- Covert Steele
- Part Four
- "First of all, he's not MY
old friend," he declared. "He and Daniel USED to be
friends- did quite a bit of work together. Until the night in
Sydney when Phillipe killed a security guard in cold blood, anyway."
Laura's eyes widened upon hearing his words. "There was
no reason for him to kill the man. He was a harmless, terrified
little man who would probably have forgotten what Phillipe looked
like two seconds after we were gone." He ran a hand across
the back of his neck, and Laura realized that he was truly frightened
by the memory of whatever had happened that night. Remington
sat down in the nearest chair and looked up at her. "I mean
what I said. With him here, I think our wisest course is to chuck
it and go home."
"What about the case?" she asked, and shrank back as
his blue eyes blazed at her.
"Forget the bloody case!" he said forcefully. "I'm
talkin' about a cold blooded murderer who's spent the last ten
years in prison trying to find some way to get even with the
two people he holds responsible for his being there!" He
leaned forward, covering his face with his hands.
Laura knelt beside him, touching his arm. Her voice was calm
and quiet as she said, "Tell me what happened." When
he removed his hands to look at her, she shook her head. "I'm
not asking because it's another piece of your mysterious past,"
she assured him. "If this man is as dangerous as you say
he is, then I need to know everything I can."
He reached out to touch her face, sighing. "That wouldn't
be necessary if you'd just agree to leave with me."
Laura rubbed his back, wishing she could ease the tense muscles
she felt beneath his shirt. "Stand and fight, remember?"
He looked across the room again, and Laura could tell that he
was no longer in the room with her- he wasn't seeing the wall,
but another time, another place. "Daniel got a message to
me, asking me to join him in Sydney. When I arrived, he and Phillipe
told me about a plan they'd concocted to get a fortune in uncut
diamonds out of the Gem Exchange there."
"Why didn't they do it themselves?"
"The only access to the gem vault was through a small air
vent barely big enough for Daniel or myself to slide through.
Phillipe would never have made it. And then the return with the
gems, - there would be too many for one man to bring back in
one trip. There wouldn't be time for a second. Phillipe stayed
in the storage room where we entered the vent, standing watch
for the guards. The job looked to be going off without a hitch-
we got into the vault with no problem, filled the money belts
we'd brought with diamonds and then went back the way we'd come
in. Just as we came out of the vent, the door opened and a guard
appeared." His eyes were shadowed now, haunted by the memory.
"He was an old man. And his- hand was shaking as he held
his gun. He was as frightened as we were, I think." He drew
a shuddering breath. "Phillipe grabbed him, intending to
tie him up and leave him, but the old man lost his footing and
started to fall. His hand grabbed for something to stop him,
and he managed to pull Phillipe's ski mask off."
Laura winced. "So he could have identified Phillipe?"
He nodded. "But I don't think he would have. He was so frightened.
I saw Phillipe pick up the man's gun- Daniel and I both tried
to stop him, but-" he closed his eyes, jerking as if he
could hear the gunshot again. "He pulled the trigger. The
old man died instantly."
"What did you do?"
"Daniel and I dropped the money belts, and told Phillipe
to come on. He refused, grabbing the belts, saying he wasn't
going to come away empty handed. We tried to tell him that getting
rid of the damned things would be impossible- and that the shot
was bound to have alerted the other guards, but Phillipe refused
to listen. So Daniel and I took off. Phillipe grabbed the money
belts and tried to follow us, calling for us to wait for him.
When we didn't, he took a couple of shots at us. But the guards
caught up with him, drawn by the gunfire. His accomplices were
never found- and Phillipe was sentenced to life in prison for
murder and attempted robbery. He sent Daniel a letter after the
conviction- through his attorney. He swore to get even with both
of us for leaving him there." He took a deep breath, pulling
himself out of his memories. "I need to call Daniel."
"You said he was sentenced to life in prison. How could
he be here?"
"I've no idea. Probably escaped somehow- or convinced a
judge and parole board that he was reformed." He rose slowly
and went to the telephone.
Watching him dial the number, Laura asked, "Why do you think
he came here?"
"The Lavulite," he told her. "It's the only reason.
Phillipe is the one who first told ME about the bloody things-
Yes," he said into the telephone as it was answered, "Is
Daniel there by any chance?" Laura wandered to the balcony,
leaving the sliding glass door open so she could hear his side
of the conversation. She wrapped Remington's jacket tighter around
her body. Paradise had just taken a left turn toward nightmare.
"Daniel?...Yes...Well, not really...Have you heard anything
about Phillipe getting out of prison?...Yes, DeMoray...I see...Why?
Because I saw him not ten minutes ago...No, not in Los Angeles.
Laura and I are in Hawaii...On a case, actually...Uh, no; he's
not here because I am. He's here because the Royal Lavulite is
here...Yes...I've tried, Daniel. She refuses to consider dropping
the case and going home..." Laura turned to look at him
through the open doorway, saw his eyes on her. "Stubborn...
Precisely...I don't think...Very well." He held out the
receiver toward her. "He wants to talk to you."
Laura crossed back into the room slowly to take the telephone.
"Hello, Daniel," she said as brightly as possible.
"Laura, it's vitally important that you and Harry catch
the next flight out of Hawaii and back to Los Angeles. DeMoray
isn't a man to be trusted."
"Daniel, if we run away, he'll just follow us- right now,
I don't think he's aware that Mr. Steele is anything more than
what he's pretending to be for this case-"
"And what might that be?" Daniel asked, and Laura thought
she detected a faint smile in that voice.
"A man on his second honeymoon, if you must know."
"Really?" The smile grew wider, and Laura refused to
be baited.
"If he follows us back to Los Angeles, he'll create even
more trouble. We have to take care of this problem HERE- or not
at all."
"Is there nothing I can say that will convince you to take
Harry's advice and go home?"
"Not a thing, Daniel," she said firmly.
She heard him sigh deeply. "I'll be arriving as soon as
I can- What name are you and Harry using?"
"You're coming here?" Laura asked, and Remington turned
to look at her, concern in his eyes. "Why?" He motioned
for her to give him the telephone.
"Because I'm not about to allow you and Harry to try and
handle Phillipe alone," she heard him say before Remington
took the telephone from her.
"Daniel, you'll be safer right where you are. At the moment,
I doubt he knows where to find you. If you haven't heard from
Laura or myself in two days, go to ground...No arguments, Daniel.
Laura's right. It's time I stopped running and learned to stand
and fight...Well, if anyone can teach me how to do that, she
can...Yes, yes, I'll keep you informed. Just stay there. And
I want your word..." Laura smiled against her will as she
considered that only Remington would be able to accept the word
of a con artist like Daniel Chalmers. "Okay..." The
ghost of a smile flitted across his face as he looked at her.
"I will. Good night." He hung up the telephone and
pulled Laura into his arms. "Okay. We'll do it your way."
He looked down at her. "Where do we start?"
***
Laura called Mildred, making sure that she would keep an eye
on the room as they had agreed.
"Sure, Hon. No problem. Is something wrong?"
"No," Laura said quickly. No sense in telling Mildred
about DeMoray. "But it's vitally important that no one know
that you know US."
"Huh? I thought that was the plan anyway."
"I'm just making sure, Mildred. Mr. Steele and I might be
a bit- busy for a couple of days-"
"Busy?" Mildred repeated, curiosity oozing from the
telephone connection.
"Not in THAT way," Laura told the woman, then glanced
around to discover that Remington- and the cart holding the champagne
he'd ordered were no longer in the room. She moved slightly,
looking through the open doors into the bedroom- where Remington
was turning back the covers on the bed
"You there, Miss Holt?"
"Uh, yes, Mildred," Laura said. "From here on
out- no contact unless you see something suspicious, okay?"
"Okay."
"G'night, Mildred," Laura said absently, watching as
Remington picked up the bottle of wine.
"Night. Tell Mr. Steele I said goodnight."
"I will," Laura promised. She heard the soft "POP!"
of the cork as she hung up the phone. Idly, she wandered into
the room.
He held a fluted glass toward her. "I thought we might try
to salvage part of the evening, at least," he suggested,
touching his glass to hers. "To- finding the mood again,
eh?" he said. He was determined not to let Phillipe's unexpected
appearance end the evening, which had seemed so promising. Seeing
her nervous glance toward the waiting bed, he faltered for a
moment, then refilled their glasses. "What's the plan?"
he asked, wanting to get her mind off of the next hours and what
he hoped might happen.
"Plan?" she said. "Looks to me as if you already
have it all planned out, Mr. Steele."
He grinned and touched her cheek. "I meant your plan to
stop Phillipe."
"Oh." He saw the color rise in her cheeks as she took
a large drink of champagne. "Well," she said, pacing
away from the bed- toward the balcony door. "He obviously
thinks that YOU are here to steal those gems just like he is-"
"I think that's a fair assumption," Remington agreed,
falling into step behind her onto the balcony, remaining as close
to her as he could before slipping his free arm around her waist
to pull her back against him. He lowered his head to plant feather
light kisses along the side of her long neck.
"Are you listening to me?" she asked in a breathless
voice.
"Every word," he assured her. "Since Phillipe
thinks I'm after the Lavulite-" he repeated.
"We're going to force his hand. Make him think that WE are
ready to steal them before he can- making him steal them before
he's ready. He'll slip up- and be caught."
"And tell everyone that I was his accomplice ten years ago,"
Remington pointed out, kissing the other side of her neck.
"You're Remington Steele," she reminded him. "Whose
word do you think the authorities will take? Yours? Or an ex-con's?"
"Still seems to me that-"
"It's a foolproof plan, Mr. Steele," she insisted,
turning to look up at him. "What could possibly go wrong?"
Finishing her champagne, she placed the empty glass into his
other hand. "Be a dear and pour me another while I-slip
into something more- comfortable?" she asked, sliding her
hand across his chest as she slipped away from him and back into
the bedroom.
Remington stood there, watching as she paused by the dresser
and pulled something out of a drawer before continuing to the
bathroom. Once the door closed behind her, he drained his own
glass, then quickly went into the main room of the suite. At
the door, he was forced to juggle the glasses as he fumbled to
put out the "DO NOT DISTURB" sign and place the chain
on the door.
In the bedroom, he lowered the lights another notch or two, unfastened
his shirt cuffs and slipped off his shoes before turning his
attention to refilling the glasses. As he touched the top of
the bottle to the second glass, the bathroom door opened, and
he glanced up.
Laura stood there, wearing a blue satin nightgown that fell gently
to the floor from a straight bodice. It was only when she moved
a leg that he realized that the slit in the side when all the
way to her hip
"I don't think you're going to get the rest of the bottle
in that glass," she told him, a smile lighting her eyes.
Remington glanced down to realize that the tray that the glasses
were sitting on was almost overflowing with champagne-, as was
the glass he'd been filling. Embarrassed by his actions, he returned
the bottle to the ice bucket and took a napkin to wipe the bottom
of the glasses before holding them both. "I was- distracted,"
he told her.
"Pleasantly so, I hope," she said, moving to take the
glass from him. She ran a fingertip around the top of hers, dipping
it into the champagne and then placing it between her lips.
Remington's eyes were glued to those lips. "Oh, yes. Most
definitely." When she dipped her finger again, and lifted
it toward her mouth, Remington took her wrist and brought it
to his instead. He licked her fingers one by one, placing his
untouched glass on the table. He took her glass and set it down
as well, standing there, inches from her. "Laura- if you'd
rather I sleep in the other room-"
"Just try it, Mr. Steele," she told him, moving over
to close the bedroom doors- and turned the lock for good measure
before turning back to him. "Just try it..."
To Be Continued---
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content ©2000 by Nancy Eddy