“What do you mean?”
Bronsky had seen the flash of gunfire as they’d taken off, but hadn’t heard any impact, so he had assumed the bullets had missed. But between the sound of the propeller and the storm rattling them, he might not have noticed.
He decided not to share that piece of information and said, “It could be a mechanical problem.”
“Well, find out and fix it!”
Bronsky attempted to level them out, but the nose refused to rise.
“Pull up!” Parker yelled.
“What do you think I’m—”
The plane hit the ocean, silencing him and his passenger forever.
Chapter 45
One month later
Joan buzzed Stone. “They’re here.”
“Show them in,” Stone said.
He grabbed two envelopes off his desk, then got up and moved over to his sitting area.
A few moments later, Joan led in Susan Vest and Ryan Sidney.
“Have a seat,” Stone said, motioning to the chairs across from the couch, which he then sat on.
“Can I get anyone something to drink?” Joan asked.
“I’m fine,” Susan said.
“Me, too,” Ryan said.
“If you change your mind, let me know.” Joan smiled and left.
Stone set the envelopes on the coffee table, one in front of each of them.
“Before we get to these, I should probably get to the bad news first,” Stone said.
“There’s bad news?” Susan asked, confused.
“Sorry, not for you. For Ryan.”
“For me?” Ryan said.
“I’m afraid your law career is not off to a great start.”
Ryan furrowed his brow. “I don’t understand.”
“This isn’t official yet,” Stone said, “but I’ve heard from a friend in the know that given the overwhelming evidence that your father’s last willislegitimate and that Susan is indeed your half sister, the suit you filed on your brother’s behalf will be dismissed by the court.”
That evidence included new DNA tests taken by Susan and Ryan that proved they were half siblings and a video made by Trenton Sidney in which he explained why he’d changed his will. Stone had not been lying about having that.
Ryan smiled. “I’ll just have to learn from my mistakes.”
“And perhaps choose better clients.”
