Free The Consultant by Bentley Little Page A

consultants the company had hired, he was not sure he would agree that CompWare needed to undergo any drastic transformation. Yes, they’d had a few flops, but those weren’t structural problems. In fact, as several people had suggested, if they gradually shifted focus from business software to gaming, the financial situation would probably take care of itself. But Matthews and the other executives, panicked after the failure of the merger, had opted to focus not on their products but on their procedures and had seemingly put the company’s fate in the hands of a consulting firm known for gutting the workforces of their clients.  
    There was no way this didn’t end with blood on the floor.  
    It was an overcast day, and the grayness of the sky outside mirrored the gloom he felt here in his office. Down on the campus, he saw a woman carrying a box in two hands, heading toward the front of the building and the parking lot. Had she been fired? He doubted it—the next division head was probably just getting to the conference room right now; there’d been no time to fire anyone—but Craig definitely saw her as an omen of the future, and he watched as she made her lonely way along the path and moved out of his sight.  
    He had a late lunch with Phil, the two of them heading over to a Chipotle several miles away from CompWare so they could speak freely. On the way, Craig described his early morning meeting.  
    “He pulled the same exact shit with me. Tried to get me to fire Isaac Morales.”  
    “You didn’t fall for it?”  
    “Hell, no.” Phil was driving and pulled into a parking space. “But then again, they didn’t have Isaac on tape trashing me.” He shook his head. “What’s up with that? I thought you and Tyler were buds.”  
    “I did, too. And I’ve been racking my brain trying to think of why he might be mad at me or resent me or whatever, but I can’t come up with a thing.”  
    They got out of the car. “I’m just wondering how he kept it so hidden,” Phil said. “You didn’t even have an inkling?”  
    Craig shook his head. “I just talked to him yesterday. Everything was fine. Or I thought it was.”  
    “I blame BFG.”  
    “I wish I could, too. But I’ve looked at it from every angle, and I just don’t see how they could be behind this. For sure they’re exploiting it, but I don’t think they caused it.”  
    “I still blame BFG.”  
    They went inside, ordered, then found a table by the window and sat down.  
    “Regus Patoff,” Phil mused. “I know that name from somewhere. I tried searching it the other day but didn’t come up with anything. The only references to him I found involved BFG.”  
    “Did we ever figure out what that stands for?”  
    “No clue.”  
    Craig took a sip of his iced tea. “I need to ask you a question. And answer me honestly. Do you think we hate BFG because they’re consultants and their word could end up getting us laid off, or do you think there’s something particular about BFG that bothers us? I’ve been thinking about this. I mean, would we hate any consultants who CompWare hired or just them?” 
    “Them? The only person I’ve seen from BFG is Patoff. As far as I know, he’s the only one anyone’s seen. And remember what that asshole said to Dylan? No, it’s definitely not just consultants in general that we hate. It’s him .”  
    “Maybe we should complain.”  
    “To who?”  
    “You don’t think Matthews would want to know?”  
    “Honestly? I don’t. He’s looking to pull this company’s wiener out of the fire, and if some toes get stepped on along the way, I don’t think he cares. He’s the one who brought in BFG. He knows their reputation, and he’s all in. This is the way he’s decided to go, and my guess is that anyone who rocks the boat will be thrown overboard. The goal is to downsize anyway.”  
    “What if we catch him in some unethical behavior?”  
    “It has to be cut-and-dried,