“Something isn’t right with the books.”I’d done the regular audit as part of the merger and found a few discrepancies, which was why I’d requested a forensic audit.That had been the right decision.
“We knew that when you asked to hire someone.”Miles leaned forward.“Has she found something more?She’s only been here a week.”
“Valerie found that the P&L isn’t matching up.In the limited interaction I’ve had with them, they give us a refund when we ask for it due to equipment failure.But neither that nor the payments we make when renting the equipment are showing on their books.And not just us, but others as well.”
“That’s interesting.”
“It’s perplexing, to say the least.Valerie found the books present differently week to week with no solid backtrace that she can find.”That bothered me.I had to do my due diligence before FI bought the company, and it was going to take time to find another company if we had to nix this deal.Small price to pay to prevent a catastrophe.
“I see.Give me a second.”Miles picked up the phone.“Hey, Nick, a question.”
I tuned Miles’ conversation out and sat back in my chair.Valerie should be okay with signing another NDA.In a way, I understood why Legal would want to cover their bases.She was an outside contractor, and they didn’t want any liabilities with another company.
Hell, after the issues we had with someone trying to break into FI’s systems last month, the increased paranoia wasn’t unusual.Other companies had tried to duplicate our products and services, and all went down in flames.
Miles cleared his throat.“Nick has given his approval, and I’ve just emailed you another NDA for Valerie.Have her sign it and either one of you can bring it to my office.”
“What does it cover?”I wanted to know in case Valerie had questions.
“Basics of liability of your little tour of Rustic that she won’t hold FI responsible if she’s injured.Rustic should have their own insurance to cover anything.
“Okay.What should I do if we see something that isn’t on the up and up?”I didn’t think Rustic was that stupid, but then again, if they were cooking the books, they weren’t doing a good job of hiding it.
“Then legal will get involved.Do you think they’re doing something illegal?”
“Not sure.It could be simple errors, but my gut tells me something else is going on.”I didn’t like what Valerie had seen in the books.And then there was the issue of equipment breakdowns.
“You might want to talk with Marcus.”
“Why?”I paused.
“He’s been checking out what we get from them when it arrives—along with Josh and Dean.”
“Oh.”This was news to me.Josh and Dean must have asked Marcus to help them out.I slipped back onto the chair.“How long has this been going on?”
“A few weeks.I only know because Josh mentioned it in passing.”
“Did he tell you why?”This was an interesting development.While I’d seen the rental costs come through, along with refunds, usually Josh and Dean dealt with the companies if there were issues.They would then notify my department of returns so we could be booked into the accounting system properly.
“He said something about substandard equipment.He didn’t go into detail.”
“Thanks, I’ll go talk with Marcus, Josh, and Dean.”This was a development I wasn’t expecting.I took the elevator to Operations on the sixteenth floor and found Josh in his office with Dean, both deep in discussion.
“Hey, Lucas,” Josh said after I knocked on the door.
“Do you two have a minute?”
“Sure.”Josh motioned me in, and Dean shifted in his chair.
“Sorry to interrupt.I can come back later.”If they needed to continue their discussion, I could wait.
“No worries,” Dean said, and gestured to the empty chair next to him.
“We were just hashing out a problem,” Josh commented.
“Does that have anything to do with Rustic Delights?”I asked, taking a guess.
Both men sat forward.“It does.What do you know?”
