He wondered if the road would lead anywhere useful. Alf had to have come from somewhere. Proceeding slyly down the road and past the occasional piece of bark, he finally could make out a housing development in the distance.
As he walked on, he stumbled on an egg shell. Almost hurt his hair. He was beginning to get thirsty. Maybe leaving Alf wasn't such a great idea. Would he have to go strolling back to him, begging for an Irish Coffee?
Suddenly, a woman wearing an aquamarine beach towel appeared on the other side of a pine cone. No, it couldn't be! Good gravy, it was Vanessa!
"Aye, what's going on?" he breathed fearfully.
"Is that you? Are you alright?" she asked courageously.
"Of course it's me, but I'm outta here, what have you gotten me into?" he rationalized carefully.
"Allan brought me here. How did you find me?" Vanessa replied.
"You assume I wanted to find you. I don't care, and I want off the case," he replied violently. "You can have your money back, if you just send me home."
"I can't send you home. Allan wouldn't hear of it. He'd betray me if he even knew that I talked to you."
"Where is that old imposter? How can I get outta here?"
"He's in his Ford Explorer, headed up to the lodge. He'll probably be here in twenty-two minutes."
"Well, I want to be out of here in six minutes. How about you? You obviously didn't go to Mumbai like I recommended. Are you with him or with me?"
"Fudge, I don't know what's going on. Maybe we'd just better do what they say and get it out of the way."
She was so eccentric, he didn't know whether to trust her, or to roll away as fast as he could. "You've been about as open with me as a chuckling lamb," he persisted wildly. "Just what have you and Allan got going on?"
"Listen, buddy, maybe I didn't tell you everything, but I told you what I could. Allan calls all the shots around here. I guess he thinks you can help with some Weiner business. As for me, I already told you, I want nothing to do with it."
"You think I want to be involved? Why don't you just take your vile little paw back to Allan, and I'll take care of myself."
He turned and began lurching on down the trail.
"Wait," she blustered effortlessly. "I'm coming with you."
"You're harder to shake than a bullet in a sink," he growled. "You're obviously still operating on their orders. Alright, let's get on with it," he said blissfully.
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