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Heathrow Airport
London, England
The central waiting hall at Heathrow Airport was surrounded by various shops and eateries. At the early hour, the hall was only slightly populated with transiting passengers. Most of the stores were not yet open. The passage through security proved eventful courtesy of Alice Linda’s still damp ankle holster. After all, if there is a holster, then there must be a matching gun. Linda was unable to convince the security workers otherwise. Thus, both Joe McRory and Linda were subjected to a tedious physical search. Their luggage was emptied. Articles of clothing and toiletries carefully examined. At the end, with no gun found, both were left to fold and organize their personal effects before depositing their luggage with the airport baggage handlers.
“What are you going to do for a gun?” he teased knowing Linda didn’t go anywhere without a sidearm.
“While we’re sitting here, I’ll go on-line and order a new one. It will be waiting for me when we return to San Francisco.”
“You can’t buy a gun on-line without a background investigation and all of that paperwork.”
“Sure I can. I have before. I’ll do it again.”
“How is that legal?”
“You are such a girl.”
“One of us has to be.”
The taunts over the discussion turned to next steps in San Francisco.
“I’m going to finish the research task on Todd Adams.”
“Why? Sir Alec Winston is dead.”
“Yes, but we both work for Elsemere. While Winston may have been its CEO, I worked through my contact, my controller. I bet you did as well.”
“They tried to kill us.”
“Do we know that Elsemere did? Or, was that Winston?”
“Does it matter?”
“It might very well. Anyway, working for Elsemere is the only job I have. So, I’m going to finish the task and submit my final report just as I normally would.”
“I guess I’ll work with you then. I can finish my report and tell them what a girl you are.”
“Like I said, one of us has to be.”