Daniel sat back down beside his mother.  She looked at him lovingly.

“Your brother seems like a good man,” she said.  “And he really seems to care about you.”

“He is a good man, Mom, more than you realize.  He’s very special.  He has more strength and courage than anyone I’ve ever known.”

Bonnie smiled gently.  “I can see that you care about him a great deal as well.”

“I love him.  He’s my brother.”

“Yet you’ve only known him for a couple of weeks,” Cliff pointed out.

“Actually, not even that long.  I met him in person only three days ago.”

“Three days?  But you said it’s been two weeks.”

“It’s been two weeks since I met Angie.  Like I said before, there is a really long story behind all of this.  You’re going to find a whole lot of it hard to believe, perhaps even impossible.”

“Well, then I guess you’d better get started,” Bonnie said.  She smiled.  “Should I make some coffee?”

Daniel grinned.  “If you’d like, though I’ll take tea instead.”

Bonnie went to the coffeemaker and got the coffee started.  Daniel looked at his father.

“Dad, I’m sorry about all of this.  I know you’re worried about the publicity and how it could hurt Cooper Ministries.”

“I’m worried about more than that, Daniel.  I’m concerned about how it could hurt you, affect your future.  It could turn you into a media sensation, disrupt your life.  I don’t want to see that happen.”

“Neither do I.  I like my quiet life on Hope, and I don’t want it ruined.”

“We’ll do what we can to prevent that from happening.”

A few minutes later, the coffee and tea were ready.

“Okay, I guess I should start at the beginning,” Daniel said.  “Three and a half months ago, my brother was believed to have been killed by a bomb that was placed in his car.”

Bonnie gasped.  “Oh my word!  How horrible.”

“The police had no clues on who planted the bomb, but they suspected that it was connected to one of the cases Rollie had worked on with the police, a revenge killing.”

“But I don’t understand,” Cliff said.  “He couldn’t have been in the car.  He looked all right to me, though he did appear to be rather thin.”

“No, he wasn’t in the car.  It was all an elaborate setup engineered by some people who wanted Rollie.  He was kidnapped and held prisoner by these people.  But for three months, Angie and everyone else thought that Rollie was dead.  Angie. . . .  She loves Rollie so much.  His presumed death all but destroyed her.  She eventually stopped eating and sleeping.  She was just wasting away.”

“That poor girl,” Bonnie murmured, feeling for the young woman she’d just met.

“Angie came to Hope Island to try and find some peace.  By that time, she was so ill and weak that she was near collapse.  The very day she arrived on the island, Angie saw me.  She thought that, somehow, I was Rollie.  The emotional upheaval when she realized I was not him proved to be too much for her, and she collapsed.”

“This is how you found out about Rollie?” Cliff asked.

“Yes.  The next day, Angie and I started talking.  When she showed me a picture of Rollie, and I found out his birth date, I knew the truth.  I. . . .  You can’t know how I felt, to discover I had a twin brother whom I would never get the chance to meet.”

Bonnie grasped Daniel’s hand and held it in both of hers.  “Oh, honey.  I wish you’d called us.  I wish we could have been there for you.”

“I couldn’t, Mom.  It was all too much of a shock, and when Leo started investigating and uncovered evidence that my adoption wasn’t legal, I couldn’t call and tell you, not until I knew more.”

“How did you learn that Rollie was still alive?” Cliff asked.  “Did the police find out?”

“No, and this is the part that you may not be able to believe.”  Daniel stopped, trying to figure out how much to tell them.  “As the days passed, strange . . . things began happening,” he finally said.

“What sort of strange things?”

“I started displaying . . . characteristics of my brother’s.  I began using words and phrases that he used, temporarily gained knowledge and skills that he possessed.  On several occasions, I spoke with an Australian accent, not even aware that I was doing so.”

“Daniel, what are you saying,” Bonnie asked.

“Angie thought that Rollie’s ghost was trying to communicate through me.”

Cliff eyebrows lifted in disbelief.  “You’re joking.”

“No, and I really couldn’t blame her for thinking that.  I had no idea what was going on.  While this was all happening, Angie was experiencing things, too.  She was having strange dreams about Rollie, and, once, she actually spoke to him while she was awake.”

“What?” Bonnie stared at him in incomprehension.

“We didn’t know it at the time, but Rollie was trying to communicate with us.  He was trying to tell us that he was alive.”

“But I don’t understand,” Bonnie said.  “How did he do this?”

“Rollie has an incredible gift, Mom.  He has abilities that are beyond what ordinary people possess.”

Cliff frowned.  “Daniel, are you saying that Rollie is some kind of psychic?”

“Yes.  Now, I know what you’re thinking, Dad, but you have to believe me.  I have experienced what Rollie can do firsthand.  I have heard his voice inside my mind, and I have seen him do things that I cannot deny.”

“This is unbelievable,” Bonnie murmured.

“I know.  If someone else was to tell me this, I’d have a hard time believing it, too.  But I lived it.”

“But why, all of a sudden, did Rollie start using these abilities of his when he’d been a prisoner for three months?” Cliff asked.

“He had been trying to get through to Angie almost the entire time, but he wasn’t able to,” Daniel replied.  “What changed things was when she arrived on Hope Island.  You see, it has to do with the fact that I’m Rollie’s twin brother.  There is something between us, a connection that I can’t describe.  That connection is what enabled him to start getting through to us.”

“But he said that he didn’t know about you beforehand,” Cliff pointed out.

“No, he didn’t.  Rollie had a dream that made him realize he had a twin brother.”  Daniel chose not to tell them the rest of it now, that he and Rollie had met, in a way, once before.

“So, he finally managed to tell you that he was alive?” Bonnie asked, her mind still trying to grasp everything.

“Yes.  After that, Leo, Angie and I started trying to find him.  We learned where he was being held, and we rescued him.”

Bonnie saw a shadow pass over her son’s face.  “What is it, honey?”

Daniel looked at her, anguish in his eyes.  “They’d been torturing him, Mom.  For all of those months, they’d been torturing him, putting him through more pain than you can possibly imagine.”

Bonnie covered her mouth with both hands, horrified by what Daniel was telling her.  Her heart went out to the young man who was her son’s brother.  “Oh, Daniel,” she said with an unsteady voice.

“They had been trying to take control of his mind, destroy his will, force him into being a . . . a slave so that he would give them what they wanted,” Daniel said.  “But he fought them.  For all those weeks, no matter how much pain they put him through, he refused to give in or give up.  He would not surrender.”

The thought of what Rollie had suffered tore at Cliff’s heart.  It was inconceivable.  He’d never have guessed this by looking at the man.  He now understood why Daniel had said that his brother was the strongest and bravest man he’d ever met.

“What did they want from him?” the televangelist asked.

“They wanted to exploit his abilities, use them to get information that they could sell to others,” Daniel replied.

Cliff remembered something.  “Does this have something to do with that incident that’s been in the papers recently?  There was something in the news about a company, some kind of electronics firm, that the police discovered was involved in the sale of sensitive and illegal information.  The last I heard, it had been uncovered that some of the information was to do with military and government secrets.  Charges of treason were going to be filed.”

“Yes, that’s it.”

“There was something about a kidnapping being involved, but nothing regarding Rollie or what you’re telling us.”

“We’ve managed to keep the whole story from the press, at least temporarily, though it’s a constant worry that it will leak out.”

Cliff nodded.  “I can understand why Rollie would not want this to become public knowledge.  He’d have a media circus on his hands.”

“Exactly.”

“So, this means that most people still think Rollie is dead?” Bonnie asked.

“Yeah.  We’ve been hiding the fact that he’s alive.”

“But what about his family and friends?”

“His dad is the only real family Rollie has, besides me.  His closest friends know that he’s alive.  As for everyone else, they’ve believed that he was dead for all this time.  A few more days isn’t going to matter.  Once everything has been settled, then he’ll let the fact that he’s alive be released to the press.”

“And the rest of it?  His abilities?” Cliff asked.

Daniel sighed.  “There probably isn’t going to be a way to hide that.  The press are going to want to know why Rollie was kidnapped by those people and why they were keeping him a prisoner.  I don’t know how we’d be able to hide the truth from them, especially when the case goes to trial.”  Daniel muffled a yawn.

“You’re tired, honey,” his mother said.  “You need to get some sleep.”

“Yeah, it’s been a very long day.”

“We can talk more in the morning,” Cliff told him.  “Go get some rest.”

Daniel wished his parents goodnight, then went off to bed, wondering what tomorrow would bring.

When Rollie and Angie got back to the loft, they found, to their amusement, Mangela trying to teach Dingo how to play the didgeridoo.  Dingo was attempting to master the circular breathing technique required to play the musical instrument--and failing miserably.  He finally gave up with an exasperated sigh.

“I can’t breathe like that!” he exclaimed.  “It’s impossible.”

“I don’t seem to have any trouble, Dad,” Rollie commented with a grin as he and Angie came up the stairs.

Mangela nodded.  “You were a quick student.  You learned very well.”

Angie looked at Rollie.  “You play that thing?”

“Well, it’s mine.  I should hope I can play it.”

“I never saw you play it.”

“Really?  No, I guess you haven’t.  Dad returned it to me the last time he was here.  I haven’t had much time to play it since then.  I guess I never did play it when you were around.”

“And here I thought you had no musical talent.”

“Oh, Rollie has plenty of musical talent,” Dingo informed her with a proud smile.  “Cini taught him how to play the guitar and the piano.  He was pretty good, too.”

Angie stared at Rollie, stunned.  “Then how come I never saw you play?”

Rollie shook his head.  “I haven’t played the piano since Mum died, and I haven’t played the guitar since . . .” he turned to his father, “since Dad hocked my guitar when I was sixteen.”

An expression of shame filled Dingo’s face.  “I’m sorry I did that, Rollie.  I’ll buy you a new one, if you want.”

“No, that’s all right, Dad.  After so many years, I don’t know if I’d be able to play one now anyway.”

“Daniel plays the guitar and piano, too, Rol,” Angie told him.

“He does?  That’s a coincidence.”

“I guess musical talent runs in the family.  Maybe, someday, you can learn to play again, and you two can perform a duet.”

Rollie smiled at that thought.  With all the stuff that had been going on, it was a little unreal to think of doing something as pleasant and normal as playing a musical duet with his brother.

“So, where is Daniel?” Dingo asked.

“He’s staying with his parents tonight,” Rollie replied.  He turned to Mangela.  “Which means that you get to have the couch.”

Mangela shook his head.  “I would rather sleep under the open sky.  I will stay on the roof again tonight.”

Rollie chuckled.  “Why does that not surprise me?”  His mirth died when it abruptly hit him that he and Angie would be sleeping alone in the loft tonight.  Feeling extremely nervous all at once, Rollie glanced at her.  He could tell that the same thought had occurred to her.  The Aussie cleared his throat.  “I’d better call Leo and tell him what we figured out.”

Leo completely agreed with Rollie’s idea that the Carfields had wanted both of the twins, though, like the rest of them, he was still puzzled about why they’d been willing to go through the trouble of taking a pair of twins from Australia.  The cop expressed the hope that they’d be able to get Joanne Carfield to tell them the whole story.

Ending the call, Rollie turned to the others, glancing only briefly at Angie.  “Well, I, for one, am beat.  It has been a very long day for my first one out of the hospital.  I’m going off to bed.”

“Good idea.  I’m pretty tired, too,” Angie said, trying very hard not to think about the fact that she and Rollie would be sleeping alone under the same roof tonight.  She said goodnight and headed upstairs.

Dingo said goodnight as well and went out to his trailer.  Mangela gathered the bedding he’d been using and moved to the door.  He turned back around and looked at Rollie, a knowing smile on his face.

“Sleep well,” he said, his smile growing bigger, then slipped out the door, missing his spiritual son’s blush.

“Yeah, right.  Sleep well,” Rollie muttered under his breath.  “Not bloody likely.”

With a sigh, the Aussie ascended the stairs and went to his bedroom.  He was surprised to find Angie there.

“Um, I was just getting some of my things,” she explained, a hint of nervousness in her voice.

“Oh.  Yeah.  We should move your dresser into the other room tomorrow.  Make it easier for you.”

“Yeah.  Good idea.”

Rollie watched Angie gather a few articles of clothing, trying not to stare when she pulled out some underwear from one of the drawers.  When she turned back around, he saw that her cheeks were pink.  She refused to meet his eyes.

As Rollie looked at her, an unexpected flood of love and tenderness washed through him, making his throat tightened.

“Well, um, goodnight, Rol,” Angie said.  “See you in the morning.”  She moved past him, heading for the door.

Rollie’s hand reached out and gently wrapped around her arm.  “Stay,” he said, his voice soft and deep.

Angie’s eyes met his.  “We can’t.  The doctor said. . . .”

“I know.  I just . . . want to be with you, Ange.  I just want to hold you.  I don’t want to be alone.”

Angie gazed into Rollie’s eyes, seeing the love and the need there.  Smiling up at him, she nodded.  “I’ll go change.”

“Okay.”

Angie went into her temporary bedroom and changed into her pajamas.  She heard Rollie go into the bathroom and waited until she heard him come out.  Then she used the bathroom.  When she went back into Rollie’s room, she found him dressed in pajama bottoms, his upper body naked.  Looking at him, she could see how terribly thin he was, the paleness of his skin.  The sight suddenly and with almost violent intensity brought to her mind what he had suffered.  She made a small choking sound.

All at once, Angie found herself in Rollie’s arms, being cradled against his warm body as she sobbed deeply.  Rollie held her tightly.  He led her to the bed and sat with her on it, stroking her hair.

It was several minutes before Angie quieted.  “I could never describe how much it . . . it hurt thinking you were dead,” she whispered, her face still pressed against Rollie’s bare chest.  “That pain was the only thing that told me I was still alive.  Everything else inside me felt dead.  I really didn’t want to live anymore.  I stopped caring about everything.  I couldn’t sleep because all I had were terrible dreams about your death.  I . . . I finally stopped eating because I just didn’t have the will to any longer.

Rollie began to cry silently, his tears wetting Angie’s hair.  “God, Angie.  I’m so sorry.  I’m so sorry you had to go through that.  If you had--”

Angie lifted her head and looked at him, wondering why he’d suddenly stopped.  Rollie was not looking at her.  His eyes were closed, an expression of torment on his face.  “What?  What is it, Rol?”

He did not reply for a long moment.  His eyes finally opened, and he looked at her.  “I know, Angie.  I know that you almost killed yourself.”

Angie paled, shocked and appalled.  “How?”

“I had a Dreaming.  I saw you dead.  I saw the funeral, the minister talking about how sad it was that you took your own life.  I woke up screaming, crying your name.  I knew I had to stop it somehow, but I didn’t know how.  I was trapped.  I started trying even harder to get through to you.  I was so desperate.  Then, the following night, I felt it.  Somehow, I felt you make the decision to end your life.  I saw you put the pills in your hand.”  His eyes slammed shut, his chest heaving.  When he spoke again, his voice was raw and agonized.  “There are no words to describe the terror, the absolute anguish, the complete helplessness I felt.  I was watching you take your own life, and I couldn’t do anything to stop it.”  His eyes opened, revealing the terrible depths of what he had felt.  “I put every ounce of my will and strength into trying to reach you.  I don’t know if it worked, but you suddenly stopped, looked at the pills, then put them away.  After that, I lost the connection with you.”

Angie stared at the Aussie in amazement.  “It did work, Rollie.  I was getting ready to swallow the pills when I saw an image of you in my mind.  You were looking at me, begging me not to do it.  I knew then that I couldn’t kill myself, that it was something you wouldn’t want me to do.  I realized that, if you could see me, if you were in some kind of afterlife and were watching me, it would hurt you if I killed myself.

“Hurt me?  Angie, if I hadn’t been able to stop you, if you had killed yourself, somehow, some way, I would have gotten hold of a gun from one of those guards in that facility and turned it on myself.  If that hadn’t been possible, I would have done it some other way.  But, before I did, I’d have taken as many of those bastards as I could with me.”

Angie held onto Rollie tightly, her head once more in its resting place on his chest.  They were both silent for a long moment.  Angie finally lifted her gaze back to Rollie’s, searching his eyes deeply.

“When I realized that you were alive, it felt like I was alive again, too,” she told him.  “But when I think about what they did to you, the things you went through, it brings all the pain back.”

Rollie closed his eyes tightly, turning his face away.  He didn’t want to think about it.  He couldn’t think about it, not and maintain his control.  He had pushed the worst of what he felt down deep inside him, hiding from it like a child hiding from a monster that he feared would consume him.  It had been so hard talking to everyone about what happened and try to remain as detached as he did.  He’d almost lost control when he talked with Angie alone in the hospital.  He couldn’t let that happen.  But, even as he had that thought, he could feel his control start to slip as Angie continued to talk.

“It hurts so much to know what they did to you,” she said.  “I wish more than anything in the world that I could make it not have happened, that I could take away everything you went through.  God, Rollie.  Please tell me what I can do to make it better.”

A choked sob issued out of Rollie’s throat as all the months of agony and fear rose to drown him.  He tried to fight it back, not to sink under the tide, but it was a losing battle.

“Let it go, Rollie,” Angie whispered.  “Let it go.”

With a crack that pierced down to his soul, the damn abruptly broke, and Rollie began sobbing uncontrollably.  He slid down and laid his head on Angie’s lap, his arms wrapped tightly about her.  Crying again, Angie held onto him, fingers running through his hair, her hand sliding up and down his back.  She bent over and rested her cheek on his shoulder, rocking back and forth gently, like a mother comforting a desolate child. 

Rollie let all his pain wash out of him through his tears, clinging to the love he could feel inside Angie.  The storm of his emotions rose to a crescendo, then slowly eased away, leaving him exhausted and shaken, yet feeling a sense of peace that he had not experienced in a long time.

As Rollie quieted, Angie placed a kiss on his shoulder, then rested her cheek back upon on it.  Rollie’s hand released its grip on her legs and reached for her hand.

“I love you,” he murmured.

“I love you, too, more than anything.”

Rollie sat up and met Angie’s eyes.  She wiped the last of his tears away, and he did the same for her.  Their lips came together in a gentle kiss.

Without a word, they got up and pulled the covers back, then crawled into bed.  Their arms went about each other.  Angie laid her head on Rollie’s chest.  With a sigh, they both closed their eyes and surrendered to sleep.

Angie awoke the following morning to the feeling of a pleasant weight resting on her.  Rollie’s head was pillowed on her breasts, his right arm wrapped loosely about her waist.  The sight and the sensation made her throat tighten with love.  She stroked his hair, placing a kiss on the tousled locks.  They stirred beneath her lips.  Rollie’s head lifted, his eyes meeting hers.

“Hi,” she said with a smile.

Rollie smiled back.  “Hi.”

“How did you sleep?”

“Great.  I can’t remember the last time I slept that well.”

“Me neither.”

Rollie slid upwards and took her mouth with his.  The kiss was long and deep, passion rising to just beneath the surface.  They saw the change in each other’s eyes as their gazes met again.

“I think that one or both of us had better get up now or I might not be able to follow the doctor’s orders,” Rollie said, his eyes darkening with desire.

“Yes, that might be a wise idea, even if I really don’t want to.”

With a regretful sigh, they got out of bed.  They took turns in the shower, Angie going first.  Rollie found Angie in the kitchen starting breakfast when he got downstairs.  He came up behind her and wrapped his arms about her waist, placing a kiss on the nape of her neck.  He felt a little tremor race through her.

He silently watched what she was doing for a few seconds.  “That is something I have wanted for a very long time,” he said.

“What?  Having me fix breakfast?”

“No, waking up with you in my arms.”

Angie turned her head and looked up at him.  “I’ve wanted that for a long time, too.”

Rollie bent his head and captured her lips, his tongue instantly sliding into the warm depths of her mouth.  Angie moaned and turned around in Rollie’s arms, her fingers burying themselves in his hair to hold him closer to her.  Rollie pushed her up against the counter, his hands gripping her hips.  Their mouths separated after an endless moment and went on a heated search of other skin, lips and tongues sliding over ears, necks and upper chests.  It was with extreme difficulty that they finally pulled apart.

“It’s a damn good thing that Mangela and Dad could come walking in that door at any second,” Rollie said roughly, his body still pressing Angie’s against the counter.  “Because that’s the only thing that’s preventing me from saying to hell with the doctor and taking you upstairs right now and doing what we didn’t do last night.”

“I wouldn’t necessarily call that a good thing,” Angie responded breathlessly, very aware of Rollie’s arousal.

“For my health, it is.  For our mutual sanity, it’s definitely not.  But then, I’m already crazy.  Crazy in love with you.”  Rollie gave Angie another kiss, this one much more chaste, then released her and backed up a step.  Regaining control with an effort, Angie turned back to the counter and resumed the breakfast preparation with some help from Rollie.

Mangela came in around ten minutes later.  “Have a good night?” he asked innocently.

“Yes, we both slept very well, thank you,” Rollie replied, giving the Aborigine a look that the older man had no trouble deciphering.  Hiding his smile, Mangela took a seat.  Dingo came in a few minutes later just as breakfast finished cooking.  They all settled down to the meal.

As they ate, Dingo noticed Rollie and Angie glance at each other occasionally, their expressions a strange cross between happiness and frustration.

“So, Rollie.  How long have you and Angie been dong the wild thing?” he finally asked.

Both Rollie and Angie choked on the scrambled eggs they’d been swallowing.  After coughing for a few seconds, they simultaneously reached for their orange juice and took long swigs.

“I can’t believe you just asked that,” Rollie wheezed.

“Why not?  I have been around a few times, you know.  So?  Are you going to answer my question?”

Angie blushed scarlet, which was only slightly more color than Rollie’s face obtained.

“I’d say that’s none of your business, Dad,” Rollie replied.

“Since Leo’s partner didn’t know about it, I’d guess that it hasn’t been very long,” Dingo said, ignoring Rollie’s statement.  “Did you get together just before you were kidnapped?  You guys are sure acting like newlyweds.”

“Dad,” Rollie growled warningly.

“Yep, I remember what that is like,” Dingo rambled on, reaching for a piece of toast.  “On our honeymoon, that’s all Cini and I--  Ouch!”  Dingo dropped the piece of bread and stuck his fingers in his mouth.  “It burned me!” he said in shock, staring at the toast.

A gigantic grin split Mangela’s face in half, and he began laughing.  Rollie leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms, one eyebrow cocked as he continued to stare at his father.  Angie turned to him in surprise.

“Rollie, you didn’t,” she said.

“Well, he wouldn’t shut up, Ange,” the Aussie responded.

Angie maintained her shocked expression for about two seconds longer, then she also started to laugh.  Still nursing his sore fingers, Dingo looked back and forth at all three of them.  “What’s so funny?” he mumbled sullenly.

“Next time, Dingo, listen to your son when he warns you to shut up,” Mangela told him.

Totally clueless, Dingo looked at Rollie.  Then it suddenly hit him.  “You did that?!”

“That’s right,” his son replied.

Dingo stared, open-mouthed, at Rollie, then looked down at his fingers, which showed no sign of having been burned and, now, no longer hurt at all.  “But how?”

“Would you like me to demonstrate it again?”

“No!”

Rollie’s mouth twitched upward briefly.

“All right, I’ll shut up,” Dingo said.  “I was just having a little fun.”

“Well, for your information, Dad, Angie and I have only been romantically involved since my rescue, and we are not yet doing ‘the wild thing’, as you so delicately put it.”

“You’re not?”

“No.”

“But what about last ni--”  Dingo cut himself off quickly when he saw his son’s eyes narrow.  “Shutting up now.”

Mangela chuckled and resumed eating.

They’d just finished breakfast when Leo arrived.

“So, did you think about what I said last night, Rollie?” the detective asked.

“Yeah, and I still don’t want cops tagging along behind me wherever I go.  I’m not going to go anywhere alone, and if you or Frank want to be with me whenever I do go out, that’s fine.  But the truth is that if Cromwell simply wants to kill me, he could toss a bomb through the window of the loft.  Killing a bunch of other people along with me certainly wouldn’t bother his conscience.”

That thought chilled everyone.

“Rollie, maybe we should find someplace safe for you,” Angie said.

“Ange, I can’t run from this guy.  I am not going to go off and cower in some corner for who knows how long until he is caught.  Besides, I’m not the only one who’s in danger from him.  Are we all going to hide?”  Rollie turned back to Leo.  “If you want to put a couple of cops outside to watch the loft, then that would be all right, although, considering that you have no hard evidence that Cromwell is even still in the country, I don’t know if VanDuran’s going to okay it.”

“Actually, he may be more willing to okay it than you think,” Leo told him.  “He knows about your . . . abilities.”

“He does?”

“Yeah.  I told him when I went to him for help in getting you out of that place.  At the time, he didn’t say whether he believed me or not, but considering that we were right about you being alive and where you were being held prisoner, I would think that he believes now.”

“I see.  Well, then if he gives the okay, you can park a patrol car outside.  Right now, I need to call Daniel to see if he’s ready to be picked up.”

As Rollie called the hotel, Leo put in a call to VanDuran.  Rollie was the first to end his call.

“VanDuran gave approval for a guard to be placed on the loft,” Leo said as he disconnected his call.  “A car will be arriving within the hour.”

Rollie nodded.  “Daniel’s ready to go, so I’m going to go pick him up.  Wanna join me?”

“Sure.”

The two men headed over to the Four Seasons.  Bonnie answered the Aussie’s knock.  She gave him a warm smile.

“Hello, Rollie.  Please come in.”

“Good morning, Mrs. Cooper.”

“Oh, please call me Bonnie.  It seems silly for Daniel’s brother to be calling me Mrs. Cooper.  I mean, it’s almost like you’re family.”

Rollie felt a warm glow settle in his heart at the woman’s words.  Cliff came forward and shook the Aussie’s hand.

“This is my friend, Detective McCarthy,” Rollie introduced.

Cliff shook the cop’s hand.  “Detective.  Rollie and Daniel have told us about this whole thing with the adoption.  I appreciate your help and how you’ve kept the investigation quiet.”

“Well, none of us want to see Daniel get hurt by this.”

“No, we don’t.  So, I understand that you will be arresting this Joanne Carfield today.”

“That’s what we hope.  We know she booked a flight to New York, so she’s obviously coming here.”

“And what about her brother?”

“We still have no idea where he is.  We’re hoping that Ms. Carfield will be able to tell us.”

Just then, Daniel appeared from the bathroom.

“Nice clothes, Bro,” Rollie said with a smile.

Daniel flushed faintly, looking down at himself dressed in an expensive pair of tailored pants and shirt.  “Yeah, well, Dad had the hotel go shopping at a place that’s a bit more, um, upscale than the kind of place I usually shop.”

Bonnie gave her son a kiss on the cheek.  “I think you look handsome.”  The comment made Daniel’s blush deepen.

“I would agree, but since that might sound rather conceited, I’ll pass,” Rollie said with a chuckle.

Bonnie looked at the Aussie, still trying to fathom the depth of suffering that the man had so recently experienced.  How could anyone go through such a thing and show no outward sign of it?  She had to wonder how much he was hiding from everyone.

“What other plans do you have for the day?” she asked him.

“We’re pretty much playing it by ear, though Leo’s partner is bringing his family over to my place tonight.  I haven’t seen them since. . . .  Um, did Daniel tell you about the situation with me?”

“Yes, he did, Rollie, and we were so sorry to hear about what you’ve gone through.  If there is anything we can do to help, please tell us.”

Rollie’s gaze faltered and fell to the floor for a moment.  “Thank you,” he murmured.  “I appreciate that.”  He glanced at Daniel, then back to Bonnie.  “Would you, uh, like to join us?  It’s not going to be a party or anything like that, though we’re probably going to have dinner.”

Bonnie looked at her husband, who nodded.  “We’d like that.  Thank you for inviting us,” Cliff said.

Rollie smiled.  “Great.  Is six o’clock okay?”

“That will be perfect,” Bonnie replied.

Daniel said goodbye to his parents and headed back to the loft with Rollie and Leo, looking forward to what the evening would bring.

CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN

When the three men got to the loft, they saw a squad car with two police officers parked out front.

“What’s this, Rollie?” Daniel asked.

“Protection.  Leo’s worried that Cromwell might try something.”

Now deeply concerned, Daniel watched the cops, who both got out of their car, hands resting on their guns, when they saw the truck pull up front.  The men relaxed when they recognized Leo and Rollie.

One of the cops came forward with a grin.  “Hey, Rollie, it’s great to see you back among. . . .”  His smile and his voice disappeared when he saw Daniel climb out of the back seat.  “Am I seeing double or is this another one of your makeup tricks, Rollie?”

“Neither, Greg.  This is my brother, Daniel.”

“Your brother?  I didn’t know you had a brother, let alone a twin.”

“Um, it’s a long story.”  He glanced at the other cop, then back to Greg.  “We’d appreciate it if you wouldn’t tell anyone about this.  It’s important that it remain a secret.”

“Uh, sure, Rollie.  We won’t tell anyone,” Lucas, the other cop, said.

“Thanks.”

Rollie, Daniel and Leo went into the loft to be greeted by the sight of Angie staring daggers at Dingo.

“You told Rollie that you were going to change, go straight!” she yelled.

“I am!” Dingo responded defensively.  “I didn’t place a bet on the race.  I just want to watch it.”

“Yeah, right.  Like I believe that.  I should have known that you’d go back on your word.”

“Hey!” Rollie shouted.  Surprised, the two antagonists spun around and looked at him.  “What the hell is going on here?”

“I just wanted to watch a horse race.  That’s all,” Dingo said sourly.

“Yeah, I’ll believe that when they start having pig races at Santa Anita,” Angie growled.

Rollie’s eyes narrowed.  “Okay, that’s it.  We’re having a discussion about this right now.”  He strode forward, wrapped one hand about Angie’s arm and the other about Dingo’s arm and marched them upstairs.  He sat both of them on the bed and stepped back to focus a glare on them.

“All right, talk,” he demanded.

“There’s nothing to talk about,” Angie said defiantly.

“I beg to differ, Angela.  You obviously have a problem with my dad.  He told me a little about what happened on Hope Island, but it’s clear to me that what he said wasn’t even the tip of the iceberg.  It’s also obvious that you both have some things to clear up between you.  So, we’re going to stay here until you do that.”

A tense silence followed Rollie’s statement.  Both Angie and Dingo were now staring at the floor.

“All right, you go first, Angie,” Rollie ordered.  “I want to know exactly what went on between you and Dad.”  When she said nothing, the Aussie crossed his arms over his chest.  “I’m going to learn one way or another, Angela, even if I have to go find out myself.”

Angie’s head shot up, realizing what he was saying.  “You’d actually do that?”

“I don’t want to, but if you give me no choice, I will.  We need to be working together now, all of us.  We can’t afford to be distracted by past arguments and disagreements.”

Angie’s eyes stayed locked on his for a moment longer, then her gaze fell, and she sighed.  “All right.”  Haltingly, she told him about what happened the day Dingo arrived on Hope.  Though she didn’t repeat the things she’d spoken word for word, she told him enough for him to get a clear picture of her rage in those moments.  Rollie listened in silence to her narrative.  That is until she repeated, in a low, shame-filled voice, what she had said to Dingo about Matthew being his favorite.  Rollie’s sharply indrawn breath made her look at him.  The flicker of pain she saw in his eyes made her feel even worse.

“It isn’t true, Rollie!” Dingo exclaimed.  “I loved both you and Matthew.  I wouldn’t have wanted you to die instead of him.  Please believe that.”

“I do, Dad.  I believe you.”  Rollie cleared his throat.  “All right, now it’s your turn.  You told me that you didn’t blame Angie for what she said.”  He noticed Angie give Dingo a startled look.  “But I want to know what you were thinking when she said those things.”

Dingo’s gaze returned to the floor.  “It . . . it hurt,” he admitted reluctantly.  “At first, I didn’t understand what was going on.  I had been so positive that you were alive, that it was all some kind of trick.”

“How did you find out what happened?” Rollie asked in a low voice.

“In . . . in an old magazine article,” Dingo mumbled, ashamed to admit the truth.  He lifted his eyes to his son’s.  Rollie could see the tears glittering there.  “I couldn’t believe that you were dead, Rollie.  I just couldn’t.  You’re all I have.  If you were dead, there wouldn’t have been anything left.  My life would have been worth nothing.”

Rollie started to cry.  “Dad,” he said brokenly.

Dingo’s tears were now falling down his face.  “I took it for granted that you’d always be there, that, no matter what I did, no matter where I went, I’d have a son out there in the world.  I felt like it was something I could always count on.  When I read that article and got to the part where it said you were dead, I . . . I just couldn’t accept it.  It couldn’t be true.  Then, when Leo and Angie told me that you really were dead. . . .”

Dingo stopped, unable to continue for a moment.  “I knew that all the things Angie had said about me being a terrible father were true,” he finally said.  “I was so ashamed.”  His look of grief changed to earnestness.  “I meant what I promised, Rollie.  I swear I did.  But this is the only life I’ve ever known.  It’s the only thing I’m good at.  I can’t change overnight.”

Rollie knelt and rested his hand on Dingo’s shoulder.  “I know that, Dad.  I understand.”

“But I’m going to try the best that I can.  I really will.  I just. . . .”  Dingo’s gaze again went to the floor.  “I just might, um, need your help sometimes.”

Rollie gave his father a shaky smile.  “I’ll be here for you, Dad.  I promise.”  He then embraced him.  He felt his father hug him back tightly.

When Rollie drew back, he looked over at Angie.  Her gaze was focused on her hands.  “Ange?”

“I’m sorry,” Angie responded after several seconds, still not looking at either of them.  “I’m sorry I said what I did.  I was just so . . . so angry.  It wasn’t really even Dingo I was mad at.  I mean, I was mad at him.  It made me angry to think that you were dead, and Dingo was never around for you when you needed him.”  Angie finally lifted her eyes to Rollie’s.  “But the people I was really angry at were the ones I had thought killed you.  I hated them so much.  I wanted them dead.  But we didn’t know who they were.  They were still out there, free.  You were dead and the people who killed you were free.  I guess I, um, just opened fire on the wrong target.”

Dingo let out a brief laugh.  “Don’t ever get her really mad at you, Son,” he said, rubbing his cheek.  “I barely came out of it alive.  It’s a bloody good thing she didn’t have any heavy artillery.”

The remark made a fleeting smile pass over Angie’s face.

“Oh, don’t I know it, Dad,” Rollie responded with a grin.  “Even when she was a kid, small countries would have cowered in terror at Angie’s wrath.”

“Oh, ha ha, Rollie,” Angie said.

Rollie stood.  “So, are we all friends now?”

Angie and Dingo glanced at each other.  “Yeah,” they replied at the same time.

“Good.”

They all went back downstairs.  Daniel caught Rollie’s eye.  The Aussie gave him a smile and a nod of the head to let him know that everything had been settled.

The rest of the morning passed uneventfully.  Leo and Frank arrived at lunchtime, and they discussed the plan for capturing Joanne Carfield as they all ate.  Both Rollie and Daniel wanted to be there for the arrest, but agreed that it would be better if they weren’t.

“So, what was VanDuran’s reaction to finding out about this little side case of yours?” Angie asked Leo.

“About what you’d expect, though he was intrigued by the case.”

“Is he going to contact the St. Lewis P.D.?” Daniel asked.

“Not until after we’ve had a chance to interrogate her.”

“That’s good,” Rollie said.  “It will give us time to talk to a judge about suppressing Daniel’s and his parents’ names.”  He told Leo and Frank about his idea and that Cliff Cooper had some connections to judges that he was going to use.

At last, it was time for the detectives to go.  They headed over to Grand Central Station, meeting up with the other cops that were already there.  They spread out and headed toward Starbucks, blending in with the crowds that were always present at the station.  They took up their preassigned positions and waited.  They had all memorized what Joanne Carfield looked like, having gotten a copy of her driver’s license photo.

It was ten minutes to two o’clock when Leo spotted the woman.  “I’ve got the suspect in sight,” he said into the hidden microphone he was wearing.  “Suspect is wearing tan pants and a dark brown blouse.”

“Got her, Leo,” Frank said.  The other cops confirmed that they had her in sight.

“Okay, she’s reached the location.  Let’s move in,” Leo ordered.

All the cops converged upon the woman.  Leo was the one to get to her first.

“Joanne Carfield, a.k.a. Jacqueline Reese, you are under arrest for the abduction and black market sale of Matthew Tyler,” he announced.

Sheer panic spread across the woman’s features.  Her eyes darted about at the men surrounding her.  Leo turned her around and, with a sense of pleasure, put handcuffs on her.  He began reading the woman her rights.  She was taken down to the station and booked.  The entire time, she said nothing except what she had to.  The longest sentence she spoke was when she demanded to see a lawyer.

After personally seeing the woman placed in a holding cell, Leo called the loft.  “We got her,” he announced when the call was answered.

“Great,” Rollie responded.  “Has she said anything?”

“Not a word.  She refused to say anything without a lawyer present.”

“How long before the lawyer arrives?” Daniel asked.

“I guess they’ll be on their way soon.  I’ll give you a call after we’ve talked to Ms. Carfield and her lawyer.”

The next hour and a half dragged by.  To pass the time, everyone helped straighten up the loft, doing the dusting and cleaning that Angie hadn’t been doing much of during the three months Rollie was gone.  They were just finishing when Leo called again.

“She’s not budging,” he said.  “She’s claiming that she knows nothing about the abduction.”

“You’re kidding,” Daniel said.  “How can she make that claim?”

“She is insisting that her brother was in charge of the adoption agency and that she was not privy to all of his business dealings.”

“Well, what about the fact that she changed her name and fled to Italy?” Angie asked.

“This is the part that made me laugh.  Ms. Carfield says that she’d stolen some money from the business and was afraid that her brother would go after her to get it back.  Since the statute of limitations would have run out on such a crime, she knows that she could not be prosecuted for it.”

“Well, for a woman who was stupid enough to take her dogs with her when she ran from the law, she’s not acting stupid now,” Rollie said.  “Do we have any hard evidence against her?”

“Only the eyewitness testimony of Jessica Stein, who said that it was Ms. Carfield who told the lie about the baby being an orphan, and Martha Cambridge, who can place Joanne Carfield in her brother’s office when Don Patterson arrived that first time.  Then there’s also whatever Daniel’s parents can give us on Ms. Carfield’s part in the adoption.  But, if her lawyer’s really smart, she could make a case that Frederic Carfield lied to his sister about the baby and that she was as unaware of the real situation as the Coopers were.”

“So, we need more evidence against her,” Angie said.

“Or we need to force her into a confession,” Rollie murmured thoughtfully.

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

“Leo, how much did you tell her you knew about the case?”

“I just told her that we knew about Daniel’s abduction.  I wanted to save the fact that we knew about your attempted abduction, hit her with it later if we couldn’t get her to talk.”

Rollie smiled.  “Good.”  He proceeded to tell Leo what he had in mind.  Liking the plan, the cop agreed to set it up for tomorrow morning.

After the call ended, everyone got busy getting ready for the dinner.  They had all decided that the tiny kitchen area wouldn’t work out for preparing a meal that large, so Daniel, Angie and Mangela headed over to the chosen restaurant to pick up the food.  While they were gone, Rollie and Dingo pulled out Angie’s dining room table and chairs, which had been stored in the garage, and prepared the loft as best as they could for the guests who would be arriving soon.  Leo got there just before Daniel, Angie and Mangela returned with the food.

They were just getting the meal on the table when Bluey’s barking alerted them to the fact that someone else had arrived.  Rollie checked the monitor and saw that a black limo had pulled up out front.

“Well, that has got to be your mum and dad, Daniel, because I can’t quite picture Frank, Sarah and the kids arriving in one of those,” Rollie said.

Smiling, Daniel went out to greet his parents.  They were looking about curiously when they came in.

“This is . . . a very interesting place, Rollie,” Cliff said.

“I think it’s fascinating,” Bonnie remarked.  She looked at the memorabilia.  “Are all these things from movies that you have done?”

“Uh huh,” Rollie replied.  “This is also our workshop and studio, so most of the equipment you see is stuff we use on the job.”  He introduced Cliff and Bonnie to Mangela and Dingo.  Dingo seemed to warm up to Bonnie right away, but it took only a few seconds for Rollie to see that his dad didn’t care much for Daniel’s adoptive father.

Any further thoughts about that were put on hold when the door opened and the Gattis came in.

“Uncle Rollie!  Uncle Rollie!” cried a trio of little voices.  Natalie, Jessica and Bethany Gatti ran to the Aussie, who knelt to greet them.  Three pairs of arms were flung about him.

“There’s my girls!” he said happily, giving them all a big hug.

“Mommy and Daddy told us that you went to heaven,” the youngest, Bethany, said.  “I cried, and cried, and cried.  I didn’t want you to be in heaven because then we’d never see you again.”

Rollie blinked back his tears.  “I wouldn’t have wanted that either, baby.  I would have missed you all too much.”

“What happened to you, Uncle Rollie?” asked ten-year-old Natalie, who was the eldest.  “Daddy said that some people kidnapped you and were keeping you a prisoner.”

“That’s right.  But your Daddy, Uncle Leo and Aunt Angie rescued me.”  He smiled.  “I have someone very special I want you to meet.”  He looked over his shoulder.  “Daniel?”

His brother came forward.  When the three girls saw him, their eyes grew as round as saucers.

“He looks like you!” exclaimed eight-year-old Jessica in wonder.

“Uh huh.  That’s because he’s my twin brother.”

Daniel crouched beside Rollie.

“Daniel, this is Natalie, Jessica and Bethany,” Rollie introduced.

“Hi there,” the minister said with a big smile.  “It is a pleasure to meet you.”

“How come he doesn’t talk like you, Uncle Rollie?” Bethany asked.

“That’s because I grew up here in the U.S., not in Australia,” Daniel answered.

“But if you’re Uncle Rollie’s brother, why didn’t you grow up with him?” Jessica asked.

“Well, it’s a very long story,” Rollie replied.  “You see, when Daniel was a baby, some evil people stole him.”

“They stole him?” Natalie said.  “Why?”

“We’re not sure why.  After he was stolen, he was brought to the U.S., and he was adopted by some people who didn’t know he’d been stolen.”  Rollie pointed to Cliff and Bonnie.  “You see those people over there?  They’re the ones who adopted Daniel.  He grew up with them.  Daniel and I didn’t know about each other until a little while ago.”  He leaned closer and lowered his voice.  “This is all a really big secret.  Do you think you can keep it?”

Delighted at having been given a secret to keep, the three girls nodded eagerly.

“Are you going to live with each other now?” Bethany asked.

Rollie smiled.  “No, Daniel lives in Washington, way over on the other side of the country.  He’s just visiting now.”  He got to his feet.  “Why don’t you go say hi to Aunt Angie.  I want to see your mum.”

As the kids flocked over to Angie, Rollie went to Sarah, whose eyes were sparkling with tears.  She embraced him tightly.

“Oh, Rollie.  It’s so good to see you,” she said.  “When Frank told me that you were alive, I could hardly believe it.  We’ve missed you so much.”  She drew back and searched his eyes.  “Are you all right?  Frank told me about what you’d been through.”

“Yeah.  I’m okay, Sarah.”

Frank’s wife gave him a long kiss on the cheek.  “It is so wonderful to have you back.”

“It’s wonderful to be back.”

A couple of minutes later, everyone settled down to the business of eating.  The evening passed pleasantly, a silent agreement having been made that they would not talk about either of the cases.  To Rollie’s relief, Mangela steered clear of the topic of religion, not saying anything about the beliefs of the People.  The Aussie wasn’t sure how Cliff Cooper would have reacted to the discussion of “pagan” beliefs.  Instead, Mangela talked about his homeland, and both he and Rollie shared some of the stories of Rollie’s time with the Aborigines.  Cliff and Bonnie were surprised and fascinated by the life Rollie had led as a child.

Unfortunately, things were not so friendly between Cliff and Dingo.  Their personalities, opinions and lifestyles were so opposite that all they did was rub each other the wrong way.  In the end, they each chose to avoid the other, which was a good thing since Rollie really didn’t want the evening ruined by an open argument.

After dinner, Rollie took Cliff and Bonnie on a tour of the loft, explaining what all of the equipment did.  To finish off the tour, he led them into the VR chamber and played a film that made them feel as if they were standing in midair over Niagra Falls.

“You built this?” Bonnie asked in wonder.

“Yeah.  The prototype was created for a Texas theme park.  Afterwards, I decided to build one for myself.  I use it a lot when I get homesick.”

Cliff glanced at him.  “Homesick?”

In reply, Rollie pushed a few buttons on the control panel, and the scene changed to a vista of Australia.  Uluru rose, glowing red-gold and magnificent, in the distance.  “Home,” he said quietly.

“So beautiful,” Bonnie murmured.

“Indeed,” Cliff agreed.  Impressed, he turned to Rollie.  “You have an amazing talent, Rollie.  Which college did you attend?”

“I never went to college.  I was traveling with my father from the time I was eleven.  Virtually all of my education from then on was through home study courses.  I got my GED when I was sixteen.  I never had the opportunity to go to college.”

“So, you learned how to do all of this on your own?” Bonnie asked, amazed.

“Not completely.  Angie’s father, Manny Ramirez, taught me all he knew about FX.  He was my mentor.  It was from him that I inherited the business.”

They went back downstairs, where they found the Gatti children playing with Bluey.  Bonnie laughed at the sight of the electronic dog.

“How adorable!  Did you make it, too?”

“Uh huh.  That’s Blue.”  Rollie explained to the Coopers what the robot could do.

“You have a very impressive talent with electronics, Rollie,” Cliff said.  “Why do you choose to do special effects for movies?  You could become quite wealthy if you started your own electronics company.”

Rollie shook his head.  “I love what I do.  I’ve been in the movie business since I was seventeen and been doing F/X since I was eighteen.  It’s all I want to do.  It doesn’t matter that I’ll never get rich doing it.”

Cliff nodded.  “I understand.  Not many people are blessed with having the job they love to do most.”

A while later, it was time for Frank and Sarah to take the kids home.  Of course, the girls didn’t want to leave, but they weren’t quite as unhappy after Rollie promised to take them all to the park some Saturday in the near future.  He gave each of them a hug and received a hug and a kiss in return.  Sarah gave him another hug and made him promise to come to dinner soon.

“You have a wonderful way with children, Rollie,” Bonnie said after the Gattis were gone.  “You don’t have any of your own?”

“No.  Marriage and a family was never something I thought a lot about before.”  He glanced briefly at Angie.  “Things have kind of changed for me now, though,” he added, thinking about a future with Angie and a family of their own.  He liked the thought a lot.

Bonnie, who had not missed the look Rollie sent Angie’s way, smiled slightly.

The Coopers stayed for an hour longer, then decided that it was time for them to leave as well.

“Are you going to stay with us again tonight?” Bonnie asked her son.

Daniel was about to say that he’d like to when he caught a look of panic on Rollie’s face.  There was no way he could misunderstand the plea he saw there.  “Um, I’d like to, but it would be easier if I stayed here tonight.”  The relief on Rollie’s features told the minister that he’d made the right decision.

He walked his parents out to their limo and wished them good night, telling them that he’d call tomorrow.

Leo left a few minutes later.  The rest of them talked about the plans for the next day until both Dingo and Mangela decided to call it a night.

Angie yawned.  “I’m going to go to bed, too.”

“Yeah, me too in a few minutes,” Rollie said.  “G’night, Ange.”

“Good night.”

Rollie watched Angie go up the stairs.  As soon as the door had shut behind her, he turned to Daniel.  “Thanks.”

“You’re welcome.  So, you want to tell me why you looked like you were about to have a heart attack when Mom asked me if I was going to stay with them tonight?”

“Uh, well, it has to do with following doctor’s orders.”

“Huh?”

“My doctor at the hospital gave me strict orders not to do any strenuous activities for the next week.”

Daniel frowned, still puzzled.  “Yeah.  Okay.”

“No strenuous activities,” Rollie said, looking at his brother meaningfully.

Comprehension dawned on Daniel.  “Oh, I see.”  An amused smile curved his lips.

“Yeah.  Your presence in the loft is a big deterrent to disobeying that order.”

Daniel chuckled.  “So, what did you do last night?”

“It turned out to not be a problem.  Some things happened, and we ended up talking about . . . about what we both went through.  Afterwards, we slept together, but that’s all we did.”  Rollie smiled.  “It felt good sleeping with her in my arms, the best night’s sleep I’ve had in years.  I’m afraid that tonight would be a different story, though.”

“Ah.  Well, I’m glad I can be of service as your personal chaperone, Brother.”

Rollie laughed.  He stood up.  “I am pretty tired, so I’ll see you in the morning.”

The Aussie went upstairs.  That morning, they had moved Angie’s dresser and some of her clothes from the closet into her room, so she would no longer be coming into his bedroom to fetch things.

Rollie looked over at the closed door of the former storage room, seeing that the light was still on in there.  As he continued to watch, the light went out.  With a sigh, he went to his own room.  He got undressed and climbed into the bed, which seemed to feel colder than usual.  He was going to miss the sensation of Angie lying in his arms.  Only one night, and he was already addicted to it.

With another sigh, Rollie closed his eyes and tried to think of something else, anything else except the desirable woman that lay in the room down the hall, but nothing was working.  Finally, out of desperation, Rollie went into the Dreamtime, seeking there the peace of mind that he needed.  Slowly, sleep claimed him, and he dreamed. . . .

The sky was an endless canopy of stars, brilliant gemstones sparkling against black velvet.  Rollie gazed up at them, recognizing the constellations that he’d come to know as a child on pleasant summer nights outdoors with his mother.  His gaze descended from the sky, and he looked about.  He was on Kata Tjuta.  Was this a Dreaming or a simple dream?  Didn’t the fact he was asking that question mean that it was a Dreaming?

Rollie’s questions were left unanswered as he became aware that he was not alone.  He turned and saw Angie standing a few feet away.

“Rollie?  Is this the Dreamtime?” she asked.

“I don’t know.  I think so.”

“You didn’t bring us here?”

“No.  I mean, not consciously.”

Angie looked up at the stars.  “It’s beautiful.”

“Yeah.  Mum and I often laid out under the stars at night when the weather was warm.  She taught me all of the constellations.”

“That’s nice.” She walked up to him, gazing up into his eyes.  “Would you teach me the constellations?”

With a smile and a nod, the Aussie stretched out with Angie on the stone, which, strangely, did not feel at all hard.  One by one, he pointed to each constellation, giving Angie’s its name.  As he finished, he heard her give a contented sigh.  Rollie propped himself up on an elbow and looked down at her.  She was so beautiful.  Her eyes were a deep blue in the moonlight, her golden hair glinting with silver highlights.  Rollie reached out and stroked a finger across her cheek.

“You are so beautiful, Angie,” he murmured.  “I love you so much.”

Angie gazed into his eyes.  “Then love me, Rollie.  Make love to me.”

Click here for the PG-13 version or continue to read for the R-rated version

Desire catching fire inside him, Rollie lowered his lips to Angie’s in a kiss full of his love for her.  Long minutes passed as they learned in intimate detail the contours and depths of each other’s mouths, becoming giddy on the tastes and textures.  The kiss grew progressively deeper and hungrier as they at last let the passion they had kept in check go free.

Hands took up the impassioned search and became impatient to feel bare skin.  As Rollie’s mouth moved down the column of Angie’s neck, his fingers released the buttons of her blouse one by one.  Angie’s own hands had found their way under Rollie’s shirt and were stroking the smooth skin of his back.  The blouse finally unbuttoned, Rollie pushed the material aside.  His hands cupped her breasts through her bra.  A low moan rose from Angie.  Her back arched upward, seeking more of his touch.  The need to see Angie’s nakedness flared brightly in Rollie.  His fingers found the front catch and released it.  He pushed aside the cups, baring her to his hungry gaze.

Moaning her name, Rollie again cupped her breasts, fingers gliding over the pliant softness.  His thumbs found her nipples, eliciting a deep groan from Angie.  She rocked upward, pushing herself into his grasp.  Rollie’s head swooped down, his mouth going everywhere his hands had been.  His hunger rising out of control, Rollie’s mouth found a nipple, drawing it deep inside.  Angie cried out, holding his head to her.  Rollie slid fully on top of her, Angie’s legs bracketing his hips tightly.  They began bucking against each other, their arousal rising like a firestorm.

Rollie’s mouth switched to the other breast as his hand caressed the one his lips had abandoned.  Then both hands moved down to Angie’s pants.  Hurriedly, he unfastened them and pushed them off her hips.  At the same time, Angie was attempting to remove Rollie’s shirt.  Not wanting to abandon the removal of her pants, Rollie took a few seconds to realize what Angie wanted.  He then lifted his arms, and the shirt was immediately pulled off.

At last, their bare skin touched.  They groaned at the sensation.  Rollie pulled off both Angie's blouse and bra, and, between the two of them, they removed her shoes, socks and jeans.  Angie rolled over on top of Rollie.  Straddling his hips, she rose into a sitting position and gazed down at him, seeing his eyes slide over her body, darkening even more with desire.  Then she leaned over and crushed her mouth to his, taking full possession of it.  Rollie grabbed hold of her, holding her tightly against him.

After a long minute, Angie pulled away from Rollie’s lips and slid down his body, her mouth and hands seeking every inch of skin on his neck, shoulders and chest.  When her mouth found his nipples, Rollie bucked upward violently, his head thrown back at the sharp lance of pleasure.

When Angie’s hands suddenly descended to his jeans, it was almost too much for Rollie’s control.  The moment the zipper was undone, he grabbed her and pulled her upward until his mouth had found her breasts again.  Another cry rang out from Angie as she shuddered against him.

With Angie's help, Rollie removed her panties.  His hands slowly slid up the backs of Angie's thighs, fingertips stroking the delicate inner flesh. Angie groaned deeply as Rollie built the fires inside her still higher.

Rollie abruptly rolled them back over until he was above Angie.  Almost frantically he removed the remainder of his clothing.  He lifted himself up, and then he was there, resting in the cradle of Angie’s thighs, skin against skin.

Knowing that the moment had arrived, their movements stopped.  Their eyes met, all their thoughts, all their feelings passing from one to the other in that gaze.  Caught within Angie’s eyes, Rollie at last slid into her warm, welcoming depths.  Twin gasps escaped the lovers’ throats, their eyes closing in rapture.  For a timeless moment, they held still, content with just the feeling of being united.

“I love you,” they said, each voice echoing the other’s.  Then they began to move, bodies rocking and sliding against each other in the ancient rhythm of passion.  They held onto each other’s eyes, seeing their ecstasy mirrored there.

All at once, in the midst of their passion, they felt something change, something that had been two becoming one.  And with that merging, they each became aware of the other’s body as if it was their own.  Two cries rang out as the sensation overwhelmed their senses.

Drunk on the euphoria of the incredible feeling, Rollie and Angie clung to each other, their movements growing wild and frenzied.  Eyes closed, chests heaving, they soared upward on the crest of passion.  Then, in a bright conflagration of indescribable ecstasy, they found their climax.  They cried out together, heads thrown back, bodies arching, shuddering, at the feeling of ultimate rapture.

An endless moment later, the fires dimmed.  Trembling, breathing deeply, the lovers looked at each other.  Their eyes filled with tears of joy and wonder.  They kissed their tears away, hands gently caressing passion-heated skin.  Rollie lay his head within the hollow of Angie’s neck and drew in a long, shuddery breath.  Angie held him close to her, not wanting to be separated from him.  They lay like that for a long time, feeling truly whole for the first time in their lives.

Finally, Rollie lifted his head and met Angie’s gaze.  He tightened his hold on her and rolled to his side.  His hands cradled her face as he kissed her lips, eyes and forehead.

“I want to stay like this forever, Rollie,” Angie murmured.

“Me too.  For the rest of my life.”

With a happy sigh, Angie snuggled her face against Rollie’s neck and closed her eyes.  Holding her close to his heart, Rollie closed his eyes as well and joined her in the warm, safe darkness of sleep. . . .

Rollie’s eyes snapped open to find himself back in his bedroom, alone.  Stunned, he lay still for a minute, an amazing feeling of completion and fulfillment thrumming through his body and soul.  Was it real?  Had that really happened?  Desperately needing to know, he threw off the covers and got out of bed.  A wave of weakness struck him, and he grabbed onto the night stand until his legs stopped shaking.  Then he straightened and left the bedroom.  He looked down the short hall and saw Angie’s door come open.  Their eyes met in the darkness.  Slowly, they approached each other.

“Did it really happen, Rollie?  Was it real?” Angie asked, echoing his earlier questions to himself.

Rollie touched her cheek with trembling fingers.  “Yes.  It was real, Angie.  It was real.”  He scooped her up into his arms, lifting her off the floor. Angie’s legs wrapped around his waist.  They buried their faces in each other’s necks, tears sliding down their cheeks.  It was a long time before they lifted their heads to meet each other’s eyes again.

“How?” Angie whispered.

“I don’t know, and, right now, I don’t care.  All that matters is that it happened.”  Rollie stroked her cheek.  “I have never felt anything like that before, not even close.”

“Me neither.  I want it to happen again.”

“So do I.  I want to make love to you all night long, and not just in the Dreamtime.”  Rollie brushed a thumb across her lips.  “But not tonight.  Soon.”

Angie sighed.  “Soon.”

Rollie lowered her feet to the floor.  He went with her to her room.  Lovingly, he tucked her into bed.

“Stay with me, Rol,” she pleaded.

“Oh, I want to, Ange, so much.  But, if I did, we both know what would happen.”  He placed a long, lingering kiss on her lips.  “Sleep, Angel,” he whispered.  He stroked her forehead gently, willing her to relax.  A small, happy smile curved Angie’s lips.  A little sigh rose out of her as she slipped into sleep.

Placing a kiss on her brow, Rollie quietly left the room and returned to his bedroom.  For several minutes he lay staring into the darkness, thinking about what had just happened.  Then, with a smile of his own, he closed his eyes and drifted away into dreamless sleep.

CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT

When Rollie woke up the next morning, he wondered, for a moment, if what happened between him and Angie had all been just a dream, but something deep inside him told him that it hadn’t been.  They had made love in the Dreamtime, and it had been as real and profound as if their physical bodies had come together.  The Aussie smiled, wondering if this would qualify as disobeying doctor’s orders.

The smile still on his face, Rollie got up.  He’d just reached the bathroom when he saw Angie come out of her room.  Their gazes met.  They stood, unmoving, for several seconds, then they simultaneously headed toward each other.  A moment later, they were locked in each other’s arms, kissing as if they were starving for each other.  Angie moaned into his mouth, and held his body tightly against hers.

With an almost pained groan, Rollie at last separated himself from Angie’s lips.  He stared at her heatedly.  Angie’s eyes were smoky with desire.

“It really happened, didn’t it,” she breathed.

“Yes, it really happened.”

A sensual smiled curved Angie’s lips, and she clutched Rollie’s hips more tightly, which made the Aussie moan.  “So, does this mean that you disobeyed orders?”

Rollie laughed.  “I was wondering that myself, and I really don’t know how to answer.  However, right now, I am about ten seconds away from making that a moot point, so, much as I hate to say it, I guess we’d better do something to nip this in the bud.”

With a sigh, they pulled apart.  Angie’s gazed moved over Rollie’s body with a slight smile.

“You take your shower first.  I don’t think I’ll have to worry about you using up the hot water this morning,” she said, her smile growing wicked.

Rollie chuckled.  “I’d have to agree with you on that, Angela.”  He went into the bathroom and shut the door.  Angie stood at the door and listened to the shower start.  A moment later, she heard the Aussie let out a sharp gasp and mutter something about icicles hanging from certain body parts.  Clamping down on her laughter, Angie went back into her room.  She stretched across the bed and thought about what had happened the night before.  It had been the single most amazing experience of her life.  Though she knew it hadn’t happened physically, in the physical universe, it had felt so real in every way that it was as if it had.  But she had to wonder.  If the coming together of their bodies in the Dreamtime was that intense, what would it be like in reality?  Would they feel that same merging of body and soul, as if they were no longer two people?  She had actually felt what Rollie felt, experienced their lovemaking from his perspective as well as her own.  Just the thought of it made her shudder with pleasure.  She wanted to feel that again with him.

Angie continued to lie on the bed until she heard Rollie leave the bathroom, then she grabbed her clothes and went to take her turn.

Rollie got dressed and went downstairs.  He found Daniel sitting in the lounge, drinking coffee.

“Good morning,” the minister said.

“Good morning,” Rollie greeted in return.  He poured himself a cup of the freshly made brew.  When he turned around, he noticed that Daniel was watching him closely.  Ignoring the gaze, he settled onto the couch.  He closed his eyes and rested his head on the backrest, unaware that a tiny smile had come to his face.

“Rollie?” Daniel inquired after a couple of minutes of silence.

“Hmm?”  When his brother didn’t say anything after a few seconds, Rollie opened his eyes and looked at him.  Daniel was gazing at him, his face showing both curiosity and puzzlement.  “What’s wrong?”

“Um, I don’t want to pry into your private business, but . . . did something happen last night?”

A startled look crossed Rollie’s face.  “How did you know?”

“I’m not sure.  There’s just something . . . different about you.  I can’t really tell you exactly what it is.  Do you want to tell me about it?  I’ll understand if you don’t.”

Rollie thought about it for a moment, then decided that he wanted to talk to someone about what happened.  “I couldn’t sleep last night.”  He smiled faintly.  “You can probably guess why.”

Daniel chuckled.  “Yes, I think I can figure that out.”

“I went into the Dreamtime to relax.  It finally worked, and I fell asleep, or at least I thought I did.  All at once, I was on Kata Tjuta.  It was nighttime, and the stars were everywhere.  Then Angie was there.  She thought that I had brought her there, but, if I did, it was subconsciously.”  Rollie fell silent for a moment.  “We made love, Daniel, there in the Dreamtime.  It was. . . .”  He shook his head.  “I can’t describe it.  It was the most incredible thing I’ve ever felt.  I’ve been with other women, but absolutely nothing could compare to those moments with Angie.”  He looked into Daniel’s eyes.  “When we were together, I not only felt what my own body experienced, but also what Angie experienced.”

Daniel’s eyes widened.  “Wow.”

“Yeah.  Wow.”  Rollie laughed.  “If you weren’t a minister, I’d probably say that it was close to a religious experience.”

Daniel chuckled.  Then he grew serious.  “Do you know why it happened?  How?”

“No.  Mangela never told me about anything like this, though, considering that I was just a kid when I left the People, I guess that’s understandable.  I only know that it’s never happened before, not with any other woman.  But then, I’ve never made love to someone in the Dreamtime before.  I don’t really know for sure that it would happen if Angie and I made love for real.  I have a feeling, though, that it would.  I. . . .”  Rollie stopped suddenly.  “Angie’s coming.”

Daniel’s eyebrows rose.  “How do you know that?”

Rollie’s face showed surprise again.  “I don’t know.  I just do.”

Sure enough, the door to the living quarters opened, and Angie started down the stairs.  Not wanting to stare at her, Rollie turned his attention back to his coffee.  Daniel did the same.

“Good morning, Angie,” Daniel greeted as she came into the lounge.

“Morning.”  She poured herself a cup of coffee and settled beside Rollie.

The minister stood.  “Well, if you’re done with your showers, I’m going to take mine.  I hope you guys left me some hot water.”

Angie grinned mischievously.  “Well, only one of us used hot water, Daniel.”  Her remark was rewarded with a jab in the ribs from Rollie.

Laughing, Daniel pulled some things out of his suitcase and went up to the bathroom.  A minute or so later, Mangela came in.  He came to a sudden stop a few feet from the lounge and just stared at them.

“There is a difference in your songlines,” he announced.

Rollie flushed.  “Oh.  You feel it, too, huh.”

Angie looked at Rollie.  “Feel what, too?”

“Daniel guessed that something happened last night.”

It was Angie’s turn to blush.  “He did?”

“Yeah.”

“The link between your songlines is much stronger now,” Mangela told them.  “It was very strong before, especially after Rollie managed to contact you when he was a captive, but it is even more so now.  What happened?”

Rollie looked at Angie, silently asking permission to tell the Aborigine about what took place.  She nodded.  He briefly recounted the events, Angie confirming that she, too, had experienced their lovemaking from both perspectives.

“So, can you explain it, Mangela?” Rollie asked.

“I have never heard of such a thing before.  It is not something that others have spoken of.  But it may be something like what has happened between you and your brother.  Daniel was able to feel your suffering through his link to your songline.  It could be that, in that same way, you were each able to feel what the other experienced.”

“Then it’s possible that it will be the same when we, um . . . when it happens in the physical world?” Rollie asked.

Mangela nodded.  “It is possible.”

“Whoa, wait a minute,” Angie said.  “Rollie, please don’t tell me that Daniel felt what you were experiencing last night and that, every time we make love, he’s going to get a psychic front row seat.”

Rollie grinned.  “What’s wrong, Ange?  Are you shy?”  He waggled his eyebrows.

Angie smacked him in the arm.

The Aussie chuckled.  “Well, relax, Love.  Daniel didn’t know what happened last night.  He could just sense that something was different in my songline.”

Mangela nodded.  “Yes, he would be able to sense the difference.”

Any further discussion on the topic was put on hold as Dingo came in.

They all ate breakfast, then Rollie called Leo to find out if what they’d discussed yesterday had been arranged.

“We’re a go,” the cop replied.  “Joanne Carfield’s lawyer will be arriving at ten o’clock.”

“Good.  We’ll get there a few minutes beforehand.  See you then.”

Since they still wanted as few people to know about Daniel as possible, Rollie and Angie got busy changing the minister’s appearance.  With a little latex on his nose and cheeks, they altered his face enough that he no longer looked all that much like Rollie.  By the time they were finished, it was time to go.  Grabbing his makeup kit, Rollie headed out to the truck with Daniel and Dingo, the latter having insisted on going with them.

When they arrived at the station, they headed straight for the interrogation room.  Leo and Frank were there waiting for them.  Leo took them into the observation room, where Rollie removed Daniel’s makeup.  He was just finishing when Joanne Carfield and another woman were ushered into the interrogation room.

Rollie, Daniel and Dingo stared at the woman who had been partially responsible for Daniel’s abduction.  In her mid-sixties, Joanne Carfield had changed quite a bit from the pretty young woman she had been back when Daniel was stolen.  Tall and a bit on the heavy side, she looked as if she did not have a good night in jail.

Rollie’s gaze went to the other woman.  “Is that her lawyer?”

“Yeah.  Beatrice Lang,” Leo replied.

“Okay, let’s do it.”

Leo nodded and went into the interrogation room.

“Why have you dragged my client back in here, Detective McCarthy?” the attorney asked.  “She’s already told you that she has nothing further to say about this case.”

“Well, as it turns out, we’ve managed to find out quite a bit of information without Ms. Carfield’s help.”  Leo leaned forward, staring straight at Joanne Carfield.  “We know that Don Patterson went back to Australia and tried to grab Matthew’s twin brother.”

Leo watched the woman’s face pale.  She then visibly composed herself.  “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she said defiantly.

Straightening, Leo glanced in the two-way mirror.  Knowing that it was time for them to go in, Rollie looked at Dingo.  “Stay here.”  He and Daniel then left the observation room and were let into the interrogation room by Frank.  Upon seeing the brothers, Joanne’s face went white.

“Oh my God.  You’re the twins.”

“Yes, we are,” Daniel confirmed in a hard voice.  “I’m the man you stole away from my family and sold to someone else.”

The woman’s eyes went to Rollie.  “T-then you’re the one we didn’t get?”

“That’s right.  I’m the one you failed to get, though not for lack of trying,” Rollie said, his voice full of anger over what this woman and her brother had done to his family.  He stepped forward threateningly, seeing Joanne recoil away from him like one would from a deadly snake.  “Why, Ms. Carfield?  Why did you do it?  Did some rich client want identical twins?  Is that the reason why you ripped my family apart, almost destroying my mother with grief and denying me and my brother the joy of having each other in our lives?”

“Detective McCarthy, I have to protest!” Beatrice Lang said.  “You have no business allowing these men to harass my client.  She--”

“Shut up,” Rollie snarled, glaring at her.  The lawyer drew back.  Ignoring her reaction, he continued.  “You have no idea what it was like for my parents.  They watched our house burn down, thinking that their baby son was inside.  Can you even conceive of the pain they went through, how my mother blamed herself every day for the rest of her life because she’d failed to save her child?  Let me ask you something.  Do you have children?”

“Y-yes.”

“Then put yourself in my mother’s shoes.  How would you have felt, Mrs. Lang?  How would you feel now if you found out that your son wasn’t dead after all, that he’d been stolen instead and sold for profit to another family, that all the pain and suffering, all the years you’d been without your son was someone else’s fault?”  He leaned over the table.  “How would you feel?”

“I-I-I. . . .” the woman stammered.  She swallowed.  “I-I’d be angry.”

“Angry.”  Rollie pulled back.  “Angry doesn’t even come close.”  He fixed his glare on Joanne, who seemed to shrink in on herself.  “My parents went through hell because of you and your brother.  I was too young to remember what happened, but I remember as a child seeing my mother sometimes looking at me with pain in her eyes.  I didn’t know the reason why then, but I do now.  She was looking at me and thinking of her other son, of the brother I’d never get to know.  And I wouldn’t have if it hadn’t been for a freak set of circumstances that brought us together.”  He slammed his hand down on the table, making the two women jump.  “And, now, I want to know the truth!”

Shaking, Joanne Carfield whispered, “It’s true.”  Her voice firmed slightly.  “We did take your brother.  We wanted both of you, but Patterson screwed up.  He thought that both babies were in the house.  By the time he realized that you were with your mother, it was too late to stop the fire.  He came back with your brother anyway.  But we didn’t want just him.  He was useless to us without you.”

“Why did you let the Coopers adopt me?” Daniel asked.

“Frederic said to get rid of you.  He told me to place you with a family that had no important connections, somebody who couldn’t cause problems later on in case circumstances changed.  He figured that would be safest.  I suggested the Coopers.  The man was just a congregational minister, a nobody.”

Daniel snorted.  “Boy, did you screw up.”

“What do you mean?”

“Never mind,” Daniel replied, realizing that the woman didn’t know who that “nobody” congregational minister had become.

“So, you’d already given D-- Matthew Tyler to the Coopers.  Why did you send Patterson back for the other twin?” Leo asked.

“We didn’t.  Patterson did that on his own.  The idiot thought that he could fix things if he went and got the other baby.  But, instead of fixing things, he made it ten times worse.  He was spotted trying to take the baby.  We knew that, if the authorities identified him, it would only be a matter of time before they figured out what was going on.”

“So, you closed up shop and ran,” Rollie said, his suspicions confirmed.

“Yes.”

“Where’s your brother, Ms. Carfield?” Leo asked.

“I don’t know.  I really don’t.  We parted ways right after this whole fiasco.  I haven’t seen or heard from him in thirty-four years.”

“If you’re lying, I’ll make sure that the entire brunt of the charges falls on you, Ms. Carfield,” Leo warned.  “We’re talking abduction, attempted abduction, arson, and the black market sale of a baby.  On top of that, I’m going to dig into that so called ‘legal’ adoption agency of yours, and you can bet that I’ll find out it wasn’t so legal after all.  You’ll be in prison for the rest of your life.”

“I swear I don’t know!  If I did, I’d tell you.  That whole damn thing was Frederic’s idea, not mine.  I was happy just running the adoption service.”

“What about Don Patterson?” Rollie asked.

“I don’t know where he is either.  Frederic was enraged at the man’s actions.  I never saw him again after the day he came back from Australia the second time and told us what happened.”

“How many people were involved in the abduction?” Leo asked.

“Patterson and Doctor Brier were the only employees involved.  Patterson’s girlfriend was also in on it.  She went with him to Australia so that it would look less suspicion bringing the babies back on the plane.”

Leo pulled out his notepad.  “What was this woman’s name?”

“I don’t remember.  Lisa something.”

“What about the good doctor?  I suppose you don’t know where he is either,” Rollie said.

“No.  I haven’t seen him since I left the country.”

“Do you have any idea at all where your brother might have gone?”

“No.  As far as I know, he fled the country, just like I did.”

“Were there any other babies that you stole?” Daniel asked.  “Any other families that you tore apart?”

Joanne shook her head.  “No.  You were the only one.  You and your brother were a special case.”

Rollie pounced on that statement.  “Why?  What was so important about getting us that you went to all the trouble and risk of kidnapping us from another country?”

The woman did not answer.  She just stared at them fearfully.

“Answer the question,” Leo commanded.

Joanne Carfield shook her head, the fear in her eyes growing.  “I can’t!  I can’t tell you.”

“Why not?” Daniel asked.

“Because Frederic would kill me if he knew!  He’d kill me!”

Joanne Carfield broke down and started weeping.  Rollie, Daniel and Leo all looked at each other.

“All right, that’s enough,” Beatrice Lang said.  “My client is not saying anything more.”

Leo nodded.  “All right.  If she agrees to tell us anything else, contact me immediately.”

“Wait,” Daniel said.  “I have one more question, something that I’ve been wondering about.”  He looked at Ms. Carfield, whose crying had quieted.  “Why did you use my real birth date for the adoption?  I’d have thought that it would have been smarter to use a fake birth date.”

The woman sniffled and wiped at her eyes.  “We didn’t know what your real birth date was.  We only knew that you were eight weeks old when we got you.  That put your date of birth in late July.  We just picked a date out of a hat.  It wasn’t until later that we found out we’d, quite coincidentally, chosen the date you were actually born.  By the time we found out, it was too late to change it.  We really didn’t think it was going to be a problem anyway.  I mean, the odds of you two getting together by chance were astronomical.”

“God works in mysterious ways, Ms. Carfield,” Daniel told her quietly.  “And there is no doubt in my mind that us getting together was not by chance.”

Leaving the woman to think about that, Daniel, Rollie and Leo returned to the observation room.

“What is going on here, Leo?” Rollie said.  “She was scared to death when we pushed her on the reason for the abduction.”

“I don’t know, but it’s got to be something big,” the cop replied.

“Do you think she was right?  Would her brother actually kill her if she talked?” Daniel asked.

“That is a good question.”  Rollie turned to Dingo.  “Dad, is there anything else you can think of that would shed some light on this?  Did anyone ever ask about us, show extra interest?”

“No, not that I know of.”  His eyes fell momentarily in shame.  “I, um, wasn’t around a whole lot that month.  But Cini didn’t say anything about someone showing special interest in you.”

“So, we don’t know for sure if someone did,” Rollie concluded.

“What happens now?” Dingo asked.

“Well, for now, we’re stuck,” Leo admitted.  “If Frederic Carfield did leave the country and is still gone, we may never find him.”

Rollie hands clutched into fists.  “I want him, Leo.  I want him to pay for what he did to my family.”

The cop laid a hand on his shoulder.  “I know, pal.  I want him, too.  I’m not ready to give up yet.”

Rollie reapplied Daniel’s disguise, and they all went back to the loft.  They told the others what they had found out.

“Rollie, do you think it would do any good for you to take a peek into Joanne Carfield’s past?” Angie asked.

“You mean to see if I could find out the reason for the abduction?”

“Yeah.”

“I don’t know.  I suppose it would be worth a try, though to find something that specific could take quite a while.”

“I can try to get hold of one of her personal effects,” Leo said, “though I probably couldn’t do it until tomorrow.  Jerry isn’t working there today, and he’s one of the only guys who will look the other way if I borrow something without a release form.”

“All right, then we’ll just have to wait until tomorrow.”

“So, what do we do now?” Dingo asked.

“As far as the cases are concerned, nothing right now,” Rollie replied.  His expression changed.  “But there is something that I need to do,” he added quietly.

Rollie squatted before the gravestone, staring at the name engraved there, his name.  It gave him an odd feeling to be looking at his own grave, especially knowing that it wasn’t empty.

Pushing aside those thoughts, Rollie looked below his name and the dates of his birth and “death” to the inscription.  Eyes filling with tears, he read the words inscribed there.  He looked up at Angie and saw that there were also tears in her eyes.

“I came here every day,” she murmured.  “I sometimes spent hours just sitting there, crying.  I’d talk to you, tell you how much I missed you, how much I loved you.”  She knelt and touched the ground beside Rollie’s grave.  “I bought this plot.  I wanted to be next to you.  I . . . I even had a gravestone carved for me.  It says, ‘Her songline is with his now.’”

Rollie was instantly at her side, holding her tightly.  “I’m sorry, Angie.  I’m so sorry you had to go through that.”

Angie gazed up at him.  “Losing you was the worse thing that ever happened to me.”  She touched his cheek.  “Getting you back was the best.”

Rollie caressed her cheek.  “When I was being held in that facility, there were times when I thought that I wouldn’t make it out of there alive, and I was so scared.  But it wasn’t the thought of dying that scared me.  It was the knowledge that I’d never see you again and that you’d be all alone.  I wanted to see you so badly, to touch you and hold you, tell you how much I loved you.  I haven’t prayed in a long, long time, not since Mum died, but when I was in that place, I prayed to God that he’d let me live long enough to be with you one more time.  I prayed that every day.”

He pulled her closer to him, tucking her head under his chin.  “When I . . . died, I felt my . . . my soul leave my body.  There was this beautiful, swirling light before me.  I knew that I could walk into the light, and all the pain and suffering would be gone.  I’d be free.  But all I could think about was you, that I’d be leaving you alone and that I’d never get to be with you like I wanted to be.  I knew then that, even if I had to suffer though more months of anguish, the worse kind of torture, it would all be worth it if, in the end, I was with you.  And, so, I turned away from the light.”

Angie was now crying in his arms.  Rollie tilted her face up to his.  “Angie, I want you to make me a promise.  If anything ever happens to me, I need you to promise that you won’t . . . that you’ll keep on living, that you’ll go on without me.”

Angie looked into Rollie’s eyes.  “I can’t, Rollie.  I can’t promise that.”

“Angie, please.”

“Rollie, I found out what it was like to live without you.  I know what that feels like.  It was absolute, unending agony.  Every day, I wished that I could go to sleep and never wake up again.  If I lost you for real, I don’t know if I could go on.  There would be nothing left for me to live for.”

“That’s not true, Ange.  There are people who love you, who wouldn’t want you to die.  You could find happiness again.  Someday, you could even find someone else to love.”

Angie looked intently into his eyes.  “Rollie, I would never find anyone else to love.  No one could ever make me feel like you do.  It wouldn’t be possible.”

Looking at Rollie, Angie made a sudden decision to tell him something she had planned on keeping secret.  She just hoped that she could make him understand.  “When I first met Daniel and found out that he was your brother, I began to think that, maybe, I could carry on without you.  It made me feel better to know that there was someone in the world who was so much like you.  It almost made it seem as if you were still alive in a way.  For a while, I was feeling better.  I was able to laugh again, and my appetite returned.  I could sometimes sleep without having a nightmare about your death.  I came to care a lot about Daniel those first few days.  He helped me so much, more than he’ll ever know.  For a while, I considered moving to Hope Island so that I could be close to him.”  She sighed.  “But then, things started getting bad again.  I would look at Daniel, and I kept wishing he was you.  I wanted him to be you so badly.  As the days progressed, I could feel myself starting to spiral back down into that dark pit I’d been in before I met Daniel.”  Her gaze descended to Rollie’s chest.  “There’s something else.”

“What?”

Angie’s fingers toyed with one of the buttons of Rollie’s shirt.  “I began to . . . to feel things for Daniel, things I shouldn’t have.”  She felt Rollie stiffen slightly but didn’t have the courage to look him in the eye.  “I thought that . . . that I was falling in love with him, and that made things all the worse because I knew that I could never have him either.”  Finally, she looked up at Rollie.  There was pain in his eyes.  “But I was wrong, Rol,” she said fervently.  “What I felt wasn’t love for Daniel, it was love for you.  I was falling in love with you all over again, seeing you in Daniel.  I’m certain now that it had to do with the fact that your songline was influencing both of us.  It was affecting my feelings toward him, making me think something that wasn’t true.  The second I realized that you were alive, everything I had felt toward Daniel that was more than friendship disappeared.  It was never real, Rollie.  Yes, he is a wonderful guy, and Alex is very lucky to have him, but he isn’t you, and he could never have meant as much to me as you do.  I now know that, if I really lost you, even if Daniel didn’t have Alex, he would never be able to fill the emptiness that would be left by you.  No one could, not ever.”

Angie fell silent, staring at Rollie’s shirt again, waiting nervously for his reply and hoping that she hadn’t just made a terrible mistake.

“You hadn’t planned on telling me this, had you,” the Aussie finally said.

“No.”

“Why did you?”

“Because I decided that I didn’t want this secret to be between us, and because I wanted you to understand how I feel.”

There was another brief silence.  “Thank you.”

Angie looked up at him.  “For what?”

“For trusting me enough to tell me.  That means a lot to me.”  Rollie cupped her face.  “I love you, Ange.  I would die for you.  I would kill for you.”

Angie’s breath caught when Rollie spoke the final sentence, realizing the significance of those words coming from someone like him, someone who would never fully recover from deliberately taking a human life.

This time, it was Rollie’s gaze that fell.  “Ange, I, um, I want to apologize about yesterday, about how I reacted to the argument between you and Dad.”  He smiled sheepishly as he returned his eyes to hers.  “I got kind of angry.”

Angie smiled.  “Yeah, I noticed.”

Rollie’s smile faded.  “I’m sorry I got so mad, and I’m sorry I threatened to find out for myself what happened between you and Dad.”  Rollie’s gaze dropped back down to Angie’s collar.  “I’m sorry if I hurt your feelings by doing that.”

“Rol.”  Angie waited until the Aussie looked at her.  “I was surprised when you said that.  I guess I didn’t think you would actually do something like that.”  Rollie opened his mouth to apologize again, but she stopped him by placing her fingers over his lips.  “But I know that I pushed you into it by being stubborn.”

Rollie shook his head.  “That’s no excuse.  It was a mistake.  I shouldn’t have said what I did.”

“And I shouldn’t have said what I did.  We both let our tempers get the best of us.”

Rollie stared straight into her eyes.  “I swear that I will never do that to you, Ange.  Ever,” he said earnestly.

“What?  Get mad at me?”  Angie’s lips curved upward.  “You might have quite a handy talent now for making other people do what you want them to, but, unless you plan on getting a lobotomy, I think you’re stuck with your temper.”

To Angie’s surprise, Rollie abruptly stood up and walked away a few feet.  She got to her feet and went to him.  He kept his face turned away from her.

“What is it?  What did I say?” Angie asked.  When Rollie didn’t answer, she took hold of his arm.  “Rollie, please don’t shut me out.”

After another moment of silence, Rollie finally spoke.  “I meant that I will never use my abilities against you, that I will never use them to make you do something you don’t want to.  I will never . . . hurt you like that.”

Angie stared at Rollie for several seconds.  “Rollie, do you actually think that I believe you would ever hurt me intentionally?”  When Rollie again did not answer, she forced him to face her.  “Answer me.”

Rollie stared fixedly at some point over her right shoulder.  “I don’t know,” he whispered.

Angie’s mouth dropped open in disbelief.  Then her expression hardened.  “Well, let me straighten you out, then.  I know that you would never hurt me on purpose.  I know that you would probably cut your own hands off before you’d hurt me.”

“It’s not my hands that I worry about,” Rollie admitted tightly, still not looking at her.

All at once, it became clear to Angie what was bothering him.  “Rollie, please look at me.”  She waited until he finally met her eyes.  “I admit that it would have upset me if you actually witnessed what went on between me and Dingo, but that’s because I’m ashamed of what I said to him and for hitting him, not because you threatened to look into the past to see it.  I know why you made that threat and why you would have done it if I’d pushed you into it.  It hurt you to see us arguing, and you wanted to fix it.  And, for that I’m sorry.  I shouldn’t have jumped to the conclusion that Dingo made a bet on that race.  I started the argument, then I refused to apologize until you made me admit that I made a mistake.  I guess I’m still really touchy about that subject.  It’s like I said before.  When I thought you were dead, it made me so mad to think about how lousy a father Dingo had been to you and that you’d died not having the kind of father you deserved.”  Angie bit her lip.  “I, um . . . I even told Dingo that it made me sick to think that he was alive instead of you.  And it really was wrong of me to say that.  I know he’s sorry for everything, and I promise that I’ll try to give him the benefit of the doubt from now on.”

Angie searched Rollie’s face closely.  “Rol, are you ashamed of using your abilities?”  Something in his eyes told her that she’d hit close to the mark.  “Well, you shouldn’t be.  We wouldn’t have been able to get Kessler to talk if it hadn’t been for what you did.  It may be your abilities that enable us to find Frederic Carfield and Arthur Cromwell.  I owe my life to those abilities of yours.  It’s like any other talent, Rollie.  If it can be used to accomplish good things, then there’s nothing wrong in using it.”

“Even if I hurt people in the process?” Rollie asked.  He turned away from her again, wrapping his arms around himself.  “Ashamed isn’t the right word, Angie, though I am still ashamed of that threat I made to you.”

“Then what is the right word?”

“I’m . . . I’m afraid,” Rollie admitted in a low voice.

“Afraid?”

“I’m afraid of what I might do, of what I’m capable of doing.  If I wanted to, I could kill someone.  It wouldn’t be all that hard to do.”

Angie thought about that for a minute.  “Rollie, any of us have the physical capacity to kill.  All it takes is having a weapon we can use.  There have been several times in the past when you could have chosen to kill someone or at least seriously hurt them.  But you didn’t, because you didn’t have to and because you’re a good person.  Why do you think it’s any different now that you have other ways in which you could hurt or kill somebody?”  Angie wrapped an arm around the Aussie’s waist.  “I’m not afraid.  I know you too well.  I have faith in you, and I know that, in the end, you will always do what’s right.”

Rollie sighed.  “I hope you’re right.”

“I am.”  Angie looked around at the rows of gravestones.  “Come on, Rol.  Let’s get out of here.  We don’t belong in this place.”

The couple returned to the truck, where Leo was waiting for them.  The cop looked at their faces, seeing that they had both been crying.  Choosing to say nothing, he got in the truck with them, and they all went back to the loft.

“Are you okay?” Daniel asked his brother when they got back.

“Yeah, I’m all right.  It was strange, though, looking at my own grave.  Spooky.”

“Yes, I can imagine it was.”

Leo’s cell phone rang, and he answered it.  As he listened to the person on the other end, a look of shock passed across his face.  “What happened?” he asked the person he was talking to.  He listened in silence for a long moment.  “All right.  Thanks, Frank.”  He hung up the phone and turned to the others.  “That was Francis.  Joanne Carfield is dead.”

“What?!” Angie exclaimed.  “What happened?”

“The preliminary examination indicates that she had a heart attack.  Witnesses said that she clutched at her chest and keeled over.”

A sudden bad feeling assailed Rollie.  “It wasn’t a heart attack, Leo, at least not one that came on naturally.”

The detective looked at him sharply.  “You think she was poisoned?”

“Yeah.  I think that her fears about her brother became a reality.”

“You think that Frederic Carfield had her killed?” Daniel asked, horrified.

“It wouldn’t be the first time something like that happened,” Leo said.  He looked at his best friend.  “How certain are you of this, Rollie?”

“Not one hundred percent, but my gut feeling is that she was murdered.”

Leo nodded.  “I think I agree with you.”

“If she was, the autopsy should find something,” Daniel said.

“Not necessarily,” Angie responded.  “There are drugs that are completely undetectable after death.”

“There is one way to know for sure,” Rollie murmured.

“What’s that?” Leo asked.

“If I had a piece of the clothing she was wearing when she died, I’d know.”

His statement was met with silence.  Leo was the first to break it.  “I’d have to try to get it from the coroner, but they’d want to know why.  And any clothing that I did get could not be examined for trace evidence afterward, so it would be useless as evidence if it did turn out that she was murdered.”

“Then you need to get something that won’t matter,” Rollie said.  “Maybe her shoes.  Since she was in lock-up, it’s unlikely that her shoes would have any trace evidence on them that could identify her killer.”

“All I can do is try.  I’d better go down there now.  I want to try to talk them into running a full tox screen, see if we can nail down the poison that was used.”

“All right.  While you do that, Angie and I are going to do some searching on the Internet.  If Frederic Carfield knew that his sister was in custody and sent somebody to kill her, it means that there is a very good chance he’s back in the States.  We’ve got his picture.  Though it’s an old one, Angie can use it to generate a composite of what Carfield should look like now.  With that, we might just get lucky if we dig in the right places.”

Leo nodded.  “Good idea.  Send me a copy of the photo, and we’ll run it through our database.”

“Um, it would be better if we did that, Leo.  We still want to keep this as quiet as we can for as long as we can.”

Leo chuckled.  “I still sometimes forget that Angie can get in anywhere we can down at the station, plus a few other places.  Okay, I’ll leave the search up to you.  But don’t go anywhere.  I want you and Daniel to stay in the loft.  If Frederic Carfield did have his sister killed, he might go after you two next to clean up loose ends.”

That thought sent a chill through everyone.  There were now two enemies out there who might be seeking to kill Rollie and perhaps Daniel.  The danger had now just doubled, and they had no idea where either of these deadly enemies were.

CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE

“Why would Carfield have his sister killed?” Dingo asked after Leo had left.  “I thought they just wanted you and Daniel for some client.”

“Maybe they did,” Rollie responded.  “That could still be the answer.  Perhaps that client is now a very important figure, like a high-raking politician.  Or, worse, he could be in organized crime.”

“Oh, that’s just wonderful,” Angie said.  “If we’re talking organized crime, it’s possible that it wasn’t Carfield who had his sister killed.  It could have been the client, to keep her from identifying him.”

“Well, that’s possible even if the client isn’t a criminal.  There are a lot of politicians out there who would have someone killed to protect their careers.”

Using specialized software, Angie took the photo they had of Frederic Carfield and aged his features to that of a man of sixty-seven, the age he would now be.  They ran the photo through the national database that contained photos of all known criminals, giving Bluey the task of keeping an eye on the search.

“Rollie, what’s this?” Daniel asked as his brother and Angie came back to the lounge.  He was holding the didgeridoo.

“That’s my didge,” the Aussie replied.  “A didgeridoo.  It’s an Aboriginal wind instrument.”

“You play it?”

“Uh huh.  Mangela taught me when I was a kid.”

Daniel smiled.  “Would you play it now?”

Rollie grinned.  “Sure, why not?”

Rollie sat on the couch.  He propped up the end of the didge on his feet and started to play.  Fascinated by the unique sound of the pipe, Daniel sat in a chair to listen.  As he did so, he realized that there were no breaks in the music.  The sound was continuous.  When was Rollie breathing?

The Aussie played for about ten minutes.  The whole time, Daniel tried to figure out how his brother could be breathing without interrupting the music.  As the music came to an end, he smiled in appreciation.

“That was fantastic,” the minister said.  “But there’s something I have to know.  How in the world were you breathing