The Greener Field

The Stranger

When the afternoon finally came around the following day, Sarah and Carrie were already back in the seaside town of La Jolla, walking among its rich jewelry shops, international banking and real estate offices, and beneath its iconic towering palms, giving the historical San Diego town its Pacific charm. As the sun sat low on the horizon, the two strolled along the ocean boardwalk near the area known  as the Cove—exactly where they had been sitting above the night before in the posh restaurant, listening to Jess' improbable alibi.

This time the two young women stayed down at the sea's edge, skirting the black rocks and foaming waves on the sidewalk while making their steady climb up to the remote headland where a dirt trail began and would eventually lead to the high-cliffed requested meeting point mysteriously designated for Sarah. It was a rendezvous insisted upon by the stranger who seemed to know something about Jess Danford's background---and was willing to offer her what he explained would be "lifesaving" advice. All of this new development was very interesting to Carrie, who insisted Sarah wear the hidden listening device again, from which she would monitor and record facts in her attempt to build a criminal case against Sarah's former charmer.

The entire area around the La Jolla Coastal Walk took on its famed prominence from the lofty overlook trail which meandered for a good mile along the headlands, featuring a precipitous drop to the rocks and sea below. There was also in view from of this vantage walk, a vast sea cave below where kayaks would continuously be seen cruising into its mouth by adventurous tourists, carefully entering and exiting in groups of five or six small colorful crafts between sets of swells.

This high-ceilinged cavern, known simply as "The Cave" for some one-hundred and forty years had been the delight of spectators looking down from the Coastal Walk into its dramatic watery entrance. In recent years, due to staunch California environmental conservation, the entire picturesque locale had been over-taken at the water's edge by a resurgence of sea lions, dark brown cormorants, and clusters of gray pelicans, all of which left a foul smell to the otherwise pristine rocky shoreline.

Soon Sarah and Carrie were near the summit of the trail, where at times it passed precipitously close to the long and dangerous overlook. At these places where a breath-taking view was afforded the ambitious hiker, there were a well-spaced wooden benches placed for contemplation and a respite from the rigors of the path—one of which was intended to be the meeting place for Sarah that late afternoon with one Gunther Hoffmann.

As the two women approached the area along the trail where such benches were sparsely hidden amid the foliage and trees, Carrie told Sarah she would lag behind so as not to intimidate her mysterious contact, should he actually be waiting for her there, as announced in his courier message. She would place herself hidden, yet close enough to intervene in this meeting , with her firearm if necessary if things became threatening to her friend. Sarah bravely agreed to this, knowing Carrie was an agent of the FBI and always armed.

As Sarah walked on ahead, now alone, the sun was just beginning to set. She was comforted by the fact that her partner would be watching carefully from the trees and flowering brushes not far behind. After several more twists and turns along the path, she could indeed see a man seated on a bench at the very edge of the cliff. He was just as he had described himself—wearing a Panama hat with a black band, sitting on one of the wooden benches. He serenely waited while looking out wistfully toward a tangerine colored sky and sea. As Sarah cautiously approached him, she looked back to see that her friend was indeed not far behind, hopefully making the effort to conceal herself. Carrie's single hand suddenly elevated out of a thick grouping of foliage, intended to comfort Sarah and then descended back into into hiding.