“Who is it?” William asked her. Nobody phoned him personally except in emergencies.
“It’s Bobby,” Sloane said.
William took his phone and answered. “I’m in a meeting, Bobby.”
“It’s Joy, sir.”
William froze. “What about Joy?”
Sloane looked at him.
“She was in a horrific car crash.”
William’s heart dropped. “What?”
“I’m on my way to the hospital now.”
William didn’t wait for details. He hopped up and hurried out of that conference room.
“Sir, what’s the matter?” asked Sloane. “Sir?” She ran behind him.
“Tell the pilot to wait here,” ordered Maximus to the confused executives. “I’ll find out what’s going on and let you know.” Then Max hurried out of the conference room, up the aisle, and off of the plane too.
He ran across the tarmac as William and Sloane were getting onto the backseat of William’s Mercedes that was never to leave the airfield until after the plane had taken off. He hopped onto the front seat, replacing the bodyguard that was forced to find a different mode of transportation from the airfield, as William’s driver sped them away.
CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
When William, Sloane and Maximus arrived at the hospital, Bobby and Cory were seated in the private waiting room. They both stood up when William rushed in.
“Where is she? Where’s Joy?” His eyes were inflamed with anxiousness. His voice had an undertone of near-panic.
“They’re still running tests, sir,” Bobby said quickly, to alleviate his fears.
“But she’s okay? Have you spoken with her? Have you spoken with the doctor?”
“No sir, I haven’t seen her, and no doctor has been back here yet. And all the nurse could tell us is that they’re still running tests.”
“They would have told us something if she was bad off,” Cory felt a need to say, to help ease what seemed like William’s pain.
But Bobby and Sloane were shocked that he would say anything at all to the boss. He was nothing more than a receptionist in their eyes. Sloane had thathow dare you address Mr. Skeffingtonlook on her face. But Bobby was concerned the kid might get dressed down for addressing Mr. Skeffington.
William had opened his suit coat and placed his hands on his hips when Cory said those words to him. Any other underling would have indeed gotten a harsh look for talking out of pocket that way to be sure, but he liked Cory because he knew Cory cared about Joy. He could see the concern in the young man’s eyes. “Thank you,” he said to Cory, to everybody else’sshock, and then he began to pace the room. He ran his hand through his hair, wondering about Joy’s wellbeing. And then he plopped down in one of the chairs.
They all sat down after he did.
“You were there, Cory?”
He nodded. “Yes sir.”
William leaned forward in his chair. “Tell me exactly what happened.”
Cory had to fight the shakes he was so nervous. “Well, sir, after Joy picked out which one of your cars she wanted to drive--”
“Which one did she select?” Sloane asked him.
William frowned. “Who the fuck cares?!” he yelled at her. “Go on,” he said to Cory.
Cory was still uneasy, especially after William’s outburst, but he soldiered on. “She asked me to show her how to get to the highway from your house, so I drove in front and she followed me. But just as we were going our separate ways, I heard this super-loud crash. When I looked back, I saw your Porsche skidding across the highway with a huge dent in it, and then I saw an SUV coming to a stop. And then, when I was able to make a U-turn to go make sure she was okay, a man got out of that SUV with a gun in his hand.”
