The next day passed without incident, the high fall off the cliff going as planned.  On the way back to New York, Rollie and Manny discussed the boat gag that was scheduled for the following day.

“The helicopter has to be high enough above the boat that the downdraft from it isn’t going to be noticeable,” Manny commented.  “The light will be suspended on a long cable just out of camera shot.  It’s all going to take split second timing.  The light is dropped, the stuntmen bail out of the boat, and the explosives are triggered just seconds apart from each other.”

“One of us should be up in the helicopter to make sure the light drops on cue,” Rollie said.  “I can do that.  If, by some crazy coincidence, the winch does fail, I want to make sure my emergency brake works.”

“Are you going to install it when we get back or in the morning?”

“I should do it when we get back.  I want to test it.”

Back at the studio, Rollie got a winch that was identical to the one that was to be used on the stunt.  As Manny watched, he installed the newly completed braking system.  They then rigged the winch so that it would fail and drop the load it was carrying.  They put the winch on a tower on one of the lots and attached a few hundred pounds of sandbags to the cable.

Standing beside the winch, they turned it on and watched it lift the bags.  About halfway up, the winch failed and the cable dropped.  About three seconds after the failure, Rollie’s braking system was triggered.  It grabbed hold of the cable, slowed it, then stopped it.

“It worked!  Congratulations!” Manny said with a grin.

“Yeah, it worked, but the cable still fell too far before stopping.  I’m going to have to shorten the trigger delay.  The brake has to activate sooner than it did.  I can probably get it down to a one and a half second delay, maybe even one second.  That’ll have to wait until after tomorrow, though.  There won’t be time to do another test.”

Rollie removed the brake from the winch they had rigged and attached it to the one that would be used in the helicopter.  They loaded both winches into the van.  The one they’d used for the test would have to be refitted with some parts before it could be used again.

“Hey, Rollie!”

The Aussie turned to see Sam heading toward them.

“I see that braking thing you made works.  Great going.  I sure hope we won’t be needing it tomorrow since yours truly is going to be on that boat.”

“Oh, so you got dragged into doing that one, huh.  I bet you just love the idea of jumping into that nice balmy ocean.”

Sam made a face.  “Don’t remind me.  You remember what happened the last time I took a dip in the ocean in the middle of winter.”

“You’d better believe I remember.  You do not handle getting sick very well.  I’ve never seen anyone get so cranky about a cold.”

“Well, how else should I act when the guy who was swimming right beside me comes out of it with not even a sniffle?  I was born and raised in Minnesota, for cripes sake, and you’re from from Australia, yet I’m the one who got sick.  Not fair!”

“What can I say, Sammy?  I guess it’s all that clean living.  You should try it sometime.”  Rollie’s eyes were twinkling.

“What, and give up my cigars and scotch?  No way, man.  I’d rather have the colds.”

Rollie grinned and patted Sam on the back.  “Well, you probably won’t get sick this time.  I'd say this water is at least four or five degrees higher above freezing than what we jumped into before.”

“Oh, thanks so much for the words of comfort, Rol.  I’ll remember them when I’m sick in bed, sneezing my brains out.”  Sam turned to Manny.  “So, is this child prodigy here learning anything yet?  Ouch!”  Sam stared at Rollie, who’d just given him a none too gentle punch in the arm.

“Child prodigy?”  Rollie glared at the man, a bit miffed at the comment.

“So sorry.  I just keep thinking of that baby-faced, wet-behind-the-ears kid I decided to take pity on two years ago.  I take it back.  How about adult prodigy.  Is there such a thing?  No?  Then let’s just stick with genius.”

Manny quickly wiped off the smile that had crept onto his face as the two men turned to him.  “Rollie is doing great.  He’s a natural born F/X man.  He’s even teaching me a thing or two.”

Rollie blushed at the compliment, not entirely sure he deserved it.

Sam grinned.  “Well, that’s great.  I guess your days as a stuntman are definitely over, Rol--and so are my days as a babysitter.  Gosh, I may cry.”

“Aw, Sam, you can always find some other baby-faced, wet-behind-the-ears kid to take pity on,” Rollie said.

“You know, you’re right.  In fact, I think I saw the perfect candidate just this morning.  I’d better go find him before he kills himself on a stunt.”  The stuntman strolled away, whistling his usual slightly off-key tune.

“He’s quite a character, isn’t he,” Manny commented.

Rollie smiled fondly.  “Yeah, that’s Sam.  Actually, he’d make a great stunt coordinator.  He really watches out for his fellow stuntmen.  Um, I haven’t told him about our theory or about our plans.  If I did, he’d insist on being there.”

“Why don’t you want him there?”

“Well, you’ve only seen one side of Sam’s personality.  He also has a nasty temper when somebody he cares about has been hurt by someone.  About a year ago, his little sister was attacked by a man.  Sam found the guy and ended up putting him in the hospital.  Sam would have gone to prison for it if it hadn’t been for the fact that witnesses said the guy came at him with a knife.  The thing got ruled as self-defense.”

“And you’re afraid of what he might do if he got his hands on the guy who’s doing this?”

“Yeah.  I just don’t want him to go to jail because of this thing.  At the same time, I don’t feel right about keeping him out of the loop.  I don’t know.  I’ll have to think about it.”

“Hey, Manny!” someone called.  They turned to see Luis Gomez, who was on the studio’s police force.  The uniformed man pulled up to them in a cart.

“What’s up, Luis?” Manny asked.

“Angie’s at the west gate.  She’s got four kids from school with her.  She wants to take them on a tour.”

Manny’s eyebrows rose.  “Angie?  My daughter?  Where did this come from?”

“Uh, maybe it has something to do with that talk she and I had,” Rollie suggested.

Manny stared at him for a moment.  “You know, you’re probably right.”  He smiled.  “Well, it’s about time she started making some friends.”  He turned to the security guard.  “You got room for two more in that cart?”

Rollie quickly locked up the van and activated the alarm system, then sat beside Manny in the back seat of the cart.  They sped over to the west gate.  Rollie saw Angie and four other kids all standing beside the guard booth.

Angie saw the cart approaching. “Here they are.  See, I told you that my dad would take care of everything.”

The cart stopped, and Manny and Rollie got out.

“What’s this, Ange?” her father asked.

“I told them that we could go on a tour of the studio.”  Angie turned pleading eyes up to her father.

Manny smiled.  “Well, sure.  No problem.  We need to put visitor badges on your friends, though.”

Rollie got the badges from the guard and pinned them onto the four children, treating each one of them to that special smile of his.  Angie noticed that Carrie Green was staring at Rollie in a way that she did not like at all.  Her eyes narrowing, Angie watched as the girl smiled back at Rollie, placing her hand on his as he put her badge on.

“What’s your name?” Carrie asked.

“Rollie Tyler.  What’s yours?”

“Carrie.  Carrie Green.  Are you an actor?”

Rollie grinned in delight.  “Afraid not.  I’m just Manny’s apprentice.”  He moved onto the next kid.

Carrie sidled over to Angie.  “He works with your father?  Ooh, he’s dreamy.”

Jealousy flared up inside Angie, making her see both green and red at the same time.  She wanted to smack Carrie right in the mouth.  “Just leave him alone, Carrie.  He already has a girlfriend.”

“Who?”

“None of your business.”  Angie strode away and positioned herself between Rollie and the girl.  Carrie had snatched up every cute boy at school, and there was no way that she was going to get Rollie, too.  Angie should never have invited the girl along.  She had done it to show Carrie that she could do all kinds of neat stuff.  Now, Angie just wished that she could make the girl go home.

Throughout the impromptu tour, Angie stuck close to Rollie.  Every time Carrie Green tried to get near him, Angie managed to be there first.  If it wasn’t for Carrie, she would have been enjoying herself immensely.  The other three kids were oohing and ahing over everything.  They kept asking questions, and Angie was thrilled that she knew the answers to every single one.

It was during one of the question and answer sessions that Angie got distracted and forgot to keep an eye on Carrie.  She suddenly looked up to see the girl standing next to Rollie.  Her blood boiling, Angie moved toward them, planning to close in on Carrie from the side.  But then she stopped, listening as the girl started making her ‘moves’ on Rollie.

“You sure are smart, Rollie,” Carrie said.  “I’m not nearly so smart as you.”

Ooh!  That’s just how she got all of them.  Make them feel important.  Give their egos a boost.  She is just so obvious!

“Oh, I wouldn’t say that.  I’m sure you’re just as smart as lots of kids, and I’m no smarter than millions of other guys.  I’ve just studied a lot about some of this stuff.”  Rollie went back to watching the other kids.

Angie secretly smiled.  Well, that tactic didn’t work.  With the boys at school, Carrie would have had them eating out of her hand by now.  She noticed a faint frown pass over the girl’s face.

“You sure could be a movie star, Rollie.  You’re really handsome,” Carrie purred.

Rollie looked at her again, this time in surprise.  “Well . . . thank you, Carrie.  I’m flattered.  But I’m really not all that special.  I’m certainly no Robert Redford.”

Angie was crowing on the inside.  Strike two, Carrie!

The frown came to the girl’s face again, deeper this time.  She moved a step closer to Rollie.  “Do you have a girlfriend, Rollie?  I bet you have lots of girlfriends.”

“Nope, right now there’s only one girl in my life, and that’s Angie.”

Angie thought she was going to faint right on the spot.  Oh, wow, oh, WOW!  Did Rollie actually say that?  A big, goofy smile had spread over her face.  “I’m the girl in Rollie’s life!” she whispered.

Carrie pouted and turned away.  Her eyes met Angie’s.  Angie’s smile changed to one of triumph.  Carrie turned her nose up and strode away toward the other kids.

Feeling like she wanted to dance and sing, Angie went to Rollie’s side.  He smiled down at her.

“Well, there’s my girl.”  He hugged her close for a moment.  “Are you having fun?”

Angie nodded.  “I’m having the best time in the world!”

“Fantastic!  Now, go on back to those other kids and show them what a ‘brain’ you are.”

Angie took a couple of steps away, then suddenly threw her arms around Rollie’s waist and hugged him.

Rollie laughed.  “What’s that for?”

“I just felt like it.  Thank you, Rol,” Angie said, using the shortened form of Rollie’s name for the first time.

“You are very welcome, Angie.  I’m glad to see you making friends.”

Angie skipped over to the other kids, who were busy barraging her father with questions, all except for Carrie, who was off pouting a few feet away.

Throughout the next hour, Angie had the best time of her life.  She was really sorry when it was time for the kids to go home.  The other two girls in the group had given her their phone numbers, and the only boy Angie had invited wanted to know if she’d like to eat lunch with him tomorrow.  Angie didn’t really like the boy all that much.  He was just one of the few boys who actually talked to her from time to time.  It would be nice, though, to have someone for a lunch partner.  Carrie, of course, hadn’t said one word to her.

On the drive home, Angie gazed out the window, a smile still on her face.  Manny glanced from time to time at his daughter, pleased to no end that things were turning around so well for her.

“How about if we go out to eat tonight?  Would you like that, Ange?  You get to choose where we go.”

“Thanks, Papa!  That would be great.”

Angie went to bed that night, hardly able to wait for the next day at school to begin.
 

CHAPTER TWELVE -- A NEW FAMILY

The following morning, Rollie went in search of Sam Turner.  During the night, he had decided that, in all fairness, he couldn’t keep his friend in the dark about what was happening.  He owed the stuntman so much.

Rollie found out what stunt Sam was scheduled to do that morning and headed over to the lot.  He spied his friend standing with the film crew.  Looking at the stuntman, Rollie tried to decide the best way to tell him everything.  No matter how he did it, he was pretty sure he knew how the man was going to react.

Giving a small sigh, Rollie headed toward his friend.  Sam noticed him and gave the Aussie his usual grin.  Then he saw the serious look on Rollie’s face.

“What is it?  Has something happened?” the stuntman asked.

“Let’s go somewhere we can talk, Sam.”

“Uh oh, this is serious, isn’t it.”

“About as serious as it gets, I’m afraid,” Rollie admitted.

They moved away from the others.  Sam kept glancing at Rollie.

“Okay, so what’s up, Rol?”

“There are some things I need to tell you, Sam, about this business with the sabotage.”  Rollie told his friend about the timer on the bomb, about his theory that the saboteur was after both Manny and him, and about their plan to catch the man.  Sam listened silently to everything.  As Rollie finished, the stuntman turned and walked a couple of steps away.  Rollie saw the man’s back stiffen, his hands curling into fists.  When Sam turned back to the Aussie, there was a look in his eyes, a look very much like what he’d had when his sister had been attacked.

Realizing that he’d better try to doing something to calm his friend, Rollie stepped toward him.  “Now, Sam, don’t go mental on me, okay?  I know you’re angry.  I am, too.  But we have to keep our heads.”

“Keep our heads?  It was bad enough when I thought that it was someone who just wanted to wreak the stunt, but this. . . .  Rollie, the bastard deliberately tried to kill you!  There’s no way I’m going to let that pass.”

“No one’s going to let it pass.  We’re going to catch him and put him in jail where he belongs.  I just don’t want you there, too.  Please, Sam.  You have to promise me that you’re not going to go out and do something stupid.  This guy is dangerous.”  Rollie fixed his unwavering gaze on his friend.  “Promise me, Sam.”

The stuntman returned his gaze, his eyes still burning with anger.  At last, he gave a sigh.  “All right, Rol, I promise.  I won’t go out and throttle the slime.”

Rollie relaxed.  He gave Sam’s shoulder a pat.  “Good.  Now, you’d better get back to work.”

Sam nodded and took a few steps away, then he stopped and looked at Rollie.  “I want to be there, Rollie, when you catch the guy.”

The Aussie studied his friend’s face.  He nodded.

The corners of Sam’s mouth turned up slightly in gratitude.  Then, “You do know how . . . well, how I feel, don’t you?”  The man shifted uncomfortably.

Rollie looked at the stuntman.  Sam Turner was not the kind of man who talked about his feeling easily.  “Yeah, Sammy.  I know.”

His friend gave a brief nod, then continued toward the film crew.

“I love you, too,” Rollie murmured.

Rollie and Manny were busy setting the explosives on the boat.  A cold rain was falling, so they’d had the craft moved into one of the large buildings that was used for rigging stunt cars and other vehicles.

Rollie heard footsteps echoing on the concrete floor and looked up to see AC heading toward them.

“How are you doing, my boy?” the producer asked Rollie.

Rollie smiled, remembering the last time he’d seen AC.  The man had come to visit him shortly before the end of visiting hours while he was in the hospital.  “Much better, AC.  Manny and Angie have been taking very good care of me.”

“And so they should.  You were quite the find, my young friend.  In the years to come, when Ramirez F/X is hailed as the best independent special effect company in the industry, I’ll be proud to know that I had a hand in it.”  The producer had a satisfied grin on his face.

Rollie blushed at the compliment, then said, “Ramirez F/X was already the best in the business long before I showed up.”

The producer’s smile grew.  “Yes, it was, but there’s the best in the business, and then there is the best in the business, and, since I got both of you started in the business, I can be proud on both counts.”

Manny shook his head, laughing.  “Well, when you finish patting yourself on the back, AC, maybe you can let us get back to work.  It’s less than an hour before shooting starts on this scene.”

“Okay, okay.  Nobody can say that AC Bobb doesn’t know when he’s not wanted around.”  The man gave them a good-humored smile.  Then he noticed something behind them.  “Well, hi there, Sweet Potato.  How’s AC’s girl?”

Angie, who had just arrived from school, grimaced at the hated nickname, but gave the producer a hug all the same.  “I’m doing great.”

Rollie had noticed the look on Angie’s face.  He couldn’t blame the girl for hating the nickname.  He would, too.

“So, I hear that you brought some kids from school over for a bit of a tour yesterday,” AC commented.  “I assume they were suitably impressed.”

“You bet they were,” Manny said, grinning.  “Angie was quite the tour guide, better than anyone they have over at Universal.  She really showed them her stuff.”

“Dad!” Angie said, blushing.  “I just answered their questions, that’s all.”

“And brilliantly, I might add.  I had no idea you’d learned so much just by watching me.”

“You’d better watch it, Manny.  Otherwise, my Sweet Potato here will be taking over your business by the time she’s sixteen,” AC warned with a smile.

Rollie saw the look of irritation pass over Angie’s face again.  He smiled faintly.

“Well, I’d better let you two get this finished.  I don’t want to be blamed for delaying the shoot, although, if this rain keeps up, there won’t be a shoot.”  AC headed off toward the exit.

“AC, hold up a sec,” Rollie called.  He trotted over to the producer.

Angie watched as the Aussie talked to AC.  The producer glanced once at her, then laughed.  He nodded his head, patting Rollie on the shoulder.

As the former stuntman returned, Angie glared at him.  “What were you talking about?”

“Oh, nothing important,” he replied in an offhand manner.

“You were talking about me, weren’t you,” Angie accused.

“Now, why would you think that?  I was just giving him some information, that’s all.”  Rollie eyes were twinkling with mirth.  He went back over to the boat.

Angie stared at his back.  She just knew that Rollie had said something about her to AC.  What had he said?  Had he told some kind of joke about her?  Why wouldn’t he tell her?  The more Angie thought about it, the angrier she got.  Ooh!  Men could be just so . . . so . . . LIKE MEN!

Fuming, Angie cast her eyes about and spied a bucket of soapy water over by a show car that had just been washed for a scene.  She snatched up the bucket, strode back over to Rollie, and dumped the contents over the Aussie’s head.

Rollie yelled as the water soaked him.  Sputtering, he came to his feet.  He spun around and stared in shock at Angie.

“Angela Kathleen Ramirez!” her father yelled, rising to his feet.  “What in the name of heaven did you do that for?  You apologize to Rollie right this second, young lady!”

A refusal was on Angie’s lips, but she didn’t get a chance to speak it.  So fast that she didn’t stand a chance of escaping him, Rollie snatched her up off her feet.

“Put me down!” Angie yelled.  Then she saw where Rollie was taking her, and she started to struggle and squirm in his grasp.

Rollie scooped up the hose and turned on the water.  He deposited her on the ground, spraying a stream of water right over her head.  Angie screeched and squealed as the water ran down her face and back.

Finally, Rollie turned off the nozzle.  Angie scrambled to her feet and stepped back a couple of paces, glaring furiously.  “How dare you!  How dare you!” she screamed.

“I just told him that you didn’t like to be called Sweet Potato, you little idiot!” Rollie said.

“Wh-what?”

“AC.  All I did was tell him that you hated being called Sweet Potato.”  There was exasperation and some other emotion Angie couldn’t identify in Rollie’s voice.

“Oh!” Angie cried in horror.  With a sob, she ran from the building.  Placing her thumb on the scanner, Angie opened the door of the van and dove inside, slamming the door behind her.  Sitting down on a chair, she started to cry.

About half a minute later, the door opened to reveal her father.  She turned away from him as he came inside.

“Angie?”  Manny’s voice was low, questioning.  He knelt beside her.

“Oh, Papa!” Angie wailed, suddenly throwing her arms around her father’s neck.  “I’ve ruined everything!  Now he’s going to hate me forever, and ever, and ever!”

“Who, Rollie?  He doesn’t hate you, Ange.”

“Yes, he d-does!  I’m so s-stupid!  I’m so d-dumb!” she said between hiccups, her words muffled by her father’s coat.

Manny pulled away slightly and studied her face.  “Why did you do it, Angie Girl?”

“I don’t knowww!” Angie cried, her voice a long, drawn out wail.  “I t-thought he was j-joking about me to AC.  I just got so m-mad!  But he wasn’t!  He was being n-nice, and now he’s never going to l-love me.”  She buried her face in her father’s coat again, crying like she’d lost every last friend in the world.

Manny held Angie, finally realizing how his daughter truly felt about his new apprentice.  He hadn’t seen it before, hadn’t seen the king-sized crush that Angie had for the tall, handsome Aussie.  Now that he did see it, he worried about what would happen when she found out that Rollie didn’t, couldn’t, feel the same way.  Sooner or later, the young man would go out on a date.  When that happened, Angie would be devastated.  He knew how powerful childhood crushes could be.  Should he tell her?  Should he tell Angie that, though Rollie did love her--and he knew that Rollie did--he couldn’t love her in that way?  In some ways, that might be worse than letting her find out for herself.

Manny decided to remain silent.  Hopefully, by the time Rollie did find a girlfriend, Angie will have gotten over her crush.  These things were usually very short-lived.  Maybe by then, his daughter will have come to love Rollie more as a brother.  He didn’t want to see the relationship between them destroyed.  He had a feeling that it was going to become something very special, something that would last a lifetime.

Manny continued to hold Angie until she’d cried herself out.  She was starting to shiver by then from being wet.  “I’m going to go get you a towel, sweetheart.  We wouldn’t want you to catch a cold.”

“I don’t care if I catch a cold.  I don’t care if I get pneumonia and die,” Angie declared.

An answer to her statement came to Manny’s lips, but he held it back.  He must not trivialize or belittle his daughter’s feelings.  Her emotions were very real and very serious.  Manny sighed softly and removed himself from Angie’s grasp.  He headed toward the door.

“I’ll be back in a few minutes, Angie.”

The little girl said nothing.  With another sigh, Manny opened the door--and came face to face with the object of his daughter’s misery.  Rollie was standing out in the freezing rain, looking about as miserable as a drenched kitten.  He was shivering, his teeth chattering.

“Is she okay?  I didn’t mean to make her cry.  Is she still mad at me?  I’m so sorry, Manny.  I had no right to do what I did.”  Rollie’s words came out in an unending stream, each one hot on the tail of the previous one.  Then his tone changed, became low and full of pain.  “If you want me to leave, I will.  Maybe I should.”  His eyes fell, and his shoulders slumped.

Manny looked at the Aussie, who was almost young enough to be his son.  All at once, the F/X man realized that, though Rollie might seem so mature sometimes, he was still very young.  A part of him was still the lonely little boy who’d lost his mother so tragically and had spent the better part of his life waiting for his father to become the steady, strong presence Rollie so desperately needed.  A warm tenderness filled Manny.  He laid his hand on the Aussie’s shoulder.

“Hey, nobody wants you to leave.  Not me and certainly not Angie.  She’s in there crying because she thinks you hate her now.”

Rollie’s headed lifted sharply.  “But I could never hate her.  I. . . .”  His eyes dropped for a moment.  “I care about her.  She’s like . . . like a sister.  Is that stupid?  I mean, I’ve only known you guys for a few days.”

“It isn’t stupid at all, Rollie, and it makes no difference how long you’ve known someone.  Sometimes, the greatest of friendships are forged within a matter of hours.”  Manny squeezed the young man’s shoulder.  “Now, you go on in there.  You both need some serious cheering up, not to mention some dry clothes and something hot to drink.  I’ll be back in a little while.”  Manny moved past the Aussie, then stopped.  “And Rollie?  It’s okay to love her.  She isn’t going to go away.”

Rollie watched the man leave through the driving rain.  He then opened the door of the van and quietly slipped inside.  Angie’s back was to him.  She was hunched over the work counter, her head lying face down on her crossed arms.  He could hear repeated sniffles, and her little body was shivering.  Rollie shed his dripping coat and silently moved to her side.  He knelt beside her.  His hand reached out to touch her hair, but stopped a few inches away.  Returning it to his side, Rollie just looked at her for a long moment.

“Ange?”

Angie stiffened at the sound of his voice.  Her face remained hidden.

“Angie, I don’t hate you.  I could never hate you.”  Rollie’s hand rose again, this time gently pushing Angie’s hair away from her face.  “Won’t you look at me?  Please?”

Slowly, Angie’s head lifted.  Blue eyes met brown in a long, long look.  Then Angie threw herself into Rollie’s arms.  She began crying anew.

“I’m sorry, Rollie.  I’m sorry.  I was so mean.  I-I thought that you were making jokes about me, but you weren’t.  You were being nice.  I am such a terrible person.”  She hid her face in the hollow of Rollie’s neck.

“Hey.  Don’t you dare say that, you hear?  You are not a terrible person, Ange.  You’re a terrific person.  You’re the best.”

“I-I am?”

“You bet you are.  You’re smart, and brave, and kind, and you’re the best friend that anybody could have.”

“T-the best?”

“Yes, the best.  You and I are going to be best buddies, okay?”  He tried to look at her face.  “Okay?”

Angie lifted her head.  Her eyes were shining.  “Okay,” she replied, a smile coming to her lips.  Then she threw her arms around Rollie’s neck.  “I love you,” she whispered.

Rollie felt tears coming to his eyes and a lump to his throat.  “I love you too, sweetie,” he whispered back.  He lifted Angie up out of the chair, then sat down and put her in his lap.  Her arms remained tightly wrapped around his neck, her head tucked in under his chin.  As he stroked her hair, he felt her body relax.  Her arms slowly slid down.  Rollie looked at the child’s sleeping face, his heart filling with an emotion like nothing he’d ever felt before.  Is this what it was like to be a father?  To love a child so much that you would do anything, sacrifice anything, for them?  Rollie didn’t know the answer, but he did know that he would die for Angie--in a heartbeat.

Manny returned ten minutes later.  He paused in the doorway upon seeing his daughter asleep in Rollie’s lap.  There was a look of joy on the young Aussie’s face and a depth to his eyes that Manny had never seen before.  Those eyes met his and smiled.  Manny smiled back and came into the van the rest of the way.

“I see that you patched things up.”

The smile on the young man’s face grew broader.  “Yeah.  Everything’s going to be just fine.”

“I’m glad.”  Manny’s smile changed to a mischievous grin.  He chuckled softly.  “I have to tell you, Rollie.  When you stuck her head under that hose, I just about fell out of the boat, I was laughing so hard.”

Rollie made a face.  “I really shouldn’t have done it.”

“Oh, yes you should.  It was exactly what she deserved after what she did.  I don’t believe in coddling children. If they do something wrong, then they should be punished.  I’ve never spanked Angie.  I’ve never had to.  But what she did was wrong, even if she did think she had good cause, although I still don’t know what she thought you said to AC.  I guess it doesn’t matter anymore.”  He smiled again.  “You know, years from now, you’ll both laugh about this whole thing.”

Rollie’s own smile returned.  “I’m looking forward to that--the years, I mean.”

“I am too, Rollie.”

Manny picked up the huge plastic bag he’d brought back.  Inside were towels, blankets, and a thermos.  He handed Rollie a towel, then wrapped one of the blankets around both him and Angie.  He then poured the Aussie a steaming cup of chicken soup.  At the smell of food, Angie stirred.  She opened her eyes and looked up at Rollie.

“Hi, there.  Hungry?” Rollie asked.

Angie nodded her head.  Manny poured her a cup.  She sipped on it while Rollie towel-dried first her hair, then his own.  While drinking his own soup, Manny watched the two young people.  Rollie clearly had no idea that Angie had a crush on him.  He should probably let the Aussie know, but Manny hated to see the relationship between his apprentice and his daughter become strained by the discomfort that Rollie would no doubt feel.  If the time came that he felt he had to tell Rollie, then he would.  Until then, he would let things stand as they were.

“Have they canceled the shoot?” Rollie asked.

“Yeah, I’m afraid so.  It’s been rescheduled for tomorrow morning, that is if the weather lets up.  It’s really coming down right now.  And the temperature’s dropping, too.  We might end up with some snow before the night’s through.”

Rollie smiled at the mention of snow.  “You should have seen me the first time I saw snow.  There isn’t any where I lived in Australia, and we didn’t have a TV and rarely ever went to the movies, so snow had just been something I’d heard about and seen in books.  For a few minutes, I didn’t know what to make of it.  Then, when I found out how much fun it could be, oh boy!  I just wouldn’t leave my dad alone.  Every time he turned around, he got a snowball in the back.  In self-defense, he started bombarding me with his own.”  Rollie laughed, then gradually grew quiet.  “That’s one of the few times that I can remember actually playing with him.”

Not knowing what to say, Manny remained silent.  The three of them drank their soup, then went back inside to finish setting up the explosives so that it would be ready first thing in the morning.  As Manny set the radio detonator, a thought occurred to Rollie.  He went out to the van and came back a few minutes later carrying a box.

“I was thinking that we should make sure our ‘friend’ doesn’t do something like pulling a switch on us,” the Aussie commented.

“A switch?  You mean switch this detonator with one that he controls?” Manny asked, suddenly concerned.  If the saboteur did that, the man could set off the explosives at any time.

“Yeah.”  Rollie set the box down and pulled out its contents.

Manny looked at the bottles of chemicals.  “What do you plan to do with those?”

“Well, my fourteenth birthday present was a chemistry set. While I was playing around, I, um, ‘discovered’ an interesting compound.  I accidentally spilled some on the carpet, then, when I tried to wipe it up, the towel stuck.  My dad wasn’t home at the time, and I didn’t know what to do, so I left it.  A few hours later, he came back and, uh, stepped in it.  He ended up having to remove his shoe because he couldn’t get it free.  It took two days for the stuff to dry.  We finally had to cut out the entire section of carpet since nothing we tried would get the things unstuck.”

Manny started to laugh, then Angie began laughing, too.  After a few seconds, Rollie joined in.  As the laughter died down, Manny looked at the bottles again.

“Are you saying that you plan to make that stuff now?”

“Not exactly.  You don’t have all the chemicals I need, but I can make something similar.  It won’t have quite the, uh, holding power, but it’ll suffice.  If the saboteur touches the detonator, he’ll have a bit of trouble getting his hands unstuck.”

“But, what about in the morning when we have to touch it?” Manny asked.

“Oh, I eventually came up with a solvent for the stuff years later--after I finally rediscovered the formula for the glue.”

“Why did you want to make the glue again?” Angie asked.

“Well, I had this lame-brained idea that I could somehow market the stuff and make millions.  It wasn’t until I finally figured out the formula again that I realized that it simply took too long to dry to have any practical applications.  I tried adding elements to it to make it dry faster, but they only succeeded in making the glue less effective.  I also found out that it crystalizes after a few days, making it useless.”  Rollie shook his head at his own foolishness.

“I guess your father didn’t take the chemistry set away, then,” Manny commented.

“Oh, he was tempted to, believe me, but I think he had the idea that some money could be made off of something I might cook up.”

Rollie began mixing the chemicals carefully in the beaker.  The mixture gradually took on a thick, honey-like consistency.  The Aussie poured the stuff over the detonator.  It oozed down the sides and onto the boat’s deck.

“That should do it,” Rollie said.

After putting everything back in the box, they went back to the van and headed toward the studio exit.  As they approached the guard booth, the man on duty waved at them to stop.

“What’s up, Mike?”  Manny asked.

“I have a message here from Mister Bobb.  He says that filming on the house fire has been rescheduled to Saturday.  Nobody was happy about working half the weekend, but the shoot's already behind schedule because of the weather, and the backers are starting to complain.”

“Oh, wow!  That means that I can watch it!” Angie exclaimed excitedly.

Manny glanced at his daughter, then returned his attention to the guard.  “Thanks, Mike.  See you tomorrow.”

Once they were on the road, Manny looked at Angie again.  “I’d rather you not be there, Ange.  You know that we plan to set our trap for the saboteur then.  It’s just going to be too dangerous.”

“But Dad!  I really want to see it.  I promise that I’ll stay off the set until it’s safe.  Besides, I can watch for people hanging around that aren’t supposed to be there.  Please?”

“We’ll see,” Manny said.

Angie smiled, knowing that “we’ll see” was almost as good as “yes” when her father said it.

On the way home, they stopped at the grocery store to pick up a few things.  Rollie had insisted that he was going to cook that night.  He wanted to make an Australian dish for Manny and Angie.  Back at the loft, he shooed them both out of the kitchen and got to work.  An hour later, he was setting the food on the table.  The three dug in.

“Oh, this is good!” Angie exclaimed.

“It sure is,” Manny agreed.

“Thanks.  I had to change the recipe a bit.  You’re actually supposed to use kangaroo meat, but that’s just a tad hard to come by here in New York, so I used beef instead.  It’s really not too bad this way, different, but not bad at all.”

After dinner, they played cards, then a game of charades.  Rollie couldn’t remember the last time he’d had so much fun.  He felt like he’d found a new family.

“It’s snowing!” Angie cried.

Rollie looked out the window.  Sure enough, big, fat snowflakes were drifting down on the other side of the glass.  They all got their coats and gloves on and went outside.  By the amount of snow that was on the ground, it must have been coming down for at least an hour.

Rollie turned his face up to the sky and let the flakes fall onto it.  Suddenly, something cold and wet splattered against the back of his head.  Rollie squawked and spun around.  Angie was giggling.

“Why you little. . . .”  Rollie scooped up a handful of snow, quickly formed it into a ball, and launched it at Angie.  It hit her square in the chest.  After that, a real battle ensued.  Snowy cannonballs flew back and forth between Rollie, Manny, and Angie.  All three of them were laughing so hard that their sides ached.  At one point, Angie slipped and fell in the snow.  Rollie immediately pounced on her and started tickling her mercilessly.

Manny stood back and watched in delight for a few seconds, then, deciding that his daughter needed rescuing, he scooped up a big handful of snow and dumped it down Rollie’s shirt collar.  With another squawk, the Aussie sat up straight, reaching down his shirt.  Taking advantage of the distraction, Angie leaped onto Rollie, knocking him to the ground.  Then she started tickling him.  Rollie laughed until he could laugh no more.

“I give up!  I give up!” he gasped.

Angie relented and Rollie stood.  Exhausted and out of breath, they all went back inside.  After shedding their coats and gloves, they plopped down in the lounge, still laughing.

“Whew!  I haven’t had this much of a workout since . . . I don’t know since when,” Manny said.

“This was just so much fun!” Angie exclaimed.  “Papa, could Rollie live here all the time?”

There was a long moment of silence.

“Um, I don’t think that would work out very well, Ange,” Rollie said.  “I wouldn’t have anywhere to sleep, for one thing.  I really would need my own bedroom, you know.”

“You could have my bedroom.  I could sleep with Papa or here on the couch.”

“Well, that’s very generous of you, Angie, and I do appreciate it, but I think it would be better if I just live in my apartment.  Sometimes, I stay up really late.  And sometimes, I have friends over and stuff like that.  I really like being with you guys, but there are times when I’d like to be alone and in my own place.  Can you understand that?”

Angie’s eyes dropped to her hands.  “I guess so.”

Rollie got up from the chair and sat beside her.  “Hey, it’s not like you’re never going to see me.  You’ll be seeing me just about every day.  I can still come over for dinner sometimes, and we can do stuff together on the weekends, too.  Do you know how to ice skate?”

“Sure.  I learned when I was a little girl.”

“Well then, how about if you and I, just the two of us, go ice skating this Sunday.  I’m not really very good at it, but you can teach me.”

Angie’s eyes lit up.  “Oh, can we?”  She looked at Manny.  “Can we, Papa?”

“I don’t see why not,” Manny replied.  Then he thought of something.  “But what about your legs, Rollie?  I shouldn’t think that ice skating would do them much good.”

“I’m sure they’ll be okay.”

Angie looked at Rollie.  She really wanted to go skating with him, but she didn’t want him to hurt his legs, and skating would probably really hurt them.  Even now, she could tell that Rollie’s legs were bothering him, though he hadn’t said anything.

“Maybe we’d better not,” she said.  “I don’t want you to hurt your legs, Rollie.  We can go when they’re better.”

“Are you sure?” Rollie asked.

Angie nodded.

The Aussie smiled and hugged her close.  “How about a movie, then.  Would you like that?”

Angie smiled and nodded again, returning Rollie’s hug.

That night, as her father tucked her in, he bent over and whispered, “Have I ever told you that I am very proud of you?”

“Really?”

“Very, very proud.”  Kissing her on the forehead, he wished her goodnight.

Angie snuggled down under the covers, certain that she could never, ever be any happier than she was right now with Rollie and her daddy in her life.
 

CHAPTER THIRTEEN -- HANGING BY A THREAD

By morning the snow had stopped and the cloud cover had thinned just enough to allow the sun to peek through from time to time.  The film crew got busy setting up in a second boat as the boat full of explosives was lowered into the water.  There had been no sign that anyone had attempted to tamper with the explosives on the boat.  Rollie had used his solvent to remove all traces of the glue.  He was now busy double-checking the winch to make sure that everything was working right.  Once he was certain that it was okay, he handed the cable to a grip.  He and a second man got busy attaching the cable to the lighthouse light.

“I’m going to freeze to death.  I just know it.”

Rollie turned to see Sam standing behind him wearing an insulated wetsuit beneath his shirt and pants.  He shook his head at the sour expression on the stuntman’s face.  “Now, Sam.  You won’t be in the water more than two minutes, tops.”

“Which is a minute and thirty seconds longer than it will take me to be turned into a human popsicle.  Oh, why do I do it?  Why do I put myself through this torture?”

“Because you love it, that’s why,” Rollie said.  “Sam, if you stopped being a stuntman, you’d shrivel up and die.”

“Yeah, but at least I’d be warm during my last few moments on Earth.”  Sam smiled.  “Now, if I had half the brains you do, I’d do exactly the same thing you did.”

“You do have half the brains I do, Sammy,” Rollie said, his eyes twinkling.

“Why, you little smart aleck!”  The stuntman threw a punch at Rollie’s stomach, pulling up just a couple of inches short of his target.

Rollie doubled up as if he’d been hit, then straightened with a laugh.  Just then, the stunt coordinator called Sam over.

“See ya later, Rol,” Sam called over his shoulder.

“We all set?” Manny asked as he approached Rollie.

“I think so,” the Aussie replied.  He glanced over at the light and saw that one of the two grips was still hunched over it.

“Are we ready with the cable?” Rollie called.

The man straightened.  “All set,” he replied.

“Okay, I’ll tell the director we’re ready to roll, then,” Manny said.  “See you in a while.”

Rollie climbed into the helicopter, pushing aside a pile of gear on the floor.

“Sorry about that,” the pilot said as he got into the chopper.  “I just got finished on another shoot.”

As a third man got into the helicopter and the rotors whirred to life, Rollie watched the stunt boat and camera boat head out across the water.  The helicopter lifted slowly into the air.  The Aussie watched carefully as the cable grew taunt and the light lifted with them into the air.  They headed out across the ocean.  Both boats had stopped about a hundred yards out.  The helicopter positioned itself above the stunt boat.  Rollie pulled out his walkie talkie and called the director.

“We’re all ready here,” the Aussie said.

“All right, everyone!  Roll ‘em and . . . action!”

Rollie pressed the switch that would release the light.  There was a tiny jerk on the cable, then--nothing.

“What’s wrong?  It didn’t release,” said the grip who’d come with them.

“I don’t know what’s wrong,” Rollie replied.

“We’re rolling, Rollie.  Why haven’t you released the light?” the director asked.

“We’ve got a problem.  Keep filming.  I should have it fixed in a sec.”  Rollie looked at the grip.  “Is there a pair of binoculars here somewhere?”

The man looked about.  “Earl, do you have any binoculars?” he called to the pilot.

“Yeah, here,” the man replied, handing back a pair.

Rollie took the binoculars and focused them on the cable release.  “It looks like it’s stuck partway open.  Shake the cable.  That might work,” he told the grip.

The man started jerking and shaking the cable, causing the light to swing back and forth slightly.  Rollie continued to watch the cable and the light.  Suddenly, he saw something.

“What the. . . .”  Rollie focused his attention on the light.  It swung back and forth, sunlight casting and dispelling shadows on it.  He was just beginning to think that he had been mistaken when he saw it again.  “Whoa!  Stop, stop!” he cried.

The grip removed his hand from the cable.  “What’s wrong?”

Rollie didn’t reply to the question.  Instead, he called to the pilot.  “Earl, keep this bird steady.  Don’t move it an inch, you got that?”

“Yeah, I got it.  What’s going on?”

Rollie picked up the walkie talkie and tuned it to Manny’s frequency.  “Manny, we’ve got a big problem.”

“What is it?” the F/X man asked.

“There’s a bomb inside the light.”

There was about three seconds of dead silence, then, “Dear God!  Are you sure?”

“Oh yeah, I’m sure.”

The Aussie heard Manny tell the director what was happening.

“Can you tell what kind of detonator it has?” the F/X man asked Rollie once he was finished.

“I can’t be certain, but my guess is that it either has some kind of impact detonator or one that will be triggered by exposure to the water, and you can bet that there’s enough explosives to blow both the boat and this chopper to kingdom come.”

“What if it’s controlled by a radio transmitter, Rollie?” Manny asked, his voice tense.

This time it was Rollie who paused.  “Then we’re all dead here.”  Another pause.  “I’d think that, if it was, our ‘friend’ would have triggered it by now.”

“I hope you’re right.  Okay, bring it back.  We’ll call the bomb squad.”

“We can’t.  The cable release is stuck partway open.  If we try to move, the light may fall.”

“What are you going to do then?”  Manny’s voice was getting progressively tenser.

“First off, get those boats out of here.”  As that was done, Rollie looked at the gear lying on the floor and saw a rope and harness.  He turned to the grip.  The man’s face looked several shades paler.  “Fetch that harness and rope.”

The man nodded wordlessly and went to do what Rollie asked.

“Earl, how are we doing?” Rollie asked the pilot.

“Okay, so far, but I can’t keep it here forever.”

The grip returned with the harness and rope.  As Rollie was slipping the harness on, Manny called back on the walkie talkie.

“The boats are all clear, Rol,” he said.

“All right, Manny.  This is what I’m going to do.  I’m going to go down and take a look at the bomb.”

“You’re going to what?!  Are you crazy?”

“I sincerely hope not.”  Rollie finished putting the harness on and attached it to the rope.  He then slid the rope through the carabiner hanging from a hook above the doorway.

“Have you ever done this before?” the grip asked.

“Rappeling or disarming a bomb?”

“Uh, both”

“Rappeling, yes.  I used to be a stuntman.  As for disarming a bomb . . . let’s just say that I hope it doesn’t come to that.”

The grip’s face promptly grew even paler.

Rollie cast his gaze about the helicopter.  “Bring me that toolbox.”

The grip got the box and brought it to the Aussie.  Rollie searched through it and pulled out several tools, which he stuck in his pockets. He then slipped a pair of work gloves on and called Manny.

“I’m going down now, Manny.  Wish me luck.”

“Rollie?  Be careful, Son,” the F/X man said, his voice quiet.

Rollie paused at the sound of Manny calling him “Son.”  A warm feeling filled him.  “Thanks, Manny,” he murmured.

Rollie slipped the walkie talkie’s wrist strap over his wrist, took a deep breath, then slowly began rappeling down to the waiting bomb.  The wind from the chopper’s blades pushed down on him, whipping his hair and clothing.  Wishing that he’d wrapped a bandana around his forehead to keep the hair out of his eyes, he kept his gaze focused on the light below him.

Drawing up beside the light, Rollie stopped.  After tying the rope off, he grabbed hold of the light, being careful not to pull or jerk it.  He stared down through the fake glass to the hollow insides.  The thickness and opacity of the sugar glass made it very hard to see inside.  He could just make out the black box and tiny red light that he’d seen from the helicopter.  Wishing that he had some way of securing the cable, Rollie pulled a screwdriver from his pocket and began removing the screws holding the glass on.  As he got down to the last screw, he held onto the glass.  The final screw came out.  Praying that there were no trip wires, Rollie removed the glass.  After giving a sigh of relief that he was still alive, he let the glass fall, hearing the loud splash as it hit the water.

The Aussie studied the bomb.  “Oh, boy,” he whispered.  He grabbed the walkie talkie.  “Manny?  This thing is packed full of plastique.  Even if we drop it into the water, the geyser caused by the explosion would knock the chopper right out of the sky.  I’m staring at this thing, and I don’t know what to do.  There aren’t any visible leads to the plastique.  I’m no bomb expert, Manny.”

“The bomb squad is on the way, Rollie.  They should be here any second.  Wait . . . they’re here now.  Hold on.”

Rollie waited the century and a half that it took for someone to talk to him.

“Mister Tyler?  This is Stan Whitman.  Can you describe the device to me?”

Rollie gave the man a detailed description of the bomb.

“Okay, do you see any leads going outside or any kind of sensor on the outside of the light?”

Rollie examined the outer casing of the light, carefully turning it around so that he could see all sides.  “No, none,” he said.

“I’d say, then, that we’re talking about a detonator that will explode upon impact rather than one that is triggered by the water.”

“That means that we could lower this thing into the water, then release the cable, right?  By the time it hit bottom, we’d be long gone.”

“Theoretically, that should work,” Whitman said.

“Theoretically?  What do you mean by that?”

“There are no certainties when you’re talking about explosive devices,” Whitman explained.  “For all we know, it may not be an impact detonator at all.  It could have an altitude sensor that was activated when you lifted off.”

“In other words, once the thing drops below a certain altitude, kaboom.”

“Precisely.”

“Okay, what if we lift it up high enough that the blast won’t touch us?  It’s risky, but, if I can come up with a way of securing the cable, we might make it.  I could then cut the cable when we reach a safe altitude.”

“Unfortunately, we don’t know that a higher altitude won’t trigger the device also.  If it does have an altitude sensor, it might be set with both a minimum and a maximum altitude.”

“Oh, joy.  So, what do we do?” Rollie asked.

“You’re going to have to get inside the device.”

“Now, how did I know that you were going to say that?” Rollie muttered.  “I suppose you can’t guarantee that this thing isn’t going to blow up in my face while I’m removing the cover plate.”

“Sorry.”

Rollie sighed.  “How do I get myself into these situations?” he muttered to himself.

Manny stared out across the water at the drama unfolding beneath the helicopter.  Not a sound was being uttered by the crew as they all watched and waited.  The silence was oppressive.  Even the waves lapping at the shore seemed muted.

Then the silence was broken by a single voice.

“Hi, Papa.”

Manny started and stared at his daughter.  “Angie, what are you doing here?”

“I forgot that it was only a half day today.”  She looked around at everyone, then out at the helicopter.  She could see that someone was hanging beneath it.  “What’s going on?”

Manny looked at his daughter.  Why, of all days, did today have to be a half day at school?  He didn’t want Angie to be here.  He didn’t want her to see what would happen if the bomb exploded.  It would be bad enough for her if Rollie died, but for her to see it happen. . . .

“Angie, why don’t you catch a cab and go on home,” he suggested.

“Why should I do that?  What’s wrong?  Why is everyone standing around so quiet?  Where’s Rollie?”

Realizing that he couldn’t escape his daughter’s questions, Manny knelt beside her.  “There’s a problem, Ange.  You know that we were supposed to be doing the boat gag today, right?  Well, somebody put a bomb in the light.”

“A bomb?  But, where’s. . . .”  Angie’s gaze shifted to the person beneath the helicopter.  A sudden terror rose in her.  “Rollie?  I-is that Rollie?”

“I’m afraid so, sweetie.  The cable release malfunctioned.  When Rollie looked to see what was wrong, he saw the bomb.  Those men over there are with the bomb squad.  They’re trying to help Rollie with the bomb.”

“B-but what if it blows up?  Rollie will be killed.  Papa, somebody has to help him!”

“Everyone is doing all that they can, Angie.  There isn’t anything more that we can do, except pray.”  Manny stood and put an arm around his daughter, pulling her close.

Angie clung to her father, praying harder than she ever had before. ‘Please, God.  Please don’t let Rollie die.  I love him so much.  Please help him, God.  Please, please.’

Rollie reached into the light with the screwdriver and slowly began removing the screws.  He was on the last one when both he and the light were suddenly jerked upward a few feet.  The light slammed up against him.  Rollie held onto it with one hand as he contacted the helicopter pilot.

“What’s happening up there?”

“We’re getting some wind gusts, Rollie.  I’m having a hard time keeping her steady.”

Wondering what would go wrong next, Rollie switched the walkie talkie’s frequency back to the one Whitman was on and returned his attention to the bomb.  He removed the last screw.  Holding the plate in place, and praying that there wasn’t another wind gust at that moment, Rollie contacted the bomb expert.

“Okay, the screws are off,” he said.

“All right, I want you to lift the plate very slowly.  If you feel any kind of resistance at all, stop.  You understand?”

“I understand.”  As a bead of sweat ran down his forehead, Rollie lifted the plate with agonizing slowness.  “Please hold steady.  Please hold steady,” he whispered.

The plate came free.  No clicks sounded, no warning lights flashed into existence, no timer turned on, counting down to zero.  Giving a sigh of relief, Rollie stared at the guts of the deadly device.  He described what he saw to the bomb expert.

“Good, good.  We’re in luck.  It sounds like it’s just a simple impact detonator,” Whitman said.

“Then we can dump this thing in the ocean?”

“I’d say so.”

“But, you’re not sure,” Rollie said.  He studied the bomb.  “What would my chances be of disarming this thing?”

“The truth?  It sounds like you may have several trip wires.  Cut any of those, and it goes off.  I’d say that the odds are more in your favor to put the thing in the water and get the hell out of there.”

“Then I guess that’s what I’m going to do,” Rollie said.  “Could you give the walkie talkie to Manny, please?”

There were a few seconds of silence, then, “How are you doing, Rollie?” said the F/X man’s quiet voice.

“I’m scared.  Manny?  In case things go wrong, I . . . I just wanted to tell you that you and Angie are two of the best things that have happened in my life.  I am so grateful to you for everything.  I wanted you to know that.  Tell Angie that I love her, okay?”

“Rollie?” a small, tremulous voice said.

“Angie?  Hey, sweetie.  How’s my girl?”

“Rollie, please don’t die.  I don’t want you to die.”  Angie was crying now.

“I know, sweetheart.  I don’t want to die, either.  But, if . . . if things go bad, you know that I love you, don’t you?”

“Y-yes.  I l-love you too, Rollie.  I’ll love you forever.”

“Me too,” Rollie whispered, tears coming to his eyes.  “I have to go now, Angie.  Take care of your daddy, okay?”

The wind was starting to pick up again.  Realizing that there wasn’t going to be time to figure out a way of securing the cable, Rollie switched to the helicopter’s frequency.  “Earl, I need you to slowly lower me and this thing down to the water.”

“Will do, Rollie.”

Slowly, inch by inch, they approached the ocean below.  They’d gone maybe five feet when wind gusts began buffeting the chopper.  Swinging back and forth beneath it, Rollie tried holding onto the light as best as he could.

Suddenly, he heard a loud click.  Rollie looked up to see the cable release come fully open.  In horror, he watched as the light made its fatal plunge toward the sea.
 

CHAPTER FOURTEEN -- AFTER THE FALL

Like something you would see in a movie, time seemed to slow to a crawl.  Rollie’s thoughts froze at the realization of his impending death.  Instinct took over.  His hands shot out, grabbing hold of the lip of the opening in the light.  The light fell, snapping taunt the rope holding Rollie and flipping his body upside down.  He cried out in pain as his arms were wrenched violently downward.  Feeling as if his arms were being ripped from their sockets, Rollie tried desperately to hold onto the light.

Knowing that, at any second, his muscles would give out, Rollie stared down at the walkie talkie dangling from his wrist.  If he could just reach the button.  Rollie twisted his wrist, gritting his teeth at the added pain it caused.  He tried swinging the walkie talkie around within reach of the other hand.  At last, he succeeded.  A single finger reached for the button.

“Earl!  Take it up!  Take it up now!” Rollie screamed.

The helicopter shot upward.  Rollie let out another cry as he and the light were violently jerked by the sudden motion.  The Aussie felt his grip slipping.  Digging up his last reserves of strength, Rollie clung to the light, literally for dear life.  But he couldn’t hold it.  As his fingers slipped from the light and it plunged toward the sea, Rollie closed his eyes, praying that his death would be quick.

There was a thunderous boom.  Rollie’s eyes snapped open to see a huge geyser of water rushing up toward him.  He flipped his body up and grabbed onto the rope as thousands of pounds of water slammed into him.

Back on shore, Angie watched as Rollie was engulfed by the water.

“Rollie!” she screamed.

As the water fell back to where it had come, Angie looked and saw only empty air where the Aussie had been.

“Nooo!  Nooo!” Angie cried, heartrending sobs tearing at her throat.

“Get a boat out there now!” yelled Stan Whitman.

Sam Turner and two other men scrambled into the camera boat.  They streaked across the water, heading for the place where the bomb had detonated.

Angie’s eyes didn’t leave the spot where she knew that Rollie had fallen.  The boat slowed as it drew near to the spot.  Angie saw Sam jump into the water and disappear beneath the surface.  He came up a few seconds later with something in his arms, and Angie realized that it was Rollie.  As the stuntman swam to the boat, one of the other men reached down and grabbed hold of the Aussie.  That’s when Angie realized that Rollie wasn’t moving.  He was pulled into the boat, and Sam was helped in after him.  The boat then hurried back toward the shore.  As the boat beached itself, Angie rushed toward it.  She reached the boat and stared down at Rollie.  His face was chalk white, his lips blue.  Angie watched as Sam gave the Aussie mouth to mouth, trying to breathe life back into him.  For a horribly long time, there was no response.  At last, Rollie gagged, let out a ragged cough, and turned his head violently to the side.  More coughs wracked his body as water poured out of his mouth.  Finally, the coughing stopped.  Rollie lay back, his eyes slowly opening.

Angie clambered into the boat and fell to her knees beside the Aussie.  She bent down and wrapped her arms around him, burying her face in his neck.  Rollie’s hand came up and stroked her hair, an occasional cough shaking his slender frame.  Manny climbed into the boat and knelt on the other side of Rollie.  His hand reached out to give his apprentice’s shoulder a squeeze.

“There’s an ambulance on the way, Rollie, so you just lay there and take it easy,” the F/X man said.

“I’m okay,” Rollie said in between coughs.

“Like hell you are.  You just lay there and let the paramedics take care of you when they get here.  That’s an order.”

“Yes, boss,” Rollie said meekly.

Not caring that she was getting wet, Angie kept clinging to Rollie.  Someone brought a blanket, which was tucked around the Aussie.  When the paramedics arrived, Angie was forced to move out of the way.  The two men examined Rollie thoroughly.  A few minutes later, they rose.  One of the paramedics came over to Angie and Manny.

“Considering what he’s gone through, he’s in surprisingly good shape.  He may end up with a respiratory infection because of the near drowning and the coldness of the water, and he’s got some pretty severe muscle strains in his arms, back, and shoulders that are going to cause him some pain.  He needs to be gotten out of those wet clothes, and the bandages on his legs must be replaced right away.  He should also be taken to his doctor as soon as possible for a more thorough examination.”

“We’ll take care of everything.  Thank you,” Manny said.

The paramedics left.  Rollie was helped to his feet and out of the boat.  His teeth were chattering and his lips still looked slightly blue.

“Come on.  We need to get you out of those clothes before you end up hypothermic,” Manny said.  He and Sam helped the Aussie to the F/X van.  As Angie went to get coffee from the vending truck, the two men helped Rollie strip off the sodden clothing and put on a pair of coveralls.  He was then wrapped up in another blanket and given a towel.  Manny had turned the heater in the van on full blast.

Angie returned with two cups of coffee.  She gave one to Rollie and the other to Sam.  After the Aussie finished drying his hair, he gave the towel to Sam so that the stuntman could dry his own hair.  Their eyes met.

“Thank you,” Rollie murmured.

For once, Sam didn’t have a witty response.  He nodded at his friend, then got busy drying his hair.  Manny got the first aid kit and got busy replacing the wet bandages on Rollie’s legs.

“I can do that,” the Aussie said.

“Rollie, this is the third time in the space of a week that you’ve nearly died, so just sit back, relax, and be quiet,” Manny ordered.

“Yes, sir,” Rollie said softly.

Angie had settled on the floor beside Rollie’s chair, her head resting on his thigh.  The Aussie’s hand came down to lay on her hair.

“Manny, do you have another one of those coveralls?” Sam asked.  “This wetsuit is beginning to chafe.”

“I’m afraid not.  That’s the only one I have.”

“Well, I guess I’d better go fetch my change of clothes, then, before this wetsuit becomes a permanent part of my body.  I’ll be back.”  A cold blast of air came through the door as the stuntman left.  It had begun to snow again.

Manny finished bandaging Rollie’s legs.  He sat in the other chair and studied his apprentice.  Rollie was staring down at his coffee.  He was quiet, too quiet.  As the seconds, then minutes, passed and his apprentice remained silent, Manny grew worried.  It wasn’t like Rollie to be so . . . subdued.  The Aussie had gone though a terrible ordeal.  Many people in his situation would have fallen apart.  It upset Manny tremendously that this warm, caring young man had suffered so much in the last few days.  What upset him even more was the thought that, this time, the murderous saboteur had almost succeeded.  This time, Rollie had come very, very close to dying.

“I’m sorry,” Rollie said at last, his voice barely above a whisper.

“Sorry?  What for?”

“This was all my fault.  I should have guessed that he might do something to the light.  I was so preoccupied with the explosives on the boat and the winch that it didn’t occur to me.  I should have known.”

“Hey, you listen to me, Rollie.  This was not your fault.  I didn’t think of the light either.  If it hadn’t been for you and your quick thinking, you and a lot of other people would now be dead.  If there is anyone who deserves to be blamed, it’s me.”

The Aussie’s head came up.  “But you didn’t do anything wrong,” he objected.

“Yes, I did.  I was so impressed with your knowledge and skill that I threw you right in the middle of things.  I didn’t take the time to first give you the training and tutoring that you both need and deserve.  You have more natural aptitude for F/X than anyone I have ever met.  I forgot that there are still a lot of things that you don’t know, things that you must know to be in this business.  For one thing, you need to be certified so that you can legally use explosives.  I should have started training you with that right away.  If I’d done my job the way I should have, you may have been able to defuse that bomb.  You almost died because I failed in my responsibility to you.”

“No.  That’s not true.  I could never have learned enough in a week’s time to be able to defuse that bomb.  It was too complex.  And I’ve loved being in the middle of things.  Even with the sabotage, the burns, the blood poisoning, and everything else, this has been the most wonderful week that I’ve had in a long, long time.  I can’t even remember the last time that I’ve been so happy.  Please don’t. . . .  I want to keep working, Manny.  I want to keep doing what I have been.”

The F/X artist looked into the Aussie’s pleading brown eyes.  Rollie was so desperate for something to hold on to, something stable and real that would give a sense of purpose to his life.  Manny finally began to realize how deep the scars were that had been left on Rollie’s soul by the untimely death of his mother and the neglect of his father.  But there was something more there, some other wound that had left its scar.  Manny wondered what it was.

“All right, Rollie.  You can keep working on the gags.  I won’t take that away from you, I promise.  But, as soon as we get back to the loft, I am going to sit you down and start filling your head so full of stuff that you’ll scream for mercy.”  A smile came to Manny’s lips.

An answering smile appeared on Rollie’s face.  “Thank you,” he said, his voice full of a deep, warm gratitude.

The door opened and Sam came in, accompanied by a blast of air even colder than the last time.  “Ooh, what lovely weather we’ve got going on out there.  It might not be winter any more according to the calendar, but somebody forgot to tell old Jack Frost.  Well, we’re all done here, folks.  The director decided that, what with the weather and the near catastrophe, he’s not going to try shooting this thing again today.  It’s been rescheduled for tomorrow.”

“That’s good because I’m taking Rollie to the doctor,” Manny stated, making it clear by his tone that he would be doing it regardless of whether or not the shoot had been rescheduled.

Sam smiled, then looked at the Aussie.  “Oh, and the director wanted me to thank you for all the prime footage they got today.”

“You mean they filmed that whole thing?” Rollie asked, shocked.

“Are you kidding?  Our director’s no dummy, Rollie.  He wasn’t about to pass up a chance to get the ‘real thing’ on film.  I mean, how often do you get the opportunity to even see something like that, let alone film it?  Do you realize, my friend, that your life is turning into a movie?  Or maybe it’s a TV series.  Yeah, that’s it.  The Adventures of a Trouble-Bound Aussie.  I like it.  It’s got a real ring to it.”  The stuntman was grinning from ear to ear.

“Yeah?  Well, how about The Adventures of a Soon-To-Be-Deceased Stuntman?” Rollie retorted with a grin of his own.

Pleased to see his apprentice back to his old self, Manny invited Sam over for dinner.  Promising to be there promptly at six, the stuntman went off to his next stunt back at the studio.  Manny and Angie took Rollie to his doctor, who, by some miracle, was able to see him right away.  Forty-five minutes later, the Aussie came out, looking like a little boy who’d just been chastised.  The doctor was following behind him.

“Here are some prescriptions to be filled,” the doctor said, handing the slips of paper to Manny.  “If at all possible, try to keep him in one piece, at least until I get back from my vacation.”

“We’ll do our best,” Manny replied.

Their next stop was the police station.  By then, Detective Gray had found out what happened and had been trying to get hold of them.

“This is even more serious than I thought.  Whoever this person is, he wants his revenge badly enough that he’s willing to kill a lot of other people to get it.  I’m going to put a couple of men at your place.  He might decide to target you there.”

The detective’s words sent a chill through Manny.  It terrified him to think that the saboteur could try to kill them at home.  Manny looked at Angie, thinking that it might be best for her to stay with one of her friends from school for a few days.

On the way home, Manny made the suggestion to Angie.

“No,” his daughter replied emphatically.

“Angie, I want you to be out of harm’s way.  You’d be safer staying with one of your friends.”

“No!  I don’t want to stay with any of them.  I want to stay with you and Rollie.  Please, Papa, please don’t send me away.”

Manny looked into his daughter’s pleading eyes and knew that he couldn’t do it.  The truth was, they were all in this together.  A deep sigh issued forth from him.  “All right, Angie Girl, I won’t make you leave.”

Angie hugged him tightly.  “Thank you, Papa.”

Back at the loft, Manny followed through on his promise and began Rollie’s education in the fine art of special effects.  Partly because of what had happened, he started off with explosives and incendiaries.  As Manny had suspected, the Aussie was an apt pupil.  He never had to say or show Rollie anything more than once.  By the time six o’clock rolled around, Rollie had learned as much as it would take an ordinary person three or four days to learn.

“At this rate, we’ll have you certified inside a month,” Manny commented proudly.

There was a knock on the door.  Rollie answered it to find Sam there, standing between two police officers, bearing a bottle of wine and a grin.

“Hey, Rollie.  Would you be so kind as to tell these two gentlemen that I’m harmless?”

“I don’t know, Sammy.  You look pretty shifty-eyed to me.”  Rollie grinned, then looked at the officers.  “He’s fine.  Thanks.”

The evening was spent chatting away about F/X, stunt work, and just about anything else any of them could think of.  Sam, delighted to find a new audience, recounted his many adventures as a stuntman.

Throughout the evening, Manny noticed that Angie stayed close to Rollie, never leaving his side.  He often saw her slip her hand into Rollie’s or put an arm around his waist.  Whenever the Aussie sat down, she was right there beside him or sitting on the floor at his feet.  There was a look in her eyes that worried Manny, a look he hadn’t seen since they found out that her mother had died.  Rollie had apparently noticed the look too, for he was very attentive to Angie, continually hugging her, or stroking her hair, or squeezing the little hand that had been placed in his.

After Sam had left, Manny walked toward the back of the workshop.  “Rollie, come here.  I want to show you something.”

The Aussie joined him beside the telephone booth that was against the wall.  Manny lifted the receiver and dialed 266.  The wall behind the booth slid upwards.

“Wow!  That’s cool,” Rollie said.

Manny closed the opening.  “I put this in a couple of years ago.  The original back door was bricked up sometime in the past.  I don’t know why.  I knew that we needed another exit in case of emergency.”

“But why a secret exit?”

Manny glanced upstairs.  Angie had gone up to the bathroom.  “After her mother’s death, Angie was terrified that the man who had killed her would come and kill me, too.  She had repeated nightmares about it.  I put this secret entrance in so that she would feel safer.”

Just then, Angie came back downstairs.  The two men went into the lounge.  Angie immediately sat in Rollie’s lap, wrapped her arms about his waist, and laid her head on his chest.  After a few seconds, she smiled.

“What is it?” Rollie asked.

“I’m listening to your heartbeat.  It sounds nice.”

Rollie’s eyes met Manny’s.  “Ange, about what happened. . . .” the Aussie began.

Angie’s body stiffened.  “I don’t want to talk about it.  Let’s play some cards.  I’ll go get the deck.”  She slid off Rollie’s lap and ran upstairs.  She came back down a few seconds later, and the three started to play.  No one was really in the mood, though, so the game didn’t last long.

“Well, it’s about time for you to go to bed, Ange,” Manny commented.

“No, Papa.  I want to sleep down here with Rollie.”

“Angie, that isn’t a good idea,” Manny said.  “Now, why don’t you go on up to your bedroom and--”

“No!  I have to be with Rollie.  I have to!”  There was a note of desperation and terror in Angie’s voice that alarmed Manny.  She looked on the verge of tears.

Without a word, Rollie stood, took Angie’s hand, and led her upstairs.  He sat on her bed, his back against the headboard.  He held his arms out to her and she went into them, curling up beside him on the bed.

“Angie, what do you think will happen if you don’t stay with me?” the Aussie asked softly.

Angie didn’t reply.  She only tightened her grip on him.

“What do you think will happen?”

“You’ll die!” Angie cried.  “I have to stay with you because, if I don’t, you’ll die and I’ll never see you again, just like Mama!”  Tears were pouring down her face.

Rollie gathered the little girl into his arms and held her close.  “Shh shh shh.  Don’t cry, sweetie.  Now, you listen to me.  Your mum didn’t die because you weren’t with her, and I didn’t almost die today because you weren’t with me.  An evil man killed your mum, and another evil man tried to kill me.  It had nothing to do with you.  It is not your fault.  Things happen, Angie, and sometimes, nobody can keep them from happening.  I’m not going to die because you aren’t with me.  You have to believe that.”

“But, what if you do die?  I won’t ever see you again.”

Rollie shut his eyes for a moment.  Then he lifted Angie’s head.  Cupping her face between his hands, he looked deeply into her clear blue eyes.  “Angie, I can’t promise you that isn’t going to happen.  Nobody can.  But I can promise that I will be extra careful, and your daddy will, too.  We’re not going to let this guy beat us.  We’ll catch him, then everything will get back to normal.  No more bombs, no more sabotage, no more bad people trying to hurt us.  Then it will be just you, and your daddy, and me together for years and years to come.  Now, won’t that be nice?”

Angie smiled through her drying tears, nodding her head.

“You go on and get dressed for bed now.  I’ll stay right here and tuck you in, okay?”

Angie got her nightgown and went to the bathroom.  She returned a few minutes later.  Rollie tucked her under the covers and gave her a kiss on the forehead.  “G’night, Angel,” he murmured.

“Mama used to call me that.  That’s what Angela means.”

“Well, there couldn’t be a better name for you,” Rollie declared.

Angie closed her eyes, a smile on her face.  Rollie stood beside her bed, watching over her until her body relaxed and her breathing slowed.  With a smile on his own face, he opened the door leading to the staircase landing.  Manny was standing just outside.

“Did you hear?” the Aussie asked.

“Most of it.  Thank you, Rollie.  You have no idea how much I appreciate all that you’re doing for her.”

Rollie nodded.  The two went downstairs and sat in the lounge.  There was a long silence.  The Aussie was looking off at some distant point.  As Manny watched, sadness came into his apprentice’s eyes.

“Rollie?  Anytime that you want to talk about things, I’m here.”

The brown eyes turned to him, then closed for a moment.  When they opened, there was a haunted look in them, as if from an old and terrible memory.

“When my mother died, it was really hard for me.  I really think that, if it hadn’t been for Mangela, I wouldn’t have recovered.  There was this Aboriginal boy a few years older than me.  He was half white.  His name was Luther Cale.  He was terribly jealous of me.  The Aborigines had taught me their religious beliefs, what they believe about death and the afterlife, and Cale used it against me.  A few months after my mum’s death, Cale told me that she’d come back to say goodbye.  I believed him.  He took me up on a mountain, saying that I’d find her there.  Then . . . he pushed me off.”

“Oh my God,” Manny whispered, horrified.

“Somehow, I survived the fall, but my leg was badly broken.  Cale just left me to die.  For three days, I lay out there with no food or water, thinking that I was going to die--knowing that I didn’t want to die.  By the time Mangela found me, it was almost too late.”

Manny sat in stunned silence, filled with horror over what Rollie had suffered as a child.  He had trusted, and that trust had been betrayed in the most terrible of ways.  Yet, despite that, despite the pain and suffering, despite the betrayal, neglect, and loss that Rollie had gone through, he’d grown up to be a fine, caring, decent man.

“Rollie, I am so sorry.  I can’t even begin to understand what you went through.  Many people who’ve gone through the kinds of things you have ended up bitter and cynical.  The fact that you didn’t proves that you are a very special person.”

Rollie’s gaze fell as a blush spread across his cheeks.  As Manny watched the Aussie, he, at last, made the decision that had been dwelling in his mind for the last few days.  “Rollie, there is something that I want to ask you, something very important.  I have no relatives here in the States.  They’re all in Cuba.  My wife had no living relatives except of a few cousins and a brother she hadn’t seen in years, none of whom I’ve even met.  If something ever happened to me, Angie would probably be put in foster care.  I don’t want that to happen.  I’ve never written a will.  I think it’s time that I did.  In it, I would like to name you as Angie’s legal guardian in the event of my death.”

Rollie stared at Manny, stunned beyond words.  What the F/X man had just said was the finest, most wonderful display of trust and respect that any father could show to a fellow human being.  That Manny was willing to place his daughter’s life and well-being into Rollie’s hands for the remainder of her childhood humbled the young man to the core.  His throat tightened.

“I . . . I . . . don’t know what to say.  I never. . . .  We only met a week ago, Manny.  You hardly know me.  There must be someone else who would be better, someone you’ve known longer.”

“Until three years ago, my personal life was in Cuba.  The U.S. was mainly a place where I came to work.  I have many friends, but only three that I consider close, at least in this country.  Two of those three, though good people, are not the kind of people that I would feel confident in entrusting my daughter’s welfare to.  The third is AC.  He’s a good man, but his life is in his career.  It just wouldn’t work out.  Angie needs someone who would be willing to devote his life to her, someone whom she loves and who loves her like family.  Angie adores you, Rollie, and I know that you love her just as much.  I think that I’ve come to know you pretty well in this past week.  I’ve given this a lot of thought in the last few days, and I can’t think of another person whom I would be more willing to entrust the care of my daughter to.”  Manny studied Rollie’s face.  “This is a big decision for both of us.  We won’t speak of it again for now.  In six months, we’ll talk again.  If your answer is yes, then we’ll make it official.  All right?”

Rollie nodded, his thoughts still in a whirl.

“Well, it’s getting late, and you’ve had a pretty rough day.  You get some sleep, okay?”

Rollie watched Manny climb the stairs, astonished at how his life had been changed so very much in so very little time.
 

CHAPTER FIFTEEN -- TROUBLES AND CONCERNS

When Rollie and Manny got to the studio, they were told that Derrick Bray wanted to see them.  As they headed for his office, Rollie got the feeling that trouble was brewing.  He was right.  The moment they stepped through the door, the producer rose from his chair and started shouting.

“Do you have any idea how much money yesterday’s little ‘incident’ cost this production?!” Bray yelled.  “It has been nothing but one big headache ever since you came onto this movie.  Sabotage, cops crawling around everywhere taking up valuable time, and now an important shoot blown, all because of you!”

“Now, you wait just one damn minute!” Manny yelled.  “Rollie nearly died yesterday, and you have the nerve to bitch about a blown shoot?!  What rock was your heart carved from?  We didn’t ask for any of this to happen.  It is not our fault that some homicidal monster is after us, so don’t you dare start blaming us for what’s happening!”

Bray’s face had turned a vivid shade of red.  “You’re fired!  I want you out of here now!”

“You fire them, Bray, and you’re on your own,” said a voice from the doorway.  Everyone turned to see AC Bobb.

“What?” Bray sputtered.

“You heard me.  If you fire Ramirez F/X from this picture, I’m pulling out, along with my backers.”  There was a look in AC’s eyes that Manny had never seen before.

“You can’t do that.  You wouldn’t dare,” Bray said.

“Watch me.”

Derrick Bray just stood there and fumed.  He was so mad that Rollie half-expected steam to start pouring out of his ears.  Finally, he pushed past them and strode out of his own office, the door slamming behind him.

“I guess he’s a little mad,” AC commented mildly.

“AC, maybe we should leave,” Manny said.  “This is getting way too dangerous.  A lot of people could have died yesterday.”

“Not a chance, Manny.  You are not going to back out on me now.  I hired Ramirez F/X for this picture, and that’s who I’m going to have for it--all of it.”  The producer turned to Rollie.  “Are you all right, lad?”  There was real concern in the man’s eyes.

“I’m fine, AC.  That wasn’t the first time I’ve come close to dying.”  Rollie glanced at Manny meaningfully.

“Well, it’s the first time that someone working on a movie of mine nearly died.  I don’t like this at all.  What are you going to do about this guy?”

As they left the building, Rollie and Manny explained their plans to AC.

“Are you certain he’s going to try sabotaging the fire gag?” the producer asked.

“We can’t be certain of anything, but it seems likely,” Manny said.

“If you need anything, and I mean anything, just let me know.”  AC patted Rollie on the shoulder, who winced slightly at the touch.  “What’s wrong?”

“I’m just sore, that’s all,” the Aussie explained.  He smiled.  “I’ve gotten more battered in the last week than I did throughout the entire two years that I was a stuntman.  I am on so much medication right now, I’m surprised I can even think straight.”

“Well, you take care of yourself.  And don’t worry about Derrick.  I can handle him.  He was in a bad mood even before the incident yesterday.  There’s been an inspector here from the safety commission poking into things for the last week or so.  All this sudden interest probably has something to do with that stuntman being killed over at Birch Tree Studios.  I bet the safety inspectors are really going to be clamping down on things now.  I’m surprised that the guy hasn’t pestered you yet.”

“No, we haven’t seen him, but I imagine that we will, especially with the house fire scheduled for tomorrow,” Manny said.

“Well, I just hope he doesn’t cause you even more trouble.  That’s the last thing you need right now,” AC said.

Rollie and Manny headed over to do the reshoot on the boat gag.  They thoroughly checked every inch of each prop and piece of equipment.  Rollie discovered that a screw on the cable release was loose, which was the reason why it had failed to open properly.

“My life saved by a loose screw,” the Aussie murmured.  Then he smiled at the irony.  The cable release had been the one piece of equipment he hadn’t checked yesterday before the gag.  If he had, he’d have seen the loose screw and tightened it--and he and six other people would now be dead.

The second take went off without a hitch.  Though he would never admit it to anyone, Rollie’s body had tensed instinctively when the light crashed into the boat, some small part of him expecting to see a giant fireball come rushing up toward them.  But the only fireball had been the much smaller, planned explosion triggered by Manny.  Giving a silent sigh of relief, Rollie relaxed as the helicopter headed back to shore.

Back on solid ground, he watched as the boat that had gone to fetch the stuntmen out of the water returned.  As Rollie had expected, Sam wasn’t looking all that happy when he got out of the boat.

“I’m going to get sick.  I just know it.  I can already feel a cold coming on,” the stuntman griped.

Rollie tossed a towel at his friend.  “Such a baby,” he said teasingly.

“Who are you calling a baby, baby?  I was through high school when you were still in diapers.”

“Yeah, and I was more mature than you back then, too,” Rollie said, grinning.

“Why, I ought to take you over my knee,” Sam said.  Instead, he grabbed Rollie around the neck with his arm, and ruffled his hair with his fist.

When Rollie and Manny returned to the studio, they were told that Detective Gray wanted to see them as soon as possible.  Since their next gag wasn’t until later in the afternoon, the two headed on over to the precinct.

“We salvaged what was left of the bomb and the light, which wasn’t much,” the detective told them when they got there.  “From what we could tell, whoever built the device has some fairly advanced knowledge of explosives.  This was not something thrown together by an amateur.  Unfortunately, what we can determine about the device’s design and construction hasn’t given us any clues on who planted it.  I’m afraid that we’re not much closer to solving this thing than we were before.”

“I’ve been thinking about something,” Rollie said.  “If we’re right about this guy deliberately targeting both of us, then he must have known that I’d be on that helicopter.  That decision wasn’t made until Tuesday afternoon, and the shoot was originally set for Wednesday afternoon.”

“Who knew that you were going up in the chopper?” Gray asked.

“The director, for one.  He may have mentioned it to others.  The grips who were scheduled to work on that gag were probably told.”

“In other words, there’s no telling how many people knew.”

“I’m afraid so,” Rollie admitted.  “But wouldn’t a bomb like that take a while to put together?”

“Yes, it would,” Manny said.  “I don’t see how he could have built the device and placed both it and all that plastique in just a few hours’ time.”

“Which means that he must have known on Tuesday,” the detective reasoned.  “Did you tell anyone that day what you were going to do?”

“Um, I think I mentioned it to the grips that helped us rig for the test on the winch,” Rollie said.

“I suppose you don’t know their names.”

“First names only, I’m afraid.  But we might be able to find out who they were.” Manny told the detective.

“I just thought of something,” Rollie said.  “I hope I’m wrong, though.”

“What is it?” Gray asked.

“What if the saboteur planted a bug in the van or in Manny’s loft?  We talked about the boat gag both in the van and at Manny’s place.  The problem is, we also talked about our plans to trap the guy.  If he heard that, then everything is blown.”

“We’d better check right away, then,” Gray said.

The van was immediately swept for listening devices, but was found to be clean.  Next, they went over to the loft, but it, also, was bug-free.

“Of course, there is a chance that he might have already removed any bugs he planted,” Gray commented.

“Here in the loft he could have, but not in the van.  I installed the fingerprint scanner on Sunday.  After that, he couldn’t have gotten into it,” Rollie explained.

“I’m afraid there’s no way that we can know for sure if he planted bugs,” Manny said.  “We’re just going to have to take the chance that he doesn’t know about our plans for tomorrow.”

“There is one thing that puzzles me about this case,” Detective Gray said.  “Why didn’t the saboteur use a detonator that would be triggered by a remote?  I wondered the same thing on the car bomb.  A remote-controlled device would have given him complete control of the detonation.”

“I’ve thought about that, too, and my only guess is that he didn’t want to take the chance of being seen by one of us,” Rollie said.

“He might also have wanted to establish an alibi that would place him far away from the scene,” Gray said.  “But, usually, with crimes that are committed as an act of revenge, the perpetrator wants to be there to witness his victim’s suffering or demise.  If it wasn’t for the viciousness of the way the car was sabotaged, I’d be more apt to think that we’re not dealing with acts of revenge here, but, rather, simply an attempt to drive you out of business, Mister Ramirez.”

“But there would be other ways of ruining my business that wouldn’t require killing someone,” Manny objected.  “All they’d have to do is cause a few major screw ups and, eventually, I’d go out of business like Phil Ulrich did.”

“Maybe not, Manny,” Rollie said.  “I mean, Ulrich was screwing up right and left for months before he finally went under, and he never had the excellent reputation that you have.  It would take some major catastrophes to ruin your business, and it wouldn’t take much for you to realize that the accidents weren’t really accidents.”

“Let me ask you something, Mister Ramirez,” the detective said.  “What would you do if Mister Tyler was killed on one of your . . . gags, I believe you call them?”

Manny looked at Rollie.  “I’d quit the business,” he said, not a shred of doubt in his voice.

“Even if it was determined that it wasn’t your fault?”

“Yes.  It wouldn’t make any difference.  I’d still feel responsible.”

“Then maybe this person knows that.  Maybe he figured that killing Mister Tyler would be the best and quickest way to get rid of you.  But this is all supposition.  There’s still the matter of those holes being drilled in the floorboard of the car . . . unless that was done to make us look in the wrong direction, lead us to believe that someone was doing this for revenge.  In the end, this might turn out to be a case of plain, old-fashioned greed.  One of your competitors may be figuring that, if you’re out of the way, they’ll get a bigger piece of the pie.”

“But why not just try to kill me, then?” Manny asked.

“Maybe because Mister Tyler is the easier target.  He does tend to put himself in more hazardous situations, from what I gather.”

Rollie made a face.  “Yeah, you could say that.”

“Unfortunately, all this speculation does is give us even more suspects,” Detective Gray said with a sigh.  “That reminds me.  Everyone who goes into the studio has to check in at one of the gates, right?”

“That’s right,” Manny confirmed.

“How exactly does that work?”

“If they’re coming into a main gate, like visitors do, they have to stop and give their name.  If the name is not on the guard’s list of people with clearance to go on in, then the guard will call the person that the visitor is there to see.  If the person says that they can come on in, then the guard will give the visitor a pass and put the time down on his check-in sheet.  The person will then either drive into the studio or park his car in one of the lots outside the gate, depending on whether or not he has permission to bring the car in.”

“Does the guard put down the time that the person leaves, too?” Gray asked.

“Yes.  The studio employees and crew members working on movies that are being filmed don’t go in through the main gates.  There’s a side gate for them.  It’s guarded, too.”

“In your opinion, what would be the easiest way for our saboteur to get into the studio?”

“Well, it is possible to sneak in, but I doubt you could get away with it more than once or twice,” Manny said.  “The security at the gates is pretty tight.  Everyone who goes in the side gate has to punch in on the time clock.  Unless he has a time card there or uses someone else’s, he won’t get past security.  If this person is an employee or a crewman, which I doubt, that’s the way he’d come in.  If it’s Ulrich or another F/X company owner, he’d come in through one of the main gates, which means that he’d have to have someone inside the studio giving him clearance.”

“Is there anyway that you can get me a copy of the logs showing who came into the studio on Tuesday, Wednesday, and last Friday?” the detective asked.

“Sure.”

Back at the studio, Rollie and Manny got set up for their next gag, a shootout between two warring mob families.  As Manny placed the squibs in the walls and floor of the set, Rollie put the blood packets and squibs on the vests for the stuntmen.

“Hey, Rollie?”

The Aussie looked up to see a stuntman named Lucas Schumaker coming toward him.  “Hi, Lucas.  What’s up?”

“Well, Walt Nelson’s widow, Marcia, is having a really tough time of it.  I guess their financial situation wasn’t good even before Walt was killed, but now that there isn’t any money coming in, things are even worse.  His life insurance covered the funeral expenses, but not much more.  If it hadn’t been for the fact that the lawyer took the case on a contingency, she wouldn’t have been able to file her lawsuit.  We’re pooling together some money for her.  I know that you’re, uh, not a stuntman anymore, but I thought that I’d ask if you wanted to contribute anyway.”

Rollie paused at Lucas’ words.  “I’d be happy to put something in,” he said after a couple of seconds.  He pulled some bills out of his wallet and handed them to the stuntman.  “Here you go.”

“Thanks, Rollie.  Marcia will really appreciate this.  Well, I guess I’d better get back to work.”

“Wait,” Manny called.  He pulled out his own wallet and gave some money to the stuntman.

“Well, thank you, Mister Ramirez,” Lucas said in surprise.  “You really don’t have to do this.”

“I know, but I want to.”

Thanking them again, the stuntman walked off.  Manny noticed a look of sadness on Rollie’s face as the Aussie watched Lucas leave.

“What’s wrong?”

“Until this moment, a part of me still thought of myself as a stuntman.  Now, though, I realize that I really am no longer one of the ‘guys’.”

“Do you ever regret your decision to leave stunt work?”

Rollie gave the question a moment of thought before answering.  “No.  It was time for me to move on to something else.  I love what I’m doing now, more than I ever loved being a stuntman.  I know it sounds silly--and I really don’t believe in all that destiny stuff--but I finally feel like I’m doing what I was born to do.”

“I don’t really believe in destiny either, but I do think that some people are ‘made’ for doing certain jobs because of the natural abilities they were born with.  Unfortunately, the job they are best at doing isn’t always the job that they’d like to be doing.  There is an old saying that goes something like this, ‘There is the job that you love and the job you do best.  If the two are the same, then you truly are blessed.’  I think that both you and I have been blessed with finding a career that we not only love, but are also very good at.”  Manny smiled and patted Rollie on the shoulder.  “And, speaking of that job, we’d better get back to it before the director starts getting impatient.”

The first two takes did not go as the director wanted them to.  They were just about ready to start the third take when Angie arrived.  She watched the action for a while, then noticed someone lurking in the shadows to the left of the set.  She couldn’t see his face, but something about the figure gave her the creeps.  A loud explosion of gunfire drew her attention back to the shoot.  When she looked back again, the man was gone.  At the end of the take, Angie went over to Rollie and her father and told them what she saw.

“It was probably just a grip, Ange,” Manny said.

Angie remained silent, knowing that she had nothing to prove her suspicions.  “Was this the last gag for today?”

“Yeah.  We’ve got a lot of stuff to do back at the workshop for tomorrow, though,” Manny replied.

Back at the loft, Rollie and Manny got busy on the explosives, incendiaries, and other equipment they would be needing for the house fire.  Manny used the opportunity to give Rollie some more training.

After dinner, Angie got her father’s camera and insisted that she wanted to get a picture of all of them together.  Manny obligingly got the tripod and screwed the camera onto it.  He set the timer, then joined Rollie and Angie on the couch.  With Angie sitting between the two men, each of them with an arm around her, the three smiled for the camera.

“There.  Now we have a picture to help us remember our very first movie together,” Angie said happily after the shot was taken.

“Oh, I don’t think I’ll have any trouble at all remembering this particular movie,” Rollie commented with a smile.

“You and me both,” Manny agreed.

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