Note: My thanks to Maureen for the generous use of Rollie's middle name.
"Rollie!" Angie yelled as she looked beyond him.
Rollie turned to see Victor Loubar standing in the doorway, his gun drawn and pointed at him.
"You disappoint me Tyler. I expected you earlier. Oh well! Better late than never," he laughed and focused his gaze on Angie, "Ah, sweet Angela. You are so gullible. It's a lucky thing that I put that Tyler mask on Paul before I... you know, killed him." He said the words in such a matter of fact way that it made Angie sick.
Angie glared at Loubar, "Go to hell!"
"You first," Loubar glared.
"Give it up Loubar. You're surrounded." Rollie said as he moved away from Angie. If he was going to get shot he didn't want Angie in the crossfire. "There's no way out. You're finished."
Loubar moved closer, "Me? Oh I'm not finished Tyler. Not by a long shot. The only one finished here is you," he said as he aimed the gun at Rollie.
Oh God! No! Angie thought as she closed her eyes, not wanting to see Rollie get shot. She struggled with the chains, stopping when she felt something unfamiliar and possibly dangerous.
Loubar moved closer to Rollie and laughed, "I'm not going to kill you Tyler. Not physically anyway. Not yet. In fact, I'm going to give you a chance to save the sweet, not quite a widow, Angela."
Rollie squinted at him, "What's the catch Loubar?"
"Oh the only catch is that if you save her... you sacrifice hundreds, perhaps thousands of other people. It's very simple really."
"What are you going on about Loubar? Spit it out!"
"You really are dense aren't you Tyler! Very well then...." Loubar moved away slowly, seemingly unconcerned that Rollie might try to jump him from behind.
But Rollie couldn't jump him. Not yet. Not until he knew what he had planned.
"You have a choice," Loubar continued, "Save the sweet Angela or save hundreds or even thousands of meaningless complete strangers. If I were to make a choice...well of course we know that I WOULD BURN THEM ALL!" he yelled, his voice full of venom, "But you! You Tyler, you're another story. I know...." He looked at Rollie with all the intensity of his hatred, seething inside him, "I know that you're conscience would be forever marked by a single preventable death. You would never recover. It would drag you down and haunt you. Whether it was a complete stranger or the beautiful, sweet Angela. You know, it did my heart good to see that she had moved on from your pathetic self. It's too bad Paul was such well-connected and useful guy. She might actually have had a happy life away from you. As it is, she will pay the price of her alliance with you. Ah well, such is life. " He clapped his hands together as if in triumph, "That is the choice I leave you with."
Rollie looked at him stunned. Did he mean what he thought he meant?
"There are two bombs...." Loubar smiled, "one attached to the beautiful Angela's chair," he smiled as Rollie spun around to face Angie, her face held worry, "the other is not far. It, however, has an extra surprise. It is equipped with a powerful biological agent that will kill anyone and everyone within a radius of 100 miles, at least. All I have to do is arm it and you will have 20 minutes to disarm one of them, but not both. What will you do?" he hummed the theme from Jeopardy and laughed.
Suddenly, Rollie lunged at Loubar, taking him by surprise. The two struggled and fought knocking each other over along with some furniture. Rollie punched Loubar hard in the face sending him backwards onto the floor.
Rollie was about to deliver another blow when Loubar rallied and lunged at Rollie knocking him down as they both went through the glass coffee table. Loubar kicked Rollie in the stomach, leaving him breathless.
Rollie set off one of the squibs surprising Loubar and knocking him off his feet. Then Rollie punched Loubar hard in the stomach. They wrestled for the remote and Rollie managed to knock it out of Loubar's hands. It went sliding under a table.
Rollie lunged towards the table, sliding on his stomach. Just as he reached it, Loubar grabbed a piece of broken glass from the coffee table and plunged it into Rollie's thigh. Rollie cried out in pain. Loubar then kicked Rollie's injured thigh and reached down and picked up the remote.
"You only just delayed the inevitable," Loubar seethed, out of breath. He laughed as he held up the remote in his hands and activated the bombs.
Rollie could hear the beep of the alarm at the back of Angie's chair. As he turned, Loubar took the opportunity to race out of the room. Rollie saw him pick up a CW protective suit and gas mask as he ran towards back of the house. Rollie ran into the hallway he had entered from and grabbed the headset, and then he ran back into the room with Angie.
"Mira! What is the bomb squad's ETA?" his voice sounded desperate.
"10 or 15 minutes Rollie. The idiots got into an accident on the expressway. What's going on?"
"Tell them to make in 5, Mira! We've got two bombs activated here. One is with Angie and the other is out back somewhere...." Rollie knelt down in front of Angie, his eyes full of fear but trying not to show it, "And Loubar got away. He took off out back. Mira, Francis... get in here!"
"Rollie." Angie said quietly.
"Sweetie..." he rubbed her knee, "we'll figure something out."
"Rollie. You have to find that other bomb," she sniffled, "there's no time --"
"Angie... I --"
"You have to Rollie! We're running out of time...."
"I can't lose you Angie...." Rollie had tears running down his face, "Please, let me try to get this one off and then I'll find the other one. By that time maybe the bomb squad will be here...." His voice shook with emotion. Damn you Loubar! He looked at the bomb at the back of Angie's chair and he knew, if he disarmed this one first, there would be no time to disarm the other one.
"Rollie. You can't!" she sniffled back tears, "You know you have to do this. Think of all the lives...."
Rollie rubbed away the tears in his eyes, which were blurring his vision but refused to stop coming.
Mira and Francis ran into the room. They screeched to a halt when they saw Rollie and Angie and Angie's condition.
Rollie stood up, his face ashen, "I have to find the other bomb," he declared, his voice harsh. He used his arm to wipe away the tears and the sweat on his face. He wasn't even conscious of the pain in his leg, as blood trickled down his pant leg. "Mira where the hell is the bomb squad?"
"They're pushing it to get here," was all the information she could really offer as she stared at Angie in the chair and could see the emotion on Rollie and Angie's faces.
"When they get here have them come and work on this bomb," Rollie ordered.
"I will," Mira promised, "Angie? You're going to be okay, you hear me?"
Angie smiled bravely, "Sure do."
Rollie picked up his sack. He went back to Angie and knelt down, cradling her face in his hands. They looked into each other's eyes for what seemed like hours as unsaid messages passed between the two.
"I love you Angela Sofia Ramirez. Don't you ever forget that!" and he kissed her with so much passion and longing that it broke Angie's heart. He wiped the tears from his eyes again.
"I love you Roland Nathaniel Tyler. I'm sorry I waited so long to tell you. Whatever happens, Rollie...I will always be with you," Angie replied in a surprisingly calm voice. She was beginning to accept whatever her fate was and that broke Rollie's heart. Rollie's forehead rested against hers as they stared into each other's eyes. Rollie only moved when Angie closed her eyes and a tear rolled down her cheek. She didn't open them again until he moved.
Rollie stood and turned to Francis, "You're coming with me, mate."
Francis, though surprised and apprehensive, went with Rollie to do his part.
"Stay in touch by radio!" Mira ordered as the two ran out to the back of the house in direction Loubar had run.
Rollie and Francis searched for the bomb, hampered by the size of the estate. Some of the officers searching for Loubar found it in a field near the stables and called them over. Rollie bent down to look at it and scratched his chin. This was not going to be easy.
"Bloody hell."
Francis looked at Rollie. He tried hard not to show his nervousness, "How's it look Rollie?"
"Complicated." Was Rollie's reply. "Empty out my bag. Spread everything out nearby so it's easy to get to and see. When I ask for a tool give it to me straight away. When I tell you to leave, you leave. No arguments."
Francis nodded silently. He had never seen Rollie like this before.
"Oh," Rollie added, "and now might be a good time for a prayer if you have it." Rollie paused to look in the direction of the house when he heard approaching sirens. He hoped it was the bomb squad and not just more cops. Rollie's attention returned to the task at hand.
He wriggled his fingers to shake tension from them and to limber them up. He asked for a screwdriver. Francis handed it to him.
"Mira," Rollie called her on the mic before he began, "how's Angie?"
"She's strong Rollie. She's doing good."
Rollie looked at Francis forlornly. Then they began to work on the bomb. They worked together with surgical precision as Rollie removed the outer casing of the device, and Francis handed him his tools. Rollie could see the canister, which was almost a foot long and six inches in diameter. Within the canister was the deadly biological nerve agent that could kill millions of people within minutes once airborne. Rollie knew there couldn't possibly be enough atrophine to save everyone. And it was still possible the anti-agent would not be all that effective against the nerve agent.
Rollie looked carefully for a booby trap. He knew Loubar would have rigged the device to kick in with a back up system if he had managed to successfully disarm it. He couldn't see one, but that didn't mean that it didn't exist. Rollie carefully removed the inner casing to find the mess of wires, explosives, and the trigger device.
Rollie swallowed, "Here goes."
Francis swallowed too. And prayed. He prayed for Angie too.
Mira ushered the bomb squad into the den. Two of the men ran in the direction of the other bomb. Two stayed with Angie. The bomb expert in charge told Angie his name was Patrick as he went to the back and looked at the bomb. Mira and he shared an understanding; a look that passed between them and Angie knew it was a long shot.
"I need you three to leave if it becomes... hopeless," Angie instructed.
"We're not even there yet," Patrick answered calmly, "And I'll be the one to give any orders here," he said with a wink.
Angie's chain was rigged to the bomb. Any movement to cut it or release her from the chair could detonate the bomb.
Patrick worked feverishly and with precision but time was ticking away. He found the trigger and cut the wire but that was when he noticed another wire that lead under Angie's seat.
"Son of a bitch!" he muttered.
Patrick ordered Mira out of the house. She was about to argue but the look he gave her told her to quit wasting his time. Mira left after squeezing Angie's hand.
"We've got a problem," Patrick informed Angie.
"Uh, okay?" Angie replied slowly as she looked down at him beneath her seat.
"There's a back up device, set to countdown when the other bomb was diffused."
"Go!" Angie ordered without hesitation. "While you still can. I mean it. Go!"
"Not without you," he replied.
Patrick worked on cutting Angie's chain. It was her only hope now. The countdown was at 20 seconds. At 10 seconds he picked up his industrial chain cutters. At 8 seconds he cut the link in two places releasing Angie from the chair. At 6 seconds Patrick quickly grabbed Angie's arm and ran.
The explosion shook the ground Rollie stood on. He held onto the bomb, cradling it to keep it as stable as possible. It was the closest to any bomb that he never wanted to be. When the ground finished shaking Rollie released the bomb and closed his eyes and swallowed hard.
"Mira?" Rollie called. There was no answer.
"Mira!" still there was no answer. He shook his head and wiped the tears that came anew and continued with the task at hand.
"Ow, ow, ow!" Angie cried as she struggled to get free. Patrick was on top of her, shielding her with his body along with all his protective armor, all 250 lbs of him. They had made a mad dash for the doorway when the explosion threw them 20 ft. into the air. When they landed, debris was falling all around them so Patrick covered her body with his.
Patrick rolled off of her, "Patrick O'Doyle at your service miss!" he said with big smile and an accentuated Irish brogue. Angie just gave him her 'give me a break' look.
Mira ran over, "Angie? Are you okay? Are you hurt? Thank God you're alive!"
"I'm better than okay Mira," she laughed as she hugged Mira, "I'm sore as hell but I'm alive. Thanks to this big, crazy, Irishman here," she said as she slapped him on the chest and then gave him a big, grateful hug.
Mira called Rollie on the mic to let him know that Angie was okay. There was no response. She figured he must have been concentrating on his own immediate task. She had no idea the mic was no longer working.
Patrick helped Angie up. It was then that Angie felt pain. "Ow!" she cried as she stumbled. There was a nasty gash on her knee, which had ripped right through her pants. Patrick and Mira helped her over to an awaiting ambulance. They cleaned the wound and checked her other injuries on her face and head. But she refused to go to anywhere until she heard news on Rollie.
Rollie gingerly fingered the wire he figured was the trip wire. But he worried about the booby trap he was certain Loubar would have devised.
"Francis?"
"Yeah Rollie?"
"Leave."
Francis hesitated. He didn't want to leave Rollie. Not like this. He had just lost Angie. He worried about his state of mind. Francis rose and he and the two other bomb squad crewmembers moved away. They didn't leave but they moved farther away figuring it wouldn't really matter where they were if that bomb went off.
Rollie cut the wire and closed his eyes. Nothing happened. He breathed a sigh of relief. Francis and the others smiled too and soon started laughing and patting each other on the backs in relief.
But then Rollie heard a beep and soon saw the bomb was counting down anew. Only this time they had 30 seconds.
"Bloody hell!" Rollie muttered as he frantically searched for the detonator. He found the wire he believed with all his soul was the one. Quickly, he cut it. The countdown continued at 25 seconds. "Bugger!" Rollie yelled, as he got up and ran.
Francis and the others ran too. One of the members of the bomb squad yelled "Doomsday!" into their radio. It was their codeword for the bomb going off.
The codeword spread like wildfire through the assembled personnel. Mira quickly put a mask on Angie, who didn't understand what was happening. People were running around. Everyone now seemed to be wearing the masks and most were wearing the protective clothing. Air sirens went off in the distance.
Angie thought of Rollie. "Rollie!" she screamed as she tried to run in his direction only to be stopped by Patrick.
Just then the ground shook with such a thunderous shake that it felt as if the world was ending. A big cloud rose up behind the house high up into the sky. It soon darkened the afternoon sun.
The cloud particles covered everything. People were coughing and retching from the dust. It was many long moments before everyone realized that they were not displaying any other symptoms. There was no vomiting or convulsion. No rashes or welts breaking out. Their skin was not burning. Angie stood up and removed the mask. Patrick tried to force it back on her but she pushed it away. Some of the Haz-Mat teams were analyzing the air with their equipment. Soon, they removed their masks too.
"I don't know what it is but it's neither Sarin nor Somar gas," said the Haz-Mat guy, "in fact, it doesn't appear to be dangerous at all," he announced over his megaphone. The Haz-Mat team spread out to take samples of the substance.
Angie looked around. Paul's house was in shambles and on fire. The haze of the substance that fell from the explosion blocked the sun out. Angie's thoughts returned to Rollie.
"Rollie!" she yelled, as she again headed in the direction she had last seen him go.
Patrick again held her back, having seen too many times what a bomb could do to a body, "You don't want to see him like that, miss."
"Let me go!" Angie demanded as she struggled to get free.
Then she saw him. In the distance. A silhouette walking slowly through the haze. Illuminated by the fire and the sun and the searchlights, she saw the lone figure coming in her direction. He stopped then and hunched over coughing and retching.
"Rollie!" Angie screamed as she squirmed, "Let me go," she pushed Patrick's strong arms from hers. "Please!! It's Rollie. Let me go!!!"
Patrick released her and she started for Rollie. She limped at first, her knee in pain. Then she hobbled but soon she wasn't even conscious of the pain and ran with all her might toward Rollie.
Rollie stood catching his breath and blinking several times, unable to see clearly around him. He still held the wire cutters in his hand.
Angie ran fast, closing the distance between her and Rollie. She stopped a few feet away from him when he stood and their eyes locked across the distance and she took off again. She threw herself into Rollie's open arms as they held onto each other tightly.
He was crying and crushing her to him. He couldn't believe it! She was alive! He took her face in his hands and kissed her.
Angie put her arms around Rollie's neck pulling him into her. She closed her eyes and breathed in Rollie's smell, a mixture of sweat and faded cologne, and said a silent prayer in thanks for bringing him back to her.
"Oh God, Rollie!" she cried. "I thought I lost you."
"Same here," he said against her ear, as he held her tightly.
They stood there for some time, silhouetted against the dust cloud and the sun, wordlessly holding each other while all around them chaos reined. Fire trucks, Haz-Mat trucks, and Police vehicles were descending onto the estate. Helicopters were flying overhead and personnel were running to and fro in all directions. It looked like an action movie they had worked on.
"Angie?" Rollie whispered in her ear.
"Hmm?" she answered back, not wanting to move.
"Let's go home."
Angie looked up at him, "I want that."
They hobbled over towards Mira and Francis. The EMT's checked out Rollie. They treated and dressed his cut on his thigh and except for a slight concussion, ringing in his ears, and a few scrapes, he was fine. Rollie insisted that Angie get checked out again even though she told him she had already been.
Rollie sat on the back step of the Ambulance waiting for Angie's checkup to finish. Mira handed him a cup of coffee.
"Loubar got away again, didn't he?"
Mira looked down at the ground, "I'm sorry Rollie. I'm so sorry."
"Bloody great."
"Rollie? Every available law enforcement agent is out looking for him," Francis offered, "But with the bio threat...we've all been stretched thin."
"I've heard it all before," Rollie said quietly. This was too close, he thought.
Mira and Francis bowed their heads bearing the brunt of the responsibility for the law enforcement agencies that let Rollie and Angie down.
"We found some of Paul's staff locked up in the garage," Mira said. "The chauffer was murdered by Loubar but everyone else was fine."
Angie came over from inside the ambulance after being checked out. She stood above Rollie. He held out his hand as he helped her down and she sat next to him. Rollie put a protective arm around her shoulders.
"So does anyone know what that bio stuff is?" she asked.
"Haz-Mat is still doing tests," Mira answered, "but preliminary results so far show it's just a kind of non lethal aerosol. We were very lucky. It looks like Loubar was played for a fool."
"Hmm. I wonder..."
Rollie looked over at her, "Wonder what?"
"Well, that man... that scientist that Loubar shot, I thought he was working for Loubar. But when he got the chance he came over to me and told me that there was a failsafe. I didn't know what he meant and frankly I didn't care since..." she looked down at the ground, "I thought you were dead."
Rollie squeezed Angie around the shoulders, "I guess we'll never know."
"His name was Emile Laszlo." Everybody turned to see FBI agent Marty Pruitt coming towards them.
"Marty, it's nice of you to make it to our little shindig. So who was this Emile Laszlo?" Rollie asked.
Marty surveyed Rollie and Angie's faces a moment before answering. "He was a scientist working for Loubar. He was also working for the government. He had been working on the inside for several months with Loubar. This is the closest we've ever gotten to him." He said finally, bowing his head. "He knew what it might cost him, but understood the cost of Loubar getting away with it would be far greater. Tell me, Angie, did Loubar know that Laszlo was an agent?"
Angie looked at him a moment and went over things in her mind. "I don't think so. The only thing he said before shooting him was that he worked alone. If he knew that he was an agent he didn't let on," Angie said quietly, a shiver going down her spine as she remembered the poor man being shot in front of her.
Rollie squeezed her shoulders as he thought of something too, "Has anyone seen Mangela?"
"Not since --" Mira was about to answer when Mangela came from around the ambulance.
"I'm here Rollie boy. I stayed in the van. I figured I would be underfoot out here. I stayed in there and prayed to the Creator to keep you and Angela safe and for a good resolution to this matter. Sometimes, that's all one can do," the sight of Angie's bruised and battered face caused him pain. "Come here Angela. I'll put something on that."
Angie went with Mangela into the van as Rollie stayed behind and spoke with Marty, Mira, and Francis.
Mangela put a homemade salve on Angie's cuts and bruises. His touch was gentle but her skin was very sensitive to even the lightest of touches. Angie smiled as Mangela sang softly in his language as he worked. Before she left the van to return to Rollie, Mangela grabbed her hand.
"I'm glad you're still here in this world, Angela. It was very close. You are a very brave and strong Sheila, that's for sure. Never forget that because my Rollie boy needs you even more than you need him," he hugged her then and Angie felt that she was somehow gaining a grandfather.
"I doubt that Rollie needs me more than I need him but thank you, Mangela," she smiled shyly.
Rollie stood when she came back. He grabbed her hand and looked into her eyes for a moment.
"We're going home now," he announced to Mira, Francis, Marty or anyone else that had any thought of detaining them. "And we're going to unplug the phone and secure the doors. I don't want to be disturbed for any reason for the next few days," he shook his finger at them. Rollie held Angie around the waist as they hobbled over to the van.
Mangela stood outside it, "I'll get a ride back with one of them," he said pointing at Mira and Francis, "I'll stay at my friend Tehotenion Diabo's place in Queens for a few days, it'll give you two some time together."
Rollie started to protest, but Mangela wouldn't hear of it. Mangela helped Angie into the van and he and Rollie hugged.
"I was right wasn't I, Sonny boy?"
Rollie looked at him unsure of what he was talking about.
"You had to make a difficult choice--"
"No I didn't." Rollie bowed his head. "Angie made the choice."
Mangela grabbed Rollie on both of his shoulders and shook him softly. His hands were strong as they gripped Rollie's shoulder. "In choosing to honor Angela's wishes, you chose. You forget, you could have easily have chosen to have done otherwise."
Rollie looked into Mangela's eyes. "I should never have been put into that position," he said solemnly.
"Loubar will pay, Rollie. What goes around comes around. That is the way of the world. It is not always our choosing on when it happens, though. He will pay." Mangela hugged Rollie tightly. "You take care of that little lady in there and let her take care of you too." He was about to say something else but changed his mind.
Rollie jumped into the van and turned to face Angie. Her eyes were closed and she rested her head on her folded arms on top of her computer console.
"Ange? Are you okay?"
Angie opened her eyes. Her face hurt. Her knee hurt. Hell, her whole body hurt. But she smiled as much as she could without it causing her too much pain, "I will be."
She reached over and caressed Rollie's face, "You look tired. Are you sure you're okay to drive?"
"In the words of my good friend the late, great, Leo McCarthy, 'I hurt, therefore I live' and considering how this whole thing could have ended, I'd say that's pretty good."
Patrick joined Mira, Francis, Marty and Mangela by what was turning out to be a command post with radio equipment and coffee available for all personnel.
"So that's Rollie," Patrick said, rolling the r of Rollie's name, "I was hoping she was referring to a treasured pet."
Mira looked at him and shook her head, "Not a chance. Rollie's the love of Angie's life."
"More's the pity," he replied. Then he turned to Mira, "and how about you Missy? Care to give a crazy Irishman a fair go?"
Mira mouth opened. She just shook her head and walked away.
Patrick winked at Francis, "She didn't say no...."