Though they hated doing it, Rollie and Angie finally returned to the harsh reality of Lionel Udell’s partner.  Climbing into the car, they went back to the loft.  There, Rollie and Angie created a computer-generated replica of the man he had seen.  It had been only a brief glance, and the man had been in shadow, so Rollie was surprised at the amount of detail he was able to recall.

He and Angie stared at the face displayed on the monitor.  It was the face of a man in his mid to late fifties.

“The problem is that we don’t know if this is what he really looks like,” Rollie said.  “Since Udell was wearing a disguise, it’s pretty likely that this guy was, too.”  A thoughtful expression came to the Aussie’s face.  “All right.  Now, we could sit here and adjust this image to account for all kinds of latex padding and makeup, but it would take forever.  Ange, is there a way that we could program the computer to do it?”

“Well, yeah, but there would be hundreds of possibilities, Rol, way too many to give to Mira.”

“We’ll have to trim it down to the twenty or so most generalized versions and hope that we hit close enough to the mark for someone to recognize him.”

Sometime later, printouts in hand, they headed over to the Midtown South precinct.

Mira reacted to Rollie’s news of a partner in her usual calm fashion.

“What?!  You mean this thing isn’t over yet?  The killer in the alley wasn’t Udell after all?  Oh, the captain’s going to love this when I tell him.  On second thought, I’ll let you tell him.”

Just then, Frank came up to them.  “Hey, Rollie.  How are you feeling?  Did you. . . .”  He was suddenly staring back and forth between Rollie and Angie, his brow puckered slightly.  Then, all at once, a huge grin spread across his face.  “Well, well.  It’s about time.”

“About time?  For what?” asked Mira.

“If you can’t see it, Mira, I’m not about to enlighten you.  You can figure it out for yourself.”

“What on Earth are you talking about, Francis?”

“Just something that I’ve been waiting to happened for quite a while now.”  He winked at Rollie.  “But, that is a discussion that can wait for another time.  Did I hear right?  There’s someone else involved in the shooting in the alley and what happened on the set?”

Rollie nodded.  He knew what it was that Frank had seen.  The Aussie was surprised that the entire precinct didn’t see it.  Surely his and Angie’s love for each other must be as plain to see as a bush of red roses growing on a snow bank.  Every time he looked at her, he saw in her eyes a light so warm and bright that it filled him with wonder.  He knew that he must be looking at her in the same way.

All four of them went to Captain VanDuran’s office.  The captain took the news better than they had expected.  He looked at the pictures Rollie had brought.

“And you have no way of knowing which of these is correct, if any?”

“I’m afraid not,” admitted Rollie.

VanDuran handed the pictures back to Mira.  “Well, perhaps our friends at the FBI will see one that rings a bell.”  He studied Rollie and Angie.  “You do realize that, as soon as those pictures get circulated, this man will likely find out.  It won’t take much for him to figure out the source of the information.  You can be pretty sure he’ll come looking to get rid of the witnesses.”

“Actually, we’re counting on it,” Rollie said.  “The only way we’re going to nail this bugger is to draw him out in the open.”

“We’ll have to assign some officers to guard you.  We’d better start that today.”

“Uh . . . we’d rather not.  Not today, anyway.  There are some things that Angie and I have planned, and a police escort would be a serious hindrance.”

“This isn’t anything that I need to know about, is it?”

“No.  I promise this has nothing to do with the case.” He glanced at Angie, who smiled, almost shyly.

“All right, then.  I guess you’re probably safe tonight, but first thing in the morning there will be a police car parked outside both of your places.”

“Actually, I think it would be safer if Angie stayed at the loft until this thing is over.  With the security system and the fact that there is only one visible entrance, it will be a lot safer and a lot easier to guard.”  He turned to Angie.  “That is if it’s okay with you, Ange.”

Angie tried not to smile.  Even if they didn’t sleep together, she still liked the idea of staying there with him.  “I agree.  It would be the safest thing to do.”

After they’d left the captain’s office, Mira pulled them aside.  “All right, you two.  What’s going on?  There is definitely something happening here.  What are you doing tonight that’s so important?”

“Mira, maybe it’s none of your business what they’re doing,” Francis remarked.  “Rollie said it had nothing to do with the case, and I really don’t think that he would lie about that.”

“Maybe yes, maybe no.  It would all depend.  If he had some harebrained scheme planned that he knew the captain wouldn’t go for, he might.  It wouldn’t be the first time he went off and did something on his own.”

Rollie sighed.  “Mira, what can I say that will convince you that nothing Angie and I do tonight will have anything whatsoever to do with this case?  Do you want me to swear an oath?  I will, if that will make you happy.  I was hoping, though, that our friendship was strong enough that you could trust me when I make a promise to you.”

Mira’s expression changed to one of shame.  “I’m sorry, Rollie.  I just don’t want you going off and doing something that will get you killed.  You already cheated death once not very long ago.  Push it too far, and your luck may run out.”

“I know, Mira.  Believe me, the last thing I want to do is endanger mine or Angie’s life, especially now.”

“Why especially now?  No, never mind.  I imagine I’ll find out what you are up to eventually.”

“I promise you, Mira.  When we’re ready to say something, you will be the first. . . .” He glanced at Francis.  “Make that the second person to know.”

The doorbell rang, and Angie suffered a moment of sheer panic.  He was here, and she wasn’t ready yet.  She looked at herself in the mirror.  She had just started removing the dress she was wearing, having decided that it wasn’t good enough, not for this date.  With a sigh, Angie zipped it back up.  It would have to do.  She slipped on her shoes, grabbed her purse, and went to the door.  She opened it to the sight of Rollie looking devastatingly handsome in a charcoal grey suit.

Rollie stood in the doorway trying to catch his breath.  It had gotten away from him the moment he laid eyes on the exquisite woman who had opened the door.  Popping his eyeballs back in their sockets, Rollie murmured, “You look incredible.”

Angie blushed.  It was not the first compliment she had received from a date, but, coming from Rollie, with him saying it in the way that he did and looking at her like he was, made it seem so much nicer.

Rollie pulled out some flowers he’d had hidden behind his back.  Eleven white roses encircled a single blood red one.

“Oh, they’re beautiful, Rollie!”  She took the bouquet and deeply inhaled the aroma.  She looked up to find Rollie gazing at her with love shining in his eyes.

“There’s something else.  Look inside the red rose.”

Surprised, Angie gently moved aside the crimson petals.  There, nestled within the velvety folds, was a fragile silver chain.  On the end of that chain was a single black opal surrounded by ten tiny diamonds.  Fiery sparks of red and gold flashed within the opal’s blue-black depths.

Angie gasped.  “Oh, Rollie.  It is so beautiful.  How did you know that I love opals?”

“Oh, I saw you admiring them once in a window a long time ago.  I remember that the display was full of diamonds, and sapphires, and emeralds, but your eyes went straight to the opals.”

“But, Rollie, this must have cost a fortune!  I can’t possibly--“

Rollie pressed a finger against her lips.  “Don’t you dare, Angela Ramirez,” Rollie interrupted.  “You can accept it and you will.  Besides, I can’t think of a better way to spend my money than on the woman I love.”

Angie threw her arms around him, holding him tight.  “Thank you.”  She lifted her head and was greeted by a long, slow kiss that left her breathless and slightly light-headed.  Brushing her lips against Rollie’s ear, she whispered, “Are you sure we’re not skipping too many steps?”

Rollie laughed with delight and planted a kiss on the end of her nose.  “Go put the flowers in some water, then I’ll help you put the necklace on.”

Angie went to fetch a vase and put water in it.  When she returned, she found Rollie looking at her collection of photos.  There were some of her father and her mother and some of friends, but most of them were of her and Rollie.  The Aussie picked up one of the frames.  It held a picture of him, her, and Manny.  She had been eleven years old when the picture was taken, and Rollie, a gangling nineteen-year-old.  The photo had been taken shortly after they first met.  As she silently watched, Rollie lovingly touched the photograph, a gentle smile on his face.

“You were beautiful even then,” he said.

Startled, Angie came into the room the rest of the way.  She hadn’t known Rollie was aware of her presence.  She glanced at the picture and snorted.

“Beautiful!  I was nothing but a skinny, gawky creature.”

The Aussie turned to her.  “No, beautiful.”  The tone of his voice made it clear that he would stand for no argument.

Angie’s eyes dropped.  She felt heat come to her cheeks again.  “Well, you know what they say about beauty.”

“Yes, and this beholder isn’t going to let you say anything bad about Angie Ramirez, you hear?”

“Yes, Boss,” replied Angie meekly.

She placed the vase on a table and filled it with the roses, then she turned to Rollie and handed him the opal.  He steered her over to a wall mirror.  Standing behind her, he put the necklace on her, then placed a kiss on the back of her neck, sending goose pimples all the way down her spine.  Together, they looked at the reflection of the opal in the mirror.

“It goes with your dress.”

“Yes, it does, doesn’t it.”  The color of the gem matched the midnight blue dress she was wearing.  Angie was now glad that she hadn’t changed.

“Are you ready?”

She nodded and grabbed her wrap.  “So, where are you taking me?”

Rollie gave her a secretive smile.  “You’ll see.”

Down in the parking lot sat a white limo, a uniformed chauffeur standing beside it.  Upon seeing them, the woman smiled and opened one of the back doors.

“Rollie!  A limo?”

“Of course.  I want to spend my time looking at you, not the road.”

Settled into the plushness of the seats, Rollie and Angie held hands as the limo left the parking lot.  Angie was trying to guess where Rollie might be taking her for dinner.  There were so many expensive and romantic places to choose from.  As the drive continued, she became more and more curious.  What restaurant was way out here?

Finally, they pulled into a parking lot.  Rollie got out first, then offered his hand to Angie as she slid out.  She gazed at the restaurant.  It was like a precious jewel set among common stones.  The pure white walls and half-columns rising on either side of an intricately carved double door gave the place a colonial look.  Behind the etched glass bay windows, Angie saw a candle-lit interior.

As they entered, Angie gazed around at the rose-veined marble floors, the deep blue draperies and ceiling-high tapestries.  The soft strains of classical music caressed the air.

Once they were seated, Angie turned to her companion.  “Rollie, this place is wonderful.  However did you find it?  I never even knew it existed.”

“Neither did I until a couple of hours ago.  Do you remember Monte?”

“Sure.  Didn’t he used to work at La France Café?”

Rollie nodded.  “Well, I called him up and asked him where I should take the woman I love more than life itself, and he told me about this place.”

Rollie’s comment made her breath catch in her throat.  She forgot all about their lovely surroundings and focused all her attention on him.  She barely noticed the waiter as he placed the menus on their table, then asked if they would like an aperitif.  Rollie ordered a fine Chardonnay, then returned his attention to Angie.

“You are amazing, do you know that?” Angie remarked.  “Only you could manage to buy a dozen roses, an exquisite opal necklace, rent a limo, and get reservations for a place like this all in only three hours.”  Her eyes narrowed in suspicion.  “Or have you had this planned for a while?”

“Until this afternoon, I could only dream that we would one day be doing this.”

“Me too.”  She looked about at their surroundings.  “This is even better than what I dreamed.”

After a while, the waiter returned.  Both Rollie and Angie ordered roast lamb with sauteed asparagus tips and baby carrots.  Rollie added to that the restaurant’s best bottle of wine.

The meal was spent with the two of them quietly talking about just about everything.  Though they had known each other a good part of their lives, it amazed them how much there still was to learn about each other.  The rest of the people in the restaurant might as well not have been there.  Their eyes were only for each other.  If the restaurant had crumbled around them they would scarcely have noticed.

The meal was finished and Angie was feeling pleasantly relaxed when Rollie took her hand and led her into another room.  She was greeted by the sight of a handful of couples dancing to music from a live band.  Enfolding her in his arms, Rollie began dancing with her, their bodies swaying in time with the music.  Their eyes locked upon each other, they moved about the floor, somehow avoiding the other dancers.  Perhaps it was that the others on the floor made room for them.

Several minutes into the dance, Rollie lifted Angie’s hand to his lips and placed a kiss upon the tender skin of its palm.  Angie gave a slow, deep sigh of contentment and lay her head upon his chest.  They continued dancing like that, with Angie listening to the steady beat of his heart.  Only a few months ago, that heart had stopped beating, almost forever.  Angie refused to let thoughts of that time dwell in her mind.  Rollie was alive and here with her, and no one was going to take him away.

Rollie closed his eyes and lay his head against Angie’s hair.  He never wanted this night to end.  How blind he had been not to see the treasure that had been there working side by side with him for all those years.  If it had not been for Victor Loubar’s deception, he may never have.  How ironic that his greatest enemy would be the one to begin a whole new wonderful life for him and Angie.  Rollie smiled slightly, wondering what the man’s reaction would have been if Rollie told him that.

They danced for hours, sometimes speaking softly, but most of the time in silence, neither one of them wanting the evening to end.  By the time Rollie and Angie left the restaurant, it was nearly midnight.  Instead of climbing into the limo, Rollie told the chauffeur to drive down the road about a mile and wait for them.  He then put his arm around Angie’s waist and started walking.

“We mustn’t forget the moonlight stroll,” he commented.

The mile was traveled in almost complete silence, each of them content just to be in the other’s company.  When they finally reached the limo, they were both wishing that the walk could have lasted several hours longer.  All the way back to Angie’s apartment, they sat holding each other, Angie’s head pillowed against Rollie’s shoulder.

At the apartment, they got the small suitcase that Angie had packed earlier for her stay at the loft.  As Rollie carried the case, Angie grabbed the vase of roses, which she wasn’t about to let go to waste.  The limo then drove them on to the loft.  As they got out of the car, Rollie handed the driver a generous tip.  Thanking him warmly, the woman turned to Angie.

“May I speak with you a moment, Miss Ramirez?”

Angie told Rollie to go on and unlock the door.  Rollie took the suitcase out of the trunk, giving the chauffeur a curious glance.  Then he left the two women to talk in private.

“I just wanted to tell you that you are a very lucky woman,” the chauffeur said after he’d left.

Angie’s eyebrows rose in surprise at the woman’s comment.

The chauffeur continued.  “I’ve been doing this kind of work for quite a while now.  I’ve chauffeured a lot of couples, but I have never seen two people who were so utterly in love as you and Mister Tyler.  The way he looks at you--that’s a forever kind of love.  Don’t ever let him go, Miss Ramirez.  Guys like him don’t come along very often.”

Angie smiled at the woman.  “Yes, I know.”

Inside, Rollie asked her what the chauffeur wanted.

Angie set the roses down on the kitchen counter.  “Oh, she just told me how lucky I was to have someone like you.”  A mischievous smile curved her lips.  “I told her that she didn’t know you well enough.”

“Oh, is that so?”  Rollie grabbed her and started tickling her.  Angie’s laughter was silenced as Rollie’s lips found hers.  They clung to each other as their passion ignited.  Angie felt her feet leave the floor as Rollie lifted her up to his height.  She wrapped her arms around his shoulders and buried her fingers in his hair.

Minutes--hours?--later, Rollie raised his head.  “If we keep this up, we may end up skipping all of the steps completely.”  He slowly lowered her to the floor.  “So, who gets the bed?”

“It’s your home, Rollie.  You should be the one to sleep in the bed.  Besides, you’re a lot taller than I am, as you so aptly proved only a moment ago.”

“But, what kind of host would I be if I made my guest sleep on the couch while I took the bed?”

“A deal, then.  Since we don’t know how long it will be before this assassin shows up, I may have to stay here a few nights.  We’ll take turns on the couch, okay?”

“Sounds fair to me.  I’ll take it tonight.  I’m not feeling particularly sleepy anyway.”

Retrieving her suitcase, Angie headed for the bathroom to change.  When she came out a few minutes later, she found Rollie already on the couch, his eyes closed.  They opened at her approach.

Rollie smiled and held out his hand.  “Come over here.”

“Ooh!  Is it time for some cuddling?”

“You betcha.  This feels like a perfect cuddling moment to me.”

Angie snuggled up against him, laying her head on his chest.  They lay in silence, Rollie slowly stroking her hair.  Angie sighed and closed her eyes.

“Can we do this forever, Rol?”

“I don’t think that will be long enough, Ange.  Not nearly.”  He echoed her sigh with one of his own.

And that is how they fell asleep, held in the warmth of each other’s embrace.
 

CHAPTER FORTY-TWO -- SPREADING THE NEWS

Rollie awoke to the sensation of Angie’s body pressed against his.  He looked down at her sleeping face, thinking how much he would love to wake up next to her every morning for the rest of his life.  He looked at his watch.  It was 6 a.m.  Their bodyguards would probably be there within the next couple of hours.  Rollie leaned forward and kissed Angie’s eyelids.  She stirred at the touch.  Her eyes opened and she looked up at him, a smile instantly coming to her face.

“Good morning, Sunshine,” the Aussie greeted her.

“Mmm.  Is it morning already?  I was having such a nice dream.”

“Oh?  Did I play a part?”

“Nope, not a sign of you,” she said in an offhand manner, then ruined the whole effect by smiling.  “What time is it?”

“Six o’clock.  Our babysitters will, no doubt, be making an appearance pretty soon.”

“Oh, yeah.  I forgot about them.”  The expression on her face suddenly changed.  “Well, Rollie, we really blew it, didn’t we.”

“What do you mean?” the Aussie asked in surprise.

“We slept together on the first date after all.”  A slow grin spread across her face.

Rollie grew a matching grin.  “Yep, we sure did.  So much for our self-control.”  He soundly kissed her on the lips, then gave her behind a playful swat.  “Now, get!  Go take your shower and get dressed before I really do have a lapse of self-control.”

Angie climbed off the couch, grabbed her suitcase, and headed for the bathroom.

Sometime later, she came out to be greeted by the smell of cooking food.  She found Rollie busy making a Denver omelette and hash browns.  She came up behind him and wrapped her arms around his waist.

“Mmm.  You read my mind, Rol.  Why don’t you go grab a quick shower and I’ll finish this.”

“You sure?  I wouldn’t want to put my guest to work slaving over a hot stove.”  There was a playful grin on his face.

She nudged him in the ribs with her elbow.  “Move it, Tyler.”

“All right.  I’m going, I’m going.”  He grabbed a quick kiss, then left her to finish the cooking.

By the time Rollie came back out, breakfast was ready and on the counter.  They sat in a companionable silence for a while as they ate, then Angie brought up the subject they had been avoiding since they left the police station the previous day.

“Have you thought about what we’re going to do about Udell’s partner?”

“I was running through some ideas this morning.  I kinda had other things on my mind last night.”  Rollie shared a warm smile with Angie.  Then he grew serious.  “The thing is, he could be anywhere.  It might be days or even weeks before he finds out his face is being plastered all over the Internet.  That is if one of those generated images is close enough to the real thing that someone will be able to identify him.”

There was a knock on the door, and Blue immediately started barking.

“Quiet, Blue.”  Rollie walked over to the security monitor. “Show the outside camera feed, Blue.”  The image of the area in front of the door popped up on the monitor.  A police car was sitting outside, and two officers were at the door.  “The babysitters have arrived,” the Aussie announced.  He went to the door and spoke briefly with the cops.

“I can’t say that I like being watched all the time by bodyguards,” Angie said as Rollie came back to finish his breakfast.

“Neither do I, but, unfortunately, it’s necessary.  Just be glad they’re not in here.  If they were, I wouldn’t be able to do this.”  He leaned over and gave her a kiss.

“Mmm.  You’re right.  That would be tragic,” Angie remarked, pulling him to her for a second kiss.

“Very tragic,” Rollie agreed and brought his mouth back to hers.  His arms went around her as the third kiss grew in passion.  Angie was soon on his lap, Rollie’s hands caressing her body.  They finally pulled away from each other with a gasp.

“This is not going to be easy,” Rollie breathed.

“No, it’s not.  But nothing worthwhile is.”

The Aussie gazed upon Angie’s face, feeling her love for him.  It was there in every touch, every kiss.  How could he not have recognized that when they shared their first kiss?  Probably because he was so afraid to let himself believe that Angie loved him that he was blind to the evidence right there before him.  Apparently, it had been the same for Angie.  He had poured all his love for her into that first kiss, yet she’d still had doubts about his feelings.

“What are you smiling about?” Angie asked, seeing his lips turn up as he gazed at her so intently.

“I was just thinking about how right that fortune cookie message was.  We are most blind to that which is right before our eyes.”

“No truer words were ever spoken,” Angie agreed.  “It just about took a big brass band with a dozen cheerleaders to make us see the truth.”

Rollie smiled and gave her another kiss, then let her get off his lap.  As he did, his eyes fell upon something leaning against the wall.  He got up and went to it.  The Aussie picked up the cane and brought it back to where Angie sat.

“It’s the twenty-third,” he said quietly.

“Yes, it is.”

With a sudden movement, Rollie broke the cane in half.  He stared at the two pieces in satisfaction.

“Well, you didn’t have to do that,” Angie said.  “You could have just put it away in the closet.  With your penchant for getting hurt, you might need it again.”

“So, I’ll buy another one then,” Rollie replied.  He took the broken cane to the wastebasket and dropped it in with a note of finality.

There was another knock on the door.  This time, it was Mira and Frank.

“Open the door, Bluey,” Rollie ordered.

The two detectives walked in.  By the looks on their faces, the Aussie could tell that something was up, and whatever it was, it wasn’t good.

“What have you got?” he asked.

“An I.D. came back on our shooter.”  Mira glanced over at Angie, then back to him.

“Already?  That was fast.”

“Yeah, well, your pictures threw up one major red flag over at the FBI.  I guess one of them was a really close match to someone they’ve wanted for a very long time.”

Mira pulled out a photograph.  It was of a man in his mid-fifties.  It was an almost kindly face.  He looked like someone’s father.  It was hard to believe that this was the face of a cold-blooded killer.

“His name is Luther Syman, at least that’s what they think it is.  He has about a dozen or so aliases.  This guy is pro all the way, Rollie.  He’s suspected in the assassinations of over thirty high profile people, including Congressman John Reed in ‘91.  And we’re only talking about the hits that the feds have a reason to suspect him of.  There’s no way of knowing how many others he’s killed.  Scotland Yard, Interpol, and about half a dozen other law enforcement agencies around the world are after him as well.”

Rollie sat down with Angie on the couch.  This was turning out to be even more serious than he had thought.

“The feds were very surprised that Syman and Udell were apparently partners.  They’d thought that both of them worked alone,” Mira continued.

“Do they have any idea who their target might have been when they were here?” Rollie asked.

“Not a clue.  There were no murders of any V.I.P.’s in this area during that time or even since then.  Perhaps the arms dealer was who they came to kill.  He may have crossed them on a deal.  Or they may have been here for an entirely different reason.”

“There is a third possibility,” Rollie said.

“What that?” Mira inquired.

“That the murder hasn’t taken place yet.”

“It’s been five months, Rollie.  They wouldn’t plan a hit that far in advance.  There are too many variables.”

“Not necessarily.  What if the target is someone who’s planning a trip here and isn’t going to be accessible at any other time?  There are foreign dignitaries and some very high government officials that plan important events and trips months in advance.”

Frank had a worried look on his face.  “If you’re right, Rollie, we may just have thrown you and Angie right in the middle of a hornet’s nest.  If this planned hit is going down soon, Syman will be even more anxious to get rid of anyone who could identify him.”

“You’re right,” Mira agreed.  “I’m going to call the captain and tell him we need to put more protection on you.”  She reached for her cell phone.

“No.  No more protection,” Rollie said.

“Excuse me?”

“Look, Mira.  We want to nail this guy, don’t we?  And as fast as possible.  How are we going to do that if he never comes out into the open because there are a dozen cops around us at all times?  No, it has to appear that Angie and I are accessible to him.”

Reluctantly, Mira put away the phone.  “You’re right, of course.  I wish that you weren’t, though.”

“But, Rollie, how are we going to make you appear accessible without actually leaving an opening for him to kill you?”  Frank’s worried expression had grown deeper.

“Leave that to me, Francis.”  There was a smile on Rollie’s face that anybody who knew him would recognize.  The Aussie had a plan.

“So are you going to tell us what you have in mind or are you going to keep it a secret like your ‘plans’ last night?” Mira asked.

Rollie could hear the curiosity in the policewoman’s voice and wondered if it was there because of last night or because of what he’d just said.  Probably both.

“I’ll tell you all about it when we have it worked out.”

“Does that apply to both things?”

Rollie looked at Angie.  He didn’t have to ask the question aloud.  She knew just by looking at him.  She nodded her head slightly.  He turned back to Mira.

“Angie and I are . . . more than friends now.”  He reached out and took Angie’s hand.

There was surprise on Mira’s face.  “You mean. . . ?”

“Yes . . . and no.  It, uh, hasn’t come to what you’re thinking.”  He looked at Angie.  “Not yet.”  He then turned back to the detective.  “Last night was our first date.”

Mira turned to Francis.  “You knew about this, didn’t you.”

“I figured it out.  Don’t forget that I’ve known Rollie and Angie a lot longer than you have.  I know how they’ve always looked and acted in each other’s company.  When that changed, I saw it almost immediately.  Leo would have, too.”

“Well, I don’t quite know what to say.”  A smile came to her lips.  “You two sure do keep me guessing.”  She noticed the dirty dishes.  “Can I help you clean those up, Angie?”

Both Rollie and Angie tried not to smile.  It was clear that Mira wanted to get Angie alone for some ‘girl talk’.

“Sure.  Thanks, Mira.”  Angie was actually looking forward to talking to someone about her and Rollie.

As the two women gathered up the dishes, Rollie went over to his workstation, Frank beside him.  They both took a seat.  The detective studied the Aussie’s face closely.  “So, how are you doing?”

Rollie grinned at him.  “We’re doing great.”  The smile faded away.  “She’s the one, Frank.”

“Yeah, I know.”

The Aussie’s eyebrows rose in surprise.  “You talk like you’ve known all along that this was going to happen.”

“Rollie, did I ever tell you how Sarah and I first got to know each other?”

Rollie shook his head.

“Well, we started out as friends.  We were great buds.  We did things together, went to movies, stuff like that.  But we were both dating other people.  Then, one day, I suddenly realized that I was beginning to feel more for Sarah than just friendship.  The rest, as they say, is history.  Maybe my own experience has given me a sixth sense regarding these things, but when I first got to know you and Angie, I knew that you were made for each other.  It just took you guys a lot longer to see it.”

Rollie looked over at Angie.  “She means everything to me, Francis.  Not a minute goes by that I don’t think of her and, sometimes, she’s all I can think about.”

“Well, Rollie, I’d say that you’ve got it pretty bad.”  He grinned broadly.  “And I couldn’t be happier about it.”

Angie looked over at Rollie and Francis, who were deep in conversation.  Just then, Mira cleared her throat.

“So, how was your first date?”

Angie turned her attention to the policewoman.  “It was the best, beyond anything I could imagine.  He rented a limo that took us to this incredible restaurant.  We talked and talked, really sharing things with each other, things that we’ve never told anyone else.  We danced for hours.  Afterwards, Rollie sent the limo on up the road a mile, and we took a walk in the moonlight.  I’ve never felt so happy in my life.”  She reached into her pocket and pulled out the opal.  She hadn’t been able to bear the thought of being without it.  “He gave me this.”

Mira took the necklace, her eyes wide.  “Angie, this is beautiful.  I don’t even want to think about how much it cost.”  She handed it back to Angie.  “And you didn’t. . . ?”

Angie shook her head.  “We’re going to take it slow.”  She smiled softly.  “Rollie wants to court me.”

“Court you?  Girl, you’d better hide him away somewhere, because if other women find out about him, they’ll try snatching him up but quick.”

“I’d like to see them try.”

A short time later, the two detectives left.  As soon as they were gone, Angie turned to Rollie.

“Okay, so what’s this plan of yours, Rol?”

“Well, first of all, we have to make sure Syman finds out that I can identify him.  The best way we can do that is to ‘leak’ the story to the press.  Marcus Richardson should be willing to get in on this, especially if we promise to give him an exclusive when it’s over.  Once it gets on TV, it’ll be all over the papers in a matter of hours.”

“Okay, so you have this professional killer coming to get you, what are you going to do then?”

“I’m going to give him a chance to kill me.”

“Rollie, I’m really not liking the sound of this.”

“Hey, who is this talking here?  This is Rollie Tyler, Master of Illusion, right?”  He took Angie’s face in his hands.  “Right?”

Angie nodded.

“Well then, you have nothing to worry about.  By the time we’re finished with this, we’ll have built a trap so perfect that Luther Syman won’t even know he’s in one.”

“When is this trap going to be set?”

“We’ll lay the bait on Monday.  I’ll give Marcus a call and see if he’s interested.”

The reporter was, indeed, interested.  Understanding that it was vital that Syman not find out it was a trap, he agreed to tell no one about the ruse except for his boss and cameraman.  He would tell everyone else that he’d gotten an anonymous tip.

“So, what are we going to do for the rest of the weekend?” Angie asked, putting her arms around Rollie’s waist.

“Hmm, good question,” Rollie replied.  He bent his head and began kissing Angie’s neck and nibbling on her earlobe.  Angie’s respiration instantly grew fast and ragged.

“If you keep doing that, I know what we’ll be doing the rest of the weekend: blowing this whole courting thing right out of the water,” she said huskily.

Rollie pulled her more tightly against him and lifted his head.  Angie could plainly see the desire in his eyes.  “I’m beginning to think that wouldn’t be such a bad idea,” he murmured.  Getting himself under control, Rollie gave her a gentle kiss, then released her.  “Actually, there are a couple of people whom we need to tell the good news to.”

“Good news?  You mean about us?  Who?”

“Lucinda, for one.  Remember that she was in on my secret.”

“Yeah, that’s right.  I can’t believe you told her.  Keeping secrets is not something Luce does very well.”

“Well, she kept this one from you, didn’t she?  Actually, I didn’t intend to tell her.  It just sort of happened.”

“Okay, so Luce is one.  Who’s the other person?”

“Charlotte.”

“You told Charlotte?” Angie said in surprise.

“No, she saw, probably right from the start, that I was madly in love with you.  In fact, thinking about something she said, she must have seen that you felt the same way about me.”

“Unbelievable.  All these people who knew that you loved me, and I didn’t have a clue.”

“Frankly, I don’t know how you missed it, what with all those slips of the tongue I kept making.  I was certain that you were going to figure it out.”

“Oh, you mean like when you said I was pretty?” Angie asked with a smile.

“Pretty?  I said you were pretty?  I don’t remember saying that,” Rollie replied vaguely.

Angie dug her fingers into his ribs.  The Aussie jumped away from her, laughing, then grabbed her hands and pulled her back into his arms.  “Pretty doesn’t even come close, Ange,” he said, his voice very serious, his eyes gazing into hers intently.

Suddenly feeling a little shy, Angie hid her face against Rollie’s chest.  He held her tightly, pressing his lips into her hair.

“I love you,” he whispered.

“I love you, too.”

Drawing apart, they went to the phone.  Rollie dialed Lucinda’s number, putting the call on speakerphone.

“Maybe she’s not home,” Angie said as the phone kept ringing.  Just then, there was a click and the answering machine picked up.

“Hello.  You’ve reach Lu--”  The machine was abruptly cut off.  “Hello?  Hello, I’m here!” said the actress’s slightly out of breath voice.

“Hey, Luce,” Rollie said.

“Rollie!  How nice to hear from you.  Sorry for the delay in answering.  I was just leaving when you called.  I had to rush back in.”

“I’m sorry.  I can call back later.”

“No, no.  That’s all right.  I wasn’t going anywhere important.  So, what’s up?  Did you stop being an idiot and tell Angie how you feel?”

The Aussie and Angie had to stifle a laugh.  “Yes, I did,” Rollie said, trying to keep his voice serious.

“And?”

“And she told him that she loves him, too,” Angie replied.

Rollie had to quickly turn down the volume on the speaker as Lucinda started whooping and hollering.  They could hear her dancing around the room.

“I think she’s happy,” Rollie murmured to Angie, straight-faced.

“You may be right,” Angie responded.

“This is so wonderful!” Luce cried.  “Okay, tell me all about it.”

“We went on our first date last night,” Rollie told her.

“Fantastic!  And?  And?  I want details here.”

Laughing, Rollie and Angie gave the actress a rundown of their date, not telling her that Angie was staying at the loft or that they had slept in each other’s arms.

Lucinda gave a deep, dreamy sigh.  “It sounds like it was heavenly.  So, when’s the next date?”

“We haven’t worked that out yet,” Rollie said.  “We’re kind of in the middle of something right now.”  He looked at Angie.  “But we’ll be going on another date as soon as we can.”

“Great!”  Luce paused.  “Okay, Rollie, it’s time for Angie and me to have a heart to heart, so go find someplace else to be.”  There was a teasing note in her voice.

“Well, I sure know when I’m not wanted,” the Aussie responded in an exaggeratedly huffy tone of voice.  “I’ll be upstairs until you women stop talking about me behind my back.”

“Now, Rollie, would we ever do that?” Luce asked innocently.

“In a heartbeat,” Rollie replied.  The women laughed as he made his way upstairs.

“Is he gone?” the actress asked Angie after a couple of minutes.

“Yes, he’s gone.”

“Good.  Okay, I want to know everything.  How did he tell you?  Were you surprised?  Have you kissed?  What am I saying?  Of course you’ve kissed!  Did the earth move when you did?  And most importantly, how far did you go?”

“Lucinda, has it occurred to you that this was kind of a private moment for us?”

“So?”

“Okay, the answers to your questions are it’s a long story, in a way, yes, yes, none of your business.”

“Angieeee,” Lucinda wailed.

Angie sighed.  “Something happened that upset me.  Rollie tried to comfort me, calm me down.  We were hugging, then . . . it just happened.  We started kissing.  We got interrupted by the phone and had to leave.  Later, Rollie told me that he loved me, and I told him that I loved him.  That’s all there is to it.”

“Yeah, right.  Sure it is.  Don’t try to fool me, girl.  I’m an actress.  I can tell when someone is faking.  You said you started kissing.  Is that all you did?”

Angie paused, her cheeks growing hot thinking about what she and Rollie had done--and almost done--on the floor just a few feet from where she was sitting now.

“Ah ha!  It isn’t, is it,” Luce said in triumph, having guessed the truth from Angie’s silence.  “So, how far did things go?  Did you make love?”

“Lucinda, these are some really private things you’re asking,” Angie said, feeling embarrassed.

Lucinda paused.  Then she sighed.  “Yeah, all right, Angie.  You don’t have to tell me.”

Angie heard the tone of hurt in the woman’s voice and suddenly felt bad.  “No, we didn’t make love,” she said quietly, “but we almost did.  If it hadn’t been for the call, we would have.  Things got . . . very out of control.”

“Is he a good kisser?”

“A good kisser?”  Angie laughed.  “That doesn’t even come close, Luce.”

“Really?”  There was intense interest in the actress’s voice.  “That good, huh?”

“It was unlike anything I’ve ever felt before in my life,” Angie told her in a hushed voice.  “I think that if we had made love, we would have spontaneously combusted.”

“Wow.  Well, I am just totally jealous now.”

“And so you should be,” Angie told her.  She took a deep breath.  “God, I love him, Luce.  I never thought it was possible to love someone this much.”

“I’m happy for you, Angie.  For Rollie, too.  You both deserve to have a love like that.”

Angie said goodbye to Lucinda, then went upstairs.  She found Rollie sitting on the bed tuning his guitar.

“Ooh, are you gonna serenade me as I stand on the balcony?” Angie asked teasingly.

“Maybe later,” the Aussie replied, a matching grin on his face.  The smile slowly faded.  He set the guitar down.  “Ange, there’s something I need to ask you.”

Angie sat on the bed, able to tell that this was serious.

“When . . . when I died, I sensed that you. . . .”  Rollie stopped, not knowing how to continue.  How could he ask her this?  “Angie, what did you do when you thought that I was dead?” he finally asked.

Angie looked at the searching expression on Rollie’s face.  He knew.  He knew that she had almost chosen to kill herself.  She remembered the words he had cried while under hypnosis.  She took a deep breath.

“When you died, it was more than I could bear.  The pain was killing me inside.  I wanted to die, too.  Udell’s gun was lying just a few feet away.  I was going to pick it up and use it on myself.”  Angie wiped a tear off her cheek and felt Rollie’s hand slide into hers.  “But I knew that you wouldn’t want me to die, that you’d want me to live, so I hesitated.”  She tightened her grip on Rollie’s hand.  “Then you came back to me.”  Angie scanned his face.  “How did you know, Rol?  How could you know?”

“I don’t know.  All I do know is that the thought of you taking your own life is part of what gave me the strength to come back.  I couldn’t let you die.”

Rollie pulled Angie into his arms.  It upset him deeply that Angie had considered suicide.  Just the thought of her doing that made his heart ache with a terrible pain.  But he knew, without doubt, that if their positions had been reversed, he would have wanted to do the same thing.  He wouldn’t be able to bear living without her.

Angie held onto Rollie tightly.  She was glad that this was out in the open.  Should she tell him about what she thought she had heard, his voice inside her mind?  She still had doubts that she’d really heard what she thought she did.  Deciding that she wasn’t ready to tell him, Angie snuggled against him.

“When are we going to tell Charlotte?”

“Well, I’d like to go over there rather than just call her, but there would be some risk in that,” Rollie replied.

“We could always invite her over here.”

Rollie nodded.  “But I’m not about to stay a prisoner here.  Besides, we’re going to have to go back to work eventually.  We’re lucky that they don’t need us for anything at the studio next week, but filming on the tunnel scenes is a week from Monday.”

“All we can do is hope that Luther Syman is in jail by then.”

“Yeah.  But I still don’t like the idea of being stuck here.  There’s a good chance that Syman doesn’t even know he’s been found out yet.”

Angie looked at the expression on his face.  “No way, Rol.  Uh uh,” she said firmly.  “You’re not going out there.”

“So, we just stay in here until Luther Syman is caught, even if it takes weeks?  We can’t do that Ange, and you know it.”

Yes, she did know it.  They couldn’t keep hiding until this assassin was caught.  If their plan didn’t draw Syman out into the open quickly, they would have to eventually get back to their lives.  But what if, someday, when they weren’t expecting it, the man suddenly struck?  She could lose Rollie for real.

“Maybe this isn’t such a good idea, Rol,” Angie said, the fear in her voice.  “Maybe we should just leave things as they are and hope that Syman never finds out that you saw him.”

“No, Ange.  I can’t do that.  I can’t take the chance that he’ll come to see you as a threat to him.  We have to do this.”  He brushed a lock of hair back from her face.  “But I’ll call Charlotte and see if she can come over.  There’s no reason to take unnecessary chances.”

Angie kissed him.  “Thank you.”

Charlotte loved the idea of coming to the loft, so Rollie invited her to have lunch with them.  As they waited for her, the Aussie quickly threw together a ramp for the stairs.  He hadn’t bothered to have one made for himself since he’d had the ability to get out of his wheelchair and walk up the stairs.  But Charlotte didn’t have that ability.

By the time she got there, the ramp was done.  The officers outside had been alerted to her visit, so when she got there, there was no need for them to check her out.  Rollie watched as the woman exited the specially designed van that enabled her to drive.  One of the officers unbuckled Elise from her baby carrier and handed her to Charlotte, who put the baby in the pouch she wore to keep Elise from falling out of the chair.

“Hi, Rollie,” Charlotte said.  She looked up at the building.  “Somehow, this isn’t quite what I expected to see.”

Rollie smiled.  “Nobody does, Charlotte.  Come on in.”  He held the door open for the woman.  As she came in, her eyes fell on the ramp.

“I’d have thought you would have gotten rid of that when you stopped using the wheelchair,” she remarked.

“Um . . . actually, it wasn’t there when I was using the chair.”

Surprised, Charlotte looked up at him.  “Are you saying that you just built it?”

“Yeah.”

“How very sweet of you, Rollie.  Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.  I’ll keep it for future use when you come to visit us again.”  He watched as Charlotte wheeled up the ramp, then followed her up.  “So, where are Lee and Anthony?”

“At the park.  Lee likes to take Anthony down there on Saturdays when the weather is nice and feed the pigeons, then they go for a hotdog and ice cream cone afterwards.  This time, Anthony insisted on taking Bot with him.  He adores that toy, Rollie, plays with it all the time.”

“I’m glad,” the Aussie said with a smile.

Charlotte studied the Aussie, then looked over at Angie.  “Why are those police officers out there?”

“It’s, um, something we’ve gotten involved in.  It has to do with what happened to me and why.”  Rollie smiled.  “Come on in and take a look at the Land of Oz.”

Charlotte wandered around, looking at the movie props and equipment, asking questions about this and that.

“This is an amazing place,” she finally said.  “I can picture you and Angie hard at work here, creating movie magic.  Thank you for inviting me to see it.”

Rollie nodded.  “That isn’t the real reason why we invited you, Charlotte.”

“Oh?”

“Let’s sit in the lounge.”

Rollie and Angie sat on the couch as Charlotte parked her wheelchair before it.  The woman looked back and forth between them.  A smile slowly spread across her face.

“You told her,” she said.

Rollie and Angie returned the smile.  “Yeah, I did,” the Aussie admitted.

“You said you were going to today.  I am so pleased that you did.”

“Actually, it happened yesterday, rather unexpectedly.”

Charlotte’s smile widened.  “That’s the way it is with plans.  The unexpected often occurs and changes everything.”  She held out her arms.  “Well, let me give you both a hug.”

Rollie and Angie each gave the woman a tight hug and received one in return.

“I know that you are going to be very happy with each other,” Charlotte told them.

They enjoyed their lunch together, chatting throughout it.  As they finished, Angie excused herself to use the bathroom.  Rollie watched her as she ascended the stairs.

“Rollie, what’s wrong?” Charlotte asked.  “You seem a little troubled.”

The Aussie turned back to the woman.  He looked at her closely.  “Charlotte, you have to promise me something.”

“Of course, Rollie.  Anything.”

“If anything ever happens to me, I want you to look after Angie, try to help her.”

Charlotte’s eyes immediately filled with worry.  “Rollie, what’s going on?  What is the reason for those police being out there?  Are you in some kind of danger?”

“Yeah.  I can’t tell you what it’s about, but it’s pretty serious.  We’re hoping to resolve everything soon, but until it is, there is a threat.”

Charlotte reached out and grasped his hand.  “Rollie, don’t you go getting yourself killed, you hear me?  I don’t want to go to your funeral.”  Her voice shook slightly.

“Believe me, I am going to do everything I can to make sure that doesn’t happen.  I have too much to live for, especially now.”

When Angie came back down, Rollie and Charlotte managed to keep any trace of their conversation off their faces.  They talked for a while longer, then Charlotte left, needing to get back home.

“There is someone else we need to tell our news to,” Angie told Rollie.

“Who?”

“Joyce.  She managed to get the truth out of me about how I felt toward you.  She kept telling me to let you know, but I wouldn’t listen to her.  I imagine that she’ll be pretty happy to find out that I finally did.”

Angie called her friend, but found out from the message on the woman’s answering machine that she was gone on vacation.

“I guess the news will have to wait until she gets back.” Rollie said.  He turned to Angie.  “Now, about that serenading stuff,” he murmured as he pulled her into his arms.
 

CHAPTER FORTY-THREE -- BAITING THE TRAP

That afternoon, Mira and Frank brought some of the info on Syman that they had, which Rollie had requested.  What they brought confirmed Rollie’s initial suspicions about the man.  After they’d left, the Aussie got to work on a project that he’d begun before he was shot.  That project was Bluey.  He worked on the robot on and off throughout the rest of the day and into Sunday.

“So what exactly are you doing to him?” Angie asked Sunday afternoon.

“Some enhancements to his existing software, plus a few new features and safeguards,” the Aussie told her.  “By the time I’m done, he’ll be Super Bluey, right Blue Boy?”  The electronic dog barked in agreement.  “I’ll show you everything when I finish.”

Angie picked up something on the worktable.  “This is the new improved sniffer, huh, the one that you were working on in the hospital.”

“Yep.  As you can see, it’s a lot smaller than the first one, and it has a much more sensitive nose.  It will also have the capacity to activate other equipment if it detects what it’s been programmed for.  It’s possible that we may need this thing soon, so I decided that I’d better finish it.”

The phone rang, and Angie went to answer it.  “Rollie, it’s Lee.  He wants to talk to you.”

“Hey, Lee, what can I do for you?” the Aussie asked Charlotte’s husband.

“Well, first of all, I wanted to congratulate you and Angie.  Charlotte told me that you’re dating now.”

“Yeah, we are.  Thanks.”

“She also told me that you’re in some kind of trouble.  Is there anything we can do to help?  I know that I’m just a real estate agent, but if I can help in any way, I will.”

“Thank you, Lee.  I really appreciate that.  You and Charlotte are good friends.  So, how did Bot like his trip to the park?”

Lee laughed.  “We had half the kids in the park wanting to play with it and most of their parents wanting to know where we got it.  You could make a bundle marketing it.”

The Aussie laughed.  “I’m afraid that it would be a bit too expensive a toy for the average parent.  Besides, Bot was made especially for Anthony.  I have no interest in getting into toy design.”

“Thank you for making it for him, Rollie.  It was a very nice thing to do.  Someday, I’ll think of a way to repay you.”

“You don’t need to repay me, Lee.  No debt is owed.”

After finishing his conversation with Lee, Rollie went back to his workstation.

“From what I heard from your end of the conversation, it sounds like Bot was a big hit at the park,” Angie said.

“Yeah, I guess it was.”

“Well, if you ever decide to get out of F/X, we know what you can do for a living.”

Rollie grinned.  “I’m afraid that Bluey would turn green if I started building Bots for a living.”

Bluey gave a little growl of affirmation, making Rollie and Angie laugh.

Angie grew serious.  “So, tomorrow it really starts.”

“Yeah.  Tomorrow, we lay the bait and see if Syman takes it.”

“Just as long as you don’t get bitten in the process.”

Marcus Richardson stood outside the Federal Building, preparing himself for the ruse he was about to play.  He looked at his cameraman, who nodded at him, indicating that he was ready.  It was a live broadcast, so if Marcus screwed up, there wouldn’t be a second chance to get it right.

“Okay, here goes,” he muttered as the time for the broadcast arrived.

“There is a drama unfolding behind these walls, a drama with possible international ramifications that only a handful of people even know about,” he said into the microphone as he gazed into the camera lens.  “This drama involves an international assassin and a single brave individual who has chosen to risk his life in order to see that justice is done.  This courageous man I’m talking about is well-known special effects wizard, Rollie Tyler.  Several months ago, you may have heard that Mister Tyler was seriously injured by a gunman seeking to kill his coworker, Angela Ramirez, who had witnessed a murder the previous day.  The gunman was killed in the attempt, and the police considered the case to be closed.  But recent developments have revealed that the gunman, an assassin by the name of Lionel Udell, was only one player in this game.  Thanks to Rollie Tyler and some amazing technical wizardry, the existence of a second hitman has been revealed.  My sources could not obtain the name of this other person, but it is a man believed to be responsible for dozens of assassinations across the globe.  At this very moment, Mister Tyler is speaking to an FBI task force that has been assembled to capture the assassin.  For you see, it is believed that this international killer is planning a hit on some important personage right here in New York.”

Right on cue, Rollie and Mira exited the building.  They were instantly ‘assailed’ by Richardson.

“Mister Tyler, is it true that there is an international assassin who is planning a murder right here in our city and that you can identify him?”

Mira, looking convincingly angry, demanded, “Where did you hear about that?  Don’t you realize that you’re putting Mister Tyler’s life in danger by revealing this on TV?  I want that camera turned off now!”

Seemingly ignoring her demand, Marcus continued, “Detective Sanchez, isn’t it true that Mister Tyler provided you with a description of the assassin despite the fact that the man was wearing a disguise?  And isn’t it also true that he has the ability to identify the man no matter how elaborate a disguise he might wear?”

Playing along with his part, Rollie, in a rage, turned on the reporter.  “Damn you, Richardson, do you want to get me killed?  Will that boost your ratings high enough to put your station on top?”

“Enough!” yelled Mira.  “We have nothing to say about this matter.  Richardson, get that camera away from us or I’ll have you arrested for obstructing justice!”  She and Rollie hurried down the steps and got into a waiting car.

The reporter turned back to his camera.  “So the question is, can one lone citizen bring about the downfall of a professional international killer?  We will keep you updated as events unfold.  This is Marcus Richardson, Eyewitness News, reporting live from the Federal Building.”

The camera was turned off, but Richardson and the cameraman continued the charade.  They loaded up their equipment and drove off, heading to a prearranged meeting place.  Waiting there were Rollie and Mira.  The newsman got out of the van, a big grin splitting his face.  His bright white teeth looked even whiter against the darkness of his skin.

“That was fun!  A real hoot, though I didn’t much care for that crack you made about the ratings, Rollie.  The station bigwigs are not going to be happy about us being portraying as a bunch of ruthless reporters willing to sacrifice someone’s life just to get good ratings.  That’s not a good public image.”

“They’ll get over it when they start seeing the ratings reports.  And just think about how high they’re going to go when you get to reveal that you were part of an elaborate trap to capture an assassin.  You and your station will be instant heros.”

The man’s grin grew even broader, if that was possible.  Then he got serious.  “So, what’s next, Rollie?  How do you plan to capture this guy?”

It was the Aussie’s turn to grin.  “Wouldn’t you like to know.  You’re going to have to wait for that piece of information, pal.”

Mira drove Rollie back home, followed by two squad cars.  Angie started clapping as they came in the door.

“Bravo!  Bravo!  An Oscar winning performance if ever I saw one,” she said.

The Aussie took a deep bow.  “Thank you, thank you.”  He grabbed a banana off the kitchen counter and started speaking into it.  “For all my friends and for all the little people out there, I graciously accept this award.”  He grabbed Angie around the waist and pulled her to him.  “Ah, and here’s one of the little people now,” he said.

“Little people?  Who’re you calling little, buster?” Angie asked, digging him lightly in the ribs.  “I’ll have you know that this ‘little person’ could have you writhing on the floor in five seconds flat.”

“Now, is that any way for an adoring fan to speak to her idol?” Rollie replied in mock outrage.  “That is unless you were talking about a different kind of writhing,” he added, waggling his eyebrows.

“Rollie!” Angie exclaimed, her face flaming as she glanced at Mira, who was watching the entire exchange with a grin on her face.

“If you two are done having fun, we need to discuss what happens next, which is something that I’d really like to know,” the detective said.

“I still need to work out a couple of things, but once I do, I’ll explain everything to you,” the Aussie told her.

Mira frowned.  “All right, but don’t leave us in the dark for long, Rollie.”

“I won’t.”

Right after Mira left, they got a frantic call from Charlotte.

“Rollie, I heard on the radio that you’re in danger from some assassin!  This man had something to do with you being shot?”

“Wow, that was fast,” the Aussie murmured, surprised that the story was already on the radio. “Yeah, Charlotte.  It’s a bit complicated,” he told the woman.  “We can’t go into it now.”

“This sounds really bad, Rollie.  Are the police protecting you?  Is that why those officers were there on Saturday?”

“Yes to both questions.  I’m going to be fine, Charlotte.  Don’t worry.  We’ll call you once this is all over.”

After hanging up with Charlotte, Rollie started making some phone calls.  In between the calls he made came a few more from friends who had heard the news.  After hanging up from one of those calls, the Aussie looked at Angie.

“At this rate, we’re going to be getting calls the rest of the day,” he said.

“Maybe I’d better e-mail everyone I can to tell them not to worry and ask them not to call,” Angie said.

“Good idea.”  As she did that, Rollie finished making his calls.  Completing the final call sometime later, he hung up the phone with a pleased look on his face.  “It’ll all work out, Ange.  We can do it.”

“Okay, are you going to tell me this plan of yours now?” Angie asked.

Rollie explained the entire plan to her.  Once he’d finished, he studied her face.  “So, what do you think?” he asked.

Angie shook her head.  “I think it’s insane.  It’s dangerous, it takes a lot of things for granted, and, of course, it is utterly brilliant.”

Rollie grinned.  “Well, thank you very much,” he said in his Elvis impersonation.  He knew that Angie was right that the plan was based partially on assumption, but it couldn’t be helped.  He had confidence that it would work.

The Aussie headed for the kitchen.  “I’m in the mood to celebrate.”

“We haven’t caught him yet, Rol.”

“I know, but I want to celebrate anyway.  Besides, it’s time for some more cuddling.”

“Oh.  Well, in that case, I feel like celebrating, too.”  She saw Rollie reach for the freezer.  “That’s a funny place to put champagne.”

“What champagne?  I’ve got something better.”  He pulled out a half gallon of double fudge chocolate chip ice cream.

“Well, there goes my waistline,” commented Angie with a smile.

Rollie dished out two servings into a single bowl, then brought it and two spoons over to the couch.  He sat down with his feet up on the cushions.  Patting the place between his legs, he smiled at Angie.  “Join me?”

Angie settled on the couch in front of him.  Rollie immediately wrapped his arms around her waist, the bowl in one hand and the spoons in the other.  Angie took one of the spoons and they both dug into the ice cream.  As she ate, Angie idly began sliding her hand up and down the shin and calf of Rollie’s leg, not really thinking about what she was doing.

Rollie leaned forward and murmured in her ear, “You keep doing that, Love, and we can forget about eating the rest of this ice cream.”

Angie smiled, then turned to meet Rollie’s lips.  The bowl was quickly gotten out of the way as Rollie’s embrace tightened.  Their passion flared wildly.  Angie felt Rollie’s tongue slide between her lips, and she opened her mouth to him, searching his mouth with the same fervor as he was hers.  Rollie’s hand slid down to the curve of her buttocks as he pulled her up more closely to him.  Burning with the flames of desire, they lost themselves in the depths of their passion.

Rollie had no idea how long Blue had been barking when the sound finally penetrated through to his brain.  With a groan, he broke the kiss.

“What is it, Blue?”

The robotic dog whined and turned on the monitor for the outside camera feed.  Mira was there, looking slightly impatient.  They hadn’t even heard her knock.  Angie and Rollie quickly straightened their clothing and smoothed their hair.  They readjusted their position on the couch, putting just a couple of inches between them.  Rollie then told Blue to open the door.

Mira came in and approached them.  It took her police-trained eye about two seconds to notice the flushed skin, the slightly dazed look, the faster than normal breathing.  She had been ready to ask why it took them so long to open the door.  She didn’t bother.

Rollie cleared his throat.  “So, what’s up, Mira?”

Mira just barely managed to squash the smile that was threatening to take possession of her face.  Rollie and Angie were both acting like a couple of teenagers who had just barely managed to avoid getting caught by the parents.  Mira had to admit that she was pleased about the change in their relationship.  They both seemed so much happier.  After all the things that they had gone through in the last few months, she couldn’t think of two people who were more deserving of an extra measure of happiness.

The detective took a seat and turned her attention to the business at hand.  “We think we may have figured out who Syman’s target is.”

Both Rollie and Angie sat up straighter.

“Who?” the Aussie asked.

“Well, actually, we’ve narrowed it down to two possibilities.  The first is an Arab sheik named Hashim Alafa.  He apparently owns several U.S. based companies, and certain business dealings have earned him some big enemies.  He will be arriving in New York in three days.  Normally, the security around him is very tight, almost impenetrable.  He’ll be a much easier target while he’s here for anyone who wants him dead.

“The other possible target is Gerard Ross, an eccentric software developer who is going to attend a convention here where he plans to introduce his latest creation.  I don’t know all the particulars, but I’ve been told that this new program will seriously cut into the profits of several other software companies, perhaps even put some of them out of business.  This guy is incredibly paranoid.  His house is a veritable fortress, and he almost never sets foot outside it.  This will be the first time in nearly two years that he’s been out in public.  By some weird coincidence, he will also be here on Thursday.”

Rollie got up off the couch.  He was shaking his head.  “This doesn’t give us much time.  It also changes some things.  Since we had no idea how far in the future the intended hit was going to take place, I had just planned on capturing Syman.  But now that we know it’s going to be soon, I think we may be able to both catch Syman and find out who his target is, perhaps even learn who hired him.”  He paced back and forth a few times.  “Yes, that will work,” he said, half to himself.

“So, are you ready to tell me your brilliant plan yet?” Mira asked.

Rollie sat back down on the couch and told the detective what he had in mind.  As he finished, Mira looked over at Angie.

“I assume you told him how dangerous this is.”

“Yes, I did.  Rollie, I don’t like some of the changes in this plan.  It puts you in a lot more danger.  This could backfire very easily.”

“It’ll be all right, Ange.  I’m not about to let myself get killed.”  The Aussie turned to Mira.  “Can you give me everything else you have on Syman and his hits?”

“I can give you what we have, but the feds weren’t willing to share all of the info they’ve got,” the detective told him.

“Well, if that’s the case, we’ll just have to get it for ourselves, right Angie?”  The Aussie looked at his coworker meaningfully.

“Sure.  That shouldn’t be a problem,” she replied.

“I don’t think I should be hearing this conversation,” Mira said.  She stood up.  “I’ll get what we have over to you as soon as I can.”

Rollie saw her to the door.  As he was about to say goodbye, Mira paused, then gave Rollie a long look.

“I don’t know how much Angie’s told you of those first few days after you were shot, and maybe I shouldn’t either, but there are some things I think you should know,” she said.  “When you were shot and it looked like you were going to die, it was almost too much for her.  I really think that if you had died it would have destroyed her.  I have never seen anyone love anybody more than she does you.  Please, Rollie, for her sake, be careful.  Don’t take any unnecessary risks.”

Rollie reached out and gave the detective’s arm a squeeze.  “Thanks, Mira.”  When he came back in, he noticed that Angie was still sitting on the couch.  Her legs were pulled up against her chest and she had her arms wrapped around them.  He didn’t have to see her face to know that she was worrying.  He sat beside her and put his arm around her shoulders.

“Angie, I was thinking that, after this is all over and we finish up with White Light, that it would be a perfect time to go away somewhere, take a little vacation.  What do you say?”

Angie’s face brightened.  “A vacation?  That would be wonderful.  I was going to give you a vacation for your Christmas present.”

“You were?”  The Aussie laughed and shook his head.  “So was I.”

“Really?  Where?”

“I was going to book a vacation for both of us to Scotland.”

Angie began to laugh.  “You are never going to believe this, Rol, but that’s what I was going to do.”

“You’re kidding.  Well, then I guess we’re definitely going to have to do that.”

“Yeah, we are.”  Angie put her arms around Rollie’s neck and brought his head down to hers.  The Aussie gathered her into his arms as they kissed.  This time there was no hot flare of passion.  Instead, there was an almost overwhelming feeling of warmth and tenderness.  As their lips separated, Rollie cupped Angie’s face in his hands and looked straight into her eyes.  “Everything’s going to be all right, Ange.  This is all going to work out just the way we’ve planned it.”

Angie took his hands and held them.  “Rollie, I need to be there, too.”

“What?  No, Angie.  Not a chance,” the Aussie said adamantly, realizing what she meant.

“Rol, Syman is going to come after you.  You’ve made certain of that.  But what if he decides that I’m also a threat?  After all, I was the original target when you were shot.  I was there with you.  For this to work, he has to think that he can get both of us at the same time.”

Rollie stood up quickly and walked away a couple of paces.  “No!  I won’t let you be there.  It’s too dangerous.”

Angie rose from the couch.  “Too dangerous for me, but not for you?  If I could be killed, then so could you.  There can’t be two standards with this.”

The Aussie spun around and looked at her.  “I can accept the fact that I might die, but if . . . but if you died, it would kill me.  I would die right along with you, even if I was still breathing.  I’d rather die a hundred times, a thousand times, than lose you.”

“And don’t you think that I feel the same?  I wouldn’t want to live without you,” Angie said.  “You know that,” she added meaningfully, making Rollie’s mouth close when he had been about to speak.  Their eyes met for a long, silent moment.  Angie then stepped toward him.  “Rollie, you know I’m right.  I have to be there.  Otherwise, things could go wrong.”

Knowing that she was right and hating the fact that she was, Rollie pulled Angie into his arms and clung to her, burying his face in the crook of her neck.  “I love you, Angie.  I love you so much,” he whispered hoarsely.

“I love you, too, Rollie, more than I’ve ever loved anyone.”

As Rollie held Angie, his confidence slowly returned.  This was going to work.  They would stop the assassination and get Syman, then he and Angie could get back to other important things, like their next date.

With that pleasant thought, Rollie and Angie got back to work.

The information from Mira came later than day.  Rollie studied it closely, learning all he could about Luther Syman.  Angie hacked into the FBI’s database as well and got still more info on the assassin.  What they learned was very interesting and strengthened Rollie’s confidence that everything would work out as planned.

“This is going to work, Ange.  We’re going to nail him,” he said.  “I just hope he shows up soon.  I’m going nuts being stuck in here, especially considering that I want to have another date with you.”

“Well, how about if we have the date here?” Angie suggested.

“Here?”

“Sure, why not?  A candle-lit dinner, some dancing, a movie.  We can do all that right here.”  She leaned forward toward him.  “And you have to admit that there’s a lot more privacy here.”

The Aussie grinned.  “You know, you’re absolutely right.”

And so it was that Rollie and Angie’s second date took place right there in the loft.  They ordered food to be delivered, the delivery boy being thoroughly searched by the cops before being allowed to give the Aussie the food.  He and Angie ate it by candlelight.  This night, the conversation was more subdued with long periods of silence.  Afterwards, Angie had Bluey put some music on, and the couple began to dance, very closely and very intimately, their hands touching and caressing.  Soon, they began kissing and ended up doing that more than they danced.

Last, came the movie.  Rollie picked one of the few movies in his collection that wasn’t an action or horror flick.  They fixed a bowl of popcorn and got comfortable on the couch, very comfortable as far as Rollie was concerned.  Angie’s head was on his lap, and he spent the entire length of the movie stroking her hair, neck, and shoulders, occasionally bending over to give her a kiss.

Finally, the movie ended, and it was time to go to bed.

“This was really nice, a great second date,” Angie said.

“Yeah, it was,” Rollie agreed.  “I don’t think we could have done some of those things if we’d gone out for our date, especially this.”  Angie was still lying on the couch with her head in his lap, except that, now, she was on her back and looking up at him.

“Hmm.  You’re probably right.  Maybe we should have all our dates here.”

“Uh uh.  I want to take you places, go to concerts, plays, museums, stuff like that.  I want to have picnics in the park, days on the beach, and so many other things.  I want to do the things that I’ve never done before because I either didn’t have the time or didn’t have someone to do them with.”

Angie reached up and caressed his cheek.  “I want that, too.  I can’t wait.”

Rollie took her hand and kissed it.  “As soon this is over, we’ll start doing all those things and more.  And I will show you every day how much I love you.”

“And every day, I’ll show how much I love you,” Angie replied.

Rollie bent forward and kissed her, sealing the promise of their life to come.
 

CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR -- TARGET

The following day, Rollie got a call from Jack Traber.

“We’ve got a problem, Rol,” the producer announced.  “There was a complete foul up in the shooting schedule.  We’re going to need you to rig for the tunnel sequence tomorrow instead of next Monday.”

“Jack, this is really bad timing.  We’ve got kind of a situation here.  Did you see the news report?”

“Yeah, and I’m really sorry, Rollie.  I wish there was a way around it.”

“All right, Jack.  We’ll be there first thing in the morning.”  As he hung up, he heard Angie descending the steps from the second floor.

“What’s wrong?” she asked.

“That was Jack.  There was a screw up down there.  He needs us to set up the tunnel tomorrow.”

“But, Rollie, we can’t!  It’s too dangerous.  Syman will be waiting for just this kind of opportunity.”

“I know, Ange, but I can’t leave Jack in the lurch, not after what he did for us.”

“Damn it, Rollie.  You’re going to get yourself killed because you don’t know how to say no!”  She stormed back up the stairs.  There was the sound of the bathroom door slamming shut.

“Angie,” Rollie called.  He went upstairs and stood in front of the bathroom.  “Angie, please don’t be like this.  Look, I’ll call Mira and ask her to assign some more protection, okay?  I’ll have an army of cops protecting me the whole time we’re down there.  A fly won’t be able to get past them without being swatted.”

There was a long minute of silence, then Rollie heard the door being unlocked.  Slowly, it opened.  Rollie took a long look at Angie.

“I’m sorry, Ange, but you know I have to do this.”

Angie gave a huge sigh.  “I know, Rollie, but that doesn’t mean I have to like it.  What are you going to do while we’re on the set?  You can’t have an army of police there.”

“Once we’re inside, we’ll be okay.  It’s not as if we’re going to be alone in there.  And we’ll have the police stationed outside.  It’ll be all right.  I’m not about to let myself get killed before I nail Syman.”

Rollie hastily yanked the phone receiver away from his ear.  Even so, he wasn’t sure if there might not be some permanent hearing loss.  Even with the receiver a foot away, he could still clearly hear Mira’s voice on the other end.

“I cannot believe you could be this stupid, Rollie!  How the hell am I supposed to keep you alive when you pull a stunt like this?”

“Mira?” Rollie called at the receiver.  “Mira, calm down!  Look.  I’ve got it all worked out.”  There was silence on the phone.  Rollie gingerly put it back up to his ear.  “All right, this is what we’ll do.  In the morning, you’ll come pick me up in a police van.  You can back it up right to the door.  Angie will drive the F/X van--you can stick some police in that too, if you want--then we’ll all go down to the studio.  I’ve already talked to the studio’s security and they know what to expect.  You can park as many cops outside the set as you want to, as long as they don’t get in the way of the cast, or crew, or any other studio people.”

“And what if Syman manages to get into the studio and poses as a worker or something?  He is a master of disguise, remember?”

“Even if he does, Angie and I will have dozens of people on the set with us as we set up the scene and during filming.  I doubt that we’ll be alone for more than a total of fifteen minutes throughout the day.”

“Fifteen minutes is more than long enough to get you killed.”

Rollie continued discussing the details of the plan with Mira.  After he hung up, he went over to where Angie was sitting on one of the bar stools.  She was staring at a readout on the monitor, but he could tell that she wasn’t really seeing what she was looking at.  He cupped his hand around the back her neck, stroking the soft curve with his thumb as he placed a kiss on the top of her head.

“I’m scared, Rol.”

Rollie wrapped an arm around her shoulders and chest, pulling her back against him.  “I know.  I’m scared, too.”

“I couldn’t take it if you were killed, Rollie.  My life would be over.”  Her voice was trembling.

He turned the chair around so that Angie was facing him.  “Hey.  Nobody’s going to get killed.  We’re all going to come out of this just fine.  Then we’re going to get Syman before he can hurt anybody else.  Count on it.”

Outside, on the roof of the building across the street from Rollie’s, a lone figure squatted behind the low safety wall.  Beside him, a cylindrical object mounted on a tripod was aimed at the loft’s windows.  An earplug was in his ear.  The man's mouth turned up slightly.

“Perhaps, Mister Tyler.  But then again, perhaps it is I who will get you.”

The sun was barely above the horizon when the police van came to pick Rollie up.  It was accompanied by a dozen uniformed police officers and a few others who looked like FBI.

“Throw in a few Secret Service and you might as well call me Mister President,” murmured Rollie as he watched car after car pull up to the loft.  Mira and Francis were the last two to arrive.  Once they were there, Rollie was hustled into the van.  He looked back over his shoulder at Angie and gave her a wink.  She would be following right behind in the F/X van.

On the entire drive over to the studio, Rollie could sense the tension in the cops who were in the van with him.  It wasn’t until they had passed beyond the studio gate that everyone started to relax.  Even so, they weren’t taking any chances.  They drove the van almost all the way up to the door of the stage.  As Rollie got out, he was instantly surrounded by cops, their bodies acting as living shields.  The Aussie opened the door and slipped inside, leaving his entourage outside.  He hadn’t realized he was holding his breath until then.  Letting it out in a long sigh, he headed toward Jack Traber.

Jack smiled as he turned toward the Aussie.  “Hey, Rollie.  That’s quite an entrance you made there.  Were those all real cops or just window dressing?”

“Oh, they’re real, all right.  As far as the cops and feds are concerned, I am a real, honest to goodness V.I.P., at least until this hitman is caught.  They want to be sure that nothing happens to me until then.”

Jack sobered.  “This is really serious, isn’t it.  I mean, I saw the stuff on TV and read the papers, but I didn’t really think about it like this until now.  I’m sorry, Rollie.  I shouldn’t have asked you to come down here today.  I’d never forgive myself if something happened to you.”

“Hey, don’t sweat it, mate.  With that army outside, the assassin would have to be a fool to try anything.”

“Let’s hope so.”

Just then, Angie came in loaded down with equipment.  He rushed forward to help her.  Behind her were two cops also carrying stuff.  Rollie told the police where to put the things they were carrying.  Afterwards, they headed back to join their fellow officers stationed outside.

Rollie looked at Angie.  “How are you doing?”

“I’m okay.  A little nervous.”

“Nervous?  Is that all?  I’m petrified.”

Rollie and Angie got to work.  The Aussie started setting up the equipment that would pump the ‘fog’ into the tunnel.  Tubes had been run along either side of the walkway in the tunnel.  The tubes were full of hundreds of tiny holes through which the fog would leak out.  While he did that, Angie was busy linking operation of the tunnel’s various systems into the Ambler.

An hour and a half later, everything was set and had been thoroughly tested.  They were ready to start filming.  Daniel Raithorne came on set, already in character for the scene.  He talked with Beth for a while as she went through things with him.  The green screen and cameras were put into position.  Daniel stepped onto the walkway and went to the far side of the tunnel.  The director called for silence, then nodded at Rollie. 

“Okay, start the smokers, Ange.”  Within a few seconds, mist started pouring out of the tubes.

“Cut it back a little.  There, that’s perfect.”  Rollie called for the lights to be lowered.  As the set darkened, his nervousness increased.  He would be most at risk now.  Under the cover of darkness, Syman could put a bullet in his brain, and no one would know until the lights came back on.

Forcing himself to concentrate on the task at hand, Rollie told Angie to turn on the tunnel lights and start the rotation.  The beauty of the tunnel caught his attention, driving away thoughts of Luther Syman.

“All right.  Roll cameras,” said Beth Wright.

A man announced the scene as Take One, then the director called, “Action!”

Daniel began slowly moving down the tunnel toward the camera, his face a picture of wonder and tranquility.  He reached toward the side of the tunnel, not quite touching it.  Later, Angie would use CGI to make it look like his hand had disappeared into the sparkling surface.

When the actor had reached the end of the tunnel, the director called, “Cut,” then, “That’s a print!”  The lights came back on and the cameras were moved inside the tunnel for the next shot.

The filming went smoothly and without a hitch.  Finally, they came to the scene that was not part of the original script.  This scene had been Rollie’s idea.  He had approached Brian Adderly on it a couple of weeks ago.  The movie’s creator had immediately loved the idea and Beth had, too.

Rollie glanced over at Angie.  He had not told her about the addition.  He’d wanted it to be a surprise.

“Okay, we’re going on to the hologram now,” called the director to the crew.

Angie looked at Rollie.  “What hologram?”

Rollie smiled.  “You’ll see.”  He got the small projector and set it up in the tunnel where it would be off camera.

Angie’s eyes had narrowed when he returned.  “What did you do, Rol?”

The Aussie just smiled again as he tapped on a few icons on his PDA.  He told her to lower the lights again and activate the tunnel.  Angie stared at him for a moment, then did as he asked.

Daniel, who had gone back inside the tunnel, was facing the cameras.  As Beth called, “Action,” he again assumed the tranquil look.  Suddenly, a woman’s voice called behind him.  At the same time Rollie hit a final icon on his PDA.  A ghostly image of the leading lady appeared behind Daniel.  He turned to look at her.

“Will, please don’t leave me.  Please don’t die.  I need you, Will.”  The hologram reached a hand toward Daniel.  “Please come back to me.”  Daniel reached for the holographic hand, their fingers almost touching, then the woman’s image disappeared.

“Annie?  Annie, where are you?” Daniel cried, looking around for her.

“And . . . cut!” called Beth.  “Great!  That was perfect, everyone!  All right.  Let’s get set up for those closeups.”

The leading lady, Deanna Cross, came out from behind the tunnel holding a microphone.  As she lay the microphone down, she gave Rollie a quick wink.  Rollie smiled and nodded, then turned to Angie.

Angie was staring at him.  “That was your idea, wasn’t it.”

Rollie merely nodded.  He wasn’t sure how Angie was going to react.  It could go either way.

“Why?”

Rollie drew closer to her.  “Because I wanted to tell the whole world how much you mean to me, that it was our love that gave me the strength to come back.  And, though the people who see this movie won’t know the significance of that scene, I’ll know, and you’ll know.  That’s really all that matters.”

Slowly Angie walked up to him, then, suddenly, she threw her arms around his neck and gave him a kiss that left him breathless.

When he was able to talk again, Rollie asked, “You’re not mad?”  He was holding Angie close, not really caring how many of the crew saw.

“Mad?  How could I be mad?  This is one of the sweetest things you’ve ever done.”

Rollie lowered his head back down to her waiting lips.  A few moments later, they were interrupted by someone clearing his throat.  Rollie and Angie turned to see Jack standing a few feet away.  There was a grin a mile wide on his face.

“I see that things have, uh, enhanced between you two.  Well, I always thought that you would make a good couple.  Sorry to interrupt you, but we’re ready for the closeups now.”

Rollie and Angie looked around to see most of the crew gawking at them.  The crew members quickly turned away and busied themselves with other tasks.  Their faces flaming, the couple got back to work.

“Well, I guess we can forget about keeping this a secret now,” murmured Angie.

Rollie chuckled.  “By this time tomorrow, the news will be all over the studio.  By the end of the week, half the people in the industry will know about it.”

“Good.  Now if I get the sudden urge to passionately kiss you, I won’t have to curb it.”

“By all means, feel free to follow through on your impulses any time you happen to get them.  I will certainly be doing the same.”  Rollie proved it by pulling her close and giving her a quick kiss.

The filming of the closeups did not go as smoothly as the other shots.  Finally, Beth was satisfied and called for a lunch break.  Most of the people on the set filed outside.  A few fetched lunches they had brought and gathered in small groups, sitting on the floor or whatever chairs were available.  Angie and Rollie, who had also brought lunches, found a quiet corner and settled onto the floor.  As he ate, Rollie scanned the faces of the other people who were there, looking for someone who might be Syman in disguise, not really expecting to see him.  Syman was too smart to linger long among people who would begin to question who he was.  No, he was outside somewhere, waiting for the perfect moment to strike.

“I’ll give you a nickel,” said Angie.

“Huh?”  Rollie turned his attention to her.

“Your thoughts.  Whatever they are, they look like they’re probably worth more than a penny.”

Rollie smiled.  “Lady, my thoughts don’t come cheap.  If you want them, it’ll cost you a quarter.”

“A quarter!  Boy, are you expensive!”  She dug into her pocket and fish out a quarter, tossing it to Rollie.  “They’d better be worth it or I’m demanding a refund.”

Rollie grew serious.  “I was thinking about Luther Syman.”

“Oh.”

“He could be here, right outside that door, and we wouldn’t know it.”

Angie moved a little closer to him, whether it was to give comfort or to get it, he didn’t know.

Rollie and Angie finished their lunch in silence.  She then scooted over in front of him, resting her back against his chest.  The Aussie wrapped his arms around her waist and laid his head on her shoulder.  Angie leaned her own head against his, and they both closed their eyes.

“Ange, there’s something I need to tell you,” Rollie said.

“What?”

“When you started working for me full-time, I opened a savings account in your name.  I’ve been putting money in it regularly since then.”

Angie turned to look at him.  “What?  Why did you do that, Rollie?  You had no business doing that.”

“You’ve earned the money, Angie, more than earned it.  You’ve worked just as hard for Tyler F/X as I have.  I wanted there to be something for you if--”  Rollie cut himself off, not wanting to tell her the real reason for the account.

“If what?”

“Just for when we retired, that’s all.”

“I have my own savings account, Rol, and I’ve been able to save a good chunk of money with my percentage of the profits.  By the time we retire, I won’t ever have to worry about money.  How much is in the account?”

“Not a huge amount,” the Aussie said evasively.

“How much, Rollie?” Angie repeated more firmly.

“Um, around forty thousand to date.”

“For. . . .  No way, Rol.  I’m not taking that money.”

“Angie, please.  I want you to have it.  This business should have been yours to begin with.  And I owe you so much more than money.  The money is nothing compared to our friendship and how you’ve stayed with me all these years, how you’ve stood by me no matter what.”

Angie gazed at him, then sighed.  “Oh, Rollie.  What am I going to do with you?”

The Aussie smiled faintly.  “Well, I can think of plenty of things that I’d like to do with you, but a lot of them are things we couldn’t do in a public place.”

Angie sighed again, knowing that she couldn’t win this battle.  Rollie pulled her to him and kissed her.  She then snuggled back into his arms.  They spent the rest of the lunch break like that, content just to be close.

As the cast and crew filed back onto the set, Rollie and Angie stood.  Much as they hated it, it was time to get back to work.  They now needed to do some tunnel shots without Daniel in the frame.  They were almost finished when the sound of a horrendous explosion shook the building.  Startled, everybody dropped what they were doing and rushed outside.  Rollie halted just inside the doorway.  It was pandemonium outside.  A gasoline truck had exploded.  At least twenty people were on the ground.  Most were moaning in pain and making slight movements.  A few, though, weren’t moving at all.  Most of the cops who were there to protect Rollie had rushed to the victims and were attempting to give aid.  One of the cops who had remained near the door saw Rollie and told him to get back inside.  Reluctantly, he complied, with Angie coming in after him.  Alone, they waited.

Perhaps five minutes had passed when Rollie heard a sound that did not come from outside.  He spun around to see someone move out from the shadows.

“Syman.”

The assassin smiled slightly.  “So, it is true.  You can recognize me, even in a disguise.”

“There are certain things that don’t change, even with latex and makeup on,”  Rollie said, trying to stall for time.  He backed up a couple of steps.

“Just stay right there.  And you, Ms. Ramirez, kindly remove your hand from that electronic pad there.  I’ve been watching you long enough to get an idea of what it’s capable of.”

Angie pulled her hand away from her PDA.

“Now you, Mister Tyler, please remove yours.  And be very careful about it.”

Rollie took off the PDA and tossed it onto a table.

“You are quite something, do you know that, Mister Tyler?  I trained Lionel for five years, taught him everything I know, yet you took him down just like that.”  He snapped his fingers.  “I was very impressed.”

Syman studied Rollie.  “You are a man to be admired, Mister Tyler.  Not many civilians would stay calm and keep their wits about them when staring death in the face.  I was also quite surprised that you were able to identify both Lionel and me despite our disguises.  You are very talented.”  Rollie could tell that the man’s praise was sincere.

“I have a question for you, Syman.”

“Yes?”

“Why didn’t you kill Angie and finish the job on me when you had the chance?”

“Because it was unnecessary.  By then, I had determined that Ms. Ramirez could not, in any way, identify me.  I also knew that Lionel could not be traced back to me.  I was very careful about that.  I only kill those I am paid to or those I have to.  Unnecessary killings can get messy and just cause more problems in the long run.  I admit, though, that I did make a mistake in your case.  Oh well.  It is one that is easily rectified.”  He raised the gun and pointed it at Rollie’s chest.

“No!  Wait!  You don’t have to do this!”  Rollie said hastily.  “You can just leave, forget about your contract here.”

“I’m sorry, Mister Tyler, but that is unacceptable.  I have never failed to fulfill a contract.  I am afraid that you and Ms. Ramirez will have to be removed.”

“No, please!  Leave Angie alone.  She can’t hurt you.  I’m the one who’s the danger to you.”

For a moment, a faint shadow of emotion crossed Syman’s face.  “Again, I am sorry, Mister Tyler.  I simply cannot take that chance.  You know, it is strange.  I have killed many people, men and women across the globe, yet this is the first time I have ever felt any regret.”  Again, he raised his gun.

“Nooo!” Angie screamed, making a move toward Rollie.  The gun was turned in her direction.  There were two muffled pops and Angie’s body jerked back.  She fell heavily to the floor and lay still.

“Angie!!!”  Rollie screamed.  The cry was cut short as the gun was again fired and two slugs slammed into his own chest.  He was thrown violently to the ground.  His body gave a single convulsive shudder, then grew still as a red stain spread across his chest to drip onto the cold cement beneath him.
 

CHAPTER FORTY-FIVE -- PRESUMED DEAD

Luther Syman looked down at the two bodies.  As always, he felt no delight or sense of pleasure, only the satisfaction of another job successfully completed.  This time, though, the satisfaction was diluted by the same regret he had felt before he pulled the trigger.  Shaking his head, he berated himself for his weakness.  This had been just two more killings in his two and a half decades of being in this business.

Syman turned away, tucking the gun behind his jacket.  Carefully, he looked outside the door.  There was still chaos outside as EMT’s and cops rushed around helping the wounded and firefighters attempted to put out the blaze.  Unobserved, the assassin slipped out of the door and slowly walked away from the stage.  He did not truly relax until he’d made it out of the studio and was driving away in his car.

Now he could get down to business.

Back on the set, the terrible silence continued, almost seeming to muffle the sounds coming from the catastrophe outside.  Suddenly, there was a soft noise, a tiny scraping sound, then came the sound of a breath being drawn in.  Rollie’s body stirred.  His eyes opened.  Groaning faintly, he reached for his chest and began to rub it.  Slowly, he sat up and turned toward Angie.

“Ange?  Are you all right?”  There was some concern in his voice.

Angie groaned and sat up.  Her hand also went to her chest.  “Ouch!  That hurts, even wearing a bulletproof vest.”

“You should feel the real thing, Love.  This is nothing compared to that.”

Just then, Mira walked in.  Her eyes went from one to the other.  “So?  Did it work?”

Rollie gestured at the red mess on his clothes.  “Apparently.  As far as Luther Syman is concerned, we are both very dead.”  He removed the blood packets that had been attached to the vest under his shirt, then pulled the slugs from the outer lining of the vest.  Rollie’s assumption that Syman would go for body shots rather than aiming for the head had been correct.  It had been a gamble, but the assassin’s M.O. had shown that he almost always shot his victims in the heart.  Wincing in pain, Rollie stood up.  He helped Angie to her feet.  He had not wanted her to be here when Syman came, fearing that something would go wrong, and she would be hurt or killed.  But she had been right.  Syman had considered her a danger to him, too.  If she had not been here, he might have sought her out to kill her, and she would not have been wearing the vest when he did.

The stage door opened and two heads peaked around it.  Jack Traber and Elizabeth Wright looked Rollie and Angie up and down.

“Is it over yet?” asked Jack.

“Yeah, it’s over,” replied Rollie.  He walked toward the door and opened it all the way.

Beth turned to the chaotic scene and yelled at the top of her voice, “Okay, people, that’s a wrap!”

Dead and dying people abruptly stood up, smiles on their faces.  The flames leaping from the gas tanker flickered, then went out.  Everybody started clapping.  Rollie stood between Jack and Beth.  He placed an arm around each of their shoulders.

“Thanks for doing this, guys.  It was a real lifesaver--literally.”

“Don’t mention it, Rollie,” said Jack.  “Anything we can do to help, all you have to do is ask.”

“Besides, we got some great footage out here,” added Beth.

“Well, there’s some more great footage inside,” the Aussie told them.  “Angie and I were careful to keep Syman in the frame.  I’m afraid you two can’t have that, though.  That little piece of film is going straight to the police and the feds.”

Jack grinned at Rollie.  “So, how was my acting debut?”

“First class, Jack.  I’d nominate you for an award for sure,” the Aussie said with a grin.

“So, do you really think that this Syman guy was listening in on us here the whole time?”

“We had to assume that he was.  We couldn’t take any chances of him hearing or seeing something that would give the whole thing away.  As it turns out, we wouldn't have had to worry. The place is free of bugs. ”

“How do you know?”

“While we were setting up, a couple of cops dressed as crew members swept the place.  We had to know for sure either way.”

“I have to say, Rollie, that you are quite a scriptwriter--and actor,” commented Beth.  “This whole thing was brilliant.  If you ever decide to get out of special effects, let me know.  I could still get plenty of work for you in the industry.”  She turned to Angie.  “That goes for you, too.”

“Well, these two geniuses are going to be spending the rest of the day in a safe house, so any career changes will have to wait,” Mira said.  She then hustled Rollie and Angie into a windowless delivery van.

Inside, the F/X artists took off their ‘bloodstained’ shirts and changed into fresh ones.  Rollie tried very hard not to stare at Angie as she stripped down to her bra.  Once the two were finished changing, they all discussed the next step in the plan.

“Is Syman being tracked?” Angie asked.

“He sure is,” Mira replied.  “That gadget you attached to the doorway must have worked.  We’ve got a strong radioactive reading coming from Syman as we speak.”

The sprayers had been the weakest link in the plan.  A lot of things could have gone wrong.  When triggered, they were designed to spray thousands of almost microscopic magnetic particles that would attach themselves to anything metal.  The particles were radioactive, and that radioactivity could be detected by the extremely sensitive device that Rollie had also built.  The sprayers had been activated by Rollie’s sniffer, which had been programmed to detect gunpowder.  The moment Syman walked into the door, the tiny device had ‘smelled’ the powder in his gun and had activated the sprayers.

“Don’t forget that the maximum range of those trackers is only half a mile, Mira,” the Aussie said.

“Don’t worry.  We’ve got one in a car that’s got a loose tail on Syman, and the other one’s in the chopper.  We won’t lose him.”

“So, now we just wait for tomorrow, see where Syman goes, then grab him before he makes the hit, right?” Angie asked.

“In a nutshell,” Mira replied.  “Of course, there’s a lot more to it than that.  We have to make sure that the target is never put in any kind of danger.  The repercussions would be disastrous if anything happened to either one of them.”

“You still have no idea which one it is?”

“No.  They’re both equal possibilities.  I’m afraid we’re not going to know until we see which way Syman goes tomorrow.  Alafa’s personal jet is due in at 9 a.m.  According to his itinerary, he’ll be heading to his hotel to freshen up and have lunch, then going on to a business meeting, which is scheduled for one o'clock.  Ross will be coming in at 11:30 and heading straight to the convention.”

“Syman will want to set up before the target arrives, when there won’t be any kind of security around,” commented Rollie.

Mira nodded.  “First thing in the morning, we’ll have people at the convention center, the hotel, and where Alafa’s meeting is going to take place.”  She studied Rollie’s face, seeing the tension there.  “We’re going to get him, Rollie.”

“I sure hope so, Mira.  If you don’t, when Syman figures out what we did, Angie and I will be dead for real.”

The moment they arrived at the safe house, Rollie turned on the TV.  He wanted to see if they were on the news yet.  He turned it to channel seven.  He didn’t have long to wait.  A Special Report notice flashed onto the screen, then the familiar face of Marcus Richardson appeared.

“Half an hour ago, Golden Age Studios, which you see behind me, was rocked by a tremendous explosion when a gas tanker blew up.  Details are still coming in, but the police presently believe the explosion to have been an accident.  The latest report has the death toll at six, with seventeen others injured.  But more interesting than the explosion itself is the fact that special effects master Rollie Tyler is reported to have been in the studio at the time of the explosion.  As this reporter revealed in an earlier broadcast, Mister Tyler is a key figure in an attempt to capture an international assassin who is believed to have a contract to kill someone here in New York.  We have attempted to find out whether or not Mister Tyler was injured in the explosion, but the police have refused to comment.  If Mister Tyler was seriously injured or killed, as this reporter suspects, then the chances the FBI have of capturing the assassin before he kills again are all but gone.  This is Marcus Richardson reporting for Eyewitness News.”

“You look pretty good for someone who has been blown up, Rollie.  Or was it shot?  I’m confused,” Francis said with a smile.  The detective had been waiting at the safe house for them.

Rollie returned the smile as he turned off the TV.  There were going to be a lot of phone calls coming in on this one.  He hated the worry that his and Angie’s friends were going to suffer, but it would have been worse if they’d done things the way the feds had wanted to.  The FBI had wanted the bogus news report to reveal that Angie and Rollie were dead, murdered by the assassin.  They had both flatly refused to allow this.  It was bad enough having people who cared about them worrying that they might be hurt, it was another thing entirely for people to be grieving over their apparent deaths.

“Well, if Syman was watching that, he should be satisfied,” Mira commented.  “Just one more piece of the plan put into place.  I understand that there will be another report given on tonight’s news broadcast saying that the police are still not releasing any info on you?”

Rollie nodded.  “It’s a good thing the hit is going down tomorrow.  We wouldn’t be able to hold this charade together much longer then that.  There are too many people who are going to start realizing that something fishy is going on.”

“Well, let’s hope the smell isn’t noticed until after we’ve nailed Luther Syman,” Frank said.

That evening, Rollie and Angie were alone together in one of the bedrooms.  It was the only place they could go where they could have some privacy.  Rollie was sitting on the bed watching Angie pace back and forth.

“This could still go wrong, Rollie.  You do realize that,” she said.

“Yes, it could, but what else could we do?  We had the opportunity to find out who his target is and stop the assassination.  For all we know, whoever hired Syman might have a backup plan in case something happened to him.  If Syman had just been arrested rather us than doing this, it’s possible that the hit would have taken place anyway.”

She stopped pacing and took Rollie’s hands in hers. “I know.  I’m just worried, that’s all.”

“Yeah, me too.”  He sat her down on the bed beside him.  “Angie, if this thing turn