Frank and Mira showed up at the loft while Rollie busied himself with work on some of the miniatures that would be used in Bradford's film. He was painting and adding intricate detail to some of the miniature buildings.
"Hey, Rollie. How's it going?" Francis asked in his usual amiable way.
"Works good," Rollie replied honestly as he continued working. He had a small paintbrush in his hand and one in his mouth. He was using a magnifying light to do the detail work.
"Can I get a beer?" Francis asked.
"Help yourself," Rollie looked up at Mira who seemed somewhat detached. "You want a beer, Mira?"
"No, I shouldn't. I'm on duty."
Francis had just taken a sip of his beer and remembered he was on duty too. Guiltily, he handed it over to Rollie.
"So, what's up?" Rollie asked.
"We've been checking into your muggings. No one can tell us anything about this Good Samaritan that saved both you and Angie. The only clue is that it happened within blocks of here. "
"Have all the muggings taken place near here?" Rollie asked.
"No. Nothing's ever that easy," Mira smirked, "but it is a gang of three. You and Angie were both attacked by three guys. Unfortunately, for the murder victims there were no witnesses so all we have to link their cases to yours is the similarity of the attacks."
"Well, I wish I could be more help," Rollie sighed. Then he thought of something. "Wait a minute. Both Angie and I saw our attackers briefly. Maybe we can use our programs to put together some facial profiles. That would make it easier to track them down."
Mira and Francis both brightened at the suggestion. "That would be great," Mira replied after a nod was shared with Francis.
"I do have one request though," Rollie asked.
"What is it?" Mira replied.
"Do you think I can get a copy of the 911 call that was made on Angie's cell phone to report her attack?"
"Sure. But why would you want it?" Mira asked.
"I don't know. I just thought that I would analyze it and see if there is, I don't know, someone else in the background or something. I don't know, it's a long shot," Rollie lied. He didn't want them to know he wanted to compare the voice on the tape with one they had of Leo's voice.
"I'll bring it by for you tomorrow. We should get going Frank," Mira said.
"Yeah, catch you later Rollie," Francis waved, "Say, how's Angie by the way?"
"Back at work, if that's any indication," Rollie replied, trying not to show his displeasure.
"Nothing keeps either of you down for long that's for sure. Give her my regards."
Mira was about to follow Francis outside when she stopped at the door and turned. Rollie looked up from his work at the same time and saw what he thought was sadness or regret in her eyes.
"You okay Mira?"
Mira squared her shoulders, "I'm fine. Listen Rollie; I wanted to apologize for the other night when I got Angie drunk. It's uh...it was wrong of me--"
"There's no need to apologize Mira. You and Angie are both grown women and it's not like I've never done something like that. It's not for me to judge. You needed to let off some steam or let loose. There's nothing wrong with that. I'm just glad you didn't drive."
"Yeah, well a cop should know better, right?" Mira turned back towards the door, "I'll bring you a copy of that 911 tape. Bye."
Angie watched angrily as the boxes were unloaded and taken into a far-off room in the Gasworks building. She shook her head as she marched over to Daryl, who was standing talking with Mick Farrell.
"What the hell are you thinking, Daryl? Are you crazy? Do you know how dangerous it is to have explosives around people in an unsupervised situation?" Angie yelled, her hands on her hips. She was pacing back and forth. "What the hell are you thinking?"
"Hold on, hold on." Daryl pleaded, "It wasn't my idea. Mick offered to let the demolition company move their stuff in to placate them since we've already run a day over schedule. He assures me it's perfectly safe. That's why it's set up in a room far away from where we are. He's paying the tab. There wasn't much I could say."
Angie glared at Mick Farrell. "But they're explosives, Daryl! What if something goes wrong? How are you going to ensure that no one will go near that room?"
Daryl looked to Mick to answer that question.
"This really is none of your business Ms. Ramirez. Safety precautions have been put in place regarding the supervision of the explosives. Are you willing to pay, out of your pocket, for time overruns? I thought not. The band and the demolition company came to a compromise. It's really none of your concern. Except of course, if you plan to further delay filming to protest the compromise. If that's your plan, I suggest you leave now before I have you removed by my security."
Angie's eyes narrowed at back head of Mick Farrell as he walked away from her. Angie couldn't stand him, especially since he was feeding false rumors to the press about her and Johnny. She wondered if she should call Rollie and tell him about the latest developments. She knew it would worry him, but she also didn't want to keep things from him. She resolved to call him and was on her way back to the truck so she could call him in private when she ran into Johnny. He looked worn out and was chain smoking. He smiled when he saw Angie and came over and gave her a big hug.
"Angie, how are you? I heard you were in the hospital," despite his look his voice was light and lyrical. "Are you sure you should be back at work so soon?"
"Not you too," Angie complained, "Rollie already gave me grief for coming here today," she smiled and swatted his chest.
He smiled down at her and the all the tiredness seemed to disappear from his face. "I'm glad you're back. It'll make these last few hours go that much more pleasantly. Let's go get some coffee." It was an invite but he practically pulled Angie with him.
Over coffee Angie talked to Johnny about the explosives. He didn't know anything about them and doubted the rest of the band did either. But, in Mick's defense, he said that a managers job is to make sure everything runs smoothly and if they were over schedule, he could see him making such a deal.
"I don't like it. It's dangerous to have explosives around people who don't know anything about them. And did you see the security? He's hired one guy, who looks like a punk by the way, to be on security all night until we leave. I don't like this. And I don't like Mick." Angie said angrily.
Johnny took Angie's hand, "Look, I know that he's the one who's feeding the press those rumors about us. He's just trying to drum up some publicity about the album. I wish he wouldn't do things like that either. We had a big fight the other day over that issue. I want my music to speak for itself. I don't want people listening to my music because of who I'm seeing or because of some stupid video."
"If you don't like the way he's doing things why do you keep him on?"
Johnny leaned in closer to Angie, "Actually, we're thinking of dumping him. The rest of the guys agree that he's been way too pushy and using tactics we don't agree with lately. We've all tried talking to him but he seems to think he's invincible. We were young when we first signed on with him and we were too young to see what we were signing over to him. Things have changed...only he doesn't get it," a look of melancholy crossed his face. "We've been with him a long time, though. We're friends, at least...I hope we are. Damn this business!"
Angie was about to ask him when they were planning on dumping him when they were called back to the set for filming. Angie cursed under her breath when she realized she didn't get to call Rollie. It was 3:00 am in the morning when she got her next break and decided not to call because she didn't want to wake him.
Rollie woke the next morning at 6:00 am. Out of habit, he felt the other side of the bed and remembered that Angie wasn't there. He sighed, as he hadn't got much sleep without her there. He took a shower and went downstairs and started his coffee. He fed Angie's cat and decided to work outside in the nice weather for a while. He had been sitting on the van's steps tweaking Bluey's features for an hour when Mira showed up.
"Morning Mira," he smiled.
"Morning movie guy," she handed him a cup of coffee, "are you always this chipper in the morning?"
"Not always. But I am more the morning person than Angie is, that's for sure."
Mira just nodded her head and didn't say anything. She watched him work on Bluey and then realized that she wasn't really watching him work on Bluey. She was just watching him. She was truly happy for him and Angie but...there was still a part of her that felt empty with the realization of what had slipped through her fingers. She was just glad that she and Rollie had never moved past their flirtation stage. Otherwise, things between the three of them could be very difficult indeed.
"I um...I brought that 911 tape you wanted," she said after clearing her throat, "What is it you hope to get out of it again?"
Rollie looked uncomfortable and Mira thought it was because he knew she had been watching him.
"I dunno exactly," Rollie replied after looking up at her, "I guess I just want to find the guy who saved Angie's life."
"Yeah," Mire replied quietly and handed him the tape.
Rollie took the tape into the van. When he returned outside Mira was over by her car listening to a dispatch on her radio. Rollie came over out of curiosity.
"What's going on?" he asked.
"They're calling all available units to go over to the Gasworks building. There was an explosion there a few minutes ago --"
"The Gasworks building?" Rollie's face paled, "Angie's working there."
"Come on!" Mira called.
Before he jumped into the car Rollie locked up the van and returned Bluey to the loft. He ordered Bluey to secure the building. Then he jumped into Mira's car and they sped off in the direction of the gasworks building.
Rollie was out of the car and running towards the building before Mira even stopped the car. One section of the building was on fire and there was thick smoke everywhere. Mira ran to catch up to Rollie who had run towards a crowd. He spotted Daryl among the crowd. He was bent over and coughing, his clothes were singed and his face was dirty and sweaty.
"Daryl? Where's Angie?" Rollie eyes were wild.
Daryl coughed and looked at him with sorrowful eyes, "Oh man, I'm sorry."
Rollie's heart stopped, "What do you mean? Where the hell is she?" he demanded.
"She ran back in. Everyone was out, or so we thought. But then someone said that Johnny was still in there and some of us ran back in. We got separated and I haven't seen her since."
"No! No!" Rollie turned to see one section of the building on fire, "where was she?" he demanded. "WHERE?" he yelled again when Daryl hesitated.
"She was on the north side of the building, third level, when we got separated."
Rollie ran towards the north side of the building. Firemen and policemen were all over the place. Mira called after him as he ran into the building. Rollie ran up the stairs, taking them two at a time to the third floor.
"Angie!" he called, "Angie!" He could barely see because the smoke was thick. It was filling his lungs and he brought his arms up to his mouth to cover it. He coughed and his eyes stung from the smoke.
"ANGIE!" he called again. He looked around but everywhere it was dark and smoky. Pieces of the building were falling. Then he heard her voice calling to him from up ahead.
Angie and another man were on the floor coughing and making their way over towards Rollie. Rollie ran up to her and pulled her up.
"Come on, we have to get out of here," he yelled to both of them.
"But Rollie, we can't get to Johnny. He's over there. We tried to get over to him but we couldn't lift the beam," she pointed to an area not far from them that was blocked by a fallen beam. "Oh God, Rollie! We have to get him out," she screamed almost in panic.
"Angie, the building is unstable," he could see that she wouldn't leave with him. He turned to the guy she was with. "Help me with this beam and then get her out of here," he ordered him.
Angie started to protest but Rollie wouldn't listen.
The man helped Rollie and with their combined efforts they managed to move the beam out of the way.
"Get her out. I'll see what I can do to get Johnny out. GO!"
"Rollie please!" Angie cried as the guy led her away, with her arms reaching out to Rollie but he had already started in the direction they had said Johnny was.
He didn't turn to watch her go. He didn't think he could continue if he had.
Rollie ducked under some fallen rafters. The floor creaked with uneasiness. He knew that outside there were sounds of sirens and trucks but inside he couldn't hear any of that. He coughed again as the smoke reached his lungs. He knew if the didn't find Johnny soon....
Then he spotted him. He was at the far end of the room on the floor, unmoving. The floor up above moaned with instability. Rollie guessed that the explosion must have happened near here because this room had sustained most of the damage. There was a huge hole in the wall and fire burned in the far off corner. Rollie ran to the far end of the room where Johnny must have been thrown by the blast. He was unconscious and bleeding from his head. Rollie spotted the needle tracks on Johnny's left arm. Damn it, he thought angrily. Johnny didn't look in good shape. He was pale and stiff. From what Rollie could tell he was not breathing. There was no time for him to perform CPR on him; he had to get him out if he was going to be saved at all. Rollie lifted him up over his shoulder. As he made his way towards the exit he heard the floor under him creak with the extra weight. He looked up and could hear rafters falling from the upper floors.
Rollie dropped to his knees when the smoke got to be too much for him. He was on one knee coughing. He could feel his lungs filling with smoke and he blinked his eyes several times to try and see. He started to fall forward but he stopped himself with one hand on the floor.
"Damn it, I can't leave Angie," he told himself, "she would never forgive me." And with that he forced himself back up and struggled to make it to the stairwell.
Some firemen were on their way up and one of them took Johnny from Rollie. Another continued passed Rollie with a hose on his way up to the higher floors.
Rollie made it outside and a fireman called for help for him. Rollie nearly collapsed when the fresh air hit his smoke filled lungs. An EMT helped him over to the ambulance.
Angie ran over when she saw Rollie being escorted to the ambulance. She threw herself into his arms as he steadied himself on the ambulance back step. He had an oxygen mask on and was trying very hard to breath. Still, one arm opened to receive Angie and held her close as she cried on his shoulder. She was shaking badly.
"It's okay," he assured her as he spoke with the oxygen mask on him, "I'm okay." After a few moments his breathing eased. He pulled down the mask as he spoke more clearly into her ear, "I'm okay," he repeated, "do you need this?" he teased her as he held up the mask for her.
Angie shook her head and he could see the complete and utter fear that marked her face. She was in no mood to be teased. He remembered the last time he had seen that look and that was when she saw her father die in an explosion on a set.
Rollie pulled her close, "I'm okay, sweetie. I'm okay," he whispered in her ear and he felt Angie's grip tighten around his neck. He could tell she was still crying.
"I was so scared, Rollie. You can't leave me. Please don't ever leave me," she cried into his shoulder.
"I won't. I promise."
They were like that a few minutes when Mira came over. "Are you guys okay?" she asked.
Rollie looked up at her, his eyes still sore from the smoke. "We're fine. Right Ange?"
Angie stirred from his shoulder as she wiped the tears from her face, "Yeah," she said quietly as she felt Rollie's hand tighten around her waist. Unconsciously, she covered his hand with hers. "Mira? Is there any word on Johnny Rhodes?" she asked quietly.
Mira shot a look to Rollie and his head went down. He knew what that meant. "I'm sorry Angie," she said as a sob escaped Angie's lips, "he didn't make it," she finished.
Angie doubled over as if in pain, "NO!" she cried out, "No. Nooo! No. NO!" she wailed again and again. She was on her knees, crying into her hands. Rollie went in front of her and held her to him.
Mira spoke with one of the EMT's about treating Angie for shock. They told her they could probably give her a mild sedative but anything stronger would have to come from a doctor. She said that would probably be fine.
Mira returned to Angie and Rollie. She told them that she needed a statement from Angie about what happened although she wasn't sure if Angie heard her. But, she said, that considering Angie is in shock it could wait until later or tomorrow.
The EMT's gave Angie a shot and then Rollie, Mira and she were on their way to Rollie's truck when Angie stopped in her tracks. She saw Johnny's body, under covered sheet, being wheeled over to the coroner's truck.
Rollie caught her as she almost dropped again, "I'm taking you home, Angie."
But Angie pulled away as she spotted Mick Farrell. She made her way over to him with her fists clenched. Mira and Rollie followed quickly behind but not quick enough as Angie punched Farrell hard in the face. He went backwards holding his nose.
"You bastard!" she screamed, "this is all your fault. Johnny's dead and it's because of you!" she cried. Angie went to hit him again and landed one on his jaw. Farrell yelled for someone to come and arrest her. Rollie pulled Angie off Farrell, her feet kicking at the air.
"Someone get this psycho bitch away from me before I have her charged with assault," he yelled, and somehow Rollie could tell that he was playing to an audience. Television cameras were pointed in their direction. "The only reason I'm not having you arrested is out of respect for Johnny and because I understand how distraught you must be considering how close you and Johnny were. But if you don't leave here now, I will have you arrested," he warned, as he turned and sobbed for the cameras.
Rollie pulled Angie away as he did not want to be a part of the media circus. Mira stayed behind to talk to Farrell and others.
Angie continued to fight against Rollie all the way over to the truck. Once he put her down to unlock the door, she made a break for it and ran in the direction of Farrell again. Rollie caught up to her and picked her up from behind as she struggled against him. He finally got back to the truck and he opened the door and pushed her in. He reached over and locked her door, as she was about to escape again. His arm stayed in front of her as he asked her what the hell she thought she was doing.
"He killed him Rollie," she cried, "that bastard is responsible for Johnny's death," her breath caught in her lungs, "Oh my God! I can't believe he's dead. Rollie!" she cried.
"I know. I know, Angel. But we can't do this here. Farrell is using the media right now and you just came off pretty badly. You've been up all night and you've just been through hell. I need to get you home and you need to rest."
Angie whimpered and Rollie moved his arm away, convinced that Angie wasn't going to make another break for it. The sedative was starting to kick in. It wasn't enough to completely knock her out yet, but it did relax her and numb her somewhat. By the time they arrived at the loft Rollie had to carry Angie in.
Rollie lay her down on the couch and she begged him to stay with her. He lay down beside her and he could feel her body shake with tiny sobs again. He held her against him as he stroked her hair and caressed her back. She cried for a long time before exhaustion finally claimed her.
Lucinda called, and Francis, and Daryl, and Tom Bradford, and even Michael Li Chen. There were media calls too. Rollie just let Bluey take the messages and block the media calls. He continued to stroke her hair as he listened to Angie's breathing. She woke up screaming at one point, her eyes wild and her speech incoherent. But she hadn't fully awakened and fell back into a fitful sleep.
About an hour later Rollie moved from beside her. He returned calls to Lucinda and Francis. He wasn't up to returning any other calls just yet. He remembered the tracks he saw on Johnny's arm and wondered if Angie would be able to face the truth about him.
Rollie went upstairs to take a shower and get the smell of smoke and sweat off him. When he came back downstairs he went and sat on the edge of the couch and kept a watchful eye on Angie. Angie continued to thrash and stir during her sleep. Occasionally she would yell No!, or Daddy!, or Rollie!, in her sleep and then she sat up screaming Johnny's name. Rollie called to her. He had her face in his hands begging her to listen to him. Finally, her eyes focused on finding that voice and she saw Rollie's eyes staring back at her with worry.
"It's true isn't it? I didn't dream it?" Angie whimpered, "Johnny's dead?"
"Its true, sweetie. He's dead."
Angie started crying again and Rollie pulled her to him rocking her gently. Her cry was like a child's cry when they've been told something they desperately don't want to believe. It was heartbreaking. Rollie ached for her.
Angie's sobs finally quieted and Rollie told her that Mira called and wondered when she would be up for questions. He told her he could put it off until tomorrow but she insisted that she get it over with now. So Rollie called Mira and Angie went upstairs to take a shower and change. By the time she had finished Mira was already downstairs.
Angie came downstairs looking refreshed but pale and thin, and she had dark circles under her eyes. Rollie handed her a cup of tea as she curled up in the corner of the couch. Mira pulled up a chair in front of her and asked if she was sure she was up to giving her statement just yet. Angie said she wanted to make sure justice was served and that Mick Farrell doesn't get away with what he did.
Mira looked at Rollie and Rollie looked at Angie. Angie could see that they were trying to figure out how to deliver bad news to her. But what more bad news could there be? She wondered. She already knew that Johnny Rhodes was dead.
"Angie. I don't know how to say it so I'm just going to come right out and say it. The coroner's preliminary report suggests that Johnny Rhodes died of a cocaine overdose--"
"What? No. That's wrong." Angie insisted, as she looked between Rollie and Mira. She could tell that they both believed the worst already. "Johnny was not taking drugs. I don't care what your coroner's report says. It's wrong."
Rollie shook his head, "Angie. I saw it. I saw the tracks on his left arm when I rescued him."
Angie stood up and looked at him with scorn, "Well you're wrong. I'm telling you Johnny was not doing drugs," she moved away from the two of them.
"Look, Angie, all I know is what it says on the coroner's report. It's not final but it does point to a cause of the explosion. Rhodes was shooting up and somehow accidentally set off the explosions--"
"Somehow? Accidentally? Those are very broad and general terms for a police investigation Mira," Rollie interrupted.
"There are traces of the explosive on his fingertips. He was thrown clear across the room and was knocked out by the impact," Mira continued, "the drugs caused an overdose and he never regained consciousness. That's what the coroner's report is telling me," Mira said in her no nonsense kind of way.
Angie turned and looked at them, feeling that they had already made up their minds on the matter. "Oh yeah?" she challenged them, "So tell me this, how did Johnny manage to shoot up on his left arm when he's left-handed? Huh?"
"Are you sure about that?" Mira asked.
"I'm very sure. Johnny Rhodes is...was...a south-paw."
"Well, that just put a new spin on things," Mira admitted. "Why do you blame Mick Farrell for what happened?"
Angie sat back down on the couch, feeling her strength leaving her again. "He's the one that arranged for the explosives to be on the set to begin with. He told Daryl that the band knew and agreed with it but Johnny told me the band knew nothing about it. He's been making insinuations about Johnny's songwriting being better when he was on drugs and was very worried about the band's record sales."
"But that's not enough of a good reason to kill your lead singer. Why would he do it?"
"I'm not saying it was a brilliant idea, Mira. I'm just saying that he's wacko enough to have done it. He was really worried about record sales, I mean really worried. And Johnny told me that the band was thinking of dumping him as their manager very soon. They were not happy with the way he was running things. All they wanted to do was make music. They didn't care about the sales, or the publicity, or anything like that. He's the one that was into all of it."
"But Angie, it still seems a bit far-fetched to think that someone would stage an explosion and an overdose of his star just for publicity," Rollie interjected, "there has to be more of a motive behind this."
Angie understood what he was saying. But she knew she was right about Mick Farrell. "I can dig through his financial records--"
"Whoa! I don't want to hear that!" Mira exclaimed and covered her ears. "Tell you what. Let me bring this information to the Captain. He knows you and Rollie. If he gives me the green light to pursue this then I will request that you do your search. That way, if anything is turned up it will be submit-able in a court of law. If Farrell did cause this, I don't want him to walk on a technicality." Mira then asked Angie what happened before the explosion.
Angie explained that they had worked all night in order to be out in time for the demolition company to come in. They were already a day over schedule and had to pay cost overruns. That was the reason given by Mick for allowing the explosives to be brought onsite early, as a sort of compromise in good faith between the band and the demolition company. So they worked all night and finished around 6:00 am. The entire crew and the band started packing up the gear. They had finished around 7:30 when someone told Johnny that Mick needed to see him in the building. A short while later Mick reemerged and before she noticed Johnny wasn't with them, the building shook with the explosions. That's when they all realized that Johnny was still in there.
Mira asked Angie who told Johnny that Mick wanted to see him. That was when Angie remembered that it was the security person that Mick had hired, the guy she referred to as a punk. Angie told Mira her uneasiness with the guy and Mira asked if she could describe him for her. Angie said she could do better than that. She would work on an illustration with the computer program to do a rendition of the punks face. Right away, Angie got up and went to work on the computer. It didn't take her long to do a rough composite of the security punk Mick had hired. She handed the printout to Mira.
"Well, well. This case just got even more interesting," Mira exclaimed.
"Why? Who is it?" Rollie asked as he looked over her shoulder at the printout.
"Benicio de la Vega. Alias Benny Vega. He's a small time drug supplier for people in the entertainment industry."
"So I guess we know where the cocaine that killed Johnny came from," Angie said quietly. Rollie came over and put his arm around her waist, his chin rested on her head.
"I'll be in touch, Angie. Be ready to dig through any of Farrell's financial records. I'm going to see the Captain right away," Mira headed for the door. She turned when she reached it, "I'm sorry, Angie. It sounds like you were close to Johnny Rhodes."
Angie shook her head and looked up at Rollie. "I'm sorry too," he apologized, "when I saw the tracks on his arm it confirmed my fears."
"I understand, Rollie. That's what everyone is supposed to think, I guess. Once a junkie, always a junkie," Angie hugged him, "Oh my gosh, I just thought of something."
"What's that?"
"Johnny was married, Rollie. He had a secret wife. He told me about her and he said the only people who knew were her parents and his mother. He swore me to secrecy, otherwise I would have told you. I was going to anyway but it just never seemed right. I should...I should try to reach her, though she probably already knows about his death."
"Yeah, you better do that," Rollie agreed, "I'm going to call Mira and tell her about it. She may be able to keep a lid on it...I have a feeling that it could work to our advantage if it remains a secret for the time being."
Once their calls were made Rollie and Angie found themselves sitting across the room from each other. They stood at the same time and met each other halfway across the room. Rollie lifted Angie up off the floor as he pulled her into a deep hug. Angie wrapped her legs around Rollie's waist. She buried her head in the curve of his neck.
"Are you okay?" she asked as her eyes watered again, "you could have been killed too."
"I'm fine. I'm more worried about you. Angie, you've been through so much...."
"I'm okay. I just can't believe he's gone. I can't believe it...."
Rollie moved over to the couch and sat down with Angie in his lap. "I promise you Angie, I will do everything I can to help bring Mick Farrell to justice."
Angie caressed Rollie's cheek with the back of her hand, "that means a lot to me Rollie. You mean a lot to me."
The next day Mira came by and told them that Captain Van Duren okayed Angie's search through Farrell's records. Mira also showed them the morning's papers which all carried stories on Johnny's death as well as pictures of him and Angie on the set. There were pictures of Johnny and Angie holding hands across a table and him hugging her.
"No wonder the press have been calling," Rollie muttered as he looked at the pictures and feeling the jealousy return.
"Yeah. I'm afraid that since they don't know about his wife that you are next best thing to a scandal, Angie. Okay, I'm asking because I have to; but they were just rumors, right?" Mira asked.
"Of course," Angie looked surprised, "That was all Mick's doing. Johnny loved his wife and I love Rollie."
Rollie smiled. That was the first time that he could remember Angie actually saying it to someone besides himself. He suddenly felt all puffed up and proud.
Angie went over to the workstation and started her search. After a few minutes she came back down and told them that Mick Farrell is up to his eyeballs in debt. His house in Los Angeles is about to be foreclosed on. His fleet of eight cars has been repossessed. He has one major credit card left. He owes creditors thousands of dollars.
"Okay, so how does Johnny's death benefit him?" Mira asked, "especially if Johnny leaves behind a widow?"
"Ah, but you forget Mick doesn't know about the widow yet." Rollie reminded her.
"I'm doing a search for any information on the contract between the band and Mick. If I can't find anything, Mira, maybe you could talk to the band and find out about their contract." Angie suggested. "Oh, and I talked to Jane Rhodes last night. She was very upset and wanted to come out here to accompany Johnny's body back to Seattle but I think I convinced her that it would be better for her to stay there. She didn't like Mick either. I think I'm going to call her and see if she knows anything about the contract too."
"What about the demolition company, Mira? Are they facing any legal charges over this? Clearly they were negligible with their explosives." Rollie asked.
"McCrawley Demolition Experts has had safety violations in the past. But they always seem to get away with it. I'm sure the fact that the owner of the company is the son-in-law of a city councilor has a little something to do with it. But, I don't think they will be getting away with this one."
Mira left to go interview the band members. She wanted to catch them before they left town. Rollie filled Angie in on Lucinda's phone call. Besides calling to see how Angie was doing yesterday after the explosion, she also informed him that she won a supporting role in the movie they would be working on. She told him that she was flying back to LA today to pack more clothes and wanted to know if she could stay at Angie's place a while longer once she returns.
"So, I guess I'll be staying here a while longer," Angie purred into Rollie's ear as they sat on the couch. She played with the curls around his ear, which was distracting him from the sketches he was trying to work on.
"I want you to stay here all the time, you know that Angie," Rollie replied as he threw the book aside and his hands moved up Angie's thigh and over the curve of her buttocks.
"I've been thinking about that," she admitted though she couldn't actually remember when she had the time to think about it. She guessed that the events of the past few days had something to do with it, "I want to stay here with you. That is, if you're sure you'll have me?"
Rollie pushed her back down on the couch, "Oh, I'm sure I'll have you, my dear," he whispered as his mouth covered her lips and his body covered hers. Angie's hands went around his neck and pulled him to her. Rollie's hands moved to unbutton Angie's blouse, but he caught himself. He pulled away from a confused Angie and called to Bluey.
"Bluey, secure loft and take messages in silent mode. There," he sighed triumphantly, "No worries," he said as he looked down at a smiling Angie.
"No worries," she repeated and pulled him down to her and covered his mouth with hers.
Their kisses were intense and demanding, searching and probing, teasing and playful. Rollie's hand went to her blouse again and continued his earlier task. His hand finally moved the material away from her shoulders and then went to a bra-covered breast. He cupped her breast in his hands, squeezing it gently. Then he undid the front clasp and moved the material away from her breasts.
"Ooh, this make it easy," he said happily.
"I thought I would try to be less trouble for you today," Angie offered.
He smiled appreciatively as his thumb gently ran over her nipple, making it hard. Angie's breathing quickened as Rollie moved from her mouth and made a fiery trail of kisses down her throat, to the hollow of her neck, down her chest to her breasts. Rollie gently took one of Angie's breasts in his mouth while his hand went down between her thighs. Angie moaned as she arched upward. Angie pulled the material of Rollie's shirt up and he lifted his arms as she pulled it over his head. Their flesh tingled as their skin touched. Then her hand went down to Rollie's pants and struggled with his zipper. Rollie was oblivious to her troubles as he continued to suck on Angie's nipple. Angie began to become exasperated with the zipper.
"Help me out here, Rollie," she breathed.
Rollie's eyebrow arched as he looked at her mischievously, "I'm doing fine on my end."
Angie's hand went further down and Rollie jumped slightly and grimaced, his mouth opened in shock.
"Okay," he whimpered, his voice cracking.
Rollie sat up, straddling Angie as he undid his zipper. Angie pushed his pants down. She helped him remove his pants and Rollie removed his shoes and socks. Then he returned his attention to Angie. He undid her zipper and Angie lifted her hips as he pulled her pants off her. He made deft work of her panties and since she had already kicked off her shoes, he removed her socks. He hovered over her with his arms straight and looked down at her. Her eyes were wide with desire and he smiled.
"God, you are so beautiful"
Angie blushed as she bit her lip. Rollie figured she was about to say something smart or funny, which was her way of dealing with compliments.
"Shh, don't say anything," he leaned down and whispered in her ear.
Angie looked up at him with big eyes and swallowed. Her heart was beating so fast.
Rollie's lips brushed hers ever so lightly and she pulled him down to her. Her legs wrapped around Rollie, pulling him into her tighter. They moved against each other slowly at first. They found they both loved to tease each other and they did, with their kisses, their touches, their rhythms. They were working themselves slowly up to a heated crescendo. Angie cried out first, crying out Rollie's name. Then Rollie moaned and cried out too. He collapsed against Angie as their breathing returned to normal. His face lay against Angie's breast as she stroked his hair. Then he began kissing and suckling her breast, causing Angie to arch her back upwards. She cradled his face and raised it to hers and they began kissing each other again, wanting to feel each other again. They made love again and afterwards as they lay content, Rollie reached up and pulled down the throw blanket that had been draped across the back of the couch. He covered himself and Angie with it as they drifted off into sleep.
Later, Angie went to work on finding out information about Scorched Earth's contract with Mick Farrell. Mira came by later so she and Angie could compare notes on what they had found out.
Angie told Mira that the band members were all young when they first signed with Mick Farrell. They were all 17 and 18 year olds. It was Johnny's band. He was the chief songwriter and lead singer, and other members had come and gone until the current version formed in 1989. When Mick signed them he became something like the fifth Beatle.
"In fact, in their first contract they signed with him he would get their share of the pie if something happened to any of them. And since Johnny was the main songwriter and singer, his share was worth more," Angie explained, "Plus, all of the guys were real young. None of them were thinking that they would ever settle down and have kids so giving everything to their manager seemed the right thing to do. But now--"
"Now they're all older and they are thinking of their future," Mira interjected, "so, when it came time to re-sign with Mick--"
"They renegotiated their contract," Rollie interrupted, guessing what happened next.
"Right," Angie confirmed, "so instead of Mick getting their share, it would go to their spouses or children. Only Mick doesn't know that Johnny was married--"
"So he's still expecting to be the beneficiary," Mira continued.
"Won't he find out about the marriage soon?" Rollie asked.
"That's my fear. What do you think he would do if he finds out?" Mira asked.
Rollie and Angie thought about it. Both of them came to the same conclusion. Mick would go after Jane Rhodes.
"But how would he gain control of Johnny's share of the Scorched Earth catalog by killing her? I mean, wouldn't she have a will?" Angie asked. She had no doubt that he was capable of killing her, but she had to wonder how he would benefit.
"There's a stipulation in the contract that if the spouse or children die within a year of the will coming into effect, then the copyright goes to Mick. That sounds so archaic. I cannot believe how much they trusted this guy," Mira admitted.
"He was with them in the beginning when they were playing small halls in dirt water towns playing to ten people. He drove their van. He negotiated their first recording contract. He even put up five-thousand dollars of his own money so they could cut a demo," Angie explained, "I guess they felt like they owed him."
"So, Jane will be a target," Rollie reminded them, "I think we need to speed things up a bit."
"What do you mean?" Mira asked.
"Well, right now Mick Farrell is riding high. He thinks he's got away with murder. He thinks he's in control of the band and their catalog--"
"Yeah. I saw him on one of the morning shows and he was saying how there was going to be a movie on Johnny's life and probably a couple of books too. Then, of course, there is all the unreleased material from the band," Angie interrupted.
"So, I was thinking that we bring Jane into the mix and shake up his world," Rollie continued.
"You want to endanger Jane Rhodes life?" Mira asked.
"No. Not the real Jane, at any rate," Rollie defended himself, "I was thinking Luce--"
"Or me," Angie interrupted and got an uncomfortable look from Rollie.
"Could play Jane and I dunno, maybe offer to make a deal with Mick and trick him into admitting that he killed Johnny Rhodes." Rollie explained. "Because he will find out about her, and soon. We need to use this time to bait the trap."
"I'm going to call Jane and explain our plan," Angie offered, "I'll also get her to email me a couple of pictures of herself and I'll tape her voice while I'm at it, so we can use the Voice Synthesizer on it." Angie went up to her cleanroom to make her call. She didn't even wait for Mira's agreement to the plan. She was on a mission now.
"Do you really think that this will work?" Mira asked Rollie.
"I think it's worth a shot. Mira, when Mick finds out about Jane I can pretty much guarantee you that she will not live out a year. And then Mick will be right where he is today, only with two deaths under his belt. He's already had a taste of killing. The next time will be easier. Do you really want to take that chance?"
"No," Mira admitted, "But Mick isn't just going to admit to Jane that he killed her husband."
"You're right," Rollie admitted as he rubbed his chin. He paced the room, "what if our Jane offered Mick a deal? What if she bluffs him out, saying she knows he killed Johnny but she doesn't care about any of that. She could play the gold-digger angle and see if he bites."
"It could work," Mira admitted, "if he doesn't know anything about her."
"He doesn't," Angie announced as she came down the stairs, "I just talked to Jane. She gives us her blessing to do what we can to nail this creep. She also said she's never met Mick. She only knows of him through Johnny and what she does know of him she doesn't like."
"Did you get the picture?" Rollie asked.
"Not yet. It should come in soon."
"I'll give Luce a call and see if she can help out on this one," Rollie said as he ordered Bluey to dial Lucinda's place in LA.
Angie'e eyes narrowed at Rollie but she didn't say anything. She told Mira she was going upstairs to wait for the email. Mira noted the tension in the air.
Twenty minutes later Rollie finished his phone call to Lucinda and Angie received the email with Jane's pictures.
"So? Where are we?" Mira asked as she got up from the couch.
"Lucinda can't do it. She's taking a few days in LA to get things in order for her stay here, so she won't be back in time," Rollie explained disappointedly. He looked cautiously over at Angie who tried to hide her excitement.
"I received the pictures of Jane," Angie said as she chewed on her lip and looked at Rollie, "I don't think Lucinda would have been good for this job anyway."
"Why's that?" Mira asked.
"Look for yourselves," Angie said as she handed them the pictures. Except for some minor differences, which could be fixed with a wig, some make-up, and a little latex, Angie Ramirez and Jane Rhodes could be mistaken for each other by anybody but close friends. They were the same height and build, although Jane's nose was longer and wider and her face was rounder.
"So, I guess we have our Jane," Mira announced to an uncomfortable Rollie and a slightly pleased Angie.
"Yeah, I guess we do," Rollie agreed as he looked at the picture in his hand and then looked at Angie, "Angie, can I talk to you?"
Oh oh, here it comes, Angie thought, "Sure, Rol," she said as she followed him into the kitchen where they could talk in privacy.
"Rollie--" Angie began.
"Angie, hear me out," Rollie interrupted. "You know how much I trust you and how badly I want to help nail this guy for Johnny's murder."
"Yeah, I do."
"But I just want you to be aware of how dangerous this could really be," Rollie continued, "Mick Farrell is a desperate man. So desperate that he was willing to kill the man who's responsible for Scorched Earth's success. That's more than borderline crazy. I'm worried that you will be putting yourself in harm's way again and you've only just got out of the hospital. Do you understand?"
"I do understand," she replied as she tried collecting her thoughts. She hadn't expected Rollie to take this approach. She had expected him to try to talk her out of it. "But Rollie did the danger that you've faced when you were helping out Leo or even Mira, stop you from doing it?"
"You know it didn't. And you made your concerns about it known to me on more than one occasion," he reminded her as he took her hands in his and stared down at her.
"I did. It still scares me sometimes. But," she looked down at their entwined hands, "ever since Loubar...I guess I understand more why you did it. I understand why you want to help the police when you can and if you can and I admire you even more for that. But I admit it doesn't make me any less scared."
Rollie raised her chin up with his finger, "I wish I could have stopped Loubar from hurting you."
"I know. But you couldn't," she caught his downcast stare, "Rollie, I don't blame you at all, please know that."
Rollie pulled Angie to him in a tight hug. Angie fought back tears. She was determined not to let Loubar affect her in that way any more.
"I want to do what I can to help catch Johnny's killer," Angie said, "I promise you I will be careful. You know me. You know I don't take chances and besides...I will have you and Mira there to protect me, remember?"
"You bet I will be there. We're a team, remember?"
"I remember," she said as she stood on her tiptoes and kissed Rollie softly on the lips.
Mira stood up when they reentered the room. "So, is everything all settled?"
"Yep."
"Sure is."
"Angie, I think Jane better make that call to Mick Farrell and put the fear of, if not God, then at least bankruptcy, into him," Rollie suggested.
"Right," Angie agreed. "I'm going to analyze her speech patterns and see if I need the software to do it or if I can pull it off on my own," she said before running upstairs to the cleanroom.
"So, are you and Angie on the same page on this?" Mira asked slowly.
"Yep. You bet," Rollie answered as he went to the workstation to scan in the pictures of Jane.
Angie came back down fifteen minutes later and said she thought she could mimic Jane without the software. She set up the tape so she could record the phone conversation and she, Mira, and Rollie worked on what she would say.