"I hope I didn’t interrupt anything?" Mira asked, tongue-in-cheek as she watched Angie give Rollie a bottled water which he disposed of in two gulps. He was wiping his mouth as Angie offered Mira a drink and she declined.

"Uh, so- well, are you ready to see this guy’s set-up at the expo?" the detective asked them, clearing her throat.

"Bring him on…I can’t wait to show him some Tyler magic!" Rollie told her, and jumped up, grabbing the PDA from his workbench, "check this out!"

He handed the PDA to Angie who sat back on the couch by Mira. Rollie stood, picking up a crystal ball from the other side of the bench and put it on the coffee table in front of Mira.

"Okay, come on then, put your mitts on the crystal and I’ll give you a little show," he told her, winking at Angie who just grinned, curling her toes on the edge of the table.

"Hmmm, somehow- I feel there’s going to be a big show here!" Mira said, hesitantly and then put her hands out, softly touching the ball.

The clearness to the crystal instantly went cloudy as if filled with vapor. There was a sudden splurge of dark purple that immediately went to the area where her hands were resting.

"Oh!" Mira remarked, slightly jumping as Rollie began his incantations.

"Bring us the fortune for this lovely lady, tell us her woe, her loves, her future…" he began with his voice low and soft.

Mira was so enthralled, she wasn’t watching Angie who was of course, taking the PDA and working the miracles of the orb on the table as well.

The crystal suddenly cleared and resting in the middle of the crystal, like a small hologram was Mira’s badge and then, as in a flash- a somewhat cloudy image of Michael, her ex-husband. As Mira gasped, there was the sound of a rapid heartbeat with the crystal growing blood red and pulsating.

"What?" Mira asked, looking at Rollie who was going for the full effect, his eyes closed and body rocking slowly backward and forward.

"I see you, a woman who walks a path of violence, a woman who is torn between her love of work and the love of her life. He is a very strong man…a very determined one and I see the two walking separate paths…"

"Yeah, so what?" Mira said, flatly, getting at what Rollie was doing.

"I see a life, small and newly formed, the heart of this child beating so fast and true. This child is the heart of the man and the woman whose paths are conflicted. Oh- It’s a boy!"

Angie looked startled now as the ball suddenly went back to cold, clear crystal and Rollie’s eyes opened, met Mira’s widened, surprised ones, looking at him.

"What?" Mira was livid. She stood up and put her hands on her hips, "how did the great Tyler know about the sex of my baby?"

"Fifty-fifty chance of being right, Mira," Rollie said, and smiled as she took a breath and sat back down.

"You know, you are walking on a thin rope!" she told him.

"Yeah, yeah- I’m to blame for little Ricky there…" he replied, without thinking.

Angie’s mouth dropped open as Rollie realized he had just put his big foot in his mouth.

His eyes widened as he saw Mira’s reaction and he apologized swiftly, "Mira, hey- sorry! I didn’t mean it like that, you know that!"

"Fine, whatever," she replied, hurt, but quickly over it, "Okay- so you what? Lifted my wallet and used the thingie there to image certain things so that they come out there in the ball?"

Angie smiled, pulling Mira’s wallet from behind her back and handing it back to her. The picture of Michael and her badge had been pulled out and Angie gave them back to her as well.

"So, you think you can lift people’s wallets all night, Angie and you? AND can get the attention of Nicholas Czewt- a real psychic?" Mira asked them, rolling her eyes.

"We can try! Of course, it would help if we had some help from a few of the south-central employees so that our abilities wouldn’t be so taxed…?" Rollie asked her, grinning again.

"Yeah, okay- I know Frank and Sarah would be glad to help. Rizzo is too much a stick in the mud. I was worried the Captain would give this case to him. I can get some others to help out," Mira said, thinking to herself.

"Great! Well, come on- let’s go check out this Nicholas Czewt- King of the Gypsies and see what he is all about tonight?" Rollie asked as Angie and Mira stood up together.

"Okay, let me make a few phone calls and you guys get ready. Besides, I want to see this guy give you two your double bubble fortunes!" Mira told them as she grabbed the phone.

Rollie looked excited and Angie folded her arms across her chest and worried. Now that she was out of the loop on the set of Ectoplasmic Ranger, she had to think what she was going to do during the day while Rollie was working. This night-time gig for Mira would help some but the actual grind ahead of finding something for her to do was just starting to hit home.

"Hey, Rol?" she asked, walking over to him as he returned to the crystal ball to the bench, "I gotta talk to some people in the morning about some work. You won’t mind if I start putting out feelers?"

"What do you mean?" he asked her, puzzled, as he lowered his voice and pulled her over closer to him. Mira was busy talking on the phone but she did have those keen detective ears of hers.

"Well, I thought I would call some people and see what I could get work on while you finish Ectoplasmic Ranger."

"You don’t need to do that!" he told her, touching her arm.

"Yes- yes I do!"

"Why? This movie will be over in less than two months. Why don’t you take some time. Hey, I got plenty for you to do here at the loft while I am there on set."

"Rollie, I need to work, just like you and it is just as important that I start doing some projects alone- you know, get a name for myself as well in the business. Not just as part of Tyler F/X…"

Rollie looked at her, the hurt in his eyes apparent, "But I thought we were a team?"

"We are! But we are also married and, I don’t know- it’s weird. Look what happened on the set today! Think about it, would you have done what you did to Roddy four months ago?"

Rollie didn’t even have to think, "Yes, I would have! Angie! I would never, even if I didn’t know your name, let some guy put his boot on a woman’s back during a movie shoot or anywhere else, for that matter!"

Angie smiled and kissed him quickly as Mira watched them and smiled at the two of them, "Okay, so you are a knight in shining armor. But Rollie, think about this from my prospective, okay? Your name is on the business and it is your reputation that everyone knows. I have always been just Angie…Manny’s daughter- isn’t she cute? Look at that, she can play on computers…!"

He could see she was fighting her own demons now with where she stood in the whole concept of their new relationship and more- what she was going to do with the rest of her life. He knew what he wanted and was doing it. What did Angie want to really do?

"Ange…you call around. If you want my help, you know I am here and willing to help you. I love you! I want to work as a team still but I also respect you enough as the brain you are, to realize that you go and make a go of it as well."

"Thanks," she said, a little sad but also energized at the thought of working on her own.

"Okay, you guys- we got about fifteen people going to show up tomorrow night to have their fortunes read by you. I am gonna collect some stuff and have it for you on each of them tomorrow in the morning. Angie? Can you pick it up?"

"Oh, why not, I got time on my hands…" she said, shaking her head.

Mira didn’t bite on this, she just went on, "okay, are we ready to go?"

Rollie and Angie both nodded in unison at her and they took off to Madison Square Gardens to see what Nicholas Czewt was all about.

The Expo at the Garden was in full swing that evening. The crowds were massive and rowdy. Angie and Rollie made their way over to the booths where Mira told them they would find Nicholas Czewt. To their amazement, they found over twenty booths with psychics, fortune-tellers, mystics and a close knit family of gypsies. Rollie spied Czewt’s booth first, and Mira hung back.

"Okay, I’m staying in the background on this. You two go on over and get yourself acquainted with watching Czewt in action," she told them.

"What? Just walk up and observe?" Angie asked, puzzled.

"Look at that crowd! Besides, tomorrow- you will be wearing masks, incognito, right?" Mira told them.

Rollie nodded as Angie tugged on his arm and together they walked over to the very popular booth. Inside the booth, a pitched tent had been set-up with a ornate, gold bordered table and matching chair. A flickering lantern hung on either side of the opening to the tent. Even the rich, silk brocade of the tent was dazzling with a multitude of colors and a starburst design. But it was the man who stood there, waiting for his next customer that really commanded all the attention.

Nicholas Czewt was an impressive looking man. He was tall, over six feet. He was dark, hair and moustache, jet black, with an olive complexion. His whole demeanor exuded strength and power. He would not say a word and another person from the crowd would just enter and sit at the table with him. He was dressed in a well-tailored business suit with a blood-red tie and handkerchief that hung loosely from his vest pocket. He would speak to his customer in a low voice that only he and the person sitting in front of him could hear. His eyes would lock onto the person and then, without any more than a brief exchange- the customer would stand and leave. Upon exiting, a woman wearing authentic Romanian ethnic dress would take the customer to another tent and they would go inside. Not all customers went inside the tent.

"Okay, so far- he meets his clients, the ones that are carrying drugs go with Wonder Woman there to the other tent where I assume the exchange is made…" Rollie told Angie as they peered over at the booth from a set-up nearby.

"How do you know that an exchange is really going on?" she asked him.

"Going to see for myself, right now!" Rollie said to her as she grabbed his arm.

"Wait! You can’t just sneak in under the back of the tent and watch!"

"Why not? I got my little spy toy here, sees around corners- get it in your favorite cereal box gadget. You go over to the booth and keep him busy. Who knows, maybe you can get your fortune read…" Rollie told her and smiled.

She sighed, worried that he would get caught but knowing better.

"Good girl, go on now. See what’s up there." Rollie left her then and Angie walked over, getting closer as she noted that Nicholas Czewt had chosen another onlooker from the crowd. She stepped into the space left as the participant went inside with Nicholas. She could see the woman watching the crowd as she tried to hear what the man was saying to the customer. But it sounded like gibberish to her. The woman walked by her then, and she thought she heard a sound, like locusts in the summer. It was loud and stunning and then it disappeared as fast as the woman who strode past her. Angie quickly checked for Rollie and saw that he had indeed made it to the back of the other tent without detection.

The customer got up and immediately was escorted by the woman to the other tent. Angie held her breath, hoping Rollie was hidden and could see what he needed to see. Before she knew it, the sound of locusts buzzed by her again and she felt the slight touch of Nicholas Czewt’s hand touching her arm.

She looked at him, his eyes like reflecting pools to her. She seemed to see her own puzzled face looking back at her as he motioned for her to follow him. She swallowed hard and went. The woman came closer to her then, motioning her to sit in the chair across from the powerful man. She noticed that the woman was very beautiful, exotic, and proud as she stood behind Nicholas.

"Ekvara, there will be no more tonight after this one!" Angie heard him tell the woman. His voice was strong and low, with a thick, Romanian accent. The woman nodded, looking at Angie with renewed interest, raising one eyebrow in curiosity.

"You intrigue me," Nicholas Czewt told her, smiling with a row of perfect, white teeth beneath his black, droopy moustache.

"Me?" Angie asked, almost stuttering, "why me?"

"You are a strong spirit. You have escaped death more than you are willing to say, no?"

Angie looked at him, frowning and he smiled again.

"You are crossed by another, one who serves you and protects you. You are lovers but also, you are more…" he continued as her heart began to beat faster.

"Ah, I see how your blood courses through your body as I mention him. I sense that he is near, somewhere…" and suddenly he broke his eye contact from her to the direction of the other tent.

The beautiful woman he called Eckvara immediately went to the other tent, flipping the flap back and disappearing inside. She emerged, her head shaking from side to side.

Nicholas Czewt’s attention went back to Angie. He took a deep breath and sighed; "your father is near you always. His spirit is torn with strife at this moment and there is danger for you. He warns that you should remove yourself from the path you are on…he weaves magic from thin air."

She looked at him, curious that he had mentioned Manny. Sometimes, she felt like her father was still there, watching over her.

"What do you mean, magic from thin air?" she asked, almost in a stutter.

The locust sound blasted in her ears then as the woman reappeared at his side and told her in a crisp, sullen voice; "Do not talk!"

Angie shut her mouth, surprised as Nicholas Czewt shut his eyes suddenly and put his hands out toward her. The woman, Eckvara took Angie’s hand and with a small, jeweled knife, made a quick, stinging jab, forcing a single drop of blood from Angie’s finger. It fell onto the gypsy king’s left hand and he winced slightly as if in pain.

Shocked, she tried to stand, protesting their invasion of her body but couldn’t seem to rise. She looked at Nicholas Czewt and instead of him sitting there, she saw her father. His face was glowing and translucent before her.

"Angela! You must not stay with him. He is not the one! Your life will be nothing but pain. He will kill your children."

Her father’s voice, telling her what? Who was he talking about? Was it Rollie?

"Papa?" she called out, but found herself now standing at the edge of the booth, the woman named Eckvara motioning her roughly through the gate. She was not taken to the next tent. She was once again, in the crowd, engulfed in a sea of human forms.

She turned around, her mind reeling as she saw the empty booth now. She could see that Nicholas Czewt had left and the strange, beautiful Eckvara was gone as well.

"So, you gonna have six kids and live in a shoe?" she heard a familiar voice ask her. Rollie stood beside her. She grabbed his hand, shaking slightly and looked down at her finger. There was a small pin-prick in the index finger of her right hand.

"Rollie? I think you need to take me to a hospital!" she told him, trembling as he shook her slightly.

"What?"

Mira had joined them then, seeing that Angie appeared shaken and extremely pale, "What’s up?"

"I think they injected me with something…" Angie told them both, showing them her finger, "and I don’t feel so good."

She was perspiring and Rollie grabbed her around the shoulders, feeling her forehead, "She’s burning up, Mira. Come on, let’s get her to hospital."

Mira frowned, worried that her whole scheme about catching Nicholas Czewt in the act was falling apart. As they moved out of the expo and to the parking area, Angie grew faint.

"Oh…I think I’m going to…" and she sank to the ground beside Rollie. Mira pulled out her phone, calling for an ambulance. The Garden was a zoo with departing cars and crowds. Rollie hoisted Angie up in his arms and carried her to the van.

"There’s no way an ambulance can get into this mess. We’re taking her out now!" he told Mira as he took over the wheel and Mira sat with Angie on the floor of the van, holding on to her unconscious body.

With his maddened efforts, he was able to move the van out, forcing other cars out of the path with the sheer size of the van. They were only a few blocks from the nearest hospital emergency room but it took them over ten minutes to get there.

A crew was waiting, thanks to Mira’s call and once there, they rushed Angie inside. As the trauma bay doors swung close and a flurry of people responded, Rollie and Mira were left outside to answer the usual questions and fill out the paperwork. Mira told the doctor to check for toxins as well and the two of them sat in the waiting room along with some of New York city’s favorite denizens of the street.

Knowing Rollie was upset and at the same time, still thinking about her case, Mira waited until she thought Rollie was calm and asked him;

"Did you see any transactions going on inside the tent?"

He looked at her for a moment, his face not registering any recognition of what she had just said and then, he closed his eyes for a moment and shook his head; The woman brought them into the tent. Nothing was exchanged that I could see. She did rub something on their arm and then they left. I don’t know, it looked like she was washing something off. That was it."

Mira sighed. This was not going to be as easy as she had hoped.

"Rollie, we have got to find out what is going on here!"

"I want to know what the bloody hell is wrong with Angie!"

"Of course," Mira responded, sensing his worry. He stood up and paced as Mira went for coffee. Francis showed up, after hearing from Mira over the phone about Angie and the problem at the expo.

"Hey, Rollie! We did get a location of where this Nicholas Czewt is staying in town. Get this- at the Plaza, no doubt. Has a whole floor of rooms for the next two weeks."

"Thanks, Francis," Mira told him, as he sat down and waited with them, "Hey, this gypsy guy- you know that he is straight from the top of the whole movement here- they are called the Kalderash. Seems they brought this fortune-telling stuff into this country in the 1800’s from Russia and Romania. He is like the big cheese!"

"Mira, are you sure he is dealing drugs?" Rollie asked her, exasperated and impatient now with worry over Angie.

"My sources say he has the largest drug flow coming from Canada out to the United States since the sixties. No one knows how he is doing it, though. No one has been able to find out a thing on him."

Rollie folded his arms across his chest, "I’m going in there, right now!" He said, and started for the trauma bay.

Before he could get to the doors, Angie was walking toward him with a doctor in tow. She was angry and walking fast.

"Angie? You alright? What’s this?" Rollie asked, as she came up to him and grabbed his arm.

"Tell this man, that I am not staying another minute in here!" she told Rollie, looking up at him with blood-shot eyes.

"Mrs. Tyler! You need to come back and lie down. You have had some sort of shock to your system. Your blood pressure is extremely low," the doctor was telling her as well as Rollie.

Frank, Mira and Rollie were all staring at Angie who seemed determined to leave. She moved away from the doctor, closer to Rollie and clung to him.

"Take me home, Rollie!"

"Ange, you need to stay here and have some tests done, love," Rollie told her.

"Whose side are you on?" she said, angrily and pushed him away.

"Angie, please!" Rollie shouted out at her as she moved toward the door.

"Mr. Tyler, I’m afraid your wife is under some sort of hallucinogenic drug reaction. She needs to be restrained and kept here," the doctor warned him.

Rollie already could see that this was not Angie and he ran after her as she began to scream hysterically, kicking and fighting him as he grabbed her.

More hospital workers came and they quickly brought a stretcher and had to put her in restraints. The doctor ordered Inapsine given IV which quickly brought her into a subdued, semi-conscious state. Rollie held her hand, stroking her hair and wondering what had happened to her. Had Nicholas Czewt given her something? Had he already suspected her?

"We’re going to hospitalize her, run some more tests, Mr. Tyler. You can come up with us to the room. We are going to have to take her to the Psychiatric Ward. They have the facilities for restraint there and I am sorry to say, your wife needs them right now," the doctor told him.

Rollie just shook his head, in bizarre disbelief, "Can I stay with her, in the room?"

"I don’t think…" the doctor began but Mira piped up;

"This is a police investigation, doctor. Mr. Tyler is working with us. Let him stay in the room with his wife, okay?" She said it in more of an order than the doctor was used to hearing but he nodded and they followed the stretcher up to the floor.

Angie was in four-point restraints lying on a bed with no headboard or footboard. She was dozing and murmuring in her sleep, at times jerking and flipping her head from side to side. Rollie sat, holding his head in his hands in the corner of the room. He couldn’t understand why this had happened. He wanted to blame Mira but knew she wasn’t the reason for this. He watched Angie's small body twisting on the bed in some horrible fight against some drug that had invaded her system and his eyes watered at her fate in his hands.

She murmured something, something that he thought he could make out in all of her ramblings. He stood up and crept closer, touching her hair softly and brushing it away from her forehead.

" Rollie…don’t kill my children…not the one…" she said, rambling as Rollie retreated back to his seat in silent anguish.