"You didn’t…." Dingo said, more of an accusation to Taia than anything else as he looked at Angie, almost in threatened insecurity.
 
 

"Didn’t what? Tell her about Loubar?" Taia asked, challenging him.
 
 

Dingo sighed and calmed down, relaxing into a more Dingo-like expression as Angie frowned and stepped toward him.
 
 

"It’s been wrong to keep Rollie from everything, Dingo. He’s been extremely hurt by all these secrets and liaisons you have been keeping, didn’t you know that?" Angie asked him, folding her arms across her chest.
 
 

"Yeah, wrong, love- but, it kept him alive and thinking with his head, not his heart. You should know, he has a tendency to react from there," he told her, pointing to her own heart, "and he winds up in a lot worst trouble."
 
 

"You’re wrong, Dingo. You don’t know your own son anymore. But then again, I doubt you ever have…Loubar raping Taia was over 4 years ago. I was raped just over 2 and a half years ago…could that have been prevented?" Angie asked him, anger starting to take over, "and what’s this with just bumping into a pregnant girl out here that was once your son’s lover and helping her out now for what? Four years? You’ve helped her try and evade her father…something just doesn’t jive, does it? I won’t even go into being with Michael in New York and somehow, Elena Serrano and you…" Angie went on and on as Dingo felt every accusation and the building case against him.
 
 

The glass from the mirror in the James Morrison memorial waterbed headboard suddenly shattered as Taia jumped, running around Dingo and Angie, going out of the room. Her voice, shrill and scared, called for her son.
 
 

Dingo pushed Angie down in one, desperate save as several other silenced bullets hit the frame and wall of the room. Glass shattered from the window and sprayed the floor around them as Dingo hovered over Angie.
 
 

"Taia! Get down!" he shouted out the door as he heard her running and screaming for Bastion. They could hear the screech of tires outside, voices shouting and then the door opening to the bungalow,
 
 

"Angie!"
 
 

It was Rollie’s voice calling out, Lucinda’s and Vanduran’s behind his as Dingo slowly rose, pulling Angie to her feet.
 
 

By the time they peered out the door into the living room, they could see Vanduran picking up the phone.
 
 

"No!" shouted Dingo, running over and putting his hand over Vanduran’s taking the phone receiver from him, "NO police!"
 
 

Rollie grabbed Angie, who was pale but starting to get angry as she stormed over to Dingo; "What the hell is going on?"
 
 

Rollie, seeing that Taia was in the corner of the dining room, walked slowly toward her. She was sitting on the floor, a human shield to Bastion who was crying, not realizing what was going on, just frightened.
 
 

Rollie turned then, on his heel and turned back to his father. Vanduran’s expression held almost the same expression, total rage.
 
 

"This is it! Come clean with me now, you hear me? I want answers, all of them, now!" he yelled, his body shaking slightly as his hand clenched in front of his father’s face. Vanduran stepped back, seeing that Rollie’s anger absorbed his own and he went into the bullet-riddled bedroom, pulling a slug from the wall and studying it.
 
 

"All of them…" Dingo mumbled, sighing as Angie touched Rollie on the shoulder gently. She could feel the tension in his muscles and although not frightened of him, she was certainly respectful of his agitation at that moment and stepped back.
 
 

Lucinda wandered off to the kitchen; "I’ll get everyone something to drink, and start putting out the lunch we brought…just think, now bullets in the house as well…we’ll be the first hit on the tour now!"
 
 

"This slug is Russian made, uh…trying to remember…" Vanduran remarked, holding the small piece of metal in his hand, rolling it between his fingers.
 
 

"SKS, most likely, with a modified carbine, Russian hinge and scope," Dingo responded rapidly as Vanduran looked up at him surprised.
 
 

"Yeah, on the tip of my tongue," Vanduran added, puzzled as Rollie momentarily relaxed, surprised at his father’s sudden comment.
 
 

"Sure it was Russian?" Rollie asked, his eyes darting back and forth as Dingo met them square;
 
 

"Bet my life on it, yours too," he told his son, seriously.
 
 

"Those were warning shots, we have to move now," Taia remarked from the corner of the dining room, getting up with Bastion pulling at her arm, his eyes showing fear and confusion at all the agitation seen in the adults around him.
 
 

"Your father? Come on…this is just enough of this! I agree with the Captain, let’s call the FBI and get this over with, okay?" Rollie told her and then quickly turned, seeing his father give a silent but not exactly covert message with his eyes to Taia.
 
 

"That tears it, Dingo- NOW!" Rollie roared, his patience totally spent.
 
 

Angie rubbed her neck, feeling now the stiffness that was coming to her muscles from the startled jerk to her head during the ‘warning shot’ barrage that had sent her to the floor. She was ready to sit on Dingo while Rollie held his legs and turned his arm against his back until he cried for mercy; enough was enough.
 
 

"Call um, go ahead…" Dingo challenged his son, hands up in the air.
 
 

"No Rollie! There are people in the FBI that are helping my father!" Taia warned, coming up to him as Bastion grabbed her leg, dragging behind her.
 
 

Rollie looked from her pleading eyes to his father’s challenging ones’.
 
 

"Don’t ever, EVER, come back into my life again!" Rollie told Dingo, his voice low and chilled. He walked past his father, bumping him in the shoulder and went out the door, not looking back. Dingo didn’t move. He looked down at his feet and Angie stood before him, her anguish at being left with him intensified as she watched her husband turn his back on his father for what looked like the final time.
 
 

"What could possibly be so terribly bad that you wouldn’t tell your son the truth? You have put him in horrible danger so many times…you have risked his life repeatedly to save your own hide!" she scolded him, her chest heaving as she clenched her fists tightly. She couldn’t look at him anymore either. She started for the door but felt a hand on her shoulder. As she swung around angrily, she met his eyes, the forlornness stopping her from going out the door.
 
 

"I will go out this door and find him. I will tell him all the answers….but when he comes back here, don’t expect miracles…expect that dark time that happened in your lives, remember that time when he came back to you after being captured?…expect that. Careful what you wish for, Angie…" Dingo told her in a chilling voice as her mouth dropped open slightly and he walked out.
 
 

"Don’t go after them!" Taia warned Angie as she started to go out the door, "Don’t! Believe what Dingo tells you, even though I believe it is best that Rollie knows, it’s Dingo who knows his son the best and what he can handle…"
 
 

"I believe I know Rollie better," Angie told her, her expression full of hurt and surprise.
 
 

"You know the Rollie that he lets you know…" Taia warned.
 
 

"You’re wrong," Angie replied, shaking her head, "you’re wrong."

Angie waited on the stoop of the bungalow. She had called Sarah back in New York instead of going after Rollie. What Taia had warned her about was making for a slow burning knot in her stomach as she watched the street in front of the house. Looking at her watch, she realized that the plane would be leaving in little under three hours.
 
 

Hearing Aidan’s voice had been her only comfort. In what seemed like a year, barely 4 days…she hung on his every little word. Sarah kept asking if everything was okay since they were returning earlier than expected but Angie kept insisting that they just wanted to be back in New York and looking for work there again. She had also added that there was a crowd in Lucinda’s house now, especially since Lucinda and Vanduran had announced their intentions.
 
 

Lucinda walked out on the porch several times seeing to Angie’s thirst or hunger but Angie refused everything. Taia, scared that her father was aware of Bastion’s location, was readying his departure. Vanduran had called the police and a bustle of activity was going on as crime scene investigators went through the guest bedroom and ask endless questions. Everyone in the house remained silent as to motive but the increased flurry of activity and uniformed men made everyone feel safer for the moment.
 
 

One hour before the plane was to leave, Angie stood up from the stoop, looking up Canal Street toward the west. The sun would actually be setting soon and she sighed. Was she wrong about Rollie?
 
 

She saw a lone figure walking back toward the bungalow. His head was lowered and he walked slowly toward the curve of the street, and finally looked up as he got closer. Dingo….she realized, as he walked up the sidewalk in front of her, his face set in an expression of weariness.
 
 

"He’s down there a bit, at the Ocean Park Pier by the Marina. I should say, under the pier, love. I left him there…mind you, he’s had a few beers. Think you should go and try to get him to come back. You’ll miss your flight but maybe you can get one out later tonight, eh?"
 
 

Angie barely heard him. She realized that Dingo may have been right, judging by the expression on his face.
 
 

"What is it, Dingo? Why the secrets, why all this?" she asked, softly.
 
 

"I told him, told him everything, just as you and him kept asking…I’m tired, Angie…don’t hate me too much…"
 
 

"Dingo?"
 
 

"Um, I need to sit down," he said, avoiding her questions.
 
 

"Dingo, what is it?"
 
 

"Go to him, Angie. He needs you…"
 
 

She was frustrated and she looked back at him as he sat, crumpled on the steps, his face pale, perspiring and worn out.
 
 

"Okay, I’m gone…tell Lucinda that I have gone to the Pier…" Angie told him, as she walked away.
 
 

"I’m sorry, love, really…" she heard him say from a short distance away but her heart was pounding quickly as she began to pick up her pace and began to jog the mile toward the Marina.

There was music playing from speakers on the Pier. Rollie could hear strains of some old rock music as it wavered in the light breeze from the bay. He sat, undisturbed under the pilings from the pier. He was on his sixth beer, still quite sober as he looked out on the sunset, smelling open Marina grills, hearing happy sounds of tourists and residents as they strolled along, above him.
 
 

Happy, happy, happy….he thought, shaking his head as he buried the neck of the sixth bottle into the sand. If he had a stick, he could make his own music with the hollow bottle ends laid out in a row in front of him.
 
 

Words were interfering with him trying to get drunk, his father’s words… "CIA…1960….debriefing….grifting…wetworks….splinter groups….influence….control….kill….kill….kill…mum…."
 
 

His father had been right….knowing everything had its price, he thought as he swallowed the lump in his throat slowly, holding back on the tears. His father had been in this organization all of Rollie’s life. Everything had been a lie. His mother had been killed as a way to threaten and keep Dingo in line. Rollie’s life had been threatened to keep his father in line.
 
 

Loubar….his father had killed him in Spain…saving Angie. But to Rollie, he portrayed always the con, always the unscrupulous gambler and old cuss. He had pushed him into Mangela for guidance, for a strong figure to respect on purpose. It all made sense now.
 
 

Rollie suddenly laid back on the still warm sand as the darkness spread under the pier. I’ve missed the plane….he thought and wiped a tear that had formed at the corner of his eye.
 
 

"Hey…"
 
 

"Oh God, how’d you find me!"
 
 

"The old man…"
 
 

"Did he tell you?"
 
 

"About him?"
 
 

"Yeah…"
 
 

"No….he said you’d fill me in when you were ready…"
 
 

"Oh…give me a lifetime then, there’s a bloody lot…"
 
 

"Sure…no worries…"
 
 

"Yeah, no worries…just don’t really know who I am anymore…"
 
 

"Um…let’s take baby steps then…uh, your name is Rollie Tyler and you have this incredible son who just told me on the phone that he missed his daddy a whole lot!"
 
 

"He did…?"
 
 

"Of course! Oh, and another little step…you are married to the most incredible, smart, sexy woman in the entire world…"
 
 

"You left out something…"
 
 

"What?"
 
 

"B- Beautiful…"
 
 

"Um, I see we’ve had a spiritual communion of how much, oh, six…I count…"
 
 

"Yeah, just a bit of imbibing…but you are beautiful…"
 
 

"Okay…well, just for the record, one other little step…"
 
 

"What?"
 
 

"You are an incredible man, Rollie Tyler and you are the best F/X man in the world…"
 
 

"Now who’s been drinking…!"
 
 

Rollie felt Angie’s embrace at that point, she hadn’t touched him until then and he felt her warmth, her strength and her support.
 
 

"Without you and Aidan…" he whispered in her ear.
 
 

"You’d be living in a condo with some curvaceous actress and have a little poodle named Kiki."
 
 

Rollie looked at her, pulling back a moment and saw in the encroaching darkness now as the sunset faced; the reflection of what was left of the streaks in the sky. They danced across her eyes and he kissed her as she smiled.
 
 

He was stronger than Dingo and Taia had thought. Angie giggled slightly as she heard the strains of the early seventies music from the pier now and she swayed back and forth, seated in front of him, holding on to him as if they were dancing;
 
 

"We skipped the light fandango…turned cartwheels ‘cross the

floor…I was feeling kind of seasick…."
 
 

"I love you Angie…" Rollie told her, still swaying in her arms as the refrain of organ music continued;
 
 

"She said: "there is no reason and the truth is plain to see"…."
 
 

"I love you too, Rollie," Angie replied, swinging her head back, holding on to his neck as he dipped her slightly and then toppled over, losing his balance as she laughed in his ear.
 
 

"Nice…" Rollie said, lying beside her in the cooling sand, as Angie curled up beside him, her hand lightly over his heart.
 
 

"I could go to sleep…" she told him, her lips pressing against his cheek then softly.
 
 

"Yeah, but…"
 
 

"Oh yeah…"
 
 

"We can do this…"
 
 

"Oh yeah…"
 
 

"I’ll call and get the red eye back to New York…"
 
 

"Okay…let’s do it…"
 
 

"Rollie?"
 
 

"Um…?"
 
 

"You gonna have to help me just a bit…"
 
 

"I am…"
 
 

"Nope, I think the beer is doing a lot of the talking…"
 
 

"Really, I’m stone cold sober…"
 
 

"Okay…"
 
 

She pulled on his arms again and finally, he stood, falling forward slightly against her.
 
 

"Come on, light weight…"
 
 

"Bloody hell, I am getting a bit snockered, what’s happening to me…"
 
 

"Old age…" Angie answered as she walked him around the outside edge of the Pier and they made their way slowly up to the boardwalk steps.
 
 

"I’m not that old…"
 
 

"Tonight, baby, you have the weight of the world on you and you are the oldest man alive…" Angie replied as he nodded.
 
 

"Bloody right!" he answered as he stumbled slightly going up the steps.
 
 

 As they approached the house, they had walked back by the canal bank instead of the street, entering the back porch. Walking inside, Angie immediately saw that Taia was balled up on the couch, her arms hugging her knees. She had been crying. Dingo could be heard on the front porch talking with several officers still at the house.
 
 

"Hey, what’s wrong?" Angie asked Taia, coming to her side as Rollie took the other side.
 
 

"We needed to get Bastion out…I didn’t know when you were coming back so Lucinda and the Captain offered to take him, slip him out without notice and take him on to the airport. Lucinda changed your flight to the midnight one…"
 
 

"Thank goodness for Luce!" Angie said, realizing that people were still depending on her and Rollie. She was somewhat ashamed of taking some time with Rollie but then, Taia looked at him, putting her hand on his;
 
 

"How are you?"
 
 

"Feel like my life has been a whole lie, other than that, not bad…"
 
 

Taia crinkled her nose slightly, smelling the beer as Angie met her concerned look.
 
 

"Had a few…"
 
 

"Yep…"
 
 

"Need some coffee then, I want you sober for my boy…"
 
 

"Sorry, sweetie…"
 
 

Angie cringed slightly but Taia smiled and patted his hand, replacing it to his lap.
 
 

"Angie, want to help me in the kitchen?"
 
 

"Sure," Angie responded, knowing Taia wanted to talk. Rollie laid back on the couch and listened to his father’s voice on the front porch. He was spinning a tale as long as his life out there and he had to smile suddenly. He wondered at that moment, whether the CIA had controlled his father ever or his father had controlled the CIA…tough choice…he thought as he closed his eyes.
 
 

"You will take care of Bastion…" Taia began, her mother’s tone and fears unraveling as Angie touched her on the shoulder.
 
 

"Of course, we will take him to your friend. You will follow soon after?"
 
 

"Yes, we will come in disguised and soon after, be out of the country. Dingo has connections in a nice little place…"
 
 

"Oh, don’t tell me…I don’t want to know and well, Rollie didn’t tell me anything so …."
 
 

"You were right, Angie…"
 
 

"About what?"
 
 

"He is stronger now…"
 
 

"Oh, yes he is…"
 
 

"I’m sorry I doubted you…"
 
 

"Don’t be…he was a different man then…"
 
 

"He was not complete…"
 
 

"What?"
 
 

"Now he is, I see that with you…"
 
 

Angie looked at Taia’s face, smiling and hugged her tightly.
 
 

"Kiss Bastion for me and tell him I’m coming shortly…"
 
 

"I will!"
 
 

"Go on, go, give this coffee to Rollie…you’ve got a plane to catch!"
 
 

Angie smiled and carried out the cup to Rollie who was slightly snoring on the couch. Dingo had come back inside and was helping pull the suitcases out of the guestroom. He winked at her as she shook her head. What had transpired between father and son? One day…soon, she hoped, she would know.
 
 

"What did he tell you, just before we left?" Angie asked Rollie as they left by taxi.
 
 

"Chin up, shave and give Bastion a hug for me…" Rollie told her, clearing his throat.
 
 

"Hmmm, at least you guys parted amicably."
 
 

He had no comment to that and they rode in mostly silence to LAX. Once in the airport, after checking in, they met up with Lucinda and Vanduran by the concourse. Lucinda was nervous as she gave Bastion’s hand to Rollie’s.
 
 

"Be a good boy, Bastion…" she told him as he smiled, his fingers sticky from the candy she had given him.
 
 

"Agh, Luce, what did you give him to eat?" Rollie asked, trying to unstick his fingers as Angie pulled out her purse and grabbed her handy pack of wipes. She never went anywhere without them now that she was a mother.
 
 

"Not much, a candy bar and then some blow pops…"
 
 

"Great….now a plane ride…" mumbled Angie, "barf city!"
 
 

Lucinda made a face as Angie then hugged her tightly.
 
 

"I’m sorry we weren’t fun guests and well, caused such problems for you guys…come to New York soon and we can plan this wedding in style!" Angie told her, as Lucinda wiped back a tear.
 
 

"Oh, you guys made me think about the good old days! I can’t wait to get back, really!"
 
 

She then held on to Marvin’s hand as he looked at the Tylers and rolled his eyes, shaking his head;
 
 

"You two stay out of trouble until I get back?"
 
 

"Of course, Cap…" Rollie said, saluting him.
 
 

With Bastion in tow, they began walking down the concourse toward their gate. Angie turned back once, waving. Lucinda was blowing her nose with Marvin's handkerchief and waved back.
 
 

Once seated on the plane, Angie put Bastion in the window seat. He was so tired and she stroked his hair as he rested against her. She looked down and smiled at him as Rollie leaned back and held her hand. What had started out as an escape from New York had quickly become a welcomed need to return. As the plane left the ground and the lights dimmed in the cabin, the Tylers settled in for sleep.
 
 

Twenty feet away, near the tail of the plane, a lone figure sat watching toward the front of the plane. He could see the dark, wavy hair of the man at the top of the seat and sometimes the blonde hair of the woman when she rose or turned. He could not see the child but he knew the boy was with them. Alex Martel would get his grandson soon…