Olde’s King Book Store, London, England:
Aemilia couldn’t believe she was back in England or in front of Olde’s King Book Store as she adjusted her handbag. She wasn’t used to carrying such a large handbag filled with books. She walks into the store and listens as the old-style bell above the store rings.

Aemilia walks towards the counter, where she spots a middle-aged woman with shoulder-length brown hair working. She didn’t know who the woman was. She hopes Art is in, because she arranged to meet him here today.

“Excuse me, ma’am.” Aemilia looks at the older woman.

Brenda looks up from the counter at the high-class lady standing before her. She noticed her Spanish accent, “How can I help you, Ms.”

“I would like to speak with Art Capone about a book I’m planning on selling.” Aemilia pulls the book she brought with her out of her handbag.
Aemilia places the old, heavy, ornately decorated book on the counter. The book itself looked to be over a thousand years old. It even had a brass lock on it that kept the book closed.

Brenda’s eyes get wide when she sees the book. She didn’t know much about old-school books, but this thing was beautiful.

“I’ll get him right away, Ms.?”

“Scipio. Ms. Aemilia Scipio.” Aemilia kept eye contact with the woman in front of her.

“If you’ll wait here, Ms. Scipio.” Brenda turns and walks towards the back of the bookstore.

Aemilia looks around the store and spots several hidden camera systems, cleverly disguised to blend in with its environment. If she weren’t a highly trained agent, she wouldn’t have spotted them. Several minutes later, an older man comes walking from the back towards her. A smile appears on Aemilia’s face, because it’s been a long time since she has seen Art.

Art spots the woman Brenda mentioned to him. A sly smile appears on his weathered, old face. He would never have thought that Johnathan Bounty would become such a striking beauty. Then again, most of the women in the Bounty family line were striking beauties who were highly dangerous.

“You must be Ms. Scipio. How can I help you?” Art looks at the book sitting on the counter.

“I was thinking about selling this book, and was wondering how much could I get for it?” Aemilia lays her hand on the cover of the book.

“Well, let me examine this beautiful book.” Art looks at the book's cover and notices the lock.

Aemilia had already pulled the key out. She holds it out to him, “I think you’ll need this to unlock it.”

“Thank you.” Art accepts the tarnish key from Aemilia.

Art inserts the key into the lock and turns it. He notices how well the key turns as the lock unlatches.

“Nice, and smooth.” Art opens the book with his gloved hands and turns the pages carefully.

Art notices the book was written in ancient Latin. He flips through the pages as he examines the book. He comes to a page with a written note in the middle. He reads it and looks up towards Aemilia as he closes the book.

“I think I can honor your request. If you come with me to the back, I’ll give you the price for this fine book.”

“Lead the way.” A smile appears on Aemilia’s face.

Art picks up the book and carries it in his arms as he leads Aemilia towards the back of the bookstore. He leads Aemilia into the back, where a bunch of shelves were stocked with books. In the back was a cage that Aemilia knew held special collections and very rare books. It had a self-contained environment, and you had to wear protective gear if you were going to touch or hold them.

“I see you still have your special clean room.” Aemilia had bought several ancient books from Art and donated them to the family library that the Bounty kept and maintained.

“And I heard you were dead. What is going on that brought you out of retirement?” Art had heard that Johnthan Bounty had died on his last
mission. He knew it couldn’t be true, because Bounty’s don’t just die on missions, especially as well-trained as Johnthan Bounty was.

“It’s a long story, Art.” Aemilia continues to follow Art to a secret elevator that leads down to the subbasements.

Once the elevator stopped, the doors opened. Aemilia saw a new workshop. She looks around as she exits the elevator. She notices many new machines and pieces of equipment.

“You’ve upgraded, Art.” Aemilia follows Art over to a huge work table.

“Had to. Everyone is always in a rush, and doing things the old way takes too long and is difficult on my joints. Don’t worry, my work is still top of the line.” Art puts the book down on the table.

“Well, I hope so. As I mentioned over the phone, I need some new stealth suits and some working suits. Also, some new special gear as well.”

“Well, this book should cover the cost of everything. I’ll need all your old gear and weapons so they can’t be traced back to you.”

“I thought you might ask for them.” Aemilia reaches into her oversized purse and pulls out another book identical to the first. She hands everything over to Art.

“Is everything there?” Art accepts the huge book.

“Everything is there, except one of my pistols. I lost it on the mountain that I died on.” Aemilia left it there so everyone could identify her body.

“Okay. I can have your new gear ready for pick up by the end of the week. I take it you’ll be visiting family while you’re in England?” Art knew several Bounty members who would like to talk with Aemilia.

“Yes, I’ll be visiting some of my family members who know about my change, but I’ll be keeping others in the dark.”

“You know, sooner or later someone is going to figure out who you are.” Art knew many members of the Bounty family.

“I know, but with some help from certain members. I can keep my new identity quiet until I die.” Aemilia didn’t want to let everyone in her family know she was still alive, because it would alert her enemies.

“Still, it's good to know I was right about you being dead.” A smile appears on Art’s face.

“Just keep it secret, Art. I have a family now, and I don’t want anything to happen to them.” Aemilia was worried about Akari, Little Joe, and Sophia.

“You know me, Aemilia. Nothing can make me spill any secrets I have.” Art would rather die before he betrays everyone he has helped. That even meant sacrificing friends and family.

“I know.” Aemilia kisses Art’s cheek and uses the secret exit from the workshop.

After leaving the bookstore, Aemilia visits a few other shops that cater to high-class ladies like herself. There were a few items she had been thinking about buying. Some for herself and some for Akari. She already thought about a gift for Little Joe.

Aemilia does some shopping and later has lunch at a high-end restaurant. She thinks about what she is getting herself into and wonders if she is making a mistake. After Aemilia finishes eating and is walking away, she spots a young person watching several people at an ATM. It looked like the person was holding something in their hand while waiting in line.

She stops and watches for a while. A smile appears on Aemilia’s face as she watches the person step up to the ATM and keep their head down to prevent the camera installed from recording them. The person inserts a card into the ATM that has a cord connected to it and starts pressing buttons on the device.

Aemilia walks over to the young person and taps them on the shoulder. The person turns around quickly and notices a young woman dressed nicely. She was ready to run off, “Don’t run, you won’t get far.”

“Are you sure?” Anne looks at the woman standing before her.

“I’m sure.” Aemilia had her stun gun in her hand.

Anne looked down at the woman’s purse and noticed a stun gun in her hand. She looks back up at the woman, “What do you want?”

“Not here, I want you to come with me and tell me about your situation.”

“Why should you care? No one else does.” Anne wonders if she could get away from this woman before she pulled the trigger.

“Because I’m not everyone else. Also, if you hadn’t noticed, we’re drawing a crowd right now. So, let’s get walking. I promise you, you’ll come to no harm.”

“Fine.”

Aemilia leads the person away while watching her. She could tell the person had a slight limp.

“So, who are you?” Anne wanted to know who this woman was.

“A person who is trying to keep you out of trouble.” Aemilia takes the young person to a nearby fast-food place.

“Order what you want. It’s on me.” Aemilia gestures towards the computerized menu.

Anne pressed several buttons for the food she wanted. She hated that some fast-food places were using computerized menus instead of a person taking your order. When she finishes, the mysterious woman who stopped her pays for her order.

A few minutes later, her order is ready, and they retrieve it. They walk over to the table and sit down.

Anne looks at the woman, “What do you want?”

“Eat first, then we’ll talk.” Aemilia wanted to see if her guess about this person was right.