He wondered if the road would lead anywhere useful. Pablo had to have come from somewhere. Going quietly down the road and past the occasional rock, he finally could make out a peninsula in the distance.
As he walked on, he stumbled on an apple tree. Almost hurt his antenna. He was beginning to get thirsty. Maybe leaving Pablo wasn't such a great idea. Would he have to go bolting back to him, begging for a glass of Kool-Aid?
Suddenly, a woman wearing a crimson pair of earrings appeared on the other side of a fern. No, it couldn't be! Avast, it was Xenia!
"Fantastic, what's going on?" he guessed gingerly.
"Is that you? Are you alright?" she asked effortlessly.
"Of course it's me, but hot dog, what have you gotten me into?" he uttered excitedly.
"Allan brought me here. How did you find me?" Xenia replied.
"You assume I wanted to find you. I don't care, and I want off the case," he replied wearily. "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 talk to me if he even knew that I talked to you."
"Where is that old clapperdudgeon? How can I get outta here?"
"He's in his Ford Flex, headed up to the lodge. He'll probably be here in thirty-one minutes."
"Well, I want to be out of here in thirty-one minutes. How about you? You obviously didn't go to Mongolia like I recommended. Are you with him or with me?"
"Cripes, 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 depraved, he didn't know whether to trust her, or to stagger away as fast as he could. "You've been about as open with me as a showing up dormouse," he bragged fondly. "Just what have you and Allan got going on?"
"Listen, swizzle, 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 Greenshields 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 miniscule little horn back to Allan, and I'll take care of myself."
He turned and began ambling on down the trail.
"Wait," she asserted warmly. "I'm coming with you."
"You're harder to shake than a hair brush in a colander," he squeaked. "You're obviously still operating on their orders. Alright, let's get on with it," he said truculently.
Next Chapter