derek had anticipated. “Of course. I have to admit to probing a little bit to see if anyone reported significant issues. I’m sure you understand.” She matched his smile with one that said she regretted nothing.
His expression didn’t change. She was struck again by how hard it was to read anything behind his facade of “business nerd.” “And did anyone have a problem?” he asked.
“None that I could find, although one of my questions simply disappeared. But I understand that the user forums are not under your control, so I don’t fault BalanceTrakR for that.”
“Good to hear.” He let out a dramatic sigh of relief before he shepherded her out the door. “Now I’ll take you to my favorite place because it’s where the magic happens.”
They passed two closed doors before he opened one to reveal a space about four times the size of the customer-support room. The same rows of cubicles filled the space, but many more of them. A Ping-Pong table where a game was in full swing stood in an open corner. The hum in this room was mostly of keys clicking, although a few conversations were in progress where two or three people were crowded into one cubicle, staring at the screen.
“Our software engineers,” Myron said, his gaze skittering around the room. “They’re quite competent.”
It was a strangely unenthusiastic description but Alice let it pass. “I can practically feel the brain waves,” she said, examining the mostly male, mostly jeans-and-T-shirt-clad techies. Many wore earbuds and seemed to be nodding along to music. A couple of cubicles had superhero action figures lined along the top edge. The Ping-Pong players slammed the ball at each other viciously. It looked exactly the way you’d expect a roomful of computer geeks to look.
Which bothered her, so she did something she knew Derek would not approve of. She said, “I’d love to talk with the developers who created the bank and credit card integration. That’s the most brilliant part of the system.”
That brought Myron’s attention back to her. He pushed up his glasses. “Gosh, I wish I could let you do that.” But his tone held no regret at all. “The coders would love to hear that. But it’s a security thing.”
“No worries.” She waved her hand airily. Maybe it really was a security issue but her suspicions were not allayed.
“Speaking of security, let me show you that division of our company,” Myron said, escorting her back out into the corridor. “Honestly, the people who work there kind of give me the creeps but you’ll see how seriously they take their jobs. Which is important when you’re dealing with other people’s money.”
This time he knocked on the door before opening it slowly and peering in as though he expected to be reprimanded for intruding. He ushered her into the room but stayed near the doorway, speaking in a hushed tone. “Some of these guys are hackers turned watchdogs. Some are ex-FBI. The guy at the desk is John Peters, the head honcho.”
The room broadcast an entirely different vibe from the software engineers. The light seemed dimmer, possibly because nearly everyone wore black. There was no Ping-Pong table, and no people gathered in clusters at a single work station. Everyone stared intently at the computers in front of them. John Peters looked up from the multiple screens arrayed on his desk, his focus resting on Alice for a long moment before he stood and walked through the maze of cubicles to where she stood.
“Um, John, this is Alice Thurber,” Myron said, shoving his glasses up with a quick, anxious gesture. He was smiling in a weird way that Alice ascribed to nerves. “She’s, er, with KRG Consulting. Just visiting us.”
John Peters made Alice nervous too. He wasn’t as tall as BalanceTrakR’s CEO but he had a neck and shoulders like a professional wrestler’s. When he shook her hand, his grip was hard and uncomfortable and his expression was blank. “Nice to meet you,” he said without any trace of a Texas accent and without any indication that he meant a word of his greeting.
He must have been one of the former FBI agents because his hair was buzzed short and he wore a dark suit and tie, just like they did on television, although his shirt was also dark and she kind of thought the FBI wore white shirts.
“Sorry to interrupt your work,” Alice said, flexing her squashed fingers behind her back. “I’m just taking a quick tour of your facility.”
“We are very careful to make sure no one finds or exploits any vulnerabilities in our system.” He continued to watch her with that unreadable face. “We monitor all possible vectors constantly so that no malware or ransomware can corrupt the software.”
“I can see that,” Alice said, although she was out of her depth with cybersecurity. “Your vigilance is admirable.”
Peters’s gaze shifted to Myron, who was still smiling. The security chief and Myron simply stared at each other for a long moment.
“Thanks, John,” Myron finally said, edging toward the door. “Appreciate it.”
John started back toward his desk.
“Scary dude.” Myron shuddered visibly as they reached the brightly lit corridor.
“Is he one of the former FBI agents?”
“I think he was, like, CIA or something really intense.” Myron rubbed his palms on the sides of his jeans as though his hands were sweaty. “At least, that’s the rumor. No one except HR really knows.” He seemed to shake off his tense mood. “I think you’ve seen the most important parts of BalanceTrakR. Is there anything else I can tell you about?”
“I’m sure your boss is discussing this with Derek right now, but I’m curious as to how many copies of the software you’ve sold to date.”
Myron gave her another unapologetic smile. “I’d have to check with Ted before I could share that information with you.”
