“Very good, Mr. Barrington,” Fred said.
Stone hurried inside and was surprised to find Joan waiting for him.
“You have visitors,” she said in a hushed voice.
“I don’t have time for visitors,” he replied, matching her volume.
“It’s the Sidney brothers.”
Stone sighed. “What do they want?”
“To talk to you.”
“I meant specifically.”
“I asked, but that’s all the one who does all the talking would tell me.”
“Fine. Please call Faith and have her push our takeoff to six p.m. Also, let Dino know I’m running a little late.”
“Got it.”
“Oh, and have Helene bring down my garment bag. I need to put the suit Carly was working on in it.”
“Already done. I’ll take the bag to Fred while you’re talking to the brothers.”
“Why don’t I take the bag to Fred, andyoutalk to the brothers?”
“I already told you they wouldn’t talk to me, remember?”
“I was trying not to.”
They walked back toward Stone’s office.
Aaron and Ryan were sitting in the chairs near Joan’s desk. The moment they saw Stone, Aaron jumped to his feet.
“We need to talk to you.”
Beside him, Ryan slowly rose to his feet and took a couple steps back, as if to separate himself from Aaron.
“Civilized people usually make appointments,” Stone said.
Aaron reached into his jacket and pulled out a folded set of papers. He tossed them onto the floor at Stone’s feet.
“You’ve been served.”
“I think you’ve been watching too much TV,” Stone said.
“I don’t care what you think,” Aaron growled. “Once I prove that your fake will is…um…fake, I’m going to make sure you lose your law license!”
“A fake, fake will would make it a real will.”
“You know what I meant.”
“You should really think about this. If you proceed, the only one who is going to lose anything will be you, to the tune of several hundred million dollars.”
Aaron’s jaw tensed, and the tips of his ears turned red. “My brother and I aren’t going to lose anything. What we are doing is reclaiming what is ours.”
Stone glanced past him at Ryan. “You’re involved in this, too?”
