Near Miss

“We must leave the apartment at two-fifteen. Your flight will depart at three pm, and you will land at four.”

“See you at two-fifteen.” Peter hung up, then called Stone Barrington’s cell.

“Yes?”

“It’s Peter.”

“Hello, are you in the new house?”

“My wife is, and she thanks you for the roses. I should arrive at the airstrip at four. Are you in New York?”

“Just departing Teterboro. I’ll be at Islesboro myself in an hour.”

“May we meet at the new house at, say, five? I have business to discuss with you.”

“All right,” Stone said. “I was surprised to see you on a report on the morning shows about the Greek’s funeral.”

“Not as surprised as I was to be asked to attend. Things are... never mind. We can talk more about that later. See you at five.”

Peter sat in the copilot’s seat in the Pilatus. It was an airplane he knew but had not flown in: a single-engine turboprop, good on short runways. Noisy, without a headset.

“Islesboro dead ahead,” the pilot said.

Peter checked his watch. Five minutes till four. “Good.” He watched closely as the pilot set up his approach: flaps down, throttle retarded. The pilot aimed at a spot just below the runway numbers, then set the airplane down, reversed the prop, and braked. The airplane landed with a thousand feet to spare.

“Excellent,” he said to the pilot, then he got up, went to the door, and walked down the airstairs. Marla waited in a Mercedes station wagon.

“Whose airplane?” she asked, after a kiss.

“Ours, when we want it,” he replied.

“Ours?”

“I’ll explain it to you later. Stone Barrington is coming for a drink at five o’clock. After, he and I will need to talk privately for a while. I’ll ask you to excuse us.”

“All right. How did it go with the family?”

“Better than expected. I’ll explain that, too.”

She nodded and drove on, chattering all the while. She unpacked for him, then came down in time to greet Stone.

Stone accepted a Knob Creek and looked around. “Looks like people live here,” he said.

“We can thank Jimmy Hotchkiss’s wife for that,” Peter said. Tracey Hotchkiss was an expert interior designer. “Marla, will you excuse us for a while?”

“Of course,” she said, and took her drink with her.

The two men settled themselves in comfortable chairs before a small fire. “My situation has changed.”

“How so?”

“Today, my family chose me to succeed Alexei Gromyko. It was against my wishes, but they prevailed.”

“You understand that I cannot discuss matters of a criminal nature with you?”

“That won’t be necessary. I just want to tell you that I am, starting on Monday, going to decriminalize all my family’s business interests.”

“From what little I’ve heard of the extent of your businesses, that will be quite a task.”

“Not as great as you may think. Gromyko, during his tenure and under the influence of the Bean Counter, began structuring the majority of the businesses involved into corporate groups or holding companies that are transparent and pay taxes. There are, of course, a few enterprises the family has been involved in that can’t be incorporated for legal reasons. While Gromyko had planned to keep those businesses, I will be eliminating them completely.”

“A good start. What about your testimony to Assistant Director Kinder?”

Greco grimaced. “That is a delicate matter. I talked to Kinder before leaving the city and let him know about the change in my status, and that I would no longer be cooperating with his investigation.”

“I imagine that didn’t go over well.”

“I explained to him what my plan was and asked that he give me a little time before he pursued the family further.”

“And he agreed to that?”

“He said he would take it under consideration.”

“That’s more than I would have expected,” Stone said.

“I believe my frankness in our discussions at your house created some goodwill between us.”

“That may be so, but don’t expect it to last forever.”

“I asked him to give me two months. I guess we’ll see if he will.”

“So, are you Egon Pentkovsky again? Or is there a new name I should call you?”

“I’m keeping Peter Greco for now. I know my Pentkovsky roots are the reason they gave me the job, and I will embrace that. But I also feel going by Greco will be a fresh start for everyone.” He leaned forward. “Stone, I want you to know that I attach no blame to you in the matter of either of the Greeks’ death, nor those of my brothers.”

“I’m glad to hear it,” Stone said. “Does that go for all the members of your family?”

“I have not spoken to all of them yet, but I will see that the word goes out that neither you nor yours be touched.”

“I hope the word spreads quickly.”

“It will, but do be careful for a few days.”

“Thank you for the warning. But having to watch my back touches on what seems to me will be your biggest problem. By that I mean, restraining the criminal activities of the people who conduct the family’s operations.”

“I will begin addressing that problem on Monday, when I meet with the council. May I retain you and your firm to help with the legitimization?”