The first thing that stroke Drake as he walked into Fox's house was the little security the place had. The reason for this followed very soon: in spite of his wealth, Link Fox lived relatively simply.
After looking around for a bit (the most valuable thing he found was the special edition box set of some Beatles albums), Drake spoke into his communicator: "The house is clear."
"Very well then, off to plan B..." Adem said on the other side.
"Hold on," Drake said.
"What is it?" Adem asked.
"Let me check something..." Drake walked out to the balcony.
"Drake Marshall," Link Fox said, sitting back on a beach chair next to a large pool (apparently the only big luxury he gave himself), wearing a bathsuit, a white shirt, a short sleeved light brown jacket, and a pair of sunglasses. Drake looked at the grin he'd always seen on Link's face, a grin that now, after what he knew, looked more disturbing than anything else he could think of.
"Link Fox. Gerardo Gorm." Drake said.
From the shadows inside a small changing room near the pool came Edmund Gaunt, The Shadow Chancellor.
"Edmund! Long time no see. How ya been?"
Something landed, he didn't know from where, on Link's right. He turned his head and saw the warrior Lykopis standing mere feet from him, holding an imposing sword.
"Milady," Link nodded.
"Don't move," came Adem's voice from behind Link's chair. He didn't need to turn to recognize it.
"Adem? The whole gang's here!" Link exclaimed. "Where's Ikky? Don't tell me you guys fired him..."
"You will stand up, rise your hands, and come with us," Gaunt said.
"This is the worst surprise party ever..." Link rolled his eyes.
Lykopis took a quick step forward and moved her sword to place the edge dangerously close to Link's throat. "You will come with us and you will answer for your crimes, murderer."
"Whoa, whoa, let's not get ahead of ourselves, please!" Link said, raising his hands. "Now, I'm sorry I don't have drinks or apetizers to greet you, but I gave Quentin the day off, plus you kinda caught me by surprise. There's no reason to start calling people names, ok?"
"You want reasons? I'll give you six," Gaunt said. "Emma Sigfried."
"Who...?"
"Richard Cavalli."
"Wait..."
"Jack Merlin."
Link sat up and moved up his glasses. "Jack is dead?" His grin was gone.
"Willian Chamberlain."
"Cham...?"
"John Chamberlain, the fourth"
"Oh, shit..."
"And Rachel Chamberlain." Gaunt looked down at him with despise. "Is that enough for you?"
By now Link had removed his feet from the beach chair and was resting his elbows on his legs while covering his mouth with his hands, as he looked down in horror. "Yes. Yes it is."
"What does this mean, Link?" Drake said. "Please explain this insanity to me."
Link raised his head and looked up to Drake. "It means he's back."
