The three walked through the doors and into Treasure Island. A collective groan went up from them. The lobby of the hotel was right next to the floor of the casino, with the associated noise, bustle and racket. The decor was Pirate Provincial, as imagined by Walt Disney with a massive hangover. Todd had the perfect phrase for it: Pirates of the Caribbean After Dark.
They walked over to the concierge. Peter smiled at the young girl in the pirate's outfit behind the counter. "Any messages for 304 or 306?"
She smiled and disappeared for a moment. Then she returned with an envelope. "Just this one sir."
She handed it to Peter, who turned around and showed it to Todd and Paul. "I wonder what this is?"
Todd snorted. "No wonder at all. It's a message from Lazarus. We're all fired."
Peter ripped open the envelope and looked at the message inside. "Well, that didn't take too long. Seems the Starfucker has already launched the troops. We have an audience with Vincent."
Paul and Todd gulped. Vincent was the senior partner at the Starfucker's firm, and represented the collective knowledge and prestige of the company. He was Mr. Silicon Valley for many people, and a meeting with him was tantamount to an audience with the pope. The speed of the request was particularly stunning. Or terrifying.
Peter looked at his watch. "Well, we are supposed to swing by at nine, and it's barely eight thirty. What do you suggest we do?"
"That's easy," said Todd. "Hit the floor and start gambling."
Paul couldn't believe his ears. "Gamble? Are you nuts? We can't go in front of Vincent without any preparation. We'll get crucified!"
"Oh really," retorted Todd. "And what exactly do you think we can accomplish in thirty minutes? We will only come off more confused if we try to present anything. The best thing to do is to listen, volunteer as little as possible and wing it only when necessary. Besides, it'll make a great story." He nudged Paul. "While others panicked, we played black jack. Serious style points."
"Agreed," said Peter. "Gentleman, it's time to take the floor."
The three marched to the first black jack table and sat down. The dealer was shuffling a new deck. She smiled as the new victims sat down at the table. "Ten dollar table gentleman. How much do you want?"
Paul shook his head. "Sorry, I'm strictly along for the ride here." Peter and Todd both threw a fifty dollar bill down. The fourth contestant at the table already had an impressive tower of chips in front of him. Paul looked over at him. "You seem to be doing pretty well. What's your secret?"
The young man grinned back. "Gambling here is nothing compared to the gambling I do at work."
"Oh really," said Peter. "What do you do?"
"I work for a venture capital firm in Silicon Valley." He stuck his hand out. "Pat Barker."
Peter took his hand. "Nice to meet you. Peter St. John."
Pat's hand froze in mid stream. "Peter St. John? Not the Peter St. John who..." His voice tailed off. Suddenly he got up from the table and scooped all the chips into his jacket pocket. "Are you planning to be here for a while?"
"About half an hour probably, but why..." Peter couldn't finish before the young man had dived into the crowd and started thrashing his way across the floor.
The dealer smiled at Peter. "Do you always have that effect on people?"
Peter stared at Todd. "He knows."
Todd stared back. "Obviously he knows."
"But how the hell could he have found out? We just left the Starfucker. Did he go and tell everyone in town?"
Paul looked spooked. "All I care about is that the known universe doesn't include Lazarus."
"Don't worry," said Todd. "Not even Lazarus has antennae that sensitive."
The dealer leaned over the table to the three of them. "So, any of you gentlemen actually going to place a bet?"
Peter and Todd flipped some chips in front of them and waited for her to deal out the cards. Not surprisingly, Todd drew a blackjack. It happened this way every time they came to Las Vegas. Peter had the tougher table in front of him. He had sixteen, facing a seven. The book said to hit, but it was so close to tempt one to stand. Peter would have none of it. He tapped the table with his index finger. Out of the deck came the required five. The dealer flipped over her hidden card to reveal a jack, Paul sighed. "I wish I had those guts. I would have stood on that."
Peter shrugged and let the chips ride. All of a sudden Todd leaned over. "Incoming."
Peter looked in the same direction as Todd. The young Mr. Barker was making his way back across the casino floor with several partners from his firm. They had a very determined look to them, as if they were hunting a particularly clever prey. "Now," said Peter. "This is becoming very interesting. How long do we have till we have to go upstairs?"
Todd checked. "Fifteen minutes. This is getting close."
Paul all of a sudden sat bolt upright in his chair. He had gone sheet white, and his lower lip was visibly twitching. "It just got closer. Lazarus is here."
The three looked back at the pack of VCs closing in fast off the starboard bow. Then they looked over at Lazarus, just inside the front doors, whooping it up with some senior members of the press. Peter leaned over to Paul. "Cut Lazarus off at the pass. Whatever happens, don't let him see us."
Paul looked panicked. "How the hell do I do that?"
"I don't know, just do it." Peter pushed Paul out of his chair as the pod of VCs swarmed up to the table. Peter blasted them a smile as he watched Paul lurch his way through the crowd towards impending doom. He couldn't worry about him. He had his own disaster right in front of him. One of the partners stuck his hand out in greeting. "I've heard so much about you two, and I even hear that most of it is true."
He grinned at his humor and Todd and Peter grinned with him. "Well," said Peter. "We just try to stay off the streets at night. Anything else is gravy."
All the VCs snorted together like a pack of elephant seals. The lead partner leaned in confidentially. "The winds have brought to us an interesting story. Rumor has it you two are thinking about striking out on your own again. Any truth to it?"
"Well, I don't think our current employer would think highly of us talking to you about starting another company." Peter glanced over at the situation with the current employer. Paul had successfully made it across the floor and had intercepted Lazarus, stopping him dead in his tracks. Lazarus seemed to be introducing Paul to the press. If that was true, it was stunning that Lazarus actually knew who Paul was.
The VCs were now zeroing in on Todd. "So Todd," said one. "Any truth to you two getting cabin fever?"
Todd just smiled back at him. At that point no answer seemed like the best answer. Peter rode in to his rescue. "Well, how could we come to you? It's not like we have a business plan or even an elevator pitch. What kind of cabin fever is that?"
The partner leaned in again. "You two have something better than a presentation. You have a successful exit."
Todd all of a sudden tapped Peter with his leg and motioned ever so slightly towards the other side of the casino floor. Against all hope, Lazarus was moving across the floor, and of course he was careening directly towards them. Paul stood in the background helplessly, hands held upright in apology. He had stalled Laz as long as was possible. Now disaster was looming for the three of them.
Peter turned his attention to the VCs. "So, let me see if I have this right. You kind gentlemen are willing to fund any harebrained idea we come up with based on our past ability to punch out our investors successfully." While Peter was saying this, he brought his cell phone out, poked Todd with it, and then put it back in his pocket. Todd understood immediately.
"Sorry guys," said Todd. "I gotta make a quick phone call." Todd got up from the table and quickly moved to the house phone by the edge of the floor. He picked up the phone and anxiously waited for the operator to pick up as Lazarus moved inexorably towards Peter and the VCs. A second later a voice was on the other end of the line. "Excuse me, would you please page Mr. Lazarus Tompkins on the casino floor. It's an emergency."
A second later Todd heard the page over the din of the floor. Thankfully, Lazarus heard it too. He stopped for a moment and then started scanning the walls for a phone. Todd realized suddenly that he was now in the sights of the enemy. He had no choice in the matter. Todd dropped to his fours and crawled into the crowded floor. He weaved between pumps and sneakers, loafers and flip-flops. When he felt he was safe, he popped his head up like some deranged gopher. Lazarus was on the phone with a confused look on his face. It was obvious that the person on the other end of the phone had absolutely no idea why Lazarus was talking to her. However, disaster had been avoided. Laz was now on almost the opposite wall from Peter. Paul slid up next to him. He did not look happy. "OK, Todd, that was a little too close for me. I'm definitely not built for this kind of action."
"Agreed," said Todd. "Let's go over and save Peter."
The two of them wandered over and rejoined Peter, who was deep in hand-waving with the VCs. Todd sidled over to Peter. "Hey, we have to get ready to go upstairs."
Tthe VCs suddenly looked like they had just lost their mothers. They knew exactly what "going upstairs" meant. It meant that opportunity was about to fly out the window. Predictably, they panicked. Pat tried the best-friend approach. "Peter, you know we want to work together."
Peter knew nothing of the sort. However, he held his tongue.
"Listen," said Pat, in whispered confidential tones. "No one can get you capitalized better than us, and we are the fattest, fasted pipe into the public markets. You guys don't want another buyout. You want to go for the home run this time. Nobody can get you to the plate faster than us, and that's a fact."
Peter was unfazed by the full-court press. "I appreciate it, I really do, but we unfortunately have a meeting in five minutes. But we should talk, eh?"
Peter shook his hand briefly, and then glided away from the stunned VCs with Paul and Todd in tow. They looked to the bank of phones, but Lazarus was nowhere to be found. "Well, with the way the news is getting out, if we don't have financing by the end of this night, we are going to be killed by Lazarus in the morning. Anybody know what room Vincent and his pack are in?"
"Yeah," said Todd. "The one with the wolves stationed outside."