Three Weeks Less a Day by McGugan Gary D

Author:McGugan, Gary D.
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Gary D. McGugan
Published: 2020-11-03T00:00:00+00:00

THIRTY-FOUR

Deluxe Suite, Steigenberger Park Hotel, Düsseldorf.

Late night, March 4, 2016

His telephone conversation with Suzanne Simpson had been illuminating. While the news about Multima Supermarkets’ hacking incident was no surprise, information about John George Mortimer’s cancer was a revelation that commanded more thought.

Seconds after finishing his call with Suzanne, Wendal hurriedly called the financial controller he’d ignored all day. “I left those email and voice messages so you would call to get a heads-up on both issues,” Joseph Kowntz complained, before saying hello.

Wendal apologized for his slow response. “Just so much going on in the negotiations with TBG,” he offered.

“Right,” Kowntz replied. “Are you aware of John George Mortimer’s health issues?”

“Yeah! I hear he’s been diagnosed with breast cancer and just had surgery. Is he doing OK?” Wendal asked, knowing Kowntz had a long and trusted relationship with Mortimer and might know more than Suzanne. “Nobody seems to know. Apparently everything is hush-hush, and even the corporate guys aren’t talking.”

“Well, I sure hope he recovers soon. We need his leadership, and such a great guy shouldn’t have to deal with this kind of challenge. It just doesn’t seem right,” Wendal said, trying to touch all the appropriate bases.

Changing the subject, Kowntz asked, “Have you heard about the hacking crisis at Supermarkets?”

“I just got a high-level heads-up from Suzanne Simpson. Not much detail. What should I know?”

“It looks like they’ve got real problems over there. It seems the hackers got a lot of employee data and some consumer info, too. Corporate security thinks it may be an inside job, and they’ve called in the FBI. I hear there are agents all over the Atlanta offices interviewing staff.”

Wendal flashed back to his conversation with Suzanne Simpson. Did he detect any nuance or suspicion from her? None jumped out immediately. Nevertheless, he should keep a close eye on her activities and behavior, just in case.

“Is everything OK in our shop?” Wendal asked.

“Yeah. Everything’s fine here. Nothing out of the ordinary,” Kowntz replied, before adding, “Are you folks almost finished over there? The dollar just dropped against the euro again today. Anything you’re planning to buy just got more expensive.”

After talking with his financial controller, Wendal tried to reach Howard Knight for information and guidance. When he tried his smartphone, the call went immediately to voice mail, suggesting Knight had shut off his phone. Wendal tried the office number, but Mr. Knight was not immediately available, according to an executive assistant. In fact, there was none of the charm and good humor he usually observed when he called Knight’s office. With no reply to his messages, Wendal sent an email.

So far, there was no response. He needed Knight’s read on John George Mortimer’s cancer. He also wanted to give notice of his intention to sign a contract with TBG the following morning with those new and higher costs included. He also felt a need to assure Knight that his team had found additional enhancements to Operation Bright Star, and one of them could be an even bigger game changer that might revolutionize virtually all retail businesses in America.

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