Chapter 35
Bex glanced up at the departure board, searching for her flight gate. London City. There was only one flight leaving that night for her destination, and thankfully, it looked like she was going to make it, with the gate still ten minutes away from boarding.
She would write an email to Gordon on the flight, she decided as she made her way over to the departures.
Ask him to verify everything she had told Nigel.
Having a lawyer who was actually involved in the process, and had seen firsthand what had been going on, rather than the ones Kieron had paid to fabricate truths, had to be a good thing, didn’t it?
She was sure he would support her wholeheartedly.
Maybe that alone would be enough for the firm to drop the issues.
Bex scanned her boarding pass and slipped into the line behind the security gates.
‘Please move fast,’ she muttered to herself.
It wasn’t a particularly long queue, but from previous experience she knew that meant very little.
All it took was a couple of people who’d forgotten about hand lotion or a bottle of water, and it could hold the entire queue up.
Thankfully, for the most part, it seemed to be moving at a reasonable pace.
She edged nearer to the front, behind a family who were soon the only people standing between her and getting through to the boarding gates. The group of six included two parents, two grandparents and two teenage children.
‘I don’t have my boarding pass, Margaret. I don’t know where it is,’ the elderly man was saying as he emptied out his pockets.
‘I’ve got the boarding passes, remember, Norman.’ It was the mother of the group who spoke, smiling at the old man as she did so, although Bex could see the tightness in her eyes.
‘I’m not sure where I put my pills,’ the grandmother fussed. ‘I have to take one at seven.’
‘They’re in your handbag, remember.’
The mother’s smile was getting tighter.
‘Mum, can I go to Sam’s house when we get back?’ one of the children asked.
Yup, there was a definite tension in her jaw now, and Bex couldn’t blame her. ‘I don’t know what time we’re going to get back right now, darling. And we need to drop your grandparents off first. And get all the washing done so we have some clean clothes.’
‘He said his mum will come and pick me up.’
‘Can we talk about this in a minute, please, Betty? Can we just get through security first?’
‘But he needs to know so his mum can come and pick me—’
‘Can you not just wait until school on Monday? You’ve only been gone four days. You can last a few more nights.’
The mum was doing everything she could to keep it together, but from the way her daughter scowled, she couldn’t see that at all.
‘My pills, Margaret,’ the grandmother said again. ‘They should have been in this pocket.’ Behind them, two of the security lanes had opened up and were waiting to be filled, yet no one seemed to have noticed.
Bex glanced at the time on her phone. Her pulse kicked up a notch. She was going to be cutting it close.
‘Excuse me,’ she said softly, wondering if she should just slip in front of the family. From the way they were dawdling, they clearly weren’t in a rush.
She glanced at her watch again.
The old man was still asking to see his boarding pass ‘just to check’, while the fourth adult – the father of it all – seemed oblivious to everything.
That was it. Bex decided she was going to go for it. She moved to slip past them when the son suddenly perked up.
‘It’s us. It’s our turn,’ he said, ushering his family towards the trays.
‘Damn,’ Bex muttered. Although at least they were moving now, but any hope she’d had that they would move swiftly through the scanners evaporated as she watched the old man bend down and start undoing his laces.
‘No, you don’t take your shoes off, Norman,’ the harried mother said as she turned to the fourth adult in the group. ‘Thomas, could you help your parents, please? Help your dad do his shoes back up.’
The dad lifted his face from his phone, a look of shock on his face.
‘But it’s in extra time.’
‘Which is exactly what we don’t have any spare of right now,’ she said. ‘No, Norman, don’t put your bag on yet, I need to get your cream out. Betty, put your phone in the tray.’
‘But I’m messaging Sam.’
‘Hold on, Nora, that needs to go on a new tray. No, you can’t stack them like this. Kids, I told you all of your liquids need to be in a plastic bag. Why are you doing it only now?’
Bex watched her, anxiety rising with every second. She was going to be late because of these people. The dad was still watching his phone while the mum sorted out his bag as well, and the son had to go through the scanner three times for forgetting to fully empty his pockets.
By the time they were almost through, Bex had stripped off her coat, unzipped her bag, pulled out the only lip gloss she had in it – which she was prepared to toss if necessary – and was ready to move the instant a space became clear.
‘Electronics out and in a tray,’ the security woman said.
Bex flashed her a smile she didn’t feel. She was well aware of what needed doing.
‘I’ve got it,’ she said, dropping her phone down before practically throwing her unzipped handbag into the tray and racing through the scanner. The instant she was through the other side, she grabbed her handbag, phone and coat and dashed away without a second glance at the tray.