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A garbage truck that had been waiting at the far curb of Forty-Ninth raced into the intersection, straight toward Stone’s Bentley.

Fred seemed to know that if they continued forward, there would be no way to escape a collision.

Instead, he swiftly whipped the steering wheel to the left so that they instead might drive by the side of the truck, like a pair of fast ships passing in the night.

When the front end of the truck zoomed by just inches from the Bentley’s front fender on the passenger side, it seemed as if the ploy had worked.

But then the truck driver yanked his vehicle to the right, smacking hard into the Bentley’s rear fender.

The sedan spun out of control toward the vehicles waiting on Forty-Ninth for the light to change and smashed into the front of a package delivery van before careening into the BMW 530i at the front of the other lane, where it finally stopped.

As the airbags, which had deployed during the crash, began to deflate, Stone took stock of himself.

He seemed to be unhurt.

He turned to Tamlyn.

She was tilted toward him, her seat belt keeping her from falling.

He unbuckled his own belt and turned so he could touch her shoulder.

“Tamlyn?”

She groaned and her eyes fluttered open.

“Stone?”

“Are you hurt?” he asked.

“I…I don’t know.”

After he helped her sit up, she wiggled her fingers and stretched her torso.

“I think I’m just a little shaken up.”

“That makes two of us,” he said.

“I’m going to check Fred, okay?”

“All right.”

Stone leaned into the front.

Fred was slumped against the steering wheel, a now deflated airbag between him and it.

“Fred?”

When Stone received no response, he put a couple fingers against Fred’s throat and checked for a pulse.

“How is he?” Tamlyn asked.

“Alive, but we need to get him help.”

Stone tried to open his door, but his was the side that had slammed into the delivery van.

“It’s jammed shut,” he said.

“How’s yours?”

Tamlyn pulled the door handle, and the door swung open a few inches, then stopped.

She pushed against it, but it refused to move any farther.

Stone was about to ask her to switch places, so he could try kicking it open with his feet, when several sets of fingers wrapped around the door from the outside and started pulling.

A metallic groan was followed by a loud pop , then the door swung all the way open.

Two guys wearing vests with the logo of a delivery company on them peered inside.

“You two okay?” one of the men asked.

“Okay enough to want out,” Tamlyn said.

The other guy held out a hand.

“Grab on and I’ll help you.”

Tamlyn took it and carefully extricated herself from the back seat.

As soon as Stone was out of the car, he said, “Has anyone called nine-one-one?”

The first guy nodded.

“Police and ambulance are on the way.”

Stone moved around to Fred’s door, but while it had avoided serious damage, it wouldn’t open.

He peered through the window, then glanced at the men who’d helped them out.

“Can one of you climb inside and check if this is locked?”

“I’ll do it,” the smaller of the two said.

A few seconds after he’d disappeared into the Bentley, the lock clicked.

Stone pulled the door open and crouched next to Fred, who was starting to show signs of revival.

The delivery guy who was still inside unbuckled Fred’s seat belt, and Stone disentangled it from Fred’s arms.

Fred’s eyelids suddenly shot open, and he jerked back, then immediately grimaced from a wave of pain.

“Take it easy,” Stone said.

Fred looked at him.

“Are you…all right, sir?”

“I’m fine.”

“And Miss Thompson?”

“Also, fine. No need to worry about us.”

Stone heard sirens heading in their direction.

“I’m sorry,” Fred said.

“I-I was trying to…avoid crashing. I guess…I guess I didn’t do a good enough job.”

“If not for your quick actions, the crash would have been far worse.”

“Still, the car…”

“Cars can be replaced. People cannot. Now, tell me where are you hurt?”

Fred was silent for a moment before saying, “My right foot.” He touched his torso.

“And I think I may have…broken some ribs.”

“What about your head?”

“It’s felt better.”

“I’m sure it has. But does it hurt like you hit it against something?”

“No. Just rattled, I think.”

“That’s good.”

One of the incoming sirens grew to a crescendo, then went silent.

After telling Fred to sit tight, Stone stood and looked toward the ambulance that had just arrived.

“Over here!” he shouted.

He waited until the EMTs reached the Bentley before rejoining Tamlyn, who was standing out of the way with the delivery drivers.

“How is he?” Tamlyn asked.

“Banged up, but he’ll recover.” Stone glanced at the two men.

“Thank you for helping us get out.”

“No problem at all,” the taller of the two said.

“Yeah, that was the most excitement we’ve had all week,” the other said.

Stone checked out their delivery van.

The front end was partially caved in, and the windshield was in thousands of pieces on the asphalt.

“Either of you hurt?” Stone asked.

“Nah, we saw you coming and dove out in the nick of time,” the tall one said.

“Like stuntmen,” his buddy added, sounding proud.

Stone glanced around to see what other damage had been done and spotted the BMW.

It appeared to be unoccupied.

He pointed at it and asked, “Was there anyone in that?”

“Only a driver,” the tall guy said.

“He’s over there.” He jutted his chin toward a man sitting at the curb, his head in his hands.

“I think he’s okay, though.”

“He doesn’t look okay.”

One of the lookie-loos, standing nearby, said, “He’s just upset. He said he bought the car today.”

The delivery guys both winced in commiseration.

Stone’s phone vibrated.

He pulled it out and saw that it was Dino.

“I was just about to call you.”

“You really know how to ruin someone’s evening, don’t you,” Dino said.

“How so?”

“I was looking forward to a good night’s sleep, but I hadn’t even reached home yet when I receive a heads-up that a green Bentley with your license number has been involved in an accident.”

“Are you routinely notified every time there’s an accident in the city?”

“Only for ones that my people know will sour my mood if I’m the last to find out.”

“Then I regret to inform you that the heads-up was correct.”

“Where and what happened?”

“The intersection of Second Avenue and East Forty-Ninth. What happened is a bit more involved.”

“Scratch the second part for now. You can tell me when I get there.”

“See you soon.”

As Stone hung up, he realized that there was something missing from the accident scene.

“What happened to the garbage truck?”

“It’s gone, man,” the tall delivery guy said.

“That guy didn’t even slow down. He just smacked into you and bolted down the street.”

His partner nodded in vigorous agreement.

“You should get yourself a good lawyer and sue the city.”

“I’ll take that under advisement,” Stone said.

Stone and Tamlyn were climbing into the back of a second ambulance when Dino showed up.

“Are either of you hurt?” Dino asked.

“More rattled than anything,” Stone replied.

“Same for me,” Tamlyn said.

“They’re just taking us in as a precaution.”

Dino glanced around the accident site.

“Were you driving? I don’t see Fred.”

“No, he was,” Stone said.

“He’s already on the way to the hospital.”

“How is he?”

“A broken bone or two, for sure. Beyond that, I don’t know.”

The EMT who’d helped Stone and Tamlyn climb into the ambulance grabbed the door.

“Sorry to cut you off, but we need to go.”

“Where are you taking them?” Dino asked.

“Lenox Hill Hospital.”

To Stone and Tamlyn, Dino said, “I’ll meet you there.”

On the ride to the hospital, Stone called Joan and asked her to tell Helene about the accident.

Helene was Fred’s wife, and Stone’s chef and housekeeper.

She and Fred lived in one of the apartments in the house next to Stone’s residence, as did Joan.

When he finished, he slipped his hand into Tamlyn’s.

“Sorry, this wasn’t how I was planning the night to go.”

“And here I thought you arranged the accident to get out of taking me home with you,” Tamlyn teased.

“I fully plan on still taking you home with me, but I fear our activities upon arrival will be less exciting than either of us had been planning.”

“I’m sure we can think of something we can do that won’t tax either of us too much.”

He held her eyes for a moment, then said, “I’m sure we can.”

The EMT riding in the back with them cleared his throat, reminding them they weren’t alone.