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. "I hope he finds me soon." Angie was looking around in panic, thinking that The Jerk was around.
"Angie, don’t worry. Frank will get us. Don’t worry, he is a good cop."
Angie looked at Leo and then realized that she must have been praying out loud. "I was thinking that Rollie might still be mad at me and wouldn’t come looking for me until it was too late."
"Rollie and Frank, I am sure, are probably right now scouring every corner of this lot until they turn up a lead that will take them here. OK? Now, I came from that direction and so did you, I think that is our best bet. Let’s head out quietly. I’ll go first, that way if there is a problem, I can think what to do about them. Hey, it is the only plan I got so far. Whaddasay?"
"Now, you come up with a time NOT to have a great
plan!! Ok, let’s go. I hope we aren’t
making any mistakes by doing this."
Frank had a hard time keeping up with Rollie. "Hey, Rollie!! Do you mind waiting for me? My legs aren’t as long as yours are, ya know!" The smaller man had to do double time and by the time they reached the office from where the NYPD was based on the shoot, he was out of breath.
"Sorry. I just want to hurry up and get this over with. Do you know who we are supposed to look for?" Rollie by now was rambling. He was tired, scared and mad at the world for producing someone like The Jerk. This was someone who could in all probability right now be hurting two very important people to him.
"Yeah, the guy’s name is Sgt. Rich Edwards. It seems he and Leo were at the Task Force at the same time. Hopefully, Leo has been here already. If not, we tell him what is going on. I think these guys will help us."
"Why? Because of their friendship or because of The Jerk?" Rollie questioned. This was their last chance of finding the others without letting VanDuren know what is going on. He had heard Leo and Frank mention that the longer a person is missing the smaller the odds are of finding them….period. The state of the victim after a certain period of time taken for granted to be harmed and the longer the time they were missing, they were presumed to be dead.
Bracing against the cold wind that was blowing across the set, Frank answered his friend, "Both I hope. Of course, no one wants a creep like a sex offender on the set and will do anything to get him. But off the record, it is not going to hurt Angie’s case by saying that Leo, a NYPD Detective, is missing at the same time because he was protecting her. I hate to say it but once one of our own goes missing, some cops put more energy into getting them. I know, I know…our job is to defend ALL the people of NYC but……it hurts when you hear over your radio "Cop down!". Those are words that I never, ever want to say." The two men walked on in silence before finding the main office. Frank went in to inquire about the sergeant.
"Rol! C’me here! " Frank was standing in the office next a tall, handsome black officer. He carried himself straight and tall and had an authoritative air about him, like he was in control. "Sgt. Edwards this is Rollie Tyler. He is a good friend of Det. Mc Carthy and Ms. Ramirez’ boss/friend. Rollie, this is Sgt. Edwards. He says that he might have some information for us, on The Jerk."
"Whatever is going down, don’t worry about us.
Me and my boys will back you up. I just gotta let the
lieutenant know what’s going down. I have extra men
out looking for the girl and the perp. I just found out he
‘might’ be here. Since he is not allowed on the set for
another week, we have the right to question him. I know
Leo; he is a good cop and a good friend. No on hurts a cop
when I am in duty. Here is what I know……."
"Leo, I am tired of just crawling around on my hands and knees. That is how he got me the last time, remember? I just don’t want to do this anymore, ok?!" The young blonde had reached her breaking point; it showed on her pretty face. There were smudges of mud on her left cheek. It happened when she raised her hand to wipe away the tears but she forgot that her hands were full of dirt from crawling. She was also falling further behind Leo so often that he had to snap at her to make her move. "Leo! No more! I don’t want to move…he is going to get us anyway. Just let me stay here, ok?"
The detective had to crawl back to her. She was at least a good fifteen feet behind him. "Hey, Ange, c’mon. We have to keep moving. It will keep him on his toes. The more we move, the more ground we put between us and The Jerk. Right?"
"Or we could just be going that much closer to him. Right?" Taking a deep breath, she shook her head and continued, "I’m sorry but I can’t anymore…I am tired and scared. I want to go home but I am *so* afraid that HE is out there just waiting to get me. You go and then you can send the other cops in. Ok?"
"Ok, then I will get Rollie too and he…."
"NO!! You can’t tell Rollie this happened. Promise me! He will yell at me for not listening to him or to you or to Frank. Rollie will never, ever let me do anything then. He is going to be mad at me for not finishing the mask." She started to chuckle while sobbing at the same time, "You know what he is going to say, don’t you? That this all happened because of my temper. ‘Angie, if you could only learn how to control that Cuban temper of yours’ Do you know how many times my dad told me that? I guess as often as my dad was told by all of his friends." The young blonde then turned pleading eyes to the cop, "Leo, don’t tell him that I didn’t see that guy coming in after me. PLEASE!!"
"Sure, ok." Leo crawled closer to her and heaved a huge sigh. "Boy, I am getting too old for this stuff, eh? Listen, I don’t know why you think that Rollie is going to be mad at you for not listening. He might be mad that you didn’t tell him or me or Frank where you were headed but that is only because of our ‘friend’ that is roaming around. He probably is worried about you. But if you want me to, I won’t tell him. Not unless he asks…not going to lie to him. Rollie is a great friend and I don’t want to mess that up." Seeing her acceptance of that, he patted her on the knee and continued, "Ok, now what do you think we should do? My bet is that he is thinking you called Rollie. I mean he knows that you and Rollie are a team and that if one is missing, the other one surely look for the other, right?"
"It would make sense except for one thing: he might have seen or heard about the fight Rollie and I had. If that is true, then he knows I stormed out and left Rollie there to do all the work. Leo, we can’t take the chance that he thinks Rollie is on his way here. It might not be true. Don’t you have any other ideas?"
"Truthfully? No I don’t. Ange, the only
thing we can do right now is to move our asses the hell out of
here. I have no idea who he is. The guy is wearing a
mask so he can’t be ID’d. He maybe crazy but he
ain’t dumb. I just want to make it out alive.
So, I suggest we move quietly but quickly. We have to do it
this way….no other choice. The ‘building’ is
part real and part not; I don’t want to end up in the not
real section with The Jerk. Let’s go."
"Ok, so here is what I know about the guy. He has no priors but then again a lot of the charges were dropped by the women. It seems that he *may* know someone higher up in the studio, but we can’t get anyone to confirm OR deny it. Seems as if our boy has a guardian angel." Sgt. Edwards was telling Frank and Rollie all that he knew about the alleged ‘Jerk’. As he went into more specifics about each charge, Frank would make notes in his book and then ask more of the sgt. The jargon of the two policemen lost Rollie after a few moments and it was then that he decided to wander around the trailer that they were near.
"Hi Rollie." It was Dolly, the pretty intern that Angie had given a hard time earlier. She was making her way over to talk to him; she had Angie’s clipboard in her hands. "You know, your assistant has some attitude problem! I have never met someone so rude before. How do you put up with her and her temper all the time? I like *you* so that is why I am saying this: I’ll let it go today but if she screams at me like she did before, I am going to the director. Ok?
Rollie was hearing her but not exactly listening. He was too preoccupied with his missing friends to listen to an intern’s disillusionment with the movie industry. He knew that Angie and Dolly didn’t get along but he couldn’t understand why and when he asked Angie about it, all he got for an answer was a dirty look. "Dolly, I know that you two don’t get along all that well but if she wasn’t nice…"
"Not nice?! Mr. Tyler, she was mean and nasty to me. I mean she was practically running across the set before, bumps into me and then has the nerve to tell me to stay out of her way! Is that not the most—"
Rollie stopped her then. "What do you mean
‘before’? How long ago did she yell at you?
She was running? Where did you see her go, in which
direction?" He didn’t know what he was feeling; all of
his emotions were too busy making him a wreck. Although he felt
some relief that someone did see her, there was also worry
because Dolly noted that she was running and not the least there
was guilt. ‘If I didn’t start that fight with
her, she would not have stormed out the door.’
"Dolly, this is really important. I need to find Angie
now. Do you have any idea which way she was headed? Please,
try to remember. " He had taken the young girl by her
arm and directed her to where Frank and Sgt. Edwards were
talking. "Frank, Sgt. Edwards. This is
Dolly Burns, she’s an intern on the set. She says that
she saw Angie ‘before’. She might be the one to
help us."
"Ok, now Leo all you have to remember is that the fifth step is rigged. So whatever you do, don’t step on it." Angie-the-FX-expert was back. She was reminding Leo, and herself, what was real and what was just a hoax, or in Rollie’s words ‘The Illusion’.
"Rigged? For what? You’re telling me this now?! You are telling me that the fifth step is rigged as I am on the fourth step! Jeez, give a guy some notice." Leo was tired, beaten, bruised; he wanted to go home, take a hot shower and relax. Just looking around at the set he was amazed that she could remember which step was rigged while he, the professional law enforcement, was lucky if he could remember how to say his name. "What did you guys rig the step for?"
"The director wanted a bomb sequence. Whether or not Rollie talked him out of it, I don’t know. I may never know…" The young blonde put her head against the wall and looked dejected. Sniffling, she asked, "Leo, do you really think we can get out of here before THE JERK finds us again? I don’t know how this can be done. No one knows where we are or if we are even missing. You, I can understand someone looking for; Frank would need you for something and he would want to know where you when it was time to go. Me? Rollie is still probably mad at me and is off doing his thing."
"Does this happen often?" he asked of her. He gave her a quick look while straddling the fifth step; Angie was talking him thru the ‘de-rigging’ of the step. "I mean you and Rollie arguing, and the tempers flaring. I know that working along the same person day in day out can make you nuts, but I didn’t think it was that bad with the two of you. I don’t think he and I have ever not talked because of tempers. I mean I don’t call him every day, either, but…."
"Use the smaller pliers, it is easier to work with. I know, he doesn’t argue with you. You are his ‘pal’." She made a face on the last word. Angie still couldn’t keep some of the bitterness out of her voice when she talked about the friendship between Leo and Rollie. ‘When it comes to them, I am the third wheel and always will be.’ "You have to turn it to the left more. What?"
"Sorry for the twenty questions, but how on earth do you remember what is where and to fix it?" He was seeing her in a new light. This was no longer Rollie’s sidekick or the little tag-a-long but a true genius. Angie knew where the tools were kept on the set and which were the better made. ‘Hell, I don’t know half of these tools.’ he acknowledged to himself.
"It’s my job. We have to make sure each gag is done properly so that no one gets hurt. I think both of us have seen waaay too much of that in our lives. It is probably a plus in our favor. Plus," she added with a smile, "I’m the one that makes Rollie look good."
Flashing Angie one of his own smiles, Leo kept right on with the ‘de-rigging’ of the now infamous fifth step. "Hey, just being curious, what would happen if we were to step on this? What is going to happen? The building goes up in flames?"
"Nah. It is supposed to implode, per director’s orders. Then how on earth are the police supposed to find the sister, I don’t know. That was what Rollie was going to try to get the man to understand."
"If this is supposed to be a bomb, why are we defusing it? Why not let THE JERK step on it and do it to himself?" But even though he had a question about the fifth step, he kept on doing the work.
"Too many others may be near. When this is supposed to go off, no one is going to be in the building. In fact, the only ones that are going to be near this place is FDNY, Bomb Squad, ESU, us and some of the stunt men. Then too, we have to be back so many feet. Are you done yet? Leo, I want to get out of here today!"
With a last tug on the wires that were hidden under the staircase, Leo answered the FX expert, "Now we are. If we are doing this to save others, what are we going to do for ourselves?"
"THAT I already did. While you were stripping the step, I went back to the landing and put a timer on the door. Don’t look at me like that. Blame Rollie. He is the one who leaves his toys all over the place. Anyway, the timer isn’t activated until someone tries to push against it. It gives us like a minute-minute and half jump on whoever is behind the door. Once it's activated, it gives a loud piercing-" but she was stopped by a noise that made both of them jump. "That is the noise. Leo, MOVE!!! He is coming after us!! GO!!!!" With that, she jumped the rest of the stairs, beating Leo to the bottom of the stairwell. "C’mon there isn’t much time. We have to go!"
"Angie, I don’t know if that was done right or
not. I’m not sure—you didn’t check
it!" Leo was beginning to panic himself. A mad
man was after them with only God knows what instrument, a bomb
was no more than fifty feet away from them (which may or may not
have been deactivated correctly) and the only way out was down a
long dark corridor. "Wait! This way!
C’mon, hurry!" He pulled her back to him and
turned down another corridor. "I see light coming from
down here. If there is light, it might mean others or some
type of window. Window means we are home safe!"
"But only if you disconnected the bomb. I didn’t check it, Leo. I have no clue. It might stop it from imploding the building but not going off in general. There were two more steps!!" The panic was beginning to well up in her again. "Leo! I don’t see any light! Where the hell is the light!?"
"Angieeeee! Angieeeee!! Come out, come out
wherever you are!" jeered the voice from the darkness.
"I want to play. Tell him to go home; it’s not
his turn to play with you. It’s my turn. How
come you play with all the other boys but not with me?
Angie, it’s my turn NOW!!!!"
Dolly was being interviewed by both Sgt. Edwards and by Frank
in the office. Rollie waited outside; being inside was making him
too jittery. It was his third trip around the mobile police
station when the siren went off. It was loud and
piercing. Everyone around stopped to find out where it was
coming from, including the police officers inside. Frank
came out to make sure
things were fine when he saw that Rollie was starting to head
off. "Rol, where the hell are you going?"
"The siren, Frank! I know that siren. It is one of mine, ours…me and Ange, we did that to a timer as a joke. She is using it! See, it means that she is ok for now. She knew where it was." The Australian started off again but was kept in check by his friend.
"Rol, that siren could mean anything. I think…"
"NO! I *know* that siren. If she is using it, then they are in trouble. She hates that noise. I know where I left it. In the sister’s building. C’mon, you know. That is the building where we are supposed to set off the bomb! Do you get it now?! We have to go!" and he broke free of the other man’s grasp.
"Edwards! Get some men and get over to the sister’s builidng. The one where the bomb is supposed to go off. Now! That is where are our people are." and then he too set off for the missing.
"Oh, God! It’s a dead end! Leo, what are
we going to do now?!" The young blonde was now in
hysterics and the older man just couldn’t find it anywhere
in him to tell her to stop. In fact, he was not too far
behind her in that department. They had been trying to out
run this madman and every time he was there. Just waiting
for them. Every turn, every hiding spot-he knew what to
do and where they were. There seemed to be no way out of
this living hell.
"Ange, don’t worry there is always a way. We just got to calm down for a moment and get it together." Leo was doing this more for himself than for her. If he panicked, then more than likely the Jerk would know or sense this and he would have the upper hand. "We might be able to find a back door or a second door and backtrack our way to the bottom of the stairs."
"We did *that* already, remember? And he found us twice! There is no way out, is there?" She slumped down against the wall and began to cry. She was tired, cold, and emotionally spent. "I just want to stop running, ok? Is that too much to ask? I WANT TO STOP!!"
"Angieeeee! Angieeeee! Want to play peek-a-boo? You hide and I will find you. How is that for our next game?" The voice was getting louder and closer each time it sounded. He was also banging on the walls with some type of tool; probably one of the ones that Leo had dropped in the ‘stairwell’ while they were de-rigging the bomb.
"NO!! I don’t want to play with you now or
ever!! Get that thru your thick head. I want to go
home and I want you to go away…FOREVER!!" Once
the voice had stopped, Angie ran over from her slumped position
over to the doorway and screamed her brains out. This guy
was beginning to really piss her off. She was still scared
but that was now on the back burner. He was trying to
terrorize her and her friends, he was destroying a movie set, he
was fooling
with the NYPD…he was not on her good list.
Leo ran over to where she was and yanked her away. "What the hell are you doing? We are trying to hide from him and here you are screaming at him. Do you realize what you just did?! You just announced to him where we are. Any however small of a chance that we had, you just blew!" The cop was barely holding on to whatever he had left of his sanity. ‘They just don’t teach you these things in the academy.’ he bitterly thought. Looking around the room, he realized that there was absolutely nothing that they could use to defend themselves. The only thing they had was his gun; but he used some of the rounds in the earlier fight with him. "God, I don’t know what kind of arsenal he has. I don’t know what else to do."
The FX expert was just standing there doing nothing, nothing
except crying. The full impact of the situation was at
hand. The Jerk was close by, and getting closer, with some
sort of weapon to use against them while they only had
Leo’s one gun. They were trapped in a mock building
that was being used for a movie depicting the deaths of people,
which in Angie’s mind was the most
ironic detail of them all. Through all of this, the only
thing that she was aware of, the only fully conscious thought
that she had was the fact that she would never see Rollie again
if she died here. If she did die, then the last time they
saw each other would be the fight. THAT was the reason she
was crying. ‘He is going to think that I hate him; he
is going to hate me forever. I won’t be able to tell
him the truth. It’s not fair!’ was the same notion that
she had been thinking for the last few hours. The woman
looked around the room, the same room that Leo had in the same
manner and saw the same thing…nothing. There was no
way out---except...
By the time Rollie had reached the building, there was a crowd of people gathered there. The most of these were cops. Frank and Sgt. Edwards radioed for some backup. Looking up at the sides, Rollie could see nothing that was amiss. There was nothing out of the ordinary, nothing to let the casual observer know that there were two people inside fighting for their lives.
"Rollie, are you sure this is the building? I mean, look, I don’t see anything. Wait here." Frank went back to where Sgt. Edwards was with some men; they were waiting for Frank to tell them where to start to looking. "Rollie, well? I don’t know, man. I gotta go with Sgt. Edwards on this. I don’t think that this is the place."
"Frank! The siren came from here. I left the siren here and the only other person, besides me, that knows how to use it is Angie. Angie is missing…THINK!! She is in there, I know it. We have to find her, Frank. We have to find her and Leo."
"Well, where do you suggest that we start
looking?" He was getting a little snappy
himself. This was supposed to have been a day off, a day
without being a cop. His one chance so far in this life to
mingle with some stars and here he is trying to find his missing
partner along with a friend. All he had to go on was a
sound that could have come from fire exit. To top it all
off, he
had to deal with Rollie’s attitude. ‘Too bad my
friend, you’re getting some of it back.’ he mused
silently. "So, where do you think to start?"
"The bottom. That is the only they could have gotten in, right? There has to be some kind of loose door, or window. Leo, Ange or The Jerk might have even dropped something. Got any other ideas?" Rollie had missed the sarcastic comment made by Frank and his was meant just to get the ball rolling for the others to start the search.
"No. No other ideas. Sgt!! Have the men start looking from the bottom of the building. I want a clean sweep of this area; I want to know who has gone in and out of this building in the last 10hours. I want to find these people. Let’s go!!" He turned around to find his friend still looking at the sides of the building. "Rollie, c’mon. We’re going start the search. Coming?"
"No. I’m going to stay here for a few more
moments. I will catch up to you. You go ahead." he
stated without ever looking at the other man. Frank gave
him one last look before heading off with the other officers to
start the search. Rollie for his part just kept staring up
at the building. "C’mon Ange. Think.
Give me a sign that you are up there. Help me find
you." Then he realized it….he knew the answer.
"What?! Are you nuts?" Leo was looking at her as if she had just grown three heads. "I don’t know who is worse: you or The Jerk. Think about what you are saying here. That is not something I do every day."
"Well, neither do I. But it is our only choice, Leo. Besides, it makes perfect sense to do it here. I mean where else could you do something like this and have the people that know how to do and do it right?" She was trying to get the man to admit that she was right in this. "Leo, we have to do it. There is no other way out. You said so yourself. Well, I found it. We have to go with it. It is this way" she points to the window, "or that way." and then points to the corridor which is the last place they heard the Jerk.
"Ok. Let’s just say that this *is* the only
way out. No one knows that we are up here. How on
Earth are we supposed to get them to help us? Who is going
to help us? Can you tell me that?!" The very
thought of jumping out of a window seven stories up scared the
bejesus out of him. He never even did paratrooping in the
Army; he was a M.P. "Angela, I don’t see how
anyone could
know this."
"Rollie knows. Trust me, Rollie knows." She caught the look that Leo gave her; the one that said Yeah-right-and-I’m-the-Queen-of-England. Taking a deep breath, she tried to keep her temper under control. "I’m serious. Rollie knows that I hate that siren and would never use it unless I had to. Well, I had to. He is on the set looking for you and hopefully me. He had to have heard that. Then he will know where to look and see this", pointing again to the window, "is our only solution, he will make sure all is in its place." But Leo still had on his Doubting Thomas face. "Ok. Don’t trust me. Trust your friend, Rollie. He wouldn’t let you down. He never has before, has he? So, why would he start now?"
"Ok, I guess so. But it is a *long* way down."
he stated as he peered out the window to look down the seven
stories to the ground.
"Rollie!! We found something. You were right." Frank came running over to the Australian who was still in the same spot just looking up.
"I found something too. And I was wrong." He turned to see the puzzled look on Frank’s face. "What do you have there?" He pulled what seemed to be the remnants of a radio from the police officer’s hand.
"Oh, um, it looks like a police radio. I think that maybe Leo dropped it as he was going in. We actually found some people who saw Leo go in the building. I figured that since he didn’t know what this was, he must have seen something with Angie and The Jerk, right? Now, what do you mean that you were wrong and you found something?"
"Yup. Look up. What do you see?" Getting a shrug of the shoulders from the detective, Rollie answered, "Exactly. Nothing. There is nothing up there. There is no way out for them. We don’t have to start from the bottom but from the top. Get it?" Realizing that he was not being clear to his friend, he started the explanation over. "This building or mock building only has windows on one side; the others are just plastic. Those can’t open." He pointed out the difference to Francis, who *still* couldn’t see the difference. "So, if you see light from a window, you are going to run to it, right? They have to be there on that side. The question is which floor. But if I am right, they would go up. Angie would have had to if she was doing a search of the set. We were on the second and fourth floors."
"And if The Jerk knew that, he would have blocked the bottom floors. Sort of like being in a burning building. Run from it to get away from it."
"Exactly. But how far up would you have to go in order to be safe?" Rollie wondered out loud.
"You would go as far up as you had to. The roof looks fairly stable. Why not start from there and work our way down?" Frank ventured.
"Good idea but we don’t have the time. They
are there, I know it. Since there is no fire exits or fire
escapes, then the only way down for them would be to…"
he looked over at the police officer who had finally come around
to Rollie’s thinking and the two men finished the sentence
at the same time, "jump."
"Angieeeee!! Angieeeee!! This is no longer any fun. Why don’t you want to play with me? I don’t get it; I am so much better at these games then that old guy you are with. Play with me just this once and then we will be friends forever more-one-two-three-four." The voice stopped just for a moment before it began singing in its eerie but nice voice, "O, little playmate" then he clapped his hands together, just like the way Angie did when she was a young girl on the playgrounds with her friends during school’s recess.
"How does he manage to take almost every game that I played as a kid and turn it into something disgusting?!" wailed the blond girl. She was beginning to doubt her sanity after all the long hours running from The Jerk. Here she was on a window’s ledge seven stories above the ground, trying to escape with her life and all she could think about was the next line to the song. "Something, something, hmm, slide down my rainbow and into my cellar door and we will be jolly friends forever more one, two, three, four!" Looking around, Angie noticed that Leo had started to say something but stopped. "Ok! I know it is not normal to have a sing-a-long with your captor, but I *liked* that game as a kid, sue me!!"
"Hey, whatever gets you through this. I am not
going to argue with you. Plus, what does he mean by
‘old guy?! I am insulted." But he could tell that
his small attempt at humour was lost in the moment. While
Angie was engrossed in the song, Leo was engrossed in trying to
find something,
anything that might slow down The Jerk until they could be sure
that those on the set knew of their problem. "Hey,
what about this? Think it will work?" He was
kicking the end of a board, it looked fine to him.
"Nope. It is just some dry-wall. That guy
will be sure to kick it down in a matter of moments. Even
Rollie could knock that down." Just the mention of her
partner made the young woman mist up. While she was in her
own misery, she missed the look on Leo’s face that showed
his own misery. Trying to compose herself once more, she
looked around the room to see if there was
anything that could stop The Jerk. "Leo, I don’t
see a thing that might slow him down."
"Me neither. Right now, I think the only thing that could slow him down is a nice sliver bullet through the heart." The comment brought Angie’s head up sharply; she knew that Leo didn’t like this guy (she was not exactly president of his fan club either) but she had never heard Leo to want to use a gun on anyone. She was positive that Rollie had told her that Leo hated to use his gun; with that thought running through her head, she was powerless to stop the chill that ran up her spine.
Leo spotted it and asked "Want my jacket? It might be a bit warmer than yours."
"Nah. I’m not cold. It was um…I guess my nerves."
"My mother would say that someone just walked on your
grave." then proceeded to go back to his search. Angie
was just dumbfounded over Leo's frankness. She knew that he
was a cop for a long period of time and that cops do get hardened
but....it was still a shock to hear that along with the bullet
comment. She just shook herself mentally, chalked it up to the
tension they were both under and started to help Leo in his
search.
Once Frank caught on with the way of Rollie’s thinking, he dashed off to catch up to Sgt. Edwards to get more men on the scene. He also decided to call Cpt. VanDuren; it was time he knew that one of his men was in danger. "The man is going to have my backside for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Why didn’t I call him earlier?" whined the detective. Sgt. Edwards just looked on with sympathy. HE certainly didn’t want to be the one to tell the brass that a detective (one with as much time as Leo) was in jeopardy along with a civilian hostage. Nope, not a good way to endear oneself with upper echelon of the NYPD.
Rollie, in the meantime, went to the director and told him of the situation. The man was not overly impressed with the fact that a police officer and one of his staff were being held as hostages on his set. It took four crew members to sit on Rollie and another two to pry his hands off the man.
The stunt coordinator pulled Rollie outside with him. "Rollie!! Man, you have got to calm down. This is not going to help! Look, I know that they are your friends but you have got to do this slow." chastised Jack Kennedy. Jack was a big man, barrel chest, gray hair and tons of scars all over him. He looked mean and tough but on the inside he was all mush, especially for Manny’s ‘kids’. Jack had been there when Manny first took Rollie under his wing. He and Manny used to have talks about Rollie and his talent; Jack was one of the few stuntmen that convinced Rollie FX was better for him. Rollie Tyler, being who he is, never forgot the man who was a great friend to Manny and to him. In fact, Rollie got Jack a couple of jobs when he was out for a period of time. "Hey, are you listening to me?! Tyler, stop fuming over that eejit!! You know and I know that he is a moron but you can’t go around hitting him when you want to."
"He just doesn’t get it. These are my friends we are talking about here. I mean Leo is my best mate. God, doesn’t he realize that Leo is a cop! Can you imagine what they will do to him if they find out he refused to help us?!" By this time, Rollie had broken free of the man’s grasp, and started to pace the set again. "Not to mention that all the time that is lost out here is money. And if I am busy here, then the FX can’t get done. Jack, Angie is still in there and he doesn’t care." The tall Australian rested against one of the many vans that lined the set. Turning sorrow filled eyes to his friend, he asked, "Jack, what am I supposed to do now? I have no bloody clue what to do."
"You act like this is one of our stunts. We plan
everything right down to the last minute detail; nothing is left
undone. We get the cops involved, we get the stuntmen
involved. Hey, don’t look so surprised.
Manny’s name still means something and yours too. Plus
I like Angie. Reminds me of my own girl.
Ok….let’s go"
"God, you would think that they would have at least someone looking for us." Leo was peering out the window again, for what seemed like the millionth time to Angie. "Humph. Last time I leave Francis alone to take care of a situation."
"I told you that it could be a long time before we are missed. But I am contused why no one came to look for you. Me—Rollie is probably thinking that I am sulking somewhere."
The detective heard the self pity in her voice and turned to
talk to her when something down below caught his eye.
"Um, Ange could you come over here for a sec? I think
you would want to see this." He heard her move
over to where he was standing at the window and shifted so that
she could see outside also. "There, see by the
trucks? No the other way, by the lunch trucks?
Look carefully, see all the people moving about. I know
that I am not as experienced as you are on a set, but I would
guess that not everyone moves at the same time to the same
spot." He gave her a knowing look.
"No, not really. I mean yeah some do; like the stuntmen and women go and we, FX, go with them too. But yeah, not the whole set at the same time. Not even at quitting time. We all have different places to be, things to do. Something is up."
"No, something is down. Or should I say going
down." He pointed again to the group of people but showed
her something new. "Look, I believe that is an
airbag. Don’t you guys use that in your
stunts? I believe we are what is going down."
Giving Angie one of his -told-you-that-this-would-work smiles, he
joked , "Let’s go get ready. Wouldn’t want
to show up looking messy now, would we?" Angie was
just about to reply to him when the door crashed open and let The
Jerk into the room.
Jack was the one doing most of the coordinating and was pretty good at it. ‘He should be, it’s his job’ Rollie thought bitterly. He was having a hard time staying upbeat over this whole incident. First he blamed Angie for running out of the van, then he blamed Frank for not being more careful during his watch over Angie, then Leo for not keeping in contact, then himself for not realizing what was happening to Angie earlier and for upsetting her. But ultimately he placed the blame squarely on The Jerk. "If I get my hands on him, he is a dead man." he muttered.
"Hey, my friend, those are very dangerous words. I mean the whole lot is full of us cops. So, a friendly warning: don’t say them again. OK?" Frank had walked up behind Rollie when he heard the threat. ‘Not that I don’t blame him’ he agreed silently in his head. "I know exactly what you are going through, EXACLTY, but if someone else hears that…"
"Yeah, yeah I know. But at the same time, he gets to threaten them and nothing is done to him!!"
"No. Once we get him, he is going away for a long
time. I mean long time. Sing-Sing is going to get a
new lifelong inmate, ok? We are going to get
him." Looking around, he was impressed with the whole
operation. "Hey, this is some nifty work going on
around here. You do all of this?" The smaller
man would not have been surprised if Rollie Tyler did do it; in
fact, Rollie
was probably capable of gathering a small army if needed.
"No. Jack Kennedy, the stunt coordinator, did most
of this. He knew Manny and helped me out on a few
occasions. Nothing like having this" waving his arms
at the lot, "at your disposal, eh?" He had been
watching the way Kennedy moved his men around the lot. He
looked like a general gathering his troops just before a
battle. For this one time, he was willing to let someone
else do the ‘job’. He couldn’t concentrate
on the small conversation Frank was trying to have with him so he
knew that trying to do all of this would have been next to
impossible for him. The airbag was almost in place which meant
that soon they would be able to try and signal the others they
were ready. But for some inexplicable reason, he looked up
to where they guessed Angie and Leo were. "Frank,
Frank, look up! Look up!! Oh God, not yet!
They’re not ready yet!" and he took off for Jack
Kennedy.
Frank looked up and saw what made Rollie leave: Leo and Angie
were on the ledge of the window. It appeared that they were
ready to jump. They were ready but the bag was still not
where it should be. It was close, but not close
enough. He knew that a few inches in either way, could cost
one or both of them their lives. Det. Gatti didn’t
realize that he was now running
as well, giving orders into his radio and praying at the same
time, which was exceptional for a man who claimed that he
couldn’t walk and chew gum at the same time. While
talking to Sgt. Edwards on the radio, he heard Rollie scream
‘NO!’ and looked up to see two bodies falling through
the cold air of Brooklyn.
When they heard the crash, Leo and Angie moved as fast as their bodies would allow them. They went separate ways; Angie went to go hide herself and Leo went to find a good location so that he could take a clean shot at The Jerk.
The Jerk was standing next to the remains of the door. He was still dressed in black with his face covered. "Angieeeee!! Angieeeee!! Come out, come out from wherever you are!!" He was still using the high pitch voice that he had used in his earlier taunts. "Angieeeee!! Angieeeee!! Why don’t you want to play? I don’t understand you at all. First you play with that Tyler guy. Then you had that small fry near you all day, and now that geezer. Angie, I gotta tell you something: your taste in men is getting worse by each choice." Angie could tell by the voice that The Jerk had moved from the doorway, probably in search of her.
Leo was backing up away from the man but still had him in his sight. ‘All I need is just one shot, just one. C’mon you screwy bastard, get closer.’ Leo muttered to himself. He had his gun drawn the moment the door crashed and had every intention of using it. He realized that since Angie was no longer near him, that she was by herself, he had to play the game according to The Jerk’s rules. He needed to stay focus in order to stay one step ahead of him.
"Angieeeee!! Angieeeee!! This is it. No more Mr. Nice Guy. Come out now and I promise you will have lots of fun playing with me."
Angela peered from around the batch of dry wall that she and Leo had abandoned earlier. She noticed that The Jerk now had a weapon; he was brandishing a pipe. She surmised that he must have taken it from one of the ‘apartments’ in the building. The tension and the fear of the day finally took its toll on the young woman. "I said before that I didn’t want to play!! Just go away and leave me the hell alone, you sicko!!" She was screeching at him loud enough that he could probably guess where she was but at this point in time, she just really didn’t care.
"What?! You think that *I* am sick? You? You who have played with my affections and then dismissed me like a piece of garbage? What about your ‘friends’? HUH Angie? You have a friend who plays with explosives and lives in a world of make-believe; then there is the small fry who follows you around like a lost puppy, and last and most certainly LEAST is the gun toting grandpa you have with you now!! And you have the nerve to tell me that I am sick!? Ok, bitch you asked for it!" With that he charged to where she was hiding and sent all the dry wall flying.
Angie tried to dodge his fist but it caught her on the right temple. Even though she was in pain, Angie kept on running for her life. She could feel The Jerk right behind her and closing in. Halfway across the room, she felt a tug on her right arm. Kicking with all of her might, she tried to get away from the grasp that was holding her still.
"Angie!! Will you quit it?!" The voice was not that of The Jerk’s but rather it was Leo McCarthy. "Jeez!! Who taught you how to fight?! I think you bruised me more than he has. Listen, are you ok?" He tried to peer into her eye in order to get the correct answer but all he saw was pure and absolute fear. Leo knew that there was very little time to do anything. "Ok, we have got to do something that would let the others down there know he is in here with us."
"Are you serious? Leo, they are like 7 stories down. We will not be able to get their attention. I mean, what do you think…flag them down?"
"No, we don’t have to flag them down; just get their attention. WE get their attention, get it?" Leo gave her one of his looks again and she felt her stomach drop out giving her a severe pain.
"You mean? You mean you want us to actually go out –THERE!?!? You are crazy, even worse than I have ever imagined. Leo, there is barely enough room on that ledge for a pigeon never mind us. I won’t go into detail about the weight that it CAN NOT hold nor will I remind you that this is really not a building!"
Lightly tapping her cheek, he said, "I am glad you have
such a positive out look on this little adventure of
ours." Leo grabbed her hand and led her to the window
all through her protests and explanations as to why this was a
bad idea. Turning the girl around to look her square in the
face, he said "Angela, do me a favor please? Shut up
and get out on the ledge, in that order" and shoved her out
the window.
Rollie could only stare with his heart in his mouth as his two most beloved friends were climbing out onto the window ledge. He knew that Jack needed more time to get the airbags in place but he also knew that something must have happened to have forced them, literally, to the edge. ‘Leo, what are you doing? I hope to God you have one of your plans.’ Rollie whispered to the wind. Turning to get Jack’s attention, he motioned to one of the other stuntmen to come over to him. ‘Steve, where is Jack? We got a huge problem!!" Getting the answer, Rollie ran to where the coordinator was planning the rescue operation.
"Jack! We need those bags now! They are out on the ledge, something must have spooked them. Can we move faster?" He was out of breath from the run across the set. "Look, I know that you are doing everything you can but is there some way, ANY WAY, that we can get them bags there quicker?"
Jack Kennedy could only shake his head in a negative
manner. "Rollie, man, you more than anyone else here
should know how long those damn things take to
inflate." Moving to the other side of Rollie, Jack
continued, "There are two bags here on this set. But
only one of them is inflated for use. THAT one we can use
but it is going to take a lot of manpower to move it. You
know this. I can’t make it happen just like
that. I do FX, not miracles."
Rollie was just standing next to Jack while everyone else was bustling around trying to pull off the ‘miracle’. He tried to think but he couldn’t separate his mind and his work this time. All the times that he had helped Leo and Frank on some of their cases, Rollie was able to look at his part as a ‘stunt’, nothing more nothing less. It was his way of dealing with it, his way of dealing with the cruelty that human being can sometimes inflict upon each other. But not this time. This time he knew that it wasn’t a stunt or a gag that was waiting to be put into the can. It wasn’t a scam with Dingo where later on the two Tyler men could toss a few back and compare notes on the latest grift. No, this time two very important people to him, probably *the* most important two, were in grave danger and it seemed as if there was nothing he could do for them.
Jack noticed the state his friend was in and tried to give the Aussie something to do that would take his mind off the troubles. "Why don’t you go with Steve and get the airbag moved? I’ll stay here at the building to make sure that what isn’t necessary can be moved just in case." He turned Rollie around and gave him a little shove in the direction of his assistant, Steve. "Is your friend Frank still here? Think he can get us some more men to help us? Rol, we will get them out." he stated to the FX wizard but under his breath he added, "I only hope we are in time."
"Leo!! I can’t believe that you made me come out here! It is freezing up here. I want to go back inside right now!!" Angela Ramirez was thisclose to hysteria, understandably so. She wanted to wipe the tears that were streaming down her face, the wind chill factor was making them so cold that they were beginning to freeze on her cheeks. But she was afraid to let go of the only grip that she had since coming on the ledge.
"Just stay calm. They saw us down there. They know that we are up here. Any minute now the cavalry is going to come charging in and save us. Right?" The NYPD detective felt more like a victim this time around that a hero. The hysteria that was building up in Angie was beginning to rub off on him. He too would like nothing better to go back inside were it was warmer but most definitely not safer. "I say just a few more minutes and we will be home. Ok? You still will with me, here Ange?"
"No, I’m out dancing at Polly Esther’s!! Of course, I am still here?! Where the hell would I be? Leo, there at times where I swear you just don’t think. I mean," but before she could give him a piece of her mind The Jerk made a little visit.
"Surprise!! Miss me, kids? I miss you. In fact, I missed Angie *so* much, I think I need a hug. C’me here babe!" The man stuck his head out the window to grab the young woman. She moved further away from him (or at least tried to) while at the same time Leo tried to keep the man away from them. "Angieeeee, get rid of the geezer and we could have some real fun!!" The Jerk was worming his way out onto the ledge; he was doing anything and everything to get Angela. "C’mon. You know that we would have *so* much fun together. Drop him, Angie." Since he was half on the ledge, he peered over it down to the set. "Wow. Big drop, huh? If you drop him now, just think of the splash that he would make. Some kind of fun, eh Bambi?" He laughed aloud at his own morbid joke.
Angie could only look at the man in horror. He actually wanted her to push Leo off the ledge. He wanted HER to kill one of her friends. She started to speak without even thinking, "Why? Why do you want me to kill him? I mean, you are asking me to kill one of my friends?"
"No, no. I don’t want you to do that. I
know that would make you so unhappy. So," he
perched himself on the ledge in a squatting position,
"I’ll make you a deal. You come over here and
keep me happy and I will keep you happy. You won’t
have to kill your friend. I will."
Jack Kennedy was at the building site trying to get it clear for the airbag. He wanted nothing to go wrong; in this ‘gag’ there was no room for error, NONE. He and his crew moved all of their equipment between this area and where the equipment was located for the REAL gags. "All right, let’s get a move on. This is for real boys and girls. Hey, I’m talking here!! Let’s move it!!" When Jack talks, he bellows. Everyone moved and fast. He made sure the area was cleared and when it was to his satisfaction, he radioed over to Rollie and Steve that it was time to move the airbag. "Ok guys, it’s your turn," he announced into his headset.
"Thanks, Jack. We’re on our way."
Rollie waved his hand to Steve that he got the Ok from
Jack. Between the men that were on Jack’s crew and the
other members of the shoot, there was enough to move the
airbag. They would use only this one; the other was not
ready for another gag. ‘I hope we can get by with just
this one’ was Rollie’s main thought. He, along
with Steve,
determined the pace of the men and watched the bag in case of a
puncture. The pace for Steve was just right, but too slow
for Rollie. The move altogether took no more than
fifteen minutes. Rollie knew that it was a bit faster than
usual and he knew that he was the one of the main reasons why
they moved faster. ‘I have to remember to thank these
guys in a big way later on’ he made a mental
reminder. Jack told the men what the need was
for their swiftness and hearing the names Tyler and Ramirez, the
men needed no other encouragement. Rollie had joined
with the others in moving the bag; he had grabbed one part and
heaved it to the other end of the lot. He prayed that they
would be there in time.
Frank was still milling around getting the other cops in position for when VanDuren arrives. He grimaced at the thought of his boss. The lecture over the phone was bad enough but the one he would get once the captain was here at the set in person would be ten times worse. As much as VanDuren was a pain to his men, he was loyal and would do all he could to make sure they were out of harm’s way. "I am not letting Leo do this to me again. I swear to God. Why does he do this to me? Leo, I hope to God you are ok. Otherwise, I think I am going to have to hurt you." Frank rambled on trying to calm himself. Following his captain’s orders, he got the men stationed at the set to close it off. Then he got more men from the nearest preceint to close off the streets surrounding the area, including the most used cross streets. Also on VanDuren’s list were E.S.U., the SWAT team, FDNY and their EMTs and at least 4 more units fully armed just in case. VanDuren, on his part, was coordinating the effort with the captain’s of the preceint here in Brooklyn. Frank smiled at VanDuren’s by-the-book policy. ‘Sure ain’t Leo’ he thought of his partner, who probably would have taken on the whole situation without a hitch. "Just like me" Frank muttered out loud.
Frank was still blaming himself for letting Angie out of his
sight and for not being like Leo. In his mind, Leo would
have had the problem under control and the call to VanDuren would
not have been necessary. Taking a deep cleansing breath in
the cold air, he tried to get his emotions under control.
Emotions, he was taught at the academy, could get you killed in a
hostage situation. Later on, when all was cleared, then you
could do whatever your emotions wanted you to do. Walking
around making sure his men were following the orders set forth by
VanDuren, he noticed Rollie and the others moving the
airbag. Frank decided to go over and help them for two
reasons. The first was the theory of the more the
merrier. He figured that if there were more men moving the
bag, it might get done sooner. The second was he needed
something to do. The waiting for something to happen was
*not* taught at the academy. He couldn’t think of a
fellow police officer that had been able to deal with the
waiting. In mid stride, he heard a woman scream. He
quickly radioed to Sgt. Edwards, hoping it wasn’t who he
thought it was. It was then that he heard Rollie scream.
"NO!! I won’t let you kill my friends. Just stop it now! OK, get it through your head. I am not now or ever going to be with you. Leave me alone!!" Angie was literally screaming for her life and Leo’s. She had reached the end of her rope. There was nothing left to cling to. All she wanted was to get away from this man and his horrible threats. "Just don’t come any closer. You know that everyone down there knows about you. They are coming up after you. They are going to get you. So, leave now before they kill you!!"
Leo looked at the young woman. He wanted to use that as
their last resort. The cop figured that the threat of more
police and possible fire power might frighten him but the words
sounded hollow from Angie. He tried to think of a plan, any
plan to get them to safety. There was nothing, absolutely
nothing, e could think of. The mind was completely
blank. He was trying to keep his
balance, keep The Jerk away from Angie and him and think of a way
out. ‘Good luck, McCarthy’ he mused to
himself. Then he noticed it was quiet, too
quiet. The Jerk had left. Angie motioned to him
"Think he left?" she was hoping fervently.
"I hope so but since he has come all this way, I wouldn’t bet on it." He was trying to get Angie put a safe distance between her and the window when the growl was heard. They heard him before they saw him. The Jerk came out of the window and made one last attempt to push Angie off the ledge. Her scream was loud enough to wake the dead. "Angie!!! Hold on!! Don’t let him near you!!" He couldn’t reach his gun and even if he could, the situation was too desperate for the use of it. He had only one choice left. "Gimme your hand! Angie, listen to me. We can get out of this. Gimme your hand!!"
Aware that she had no other alternative, she gave her hand to him and said, "Mc Carthy I hope you know what you are doing."
"Of course not. But it is our only choice left." Pulling her further away from the window and the hands of The Jerk, he motioned downward, "It’s time for us to join the others."
"No way! Leo, I have never done this before.
I can’t do it! I don’t want to, please.
Leo, isn’t there any other way?" she
begged. Hearing glass break, Angie knew without even
turning around their tormentor was now on the ledge as
well. Seeing the look in Leo’s eyes, she
consented. Grasping each other’s hands tightly,
they jumped and left a very stunned Jerk in their wake.
Rollie and Steve had just gotten the bag to the area when they met up with Jack. Mr. Kennedy filled them in on what was going on while they were moving the bag. Jack told Rollie that VanDuren was on his way, which got a smirk. "VanDuren on his way here? This is going to be fun. Frank will be trying to hide and Leo will be ignoring him as usual. Trust me, you have to see this." Thinking of his friend, Rollie left the bag in Jack’s hands and went to seek out Frank. He looked up when he heard a woman’s scream. "Angie!!" He knew that voice as well as he knew his own. It was then he noticed a third figure on the ledge. "Oh God. He is out there with them. Jack, Jack….JACK!! The bag, the bag. Move it! He is out there with them."
"Rollie, no. We’re not ready yet. It isn’t fully in place. We will be off by a foot. Steve, get some more men. We have got to get this bag in place now. Let’s move it, c’mon!" The big burly man was moving faster than anyone his size had a right to. Rollie was now beginning to worry about Jack as well; he didn’t want this man to have a heart attack due to doing Rollie a favor.
Rollie kept his eyes on the ledge hoping that by some miracle
they would not have to jump before the bag was in place.
The only words that he seemed to know at that particular moment
in time was "Please, don’t jump. Please,
don’t jump." But no one listened to him.
They jumped.
To Angie, the fall seemed to last forever. The one thing
that made a lasting impression on her, for the worse, was just
how cold the air really was. For some God forsaken reason,
her coat just wasn’t enough to keep her warm. She was
cold and scared, very scared. It wasn’t the height
that did it on the contrary, Angela Ramirez had no fear of
heights. She loved to climb both outdoors and the rigging
on movie sets. What did scare her was the end of the
fall. What would happen to her when the heights
stopped? She hoped Rollie was there. Then she thought if
the end was bad, she wished he wasn’t around. Seeing
her death AND Manny’s AND Rick’s AND his mother would
be too much for the sensitive Australian. ‘Strange,
I’m on my way to my death and I think about
Rollie’. The last thing she remembered was closing her
eyes and picturing her best friend in her mind.
Leo found the fall to be too fast. He was flailing
through the air trying to get his body in some semblance of
order. The plummet to the ground was terrifying, heart
stopping and yet exhilarating. Even though he knew that at
any moment his life could be over, Leo Mc Carthy never felt so
alive before. He was enjoying this, the fall through the
air. ‘Now I know why Rollie loved being a
stuntman’ then he too wondered why his last thoughts were on
his friend before he closed his eyes.
Frank started to move the moment he saw them jump.
‘I hope it was a jump’ he prayed silently to
himself. The thought of investigating his partner’s
death left him cold. Frank kept swallowing to keep down the
bile that threatened. He moved over to where VanDuren now
stood barking out orders much like a D.I. would to his
soldiers. Det. Frank Gatti had never been more relieved to
see his superior officer than now; he also realized how much
pressure was on the man to keep his men and civilians safe and
the enormous, and at times heartbreaking, strain he was under as
a man. He thanked his lucky stars that *he* was not in
charge.
VanDuren found the set to be in total chaos, at least in his
estimation. He took over the area immediately. In
fact, the reins were gladly handed over to the man. The
Captain was briefed what had happened during the moments he was
en route. Marvin VanDuren knew that one of his men was in
jeopardy as well a friend of the officer. As a police
officer, his main objective was to rope off the area from the
media as much as possible. Then he had to get as many
witnesses as he could. He needed all first response teams
to be on alert no matter what; they were all just there waiting
for the moment to arrive. He needed the perp to be apprehended
ASAP. But as a human being, he just wanted those two
humans to make back down to terra firma safe and sound.
Jack found the situation to be a nightmare for his crew.
They had never done anything like this before. The men knew
that this was not a stunt, but he had to let them think it was
for their own sanity. If they stopped thinking it was ok,
stopped thinking that nothing was going to go wrong then the
worst would happen. The crew needed to believe that they
were not responsible if
anything missed, even by a hair. He hoped and prayed that
they had put enough air back into the bag. But the most
important item, the one that was the most crucial was the
placement of the bag. Rollie was the one that was directing
the men, along with Steve. If anything went wrong this
time, there would be nothing that could ease the
Australian’s pain. Jack knew how Rollie was when Manny
died; he saw the guilt the young man put on himself. This
time it would be worse…much worse.
The Jerk found the fall to be quite the moment. He kept
one eye on the falling couple and the other on the door, just in
case those stupid police thought they could catch him. 'The
falling couple was much more fun' he thought to himself. He
was sitting on the ledge waiting for them to hit the
bottom. He found it to be rather slow; he needed to know if
they were going to miss the bag or not. If they missed, his
plans then needed to be altered. If they hit but were injured,
then the plans could stand as they are. He really didn't
care if that old guy made it or not; Angie was the only one that
actually mattered. If she missed the bag, that would be
most unfortunate...he tried to convince her that HE was the one
to be with. She would have listened if only that guy wasn't
there. The Jerk found himself to be thrilled, and dare he
think, excited over the thought of seeing that other man die in
front of him. If he did and she was ok, then there was
always another day for him to *talk* to Angie.
Rollie found the fall to be the most terrifying moment in his
life. All he could do was just to stand and watch his
friends fall. He found himself going over in
his mind the best times that he had with each one of them.
The joy from those memories caused his eyes to well up; his heart
was welling up also but not from tears. Rollie felt only
helplessness, again!! ‘First Mum, Manny, Rick and now
them. Why can’t I ever do anything that can save my
family!?’ He knew the length of time a fall from a
seven story building should take. Should was the key word
to him. The fall just appeared to take at least three times
the usual. One part of his brain knew that it was not
really that long, that the time had not slowed down. The
other part, the emotional side of him, could only stare in horror
waiting for the end to happen.
Captain VanDuren had the sense enough to keep Sgt. Edwards
with Frank Gatti. He figured that since the man was one of
the first to help Frank with the investigation, the sergeant
deserved to be there when it ended. Also, he knew that both
men were friends of Leo and just in case the landing was not the
one everyone hoped for, a friend would be needed by both.
Marvin also
knew that Rollie was going to need someone, too. He noticed that
Jack Kennedy was too busy moving men around to give Rollie the
attention he needed and deserved from a friend. Since both
of Rollie’s closest friends were the ones falling, it fell
upon his shoulders to keep Rollie somewhat sane during this
ordeal.
Rollie was still just looking up at the building, at the falling couple when VanDuren came to stand next to him. "Think that they will make it?" he asked of the police officer.
"Well, from what I have seen here with all the preparations and all the hard work" he motioned to both the police crew and the movie crew, "it would be pretty rude of them not to make it." Getting no response from the Aussie, the Captain put his hand on Rollie’s shoulder adding, "I think so. I am praying right along with you; we all are."
"Captain, I don’t mean to be rude, but why are you here?" Rollie had finally comprehended who it was that was standing behind him. It wasn’t that he didn’t like the man, just that VanDuren didn’t seem to be someone who gives emotional sympathy during a crisis. "I mean, don’t you have some kind of team to hover over or someone to report to; you usually do."
Giving Rollie a slight smile, very slight, he said "No, not today. I thought it best if I were here with you. You might need a –person to talk to, in case the worst scenario were to happen."
"A ‘person’? Do you mean a
‘friend’?" Rollie was looking at the man in
a totally new light. He was seeing him not as a cop or a
cop’s boss but as a human, with feelings. "Thank
you, I just might." He saw VanDuren’s hand point
up; the couple was rapidly falling. They were close enough
to hear the air in the bag move about once it was hit. But
they weren’t close enough to
see if both of them had made it safely.
Angie didn’t realize that the end of the fall was as
close as it was; not until she hit the bag did she know it was
over. Even then she wasn’t sure if it was over,
*really* over or that it was her wish. Either way, she
felt…weird. She couldn’t pinpoint if she was up
or down or sideways,
anything. Angie Ramirez only one knew one thing: she
wasn’t falling anymore. She tried to move around but
couldn’t. ‘This could be really bad. Ok,
think what did Dad tell Rollie all those times for the
stunts? C’mon!!! Think!!! Calm down first,
then try to move again.’ she told herself. Taking a
deep breath, she opened her eyes to see the warm eyes of a close
friend.
Leo had opened his eyes just before they hit the bag, but it didn’t prepare him for the actual landing. The pain of it, just rushing up to meet you, was scary in itself but losing your breath, losing your bearings was just a bit much for him. All the hands that were pulling at him seemed rough but at least they weren’t trying to push him. FDNY’s EMTs were at the scene right away to check him over. They were trying to get him to move to where the ambulances were stationed. Leo, on the other hand, had other ideas of what needed to be done first. "I need to make sure that she is ok. Did she make it? Where is she? Angie? Angie!!"
Leo at first tried to crawl over the airbag but realized quickly enough that in his condition that he was not going to be able to make it. He instead settled for the standard method of getting off and moving to the other side. "Hey Ange! You ok? Are you hurt?" The panic in his voice was real. He hadn’t seen her move yet and was beginning to worry if she had hit her head the wrong way. "C’mon, Little One!! I know that you are in there, open up them pretty blue eyes! Angie!!!" Leo was now sitting on the bag next to her, trying to wake her up. He was giving her a light slap on the face trying to get some response out of her, when she did open her eyes.
As she started to move, Angie could feel some twinges here and there. She looked up to where they were on the ledge and saw The Jerk looking down at her, waving. The blonde woman struggled not to vomit the bile that threatened. "He’s still around! He’s up there…he’s still there." Angie got up slowly, very slowly, and was completely overwhelmed by all the bodies that were around her. The only one that she noticed was Leo. "Leo, what happened? Are you ok?" Seeing Leo there with worried eyes, the confusion with the members of the movie crew and The Jerk still around, was too much for the young woman. Angie started to cry and was then taken into Leo’s arms.
"It’s ok. Shhh. Shhh. It’s
ok; don’t worry. You’re fine. We are all
fine." Leo was so grateful that she was able to move
on her own that he didn’t mind that his silk scarf that
Colleen bought him was now being used as a handkerchief for
Angie. Feeling the warm body in his arms, he was able to
give and receive comfort. Remembering what The Jerk put
them through, Leo
pulled Angie a little closer. Her tears still hadn’t
stopped and now he could feel that she was shivering.
"Hey, you cold? I could get one of the EMTs to get you
a blanket before they look you over. OK?"
"No. I’m fine." She pulled away from him a little to brush the tears away with the back of her hands. "I don’t need to see one of them. I…really, I’m ok." She just wanted the whole day to go away. She didn’t want to go to any hospital or anywhere else but her apartment. The only thing that Angie wanted to do was take a hot bath (to take away some of the chill she got while standing on the ledge) and cuddle with Chiops under the comforters on her bed. "See? We…I don’t need to see anyone. I am fine." Angie had to make Leo believe her; there was no way she was going to budge on that stance. It was written all over her face.
"Ok, well we’ll let them decide that." Looking around, he saw Frank Gatti heading towards them. "Hey, look, finally a friendly face. Frank, I have never been so glad to see your ugly mug." As much as the two police officers bickered, they were genuine friends. Frank ran over to them and gave them one huge bear hug. "Ok, ok. Frank we are ok or at least until you started to smother us."
"Sorry, Leo. God, we have been so worried about you two. You ok? Lemme get one the EMTs to see to you." He started to move away but came back to give Angie a kiss on the cheek and noted, "I gotta go find Rollie. He is probably somewhere with the Captain. He is going to be one relieved soul" then he dashed off to get the paramedics.
Angie once again shivered in the cold Brooklyn air. She kept taking deep breaths to get herself under control. "Ok, um, uh, you think Rollie is going to be ok with all of this? I mean, he is going to be furious with me. I yelled at him; I was so mean to him, Leo. I can’t believe what I said to him before I stormed out of the van. He will be really mad at me for this. The whole shoot was probably pushed back. It’s all my fault" her voice broke during the last statement.
"Hey! He is not going to be mad at you. Why should he be? You didn’t do a thing; not one moment of today was your fault. You hear me?! It was all that creep’s fault. ALL of it, got me?" He pulled her closer again, ducking her head under his chin. "Make you deal? If you let them EMTs check you over, I promise I won’t let Rollie bully you. How’s that? We got a deal?" he asked her.
"Yeah, right. Like you would ever take my side over
Rollie’s" she countered. Leo gave her no reply but kept
on hugging her.
Rollie’s heart was near a complete stand still when they hit the bag. He would have been one of the first ones there but VanDuren kept him in check. "Rollie, you know that we have to let FDNY’s guys do their job. They will let us know when, and if, they need us for anything. Just sit tight." Marvin felt terrible doing that to the young man that had helped his preceint many a time over the last few years, but it was for the best. The last thing he needed today was some grief stricken lunatic running amok over the set; more than likely, he would be seeking revenge for the harm that came to his friends. The look that Rollie gave him didn’t exactly lessen his guilt, either. ‘He looks like a lost puppy; a very little, sad lost puppy.’
When Rollie heard Leo call out to Angie, he felt his heart completely stop. "No." It was low and soft as though if it was heard, it might produce something that he was not able to deal with. Again, Marvin held him back until they received word from FDNY that everything was ok. Rollie, this time, was able to shake off his baby-sitter enough to walk a couple of steps from him. It was then that Frank showed up, running at a good clip towards them.
"Hey, Roll!! They’re ok. C’mon. I’m not lying to you. They are fine." He grabbed his friend’s hand to pull him towards the group of people that was stationed yards away. "Rollie, they are ok. Let’s go."
Rollie still hung back, a bit nervous. "I heard Leo call out Ange’s name. Why? What happened?" His brown eyes were looking into Frank’s to see if there were any lies hidden from him. Rollie Tyler knew that if he went over there and his assistant, his only real family, was hurt there would be no consolation for him.
"She’s fine. Must have had the wind knocked
out of her." Frank turned and looked up at the
building, then continued "I mean she just fell seven
stories; I think she has a right to be a bit tired. So,
wanna go see them?" The three men trotted over to the
area where the EMTs were set up.
Rollie was ok, basically, until he saw them standing there. He picked up his pace from a slow trot to a fast paced all out dash to them. His first thought was obvious, "Angie?! Angie?" He skidded to a stop, his scarf falling off and making scuff marks on the set. Seeing her reddened eyes, the fear in her eyes just about knocked him down. He had never seen her so forlorn or defeated; it was that that scared him the most. "Ange, you ok? Sweetie? Are you ok?"
Angie heard Rollie calling to her before he came to a complete halt. She was almost afraid to look at him; she was afraid of what be there in his eyes. But once she did, she was relieved in a way to see him just as upset as she was. There was no anger or fury in him only fear. She broke free of Leo’s arms and ran to Rollie. Once inside the only comfort zone that she knew, Angie finally broke down and cried, really cried. "Oh, God! Rollie, I’m so sorry! I know that it’s my fault."
The FX wizard at first didn’t even hear his assistant talking; he was too busy holding her. Rollie never thought that he could feel this much relief in his life. The man was stroking Angie’s hair and rubbing her arms when he heard her blurt out that the situation was her fault. "NO! It’s not your fault. Listen to me, it’s his fault! He is the one that stalked you, he is the one that threatened you. You did nothing wrong, ok?" He let go of her arms to cup her face in his hands. Somewhere on the set, Rollie had lost his gloves and now was able to feel the cold tears that were running down her cheeks. "Ange, did he hurt you? You can tell me anything. I am not mad at you, really. I am worried and a bit out of breath but I am not mad." That managed to do its job: Angie gave Rollie a small smile. "But you have to tell me if you are hurt. Did he hurt you?"
"No. Rollie, I am fine. I’m…" but she was cut off by Rollie’s right hand coming up to cover her mouth.
"Don’t you even dare to say that! You are *not* fine!! You fell off a building and into an airbag. Ange, sweetie, you are not ok. I think you should be checked out by the paramedics or the EMTs or whatever they are. Let them say whether or not you are ok. What they say goes, which includes any trips to the hospital!" The words might have sounded mean if it wasn’t for the soft tone that he used and the way he stroking her cheeks. "Deal?"
"Yeah, ok. Rollie, I am really glad that you are here. I was so scared." She went right back into Rollie’s arms for some comfort.
Rollie looked up and saw Frank with VanDuren trying to get Leo to go to the hospital. He turned so that he could see Leo but still had Angie encircled in his arms. "Leo, are you ok? Anything happen that those guys" throwing his head towards the EMTs, "should know about?" Feeling Angie tug on his sleeve, his lowered his head to hear what she was saying. Glancing up at Leo, he vented at his friend. "You were knocked unconscious by him?! Leo, get your arse to the hospital! You can be so stubborn at times. This is your health. And when you get there, call Colleen. I’m sure by now that she has heard of this little adventure of yours." Rollie would have continued but VanDuren grabbed Leo by one arm and helped him to the ambulance waiting nearby. Taking a deep breath he added, "Leo, one more thing. Thank you very much."
Giving his patented McCarthy smile, the police officer told
his friend, "Hey, what are friends for?"
Then he was helped to the ambulance so his injuries could be
evaluated. His last image before being taken to the
hospital was of the young couple, who were holding each other and
rocking slightly for comfort. Leo also noticed that Rollie
kept on dropping little kisses on her
forehead, nose and the top of her head while he was still holding
her. It was then what love might actually be like.