Page 68 of Near Miss

“Let me see her face,” he said.

Ruddy moved away her hair, and Korolev stared in disbelief. “That’s not her!”

“What?” Ruddy said.

“Did I stutter?”

Ruddy looked at the unconscious woman. “She fits the description.”

“Yeah. Of theotherwoman. That’s not Matilda Martin. Fuck, Ruddy. What’s wrong with you?”

“I’m sorry. I—I got mixed up, I guess.”

“You think?” Korolev ran his fingers through his hair.

“What should we do with her, then?” Ruddy asked.

“Good question.” Korolev glared at him. “What do you think we should do?”

“I don’t know. I guess we could kill her and dump her somewhere.”

“That all depends. Did she see you before you sprayed her?”

Ruddy realized if he said yes, he’d be in more trouble than he already was. “Uh, no. She... she never saw me.”

Korolev studied him. “You’d better be telling me the truth.”

“I am,” Ruddy said.

“So,” Malic said, “what are we going to do with her?”

“Not make this an even bigger mess than it already is,” Korolev said, then pulled the car from the curb.

Chapter 35

TheTimesand thePostarrived with breakfast the following morning. Both hinted that a big-time arrest by the feds was in the offing. Tomorrow, it would be headlines, Stone thought.

Joan buzzed. “Alexei Gromyko on one for you.”

Stone picked up, trying to sound casual. “Hello?”

“Have you done something that can’t be undone?” the Greek asked.

“I don’t know what you mean,” Stone said, keeping his voice steady. He wasn’t sure if Gromyko was talking about Trench or Greco or both.

“I believe you do.”

“Mr. Gromyko,” Stone said wearily, “do you have a point to make?”

“When I do, you’ll know it,” Gromyko said, then hung up.

Stone immediately called the Waldorf Towers and asked for Peter Greco.

“I’m sorry,” the operator said. “That party checked out early this morning.”

“Thank you.” Stone hung up and called Tom Kinder.

“Assistant Director Kinder.”

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