“Where is Waylon?” Tafadzwa asked again.
“He had an accident. Perhaps he died.” Pthuy muttered.
“So the jeep was his?” Tafadzwa scratched his chin, “But one thing, my ugly friend, we did not find any bodies there.”
“Maybe forest hounds did.”
Tafadzwa nod. He saw a coin covered in slime. Tafadzwa didn’t touch it, but pointed at it.
“Was anyone here before me?” Tafadzwa said.
“Ranger wanted to know where his horse was.”
“Or Waylon wanted to know where I am.”
Tafadzwa shot at Pthuy abruptly. The creature’s head burst like a balloon splattered everywhere. Tafadzwa wiped spots from his shirt and went towards the cryptographer. He put his hand on his shoulder.
The cryptographer was shaking.
“You are free to go.” Tafadzwa removed his hand.
“Are you playing with me?” cryptographer asked.
“I am freeing you.”
“Why?”
Tafadzwa smirked and walked out of the room. His confused henchmen also followed him without a question.
Waylon and Roderick waited till the sound of Tafadzwa’s jeeps became inaudible. Both of them ran to the living room when Tafadzwa was gone. The petrified cryptographer was gazing at the slimy corpse.
“You two didn’t rescue me.” He pointed at them.
“We tried –” Roderick said.
“You did not.”
“Alright punk.” Waylon lost it, “We did not rescue you because we didn’t have time. But I can fix the mistake we did.”
“How?” he snapped.
“I will give you a part of treasure when I find it.”
Cryptographer’s eyes widened. He broke into wild laughter, “You also want me to crack the code?”
“Yes.” Waylon said.
“I don’t want a single coin. I have faced countless hardships because I can decode ciphers.”
“But think. You can get rich.”
“I don’t want to get rich.”
“Maybe everyone doesn’t share the same opinion with you. Have you given a thought about it?”
“I don’t care.”
“But we do!” Waylon took out his gun.
“You are no different than Tafadzwa.”
Roderick stepped between.
“Please help us.” Roderick pleaded to him.
“If you had rescued me, then I would have done it for you.” Cryptographer said.
