Page 120 of Skins Game

“Yeah, Skins, you might be able to save that worthless dog of a company if you keep pouring money into it, but you’re not going to win the bet with it. We should have liquidated Sidewinder as soon we realized Flanagan had committed fraud, and you could’ve run Last Chance’s portfolio while the three of us worked on our wagers.”

“Sidewinder still has a shot. I’m telling you, these clubs are magic. They will revolutionize the golfing industry.”

“Nothing revolutionizes the golfing industry. Nothing revolutionizesanyindustry.”

“These will.”

“Look, you shot your shot with Sidewinder. It wasn’t a bad idea, but it didn’t work out. It wasn’t your fault that Flanagan lied about the lien and their product pipeline. Just admit to yourself that you lost the bet, and then we can move on and double-down on our wagers that actually have a chance to win against Gabriel fucking Fish.”

Bet? They’d said something during the union negotiations about a bet.

Nicole eavesdropped harder.

“Just because Sidewinder isn’t going to win the bet doesn’t mean we have to throw it out. It can still turn a profit for Last Chance.”

“Even if Sidewinder had a possibility of turning a profit, your time would be better spent on the rest of our portfolio,” Morrissey snarked. “Nobody thinks any less of you, Kingston. It was part of the strategy.”

“Yeah, I know, but?—”

“Jericho’s safe bet will get us a decent percentage gain with an easy-win institution. Mitchell’s job is to take a left turn with his business and multiply it to be worth several-fold over what it was before. Your job was to shoot for the moon with a high-risk,high-reward bet, and you did.But it was high-risk.It’s not your fault it didn’t work out.”

“And what was your role in the strategy, Morrissey?” Kingston asked.

“I’m a lawyer. I was never going to do as well as you business types, so my job was just not to screw up too badly and make it look like I tried. Just close that time-suck down and get back here to Connecticut, where you can be useful.”

“We signed that union contract. We can’t just bail on Sidewinder.”

“I wrote an escape clause in that contract if profits fell below a certain point. They’vealwaysbeen below that point by Jericho’s accounting. Wrap it up, Skins.”

A heavy sigh from Kingston shook Nicole’s world. “I’ll look at the numbers.”

“You’re not banging that California biscuit again, are you? You can’t let a hot lay cloud your judgment. This is business, and the wager is serious business. If we lose, it’s going to ruin us.”

“—it’s going to ruin us,”Kingston chanted along with Morrissey. “I know. I have heard that threat so often that I cannot stand hearing it anymore. If Fish wins the bet, I will sell off anything I have left and be a beach bum in Mexico.”

Nicole wasn’t sure whether she was insulted or complimented at being called a California biscuit and a hot lay in less than a minute.

“You have been in California too long,” Morrissey said. “It’s time to come home to the East Coast where people are serious. Get rid of Sidewinder, and I’ll send the plane to bring you home.”

A mouse clicked, and Kingston swore a blue streak.

Nicole slapped open Kingston’s office door and barged in. “What the heck was that about abet?”

Kingston looked up from where he was sprawled in his office chair, his eyes looking upward as if a problem had barged intohis office. “Close the door, my little engineer. You’re telling everyone in the hallway our business.”

She swung the door closed behind her, and it rattled in its frame. “Did you buy Sidewinder ona bet?”

“It doesn’t matter if I did.”

Her fears were too close to the surface. “You’re going to close the company, aren’t you?”

He toyed with a pen on his desk. “If you were listening long enough to hear about the bet, then you heard me tell him I won’t close Sidewinder.”

She marched across the office at him. “It sounded like Morrissey Sand is your boss.”

Kingston stood, and his desk chair skittered away on its wheels. “We are all equal partners at Last Chance. They can’t make me close Sidewinder if I refuse to.”

She leaned on his desk and stared into his eyes, not looking away because she thought she’d saved Sidewinder, and now he was telling her she hadn’t. “Whatcanthey do, then?”