Page 76 of Due Dilligence (Takeover)
“Ryan stays,” she confirmed, a tired note in her voice. “I argued your points, but the board has faith in him.”
“I’m sure.” Eli’s expression didn’t change. “Or he has something on the board.”
She flinched. “I did press that your work is vital if they wish to sell the company. He’s been instructed tohelp, not hinder.”
“That’s better than nothing,” Eli said. The smile fell away. “I’ll do what I can with Ryan around.”
She nodded and rotated to address Fazil. “How are you finding engineering?” Her gaze seemed to flick to his neck for a moment, but then met his eyes.
Eli leaned back in his chair and tented his hands. A subtle sign.
Probably not the best policy to lie. “They’re of two minds. The procedures are coming together, but there’s a reluctance to implement. It’s one thing to say you’ll unit test your code before checking it in, but another to do it.” He pushed his laptop to the side. “I know developers think testing takes away time they could be coding, but it saves them time in the long run. If they’d do what they said, your QA department wouldn’t be slammed filing bugs against easy-to-fix mistakes.”
She folded her hands into her lap. “What do you suggest to get them to change?”
“Someone from Singularity to make a hard case for it. I can’t. I’m an outsider.”
Sandra pursed her lips and nodded. “Good suggestion. I’ll talk to Stephen.” She rose. “There’s been more interest in Singularity since you arrived, and not just for the tech.”
Eli tapped a foot against the bottom of the table. “Then help us do our jobs so your people can keep theirs.”
A smile from her, thin as Eli’s. “I’ll do my best.”
When the door clicked closed, Eli looked up at the ceiling.
“Did you actually expect them to fire Ryan?”
“No.” He rubbed the bridge of his nose. “Just hoped. If he stays out of my way, that’s good enough.”
“Well, if they can get someone to push for change, that will make my life easier.” He hoped the person they pickedwasn’tTodd. They didn’t need any more complications in their lives.
Speaking of which... He checked the time. Almost noon. “Should we call Sam?” His heart ticked up several notches. No idea how to explain that he was dating one of Singularity’s engineers. It had happened so fast. Or too slow, given the years wasted.
Eli leaned forward and pulled the Polycom over. “Yeah. He should be in.”
A quick punch of numbers and two rings later, Sam was on the line. “Hello, E.”
“Good afternoon,” Eli said. “Well, in a minute.”
A laugh. “You have news?”
“I do.” Eli filled Sam in on the Ryan situation. All the while Fazil’s throat tightened and goose bumps ran up his arms. He rubbed his neck and inadvertently pressed where Todd had bit him.
Shit.That was sore, and too much of a reminder.
“Well, make do with that,” Sam said. “I did try to twist some arms, but he’s got strong backers.”
“I keep wondering what he has on them.”
Sam tapped something—he must have been on speakerphone, too. “Yeah. You know how much I like blackmail.” Athud. “How’s engineering?”
Fazil coughed. “It’s getting there.”
A pause. “Oh?”
“There’s a hitch with the whole implement-what-we-say-we-do part.”
A huff that was half amused and half frustrated. “Sounds familiar.”
