Near Miss

Chapter 46

Stone returned to his own house, where he found his guests — the Bacchettis and Carly — settled in the living room before a big fire. “It’s starting to rain,” he said to nobody in particular.

“Raining in Maine?” Dino said. “No kidding?”

“We’re not in Scotland, Dino,” Stone replied. “It doesn’t rain constantly here. There are often sunny days.”

“Whatever you say,” Dino replied, gazing at the rain beating against the windows on the seaward side of the house.

“It’s nice weather for the fire,” Carly pointed out.

“Thank you for that,” Stone said. He poured himself a drink and sat down. “I have news from my meeting with Peter Greco.”

“Did he shoot you twice in the head?” Dino asked.

“You will note that my head has only the usual number of holes.”

“Did he miss?”

“This morning, after the Greek’s funeral, Greco was appointed the new head of the family.”

“You should be wearing full body armor,” Dino counseled.

“On the contrary, he is meeting with his council on Monday, and at that time he will give them instructions that neither I nor mine — which includes you lot — are to be touched.”

“I’m happy to be included in your lot,” Dino said.

“We are still to be careful until word has filtered down to the soldier level.”

“Careful?” Carly asked. “What does that mean?”

“Don’t go out alone,” Dino said, “and when you do, go armed.”

“That’s what we were doing anyway, wasn’t it?” she asked.

“Then just keep on doing it. Peter says he’s taking all the family businesses fully legal.”

“Does that include the murder and mayhem part?” Viv asked.

“Apparently, Gromyko incorporated most everything and started paying taxes.”

“You can do that with murder and mayhem?”

“Businesses have been doing that for centuries. But I do believe he intends to divest himself of that particular avenue.”

“Will wonders never cease?” Viv asked.

“Wonders remain to be seen,” Stone replied. “I will say that I am encouraged by what he told me.”

“You are easily encouraged,” Dino said.

“Perhaps, but I am not credulous. I’ve gotten to know him a bit, and I appreciate what he’s trying to do.”

“Does that mean you’re his lawyer now?”

“No, it doesn’t. I’ve explained to Peter that Woodman & Weld deals only with upright clients.”

“Some of your clients will be surprised to hear that,” Dino said.

“You won’t find a cleaner, more ethical law firm in the city,” Stone replied.

“Okay,” Dino said. “I suppose I can stretch your credibility that far.”

“I’m so grateful,” Stone said.

“Stretching calls for another drink,” Dino said, waving his glass at Stone.

Stone complied, and Dino sipped.

“What about the meeting with the FBI?” Carly asked. “Did I remember all that for no reason?”

“Your memory was used as intended. What Peter told the FBI didn’t go away just because he switched sides. As for his relationship with the feds, he has requested a grace period from Kinder, to clean things up.”

“And Assistant Director Kinder went for this?” Viv asked.

“That remains to be seen.”

“My money is on a big fat no,” Dino said.

“My money is staying firmly in the bank,” Stone said.

Dino took a drink, then said, “So, what are we going to do with ourselves on this little vacation, besides watch our asses?”

“What you usually do,” Stone said. “Sail or go motorboating, shoot skeet, fish, swim in the sea — like that.”

“At least half of those activities are precluded by the local water temperature,” Dino said.

“Get used to it. It’s not going to change.”

“Something occurs to me concerning safety,” Viv said.

“What is it?” Stone asked.

“You better let Ed Rawls know about this semi-truce you have with Peter G. before he shoots the man’s eye out.”

The doorbell rang.

“I’ll bet that’s Ed,” Dino said. “The scent of single-malt Scotch has reached his house.”

Stone peered through the peephole, then opened the door. “Speak of the devil.”

“The devil drinks brown whisky,” Rawls said, handing Stone his shotgun, as another man might hand him his umbrella, which he was also carrying and handed over. “So, you’re talking about me already?”

“We couldn’t help ourselves,” Dino said.

“Take a seat and be briefed,” Stone said. Rawls did so.

“Is the war over?” Rawls asked.

“How prescient of you to ask,” Stone said. “Peter G. has assumed Gromyko’s former position. He is calling off the mob’s dogs and taking his operations legit.”

“Well, shit,” Rawls said. “How am I going to entertain myself?”

“Just keep on doing what you’re doing, until we get the all-clear.”

“You mean keep shooting Russians?”

“No, unless violently provoked.”

Ed took a big swig of his Scotch. “No fun at all, eh?”

As the group chatted on, Stone got up, retrieved an umbrella from the holder near the front door and exited the house onto the back porch. He took a seat in a damp, Weatherend love seat, and was soon joined by Carly.

“Hey, there,” she said.

“Haven’t I seen you someplace before?”

“I’m glad I’m, at least, a familiar face.”

“You’re more than that.” Stone put an arm around her.

She snuggled closer and gave him a little kiss on the neck.

“What was that?”

“That was a little kiss on the neck. Would you like a bigger one, perhaps somewhere else?”

He looked down at her and got a kiss full on the lips, with a little tongue thrown in.

“Hang on,” he said, feeling a stirring.

“Onto what?” she asked, placing a hand on his thigh.

“Didn’t I tell you not to get entangled with anyone at the firm?”

“No. You told me not to let Herb Fisher get me into bed. You said nothing about you.”

“Was that what I said?”

“If you want the exact quote, I can give it to you.”

“I’m sure you can.”

She lifted her hand. “Are you saying that rule applies to all the lawyers at Woodman & Weld?”

Stone floundered, trying to come up with an answer.

“I mean, you didn’t bring a girl besides me on this trip. I’m inclined to take that as inviting.” Her hand settled back on his thigh. “Am I wrong?”

“I’m not sure there’s a right answer to that question.”

“Of course, there is,” she said. “Tell you what, you think about that for a while, and I’ll wait until you’re in bed for a straight answer, so to speak.”

She kissed him again, even better this time, then got up and went back into the house, leaving him to talk his anatomy down to a non-visible size. He picked up his umbrella, opened it, and walked out into the rain. The wind had dropped, but the rain continued. He kept his back to the windows, until normalcy had returned, then strolled down to the dock and inspected the boats — the Hinckley picnic boat and the Concordia sailing yacht.

Nobody took a shot at him, so he went back into the house. Carly was nowhere in sight.

“Wet enough for you out there?” Viv asked.

Stone shook like a dog. “I think I’m going to need to change clothes.”

“Well, Dino and I are going to repair to the guesthouse for a little nap before dinner,” she said, ogling Dino into action.

“Enjoy,” Stone said.

“You, too,” Viv said.

“Wait. Where’s Ed?”

“I told him we wouldn’t be eating until eight-thirty tonight,” Dino said. “So he went home for a bit and said he’d be back in time to eat.” He and Viv left.

Stone put away his umbrella and headed upstairs to the master bedroom. He walked into the room and found Carly in his bed, apparently naked, but with a sheet covering her breasts. She was reading an old New Yorker by a bedside lamp.

She reached up and switched it off. “Hello again. It took you a little longer than I thought.”

Stone got out of his wet clothes, and she held the sheet up to make room for him, and to give him a better view of her body, the beauty of which exceeded his suppositions.

“I have a feeling I’m going to regret this,” he said, kissing her on a nipple.

“Not if I have anything to say about it,” she said, reaching for him.

“That speaks volumes,” Stone said, giving himself to the moment.

A little later, Stone lay on his back, taking deep breaths.

“Are you going to need resuscitation?” Carly asked.

“Whatever that was worked just fine.”

Carly laughed, something she did not do a lot of. “You can have a rest, and we can resume after dinner.”

“No need to wait,” he said, turning toward her. “It’s my turn, anyway.”

“You won’t get an argument from me,” she said, running her fingers through his hair, steering him home.