³Weıre cutting it close, Rol,² the blonde woman said as she brought the van to a screeching halt in
front of an immense skyscraper.
Rollie Tyler struggled to keep his balance as he headed toward the rear door of the van. ³Donıt we
always, Ange?² he said coyly before he bolted for the buildingıs entrance. Shaking her head, Angie
Ramerez watched him go through the doors before leaving to park the van.
Inside the building, Rollie ran to catch the elevator, but just got there in time to the doors close in
front of a woman in a lavender suit. Frustrated, but undaunted Rollie ran for the stairs, and just
under 15 minutes later he arrived on the 23rd floor. He walked towards the reception desk hunched
over, panting, and wearing a very disheveled business suit.
³Rollie Tyler, ³ he said catching his breath. ³I had an appointment just 10 minutes ago.²
The elderly receptionist looked him over disapprovingly and then glanced down into her
appointment book. ³Yes, thatıs right, ³ she said looking up at him again. ³Mr. Harland is a very busy
man, and when you didnıt show up I gave your appointment to another applicant. Iım truly sorry.
Would you like to reschedule? The next available appointment is in four months.²
³Four months?!? Four bloody months?!? I donıt have four bloody months! I need to ..² Rollie
began, but stopped when he heard Mr. Harlandıs voice from behind him.
³I think that this will be a most profitable deal, Ms. Williams.² the man said laughingly. ³You are
certainly the convincing saleswoman, and I have faith that your services will be a reliable as you say
they are. Iıll have my office fax you the contract today.²
Rollie couldnıt believe his eyes! Mr. Harland was standing in his doorway talking with the woman
from the elevator; the same one who had stolen his appointment! ³Mr. Harland!² Rollie called as he
walked over.
³Mr. Tyler? I take it that you were my original 10:00 appointment. ³ the man responded.
³Thatıs right, and I would greatly appreciate it if you could just give me a moment of your time. Iım
sure that you will appreciate the...²
³Iım sorry Mr. Tyler, but your companyıs services are no longer needed. I wish you luck in finding
another deal.² he said and then turned and walked back into his office.
Befuddled, Rollie turned to take the elevator down to the ground floor, but once again found himself
taking the stairs when the woman in lavender closed the elevator doors in his face.
Rollie couldn't help but wonder, "Who was that woman, and how did she manage to do that to me
twice?" Frustrated and intrigued, he pulled out his PDA. "Ange, could you do me a favor?", he said
into the microphone.
"Sure, Rol. Do you need me to send you the file with the demo tapes?" she responded from the van.
"Not quite. There's a woman in a lavender suit who should be leaving the building right about now."
Rollie began.
"Yeah, I see her. What about it?"Angie said knowingly.
"I need you to tail her, or track her, or something. I need to know who she is. Thanks a lot, Ange.
I'll catch a cab back to the shop." he said before she could get a chance to reply.
Angie rolled her eyes, grabbed a tracker from the back of the van, and began to sneak after the
woman. The woman got into a sedan and started the engine, but before she could drive away Angie
planted the tracker on the rear bumper of the car. She then ran back to the van so she could catch
Rollie before he caught a cab.
"Rollie, wait! I'm tracking her with the van; get in!" Angie hollered out the van window. He jumped
in the back, and Angie asked "So, what's the deal with this?" as she pulled the van away from the
curb and began following the mysterious sedan.
"That woman stole our job! I wouldn't be so bloody surprised except for the fact that she did it by
getting to the elevator before me, that she just happened to know when our appointment was, and
that we wouldn't have been late if it weren't for the bloody car battery!" Rollie complained.
Angie laughed, "Let me get this straight! You think that because the battery in the van died this
morning that this mysterious woman found out when our appointment was, drained our battery, and
then arrived at the building with just enough time to spare so that she could beat you out of the
elevator and steal the appointment? This time you've really lost it, Rollie!"
"Aw, come on, Ange. Doesn't that sound just the slightest bit suspicious? I mean look at..." Rollie
began.
"Just a sec., Rollie. The tracker stopped; let's check it out."
They pulled over, but the car was no where in sight. Rollie got out of the van to get a better look
around when Angie pointed to a telephone pole several feet in front of the van. Stuck to the pole
were the tracker, a small business card for a special effects company called "Movie Magic", and a
note reading "Nice try. But I won this time, too."
"Aw, bloody hell!" Rollie said as he headed back to the van. "She gave us the slip, but how did she
know we were tracking her?"
"I'm not sure, but it's possible she saw me when I stuck the tracker on the back of her car. At least
now we don't have to go chasing all over the whole city looking for her." as she turned to type into
one of their computers.
"Yeah, we can go back to the shop. I'm sure you're just dying to get back and begin working again."
Rollie quipped.
"That sounds like an enticing proposition," she said smiling as she turned to face him. "But before we
do could we swing by (street address here)."
"Why would we want to go one street over from the shop? What's there?"
"Oh, nothing really. Just a tiny business by the name of 'Movie Magic'," Angie said coyly. "But if
you're not up to it I...."
"Very funny, Ange. Let's get going," he said. "By the way, thanks for finding the address, I always
knew that you'd be good for something 'round here."
Angie gave Rollie a look and then slammed her foot on the accelerator, sending Rollie, who hadn't
sat down yet, flying to the back of the van.
*****************************
Angie and Rollie pulled up to the Movie Magic studio and got out of the van. Looking around,
Angie spotted the sedan they had been chasing earlier, and walked over to it. She bent down to
look at the spot on the bumper where she had placed the tracker and on the exact spot she found a
note.
"Rollie, come here and look at this!" Angie said taking the note off the bumper and standing up.
"What is it, Ange?"
"Another note." She began to read " I'm glad to see you do a better job of following a map than you
do a car. Come in, we've been expecting you."
After sharing a look, Rollie and Angie headed for the door, which opened before they could knock.
They walked inside and from their left they heard, "I'm So glad you could make it." At little table in
the kitchen were seated a man in his (20)'s and a woman in her (late 30)'s. Rollie recognized the
woman as the one from the elevator, but instead of being angry he smiled and walking over to her
said, " I'm just glad you invited us, Hana"
Hana raised an eyebrow and said "Nice one, Rolland, but you can call me ' 'ana'."
"And you can call me 'Rollie'." Turning to the man seated at the table Rollie then asked, "You must
be Michael, or is Mike?", Rollie said to the man sitting at the table.
He was about to respond when Angie interrupted. "Excuse me, but what is going on here? Did I
miss something here?"
"Oh, I'm sorry! I should have introduced you; 'ana, Mike, this is my assistant Angie Ramerez. Ange,
this is Hana Williams and Mike Rawls" Rollie said.
"That's not what I meant, Rol." she snapped when she pulled him aside. "How do you know their
names? Are you three old college buddies or something?"
"Aw, no, Ange. When we were driving over I used the computer to find 'em. I figured that it might
catch her off guard if I called her by name. The score is now 0-2, but we can catch up." he said.
"That's what you think, Mr. Tyler!" Hana called from the table, "But I don't think you two will ever
catch up with us."
Rollie flashed her a half-smile and sauntered over to the table saying "Oh really! I beg to differ..."
Not having been given much say in the matter, Angie decided to follow in suit and sat down. They
had talked for about five minutes when she realized that they hadn't once spoke of business. In fact,
Rollie and 'ana had been viciously flirting the entire time. Angie began to mention this, her mouth half
open, when the doorbell rang.
"Excuse me." 'ana said. "June, video image of front door," she called to her computer while looking
up at the large ceiling mounted video screen in the office section of the building. "Oh, my god! Mike,
what are they doing here? It doesn't matter; we'll just leave through the back entrance." She said as
she grabbed her coat and headed for the door.
"Wait!" shouted Mike. "June, video image of all entrances. Look at that, 'ana. They have people at
every entrance. Even some in the alley! How'd they know about the secret exit?" he said, his voice
beginning to tremble. "We can't just walk out of this! What'll we do!"
Nervously 'ana glanced at Rollie and Angie. "I'm not sure." she wondered aloud. " I suppose we'll
just have to let them in, but wait! We can't do that either; Rollie and Angie shouldn't be involved in
this."
"Involved in what?" Rollie asked.
"Don't ask. I don't want you two the middle of this." 'ana replied.
"Well it's a bit late for that; we're already in the building." Rollie said with sarcasm in his voice.
Quickly changing his tone to a concerned one, he added, "Let us help."
"Help with what?" she retorted trying to hide her nervousness. "I'm not sure what I could do, short
of letting them in."
"Rol, what are you thinking of?" Angie asked as she got up.
"We can call Mira and Francis. They were planning to come over for lunch, but I'll ask them if they
can get off for lunch now. I don't think they would mind, and whoever these guys are they probably
wouldn't be too happy about the arrival of cops."
"NO!!!" 'ana snapped. "No cops. That would only make the situation worse."
Rollie raised his eyebrows, surprised by Hana's sudden outburst. "Okay, then, I've another idea.
From the look of it, I would say that your compter operating system is similar to ours." he began
explaining as he removed the PDA from his back pocket. "I don't think that it would be too much
trouble to get remote access to June through Bluey. Do you think you could do it, Ange?" After a
quick nod from her, he passed her the PDA and continued. "Once that's done we'll all line up by the
front door and when I say 'Go' follow me."
Seconds later they all huddled by the door waiting for Rollie to enact his plan. With a push of a
button on the PDA he turned on the van's motor and reved the engine. The men outside spun
around surprised by the noise, and assuming someone was in the van they headed towards it. Using
June's security cameras, Rollie waited until he was sure that the men were far enough away before
giving his signal. The four movie people crept out the front door and hid under the front steps. After
giving the henchmen time to puzzle over the unmanned van, Rollie started the engine of Hana's
sedan. The men thinking they had been tricked cried out to one another to surround the newly
activated vehicle on the opposite side of the alley. In the confusion, Rollie and the others snuck over
the FX van and frantically hurried to drive away. In the rearview mirror Rollie could see the men
cursing and rushing to their own cars, but before they could follow, the van had dissappeared into
traffic.
Rollie, Angie, Mike, and Hana all sighed with relief and relaxed as they began to head towards the
FX workshop.
Hana was the first to break the silence, saying "That whole event really brought me back to reality. I
had started blur the distinction between the movies and reality, and I won't treat life as a game
anymore." she paused reflectivly. "I admire your professional attitude, Mr. Tyler."
"Professional attitude?" Angie laughed, "What professional attitude? Rollie just seems to be followed
by trouble, and in order to get out of it he has to treat it like a puzzle or a game to be won."
"Yeah, right, Ange," Rollie said glancing over his shoulder to look at her. "It's all just a big game. A
game, Ms. Williams,...." Rollie said turning his glance to Hana, "in which the score is now 1-2. You
just wait; we'll catch up soon."
Hana threw her head back and laughed. "I have faith in that, Rollie Tyler! If I didn't think you were a
worthy competetor, you wouldn't be in the game!"
"I thought you weren't going to treat life as a game", Rollie said in his most innocent voice.
Rolling her eyes, Hana shot back, "Just keep driving!"
***********************************************
Once again the four movie people sat drinking coffee, only this time they sat in Rollie Tyler's studio,
not Hana Williams. After several minutes of relaxed silence, Rollie asked Hana "So now that we're
all safe and sound, how about you tell us exactly why those men were at your place."
Hana sighed and resigned her self to the story. "Well, actually, it's not as bad as it seemed. You see,
my aunt has a slight, a slight 'problem', you could call it....
"'A slight problem' is hardly the phrase I would use, 'Ana," Mike leaned forward in his chair,
interrupting her. "Your aunt is addicted to gambling! She always seems to be getting into trouble,
and this time she really went overboard." He rolled his eyes and turned to Rollie and Angie. "Here's
the short version: She made a wager with someone high up in the mob and lost the bet. Now they
want to collect their money, but 'Ana's aunt didn't wager her own money; she wagered ours!"
Rollie and Angie stared at each other for a moment with their mouths agape before they said in
unison, "Dingo!"
"Ding-what?", Hana asked.
"My father, Dingo, has almost the same problem. I relate to you 100%", Rollie said shaking his
head. "Look, when Mira and Frank come for lunch why don't you join us and you can ask them for
advice. They may be cops, but they're people, too, you know; I'm sure they wouldn't mind giving
you a little off-the-record advice."
"I don't know if that would be such a good idea. I mean it .....," Hana began, but was cut off by the
ring of the doorbell. "Or maybe we should stay. Why not?" she said tossing her hands in the air, and
Rollie went to answer the door.
After all the introductions were finished Frank remarked, "I can't help but think that you look
familiar, Hana. Have we met somewhere before?"
Hana and Mike tried to hide the worried look they exchanged before she replied "No... no, I don't
think so."
"But I do." Mira said as she pulled a folded piece of paper out of her pocket.
She unfolded the paper, containing a photograph from the morgue, and handed it to Frank. He
stared at it for a while before he looked up and said in disbelief, "You're dead!"
"I should hope not! Let me see that," Hana laughed as she took the paper from Frank's hands. Her
eyebrows furrowed for a moment and then she smiled broadly. "Wow, it's been a long time since I
did that; I almost didn't recognize it!" Hana looked up from the paper and passed it to Mike who
smiled in recognition. "The first job we ever did was to create computer software simulating the
autopsy process. I hated that job, and Mike knew it, so he decided to play a practical joke on me.
Right before we shiped the final copy, Mike digitally superimposed my face on the dead body in the
program. I didn't find out about it until we went to the first seminar in which the software was used. I
could have killed him!"
By the time Hana finished Rollie was holding the paper, and pointed out that the top of the page
read "Technology's Invasion of the Afterlife: NYPD has now aquired autopsy simulation software."
Frank and Mira exchanged an embarassed look before Frank sheepishly said, "Sorry about the
false alarm. Now, let's get some food I'm starving!"
As they headed out the door Hana's cell phone rang. "Hello..... Hey, Uncle James! Wow, it's been
such a long time since I've heard from you!.......Yeah, I been busy, too. So, what's goin'
on?............That's great! Where ya'stayin' in the meantime? I'd invite you to stay at the shop, but,
um, we're havin' a few problems over there.........Um, I'm not sure. Let me check." Hana glanced
down at her watch before putting her hand over the mouthpiece of the phone. "MIke and the rest of
you guys, my Uncle James just just bought an appartment in town, and he wants to meet for lunch. I
really hope you don't mind my cutting out of lunch; I haven't seen him in years."
Rollie and Angie exchanged looks, shrugged their shoulders, and turned to Frank and Mira who did
the same. Mike looked back and forth between the Hana and the rest of the group before saying,
"What the heck, it can't hurt, right?" Strolling over to Angie he continued, "Besides, it'll give me a
chance to get to know you (in italics) a little better" He hooked arms with her and spun her towards
the door. As they began to walk out, Angie turned her head over her shoulder and smiled at Rollie,
who shook his head and laughed.
In a Texan accent Rolle said, making circles with his arms, "Round 'em up, and head on out!" He
stood by the door as everyone went by, and as Hana, the last one, passed he said "Hurry it up, little
lady. This doorway ain't big enough for the both of us."
In the same accent Hana said "You callin' me fat, cowboy?", as she wacked him in the stomach
causing him to make dramatic 'hurt' noises the rest of his way to the van, and she could still hear him
as she headed to the curb to catch a cab.
On the other side of town a cab pulled over and a woman stepped out and began to walk several
blocks. After a while she stopped and stood on the sidewalk waiting. She turned towards her
reflection in the shop window behind her and began to fuss with her shoulder length black hair. First
she fluffed it, then pushed it behind her , then swung it over one shoulder, then the other. She ran her
fingers through it from the top to the bottom and then twisted it into bun. She shook her head,
causing the silken strands to fall back to her shoulders before bending forward and then flipping her
hair back over into place.
In the mirror she saw the reflection of a man across the street. To a passer-by it would have seemed
that this self-absorbed woman decided to flirt with the man by winking and coyly smiling. Yet for a
split second afterwards they would have sworn that her eyes seemed intent and alert, rather than
flirtatious. But that moment passed as the gentleman in the trenchcoat smiled, nodded his head in
return, and strolled away, folding his newspaper under his arm. Once again, the average pedestrian
would have found nothing out of the ordinary about this scene, but upon closer observation they
would have noticed the packet of "Sweet and Low" sticking out of the top of the man's newspaper;
a newspaper that was written in Italian.
The woman on the other side of the street quietly laughed before turning and walking to an Italian
restaurant several blocks down the street. She pushed the door open causing the bells hanging from
the door to ring gently. The noise summoned the manager, who smiled pleasantly before saying, in a
thick accent, "So nice to see you again, Ms. Williams. How can I help you?"
"My usual table, Alonzo."
"For how many?"
"Just one today."
She sat down and spent several minutes looking at the menu before ordering a tartufo(sp) and a
black coffee. While she waited she took note of the contianer of sweeteners on the table. It was
almost perfectly organized with each type of sweetener grouped together. The only exception was a
lone "Sweet and Low" nestled in the middle of the "Equal" section. When her food arrived, she
reached into the sweetener container, carefully making sure to take the pink package nestled in
between the two blue ones she would use in her coffee. Without attracting attention, she slipped the
pink package into her pocket, and added the "Equal" to her drink.
After she had finished her meal, she glanced at her watch, thanked Alonzo, and left the restaurant,
and strolled down the street in the direction she came from. On the street she passed the man she
had flirted with earlier, and gave him what appeared to be a friendly nod. Without returning it, the
man rounded the corner and, using a sat-phone, made a call consisting of the words "It has been
delivered."
