“I’ll take that as a no.”
Dino hesitated a moment before continuing, “She did say she might be in the area soon.”
“So youaremy appointment secretary.”
“I’ll see you at dinner.” Dino hung up.
At ten-fifteen, Joan knocked onthe 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 hadundergone 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?”
