Page 148 of Near Miss

“Me, too,” she said.

“Is there anyone else we have to worry about?” Stone asked.

Teddy nodded his chin at the Sarge. “He was the last.”

“Is he dead?”

“Dead as they get.”

Stone and Carly rose to their feet and joined Teddy.

“He’s got two bullet wounds,” Carly said, surprised.

“Very observant,” Teddy said. “Stone, I think you hit him a second before I did. Excellent shooting, by the way. Center mass. That’s what you’d call a bull’s-eye.”

“I didn’t even aim,” Stone said.

“Maybe you should try not aiming every time,” Carly said.

“At least it wasn’t a miss.”

“Not even a near one,” Teddy said. “Time for me to leave. This place is going to get very crowded, very fast.”

He hurried away without another word.

Chapter 72

The Bean Counter is here to see you,” Asimov’s secretary said over the intercom.

“Tell him I’m busy,” Asimov said. He’d been waiting to hear from the Sarge, and until he did, he wasn’t in the mood to talk to anyone else.

“He says it’s urgent.”

“I don’t care what—”

The Bean Counter’s voice came over the intercom. “It’s about the Sarge.”

Shit. “I see. Um, come in.”

The Bean Counter entered with another man Asimov had seen around, named Korolev.

Acting like everything was fine, Asimov said, “Have a seat.”

The Bean Counter sat across the desk from him, but Korolev remained standing.

“So, you said this was about the Sarge?”

“I did. More specifically, about his attempt on Stone Barrington at the bar association dinner this evening.”

Asimov momentarily considered denying any knowledge, but he knew the Bean Counter would see through the lie. “What about it?”

“You haven’t heard?”

Asimov kept his expression neutral, while all the other muscles in his body tensed. “Tell me what you’re talking about, and I’ll tell you if I know.”

Right before they’d arrived, the Bean Counter had received an update on the situation at the hotel from a source at the police department. “The Sarge is dead.”

“What?”

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