Se�or Alberto gallantly opened the driver�s door for Diane, and she entered with a worried glance to Paul. Se�or Alberto entered behind her as she slid across the leather seats, slammed the door behind him and started the engine.

�Our baby,� Paul whispered, frowning, as the car drove off abruptly.

The jalopy rolled slowly toward Paul�s shack, and he stood on the passenger�s seat, unable to wait for it to stop outside his door.

�One second, that�s all it will take. Just one second,� Paul said over his shoulder as jumped out of the still-moving Jeep and ran to his front door, which was wide open.

He stopped at the threshold and took a deep breath. Sr. Alberto and his little sidekick had already paid him a visit. Everything he owned was strewn about the cottage. The paintings of Diane were sliced off their frames and tossed carelessly on the ground in wrinkled lumps. The contents of his dresser drawers were displayed in heaps, and the drawers were on the ground upside down. The envelope that held $5,000 cash that he had taped to the bottom of the lowest drawer was gone. All that remained was a torn piece of masking tape that had twisted upon itself and collected sand in response to the breeze from the open door.

Paul steeled himself and turned around to the desk. All the drawers had been pulled out, but the contents of his files had not been dumped on the floor. Paul ran over the labels with his fingers and found a red file. He pulled it up and flipped it open, smiled, and then ran out his front door to join his villager friends in the jalopy, which they had already succeeded in turning back toward town. As the jalopy moved, Paul handed the note to his friend Bob, whose worried face softened.

�Thank you for showing me this, Paul,� Bob said, his face serious but contrite. �I�m sorry I didn�t trust you when a stranger came with such accusations.�

�I understand, Bob,� Paul said, wincing at the setting sun. �I was a stranger only a few months ago. Now I�m a friend with an invisible past. I�d be suspicious, too.�

�Some day you�ll have to fill me in yourself instead of letting strangers fill in the blanks.�

�I could tell you, but then I�d have to kill you,� Paul said, in his best Navy SEAL voice. No one laughed as they headed for the bank.

�Okay, ma�am, if you�ll just sign here, we�ll fax this in so the central bank can complete the wire transfer,� the bank�s vice president said.

Diane held the pen over the form, and with a shaky hand, she started to sign.