"I have told her that I work for Emperor Smith and not the puppet President," added Chiun.
"That's good," said Remo, starting forward when he saw the first of a possible fourteen lacquered steamer trunks come sliding down. Remo caught himself in midstride.
"Wait a minute! What did you say?"
"What I have just told you," said Chiun.
"You didn't?"
"I did."
"She's a freaking reporter."
"She is a freaking fool intoxicated on the smell of her own vanity. Now, do not let my trunk be stolen by cretins."
Because the risk to the trunks was real, Remo started pulling them off the belt as soon as they came by.
"Only three?" he asked when the conveyor belt finally stopped.
"I was in a hurry," said Chiun.
Remo looked up. There was no sign of Pepsie Dobbins.
But as he carried the three trunks out of the airport, Remo spotted her at a cab stand. Unfortunately Pepsie spotted him, too.
She came up saying, "We meet again."
"I do not know you," said Chiun disdainfully.
Pepsie ignored the Master of Sinanju. "Who are you?" she asked Remo.
Noticing one hand stuffed in her big purse, Remo said, "Remo Wayne Bobbitt."
Pepsie made a notch with her eyebrows. "I know that name."
"I'm famous for my detached personality," said Remo. "It gets me on all the talk shows."
Pepsie indicated Chiun. "Are you with him?"
"What's it to you?"
"He tells the most interesting stories."
"He has A-L-Z-H-I-M-E-R-S," said Remo, spelling out the word. When Pepsie seemed slow getting it, he added. "You know, S-E-N-I-L-E."
"You left out the e, P-E-N-I-L-E one," sniffed Chiun.
Both Remo and Pepsie looked blank, and the Master of Sinanju cackled softly to himself.
Pepsie said. "Want to share a ride to-"
"The White House," said Chiun.
"Pay no attention to him," Remo said hastily. "We are not going to the White House."
"It is where we are headed," said Chiun.
"We're going to our hotel," insisted Remo, eyeing Pepsie.
"Which hotel is that?" asked Pepsie.
"Are you always this nosy?" asked Remo.
"I'm not nosy. I'm just trying to save a few dollars. Maybe we can split a cab."
"You can have both halves of my cab," said Remo, setting down the three steamer trunks and folding his arms stubbornly.
"What are you doing, Remo?" asked Chiun.
"Waiting for a cab I like."
Chiun gestured to the waiting line. "I see many cabs."
"I don't see one in a color I like," Remo said flatly, staring Pepsie Bobbins full in the eye.
"What color are you looking for?" Pepsie wanted to know.
"One that doesn't clash with your hair," said Remo, turning his back on her.
After ten more minutes of fruitless conversation, Pepsie Bobbins got the message and threw her traveling bag into the trunk of a cab and said, "ANC Studios."
A man Remo mistook for a cabbie on break followed her into the cab and said to the driver, "And take the direct route. I know how you guys rob unwary tourists like us."
After the cab had departed, Remo turned to the Master of Sinanju and said, "Nice move. Smith said to play it cool, and you practically tell the press about the organization."
"No one would believe a woman who claims to be in one place while actually standing in another."
The next cab in line slid up.
"I thought you didn't recognize her," said Remo, opening the door.
"I did not want her to know that," said the Master of Sinanju as he slipped into the rear of the cab.
DURING THE CAB RIDE to the studio, Pepsie Dobbins popped a fresh tape into her cassette deck and said, "I've been dying to do this. Give me a crash course in assassinology."
She clicked on the recorder and held it up to the cab driver's face. The driver in the back of the cab, not the one driving.