Near Miss

“Asimov will lead the family. For now.”

“It was as you thought.”

“Yes.”

Asimov may have believed the details of the coup he’d just orchestrated were only known to those close to him, but the Bean Counter knew the upstart was the one who had ordered Greco’s death. In the Bean Counter’s role as CFO, he had his fingers in every aspect of the organization, and his appreciation of underlings who did their jobs well had gained him a network of informants.

His vote for Asimov had not been made because Dmitri was the right man to lead the family. He was not. The Bean Counter had thrown in with him for two reasons: first, if he had chosen Krupin, the meeting would have ended in violence, and possibly his own death; and second, he had little doubt Asimov’s vendetta against Stone Barrington and Ed Rawls would backfire. When it did, the organization would need a new, competent leader such as himself. And if things didn’t go belly up, his vote meant he was the one who’d put Asimov in power, and Asimov would be appropriately thankful.

“So, what is the plan now?” Korolev asked.

“For the family? Or for us?”

“Isn’t everything we do for the family?”

“It is,” the Bean Counter said with a smile. “The plan is we wait and see who’s still standing at the end.”

“Then you’ll make your move.”

“Then we’ll make our move.”

Chapter 61

Stone and Carly were on the way to Clarke’s to meet Dino for dinner when Stone’s secure cell phone rang with a call from Holly Barker.

“I had been thinking about paying you a visit this week,” she said, “but the Secret Service tell me they’d rather I wasn’t around you right now.”

“That’s a nice way of putting it,” he said.

“Well, what they said was closer to ‘you cannot go anywhere near Stone Barrington until further notice.’ I take it you are under threat of death again.”

“Unfortunately.”

“Who is it this time? Wait. Don’t tell me. If I really want to know, I’ll ask Lance. Can I at least assume it’s not a jealous husband?”

“You can.”

“That’s good to hear, but I’m disappointed you are unavailable to me, and for an indeterminant time. You are a wonderful stress reliever.”

“I hope I’m good for more than that.”

From the seat beside him, Carly gave him a curious look.

“You are, have no doubt about that. It’s just a woman in my position has few chances to get comfortably naked with someone who knows how to please them.”

“You could always try someone who doesn’t know how to please you, and consider it a chance to train them.”

“Who has the time for that? Anyway, I just wanted to tell you to try to stay alive. The mood of your president depends on it.”

“I’ll do what I can, Madam President.”

He hung up.

“Did you just get a booty call from the president of the United States?”

“I plead the Fifth.”

Carly slid her arm through his. “You should call her back and tell her you are currently occupied.”

“No need. She’s not coming. The Secret Service aren’t keen about the Russian mob’s current interest in me.”

“Huh.”

“What?”

“It’s just... Is it wrong that I’m suddenly grateful someone wants you dead?”

“Carly, that mind of yours is a dangerous place.”

“You are not the first person to say that, but I can never tell if it’s a compliment or not.”

“Pretend it is, and we’ll all be happy.”

Dino was at the bar when they arrived.

“I thought you were traveling with an entourage,” Dino said.

“We are,” Stone said. “There are at least six of Mike Freeman’s people scattered throughout the restaurant, and four more at the front door, who arrived with the two cars that escorted us.”

“Mike is not messing around.”

“He never does.”

They had one drink and then were shown to their table. During appetizers, Stone’s secure phone rang again.

“I never knew the president was so persistent,” Carly said.

Stone looked at the screen. “She can be, but this isn’t her.” From the lack of an identifying number, he knew it was Lance Cabot. Given that Stone had threatened his job during their last conversation, he wasn’t sure what to expect. He accepted the call. “Good evening, Lance.”

“I heard about the corpse in your office,” Lance said. “Is business that bad?”

“For Peter Greco, it is.”

“Indeed.” Apparently, Lance was taking the pretend-it-didn’t-happen route. “Speaking of Greco, your Russian friends have selected a new leader to replace him. A man named Dmitri Asimov.”

“I don’t think Dino even knows that yet.”

“Of course, he doesn’t. Is he aware the Russians are working with an assassin known as the Sarge?”

“That he does know. We’re assuming he’s responsible for Greco’s demise.”

“You would not be wrong.”

“If you have proof of that, I’m sure Dino would appreciate it if you shared.”

“Enjoy your dinner, and tell Carly I send my greetings.” Lance hung up.

Stone told Dino and Carly what Lance had said, less the greeting for Carly.

“So, the family went with the hothead,” Dino said. “That was my least favorite option.”

“Perhaps if they had consulted with you first, they would have gone in a different direction,” Stone said.

“I’ll give them a call next time.”