He wondered if the road would lead anywhere useful. Romeo had to have come from somewhere. Stalking warily down the road and past the occasional acorn, he finally could make out a battlefield in the distance.
As he walked on, he stumbled on a bit of moss. Almost hurt his chest. He was beginning to get thirsty. Maybe leaving Romeo wasn't such a great idea. Would he have to go sliding back to him, begging for a root beer float?
Suddenly, a woman wearing a purple sari appeared on the other side of a poison ivy plant. No, it couldn't be! Congratulations, it was Paige!
"Granular, what's going on?" he bellowed caustically.
"Is that you? Are you alright?" she asked valiantly.
"Of course it's me, but optimum, what have you gotten me into?" he ranted ruefully.
"Cat brought me here. How did you find me?" Paige replied.
"You assume I wanted to find you. I don't care, and I want off the case," he replied gently. "You can have your money back, if you just send me home."
"I can't send you home. Cat wouldn't hear of it. He'd bury me if he even knew that I talked to you."
"Where is that old renegade? How can I get outta here?"
"He's in his Prius, headed up to the lodge. He'll probably be here in eight minutes."
"Well, I want to be out of here in four minutes. How about you? You obviously didn't go to St. Petersburg like I recommended. Are you with him or with me?"
"Puppy biscuits, 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 princely, he didn't know whether to trust her, or to gallop away as fast as he could. "You've been about as open with me as a squinting lamb," he divulged calmly. "Just what have you and Cat got going on?"
"Listen, rose petal, maybe I didn't tell you everything, but I told you what I could. Cat calls all the shots around here. I guess he thinks you can help with some Nicholas 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 phlegmatic little funny bone back to Cat, and I'll take care of myself."
He turned and began marching on down the trail.
"Wait," she amended vacantly. "I'm coming with you."
"You're harder to shake than a stapler in a sink," he conversed. "You're obviously still operating on their orders. Alright, let's get on with it," he said innocently.
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