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She’d taken the early morning train, reaching Budapest’s Keleti pályaudvar four and a half hours later. A quick kávé from a kiosk and a smoke then she walked to the main entrance where she saw the figure, holding the card with her name.
“Anca?” He enquired with a smile. “I’m told you speak Hungarian?”
She nodded.
“Let me help you,” he replied, taking her suitcase. “I’m parked just around the corner. Nicks has told me to take you straight to the airport. Here are your tickets, by the way. We need to hurry, you don’t want to miss the plane.”
At the car park, he placed her bag in the luggage compartment and slid the door back inviting her to step in. “Don’t worry about a thing. You’re quite safe,” he said, gently touching the left side of his chest. “I’ve come prepared.”
In the driving seat, he removed something from the glove box, turned and gave it to her with a smile. “I almost forgot. Nicks said to give you this.” He’d handed her a beautifully wrapped box with a bow. She undid it carefully, folding the wrapping into her shoulder bag. She fought the tears. It was her ‘signature scent’.
On the drive to Liszt Ferenc, he made good progress. A skilful and inventive driver, it was obvious he’d had specialist training. On arrival, he parked in front of the terminal, threw a sign in the window and escorted her to check-in, waited, then followed her to the security fast track desk.
“I’ll wait here and make sure everything goes ok. When you’re through the process, the woman over there, in the orange vest, with the blonde hair and the beautiful smile, is my wife. She’ll stay with you until you board the plane. Have a nice journey and give my regards to Nicks.”
Following a pleasant, uneventful flight, she stepped out into the concourse at Manchester Airport to be greeted by another man, another card. He was of Chinese/Afro-Caribbean descent and big with it.
“All right, love. I’m a mate of Nicks, from the TA days. You drag the bag and I’ll open any doors. This way.”
Once outside, they were joined by another guy, small but muscular, and within minutes she was being driven from the car park, Nicks’ Dad at the wheel. He took the motorways back, fighting his primal urge to take the scenic route.
The vehicle behind maintained a respectable distance, only leaving them as they turned into the driveway when safely home.