Jack knew Madeline (or Mad Dog as he mentally referred to her) was also there to make certain good internal controls were being put into place, thus insuring that the sort of illegal activities that caused the last accounting debacle didn’t happen again-something Jack frankly resented. He didn’t like having someone from outside the company constantly looking over his shoulder, second-guessing and questioning all his decisions. Sure there were going to be some bumps along the way while everyone settled into their positions and became acclimated to the new CFO and controller, but nothing he couldn’t handle.

As far as he was concerned, consultants could be summed up with the old joke: If you ask a consultant what time it is, he’ll steal your watch then charge you fifty thousand bucks to tell you it’s ten past eight. He supposed consultants could be useful in some instances, but in this case, it was nothing but interference he didn’t want and a financial expenditure the company didn’t need.

He’d pointed that out to Gavin, but his boss was adamant. So adamant, Jack suspected part of the reason Gavin had hired Mad Dog was that he planned to downsize the accounting department, something Jack was absolutely opposed to as he’d then be understaffed. And understaffed meant overworked employees, which meant cranky, disheartened employees, and after what they’d all just suffered, they were cranky and disheartened enough. He didn’t doubt that Mad Dog was making a list and checking it twice, all to determine who the weakest links in the department might be. Who wasn’t going to be a team player.

Which just pissed off Jack. They all just needed time to adjust and regroup. What they didn’t need was a consultant, aka Spy Who Could Cost Any One of Them Their Job, peeking at them over the rim of her glasses.