"The three of US? Why were you there and who were the other two?" Angie asked, blinking suddenly, as her pulse quickened.
 
 

"No, not Manny?" Rollie asked, before Guillarmo nodded in frustration.
 
 

"Please, let me get it all out and then… then ask what you want…" Guillarmo told them as he shut his eyes for a moment and looked at Angie’s shocked expression, "Yes, it was Manny and …Marta, your mother… Manny was already labeled as an enemy to Cuba. Officials felt that he spied for the Americans due to his film contacts in the United States. And well, he was…"
 
 

"NO!" Angie slapped her hand against her thigh, standing up; "I don’t believe this! Don’t start pulling what memories I have about my parents into this spy web. Rollie has just been told a similar story!"
 
 

"Angela…" Guillarmo’s voice was firm and direct, "sit down…you need to hear this now as Rollie was told about his father. There is much you do not understand."
 
 

"Angie, please…here, sit down," Rollie bade her, taking her hand in his and feeling the rapid pulse in the palm of it as he rubbed his eyes and caught the bewilderment in hers.
 
 

"We were political prisoners…and treated rather harshly. Marta was the strong one though! And Manny- my brother-in-law could find even a horrible prison useful in some respects. He was able to work on some rather elaborate plans during our time waiting to escape. His mind was always working, cleverly laying out the groundwork for the time when he told us, we would make our move. You see, Manny was recruited early in the mid-fifties to smuggle out information to CIA officials in the States during movie shoots. When the heat of Castro’s shake up of all industrial projects outside of Cuba began, Manny and Marta were investigated and cleared. Later, there was the discovery of a special weapon piece that Manny was to take into the U.S. - a very rare ruby with nature’s strange accident, a diamond formed in the center of the stone. He was told it was known as the Corazon de Dios. It was also suppose to be Manny’s ticket forever into the United States."
 
 

"What?!" Rollie was surprised and confused. Dingo had won that very same stone made into a ring in the fifties from Stephanos Skartsonis. And then, his own mother had worn it until she died. After her death, Dingo had worn it around his neck for years! All the fiasco about the stone before their wedding was starting to come back to Rollie now as his mind tried to piece everything together.
 
 

"Yes, the stone…a powerful piece of the heart of a weapon that even today, is still waiting for that last section," Guillarmo replied and put his hand up as Angie started to speak, "please, let me finish, mija…"
 
 

"Manny, myself and Marta were intercepted just beyond Cuban waters by what appeared to be a Greek fishing trawler. And yes, Rollie- it would be handed over to Skartsonis once back in Greece. CIA officials in the United States had a field day when Cuban officials were suddenly on the scene in international waters, picking us up right after the incident. Not long after that, Manny, Marta and myself were accused of crimes against Cuba but because of a deal with a political agenda, we were sent to French Guyana and Geste prison. The CIA turned their efforts then to finding out where the stone had gone and were investigating a con artist, a young man named Reggie Tyler, also known as Dingo."
 
 

Angie was flabbergasted. Certain parts to a puzzle were starting to fill inside the mental border that had been constructed about both Rollie and herself. She clenched Rollie’s hand tighter as he covered her hand with his.
 
 

"Dingo Tyler won the stone supposedly in a card game. He quickly pulled out and headed back to Australia. He was finally intercepted and picked up by the CIA in early 1960 and well, recruited with the intention of getting the stone back. And yes, Rollie- the type of recruitment was similar to yours. It was not the established CIA that had picked him up, but the very same OSS splinter group that later detained you. Once the debriefing revealed that Dingo Tyler could not be debriefed, that he had some sort of genetic barrier to the continious white light and electromagnetic pulsation, they used threats against his family to try and keep him in line. Instead, he escaped from their training camp and disappeared into the outback. It took years to find out what happened to the stone. It was his own, personal loss of his wife, your mother, Rollie, that made him surface and well, do the bidding again for the group. He had hidden you after your mother was killed in the outback. The section wanted the stone still and well, while all this was going on, we continued to deal with prison life and the new Geste Prison warden, a Monsieur Martel who had begun to interrogate Manny, Marta and myself with a renewed interest in that damn stone, as Intelligence from Cuba had flooded in reports that Manny had surrendered a fake stone, not the real Corazon de Dios."
 
 

Martel? Rollie felt his skin crawl as he felt and saw the goosebumps on Angie’s arms appear.
 
 

"Alexandre Martel was an up and coming French former mercenary, now rising in the world of political espionage and later, political assassination. He was brought in by Cuban intelligence for a stint at Geste to infiltrate and get the information about the stone from your father. He kept insisting during interrogation that Manny had the real Corazon de Dios hidden away, that your father had been a double agent and that he had also duped Cuban officials. Your father swore that Skartsonis’s fishing trawler had taken the real stone. I’m afraid that Martel then began to use Marta as a way to get to your father, Angela."
 
 

Angie was beginning to realize that her father had secrets that he had kept hidden from her now even after his death.
 
 

"But, he had no brand, no tattoo on him!" Angie protested, having seen her father plenty of times with his sleeves rolled up.
 
 

"He had his tattoo chemically removed with a special acid, after arriving in the U.S. He did not want the memories of Geste on him… after Martel used Marta as a tool against your father, he began to manufacture a story that he had indeed, hidden the real stone and that the boat trip and seizure of the stone had been a ruse to trick both the U.S. and Cuban intelligence communities. Manny gave Martel explicit details on finding the stone in Cuba. Manny knew that we had to pull our escape from Geste that same day and that even though the escape was not fully planned out, we had to move before Martel found out the truth."
 
 

Guillarmo paused, sighing as he could see in the couple’s expression, how their families had been interconnected even back then.
 
 

"Manny had hoarded sulfur over a period of two years, each time he worked in the mines which was part of the prison work detail. He would place the yellow powder in his rolled up pant cuffs after each detail, a little at a time, until he had enough for a small bomb he had constructed from scraps and remnants of things he picked up. When he told Martel the fake directions on where the stone was in Cuba knowing that Martel held Marta as his whipping tool, he used that bomb on his cell door in the middle of the night, causing of course, mayhem and well, crude as it was, the blast did injure him with shrapnel. Ah- yes, what he told you was that his injuries came from a gag he did in Germany on a movie, right mija?"
 
 

Angie remembered the jagged scar on her father’s neck and shoulder. As a child, she would often sit in his lap and stroke the line of the scar as Manny would tell her in great detail about the movie he had been working on at the time.
 
 

"He took keys from the wounded guard near his door, got me out and we went looking for Marta…"
 
 

Guillarmo’s face crumpled, revealing how they must have found Marta Ramirez. He did not go into any description of her torture but Angie realized that her mother had suffered a greater pain and humiliation before she and her father had fled Cuba.
 
 

"Manny carried her poor, little body from that place, injured, insisting that he carry her. I took a rifle from the guard and we took off, the alarms going off everywhere. We could hear the dogs but we kept running. It was a miracle but we found a small, docked fishing boat and headed out to sea. I navigated as Manny nursed Marta. She had been abused…and tortured but still, she was Marta. She was concerned for Manny’s injuries, can you believe that? In the end, we reached, not the U.S. as planned but a sudden squall that came up. We found ourselves back on a Cuban shoreline, a bit worse for the trip. We hid in a small village at that point. We began to heal…we lived…Manny did not go beyond the village. We did what we could to survive. After the missile crisis and the systematic changes that were threatening Cuba, Marta insisted that we try and get out of Cuba, one at a time to not create suspicion. We knew they were still looking for us. I was the first to leave. I was the first to get connections with an Interpol agent that had been a friend of mine. I was taken out on a cargo ship to Spain and from there, enlisted as an Interpol Agent. I had seen you as a small girl, Angela, born in that remote small village, a child of love and strength, mija…and I knew that Manny and my sister wanted you to have all the freedom and choice for a life beyond Cuba’s grasp. When word finally came to me from the states, from Manny, that you and he were there, I was thrilled."
 
 

Angie lowered her head, thinking suddenly of the sacrifice that her mother had made.
 
 

"My mother…" she said, breaking her silence.
 
 

"Yes, she stayed to please the general and buy your freedom. And that general later gave Marta to a very powerful man, a man bent on revenge and the continued quest for the Corazon de Dios- Alex Martel as he was calling himself by that time."
 
 

"He hadn’t given up, on going after Manny?" Rollie asked, feeling a renewed hatred for Taia’s father.
 
 

"No, in fact, Martel now had a sense of freedom in hunting Manny down in the U.S. He was thwarted by Manny’s diversions over the years but finally, after closing in on Manny in New York, Marta was in fear for her family’s lives and told Martel that Manny had lied about the Corazon de Dios and it was really was with someone else. He was furious and in the end, he arranged for Manny’s accident. It was after his death, that Marta gave up. Her job had ended, to protect her family."
 
 

Angie’s eyes were filling with tears as Rollie sat speechless, his face ashen. Guillarmo was spilling his guts out to them, the connections were all starting to mean something and yet…
 
 

"Martel found out, that by some incredible fate, that Rollie Tyler was the son of the man that had hidden the real Corazon de Dios. He also knew that Rollie was working for Manny, a man that had been his nemesis and led him on a wild goose chase for over thirty years. He recruited a man to follow Rollie around, and possibly infiltrate, possibly draw Dingo out. Through a series of cat and mouse games, this man began to cause definite problems in your lives- his name was Victor Loubar."
 
 

"NO!" Angie had not realized that she had screamed that out and Rollie stood, clenching his fists together.
 
 

"Mija! Please, listen to me, I must get this all out- you must realize the entire, enormous picture here. Loubar began to stray from Martel’s explicit instructions, began acting on his own bizarre agenda. Martel had sent in Taia Kwan, his own daughter twice to infiltrate and become friendly with Rollie. Once in Taiwan…and then later, when she came to the U.S. He did not count on her reluctance and her falling in love with Rollie. When Rollie helped Taia "die" and go into the witness protection program, Martel was grieved as well as totally dedicated to getting even with both Rollie and Dingo."
 
 

"Guillarmo, please stop for a moment!" Rollie asked him, beginning to pace, "I don’t like what I am bloody well, hearing here. I’m having a terrible bout of indigestion!" Angie looked at Guillarmo, her memories now in shambles; "so it was Alex Martel’s orders or Victor Loubar that went after me in New York?"
 
 

"That was Loubar, acting on his own agenda. He had become rogue from Martel, finding Taia in California…"
 
 

Angie’s eyes went wide. A flush appeared across her cheeks as she shook her head, trying to get him to stop but Rollie had already picked up on it.
 
 

"What? Loubar found Taia first and did what? He fooled her into thinking I was really there, played on her emotions? Why?" Rollie shook his head and looked at Angie, realizing that she knew all of this. He was angry, at both Angie and Taia.
 
 

Guillarmo Montgreviejo said nothing, there was no need. An order he had given earlier to his men just after he had seen Bastion abducted, had been carried out. A blonde in gold sunglasses had suddenly made herself known in the room. Taia Kwan and Dingo had entered the safehouse, having been contacted by Guillarmo’s men at their arrival at the airport about Bastion and brought in.
 
 

"He wanted to humiliate me and also, show my father who was in control now. He also wanted to hurt you, Rollie. He had this obsession with you. After he took the mask off in front of me, he made me listen to his rantings about you."
 
 

Rollie looked at Taia, incredulously. She slipped off the wig, shaking out her hair as Dingo pulled off his moustache and glasses. Angie realized that Taia was going to let Rollie know the whole truth now. She stood, leaning back against the wall as Taia went over to Rollie and took his hand first, before he suddenly embraced her tightly. Angie felt like an eavesdropper, and between the renewed sting of jealousy and emotional trauma she had just suffered in hearing about her father and mother; she just wanted to disappear into the wall. She wanted to be invisible.
 
 

"I didn’t tell anyone except your father, Rollie. You must understand- it would have served no purpose. Dingo had been sent in to find Loubar, to bring him inside his organization. Dingo had found out what Loubar had done to me and well," Taia was interrupted then, as Rollie broke from their embrace, staring at his father.
 
 

"I disobeyed my orders, I couldn’t bring that bloody son-of-a-bitch in, I wanted to kill him when I found out what he had done to Taia. That’s how I met her, tracking Loubar’s movements. I also knew Martel directed him at times. This was the very man who was after me, after the stone," Dingo said, as Rollie looked then deeply into Taia’s eyes.
 
 

"Bastion…who is his father? Who are you protecting here?" Rollie asked for the final time.
 
 

"I am protecting my son! But it has all failed! Dingo!" Taia called out, pulling away from Rollie suddenly as she went back to the comfort of the older Tyler’s arms.
 
 

"You’re his father? I should have known!" Rollie said, disgusted again with his father as he suddenly looked over at Angie, her face having gone a pale white. Angie knew!
 
 

"I’m not his father! Get it through your head, son!" Dingo exclaimed, exasperated.
 
 

"Rollie!" Angie warned him as she came over to him but she could see his anger and hurt and held her back, at arm’s length.
 
 

"That’s my son that Martel took, to get even, isn’t it?" Rollie spat out, lunging toward Dingo.
 
 

"NO!" Taia screamed; "Stop it! Stop it!"
 
 

The room was silent. Taia looked around at the emotional people in the room, and then at last, at Rollie.
 
 

"I never stopped loving you, Rollie. To this day! I wanted to protect you! And now- my father has taken my child! We are standing here, fighting about something that cannot be undone and doesn’t matter. Do you understand?"
 
 

"It DOES matter, Taia…" Rollie replied, his voice shaking as Dingo muttered an "oh no" and Angie put her hand to her mouth, a whimper escaping as she bolted. Rollie had hardly noticed.
 
 

"No, it does not concern you really, Rollie. He is MY son, his father is dead!" Taia stated, her voice, chillingly deep.
 
 

"LOUBAR?" Rollie had spoken the name in horror and the room began to spin. He could see Taia’s lips moving, speaking words he couldn’t hear. He could see his father moving toward him.

Angie Tyler had walked out. She wanted no more explanations, except one. Why didn’t Rollie and her uncle just ask him? Dingo Tyler had never surrendered the real stone, that was obvious. He had duped Michael and the splinter organization just before their wedding. He had duped Skartsonis as well once again. He had been ducking Martel for years. He had used his own son to coyly put the whole thing once again into a con game of sorts. Dingo had played everyone beautifully and he was responsible for all this pain now! She wanted no more lovers’ reunions and no more pain! She had been able to slip by them without even a notice of concern. They were all so preoccupied- the shock, the guilt, and the emotional ties all still so evident. She hailed a cab easily. She gave the cab driver the address of Sarah and Francis Gatti’s. She was going to pick up Aidan and just go. She didn’t know where. She didn’t really want to think about it now. She just wanted to leave this incestuous nest of spies behind. She didn’t want her children to ever be involved in this horror tale or grow up knowing these people who would feed them nothing but lies.