Near Miss

Chapter 47

Stone woke to find Carly gone from the bed, then she emerged from the bathroom, toweling herself.

“Awake at last!” she said.

“Sort of,” he replied, kicking off the covers.

“I like the two of everything idea,” she said, indicating the baths and dressing rooms. “No waiting.”

Stone shaved and showered. And when he had dried his hair and toweled off, he came back to the bedroom and found Carly gone, and her clothes in the female’s dressing room.

So much for staking out her territory, he thought. He changed into fresh khakis and a clean shirt and slipped into a pair of alligator loafers and a blue blazer, with New York Yacht Club brass buttons, then went downstairs. Everyone was there, except Carly.

“Where’s the girl?” Dino asked.

“Beats me,” Stone replied, and it did. “Kidnapped, perhaps?”

“I doubt it,” Viv said.

Stone fixed himself a drink. “Anybody for a refill?” he asked the room.

“We’re good,” Dino said.

Stone sat down and switched on the evening news.

“Reputed Russian mob boss Alexei Gromyko was laid to rest today after being shot on the street in broad daylight,” the news reader said. The camera panned the group at graveside from a distance.

“Hey,” Dino remarked. “Who’s the babe sitting next to Peter?”

“That must be the widow,” Stone replied. “Though I’ve never seen a widow at graveside sporting that sort of cleavage.”

The TV moved on to the next story.

Dino answered a knock at the door and let Ed Rawls in. “You know where the bar is.”

“I have a special, inbuilt range finder that seeks out the bar in every location,” Rawls said, helping himself to the Scotch.

Carly appeared at the top of the stairs and made her way to Rawls’s side. “Me, too, Ed.”

Ed handed her the drink he had poured for himself, then started over.

“Was that really Gromyko’s widow on TV?” she asked.

“As far as we know,” Stone replied.

Stone switched to CNN and found the same graveside cleavage staring at him.

“She’s an all-star,” Viv said.

Mary, the housekeeper, rescued them from the news. “Dinner’s on,” she said.

“That would be lobster,” Stone said. “It’s always lobster the first night back.” He found himself seated next to Carly, with Dino on her other side.

“Did you have a refreshing nap, Carly?” Viv asked sweetly.

“Indeed, I did,” Carly said. “The rain does it for me every time.”

“You know, one of my detectives told me something I didn’t know about Russian crime families,” Dino said.

“That would be just about everything,” Viv said.

“He said that a childless young Russian widow becomes the ward, so to speak, of the succeeding family head, and that he is obligated to give her a child.”

“Well,” said Viv, “that’s useless information, if I ever heard it.”

Dino jerked a thumb at her. “She says that about every bit of news I bring home.”

“I don’t argue sports with you,” Viv said. “Unless Mrs. Gromyko qualifies as a sport.”

Ed Rawls spoke up. “I got a glimpse of Greco’s wife on the island today.”

“How’s her cleavage?” Dino asked.

“Oh, Dino,” Viv said, “shut up.”

“That’s my cue to shut up,” Dino said, and did.

On his way back to his place after dinner, Ed Rawls’s phone rang with an unfamiliar number. He let it go to voicemail and then played back the message.

“It’s Peter Greco. If you could, please call me back.”

Curious, he hit redial.

“Hello?” The male voice on the other end was the same voice that had left the message.

“Mr. Greco.”

“Mr. Rawls, thank you for returning my call. I was wondering if you might have time to discuss a job.”

“Sorry, not interested.”

“Could we at least meet so that I could explain the parameters?”

“I don’t work for the mafia.”

“This would be both for and against. All I’m asking is that you hear me out.”

Despite himself, Ed was interested. “Tomorrow morning, ten am. Grindle Point Lighthouse.”

“See you then.”