Jock or I guess I better refer to him as William Arflin before we tend to forget his true identity awoke early. It was Sunday morning and it appeared he was the only one in the entire neighborhood awake. He needed to make a decision. He could sense Lacey was someone special, but he also realized she had entered into his life just a little too late.
He needed to find a way to disappear out of her life without arousing a lot of suspicion. He was afraid his alter ego might take over some night and he could possibly murder Lacey. That thought caused him to shudder and even brought tears to his eyes.
He must take whatever steps necessary to prevent that from happening. He didn't want to lose her, but the fugitive life he was now living made it impossible to make any permanent plans for any kind of a future. He also knew he could never have her for his own. He must devise a plan for leaving that would be believable to Lacey and also allow him a way back to see her if he ever got a chance.
Arflin spent most of that Sunday thinking up different ways to say good-bye to Lacey. Finally he came up with a plan he thought would make more sense. He would tell Lacey the magazine he was writing for was sending him to Alice Springs to do some human nature stories about the Aborigines living in that area. He would tell Lacey because he was born and raised in that area the magazine thought he was well qualified for that assignment. This would also make it easier for Arflin to pop in out without notice. He was sure that would satisfy Lacey's curiosity about him suddenly leaving town.
Arflin started looking for anything Jock Farmington might have in house that might possibly help in his leaving the country. He searched through the closets, but there wasn't anything other than the nice clothes hanging in them and the expensive shoes lined in a row on the floor. He searched every drawer in the house and went through the kitchen cabinets. It dawned on him he had not looked in the most obvious place. He went in the bedroom and looked under the bed.
Bingo! There was a shoebox under there that contained everything Arflin would need to safely flee the country. There was Jock Farmington's high school diploma; title to his car and the most important item of all was a passport. What a tremendous break for Arflin. He noticed Jock visited Columbia, South America quite often. Jock may have relatives living there or this may be where he gets his drugs. It really didn't, at least it would get Arflin safely out of Australia before the authorities could locate him.