Page 123 of Skins Game

Their frustration was only a fraction of his own. “There was alcohol involved. A lot of alcohol. And a watertight, unbreakable contract that we all somehow signed.”

Gail Stein, the attorney wearing a conservative dark gray suit that Morrissey would’ve called a court suit, leaned forward. “If you were inebriated, no court would uphold the contract.”

Kingston held up one hand to stop her because they did not need to get into the weeds of this ridiculous situation. “We signed. There are no loopholes. Trust me on this one. We are on the hook.”

“And you can’t just go buy something else?” Becca Jamison the CPA asked. “Especially considering Joe Flanagan obviously committed fraud when he suckered you into buying us.”

“Unfortunately, the company for the wager had to be declared at the time of purchase. Otherwise, we all would’ve bought ten companies and put forward the one that did the best. At least, that’s how Gabriel Fish would have played the game.”

Gail the lawyer bobbed her head as she looked at the ceiling, perhaps admiring the trap Kingston had been caught in.

Nicole just shook her head like she was secondhand embarrassed for him.

Which was probably kinder than he deserved.

“Now that the situation is on the table, what are we here to discuss?” he asked.

Nicole read from the paper in her hands, “In exchange for a commitment from Last Chance, Inc. to fund operations at Sidewinder Golf through—” Nicole conferred with the lawyer and accountant beside her and then said, “—through the end of the year, we offer three things.”

“I’m listening.”

Nicole’s eyes flashed up at him again, less angry, more wide and honest. “I am ninety percent sure that I have a fix for the Excalibur driver. We will make the face of the driver even thinner?—”

Kingston winced at her idea as even he saw the problem with it. “But that will make itmorebouncy,moreoutside of the PGA’s limitations.”

Nicole continued,“—and thenwe will craft an additional structure, like a strut, to be glued inside the club head to reinforce the face plate, which we can tune toexactlythe PGA’s upper limit, making it the absolute springiest club on the market while increasing forgiveness for mis-hits. Every pro will rip off their left leg for it. It’ll win all the long-drive competitions.”

Air stroked across Kingston’s tongue and down his throat as he couldn’t repress a gasp. The brilliance of it was astounding.Hewanted the clubright then.

He could sell a club like that for whatever he wanted, any price he could name.

“The additional support is small,” Nicole continued. “For a very minor startup cost, we can manufacture it in-house. We could make a thousand struts in a week. The custom part would then be shipped to the final assembly plant where they glue the club head together in Texas.”

His little engineer was flipping brilliant. “Dali would never see the new part.”

“They won’t know it exists, and they certainly won’t have its specifications. I also formulated a new glue that integrates into the strut itself. If any other company tries to cut the club head apart to reverse engineer it, the support will disintegrate as they try to take it out. It should buy us at least three, maybe five, years as the magic golf club everyone wants.”

Kingston spread his hands on the table. “Amazing.”

“If they try to manufacture a generic version of the design of that driver head without the reinforcing strut inside, the club’s face will collapse after hitting about twenty shots. It will be like hitting a golf ball with an empty beer can on a stick.”

He could feel a grin growing on his face. “Devious.I like it.”

Kingston did like it. As a matter of fact, helovedit.

With the Rattler line of club sets already in transit for the big box stores, the Excalibur and Vorpal lines would be the cornerstone of Sidewinder’s turnaround strategy.

If Kingston could sell a thousand Excalibur-plus-Vorpal sets at ninety grand apiece, Sidewinder would add ninety million dollars to its bottom line.

Sidewinder would be highly profitable by the end of the year, a long black number for the profit-and-loss spreadsheet for Gabriel Fish’s wager.

His moon shot might work.

Nicole grinned back at him and looked back at her paper. “Second item: union members will pledge to remain with the company, barring unforeseen individual decisions.”

“Agreed,” Kingston said, the clause just like the previous contract.

“Third,if you lose the bet,on January first, the union will purchase Sidewinder for the amount of its operational debt from Last Chance, the previous purchase price Last Chance paid to Joe Flanagan, and a reasonable interest rate, becoming at thattime an employee-owned business. We will assume all previous debt.”