Page 58 of Near Miss

“What about the woman? Melinda...?” he asked.

“Matilda Martin.”

“What about her? Where is she?”

“From what I’ve learned, she’s been staying with Barrington.”

The Bean Counter cursed under his breath. “She must have her own place.”

“She does.”

“Put a team together and stake it out. She’ll have to show up sometime.”

“And when she does?”

“Bring her to me. And whatever you do, stay away from the lawyer. Do not cross paths with him.”

If the Bean Counter played it right, he could use the woman as a sacrificial lamb to Gromyko and avoid the topic of Stone Barrington altogether.

“Yes, sir.”

“And, Leonid, not a word about anything you’ve told me to anyone. Just tell them she is someone of interest.”

“I understand,” Korolev said.

He exited the Bean Counter’s office and shut the door.

“Everything okay?” Lauren asked. “It sounded a little tense.”

“Some news he wasn’t expecting.”

She wanted to ask him more, but she could get that from him later. She walked to him and played a finger down his chest. “Still on for dinner? Or should I look for other plans.”

“Still on. I just need to set something up for the boss first, so I might be a little late.”

She pushed up on her tippytoes and kissed him. “You know it’s not good to keep a girl waiting too long.”

“I’ll keep that in mind.”

“See that you do.”

Later that night, after Korolev had fallen asleep in her bed, Lauren tiptoed into the bathroom with her phone.

She had been involved in the organization for years, joining back when the Pentkovskys had been in charge, and had served as secretary to the youngest Pentkovsky, Egon, until the Bean Counter took over the role of mob CFO. And while she considered the Bean Counter a decent enough boss, she was less pleased with the Greek, both former and current.

In her mind, Egon—who now went by the name Peter Greco for safety reasons—should have been offered the top job instead of Gromyko. She had not given up hope of that happening one day.

To that end, she had been keeping him up to date on organization politics. It had been a week since she’d last contacted him, and a lot had happened in that time. Things that could directly affect him. Specifically, that the Greek was on the warpath in the wake of Trench’s death. She thought it likely he’d take out his anger on the wayward Peter Greco. The Greek alreadyconsidered him a threat, simply for being the brother of the family’s first leader, Anton Pentkovsky. Now, with Peter slipping away from the family, who knew what the Greek might do?

She wrote a long text, and included the information that the Bean Counter had learned Stone Barrington was somehow involved with Trench’s demise but was holding off passing that information along to the Greek for the time being.

Once satisfied that she’d covered everything, she sent the text, then returned to the warmth of her bed.

Chapter 31

A week had gone by without an attempt on Stone’s life. When there was not even the hint of anyone following him or paying him any undue attention, he called Mike Freeman. “It looks like I may have dodged a bullet. Figuratively speaking.”

“I take it you remain untouched.”

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