“Seven?”
“See you then.”
As Stone and Dino were finishing up lunch, Stone received a text from Susan Vest.
Mr. Barrington, I’ve arranged for a sub next Wednesday, so I’ll be at the meeting.
Stone replied:
Glad to hear it. See you then.
He called Joan. “Susan Vest can make Wednesday, so we are officially on.”
“I’ll alert the media.”
“Please don’t.”
“Fine. I’ll let the others know.”
“Better. Everything okay there?”
“It’s catastrophe after catastrophe,” she deadpanned. “I don’t know how we survive without you.”
“If it’s that bad, perhaps I should head back now,” he said, having no intention of doing so.
“Save your blustering. I’m not fooled by idle threats.”
“Goodbye, Joan.”
“As they say in the movies, don’t call us, we’ll call you.”
It began raining shortly afterStone and Dino returned home, scuttling their plan to take Stone’s Hinckley boat out for a cruise.
Instead, they spent a quiet afternoon reading and, in Stone’s case, taking a nap.
At six-thirty, Stone was in his bedroom, getting ready for dinner, when Dino called from downstairs, “Stone! Get down here!”
Stone hurried down the stairs, his shirt half buttoned.
Dino’s eyes were glued to the TV.
“What is it?” Stone asked.
Dino pointed at the screen.
On it was a video of a burning car, and in the corner was theCNN logo. A banner across the lower third read:Car Bomb In London.
In a voiceover, a reporter said, “According to eyewitnesses, two people were in the vehicle when the bomb went off.” The video switched to a still shot of Felicity. “Government sources have confirmed the Mercedes sedan belonged to Dame Felicity Devonshire. She’s the head of MI6, the British intelligence service, analogous to the CIA in the U.S. She reportedly left her home in the vehicle with her driver shortly before the incident occurred.”
Whatever was said after that, Stone didn’t hear as he tried to process the fact that Felicity was dead.
Despite the nature of her job and that she had survived several dangerous situations, including a few with Stone, he had never considered the possibility of a world in which she was no longer around.
Someone knocked on the front door.
“That’s probably Ed,” Dino said.
“What?” Stone asked.
