- Alternate
Steele3
- Laura Holt lay on a blanket on
the small, secluded area of beach, her cheek resting on her hand,
her eyes closed. This was the life, she decided. In the three
weeks since she and Harry had left London, they had been to Switzerland,
Paris, Rome, and now Cannes. She reached behind her, unfastening
the top of her swimsuit, thinking that the new evening dress
that Harry had insisted she buy wouldn't look right with tan
lines marring the low cut back. Settling back down, she smiled
again. The last three weeks had been absolutely wonderful.
Drops of cold water on her back made her gasp as Harry said,
"You're starting to burn, Laura." He knelt and poured
some lotion into his hands to warm it before putting it onto
her skin with gentle fingers.
- "It might be worth it to
have you keep doing that," she murmured, laughing softly
as he bent lower to place a light kiss between her shoulder blades.
"That feels nice."
- "What say we go back to
the hotel?" he suggested. "We could both use some rest
before dinner."
- Laura turned over, meeting his
eyes. "Why do I have the feeling that 'rest' is the last
thing you have on your mind, Harry?" She pulled him down
to her. "And why do we have to go back to the hotel?"
she asked. "This place is far enough out of the way -"
- Harry nodded toward the road
above them on the edge of the mountain. "You're forgetting
that road up there, aren't you?"
- "There hasn't been one car
pass by here since we arrived," she said, sliding her hands
down his chest.
- Harry caught her hands. "And
I don't relish getting a sunburn. Come on."
- "Then we'll have to come
back tonight after dinner," Laura told him, noticing that
his attention was caught down the beach where the road first
came into view. "What's wrong?" she asked, sitting
up.
- "That car's going too fast.
There's no way he can make that turn above us unless he slows
considerably." He rose to his knees again to watch the vehicle's
progress.
- "There's a car behind him,"
Laura said, pointing to the corner again as she put on the white
gauze cover that went with her bikini. The sound of gunfire caused
both of their eyes to widen, and Harry quickly pulled Laura toward
the rocks at the base of the cliff as the first car went careening
through the white fence to land squarely on the blanket where
they had been sitting moments before.
- "My God," Harry breathed,
listening as the other car drove past. "Laura-" he
looked around to find that she was heading for the car. "Laura!"
- He could smell gasoline as he
followed her, could see the smoke coming from the front of the
car. Laura wrenched open the driver's door and reached inside.
"He's alive, Harry!" she said as he joined her.
- Harry reached inside and pulled
the man from the vehicle, dragging him away from it. When he
got a look at his face, he sighed, "Oh, Archie. What have
you got yourself into this time?"
- Laura looked at him. "You
know him?"
- Archie moaned, looking up at
the two people who stood over him. "Harry?" he said
weakly, grabbing for the shirt that Harry had put on. "Harry,
dangerous. Take -" He coughed, and Harry winced as blood
appeared on the man's lips. Archie's left hand opened to reveal
a black velvet bag. "Careful. They'll kill -"
- Harry took the bag, feeling the
weight, the movement within, but he didn't open it. "We'll
get some help-" he began, but Archie shook his head.
- "Goner. You be careful.
Fortune - thought I could retire for good-" he said, his
laughter turning into more coughing, then he fell still.
- The car exploded, sending a ball
of flame into the air, and Harry glanced back toward the road
as he felt a bullet pass his ear. "Let's get out of here,
Laura," he said, grabbing her hand and pulling her down
the beach, around the burning mass of metal to the narrow path
that would take them back to where they had parked the rented
Jaguar.
- Even when they reached the car,
Harry held back, watching, making certain that no one else was
around, before getting Laura into the passenger seat and then
going to the driver's side. "Who was he, Harry?" Laura
asked, turning to watch behind them, as worried as he was that
they would be followed.
- "Archie. We'd seen each
other around. He was pickpocket. One of the best I'd ever seen.
He must have gotten himself into something bigger than he could
handle -"
- "Obviously. What's in the
bag?" she asked.
- Harry shook his head as she would
have taken it from him. "Not here. Let's wait until we're
safely in our room at the hotel."
-
- Even though there was so sign
of a tail, Harry rushed Laura back into the bungalow he had taken
for their stay, and securely locked all three locks on the door
before he breathed any easier. Turning on the light on the desk,
he untied the top of the velvet bag and poured the contents between
himself and Laura.
- She gasped upon seeing the glittering
array. "Are those-"
- Harry picked one up, inspecting
it in the light. "Diamonds," he confirmed. "Most
at least a carat, a few larger -"
- "There must be -"
- "Well over a million pounds,
I should think, considering current market value," Harry
said, still examining the stones. "Oh, Archie. What wrong
pocket did you take these out of?" he asked.
- "What are you going to do
with them?" Laura asked.
- "Sell them, of course."
- "What are you going to do
about Archie's murder?" she wanted to know.
- "There's nothing I CAN do,
Laura. He gave me the gems, -" He shook his head. "Laura-"
- "You mean you'd let a friend
be murdered and not do anything to find out who did it? Not do
everything you could to see that they got what they deserved?"
- "Laura, if I'm right about
this, Archie probably took these off of some underworld figure
who was planning to use them to buy drugs or weapons." He
stopped, seeing the expression on her face. He's seen it in Paris
when that old woman's purse had gone missing. She'd convinced
him to help her track it down. "This isn't like Paris, Laura.
You're not dealing with a bunch of kids out on a lark that you
can intimidate. These people mean business -"
- "Couldn't you at least ask
a few questions? Find out if anyone else knows what Archie was
up to?"
- Harry put the diamonds back into
the velvet pouch and began searching for a safe place to put
them. "I can ask, Laura, but- I really think it would best
if we leave Cannes for some other place tomorrow." He glanced
at her. "We can go to Athens -"
- "And just forget that Archie
is dead? Murdered?"
- Harry took a deep breath. "You
know, I'm discovering that it's almost as pointless to argue
with you as it is with Daniel. I can't seem to win with either
of you. I'll see what I can find out," he told her, putting
the bag into the bottom of one of Laura's shoes in the closet.
"But if I don't get any leads, can we please leave?"
- "Sounds fair to me,"
she agreed. She shivered in the air conditioned room, and Harry
pulled her to him.
- "That rest I mentioned sounds
good at the moment."
- "But I think I'm going to
take a shower first," Laura told him. "Care to join
me?"
- Harry grinned, lifting her into
his arms to carry her toward the bathroom. "Now THAT is
an excellent idea, Laura. One I think we can both agree on wholeheartedly."
-
- They left the bungalow early,
and Harry drove the car toward a part of town that he hadn't
shown Laura during their tour two days before. Parking the car
before an abandoned building, he looked up at it uncertainly.
"Stay here," he told her. "I won't be a moment."
- "No way. I'm going with
you," she told him, opening her door.
- Knowing that arguing with her
wouldn't accomplish anything except a delay in dinner, Harry
locked the car and held out his hand. "Stay close. And let
me do the talking. Please?"
- "When have I ever NOT let
you -" She fell silent when she saw his expression. "Not
a word," she promised, letting him lead her around to the
back of the building, where he knocked six times in cadence.
A beat later, he knocked once more.
- A window on a floor above them
opened, and Laura would have looked up, but Harry squeezed her
hand in warning, shaking his own head in a quck movement. The
door opened moments later, and Harry entered first, pulling Laura
behind him, keeping his body between her and any possible danger
inside.
- "Harry?" a feminine
voice asked. "Is it really you?"
- He grinned as he saw the red
haired woman who came into the light. "Pearl. I'm hear to
deliver some bad news, I'm afraid. About Archie -"
- "I've already heard,"
the woman said, shaking her head. "I warned him he was getting
into things that could kill him. But would he listen?" She
looked at him. "How did you know about it?"
- "We were on the beach when
his car went off the road."
- Pearl's dark eyes widened. "Was
he alive?"
- "Yes. We drug him from the
car before it exploded."
- The dark eyes took on another
light. "And did he- give you anything before he died?"
- Harry looked at her for a long
moment. "No," he lied, hoping Laura wouldn't give him
away. "Nothing. What was he into, Pearl?"
- Her face had fallen when he'd
responded negatively to her question. "Said he'd found out
that some local organized crime boss was going to buy a shipment
of heroin with a million and a quarter's worth of untraceble
diamonds. He found out where the guy was going to be, and said
he was going to pick his pocket, take the gems, and disappear
to the South Seas. Even offered to take me with him." She
sniffed, and Harry handed her his handkerchief, wincing as she
blew her nose noisily into the linen. "At least he was with
someone he knew when he died. Guess he hid the gems before they
started chasing him."
- "Apparently. Unless they
were in his car -"
- "Wasn't his m.o.,"
Pearl said. "He always kept the loot on him, would never
have let it go unless he knew he had no choice."
- "He was pretty dazed after
the accident," Laura commented. "Maybe he, dropped
them in the car."
- Pearl looked at her suspiciously.
"Who's she?"
- "A friend," Harry quickly
assured the woman, giving Laura a look to remind her that she
had promised to be quiet. "But she might be right. When
we dragged Archie from the car, he didn't have anything in his
hand."
- "I guess I'll contact his
son in New York. He might want to know about his father's death."
- "Archie had a son?"
- "Fifteen years old. Attending
some military academy there."
- Harry frowned. "Well, we'll
be going, Pearl," he said. "If you need anything -"
- She shook her head. "I'll
probably be leaving myself in a day or two," she told him.
"But thanks for the offer. You always did have a heart of
gold, Harry. Sometimes I think it's too soft for you to be in
this line of work. To easy to get it hurt, you know?"
- "Yes, Pearl. I know. Take
care, eh?"
- "You too."
-
- In the car, Laura waited until
he started the engine before speaking. "Why didn't you want
her to know about the diamonds? Was it simply because you want
them for yourself?"
- "You cut me to the quick,
Laura. She was too eager to find them. Archie would never have
told her that much about what he was up to. I think she got her
information somewhere else."
- Laura perked up. "Then we're
staying?"
- Harry sighed. "I suppose
so. Something about all of this bothers me. And I guess I owe
it to Archie to find out if he was sold out by one of us."
He took another breath. "But now that Pearl knows that we're
asking questions, she'll alert the people who killed Archie -"
- "IF she knows them,"
Laura pointed out. "We still don't have any proof that she
does."
- "Believe me, she knows them."
He reached out to take her hand as they stopped before the restaurant.
"The point I'm trying to make, Laura, is that we might be
in danger - If these people decide that I lied to Pearl about
the diamonds, they'll come after us."
- "Then we need to come up
with a plan."
- Harry gave the parking attendant
the car keys, scanning the area as he took Laura's arm.
- "And quickly," he told
her.
- "Why?"
- "Because that black Mercedes
over there has been following us since we left Pearl."
- "You're sure?" Laura
asked.
- "Quite sure. And it's also
the car that was following Archie."
- "I guess she does know them
after all," Laura commented, entering the restaurant at
Harry's side.
- "They won't do anything
here. Or at the casino. They're going to try and find out where
we're staying so they can search for the diamonds."
- "Should we have left them
in the room, then?" she asked.
- "They'll have to follow
us back to the hotel. I think I can get us out of here without
going past them." He opened the menu he'd been given. "How
about the veal?" he asked her.
- "I'll leave the choice up
to you," she said. "How-"
- Harry reached out to take her
hand. "Laura, no more. Right now, I just want to try to
forget that we were witnesses to a murder today, and that we're
being followed by the people responsible. I want to simply enjoy
this evening in the company of a beautiful woman." He smiled
at her. "I didn't tell you how much I like the dress, did
I?"
- "You should," she said,
returning his smile, "You bought it." He let go of
her hand to look at the wine list.
-
- After the meal, Laura sat back
in her chair. "Between the restaurants and your cooking,
Harry, I'm going to have to be careful that I don't get fat."
- He returned her smile as his
blue gaze scanned the room for signs of trouble. Looking at her
again, he lifted is brows. "Ready?"
- Laura nodded, carefully folding
her napkin. "See you later."
- He rose as she did. "Be
careful," he admonished. He remained standing, watching
her disappear into the ladies' room, making certain she wasn't
followed. Sitting down again, he signalled for the waiter, complimenting
him on the food. "My - lady friend was particularly fond
of the veal- and it would go a long way toward furthering my
cause with her if I could convince your chef to give me the recipe
for that sauce. Is there anyway I might speak to him?"
- The man looked uncertain. "He
is very busy, m'sieu."
- "I don't mind going to the
kitchen if I have to," Harry assured him, then leaned closer
with a conspiratorial air. "The young lady is very-special
to me. And finding out the secret ingredient in that sauce would
make her QUITE happy."
- The Frenchman smiled in understanding.
"I understand, m'sieu. If you would come with me-"
- Harry put his napkin on the table
and followed the waiter through the swinging door that led to
the kitchen. He followed to the back of the kitchen as the man
stopped at the rear exit. "How was that, Harry?" he
asked, grinning.
- "Wonderful as always, Henri.
I owe you one."
- "You owe me several,"
Henri pointed out, then shrugged. "But who's counting? Be
careful, my friend."
- Harry nodded as he opened the
door cautiously to peer out into the dark alleyway.
-
- Laura had easily slipped through
the ladies' room window, dropping the two feet to the ground
with ease. She had moved quickly to hide behind a trash dumpster
with a clear view of the kitchen door of the restaurant. "Come
on, Harry," she whispered, then froze as she saw the shadow
of a huge hulking man near the door as well, hidden behind some
boxes.
- Harry opened the door and looked
around, but missed the man hiding in wait. He closed the door
and turned toward the dumpster, as Laura saw the giant make his
move toward him. "Look out, Harry!" she called, but
her warning came too late.
- The man moved quickly for one
so big, pinning Harry to the wall with one hand as his other
fist slammed into his abdomen.
- Laura ran from her hidng place,
jumping on the man's back, but he flung her off like she was
a feather. She found herself sitting on the pavement, listening
to Harry grunt as he was hit again. Laura's left hand felt something
cold, hard, round. A length of pipe.
- Grasping it with both hands,
she rose and swung at the giant. He wnt down without a sound
as Harry slid down the wall, trying to regain is breath. "Be-
hind you,- Laura-" he managed.
- Laura swung the makeshift club,
hearing it connect with bone and winced as the second man went
down. Dropping th pipe, she ran to Harry. "Are you all right?"
she asked.
- He nodded. "I will be."
He started trying to get to his feet. "I think we'd better
get out of here before those two wake up."
- "I'm not sure one of them
will," she told him, frowning as she helped him to his feet,
putting his arm around her shoulders. "Which way?"
- He nodded toward the right. "Out
there. We should be able to get a cab back to the hotel."
- As they moved quickly toward
the better lit street, Harry managed a grin. "Thank you.
You saved my life back there."
- "I wasn't about to try and
face Daniel if he'd killed you," she returned, trying to
keep things light. She didn't want to think about what might
have happened.
- "All the same - thanks."
- She looked up at him. "It
was my pleasure," she assured him, then concentrated on
trying to hail one of the cabs that passed by.
- Vehicle after vehicle passed
them, and Harry smiled at Laura's growing frustration. "I
should have thought about this. This time of night -" He
paused as Laura lifted the hem of her dress to reveal a length
of shapely leg. "What are you-"
- She grinned at him, but kept
her attention on the cab coming down the street. "It Happened
One Night"she reminded him.
- Harry nodded. "Clark Gable,
Claudette Colbert, 1934." That was something else about
Laura, he mused. She was willing to sit through any movie he
asked her to, some more than once. "It won't work,"
he told her.
- A cab pulled to a stop, and Laura
glanced at him over her shoulder. "Really?" She opened
the door of the cab and helped Harry into the back seat before
joining him. Giving the driver the name of their hotel, she said,
"And take the long way, driver."
- When he looked at her without
understanding, Harry repeated her words in French, and the man
smiled, saying something in return as he put the vehicle into
motion again.
- Seeing Harry's smile, Laura asked,
"What did he say?"
- "That he would keep his
eyes to the front," he told her, then pulled Laura toward
him, wincing as the movement caused him some pain.
- "Maybe we should find a
doctor. He hit you pretty hard-"
- Harry shook his head. "Keep
a watch behind us," he said. "A doctor would ask too
many questions," he told her. "I'll be fine. See anything?"
- "Not a thing. I don't think
we're being followed this time."
- Harry relaxed, tightening his
arm around her, pulling her back down as he told the driver to
take them directly to the hotel as quickly as possible.
In their bungalow, Harry told Laura to make certain the doors
were locked- and then dug the shoe out that he had hidden the
diamonds in. They were still there. "We can't risk staying
here, Laura. It won't take them long to trace us -"
- "Where are we going to go?"
- Harry pulled out his suitcase
with some mild effort and put the gems into the secret compartment.
"There's only one place that I know we'll be even halfway
safe."
- "Where's that?"
- "Daniel's villa. It's about
fifteen miles up the coast -"
- "You said you didn't want
to stay there," she said.
- "I know. But right now,
I don't think we have much choice." He started putting his
clothes into the case, then winced.
- "Sit down," Laura told
him. "And I'll finish this." As she worked, she said,
"Why exactly didn't you want to go to the villa?"
- Harry watched her carefully.
"Daniel's there. He arrived a week ago."
- Laura turned slowly to look at
him. "Why?"
- He lifted his shoulders, then
thought better of the movement. "How should I know? He told
me that he decided he needed some time away from London. Usually
means he's just pulled something off and thinks it would be best
to lay low for awhile."
- Laura finished packing his case,
then turned her attention toward her own. Just wonderful. Daniel.
Just the thing she needed to finish out this trip. After what
had just happened this evening - She realized her hands were
shaking as the realization that Harry might have been killed
in that alley hit her like a ton of bricks.
- "Laura?" Harry asked,
noticing the she had stopped packing to stare into nothing. When
she didn't respond, he pushed himself to his feet and went to
her, taking her into his arms. "Laura?" She was shaking,
and Harry new that reaction had finally set in. "It's all
right, honey. It's all right. We're both fine-"
- "He could have killed you,
Harry."
- "But he didn't. Thanks to
your being there."
- "It was all my fault. If
I hadn't insisted that we stay and find out who killed Archie-"
- "We were still witnesses,
Laura. They would have come after us no matter what we did. My
bruises will heal, and I'll be as good as new. And Daniel might
even be able to help us find a way to bring Archie's killer to
justice."
- "After he suggests you send
me back to LA for my own safety," she told him, placing
a kiss on his chin.
- "Well - you won't go, will
you?"
- Laura heard the concern in his
voice, the fear that she would say yes, that she wanted to go
home, away from him. "You're not getting rid of me that
easily, Harry."
- He pulled her to him, then winced
in pain. When Laura would have drawn back, he shook his head.
"No. I can stand it, as long as it's because you're in my
arms." He lowered his lips to hers. When he lifted his head,
her eyes were shining up at him. "Finish packing. I'm going
to call Daniel and ask him to send a car for us."
- "Yeah. Give him time to
prepare another volley against me."
- Harry gave her a sideways look
as he dialed the number. "Now, Laura- " His attention
turned toward the telephone as he asked someone to put Daniel
on. "Daniel? Daniel, it's Harry. I think Laura and I are
going to take you up on your offer after all - " Laura winced
at the false brightness in Harry's voice, smiling as Harry said,
"What? Nothing's wrong, Daniel. We just-" So Daniel
had heard it as well, she guessed. "Yes. I know about Archie.
That's why I'm calling - Could you send a car to pick us up?
Something- nondescript, I think -" He smiled. "That
will do nicely. We'll see you in an hour." He hung up the
telephone.
- "You're never going to learn
not to lie to him, are you?"
- "What do you mean?"
- "He saw through you like
you were made of glass. Hell, even I saw through that."
- "What do you expect? I've
lost an old friend to gangsters, inherited a fortune in diamonds,
been chased by gangsters, and been beaten within an inch of my
life. It's been a long day, Laura. I'm not at my best."
- Laura fastened her case and smiled,
putting her arms around him. "Well, it's still good enough
for me, Harry. Is the car going to meet us here?"
- "No. He said he would have
it meet us somewhere else. I have to check us out and get a cab."
- They took a cab to the harbour,
and Harry smiled as he saw the dark blue BMW parked there. He'd
had the driver take a circuitous route to the meeting area, just
to be certain they weren't being tailed, and now he dismissed
the cab. They approached the BMW, cases in hand as the driver's
window came down. "What have you gotten yourself into, Harry?"
Daniel asked.
- "Why don't we discuss it
later?" Harry suggested, putting the cases into the back
of the car. "Right now, I think we really should get out
of the area."
- Daniel waited for them to get
into the back seat of the car. "You look like hell, my boy."
- "Thanks, Daniel. Hard to
keep from getting one's feathers ruffled when you're being beaten
to a pulp."
- Laura saw Daniel's eyes harden
slightly as they moved to her. "And what were you doing
while this was going on?"
- "She was saving my life,"
Harry told the other man.
- "Don't bother, Harry,"
Laura said. "I don't think Daniel wants to hear about that."
- The eyes in the mirror were different
now. "You saved his life?"
- "Well, I couldn't very well
come back to you and tell you he was dead, now, could I?"
Laura returned, feeling Harry's hand clasp hers.
- "About Archie, Harry- what
happened?"
- Harry put his head back against
the leather seat. "Can't it wait until we get to the villa,
Daniel?"
- "I suppose it will have
to, won't it?" Daniel's eyes met Laura's again, and this
time she could see the concern in their dark depths.
Daniel's villa was even larger than his house in London was,
and Laura began to wonder about the investments that Harry had
told her that Daniel had made over the years. He certainly didn't
need to continue in the life, she thought. He could probably
simply retire to this villa and never have to worry about money
again. But he didn't. If an opportunity presented itself, Daniel
took advantage of it. Harry sank into a chair in the living area
gratefully. "Was the job successful?" he asked Daniel.
- Daniel poured them each a drink.
"What do you think? Of course it was, my boy. But I thought
it best to get out of town for a few weeks - "
- "And is Felicia with you?"
Laura asked.
- Daniel smiled at her over the
glass of whiskey. "No. She decided to go elsewhere- "
He looked at Harry. "About Archie, Harry-?"
- "Laura and I were in the
cove below the spot where his car was run off of the road this
morning," Harry said tiredly. "We pulled him from the
car before it exploded, and were chased off the beach by the
men who killed him."
- "They saw you?"
- "Quite likely."
- "Why didn't you leave Cannes
then? You could have come here - or gone back to London? Why
stay?"
- "I suppose I felt I owed
it to Archie to find out who killed him, Daniel. To give him
some justice-"
- "Justice? You're hurt worse
than I thought you were, Harry," Daniel commented.
- "It wasn't Harry's idea,"
Laura admitted, drawing that dark gaze.
- "Laura-"
- "Really? Then it was your
idea to place both of you in danger-"
- "Daniel -"
- "I didn't think that it
would turn out this way," Laura told him.
- "You have one thing right,
Linda. You didn't THINK at all. Didn't Harry tell you how dangerous
these people are?"
- "He told me. But I just
couldn't let the man die that way without-"
- "Excuse me-" Harry
said, loudly enough at last to get both Daniel's and Laura's
attention.
- "It wasn't entirely Laura's
fault, Daniel. After we got away from the beach, we went to see
Pearl, to see if we could find out what Archie had been into."
- "Archie wasn't the type
to broadcast a job, Harry. You know that. The fewer people in
on it the better. And he certainly wouldn't have told Pearl anything
-"
- "Then how is that she knew
PRECISELY what Archie had been planning?" Daniel went still,
frowing. Harry nodded. "And when we left her, we were followed.
By the same car that was chasing Archie."
- "You think Pearl double
crossed him." Daniel refilled his drink. "So, what
<was> Archie into?"
- "He discovered that the
local mob boss was taking delivery of a rather large amount of
untraceable diamonds with which to pay for a shipment of drugs.
He planned to relieve the man of the diamonds before the exchange
could take place."
- Daniel frowned. "There wasn't
any report of diamonds found in the car or on the body -"
- Harry smiled. "Because Archie
gave them to someone else, Daniel." He had retrieved the
black pouch upon their arrival at the villa, and now he brought
it from his pocket to toss it across the room to Daniel.
- Daniel caught it with a deft
touch, and poured the gems onto the table before him. Laura watched
as he picked several up to examine them in the light, much as
Harry had earlier. "They're all perfect. And they're untraceable,
you said?"
- Harry came from the chair. "Daniel-"
- "Sorry, my boy. Forgot myself
for a moment. Shiny objects and all that." He watched as
Laura returned the diamonds to their pouch and returned it to
Harry. "So. How did you wind up in this condition?"
- Harry filled him in on the events
in the restaurant alley, making sure to give Laura full
- credit for saving his life. "If
she hadn't been there, Daniel-"
- "Then you would probably
have been here, out of danger," Daniel finished.
- Harry sighed. "Daniel-"
- "He's right, Harry,"
Laura agreed. "It was my fault-"
- "I give up. I can't win
with either of you. If you don't mind, I've had long day, and
I'm going to turn in." He stopped and turned back to look
at Laura. "Coming, Laura?"
- "In a moment, Harry. I have
to discuss something with Daniel."
- "Just don't argue too loudly,
okay?" he asked, bending to kiss her on the top of her head.
- "And try to remember that
I made the decision to stay."
- "Good night, Harry,"
Daniel said as the younger man left them alone.
- Harry lifted his hand in silent
acknowledgement as he moved toward the stairway.
- "What did you want to discuss,
Laura?" Daniel asked, watching the woman carefully.
- She smiled at the realization
that she was "Linda" in front of Harry, yet when they
were alone, he had no problem remembering her name. "You
could have gone anywhere else in Europe. Why here?"
- "At the moment, I'd be grateful
that I AM here, if I were you. I might be the only one that can
keep you and Harry alive. The people that killed Archie don't
play games, Laura," he told her earnestly. "Those men
could have killed you both tonight."
- "But they didn't,"
Laura reminded him, pouring more wine into her own glass. "It
frightened me as well, Daniel. But I knew I wouldn't have been
able to face you again if anything happened to Harry."
- It was an admission of something
Daniel wasn't certain he wanted to hear from her. "And you
<wanted> to be able to face me again?"
- Laura's smile was filled with
amusement. "For some strange reason, yes, I did. Can't we
come to some- compromise, Daniel? Agree to share him? I kow he
means a lot to you," she said softly. "He means a lot
to me, too."
- "But that's the point, my
dear. Once you've had your fill of living Harry's kind of life,
your fill of the excitment, the danger,, you'll decide it's time
to go home and resume the life you left. Harry doesn't have that
option. THIS is the only life he's ever really known. I think,
Laura, that you could hurt him. More than anyone else ever could,
you could."
- Laura shook her head slowly.
"Hurting Harry is the last thing I want to do, Daniel. And
as for tiring of the excitement - the life- I don't think that's
going to happen for a long time. I haven't even really gotten
started, have I? I mean, one easy heist- "
- Daniel laughed softly. "You
sound hungry, Laura. But you've still got a lot to learn -"
- "Then <teach> me.
You and Harry could teach me to steal the crown jewels if necessary
- and I'm willing to learn, Daniel." She turned to face
him. "I don't want to take Harry away from you. I just want
to be a part of his life."
- Daniel didn't want to get further
into this scene. It was dangerous ground. He turned around, clearing
his throat. "First things first. We have to find a way to
hoist Archie's killer by his own petard."
- "You're willing to let me
help?"
- "It's only fair. Your meddling
DID get us into this little mess. Might be a good object lesson
for you, having to clean it up."
- Laura smiled and crossed to give
Daniel a kiss on the cheek, surprising the man. "I'll see
you in the morning."
- "Good night, Laura."
-
- The light was on beside the bed,
and Laura closed the door behind her as quietly as she could.
Harry's eyes were closed, and she didn't want to wake him. He's
been through so much - She began removed her jeans and was unbuttoning
her blouse when he spoke.
- "Took you long enough."
- She turned to see him looking
at her appreciatively at the view of her bare legs.. "I
didn't mean to wake you," she apologized.
- "You didn't. I wasn't asleep.
Did you and Daniel get things sorted out?"
- "For the time being,"
she told him, sliding between the sheets beside him.
- "Good." He rubbed her
back. "And did you solve our little delimna?"
- "I'm still thinking about
what our next step should be. Is there anyone else in Cannes
that you can trust? That would be willing to bring Pearl and
Archie's killer down?"
- "I'd have to check and see
who's around. Daniel might be able to help with that."
- "I'll talk to him tomorrow.
Harry, what are you going to do with those diamonds?"
- "I was thinking about having
them made in to a necklace for you," he said, looking at
her.
- "Or maybe a ring."
- Laura went still. "Harry-"
- "I haven't decided yet,
Laura. I've a couple of ideas, but we have to finish this first."
He held her tightly, knowing that he'd said too much. He'd felt
her tension the moment he'd mentioned the word "ring".
<Slow and easy Harry>, he told himself. They had time.
All the time in the world.
-
-
- Laura was already out of bed
and downstairs when Harry woke the next morning. Sighing, he
showered and dressed, finding her in the living room with Daniel.
"I think we may have found someone who can help, Harry,"
Laura told him, as he entered the room. "How are you feeling
this morning?"
- "Sore," he told her.
"Good morning, Daniel."
- "There's some coffee on
the table over there," Daniel told him as he and Laura studied
something.
- "What's so interesting?"
- Daniel looked up. "Do you
remember Wallace, Harry?"
- "From Paris. Last year,
I believe. Helped with the - Yes. What about him?"
- "He's in Cannes, and he
needs some money-"
- "Because he's got a two
hundred dollar a day habit," Harry pointed out. "I'm
not certain he's reliable-"
- "You'll be able to decide
for yourself in a few minutes. He's on his way here."
- "Daniel, when Wallace is
clean, he's good. But I've heard lately that he's -"