Rollie silently gazed down at Angie’s face.  He’d lost track of how much time had passed as he watched her.  He’d woken up in the same position that they’d fallen asleep in, Angie’s soft body spooned close to his.  The feeling of her in his arms like this was so wonderful.  How much more wonderful it was going to be when they were like this after a night of lovemaking.

He’d been physically attracted to Angie for a very long time, but he’d always ignored the feeling, shoving it out of his mind.  It had scared him to feel such things for her, for Manny’s little girl.  But ignoring that attraction had not prevented him from being jealous every time Angie dated someone.  He hadn’t been willing to take the step to deepen their relationship, but he hadn’t wanted her to be with anyone else either.  It had been selfish of him to feel that way, but he couldn’t help it.

Then had come the day when he suddenly realized that what he felt for Angie was a whole lot more than just simple physical attraction.  Since that day, he’d suffered an unending ache in his heart, the ache to hold her, to express his love for her, to be with her as a lover, to know, without a doubt, that she was his alone.  And, now, he finally had her.  His years long dream had come true.

Rollie realized that these were things Angie should know about him.  She should know the thoughts and feelings he’d had for her these past few years.

Turning his attention back to the woman he loved, the Aussie decided that she had been sleeping long enough, and it was time to wake her.  Bending his head forward, he got to work on doing that very thing.

Angie was having a very pleasant dream.  A pair of lips was working its way down the back of her neck with slow and deliberate sensuality.  When a rather talented tongue got in on the action, she awoke and realized that it was not a dream.  She let out a low moan.

“Well, it’s about time,” Rollie breathed into her ear, sending a delightful shiver through her.  She turned her head and looked up at the Aussie, who was looking down at her with darkened eyes.  “I was beginning to think that you were going to sleep the day away.”

“What time is it?”

Rollie glanced at the clock.  “Going on eight o’clock.”

“And how long have you been awake?”

“Around an hour, I think.”

“Why didn’t you wake me?”

Rollie smiled softly.  “I was enjoying watching you sleep.”

Angie turned around in his arms and pulled his mouth down to hers.  They shared a very long, deep kiss, tongues intertwining languidly.  Slowly, it grew in passion and depth.  By the time they separated, they were both feeling a little dizzy.

“I have to say, Rollie Tyler, that you are the best kisser I have ever had the great pleasure of knowing,” Angie said huskily.  She smiled.  “It must run in the family.”

“Why do you say that?”

“Well, Alex told me that Daniel was a great kisser, too, and I’d have to agree--” Angie broke off abruptly, an expression of dismay on her face.

Ignoring his tiny twinge of jealousy, Rollie put on a grin.  “Ah, so I’ve got some competition in the world’s greatest kisser category, huh?  And it’s my own brother.  Hmm.”  He pinned Angie’s wrists on either side of her head.  “Well, Angela.  As long as I get first prize from you, I think I can live with that.”  He then swooped down and claimed Angie’s mouth in a kiss that made her feel like her body had burst into flames.  Angie groaned into his mouth and arched upward against him.

When he finally released her lips about a hundred years later, Angie felt like she was on the verge of passing out.  “Rol, you just took Best in Show, hands down,” she gasped.

The Aussie gave her a smile that made her pulse flutter.  “So, where’s my prize?” he asked in a deep voice.

With a sudden move, Angie flipped them over so that she was on top.  This time, it was Rollie’s hands that were pinned to the pillow.

“Here,” Angie growled.  She pounced on the Aussie’s mouth with a fury to equal his previous kiss.  Ripping his arms from her grasp, Rollie grabbed hold of her head and crushed their mouths together with even greater intensity.

“If it wasn’t for one little thing, I’d say to hell with the doctor and make love to you right this instant,” he growled when they finally separated.

“What’s that one thing?” Angie asked, still trying to regain her breath.

“Considering what time it is, Mangela and Dad are very likely sitting downstairs.”

“Damn.”

“My sentiments exactly.”

“Then I guess the reward ceremony will have to wait.”

“Yeah, I’m afraid so.”

They both got out of bed.  As Angie headed for the door, she stopped and turned back to Rollie.  “Thank you,” she said softly.

“For what?”

“For understanding about what happened between me and Daniel.  A lot of guys wouldn’t have.”

Rollie grinned.  “Well, I guess I’m not your usual kind of guy.”  He sobered.  “The only thing that matters to me, Angie, is that we’re together and that I’m the only man you want.”

Angie gave him a smile full of love.  “I love you, Rollie.”

“I love you, too.  Now, go take your shower before I have a change of heart and decide that Dad and Mangela can wait the rest of the day for us.”

Twenty minutes later, they were both showered, dressed, and downstairs.  Neither Mangela nor Dingo made any comment about the lateness of the couple’s arrival, but they could tell that both men were grinning on the inside.

They were about halfway through breakfast when Rollie subjected the others to a hard stare.  “I don’t want any of you telling Daniel what I told Dad,” he said.

“Rollie, he has the right to know the whole truth about the Dreaming,” Angie responded.

“That may be so, but if you tell him, he may do something that will prevent me from stopping it from happening.  In fact, it could increase the risk.”

“Because he would try to prevent you from dying in his place.  That’s what you’re saying, isn’t it.”

Rollie didn’t reply.

“Daniel has just as much right to make that choice as you have, Rollie,” Mangela told his spiritual son.  “You need to give him the freedom to make that decision for himself.”

Rollie stayed silent.  He knew that Mangela was right, but his desire to protect his brother outweighed what the Aborigine was saying.

The meal was finished in silence.  They were cleaning up when Daniel called.

“Do you need me for anything right now?” he asked.

“No, not really,” Rollie replied.

“Well, then I’m going to spend a little more time here with Mom and Dad.”  He chuckled.  “Mom wants to discuss the wedding.”

Rollie echoed his brother’s chuckle.  “Just don’t let her talk you into having a huge, fancy wedding with five hundred guests.”

“Oh, don’t worry about that.  This wedding is going to be as small and simple as Alex and I can get away with.  Of course, we might end up having half the island’s population dropping by to take a peek.”

“Just as long as they don’t all show up for the reception.”

“Ugh.  Don’t even joke about that.  Alex and I might decide to elope after all.  Okay, I’ll see you a little later, then.  I’ll give you a call just before we head over there.”

“See you then.”  Rollie hung up and relayed the conversation to the others.  He focused his attention on his father.  “So, Dad.  When do you start your new job?”

Before Dingo could reply, Angie spoke up.  “Whoa.  Wait a minute.  A job?  What job?”

“Oh, that’s right.  I didn’t tell you.  Dad got a job working for Chet at the bar.”

Angie’s eyes widened.  She stared at Dingo.  “You actually got a real job?”  Her voice was thick with astonishment.

“Yes, I got a real job,” Dingo confirmed, a touch of irritation in his voice.  “It isn’t impossible, you know.”

“No, I guess it isn’t, but it’s something that I never thought I’d see.”  Noticing the frown on Rollie’s face, Angie decided she needed to give Dingo a break.  “Well, I’m glad to see I was wrong.  I hope it works out.”

“I’m going to make it work out,” Dingo stated emphatically.  He looked at Rollie.  “I start work on Monday.  I’ll be spending this weekend over there, learning how to mix drinks.  Speaking of that, I need to go back over there today.  Chet wants to loan me some books he has on mixing drinks.”

“Well, you really should do that now,” Rollie said.  “I don’t know what the rest of the day is going to bring.  Do you have Chet’s home phone number?  Maybe you could pick the books up at his house.”

“Yeah, I can give him a call.”  Dingo did so and was told that it would be fine for him to come over to the house.  After getting directions, he left with Mangela.

Remembering his earlier thoughts, Rollie turned to Angie.  “Um, Ange.  When I was gone, when you thought I was dead, did you try to get into my personal files on my computer?”

Angie shook her head.  “Even though I believed you were dead, it seemed too much of a violation of your privacy.  Maybe, someday, I would have.  Why do you ask?”

“There’s . . . there’s something that I want you to read.  I’ve been keeping sort of a journal over the past three years.  Well, it’s not really a journal.  I only wrote in it occasionally, just when I needed to express my thoughts with words.”  He started feeling embarrassed.  “It’s pretty silly, really.”

Angie stared at him.  “You want me to read your journal?” she asked, surprised and very touched that Rollie wanted to share something so private with her.

Rollie nodded.  “It’s . . . it’s really only about one thing.”

“What’s that?”

“You.”

Angie’s breath drew in on a faint gasp.  Feeling nervous all of a sudden, she followed Rollie to his computer.  Typing in the password that unlocked his personal directory, he went to the subdirectory where he kept his journal.  The entries were listed by date.

“Read the first one,” he told Angie.  “That’s the . . . the most important one.  Then skip to the last two entries.”  He got up.  “I’ll, uh, be in the van.  There are a few things I want to get done.”  He gathered some things off the worktable, including Rou, and headed to the van.

Angie sat on the chair and stared at the list of files.  There were close to a hundred entries in all, dating back to August 4, 1997.  Taking a deep breath, she opened the first file.

This feels kind of strange, writing my thought and feelings down like this.  I’ve never had a journal before.  I never thought that I’d feel the need to have one.  But yesterday was a real red letter day, the day I finally realized how stupid and blind I’ve been all these years.  I’ve been lying awake for hours, thinking about the revelation I’ve made, and I finally decided that I had to put down in words what I was thinking.  So, here goes.
 
I am in love with Angie.  Wow.  Even as I say it, a part of me can’t believe it, can’t believe that I’ve fallen head over heels for that beautiful girl I met thirteen years ago.  At the same time, another part of me is busy clubbing myself over the head, for I’ve also realized that I have been in love with her for a very long time, but I was too stubborn and blind to admit it to myself.

I have loved her almost from the day I met her.  When she was a child, she was like a sister to me, the closest thing to a sibling I’ve ever had.  I watched her grow up before my eyes, change from that little girl in ponytails to a lovely young woman.  As she changed, so did my feelings for her, though I continued to think of her as a sister.

So, when did those brotherly feelings become something else?  I’ve tried to pinpoint an exact date, but I can’t.  I think it started sometime before the day I found out that Angie had lost her virginity.  The second I saw her I knew that something was wrong.  Though Angie refused to tell me what happened, it didn’t take much for me to figure it out on my own.  I wanted to strangle the guy.  I was so furious.  If Angie hadn’t stopped me, I think I might have ended up in jail on assault charges after beating what’s-his-name to a bloody pulp.  At the time, I didn’t really think about why I was so mad, but, now, I know it was more than just the fact that he’d bungled the whole thing and hurt her.  Some part of me, even then, had wanted to be the first one to make love to her.

“Oh, Rollie,” Angie sighed.  “I wish you had been my first.  I know it would have been wonderful.”

I missed Angie so much throughout the time she was in college.  Before then, we’d seen each other almost every day.  I’d gotten used to that, and, all of a sudden, she was no longer there.  Whenever she did come to see me, I wanted to just take her in my arms and hold her.  I counted the days between her visits.  I should have realized then that those feelings weren’t the kind of emotions that a brother would have toward a sister.  I was such an idiot.

My utter blindness lasted for quite a while.  I dated other women every once in a while during those years, though none of the relationships went anywhere.  But then, I met Taya.  I really thought I was in love with her.  I guess I was, though I know that it was nothing compared to what I now feel for Angie.  After losing Taya, I just about swore off relationships with the opposite sex, though I did have a brief crush on Lucinda in the beginning.

It wasn’t until several months after Angie started working for me full-time, maybe three or four months after that whole thing with Luce and the diamond auction, that I began to realize that I was feeling things for Angie that were not the least bit brotherly.  I started looking at her body, really looking at it, in the way that a man looks at a woman.  And I liked what I saw, a lot.  Even now it embarrasses me to remember the thoughts that ran through my head.

“Ooh, Rollie.  What kinds of thoughts?” Angie murmured, her lips curving upward.
 
But I was more than just embarrassed.  I was ashamed.  She was Manny’s little girl.  She was supposed to be like my sister.  I kept thinking about what Manny would say if he knew, and that made me even more ashamed.  I didn’t want to feel those things toward her.  So, I tried to ignore it, attempted to push it out of my mind.  I figured that it would go away eventually.  Boy, was I wrong.  As the months and then years passed, it just kept getting worse.  Every time she went out on a date, I was insanely jealous, though I did a pretty good job of hiding it most of the time.  And every time one of those dates bombed, I was delighted.  Hell, I was even cheering over the fact that Rick struck out when he hit on her.

Angie laughed, thinking about the stuntman’s overtures toward her.  She’d had no idea that Rollie was so pleased when she didn’t take Rick’s attempts seriously.

I tried everything I could think of to drive away those unwanted thought and feelings for Angie.  It finally got to the point where I was so desperate that I made the unbelievably stupid mistake of trying to divert my attention with other women.  Ironically, it was that decision that ultimately made me realize the truth about my feelings for Angie.
 
The relationship with Dani was a mistake right from the start.  I didn’t love her, and I knew it.  Yeah, she was fun to be with, and I did care for her as a person, but that was the extent of it.  I tried to make a go of it.  I really did.  But after only a month, I realize that it just wasn’t going to work out in the long-run.  Fortunately, Dani figured out the same thing.  I should have been at least a little upset when she and I broke up, but I wasn’t.  Then, a few weeks later, Angie went on another of her week-long rock-climbing excursions.  I missed her like crazy the whole time she was gone.  When I picked her up at the airport, I was so happy to see her that it took every ounce of will power I had not to sweep her up into my arms.  She was only gone for a week, yet the joy of seeing her was a hundred times more powerful than anything I’d felt toward Dani the whole time we were together.
 
That’s when it hit me, with about as much subtlety as the Vindicator.  I was staring at Angie as she waited for her luggage, and, suddenly, I just knew.  I’ll never know how I managed to get her home without her figuring it out.  At least I don’t think she did.

Angie thought back to that day.  She remembered how happy Rollie was to see her.  Then, as they waited for her luggage, he’d suddenly grown very quiet.  He’d abruptly excused himself to go use the restroom.  He’d remained quiet throughout the trip home.  She had sensed that something was wrong, but Rollie just said that something he ate must have upset his stomach.  

Angie’s eyes drifted away from the screen.  So, that was the moment Rollie realized he was in love with her.  For three years he’d been hiding that secret from her, and she never had a clue.

Angie returned her attention to the computer and continued reading.

I wanted to tell Angie right then and there how I felt, but I was scared out of my mind.  I still am.  How is this going to affect our relationship?  I know she doesn’t feel the same way.  If she finds out how I feel, I’m afraid that it will hurt our friendship and our ability to work together.  It would make her uncomfortable to be around me.  I can’t let that happen.  Her friendship and our working relationship are too important to me.  I can’t let her know.  Somehow, I have to keep this a secret.

Well, it’s 3 a.m.  I need to try to get some sleep.  Angie will be here in just a few hours.  God, how am I going to work with her every day and keep these feelings hidden?  I guess I’m going to find out how good an actor I really am.

Angie’s eyes left the screen again.  She looked over toward the van.  She wished that Rollie had said something back then.  Even though, at the time, she hadn’t yet realized that she was in love with him, she had been physically attracted to him.  Would his declaration of love have awoken her to the truth about her own feelings?  She had a feeling it might have.  Perhaps not immediately, but eventually.

She turned back to the computer and looked at the directory of journal entries.  She noticed that the final entry was dated the day Rollie had the Dreaming about his kidnapping.  There was another entry the previous day.  She opened that file.

It’s been over two years and seven months since the day I realized that I was in love with Angie.  For all this time I’ve barely even looked at another woman.  They hold no interest for me.  Angie is the only woman I want, the only one I will ever want.  I ache for her all the time.  I want so much to hold her, kiss her, make love to her.  Every day I keep hoping that I’ll see some sign that maybe she feels more than friendship for me, and every day I am disappointed.  God, I am so damn lonely sometimes, especially at night.  I lay there alone in my bed, and I dream about what it would be like if she was there with me.  There are times when I think that I can’t go on another day without telling her how I feel.  But then I lose my courage, and the words don’t come.  How much longer can I wait?  How many more nights will I spend in this empty loft, with nothing but my fantasies to keep me company, before I can no longer stand it?
 
What will I do if I do tell her and she says that she can never feel the same way?  It will break my heart.  But I will accept it.  I will try to just be grateful for her friendship and her companionship.  And I am grateful for that.  I know that she could have left me a long time ago, gone out on her own to start her own company or perhaps join one of the bigger, more successful SPFX companies.  She’s too good to be stuck in this tiny, obscure company.  She could do so much more with her life.  If I wasn’t so selfish, I’d tell her so.  But I can’t bear the thought of her leaving me, leaving Tyler FX.  She once said that I’d be out of business in under a week without her, and she’s right, not just because the company couldn’t survive without her skills, but because I couldn’t survive without her.  I really don’t think I’d want to do the work anymore if she wasn’t here with me.  I can only pray that she never makes the decision to leave.  If she left, she would take the best part of me with her.

Angie will be here soon.  She’ll walk in that door, and my heart will leap at the sight of her, just as it always does.  I’ll say something like “Hi” or “Good morning” and pretend for another day that she’s just a friend and co-worker to me as the longing to touch her burns so deep inside me that it scorches my soul.

Perhaps tomorrow I’ll find the courage to tell her that I love her.  Or maybe the next day.  I just know that I can’t live like this forever.

Angie swallowed the lump that had formed in her throat.  He’d sounded so sad and lonely.  How had she not seen this?  How had she not known the pain he was going through?  But then, he had apparently not seen the truth about her emotions either.  They’d both succeeded in their attempts to hide their feelings.  She now wished that they weren’t such good actors.

Pushing that thought aside for now, she opened the final entry.

Life can be so bloody cruel sometimes.  For thirty-one long months I have loved Angie in silence, waiting, hoping, praying that she would come to love me in the same way.  Last night, I finally decided that I couldn’t take it anymore.  I decided that I was going to tell her.  But, now, I’m afraid that I waited too long.  I’m afraid that I will never get the chance to tell her.  I had a Dreaming last night, and, though I did not see myself die, something inside tells me that it may have been a vision of my own death.
 
If it was my death that I foresaw, then it really is too late for me to tell Angie that I love her.  I couldn’t say those words knowing that they might be among the last I’d ever speak.  I couldn’t do that to her.  What if it turned out that she loved me, too?  It would be too much to take, knowing that we’d wasted so much time and that there was no time left for us.  I couldn’t make love to her with the knowledge that I would soon be leaving her alone.  It would be too cruel.  And, so, I will remain silent yet again.  If I can somehow prevent what I foresaw, then I will tell her how I feel.  Otherwise, this secret will go with me to the grave.
 
But, now, I have to decide what to do about this journal.  If I do die, it will only be a matter of time before Angie gets into my personal files and sees these entries.  I can’t let that happen.  That would be even worse than telling her myself about my feelings.  So, I guess I’m going to make use of some of the things I learned from Angie.  I’ll use that software program we have.  If anyone tries to get into my personal directory with the incorrect password, I’ll set the program to delete the directory with my journal entries.  She’ll never know they were there.  As an added security measure, I’ll change my password, too, just in case she knows the one I’m using now.
 
This will be my last entry, unless I manage to stop what I foresaw.

Even though I know that you may never read this, I’ll say one last time that I love you, Angie.  Forever.

Angie was crying by the time she finished, a deep ache in her chest.  She got up and went to the van.  Rollie was sitting, unmoving, staring unseeingly at the piece of equipment that was in his hands.  He looked up as she entered.  Angie went to him and wrapped her arms around him.  Rollie returned the embrace, burying his face against her neck.

“I wish you’d told me, Rollie.  I wish you’d told me the day you figured out that you were in love with me,” she murmured against his chest.

“I wish I had, too.  But I was too much of a coward.  When I had that Dreaming, I realized how much of a mistake I’d made by not telling you.  It almost killed me thinking that I might have had those last years of my life with you as a lover if I hadn’t been so cowardly.”

Angie lifted her head and looked into Rollie’s eyes.  “Rol, I would have wanted to know.  When you had that Dreaming and thought that you might die, I wish you had told me how you felt so that we could have at least had that short time together.  All those months that I thought you were dead, it was tearing me up inside that I never told you I love you.  I kept wondering if you might have felt the same way, and it hurt so much that I’d never know if you did.  It hurt so much to know that I’d never gotten the chance to be with you as a lover.”

“I couldn’t tell you, Angie, and I couldn’t have been with you in that way, especially since being with you would have meant that I’d have to deceive you.”

“Deceive me?”

“Yeah.  I couldn’t tell you about my Dreaming because it would have put your life at risk.  So, if we had made love, you would have done so thinking that we had plenty of time together.  It would have broken my heart seeing you so happy and knowing that we might have no more than a few days together.  It would have hurt more than I could bear to make love to you, to finally feel that joy, but know that our time together might almost be over.”  Rollie sighed.  “But, later, after I was taken captive, I began to regret that I hadn’t told you.  Funny thing is, I think that regret might have been part of what kept me alive.  I wanted so desperately to live so that I could tell you that I loved you.  The hope that I would someday be free and would be able to tell you is the only thing that kept me going sometimes.”  He caressed her cheek.  “We’re together now, Angie.  I don’t want to live with regrets of the past.  We need to live for today.”

“And for the future.”

The sound of Bluey’s barks interrupted Rollie’s reply.  As he and Angie exited the van, they saw Leo come in.

“Well, they found something in the tests they ran on Joanne Carfield,” the cops announced.  “She was, without a doubt, poisoned.  The poison that was used kills by causing massive heart failure and is one that wouldn’t show up in any tests unless you were specifically looking for it.  This case just heated up big time.”

“Will you be able to keep the story from breaking in the news?” the Aussie asked.

Leo shook his head.  “Not a chance.  We’re trying to put a lid on it, but we won’t be able to keep the news of the murder hidden from the press for long.”

“All we can do is hope that, when it does get out, someone isn’t going to link it to Daniel.  If they dig deep enough into the adoption records, they might discover that Daniel was adopted through the Carfield Agency.”  A thought occurred to Rollie.  He turned to Angie.  “Hey, Ange.  I need you to do a search.  See if you can find Daniel’s adoption records.”

Not asking why, Angie quickly got to work on the search.  It didn’t take long before she was hacking into the database for the Missouri Department of Health’s Bureau of Vital Records.  Shortly after that, she found Daniel’s file.  Rollie studied it.

“Could you print that out?”

“Sure.”

A minute later, Rollie had the printout in hand.  His gaze returned to the screen.  “Now, I want you to delete the file.”

Both Angie and Leo looked at him.

“What’s this about, Rol?” Angie asked.

“When word of Joanne Carfield’s murder gets out, it won’t take long for the press to find out about her past, especially if it turns out that she was killed by her brother.  When that happens, you can bet that some industrious reporter is going to dig into the records of all the adoptions that were handled through the Carfield Agency.  The records that the Carfields kept themselves would be long gone, but that record with the state is a link to the Carfield Agency.  I want that link broken.”

“But, Rollie, even if we delete this record, there might still be hard copies on file.”

“Yeah, but it wouldn’t make sense for someone to check the printed records when everything is on computer.  That would only happen if someone was specifically looking for Daniel’s record and failed to find it on the computer.  We just need to prevent someone from finding Daniel’s adoption record if they do a search of all adoptions handled by the Carfields.”

Angie nodded.  “There may also be copies of Daniel’s file at the St. Louis County and City health departments.  I’ll need to check those places as well.”

“Make sure you print copies before you delete the records.  If we ever decide to reenter the data, we’ll need the printouts to work from.”  Rollie reached for the phone.  “We need to let Daniel’s father know about all of this so that he can work on getting Daniel’s name suppressed.”  He called the Coopers and asked to speak to Daniel.  He told his brother the news concerning Joanne Carfield, which the minister relayed to his parents.  Taking the phone from his son, Cliff told Rollie that he had already talked to a judge, who had agreed to order the suppression if it became necessary.

“I’ll give him another call to update him,” he said.  Cliff then handed the phone back to his son.

“I’m going to come on over, Rollie,” Daniel said.  “My babysitters and I will be there shortly.”

“Okay, see you in a while.”

After hanging up the phone, Rollie turned to Angie.  “Do a little more digging and see if you can find anything else on Daniel’s adoption or on the Carfield Agency.  We need to make sure we get everything.”

As Angie got busy doing that, Rollie and Leo went to the lounge.

“It looks like those feds succeeded in covering up the news about you,” the cop said.  “There hasn’t been one word about it, even though the press is still pushing for more info on what went down at Cassandra Electronics.”

“I’d say we have only Agent Conway to thank for that.  I doubt that Agent Ashby had anything to do with it.”

Leo grinned.  “Yeah, you’re probably right.  Oh, and the guys at the station are all keeping quiet, too.  They understand what’s going on.”

“Tell them thanks for me.  I really appreciate it.”

The door opened, and Mangela and Dingo came in.

“I see you got them,” Rollie said, nodding at the books his father was carrying.

“Sure did.  It’s going to take me weeks to learn how to make all these drinks.  I didn’t realize there were so many.  Chet said that he’ll just have me serve beer and clear tables until I’ve completed my training.”

Rollie smiled.  “I’m sure you’ll do fine, Dad.”  He was still having a hard time believing that his father actually had a regular job.  He’d wanted this for so long that he’d given up hope it would ever happen.  The fact that his father was doing this for his sake made Rollie feel warm inside.

The four men talked about the events they were in the middle of.  As the minutes passed, Rollie grew increasingly more quiet.  At one point in the conversation, his eyes wandered away to stare off at nothing, a small frown knitting his brow.

“Is something wrong?” Angie asked him as she came into the lounge.

“I just have this bad feeling.”

“What sort of bad feeling?”

“Like something is going to happen.  I’m hoping that it’s just nerves, but . . . I’m afraid that it isn’t.”

Mangela looked at him in concern.  “You must not ignore your instincts and intuition, Rollie.”

The Aussie gave a sigh and ran a hand through his hair.  “I know, Mangela.  But this feeling is so ambiguous.  I don’t know what it’s warning me of.”

“Then you need to go into the Dreamtime.  Things might become clearer.”

Rollie nodded, hoping that Mangela was right.  He stood and went to the coffeemaker.  He grabbed the pot to pour himself another cup of coffee.  All at once, a wave of dizziness struck him, and he grasped the counter to steady himself.  An instant later, he was no longer in the loft.  He was in a car with four other men.  Rollie immediately recognized the men as Daniel’s bodyguards.

Suddenly, there was a loud bang, and the driver grabbed the wheel tightly, pulling the car over.

“Flat tire,” he announced.  He and one of the other men unbuckled their seatbelts.  But before they could exit the car, white gas started filling it.  Choking and coughing, Rollie felt his consciousness slipping away from him.  Then everything went black.

The sound of smashing glass and Angie’s cry of alarm snapped Rollie back to himself.  He was on the floor, the shattered remains of the coffeepot and its contents on the concrete beside him.  Angie and the others hurried to him.

“Rollie, what happened?!” Angie asked frantically, grabbing his arm.

The Aussie just stared at her blankly for a moment, then an expression of terror filled his eyes.  “Oh my God.  Daniel!” he cried.  He scrambled to his feet.  “They’ve got him!  They’ve got Daniel!”

“Who?!  Who’s got him?” Leo asked sharply.

“I don’t know!  All I know is that somebody’s grabbed him.”

“But what about the bodyguards?  They were supposed to protect him!” Angie exclaimed.

“Do you know where it happened?” Leo asked.

“They were in the car, on their way here,” Rollie replied.  He focused his memory on what he’d seen out the windows and realized that he recognized the area.  It was only a few blocks away.  “I know exactly where it happened.  Come on, Leo.  We’ve got to get over there now!”

Rollie and Leo left, the Aussie behind the wheel.  He headed straight for the area he’d recognized from his vision.

“There it is!” Rollie exclaimed, pointing at a silver Mercedes parked on the other side of the street.  “That’s the car they were driving last night.”  He made a fast U-turn and came to a stop in front of the car.  He leapt out, followed by Leo.

“Don’t touch the door handle,” the cop told him.  “We might be able to get prints off it.”

Pulling out a handkerchief, Rollie carefully opened the door with it.  He was instantly assailed by a strong odor.  He covered his mouth and nose with the handkerchief.

“Some kind of knockout gas,” he said.

“But how did they get it in the car before the bodyguards could react?”

Not answering, Rollie checked under the dash.  It took him only a second to spy the device.  The gas canister was rigged with a release valve that was remote controlled.

“They must have planted that in the car last night,” the Aussie said, getting to his feet, “which means that they followed Daniel from the loft.  Then they followed him this morning and waited for the perfect time to strike.”  Rollie spun around and stalked away a few feet.  “Bloody hell!  This is my fault.  I’m the one who told Daniel to go to the hotel last night.”

“Don’t beat yourself up over this, Rollie.  We all assumed that no one would go after Daniel while he was with those bodyguards.”  Leo crouched beside the left rear tire, which was completely flat.  There was a gaping hole in the sidewall.  He’d seen enough cases like this in the past to instantly recognize that the tire had been shot out.  “They shot out the tire to make the driver stop before they used the knockout gas.”  He got to his feet.  “I need to get the forensics people out here to go over the car.”

As Leo made the call, Rollie returned to the car.  He knelt beside the driver’s seat and touched it, focusing his vision on the future.  A moment later, he gasped and his eyes flew open.  He quickly stood.

“It’s Cromwell.  Cromwell has Daniel.”  Rollie looked at Leo.  “I need to get back to the loft.”

“I have to stay here until the team shows up.”

“I’ll call Angie.”  The Aussie reached for his cell phone, but was stopped by his friend.

“Rollie, don’t do anything stupid,” Leo said.  His and Rollie’s eyes met for a long moment, then Rollie turned away and started walking quickly down the street, dialing the loft.  He told Angie to pick him up as quickly as possible at a corner that was a couple of blocks away from his present location.  After ending the call, he broke into a run.  Reaching the designated corner, he waited for Angie’s arrival.  She roared up to him a few moments later, tires squealing as she skidded to a halt beside him.  Rollie scrambled into the cab.

“Take me back to the loft, and hurry.”

Angie peeled rubber as she sped away from the curb.  “Rollie, what happened?” she asked.

“It’s Cromwell.  He’s got Daniel.”

“My God.  What is he going to do to him, Rollie?”

“Nothing.  He’s not going to do anything to him.  He isn’t going to get the chance.”

They got back to the loft.  Rollie told everyone what he knew about the abduction.

“Damn!” he swore.  “I should have had Daniel stay here last night.  They wouldn’t have gotten him.”

“Rollie, you couldn’t have known this was going to happen,” Mangela said.  “We all believed that Daniel was safe with those men.”

“Can you feel him?” Angie asked.  “Can you tell where Daniel is?”

“I can sense what direction he’s in, and I can tell that he’s several miles away, and getting farther away even as we speak.”

“Do you think they’re taking him to Mount Vernon, where Kessler said Cromwell has a house?”

Rollie nodded.  “Yeah.  That feels right.”

“Then we need to get the cops out there,” Dingo said, terrified for his other son.

Mangela studied the expression on Rollie’s face.  “What is it, Sonny Boy?  What are you feeling?”

“We can’t send the cops out there,” Rollie replied.  “Daniel will die if we do.”

“Are you sure?” Angie asked.

“Yes.  If the cops show up, Cromwell will kill Daniel.”

“Then what do we do?” Dingo asked.

“I have to go in first, try to get to Daniel so that I can protect him until the cops arrive.”

“No!  Rollie, it’s too dangerous,” Angie said.

“I have no choice, Angie.  If we don’t do this the right way, Daniel will be killed.”

“And what about you?”

“I’ll be as careful as I can be.  Mangela can come with me.”

“Well, if you’re going, then I’m going, too,” Angie insisted.  “And there is not a damn thing you can say that will change my mind.”

“The same goes for me,” Dingo said firmly.

Rollie looked at both of them.  After a moment, he gave a short nod.  “All right.  I could probably use your help.  We’re going to need a few things for this.  I wish we had that tranquilizer gun you guys used when you rescued me.”

“We do,” Angie told him.  “I never got around to giving it back to Leo.  But I don’t think there are many darts left.”  She got the gun and gave it to Rollie.  There were only four darts left.

“That’s not going to be enough.”  Rollie turned to Mangela.  “How long would it take you to whip something up?”

“Not long, if I can find what I need,” the Aborigine replied.

“I know of an herbalist that carries stuff from all over the planet,” Angie told him.  “I think they’ve got some herbs and plants from Australia.”

“All right, that will be our first stop,” Rollie said.  “Dad, you drive the pickup.  We might need it.  Be sure you stick close behind me.  We have no time to lose.”

As quickly as possible, they were on the road, every one of them praying that they reached Daniel in time.

CHAPTER FORTY-TWO

Realizing that they needed to get more things than he originally thought, Rollie had decided that, to save time, the group should split up to do their shopping.  Instead of Dingo driving the truck, Angie was in it with Mangela.  They went to the herbalist shop, where the Aborigine was able to find the ingredients he needed to create a fast-acting tranquilizer that would work similar to the one Leo and Angie had used during Rollie’s rescue.  They made one other stop to pick up something else that Mangela wanted, then they went to the location where they were to meet Rollie and Dingo.  The FX van pulled up a short while later.

“Did you get everything?” Rollie asked.

“Yeah.  We’re all set,” Angie replied.  “How about you?”

“Good to go.”

They all headed for Mount Vernon, Dingo now driving alone in the pickup.  As Rollie drove the van, Mangela created the tranquilizer while Angie fashioned darts that could be filled with the mixture and used in the gun.

The closer they got to Mount Vernon, the stronger the feeling of Daniel’s presence became, which confirmed that they were going in the right direction.  Rollie noticed that the feel of Daniel’s songline did not grow any stronger, just as it had not weakened when Daniel was further away.  It remained sure and steady in that place deep inside him.  Rollie mentioned this to Mangela.

“The feel of Daniel’s presence is of his physical self,” the Aborigine explained.  “That is why it grows stronger the closer you are to him.  Daniel’s songline is not a physical thing.  It is of the spirit.  Distance does not matter.  You would still feel Daniel’s songline even if he was on the other side of the world.”

As they drew close to Mount Vernon, Rollie slowed down and let the feeling of Daniel’s presence guide him to his brother’s exact location.  A few miles past the city, they came to an area that had mostly expensive homes on secluded acreage.  Rollie found a side street with only a couple of residences and several large, empty lots.  He slowly drove the van over the rough ground of one of the undeveloped lots, winding his way amongst the trees and brush, Dingo still on his tail in the pickup.  Up ahead, Rollie saw a very high chainlink fence almost completely covered by shrubbery.  He knew, without a doubt, that Daniel was on the other side of that fence.

Rollie parked close to the fence.  Dingo pulled up beside him, then joined them in the van.  Using a camera that was mounted on a telescoping arm, Rollie took a look on the other side of the fence.

“Okay, I see three . . . no, four people outside, all armed,” he announced.  “There are probably more on the other side of the house.”  He hit a button, and the view switched to show the thermal silhouettes of the people inside the house.  They could see the shapes of three people.  “We can’t penetrate all the way into the house with this equipment, especially from this distance, so there could be more than that in there.  And I don’t see Daniel or his bodyguards, so they must be on the other side of the house.”

Dingo frowned.  “How can you tell none of those people are Daniel or the bodyguards?”

“Because Daniel’s still unconscious, and I’d guess that the bodyguards are, too.”

“So, how are you going to get in there without being seen?” Angie asked.

“We need a distraction, something to draw the men away from the side of the house that we’re going to enter.”  Rollie turned to his father.  “I’m going to leave that up to you and Angie.”

Dingo stared at his son.  “Me?”

“Yeah.  You’re going to get drunk and have a nasty car accident.”

Dingo grinned wickedly.  “Drinking and driving can be dangerous.  I sure hate the idea of smashing up that pretty truck of yours, though.”

“We don’t have a choice.  We’re going to need that diversion.  And I’m afraid that the truck is going to get a lot more than just smashed up.”  He explained his plan to everyone.

“So, is that why you had me dress like this?” Angie asked.  She was wearing low rise shorts and a cut-off T-shirt.  Her entire midsection, from a couple of inches below her belly button to about four inches below her breasts, was bare.  Only Rollie’s deep concern for his brother had prevented him from becoming aroused at the exposure of so much of Angie’s body.

The Aussie grinned.  “That’s right, Love.  I figured that your gorgeous body would be that much more of a distraction to the guards, not to mention the fact that they’d be less suspicious with you being dressed like that.”  He pulled out his cell phone.  “I guess it’s time to call Leo.  Ange, could you patch Rou’s camera feed into my PDA?  I fixed his camera earlier today.”

“Sure.”

Rollie dialed Leo’s cell phone number.

“Hey.  I tried to get you at the loft, but no one answered,” Leo said.  “I was just about to call your cell.”

“Um, yeah, we’re not there.”

“Where are you?”

“We went looking for Daniel.  Where are you?”

“I’m at the precinct.  VanDuran demanded that I come in and tell him what’s going on.  Rollie, I’ve been thinking that, if Cromwell does have a place in Mount Vernon, he might have had Daniel taken there.  Can you, uh . . . feel him?  I mean, sense what direction he’s in, like Daniel and Angie did with you?”

Rollie paused.  “Yeah, I can.  Uh, Leo, we’re in Mount Vernon now.”

“You’re what?!  Rollie, what are you up to?”

“We’re going to get Daniel out.  We know where he’s being held.”

“All right.  Just stay where you are.  I’ll contact the Mount Vernon P.D., and we’ll have an army of cops out there in no time.”

“No.  You can’t do that, Leo.  If the cops show up, Cromwell will kill Daniel.”

“Are you sure of that?”

“As sure as I have ever been of anything in my life.”

There was a few seconds of silence, then, “Okay, pal.  I believe you.  So, what’s your plan?”

“I’ll be sending Rou in first.  Once we get the lay of the land and determine the best way to get in, Angie and Dad are going to cause a distraction while Mangela and I go in.  We’ve got the tranquilizer gun, a couple of stun guns, and, um, another weapon.”

“Stun guns?  Where did you get those?  They’re restricted in New York.”

“I made them, of course.”

“Of course.  Why did I even ask?  How many guards are there?”

“I don’t know yet.  We can see four outside, but there’s probably at least two or three more on the other side of the house, and there are at least three bad guys inside.”

“Rollie, you and Mangela can’t take on ten armed men on your own in broad daylight.”

“We won’t have to.  The distraction I told you about is going to draw the majority of the men away from us.”  He told Leo what they were planning.

“All right, I’ll head straight over there.  Tell me where you are.”

“Only on one condition.”

“What’s that?”

“I’m in charge of this.  If I tell you how something is going to be done, you have to agree to it.  We can’t waste time arguing over anything.”

Leo was silent for a long time.  He then sighed.  “All right, I agree as long as your plan doesn’t put you at an unacceptable risk.”

“Fair enough.  Is Francis there with you?”

“Yeah.”

“Bring him, too.  We’ll need both of you.”  Rollie gave Leo directions on how to find them.

“Rollie, don’t you think we should tell Daniel’s parents that he’s been kidnapped?” Angie asked after Rollie ended the call to the cop.

“Yeah, but if we do, I’m not sure what Cliff Cooper might do.  He’d probably insist on contacting the police.  I can’t take that chance.  And there’s really nothing that they can do anyway.  We’d only be giving them hours of worry.”

“Yeah, you’re probably right.”

“For this to work, we’ll have to get some booze.  Bring up the local phone directory and find the closest liquor store.”

As Angie got busy doing that, Rollie picked up Bluey and his PDA and went outside.  Mangela and Dingo followed him to a spot beside the fence.  The Aussie set Bluey on the ground.

“Okay, Blue.  Send Rou in.  Take him over the fence.”

The little R.O.U. slid out from his place on the robot’s back.  Bluey launched him into the air.  Rou soared up and over the shrubs.  Rollie directed Bluey to send Rou to the house.  Both Dingo and Mangela were looking over Rollie’s shoulder, watching the camera feed on the PDA.  Dingo shook his head.

“What’s wrong?” Rollie asked.

“Do you have any idea how much money you could make if you marketed that thing?”

“Don’t start on that again, Dad.”

“Yeah, I know, I know.  It’s not a toy.”

“No, it’s not.  Besides, I really don’t think parents would go for the idea of their kids having a flying miniature video camera, especially when the boys started using it to get a free peepshow on all the neighborhood girls.”

Dingo grinned.  “Hey, I didn’t think of that.  Wow.  You could really make some money selling that thing.”

Rollie just lifted his eyes heavenward, as if in supplication for patience, then focused his full attention on the camera feed.  As Rou got close to the house, Rollie had Bluey take him all the way around the structure.  The Aussie made note of all the entrances and where all the guards were.  Angie came out just as Rou finished his circuit of the house.  Rollie landed Rou on the roof and turned him off to save battery power.

“Okay, we’ve got a total of seven guards outside,” he announced.  “There are five entrances: the front door, the back door, sliding glass doors on both the east and west sides of the house, and the garage.  Obviously, we can’t go in through the front door or the garage since that’s where all the activity’s going to be.  Right now, the back door looks the most promising, but I won’t know for sure until after I get Rou inside to scope things out.  I didn’t see any sign of cameras outside, which is a really lucky break.  The bad news is that there is a lot of open ground between the fence and the house, and there isn’t enough foliage to cover our approach.”

“There’s no way that we can wait for nightfall?” Angie asked.

“No.  Daniel’s okay right now, but I have a terrible feeling that, as soon as he wakes up, things are going to turn bad.  We’re all aware of what Cromwell is capable of.”

Rollie’s last sentence sent a chill through the others.  The thought of what Cromwell might do to Daniel made them all feel sick.

Rollie looked at Mangela.  “You remember that game you taught me when I was a kid?  Well, I think that’s going to come in handy now.”

The Aborigine nodded, smiling grimly.

“What game are you talking about?” Angie asked.

“When I was with the People, we played a game where the kids would try to hide by blending into their surroundings, using various things to camouflage themselves.  For instances, we’d cover ourselves with a sticky substance, then roll around on the ground until we were covered from head to toe in a thick layer of dirt.  Then we’d find a little hollow in the ground and lay still.”  Rollie chuckled.  “We sometimes had fun scaring people and the local wildlife that way.  We’d lay there for ages until some unsuspecting person or animal came by, then we’d leap to our feet and almost give them heart failure.”

Angie smiled faintly at the thought of a young Rollie playing such pranks.  “So how are you going to blend into your surroundings out there?  There’s nothing but grass, plants, and low bushes.”

Not answering, Rollie went over to a large bush.  He dug a hand into it and ripped out a big chunk of leaves and twigs.  “We’ll cover ourselves with these.”

“How?” Dingo asked.

“I’ve got some spray adhesive in the van.  We’ll spray it all over our clothes, then sprinkle the leaves on them.  If Mangela and I have to, we can drop to the ground and make like bushes when someone approaches.”

Angie laughed.  “That’s brilliant, Rollie.  When did you think of this?”

Rollie smiled at the compliment.  “Just now, actually.  I didn’t know beforehand what the situation was going to be, though two of the things that Dad and I picked up were army camouflage suits.  I’d figured that, since we were pulling this off in the daylight, we might need to camouflage ourselves to some extent.”  He looked at the Aborigine.  “Mangela, you get busy gathering enough of this to cover both of us.  Dad, you need to get to the liquor store.  Did you find one nearby, Ange?”

She nodded.  “There’s one about a mile from here.”  She handed a piece of paper to Rollie’s father.  “There’s the address and a map with the route marked on it.”

“Hey, I don’t need a map,” Dingo objected.  “I can find it.”

Angie snorted.  “Yeah, right.  How?  Men are genetically incapable of asking for directions.”

“We are not!” Both Rollie and Dingo said at the same time.

“I never need to ask for directions,” Mangela commented mildly.

“Oh, brother,” Angie sighed, rolling her eyes.  “Just take the map, Dingo.  We don’t have time for you to be wandering around, pretending like you’re not lost.”

Grumbling under his breath, the Australian took the map and drove off in the truck.

Rollie turned to Angie, a smile forming on his lips.  “Ange, it is now going to be your job to turn me and Mangela into shrubbery.”

“Ooh, goodie.  I like shrubbery.  It doesn’t talk back.”

“Ha ha.  It also can’t kiss.”

“Oh, yeah.  You’re right.  That is a drawback, isn’t it.  I guess I’ll have to put up with the talking back.”

“Poor baby.”  The Aussie leaned over and gave her a kiss.  He got the camouflage suits, two brown hoods that he’d also bought, and the spray adhesive.  He laid the clothing out on the ground.  As Mangela gathered handfuls of leaves and twigs, Angie sprayed sections of the clothing and stuck the foliage onto it.

While they were busy doing that, Rollie reactivated Rou and got him into the house via the chimney.  He guided Rou through the house, keeping the R.O.U. close to the floor and against the wall, hiding him behind furniture when people were present.  Very slowly and carefully, Rollie covered the first floor.  There were two rooms that he was unable to enter because the doors were shut.  There was no way of knowing if Daniel might be in one of those rooms.

Dingo had returned and was watching Rou’s progress.  Rollie was just about to take Rou upstairs when he heard a vehicle approaching.  He looked over his shoulder and saw Leo’s car.  It stopped, and the two cops got out.  They came up to Rollie.

“So, where do we stand?” Leo asked.

“Seven guards outside, all armed with semi-automatic weapons.  So far, I’ve found four people inside, all of them carrying sidearms.  I haven’t found Cromwell or Daniel yet.  I’ve still got the second floor to search.  There aren’t any cameras, thankfully.”

Angie came up carrying one of the camouflage suits, which was now completely covered in leaves and twigs.  “How’s this?”

“That’s great, Ange.”  He studied the suit.  “Do we still have that sewing kit in the van?”

“Yeah, I think so.”

“Take some larger twigs and sew them on.  That will help disguise the outlines of our bodies.  Get Dad here to help you.”  He grinned.  “He’s sewn on a few buttons in his day, so he should be able to handle it without poking himself with the needle.”

“Very funny, Rollie,” his father said.

“Those are quite the camouflage suits, Rollie,” Leo commented.  “They look something like what the military would use.”

“Well, not quite, but, hopefully, they’ll do the job.”

Rollie guided Rou upstairs.  He’d been searching for a few minutes when he came to a closed door and stopped.  He stared at the door for a long moment.

“What’s wrong?” Frank asked.

“I’m not sure, but I think Daniel’s in there.”

“How can you tell?”

“It’s just a feeling I have.  If Daniel is up there on the second floor, his bodyguards probably are, too.”  He cursed softly.  “I was hoping they’d be on the first floor.  It would have been easier to get them out.”

Rollie finished covering the second floor, discovering two other rooms with closed doors and one more armed guard.  He found a safe place to hide Rou and turned him off.  He then looked down at the floor plan he’d sketched out.  “Okay, it still looks like the back door is going to be the safest place to enter.  The fact that it goes into the utility room rather than the kitchen is a big advantage.  There’s less chance that someone will go in that room at the wrong time.  Fortunately, there are only a couple of windows on that side, so the chances of someone spotting us from inside the house as we approach is low.  But we’re going to have to make sure that doesn’t happen.  We’ll have to take the van over to that side so that you can watch for activity in those rooms.”

“Frank can keep watch, Rollie,” Leo said.  “I’m going in with you.”

Rollie shook his head.  “No, Leo.  You have to stay out here.”

“Rollie--”

“No.  Let me finish.  I need both you and Frank to keep watch.  One of you is going to have to watch the inside of the house.  The other is going to have to keep an eye out for guards outside.”

“Mangela can stay behind and watch for guards.”

“Leo, when I talked to you, I told you that we had to do this my way.  Mangela has to be the one to come with me.  We only have one tranquilizer gun, so he’s going to have to use other weapons, ones that you have no experience with.  And Mangela has other skills that we’re going to need out there.  He’s the one who taught me all I know about camouflage and getting out of sight quickly.  Besides, when the time comes, we’re going to need you out here taking charge of the cops.”

Leo’s eyes locked with Rollie’s for several seconds, then he sighed and nodded, knowing that the Aussie was right.  “All right, Rollie.  I just hate the thought of you going in there without me to watch your back.”

“You will be watching my back, Leo.  You’ll just be doing it from out here.”

With everyone’s help, they completed the preparations.  The vehicles were driven over to the fence bordering the back of Cromwell’s place.  Angie helped Rollie and Mangela get into their camouflage suits.

“So, how do I look?” the Aussie asked her with a smile.

Angie’s eyes scanned over him.  “If I wasn’t so scared right now, I’d laugh.”

Rollie cupped her cheek.  “Hey.  It’s going to be all right, Ange.”

Angie pulled him in for a hard kiss.  “I love you, Rollie.  You come back to me, you hear?”

“I love you, too, Angie, more than anything in the world.”  His eyes passed over her face intently.  Both she and Dingo were wearing disguises just in case any of Cromwell’s men knew what they looked like.  Angie was wearing a long blond wig.  The makeup and tiny bit of latex on her face changed her features just enough that she shouldn’t be recognized.  Dingo also had latex on his face.

Rollie gave Angie another kiss, then turned to the others.  “Okay, let’s get this show on the road.”

Dingo opened the bottle of scotch he’d gotten.  He took a mouthful and swished it around his mouth for a few seconds, then spit it out.  He poured a tiny amount of the alcohol onto his clothes.  Then he handed the bottle to Angie, who also swished some in her mouth.  They climbed into the truck and drove off.

Rollie, Mangela and Frank all climbed to the top of the van, which had been pulled up right next to the fence.  Then they sat and waited for the first act in the drama to take place.

Dingo drove the truck to a spot just out of sight of the main gate to Cromwell’s house.

“We’re in position, Rol,” Angie said into the microphone hidden in her bra.  She knew that Rollie could not answer her vocally.  Because of the chance that someone with sharp ears might detect the sounds coming from an earpiece, neither she nor Dingo were wearing one.  Angie hated the idea of being cut off from what was happening with the others, but she knew that this was the safest way to do things.  However, they were not completely out of contact.  The cell phone on Angie’s belt was actually a walkie talkie set to the same frequency that Rollie and the others were using.  It was turned off right now, but, in an emergency, she could quickly get through to them.  It was also equipped with a vibrator, which had just turned on.  That was the signal to let her know that the others were ready.

Dingo pulled the truck around the corner.  He began swerving back and forth across the road.  The closer he got to Cromwell’s, the faster he drove.  With the wrought iron gate right in front of him, he stepped on the gas.  With a screeching of metal, the truck plowed through the gate.  Appearing to be out of control, it then smashed into the tree that was a few yards from the gate.  Pandemonium erupted around the house as armed men abandoned their posts and ran toward the truck.

“Go, Rollie!” Angie exclaimed.

Rollie and Mangela immediately went over the fence.  They dropped into a tight crouch and sat still.

“How does it look, guys?” the Aussie asked.

“There’s no one in the house on that side, Rollie,” Leo replied from his position inside the van.

“It’s clear,” Frank said.  He was on the roof with a pair of binoculars.  “All of the guards took off toward the gate.”

Rollie and Mangela’s eyes met for a silent moment, then they scrambled to their feet and started moving as fast as they dared toward the house, using what little cover was available.

Back at the front gate, Dingo and Angie stumbled out of the wreaked truck.

“You idiot!” Angie screamed.  She came around the front of the truck as Cromwell’s guards ran up to them, weapons pointed at them.

“Hold it right there!” one of them yelled.

Angie spun around and glared at him.  “What?  Are you gonna shoot me?  I wasn’t the one driving.  He was!  That stupid, good for nothing old man of mine.  Please do shoot him and put me out of my misery!”  She stormed up to Dingo and began shoving him.  “I told you I should drive, that you were too damn drunk, but, noooo, you just had to drive, and now look what you did!  The truck’s ruined!”

The guards watched as Angie continued to verbally and physically abuse Dingo, who began shouting back, though rather weakly.

“What’s going on out there?” said a voice over the walkie talkies the men were wearing.

One of the guards lifted his radio to his mouth.  “It looks like a couple of drunks smashed into the gate, Mister Cromwell.  The man was driving, and the woman is now laying into him.  God, I almost feel sorry for the guy, even if the woman is a babe.”

“Are you sure it’s not a trick?  Did you check them for weapons?”

“Well, there’s no way the woman is armed, not the way she’s dressed.  I don’t know about the man.”

“Check him.  I don’t trust coincidences.  And get some of your men back in position around the house.”

“Yes, sir.”

Rollie, Mangela, Leo and Frank all heard Cromwell’s orders through the mics Angie and Dingo were wearing.

“Trouble’s on the way, Rollie!” Leo exclaimed.

“Damn!” Rollie cursed, increasing his speed.  “Tell me when they’re getting close, Frank.”  He focused his gaze on the house.  ‘Just a little bit further.  Just a little bit further,’ he silently said.

Cromwell stared out the window at what was going on at the front gate.  One of his men was patting down the man who had been driving the truck.  Another was patting down the woman, despite the fact that her outfit would make it nearly impossible for her to conceal a weapon.  By what Cromwell could see, the woman wasn’t too happy about the search.

“Sir?”

Cromwell turned to the man who had spoken.  “What?”

“He’s awake.”

“Damn.”

“Do you want me to leave him in the room for now?”

Cromwell thought about it for a moment.  “No.  He might start yelling for help.  We can’t take the chance that one of those two out there will hear him.  Bring him to the study.”

“Yes, sir.”

Cromwell turned back to the window, taking a long drag from the cigarette in his hand.  “Time for a little revenge,” he murmured, an evil smile curving his lips.

“Get out of sight, Rollie!” Frank cried.  “They’re almost there!”

Upon hearing the cop’s warning, the Aussie and the Aborigine instantly stopped.  They dropped to the ground and curled into tight balls.  Everyone held their breaths as two of Cromwell’s men came around to the back of the house.  The men looked about, searching for any sign of movement.  For a breathless moment, one of the men stared in Rollie and Mangela’s direction.  His gaze focused on the two objects that appeared to be a couple of bushes . . . then slid past.

“Is everything clear?” asked a voice over the walkie talkies.

“It’s all quiet,” one of the men replied.  “There’s no sign of anyone.”

“Good.  Where are you?”

“Abrams and I are at the back of the house.”

“All right, you stay there at the back door.  Abrams, go cover the west entrance.”

“Yes, sir,” said the other man.

Leo and Francis watched as one of the two men went around to the west side of the house.  The other one took up position at the back door.

“Rollie, we’ve got a problem,” Leo said.  “There’s a man at the back door.  If you move, he’s going to spot you.”

The Aussie cursed.  With glacial slowness, he tilted his head up enough that he could see the man at the door.  “Mangela, he’s too far away for me to get with the tranquilizer gun.  Can you get him?” he whispered.

The Aborigine studied his target.  “Yes, I can get him.”  Very slowly and carefully, he pulled out the object tucked in the front of his belt.

“Wait for him to look away.”

The seconds ticked by as everyone waited for the guard to look away.  Rollie suddenly let out a gasp.

“What’s wrong?” Mangela whispered.

“It’s Daniel.  He’s awake, and he’s in trouble.”  He cursed, his fear escalating.  “We’ve got to get in there, now!”  He kept his eyes on the guard.  “Come on, damn you.  Look away.”

The burly man shoved Daniel in the back.  Still suffering from the effects of the knockout gas, the minister stumbled and almost fell.  The man grabbed his shirt and hauled him upright.  They went down the stairs and through the living room to a closed door.  The guard knocked.  A voice on the other side bid him to enter.  He pushed Daniel into the room ahead of him.  Sitting on the edge of a desk was a man whom the minister recognized as Arthur Cromwell.

“Leave us,” he said to the guard, “and close the door.”

The door shut behind Daniel, leaving him alone with the man who was responsible for the agony Rollie had suffered.  He glared at the man, unable to find in his heart one shred of forgiveness.

“You really have turned out to be nothing but a pain in the ass,” Cromwell said.

Daniel’s emotions changed to puzzlement.

“Right from the start, you have caused me nothing but trouble,” Cromwell continued.  “I wasted a lot of time and money on you.  I don’t like it when someone wastes my time or my money.”

“What?” Daniel said, even more perplexed.

“Don’t act stupid, Tyler!” Cromwell snapped, standing up straight.

Daniel’s eyes widened.  ‘He thinks I’m Rollie!’

“I don’t know how you managed to resist the conditioning for so long.  We tested that machine on five other people, and they were all completely under our control within a week.  Now, I have to take into consideration the fact that we were testing it on homeless people and bums, but that still doesn’t explain it fully.”

Daniel felt rage building inside him at the heartlessness of the man before him.  He wondered what happened to the poor people who had been used as test subjects.  Chances were good that they were all dead.

“You cost me a lot, Tyler, and you’ve destroyed any credibility I had as an information broker with that jewel heist fiasco.  I’m going to make sure you wish that you died in that complex.”

“You’ve made a mistake, Cromwell,” Daniel said.

“Oh, and what’s that?”

“I’m not Rollie Tyler.”

CHAPTER FORTY-THREE

Growing increasingly tense, Rollie and Mangela continued to watch the guard at the back door.  Before the two of them went over the fence, Rollie had put Rou in the living room to keep a lookout, and Leo had just announced that he’d seen Daniel on the camera feed.  The minister had been taken to a room off the living room.  Cromwell was now in there with him.  Rollie’s fear for his brother was growing by leaps and bounds.

Finally, the Aussie decided that they couldn’t wait any longer.  “Get ready, Mangela,” he whispered.  He then focused on a spot on the guard’s left shoulder.

“Ouch!” the man suddenly said, reaching for the affected shoulder and looking down at it.

With the speed of a striking snake, the Aborigine sprung up into a kneeling position and hurled the object in his hand.  The boomerang streaked through the air.  Seeing movement out of the corner of his eye, the guard snapped his head up.  A second later, the boomerang struck him in the forehead.  He crumpled to the ground and lay still.

“You’re clear, Rollie!  Go!” Leo shouted.

Rollie and Mangela leapt to their feet and ran the remaining distance to the house.  They quickly stripped off their camouflage suits and shoved them under a bush next to the house.  The Aborigine scooped up the boomerang and stuck it back in his belt.

“Okay, we’re going in,” Rollie said.  “Give Angie the signal.”

Leo picked up a PDA and hit one of the icons.

The fake cell phone on Angie’s belt started vibrating.  Knowing that was the signal to go to the next step, she glanced about at the guards to check their positions.  She then turned back to Dingo, whom she had been continually harassing and insulting as part of the act.

“You are so pathetic,” she said.  She turned her back on him and crossed her arms over her chest.  She then snuck one hand down and pressed the button on the tiny radio transmitter that was hidden behind the ornamental belt buckle she was wearing.

Beneath the truck, a small incendiary device lit the gasoline that had been leaking out from the hole in the gas line that another device of Rollie’s had caused at the time of the crash.  Fire erupted underneath the pickup.

“Look out!” yelled one of Cromwell’s men.  “It’s gonna blow!”

Everyone scrambled away from the truck.  Five seconds later, the explosive that the radio transmitter had also activated detonated.  Rollie’s pickup met its demise in a huge fireball.  The closest people to the blast were thrown to the ground from the concussion.

Inside the house, Cromwell heard the explosion.  He pulled a gun out of the desk drawer and ordered Daniel to sit in a chair across the room.  Then he went to the door and opened it.  “What’s going on?!” he yelled.

“The truck exploded!” One of his men inside the house replied.

“Damn, damn, damn!  That’s going to bring the fire department and the cops.  Get Cruise on the radio and tell him and his men to get rid of their weapons.  If any of them are wearing jackets, tell them to keep their sidearms.   I don’t want all of them unarmed.  What about the two idiots that caused all of this?”

“They’re both on the ground.  I think they’re either stunned or unconscious.”

“Good.  Leave them there.  And get that fire out before it spreads to the trees and shrubs!”

“Yes, sir!”

Cromwell spun away and slammed the door.  “I can’t believe this!”

Rollie and Mangela heard the explosion.  They immediately slipped into the utility room.  Dragging the unconscious body of the downed guard inside, they stuffed him into the broom closet.

“Leo, Frank, what’s our status?” the Aussie whispered.

“All of the men outside ran to the front of the house, Rollie,” Francis replied.

“That side of the house is still clear inside,” Leo said.  He looked at the screen that was showing an image of the living room.  “Cromwell’s talking to one of the guards.”

“Is Daniel still in that room?”

“Yeah.  And, Rollie?  Cromwell has a gun.”

The Aussie tensed, his heart rate increasing.  A scene from his memory flashed before his eyes.  “Leo, Mangela and I are going off-mic for a minute,” he murmured.

“What?  Rollie, what are you doing?”

“Just stand by.”

The Aussie pulled out the microphone that was in his shirt pocket and closed his fist around it.  Mangela did the same.  The eyes of the two men met.

“I need to get to Daniel, Mangela,” Rollie said.  “You’re going to have to take care of the guards in the house on your own.”

The Aborigine nodded.  “Go get your brother, Sonny Boy.”

Rollie looked at the gun in his hand.  He held it out to Mangela, who stared at it in surprise.  “Take it, Mangela.  You can’t use the boomerang in here.”

“I have my knife and that electric device that you gave me.”

“I know, but you need more than that.”

“What about you?  You will be unarmed.”

Rollie gazed intently into his teacher’s eyes.  “No, I won’t,” he said, his voice deadly calm.

Mangela searched his spiritual son’s eyes for a long moment, then nodded once.  He laid a hand on Rollie’s shoulder.  “May the Ancestor Spirits guide you, Katja,” he said, using his native language’s word for ‘son’.  He then took the tranquilizer gun.

Rollie opened the hand that held the microphone.  “Okay, Leo.  We’re leaving the utility room.  Make the call to the cops and get over to the front of the house.”

“Rollie, what are you up to?” the detective asked, concern clear in his voice.

“Nothing.  I’m going to go get Daniel.  Mangela will take care of the rest.”

“Be careful, pal.”

The Aussie and the Aborigine replaced their microphones in their pockets.  Silently, they slipped out of the utility room.  They both made their way to the living room.  A single man was in the room.  Mangela aimed the tranquilizer gun at him and pulled the trigger.  The man staggered and went to his knees.  Then he toppled over.  Rollie and Mangela went to him and dragged his body out of sight behind the couch.  They nodded to each other, then separated.  Rollie headed for the door to the study.  As he drew up to it, he heard voices on the other side.  He paused to listen.

“I told you, Cromwell.  I’m not Rollie Tyler,” Daniel said.  The minister could sense that Rollie was very close.  He just had to keep his captor’s attention until his brother arrived.

Cromwell laughed.  “What kind of fool do you take me for?  It would take a lot more than a fake American accent for you to convince me that you’re not Tyler.  I don’t know what you hope to gain with this pathetic attempt to fool me, but it won’t work.”

“I’d listen to him, if I were you,” said a new voice.

Cromwell spun around and stared in stunned disbelief at Rollie, who stood in the now open doorway.  The man looked back and forth between the brothers.  “What the hell is going on here?”

“I should think that would be obvious.”  Rollie turned to his brother.  “Are you okay, Daniel?”

The minister stood.  “Yeah.  I’m still a bit dizzy, but, other than that, I’m fine.”

Cromwell backed up toward the desk so that he could keep both men covered with his weapon.  He kept staring at them as they walked up to each other.  His eyes suddenly widened.  “You’re twins!”

“That’s right,” Rollie confirmed.

An expression of realization filled the man’s face.  “I don’t believe it.  How could I not have realized?”  He laughed shortly.  “How ironic.  After all these years, I finally had you, and I didn’t even know it.”

“What are you talking about?” Rollie asked.  Then, suddenly, it hit him, and all the pieces finally came together.  “You’re Frederic Carfield!  You’re the one who stole my brother.”

“Yes, I was Frederic Carfield, but I haven’t used that name in over thirty years, not since I went into hiding.”  He looked back and forth between the twins.  “So, you two got back together.  If it hadn’t been for that incompetent fool, Patterson, you’d have been together all along.”

“And where would that have been, Mister Cromwell?” Daniel asked.  “What rich client would have bought us?”

“There was no client.  I was the one who wanted you.”

“You?” Rollie asked in surprise.  “What for?”

“To exploit your talents, of course.”

Shocked, Rollie stared at the man.  “You knew?  Even then?”

“Yes.  But I didn’t know the extent of your abilities.  To be honest, I had no idea that you’d have the power to see the future.”

“What did you know?” Daniel asked.  “And how could you have known?  I was less than eight weeks old when you had me stolen from my family.”

“Did you know that you were both admitted to the hospital shortly before then?”

“No,” Rollie admitted.

“From all appearances, you had both been bitten by a poisonous insect.  You became quite ill.”  He turned to Daniel.  “However, upon examination, the doctors discovered that you had not been bitten.  Yet, though the blood tests did not show any sign of the insect’s toxin within you, you were experiencing all of the same symptoms as your brother.  As they treated your brother, you became well also.  As luck would have it, an acquaintance of mine, who was a physician, was visiting that hospital at the time.  He was intrigued by the case and had some other tests run on both of you.  They found out that your brainwave patterns matched precisely.  Not just close, an exact match.  But that alone wouldn’t explain how you both experienced the same illness.  There was something more going on, and he knew it.  He chose to contact me.”

“A physician friend?  Let me guess.  Owen Brier.” Rollie said.  “Or was it Doctor Kessler?”

“No, it was Owen.  Doctor Kessler was an old acquaintance of Owen’s.  They knew each other when Kessler was here in the States for a short time back in the late fifties.  It was through Owen that Kessler and I met and discovered our mutual interest in the paranormal.  Owen also knew of that interest, which is why he contacted me about you.  Once he told me about you two, I wanted to know more.  I hired the services of one of the local . . . um, what do you call them?  Clever men?”

Surprised, Rollie nodded.  “They’re also called men of high degree.”

“This clever man had something he called a Dreaming about you.  Afterwards, he told me that you both had great power in the Dreamtime, whatever that means.  He said that you would grow to possess tremendous ability, but only if you remained together.  He said something about your songlines being united as one, but if the link was broken, one of you would remain ignorant of your abilities, unless you were reunited.”

“One of us?” Daniel asked.

“Yes.  He also told me that you,” he looked at Rollie, “were the dominant one, the stronger.  Even without your brother, you would have great potential.  He also told me something else.  He said that you would have the power to bring sickness and death to your enemies without pointing the bone.  I didn’t fully understand what he meant by that, but after he told me those things, I decided that I wanted both of you, so I sent that idiot Patterson to get you.  But, not only did he fail to bring both of you to me, the one he did bring back was the one who was useless to me without the other.”  He turned to Daniel.  “Since you were worthless to me without your brother, I decided to get rid of you by giving you to somebody I could easily take you back from if I managed to get hold of your brother sometime in the future.”

“You were planning on stealing me away from my adoptive parents?” Daniel asked angrily.

Cromwell nodded.  “If it had been to my advantage.  But that stupid fool screwed everything up even more by rushing off to grab your brother, botching the job in the process.  I had to forget my plans and escape the country.  I lost track of both of you after that.  But look at us now.  All together at last.”  He smiled nastily.  “How amazing the twists of fate can be.”

The smile disappeared as he studied Rollie.  “I am guessing that the accident outside was not an accident at all, but, rather, a means to distract my men so that you could get in here.  I would like to know, though, why you came in here yourself instead of leaving your brother’s rescue in the hands of the police.”

“I had a premonition.  It warned me that, if the cops came, you would kill Daniel.”

Cromwell smiled again, nodding.  “Very good.  Your premonition was right.  If the police had showed up, I would have made sure your brother, whom I had thought was you, died before I was taken.  So, the question now is, are you and your friends out there alone or are the police on the way?  To be on the safe side, I will assume that the police are coming.  And, since the men I had stationed in the house seem to not be around, I will also assume that you incapacitated them.”  He motioned toward the door.  “Close the door.”  He looked at Daniel.  “And please draw the drapes.  I wouldn’t want any S.W.A.T. sharpshooters taking aim at me.”

Daniel looked at his brother questioningly.

“Do it, Daniel,” Rollie said.  He knew that he could disable Cromwell at any time, but he realized that this might be an opportunity to get all the answers they’d been searching for.  He could tell that the man had quite an ego and liked to talk about himself and his accomplishments, but Rollie guessed that, once Cromwell was in jail, the man would clam up.  The police had not arrived yet, so there was no harm in letting Cromwell talk for a while.  Leo was still listening in through the microphone, so he was, no doubt, aware of the situation.

Rollie shut the door as Daniel drew the drapes.

“Good.  Now, we’ll wait,” Cromwell said, sitting on the edge of the desk.  “Once the police arrive, I will use you two as hostages.  In the meantime, I have a couple of questions for you.  First of all, how did you find this place?”

“Doctor Kessler.”

“Really?  That surprises me.  I really didn’t think he would talk.  Or do we have your impressive talents to thank for that?  I have to wonder, though, exactly how you found this place since the good doctor did not know the address.  I can only guess that your abilities are also responsible for that.  You are far more talented than even I suspected.”  Cromwell looked at Daniel.  “I wonder what abilities are waiting to be discovered inside of you.”  He turned back to Rollie.  “My other question is, how did your friends discover that you were alive and where you were being held?”

“I got a message through to them,” Rollie replied shortly.

“A message?  A psychic message?”

The Aussie nodded.

“That’s what I thought.  So, I was right.  In spite of the inhibitor, you were still able to use your paranormal gifts.  That was supposed to be impossible.”

“Inhibitor?  That chip you put in my head?  Why did you put it there?”

“That was done on the advice of one of my psychics.  You see, you weren’t cooperating at all, even after a week of treatments, so I brought in a man whose particular talent was to get inside the minds of others.  He tried to get inside your head.  The result was rather startling.  He keeled over in a dead faint.”

Rollie’s eyes narrowed.  “I felt him.  I didn’t know who it was, but I felt somebody trying to get into my mind.  I stopped him.”

“You certainly did.  When he finally woke up, he refused to go anywhere near you.  He was terrified of you.  He gave me a warning.  He said that you had the power to destroy me and all that I’d worked for, that, if I did not kill you, it would be the end of everything.”

“But you ignored his warning.”

“I was not ready to give up my prize, especially after that.  But I did not ignore his warning.  I had that chip implanted in you as a safeguard.  Little did I know that you would defeat it.”

“Who was in Rollie’s car when it blew up?” Daniel asked.

“An employee of mine.  He was the correct height and weight, so I decided to use him.  I needed someone whose dental charts we could get hold of and switch for Tyler’s, otherwise I’d have used some homeless man instead of wasting an employee on that necessary part of the arrangements.”

“Wasting an employee?  You sound like you’re talking about office supplies,” Rollie said, sickened by the man’s complete lack of conscience.  “So, what about Patterson?  Did you waste him too or is he still around somewhere?”

“No, I got rid of him, him and that girlfriend of his.  His screw-ups cost me a lot of money.”

“You had your sister killed, too, didn’t you.”

“That’s right.  When I discovered that she had been caught, I knew that, sooner or later, she’d talk.  If she had revealed the truth behind the abduction, it wouldn’t have taken long for you to figure out that Frederic Carfield and Arthur Cromwell were one in the same.  That would have caused still more problems for me.”

“How did you find out that your sister had been arrested?  We kept it out of the papers.”

“I’ve known Joanne’s whereabouts for quite some time.  I had been considering getting rid of her simply because she was a loose end, but I’ve been a bit busy, so I never got around to it.  I did, however, have her phone line bugged.  When she called in the flight reservation to New York, I was concerned that something was up.  I had her followed.  My man saw her get arrested.  Up until now, I had wondered how, after all these years, the cops found out about the abduction.  Of course, now, I understand it.”

“After all this time, what made you decide to resume your original plans to use the paranormal abilities of others?” Daniel asked.

“Oh, I’ve been doing that for a long time.  I’ve had people with psychic talents in my employ whenever I could find someone of sufficient ability who was greedy enough not to balk at doing whatever I asked them to.  Eventually, I returned to this country with a new face and a new identity.  The psychics in my employ helped me rebuild my fortune.  But it wasn’t enough.  I wanted more.  I wanted someone who could give me the power, money and influence that I craved.”  Cromwell’s lips curled upward.  “Then I met Doctor Kessler again, who, by the way, is really named Vassily Sadovnik, originally from the U.S.S.R.”

“I know,” Rollie told him.

“You do?  Ah, now I see.  That’s how you got him to talk.  I should imagine that the CIA will have quite a field day with poor Vassily.”  He chuckled nastily.  “As I was saying, I quite fortunately happened to meet Vassily again in, of all places, a psychic fair in New York.  He’d been in this country for several years, but was going nowhere.  We began to talk, and, together, we came up with a plan that would give us both what we wanted.”

“The machine,” Daniel said.

“Yes.  That was a vital part of it.  Part of Vassily’s background was in the field of mind control, which you probably also already knew.  With the help of some rather brilliant experts in electronics and several other fields, we created the machine.  It took years and a lot of money to develop, but I believed that it would be worth the investment.  As the machine was being created, I got busy with the other facets of the plan.  While in exile from this country, I had gone back to school and graduated from several business courses, as well as getting some knowledge in electronics.  I put that education to work and established Cassandra Electronics, which would act as a front for my real business.”

“An information brokerage,” Rollie said.

Cromwell nodded.  “I began looking in earnest for psychics with enough talent to provide me with the information I wanted.  I set up several paranormal testing facilities around the country, looking for potential candidates.  They were all staffed by psychics, those who had the ability to sense paranormal skills in others.  A man named Abel Striker was the most talented among them.  He canvassed the streets of New York, seeking other people with psychic potential.  He did not have much success.  That is until you came along.  He bumped into you on the street one day and instantly sensed your immense ability.  He followed you to your car and got your license.  Once we found out who you were, we started watching you.  It soon became clear that either you knew nothing about your abilities or were choosing not to use them.  Then, a few days later, Striker witnessed that incident with the bus, when you warned the driver about the brake fluid leak.  That’s when he chose to approach you.  When you walked in the door of that psychic testing facility, everyone there knew within seconds that you were by far the strongest psychic that any of them had ever met.  The tests they ran on you were merely window dressing to make things look kosher.  They told me that you had an amazing amount of raw talent.  But they also told me that you were the kind of man who could never be bought.”

“So, you decided to kidnap me and try to take control of my mind with your new toy.”

“Yes.  I wanted you to be mine.  But you just wouldn’t cooperate, not even after three months.”  Cromwell shook his head.  “Unbelievable.  Was that another facet of your abilities?  I know that you used some form of biofeedback to control your heart rate and blood pressure.  Do you also have a way to control pain?  I would love to know what your full potential really is.”

Just then, Leo’s voice came over the earpiece.  “Rollie, the police will be here any second.  If you can take Cromwell out, now’s the time.”

Rollie smiled nastily at Cromwell.  “You want to know what my full potential is?  I can arrange that.  How would you like a demonstration?”  He looked down at the hand that was holding the gun.  A moment later, Cromwell cried out in pain, the gun falling from his grasp.  He grabbed hold of the injured hand.

The man stared at the Aussie.  “What did you do?”

“You should have paid more attention to what that clever man told you, Cromwell,” Rollie said in a dangerously low voice.  “I could kill you where you stand without laying a finger on you.  I could make you suffer more horribly than the worse diseases known to man.  All it would take is a thought, one single thought.”  He took a step toward Cromwell, who backed up, eyes widening with fear.  “So, what will it be?  Shall I make you experience the pain of a heart attack, like you did to your sister?”  He took another step, making Cromwell back up even more.  “Shall I make you feel the same kind of agony you put me through, pain so excruciating that you are certain that hell couldn’t be any worse?”  Rollie began taking another step, but was stopped by a hand on his arm.  He turned to look at Daniel.

‘Please don’t, Rollie,’ his brother pleaded silently.  ‘You’re better than this.’

‘Don’t worry, Daniel.  It’s all right.’

Daniel looked deep into his sibling’s eyes and saw the truth there.  Despite all the suffering that Arthur Cromwell had subjected Rollie to, the Aussie was not going to do the same thing to him.  In spite of everything that had happened to him, Rollie had too much integrity to deliberately do that to another living creature.  His words were nothing more than a way to instill fear in the man.

Rollie turned back to Cromwell, who was staring back and forth between them.

“You’re speaking telepathically, aren’t you?” the man asked excitedly, forgetting his fear for the moment.  “I knew it!  I knew that there had to be a complete psychic connection between you, so complete that you mirror each other’s physical suffering.  I wonder.  If one of you dies, would the other die, too?”

“You’re finished, Cromwell,” Rollie said, not answering the man.  “You’re going down big time.  I’m wired.  Everything you just told us is now on tape.  We’ve got you for at least four counts of murder.  Add to that attempted treason, kidnapping, assault with the intent to kill, and too many other charges for me to mention.  Regardless of whether it’s Missouri, New York, or the feds that get you in the end, my guess is that you’ll get the death penalty.”

Cromwell glared at him.  “I should have killed you when I had the chance.”

“No, what you should have done is left me the hell alone.”  Rollie glanced at Daniel.  “On the other hand, it was because you took me that Daniel and I at last found each other.  In that way, you actually did me a favor.  How’s that for irony, Mister Cromwell?  You were the one who separated us, and, in the end, you were the one who started the events that brought us back together, which ultimately resulted in your downfall.”

The sudden sound of gunfire outside startled everyone.  Rollie and Daniel turned toward the sound, taking their eyes off Cromwell.  The man lunged for his desk, grabbing a second gun that he had hidden in the drawer.

In a blinding instant of time, both Rollie and Daniel had a violent vision of a gun going off, a chest spattering with blood, and one of them falling lifelessly to the floor.

“No!” they both cried.  Rollie attempted to push Daniel out of the way, but the sudden image of his brother’s death gave the minister extra strength, and he pulled Rollie with him.  Desperately, Rollie psychically struck at Cromwell.  The man’s knees buckled just as he pulled the trigger.  Daniel cried out in pain as the bullet struck his arm.

“Daniel!”  Rollie reached for him, terrified.

“I’m okay, Rollie.  It’s all right,” Daniel said, clutching his arm where the bullet had grazed him.

His eyes dark with anguish, Rollie took out his handkerchief and pressed it against the wound.  “That was a bloody stupid thing you did,” he said, his voice shaking.

“It wasn’t stupid if it resulted in both of us coming out alive,” Daniel replied quietly, catching his brother’s gaze.

Rollie nodded, understanding what Daniel was saying.  “Leo, call an ambulance,” he said into the mic.  “Daniel’s injured.”

“Is it bad?” the cop asked.

“No, just a flesh wound, by what I can see.  But--”

Rollie’s voice broke off abruptly as a warning of danger blared through him.  His head snapped about, and he saw Cromwell, who was lying on the ground, pick up his gun and aim it at Daniel’s unprotected back.  Yet again, Rollie saw the vision of his brother’s death, only, this time, in the blink of an eye, the vision changed, and he knew what he had to do.

Striking at Cromwell’s mind with a force greater than he had ever used before, Rollie threw himself in front of his brother.  Cromwell’s scream of sheer agony accompanied the sound of the gun’s report.  Rollie felt something slam into his chest, followed by a white-hot lance of pain.

“Rollie!” Daniel screamed, catching his brother as he collapsed.  He lowered him to the floor, staring in horror at the blood that was spreading across Rollie’s chest.  “No.  Oh, dear God, no.”  He grabbed the handkerchief that had been used on his arm and pressed it against the wound, knowing that his brother was going to die if he did not get immediate medical attention.  “Please don’t do this, Rollie.  Please don’t leave us,” he begged.

“Daniel,” Rollie gasped, choking on the blood in his throat.  “Tell Angie that I love her.  Please tell her to live for me.”

“No!  Don’t you give up on us.  You’ve got to live, Rollie.  I thought I’d lost my brother once.  It’s not going to happen again.  I won’t let it happen.  I won’t let you die!”

Rollie fought to remain conscious, clinging to life with what remained of his strength.  But he could feel himself slipping away into darkness and knew he wasn’t going to last much longer.  “Angie.  Want to see Angie,” he whispered, struggling for every breath he took.

“She’s coming, Rollie.  She’s right outside,” Daniel assured him, choking back his sobs.

Just then, someone came rushing into the room.  Daniel looked up and saw that it was Leo.  The cop’s face turned ashen when he saw Rollie.

“Oh, God.”  He spun around and yelled out the doorway for someone to call another ambulance, then he hurried up to them and knelt at his friend’s side.  “Rollie?  Help is on the way.  Just hang on.”

“You hear that, Rollie?  Just hold onto me.  Hold on and don’t let go,” Daniel pleaded, feeling, even as he spoke the words, his brother slipping away from him.  Helplessly, he watched Rollie’s eyes glaze over.

With his fading consciousness, Rollie could feel Angie coming to him.  With the last of his strength, he tried to call out to her with his mind, to tell her that he wanted her to live, that he didn’t want his death to be her death, too.  Then he told her that he loved her.  As the blackness surrounded him, Rollie fixed his gaze on Daniel.  “Love . . . you . . . Brother,” he gasped.  Then his eyes slid closed, and he went limp in Daniel’s arms.

“No!” Daniel cried.  Through the link with his brother, he felt the flame of Rollie’s life being extinguished.  Desperate, working on instinct alone, Daniel closed his eyes and dove in after it.  For a moment, nothing happened, then, all at once, he felt his consciousness reach another level.  He opened his eyes, and there before him was a vista of snow-capped mountains and the sapphire waters of a bay.  He realized that it was a view from Hope Island.

“Daniel,” said a familiar voice behind him.  He turned to see Rollie standing there.

“Rollie?  What’s happening?  How did we get here?  This is Hope Island.”

“We’re in the Dreamtime, Daniel.  Only, this time, it was you who brought us here.”

“But it doesn’t look the same as when you brought Angie and me here.”

“No, it wouldn’t.  When some people walk in the Dreamtime, they see the place that is most significant to them, the one place that is or was the greatest influence in their life.  For me, that place is Australia, at Kata Tjuta.  For you, it’s Hope Island.”

“But how did I bring us here?  I don’t know how to do things like that.”

“Well, apparently, you do, Brother.  It could be because I brought you into the Dreamtime once already or it might be through our link that you were able to do this.  I don’t know.”

“I do,” Daniel said, all at once knowing the answer.  “It’s because it was for you.  God helped me do this for you.”

Rollie smiled.  “Then I’m glad He did.  I don’t want you to live with the regret that you never got the chance to say goodbye, like I never did with Mum.”

Rollie’s statement sent pain through Daniel’s soul.  He wasn’t ready to say goodbye to his brother.  He’d only just found him.  He couldn’t lose him.

“No, Rollie.  Please.  I can’t lose you,” Daniel begged.

“I’m sorry, Daniel.  I don’t want to die.  I want to live.  But, more than that, I want you to live.  I couldn’t let you die.  I had to save you.”

“You saw Cromwell shoot and kill me in your vision, didn’t you,” Daniel said, now crying.

“Yes.  I knew then that, if I couldn’t stop that moment from happening, I’d have to do this.  That’s why I broke your link to my pain.  I couldn’t let you feel this with me.”

“Oh, Rollie.  You shouldn’t have done it.  You should have told me.”  To his horror, Daniel watched Rollie’s form begin to fade.  He rushed to his brother.  “No!  You need to hang on.  You can’t let go.  You have to fight.”

“I’m trying, Daniel.  I’m trying as hard as I can, but I’m so tired.”

“Don’t you dare give up, Rollie!  After everything you fought through, after going through three months of torment when anyone else would have given up within a few days, you can’t let this beat you.”  Seeing Rollie’s form lose more substance, Daniel cried, “Think of Angie!  Think of what your death would do to her.  You know what she went through when she thought you were dead.  How much worse is it going to be for her now that she finally has you in the way that she’s wanted for so long?  It will destroy her!”

“Angie,” Rollie sobbed.  He looked off into the distance, into the future that would take place if he died.  He saw Angie at his funeral, her face a picture of unbearable grief, every spark of her will to live gone, surviving only because he had wanted her to.  Then he saw her weeks later, numb and empty of everything that made her feel alive.  She stepped off a curb, not watching for traffic.  There was the squealing of breaks and the sickening sound of impact.

“No,” Rollie whispered brokenly, watching Angie die, seeing her funeral, Daniel there, crying tears of inconsolable sorrow.  “No, please.”  Weeping, he turned back to his brother.  “Daniel, help me,” he begged, holding out his hand.  “I need your help.”

Daniel stepped forward and grasped the outstretched hand.  “I’m here, Rollie.  I’m right here.  I won’t let go.  I’ll never let go.”  He wrapped his brother in his embrace and closed his eyes.  Then everything faded away to black.

CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR

Angie and Dingo slowly rose from the ground.  They had watched as Cromwell’s men quickly hid their weapons in anticipation of the police and fire department’s arrival.  Pretending to be frightened by the fire, Angie and Dingo moved toward the gate, using the confusion to cover their retreat.  They both knew that they needed to be out of there before the cops arrived, just in case there was a shootout.  Fortunately, Cromwell’s men weren’t paying much attention to them.  They were more interested in trying to keep the fire from spreading.

Reaching the other side of the gate, Angie and Dingo waited.  Angie looked over her shoulder and saw Leo’s car pull up and park a few yards away.

Several minutes later, they heard the sound of approaching sirens.  That was their clue to get out of there.  They made a beeline for the closest cover.  Soon, a phalanx of police cars came into view.  The cars screeched to a halt in front of the gate.  Uniformed police officers leapt out, drew their guns, and told everyone to drop their weapons and put their hands up.

The next minute or so was total chaos.  Cromwell’s men, taken totally by surprise, froze.  Then some of them turned tail and ran.  Several cops went after them.  The rest of the cops quickly subdued the other guards, who were too smart to shoot it out with the odds that much against them.  Leo and Frank came up to Angie and Dingo.

“Shall we join the party?” the older detective asked.  They all did so.  Leo introduced himself to the Mount Vernon P.D.  Seeing that everything was under control there, he turned to Frank.  “I’m going to go in.  You stay out here with the troops.”  He borrowed a walkie talkie from one of the other cops.

Just then, the sound of gunfire coming from somewhere on the far side of the property startled everyone.  Seconds later, another gunshot rang out . . . from inside the house.

“Rollie!” Angie cried, suddenly fearful that something had gone wrong.  She started moving toward the house, but was stopped by Leo’s hand.

“Stay here, Angie,” he said firmly.  “From what I can hear, they’re okay.  Frank, you keep her here until I tell you it’s clear.”  He then took off for the house.  Two of the uniformed cops followed.  Leo had covered only a short distance when Angie saw him touch the ear he had the earpiece in.

Suddenly, there was a second gunshot from inside the house.  An instant later, an indescribable feeling of anguish speared through Angie with such violence that she almost went to her knees.

“Rollie!” she screamed, knowing with absolute certainty that something horrible had just happened to him.  Distantly, she heard Leo’s voice come over the walkie talkies the cops were carrying, calling for an ambulance.  Angie leapt toward the house, but Frank grabbed hold of her.  “No!”  She began to sob, somehow knowing deep inside her that Rollie was dying.  “Rollie!”  Angie began struggling against Frank, fighting to break away.  “Let me go!  Let me go!” she screamed hysterically.

Frank looked at the terror and anguish in Angie’s eyes and knew that he had no right to stop her.  The moment he released her, Angie took off at a dead run, streaking across the distance as fast as her legs would carry her.  In her mind, she heard Rollie’s voice calling out to her, telling her that he wanted her to live, that he didn’t want her to die.  He then told her that he loved her.  And then, there was silence.

Her chest heaving, Angie barreled into the house and headed straight to where she knew Rollie was.  The sight that met her eyes made her stomach clenched so hard that she thought she was going to throw up.  Rollie was lying still and silent on the floor.  His chest was drenched in blood, his face colorless.  Daniel was holding him in his arms, his own shirt red with his brother’s blood.  The minister was utterly motionless, his eyes closed, a blank expression on his face.  Leo was on the other side of Rollie.  He was pressing what looked like a piece of plastic wrap to the gaping wound in the Aussie’s chest.  Mangela was crouched at Daniel’s side.  The minister’s bodyguards were all standing in a group, staring at the scene.

“Rollie!” Angie cried.  She fell to her knees and reached for the man she loved.

“No, Angie!” Mangela said sharply.  “Daniel is in the Dreamtime with him.  He’s trying to help him.  You must not disturb him.”

Angie watched the brothers helplessly, praying harder than she ever had in her life.  She heard Dingo come in with only a portion of her consciousness.

“Oh, God,” the Austra