Page 122 of Near Miss

“All right,” Asimov said. “It appears the choice is between Igor and myself.” He turned his attention to the man who’d put Krupin forward. “Kazimir, would you be so kind as to conduct the vote?”

“Of course.”

It came down to a single vote, that of the Bean Counter. Asimov had no idea which way he would go. The man had always been hard to read. When Krupin’s and Asimov’s names had been put forward, the Bean Counter had sat stoically and not displayed support for either man.

If Asimov didn’t win, he and those who supported him had already agreed to take control of the family by force. He inched his hand toward the butt of the pistol hidden under his jacket.

Kazimir said to the Bean Counter, “Mr. Dryga?”

The Bean Counter stared at the table, his lips resting against his clasped hands. Finally, he leaned back, and said, “Dmitri Asimov.”

Though Asimov had known that no matter what happened, he would be in charge at the end of the meeting, achieving his goal was still a shock.

“The council has decided,” Kazimir said. “Dmitri Asimov, the leadership of the family is yours.”

One by one, the members of the council pledged their support, even Krupin, though his face was ashen, like he might drop dead from a heart attack at any moment.

Asimov thought that was probably something he should consider facilitating. Krupin had served the family well, but going forward, the man would be a thorn in Asimov’s side. Best to usher him into permanent retirement. Perhaps in one of the empty plots near where they’d just buried the Greek.

Asimov smiled at the idea.

The Bean Counter headed to his office in the back seat of his town car, Korolev driving. The lieutenant’s gaze kept flicking to his boss in the rearview mirror, then back at the road.

“Go ahead and ask,” the Bean Counter said.

“Is it decided?” Korolev asked.

“It is.”

“And?”

“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 doforthe 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.”

“Thenwe’llmake 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.”

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