Fair Game Read Free

whatever she’d been looking for. “We’ve got the operators scheduled for two days of training the week before we start bringing the new systems online for testing and qualification.” Ah, so Todd’s question had been about the complexity of the new operations protocol.
    Todd rubbed a hand round and round his bald pate. Kyle had worked with him for almost ten years, but even back then, at thirty-five, the guy had been bald, with the same habit of rubbing his head.
    “Seems like the training should be done simultaneously, in case there are any hiccups.” It was a bit of a juvenile comment, but Kyle figured Todd was testing Josie. That was Todd’s style.
    She took the question at face value, shaking her head, her dark hair brushing her shoulders. “You’re going from manual operation to computer controlled and making a lot of upgrades all at once. Your guys need to know what every flashing light, signal, or warning means before they start making product.”
    Will Stevens popped Todd lightly on the arm with his fist. He was a head shorter, twenty-five pounds lighter, and ten years younger than Todd, but he never missed an opportunity to give his boss crap. They actually had a damn good working relationship. “Yeah, dude,” he said, “it’s like all those little warning lights in your Beemer. You gotta take it down to the shop to figure out what they mean.” Will then glanced keenly at Josie. “What about my guys?”
    Josie pointed to the same chart with an unpainted fingernail. In a world with silicon breasts, fake nails, and dyed hair, she seemed the genuine article. “Machine maintenance personnel,” she said, “require three days total training time.”
    Will crossed his arms, rocking slowly in his chair, then nodded. “Makes sense.”
    It wasn’t just the equipment itself, but, as Will had alluded to, the electronics required to run it all. Their guys would now have to troubleshoot at a whole new level. What they’d get in return for the capital outlay was significantly higher efficiencies in production and loading, which translated to improved gate-to-gate times. Gate-to-gate was a key factor. The shorter the amount of time a hauler was inside the gate, the more customer orders could be filled in a day.
    “What’s our downtime going to be?” It was the first Kyle had added to the conversation, letting his team get their questions out there before his. He already had a good estimate, but he wanted to see what she’d come up with.
    The lady didn’t hesitate. “We’ve arranged the various installations to coincide with your production schedule. Once you’ve filled the silos”—the silos housed the glass sand—“we’ll remove the dryer for the new coating and install the temperature automation at the same time. It’ll be back online before the silos are empty.” She flipped to another screen on her presentation. “This schedule shows each installation and indicates that total downtime will be less than two days.”
    The timetable was better than he’d expected. “We’ll hold you to that.”
    She met his gaze head-on. “I’m sure you will.” A lick of heat flashed in her eyes, giving a whole separate meaning to the exchange.
    Damn. He started getting hard all over again. Now, however, was not the time.
    “I’ve got the charts on hard copy for you,” she went on, focusing once more on Todd and Will, “which I’ll have couriered over to you this afternoon.”
    She’d obviously forgotten to bring them with her. Then again, her boss, Masters, had been a no-show. Perhaps he’d had them.
    “No need to courier it to me,” he said. “Just e-mail it, and I’ll have Kisa print it off.”
    The corner of her mouth quirked. Ah, she’d obviously noticed the little byplay in the lobby this morning.
    “Same for us.” Todd slid his business card across the table. “An e-mail’s fine. We’ll get a couple of copies printed up.”
    That settled, she continued with her presentation. Kyle