• • •

Among the whipping palm trees, cars, and sparse buildings, the coastline stays constant in Marcos's view as he stares out through the window of his limousine. He draws in a deep breath of the salty air that blasts against his face and hair, his eyes on the soothing motions of the waters rippling and glinting under the late morning sun.

"Mr. Barbero!" he hears Barry call out above the wind from the other side of the vehicle. "Why don't you put up the window? People might see you and recognize you."

Marcos can't help but chuckle at the absurdity, but it's the thought that counts. "And what would they do? Chase after us? Jump onto the roof or through the window?"

"What?" Barry shouts over the wind.

Marcos pulls away from the window and gazes to his other side to give Barry a comforting look. "No worries, I'm just enjoying the view."

Tucked in the leather seat of the row the two sit on, Barry keeps his concerned eyes on him; his hands are occupied by an opened newspaper. "Are you on the lookout for the Tail too?"

Now it's Marcos's turn to express a perplexed look. "The what?" He rolls up the window to hear Barry speak clearly.

"The Tail." Barry folds the newspaper closed and sits up. "You haven't heard of it? It's right here." He holds the newspaper out and points to the article on the front.

Marcos turns from the shut window and gazes at the front page. A grainy photo of a familiarly-shaped fin peeking out from the dark ocean surface catches his sight, along with the headline, MYSTERIOUS SEA CREATURE SPOTTED OFF SAN DIEGO COAST.

As fast as his heart leaped up to his throat, Marcos snatches the newspaper from his assistant's hand and scrutinizes it. The quotes of witnesses, the narration of the writer, the words of TAIL, SEA CREATURE, MYSTICAL, PECULIAR, MERMAID spin from the pages and into his head. He finds himself in a riptide of absolute confusion, battling rising waves of panic.

Barry observes him staring at the front page of the newspaper in the silence of the engine roaring and the tires crunching against the concrete. Besides shifting to the motions of the car, Marcos remains motionless with eyes filled with bewilderment on the article.

"Mr. Barbero?" Barry clears his throat, his fist to his mouth. "Um, I was thinking that this could be good material for tonight's trivia questions. It's a very intriguing topic." He then seals his lips as he notices annoyance creeping into the master's face.

"No." Marcos straightens up and peels off the front cover page of the newspaper, taking the back page along. "We will stick to the planned topics." He rifles through the newspaper to find the continuation of the article and pulls it out of the newspaper.

Barry grimaces at the jumbled sight of papers. "What are you doing?"

Marcos thinks quickly as he shuffles the remaining large pages together. "You are right—" He holds the leftover newspaper to him. "It is an intriguing topic. But not for the show."

Barry takes back his tinkered newspaper. "Why not? It's fresh and everyone must be talking about it."

"It's developing and—" Marcos glances at the photo lying on his lap. "—it might not be true. It could be all a misunderstanding. A conspiracy theory."

Barry has his eyes on the photo. "The photo does seem convincing—"

"Keep it to yourself." Marcos holds a stern expression at him. "And don't say a word about this to Mr. Williams." He then turns to the newspaper pages on his lap to fold them up. "We must focus on tonight's show and only tonight's show."