"Have I slept late?" he asked as she nestled into him and felt his warmth as his hand went to her face. He traced the outline of her brow with his fingertip, then rested it on her lower lip.

"No, I didn’t want to wake you, sorry…" she whispered, and then smiled slightly- a smile she had not shared in some days with him.

He kissed her softly, then held onto her, groaning softly; "You look so much like Aidan sleeping, when I woke up and saw your eyes, I saw his as well…"

"You too," she replied, sighing as she kissed his neck and buried her face in his chest, hearing his strong heart beating.

"Come on then, we’ve got years to lie in bed, let’s get up and start searching for our son," Rollie told her then, releasing her as she sat up on one elbow.

"And what about Serrano and Dingo? Are you letting that pass?" Angie asked, raising her one eyebrow as he sat up on the edge of the bed and shook his head.

"My son is my priority. Whatever Dingo and Serrano are cooking up for Lindquist will have to proceed without me and as far as those bloody bastards that have been pulling Dingo’s strings…they can come and try to get me all they want. They know where I live and always have. But they will have a few surprises if they try anything here now!" he told her firmly as she smiled. She knew he had increased the security at the loft and even reconfigured the secret entrance. Now, not even Dingo could get inside.

"Where do we start?" Angie asked, sitting up and hugging her knees to her chest.

"We get dressed, we put food in our bodies, we exist!" he told her firmly, "then, we take the van, start scanning neighborhoods close by Francis’s in concentric circles with the infrared scanner we used from Police State, remember that? How many households and buildings will have three small and one very small, heat scan?"

"Uh, probably quite a few…not to burst your bubble or anything…" Angie replied, as he made a face.

"Yeah, right well- it’s a start and it won’t get in the way of the police investigation…I have to do something. I can’t just sit here and wait," he told her and she got up, and hugged him as he lifted her off the floor and kissed her again.

"I don’t doubt you at all, Rollie Tyler. While you shower, I’ll call Mira to find out any information that came in last night…you can still call Serrano," Angie told him as he put her back on the floor.

"How about you call Serrano and I call Mira?" Rollie asked, making another face, one of being uncomfortable.

"Um, she didn’t try to come on to you again, did she, Rollie?" Angie asked, walking away from him, toward the shower.

"No…NO!" he told her emphatically and Angie knew then, she would still have to have a talk with Elena. Somehow, this woman could pick the worse time in the world to let her feelings out and to make it worse, they would have to depend on her for possibly, their child’s life.

Dingo Tyler had worked many escapes from Elena Serrano in the past two years but the make he was doing now on her was plucking his moral fiber. He did have them, he thought to himself, with a chuckle, very deep and almost invisible to most. He had told her many things as the "truth" but all common working lies to throw suspicions onto Lindquist as the solo distributor of the heroin. There would never be the mention of the shadow organization. There would never be the truth behind his real purpose in this. He had taken in many a woman with his vulnerable, wounded man routine. Serrano, though a tough cookie, he was sure, still could be molded and now, that he could see that she was in love with his son- it made it even easier.

He was freed, out of jail, with Serrano’s approval so that the meet at Stefano’s could still be held. In towing the line with Serrano, he had agreed to enlist his son’s help with the bust if necessary. He had also given Serrano some crumbs to satisfy herself in relating that the home-fires weren’t burning so brightly at the Tyler loft. If he could keep her off center emotionally, he could work her and work Lindquist as well. He could then get the shadow boys off his back as well. He had already been contacted while in his cell, to continue as planned in a remote contact message brought by a planted night security guard.

Elena, for her part, felt her heart stir when she had heard Dingo tell her about strife in Rollie and Angie’s marriage. Even though Rollie had protested his dying love for Angie, she knew that he would be that way- to save face. In her mind, he was still that vicarious F/X man and she was just the woman to tame him. She had let him slip through her fingers once due to her jealousy and she wasn’t going to let it happen again.

"You contact Lindquist…you must keep that meet, we will be listening, hear? I know that Rollie probably did us damage along with Angie escaping from them but you have got to give them a reason to meet with you!" Serrano warned him as he sat in the observation room, smiling at her.

"No problem, love. Give me the phone and I’ll work him."

"Don’t be cute- just do it!" she demanded and he blew out a deep sigh and went to work. Sometimes, what he did was like painting a magnificent piece of art, like a Monet…all the fine colors blending so well together. Others would be still trying to tie up all the loose ends. Of all the scams he had pulled, the only one that had backfired on him had been Dorinda. Never again…he vowed. He also knew that Rollie would be hot after hearing how he worked Serrano but it had to be done. The way to this woman’s heart was his freedom.

After four calls, his final call connected and he smiled…his fingers stopped their roll on the table top. Serrano listened from her extension.

"Lindquist, Tyler here….no, I didn’t give them a thing. Why’d I turn myself in? Listen mate, they had nearly blown away my son and his wife and kid the night before! These stupid vials aren’t just homeopathic drugs. Yeah, I found out it was nearly pure heroin…I’m no dope dealer!"

Serrano watched Dingo in action. His tongue was pure silver as he weaved his story with his drug contact. She could see how Rollie got some of the rogue in him just by watching his father. She smiled and he looked over at her and grinned, still seriously talking with Lindquist.

"It sounds stupid to you? Kiss my ass! I'm not stupid. I’ve been thinking and since my son has posted my bail, I want to settle my accounts. Yeah, if I am going to be carrying this stuff around until my trial, I want more money…I don’t like the accommodations here now and frankly, skipping town and giving the slip to skip tracers is more my cup of tea, you know?"

Elena was hearing him reel Lindquist in, who at first was suspicious and now, was buying Dingo’s greed, and ready to bargain.

"I want to meet you at Stefano’s as planned, but hey- how about earlier, during the day and make it for a couple of days, Friday… instead of what we originally agreed upon?

Lindquist snorted as Dingo knew he would…and told him the meet was still on for tomorrow night as planned. He didn’t want any tricks or time for the FBI hotdoggers to follow Dingo around.

"Whatever, see you then and bring small bills- I hate that big stuff, hard to cash," Dingo went on as Serrano began to make a cutting signal with her hand sliding under her throat.

Dingo’s eyes sparkled at her as he smiled and hung up, after hearing Serrano agree. With Lindquist rolled back in to the game, the shadow creeps picking up everything as well, there was really only one other player he needed and Lindquist had made that imperative. Rollie Tyler would have to be at that meet as well. Lindquist was not a happy camper about Rollie’s lack of following instructions or his wife’s athletic prowess.

"Wants Rollie there…that’s a toughie or no deal. He wants that leverage so he can try to keep me in line…" Dingo said to Elena as she sighed and ran her hand through her long, thick hair.

"Let’s try to get him here then, Mr. Tyler. I suggest you hurry up because Rollie is in the middle of searching for his son and I don’t think he wants to play a shell game with Daddy right in the middle of all of that…"

"What are you talking about?" Dingo asked, his scheming all dropped like a thud in his brain at the mention of Aidan missing. No one had told him this!

"Apparently, after Rollie and Angie returned to New York, they found out that their son along with the three daughters of Detective Francis Gatti, were missing. I am helping to coordinate a search effort along with the local precinct. You wouldn’t have any knowledge of this, would you?" Elena asked, a sly smile forming on her lips.

Dingo frowned and he inwardly was wondering if the shadow operatives had moved on and gone for Rollie in a twisted way….and now, he felt dangerously shaky- Rollie would be no good to him like this. Once more, he would likely blame him for this.

"Why the bloody hell didn’t you tell me that Aidan was missing?" Dingo shouted out as Serrano smiled and backed her chair away from the table.

"Because, flimflam man, I needed you to think you had me and everyone here falling for your story and hooking Lindquist with your usually flair….couldn’t have you all emotional, he would sense something out of place, eh, Dingo?" Serrano explained, pouting her lips and standing up.

Dingo looked at her with amazement. Now, she was a bloody pistol! She made his blood boil and he could tell, it wasn’t just from annoyance and the past two years of playing off of her. She was a real player and he eyed her hips and breasts in an air of appreciation of her sex as she laughed.

"Really, you Tyler men! You’re both so…." And she made a low, guttural sound, much like a growl as she touched his shoulder and passed him by, leaving him in the observation room to ponder who had just conned who.

Riding around in the van felt so strange this time…Angie was monitoring the infrared scanner as Rollie drove slowly past the second block and around, circling Francis’s house. The fact that they were searching for their own son was the grim factor here and Angie’s pulse was racing as Rollie would ask several times a minute if she saw anything remotely resembling the children’s patterns.

Angie had informed Mira of their idea and Mira had no problems with it. She told Angie that she would inform Francis of what they were doing as well and Angie had been silent at that point. Mira, knowing of the strain between Francis and them had told her to keep the faith and let Francis work it out.

Rollie had not been able to get in touch with Serrano and inwardly, Angie had been happy about that. She couldn’t deal with Elena’s smugness and her darting, dark eyes appraising him all the time. It was bad enough that the woman had confessed her undying love for him, but now, well- she just couldn’t keep the feelings of inadequacy and jealousy from creeping into her mind. She knew it was stupid and she watched the back of Rollie’s head as he asked again, "Anything?"

"Nope…lots of adults and one or two children paired off but not four…let’s just widen the circles, okay?" Angie asked and he nodded as the drove on, slowly. She rubbed her eyes and monitored the scanner screen. They worked silently, tirelessly through the morning, a slow process of elimination. As they passed the dilapidated St. Elmo’s church on the corner of the next sweep, Rollie’s phone rang and he grimaced as the interference woke him from his concentration on the neighborhood. Angie turned her attention away from the screen for a second, the hope against hope that it was the call they had been waiting for…but it was Serrano. She heard Rollie say her name and she turned back to her screen. The rest of the block slowly was scanned with no traces of any living beings around. The whole block had been scheduled for demolition and the creation of a small strip mall.

Rollie hung up and pulled over, stopping the van. Angie stood up from her chair, stretching and pulled off her ear transmitter. She walked up front and sat in the passenger seat beside him, seeing that whatever Serrano had talked to him about, was upsetting him.

"What?"

"She wants me to go with Dingo on his meet with Lindquist at Stefano’s tomorrow night. It seems Lindquist wants me to be there or the deal is off. Without my presence, Lindquist blows."

Angie rolled her eyes and turned away from him, looking out the side window, her red-rimmed eyes tracing the outline of once viable houses and one-time thriving neighborhood. She tried to control the emotions that were raging through her at that moment. She wiped her eyes with her coat sleeve. Without Rollie too, now? Could she stand it alone right now? How would this crazy deal of Dingo’s turn out? Would Michael’s organization try to go after Rollie again now too? Maybe they had Aidan? But no, they wouldn’t have taken the Gatti girls too.

"Oh God!" she whimpered, and stood up, not looking at him, but walking briskly back to the scanner console and her chair.

Rollie jumped up from his seat and followed her back to the chair where she sat, stiffly, He kneeled down, wrapping his arms around her as she pushed against him, angry and scared.

"Oh sweetie, we WILL find him. And don’t worry about me tomorrow night. I have a tracer tag that I’ll put under my skin here on my hip, right? Anything happens at that meet, you’ll be able to find me. But listen, no one is going to come after me, you hear? This is it…the last time I bail out my father. Honest! And as for Elena, she’ll have her bust and be happy with that."

She looked at him, shaking her head as she wrapped her arms then around his neck and kissed him softly as he returned her kiss, feeling her fear and her sorrow. Her blue eyes, still wet with tears glistened as she batted her lashes, wiping them and suddenly, half-laughed, sniffing; "nothing will satisfy Elena Serrano until she has you in her bed."

"Then, my dear, she’ll remain the most unsatisfied woman on earth for the rest of her life," Rollie replied, kissing her again, "because I have the only woman I ever want in my bed for the rest of my life."

She smiled a little, and he kissed the tip of her nose as he hugged her tightly and she gripped him tightly and exclaimed with a little grit in her voice; "she just makes me so jealous sometimes!"

"Think about how she feels all the time…you’re one lucky woman, you know," he replied, winking at her.

"You’re so…."

"So what?"

"So egotistical, so …."

"So amazingly debonair, handsome, dashing and charismatic.." Rollie finished in his best Sean Connery.

"I was going to say," and she pushed his driving glasses back up to the top of his nose, "nerdy…."

He looked down at his pocket and indeed, he now had his glasses case stuffed in his breast pocket along with a pen. He got up, appearing wounded and deflated as she smiled again, laughing . It was music to his soul to hear her laugh and he got back in the driver’s seat and they started again.

"Mark off this section for today…let’s get the next block…" he told her and she nodded, adjusting the scanner screen and directional beam going out.

Rebecca Gatti sat on the edge of the window in the bell tower, looking out of her castle. She could see cars coming and going and from this vantage point, even the F/X van that had slowly passed the church. She had pulled all her sisters and Aidan up into the tower, fearing the creepy, stinky men that had crept inside the old church to sleep on one of the benches. She wanted to be a princess, a fairy godmother to Callie. She knew she couldn’t tell anyone yet. That was why she had let Rollie Tyler’s van go by the church. Callie had to really be cured first. She had remembered that Rollie’s father had told her that it sometimes took two days for the shakes to leave. They still had another night to go in this place. She shivered slightly, wondering if the men had woke up and left yet from downstairs. Keeping Aidan quiet was quite a task and of course, their bathroom was downstairs as well.

Creeping slowly down the steep stairs that led down to the first floor, Rebecca peeked from behind the door to survey the room. Having left Callie in charge, she felt hesitant in a way, leaving but she had to make sure before bringing everyone back down. She couldn’t see them anymore and she ventured from the door into the big room, slowly. Everything looked quiet and she smiled. She turned back, to go up the stairs to get her sisters and Aidan when she saw one of the men who had invaded their hiding place pull open the door to the bell tower and start up the stairs. In fear, she stood, glued for a moment before she could react but the screams from upstairs made her run for the stairs after him. No one would harm her sisters, no one!

"NO!" she screamed and raced up, reaching his stinking, dirty form perched at the top of the stairs, leering at her screaming sisters and crying Aidan.

She managed to push at him, knocking him off balance for a second as she rushed by him, in protective stance in front of them.

"What’s this crap? Kids! Shut-up!" he yelled at them and then started to curse, swaying and swinging out at them.

"Go away!" Rebecca screamed and she lunged forward, not thinking and pushed him, his balance on the top step lost as he fell backwards but not before he grabbed her sweater and pulled her against him as they fell together down the stairs.