What Are Friends For…
by Eileen
"Rollie, my friend, I am buying you a round at PJ’s!!" exclaimed Det. Leo McCarthy, of the NYPD, to his good friend, Rollie Tyler. The two men were walking down 57th St. on the West Side going from Broadway towards 8th Ave. Leo was very proud of the fact that they had just pulled off yet another one of their famous (or infamous, depending on who you were asking) stings. Leo saw nothing wrong in getting some help from his special effects friend and Rollie was only too happy to oblige his friend.
"Nah, not tonight, maybe tomorrow. Leo, it's ok. I promised Angie that I would get back early. I feel bad that I always end up doing this to her. You know, leave to help you and then she gets stuck doing the dirty jobs back at the loft." Rollie answered Leo’s unasked question regarding Rollie’s assistant, Angela Ramirez. "I told her that I would take her to dinner tonight. Really, besides I have a lot of work to do in the morning. I have to get the timing down perfectly on one the bombs that we are working on for that new thriller that is starring your ‘idol’ " Rollie maliciously told his pal.
"You know that I can’t stand all those guys out there who pretend to be NYPD. Just the way they talk for Chrissakes!! Roll, did you have to take that movie?"
"Um... yeah, if I want to pay my bills, pay Angie so she could pay her bills. That is usually how it goes. Some of us don’t have the city taking care of us" Rollie added with a grin.
"Yeah, I know. But that guy is a jerk!! No cop I know talks like that. I mean some of us actually do have a college degree. Plus the image we get; make us all look like we are on the take. Either that or we have some connection to some mob somewhere. They don’t know the lingo, the skill we have to do this type of work, I mean it takes years to understand a criminal mind….. What is so funny?" Leo was reacting to Rollie’s chuckles. "I mean here is some jerk who thinks he is tough because he gets to play with guns and you are laughing at me. Not to mention, he is making a mockery out of my profession." Leo was fuming at this point.
"I am not laughing at you. Just your logic. ‘It takes years to understand a criminal mind’ (doing his best Leo impression). You should hear yourself. Think about what you just said; you say these guys in the movies are not real. Yet you have someone who works in the movies who uses movie magic to make your hard job easier. And I don’t have all the years in training that you do! Then you wonder why these guys think they can do it in a matter of a few days. I did!!!" Rollie love to torment his friend. "So, you are now most definitely buying me a round or two for that ‘mockery of my profession’" he added as he sailed into the bar.
"That was a good one of me. I must admit that but
be careful. I don’t let just anyone tease me" Leo
retorted as he followed the lead into the pub.
It was five hours later when Rollie realized the time. "Leo, she is going to kill me!! I told her I would take her to dinner for this exact reason. I gotta go now otherwise, I might be looking for a new partner." Rollie was not drunk but in his words "merry"; not the sick-falling-down-drunk but the kind that is silly and giggles a lot when he has taken one too many. While sitting in PJ’s the owner, Jack O’Reilly, offered Leo and Rollie some finger food on the house. Rollie had accepted the offer and ate the cheese sticks, chicken fingers, potato skins and buffalo wings that were placed in front of him. Leo, on the other hand, ate nothing but sat back drank his Bass and schmoozed with the other patrons of the bar. This small but hearty portion of food probably saved Rollie from being as drunk as Leo was.
"Leo, did you hear me? I said that I have got to go. I wouldn’t be surprised if she booby trapped the place for me when I get back. So, I will see you tomorrow," Rollie informed Leo as he put on his jacket, "maybe... if she lets me live that long. Bye and get home safe."
Jack had been watching the scene from behind the bar while chatting with some of the patrons, as barkeepers are want to do, and told Rollie just before he left, "Don’t you worry about McCarthy. I’ll take care of him; we take of our own all the time. Right, Leo?"
Seeing the puzzled look on the young Australian’s face, the NY Detective said, "Jack and I go way back. Went to the academy together. Then did a stint at the one-ten in Queens, then some time in Brooklyn Task Force. Jack’s good people, Rol. Mean it." he said while raising his pint in a salute to his fellow member of NY’s Finest.
"Yeah, I’ll make sure McCarthy gets home ok; me and the boys will take care of Leo. You take care of yourself. Want one of the boys to escort you, no problem?" With that, Jack waved his hand to the back half of the room. There was a small group from the theater but mostly the crowd was off duty cops or firemen. Rollie had heard Leo talk about the brotherhood that went along with being a cop or a fireman but never really saw it up close till now. Frank and Leo did things together, but he assumed that was because they were partners. But now seeing all the other cops nodding their heads in agreement with O’Reilly, he was amazed. They would take Leo home and see to his safety solely because they all had the same job. With a chuckle, Rollie wondered if Rick had lived would he make sure of his safety after a night out. ‘Probably not; I would be the one getting Rick home in one piece’ Rollie mused.
"OK, if you are sure about this, Leo?"
"Yeah, get out of here. Don’t want you to get
killed in your home" he ended the conversation with a nasty
grin. "See you tomorrow" and then Rollie went
outside to hail a cab.
BRRRING!!! BRRRING!!! BRRRING!!! At least, that is what the alarm clock sounded to Rollie Tyler the next morning. With the conclusion that he had to have died and gone to hell because nothing he had ever heard was that horrible, he decided to take a shower in the off chance he was still alive. ‘If not, then at least I will be clean for my funeral’ he thought morbidly. Getting out of the shower he realized that there were no clean towels for him to use and the alarm wouldn’t shut off, so he had to get dressed wet and with a loud noise in his head.
Making his way down to his work area, Rollie tried to think of what might have made him this way. Trying to recall yesterday’s events, he ran them off in order of occurrence, "Went to Tower Records for that stupid album for Dingo, album — can’t believe he wants an album and not a CD; then over to Columbus Circle to meet Frank about the plan for Leo’s newest caper, then went with Ange to dinner... No that’s not it; first went to the bar with Leo... Bar and Leo in one sentence can only mean one thing: I am dead wet man in hell with an alarm that won’t shut off and to bloody well top it off, I have a hang over!!!" with that he slumped to his desk to rest his aching head on his arms. At that moment, Angie walked thru the door. He glanced at her and grimaced; she looked well-rested, clean, effervescent and sober; Rollie instantly grew afraid. ‘She’s planning something; I just know it. She is just waiting for me to drop my guard before she pays me back for last night’ Rollie thought to himself. He warily watched her move around the warehouse. Angie did the tasks that she did every day. She turned on her PC to check her email, put the kettle on for some tea, checked the night’s security video (Rollie’s policy ever since Leo became a permanent fixture to the loft). Angela acted as if she didn’t even see Rollie sitting at his desk... in pain.
When she brought her tea in from the kitchen, she saw her boss, at least it was a man resembling her boss, sitting at his desk. "Rol, sorry. I didn’t see you. How’s was your night? I assume you did go out." Angela questioned him. Grabbing his chin and moving his face from side to side, she added, "By the looks of it, you were with Leo, right?". Chuckling on the inside at the sight that he made, she just shook her head and brought him a cup, too. "I thought you would have learned your lesson by now. You are NOT a drinker; ok, you are but you shouldn’t be. You can’t hold your liquor. Hate to tell you this but, you are a teetotaler. Rol, admit it: You can’t hang with the big boys!" She walked away laughing softly while all poor Rollie could do was throw her dirty looks.
"I thought I would be back in a couple of hours. I didn’t think it would be all that long. Sorry." He waited for her comeback; when none came forth, he tried again to start a conversation with his assistant. "What time did you leave here?"
"Weeeel, let’s see. I waited from 3 o’clock, that’s when you called and told me that you were on your way to meet Frank at Columbus Circle. We were supposed to meet here between 6 and 6:30, so…about 10:30 is when I left." She was sitting on a stool in the kitchen reading the day’s paper while she answered Rollie. Looking up, she continued, "I waited because I wasn’t sure if you were with Leo out or with Leo in trouble. But then by the looks of you, you did both. You called at 10…"
"I called? I don’t remember that. When did I call? What did I say?"
"You called at about 10 and told me that you were sorry and that you would be here any minute. I left." Noticing the look on Rollie’s face, Angela proceeded to say, "I heard Leo in the background and I know by now Irish bar music. It was really evident where you were. "
"I am sorry, Ange. Really, I mean it. I just don’t know…every time I go out with Leo, I lose my head. I have got to stop doing that. I can’t believe I did it again." Rollie just lowered his head back down to the desk and prayed; he was sick to his stomach. All Angie could hear was a muted prayer for a quick demise.
‘Poor guy is really sick; I should try to get him back to
bed or at least get him to put some food in his stomach’ she
considered. "Rol, c’mon. Let’s get you
some food before you pass out on me. I really hate when
guys faint; it’s so demeaning" she tacked on
maliciously.
.
"Are you sure you want to help me? I mean, I was
supposed to be here last night to help you do some work and then
I broke a promise to you. I don’t get it; where’s
the catch?"
"I was thinking of doing something" she admitted to
him as they moved from the work area to the couch, where Rollie
could be more comfortable. "But seeing you in this
condition, I can’t. That would be too mean, even
though you do deserve it."
"Thanks, Sweetie. I promise I will not do this again. It hurts just way too much. Why do I do this to myself?" he groaned as he lowered himself to the couch.
"Because all men have the ‘S’ gene."
" ‘S’ gene? Ange, I may not be a doctor, but I do know that there is no gene called ‘S’."
"Of course you haven’t heard of it. You have the gene; ‘S’ means stupid. And what you did last night just proves it." She walked back to the kitchen to see if she could scrounge up something for him. She knew that he needed food that would quiet his raging stomach but at the same time be nourishing. Deciding on dry toast and warm soda, she brought him the snack. "I am not stupid!! I take of this place, I can put together a computer system, design FX for the biggest movies and you think I am stupid!!!" After this little tirade, Rollie realized the pain he brought upon himself by raising his voice.
"Yeah, riiiiiight. You hate to feel like this but you constantly do it. Then the next time this happens, you always say ‘Why do I do this to myself? I promise…’ Rol, face it, you do the ‘manly’ thing when Leo is around. I swear if there is more than one man in the room, their collective IQ drops to almost nil" she declared on her way back to her station, "AND I haven’t even brought up sports or women. Rol, you just proved every stereotype of men last night. Just eat and try to get some rest, huh?"
"Yeah, well,…"
"Good comeback, Rol. Got me scared." She started to laugh slyly.
"You know, Ange just because two men go out for a few drinks doesn’t mean that we are stupid. Ok, maybe it wasn’t the most brilliant move that I have ever made, but I also wouldn’t call it stupid. We are intelligent and responsible people and…." He looked up to see Angie just sitting at her station making faces that were sarcastic to him.
"Hey, Mr. I-am-responsible, what shape was Leo in? I mean you didn’t fare so well and I know that you can’t drink as much as he can. I *KNOW* that you didn’t drive and he didn’t so….."
"The last I saw he was still sitting at the bar with Jack talking about their early days in the academy. Jack said that he, and I quote, and the boys would make sure Leo gets home safely."
"The Boys?"
"NY’s Finest, sweetie. There were some off-duty cops and they were going to take Leo home.’
"Like I said….men in a room and the IQ drops. Don’t give me that look. I mean, Leo is a cop and if there is another cop around who will take him home and look after him, why does he have to be responsible? I know they have a stressful job…trust me, I KNOW. But they should still be responsible for their own actions and not have someone back them up because they wear the same uniform."
"Ange, so someone else took him home. What’s the big deal?"
"Big deal is that Leo could have done something wrong while he was drunk and "The Boys" would have backed him up. THAT is not being responsible. OK, before you get started, suppose it was you or Rick did do something stupid while drunk and caused some damage. Think the police would say, ‘But he has a stressful job, so we’ll let him slide.’ I don’t think so. Face it, Rol, they live behind that blue wall."
"Hey, that’s not fair. I mean yeah that there are bad cops out there, everyone knows that. But to lump them all together…" Rollie protested as he started to sit up to see her better.
"Never mind. Forget it."
"We have this argument all the time, especially when I go out with Leo. Ange, I mean he is…"
"Yeah, yeah. Don’t have to tell me;
*he’s* your best friend" the blonde woman muttered into
her computer screen while her boss just gave her a quizzical
look.
The old adage that goes, "Speak of the devil and he walks in" popped into Angela’s mind when the door admitted Leo McCarthy to enter the loft. ‘Just what I need now’ Angela just kept her head down as if she was working, waved a ‘hello’ to him but all the while was aware of Leo’s whereabouts in the loft. Angie was also very attuned to the fact that Leo was NOT in the same shape that Rollie was in; Leo looked and acted as if last night had no effect on him at all.
"Rol!! What are you doing sitting in here? It’s a beautiful day; c’mon, let’s go have some breakfast. I’m buying." The NYC cop was in a good mood. He had to be if he was buying; Leo rarely bought anyone meals, it wasn’t that he was cheap. Rather, Leo bought people cups of coffee or rounds at PJ’s or Houilhans.
Upon hearing this, Angela’s head snapped up and looked at Rollie, who was still waiting for the Grim Reaper to come for him. ‘He’s going to ask Rollie for a favor. Leo can never come right out and ask. No, he’s special and sweet talks Rollie and Rollie being Rollie never wants to disappoint a friend…except for me.’ the young woman thought to herself bitterly. While still doing her work, she kept an alert ear on the conversation below, just in case.
"So, whaddya say? C’mon, ya gotta eat, right? Right, Ange, the guy hasta eat." Leo looked to Angela to confirm his statement. All he got was a tight smile that lasted all of two seconds, which Leo seemed to take no notice of. "See? You have to eat sometime. Uh…Rol, you don’t look so good. Whatsamatta? You sick or somethin’?" Leo’s thick NY accent came out much the same time that Rollie’s Australian accent did: when they were either excited or mad. The only times that Det. Leo McCarthy of the NYPD ever got excited was when he was close to a bust but needed *just* a bit of help from his friends, to quote a song.
"Don’t look so good? Leo, what is your stomach made out of?!?! Iron?! We were there for over 5 hrs drinking; I am sicker than a chocolate frog and there you stand like…like nothing happened." Rollie groaned. "No, definitely no food. I am not that strong yet. AND I know that I would not be able tohandle any amount of sunlight today. So, for today I am a vampire; I am staying indoors." Hearing this proclamation, Angie smiled inwardly to herself. But she was wise enough to stay out of the conversation; it didn’t involve her…yet.
"Hey, Rol, did something happen to you?" the police detective asked of his friend.
"Yes something happened: last night!! Leo, I drank too much. I do not want to go out and be miserable. I want to stay here and be miserable and die in my own bed. Is that ok with you?" At this moment, Rollie sounded like a little child who didn’t feel well; he wasn’t sick enough to stay home from school but not well enough to go either. Plus, he was beginning to whine a bit, a sure sign that he was not well.
"Ok, I got a great idea then. Wanna hear it?" Leo had on his best Cheshire Cat grin.
‘OH NO!!! PLEASE NOT ONE OF HIS IDEAS!!! GOD, IF YOU ARE THERE THEN PLEASE MAKE LEO GET LARYNGITIS REALLY SOON!!" Angela prayed to herself. If there was one thing that she feared in this world, it would be any idea that came from Leo McCarthy. He was always asking them (specifically Rollie) for help that involved their (usually Rollie’s) expertise on special effects, gadgets or computers (usually her). ‘Why can’t he just be a regular cop and use their stuff and not ours!?’ which is a thought that had crossed her mind more than once in the 3 yrs. that she has known him.
"How about we get breakfast in? We could have it here; you would still be near your bed in case death decided after all to pay a visit to you. Plus I need to ask you for a favor." At the moment, Angie dropped her pad of papers to the floor and rolled her eyes as if saying that she knew this would happen all along. "You ok up there, Ange? So, whatta ya think? Good idea, huh? See that way since I am already here, I could tell you what’s going on and that way when you figure out what to do, you can show me the stuff. I would say that is a good idea, if I do say so myself."
"Leo, I…" Rollie started before he got interrupted by Angie.
"Rollie, we have a lot of work to do. I mean A LOT. We have to get this in by Thursday and it is already Tuesday. Half of yesterday was lost, now we are falling further behind" came from the voice higher up than the two men. Both peered up to see Angie leaning over the railing.
"Don’t worry. It won’t take too long" commented Leo.
"I heard that yesterday. Rol?" She was waiting for Rollie to make a decision and begged him with her eyes to make the correct one.
Rollie shrugged as if to say why not. "Um…sure. What harm could it do to listen." He looked up to see Angie just looking at him, not saying a word. He got the distinct impression that she was PISSED but couldn’t figure out why. After about a minute of the staring contest, she rolled back to her computer; Rollie knew that even though she moved away first, she had won. Maybe because it wasn’t a matter of the length of the stare but the way it was done. Angie’s stare seemed to be one of disappointment and resentment. Taking a deep breath, he continued. "Ange, I’ll help you after I hear what Leo says, ok?’ no response from the higher station, so he tried again but this time louder, "OK?!"
Angela made no move to the railing like she had done before
but stayed in front of her CPU and because of that, her response
was low and Rollie had to strain to hear it. "Sure, fine,
whatever. You’re the boss, boss." Her voice was
flat and monotone. Rollie now prayed harder for his
hangover to be gone that and for some insight into the mind of a
woman. For some god forsaken reason, the sweet helping girl
that was here an hour ago had disappeared and in her place was a
cold unfeeling one. He pleaded to whomever or whatever
controlled this universe to help him get out of the fight he was
going to have later with Angela, one that he had no clue as to
how he got into in the first place.
"Hey, so, you want to get started?" Leo pushed. He was antsy to get things rolling along; he wanted to tell Rollie what kind of help that was needed on the latest case that he was involved in.
"Sure, just let me get some kind of aspirin or acetaminophen or something, anything that will get rid of this bloody headache!" Rollie informed his friend as he plodded his way back up to his private living quarters. The loft’s only bathroom was there; Rollie was tempted to go back to bed and call the whole day off. With a look of longing at his bed, he went directly to the medicine cabinet and retrieved the medicine for his head. Gulping them down, he got a good look at himself in the mirror and instantly knew why both Angie and Leo asked him what happened to him. He looked like one of his horror film creatures…’ maybe not even that good’ Rollie then headed out to the railing and called down to Leo, "Mate, I’m going to take a quick shower. While I’m doing that, why don’t you get the food that you said that you are buying. I won’t be long."
"Sure thing. In fact, I need to make a couple of phone calls. Should let Francis know where I am so he can forward my calls." He pulls out his cellular phone and dials Frank’s extension at the precinct. "Frankie? Hey, I’m over here at Rollie’s place. Yeah, I know. That’s why I am here. Ok, got it…wait let me write this down, gimme that last number again. Ookay, gotcha. See ya." Looking up at the place, Leo noted to himself that being here never stopped amazing him. It was like being in the fun house at Coney Island; only this was a hell of a lot better. "The only fun house I know in Brooklyn is King’s County and then only the 10th floor" he told no one in particular. "Hey, Ange, what are you doing right about now?"
Angela was still at her computer when Leo was talking to Frank, but had to go back down when she realized that some of the drawings that Rollie did for her part of the bombing sequence were still on Rollie’s workstation. Dreading going down, because knowing the mood that she was in, Angie probably would start a fight with Leo. ‘And I know who the loser would be in Rollie’s mind’. But since she had no choice, she went quietly to the station and almost made it back up to hers when Leo popped his question. "Why do you want to know?" she asked in her not so sweet voice.
"Thinking that since Rol and I are going to be talking about this case that I am working on, I was thinking that you could maybe go pickup breakfast. It would be easier than…" but he was cut off by Angie. Actually it was the dropping of the papers, hard, onto her desk that stopped him.
"EXCUSE ME!?!? Did you just ask me to go and get your breakfast?? You have some nerve; Leo, I am busy here!! I have to do work that is behind schedule. Whatever Rollie didn’t get done yesterday, because he was with you, has to get done today. And then what was supposed to get done today, but won’t because he is with you again, will have to get done tonight!! I have to go to the store and see if I can get an item that Rollie probably forgot to get because he was….not here working like he promised ME!" Then the blonde woman left; she left in such a hurry that her papers were still in the air as Leo just looked at the door. He had never seen her in such a huff before.
"LEO!!! What did you do to her!?!" Rollie flew down the stairs and ran out the door to see if he could catch her. But she was already gone with no chance of being caught. "What did you say to her? This is the last thing that I need today. If she’s gone more than an hour, you can forget about this talk." Rollie moved to the couch so he could get his tea, which was cold along with the toast that Angie had made for him earlier. Groaning as he sat down, he remembered why he didn’t drink that much anymore "Bloody hurts."
"What? What hurts, Rol?"
"The hangover, Leo, the hangover. You still didn’t answer my question: What did you say to her that made her leave? She was fine before I took my shower and now she is gone. What happened?"
"I just asked her what she was doing today and then she flew into this rage. Rollie, I swear I didn’t do a thing to her. Really"
"That’s it? Nothing else, you didn’t say anything else to her? THINK, Leo."
"Just about breakfast. All I did was ask her to go get it…."
"LEO!!! You bloody moron!! OW!!" holding his head due to the sharp pain there brought on by the raising of voices, Rollie continued but in a much more restrained tone. "Leo, you asked Angie to get our breakfast. You know how she is when there is a deadline. Look, when she comes back, shut up! Don’t say a thing; don’t antagonize her any more. I’d be lucky if she came back at all today. I have got to get some work done here and I need her help. Now….what is this big plan of yours?" Just as Leo sits down to tell about his latest plan, the phone rings. "God, I am not up to this today. Bluey, get phone" Blue activates himself and yips in answer to his master’s command "YIP!! YIP!! YIP!! Which sent poor Rollie flying off the couch and had him on his back on the floor. "Thanks, Ange. Payback, huh? Knew she was planning something."
Two weeks later found them working hard on the set of their new film, "Orion The Zodiac Hunter" based on the true story of the NYPD’s search for a man who called himself the Zodiac Killer. It had not been an easy two weeks for them. First the bomb sequence that they had worked so hard on for so many hours was scrapped. It seems that the director was from Europe and had no knowledge of the crimes; there was no bombing by the Zodiac killer. All the work was negated in seconds when he said, "Ok, we forget the bomb sequence. I want more blood and guts for the stabbing of the sister and for that scene that has the old man with the cane, you know the only one who survived the attack. Tyler, can you have that in 3 days?" It was not a question that Rollie could say no to.
"I can’t believe this!! All of our hard work on that bloody sequence just to be told that it isn’t going to be seen!!! Why didn’t they hire someone who has a bit of information about the killings!! It was all over the papers for two years; hell, *we* know more about it than he does. Damn stupid director!!" Rollie was banging things all over the van, knocking some over all the while Angie just sat there and watched him lose it.
"Uh…what do you mean ‘our hard work’? Shouldn’t it be ‘all your hard work, Ange’? I mean after all, I did do most of it. You were too busy gallivanting with Leo for a couple of days to help me with a job that can actually pay us." She reminded him not so subtly. Angie moved away from him to sit in the front of the van and then after a moment’s thought she added quietly, "If anyone here has a right to be pissed, it’s me not you." Then she excused herself to go get some water.
"Damn!! Damn!!" He was still banging things when a he heard a ‘pop’ from the terminal. "Just bloody great", he muttered to himself. With a deep sigh and chastising himself for taking his anger out on the van, he went about to find what popped and if it would need serious repairs. Realizing it was just abulb that blew in the light fixture, he told himself he would fix it later. "I’ve got more important things to repair first" and then he left the van in search of Angie. He had just stepped out of the van when he saw her coming back. ‘I would know that walk anywhere…not to mention the blonde hair.’
Rollie just watched her walk back to the van. With her winter jacket and scarf, she seemed to be smaller than she actually was. He smiled to himself remembering the first winter that he was with the Ramierzes and the teasing that she gave him over his obvious disdain of the cold. They would wear the usual coat, scarf, and gloves while he on the other hand would wear: heavy flannel shirt, sweaters (at least two), scarf (extra long to wrap around his neck), a parka and of course gloves; ‘To this day, she still teases me about me coat’ Then with a sudden realization, Rollie recognized the fact that he liked to watch Angela walk. He also noted that he wasn’t alone in that pleasurable diversion; there were quite a few on the set with the same hobby. This fact bothered him but he didn’t know why….
"Hi" was all she said to him when she made her ways back to the van. "Um…look, …I’m sorry about before. I…"
"Ange, don’t worry about it. You’re right; it was mostly your work and you had every right to be upset, more so than I did. As a matter of fact, I was just coming out here to look for you. I’m sorry. Really, I am." With a quick hug and peck on the forehead, they made their way back into the van. "Now, that you are back, I need your help. One of the bulbs blew and I have to replace it. Do you know we keep them?"
"Why did the light blow? I just replaced them before we left; you know that I do that with every shoot. The extra ones are over there above the cabinets that have the insurance policy; hey don’t give me that look, it’s the only place that they fit in. Damn defective bulbs; I hate that!! Really, man, that pisses me off, buy new ones and they STILL blow in a few days. Don’t you hate that?" It was clear that she was getting worked up over her console not being perfect. After her cat, the console was her pet. No one could touch it but her and she made sure it was in working condition.
"Yeah, pain in the arse if you ask me. Write them a
letter, maybe you’ll get some free ones." he told her;
Rollie didn’t consider it a fib. ‘Didn’t ask
me if I did it and I am not going to tell her until
then.’ He felt he was safer if she didn’t know
the truth because if she ever found out that he was pounding on
it……the thought scared him.
Chapter 7
The pair worked in silence for about an hour on how to improve the scenes that the director wanted to be modified. Reading clips from the local papers, Daily News, New York Times, New York Newsday and New York Post, the special effects pieced together how the crime scenes looked like those horrible days on the streets of Brooklyn. They also watched the interviews with the local cops, mostly from the three-eight and a few criminal psychologists to see if they had the masks for the death scenes made right. They had to do this because the sister’s face was said to have a look on it as if she knew that she was being murdered and by whom. Only problem was the fact the killer blew ¾ of it away with an AK47. No picture of it was ever seen by the public; it was the only time in NYC history that anyone can remember where all the media agreed to the same principle.
"Hey, Rol. I’m getting a bit hungry, wanna break for some food?" The petite blonde woman looked at her boss with mischievous eyes. Angela’s most expressive part of her were her eyes; they were the perfect example of the saying, "The eyes are the windows to the soul". Everything can be seen thru them: fear, hate, sadness, empathy and love. But as much as these emotions were there for all to see, some had a hard time recognizing them.
"Sure. Why not? You going to get it?" her boss asked her while still working on the mask for the sister. For some reason, the ‘blood’ just didn’t want to sit right. "UGH!!! There isn’t enough of the bone showing!! Why won’t it do it!?!? In about three seconds, I am going to throw this and every other maskright out the ffff…freaking window!!" All the frustration that had built up all week due to the director’s misunderstanding of the incident, had finally found its way out in the manner of pummeling a goop of latex.
"Rol? I really think that you should come with me and get it yourself." She got up from her position in the driver’s seat of the van and moved to the back to collect her friend. "C’mon; you can use the break. Plus I am REALLY hungry. I want to get there before all the stuntmen eat up all the good stuff!!"
"HEY! That’s not true; the good food is gone before we get there. It is eaten by the hairdresser and costume people. I mean how hard is it for them?! They work in the morning and then at night. For the most of the day’s shoot, they sit around while they see the rest of us work." Rollie snorted in indignation; the thought that his fellow stuntmen were considered to be the ‘bad guys’ was preposterous. "You obviously never said that around your father. If you did, Manny probably had his ear plugs in."
She watched him get his jacket and then the two moved to the caterer’s stand. Angie just shook her head as she noted that he still wore the two sweaters and scarf and gloves and…well, everything even though they were going no more than five minutes away. "Hey, it’s easy to tell who brainwashed you!!" she added to the conversation once they were inside the tent. "I think my father actually gave up on ever getting me to admit that you stuntmen had some type of brains. HEY!! That hurt." Angie rubbed the back of her head; it was the same spot that Rollie had just bounced an apple off.
"Serves you right. No brains. What…where do you get these ideas from?! Your father was one of the brightest men in this business that I have ever met. I can’t believe you. Name me or give me one example that could back up that ‘theory’ of yours." The word theory was said sarcastically, meaning that it wasn’t one based on any scientific fact but Angie’s devious mind not working at all.
"OK, I got it. How about the time you and my dad…what?"
"Move up; you’re holding up the line. I thought you said you were hungry" and with that he left her standing by her lonesome at the end of the line.
By the time Angela caught up to Rollie, he was off the line
and sitting down at a table with some stuntmen friends. It
was a rare moment that he could sit down and enjoy his
lunch. Seeing how relaxed he was, Angie decided to keep
going to the van and let him have the hour with the people he
hadn’t seen in months and in some cases, years.
‘I could actually get some work done with him not being
there; that way he won’t be looking over my shoulder every
five minutes to see if I’m done yet.’
She got back to the van and immediately put the heat down.
"God!! No wonder the mask is setting right; it was
probably melting in here!! That man has got to learn about
the winter. That’s better. Now, to fix that
mask…" and she went about her task.
Without any concept of how late it was, Angela Ramirez was concentrating on the mask that her boss, Rollie Tyler, had started before they broke for lunch. ‘He’s right; this mask just isn’t coming out the way that it should. Maybe I should just wait for him to return before I really screw this up!’ The mask was needed for tomorrow’s shoot; it would be used in the death scene for the killer’s sister. Putting the mask on a shelf high above the console that was her domain, she finally looked at her watch and noted the time. It had been nearly two hours since she had seen her boss. It wasn’t that Rollie was missing or goofing off, which was something he rarely did. He was just having lunch with some fellow stuntmen whom he hadn’t seen in a long time. ‘But this is ridiculous; he is gone for two hours and here I am doing the work…again. By myself…again. Without him even noticing…again. I have got to be the office idiot; always letting him have longer lunches so he can be with his friends….’
Rollie strode thru the van’s rear doors and let in with him a gust of winter air. "Bloody hell, it’s cold out there!" His first movement was to the front of the van where the thermostat was and just as he was about to change it…
"TYLER!! Don’t you dare raise the heat! It is perfectly fine in here; in fact the heat was melting the mask before. That’s why it wouldn’t settle! If you are cold, keep on your sweaters. Rollie, I am fine right now but if you turn up the heat, both me and the mask are going to be mush!" She had also moved to the front of the van and was turning the heat down every time he turned it up.
"But it is cold! How can you sit there and say that it is fine in here?!"
"That is because I live in the real world and know how to cope; think of it like this: it’s colder in Montana. Want to go and live there? Rol, you have been in New York for at least 13 years, so when are you going to adjust? Huh?" She just stood next to him with her hands on her hips but there was no anger in her eyes. It was their most common ‘argument’; Rollie never thought it was warm enough during the winter. The winner in the fight over the thermostat in the loft was ruler for the day.
"Hey…dunno." He just smiled and sat down at the console that she had just left. "So, what have you been doing while I was away at lunch?" Rollie left his coat on while he was tinkering with the mask of the sister. "Which by the way, was not all that enjoyable for me. You were right behind me on the line and the next thing I know you are nowhere to be found. Dolly, you know the intern, told me that you went back to the van. Why? How come you didn’t want to eat with me?’
"Not you, Rol. I really don’t know those stuntmen all that well. They’re your friends; besides you haven’t seen them in a long time. I just figured that you wanted some time to talk to them." She was still at the front of the van just looking at him. The way she was standing there made Rollie flash back to when they were younger and she needed to talk but couldn’t because of the crush she used to have on him. "Plus I just wanted to be by myself for awhile."
"What?" the question was so soft that Angie almost thought she had imagined it. "You want to ask me something, Angela. Ask."
The pretty blonde just looked at her partner then smiled as she walked over to him. "You know me too, well. Gonna have to change that. It’s no big deal, just I need some advice." Seeing the raised eyebrow on Rollie’s face, she added quickly, "It’s about men and stuff like that. If you tease me about this, Rol, I swear that I will never come to you again for help!"
"Sweetie, would I do that to you?" He giggled
softly while still tinkering with the mask. When he
realized that she was earnest about the threat, he became
serious. "Sorry, really. Is it that
bad?" She had him worried; they teased each other
about their social lives and went to the other for advice. But
she never use that threat before. Rollie put down the mask,
turned the chair to face her, "OK, what is it?
What’s wrong?"
‘It’s…well, don’t laugh at me, ok? There is this jerk who…" but couldn’t get any further because of Rollie.
"What jerk? Is he here on the set?"
"Relax, ok. He is on the set but not today. He keeps, you know…asking me things."
"What? What things? Is he asking you out, asking you secrets about the movie or about the computers…what?" Now he was definitely nervous; Angie usually told him about these types AFTER she got rid of them. Between him and Manny, they made sure that she knew how to take care of herself if the need ever arose. Manny didn’t like the looks that his daughter received from some of the workers while she worked with him; he made sure Rollie took care of her when she was assisting him, otherwise there would be hell to pay.
"Nothing about the computers or any of the effects, so your secrets are safe. Is that what you want to know?" This was not going how she hope it would. First he dumps her during lunch, then takes a 2 hr lunch break, and when he finally gets back, he doesn’t even listen! "Never mind, Rol. I’ll figure it myself" her voice was tinged with anger and disappointment…which of the two she felt more, was hard to tell. She got up to move to the console that he abandoned.
"NO!! I don’t care about the effects; ok I do, but they aren’t as important as you are." He made himself calm down before he continued on. He knew that if he kept on pushing her this way, she would definitely walk away and not tell him a thing. Taking a deep breath, he proceeded, "Now, ok, let’s start over. There is a jerk who works on the set, but isn’t here today. That part I got right so far, eh?" Seeing her nod her head in the affirmative direction, Rollie continued, "Ok, now this jerk is asking you things; but it’s not about the effects or computers. Go ahead, I’m listening."
Angie took a moment to study Rollie. She wasn’t sure if this was such a good idea; it was a rotten day to begin with and she didn’t want to add to his list of problems. She also was afraid about her prediction on how he would deal with this. Usually he would tease her about all the comments that she received during the shoots, on the last shoot, Rollie kept a running total of them. He called ‘Angie’s Stolen Heart Count’ and taped it to the cabinet door. But this was much more serious than some guy whistling and now hisreaction worried her. "Ok, are you sure that you want to hear this? I didn’t mean to dump it on you. I just wanted some advice that would keep him away."
"You are not dumping on me!! C’mon tell me; what did this jerk do to you?" He had rolled his chair so that he was now sitting facing her; she had moved another stool over to the console. Even though she hadn’t told him a thing yet, Rollie was beyond being mad, he was incensed. He didn’t like hearing those kind of comments and especially when they were directed at Angie. During the years, he had a couple of arguments with directors and producers over the treatment that Angie had received on a few shoots. One or two of those arguments actually got heated but none ever got to the point that he would have hit anyone. Not until now; Rollie had never seen Angie so…upset over a guy’s comments. ‘Bloody can’t wait to hear them and the name!’
"Well, ok…this guy, the jerk, keeps asking me to
sleep with him. But it isn’t put that nicely.
Actually, he can be pretty crude about it. I never realized
how many ways that it can be put. Please don’t ask me
to repeat them; some of them are just too embarrassing to deal
with. I just want to know what to say to him so that he
will leave me alone. Rol, that is all I want."
While she was telling Rollie what the guy was asking her, Angie
kept her head up but her eyes were averted from his. She
didn’t look him in the eyes until the last sentence was
out. ‘God, Rol, just say it. Say something,
anything; just don’t look at me like that.’ was the
only thought that she could form in her head. She knew or
rather heard of some women on shoots who did this, complained
about someone on the set just to get the guy fired. Angie
hoped that Rollie believed her because there was no hard proof of
this, just her word.
Rollie sat there with his eyes closed. When he opened them, the pupils of his eyes were constricted to the point that if Angie didn’t know him she would have thought his were black and not the soft brown that she loved. "Ange, are you sure about this? Is it possible that this is some joke that he can’t control? I need to be sure." He said this quietly but evenly and firmly. His fingers were steepled in front of his chin and he was looking at nothing in particular. He turned his head slightly to see her nod her head ‘yes’; Rollie went back to looking at nothing. "Has he hurt you? Angela, tell me the truth. Has he hurt you in anyway?"
She sat there stunned; that was NOT what she thought he would do. Angie figured that he would be worried about it a little; that he would make sure she was ok and then would tell her what to do. She also thought that he would try to sneak in one or two comments about the whole thing. "Uh…no, no he hasn’t hurt me. I mean he weirds me out while he’s around but not hurt me…"
Rollie wouldn’t let her finish her statement. "If he is scaring you, than he is hurting you. Other than ‘asking’ you things, has this creep done anything else to you?"
"Rol, look, I don’t want to make a big deal out of this. I just wanted a way to tell him to bug off. I don’t want trouble. Are you listening to me, Tyler? NO TROUBLE! I mean it, Rollie." She was looking at him trying to get his attention but he still had that faraway look about him. "Stop trying to figure out who it is. Rollie, please. Just give me some advice, that’s it."
"Ok, first off, you don’t go out of my sight for more than five minutes. You aren’t staying in your trailer way at the other end anymore; we’ll get the director or whoever to get it moved closer to this end. I want you to completely avoid him if you can. If you can’t, call me. I mean it, Angela."
"ROLLIE!!! I don’t want you to run amok with this. I’m fine, ok? Jesus, you go from one extreme to the other. I remember the list you put up last time teasing me about the guys on the last shoot. You didn’t go nuts on the last shoot.."
"That’s because on the last shoot you didn’t come to me and tell me that some guy was scaring you by what he was asking you, did you? On the last shoot, there wasn’t a guy who made you stay inside and eat your lunch, was there?" He was beginning to raise his voice. ‘How could she sit there and tell me not to run amok when she just told me that a some jerk is harassing her!’ Rollie moved to the other end of the van to adjust the heat; he was still cold no matter that he was boiling on the inside. He sat down in the driver’s seat and continued in a more subdued tone. "I’m sorry, Ange. You got me a bit scared, ok? You usually get rid of them on your own; you’ve never asked me to help you do this. I figured this jerk, creep, or whatever he is must have you alarmed to do this. I know that you can take care of yourself. I know that, really I do but…not always, Ange. Some of these guys just don’t take ‘no’ as an answer. Who knows what he owns? I mean like a knife or gun…whatever."
"For the last five years, it has just been you and
me. We are a team. We made that deal back when your
dad died. Right? The deal was that if we both
couldn’t handle it together…we wouldn’t do
it. Period. End of story. Well, if we are a
team, then let me help you on this. "
"Rol, I *am* asking you for help. I just want it in a way that is different than the way you want to help. I can get rid of him, really. I just wanted some advice. I wanted to know if there was some way in words that would get him to realize that I am not now or ever will be interested in him." She was still sitting in the back of the van near her console while Rollie remained in the driver’s seat. Rollie was facing the window not looking at her. "Why can’t he understand?" she mused to herself. Taking a deep breath, more to brace herself for the answer and not for the question, she asked of him, "Are you mad at me because I don’t want you to do it your way?" This was the most serious contention between them. She wanted Rollie to treat her as an equal in the partnership while he, in her mind, still had her as Manny’s little girl or at the very least someone who needed protection. A few minutes had passed by and there was still no response from the front of the van. "Rol, you haven’t answered my question. Are you mad?"
"Ange…" he ran his hand through his hair and had let out a grunt of frustration, "yeah, in a way." He turned around and went back to face her. He stopped when he got to her chair, then moved to stand behind her and stayed there not saying a word. Rollie could tell that she was getting nervous by the way she was biting on her lower lip; it was a habit that she did that as a kid and one that never stopped. With a slight smile at the memory, he put his hand on the back of her neck…
"YEOW!!! Rol, what the hell was that?! It was like ice!!" It was a good thing that Angie was lithe, otherwise the way she jumped up out of the chair, she might have hurt herself. "God, are you trying to give me a heart attack!? What was it?"
"My hand, dumdum. That is the only reason why I am mad. I am freezing in here and you won’t let me turn up the heat so I can thaw out. See? I'm wearing gloves in here and I'm still cold." He gave her his best grumpy look; but in actuality, he looked like a sad puppy rather than an agitated adult. "Wait a minute. We are in the same truck, so how come the back of your neck is warm? That’s not fair!"
"So, you want to make me cold too?! You’re a great pal, Rol." She thanked him as the young woman shivered in her seat. She sat down only once she was sure that he, and his cold hands, had moved away from her. "I don’t know; maybe because I’ve been in here longer and got use to it or maybe because you‘re just a human ice cube!"
"Well, whatever…I’m not mad at you. I do worry about you, ok? Look, ok…can we make a deal? How about this: we trade trailers for just a few days, just to throw him off…in case he wants to visit you. Well, maybe we could, I dunno, maybe wear the headsets more often. Is that ok with you?" Rolliesearched her face for some sign that Angie wouldn’t object to this plan.
"You promise to let me handle this? Rol, you have
to agree to this plan. Otherwise, I won’t listen to another
idea of yours." Seeing her partner nod his head,
albeit a bit hesitant, Angie continued, "Ok, but we
won’t change trailers yet. He isn’t here and I
don’t want to do anything that might give the rest of the
set something to talk about. I promise, I will tell you.
This guy does give me the creeps and I would feel better if you
were around.
Is that fine with you?"
"Yep, sure. Ange, I would do anything to keep you
safe. Anything." he said sincerely.
Author's Note: The part where
Leo, Frank and Rollie are discussing the Yankees and the South
Bronx is an actual conversation. My dad and his family grew
up in the South Bronx during the '40s-'60s. He and his
friends argued over which was the better team in NYC then, in
terms of baseball. He did grow up in St. Jerome's
Parish; in fact that is the actual street my dad lived (138 &
Willis). Yes.... he did go to Babe Ruth's funeral at Yankee
Stadium. So... just to let you know, I don't make it all up!!
Chapter 12
The next few days passed by uneventfully, except for the minor ‘discussions’ that the director had with the rest of the crew. "The Jerk", as Rollie called him, hadn’t been on the set for a couple of days. It was as if he was no longer working there or just decided not to bother Angie, but for whatever reason, the FX team was relieved.
Rollie had invited Leo and Frank up to the set on their day off; it was seldom that the two detectives had off on the same day. Rollie figured that they might appreciate this shoot more than any of the others because of the real life drama that was behind it. When the killer was caught, Rollie remembered how both cops seemed relieved and at the same time upbeat mostly that they, the NYPD, had finally captured him. Another reason Rollie wanted them at the set was to tell them about Angie’s new ‘friend’. It still bothered him that someone would do that to her but was worse was the fact he just disappeared from the set. He hoped that Leo or Frank might be able to get some information on him just in case….
It was mid afternoon by the time Leo and Frank got to the set. Leo knew the area; it was his first assignment after he got out of the academy. "This place brings back many memories for me; kinda miss it." Leo told Frank and Rollie. "Wonder if I know any one who is on the job today? Mind if I take alook around? Hey, Frank, weren’t you stationed here in Brooklyn too?"
"Nope, South Bronx. Actually, I did Yankee Stadium most of the time." Frank told his partner. "Which really sucked for me; as a kid, I grew up loving ‘Da Bums’….God, I miss them. Still can’t go near Ebbets Field without tearing up." Frank noticed how Rollie looked confused and started to explain to him the history of baseball in NYC. "See, back in the ‘50s, back when real men played the game, there were 3 teams here in NY: Yankees, Dodgers, and the Giants. They were some great teams back then. It is not like today with the batting gloves, the sweat bands, the helmet, all those guys on the DL… all that stuff almost makes you want to stop watching the game."
"But the worst for our little friend" Leo told Rollie as he swatted Frank on the shoulder, "over here, is the fact that the NY Yankees are the most successful team in baseball. He hates them, as if you couldn’t tell. Myself, I grew up in the South Bronx when it was mostly Irish and Italian. 138th and Willis; It is part of the parish of St. Jerome’s. Yep, that’s my old stomping ground. I even went to the Babe’s funeral. Now that man *knew* how to live. Did you know that…." So, ended Rollie’s history lesson for the day when he heard Angie paging him over the head set.
"Yup, uh-huh, ok." After switching off the sound, he then turned to the others, "She just wanted to be sure that I was alive. It seems I forgot to help her with one of the bombs. Better go make nice to her before I get a bomb thrown at me."
"Rollie, there was no bomb with this guy. Why do you have a bomb in it?" Francis questioned him. Frank knew, as well as most of the police force, that the serial killer’s M.O. was knives and used a gun only on the last day, on his sister, just hours before he was captured.
"I know that and you know that. If fact, all of NYC knows that. Problem is that the director just doesn’t think that this movie won’t do anything without a bomb. So, it’s a bomb he gets. It’s called creative license."
"It’s called lying, Rollie. You know that; in fact you should be one of the first to say so. Do you know what this is going to look like up there on the screen? It is going to say that the NYPD can’t find a guy with a bomb. Yet we can catch him when he as a gun but again ONLY after he kills his sister."
"Leo, please…relax. It is not my idea. Most of the crew tried to get him to read the papers. The guy just won’t listen. Besides, it’s going to have that warning at the beginning of the movie, the one that says this is not an actual re-enactment, etc. Leo, what can I say??"
"Sounds like to me the guy is a jerk." Leo didn’t take lightly the thought of NYPD looking bad to the public. It was one of the reasons that he had Rollie help him; he wanted to get as many criminals off the streets as possible.
"Um…speaking of jerks, I need to ask you a favor, Leo." The request from Rollie got Leo’s attention. It was a reversal of roles. Usually, Leo did the asking and Rollie did the favor. "I need you to see if you can find some guy who has been bothering Angie here. If I give you some more information about him, could you do it?"
Frank had moved away to go look at the arsenal the actors used in the previous scene; he could tell which was departmental issue and which were fakes. But when he heard the last comment, he too looked at Rollie and joined in the conversation. "What? Someone is bothering her? Here?" Frank had a habit of saying his questions too fast when agitated. They sounded more like, "Whatsomeone’sbotheringherhere?" It made him at times seem more like Leo’s little brother who was trying to get in before the spotlight shone on the ‘star’ of the family. "Rol, where is she now? Is she in the van? I can’t believe that you left her alone; what were you thinking? I’m going to the van to stay with her." Frank worried about her most of the time because she was usually the only female when they did their little schemes. Not only that, his daughters loved her (she was their favorite baby-sitter) and most importantly, she reminded him of his sister, who moved back to Italy to be with her husband.
"FRANK!! She doesn’t want anyone to know; she would kill me if she knew. OK? Just hang out with her and see if you can find something out from her. Just don’t make it obvious." Rollie warned the police officer. Both he and Leo watched Frank make his way over to the Tyler FX van; from their spot, they could hear the warm greeting that Angie had for Frank and vice versa.
"Ok, talk to me Rol. What is going on?? How
is he bothering her?" Leo was all cop now. It
wasn’t something that you could turn off or stop being
simply because it was 5pm and your shift ended. You
don’t punch a time clock when you are a cop; you just are
simply not on duty…but never truly off duty. It was
something that just is inside you. It is something that you just
know, something you can’t be taught, ever.
The two men were walking away from the direction of the van. Rollie didn’t want to chance Angie overhearing the conversation. "Leo, just keep it down. I don’t want her to know that I am asking you guys. She already said that if I do, she won’t talk to me anymore. OK?"
"Yeah, sure. Ok, whaddya know ‘boutim?" Rollie smiled to himself when he heard Leo talk like that. It meant that he was serious about the case and would make sure he took of it. "Got a name, description, anything?"
"She won’t tell me who is he, only that he is not here today. In fact, he hasn’t been here for a couple of days. Most of the crew that was here for the week is still here today. I can find out which division is off or maybe just back at the studio. It really shouldn’t be too hard to catch him. Leo, I want this guy."
Leo watched his friend; he had seen Rollie upset over stunts gone wrong, over egos on the set, over his effects being trivialized but not like this. "Rollie, hey. We will get this guy. I promise ok? You have to calm down a bit. You keep telling Francis that she’s gonna hear him. I think you are the one that needs to tone down the voice."
"Leo, I don’t care how you get him. Just get him, got it?" It was not a friendly tone that Rollie used.
"Hey, wait a minute…" Leo began his own little response; he understood what Rollie implied to be an insult.
"No, Leo you wait. I have done you a lot of favors
over the last couple of years and I have never used them against
you. Now I am calling them in; you do this and all favors
will be wiped clean. I want you to get him, ok?
You’d better find him because if I do, there might be a
problem." He started to walk away just leaving Leo
staring at his retreating back. Rollie turned
around and gave Leo one final parting declaration, "Leo, no
one hurts Angela…no one."
Four hours later found Rollie a bit more relaxed but still
anxious. Frank had decided to go with Leo, even though he
wanted to stay near Angie. Leo had convinced him that the
investigation would go quicker with the two of them doing
it. The two detectives had gotten a list of the personnel
from Rollie. Although it wasn’t official, Rollie promised
the men that he could get one
from the director’s assistant who owed him a favor.
"Rollieeeee. Rollieeee, are you there?" Angie was standing next to him waving a mask in front of him. He turned to see his assistant wearing a grin and spinning the mask around her fingers much like a Harlem Globetrotter would with a basketball. "Boss, you ok? You seem to be in The Twilight Zone. What gives? You have been like this all day."
Rollie took a good look at Angie then shook his head in amazement; this was the only drawback to their friendship. Each knew when the other was lying, in trouble or mad. They were around each other far too many years not to have picked up on these traits. "Not much out of the ordinary, you know."
"With you, the ordinary is what scares me." The woman put down the mask back on the worktable and sat down opposite her boss to continue her task. "Rol, if you want to talk…I’m here. So, fire away."
"Well, Leo and Francis are here and…"
"NO!!! ROLLIE, NO!! I am not doing any more work by myself. You promised me that this shoot would be different. God, Rol! Can’t you even keep one little promise to me!?!" The blonde woman’s complexion had gone from a healthy tan to a danger-red. Angie was up slamming her open fist on the very console that she herself had fixed not two hours ago, which ironically was the one that Angie told Rollie to stop hitting, in her frustration. She began to pace up and down the length of the van, which was larger than most vans but not its width. Rollie became alarmed that while pacing she would forget how cramped it could be and throw something…mainly at him.
"Ange, I thought that maybe they would like to see the shoot. I mean this is probably the only one that they could actually identify with. I invited them…."
All he got from her was a glare that told him what she thought
of that invitation. She was standing away from him, hands
on hips and eyes throwing blue fire at him. Rollie
was not exactly happy with her either at this point.
‘What is her problem with me inviting some friends
here? It’s not as if she doesn’t know
them?!’ his mind asked him. "Hey, you
greeted Francis
as if you hadn’t seen him in years!! I even heard the
two of you…and that was half way across the set. So,
don’t stand there and tell me that you don’t like
them. This is an important movie to them; it isn’t
fake or made-up. It’s one of the few movies that they
actually agree with. Even VanDuren says that it is pretty
damn close to the real thing. What is your problem? So, I
invited them to the set to see it, big deal. I still
don’t see why you have a problem."
Again, the tall Australian was interrupted by his partner. "But did you *have* to invite them?! I don’t get it. Why? Are you afraid that you might miss something exciting? I guess stuff like being responsible and paying the bills, not to mention paying ME, doesn’t rank up there with blowing up drug dealer dens or setting a trap for a mob boss. Know what? I need some air." She grabbed her green coat and stormed out the rear doors. In her wake, she left: a squashed mask, a knocked over water bottle (whose contents were now all over the floor) and one very confused, hurt and a bit mad special effects artist whose only response to this was
"Bloody hell" and kicked the console. Its
lights, deciding that it had enough for one day, completely
blew. "Guess you are having just as great day as I
am" Rollie empathized with the machine.
Meanwhile, Leo and Francis were slowly making their way across the set. They had decided to separate and do the investigation in two ways. Francis was going to follow Angie circumspectly to see if he could detect anyone tracking her and her actions. Frank was to be her bodyguard without her knowledge. The detectives had decided that this was the best way because if she did know, Angela would most definitely put a halt to it. Then ‘pitch a fit’, in Rollie’s words, that Rollie told them.
He was with her in the van while Rollie and Leo were having their discussion. Once she had seen him enter the van, she was up and hugging the man. Francis and Angie got along quite well. They understood each other and their common problem: they were Tonto to The Lone Ranger. There were times during some of the cases were Leo and Rollie did their thing and left them in the van or in the loft to ‘monitor the situation’ as Leo called it. It was during these moments that they got close. Frank had talked to Angie about his younger sister and said how much she reminded him of Josephine. It wasn’t the physical appearance but the attitude; which is all the more why Det. Francis Gatti wanted to find the person that was threatening his ‘little sister’.
Leo on the other hand was doing the complete opposite; he was staying as far away from Angie and Rollie as possible. Leo was to scope out the area to see if there was any talk about this guy, any talk about Angie (which he prayed wasn’t the case-he didn’t want to tell Rollie). If he was lucky enough, just maybe the guy was stupid enough to say something to anyone. The best part of this ‘favor’ was the fact that he didn’t have to hide the reality that he was a cop. He was on the set as a concerned member of the NYPD and if he was lucky enough to find one, a friend who was still at the three-eight to visit. This way he could be there as a cop without arousing any suspicion.
The NYC detective still couldn’t figure out why Rollie
was steamed. Ok, he *knew* why but the extent of it
puzzled him. Leo knew that Rollie and Angie were tight.
They practically grew up together; she was 11 and he was about 18
when they met so of course they would be protective of each
other. ‘But this is not like him; he is waaay beyond
being a brother. I don’t get it,' but Leo
was still determined to get "The Jerk", as he was
labeled by them. Angie was as much his friend as
Rollie was; he liked her even though at times she could be a real
pain in the arse. She kept on Rollie about deadlines and
budgets and schedules. If he ever had a partner like that,
the result would be death.
Leo was indeed lucky. One of his old squadmates was at
the shoot, Sgt. Rich Edwards. He and Rich were at the Task
Force at the same time. He moved up and Rich
didn’t. Rich liked being uniform; besides he was
desk sergeant …it was close enough. He explained
to Rich that the f/x man needed some help in a harassment
case….he sailed thru, no questions asked after that.
Leo was definitely a cop’s cop; he was one of
them. Rich told that if he needed any backup to just
say so and some uniforms would be there in a NY
minute. ‘Now that is what I call loyalty; you
don’t find that anymore. Why can’t people
understand? A cop is a cop wherever you go….’ and
with that knowledge in his mind, he was off in search of
"The Jerk".
"WHAT?!" Angie sneered at the intern, Dolly, who was staring at her. Angie had fairly flown out of the trailer and across the set due to her anger at Rollie; if she had noticed, Dolly wasn’t the only one giving her a look. After giving the intern one of her own stares, Angie stormed off in the other direction. She had a nasty thought running thru her head, ‘Probably going to run back to Rol and tell him how mean and nasty I was. Give him the directions which way I went, too. Little snitch. Did it before…probably wants to get on his *good side*!’
After leaving the van in a huff, Angie realized that she left most of her work inside. She knew that she needed something that would keep her busy and give her a reason not to be around anyone. So, spying one of their punchlists for the shoot, she went about pretending that she was checking on items that were missing. Which is how she ran into Dolly. Just the thought of her made Angie mad. Dolly was about 5’9" with auburn hair, honey coloured eyes and a cute figure, not great, but cute. But it was her personality that did it; it was what drew others to her. Dolly was vibrant, pleasant, perky…’God, I hate her.’ After leaving dear Dolly quivering in her boots, she thought ‘That girl would not last a second with Rollie and all of his friends.’. Angie had the idea about just ducking into the nearest trailer so no one could find her…not even the police. Thinking of them, an evil thought came into her head, ‘Betcha Leo would just loooove her; he complains about me not wanting to do anything. He should catch a gander at this one: Ms. Braveheart herself!’.
Thinking of the police reminded Angie why she was out on the cold streets of Brooklyn by herself. She kept going over in head the fight. It wasn’t about Leo or Francis. It was about the fact that Rollie just couldn’t stop doing police work; it was like he had some subconscious thought or dream to be a cop. ‘Why can’t he just be an Fx man? To most people that would be exciting. I just don’t get it at all.’ she kept thinking to herself. Sighing inwardly, Angie was just going wherever her feet took her, not really paying attention to what she was doing or where she was going. Which is something that she really should have been aware of…
She should have been aware of the footstep that were closing
in on her. Due to her thoughts being elsewhere, mostly in
the van with Rollie, Angie didn’t notice a thing.
Being in her own little world, she ducked into the makeshift
‘apartment’ that was going to double for the
killer’s last stand. She just wanted to double check
the charges, just in case. ‘I guess some things
just never leave you’ she thought to herself, which
conjured up memories of her father. Every time there were
charges to be checked, she checked them and then double
checked…just in case. While going over the charges,
she heard the door close. Assuming that Rollie had figured
where she was, she called out to him, "Rol, just close the
door slightly. The lock is not working right, ok?" No
answer to her request so she slammed down the punchlist and said,
"Are you still mad from before, Rol? Rol?"
The second time she said his name it came out in a voice
that didn’t sound like hers; it was one that was very much
afraid. "Rol? Are you…." and stopped when
the door slammed tight.
Rollie was still in the van working on the mask for the shoot that was going on today. He was doing that because ‘After she leaves in a bloody huff, I have to finish this off!!’ He didn’t want to work on the mask by himself for two reasons. The first being it was not setting right and he knew he needed help to get it done right and the second reason was also the first. Rollie just didn’t want to give her the satisfaction later on by telling her that he didn’t do it, couldn’t do the mask, without her. Sitting in the van by himself, he should have been able to get most of his work done but he didn’t.
"Where the hell could she have gone?! Not as if there is anywhere to go around here…" He kept looking at his watch and commenting to himself about the length of time that she was away. At least she was in under Frank’s watchful eye, otherwise he himself would be out of that van and searching for her. Only after a moment’s hesitation, Rollie grabbed all of his winter apparel and headed out the door in search of Frank, Leo, Angie and The Jerk but not necessarily in that order.
Frank was back at the caterer’s tent trying to get something to eat. He left home, which was South Ozone Park, early to go get Leo and then drive over to the Brooklyn set. He had watched Angela go back to the van while he stayed there. From where he was, the van was in direct line and took a moment to pay for his snack. While thanking the cashier, he noticed a leather jacket, scarf and gloves being tossed around. ‘Gotta be Rol. I don’t know anyone else around here that has that many clothes on today.’ Frank jogged to catch Rollie. ‘Rol! Rol! Hey, where you goin’?" Frank still had his provolone and mortadella sandwich in hand. It was the only thing he recognized at the caterer’s. "Will you slow down? Jeez…I just paid for this and I am not about to drop seven fifty worth of food. So, what’s the deal?"
"Angie. Where is she?"
"Huh? Whaddya mean? She’s inside. I saw her go in…." but he stopped when he saw the look of frustration on his friend’s face.
"Francis, you just saw me leave there, right? So, if she was in there, why would I be asking you where she is?! You didn’t see her leave?" He was speechless; this was the best they could do!? "I thought you were watching her!! I can’t believe this. What were you doing?!"
"Hey, first thing off, stop yelling at me. Second is why did she leave? What did you say to make her leave? Third is why are you in such a rush to get her? What did you do to her, Tyler?"
"She ran out when I told her that I invited the two of
you here. So, I didn’t do a thing and I am looking for
her because I thought she was with you. But since she
isn’t, I guess WE have to look for her." By this
time, the taller man was putting on his jacket; he had just
remembered the fact that he was cold. Being worried about
Angela and then the heated discussion with Frank,
warmed him up a bit. Now that he was calming down, he was
feeling the cold. On went the gloves, scarf, and the jacket that
was buttoned to the very top and whose collar was pulled close to
the neck of its wearer. After getting himself situated, he
turned to see Frank smiling broadly. It was a common joke
amongst the friends that Rollie just could never get warm during
the winter. "Go ahead. I’m used to you
people by now. At least, I will never get frostbite.
Look, sorry that I snapped at you. I am worried about her.
The Jerk is still around. I asked the director’s
assistant and no one has been fired or quit. And until he
is caught, I am not going to stop worrying." It was the only
way he was going to give an apology today. Not that he
wasn’t sorry, he was much more preoccupied to give Frank any
more thought than as a cop who didn’t do his job.
"Ok…whatever. Look, why don’t we go look for Leo? I am sure that he has seen her since then. So, maybe by then we can get some more info on The Jerk." The two men started in the direction that Leo started earlier in the day. Frank got an inquisitive look on his face and said, "We gotta find out his real name; ‘The Jerk’ is getting on my nerves."
"Frank, he has been on my nerves all week. I want
to get him, too." Rollie added to Frank’s input
‘But not for the same reason, I can guarantee you that, my
friend’ but he kept that part to himself.
"Thanks. If I need anything else, I’ll let you know." Leo waved bye to the fellow officer that had just given him some information on "The Jerk" and his department. "Oook, let’s see what we got here. No one’s been fired or quit. So, technically he is still on the payroll. And after one more stop, I will know if The Jerk is on the set today…officially or unofficially."
Leo then goes in the direction of the director’s assistant. Rollie had given Leo her name earlier, Mary Anne Fablie. Leo had met her earlier in the day very quickly when they first had gotten there. From what he remembered, she was a well-kept woman with sandy blonde hair and glasses that seemed to be glued to the perch of her nose. This is the one who promised Rollie the list of who was still on the payroll and she would be the one that would have the list of personnel on the set today.
Pulling his coat a little closer due to the wind whipping around the empty lot that was adjacent to the set, he continued on his way to see Ms. Fablie. Halfway there, he noticed Angie walking at a furious pace but also in a world of her own. ‘She looks a bit mad, maybe worried. Wonder if it’s about The Jerk. Better go and talk to her, just in case.’ He tried calling to her but the wind kept catching his voice and carrying it in the other direction. Leo realized that if he wanted to talk to her, he was going to have to go to her. He considered jogging over to her but he knew that the wind and the cold would make it tough to do that, so he quickened his pace and kept her under his watchful gaze.
It was about this time that he noticed someone go into the
same building that Angie just did. Not sure of who that
was, and knowing that The Jerk was still around, Leo ended up
doing the very thing that he didn’t want to…he jogged.
By the time he got there, he was winded. ‘If I
didn’t know any better, I would think that I’m having a
heart attack.’ Trying to catch his breath by gulping
air, he grabbed the doorjamb. That is when he heard Angie
scream. ‘Not now!! I can’t breathe! Please,
give me some help!’ he begged. The last part was a
plea to the saint that he prayed to every night for safety in the
line of duty, Saint Michael the Patron Saint of Policemen and Law
Enforcement Agents.
Chapter 18
While Leo was praying to St. Michael on the outside, on the inside Angie was praying to anyone that would listen. Once she heard the door slam shut, she knew it wasn’t Rollie. He had too much respect for the carpenters’ work to abuse the door like that. She also knew that Rollie would have made his presence known to her long ago. With this knowledge, Angie realized that she was alone with unknown person or persons.
‘Oh God, Rollie is going to kill me this time! He
was right and I didn’t listen. Please let Rollie find
me…please!!!’ It was the only thing that she
could think of, not running or hiding but Rollie was right about
her not being alone on the set. Remembering her boss, Angie
imagined what he would have done or try to do if he was ever in
that situation. ‘What am I thinking? Of course
he has been here and he did exactly what I am going to
do…RUN!!’ and she did.
Leo was still trying to get his breath back by the time he had made it up the second floor of the ‘apartment building’. He knew that the Zodiac Killer’s last stand was on the second and that was where the bomb was supposed to go off this afternoon. It seemed logical to go there first. The stairs seemed to go on forever even though there were only twenty-two of them. He noticed that, unlike the lower levels of the tenement, this floor was dark. He couldn’t remember if Rollie had told him it was supposed to be like that or not. ‘Next time, I promise I will listen to him when he talks, I promise!’
From his years on the force as a beat cop and from growing up
in the South Bronx, Leo knew his way around a tenement pretty
well. He knew where the dumbwaiter was, roughly how many
apartments were on the floor and most importantly were the
stairwells were. Leo knew that this was a movie set and not
a real building. But at this moment he didn’t know how
‘not real’ it was and until all threats were nullified,
he would treat it as an unknown situation. He moved
around the floor in the dark not sure of what direction to go but
just moving with his gun drawn but still at his side. It
was then when hell hit him.
Chapter 19
Angie had gotten to the farthest point away from the sound that she could possibly get. ‘God, I didn’t know how dark it was here. Rolliiiieeee, where are you?!’ Angela kept up her mantra in the hopes that Rollie, thru all of his ‘dreaming’ that he learned from Mangela, would hear her. Without much in sight to use to shield herself, Angie used the best weapon that she had in her possession: her wits. She had crawled under one of the work tables, that was to the right of the set that was to be used in the bomb scene. She was hoping that whoever was out there would think she was gone and go away themselves.
All she could hear was the footsteps of whoever it was that was in the room with her. Angie didn’t know if it was her fear that made the sound louder or if was really happening. According to her ears, the person was getting closer. Then she heard the voice, "Angieeeee. Angieeeee. Come out, come out wherever you are." This taunting made her totally petrified. This person was using a child’s game to stalk her!! He was playing hide and seek! A very cruel and intimidating version, but hide and seek nonetheless. Her thoughts were that under no circumstances was she giving up her one and only solace to this… What do you call someone like this? A sociopath, maybe because at this very moment even that term seemed too humane. "C’mon Angie. Don’t you want to play? I’ll give you to a count of ten, then I will come look for you. Angieeeee. Angieeeee." This time she knew that he was closer than before. She could feel the floor creak under his footfall, whereas before the sound was only a dull thud.
Angela decided to crawl backwards toward the door this way she could keep her eyes on his feet. "He really does wear the most God awful shoes" she whispered to herself. Slowly, she moved so as not to disturb the creaking boards. "I knew I should have paid more attention to Sally when she was trying to teach me how to sneak out of the house. Then I would know what boards to miss!! Why don’t I ever listen to people? I should have listen to Rollie and then I wouldn’t be here, should have listened to Sally and now I would know how to crawl, should have listened to Daddy and never gone into this stupid line of work, should have listened to Mommy and never left Cuba. Great, now I am rambling endlessly." Angie knew that she was talking to herself to keep the hysteria harnessed. This was getting too much for her to deal with lately. Her life was just not normal she decided while crawling on her hands and knees. She still had the shoes in her eyesight and still she moved backward till she hit the wall.
Or what she hoped was the wall. Taking a quick glimpse behind her, she saw an identical pair of ugly shoes. "Oh, God. Please, no. Please, please let Rollie get here soon." that was her only prayer before the voice started in again.
"Angieeeee. Angieeeee. Say hi to the
Bogeyman!" with that she let out a bloodcurdling
scream.
Chapter 20
All Leo knew when he awoke was that he hurt. "I don’t think I have never felt so God damned crappy. I swear I am going to get that sonavabitch if it’s the last thing I do!!" The walls appeared to be darker than they were before. Then he realized that either he hit his eye on something or it was later than he remembered. "Hey, how long was I out? Damn, I gotta get rid of this headache. Man, if I was out long… Jaysus, Angie." A sudden dread washed across him similar to one that he had experienced years before; the day his first partner ran into a tenement similar to this and took a bullet in the stomach. Leo did not want to relive that memory again.
He didn’t hear anything, which could be good or not so good. Using all of the techniques that were taught to him in the academy and some that he learned from the street, Leo set out to find his missing friend. "If I could only get this damned headache to go away." he thought to himself. The nausea overwhelmed him at first which made him think that he might have a concussion but he still went in search of Angie.
Leo knew that according to all accounts, the sister died on the second floor, which was the floor he was on. "Now, if The Jerk knows this and he knows that Rollie and Angie set up the charges on that floor…God, I hope he likes logic. That is the only place that I could think where they might be. Let’s go." he said to no one in particular.
With the departmental issued gun drawn, Leo headed in the direction of the sister’s apartment… or at least he thought it was that direction. Leo tried to be quiet so he could catch the perp unawares but the floor was creaky, a perfect fit for the situation. Every step he took echoed across the floor, letting whoever was up here where he was. Going to the back of the tenement, Leo went to check out what was the ‘elevator’ but in reality just an empty box that was created for the movie. Opening it he heard the most God-awful sound that he has ever heard. He knew that it was a female in trouble. The Jerk had found her.
He ran towards the sound that ironically was the direction where he just left. Leo prayed to the Blessed Mary, St. Michael, and any other saint his Irish mother taught him. He needed help from anyone and he was not proud to admit it. "After all the help they have given me, I can’t even help her!" he grumbled to himself. The screaming had not stopped, which he took as a good sign. She was still alive. Using Angie’s screams like a map, he dodged his way across the floor amidst all the props. When he finally got close to see what was going on, his blood stopped.
Leo saw Angie under a table and holding onto the legs for dear life. At the other end was someone whom he assumed to be The Jerk. The guy was trying to pull her out from underneath it. He couldn’t believe what he was seeing. The worst was actually hearing what The Jerk sounded like. "This guy actually sounds like something from their movies." Leo thought to himself.
"Angieeeee!! C’mon don’t you want to play?" The voice taunted her again.
"Go away!! Leave me alone!" Angie was crying and begging for help. "Someone help me!!"
"Angieeeee!! There is no one here but us. It is our time to have fun." One moment he was pulling at her legs to get her out. The next moment, he stopped. The young woman was too scared to turn and see where her tormentor had gone. The big table had been her only hope; it was metal and weighed nearly 300 lbs. It was used by the laborers when they put the set together. It wouldn’t be taken down until the set was down. It took about 3-4 men to move it so it was obvious that he couldn’t budge it by himself.
Turning around, Angie noticed that the shoes were gone. "I’m not falling for that trick again." she muttered to herself. Glancing around to the other end of the table, she didn’t see any shoes there either. Panic gripped her because she didn’t know where in the hell he had gone.
"I said let’s play. I want to play,
Angieeeee!!" She heard a thump on the top of the
table. He was walking the length of the table. She
could hear the boots scuffing the table while he walked.
"LET’S PLAY!!" The voice had become much more
demanding and deeper. Angie was really scared now. He
had jumped down too quickly for her to move. The next thing
she knew she was looking into the eyes of a sociopath.
"Hello, Angieeeee!! I said I wanted to play.
NOW!!" Then he sent her sailing thru the air.
She hit the far wall to their left…hard.
Leo had seen the cat and mouse game The Jerk had been playing with Angie. He was mad that someone, especially a friend of his, had to live thru that kind of terror. He was also terrified himself because of two reasons. The first it was clear that this man had no comprehension on reality. The other was The Jerk, if it was him, was dressed all in black and wearing a mask. There was no way to identify him unless he was caught.
When The Jerk grabbed her and flung her across the room as if she was a rag doll, Leo thought she died upon impact. He froze; he was transported back in time 15 years ago. He saw his partner lying there in the tenement, bloodied and bruised. Leo wasn’t seeing the image of Angie but the image of P.O. Sean MacDonald. Leo knew that Sean was dead but he still froze. He had never seen another cop get shot before, especially his partner. Waking himself out of the nightmare, Leo tried to focus on the young woman who needed his help.
Taking aim, he announced himself, "Freeze!!
Police! Drop your weapon and raise your hands!"
It was a standard demand; he had to identify himself for legal
reasons. The Jerk looked annoyed at Leo. He did
nothing but stare at Leo. Which gave Leo time enough, to
back around the doorway so he wouldn’t get hit by the
knife. "Jesus!! This guy isn’t giving up
lightly!" Grabbing his weapon, with both hands, Leo
prepared himself for a fight. A fight in which three lives
were the prize.
Rollie and Frank in the meantime were looking for Angie and now it seemed for Leo as well. They had left the caterer’s tent in the direction that Frank had seen Leo take earlier. Along the way, they stopped and questioned some of the stagehands and the other police officers about Leo and/or Angie. Nobody had seen either one of their friends.
Rollie could not believe that two human beings could just not be there. Especially when there was so much police activity on the set; no one was that crazy to do something then, were they? He tried to think where Angie might be, but he kept coming up a blank. He was still feeling guilty over the argument, knowing that he really didn’t do anything wrong but it still felt like it was his fault. Rollie thought that Leo on the other hand should be easier to find because of the fact that he was a cop and was supposed to be visiting some friends. "Frank, did Leo say who his friends were? The ones that are supposed to be here?" It was obvious that his anxiety was getting the best of him
"Nope. Didn’t say a word." Frank was not exactly in a good mood himself. First he is dragged out of bed early to get Leo to get to the set. Then once there he finds out that one of his favorite people, Angie, is getting harassed at the set. Now, both her and his partner are missing. "Hey. Maybe he found her and are back at the van. It’s possible, you know." He was hoping that this was the case; he was not up to calling VanDuren and telling him that there was a missing cop.
"Frank, think! If he had found her, do you really think that he would not have told us? No, if he did, we know it. GOD!! No one here knows anything! How can that be?"
"That is the way it goes. People are afraid to get involved; you never know what you are getting yourself into." Frank was now getting tired of Rollie’s attitude. Time to give it back to him. "Rollie, you know that if you hadn’t upset her we wouldn’t have to be looking for her and before you go flying off the handle again, let me finish. I know that you are worried about her, so am I, ok? But there is more here than some guy hitting on her, obviously. This is not the time for you to go half cocked thinking the worst, ok? There are still some questions that have to be asked. I know he said he had to talk to some woman in the personnel department. I think he said her name was Mary Anne or like that. Ring a bell?
Rollie listened to the police officer and was embarrassed enough to realize his mistake earlier in blowing up at him. "Yeah. Mary Anne Fablie. She’s the director’s assistant. If anyone was missing today or any other day, she would be the one to know. I know where she is or should be anyway. Look, Frank, I am sorry about snapping at you now and before. But this time it feels different. Like…I dunno. I am really scared. I don’t know what to do."
"Don’t worry. Leo is a good cop. If he
found her, he will make sure she is fine. There are too
many cops around here for Leo not to make himself known. We are
going to find them. Let’s go find that Ms.
Fablie"
Chapter 22
Leo knew that he should have some back up for this type of situation but his radio was back at the door. It had either been broken on purpose or broke when he fell on it earlier. He hated hostage situations because there was never a winner no matter what the outcome. If he used his firearm, IAD would be down to investigate and if he didn’t use it, they would investigate THAT. Damned if you do and damned if you don’t. Plus the chances of just hitting the ‘alleged’ kidnapper was slim; these guys knew that a hostage could also be used as a shield.
Checking to make sure the safety was off, Leo crawled on his knees to the doorjamb to make sure there wasn’t any surprises waiting for him. Seeing none, he moved over to the closest cover he could find which was the table in the sister’s apartment. Keeping his head down, Leo searched the floor for any signs that The Jerk was still here. He moved again this time in the direction of the wall where Angie was thrown. Getting there he noticed that she wasn’t there. "GREAT!! Just absofreakinglutely great!! God damn him!! What the hell is he going to do with Angie now?!"
Leo kept moving to his right to see if she ended up behind one of the planks that came loose when Angie got thrown. Feeling tired and useless, he stopped for a breather. "How on Earth am I supposed to tell Rollie what happened? I was supposed to protect her?" the failure of keeping another friend free from harm weighed heavily on Leo which prompted further thoughts on his performance as a cop.
He didn’t notice the hand that came from his left. All he felt was a tugging on his pant leg. Leo acted purely on instinct; his gun whipped around and was pointed in the direction of the tugging… Angie’s face.
"Leo!! He is here! I can’t find him, we have to get out now. C’mon let’s go!!" Angie was in a state of panic. She had some sort of idea what The Jerk had in mind when he picked her up from the floor. After that, she didn’t know where he was and so she did what he wanted to do earlier. She played hide and seek with him.
"Angie!! Are you all right??" Leo was hugging her but was not getting a hug in return. Looking at her closely it was obvious that the girl was in a state of shock. "Of course she’s in state of shock look! Fool, you are and she was put thru more than you were" Leo thought to himself. "Angie, I want to listen to me. OK? Ok, we are going to get out of here but it might take some time. Francis knows that I went looking for you. Once I don’t come back, he’ll come for me. Plus, the scene that is going to be shot here is soon, right? See? Nothing to worry about. Somebody is going to find us." He hoped that his half-truths would work long enough for Angie to relax a bit.
"Leo, no!! They moved this scene back till tomorrow. I can’t stay here with…with THAT here!! I can’t, ok?! I want to get out of here now. You said that Francis is knows where you went. Does Rollie know?"
"I’m not sure. Hey, " he noticed her starting to panic again, "I am sure that Frankie will go and get Rollie. Hey, you know Rol, can’t ever say no to the cops, right?"
"Leo, I yelled at him and said some awful things.
He is still mad at me that he wouldn’t say yes to Francis
and then he won’t know and then he is going to get mad at me
for not listening to him and then he will be even madder if I
don’t get the mask done. Leo, I need to get out of
here." Angie was beginning to cry and Leo had only
seen her cry once and that was during Rick’s funeral.
The tears and her fear made Leo that much more determined to get
her out.
"Rollie, come over here. I need to talk to you." Frank had waited until some of the actors that were talking to Rollie left before making himself known. It had been nearly two hours since they started looking for Angie and Leo and still turned up nothing in their search.
"You got something? What?" Rollie’s patience was wearing thin. Between the director’s arrogant attitude, the press all over the set and his missing friends, Rollie was on the verge of exploding.
"Ok, it may not be much. But I just spoke to Ms. Fablie and she said that she hasn’t spoken to Leo since this morning when you introduced us to her. Leo never made it here to her office. NOW, before you jump to any conclusions that could mean a number of things. He could have found Angie and are now at the van; it could mean that he found another lead and is checking that out; it could mean that he might have stopped by to see if one of his old buddies here seen anything. I’d say we go with that one first. Let’s go see who knew Leo when he was stationed here."
"Frank, why do you want to check with some of these other cops? Before you didn’t think it was necessary. Now you do. Why? What aren’t you telling me?! Frank, I want to know what is going on here." The tall Aussie was now mad and it was written all over his face. The smile that was usually there was gone and in its place was a deep frown with worry etched in his eyes.
"Ok, it seems that there is a ‘person’ who is on the shoot and right now isn’t."
"Frank, that means absolutely nothing to me! Could you speak a language I understand and not copese?"
"Rollie, there is a guy…Jeez, I can get into so much trouble by telling you this. But by looking at you I know that if I *don’t* tell, I am in bigger trouble. Ok, here goes. This guy wasn’t let go in the sense of the term but more like um, um ‘Come back when you fix up your act’ deal." Frank knew by Rollie’s face that the Fx expert was still at a loss. "OK, it seems this guy had a ‘problem’, a fetish of some sorts. Help me out here, Rol. Guess at least will ya!?"
"Frank, I don’t know of anyone with that kind of problem on this set. What kind of fetish was it, anyway? I mean most of the world, including people on this set, have a fetish. That’s not a reason to lay someone off."
"It is when it involves hard-core porn. The guy didn’t do anything wrong in all legal aspects. Which is why no one on the set knew what happened, it was more of a ‘personnel’ problem. The studio wanted to make sure that it didn’t become a problem for the cops to settle."
"Frank, if the guy is into hard-core porn and did nothing wrong, why was he fired?"
"Rollie, he WASN’T fired. He was given a two week vacation…early. With pay but only one week’s. It seems some of the women didn’t like what he was saying to them. He kept telling them he liked what they wore, told them what he would like to do to them…"
"Was any of the stuff those women complained about was how he asked them? Like the words, phrases that stuff. Was he pretty graphic?" Terror was now making a home in Rollie’s stomach.
"Yeah. How did you know that?"
"This is THE guy. Angie said that what he said to her was pretty graphic and that it scared her. Frank….where are they? And where is this bozo?"
"That is the reason why we are going to see Leo’s old friends. These guys have been working the shoot since day one, right? Well, after awhile everybody makes a habit of what time to do their chores, what time to eat, who talks to who or not to who…get my drift. Cops pick up on these things because that is our job. Also, on this one they were a bit more cautious; the city doesn’t need a copycat with an ego problem. So, they put more guys on this shoot than regular. I am sure they must have picked up on something. Let’s go visiting."
"Frank, are you sure about this? Do you think this is THE JERK? You think somebody might have talked to Leo today?"
"No, I’m not sure about anything. But it is
the most logical and so far, our only hope. Let’s
go."
Chapter 24
Leo noticed that Angie was beginning to shake and the tears were coming just a bit more. "Shock…it has set in. Gotta make sure she doesn’t lose it" the detective observed. Leo knew that he had to keep her talking so she would be aware of her surroundings that way when and if they got of their hell, she would be able to make on her own…just in case.
"Hey, Ange. How did you make it out of that fall? I mean I saw him toss you; it had to be a good twenty-thirty feet from where he was standing. Care to tell me?"
A slow smile formed on the young woman’s lips just as she started to speak. "Good. She is with me." Leo thought and hoped it would continue. She tilted her head to her right, so that her hair was not in her eyes. "Are you sure you want to know, Leo? I mean, it isn’t very exciting."
"C’mon tell me. I won’t tell, promise. Look…. cross my heart!!" He then made the sign that children make when they are solemnly swearing their loyalty to a friend. "So, you gonna tell me?"
"Ok. You know that Rollie was a stuntman before he met my dad. My dad also did stunts before getting into the Fx business. Every once in a while, they would have to do a stunt that was combined with the FX or just do one because the stuntman wouldn’t or couldn’t do it. I had been about twelve or thirteen when I decided that I wanted to do stunts for a living." Angie started to chuckle when the memories came flooding back to her.
"What? Look, if this is bringing up some bad stuff for you…"
"No, no. I’m fine. I just haven’t had any reason to go back there, ya know? But nah, they’re are some *good* memories. My dad, well, he just flipped out. Wait, I gotta get my Cuban accent right to do my dad. Ok…’No daughter of mine will do a stuntman’s job. Not one stunt!! Nunca!! Nada!! Nevie!! El Senor, porque??? Ella tiene …’ then he just started to tap his head like this then when he looked at me he just shook his head and left the room." The blue eyes were now showing how much this memory meant to her; Leo was amazed at how vibrant and alive her eyes came when she spoke of her father….and Rollie. "Throughout this whole fiasco, Rollie just sat on his stool looking at my father, then me, then my father, then me. If anyone else was just watching him, they would have thought he was seeing a tennis match. He had no clue what my dad was saying. Well, ok he *had* a clue but he didn’t know too much Spanish then. He was with us about a year or so and still only knew phrases. Are you sure you want to hear all of this? Maybe we should start to find a way out?" The panic was coming back.
"No, not yet. We have time yet. So, are you going to finish telling me your story?"
"Ok, but it is boring." Seeing that Leo was not going to give up on hearing the story, Angie kept on going. "Rollie decided once my dad left the room that he was going to show me how to do some stunts. Of course, this was all behind my dad’s back and we both knew that if he ever found out, he would flip out. He wasn’t a mean person but he was the parent and when he said no, he meant it. " Another chuckle came from the blonde as she went on, "You should have seen the look on his face the day he found out that Rollie was teaching me. I wasn’t sure if he was going to fire Rollie and disown me." Pushing the hair out of her face, Angie took a deep breath and smiled and Leo. "Rollie convinced my dad that I should learn to take a fall and how to throw someone for no other reason than for self defense. He said that being a girl on a shoot could at times be dangerous. That was the push for my dad. He relented…a bit. Rollie couldn’t show me all of what there is know about being a stunt woman, but he was able to show me how to take a fall. So, that is basically how I learned to survive on a set." By this time, her voice had quieted to a low whisper. Leo wasn’t sure if she was upset over the memory or just not wanting to give away their location. Giving Leo a half smile, she asked, "So, are we staying here or leaving?"
"First things, first. I want to make sure you can travel thru this ‘building’ again. Are you hurt? Can you see? Any pain? Sure?" He doubled questioned her after seeing Angie shake her head to say no. "Ok, now that we are sure, we can try to figure a way out. Of course, that is if Mr. Spooky hasn’t left us with any surprises. Which I am pretty positive he didn’t, otherwise we wouldn’t be sitting here. OK? You want to head out now?" As he got up, he swayed a bit and was caught by Angie.
"Leo, are YOU ok?" the concern in her voice was real. As much as Leo was a pain to her sometimes, she still considered him her friend. She didn’t want the man to come to any harm especially over her. "Do you have your radio, maybe we can call Francis?"
"Nope, it got busted when I fell on it earlier. What about your little computer-thingy? You know, the one you and Rollie are always talking to each other on?"
"You fell!? When did you fall? Did you hit your head? Leo, we have to get you out of here." She had completely ignored his question about the PDA. She was now looking for something that might give the police officer some assistance, but not hindrance, on his way out of the building.
"Angie, Angie, what about your computer-thingy? Do you have it on you? Isn’t that how you and Rollie find each other?"
"No. I…, um…I forgot it when I left the van. Um…I guess it won’t help us now, huh?"
"Ok, how’s this for an idea? We go the way he *didn’t*."
"Leo, even *I* know that. Do you know which way that is??" The panic was in her eyes as well as in her voice. The clearheaded woman that was talking about her childhood was gone and a terrorized girl was in her place. She had to get out of here and find Rollie and tell him he was right