After Rollie was brought back, everyone made small talk as they waited for Doctor Whiting to return with news of what the x-rays and CT scan had revealed.

“Everything looks good,” she told them when she arrived.  “The x-rays and CT scan were clear.  The blood tests we took earlier also look fine.”

“Then I can go home?” Rollie asked.

The surgeon smiled.  “I detect a hint of eagerness to leave us, Rollie.”

“Nothing personal, Doctor, but I would be very happy if I never had to see this place again.”

Angie snorted.  “Yeah, like you have a hope of that coming true.”

The doctor smiled faintly.  “Yes, I saw your history.  You have spent more than a little time in hospitals.”

“Don’t remind me,” the Aussie grumbled.  “It’s not among my fonder memories.”

Everyone laughed.

“Well, I hope you can bear our company for at least one more day,” Doctor Whiting said.  “We’ll see how you’re doing tomorrow.  If there are no problems and Doctor Gates agrees that you’re strong enough, we’ll let you escape.”

Rollie smiled.  “Thanks.”

“This is great news, Rol,” Angie said after the doctor had left.

“Yes, it sure is,” Daniel agreed.

“Yeah.”  Rollie laughed.  “Wow.  It feels like it’s been a million years since I’ve been home.  I forgot to ask.  How’s Bluey?”

“He’s missed you, Rol, a lot.  I think he somehow figured out that something terrible had happened to you.  He hasn’t been himself in a long time.  But he knows that you’re going to be coming home soon.”  Angie laughed.  “Blue took a real liking to Daniel here.  He thought Daniel was you to begin with.  Even after he figured out he wasn’t, Blue still hung around him.”

Rollie grinned.  “He knows a Tyler when he sees one.”  A chuckle rose from his throat.  “Though I can’t say he was ever really fond of Dad.  Maybe it was Dad’s suggestion that I mass market Bluey as a toy.”

“You’re kidding,” Daniel said.

“Nope.  If I remember correctly, he made a comment about Blue being something that any kid would slice up his grandma for.”

“Ugh!”

“Yeah.  Never let it be said that my father . . . our father is guilty of being tactful.”  Rollie smiled again.  “I really missed Bluey.  It’s going to be great seeing him, and it’ll be great to be back home.”

Angie bit her lip.  “Yeah, um, that’s something I need to discuss with you.  I’ve been living at the loft.  In fact, I gave up the lease on my apartment.”

“Oh.  I didn’t think about that.”

“I guess I’m going to have to go apartment hunting.”

Rollie looked down at the bedcovers, his fingers sliding over the blanket.  “You wouldn’t have to.  There is another option.”

Angie’s breath halted for a moment, knowing what that other option was.

“Would you like us to leave you and Angie alone for a while, Rollie?” Daniel asked, respecting his brother’s privacy.

“No, that’s all right.  I was going to say that we could clear out the storage room.  It was your bedroom back when you and Manny lived there.  It could be again.”  He searched Angie’s eyes, seeking her answer, hoping it would be yes.

The thought of living with Rollie at the loft both excited and scared Angie.  It was a big decision, even if they wouldn’t be sharing a bedroom.  “Could I think about it for a little while?”

Happy that the answer hadn’t been no, Rollie smiled.  “Sure.”

“In the meantime, I can get a hotel room.”

“Or you can sleep on the couch, and I can get a hotel room,” Daniel suggested.

“You know, I think Francis has one of those roll-away beds,” Leo said.  “We could set that up at the loft.”

Rollie nodded in agreement.  “Yeah, that would work.  We could clear enough space in the storage room for that.”

Angie smiled.  “Then it’s settled.”  She resumed her place on the bed beside Rollie.  “So, shall we continue?”

“Yep,” Rollie replied.  Everyone took their seats.  “Okay, where were we?”

“You’d just told us about your training,” Daniel replied.  “You said that, when your captors came for you again, you were prepared.”

Mangela nodded.  “All the time that I was training Rollie how to control his Dreamings, I was also teaching him how to go into the Dreamtime to escape pain.  I taught him this when he was a child, but he had put aside my teachings when he left the People.”

“Every time they used the machine, I went deep into the Dreamtime, where the pain couldn’t reach me,” Rollie explained.  “They couldn’t figure out why I seemed to be feeling no pain, even when they turned up the setting.  It went on like that for around a week.  Thankfully, they left Mangela alone.  I guess they thought the treatments would be enough.  I could tell, though, that they were getting progressively more puzzled and frustrated because nothing was working on me.  Then something happened.  One day, I felt like . . . like someone was trying to get into my head.  I had experience with mental communication with Mangela, but this wasn’t the same.  Someone was attempting to force their way inside my mind.  I fought whoever it was off, and the feeling stopped.  The next day, they put in the implant.”

“Strange,” Leo said.  “I wonder what that was about.  It sounds like they suddenly decided that you could be a threat to them.”

“Yeah.  You know, I just thought of something.  Along with the other things I was learning from Mangela, I was also trying to expand my abilities enough that I could make contact with Angie somehow.  If Cromwell had another psychic come in, maybe they managed to pick that out of my head and realized there was a danger that I might contact someone on the outside.”

Angie nodded.  “That would explain why they put the chip in.”

“Well, whatever the reason, things got worse after that.  They gave me a couple of days to recover from the surgery, then they were back at it again with the setting on the machine a little higher.  I was still able to escape into the Dreamtime, though.  But then, one of them made a comment to me, and I realized that, if I continued to resist them, they’d start to hurt Mangela.  So, I started pretending that their treatments were having some effect on me.  However, I never told them anything that would hurt others.  Fortunately, to begin with, they were asking for small stuff, like they were testing me out.  I told them what team was going to win a basketball game, I predicted the collapse of a company, foresaw rises and falls in the stock market, stuff like that.  I don’t know if they sold any of the information they got from me, but it was enough to keep them from harming Mangela.”

“Things went along like that for several weeks, but then I think they got an order from Cromwell to step things up.  They started demanding more, and some of it was stuff that I couldn’t give them because it would harm somebody or would cause a lot of damage.  When I refused to tell them everything they were asking for, they began using the machine more often, turning it to an even higher setting.  Every day, I was afraid that they’d start hurting Mangela again.  I had to make choices on which things to tell them and which things not to.  And, all the while, they kept increasing the setting on the machine.  I managed to protect Mangela for another three weeks.  But they eventually figured out what I had been doing, that I wasn’t under their control at all.  They realized that I’d been stalling, stringing them along and giving them only as much information as I could get away with.  They were pretty mad about it.”  Rollie fell silence for several seconds.  “They brought Mangela into the conditioning room with me and strapped him to a table.  Then they took a scalpel and. . . .”  His voice choked off.

“So, I have a few more scars than I did before,” the Aborigine said gently.

His eyes full of tears, Rollie looked at him.  “You were being hurt because of me.  I couldn’t bear to see that.”  His gaze dropped to his hands.  “I think I went nuts for a while.  I started screaming and fighting with everything I had against the straps.  Two big guys came in and held me down, forced me to watch as they continued cutting Mangela.  Fortunately, something totally unexpected happened.  Their machine short circuited.  It started smoking and sparking.  That stopped everything.  Later, I learned that there was apparently a power surge in the line.  It couldn’t have been better timing.  It took them a week to fix the thing.  Some of the parts were unique, and they had no replacements for them.”  The Aussie sighed.  “But once the machine was repaired, they started up again, only, this time, they turned the setting up by several notches at once.  It was too much.  I couldn’t get deep enough into the Dreamtime to escape it.  I passed out after a few minutes.”  He looked at his brother.  “It was then that I had the Dreaming about you.”  Knowing that Leo hadn’t been told, Rollie briefly described the Dreaming about Daniel.

“They left the machine at that setting for three days.  Being prepared for it, I was able to get deep enough into the dreamtime beforehand to block most of the pain.  I guess by then they were getting really frustrated because they suddenly jumped it up again by a few more notches at once.”  Rollie fell silent.

“What happened?” Leo asked.

“Apparently they’d turned the power up too high too fast.  I blacked out, and, um . . . my heart almost stopped.”

“What?!” Angie exclaimed.  “Rollie, you didn’t tell us that before.”

“I didn’t want to scare you.  I went into ventricular fibrillation.  They had to shock me to get my rhythm back to normal.  I guess it scared them enough to leave me alone for a couple of days, until they were sure my body had recovered sufficiently that I wouldn’t drop dead on them when they started back up on me.”

“Those guys should have their hearts ripped out,” Angie growled.  “They’ve obviously never used them.”

Rollie gave her hand a squeeze, then kept it in his grasp as he continued.  “Things got increasingly difficult after that.  They kept the setting on the machine turned up high, though not quite as high as it had been.  Even so, the Dreamtime was no longer enough to shelter me.  Then they brought Mangela back in, and, this time, they used a . . . a burning cigarette.”

“Oh, God,” Angie whispered, her eyes turning to the Aborigine.

“I didn’t feel it, Angie,” Mangela said soothingly.  “The Dreamtime kept the pain from me.”

“I couldn’t take it,” Rollie whispered, anguish in his eyes.  “I couldn’t give them the information they wanted, but I couldn’t stand to see them hurting Mangela like that.  So, I did the only thing I could do.  I made my heart start to fibrillate again.”

“You consciously affected the beat of your heart?” Daniel asked in amazement.

The Aussie nodded.  “When I was a kid, Mangela taught me how to gain control over my own bodily functions.  I could slow down and speed up my heart rate at will.  I could decrease the flow of blood, reduce my need for oxygen, stuff like that.”

“Like biofeedback?” Angie asked.

“Yeah.  I hadn’t used any of that since I left the People, but I was desperate.  It was the only thing I could think of doing to stop them.”

“You took an awful risk, Rollie,” his brother said.  “What if something had gone wrong?”

“I had no choice, Daniel.  I was desperate.”

“So, did they lay off?” Leo asked, thinking that he’d like to get the people who had done these things to Rollie alone in a room for about an hour.  A soundproof room so that no one would hear them screaming for help.

“Only for one day,” Rollie replied.  “Kessler came in and checked me out.  He told them that there was nothing wrong with my heart and said it would be safe to continue the conditioning, telling them to give me just the one day of rest.  As soon as they turned on the machine the next time, I made my blood pressure and pulse go way up.  They turned it back off and called Kessler again.  I guess he was pretty pissed off, because when he showed up that second time, he was none too gentle with me.  He examined me again, only, this time, I made my heart beat irregularly when he was listening, and I upped my blood pressure.  That succeeded in giving me a couple more days as he ran more extensive tests.  Of course, I had no way of faking the test results, so, in the end, he told them that it was safe to continue.  But, by then, everything had changed.”  He looked at Angie and Daniel.  “You two had met, and when I felt the strengthening of the connection to both of you, it gave me real hope that I’d be able to get through to you.  I started trying even harder to contact you.”

Rollie stopped his narrative to briefly explain to Leo about how Angie and Daniel’s meeting strengthened his connection to their songlines.

“Shortly before they started the treatments again, I think I had my first major breakthrough.”  Rollie looked at Angie.  “I can’t be sure, but I believe I managed to talk to you while I was in the Dreamtime.  I couldn’t be sure because it was starting to get difficult to tell when I was in the Dreamtime and when I was just dreaming.  The pain and what the machine was doing to me was really affecting me.  I called to you, and you answered me.  You asked me where I was and said you couldn’t see me.  Did that really happen?”

Angie face lit up.  “Yes!  I was asleep.  I heard you, and then I saw you, but I couldn’t touch you.  You told me that I could reach you if I just knew how.  Then you said that Daniel knew how, but he had to remember.”

Rollie nodded.  “I knew that if Daniel remembered about what happened when we were kids and was able to figure out that I was Walawuru, he’d know what was going on and would be able to find me.  Unfortunately, I couldn’t maintain the contact with you long enough.  I lost consciousness.  A while later, they resumed the treatments.  I tried the trick with my blood pressure and pulse, but they kept at it.  I don’t know if it was because they had orders to or if they were afraid to contact Kessler again.  Either way, it didn’t stop.  I was in so much pain.  I started crying out for you.”

“Oh, God,” Angie whispered, tears in her eyes.  “I heard you, Rollie.  I was asleep again, and I heard you screaming my name.  I knew that you were in terrible pain, but I couldn’t help you.”

Rollie wrapped his arms around her.  “There’s nothing you could have done, Ange.”  He pressed his lips to her forehead.  “I couldn’t maintain control of my heart rate and blood pressure, and I think my pressure must have skyrocketed.  I blacked out, and they stopped the machine again.  I was unconscious for the rest of the day and part of the night.  When I finally woke up, I was so sick and dizzy that I couldn’t do anything.  It wasn’t until later that following day that I felt capable of trying to get through to you again.  I really didn’t think I’d be able to.”  He smiled, gazing into Angie’s eyes.  “But I did.”

Angie smiled back at him.  “Yes,” she murmured, remembering that precious moment in the church when she heard Rollie’s voice.

“I could feel you and hear you.  I was so happy to actually be talking to you.”  His expression saddened.  “But it didn’t last long enough.  Someone came into my room, and I lost the connection to you before I had a chance to tell you that I was alive.  If I’d had just a few more seconds, you would have known.”  Rollie gave a sigh.  “They knew that I’d been sick all morning.  Kessler took a look at me and decided that, to be on the safe side, they’d better give me a short break.”

“Gee, how magnanimous of them,” Leo said, his voice heavy with sarcasm.

“Unfortunately, they gave me a sedative.  It wasn’t as heavy a dose as what they gave me shortly before the rescue, but it was enough that I couldn’t fight it.  I was asleep the rest of that day and a good part of the next.  When they woke me up, though, I was feeling better.  That didn’t last long, however.  They used the machine again, and, again, I made my pulse and pressure rise.”  Rollie stopped.

“What’s wrong?” Daniel asked.

“One of the guys who was there was new, and he apparently knew something about biofeedback.”

“Oh, no,” Angie said, getting a sinking feeling in her stomach.

“Yeah.  They figured out what I’d been doing.  But they jumped to the conclusion that all of my medical problems had been faked.  They were furious with me because I’d cost them so many days.”  Rollie stopped for a moment.  “They . . . they turned the machine way up, at least ten notches.”  He paused again, remembering the agony.  “The pain was beyond anything I’d thought possible.  It was. . . .”  He shook his head.  “I can’t even describe it.  It was too much for my body to take.  I think I started convulsing.  Then I went into cardiac arrest.  I . . . died for real.”

“Oh my God,” Angie whispered in a choked voice, her eyes dark with anguish.  She gripped Rollie’s hand almost painfully tight.  His faked death had almost become a reality.

“I don’t know how many times they had to shock me to get my heart started again.”

Feeling physically ill, Daniel grasped his brother’s shoulder tightly, thinking about the fact that he’d come so close to losing Rollie.  That’s when he realized something.  He turned to Angie and saw the same realization dawn on her face.

Rollie looked back and forth between the two of them.  “What?  What is it?”

“We felt it, Rol,” Angie said in awe.  “Daniel and I felt you die.”

The Aussie stared at them in shock.  “What?”

“I was suddenly struck by this terrible feeling of agony, of indescribable anguish and pain, like something precious and vital to me had just died, as if a part of me had died,” Daniel told him.  “It was the most horrible feeling I’ve ever experienced.  It hit me so hard that I almost lost consciousness.”

“It was the same for me,” Angie said.  “I’d thought that I couldn’t feel any greater anguish than I did believing you were dead, but this was much, much worse.  Now, I know that it was because you really did die, and something inside of me sensed it.”

“I felt it as well,” Mangela confessed.  He looked at Rollie.  “I felt my Sonny Boy die, then I felt him come back.”

Angie nodded.  “The feeling went away after a couple of minutes or so.  I guess when they revived you, we all sensed it as well.”

Amazed, Rollie turned to the Aborigine.  “Was it because of the connection of our songlines?”

Mangela gave a nod in confirmation.  “Your death could not help but be felt by us, and the violence of what you experienced made what we felt even stronger.”

Rollie didn’t speak for several seconds, thinking about what had just been revealed.  “I was unconscious for a while,” he then said.  “They left me alone for the rest of the day and night and part of the next day.  But then they started up again.”

“What?!” Leo exclaimed, his rage going up yet another degree.  “You’d gone into cardiac arrest and they only gave you a few hours to recover?”

“They thought I’d done it on purpose, that I was still using the biofeedback.”

“The idiots!” Angie yelled.  “It’s a wonder they didn’t kill you.”

“At that point, I was almost wishing they would,” Rollie admitted in a low voice.  “I was in so much pain, I just wanted it to all go away.  It was only the knowledge that I had a good chance of getting through to you again that kept me going.”

Angie pulled Rollie into her arms and held him, desperately fighting back her tears.  Almost from the start of Rollie’s narrative, she had been trying not to cry, knowing that this was already very difficult for him.  But hearing that tone in Rollie’s voice reflecting what he had felt at that moment when a part of him wanted to die was almost too much for her.

Rollie pulled back and caressed her face, his eyes showing his gratitude for her comfort.  He then turned back to the others.  “When they took me back into that room again, I really thought I was going to die.  I didn’t think my body could take anymore.  I . . . I started praying, not for my life, but for God to watch over my family and everyone that I loved.  I prayed that my . . . murderers would be brought to justice.”  He looked down at Angie.  “Most of all, I prayed that I’d get to see you again someday.”

Angie’s control finally shattered, and she started sobbing.  Rollie held her tightly.  He looked at Daniel and saw that he was crying, too.  Leo’s eyes were bright with unshed tears.

“The pain was almost as bad as it had been the last time.  I think they only turned it down a couple of notches.”  Rollie turned back to Angie.  “I tried reaching out to you, to hold onto you somehow.  I think I got through in some way, but I’m not sure.  I know I could feel you, though it wasn’t strong.  But that’s when something really strange happened.”  He looked at Daniel.  “All at once, you were there.  I could feel you so clearly.  That had never happened before.”

“I felt you, too, Rollie,” Daniel told him.  “Angie was having a nightmare.  She was calling out your name.  I tried to wake her up.”

Angie nodded.  “Yes.  It was like the other dream.  You were in pain, and you were crying out for help.”

“I touched her, and, all of a sudden, I was bombarded by this horrible pain and fear.  It kept going on and on.  I thought I was going to lose consciousness.”  Daniel paused.  “Rollie, what happened next?” he asked, his voice tense.

“I tried to contact you, but there was just too much pain.  I could feel myself slipping away.  I was dying.  And then. . . .”

“What?” Angie asked.

“I don’t know.  I felt something touch me.  There was suddenly this incredible feeling of peace, like I was being sheltered in a warm, loving embrace where nothing could harm me.  It was the most amazing thing I’d ever felt.”

Daniel reached for his twin’s hand and took it.  He looked intently into Rollie’s eyes.  “I felt it, too, Rollie, and I think . . . I think it was God.  I think He was holding you in his hand, protecting you.”

There was a very long moment of silence as everyone thought about what Daniel had said.

“I lost consciousness after that,” Rollie finally said.  “I was unconscious for the rest of that day and into the following day.  When I woke up, I could still feel Daniel.”

“You could?” the minister asked in surprise.

“Yes.  It wasn’t strong, but it was there.”

“You had finally forged a permanent connection with Daniel’s songline,” Mangela explained.

Rollie nodded.  “I realized that I could use this to get through to you, and I started trying harder than ever to make you hear me.”

Daniel and Angie looked at each other.  They both knew what had happened next.  The minister returned his gaze to his brother.

“Rollie, you remember when I told you that there was at least one time that I became you completely?  It was that day.”

“What happened?” the Aussie asked.

Daniel did not answer.  He was staring down at his hands, shame on his face.  Rollie saw the same look on Angie’s features.  That’s when he suddenly knew.  He felt an emotion he couldn’t quite describe spear through his heart.  Jealousy, shock, sadness, and a feeling of shame, knowing he’d been responsible, were all there.

“Oh,” he simply said, his own eyes dropping.

Daniel looked at his twin, knowing that Rollie had figured it out.  “I’m so sorry, Rollie.  I’d never have done it on purpose.  I wasn’t in my own mind.  It--”  Rollie’s hand on his arm silenced him.

“There’s nothing to apologize for, Daniel,” Rollie said gently, meeting his eyes.  “Nothing.”  He looked at Angie, who was refusing to meet his gaze.  He turned her face up to his.  “It wasn’t your fault.”  He gave her a soft smile.  “I trust you, Angel.”  Then he kissed her, tenderly, lovingly.  Tears were sliding silently down Angie’s face when they parted, but her eyes were filled with relief and joy.  Rollie tucked her under his chin and looked at the others.  Mangela and Leo, who had both figured out what happened, were discretely looking at the floor.

“If anyone’s to blame for what happened, it’s me,” the Aussie said.

Daniel shook his head.  “You couldn’t have known, Rollie.  I’m just glad that it didn’t last very long, and I came back to myself before . . . before it went too far.”  He cleared his throat.  “So, this explains why I suddenly became you, but why did Angie think I was you?”

“It is like I said before,” Mangela replied.  “Rollie’s songline was influencing yours so greatly that Angie, because of her link with both of your songlines, was seeing Rollie where she should have been seeing you.  You could think of it like Angie looking at you in a mirror and Rollie stepping completely in front of you.  Though you were still there, all Angie could see was Rollie’s reflection.”

“So, what happened after this?” Leo asked Rollie.

“Well, I think that Kessler was starting to get more concerned about my physical condition.  They sedated me again and left me alone for over forty-eight hours.  Though I desperately needed the rest, the sedation made it impossible for me to continue my efforts to contact you.”

“You must have still been contacting me somehow, Rollie,” Daniel told him.  “I was still having . . . incidences.”

“Yeah, he shocked the hell out of me by talking with an Australian accent,” Leo revealed, “and I have to say that I was pretty spooked by how much he was like you in his mannerisms, his body movements, stuff like that.  If I’d seen him walking down the street, I’d have been completely convinced he was you.”

Daniel looked at Leo in surprise.  “I had no idea I was emulating Rollie that much.  I wonder why Alex didn’t notice a difference.”

Mangela shook his head.  “It was only partially due to what was happening with Rollie’s songline.  I have been watching you, Daniel.  You do walk like Rollie, and you have quite a few of his mannerisms, though there are others that are unique to you.  The effect of Rollie’s songline on yours only heightened that similarity.”

“Then the likeness is because we’re twins?” Rollie asked.

“Only partly.  It is more than that.  I still have no explanation for why your songlines are almost identical or why Daniel mirrors your physical suffering.”

“Speaking of that, I can tell you what happened the next time they used the machine on you,” Daniel said.

“You felt it?” Rollie guessed.

“Yes.  It completely overwhelmed me.”  He looked at his brother with deep empathy.  “I can’t even imagine you living with that kind of pain for as long as you did, Rollie.  I experienced it for only a few seconds, and it felt like it was killing me.  I know I screamed for help.  Alex said later that it was in your voice.  I lost consciousness.”

“So did I,” Rollie said.   “I’m so sorry, Daniel.  If I’d have known that was happening, I would have tried to break off the connection between us.”

“But then you wouldn’t have been able to contact me.”  Daniel shook his head.  “I’d rather have suffered that pain a dozen times than lose the only way that you could get through to us.”

“It was the very next day that you brought us into the Dreamtime,” Angie said to Rollie.  “Tell us how that happened.”

“Well, they left me alone again, for around twenty-four hours, sedating me yet again,” the Aussie replied.  “The next night, they’d just finished connecting me to the machine when the alarm in the complex suddenly went off.  I don’t know why.  The important thing was that they left me alone.  I knew that I might not get a better chance to contact you, so I went into the Dreamtime, where I knew that my chances were much better, and tried with all my strength to bring Daniel into the Dreamtime with me.  It was in the Dreamtime that we’d first met all those years ago, and I was sure that if I just tried hard enough, I could do it again.”  He smiled.  “And I succeeded.”  His smile grew as he looked at Angie.  “But I hadn’t anticipated on you being there, too.”

“I could feel something happening to me,” Daniel said.  “I could feel myself being pulled into some other . . . I don’t know . . . some other reality.  It was all so crazy and terrifying.  I grabbed Angie’s arm.”

Mangela nodded.  “The physical contact acted like a bridge between all three of you.  When Rollie pulled you into the Dreamtime, Angie was pulled in as well.”

Rollie smiled brightly.  “I had never been so happy to see anyone in my life.  I had a solid, stable connection to both of you at last.”

“But they came back too soon,” Angie guessed.

Rollie sobered.  “Yeah.  I guess the alarm was a false one.  I’d run out of time, and I hadn’t had the chance to tell you what I needed to.  They turned on the machine.”

Both Daniel and Angie nodded.

“We felt it,” the minister told him.

“I fought with every last ounce of strength in me to maintain the connection long enough to tell you that I was alive and how to find me.  I almost didn’t succeed.”

“But you did, thank God,” Daniel said.

“Yeah.  I blacked out after only a few seconds.  When I awoke, I was back in my room.  I thought about trying to get through to you again, to give you more information, but I was too weak.  I figured that I’d rest for the night, then try again in the morning.  But the next morning, Kessler came and took me to the infirmary for an examination.  He knew that my physical condition was deteriorating to the point where if they kept using the machine, it would kill me.  I was just so tired.  The headache was a constant searing pain.  I was having a hard time concentrating.  When they took me back to my room, I didn’t even bother trying to get through to you.  I knew I wouldn’t succeed.  I heard voices outside my room and went to the door.  That’s when I heard him, Cromwell.  I didn’t know who he was, but it was obvious from the conversation that he was the one in charge.  He was talking to Kessler.  I found out that, because of my physical condition, they were going to lay off on the treatments for a while.”  Rollie looked at Mangela.  “Instead, they were going to start in on torturing you again.  I couldn’t let them do that, so I made a decision.”

“What?” Daniel asked.

“I gave them what they wanted or, rather, I made them think I did.  They wanted to know the route an armored car that would be carrying twenty million in diamonds was going to take and when the best time to hit it would be.  I gave them the information, only most of what I told them was a lie.  Anyone who followed my instructions would not only not get the diamonds, they’d probably get caught in the process.”

Leo began smiling, then he laughed.  “You’re right.  They did get caught.  An attempt was made on a diamond shipment the day before we rescued you.  It was botched up royally.  The investigators said that it was the most pathetic case of bad timing they’d ever seen.”  Realization hit him.  “That’s why they decided to kill you, isn’t it.”

Rollie nodded.  “I knew that, once they found out I’d lied to them, they’d probably kill me.  They would finally realize that I was never going to give them what they wanted.  I could only hope that you guys would rescue me before I ran out of time.”

“You shouldn’t have done it, Rollie,” Mangela said.  “Each time they harmed me, I went into the Dreamtime and found shelter.  I would have done so again.”

Rollie shook his head.  “And what if they’d done something more permanent?  A while back, one of the men had talked about cutting off your fingers or one of your hands.  I couldn’t let them do something like that to you.  But the thing that scared me the most was--”

“What?”

Rollie’s eyes dropped away from Mangela’s for a moment.  “I had a Dreaming about you.  I saw them use the machine on you.”  Tears filled his eyes.  “I saw you screaming in agony, being slowly killed by that thing.  I could not let them do that to you, Mangela.  I just couldn’t.  If they had started doing that, I would have killed myself right then and there.”

Rollie’s statement shocked and appalled everyone.

“I didn’t make the decision lightly.  I knew that if giving them the false information ended up getting me killed, they would probably kill you next,” Rollie said after a moment.  “Or they’d decide to try their conditioning on you, put you in my place.  I was gambling that, before they did either of those things, Daniel, Angie and Leo would find the complex and rescue you.”

“You should have waited another day or two, Rollie,” Mangela told him.  “I could have survived anything they did to me in that time.”

“If I had waited, the timetable on the diamond shipment would have been past, and I had no way of knowing what they would ask for next.  It might have been something that I couldn’t give them false information on.  I know that I took a terrible risk, but I felt that I had no choice.  For a terrible moment, I thought I had lost my gamble.  But then, I felt Daniel’s and Angie’s presence nearby, and I knew that they were there, coming to get me.”  Rollie drew in a deep sigh.

“I have only one more question for now, Rollie,” Daniel said.  “It’s about that mental conversation we had.”

The Aussie nodded.  “That one was a bit strange.  I wasn’t really asleep, just sort of drifting, and I suddenly felt our minds come in contact.”

“I was practicing a relaxation technique that a friend taught me to try to get to sleep.”

“Your minds were both open at that moment,” Mangela explained.  “Because of the already existing connection between you, it was a simple thing for your minds to bridge the gap and make contact.”

“Too bad it didn’t last longer,” Daniel said.  “If we could have stayed in contact just a little longer, Rollie would have been able to tell me where he was.”

“Sorry to interrupt this, but how did you know where you were, Rollie?” Leo asked.  “You said that you were blindfolded when they took you to the complex.”

“Mangela told me,” the Aussie replied.  “Throughout the entire time, he and I stayed in mental contact with each other.  That’s how I told him about Daniel.”

Leo nodded.  “Okay, just curious.  Continue with what you were saying.”

“They came for me again,” Rollie said.  “It was then that I gave them the false info.  I planned on trying to reach Daniel again as soon as they took me back to my room, but they drugged me, really knocked me out that time.”

“Which is why my repeated attempts to reach you didn’t work,” Daniel said.  He saw the tiredness in Rollie’s eyes.  “Okay, I think this is enough for now.  You need to get some more sleep.”

Rollie yawned.  “This time, I’m not going to say no, Brother.”  He looked at Leo.  “Do you know when the feds are due to show up?”

“Not exactly.  Sometime between one and two.”

“Then you can sleep until lunchtime,” Angie said.  “We’ll come back at one.”  She gave Rollie a kiss and got off the bed.  Everyone said goodbye.  Rollie lowered the bed and settled into the pillow.  He was asleep before he even had time to think about it.

CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO

Only Leo was with Rollie when the FBI agents showed up after lunch.  They’d all decided it would be best that way.  The second Rollie looked at the faces of the agents, he knew that this was going to be more like an interrogation than an interview.

“Mister Tyler, I’m Special Agent Ashby and this is Special Agent Conway,” said the shorter man.  “We have some questions for you.”

“Yeah, I bet you do,” Rollie responded.  “Before you start, I’ve got a deal to make with you.”

“A deal?” Conway asked.

“Yes.  I want to keep my name out of the papers for now.  I don’t have the time or the desire to hassle with reporters.  In exchange for the information I’m going to give you, I want you to pull whatever strings you have to in order to keep the news that I’m alive out of the papers and off the TV.”

“And if we don’t agree?”

“Then you’ll have to be satisfied with the information Detective McCarthy will be putting in his report.”

“Mister Tyler, the FBI does not take kindly to being coerced,” Ashby said, already getting angry.

“I’m not forcing you to do anything, Agent Ashby.  You can turn right around and walk out of here, wait for Leo’s report, and use it in your investigation.  I’m sure it will be a good report,” Rollie turned to the cop, “right, Leo?”

“Oh, one of my best, Rollie.  I’ll even use the spell checker.”

The Aussie turned back to the agents.  “So, it’s up to you.”

The agents stared at him, then looked at each other.  They both gave a slight nod and turned back to the Aussie.

“All right, Mister Tyler,” Agent Conway said.  “We’ll do what we can to put a lid on the news about you.  We can’t make any guarantees, though.”

“I don’t expect you to.  Okay, what do you want to know?”

“First of all, why were you kidnapped and held in that complex?”

‘This is going to be interesting,’ thought Rollie.  “The ones who took me wanted information they believed I could give them, information that they could sell to others.”

“What information?” Ashby asked.

“It wasn’t just one thing.  They wanted a variety of information, everything from winning lottery numbers to when the best time would be to put a hit on a particular organized crime leader.”

The mention of organized crime instantly caught the feds’ attention.  “And how did they expect you to provide this information?” Conway asked.

“I’m psychic,” Rollie replied bluntly, deciding on a frontal assault.

The two agents simply stared at him for around three or four seconds, then Rollie saw anger flare in Ashby’s eyes.

“Psychic?  You expect us to believe that crap?  You listen to me, Ty--”  Ashby’s voice broke off as the other agent laid a firm hand on his arm.  He snapped his head around to glare at his partner.  Conway gave his head a quick shake, then focused his attention on Rollie.

“All right, Mister Tyler,” he said, his voice calm.  “You’re claiming that the people who took you did so because you have psychic abilities that would allow you to give them this information?”

“Yes,” Rollie replied, recognizing Conway to be the more reasonable of the two.

“What proof do you have to back this up?”

“I shouldn’t have to give you proof, Agent Conway.  I’m not a suspect in your investigation, which will probably eventually confirm what I just told you anyway.”

Conway nodded.  “You’re right.  You are not legally required to prove any statement you make.  But please humor us.  What can you give us to prove what you are saying?”

“What do you want?  A demonstration?”

“That would be helpful.” 

Rollie sighed.  He knew that, sooner or later, the feds were going to find out that he was telling the truth, so there was really no reason not to do what they were asking.  “All right.  What do you want to know?”

“Something that can be confirmed quickly.”

Rollie thought about that for a moment.  “Turn on the TV and switch it to one of the sports channels.”

Leo did so.  The channel he chose was broadcasting a horse race.  Rollie smiled faintly, thinking about what his father would say if he was there to witness what his son was about to do.

The Aussie concentrated on the picture, focusing the talent that he wished he didn’t have.  “Number Six, Sunny Day, is going to win.”

“He’s the favorite.  It doesn’t take much to guess that,” Ashby snapped, still angry.

Ignoring him, Rollie concentrated harder.  “He’ll win by two lengths.  Number Three will come in second, and Number Five will be third.”  Releasing the vision, Rollie relaxed.

“Yeah, well, we’ll see,” Ashby said, sounding as if he hoped Rollie would be proven a fraud.

Everyone fell silent as the horses were led up to the gate.  The starting gun was fired, and the horses were off.  Instead of watching the race, Rollie watched the other three occupants of the room.  Leo’s face reflected intense interest and anticipation.  There was extreme interest on Conway’s features, too, but in a different way, as if the outcome of the race was of importance to him.  Ashby was just glaring at the TV sourly.

As the horses drew close to the finish line and the voice of the announcer grew more excited, Leo, Conway and Ashby unconsciously leaned forward.  Rollie’s attention at last turned to the TV, and he watched as the race ended exactly as he had predicted.  Leo turned off the TV, and he and the two feds turned to the Aussie.  The cop was grinning broadly, but with a touch of awe in his eyes.  This had been the first time he’d watched his friend’s precognitive abilities in action, and it had left him amazed.  There was an expression of satisfaction and respect on Conway’s face.  He was clearly impressed and pleased by Rollie’s demonstration.  Stunned disbelief was what the Aussie saw when he looked at Ashby.

“How did you do that?” the shorter agent asked.

“I already told you,” Rollie replied.  He looked at Conway.  “So, was that proof enough?”

The agent nodded.  “Yes, I’d say so.”  He looked at his partner almost gloatingly.  “Wouldn’t you say so, Ashby?”  The other agent just glowered at him.  A tiny smirk quirked Conway’s lips upward, and he turned back to Rollie.  “All right, so you’ve proven your claim.  You say that your captors intended to sell the information you provided to them?”

“I would guess so.  They never actually told me what they intended to do with it, though I know for certain that one thing I told them was given to someone and used.”

“What was that?”

Rollie told them about the attempted armored car heist.

“But that robbery failed.  Did your crystal ball break?” Ashby asked sarcastically.

“I don’t use a crystal ball, Ashby.  But I did run out of tea leaves, and the store was all out of the flavor I use,” Rollie replied, equally sarcastic.  “I wanted the robbery to fail.  I deliberately gave them false information to see that it did.”

“Why?” Conway asked.

“Because I didn’t want them to succeed.  I gave them the info as a stall tactic.  I was aware that Leo knew I was alive and was looking for me.  I was just trying to hold the guys who had me off as long as possible to give Leo and the others time to find me.”

“You were a prisoner for over three months, Mister Tyler,” Conway said.  “Are you saying that, for all that time, you didn’t give your captors any accurate information?  I find that hard to believe.”

“No, I did give them some things, stuff that wouldn’t hurt anyone or result in a major crime being committed.  I had no choice.  They had a friend of mine and were threatening to harm him.”

Conway nodded.  “Yes, a . . .” he consulted his notepad, “a Mangela.”

“Yeah.”

“Okay, why don’t you tell us the whole story, from the top.”

Rollie did as asked, giving the agents an extremely abbreviated version of what he went through during his months of captivity.  Ashby listened to it all with what appeared to be professional detachment, while Conway did so with sympathy in eyes.

“So, they were attempting to use a form of mind control,” Conway said partway through the narrative.

“Yes.  They wanted me under their complete control so that they could use me to get what they wanted,” Rollie replied.

At the end of the narrative, the two agents said nothing for several seconds.

Ashby frowned.  “So, you never actually saw Arthur Cromwell?”

“No.  I only heard his voice that one time, and I couldn’t confirm that it was Cromwell.  His name was not mentioned.  We’re only guessing that at this point.”

“Do you think you’d recognize his voice again if you heard it?” Conway asked.

“Absolutely.”

“You said earlier that you knew Detective McCarthy was aware that you were alive and was searching for you,” Conway reminded him.  “You didn’t say how you knew this or how McCarthy found out that you were alive.”

Rollie paused, trying to decide how much to tell them.  “I was able to get a message through.”

“How?”

“Psychically.”

“Telepathically?” Conway asked.

Realizing that the agent knew something about paranormal abilities, Rollie nodded.  He watched a spark of interest again glimmer in the man’s eyes.

Rollie’s confirmation apparently maxed out Agent Ashby’s extremely low threshold of patience regarding anything to do with the paranormal.

“Well, I’ve heard enough of this mumbo jumbo,” he said.  He turned to Leo.  “We’re going to need statements from this Mangela, as well as Angela Ramirez and the third person who went into the complex to rescue Mister Tyler.”

“Mangela will tell you pretty much the same things I did,” Rollie responded.  “As for Angie, I’d suggest that you bloody well leave your attitude behind, Agent Ashby.  Otherwise, you won’t get much from her.”

Ashby opened his mouth, no doubt to make some kind of arrogant remark, but a sharp jab in the ribs from Conway silenced him.

“Rest assured, Mister Tyler.  We will be respectful of Ms. Ramirez,” the taller agent said.  “What about the third person in the rescue party?  We don’t have his name.”

Rollie and Leo looked at each other.

“That person prefers to remain anonymous,” Leo told them.

“That is not acceptable,” Ashby responded.

“Nevertheless, that’s how it’s going to be,” Rollie said firmly.

“Do the words ‘obstructing justice’ mean anything to you, Tyler?” Ashby said menacingly.

“Oh, get off it, Ashby,” Leo said. “We all know that the law protects the rights of private citizens who choose to remain anonymous in criminal cases.  Unless you get a court order demanding the identity of that third person, you have no right or power to force us to tell you who he is.  Besides, there’s nothing he could tell you that Angie and I can’t.  So, back off.”

Knowing Leo was right, Ashby just glared at him.

“Well, I think we have all we need from you at this time, Mister Tyler,” Conway said.  “If we have any further questions, we will contact you.  When are you expected to be released from the hospital?”

“Hopefully tomorrow.”

Conway nodded.  He turned to Ashby.  “Go on down to the car.  I’ll be along in a minute.”

Ashby looked as if he was going to object, then thought better of it and left.  Conway turned back to Rollie.

“I apologize for his behavior, Mister Tyler.  Ashby has a nickname around the bureau.  We call him Agent Ass-me, and he deserves it.”

The Aussie laughed, realizing that he’d misjudged Conway when he first saw him.

“I was partnered with him six months ago.  I’m going to be requesting a new partner.  He and I are . . . not compatible.”  Conway smiled.  “I have to admit that it was very satisfying to see you blow Ashby out of the water with your remarkable demonstration.  He is extremely closed-minded, particularly regarding anything to do with the paranormal.”

“But you’re not.”

“No.  I have nothing but respect for those with extrasensory abilities.  My grandmother had what she called second sight, and I saw her demonstrate it on more than one occasion, though her talent was nothing compared to yours.  You have quite an extraordinary gift, Mister Tyler.  I hope you use it wisely.  In the hands of people like those who abducted you, it could do a lot of damage.  But then, considering what you suffered to keep them from getting it, I’d say you are already aware of that.”

“Yes, I am.”

Conway nodded.  “I respect and admire your determination.”  He shook Rollie’s hand.  The instant their hands touched, an image flashed in the Aussie’s mind.  He gasped, his grip tightening.

“Mister Tyler?  Is there something wrong?” Conway asked, concerned.

Rollie met his eyes.  “Don’t go to your son’s school play tonight.”

“What?  Why?”

“Because, after the play, you’re going to try to stop a car theft in the parking lot, and the thief is going to shoot and kill you.”

Conway’s face paled.  “You’re sure?”

“Positive.”

“But if I don’t go, the thief will get away with it.”

“Can you ID the perp, Rollie?” Leo asked.

“Yeah.  Thin, short, dirty blond hair, early twenties.  He was breaking into a red and white 1958 or ‘59 Corvette convertible.”

Conway’s eyes widened.  “That’s my car!”

“Nice car.”

“Well, we can do this one of two ways,” Leo said.  “Either you take Rollie’s advice and don’t go to the play or we set up a stakeout and nail the guy when he tries to steal your car.”

“I’ll go for option two,” the agent informed him.  “I’d like to get the guy.  Also, my son would be really disappointed if I didn’t make it to the play,” he smiled, “not to mention how mad my wife would be.”

“All right.  Give me the time and location of the play, and I’ll set it up.”

Conway gave him the information, then turned back to Rollie.  “I don’t know how to thank you, Mister Tyler.  You just saved my life.”

“No thanks necessary, and call me Rollie.”

“Well, I feel as if I owe you something, Rollie.  I know it doesn’t repay the debt, but I will do everything I can to keep the reporters from finding out about you.  I have a few connections I can use.”

“Thanks.  I would really appreciate that.”

They shook hands again, then the agent left.

“Wow, Rollie.  You’re hot stuff,” Leo said, very impressed.  “A one-man crime prevention force.”  He grinned.  “I’d better watch out or you’ll put me out of a job.”

Rollie laughed.  “No worries, mate.  There’s more than enough crime in New York to keep you busy, even with me around.”

“Well, that didn’t go too bad, even with Agent Ass-me.”

Rollie chuckled.  “Conway seemed like a pretty good bloke.”

“Yeah, for a fed.  I just hope he or someone else in the government doesn’t get too interested in your abilities.  Crooks aren’t the only ones who could use that kind of power to do nasty things.”

“Well, Cromwell couldn’t get me to play ball, so any threats the government made to get me to do things for them wouldn’t succeed either.”  Rollie turned his thoughts in a different direction.  “We need to protect Daniel, Leo.  I don’t want word of his involvement to get out.”

“Agreed.  Fortunately, besides all of us, VanDuran’s the only person who knows about him.  Nobody else on the strike force saw his real face.  I already asked the captain not to reveal Daniel’s identity.”

“Good.  So, we’re going to have to tell Angie and Mangela that they’ll be getting the pleasure of the feds’ company.”  Rollie chuckled.  “I fear that Ashby’s going to just about have a cerebral hemorrhage by the time Mangela gets through talking about Dreamings and songlines.”

Leo laughed.  “Oh, I’d love to see that.”

“Yeah, me too, and maybe we could get Angie to start discussing her theories on alien visitors with him.”

“Ooh, now you’re getting nasty, pal,” Leo said, grinning wickedly.  His expression suddenly softened, and he clasped his friend’s shoulder.  “Damn, I missed this, Rollie.  I missed you.”

“I missed you, too, Leo.”

The cop’s eyes fell to the bed.  “I’m sorry,” he said in a low voice.

“What for?”

“A lot of things.  For one, I’m sorry that you felt as if you had to keep these abilities of yours a secret from me.”

“Leo--”

“No.  Let me finish.  You were right.  I wouldn’t have believed you.  Oh, in time, with enough evidence, I would have, but the fact that I didn’t believe you right off would have hurt our friendship.  You’d have felt that I didn’t trust you enough to believe in what you were telling me.”

Rollie shook his head.  “I wouldn’t have felt that way.  I know you trust me.”

“But it would have hurt you, wouldn’t it.”

Rollie said nothing, his gaze dropping to his hands.

Leo took a long breath.  “I know I’ve hurt you before, Rollie, and I’m so sorry for that.”  The Aussie began shaking his head in denial, but Leo didn’t let him say anything.  “Don’t try to deny it.  We’ve been friends too long for that.”

Again, Rollie fell silent.

“I know I’ve hurt you when it seemed that I was sometimes interested in you more as a way to get cases solved than as a friend.”

“No, I--”

Leo held up his hand, silencing his friend yet again.  “A perfect example of that was when I made you betray your friend, Jimmy Swan, because I believed he was the Gemini serial killer.  I knew that you didn’t want to do it.  I know how important loyalty to your friends is to you.  But I was so intent on getting him that it was all I could think about.  I was so busy being a cop that I failed you as a friend.”

“But you were right about him.”

“Yeah, but that’s not the point.  I hurt you, and I hurt our friendship.  Yet you forgave me without saying a word about it.  I should have said something about it.”  Leo looked at him intently.  “Rollie, I need you to know that, though I have sometimes taken for granted the help you gave me, I have never taken for granted our friendship.  You have been the best friend I’ve ever had.  When I thought I’d lost you, all I could think about was that I’d failed you as a friend because I was so intent on using your help that I never stopped to think about the possible consequences, that it could get you killed.”

“Leo, please don’t,” Rollie pleaded, his eyes dark with pain.

Ignoring his plea, the cop continued.  “So, I’m now going to do what I should have done a long time ago.  I’m not going to ask for your help on cases anymore.  From now on, when I come to see you, it will be only as a friend, not as a cop.”

“No!  Bloody hell, Leo!  Don’t you get it?!” Rollie shouted.

Leo stared at him in surprise.  “What don’t I get?”

“Why I do it, why, all these years, I kept saying yes when common sense should have been telling me to say no.  Okay, you’re right.  There were times when I resented that you spent almost as much time asking for my help as you did just spending time with me as a friend, but if I really didn’t want to help, I’d have found a way to say no.  I helped you because you are my friend, Leo, but I also helped because . . . because it felt good.  It felt really good to do something meaningful, worthwhile, to put away the bad guys and help the good guys.  It made me feel like there was real purpose to my life, that I was making some small difference in the world.”

Astonished, Leo shook his head.  “I had no idea, Rollie.  I really didn’t.”

“I don’t want to stop, Leo.  I don’t want to lose that.”  Rollie stopped abruptly, his expression changing.  “But . . . but I’ve done a lot of thinking, too.  During those three months, when I kept wondering if I’d make it out alive, I thought about all the times when I might have died in the past, and I realized how cocky, how overconfident I’d been.  I always had this belief that, no matter how hairy things got, everything would turn out all right.  We’d manage to save the day.  Sure, there were moments when I was scared, when I thought I might die,” he looked at Leo, “or that you or Angie would.  But, deep down, I still believed that we’d get out of it somehow.  Those three months were a major wake up call.  It became all too clear to me that, no matter how good we are at what we do, no matter how lucky, there might not always be a happy ending.  Someday, I, or you, or Angie, or someone else I love might die.  So, I made a promise to myself that, if I got out of that place alive, I’d be more careful.  I wouldn’t rush into cases and situations like I was Mister Invincible or, as Angie would say, Batman going off to save Gotham City.  I came very close to not making it out of this alive, and I saw how much my ‘death’ hurt the people I love.  I need to change my priorities and consider how my actions affect those I’m closest to, especially Angie.  I still want to help, but I need to think of her first.  I love her, and I want to spend the rest of my life with her.  I can’t ever again put her through what she suffered when she thought I was dead.”

“Well, perhaps you should ask her what she thinks about this,” said Angie’s voice from the doorway.  She came in the rest of the way.  “Rollie, when I thought you were dead, I had a lot of time to think, too, and I realized that, for all these years, I’d been blind to how important it was to you to help the cops, that it wasn’t just because of ‘the rush’.  It is true that it scares me when you get into a case so deeply that you’re in danger, but I don’t want you to give up something that means so much to you for my sake.  I love you too much to demand that kind of sacrifice from you.”

“It wouldn’t be a demand, Ange,” Rollie protested.  “I know you’re not asking me to do it.  I just feel like I need to take more care with my life.  We’re together now, and I hope that. . . .”  He paused.  “I want us to be together for a long, long time to come.”

Angie took his hand.  “I want that, too, Rol, more than anything.”  She looked back and forth between the two men.  “Maybe what we need is a compromise.”

“A compromise?”

“Yeah, like you staying behind the camera on the dangerous cases.  There have been lots of times when you were deliberately put right in the thick of things when, with the right training, an undercover cop could have taken your place.  If you were involved just in the planning and setting up stages, then you wouldn’t be in such danger.”

Leo nodded.  “She’s right.  Okay, it’s a deal.”

“Would anyone care to hear my thoughts on this, or do you two have it all decided for me?” Rollie asked, smiling faintly.

“Well, I don’t know, Rol.  It all depends on whether or not you’re going to agree with us,” Angie replied with a straight face.

The Aussie gave her a sarcastic smile.  “Oh, I agree with it more or less, though you can bet that there are going to be times when I’m the one who will have to go in because the job requires my skills and knowledge.  And there’s something else that you’re not thinking about.”

“What’s that?” Leo asked.

“What I did just a few minutes ago, when I saw that vision about Agent Conway.”

“What vision?” Angie asked.

“I’ll tell you later.”  He looked at Leo.  “What I’m saying is that I have a new way of helping you on cases.  Before, I could not control my abilities, but I can now, and I can use them to help.  And that kind of help wouldn’t put me in danger.”

“You would be willing to do that?” Leo asked, thinking about the tremendous advantage such a skill could have in the prevention and solution of crime.

“If it would put bad guys in jail or help protect innocent people, yes, I would.”

“I don’t know what to say, Rollie.  I know you don’t like using that ability.  I’d never want to be guilty again of taking advantage of you.”

“I’m offering it willingly, Leo.  But there’s something you need to understand.  I can’t give up everything else in my life for this.  I want to go back to making movies, and I want to have a life with Angie.  I will help when you need me, but there has to be limits.”

Leo agreed readily.

“Then it’s a deal?” Rollie asked.

Leo grinned.  “Deal, pal.”  He held out his hand, and the friends shook on it.

Daniel and Mangela came in just then.

“How did it go?” the minister asked.

“Pretty good,” Rollie replied.  He looked at Angie and Mangela.  “They want statements from you two as well.  Watch out for Agent Ass-me.”

“Ass-me?” Angie said, laughing.

“Ashby to all those who don’t know and love him.”  He explained about what happened.

“Ah, well, I will tell Agent . . . Ashby all about the Dreamtime and songlines, Rollie,” Mangela said, his face completely straight.  “He should be taught some of the ways of the People.”

Leo laughed, shaking his head.  “I am really glad that you guys are both on my side.”

Everyone else laughed at his comment.  The laughter was interrupted by Leo’s cell phone.

“McCarthy,” the cop answered.  “Yeah, Francis.  What have you got?”  He listened for a while, a smile growing on his face.  “That’s great news.  What did they find out?”  Everyone watched the smile disappear.  “You’re kidding.”  Another pause, this time a long one.  “Unbelievable.  Okay, this thing’s really going to heat up now.  I’ll head back over there.  See you in a while.”  Leo disconnected the call.  “The techs managed to recover most of the erased data on that hard drive, and you are not going to believe what it revealed.”

“What?” Angie asked.

Leo looked at Rollie.  “They intended on making you part of an entire network of spies, so to speak, that would give them information they could sell to the highest bidder.”

“You mean I was only the first one that they were going to do that to?” the Aussie asked, appalled.

“Yeah.  And the kind of information they planned on getting from you and the others was even more serious than we thought.  We’re talking major stuff here, things like military weapons shipments, overseas troop movements, theft of sensitive and dangerous government technology.  With the information they planned on getting through you, any third world dictator seeking power could easily take over a country since he’d know everything the enemy was going to do before they did it.  Terrorists could have gotten access to nuclear weapons, Rollie.  Our own military secrets would have been compromised.  And, all the while, those guys would have been making billions.”

“My God,” Rollie whispered, stunned and horrified.

“The worst part of it is that it looks as if they’ve already been operating this business for a while, using other psychics.  You remember you told me that you thought someone at that paranormal testing facility was involved?  Well, you were right.  In fact, the whole place was part of Cromwell’s organization.  They were all psychics, and every one of them was giving him whatever information their abilities could provide.  Fortunately, none of them had enough skill to make them very reliable or to provide enough details for anything really big.  You were apparently the star of the show, pal.”

“So, it was all a trap, a setup that I was lured into.”

Leo squeezed his shoulder.  “Afraid so, pal.”

Rollie rubbed his face with his hands.  “I sure do have lousy luck sometimes.”

“You could look at it that way, but you could also look at it as good luck, for you and for everyone else,” Mangela said.

“How so?”

“If they’d picked someone else, someone whose abilities weren’t as strong as yours, that person might not have had the power to get help,” Angie pointed out.  “And they probably wouldn’t have been able to resist that machine.  Those guys would have succeeded.”

“It was because of the strength of your songline and your abilities with the Dreamtime that you could defeat them,” Mangela added.  Then he smiled proudly.  “You were too strong an enemy for them, Sonny Boy.”

“Have they found out where Cromwell is?” Daniel asked.

“No, but with this information that we’ve just uncovered, Cromwell will not only be on the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted list, he’ll also be sought by the CIA, NSA and the military,” Leo replied.  “This is national security we’re talking here.  I don’t think there’s a hole deep enough to hide him now.”

“Let’s hope not,” Rollie said fervently.

Leo went back to work, telling everyone that he would keep them updated.

“Daniel, I wanted to let you know that we’re going to protect your identity,” Rollie told his brother.  “We won’t let the feds or anyone else find out about you.”

“Thank you, Rollie.  That’s a big relief to me.  If my part in this was discovered, everything about my adoption would be revealed, too.  I can’t let Mom and Dad be hurt like that.”

Deciding that they needed to get their minds off the case and everything else for a while, they started talking about other things.  Eventually, the conversation turned to Dingo.

“We need to find him,” Rollie said.  “I’m really worried about him.”

Daniel nodded.  “I am, too.”

“Do you have any idea where he might be, Rol?” Angie asked.

“I have a few ideas.  If he stayed in New York, there are some places that he could be hiding out at.  If I get out of here tomorrow--and I am going to, even if I have to bribe Hospital Administration--I want to start looking for him.”

The rest of the day passed quickly as they each talked about past events in their lives.  Angie, Daniel and Mangela left early so that Rollie would get plenty of sleep for what they all hoped would be the big day.

“Hey!  You’ve still got your hair!” was Angie’s first comment when she came in the next morning and saw that the bandages had all been removed from Rollie’s head except for a relatively small one covering the area of the incision.  “How’d you manage to pull that off?  They usually shave someone’s head for brain surgery.”

“I sweet-talked Doctor Whiting, convinced her that Yul Brynner and Telly Savalas looked a lot better bald than I would.”

Angie smirked.  “You’re right about that.”

“So, where’s everyone else?”

“They’re moving stuff in the storage room and putting that roll-away bed of Frank’s up there so that it will be all done when you get home.”

“Good.”  Rollie paused.  “Um, Ange, about what I said yesterday, about you living with me at the loft.  I hope you didn’t feel pressured or anything.  I mean, it wouldn’t be like I expected us to, well, uh. . . .”  He blushed.

Angie grinned upon seeing the blush.  She bent down and kissed him.  “You are just too cute, you know that?”

The Aussie’s mouth twisted.  “Is that a compliment?  Because I’m not so sure.”

“Oh, it’s definitely a compliment.”  She sat on the edge of the bed.  “No, I didn’t feel pressured, and I don’t think you’re moving too fast.  After all, we’d have separate bedrooms, right?”

“Right.”

“So, though we’d be living under the same roof, we wouldn’t necessarily be living together in the way people usually think of that sort of thing.”

“Right.”

“There’s just one problem.”

Rollie looked at her in concern.  “What’s that?”

Angie leaned over until her lips were at Rollie’s ear.  “Do you really think I’d be able to resist you when you’re sleeping only a few yards away from me?”

Startled, Rollie stared at her.  Then a slow grin formed on his face.  “I’d have the same problem, Love.”

“Well, I should hope so,” Angie whispered huskily.  Then she captured Rollie’s mouth in a hungry kiss.

“I don’t know if it’s a good thing or a bad thing that Daniel’s going to be there to play chaperone,” Rollie murmured as they drew apart.

“Well, he won’t be there forever, you know.”

“Mmm.  No, he won’t.”

“And we could always do what the teenagers do, ditch the chaperone and find someplace where we could be alone together.”

Rollie smiled, liking that idea a lot.

Angie rested her head on Rollie’s chest.  “For now, though, let’s concentrate on getting the case wrapped up.  After that, we can have a long talk about how we’re going to work out this change in our relationship.”

“Agreed.”

Doctor Gates came in a few minutes later.

“So, do you have good news for me?” Rollie asked.

The doctor smiled faintly.  “Well, I don’t know.  If you’ve become emotionally attached to that bed, you might not be very happy.”

The Aussie grinned.  “Are you saying what I think you are?”

“Doctor Whiting and I discussed your case and agreed that you are ready to go home.”

“Yes!  That’s great news.”

Doctor Gates held up a warning finger.  “However, you are under strict orders to take it easy.  Get plenty of rest, no strenuous activities for at least a week.”  He looked at the couple meaningfully.  “And if you have any symptoms like frequent headaches, nausea, vision problems, or anything else like that, tell your personal physician right away.”

“Yes, Doctor,” Rollie muttered, knowing what “no strenuous activities” included.

The doctor shook Rollie’s hand.  “Good luck, Rollie.  I hope we won’t be seeing you around here again soon.”

“You and me both, Doc.”

Rollie sighed after the doctor left.  “So much for ditching the chaperone and going off someplace where we can be alone.”

“Well, we’ve waited all these years.  I think we can survive another week.”

“Yeah.”  He kissed Angie deeply, exploring her mouth with detailed attention.  “But only just barely.”

“It’s going to be a looong week,” Angie sighed.

Angie went down to the car and got the clothes she’d brought for Rollie.  After he was dressed, they got him packed up and ready to go.  As an orderly wheeled Rollie down to the entrance, Angie got the car and pulled up out front.  They got the Aussie loaded and were soon on the road, heading for home.

CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE

As they drove toward home, Rollie’s eyes drunk in everything.  He rolled down the window all the way and stuck his head out so that he could feel the sun on his skin and the wind in his face.  Angie watched him with a smile.

“There were times in that tiny room when I could feel the walls closing in on me,” Rollie admitted.  “I’d have paid a fortune to feel the sun and see the sky for just a few seconds.”

To her surprise, Angie found herself getting choked up over the quietly spoken statement.  She reached over and grasped the Aussie’s hand.

Rollie pulled his head back into the car and stared out of the windshield.  “After all this stuff is over and before we get back to work, I want to take a long vacation, go someplace where we can feel the fresh air and . . . and be free.”

Angie gripped Rollie’s hand even tighter.  “We’ll, do that, Rol.”

The remainder of the trip was made mostly in silence.  Rollie could not stop the big grin that blossomed over his face upon seeing the loft.

“It looks the same,” he murmured.

“Of course it does.  Did you think I’d have done renovations?”

“No.  No, of course not.  It’s just that . . . it seems like years rather than months since I’ve been home.  I half-expected everything to have changed.”

Angie smiled at him.  “Nothing’s changed, Rol.  I kept everything the way it was.  Well, I did move some of my furniture upstairs, but that’s all.”

Rollie got out of the car a bit shakily, but refused Angie’s arm when she offered it.  He wanted to walk into the loft completely under his own power.

The Aussie opened the door, stepped in . . . and almost tripped right over Bluey.  The electronic dog instantly started barking like crazy, his tail wagging so fast, Rollie thought he’d burn the tail motor out.

“Bluey!”  Rollie scooped up his pet, who kept switching between happy barks and loud whines.  If he’d had a tongue, he would have been licking every inch of Rollie’s face.  “Hey, I missed you, too, Blue Boy!  Ah, such a good boy!”

“Welcome home, Rollie,” Daniel said, grinning.  He pointed at the robot.  “I guess he saw your arrival on the cameras or something, because he suddenly hurried to the steps and tried to climb down them.  I was afraid he’d fall, so I set him down there.”

Everyone watched in silence as Rollie wandered around the loft, touching things and gazing all about.  When he finally turned back to them, there was a hint of tears in his eyes.

“Damn, it’s good to be home,” he murmured.

Angie came up and wrapped her arms around him, burying her face in his chest.  “It’s good to have you home.”

Rollie felt wetness soak through the material of his shirt.  He lifted Angie’s face and kissed the tears away.  He then looked around, as if searching for something.

“So, where’s the fur ball?” he asked.

Angie looked at him inquiringly.  “Fur ball?”

“Yeah.  When you said that you’d been living at the loft, I expected to see Chiops here.”

“Oh.  He’s at the Gatti’s.  They were taking care of him while I was away, and I haven’t gone over to get him yet.  What with all the stuff that’s going on right now, it would probably be best to leave him there until everything is settled.”

They all went to the lounge.  Rollie sat on the couch, Bluey in his lap and Angie tucked under his arm.

“So, I guess we need to start making some phone calls, try to track Dad down,” he said.

“You’d better let us do that, Rol,” Angie told him.  “The fewer people who know you’re alive, the better.”

The Aussie agreed.  He gave Daniel, Mangela and Angie the names of some places to try.  Unfortunately, they struck out at every place.

Rollie frowned.  “There are some other places, but I don’t have numbers for them.  I just hope he’s still in the city.  If he went off someplace, there’s no telling where he could be.”

“Do you think he’d stay in New York?” Daniel asked.

“Yeah, I think he would, at least for a while.  I’m just afraid that. . . .”

“What?”

“When Mum died, Dad went on a two-day bender, got himself thrown in jail.  Mangela went to get him out and must have had quite a talk with him.”  Rollie looked at the Aborigine.  “You never did tell me what you said to him.”

“I told him that he needed to act like a man and a father and take care of his son,” Mangela answered.  He shook his head.  “He still didn’t listen to me, went off back on the road only a couple weeks later and left you with us.”

Rollie’s gaze dropped.  Unwilling to let the past sins of his father hurt him, he turned his thoughts back to where Dingo might be.  “I think I might know where he is,” he said after a while.  “In fact, the more I think about it, the more certain I am.”

“Where?”

“There’s a bar called Doogan’s.  We’ve known the owner, Chet, almost as long as we’ve been in the States.  If Dingo went there, Chet would watch over him.”  Rollie looked at his watch.  “Chet won’t be opening up for another couple of hours, but he always gets there early to get things set up for the day.  If we got there at around 11:30, we’d be there before the customers start to arrive.”

“Wouldn’t it be best to call to make sure Dingo is there?” Angie asked.

“No.  If he’s there, Chet wouldn’t admit it over the phone, not to someone he didn’t know.  He knows that Dad . . . gets into trouble on occasion.”

“All right, we’ll go over there, then,” Daniel said.

Rollie stood.  “In the meantime, I want to take a very long, very hot shower.”

“Can you make it up the steps okay?” Angie asked.

“Yeah, I’ll be fine.”

Taking it slower than he normally would have, Rollie ascended the stairs, pleased that he felt only a little winded and light-headed when he reached the top.  Inside the living quarters, he took a peek in the storage room and saw that a sizable area had been cleared and that the roll-away bed was in there, sheets, blanket and pillow already on it.

The shower felt marvelous.  Standing in front of the mirror afterwards, he could see how thin he was.

“Tyler, you definitely need to get back in shape,” he muttered.

Drying his hair carefully to avoid pulling the stitches, he got dressed and headed into the bedroom.  Right away, he noticed a few pieces of furniture that belonged to Angie, including her dresser.  Wondering why Angie would need two dressers, he went to the one that was his and opened one of the drawers.  He was surprised to find his clothes still inside.  Checking all the other drawers yielded the same results.  He then looked in the closet.  His clothes had been moved over to take up a third of the closet.  Angie’s clothing filled the rest of the space.

“I couldn’t pack them away,” Angie’s voice said from the doorway.  Rollie turned to look at her.  “People kept telling me that I needed to pack up your clothes and put them away or give them to charity, but I just couldn’t.  Just the thought of it--” Angie’s voice broke off with a little catch.  Rollie was instantly there, gathering her into his arms.

“I . . . slept in your shirts and T-shirts every night,” Angie mumbled against his chest.  “The ones that were dirty were the ones I slept in first because they . . . they had your scent on them.  I couldn’t bear to wash them.”

Rollie felt his throat growing painfully tight.  “It’s all right, now, Ange.  I’m here,” he whispered hoarsely.  Angie tilted her tear-stained face up to his, and he placed kisses all over it, pressing the last one on her lips.

“You’re here,” Angie said, barely audible.  She ran her fingertips over his face, her eyes drinking him in like someone dying of thirst.  “You’re alive.  You’re really, really alive.”

“Yeah.  Yeah, I am, Angel.”

“Oh, Rollie.”  Angie pulled his mouth down to hers almost violently, consuming it with voracious hunger.  Rollie shuddered and let out a groan.  He crushed Angie against him.  Five seconds later, they were on the bed, bodies sliding against each other, hands groping and searching wildly.  Angie’s blouse was halfway unbuttoned and Rollie’s lips were in the valley between her breasts when they abruptly woke up to what they were doing.  Taking in deep gasps of air, they looked at each other.

“I think this fits in the category of those strenuous activities that you’re not supposed to be doing,” Angie said shakily.

Rollie laughed.  “Yeah, probably so.  I never was any good at following doctor’s orders.”  He drew in a long, deep, shuddery breath.  “You have no idea how much I want to make love to you.”

“Oh, I have a very good idea, Rollie.  Probably as much as I want to make love to you.”

Very reluctantly, Rollie rolled off Angie and sat up.  He watched her button up her blouse with shaky fingers.  “I need another shower, this time a cold one,” he muttered.

Angie giggled.  “So do I,” she admitted.

Rollie ran a finger down Angie’s arm.  “One of these days, Angela, there won’t be anything to stop us.”

“I’m looking forward to it.”

Allowing themselves a few minutes to recover, they headed downstairs.  Angie sat Rollie down and cut his hair into some semblance of order, leaving it long enough to hide the area that was shaved for the surgery.  She then put a fresh bandage over the incision.  By then, it was time to leave.  Rollie, Daniel and Mangela headed for the door.  The Aussie noticed that Angie had not moved.

“You’re not coming?” he asked, surprised.

Angie put the first aid kit away, thinking about the last time she’d seen Dingo.  The shame of how she’d acted, the things she said, resurfaced.  “No, I’m going to stay here.”

Rollie studied her closely.  “Angie, what’s going on?”

“I’d rather not talk about it now.”

“Ange. . . .”

“Please, Rol, not now.  Okay?”

The Aussie sighed, then nodded.  “All right.”

The three men headed for Doogan’s, Rollie behind the wheel.  It felt good to be driving again, but, at that moment, his mind was on something else.

“Do you know what’s going on with Angie, Daniel?” he asked.

“Yes, but if Angie isn’t ready to tell you, then I have to respect her wishes.”

“It has something to do with Dad, doesn’t it.”

“Yes.”

“Did something happen when he came to the island?”

“Yes, and that’s all I can say.”

The Aussie fell silent, wondering what had happened between Angie and his father.

The sign on the door said closed when they got to the bar, but Rollie saw Chet’s old clunker of a car over in a corner of the parking lot and knew the bar owner was there.  As they entered, they saw a big, balding man behind the bar, wiping down glasses, his back turned to them.  Unnoticed, Rollie and the others approached him, the Aussie several feet in the lead.

“Hey, Chet.  How’s tricks?” the Aussie asked with a smile.

The glass in the bartender’s hands slipped from his grasp and crashed to the floor as the man spun around.  His eyes opened wide.

“Rollie?”

“Yeah, it’s me.”

“Holy crap!  You’re supposed to be dead!”

“That’s what they tell me.”

A gigantic smile split the man’s face.  He hurried around the bar and engulfed Rollie in a tight hug.  The Aussie’s breath went out in a whoosh as the bartender thumped on his back enthusiastically.

“I can’t believe it!  Dingo Tyler’s boy is alive!” Chet shouted.

“Well, I won’t be for long if you keep suffocating me, Chet,” Rollie gasped.

With a jolly laugh, the man released him, holding him at arm’s length.  “Damn, Rollie!  It’s good to see you, lad.  Broke my heart when I read the news about that car bombing.  So, how is it that you’re still alive?”

“It’s a long--”

“Holy crap!” Chet exclaimed again in shock.  He was staring at Daniel, whom he’d just noticed.  “I think I drank too much last night.”

Rollie laughed.  “No, you’re not seeing double, Chet.  This is my brother, Daniel.”

“Your . . . your what?”  The bartender turned to the Aussie.  “Rollie, I’ve known you and your dad since you were fifteen.  You ain’t got a brother.”

“I only just found out about him a few weeks ago.  Like I was saying, it’s a long story.”

“Well, you’re going to have to tell me about it over a few beers, lad, because I know this is a story I’ll just have to hear.”

“Some other time, Chet.  Is Dad here?”

Chet’s demeanor instantly sobered.  “Yeah.  His trailer’s parked out back.”  He shook his head.  “He’s in bad shape, Rollie.  Been drinking himself into a stupor every day.  I tried refusing to give him the booze, but he just said he’d go someplace else to get it.  I didn’t want him driving in that condition, so I gave him what he wanted.  Finding out that you were dead hit him really hard, just took the life right out of him.  I’ve been trying to look after him the best I can, but. . . .”  He shook his head again.

Rollie blinked away the tears that had come unbidden to his eyes.  “Is he there now?” he asked.

“Yeah.  He doesn’t go anyplace, just sits in his trailer, drinks, and stares at an old photo of you.”  He rested a hand on Rollie’s shoulder.  “You being alive will bring him back to life, lad.”

Rollie, Daniel and Mangela went through the back door of the bar.  Dingo’s trailer and the Caddy were parked off to the side of the alley.  They went up to the trailer, and Rollie knocked.

“Go away, Chet!” yelled Dingo’s voice.  “I bloody well told you that I’m not hungry!”

Rollie exchanged a look with his brother and Mangela, then opened the door.  Climbing into the trailer, he was shocked and appalled by the sight that met his eyes.  Open containers of uneaten food and dirty clothes lay everywhere. At least a dozen empty bottles of scotch were scattered around on the floor, counters and tables.

Rollie’s gaze left the mess and went to the figure huddled off in a corner.  Dingo was on the floor, a half-empty bottle beside him, an old, crumpled photograph clutched in his hand.  The picture was of a sixteen year old Rollie, one of the few that had been taken of him during the time that he was traveling with his father.

Picking his way through the mess, Rollie knelt beside Dingo.  “Dad?” he said softly.

Dingo cringed and drew himself into a tight ball.  “No,” he moaned.  “Please, not again.  Not another dream.  I can’t take it again.”

“Dad, I’m not a dream,” Rollie told him gently, tears beginning to slide down his face.  “I’m real.  I’m here.”

“No, you’re dead,” Dingo said in an agonized voice, his eyes tightly shut.  “My boy is dead, and I never told him how much I love him.”  He choked on a breath.  “Rollie.”

Crying in earnest now, Rollie reached out and took hold of his father’s shoulders.  “No, Dad, I’m not dead.  I’m alive.  Can you feel me touching you?  I’m real.”

Dingo grew still.  Slowly, his head lifted and his eyes opened.  His gaze met Rollie’s.  “R-R-Rollie?”

“Yeah, Dad.  It’s really me.”

“Y-you’re a-alive?  This isn’t a d-dream?”

Rollie nodded, smiling through his tears.

“Oh dear God!”  Dingo fairly threw himself at his son, sobbing deeply as he held Rollie with almost painful force.  “They said you were dead.  I thought you were dead.”

“I know, Dad.  I know.”

Dingo drew back, his eyes hungrily scanning Rollie’s features.  He cupped his son’s face in his hands.  “I love you, Boy.  I love you so much.  I am so sorry that I didn’t tell you like I should have, that I didn’t do a lot of things.”

Rollie laid a hand over one of his father’s.  “It’s okay.  I know you love me.  I’ve always known.”

“I’m going to do better, Rollie.  I swear it on your mum’s grave.  I’m going to make you and Cini proud of me.”  His eyes lifted to Daniel, finally noticing him and Mangela.  “And your brother’s here with us now.  We’re together.  We’re a family.  I just wish that your mum was here, too.”

Daniel knelt beside his brother and father.  “She is, Dad,” he said gently.  “She’s looking down on us right now.  I have no doubt of that.”

One of Dingo’s hands went to Daniel’s cheek, his eyes gazing at the twins.  “My boys.  My sons.  I never thought that I’d see you together again.”  He focused on Rollie.  “What happened to you, Rollie?  Where have you been?”

“It’s a long story, Dad.  We’ll tell you all about it later.  Come on.  Let’s go to the loft.”

Leaving Dingo’s car there since he was in no condition to drive, they all piled into the truck and drove back to the loft.  Rollie noticed how Angie avoided direct eye contact with Dingo and swore that he was going to find out one way or another what happened between them.

It was not easy telling his father what happened to him.  Though he spared Dingo most of the details, his dad still learned enough to realize that Rollie had been repeatedly tortured over the months he’d been missing.  Dingo was crying openly, his eyes burning not only with tears but also intense hatred toward the people who had hurt his son so badly.  When Rollie was finished, Dingo pulled him into his arms and just held him for a very long time.

“They’re going to pay for this, Rollie.  I swear they are.  I know some people, guys I’ve done favors for.  They--”

“No,” Rollie interrupted.  “I don’t want you to do that, Dad.  I don’t want you doing something that could get you hurt or in trouble.  Cromwell is already responsible for too much pain in my family.  The government is after him now.  He’ll be charged with the intent to commit treason and a whole lot of other federal crimes.  He will spend the rest of his life in a federal prison.”

Dingo did not reply, thinking that prison was not enough of a punishment for Cromwell.  “Is there anything we can do to help find him?”

“No, I don’t think so.  Between the cops and the government, I’m sure they’ve got every base covered.”

“What about this, um . . . this ability of yours?”

Rollie smiled faintly, remembering his father’s initial reaction to finding out about his paranormal abilities.  Dingo had been shocked, of course, but he had readily accepted it.  Having known Mangela for so many years, Dingo was familiar with the strange abilities of the Aborigines, and it hadn’t surprised him that Mangela had trained Rollie in those abilities, though he was stunned when he found out that Rollie’s skills far surpassed those of the Aborigine.  Fortunately, Dingo hadn’t yet thought about how Rollie’s abilities could be used to predict the outcome of horse races, or if he had, he hadn’t said anything yet.

“That is a thought, Rol,” Angie said.  “If you had something that belonged to Cromwell, couldn’t you find out where he is?”

The Aussie shook his head.  “I can only see the future and the past, Ange.  I can’t home in on people like targeting software.  If I was given something of Cromwell’s, I’d likely witness something that he’s going to do.  The chances of the vision showing me where he is now is pretty remote.”

“But it’s possible that you might see something that could help,” Daniel said.

“Yeah, I guess it is possible.  I could call Leo and see if he can get me something.”

Dingo frowned.  “So, in the meantime, all we can do is sit and wait?”

“As far as this case is concerned, yeah.  But there is something else we can do.”  Rollie looked at Daniel.  “We can find out why you were taken and track down the Carfields.”

“Who are the Carfields?” Dingo asked.

Rollie looked at him in surprise.  “You don’t know the story?”

“He wasn’t with us long enough for us to explain everything, Rollie,” Daniel told him.  He turned to their father and told him what they knew about the Carfields, the abduction and the adoption.

“Those bastards stole you!” Dingo shouted, enraged.  “They stole you and sold you like . . . like you were merchandise!  Cini went through so much pain and guilt.  She blamed herself for your death.  Well, they’re not going to get away with it any longer.”

“They won’t, Dad,” Rollie assured him.  “We’re going to find them.”  He turned to Angie.  “You said that you got a lead on Joanne Carfield.  Do you think you could track her down?”

“If she kept the same alias I can,” she replied.  She headed straight over to her computer and began her attempt to track down Joanne Carfield.  As she did that, Rollie and Dingo went to get lunch for everyone.

“Dad, what’s going on between you and Angie?” Rollie asked as soon as they were underway.

His father was silent for a moment.  “She had a . . . bit of a blowup with me.”

Rollie glanced at him.  “A bit of a blowup?”

“She was upset.  She thought you were dead, and she was angry at me because I hadn’t been much of a father to you.”

Rollie was starting to get an idea of what happened.  “What did she say?”

“I don’t blame her for what she said, Rollie.  I deserved it.  I was a sorry excuse for a father.  I was never there for you when you needed me.  Angie just spoke out loud a lot of things that I should have told myself a long time ago.”  Dingo unconsciously touched the fading bruise on his cheek.

“Did she give you that?” Rollie asked in shock.  He had noticed the bruise earlier but hadn’t asked about it.

Dingo smiled faintly.  “Yeah.  For a girl, she can really hit hard, knocked me right on my bum.”

Rollie tried not to laugh.  He really did.  But the image of Angie knocking Dingo flat was too much to take.  He only laughed for a moment, though, before sobering.  “I guess I need to talk to her.”

“No, don’t, Rollie.  I’m not mad at her.  In fact, she knocked a lot of sense into me.  She made me see the truth about the way I’ve been.”  Dingo looked at his son in shame.  “I hope you can forgive me someday.”

Rollie pulled up to a stop at a red light.  He met his father’s eyes.  “You’re already forgiven, Dad,” he answered softly.

Dingo blinked away his tears.  “I don’t deserve you, Son.  You’re a far better man than I am.”

The honking of a horn drew Rollie’s attention back to the light, which was now green.  They continued to the sandwich shop and got everyone’s lunch, then took it back to the loft.

When they got back, they learned that Angie had found Joanne Carfield’s trail and was tracking her down.  She continued the search as she and everyone else ate.

“Yes!” Angie abruptly shouted sometime later.  Everybody turned to her.

“Did you find her?” Rollie asked.

“Oh, you bet I did.  She’s back in the States, in Maryland, Baltimore to be exact.  It looks like she’s been back here for around eight years.”

“Okay, so we’ve found her.  What do we do now?” Daniel asked.

“Well, that all depends on you,” Rollie replied.

“Me?”

“Yeah.  If we present all this evidence to the Baltimore police, they’re going to find out everything, and it will only be a matter of time before the press gets wind of it.”

Daniel sat down.  “Yeah, you’re right.”

“You haven’t told your adoptive parents yet, have you?” Rollie guessed.

“No.  I wanted to wait until we had more information.  It’s not something I’m looking forward to.”

Rollie nodded, understanding.

“So, what other alternative do we have?” Angie asked.

“Well, the police are going to have to be in on this, but I’m hoping that, if we do it right, we can keep Daniel’s and his parent’s names out of the papers.  One advantage we have is that this case is so old that most reporters aren’t going to be interested in it if they don’t know that a big name is involved.  Right now, though, we need to figure out a way to get Joanne Carfield here to New York.  I wish we knew if she’s been in contact with her brother all this time.  I have a feeling that they split up and haven’t seen or heard from each other since the adoption agency was closed.  Ange, can you access her phone records and see who she’s called in the last month?”

“Sure, no problem.”  She got started on the task.

“What are you thinking, Rollie?” Mangela asked.

“Well, if we assume that Ms. Carfield has had no contact with her brother, we could lure her here by sending her a message that she thinks is from him, an urgent message telling her that they have to meet right away.  The problem is that, if she has been in recent contact with her brother, this will likely alert her to the fact that she’s been discovered, and she might run.  There is just no way that we can know for sure.”

“So, we’d be taking the chance of losing her?” Daniel asked.

“Yeah.”  Rollie looked at his brother.  “It’s up to you.  We can do it this way or contact the Baltimore P.D. and let them handle the arrest.”

“What’s Leo going to think about this?”

“He wants to protect you just like I do, Daniel.  I think he’ll go along with whatever we decide.”

Daniel focused on the floor.  So, the decision was up to him.  As a minister and someone who believed in justice, he wanted to see the Carfields put in prison for the crimes they committed, but as a son, he wanted to protect his family from harm.  Though there was no guarantee that bringing Joanne Carfield here, where Leo would have more control of the case, would prevent the press from finding out about his adoption, at least the chances were much better.  In the end, there could really be only one choice.  The welfare of his family had to come first.

“Let’s bring her here,” he said.

Rollie nodded, smiling slightly.

A while later, they’d determined that Joanne Carfield had not made any phone calls in the last month to someone who could have been her brother.  That didn’t mean, however, that he had not called her or that she hadn’t called him sometime earlier.

Rollie called Leo and told him about their plan.  The cop agreed to it.  After hanging up, he turned to Angie.

“Okay, Ange.  Let’s make the call.”

Angie got on the phone and dialed Joanne Carfield’s number.

“Hello?” answered a woman’s voice.

“Is this Jacqueline Reese?” Angie asked.

“Yes, it is.”

“This is VoiceFast Voice Telegram Services.  I have a telegram for you.”

“Oh?  From whom?”

“We do not have that information in our records, ma’am.  Shall I read the message to you?”

“Yes, of course.”

“It says, ‘Joanne, we’ve got trouble.  Meet me tomorrow at 2 p.m. in New York in front of Starbucks in Grand Central Station.  Frederic.’”

Dead silence greeted the message.

“Hello?  Ma’am, do you wish me to repeat the message?” Angie asked.

“Um, n-no, I heard it.  Thank you.”  A click announced the end of the phone call.

“Well, that was fear if I ever heard it,” Daniel said.

“Yeah, she sounded pretty scared,” Rollie agreed.  “I hope she isn’t so scared that she just takes off.”

“I can monitor her bank account,” Angie said.  “If she suddenly makes a huge withdrawal or closes out the account, I’ll catch it.”

Daniel stared at Angie, flabbergasted.  “Are there any secrets that are safe from you?”

Angie smirked.  “Yeah, the unfathomable workings of the male mind,” she replied.

Daniel, Rollie and Dingo responded to her quip with a sarcastic smile.  Mangela just grinned.

“So, what do we do now?” Dingo asked.

“Well, I’m afraid that Daniel needs to make another decision,” Rollie replied.  He turned to his brother.  “It’s about your parents.  If things go wrong with Joanne’s arrest, and the press finds out what’s going on, the whole story could end up in the papers.  I think it would be a lot better if your parents knew before that happens.”

“Yes, you’re right.  I can’t let them find out that way.”  Daniel sighed.  “So, I guess this means that I need to call them.  I just wish I didn’t have to break this to them over the phone.”

“Do you think that they could come out here?” Angie asked, not envying Daniel the task before him.

“It would be a big help if they could,” Rollie said.  “Leo’s going to have some questions for them.”

“Um, yeah, they might be able to come out.  The flight wouldn’t be a problem since they’d come out in Dad’s jet.”

Dingo’s ears perked up.  “Your adoptive father has a jet?”

“Dad, whatever it is that you’re thinking, you can stop it right now,” Rollie said warningly.

Daniel smiled slightly.  “Yes, he has a jet.  A helicopter, too.”

Dingo’s eyes widened.  “A jet and a helicopter?”

“Uh huh.”

“So, if he’s so rich, why are you a preacher instead of a lawyer or businessman or something?”

Daniel grinned.  “It’s the family business.  My dad’s a minister, too.”

“He’s. . . .  Okay, so what is he, one of those big televangelists or something?”

“That’s exactly what he is.  Haven’t you ever heard of the Reverend Cliff Cooper?”

Dingo’s jaw dropped.  “Cliff Cooper?  My boy was adopted by Cliff Cooper?  He’s worth millions!”

“Well, he wasn’t when he and Mom adopted me.  He was just a congregational minister back then.”

“So, how come you’re in that tiny church on that island in the middle of nowhere?”

Daniel’s smile disappeared.  “It’s a long story.  But it doesn’t matter now how I ended up being there.  Dad asked me to join his ministry a few months ago, and I turned him down.  Hope Island is my home, and I love it.  I wouldn’t live anywhere else.”

“You could have all that money, but you’d rather live in that little house and preach in that little church?” Dingo asked in incomprehension.

“I used to be a part of my father’s world, Dingo, and it gave me no happiness.  What I’ve found on Hope Island may not give me material wealth, but it gives me a wealth that is far more priceless.  I have good friends, a real home, a woman that I adore, and a ministry that I love.  Money can’t buy any of those things.”

Dingo shook his head in amazement.  “You sound like your brother.  Rollie could make a fortune selling his gadgets,” he looked at Daniel’s twin, “but he always said that money wasn’t what made him happy.”

“No, it isn’t,” Rollie agreed.  “It never has been, and it never will be.  Maybe you should take a lesson from that, Dad.”

Though the words had been softly spoken, Dingo heard the faint undertone of censure.  His gaze dropped from Rollie’s.  He’d made a promise to his son that he would change, and he was going to live up to that promise.  But it sure was going to be bloody hard!

“I guess I’d better go make that call,” Daniel said.  He went to the phone.

“Hey, Mom,” he said when his mother answered.

“Hi, sweetheart.  Are you calling to tell me that you need my help with the wedding sooner than expected?”

“Um, no.  This is . . . this is about something else.”

“Daniel, what’s wrong?” Bonnie asked, instantly hearing the strain in her son’s voice.

“Mom, there’s something that I have to tell you and Dad.  It’s really serious.”

“Honey, you’re scaring me.  Are you sick?  Is it Alex?  Has something happened to her?”

“No, Mom, Alex and I are both fine.  Dylan’s okay, too.  This is something else.  I’m in New York.”

“New York?  Why are you there?”  There was now puzzlement as well as concern in Bonnie’s voice.

“There are some things that I need to tell you, and I don’t want to do it over the phone.  Could you and Dad come out here?”

“I-I don’t know.  Yes, I suppose we could.  Your father doesn’t have any engagements this week.  This really is serious, isn’t it.”

“Yeah.”

“Can you hold on while I talk to your father?”

“Sure.”

Rollie had come up beside Daniel and was now resting his hand on his brother’s shoulder.  The twin’s eyes met, Rollie’s silently asking if Daniel was okay.  The minister gave him a faint nod.  Just then, Cliff Cooper’s voice came on the phone.

“Daniel?  Your mother just told me that you’re in New York and that something is wrong.  Son, does this have something to do with the Las Vegas incident?”

“No, it has nothing to do with that.  Like I told Mom, I really don’t want to talk about it over the phone.  Can you come here?”

“Yes.  Yes, of course.  We’ll pack a few things and be right out.  Where should we meet you?”

Daniel breathed a sigh of relief.  “Um, what hotel do you usually stay at when you’re in New York?  Isn’t it the Four Seasons?”

“Yes.  We usually stay in the Executive Park Suite, though at this short a notice, I don’t know if it will be available.”

“Okay, I’ll meet you there.  You can give me a call when you get in.  Hold on a sec, and I’ll give you a number.”  Daniel covered the mouthpiece.  “What number should I give him?”

Rollie gave him the main number for the loft, which Daniel repeated to his father.  They said their goodbyes, and Daniel hung up.

“Okay, they’ll be here late tonight,” he told everyone.

“Are your parents going to have a hard time accepting this?” Rollie asked.

“I don’t know.  My dad might.”

“Well, there is one thing that would go a long way to convincing him.”

“What’s that?”

“Me.”

Daniel realized what Rollie meant.  “Yeah, he couldn’t deny the evidence of my identical twin, could he.”

“I shouldn’t think so.”

“Okay, then I guess you’ll be coming with me.”

Rollie nodded.

“What about me?” Dingo asked.  “Shouldn’t I come?”

“No, not yet,” Rollie replied.  “Though we may need you to stand by just in case.”  He studied Daniel, who was staring at the floor, anxiety coloring his face.  “Okay, how about if we all take a break for a little while?” Rollie put an arm around Daniel’s shoulders.  “Let’s go take a walk, okay?” he said gently.

Daniel nodded silently, meeting his twin’s eyes.  Everyone else watched the brothers leave.

“You’d think they had never been separated,” Angie murmured.  “You can already feel a closeness between them.”

Mangela nodded.  “Yes.  Their bond is very strong.  Their songlines are so closely intertwined now that nothing except death would break the connection.”  He nodded again, as if just understanding something.  “And Rollie is the elder.  He is the guardian of the two, the protector.”

Dingo stared at the Aborigine.  “You scare me sometimes, old man,” he muttered.  “I’ll never get used to your Aboriginal ways.”

“So, Rollie is the firstborn?” Angie asked Dingo.

“Yeah, though not by much,” he replied.  “The doctors told me it was the strangest birth of twins they’d ever seen.  Rollie and Matthew tried to be born at the same time, but, of course, they couldn’t both fit.  Rollie ended up being born breach, and he was actually holding onto Matthew’s hand when they came out.”

“Wow.  That’s amazing.”

“Yeah.  The doctor had a hard time separating them without forcing their hands.  When he did finally get them apart, they started screaming and hollering like crazy.  Didn’t quiet down until they were put together again.”  Dingo shook his head.  “For the first few days, Cini and I couldn’t separate them without them starting to cry.  She had to feed them together, one on each breast, which was pretty awkward.  They were always awake at the same time, got hungry at the same time.  I swear they even dirtied their nappies at the same time, though Cini told me I was crazy when I claimed that.”  He shrugged his shoulders.  “I guess she knew better since she’s the one who changed them most of the time.  As the weeks passed, all that slowly changed, though, right to the end they still got upset if they were more than fifty, sixty feet apart.”  Dingo expression turned sad.  “The day that we thought Matthew died, Rollie started screaming and crying a couple of minutes before Cini smelled the smoke.  After the fire, he just kept crying and crying.  Nothing any of us did helped.  He even cried when we tried to feed him.  He was fussy for days afterwards, but finally quieted down.”

“Rollie sensed that his brother was being taken from him,” Mangela said quietly.  “The bond they now have was something they were born with, and when Daniel was stolen, Rollie felt it.  It may have been their separation that broke the connection between them.”

They all fell silent, thinking about that day so long ago when the two brothers lost each other and how they had at last been reunited.

CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR

Rollie and Daniel walked in shared silence.  Rollie glanced over at his brother occasionally, waiting for the moment when Daniel was ready to talk.  A couple of minutes had passed when the minister sighed.

“I guess I should tell you a few things about me and my parents,” he said.

“Only if you