Rollie requested another room at the Jefferson after arriving. Stating he was downsizing the number of people staying in their suite, they accommodated him without a word. Marvin Vanduran met them at their old suite with an update as Angie packed. She seemed oblivious to the two men as they walked around the rooms and talked. Vanduran had opened all the windows in both rooms as well to prevent any fumes if there was any residual mescaline. He had come up short with more bulbs behind any of the vents. He had dusted the shower nozzle and was pretty sure that due to Rollie’s hand on it the last, it was unlikely that other prints would show up. Still, he was very keen on the small prints he had found below the vent over the bed in Rollie and Angie’s room.

"Don’t get your hopes up," he said, sighing as he finished packing up his print kit and shut his briefcase, "this woman probably has nothing on file to match. I sent up the prints by fax from my room. I should know soon if they have something."

"Thanks, Captain…I know you’re very curious as to what’s going on here and why we don’t want the local PD involved as of yet…." Rollie began, in earnest.

"Hey…" Marvin replied, waving his hand at that point, "I know you’ve got some sort of convoluted plan here to catch the bad guys…but I want you to know- this mescaline deployment is not a game to me. You guys could have done something terrible like hallucinate yourself out a window or something….and think of the fact that your son was here!"

Angie’s head popped up from packing and she stood up, arching her back from the ache and walked over to them; "I don’t think Aidan was a target, Captain. He was always kept in the other room and I can’t believe Mrs. Gallagher still did this. She was a great nanny! I just don’t get this!"

"Ange, she’s gone, without a word, sweetie…if that doesn’t spell guilt, I don’t know what does!" Rollie replied, flatly.

"Well, maybe she was duped or forced…I don’t know!"

"Yeah, well….I think we need to start going over how we proceed from here. Captain, we need some background on a Judd Tolsen…an actor on the movie we’re doing here…and while you’re at it, there’s Gary Sanderlin, our dubious director and well, Stu Westburn…"

Angie looked at Rollie with a frown; "Stu told you his part in this, you don’t believe him?"

"At this point, I don’t trust anyone except the people in this room!" Rollie replied, pointedly.

Vanduran looked somewhat dejected as he finished writing the names down; "is this it? Any Cub Scout could do this stuff, Tyler!"

"Sorry, if you’d rather not, I understand. I didn’t mean to uh, boss the boss around!" Rollie replied, a half grin forming as Vanduran reddened and then shook his head.

"Okay…but I want in on the Tyler game plan when it goes down! Sanchez and Gatti aren’t here for a change so finally, I get to see a lot more of the great Tyler in action!"

He said it, tongue-in-cheek, waiting for reaction as Rollie put his hands on his hips and surveyed the room.

"Okay, then we best start with making this room look exactly like it did before you dusted for prints and clear out. I’m sure Sanderlin is looking for me about now."

"Captain, um, any update on Luce and you getting married?" Angie added, almost shyly as she peered around from behind Rollie’s back.

"Yeah, we ARE!" he said, annoyed in his usual tone as she giggled. There had to be something funny about this day, she thought.

After Vanduran had left the suite and the walls and furniture had been cleaned, Angie and Rollie moved to their new room. Aidan sat in the floor, busily unmanteling his puzzles.

"Okay….now- TELL me what you have cooked up, Rol, because I feel like you are pages ahead of me in the script!" Angie told Rollie who had been on the phone to the set and explaining to Gary their delay that morning.

"Get this! He’s not mad! Do you believe that rubbish? Script? Not all written yet, but after the Captain gives me the heads up on Gary and Judd and maybe, Stu- I can start mobilizing. I think a taste of their own medicine is in order…"

Angie put the last load of clothes into the chest of drawers in the room and sat down on the bed before falling back and lying still, propping her feet up; "Nothing illegal Rollie, I mean, I’m through with the dangerous stuff. I’ve got a little bit of news that is weighing me down right now…"

Rollie suddenly moved to her side, resting his head on her shoulder, his hand moving to her lower abdomen. His lips caressed the hollow of her neck and finally resting on the softness of her own lips as they parted, feeling her warmth.

"We made this baby when? About three months ago…not long after we returned from Spain, you think?" Rollie asked, propping himself up on one elbow.

Angie looked up at him, still lying flat as she put a hand to the feathering of hair that had covered his eyes. It was growing long again but as she realized, there were flicks of gray around the edges of his temples.

"I don’t know about you- but me and the postman had a good time on July the 4^th…" she told him, seriously as he momentarily looked puzzled. Then he remembered…the washroom at the loft. Angie had been folding clothes and Aidan was napping. Rollie had run in excitedly with the mail, a certified letter revealing the contract award for this film.

"Ah! You’re right, he was a randy bloke, wasn’t he? All excited about the work and well, seeing the lady of the house in less than all her attire…"

Angie snorted, remembering that she hadn’t expected him home for lunch and well, she had casually thrown on an old plaid shirt of his, throwing every stitch of clothing into the wash with the rest of the load.

"As I recall, I was leaning over the washer, getting some socks at the bottom of the tub when I was accosted!"

Rollie looked up at the ceiling and grinned, remembering the visual effect she had recalled to his memory; "um, made me drop my mail to the floor…!"

His hand moved over her softly and she suddenly sat up, her face reddening as her eyes cut to the floor beside them; "uh, Aidan- that’s so good, sweetie!"

Rollie got up, sighing…it was no longer a life without children and interruptions but he still had his memories and the privilege of having this woman with him for the rest of his life.

Angie grinned as she rose, giving him a quick kiss and pressed against him, grinning mischievously as she realized his memories had stirred more than just mental callback…

"Oh God, what you do to me!" he whispered and kissed her passionately.

They both felt little hands reaching up their legs as they broke apart and began to laugh.

"Kiss…kiss…kiss me!" Aidan ordered, as Rollie swooped him up over his head and seated him on his shoulders.

Rollie bent down as Angie leaned up on tiptoes, kissing Aidan as he giggled.

"Big! Like Daddy!" Aidan continued as Rollie pulled him down and kissed him repeatedly around the neck.

"We’ve got to get to the set…and well, sure you’re up to it?" Rollie asked, as Aidan suddenly squirmed, wanting down.

"Yeah, sure!" Angie replied, shrugging her shoulders, "as long as we announce no more Mescaline in the food or vents when we get there. I think that ought to perk some ears up…"

"Uh, and best get down to business with watching Stu and Judd today, if you can, sweetie. I’m taking Gary…." Rollie began, collecting his things.

"Mind if I get Luce’s help?"

Rollie made a face and Angie shrugged again, "okay….just thought like the old days…"

"She’s gotten so into the industry now…I don’t think she could handle that she was given a pop of Mescaline herself."

"You still smarting from her confronting you about the bruising on my wrists?"

"No, it’s just I’m a bit stewed about her putting the Captain off for so long!"

"Rollie, she’s weighing it all, believe me," Angie replied, smiling as she remembered her conversation with Luce from a couple of days ago.

"Fickle, all of ya!" he remarked flippantly, as she grumbled under her breath. They walked out of the hotel room, Aidan in Rollie’s arms again. Angie carried their duffel bag of sequence books and disks, just like the old days!

Hunter Eventyn, the fourth, was to be buried in the family plot that evening, not far from the meadow where his horse had fallen. The movie crew and cast were told that Eventyn was to be closed down for the afternoon. Gary Sanderlin had decided to make a media appearance, conveying his condolences and spiking the rumor mill a bit more with the strange way in which Eventyn had died, tying it into the author’s script as well as the history of Eventyn.

As most of the crew trucks were pulling out to go to a stand-by location for battlefield shots down Route 5, Angie and Rollie pulled up. They had gotten the message of change in location on the way, but needed to pick up equipment left in the ballroom from the cotillion scenes. Angie waved as she saw Luce with John Grant in a rental car heading out of the plantation gate as they entered.

"She’s talking his ears off!" Rollie commented as Angie folded her arms across her chest and sighed. She was getting skeptical that Luce had meant what she had said that day on the banks of the James River now as well.

With Aidan in tow, Angie entered the ballroom with Rollie. They were the last to retrieve equipment and she could see that Charles, Hunter Eventyn’s butler was standing in the room, watching crew remove their equipment. He stood stoically, like a sentry until he saw the Tyler’s enter. He then approached, cautiously, watching for anyone from media left or some of Gary Sanderlin’s PR staff.

"Mr. and Mrs. Tyler?" he asked, putting his hands together as he neared.

"Yes, Charles is it?" Rollie replied, nodding.

"I need to speak with you both and the young master, in Mr. Eventyn’s study. Would you mind coming with me?"

Angie looked to Rollie who looked at her with curiosity as well and then smiled softly at Charles; "Sure, and both Angie and I just want to express our condolences at this time. With what little time we spent with Mr. Eventyn, we certainly respected and admired him…"

Charles raised an eyebrow in a quick display of tempered emotion before his face returned to a stoic mask.

"Yes, well- follow me now…" he replied and turned crisply around, leading them out of the ballroom down the west wing toward the main house.

Once back in the familiar main house, they could smell the acrid stench of the remains of the fire from the third floor. Angie could see as they stepped through the main front hall, large paint tarps covering the staircase from the first floor landing up and over the railing. As she looked up, she realized that the painting of the original Hunter Eventyn had been removed. She could see the blue plastic tarp covering the exposed roof some forty feet above their heads. The sound of workmen was evident as well with electric saws and drills resounding in the hall.

"What a horrible thing to have happened!" she said, in almost a moan as she rested her hand on the teak banister curl at the beginning of the steps.

"Despicable!" Charles replied curtly, and then waved them on, toward the study near the rear of the house.

As they entered the study, it was as if Hunter Eventyn, the fourth, was still there. The fireplace was lit, the smell of sweet tobacco ingrained in the room. Angie’s eyes went immediately for the painting of Siobhan that she had seen Charles carrying out during the fire. It had been returned to its resting place over the mantle. Siobhan’s enchanting image once again filled the room with warmth. Charles motioned them to sit and Angie was amazed that Aidan had remained so quiet for all of the walk through the house.

Charles moved over to a small drop-leaf table close to the bookshelves against the far wall. There was an ornately carved, in mother-of-pearl cherry blossom design, small chest that he opened. From this chest, he removed what looked like an old envelope, a red ribbon tied around it. As he came toward them, he held it reverently in his hands as they tremble slightly.

"I would think that Mr. Eventyn would want me to let you see this….it is important, I think in what has happened here at Eventyn. I believe the past will reveal the future as well. I would ask that Mrs. Tyler read it to you, Mr. Tyler. And I think, I shall leave the room now for your privacy. I will return with some refreshments in a short while. I hope this will not keep you from your work…but I do believe that Mr. Eventyn would want you to know. I know that he planned to approach you with this after he confirmed something he was working on….unfortunately, his death precluded this. Do not ask me any questions for he told me was little. He did seem to think you could help him with this…I know that- that you two were part of the bargain in selling the script to that horrible production company!"

Rollie’s mouth opened slightly as Angie took the yellowed envelope, so fragile and stained in places with rusty brown splotches. Charles, his eyes betraying his emotional attachment to his old gentleman, blinked slightly and left the room, closing the door to the study.

Aidan seemed sleepy and leaned against the soft cushions of the sofa by the fire. He still remained quiet, which was unusual for him but Angie touched his cheek softly as he smiled before his lids began to flutter and slumber took over.

"Well, isn’t this a strange thing!" Angie remarked, stroking the envelope almost reverently, herself.

"Yeah, strange! Now, come on, dearie, give us a read!" Rollie prompted, tapping it slightly.

"Alright!" Angie replied, pulling it away slightly as she gingerly slipped off the red ribbon tied in a bow around it. She turned the envelope over to read the inscription on the cover;

‘Hunter’

"Must be the original man, eh?" Rollie commented as he took in the feminine scroll of the handwriting.

"I believe it is penned by none other than she…" Angie said, softly, and looked up at Siobhan as Rollie rubbed his hands against his pant legs.

"Let’s see what’s inside…" Angie continued and carefully, opened the weathered flap of the envelope, revealing the folded, deeply stained pages inside.