Gus had a pretty good idea whose heart the other three vice presidents would like to open, but he didn’t care if they hated him. D-Bob was giving his idea serious consideration, and that was all that mattered.
“In that spirit, we’ll table Gus’ proposal until our next meeting and move on to our next bit of business,” D-Bob said. “As we are all aware, our company has suffered a series of tragic losses in the past few weeks. Treasured members of our family have perished, leaving holes in all our hearts.”
Gus doubted there was enough heart in the three people sitting across from him to house even one hole, but they all did a good job of looking suitably grief-stricken.
“What I finally realized was that we are far too lax about safety and security,” D-Bob said. “I think we can all agree that something needs to be done.”
Gus was pretty sure that the only thing the other three executives could agree on was the notion that it was a bad idea to publicly oppose the boss’ new initiative, no matter how stupid it sounded to them. They all nodded with feigned enthusiasm.
“But doing just anything without knowing what or why is even worse than doing nothing,” D-Bob said once it was clear no one would be arguing with his previous point.
“Absolutely, D-Bob,” Lena Hollis said. “You’ve hit on something that’s real and important. I think you’ve also come up with a solution. We need a committee to study the issue from all sides, bring the heads of all the departments together and really get to the root of the issue. I don’t think it should be a quick process, but an in-depth exploration of all the aspects of security, possibly starting with an investigation into the very nature of safety itself.”
She delivered the suggestion with the conviction her former self would have used to urge a crowd to cheer their team on to victory. Somehow, Gus had a feeling she might not be completely sincere about the subject, and that suspicion was confirmed when Vollman seized on the idea, as well.
“That is a brilliant idea,” Vollman said. “One that is worthy of this company and the ideals we stand for. This committee could change the way every corporation in the country addresses issues of safety and security. It’s hard to imagine how we could be prouder of the company we work for, but this could actually do that.”
“I agree entirely,” Ecclesine said. “And I think that this committee needs to be led by a true visionary, someone who has the ability to think outside the boxes we’ve all built for ourselves. Fortunately we now have one such creative soul among our number. I nominate Burton Guster to lead the new safety and security committee.”
Before Gus could open his mouth to object, Hollis and Vollman had seconded. Now that it was too late, he understood what Lena Hollis had been doing. The only thing D-Bob liked better than an idea was a newer idea, and this overhaul of the company’s safety and security agenda would completely push the orphan drugs out of his mind. And even if it didn’t, Gus would be expected to gather every department head in every office across the world for daily teleconferences until he could say he’d gotten input from all of them. Then he’d have to synthesize everything he learned into a report at the same time he needed to overhaul his orphan drugs project. The three executives knew that the first negative word they said about Gus’ original plan would have been enough to put D-Bob firmly on its side; now they had found a way to kill it with kindness, love, and encouragement.
The smile splitting D-Bob’s face certainly suggested they had succeeded. “That’s the spirit!” he said. “You know, in other companies there would have been a struggle between the top executives over who could seize this opportunity to increase their own portfolio. But you guys are so great, you all chose the man you believed was best suited for the job without a thought for yourselves. Let’s all take a moment to pat ourselves on the back.”
In any other company this might have been meant figuratively. Not at Benson, as Gus had learned over the previous weeks. Each of the executives reached over their shoulders to pat their own backs. Another one of D-Bob’s morale boosters.
“Gus, I want to thank you for jumping on this with both feet,” D-Bob said. “I know it’s going to mean some extra work, but I have no doubt you’ll find it worth your time. And, of course, I’m here to help you at any time of the day or night.”
Gus knew that was true. D-Bob was famous for the e-mailed memos that went out around the clock. He also knew that if he took his boss up on the offer, Gus, too, would never sleep again.
“Thanks, D-Bob,” Gus said. “I need a little time to wrap my head around the totality of the issue. Then we’ll talk.”
“I’ve got two things that will make that first step a little easier,” D-Bob said. “The first is a guideline: Keep in mind at all times that the word ‘security’ comes from the Latin roots se, which means ‘without,’ and cura, meaning ‘care.’ That’s how we want our employees to be able to live. Without care.”
“Good thinking,” Gus said automatically. “That makes my job a lot clearer.”
“And this should help even more,” D-Bob said. “This is such a massive undertaking, it wouldn’t be fair to ask you to do it all by yourself.”
Gus noticed worried glances on the faces across from them, as the other executives began to feel like they had hoisted themselves on their own petards. In another situation this might have made Gus feel better about his new position, but the only thing he wanted less than to rethink security for a multinational corporation was to do it alongside any of these three.
“I wouldn’t be alone, D-Bob,” Gus said. “I’ll have the whole company behind me.”
“Yes, you will,” D-Bob. “But sometimes even that isn’t enough. Which is why I’ve hired an outside consultant to help define our security future. And not just an ordinary security expert, but one whose talents and skills spring from a higher place.”
“He’s a Fed?” Hollis said.
“He’s a psychic,” D-Bob said, walking over to the conference room door.
Gus felt his stomach churn. He’d spent too many years working with a fake psychic to have patience for any fraud who called himself clairvoyant. This new job can’t get any worse, he thought.
Which, of course, meant that it could.
D-Bob threw open the door and invited in his consultant. “I’d like you all to meet Shawn Spencer.”
Chapter Twenty-seven
Gus waited until his office door was closed before he let a single word out of his mouth. That was unfortunate, because during the long walk down the hallway they had all gotten jumbled together, and when he finally started to allow them egress, they refused to reassemble themselves into anything resembling orderly sentences.
“What are you how did what do you can’t you even ruin own business leave what are alone,” he sputtered, trying unsuccessfully to arrange the individual words into some kind of meaningful pattern.
Shawn plopped down on the sofa and gazed out at the view. “I couldn’t have said it any better,” he said. “Nice view, by the way.”
The smugness in Shawn’s voice did what Gus’ brain could not-set the words in Gus’ mouth marching out in the proper order. “What are you doing here?”
“Same thing you are,” Shawn said.
“You’re not fooling anyone but yourself,” Gus said. “You’re here to destroy my new career.”
“Like I said, I’m doing the same thing you are,” Shawn said. “You really think it’s a good career move to drive your company into bankruptcy before you’ve been on the job for a full year? Most corporate executives wait at least until they’ve got the key to the executive washroom before they start tanking the business. Although maybe that kind of thinking is out-of-date these days.”