Daniel stood beside Angie, nervously watching the passengers disembark from the ferry.  He wasn’t sure how he should act around Leo McCarthy, and he was concerned about how the cop would react to him.  Rollie had been Leo’s best friend.  How would the man respond to being confronted by his dead friend’s identical twin?

“Hey, it’s going to be all right,” Angie assured him, sensing his tension.  “I’m sure that you and Leo will get along fine.  I may not have always been happy with him and the way he dragged Rollie into cases, but he is a good guy.  He was a great friend to Rollie, and he’s been really good to me since Rol’s death.”  She spotted the familiar face.  “Oh, there he is.”

Coming up off the ramp, Leo spotted Angie.  Then his eyes went to the tall man beside her, and he froze.  Dear God.  Even as prepared as he’d been for the sight of Daniel Cooper, it was still a major blow.  It was as if Rollie’s ghost had taken form and substance.  The sight sent a sharp stab of pain through him.  For a tiny instant, he wanted to turn around and get back on the ferry, avoid the heartache that he knew being confronted by his dead best friend’s brother would cause.  But Leo McCarthy was not a quitter, and he was not the kind of man to turn tail and run.

Squaring his shoulders, the cop continued forward until he’d reached the two people waiting for him.  Now that he was much closer, he could see even more how identical Daniel was to Rollie.  The only difference was the shorter hair.  The minister was staring at him, clearly nervous.  Leo had seen the same expression on Rollie’s face on some occasions when the Aussie was confronted by a situation that he had no idea how to handle.  Deciding that it should be up to him to break the ice, he held out his hand.

“It’s nice to meet you, Daniel,” he said.

The minister shook his hand, relaxing slightly.  “Thanks.  It’s nice to meet you as well, Detective McCarthy.”

“Call me Leo.”

Daniel nodded.  “How was the flight over?”

“Long and tiring.  I hate long plane trips.”

“Yeah, me too.”

Leo turned to Angie with a smile and gave her a hug.  “How are you doing, Angie?”

“I’m good, Leo, better than I was before I came here.”

Leo examined her more closely.  He could tell that she’d put back on some weight.  There was a bit of color in her cheeks, and the dark circles under her eyes had faded.  She also looked stronger.  The change in her appearance pleased and relieved the cop.  He had been terribly worried about Angie all these months.  It appeared that she was finally beginning to recover from Rollie’s death, though there was still an air of deep sorrow about her, particularly in her eyes.  Leo began to hope that Angie would be all right now, and he wondered how much of her healing was thanks to the man standing beside her.  He had a feeling that Rollie’s brother was the reason why Angie seemed to be so much better.

Just then, an elderly woman came walking up to them.  She took hold of the minister’s hands.  “Oh, Reverend Cooper.  I just learned the sad news.  I am so terribly sorry to hear of yours and Miss Ramirez’s loss.  Such a terrible thing.”  She took one of Angie’s hands.  “You’ll be all right dear.  Just remember that he’s in heaven now.”

“Thank you, Mrs. Peabody,” Daniel said.  “We appreciate your sympathy.”

The woman smiled, nodded, and continued on her way.

“What was that all about?” Leo asked, confused.

“I made an announcement at church yesterday about Rollie’s death and his relationship to me and Angie,” Daniel explained.  “The news has been spreading throughout the island.  We’ve been getting a lot of people doing what you just saw.”

“Why on Earth did you make an announcement about it?”

“It’s a long story,” Angie told him.

Daniel noticed quite a few people looking in their direction.  “Um, let’s get you settled in your room, Leo.  Then we can go up to the parish, where there’s more privacy.”

As they entered the Widow’s Walk, Daniel saw Kevin talking to Molly.  Hope Island’s only police officer noticed them and came forward.  He held out his hand to Leo.

“You must be Leo McCarthy.  I’m Kevin Mitchum.  My dad has mentioned you several times.  It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

Leo shook the younger cop’s hand.  “You father talked about you quite a bit, too.  He was pretty proud of you.”

Kevin’s chest puffed out a bit, an expression of pleasure on his face.

“So, how’s Jake doing these days?” Leo asked.

The happiness on Kevin’s face instantly vanished.  “Um, Dad’s in a facility.  He . . . he has Alzheimer’s.”  In the fifteen months since Jake came to the island and broke the news about his health to his son, his condition had deteriorated significantly.  He now had trouble recognizing Kevin and no longer knew Molly at all, usually thinking she was his dead wife, Mildred.  Having the memories of his father as a courageous police officer, it was extremely hard on Kevin to see the way Jake was now.

“I’m so sorry to hear that,” Leo said in sympathy.  “Your father was quite a cop, one of the best.”

“How did you meet Jake?” Molly asked, putting an arm around her husband in comfort.

“It was a few years ago.  A case of mine proved to have connections to one in Seattle that Jake was working on.  I flew over here, and we put our heads together.  We hit it off right away.”  Leo put a hand on Kevin’s shoulder.  “Your father saved my life.  We were going after the perps, and I tangled with one of them.  Then the guy’s partner came out of nowhere and clocked me on the head.  He drew a gun and was just about to shoot me when your father got him instead.”

“Dad never told me that,” Kevin admitted.  “He just said that you guys joined forces on a case and that you were a good guy and a great cop.”

“Well, the feeling was mutual,” Leo declared.  “We stayed in contact for a few years afterwards, occasional phone calls and letters.  He told me all about you and your job as the only law officer on Hope Island.  Ironically, I told him all about Rollie and the help he gave us on cases.  Jake was really intrigued by Rollie, said that they could sure use someone like him in Seattle.”

Everyone grew silent, thinking about the strange and often sad coincidences in life.

“Well, it was nice to finally meet you, Kevin,” Leo said, shaking the younger cop’s hand again.  “Maybe before I leave, we can swap some cop stories.”

“Yeah.  I’d really like that.  We’ll see you later, then.”

Daniel, Angie and Leo went up to the bar.  Alex gave them all a smile.

“Alex, this is Leo McCarthy.  Leo, Alex Stone.”

“Hi.  It’s nice to meet you,” Alex said with a warm smile.

“Nice to meet you, too.”  Leo studied the pretty redhead.  There was a liveliness to her features and a sparkle in her eyes that he decided he liked.  He noticed that, when she looked at Daniel, that sparkle was even more evident.  Leo glanced at Daniel and saw the same thing in the way the minister was looking at her.  There was definitely something going on between these two.

They got Leo checked in and his bags put in his room.  Daniel, Angie and Leo then headed to the parish house.  Leo took in everything with a keen eye, the quiet town with its friendly, small-town residents, the peaceful, dense woods, the pretty little church on the hill, and the small but comfortable parish house with the breathtaking view of the bay and mountains.  It was all so different from what Rollie’s life was like in New York, and it was a little hard to believe that the Aussie’s twin was happy with a life like this.  Leo couldn’t imagine Rollie being able to live this way.

Daniel fixed everyone some coffee, and they all sat at the kitchen table.  Leo pulled out the files and case notes he’d brought with him and brought Daniel and Angie up-to-date on everything he’d learned.

“So, we still don’t know how they managed to snatch Daniel,” Angie commented.

“Or why,” Daniel added, a frown on his face.

“It’s the why that really has me puzzled,” Leo admitted.  “Let’s say that they were running a black market baby ring.  Why take a baby in Australia when there would be plenty of ones they could steal and sell right here in the States?  Just the danger and difficulty of transporting the baby from another country would seem to me to be too great a risk to make the payoff worth it.”

“Yeah, it doesn’t seem to make any sense,” Angie agreed.

“So, there had to be a particular reason why they did it,” Daniel said.  “What also doesn’t make sense is that they didn’t sell me for a huge sum of money.  After going to the trouble and the expense of taking me from Australia, you’d think that they’d . . . they’d want to get their money’s worth.”  The minister stopped, his stomach turning at the thought that he’d been taken from his family to sell for profit.

Seeing the expression on Daniel’s face, Angie briefly touched his hand.  “We can only assume that something happened to change their plans.”

Leo nodded.  “That ties in well with what the two former employees told us.  There was obviously a screw up somewhere, clearly on the part of Don Patterson.”

“Were you able to find out what happened to him?” Angie asked.

“No.  Like the Carfields and several other key employees, he’s completely dropped off the radar.  It’s clear that they all changed their identities and may have gone to other countries.”

“So, what forced them to do that?” Daniel asked.  “It had to be something pretty bad.”

“So far, we just haven’t been able to figure out what,” Leo admitted.

“Okay, let’s look at this piece by piece,” Angie recommended.  “Daniel and Rollie were born on July 28th.  Daniel was brought to Carfield’s the latter part of September, making him around eight weeks old at the time of his abduction, if we assume that he was taken there right after he was stolen.”

“Which means that I wasn’t stolen out of the hospital where I was born,” Daniel commented.

“Right.  So this isn’t a case of some greedy medical personnel deciding that one baby was enough for the Tylers and choosing to get some quick cash for one of the twins,” Leo concluded.

Angie nodded.  “We know that something must have gone wrong during the abduction or right afterwards because of what Mrs. Stein said about Patterson.”

“He was nervous, almost scared,” Daniel mussed.  “But scared of what?”

“Reprisal from the Carfields for screwing up?” Angie suggested.  “They were pretty pissed off, according to Mrs. Cambridge.”

“Yeah.  Patterson might have been worried that he’d lose his job.”

“Or worse,” Leo added.

“But they succeeded in kidnapping me, so what was it that had gone wrong?” Daniel wondered.

“There’s no telling,” Leo admitted.  “It could have been any of a number of things.”

“All right, then.  By adding up all the dates, we know that Daniel was given to the Coopers only a few days after he was brought to Carfield’s,” Angie said.

“Almost as if they were anxious to be rid of me,” Daniel murmured, lost in thought.

Leo stroked his chin thoughtfully.  “Yeah.  There is no doubt that whatever their original plans for you were, they got canceled.”

A look of realization spread across Daniel’s face.  “What if the plans weren’t for me?”

“What do you mean?” Leo asked.

“What if my kidnapping was a mistake?  What if they got me by mistake?  Maybe this whole thing is a case of mistaken identity, and they really wanted another baby.”

Leo stared at Daniel in astonishment.  The leap of logic the minister had just made was exactly the kind of thing that Rollie did so often and so well.

“Yes!  That makes perfect sense!” he exclaimed excitedly, leaping to his feet.  “They were really after another baby and Patterson screwed up and snatched you instead.”

“Which would explain why the Carfield’s were so mad and why they got rid of Daniel in a hurry,” Angie said, also excited.

Leo resumed his seat.  “Of course, we have no proof to back this up, but it does shed a new light on the case.”

Angie leaned back in her chair.  “All right, let’s put that aside for right now.  Flash forward a week.  Patterson comes running in, looking terrified.  He goes to Frederic Carfield, who comes out, furious and scared.  The very next day, he informs the employees that the agency is closing.  Within a week, it’s shut down, and the Carfields and several of their employees have vanished.”  She looked at Leo.  “Did they liquidate the assets?”

“All of the property was auctioned off.  The profits were wired to a Swiss bank account.”

Angie sighed.  “I suppose you don’t have the account number.”

Leo shook his head.

“If I had the number, I might have been able to find out if any of the money was transferred to other accounts, though, after so many years, the trail would be pretty cold.”

Daniel stared at her.  “You can do that sort of thing?”

Leo chuckled.  “Angie can do a lot of things that I, um, have had to turn a blind eye to so that I wouldn’t have to arrest her.”

The minister’s eyebrows lifted.  Angie smiled at his expression.

“Don’t worry about it, Daniel.  Some FBI friends of Rollie’s have also . . . ignored a few things I’ve done in the interest of catching some big bad guys.  I doubt anybody’s going to come arrest me now.”

Daniel smiled.  “Well, you just keep unfolding like a flower, Angela,” he remarked in amusement.

Leo looked at the minister sharply, having heard the hint of an Australian accent in the man’s voice.  When he turned back to Angie, Leo saw that she was looking at the papers spread on the table, riffling through them, but the cop’s trained senses caught the slight air of tension in her.  Daniel’s expression as he took a sip of his coffee was troubled.  Okay, what just happened then?

Pushing that thought aside for now, Leo got back to the case.  “Unfortunately, we haven’t been able to find out anything on what precipitated the closure.  Records indicate that the Carfields were financially secure.  No big debts, no civil cases pending against them.  They weren’t under investigation for anything.  On the surface, it all seemed to be business as usual.”

“So, whatever happened, it happened very suddenly and unexpectedly,” Angie surmised.

“And, again, Patterson was involved,” Daniel stated.

Leo nodded.  “I checked his police record, and, since he went to work for the Carfields, he was clean.  He wasn’t under suspicion for anything at the time this all happened.”

“Which means that, if he did something really stupid that resulted in the closure, it was something the cops weren’t aware of,” Angie concluded.

“Or didn’t know that he was involved in,” Leo added.

“Could it have happened out of the country?” Daniel asked.  The other two looked at him.  “I was just thinking that it’s pretty obvious it was Patterson who snatched me.  So, what if he was the one who went and took care of all the dirty business for the agency, like abductions?  If they grabbed one baby from another country, they might have done it other times.  He might have been sent someplace to get yet another child, and it blew up in his face.”  He had another thought.  “If I’m right about the mistaken identity, they might have sent him to take another crack at getting the right baby.”

Leo smiled, again impressed by the younger man’s reasoning.  “That’s a brilliant idea, Daniel.  You may have something there.”

Angie nodded in agreement.  “Unfortunately, there’s no way that we could confirm it.  If Patterson was being sent out of the country to grab babies, he’d have flown under a fake ID.  The Carfields would be too smart to let him do it under his real name.  Too easy to trace back to them.”

“And this leads us right back to the question of why,” Daniel said with a sigh.  “Why take babies from other countries?  What would make taking that kind of chance worthwhile?”

Leo ran a hand through his hair.  “We need to find out more about the circumstances of your abduction.”

“Well, it might be possible to do that,” Angie stated.  She looked at Leo.  “There would have been a police report on the kidnapping, right?”

“Sure.  But I don’t know how much success I’d have getting a thirty-four-year-old police report from Australia.”

Angie looked down at the papers on the table thoughtfully.  “Well, maybe it’s time we asked Elena for help.”

“Elena?” Daniel inquired.

“Elena Serrano.  She’s an FBI agent that Rollie helped on a couple of cases.  She’s in Los Angeles now, but I bet that she’d give us a hand, if we asked for it.”

Leo shook his head.  “I don’t like the idea of going to the feds.”

“Leo, Elena was Rollie’s friend.  If she helped, it wouldn’t be in an official capacity; it would be as a friend.”

“Well, let me see what I can come up with myself before we involve her.”  Leo made a sound of frustration.  “This would be a lot easier if Dingo was here.”

“You have no idea where he is?” Daniel asked.

“Not a clue.  I checked some of the places that Rollie once told me his father frequents, but no one had seen him in months.  He’s out on the road somewhere, up to his usual tricks.”  Leo looked at Daniel, wondering how much the minister knew about his biological father.  By the expression that was on Daniel’s face, the cop guessed that he knew quite a bit.

“Have you considered putting out an APB?” Angie asked.

“Yes, but only as a last resort.  An APB’s going to attract the attention of the captain, and he doesn’t know I’m working on this.  He’ll order me off the case since it’s way out of our jurisdiction.”

“So, we just have to keep hoping that Dingo will make an appearance,” Angie said with a sigh.

Dingo Tyler pulled into the brake repair shop, wincing at the dreadful grinding sound his brakes were making.  He’d put this off for far too long.  By the sound of it, he guessed that the brakes were a mess.  Bloody hell.  This was not going to be a cheap repair job.

Leaving the car at the shop, Dingo went to a café across the street for a late breakfast.  As he ate, a small smile came to his lips.  He’d be in New York in a few days and was looking forward to seeing Rollie.  It had been too long since he’d visited his son last.  Rollie would be surprised.  Dingo wondered what the boy was up to these days.  No doubt still making movies and hanging around Leo McCarthy.  Dingo mentally shook his head.  The kid had such talent.  He could be a millionaire if he’d just open his eyes and use his talents in the right way.  But Rollie wasn’t anything if he was not stubborn, and Dingo had long ago given up on trying to talk some sense into him.

Finishing his meal, Dingo returned to the brake shop.

“Your car’s not quite finished, Mister Tyler,” the man behind the counter informed him.  “It’ll probably be another fifteen minutes or so.”

Dingo went into the waiting room.  He found a pile of old magazines and started searching through them for something of interest.  Halfway down the pile, the title of an article caught his attention.

“The Life and Magic of F/X Wizard Rollie Tyler.”

A pleased smile curved Dingo’s lips.  Rollie must have been pretty proud that an article about him would be published in such a big name magazine.  Dingo noted the date and saw that the article was three months old.  He took the magazine to a seat and opened it to the correct page.  There was a nice big photo of Rollie, which brought another smile to Dingo’s face.  He began to read.

Born just outside Melbourne, Australia on July 28, 1965, Roland (Rollie) Tyler had a simple beginning.  It’s doubtful that, growing up in Australia, he had any idea that he would one day be hailed as one of the best independent special effects artists of our time.

Dingo’s heart swelled with pride at the high praise.  He’d had no idea that Rollie was so well thought of in the movie industry.  He continued to read.

Rollie came to this country at the young age of fourteen.  He’d spent four years traveling the country with his father when, quite by chance, he got a job as a stuntman on a New York movie production.  His resemblance to the movie’s leading man was the reason he got the job.  Afterwards, deciding that he liked the action and thrill of stunt work, Rollie chose to make it his career.

Over the next year and a half, Rollie distinguished himself as a superior stuntman, gaining a reputation as one of the best in a surprisingly short time.  Friends and acquaintances recalled the Australian’s seeming fearlessness in performing stunts, yet were quick to point out that he never took foolish chances and that he showed a remarkable intelligence and knowledge of the process that went into making a stunt work.  It was that intelligence and knowledge that led to what would become Rollie’s true calling in life.
 
In March of 1984, on the set of a movie called Gangster Alley, Rollie met Manual (Manny) Ramirez, the Cuban-born special effects artist who, since escaping to this country in 1981, had established himself as one of the top independent F/X artists in New York.  Impressed by the young stuntman, Manny gave Rollie a job as his apprentice.
 
In an amazingly short time, Rollie gained enough skill as an F/X artist that he began to catch the attention of some of the bigger F/X companies in New York.  This is particularly surprising when you realize that Rollie had very little formal education, having been almost entirely home schooled since the age of eleven.  Rollie never went to high school and had no college education, yet his genius in special effects was clear to see.  Choosing to stay with Manny Ramirez, despite other job offers, Rollie helped build Ramirez F/X  into one of the most sought after independent F/X companies of its day.
 
Tragically, in June of 1991, Manny Ramirez was killed in an explosion on the set of one of their movies.  The company having been willed to him, Rollie took over Ramirez F/X and changed the name to Tyler F/X.  In 1995, Manny’s daughter, Angela, a college graduate of NYU, went to work for Rollie.
 
In the years that followed, the team of Tyler and Ramirez made Tyler F/X a company that produced brilliant special effects, ones that rivaled many of the other much larger F/X companies.  Between Angela’s skills in computer graphics and Rollie’s abilities in electronics, mechanics and robotics, the little company created some amazing special effects, ones that deserved to be in bigger name productions rather than the “B” movies that they usually appeared in.
 
But not all of Tyler F/X’s movies are unknowns.  They do have several noteworthy productions to their credit, most notably movies like Eye of the Dragon, starring kung fu action star Jimmy Chu, the critically acclaimed Fallen Knight, which is the account of the 1979 assassination of Senator George Knight, and Red Storm, the real life story of Chinese human rights leader Zhang Chow, which was nominated for an academy award for Best Picture.  Tyler F/X was a rising star that had the potential to become a shining beacon in the movie industry.
 
Sadly, the story of Rollie Tyler came to a tragic and terrible end on March 18, 2000 when he was killed by a bomb planted in his car. . . .

Dingo froze in place, his breath halting, his heart skipping a beat then resuming with a hard, painful cadence.  He sat staring at the words of the sentence with a mind gone numb.  No.  No, this can’t be true.  It can’t be.  Rollie can’t be dead.

In denial, Dingo read the rest of the article, which talked about how the case remained unsolved.  It revealed the previously unknown fact that Rollie had been secretly helping the NYPD for years on some of their cases, using his expertise in special effects to aid in solving crimes and capturing criminals.  The article did not reveal the true scope of how much Rollie had done for the cops, making it clear that the writer had no idea how invaluable Rollie’s aid had been to them.  But Dingo didn’t care about that.  All he cared about was that, according to this article, Rollie was dead.  Dingo refused to believe it, refused to accept that his son could be dead.  Somehow, some way, it was all a trick, an illusion, like so may of the illusions that Rollie had created in the past.

A suspicion began forming in Dingo’s mind.  Leo McCarthy was behind this.  For some reason, they had faked Rollie’s death--and Dingo was going to get to the bottom of it.

Stuffing the magazine inside his shirt, Dingo hurriedly went to the desk.  His car had just been finished.  Quickly paying for the repairs, Dingo fairly ran to the Caddy.  He took off with a squealing of tires and headed to where the trailer was parked.  He had the trailer hooked up to the Caddy and was on the road, heading for New York, in record time.

His son was not dead.  Rollie was alive, and, one way or another, Dingo was going to find him.

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

Daniel, Angie and Leo spent the rest of the morning going over the case.  They broke for lunch, and Daniel suggested that they take a break and let their minds process what they’d been discussing.  They went to the living room to chat.  Inevitably, the conversation turned to Rollie, the cop telling Daniel about some of the cases they worked on.  The minister listened raptly, realizing more fully how incredible his brother had been.  Aside from his brilliance and ingenuity, he’d shown a remarkable courage and perseverance, as well as a great compassion for those in need.

“He really was a remarkable man, wasn’t he,” he murmured softly.

“Yes, he was,” Leo agreed.  “I have been a cop for a lot of years, and I’ve worked with some of the finest law enforcement personnel in the country, yet I have never known anyone with more courage, determination and skill than Rollie.  There are a lot of bad guys now in prison because of him and a whole lot of innocent people still alive because he took the time to help.  He was the best.”

A heavy silence fell as everyone’s thoughts dwelled on the man who was no longer with them.

Leo finally cleared his throat.  “So, what about you, Daniel?  What sort of life have you had?”

“Pretty boring compared to Rollie’s,” the minister replied.  He recounted a little about his childhood, growing up in dozens of towns and cities across the country.  He told them about his family’s arrival in Irvine, California and the birth and growth of Cooper Ministries.  Finally, he got to Kate.  Feeling uncomfortable about sharing the whole story with a man he barely knew, Daniel just skimmed over it, mentioning nothing about his father’s refusal to allow the marriage.

“And that’s really all there is,” Daniel said in conclusion.  “After the Vegas fiasco, I got the position of minister here.  The church hadn’t been used in thirty years and was nearly falling down.  It took a lot of time and effort to get it to the condition it is now, but it was worth it.  I’m happy here.  I’ve found a home and a woman to love.  Life has been good.”

“So, there is something between you and Alex Stone,” Leo said.  Seeing the surprise on Daniel’s face he smiled.  “I am a trained investigator, Daniel.  I notice things.”

The minister chuckled.  “Well, it’s not like we’re trying to hide it.  Alex and I are engaged.”

“Congratulations.  When’s the happy day?”

“It’s tentatively set for August 26th.  We haven’t made an official announcement of the engagement, so don’t mention it to anyone.”

“No problem.”

Daniel stood.  “Would anyone like some tea?”

“Sure,” Angie replied.

“No thanks.  But if you happen to have a beer in the fridge, I wouldn’t turn it down.”

Daniel grinned.  “I’ll see what I can do, mate.”

The minister turned and headed toward the kitchen, missing the look of shock that filled Leo’s face and the distress on Angie’s.  The cop looked at Angie.

“What the hell was that?” he asked.  “I thought I heard an Australian accent once before, but there’s no mistake this time.  He sounded exactly like Rollie.  Why is he doing that?”

“It’s not on purpose, Leo.  Believe me.  He’s not even aware he’s doing it unless we tell him.”

“What do you mean he’s not aware he’s doing it?”

Angie sighed.  She’d hoped to keep this whole thing from Leo.  “I think Rollie’s ghost is trying to contact us though Daniel.”

“You . . . what?”

“Daniel has been displaying a lot of Rollie’s characteristics.  He’s calling me names that only Rollie did, using words and phrases of Rollie’s.  He has memories of things that Rollie knew, things he couldn’t possibly have found out from anyone else.  He and I have both seen and experienced things, visitation by Rollie.  I’ve been having dreams that I know are more than ordinary dreams.  I . . . I talked to him, Leo.  I talked to Rollie.  It was just as clear and distinct as this conversation now.  It only lasted a few seconds, but it was real.”

The detective just sat and stared at her, slack-jawed.  Finally, he snapped out of it.  “Angie, I know that you believe in all that stuff, but I don’t.  Ghosts don’t exist.”

“Daniel doesn’t believe in them either.  At first, he didn’t want to accept what was going on.”

“And now?”

“He’s willing to believe that Rollie’s spirit, soul . . . whatever, is trying to contact us from heaven.”

The look of skepticism on Leo’s face told Angie that he wasn’t convinced.  “All right.  So, tell me why Rollie would be doing that,” he demanded.

“Well, the most obvious reason is to tell us who murdered him.”

“He’s been dead for over three months, Angie.  Why wait so long?”

“I think it’s because he couldn’t get through to us before.  Daniel, being his twin brother, is acting like a conduit through which Rollie can reach us.  All the strange things didn’t start happening until after I arrived on the island.”

Leo shook his head.  “Not even Rollie could dream up something this farfetched.”

Angie stood, suddenly angry.  “I knew this was exactly the reaction you’d have.  You can have such a closed mind sometimes.  Rollie knew that, too.  That’s why he never told you about--”  She broke off abruptly, realizing she’d said too much.

“Never told me what?”

Just then, Daniel came in, having heard the raised voices.  “What. . . .”  He looked at the expressions on the faces of the other two people.  “Um, what did I miss?”

“I told Leo about what has been happening, Rollie’s attempts to communicate with us,” Angie told him.

“You did?”

“You didn’t give me much choice, Daniel.  You did it again.”

“Did wha. . . .  Oh.  I’m sorry.”  He rubbed his face.  “It’s happening more and more often, isn’t it.”

“Yeah.  Either Rollie’s getting stronger or he’s becoming more frantic.”

“I’m afraid of what he might try next, Angie,” Daniel said worriedly.  “After what happened yesterday. . . .”

“I know.”

Leo got to his feet.  “All right.  I don’t know what you two are talking about, but, right now,” his eyes focused on Angie, “I want to know what you almost let slip a moment ago.  What didn’t Rollie tell me?”

Angie sighed wearily.  “You’d better sit down.”

“I think I’d better go turn off the water,” Daniel said, sensing that they were about to get into a long conversation.

Leo and Angie resumed their seats, as did Daniel once he got back to the living room.

“You remember that incident with Mangela three years ago, the vision he told us Rollie had as a child?” Angie asked Leo.

“Yeah.  I didn’t put much stock in it.  I respect Mangela and his beliefs, but this whole thing about Rollie having a prophetic vision. . . .”  The cop shook his head.  “Luther Cale stealing those stones was just a coincidence, and the only reason why the rest of Rollie’s ‘vision’ was fulfilled is because Mangela deliberately brought him into the whole thing and put him in the position where he was the one to get the stones back.”

“You’re wrong, Leo,” Angie said bluntly.  “It wasn’t a coincidence.  It was all real.  Rollie did see into the future when he was a child, and it started happening again a couple of years ago.”

“What are you talking about?”

“After Rollie suffered that head injury on the set of Lightspeed, he started having dreams again, ones that he knew were more than dreams.  And they kept coming true.  He managed to prevent some of the things from happening, but others he couldn’t stop, and it was tearing him apart.”

“Rollie never said anything about this,” Leo said, doubt still heavy in his voice.

“Because he knew that you’d react exactly like this.  He knew that you wouldn’t believe it.  He didn’t want to hurt your friendship by having that kind of tension between you.”  Angie leaned forward.  “Think back to some of the cases you worked on with Rollie over the last couple of years.  Was there anything different about them?”

“Different?”  Leo thought back to his last two years with his friend.  “Well, he did pull my butt out of the fire more often than usual and . . . and he was even better at figuring things out than he was before.  Some of the guesses he made regarding the cases were so on target that they were almost spooky.”

Angie nodded.  “He was having visions about the cases, seeing things that enabled him to figure things out.  Remember the incident with Vincent Capriccio, when he put the contract out on your life?”

“How could I forget?  I almost bought it that time.  If it hadn’t been for Rollie. . . .”

“Yeah.  You were just leaving your apartment to go to work when you got a frantic call from him telling you not to get in your car.  He said he’d gotten an anonymous phone call warning him that there was a bomb in the car.”

“And there was.”

“There was no phone call, Leo, no anonymous tip.  Rollie had a dream about your death.  He saw you die in an explosion in your car.  He saved your life with an ability that you would not have believed he possessed.”

Stunned, Leo sat in silence, trying to absorb what Angie was telling him about his best friend.  A part of him was still struggling to believe it, to accept.  But the more he thought about things that had happened in those last two years, the more it made sense.  Rollie’s intuition has seemed almost uncanny at times, far more than it ever had before.  Even VanDuran had been openly impressed by the Aussie’s instincts.  After the incident with the bomb in his car, Leo had tried to find out more details from Rollie on the anonymous call, but the Aussie had been evasive, saying he had no idea who the caller was.  Leo’s eyes shut tightly as a wave of anguish hit him.  Rollie had saved him from death by a car bomb, then had died in the same way because Leo did not have the power to save him.

The cop ran his hands over his face, trying to regain control.  He took a deep breath and looked at Angie and Daniel, who were both watching him with understanding.

“I had no idea, no clue,” Leo murmured.  He was hit by a terrible thought.  “Did he . . . did he have a dream about his own death?”

Angie nodded.  “Yeah, I think so.  Or at least he knew that something was going to happen to him.  He was acting nervous and tense those last couple of days, and he wouldn’t tell me why.”

“God.  If I’d only known, I could have . . . have done something, protected him somehow.”

“He must have had a reason for not saying anything,” Daniel said softly.  “We can’t know what he saw about his own death.  Maybe he thought he was protecting someone he cared about by staying silent.”

The room grew quiet again.  After a minute or so, Leo’s voice broke the stillness.

“So, now you’re saying that Rollie’s . . . spirit is trying to get through to you and is using Daniel to do it?”

“Yeah.  There can be no other explanation for the things that have been happening,” Angie replied.

Processing this new information, the detective looked closely at the minister.  Over the many years that he’d been friends with Rollie, he had become familiar with the Aussie’s mannerisms, the way he moved and held himself.  Since meeting Daniel, Leo had been watching him, and the more he had, the more spooked he’d been getting.  The way the minister walked, the way he positioned his body, little hand movements and facial expressions, they were all like Rollie’s.  Not just close, exactly like Rollie’s.  If he were to go by appearances alone, Leo would have sworn that Daniel was Rollie.  He had tried to shrug it off, reasoning that it was because Daniel was Rollie’s identical twin.  But maybe there was more to it.  Could Rollie really be reaching out from beyond the grave?  Even though he’d never believed in ghosts, Leo felt a touch of happiness that perhaps some part of Rollie was still with them.

“So, what have you been doing about all this?” he asked.

“There’s nothing we really can do,” Angie admitted.  “It’s all up to Rollie.  Well, I suppose that we could hold a seance, but. . . .”  Daniel’s expression instantly told her what he thought of that idea.  Nope.  A seance was out of the question.

“Then I guess we just have to wait and see what happens, huh,” Leo surmised.

“Yeah.”

Daniel’s gaze fell to the floor, a troubled look on his face.

“What’s wrong?” Angie asked.

The minister shrugged.  “I just have this feeling.”

“What kind of feeling?”

“That something is about to happen, something that’s going to change everything.”

Frank yawned hugely.  He hadn’t gotten much sleep during the night.  Leo had called him last night to fill him in on what had gone on since his arrival in Washington.  He had described Daniel Cooper, talking about how frighteningly alike he was to his brother, then went on to talk about the ideas that he, Daniel and Angie had come up with about the case.

Throughout the conversation, Frank had the feeling that there was something Leo wasn’t telling him, but he hadn’t wanted to push.  If it was something he needed to know, he was sure Leo would tell him.

Since the conversation, Frank’s mind had been mulling over the case ceaselessly.  Unfortunately, he hadn’t come up with anything new.  He’d decided to come into work early this morning since he wasn’t sleeping anyway.

Frank heard a slight commotion and looked up to see a familiar form approaching.  Stunned, the cop stared at Dingo Tyler.  The man looked like hell.  He was unshaven, his clothes wrinkled, eyes bloodshot.

‘Oh no.  He found out.  What am I going to say?’ Francis thought.  Preparing himself, the detective stood as Dingo reached his desk.

“Dingo, I’m--”

“Where is he?” the Australian snapped.

Frank blinked in surprise.  “Where’s who?”

“McCarthy.  I want some answers.”

“He . . . he’s not here.  He’s out of town, on vacation.”

“On vacation?!” Dingo exploded.  Several heads turned in their direction.  A couple of the cops took a step forward, but Frank waved them away.

Realizing that he might get arrested if he didn’t quiet down, Dingo lowered his voice a little.  “My son is supposedly dead, and you’re telling me that his best buddy,” snarling the word ‘buddy’, “is off somewhere having a good time?”

“Dingo, it’s not like that. Leo’s--”

“Where is he?” Dingo interrupted again.

Francis shook his head.  “I can’t tell you that.”

The Australian’s eyes narrowed.  “Why not?  Why is it such a big secret?”  Then a look of comprehension lit his features.  “It’s because of Rollie, isn’t it.  Is that it?  Is he with Rollie?”

“W-what?” Frank stuttered, confused.

“Where is he?” Dingo asked again, a little louder.  “If you don’t tell me, I’ll find out another way.  I’ve got people who owe me favors.  They’ll find out where he is.”

Realizing that Dingo could cause a whole lot of trouble, Frank decided that he’d better tell the man where Leo was.

Gaining the information he wanted, Dingo spun around and made a move to leave, but Frank’s soft voice stopped him.

“Dingo.  I’m . . . I’m really sorry about Rollie.  We all are.”

Dingo’s back stiffened.  Slowly, he looked over his shoulder at the cop.  “My son’s not dead,” he growled.  Then, before anything else could be said, he was gone, leaving Francis sitting there, his mouth hanging open.

“Boris, Alex had to run over to the general store to pick up something,” Molly told the Russian.  “I need to go get the breakfast trays from upstairs.  Will you be all right on your own for a few minutes?”

“Yes, Boris will be doing okay.  Not many customers now.  You go moosh moosh upstairs.”

“Okay.  I’ll be back in a few.”

Boris checked the status of the food cooking on the stove, then wiped his hands on his apron and went out into the dining area.  Deciding that all the customers were set, he turned to go back in the kitchen.  Just then, the phone rang.

“This is Widow’s Walk.  How can help you?” he answered.

“Uh, yeah.  I need to talk to Leo McCarthy in Room Seven.  My name is Frank Gatti.”

“Policeman McCarthy not here.  Boris see him go with Reverend Cooper and Angie Ramirez.  Maybe you try reverend’s house.  He perhaps is there.”

“I already tried there.  There’s no answer.  Um, could I leave a message for him?” Frank asked.

“Yes, this is possible.  Wait while Boris gets paper and pencil.”  The Russian grabbed an old order ticket and turned it over, then picked up a pen.  “Okay, you shoot.”

Trying not to smile at the man’s misuse of slang, Frank said, “Tell him that Frank called.  Dingo found out and is on his way there.  Call me.”

“Dingo?  Is this not dog that lives in Australia?”

“Um, yeah, but it’s also somebody’s name.”

“Why would parents give child such silly name as Dingo?” Boris asked, appalled.

Muffling a laugh, Frank replied, “I don’t think it’s his real name.  It’s just a nickname everyone calls him.”

“Oh.  Well, Boris is thinking that it is silly nickname, but he will give message to Policeman McCarthy.”

“Thanks.”

Boris hung up the phone and put the note on the counter behind the bar.  He went back into the kitchen.  Molly returned a moment later from upstairs.  In danger of dropping the load she was carrying, she set one of the empty food trays down on the counter, on top of the note.  She took the other tray into the kitchen, set it near the sink where they washed the dishes, then came back out for the other tray.  As she lifted the second tray, the note fell to the floor, upside down.  A crash from the kitchen made her dash in there.  Boris was standing over a fallen bowl of cake batter, cursing profusely in Russian.  Molly looked at the mess.

“I guess I’d better take the lemon cake off today’s desert list, huh,” she murmured.  She helped the Russian clean up the mess, then left him to his cooking.  Back at the bar, Molly noticed the piece of paper on the floor.  She picked it up and, seeing that it was a used order ticket, put it with the rest of the day’s receipts.  She then grabbed up the pot of coffee and went out into the seating area.

Daniel, Angie and Leo entered the parish house.  They’d spent all morning and the better part of the afternoon in Seattle.  They’d gone to Jake Mitchum’s old precinct.  A couple of the cops there remembered Leo.  Using that and his friendship with Jake, Leo had managed to talk them into letting Angie use one of the computers.  Daniel then had the pleasure of watching Angie do what she did best.  Because of where they were, she couldn’t safely hack into any government databases, but she was able to track down some information on Joanne Carfield.  It seemed that Ms. Carfield had owned two purebred Shih-Tzu dogs that she apparently had not wanted to part with.  Through some in-depth checking by computer and phone, they’d learned that two dogs of that breed were on a flight to Rome, Italy the day following the final closure of the adoption agency.  They’d spent the normal amount of time in quarantine, then been picked up by their owner, whose name was Jacqueline Reese.

Angie and Leo were unable to follow the trail any further because the cop who’d given them computer access warned them that the captain was coming.  They’d had to stop what they were doing and beat a hasty retreat.

Leo sat on the sofa and stretched his legs out.  “Now that we’ve got a name, we’ll have a lot better luck tracking her down.  That is if she kept that name.”  He glanced at his watch.  “I’ll call Frank in the morning, see if he can take it from here.  If we can get Joanne Carfield, we might be able to get her to spill what she knows.”

“How are you going to do that if she’s still in Italy?” Daniel asked.

“I don’t know yet.  I’ll fly there if I have to, threaten to have her extradited.  One way or another, I’ll get to the truth.”

Daniel sat on a chair and laid his head against the backrest, closing his eyes wearily.  He hadn’t slept at all well last night, strange dreams keeping him awake.

“You look tired, Daniel,” Angie commented.

“Yeah, I am.  Didn’t get a lot of sleep.”

“Maybe you should go take a nap.”

The minister lifted his head and peered at her.  “You’re the one who should get some rest, Angie.  I can tell that you’re tired, too.  This has been a really long day for you.”

Angie shrugged.  “I spent most of it sitting in front of a computer.  I’m fine.”  Daniel just continued to look at her, one eyebrow cocked upward.  She sighed in defeat.  “Okay, so I am a little tired.  But I don’t feel like going back to the inn.  I’ll just sit here on the couch and relax.”

Amused by the exchange, Leo hid a smile.  Watching the two of them together, you’d think they had been friends for years, not just the few days they’d known each other.  Leo sobered.  Actually, they were acting a lot like he’d seen Rollie and Angie act toward each other, that air of easy companionship and intimate understanding that only came from getting to know someone very well over a long period of time.

“Well, I say that we all take a little break,” the cop said.  He stood.  “I’m kind of stiff from sitting in that uncomfortable chair at the station for so long.  I think I’ll stretch my legs.”

“Actually, that sounds like a good idea.  Mind if I join you?” Daniel asked.

“Not at all.”

The minister stood, looking at Angie.  “If you’d like to lie down, you can use my bed.  It’s more comfortable than the couch.”  He smiled.  “But then, you already know that.”

The two men left the house.  Daniel leading the way, they headed into the woods.

“What did you mean by that comment about the bed?” Leo asked.

“Angie stayed with me for a while until she was well enough to be on her own.  She only just moved back to the Widow’s Walk on Sunday.”

Leo looked at him in surprise.  “How sick was she?”

“Pretty sick.”  Daniel paused.  “I guess I should tell you what happened.  Angie got to the island a week ago Monday.  She hadn’t been here very long when she spied me coming out of the Widow’s Walk.  You can probably guess what happened.”

“She thought you were Rollie.”

“Yeah.  She came running up to me, this woman I’d never met, and threw her arms around me, calling me Rollie.  I didn’t know what was going on.  When I told her I wasn’t who she thought I was, she didn’t want to believe me, but then she realized I was telling the truth.”  Daniel sighed sadly.  “I’ll never forget the look on her face.  It was like everything she had to hope for and live for died in that instant.  Then she just fainted dead in my arms.  I took her to the clinic, and the doctor determined that Angie hadn’t eaten or slept in a long time.”

“How long?” Leo asked sharply.

“I don’t know for sure.  Quite a while, long enough that her health was seriously threatened.”

Leo looked away, ashamed.  How had he not realized it was that bad?  He’d noticed the weight loss and the signs of exhaustion, but he’d had no idea that Angie was not eating or sleeping at all.  He knew that she ate while Lucinda was staying with her.  The actress had made sure of that.  But that was two months ago.  How long had Angie been starving herself?

“I can’t believe I didn’t realize this,” he muttered.  “Damn.  If I’d known, I would have done something about it.”

“Don’t beat yourself up over it, Leo.  Angie probably did a good job of hiding it.  She wouldn’t have wanted you to see.”

“I knew Rollie’s death was sucking the life out of her.  I could see it in her eyes.  Frankly, I was terrified that she’d commit suicide.”

Daniel quickly looked away, but the cop caught the expression on his face.

“What?  What is it?” he asked.

The minister shook his head.  “I don’t have the right to say.”

Leo grasped Daniel’s arm, halting their progress.  “Daniel, at Rollie’s funeral, I made him two promises.  One was that I would not rest until the person responsible for his death was put away.  The other was that I would watch over Angie the best I could.  So far, I haven’t been able to keep either promise.  Rollie’s murder remains unsolved, and I failed to do all that I should have for Angie.  If there’s something about her that you’re not telling me, please believe that I only want to help her in whatever way I can.”

Daniel stared at him for a long time, then sighed softly.  “She almost did kill herself.”

Leo tensed.  “When?”

“Shortly after the funeral.  Sleeping pills.”

“What stopped her?”

“She realized that Rollie wouldn’t want her to do it, that, if he could somehow see her, it would hurt him.”

Leo closed his eyes for a moment.  “Thank God for that.”  They resumed walking.  “So, what happened after you took Angie to the clinic?”

“Well, at first, she didn’t want to see me because of my resemblance to Rollie, but she finally agreed.  We talked.  She really opened up about him, revealed how much she was hurting.  I tried to comfort her the best I could.”

“We tried to get Angie to open up about her feelings, but she wouldn’t talk about it.  I am so glad she was able to do it with you.”

“Well, the opening up was kind of mutual.  I told her a little about Kate and how much her death hurt me.”

“So, how did you figure out that you were Rollie’s brother?”

“She showed me a picture of him,” Daniel replied.  “I saw that picture, and I swear my heart stopped.  I got this sick feeling in my gut, and I asked how old he was.  When I found out that he was my age, I knew.  She then told me his birth date, and. . . .”  Daniel shook his head, closing his eyes.  “I never want to feel anything like that ever again.”

“I can’t even begin to imagine what it was like,” Leo said, feeling deep sympathy for the minister.  What a horrible way to find out that you had a twin brother.

Daniel cleared his throat.  “Anyway, after we figured out that I was Rollie’s brother, a lot of things changed.  We began to grow close, and Angie started to get better.  But then, all these strange things began to happen.  They’ve been getting progressively stronger and more frequent.”

“Angie said that she talked to Rollie.”

“Yeah.  It was in the church.  I wasn’t there.  She prayed to God to let her speak to Rollie, and, all of a sudden, he was there.  She didn’t see him, but she said that he spoke to her.  Unfortunately, for some reason, he suddenly broke off contact.”

“You believe she really did talk with him?”

“At first, I didn’t know what to believe, but, since then, so many things have happened that I now have no doubt that Rollie really did contact her.”

Leo shook his head.  “I’m still having a hard time believing this.  It’s just so unreal.”

Daniel smiled faintly.  “I know what you mean.”  He looked at his watch.  “I guess we should get back.”

The two men turned around and made their way back to the parish, both of them occupied with thoughts of Rollie and how, even dead, he was deeply affecting their lives.

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

When the two men returned to the house, they found Angie still on the couch--fast asleep.  Smiling tenderly, Daniel covered her up with a blanket and motioned for Leo to join him in the kitchen.  They talked quietly, the minister asking Leo about how he became a cop and how he and Rollie first met.  They’d been chatting for around forty minutes when Angie came in.  She looked pointedly at Daniel.

“Not a word, Cooper.  Not one word,” she warned, not wanting to hear him make a smart remark about her being more tired than she’d claimed.

Daniel smirked, wisely keeping his mouth shut.

“Nice nap, Angie?” Leo asked in mock innocence, receiving a glare in reply.

“I’d say that we could all use a cup of coffee,” Daniel said.  As he got up to prepare it, Angie took a seat at the table.  She noticed that Leo was watching her with more concern than he had before.

“What’s up with that expression, Leo?  I don’t look that bad, do I?”

“No.  Not at all,” the cop replied quickly.  “I just still worry about you, that’s all.”

Still suspicious, Angie stared at him a moment longer, then ran her fingers through her hair in an effort to return it to some semblance of order.  A couple of minutes later, the coffee was done, and everyone fixed their cups.

“So, what’s our next move?” Daniel asked.

“We need to focus our attention on finding Joanne Carfield,” Leo replied.  “If we can find her, she could give us all the answers.”

“But will she talk?” Angie wondered.  “Right now, the evidence we have on her is pretty slim, isn’t it?”

“Yes, but if we put enough pieces together, it might be enough to force her hand.”  Leo turned to Daniel.  “We’re going to have to talk to your parents.  Their statements are going to be vital to the case.”

The minister stared down at his coffee.  “I know.  I just don’t know how I’m going to break the news to them.  How do you tell your parents that they adopted a baby who was stolen from his real parents, that the adoption was illegal, that I’m not . . . not a Cooper?”

Angie laid her hand over his.  “You’re still who you were before, Daniel.  That hasn’t changed.”  She gave him a gentle smile.  “You’ll think of the right words.”

Daniel smiled at her gratefully, then reached for his cup of coffee.  His hand slipped, and the cup spilled, dumping its contents across the table and onto his legs.  He leapt to his feet, hissing as the hot liquid soaked through his jeans.

“Are you all right?  Did it burn you?” Angie asked in concern.

“No, I think I’m okay.  Fortunately, the coffee had cooled a bit.  I’ll go take a look and see if there’s any damage,” he looked at the mess, “and change my pants.”

As the minister went to do that, Angie and Leo cleaned up the spill with towels.  They’d just finished when there was a knock on the door.  They both went out into the living room to answer it.  Leo opened the door, his eyes widening in surprise to see Dingo Tyler standing there.  The man looked terrible.  He was unshaven, his hair uncombed, and he had the appearance of someone who hadn’t slept in days.  There was an expression of anger and determination on his face.

“What are you doing here?” Angie spat, glaring at the Australian.

“I came here because I want to know what’s going on,” he replied angrily.  He stepped into the house, waving the magazine with the article about Rollie in their faces.  “I found out from this two days ago that my son is supposedly dead, has been for over three months.  Well, I don’t believe it.  Rollie’s not dead.  This is some kind of scam, or trick, or-or maybe part of a plan of yours,” he pointed at Leo, “to catch somebody.  You were always dragging him into one thing or another.  Or is Rollie in the Witness Protection Program?  Is that it?  I want to know why you’re here.  Is this where Rollie is?”

Stunned, Leo just stared at Rollie’s father for a moment, then, in a gentle voice, said,  “Dingo, I’m sorry, but Rollie--”

He didn’t get a chance to finish because Daniel chose that moment to come back out into the living room.  When Dingo caught sight of the minister, a joyful smile filled his face.  He ran forward and engulfed Daniel in a tight hug.

“Rollie!  Oh, thank God, thank God.  I was right!  You’re alive!” he sobbed.

Shocked, Daniel just stood there helplessly, his eyes throwing questions at the other two people in the room.

All at once, a blinding rage boiled up in Angie at the sight of Rollie’s father hugging Daniel.  She strode forward and, with almost unnatural strength, pulled Dingo away from the minister.

“He’s not Rollie!” she screamed.  “Rollie’s dead, you hear me?!  He’s dead, you pathetic, selfish bastard of a father!  How does that make you feel, huh?  The son you should have loved, and cherished, and been a real father to is dead!  You never gave him the love and attention he deserved from you.  You were too wrapped up in your own damn life to see how much you were hurting him.  And, now, he’s gone.  He’s never, ever coming back.  It makes me sick, sick that a wonderful, kind, caring, beautiful person like Rollie is dead and you’re standing there alive!  I hope you burn in hell!”

By the time she was finished, Angie was sobbing hysterically.  The anger burning inside her abruptly flared up again, and she lashed out with her fist, striking Dingo across the cheek with all her strength.  The man staggered and fell.  Then Leo’s arms were around her, encircling her from behind.

“Angie, stop!” Daniel cried, grasping her shoulders.  “You have to stop this, please!”  He forced her face up and met her eyes.  “Angie, look at me.  It’s not his fault that Rollie’s dead.  You can’t blame him.  You have to let this hatred go.  Think of Rollie, Angie.  Would he want this?  Would he want you to hate his father?”

Angie’s eyes squeezed shut, her chest still heaving with sobs.

“I know you’re hurting.  I know,” Daniel continued softly.  “But please, please don’t let yourself be destroyed by this.  Rollie wouldn’t want that.  You have to just think of him, think about how much he loved you.  Think about his smile, and his voice, and all the things you loved about him.  Let go of everything else.  Just hold onto him.”

“Rollie,” Angie cried in despair.  Her sobs slowly transformed into a high, keening sound, terrible in its tone of utter hopelessness.  Then it faded away, and she slumped against Leo.  His arms tightened around her.  He lowered her onto a chair.  Daniel knelt beside her, stroking her hair.

“Shh.  It’s all right.  It’s all right now,” he murmured.  He pulled her head down to rest on his shoulder.  “You’re going to be okay.”

The minister turned to the man who had been the catalyst of Angie’s breakdown.  Still on the floor, Dingo was staring, open-mouthed, at them, shock and incomprehension on his face.  Their eyes met.

“You’re . . . you’re not Rollie?” he asked.

“No,” Daniel replied.  “My name’s Daniel, Daniel Cooper.”

“B-but you look exactly like him.”

Too much had happened for Daniel to explain who he was to Dingo right now.  His only concern at this moment was Angie.  He turned back to her.  She was staring dully at a spot on the floor, her expression frighteningly blank.

“Angie?  Can you hear me?” Daniel asked.  There was no reply.  Scared, the minister looked up at Leo.

“I’d better call the doctor,” the cop said, also frightened by Angie’s behavior.

“No,” Angie said in a tiny whisper.  The two men looked down at her.

“Angie, I think we should have Doctor Watson check you out,” Daniel said gently.

“No,” Angie repeated, this time more loudly and firmly.  “I’m all right now.”

“I don’t think you are.”

A slow, deep, shuddering sigh rose out of Angie.  “No, you’re right.  I’m not.  I don’t think I ever really will be.  But I won’t break down again.”  She pulled away from Daniel and sat up straighter.  She glanced at Dingo, then quickly looked away.  “I want to go to the church, Daniel.  Please take me to the church.”

The minister helped Angie to her feet and led her out of the house and to the church, his arm around her to give her support.  He sat her on the front pew, settling beside her.  Angie’s head bowed, and her eyes closed.  Daniel didn’t know if she was praying or if she was just trying to find some measure of peace.  He glanced back and saw Dingo and Leo hovering just inside the door.  Leo’s expression spoke of concern while Dingo’s still mirrored confusion and, now, a little unease.

The Australian turned to the cop.  “Is, um, she going to be okay?” he asked in a low voice.

“I don’t know.  Rollie’s death hit her harder than you can imagine.  I was afraid that she’d suffer an emotional breakdown sooner or later.  I guess it finally hit.”  He looked at Dingo to see grief fill the man’s face.

“Then he’s really dead?  My boy’s really gone?” Dingo whispered, realization hitting him.

“I’m sorry, Dingo.  You don’t know how much I wish it wasn’t true.”

Tears began sliding down Dingo’s face.  He choked back a sob and quickly escaped from the church.  He stumbled away, not knowing or caring where he went.  He finally stopped amidst the trees surrounding the parish and slowly sank to his knees.  The sob he’d refused to let out earlier returned.  Soon, he was crying helplessly, his head bowed, hands grasping handfuls of dead leaves and pine needles.  Dead.  Dead.  Rollie was dead.  His son, the only truly bright spot in his sad, sorry life was gone.

All at once, the words Angie had spoken rushed up and consumed him.  They were all true, every one.  He’d had the finest son any man could ever hope for, a son to cherish and be proud of, and what had he done?  He’d all but removed Rollie from his life.  He’d become so absorbed in himself and his continual pursuit of money that he’d forgotten he already possessed a treasure beyond any price.  And, now, the most precious thing he’d had in his life was gone.

“Oh, dear God.  Rollie.  I’m sorry.  I’m so sorry,” he cried.  “Please, God.  Forgive me for what I’ve done.  Rollie, forgive me.”

After a long while, Dingo’s tears stopped.  He then just sat there, the weight of his grief pressing down on him.  He had no idea how long he’d been there when he heard someone approaching.  Dingo looked up to see the man who was a physical duplicate of his son.  The man stopped and knelt beside him.

“Are you all right?” he asked, his tone a strange mixture of concern, reserve and nervousness.

“No, I’m not.  How can I be?”  He met the man’s eyes.  “How’s Angie?”

“Resting.  I think she’s going to be okay.”

Dingo stared at Daniel’s face, unable to believe the resemblance to Rollie.  “Who are you?” he asked.

Daniel looked away.  “I’m Daniel Cooper.  I’m the minister here and . . .” he turned back to Dingo, “and I’m your son.”

Dingo choked on a gasp.  “W-what are you talking about?  You’re not my son.  Rollie was my son, the only one I had--”  He broke off.  His expression darkened.  “What kind of trick is this?” he asked angrily.

“It’s no trick, Mister Tyler.  I was born on July 28, 1965, the same date as Rollie.  I was adopted as a baby and never knew my biological parents.  Leo has uncovered evidence that indicates I was stolen from my parents.  Everything points to me being Rollie’s brother.”

Dingo shook his head.  “That’s impossible.  You can’t be his twin.”

“Did he have a brother?”

Dingo’s eyes closed for a moment in remembrance of a tragedy long ago.  “Yes, but he died over thirty-four years ago in a fire. He couldn’t have survived.  He was just a baby, not even eight weeks old.”

“I don’t know what to say, Dingo,” Daniel said, deciding that he couldn’t call his father ‘Mister Tyler’ anymore.  “I only know what I’ve told you.  Perhaps we should go back to the house.  We can talk about it more there.”

They returned to Daniel’s home.  Leo was wandering distractedly around the living room.

“Is she still in bed?” the minister asked.

“Yes, though I’m not sure she’s asleep.”

“She’s not,” said a voice behind them.  They all turned to see Angie standing at the edge of the living room.

“You should be trying to get some sleep,” Daniel told her.

“I can sleep later.”  Avoiding Dingo’s eyes, she went to the couch and sat down, hugging her knees to her chest.  Dingo watched her for a moment, then turned his attention to Leo.

“Daniel has told me that he believes he’s Rollie’s brother,” he said.  “Do you believe that, too?”

“Yes, I do.  I was skeptical at first, but what I’ve learned and seen has removed any doubt I had.  My question to you is, was Rollie one of twins?”

Dingo sat down.  “Yes.  Rollie had a twin brother.  Like I told Daniel, he died when he was a baby.”

“How?”

Dingo turned away, looking off into the distance, into a time long past.  “It was a fire.  My wife, Alcinia, was outside with Rollie.  Matthew was in the nursery, asleep.  When she smelled the smoke, she ran into the house and tried to get in the nursery, but . . . it was already in flames.”  Dingo’s voice was now shaking.  “I think Cini would have thrown herself into the fire to try to get Matthew, but I got home just then.  I pulled her out, and we watched our house burn down with our baby boy inside.”  He wiped away his tears.  “Cini never forgave herself for Matthew’s death.  After it happened, she lavished all her attention and love on Rollie.  I think he was the only thing that held her together those first couple of years.”  He drew in a long breath.  “The fire investigators said the heater in the nursery short-circuited and caught the rug on fire.  They said that the room would have been an inferno in a matter of minutes.”

“Did they find a body?” Leo asked gently.

“No, but they said that wasn’t uncommon, that the fire was so hot that there would have been nothing left but . . . but ash.”

“Do you remember anything unusual happening before the fire, someone you didn’t recognize hanging around?”

“No.  Nothing.  Well, there was one day that Cini was certain somebody had been in the house while we were gone, but nothing was missing, so I figured it was her imagination.”

“All right.  What if this is what happened?” Leo said.  “What if the fire wasn’t an accident?  It might have been set to cover up your son’s kidnapping.  If the baby was believed dead, nobody would be looking for him.”

“But if this is true, it couldn’t have been a mistake,” Daniel pointed out.  “They’d have to have known that it was me they were taking.  It makes no sense.  Why?  Why take me?” Daniel asked.

“I don’t know,” Leo admitted.  “We probably won’t know that until we catch the people who did it.”

Dingo was staring at Daniel, an expression of hope in his eyes.  “There is one way I could know for sure if you’re my son,” he said.  “Both Rollie and Matthew had a birthmark in a place that most people wouldn’t notice.  It was on the back of the head, under the hair.  There was an area of the scalp that was much darker than the rest, about the size of a dime.  Do you have that?”

“Uh, I don’t know.  Mom never said anything about it.”

“Let me look,” Angie said.  “Come here.”

His nervousness growing, Daniel sat on the couch, his back to Angie.  She began examining the back of his head, pushing the hair aside.  She’d been searching for several seconds when she paused.

“Dingo?  Could you come take a look at this?” she asked.

The Australian leaned over the couch and looked to where Angie was pointing.  A small patch of dark brown skin could clearly be seen amidst the minister’s hair.

“Oh my God,” Dingo whispered.  “It is true.”  He went to his knees before Daniel, reaching out to touch his face.  “Matthew.”  Then he was suddenly pulling Daniel into his arms, holding him as he wept.  Angie turned away, unable to bear seeing Dingo give Daniel hugs that she never saw him give Rollie.

Not knowing what to do, Daniel remained unmoving in Dingo’s embrace.  His emotions were in a turmoil.  He’d already accepted the fact that this man was his biological father, but Dingo was still a stranger to him, except for what Angie had told him, and what he did know about the man was something he didn’t like.  He kept thinking about the fact that Dingo had failed in his God-given duty as a father, that Rollie had died without his father in his life.  Thinking about that made it seem wrong to accept Dingo’s love and attention, something that Rollie had gotten far too little of.

Very gently, he extricated himself from Dingo’s arms.  The Australian smiled at him.

“I wish Cini was here to see you.  She’d be so happy.”

“Stop it!  Just stop it!” Angie yelled.  “You find a new son, and so you forget that you’ve lost the other one, the one who waited over thirty-four years for the love that you’re now giving to a man you don’t even know?!  Was Matthew your favorite?  Is that it?  Did you hate Rollie because he was the one who survived?”

“Angela, that’s enough!” Daniel commanded.

“No!  God, no!” Dingo cried.  “I loved Rollie.  I loved him!  He was the only good thing left in my life, the only thing that really, truly mattered.”

“Well, you had a funny way of showing it,” Angie snarled.

Daniel was about to chastize her again, but Dingo spoke first.

“I deserve that,” he said in a low voice.  His gaze had dropped to the floor.  “I was a poor excuse for a father.  All these years, I was so wrapped up in the life, so focused on the next big score that I didn’t even see what I was doing to my son, my boy.  How could I have been so blind, so stupid?  And I can’t even tell him how sorry I am.  You have every right to hate me, Angie.”

Dingo got to his feet.  He seemed to have suddenly aged at least ten years.  “I believe that there’s a ferry leaving in a little while.  I’d better get going so that I can be on it.”

Daniel rose as well.  Seeing his natural father’s anguish, the depth of the man’s remorse, made him realize that he really did not know Dingo’s heart.  And he wanted to.  He wanted to know the man whose genes were a part of his.  “Please don’t leave, Dingo.  I’d . . . like to talk.  We should get to know each other.”

Dingo gazed at the son he had thought lost and was now found and could only think of the son he’d had for over thirty-four years and never taken the time to truly find, the son who was forever lost to him now.  “I . . . I can’t.  Not now.  I need to go back to New York, to say goodbye to my boy.  I. . . .”  He shook his head helplessly.  “I’ll, um, call sometime.”  He turned and walked out the door, not looking back.

For a long time, no one said anything, their minds too full of what just happened.  Angie felt a hint of guilt and shame coil its way into her gut.  She began to realize that she’d taken things too far.  Dingo was not to blame for Rollie’s death.  Not having a real target to aim at, she’d let her grief and anger zero in on Rollie’s father, using him as a scapegoat for her need to see the people behind Rollie’s death punished.

“I can’t let him leave like this,” Daniel said sadly.  “I have to try to talk to him.”

“Maybe it’s best to let him have his time to grieve, Daniel,” Leo suggested quietly.  “He just found out that his son is dead.  We know that he’s going back to New York.  We can find out what flight he takes, and I’ll have Frank go to the airport, keep an eye on him.”  He laid a hand on the minister’s shoulder.  “He’ll be all right, Daniel.  We’ll make sure of it.”

Daniel drew in a long breath and let it out slowly, nodding his head.  “I . . . I need to get out of here for a while.”

“Sure.  Take all the time you need.”  Leo watched the minister leave, then called Frank on his cell phone.

“Leo!  Did you get my message?” the younger cop asked.

“No.  What message?”

“Dingo’s on his way there.  He found out, Leo, but for some reason, he’s certain that Rollie is alive.”

“I know, Francis.  He was just here.”

“That fast?  Man, he must have gone straight to the airport and caught a flight out right away.  I called this morning, tried your cell phone but couldn’t get through.  Then I called Daniel’s place and got no answer, so I left a message at the place you’re staying.  I was wondering why I didn’t hear back from you, but I got caught up in another case and didn’t get a chance to call again.”

“You probably called my cell as we were on our way to the mainland in the boat.  The signal wouldn’t have reached me.  We spent most of the day in Seattle.”

“So, what happened with Dingo?”

Leo glanced at Angie.  “It, um, wasn’t pretty.  You’re right.  He was positive that Rollie was alive.  Then he saw Daniel, and, well, it got messy.  I had to tell him Rollie was dead.  He’s on his way back there, and he’s in pretty bad shape.  I need you to do me a favor, Francis.  Find out what flight he gets on and be there at the airport when he arrives.  Don’t let him see you.  Just tail him, watch where he goes, make sure he’s okay.”

“Will do.  Um, does he know that Daniel’s his son?”

“Yeah, and we found out some things from him.  Dingo and his wife had believed that Rollie’s twin died in a fire when he was less than eight weeks old.  The fire was ruled accidental, but I’d bet my pension that it was set to cover up the kidnapping.  See what you can find out about it.”

“Okay.  So, I guess this means that it wasn’t a case of mistaken identity after all.”

“It would seem not.”  Leo told his partner what they’d learned about Joanne Carfield, asking him to continue the trace on her.

“We’re getting closer, Leo,” Frank said, hope in his voice.

“Yeah.”  The older cop sighed.  “I just wish that we could say the same thing about Rollie’s murder.”

“Me too.  But we haven’t given up yet, right?”

“Right.  I can’t give up, not on that, not ever.”

Alex glanced up from the table she was cleaning and saw Daniel enter.  The second she saw the look on his face, she dropped what she was doing and went to him.

“Daniel, what’s wrong?”

“Could we, um . . . could we talk?” he replied, a faint tremor in his voice.

“Of course.  Come on.  We’ll go to my office.”

Alex took hold of his arm and led him to the office.  She shut the door behind them.  “What happened?” she asked.

“My father showed up,” Daniel replied, sitting heavily in a chair, resting his elbows on his knees, his head in his hands.

“Your father?  I didn’t hear a helicopter arrive,” Alex said in confusion.

“No, my real father.  Rollie’s father.”

“Oh.”  Alex pulled a chair up beside his.  “What happened?”

“He found out about Rollie.”  Daniel lifted his head to look at her.  “I don’t understand it all, but he somehow thought that Rollie wasn’t really dead.  Then he saw me and thought I was Rollie.  Angie. . . .”  He sighed.  “Angie got really upset.  She has some major issues with Dingo because he was never around for Rollie.  She . . . she had a complete breakdown, Alex.  I watched her totally fall apart.”

“Oh no.  Is she all right now?” Alex asked, worried sick about her new friend.

“As all right as she can be.  But things just went from bad to worse.  Dingo finally realized that Rollie really is dead.  He ran off.  When I found him, he was in bad shape.  He wanted to know who I was, so . . . I told him.”

“Oh, boy.”

“Yeah.  He didn’t believe me.  We found out from him that I was believed to be dead, killed in a fire when I wasn’t even eight weeks old.  Leo figures that the fire was set to cover up my abduction.”  Daniel let out another sigh.  “When Dingo realized that I was his son, he hugged me.  I didn’t know what to do, Alex.  I didn’t know how to feel.  He’s my father, but all I could think about was that he’d never been there for my brother, that Rollie died never getting the chance to know what it’s truly like to have a father.”

“Like you didn’t,” Alex gently said.

Daniel closed his eyes tightly, a single tear squeezing out from beneath his eyelid.  “But I have that chance now, Alex.  I’ve been given the opportunity to have what I always wanted.  Rollie won’t ever get that chance.”

Alex wrapped her arms around Daniel, pulling his head down to rest on her shoulder.  He held her tightly, not speaking for a long moment.  “I should have said something nice to him, let him know that I was glad to meet him,” he murmured.

“What happened?”

“Angie got angry again, said some pretty awful things.  She accused Dingo of having loved me the best and that he had hated Rollie because he was the one who survived.”

“Oh no.”

Daniel lifted his head.  “I’m sure she didn’t really think about what she was saying.  She was letting her grief and anger speak for her.  But the look of guilt on Dingo’s face.  It almost broke my heart.  He left.  I tried to convince him to stay, but he just walked out.  He’s gone back to New York to . . . to say goodbye to Rollie.”  His voice cracked and broke on the last few words.

Alex pulled her fiancé back into her arms.  “Oh, Daniel.  I’m so sorry.”

A couple of minutes passed before Daniel pulled back again.  He cupped Alex’s face in his hands.  “Thank you.  Thank you for being here for me.”

Alex smiled at him.  “Where else am I going to be except here for the man I love?”

They shared a soft, tender kiss.  The minister then got up.  “I’d better head back.  Angie might need me.”

“Should I come up tonight?  Maybe if I talked with her, it might help.”

“I’ll ask and let you know.”

They both headed for the door.  Suddenly, Daniel let out a cry of pain.  Clutching his head, he fell to his knees.

“Daniel!”  Alex went down beside him, grasping his shoulders.

Screaming in torment, Daniel curled in on himself.  “Help m-me!  Please!” he begged.  Then he went completely limp, slumping to the floor.

“Daniel!  Daniel!” Alex screamed, terrified.  The door burst open, and both Molly and Boris came running in.  They stared in horror at the unconscious form of the minister.

“Hurry!  Get the doctor!” Alex cried.  Molly bolted out of the room as Alex gathered Daniel up into her arms, sobbing.  His face pale, Boris knelt and gently lifted Daniel’s limp body into his arms and carried him to the couch.  Alex went to her knees beside her fiancé, grasping his hand tightly in hers.  Boris looked back toward the doorway and saw it crowded with people.  He quickly stepped forward.

“You move out of way.  Doctor coming and must be let to pass.”  When nobody showed signs of getting out of the way, he raised his voice.  “Go!  Move back!” he boomed at full volume.  Getting the message, everyone cleared the way.  A couple of minutes later, Doctor Watson was there.  She headed straight to Daniel and began examining him.

“Tell me what happened, Alex,” she commanded.

“He . . . he just suddenly fell to his knees.  He was holding his head like he was in horrible pain.  He begged someone to help him.  Then he lost consciousness.”  Alex locked her eyes on the minister.  There was more.  She’d heard the voice Daniel had used, a voice with a clear Australian accent.  But how could she tell the doctor that?

Lily checked Daniel’s pupils, finding them equal and reactive to light.  Pulse and respiration were slow but not dangerously so.  He did not appear to have a fever and was not showing any signs of going into shock, though he was very pale.

“Okay, I’m going to take him to the clinic and run some tests,” she said.  She handed her keys to Boris.  “Can you get my truck?  We’ll transport him in the back.”

The Russian gave a sharp nod, then hurried out the door.

“I . . . I need to call Angie and Leo, tell them what happened,” Alex said.  She went to the phone and dialed Daniel’s number.

“Hello?” answered Angie.

“Angie, it’s Alex.  Something’s happened to Daniel.”

“What?!  What happened?  What’s wrong?” Angie asked in a panic.

“He’s collapsed.  We’re taking him to the clinic.”

“Oh my God!  We’ll be right there.”  Angie hung up the phone.  “Leo!” she cried.

The cop came running out of the bathroom.  Seeing the look on her face, he ran to her.  “What?  What’s happened?”

“Daniel collapsed at the Widow’s Walk.  He’s being taken to the clinic.”

Leo halted in shock for a second.  Then he jumped into action.  “Come on.  Let’s go.”

They were in the car and rushing down the hill in a matter of seconds, fear racing through their minds.

A crowd was gathered outside the Widow’s Walk as Boris carefully carried the minister down to the doctor’s waiting SUV.  He gently loaded Daniel into the back, which had been converted to carry ill or injured patients.  Alex and Boris then climbed in with Daniel.  Lily jumped into the cab and drove to the clinic, where Boris again lifted the minister into his arms and took him to the exam room.

“Thank you, Boris.  I can take it from here,” Doctor Watson told him.

The Russian gazed at his friend’s unconscious face.  “You will make him better, yes?”

“I’m going to try.”

Nodding, Boris turned and left the room.  Lily looked up at Alex, who was hovering a few feet away, her face white, eyes stark with fear and anguish.

“Maybe you should go out into the waiting room, Alex,” the doctor suggested gently.

“Please.  Can’t I stay?”

“There’s nothing you can do for him here.  I need to run a few tests, take some x-rays.  As soon as I know anything, I’ll be right out.”

Alex gazed at Daniel for several seconds, then left.  Unable to sit down, she began pacing the floor of the waiting room.  A short time later, she heard the door open and saw Angie and Leo enter.  Angie immediately went to her, gathering the redhead into her arms.  Alex began to sob.

“I don’t want to lose him, Angie.  I can’t lose him.”

“Shh.  You’re not going to lose him,” Angie whispered, her voice ragged with her own fear and pain.  “He’s going to be all right.”  She led Alex to a seat and sat with her, still holding her.  ‘Please, God.  Please don’t take Daniel, too,’ she begged.

They all waited in silence for word of Daniel.  Kevin and Callie came in to find out if there was any news, then chose to wait with the others.  Next, came Ruby, who went to where Alex and Angie were sitting and settled on the other side of the redhead, resting a comforting hand on her shoulder.  Still others came in to join the silent vigil until the waiting room was full.

Leo looked about at all the people, amazed at what he was seeing.  All these people had dropped what they were doing and came here because they cared for the minister.  Catching a glance out the window, he saw dozens more outside.  That’s when it became clear to the cop.  They loved Daniel.  All these people had come to care deeply for him.  How many more would be out there if they knew what had happened?

The cop’s gaze went to the exam room door.  How many people were blessed to have so many care for them?  Only a very few.  Rollie had been one.  Hundreds had come to attend his funeral.  So many cards and letters of condolence had poured in that the post office had found it necessary to deliver the mail in bins.  It had been too overwhelming for Angie, so Leo, Lucinda, Frank and Sarah had taken the job of reading the mail and replying to those that they thought should be responded to.  It had been a sad and difficult time for all of them.

Leo’s thoughts were interrupted by the opening of the exam room door.  The doctor came out, pausing as she saw the crowd.  Alex and Angie rose to their feet and moved through the crowd to her, Leo joining them.

“How is he?” Alex asked fearfully.

In reply, Lily motioned for them to go into the room.  Alex entered first to find Daniel still lying on the exam table--awake and looking at her.

“Daniel!”  She rushed forward and grabbed hold of his hand, once again crying.

“Shh.  I’m all right, sweetheart.  I’m okay,” Daniel murmured.

Closing her eyes in relief, Angie sent up a quick prayer of thanks.  She then turned to the doctor.  “What happened to him?”

“I have no idea.  I ran several tests and could find nothing wrong.  The x-rays were clear, there’s no sign of brain trauma, no indication that he suffered a stroke or some other neurological event.  Nothing.  I took some blood and will be sending it to the mainland for tests, but, frankly, I’m completely stumped.  He seems to be perfectly fine now.  I’d like him to go to the hospital for further tests, but we’ll wait to decide on that in the morning.”  She glanced outside.  “I need to go tell everyone else he’s okay so that I can get my waiting room back.  Excuse me.”

Angie and Leo approached Daniel, who turned to them.

“Can you tell us what happened?” Angie asked.

“It was like what happened before, Angie, when you were having the nightmare, only worse.”

“What are you talking about?” Alex asked.

“Last Saturday, Angie had a nightmare about Rollie.  When I attempted to wake her up, I was struck by a terrible feeling of pain and fear.  This was the same.”

“When you cried out, begging for help, you had the accent again,” Alex revealed.  “So, it was him?  It was Rollie who did this?” she asked, anger in her voice.

“He’s not doing it on purpose, Alex,” Daniel quickly said.  “I think . . . I think that I’m feeling his . . . his death.”

His words made a hush fall over the room.  It was Leo who broke it.

“That can’t be.  Rollie would have died instantly,” he declared, not wanting to believe that his friend had suffered.

“What if he didn’t, Leo?  What if he didn’t?” Angie whispered in torment.

Again, everyone went silent.  After a moment, Daniel sat up.

“What are you doing?” Alex asked quickly.  “You need to rest.”

“I’m fine, Alex.  Really I am.  I just want to go home.”

“Well, you’re going to stay right here until Doctor Watson says that you can leave,” Alex stated with a note of finality.

Daniel smiled slightly.  “I guess there’s no point in arguing.”

“None.”

A few minutes later, Lily came back in.  “There’s a young man here who is very anxious to see you,” she said.  At her words, Dylan came rushing in, heading straight to the minister.

“I came home and Molly said you were sick and had to be taken to the clinic.  Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I’m all right, Buddy.”

Dylan looked at his mother and could tell that she’d been crying.  “Are you sure you’re all right?” he asked Daniel again, thinking that his mom wouldn’t have cried if Daniel wasn’t really sick.

Daniel smiled and pulled the boy into a brief hug.  “I’m sure.”

Lily agreed to allow Daniel to go home, with the condition that someone stay with him for the rest of the night.  Everyone assured her that the minister would not be left alone for a moment.

Alex, Angie, Leo and Dylan all accompanied Daniel back to the parish.  When they arrived, everyone insisted that he sit on the couch and not move a muscle.

“Can I at least go to the bathroom first?” the minister asked, a faint note of petulance in his voice.

Once his business in the bathroom was done, he was on the couch, feet up on the cushions, a pillow behind his back, and both Angie and Alex busy in the kitchen making dinner.  Dylan was off looking through Daniel’s games for something they could all play.

The minister looked at Leo and detected amusement on the man’s features.  “What’s so funny?”

“I sure wouldn’t mind getting this much attention when I get sick,” Leo replied.

Daniel just stared at him for a while.  Then a slow smile curled his lips.  “I guess I shouldn’t complain, should I.”  He closed his eyes, his head falling back on the pillow.  “What a day.”

“You can say that again.”

“I keep wondering when it’s all going to end.”

“I wish I could answer that.  I don’t think anybody can . . . except maybe Rollie.”

Daniel cracked his eyes open to peer at the cop.  “So, I guess you’re ready to believe in all this.”

“I don’t think I have much choice.”

After dinner, they all played a game of Monopoly.  Afterwards, Daniel wanted to stay up to talk, but he was outvoted by everyone else, who all insisted that he should go to bed.  So, with a martyred sigh, the minister headed off to the bedroom.  He was just crawling under the covers when there was a knock on the door.  At his call to come in, Alex entered.

“Hey,” she said.

“Hey.  Where are the rest of the babysitters?”

“Leo took Dylan home.  He’ll be back in a little while.  Angie’s out in the living room.”  The redhead came up to the bed and sat down on the edge.  She began toying with the covers.

“Alex, what’s wrong?” Daniel asked gently.

“I, um, I was just. . . .”  Her eyes lifted to his, and he saw tears in them.  “Oh, Daniel.  I was so scared.  I thought I was going to lose you.”

Daniel pulled her down into his arms.  “You’re not going to lose me, Alex.  We’re going to be together for a long, long time, until we’re old, and gray, and have no more teeth or hair.  Well, okay, so when I have no more hair.”  He held Alex’s face in his hands.  “We’re going to grow old together, Alex Stone, soon-to-be Alex Cooper.  Count on it.”

Alex gave him a long kiss with a note of desperation in it.  “I want to be with you tonight, Daniel.  Please.”

Daniel searched her eyes, then, without a word, pulled back the covers.  Alex kicked off her shoes and crawled in beside him.  He tucked the covers around her and pulled her close.  Alex’s head came to rest on his chest.

“I love you, Alex,” Daniel whispered.

“I love you, too,” she said back, equally softly.

With a sigh, they both closed their eyes.  Moments, later, they were asleep.

CHAPTER NINETEEN

Alone, Dingo wove his way among the gravestones, his steps slow and without spirit.  The morning sun was bright yet felt cold to him, cold and bitter.

At last, he came to a stop at a lone grave near a tree.  Fresh flowers had been placed beside the stone, flashes of color amidst the grass and fallen leaves.  Dingo stared at the words on the gravestone, words that seared his heart with unquenchable pain.

Roland Nathaniel Tyler
Born 1965, Died 2000
His songline will forever be a part of ours.

Dingo sank to his knees before the stone.  He rested a hand upon the ground where his son lay.  Hot tears fell down his face.

“There are so many things I never told you,” he whispered.  “So many.  I never told you how much you meant to me, that you were the one thing, the only thing that kept me from falling.  If it hadn’t been for you, I’d have been gone a long time ago, in some prison somewhere or dead.  You were like . . . like a light that I could see whenever I began falling into the darkness.  You were the one good and true thing in my life, the only thing that I could be proud of.  I could look at you and say, ‘See?  That’s my boy.  That’s my son.  I may not have much to say for my life, but I helped make him, and that counts for something.’”

Dingo’s face lifted to the sky above.  “Oh, God, Rollie.  I am so sorry.  I failed you, just like I failed your mum and . . . and your brother.  How could I ever ask you to forgive me?  I don’t deserve it.”  He cried out in anguish.  “Why couldn’t it have been me?!  Why did it have to be you?  If I could make a wish to God, I would ask Him to bring you back and take me instead.  I would do anything to have you back.”

Dingo slumped over, sobbing inconsolably until there were no more tears to cry.  Then he just sat  in silence for endless minutes, until, feeling as if his life had been sucked from his body, he got to his feet and turned away, knowing that he was leaving the better part of his soul behind.

Several yards away, a lone figure watched him leave.  Wiping away his own tears, Frank swallowed tightly against the pain in his throat and chest.  He wanted to go to Rollie’s grave and pay his own respects, but he was on another mission now, to watch out for Rollie’s father, make sure he was going to be all right.

Staying at a safe distance, Frank trailed Dingo back through the graveyard.  Once they were on the road again, he stayed far enough back so as not to be noticed, but close enough not to chance losing Dingo.  They didn’t drive very far before the Australian stopped.  He pulled into the parking lot of a bar and got out, going into the place.  Guessing that he’d be there for quite a while, Frank found a parking spot and settled down to wait.  Half an hour later, his cell phone rang.

“Gatti,” he answered.

He listened to the voice on the other end, surprise, then disbelief, then hope flashing across his face.

“I’ll be there right away,” he said, then hung up.  He stared out the windshield unseeingly for a moment, then shook himself and started the car.  He glanced at the bar, knowing that he should make arrangement for someone else to watch Dingo.  But there wasn’t enough time, and this was something that could not wait.  It was far too important.

His decision made, Frank left the parking lot and drove as quickly as he could to his destination.

Daniel awoke to an unfamiliar yet wonderful feeling.  He opened his eyes and looked down at the source of the feeling.  Alex’s sleeping face lay inches from his own.  They were wrapped in each other’s arms, having apparently slept that way the whole night.  Daniel couldn’t remember a time he’d ever awoken feeling more refreshed and alive.

Not wanting to disturb Alex, Daniel just laid there, letting his eyes soak in the sight of her for several long minutes.  But then, the urge to kiss her grew too strong to ignore.  He closed the distance between them and pressed his mouth gently against hers.  Alex’s lips curved upward, a contented humming sound coming from her throat as she snuggled closer to him.  Smiling, Daniel kissed her again.  This time, Alex awoke, her eyes blinking up at his sleepily.

“Hi there,” Daniel murmured.

“Hi.”

The minister placed kisses on her eyelids.  “I really like this.”

“Mmm.  Me too.”  Alex pulled Daniel’s lips back down to hers.  “A whole lot.”

Daniel looked deeply into her eyes.  Then his mouth was back upon hers.  The kiss grew hot and deep.  Daniel rolled over so that he was above Alex, pulling her closer.  Alex moaned into his mouth, deepening the kiss even more.  She arched upward, pressing every inch of her body against Daniel’s.

By the time their lips separated, they were both breathing heavily, faces flushed, hearts thundering.

“We should get up,” Daniel breathed.

“Yeah, we should,” Alex agreed.

They stared at each other a few seconds longer, then, with a regretful sigh, separated.

“How are you feeling this morning?” Alex asked.

“Good.”  Daniel grinned at her.  “In fact, I feel great.  Never better.  I guess sleeping with a beautiful redhead in my arms agrees with me.”

Alex smiled and pulled him in for a kiss.  “Well, I guess sleeping with a tall, dark and handsome minister in my arms agrees with me, because I feel great, too.”

“Just think about when we get to do this every night.”

“Can’t wait.”  Alex’s expression turned sultry.  “Though I suspect that we’ll be getting a whole lot less sleep then.”

Daniel pulled her back into his arms.  “Oh, you’d better believe it.”

They shared another kiss, then got up to take turns in the shower, Alex going first.  Daniel found Leo in the kitchen, sipping on a cup of coffee.

“Good morning,” the cop greeted.  He smiled, a twinkle in his eyes.  “Sleep well?”

“Wonderfully, thank you.  Where’s Angie?”

“I convinced her to go back to the inn last night.  I should imagine that she’ll be here pretty soon.”  They both heard the sound of the shower start up.  Leo’s eyes went in the direction of the bathroom, then glanced at Daniel.

“I know what you’re thinking, Leo, and the answer is no,” Daniel said.  “We’re waiting until we are married.”

The cop smiled faintly.  “Well, considering that you’re a clergyman, I’m not surprised.”

Daniel gave a short laugh and sat at the table.  “I hate to disillusion you, but it doesn’t always work out that way.”

“Oh, I know.”

“So, do you go to church?”

“Not much anymore.  I’m from what my mother would say was good Irish stock, so I was raised a Catholic.  But after I became a cop, there wasn’t much time for mass and things like that.”  An expression of sorrow crossed his face.  “The day after Rollie died was the first time I’d been in a church in quite a while.”

They both fell silent.  A few minutes later, the shower stopped.  A while after that, Alex came out wearing Daniel’s robe, damp hair hanging about her shoulders.  The minister smiled at the sight.

“I hope you don’t mind,” she said.

“Not at all,” he responded.  “You look a lot better in it than I do.”

“Well, now, that’s a matter of opinion.”  She bent over and gave him a kiss.  “Bathroom’s all yours.  I tried to save you some hot water.”

“Thanks.  That was generous of you.”

The minister headed off to his shower.  Alex got dressed, then fixed herself a cup of coffee.

“So, what do you guys have planned for today?” she asked Leo.

“Don’t know yet.  It all depends on what my partner finds out.  He’s tracking down a couple of leads.”

“Well, whatever they are, they will have to include a trip to the hospital with Daniel.  Doctor Watson wants him to go over there for those tests, and I agree.  I know it appears that it was something to do with Rollie, but I think we should be sure there isn’t something physically wrong.”

“Have you discussed this with Daniel?”

“No.”

Leo smiled slightly.  “Well, if he’s at all like his brother, he won’t want to go.”

“Oh, yeah?  Well, we’ll see about that.”

Sure enough, when Daniel got out of the shower and Alex talked to him about going to the hospital, he insisted it wasn’t necessary.  Angie arrived in the middle of the ‘conversation’.

“Though I know that the tests probably won’t do any good, I agree with Alex, Daniel,” she said.

The minister stared at her.  “Yeah, well, I agree with the first part of that sentence.  The tests would be pointless.  What I felt wasn’t my pain.  It was Rollie’s.  There is nothing wrong with me.  I am not going, and that’s final.”

Both women opened their mouths to object, but the ringing of Leo’s phone stopped them.

“Excuse me,” the cop said.  He walked out of the room and answered the phone.  It was his partner.

“Hey, Frank.  Did Dingo get in all right?” Leo asked.

“Yeah, he did.  Um, Leo, I have something, some information,” Frank said, a somber note in his voice.

“On the adoption?”

“No.  It’s about Rollie’s murder, Leo.  I think I’ve found out who ordered the hit on him.”

Stunned, Leo sank into a chair.  “Who?” he asked in a low voice.

“Nicky Delacruz,” Francis replied.

The name brought up memories of the day the drug dealer had tried to kill Rollie with a bomb in his truck and had almost killed Angie instead.  Could it be that Delacruz had finally succeeded in getting rid of the man who’d been instrumental in destroying his drug operation and putting him in prison?

“Tell me what you’ve got.”

“I found an informant, a fellow inmate of Delacruz’s.  Actually, he found me.  He had requested to talk to you.  Since you weren’t here, I went to see him instead.  He told me about a conversation he overheard between Delacruz and another inmate.  Apparently, Delacruz and this other guy butted heads big time.  In the argument, Delacruz bragged that anyone who got in his way always got what was coming to them.  The man I talked to said that Delacruz was acting really smug, like he was pleased about something.  I did a little checking and found out that Delacruz made a phone call only a couple of days before Rollie’s death.”

Leo sat in silence for a moment, absorbing what his partner had told him.  “Why did this guy tell you all this?”

“He wants to make a deal, get a parole.  He knew about Rollie’s murder and the connection between Rollie and Delacruz and put two and two together.”

Leo sprung to his feet.  “I’ve got to get back there, Francis.  This is the best lead we’ve had since the bombing.  I need to be there to follow through on it.”  Leo’s excitement turned to anger and hatred.  “If it was Delacruz who had Rollie killed, I’m going to make sure he never gets out of prison.  He’s going to pay, Frank.”

The younger cop didn’t respond to his partner’s statement.  “What about the adoption case?”

“I’m not giving up on it, but it can wait.  This can’t.  I’ll book myself on the next flight out that I can get.”

“Okay.  I’ll see you when you get here.”

Leo hung up the phone, his thoughts whirling and his heart burning with the hope that he would at last see justice served for the death of his friend.  He went back into the living room.  The conversation between the others stopped when they saw his expression.

“What is it?” Angie asked.

“That was Frank.  He’s got a lead on Rollie’s murder, Angie.  We may know who killed him.”

Angie gasped.  Then her expression grew cold and hard with hatred.  “Who?  Who did it, Leo?”

“This isn’t for certain, but it looks like it might have been Nicky Delacruz.”

Angie’s face paled.  “Delacruz?” she whispered.

“Who’s Nicky Delacruz?” Daniel asked.

Leo briefly recounted what happened with the drug dealer, how, after the courts failed to put him in prison, the man had gone after Rollie, placing a bomb in his truck that came close to killing Angie.  Rollie and Leo had then gone after the drug dealer with a vengeance, getting both him and his crooked lawyer and completely destroying the man’s drug operation.

“So, he already tried once to kill Rollie with a car bomb,” Daniel said.

“Yeah.  We discounted him as a suspect because he’s been in prison since we nailed him and brought down his operation.  I guess we should have considered the fact that he might have arranged a hit from the inside.  I just don’t understand why he waited so long.  It’s been almost three years.”

“What are you going to do now?”

“I’m heading back to New York.  We need to jump on this right away.  If Delacruz finds out that guy talked, he’s liable to have him killed.  I need to arrange to get the guy out of prison and somewhere safe.”

“I’m going with you,” Angie stated.

Leo looked at her.  “There’s really nothing you can do now.  We need to find out who Delacruz called and trace them to whomever it was that did the actual hit.”

Angie’s face hardened.  “I don’t care if there’s anything I can do or not.  There is not a chance in hell that I’m sitting here while you go after the guys who killed Rollie.”

Leo looked at the expression of hatred and determination on Angie’s face and knew that he had no hope of talking her out of going back to New York.  “All right.  I need to make some phone calls before we go.  We’d better head back to the inn now to pack.”

Alex looked at Daniel to see what his reaction was to all of this.  The expression on his face made her heart ache.  He looked lost and terribly sad.  He was looking at Angie as if he wanted to say something.  Making a sudden decision, Alex turned to Angie.

“Um, Angie, I was thinking that, if you’d like, I could pack your stuff for you.  You could then stay here and spend some time saying goodbye to Daniel.”  The look of intense gratitude that filled her fiancé’s face told Alex she’d made the right decision.

Angie looked at Daniel.  “Thank you so much, Alex.  I would really appreciate that.”

“All right.  Alex and I will head back to the inn,” Leo said.  “I’ll come back in about half an hour to pick you up.”

“You’ve missed the morning ferry,” Daniel told him.  “I’ll take you over to the mainland in my boat.”

“Good idea.  We’ll, um, say our goodbyes then.”

After Alex and Leo’s departure, the room was quiet for several seconds, the two remaining occupants not quite knowing where to start.

“Angie, I. . . .”  The minister stopped, words failing him.

“I know.  I feel the same way.  But you know I have to go.”

“Yeah.  Yeah, I do.”  Daniel touched her cheek.  “I am so glad to have met you, Angie.  You have no idea how much gaining you as a friend means to me.”

Angie felt her thr