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Chapter 23
Lawrence hated airports. He’d spent thousands of hours sitting in first class lounges such as this one, waiting.
Nothing was worse than waiting for something you didn’t actually want to happen.
“How’s it goin’?”
In no mood to talk, Lawrence nodded at the man who’d just sat next to him at the bar. A businessman, like most of the others in this lounge.
“Coming or going?”
Apparently, the man wouldn’t be ignored so easily.
Lawrence studied him a bit more closely. Quality cuff links, although not overly expensive, well-trimmed silver hair, and a close-clipped beard. Likely in his mid to late sixties. Possibly real estate. Or sales.
“Going,” he said simply, taking a swig of beer.
“Same here. Zhejiang.”
Ah, an engineer maybe.
“You?”
“São Paulo.”
“Nice.”
The man gave him a little nod, indicating he’d gotten the hint, and Lawrence instantly felt bad for acting like such a jerk. Apparently, it was his MO this week. He’d certainly done a job on Toni. That look in her eyes . . .
“So what takes you to Zhejiang?” he said, needing to exorcise that image.
He’d been to China before, but never for very long. The last time he’d been to Beijing was back in the late nineteen-fifties.
“Work. My company has a division over there.” He picked up his drink—scotch, from the looks of it. “Mechanical engineer.”
Lawrence tried not to smile and decided to test himself further.
“Scotch?”
“Yep. Ardbeg.” The man lifted his glass.
Lawrence did the same. “Yuengling.”
“Are you from Pennsylvania?”
He shook his head, the standard answer coming easily enough. “No, from Scotland originally. But we left when I was young and have moved around ever since.”
The story, while simple, explained both his lack of accent and his widespread knowledge about the different parts of the world.
“You?”
“New Jersey originally. But I’ve been to Scotland, twice actually. We have ancestors there. Great place.”
Yes, it was.
“Where have you been?”
“All over, but our favorite was Edinburgh . . .”
