Chapter 4
On Wednesday, a week later, Stone headed downstairs to his townhouse’s ground floor office. Today was his first day back at work since the accident.
“You look almost normal again,” Joan said as he walked in. She was his longtime assistant.
“I feel almost normal again.”
“I suppose you want a coffee.”
“If it’s not too much trouble.”
Ash Williamson entered, carrying two cups of coffee. He’d recently joined Stone’s team as an associate attorney.
“Now that’s what I call service,” Stone said.
Ash stopped short at the sight of him. “You’re back.”
“I’m glad to see your observation skills have not suffered in my absence.” Stone held out his hand for one of the cups.
“Umm…”
Instead of handing a coffee to Stone, Ash awkwardly scooted past him and placed a cup on Joan’s desk. “Did you want me to get you one, too?” he asked Stone.
“Ash, don’t you dare!” Joan admonished. “That’s not part of your job description.”
“He brought you a coffee,” Stone said.
“That’s different.”
“How?”
“If you can’t figure that out, I’m not going to tell you.”
Ten minutes later, Stone was ensconced at this desk, the coffee he had retrieved himself half empty.
Though Joan had been monitoring his email while he’d been out, there were still a few dozen messages that needed his attention. He was slowly making his way through them when his phone rang.
“Tamlyn on one,” Joan said.
“Thanks.” He switched lines. “Good morning.”
“Morning,” she said. “How’s the first day back at work?”
“Too early to tell. Are you back?”
She’d left on a business trip the day before he was released from the hospital and had been gone since.
“Landed at six a.m.,” she said.
“Welcome home. When can I see you?”
“Are you free for dinner?”
“I’m having dinner with Dino at P. J. Clarke’s. I could cancel.”
“How about I join you?”
“Even better. We’ll be there at seven.”
“Perfect.”
“See you then.”
As soon as he hung up, Joan called again. “Dino on two.”
Stone selected line two. “You’re not calling to cancel dinner, are you?”
“I would never cancel a free meal.”
“Free?”
“You promised to pay, remember?”
“When was this?”
“I think your third day in the hospital, right before you fell asleep. You said something like, ‘When I get out of this, I’ll buy you dinner.’ ”
“I think you’re making that up.”
“When have I ever lied to you? Wait, don’t answer that. Are you going to buy me dinner or not?”
“Fine. I’ll buy. Also, Tamlyn will be joining us.”
“If you’d led with that, I might have offered to split the bill.”
“Was there a reason you called beyond just trying to annoy me?”
“Isn’t that reason enough?”
“Goodbye, Dino.”
“Wait. There was something.”
“What?”
After a pause, Dino said, “I can’t remember.”
“See you at dinner.” Stone hung up.
The phone rang again.
“It’s Dino,” Joan said.
Stone picked up the call. “Yes?”
“I remembered,” Dino said. “Felicity called me while you were in the hospital. She heard about the accident and wanted to know how you were doing.”
Dame Felicity Devonshire was the head of MI6 in the U.K.
“She could have called me directly.”
“Your phone is at the bottom of the ocean.”
“Oh, right.” Stone hadn’t obtained a replacement until he left the hospital.
“She was glad to hear you were okay. Said she owed you an explanation.”
It took Stone a moment to realize what she’d meant by that. “She does, indeed.”
“About her announcement?” Dino asked.
“That would be it.”
A few months earlier, Felicity had invited several people to a party at her countryside estate. At the affair, she dropped the surprising news that she would be retiring at the end of the year. She had promised to tell Stone the reason behind her decision but had yet to do so.
“Did she happen to mention when we might be having that conversation?”
“Who am I? Your appointment secretary?”
“I’ll take that as a no.”
Dino hesitated a moment before continuing, “She did say she might be in the area soon.”
“So you are my appointment secretary.”
“I’ll see you at dinner.” Dino hung up.
At ten-fifteen, Joan knocked on the door to Stone’s office and stepped inside.
“It’s time,” she said.
“Time?”
“Trenton Sidney’s funeral.”
Stone looked at his watch, then pushed out of his chair. “Have Fred bring—”
“He’s waiting out front.”
Stone made his way through the office and out to the street, where his factotum, Fred Flicker, waited by Stone’s green Bentley Flying Spur.
The car was only a few months old but looked identical to Stone’s previous vehicle, which had met an unfortunate end courtesy of an aggressive trash truck.
The new Bentley had undergone the same security retrofit as the old one, thanks to Strategic Services, including the installation of bulletproof glass and armor throughout.
“Good morning, Mr. Barrington,” Fred said as he opened the back passenger door. “How are you feeling?”
“Fine, Fred. Thank you for asking.”
After Stone ducked inside, Fred closed the door, walked around, and climbed in behind the wheel.
Thirty minutes later, they pulled up in front of St. Paul the Apostle Church, on the edge of the Upper West Side, where several dozen people were slowly making their way in. Stone exited the car and joined the procession.
When he finally entered the church, he heard someone call his name.
Stone turned to find Charley Fox walking toward him. Charley was a former Goldman Sachs wunderkind who had partnered with Stone and Mike Freeman to form Triangle Investments, a company that had already more than doubled Stone’s fortune.
They shook hands.
“I didn’t realize you knew Trenton,” Stone said.
“We did a summer internship together at Lehman Brothers, long before the company filed for bankruptcy. We became friends and stayed in touch since then.”
“I’m sorry for your loss.”
“Thanks. I heard you almost went down with the boat, too.”
“We have the good people at the Coast Guard to thank for my continued existence.”
“I’ll send them a basket of fruit.”
“I’m sure they’d appreciate it.”
“I don’t know if you know this…but Trenton had also invited me to come along on your voyage.”
“I had no idea. Why didn’t you accept?”
“I prefer to be on a plane at forty thousand feet when the ocean is below me, not on a boat.”
“Fear of water?”
“Water’s fine, it’s more what might be in the unknown depths below the surface that creeps me out.”
“Probably good that you didn’t join us, then.”
“I’d have to agree.”
They made their way into the nave. Since they’d both arrived solo, they sat together during the service.
The eulogy was given by Aaron Sidney, Trenton’s oldest son. While he listed off many of his father’s very impressive accomplishments, Stone sensed Aaron was not particularly moved by his father’s passing.
As the service ended, Stone asked Charley, “Do you know Trenton’s sons?”
“Aaron and Ryan? I’ve met them a couple of times, but we’ve never had any meaningful conversations.”
“Would you mind introducing me?”
“Not at all.”
Stone shot Fred a text, telling him to pick him up in ten minutes, then followed Charley outside, where they found the Sidney brothers greeting the departing mourners.
“Mr. Fox, good to see you again,” Aaron said, as Stone and Charley approached. “Well, I mean, not good, of course.”
“My condolences,” Charley said. “To you, too, Ryan.”
“Thanks, Mr. Fox,” Ryan said.
Though younger than Aaron, he was the larger brother. And from his red-rimmed eyes and somber expression, he was clearly much more affected by their father’s death than his brother was.
“This is my friend, Stone Barrington,” Charley said. “He was also a friend of your father’s.”
“Trenton will be greatly missed,” Stone said.
Aaron cocked his head at the mention of Stone’s name. “You were on the ship with him when it went down, weren’t you?”
“Boat.”
“What?”
“A yacht is a boat, not a ship. Ships are larger.”
“Okay, whatever. But you were one of the survivors.”
“I was.”
Ryan asked, “Did you see Dad when it went down?”
Stone shook his head. “I’m sorry. I didn’t see anyone before I was thrown into the water.”
“Do you have any idea how it happened?”
“Give it a rest, Ryan,” his brother said. “It doesn’t matter why it went down. There’s nothing we can do about it now.”
Ryan’s jaw tensed, and he muttered under his breath, “It’s important to me.”
“Unfortunately, I have no idea,” Stone said. “The boat was already listing when I woke up.”
“But it wasn’t when you went to sleep?”
Aaron rolled his eyes but said nothing.
“As far as I know,” Stone said, not feeling it was necessary to mention he didn’t remember going to sleep that night.
Ryan was clearly disappointed, but he gave Stone a nod and said, “I’m sorry you had to go through all that, and I’m glad you survived.”
“Thank you,” Stone said. “I know you both have a lot on your minds right now, but I wanted to let you know my assistant, Joan, will be contacting you about setting up a time for the reading of your father’s will.
” He handed each man a business card. “If you have any questions, feel free to call me.”
Aaron’s brow creased. “What are you talking about? I have our father’s will.”
“Dated when?”
“What do you mean?”
“When was the will created?”
“A few years ago, I think.”
“I see the problem. Your father had me write a new will for him last month.”
Aaron’s eyes narrowed. “Is that right? I want to see it.”
“And you will. At the reading.”
“Look, I’m his executor. I have every right to—”
Stone held up a hand. “I’m not trying to argue with you. But in his new will, he named me as executor.”
“Why would he—”
Ryan grabbed his brother’s arm. “Aaron, if that’s what Dad wanted, then it’s okay.”
Aaron yanked his arm from his brother’s grip. “How do we know this is even real?” He looked at Stone. “Maybe you’re some two-bit attorney trying to get in on our inheritance.”
“Aaron,” Charley said, “before you put your foot any further into your mouth, you should know Stone is one of the most prominent lawyers in the country.”
“Also, I am not a beneficiary of Trenton’s will,” Stone said.
“That may be,” Aaron said, “but I’m sure your fees are going to be huge.”
“My fees were prepaid. The only extra I could potentially earn would be from any issues that might drag out the settling of the estate. And those would likely be paid by whoever did the dragging.”
Aaron scowled. “That shouldn’t be an issue, since everything will be split between me and my brother.”
“You two are not the only beneficiaries.”
“Oh, right. His alma mater, too.”
“Not just the college.”
“You’re saying there are others? Who?”
“I’m afraid I can’t tell you that as divulging other beneficiaries prior to the reading would be an ethical violation.”
“I don’t give a damn about your ethics!”
“Good thing I do.”
Before Aaron could say anything else, Ryan stepped in front of him. “Thank you for coming, Mr. Barrington. We’ll be at the reading.”
“Again, sorry for your loss.” Stone nodded.
He and Charley headed toward the street.
“I’m guessing that didn’t go the way you thought it would,” Charley said.
“Not exactly,” Stone said. “Is Aaron always like that?”
“Like I said, I’ve barely talked to either of them before.
All I know is what Trenton has told me. Aaron apparently has a bit of a temper.
It’s the reason Trenton made him take a job with a friend of his, who he hoped would help Aaron learn how to control his anger.
Trenton didn’t want to bring him into the family business until that happened. ”
“What about Ryan?”
“Smart kid. Just finished law school. I believe he was supposed to start working for Trenton in the fall. I have the impression he gets overshadowed by his brother a lot.” Charley frowned. “Aaron sure didn’t seem happy to find out there are others in the will he wasn’t expecting.”
“Only one other. And it’ll be interesting to see how he reacts when he finds out who.”
“I don’t suppose your ethics would allow you to share that information with me.”
“You suppose correctly.”
They reached the curb, where Stone’s Bentley was waiting. Fred had already hopped out and had the rear door open.
“Can we give you a ride to your office?” Stone asked Charley.
“That would be great.”
They climbed in, and as the vehicle pulled onto the street, Stone glanced out the window and saw Aaron staring daggers at him.