Page 81 of Near Miss

Stone checked his watch. “He should be here momentarily.”

A man appeared at their table.

“Your martini,m’amselle,” the man said, removing the drink from a silver tray.

“Carly Riggs, may I introduce Billy Barnett?”

“How do you do?” Carly said. “And how did you...”

“A waiter was already approaching with your drink,” Billy said and sat. “I’m not a real magician.”

“Then who choreographed this little scene?” she asked.

“Stone did.”

“All the elements for a flush were at hand,” Stone said. “I just dealt the cards.”

“From the bottom of the deck,” Carly said.

“I believe you intentionally asked Dino to come half an hour later,” Billy said.

“That’s right. Shall I begin?”

“Please.” Someone set a Knob Creek before him, and before Stone, as well. “Shoot.”

Stone delivered a three-minute disquisition on Alexei Gromyko. “Have I left out anything?”

“You left out me,” Carly said.

“I filled in Billy on the subject of you this afternoon.”

“And you got here from L.A. in time for dinner?”

“I was in Miami, on the way to the airport for a flight home. I canceled that one, and I caught the next plane to JFK.”

“Of course.”

“People always underestimate Billy, Carly. It’s a trait you might adopt for yourself.”

“I already have,” she replied.

“Then you might leave out a few chapters, next time. You don’t need to be completely knowable at first glance,” Billy said. “There’s value in mystery.”

“Tried it, and it didn’t work for me.” she replied. “There’s a lump of compulsion at the center of my psyche.”

“And you must learn to control it, now and then.”

“Okay,” Carly said to Stone. “He’s smart; smarter than I.”

“You used the proper pronoun in that sentence,” Billy said. “It’s a start.”

“Finally, I scored,” Carly said.

Dino arrived.

“Good evening, Carly. And, Billy, nice surprise.”

“Thank you, Dino,” Billy said. “I’ve been getting to know Carly.”

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