If the past can stay the past, I'll be one happy girl!" I'll make sure I'll tell him that! But I'm sure he'll find a mystery lady with a very checkere... past something of an enticement!" Your business trip go well? Everyone happy with the new acquisitions?" Excessively so! My expense report was heavily padded as always and quite obscene but they paid it ... and my bonus, with a huge smile. Everyone's happy! The next time I can offer you a finder's fee for more new business I'll let you know.". I didn’t know that until a couple of weeks ago. I’ve quit drinking.”“Was it tough?”Ed was quiet for a moment as he thought about it. He nodded slightly, “It was a little tougher than I thought it would be. It wasn’t that I was an alcoholic. I guess drinking was more of a habit.”John nodded as he said, “I understand. I had the same problem when I quit drinking.”Ed looked very surprised to hear that. He had assumed that John had never had a tough day in his life. He asked, “You used to. .. ki ... kill me. You two saved my life.”I looked at Emily, and she looked back at me. Her gaze was steely, quite the difference from a few days prior. Confident, determined. She turned to our guest. “Lucy? Here, let me help you get dressed. Mark saved some of your clothing, and I brought my scrubs along.”Lucy stood, and I allowed myself to appreciate her. She appeared to be in her mid twenties, around Emily’s age, and blond. Her wrists, and ankles, had red marks from her bonds, and her. When Trudy joined Della on the street she’d already managed to hail a taxi and the two girls jumped in. Della gave the cab driver the address of her flat in Putney and the taxi sped off. During the ride the two women merely sat next to each other, holding hands and occasionally exchanging glances, giggling in nervous anticipation. The drive seemed to last forever, taking some thirty-five minutes via the A308 & Putney Bridge. They turned onto Rotherwood Road just off Lower Richmond Road and.