Melissa met the car outside of her father’s compound. The driver helped her with her luggage. She had packed light for the trip. She would need to be able to get away at a moment’s notice. She checked her ticket: Edinburgh, a stopover in London, and then Lisbon. Captain Ramsey, the shadow dealer’s ferryman will pick her up from there.

Several hours later, Melissa landed in Heathrow, and she was making mental preparations to disembark when she spotted one of her father’s goons, the guard she had assaulted, near the front o the plane.

I’m being followed. I need a change of plans.

“Ms. Mason,” the man said as she approached. “I’m here to escort you to your next flight.”

“What! I can travel myself.”

The goon followed her off the plane and onto the crowded concourse.

“I have to use the restroom,” Melissa said.

She ducked into the restroom, entered a stall, and then took out her burner phone. Working for the Shadow Dealers afforded her the personal contact information of people at Collective Systems and Black Iris. She didn’t want to contact Black Iris first; the people representing them gave her the creeps. The younger man known as Hunter who had the scar creeped her out. She thought she recognized the older man, but couldn’t remember where. She called Julius Shcherbakov, the Collective’s mouthpiece.

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

“Hello, dear, how can I help you?” Julius said upon answering.

“I need to speak with Alexei concerning the failed negotiations last week,” Melissa said.

“I’m not sure that he wants to talk to you. I’m afraid that Alexei has lost faith in the Shadow Dealers,” Julius said.

“Is there any way I can speak with him? Are you on neutral ground?”

Julius didn’t speak for a long time. She was beginning to wonder if he’d hung up when he resumed.

“Hmm, let me get back to you.”

“You’d better make it quick. My father is sending me back to the Shadow Dealers right now!” Melissa said.

“On second thought, hold the line please.”

After what seemed like a very long time—several minutes—Julius was back.

“Can you make it to the Milford area in the US?” he asked.

Using her phone she checked flights to the US mainland. There were plenty from London, but not as many from Lisbon. It was unlikely that Captain Ramsey would meet her at the gate, since he was a member of the Shadow Dealers, not the Timeslicers. Her flight from Edinburgh was due at 4:43 p.m. She found another plane leaving Lisbon to EIA at 6:13 p.m.

“Yes, I can get a direct flight to EIA this evening,” she told Julius.

“Great. I will pick you up,” he said.

Seconds later, a loud banging rattled her stall.

“Your flight is boarding, please come out now,” the goon demanded.

“I’m still on the toilet. This is the ladies’ room. I will meet you at the gate.”

A female security guard entered. “Sir, this is the ladies’ room. You need to leave,” she told the goon.

“I’m waiting for someone,” the man said.

Melissa slipped under the partition separating the toilet areas. She crawled until she was several stalls away from the man.

“I suggest that you wait outside—or do I need to escort you to the security office?” the officer said.

“That won’t be necessary,” the goon said.

Melissa slipped out from under the stall nearest the door, exited, stepped into the terminal, and then blended into the crowd.