He carefully untangled himself from Tamlyn and grabbed his cell. The ID readJack Coulter.
Stone glanced at the time. It was 2:20 a.m.
He accepted the call and whispered, “Give me a second, Jack.”
He slipped out of bed and shut himself in his bathroom.
“Sorry about that,” he said into the phone. “Is everything okay?”
“No,” Jack said. “I need to get back to New York right away,”
“What happened?”
“Hillary and Sara have been in an accident. They’re both in the hospital.”
“Where are you now?”
“At the Ritz in London. The first flight I can get a seat on doesn’t leave until after eight a.m.”
“Have the hotel arrange for a car to bring you here right away. We can be in the air as soon as you arrive.”
“I was hoping you’d say that. Thank you.”
“Before you hang up, which hospital are they in?”
“Mount Sinai.”
“That’s the best place they could be. You just worry about getting here. I’ll deal with the rest for now.”
After Stone hung up, he called Faith.
“Hello?” she answered groggily.
“It’s Stone. I’m sorry for the last-minute notice, but weneed to return to New York as soon as we can. Are you flight-ready?”
“Well, I’m not dressed for it at the moment, but it was an early night for me, so I am good to go.”
“Are you at the Arrington?”
Stone always arranged for her to have a room there when she flew him to England, but sometimes she’d travel elsewhere on her days off.
“I am. What time would you like to leave?”
“When Jack gets here from London. He should be leaving there right about now, so two hours at most.”
“I’ll have the plane ready.”
“Thanks, Faith.”
Stone called Joan next. It was still evening in New York, so she was wide awake. He told her what had happened and asked her to send someone to the hospital to make sure all of Hillary’s and Sara’s needs were being met.
His final call was to Major Bugg.
“Good morning, Mr. Barrington,” the major said, sounding wide awake. “How may I help you?”
“I’m afraid we’re leaving sooner than planned. Mr. Coulter is on his way back. When he arrives, we’ll need to be driven to the plane.”
“I’ll have a Range Rover waiting.”
