Angus McKay had arranged to meet Victor Loubar in a rented hotel room in the east side of London. It was a very nice, chic, hotel, which is what Angus McKay would have gotten himself...if he weren't dead. Rollie and Leo had taken an earlier opportunity to put hidden cameras and microphones all over the room. Rollie triple-checked to make sure everything was in working order. Finally, satisfied, he took a few minutes to breathe before the meeting with Victor Loubar.
"You okay, Rollie?" Leo asked as he gave an encouraging squeeze to Rollie's shoulder.
"Actually...I'm a little nervous," he admitted.
"That's good." Leo smiled in assurance. "Because if you had been cock-sure I would have been worried. You'll do fine. You've studied McKay inside and out—"
"That's not what I'm nervous about, Leo." Rollie shook his head with a sigh. "This will be the first time I will lay eyes on Loubar since he kidnapped Angie and planted a bomb on her. I'm afraid that I will want to kill the bastard the moment he walks through the door and blow this whole operation wide apart."
There was a long pause between the two as Leo allowed for Rollie to expand on his thoughts. When no thoughts were forthcoming, and the tension on Rollie's body was palpable, Leo broke the silence.
"Well I'm all for changing the plan." Leo smiled but then grew serious. "Except for all the paperwork that would have to be filled out. I hate paperwork!"
Rollie laughed as he expelled air and some of the tension in his body evaporated. "Thanks, Leo. You're right. The paperwork is a bit of a deterrent, isn't it?"
There was a knock at the door signaling that it was time to put on a show for Loubar. Hopefully a very convincing show. Leo joined the Scotland Yard agent working with them in the outer room, who then answered the door and motioned for Victor Loubar to enter the room. Leo stood nearby. Rollie was still in another room.
Loubar entered and his eyes narrowed on the two bodyguards present in the room.
Leo then knocked on the adjoining door and a few seconds later Rollie, as Angus McKay entered the room.
"Tell them to leave," Loubar ordered, his voice flat and emotionless.
McKay looked at Loubar for a moment then his eyes met those of Leo., an unspoken signal passing between the two. "Wait outside," he instructed his two bodyguards.
"Rollie," Elena's voice was stern over the mic. This was exactly what she didn't want: Rollie Tyler and Victor Loubar alone in a room together. They had just begun this operation and already Rollie was acting like a rogue agent.
The two men stood there eyeing each other, sizing each other up. For many sweaty moments, Rollie wasn't sure if Loubar recognized him. If he did, the jig would be up very soon.
"What is it you think I can do for you, Mr. McKay?" Loubar finally spoke.
Rollie tried not to let his uneasiness show through. He went to the bar first and mixed himself a drink. "Would you like a drink, Mr. Loubar?"
At first Rollie thought Loubar was going to refuse but then he replied. "Vodka. Neat."
Rollie handed Loubar the glass and they sat across from each other, Loubar on the couch and Rollie in a chair. A glass coffee table separated the two.
Rollie stared across at his sworn enemy as he fought to keep his emotions in check. "I want you to help me bring down the British monarchy, Mr. Loubar." He smiled.
Loubar showed no emotion at the request. He showed no fear, anger, or outrage either. His eyes were emotionless vacuum-like orbs. "What makes you think that I would be interested in that?"
"Och, I've followed your career, Mr. Loubar. I know exactly what you've done and what you are capable of. It is exactly that reason that I want you to help me. You show no loyalty to anyone or anything. That's the kind of quality I am looking for in this delicate matter." Rollie replied in his best Scottish brogue.
Loubar shrugged. "I repeat. What makes you think that would interest me?"
"I am willing to pay you a sizable amount of money to make sure this happens."
Loubar remained non-committal. "I don't need the money."
"Fair enough," McKay countered. "What about the thrill of killing a very close relative of the Queen's? Tell me that doesn't get your jollies up, aye?"
Loubar shrugged.
McKay leaned foreword. "Let's not play games, Mr. Loubar."
Loubar stared at him. Rollie was having a hard time figuring out what he was thinking. He was glad that he wasn't playing a high stakes poker game with this guy, but in a way he was...and it was a very deadly high stakes game indeed.
"I know your reputation, Mr. Loubar. All of it." Rollie leaned in and glared at Loubar. "I know that you were once a very brilliant, capable, and deadly gun for hire. You've come through and delivered arms shipments, nuclear bombs, and biological weapons to some very powerful and deadly people. You carried out hits on the Egyptian Foreign Minister, the head of a powerful Belgian security agency, a rogue Philippine drug lord, as well as countless others."
Loubar seemed to relax as his record was counted back to him.
"But you have been slipping Mr. Loubar." McKay continued. "There has been talk that you are losing it, that you are becoming more of a liability lately than an asset." Rollie watched as ever so slightly, Loubar began to tense up.
Loubar's face began to tighten and twitch. A vein popped out above his eyebrows and began to throb. His pupils darkened.
Rollie was drinking all of this information in. It was one thing to see the one surveillance tape the FBI had on Loubar but it was quite another to see the subtle changes that washed over Loubar's face. This alone was worth the price of admission.
Loubar was a man on the edge and Rollie marveled at how little it took to take him there. But, he still had to shake him up even more.
"I've done my homework, Mr. Loubar. You've failed to deliver the smart bomb to the intended buyers." Rollie continued as he watched Loubar continue to simmer. "You've failed to kill the Chinese trade minister and you've failed to deliver the biological code that was bought and paid for. Not only that, Mr. Loubar, but you've also caused a great many people to be arrested and go into hiding because of that debacle. I don't suppose I need to tell you how some in our community have reacted to such developments." Rollie paused, "There's talk that you've let one man, a certain Rollie Tyler, get to you, to better you, to one up you. There's talk that this Rollie Tyler is leading to your undoing—"
"ENOUGH!" Loubar shouted as he slammed his hand on the glass table and stood up. "NEVER, EVER, mention that man's name AGAIN!" Suddenly, he pulled his gun out on Rollie. "Do I make myself clear, Mr. McKay?"
"Det. McCarthy get ready to intervene on my order," Elena called through the mic.
"On your mark," Leo agreed as he readied his weapon and shared a signal with the other agent.
Rollie stared at the gun pointed at him. He could see Loubar's finger twitching on the trigger. Then, Rollie stood and calmly pointed the gun away from him. "Och! No need to get ye panties in a snit. I understand perfectly, Mr. Loubar."
Rollie got up and fixed another drink for himself and Loubar. He tried not to let his hands shake too much. He couldn't let Loubar see that he was nervous. He came back and handed the drink to Loubar. "So, let's not play games Mr. Loubar. You may not need the money...but I would wager you do need a completed contract; one with no screw-ups on your part." Rollie sat back in the chair. "Let's not fight Mr. Loubar. I came to you because I knew you could do the job, and I thought that you just might be in a position where you couldn't say no. If I was wrong...." Rollie let the words hang in the air. The ball was now in Loubar's court. Rollie only hoped he was playing this game right, and with that thought Rollie remembered Angie's anguished words: 'it's not a game, Rollie'.
"What is it you need Mr. McKay?" Loubar broke the silence.
McKay's eyes darkened as he smiled. "Are you saying you are in?"
Loubar leaned forward. "I'm saying my fee is 1 million dollars. I will need $50.000 wired into my account by this evening."
"Done." McKay smiled. "You'll get the rest of it upon your completion of the job. I'll be in touch regarding the details in a few days. We need to move quickly. And Mr. Loubar? I know I don't need to say this, yet still it needs to be said. I won't tolerate any slip-ups on this job," he warned Loubar. "My associates will be made aware of our arrangement. If you fail this assignment, if you lead the police to me, or if you otherwise compromise myself or my plans for the monarchy, it will be your last mistake. I hope you understand, Mr. Loubar. It's nothing personal, just business. One has to take precautions."
"Not at all. One has to take precautions. I'm sure you'll understand that I have to do the same as well. It's just business." Loubar smiled then, but his smile held no warmth. He had just decided right then to kill Mr. McKay when this job is over.
Loubar left and Leo and the other agent came back into the room. Rollie went into the other room and retrieved a briefcase he had brought in with him. He was already at work bagging the glass that Loubar had used. Then, he started putting a powdered chemical on the glass table, and used special tape to lift the palm print off the table.
"Perfect," Rollie exclaimed as he lifted the print off. He carefully transferred the print onto an index card and put the card away carefully.
"What's that for?" Leo asked.
"Slippery bugger that he is, Elena needs this to run a fingerprint trace. It seems the FBI has determined that the prints they thought they had of Loubar on file were actually those of a dead gunrunner from Brussels instead. It is possible Loubar didn't use any fingerprint transfer silicone even as a precautionary measure this time around. If he did then we still won't have Loubar's prints on file but we may be lucky this time and the law agencies could possibly now have both his palm print and fingerprints on file. Should we fail in our mission this will make tracking Loubar easier," Rollie answered when he was done. Failure was not something he wanted to think about.
"Well done boys,"Elena complimented them through their headsets.
"Did you get everything, Elena?" Rollie asked.
"Yes, I did. Don't worry Rollie, I know I'm not Angie but I can manage to press a few buttons."
Rollie grumbled. "You just love to twist that knife, don't you Elena? It's such an endearing quality."
"Knife? What knife?" Elena asked innocently.
"Knock it off." Rollie grumbled again. "C'mon, we better get a move on," Rollie called to Leo and the other agent. "We've still got work to do, mate."
A short while later Rollie donned the Loubar mask. Rollie stared at himself in the mirror and hated what he had become. He imagined this face as he first deceived and then hurt Angie, but this face hadn't been the one that had raped her. No, Rollie realized. He had used my face the bloody bastard. But this is the face that took great pleasure in revealing to Angie his deception and then, afterwards, he hit her. Rollie could only imagine the way it happened. He could only imagine Angie's shocked face as her rape was revealed to her. He could only imagine her face as this sick, sadistic, bastard hit her hard across her mouth. Rollie gripped the rim of the sink tightly as his breath caught in his lungs and his stomach threatened to throw up its contents.
"I'll get you Loubar." Rollie seethed as he stared at himself.
There was a knock at the door, startling Rollie.
"Rollie c'mon. Let's get a move on," Leo called through the bathroom door.
Rollie cleared his throat. "I'll be right there," he answered.
Rollie came out a few minutes later in the Loubar mask. "Well?" he asked Leo.
Leo circled and studied him. "Well, you look like him but Rollie— you have to try to be him. You have to try to be everything you hate. I don't know much about this Loubar punk ass but from what I've seen from the tapes...he oozes evil and contempt. And I'm sorry pal, but...you don't."
Rollie took Leo's words to heart. "You're right," he said as he shook his limbs of their stiffness and cracked his neck muscles. He had to get his mind into the zone, the zone of evil. Rollie closed his eyes and took a few breaths as he concentrated. "Evil. Got it." He cracked his knuckles and the muscles in his shoulders. "I'm ready."
"I sure hope so, pal."
Rollie met with the fence, an oily character by the name Dominc Scarpisi. Scotland Yard had information that showed that Scarpisi was a known associate of Loubar's. He was a small time criminal who could lead them to the big fish. Rollie's one task was to convince this guy that everything he had heard about Loubar was true; that he was losing it and he was unreliable and needed to be eliminated. Then, hopefully, he would spread the word among Loubar's other terrorist acquaintances. This was yet another way to ensure that if something went wrong with the McKay-Loubar sting, that Victor Loubar's days as anything other than a hunted animal, were over. Rollie also had another iron ready for the fires as well, one he hadn't told Elena or even Leo about. Not yet.
"How 'ya doin' Loubar, mate?" Scarpisi greeted Loubar.
Rollie just stared at him not knowing what to say at first.
"Still sore, eh? Well, why don't you and I let bygones be bygones? Besides, you're the one that set up this little meeting. Why don't we get down to brass tacks, aye?"
Rollie continued to glare into him, figuring that was the kind of response Loubar would give. "I have a little job for you Scarp—"
"A job? Do you mean that Victor Loubar is finally back in the game?"
"I never left the game you dumb oaf," Rollie (as Loubar) insisted. "Now, enough of the small talk! I've got a job for you." Loubar demanded as he slammed Scarpisi into the wall. "Stop wasting my time or I will take my business elsewhere. Do I make myself clear?"
"Yeah, sure." Scarpisi gulped. "Whatever you say."
Rollie loosened his grip.
"I just thought— I mean I heard that you had a little problem with this guy in New York." Scarpisi scratched his chin. "What was his name now? Oh yeah, yeah, Paulie...Paulie Tyler—"
Rollie grimaced at the name change. He flew into a rage and threw Scarpisi backwards and against the wall. "It's ROLLIE TYLER you dimwit!" Rollie wiped sweat from his brow and his hand shook deliberately. "Don't you ever mention his name again or I will pull your liver out through your nose!" he warned. "I knew I made a mistake coming to you. You may consider our business terminated!" he said as he stormed out of the room.
"But what about the job?" Scarpisi called after Loubar. "Aw, don't go away mad Loubie...."
Scarpisi stared after Loubar and he knew that everything that he had heard was true. Loubar was becoming unhinged. He picked up his cell phone and dialed a number. "Yeah, Ox? It's me. I just met with Loubar. Yeah. And everything we heard is true. He's unreliable, mate. The mere mention of this guy Tyler's name and he becomes unhinged. Something needs to be done and soon or we're going to see more incidents like what happened a few months ago and I, for one, ain't willing to go to jail. Not for him and not for nobody...."
Rollie returned to the rented unmarked van. He couldn't wait to turn off the Loubar mask. He felt like as if it were suffocating him and he practically ripped it off the first chance he got. He used some wet cloths to cleanse his face.
"How'd I do?" Rollie asked Leo and Elena after he raised his head up from his hands and lowered the cloth and took a long drink of water.
"You did good," Leo assured him.
"Are you sure you weren't too far over the top?" Elena asked.
"Well, I thought the whole idea was to confirm people's suspicions that Loubar was becoming unhinged. I mean, how do you portray that without coming off at least a little over the top?" Rollie defended his decision. It was a choice. A method. One he stood by. Besides, he didn't recall Elena ever mentioning having theatre experience. Rollie rolled his eyes in disgust.
Rollie, Leo, and Elena returned to the estate a short while later. Rollie felt lightheaded and out of sorts. He wondered if he was coming down with something as he grabbed a beer and sank down onto the couch, resting his head on the back cushion, and his long legs stretched out in front of him. He brought the beer can to his temple in an attempt to soothe his pounding head.
"Are you okay?" Elena asked as she sat down beside him. She brushed away a stray lock of hair from his temple, a familiar move, one she had done several times in the past. "Rollie, you're perspiring."
Rollie opened one eye at her. "Elena, men sweat. Women perspire."
"Nonetheless, you are sweating. Maybe you should lie down," Elena suggested as her hand rested comfortably on Rollie's arm.
Rollie continued to eye Elena warily. "Maybe you're right. I am a little tired." Rollie stood up. "We'll go over what needs to be done later, okay?"
"That's fine," Elena agreed as she watched Rollie walk away.
Rollie came downstairs a while later in time for dinner. He looked better and well rested. He was about to pour himself a cup of tea when Leo appeared with two beers in hand. He gratefully took one.
"So, do we know who McKay's intended victim is? Or do we make one up?" Rollie asked as he sat in a chair.
"We do, actually." Elena replied. "We found out about McKay's plans through a mole in his organization," Elena said as she placed a file folder on the table in front of Rollie. "His intended target is Lord Percival Kington-Blair, the Queen's eighth cousin. He's a steward of Scotland and will be arriving in Aberdeen at his country estate in a few days."
"So is that where the hit will take place?" Leo asked.
"Yes. From the information we have from our source, McKay had plans to blow up Kington-Blair's yacht when he takes it out fishing. If the weather is good, he would spend a day or two at his estate and then go out on the yacht."
"So...we need to blow up a yacht." Rollie surmised, his eyes glinting wildly at the prospect as he rubbed his hands together with glee. "How does Lord Percy feel about that?"
Elena shot Rollie a no-nonsense look. "We can't allow that to happen Rollie," Elena warned.
"Well how the hell are we supposed to get Loubar caught in the act?" Rollie grumbled.
"Rollie, c'mon! You can't actually be serious about blowing up his yacht. That's what we are supposed to be trying to prevent." Elena grumbled back. "We just need to figure out another way."
"Right," Rollie grumbled as he rubbed his temples. He still had a headache from earlier. "More thinking."
Leo watched the exchange. These two definitely had a dynamic but it was nowhere near to what he saw between Rollie and Angie. Elena tried too hard.
"How about a decoy?" Leo suggested finally.
Elena immediately dismissed the idea, as she was wont to do with any of Leo's ideas. Rollie, on the other hand, jumped on it seeing the possibilities it presented.
"That could work." Rollie snapped his fingers. He stood up and started pacing, in deep thought. "Yeah. Yeah, this could work. We can get another yacht, make it look like Lord Percy's and rig it to explode in a big show for Loubar. Lord Percy will be safe, Loubar will think his and McKay's plan worked, you will have all the evidence you need against him and I get to blow something up. It's perrrfect!" He exclaimed with a thick Scottish brogue as his thoughts turned to his reunion with Angie. God, how he missed her!
"Can we really do that?" Elena asked. "We only have two days."
Rollie's eyes gleamed. "Get me an expendable yacht and leave the rest to me."
Rollie left to go to his room and make a few phone calls. He returned about an hour later and said that everything was in place. He would oversee the refitting of the bogus yacht personally. He told Elena he would need a few pictures of Lord Percival's yacht from different angles as soon as possible.
Rollie also set about putting into motion his other plan for Loubar. Early the next morning several men descended on the country estate where they were staying, unbeknownst to Leo and Elena. Rollie greeted every one of them and carefully checked their credentials as well as their height and weight. Then, he explained what it was he would be doing and what they would be doing. He cautioned them about engaging in dialogue or physical altercation of any sort with the mark who, he warned, is a very dangerous man. He gave them a chance to back out, then, Rollie then set to work on the masks.
Elena and Leo entered the room after missing Rollie at breakfast. What she saw stunned her. Leo just grinned and shook his head in admiration. There standing before them were eleven other Rollie Tyler's.
"What...the...hell!" Elena exclaimed, her mouth open in wonder.
"Elena." The Rollie's' greeted her in unison.
"Rollie!" Elena growled as she took the sight in once again. "Which one are you?"
The Rollie's were busy doing different things. Some were drinking water or coffee or reading, while others were fiddling with electronics and examining the library. Some were talking to each other, while others were watching the stunned faces of Elena and Leo.
"Damn it, Rollie!" Elena stamped her foot. She had enough. "What the hell is going on here?"
"It's very simple Elena," the real Rollie spoke as he sauntered up behind her, startling her in the process. "This is part of my plan to shake up Victor Loubar's world a little bit more. I don't want to just take him to the edge. I want to push him over," he said with very little emotion. It was a side of Rollie she had never seen. "I want you to meet Rollie Tyler, Rollie Tyler, Rollie Tyler, Rollie Tyler...." Rollie went around the room introducing all the Rollie's to Elena and Leo. "These gentlemen are going to help me."
"How?" Elena asked.
"Very simply." Rollie circled the room. "I made the masks with the GARP unit and I replicated the activation device so that each of these guys can activate and deactivate it when needed. They're on different frequencies so they won't interfere with each other. I only wish it was easy enough to figure out Loubar's frequency...." Rollie's voice trailed off. "Anyhow, these gentlemen are hired extras. Each of the Rollie's is going to be stationed around London between now and the time Loubar leaves for Aberdeen. They will be stationed near Loubar's place once we know where that is, wherever Angus McKay meets him, and other places around the city. Loubar is going to see them when he goes out for breakfast, when he goes to pick up his dry cleaning, when he kicks the cane out from under old people, and when he steals candy from little babies. I want him to eat, sleep, and drink Rollie Tyler. I want to haunt his dreams and his every waking hour. I told you Loubar is already becoming unhinged," he paused, as he looked around at all the Rollie's. "My friends and I are just going to help him go over."
Everyone was quiet for a few moments as they weighed the meaning of Rollie's words. The quiet seemed to last a long time.
"Brilliant!" Leo finally laughed, breaking the silence as he took Rollie's hand and shook it. "This is great. He will never see this coming. And even if he does, he's not going to believe his own mind."
Elena tried to suppress a smile as she shook her head in bewilderment. She came forward towards the real Rollie, her arms folded. "You are something else, do you know that Rollie?" She smiled up at him.
Rollie sighed in relief, unsure of whether Elena had the power to scuttle this plan but relieved that it appeared she wouldn't. "I try." He smiled.