"You and Harry will be in no -position to say anything," DeMoray had assured her. "If you will excuse me, I must make some arrangements for my departure from Hawaii once I have my hands on the gems." He glanced at Mac, who had stopped working to look at him. "Are the ropes tight?"
Mac had nodded. "Better than before, Mr. DeMoray."
"Good. I would hate for the lady to escape before she is reunited with her husband." DeMoray smiled at Laura. "Until later, Madame."
Mac hesitated as the man left the room. "I told you. He's going to kill us," Laura said in a quiet voice. "And then he'll kill you and your friend."
The young man swallowed heavily. "Uh, Mr. DeMoray," he called out, rushing from the room to catch his employer. In his haste, he failed to close the door all the way, allowing Laura to hear the conversation. "Uh, you ARE gonna let her go, right? I mean- "
"Why? So that she can identify you and your friend once she is free? Not to mention being able to identify me. Is that what you want?"
"No, but- murder? Joe and me, we didn't sign on for that. A few easy bucks, baby sitting the lady. That's all."
"But the reward could be so much greater, Mac," Phillipe DeMoray said smoothly. "I can help you and your friend to so very much more than you ever imagined. You must look at the larger picture, my friend. What are the lives of these two people when you see that they are the only things standing between you and your just rewards, umm? Think about it. And keep an eye on the woman."
She heard the front door closing, and a moment later, Mac reappeared in the doorway. "You see? I was right."
Mac frowned, obviously confused. "I need to talk to Joe about this. He should be back soon. He'll know what to do."
"And if he's willing to let me die? You don't really believe that DeMoray is going to let you and Joe live anymore than he's going to let Harry and I live, do you?"
"I don't know," Mac cried out. "I don't know! Leave me alone, okay? Just shut up and leave me alone!" He ran from the room, leaving Laura to ponder if her plan, such as it was, was going to work. Mac was the weak link in the chain. Break him, and the rest might unravel.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Remington stood in the doorway that opened to the balcony, sipping the cup of coffee that he had ordered from room service. Every so often, his gaze would stray to the telephone nearby, willing it to ring. He was getting tired of waiting for DeMoray to make his next move. His biggest fear was that Laura had tried to escape the man's clutches and been injured- or even killed. The thought that he might never be able to work out their problems tore at his heart like a sharp knife. "Com'on, mate," he muttered, placing a hand on the phone. "Call, damn you." When the bloody machine rang, Remington grabbed it without hesitation. "Hello?"
"Good morning, Harry," DeMoray said smoothly. "I hope you had a very- productive night?"
"You might say that. What time shall we meet?"
"Oh, Harry. Why in such a hurry to resolve this little game, umm?"
"It's not a game when lives are at stake," Remington returned evenly.
"No? Very well. Drive your car five miles north- there will be a telephone booth. Wait there. And make sure you retrieve the gems from the hotel safe."
Remington went still. So he HAD been watched. "That might not be a good idea. They should discover that the gems are missing shortly. Besides which, you're not going to see the gems until I see that Laura is safe."
"So how do you intend to make the switch?"
"I've arranged for you to pick up a package from the safe here at the hotel. But you won't be able to get it until Laura and I have checked out and are on a flight home."
"You don't trust me," DeMoray sighed, sounding very put upon. "And how do I know that you won't turn me in to the authorities, hmm?"
"Right now, DeMoray, the only thing that's important to me is Laura's life. Do we have a deal?"
"Your Laura might not agree with your decision. I have the impression from spending last night with her that she intends to inform the police what has happened the moment she's freed."
The thought of Laura being forced to spend the night in DeMoray's company sickened Remington, but he pressed on. "I'll take care of that. You just get her back to the hotel."
"And how do I know you're telling the truth about the package?"
"Ask the desk clerk if he's holding something for you," Remington said simply.
"*IF* I agree to this," DeMoray said slowly, "how long will it take for you to leave the island?"
"We can be gone this afternoon," Remington said. "I've already made the arrangements, the cases are packed, now, I'm just waiting for Laura's return to set things into motion."
"I could- follow you to Los Angeles, you know. Take care of matters there."
"Ah, but that's my turf, DeMoray. And you'd never get close enough. Much better idea that you take the gems and disappear- It would be a shame for the Australian authorities to locate you, wouldn't it?" Remington pointed out in a soft voice.
"Be in the hotel lobby in thirty minutes, ready to leave. Your Laura will be delivered to you." The link went dead, and Remington released the breath he'd been holding.
"So far, so good," he muttered, picking up the telephone to dial the front desk and inform them that he and Mrs. Robie would be checking out in half an hour.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Laura saw Mac's head appear around the door. "What time is it?" she asked
"Nearly ten," he replied.
"I thought Joe was supposed to be back by now?"
"Yeah. He was," Mac nodded, a furrow of worry revealing itself on his forehead. "Maybe Mr. DeMoray had something else for him to do."
"Or maybe Mr. DeMoray killed him and when he comes back, he'll kill you, too."
"You're crazy, lady. He's got no reason to kill me or Joe."
"You heard him this morning. He doesn't like witnesses. You and Joe know too much. He can't afford to leave Hawaii with you two still alive." She waited a beat before continuing. "Look, if you untie me and help me escape, I'll try to get the police to go easy on you. You're already involved with kidnapping. Murder's a LOT worse."
Mac frowned again. "I don't know. I need to talk to Joe." The telephone rang, and he returned to the outer room to answer it. "Hello?…Mr. De-…Huh? But, I thought you said…Oh. The minute she's there, she'll…He did? Okay…Mr. DeMoray-?…Have you seen Joe this morning?" He came back a moment later, smiling again. "See? I told you that you were wrong. He's not gonna kill anyone. I'm supposed to take you to the hotel in twenty minutes and let you go."
"And where's Joe?"
"Still working. He offered to pull another shift to keep an eye on your husband."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Remington opened the door for Joe, feeling his nerves getting tighter and tighter as the moment came for the resolution to all of this. He knew that Laura wasn't going to appreciate abandoning the other case, but from where he stood, they had very little choice. "Guess your wife'll be waiting downstairs," Joe commented.
"She should be. Went shopping this morning," Remington covered.
"Too bad you had to cut your honeymoon short."
"Business concerns back home," Remington told him. He glanced again at the bellhop as they got onto the elevator. Something wasn't right. "Weren't you on duty last night, too?"
Joe grinned. "My relief didn't show up today, so I offered to work for him. I can use the extra money. Of course, I think I made a mistake, with all that's going on…"
"Going on?" Remington asked innocently.
"Yeah. Someone stole the Royal Lavulite."
"The gems downstairs? Someone stole them? How shocking."
"Yeah. The police are talking about doing a room to room search if they can't get any leads. Guess you're checking out at the right time."
"Apparently," Remington agreed as the lift doors opened into the lobby. He could see several uniformed officers gathered around the display room, while an almost equal number of detectives milled around the desk area.
"I'll take your cases out to street," Joe offered, "while you check out."
"Most kind of you."
"Wouldn't want anything to happen to your things," he replied, speeding up slightly as he moved past a group of officers. "Excuse me."
One of them spoke. "Where are you going?"
"Taking these out to the street, officer," Joe said. "Mr. Robie is checking out-"
The officer glanced in the direction of the detective nearest Remington's position. "You're Mr. Robie?" the detective asked.
"Yes. John Robie. How may I help you?"
The man smiled, and drew out a badge. "Danny Williams, Mr. Robie. Hawaii Five-O. Could I ask you a few questions?"
"Always happy to help out with a problem, Mr. Williams."
"Uh, what about the cases?" Joe asked, and Remington thought he seemed nervous.
Danny Williams looked at Remington. "I'm sorry, but we're going to have to search them."
"Search them?"
"The young man mentioned something about a robbery," Remington said. "Surely you don't think that *I*-"
"Of course not, Mr. Robie," Williams replied. "But we're just covering the bases." He nodded at the officer. "Take them somewhere and look through them while I talk to Mr. Robie." Remington watched as the Joe stood there, trying to make a decision.
"Mr. Robie?" Danny Williams said to get his attention. "This way, please?"
Remington turned, and spoke softly. "I'd have your men keep an eye on the bellhop, Mr. Williams." He felt the Five-O detective turn and motion toward one of his men as they continued toward the office.
"I don't have long, Mr. Williams," Remington was saying as they entered the room.
"Shouldn't take long, Mr. Steele," Danny Williams assured him as he closed the door.
From across the room, Mildred Krebs spoke. "You okay, Chief? How's Miss Holt?"
Remington gave Mildred a quick hug. "I guess Miss Krebs filled you in, Mr. Williams?"
"For the most part. There are still a few questions, but I think we have everything ready. You're sure he'll deliver Miss Holt as promised?"
"He wants those gems," Remington said. "He'll do almost anything to get them. Did you notify the Australian authorities?"
"There's someone on the way. Of course, he won't be going back there until we're finished with him here. Why did you want us to watch that bellhop?"
"I think he may be one of DeMoray's henchmen. Everytime I've turned around since last evening, he was there. Probably watching me and reporting back to DeMoray."
There was a knock on the door, and Williams opened it. "Could I speak to you, Mr. Williams?" the officer asked.
"Excuse me."
"Good work, Mildred," Remington told the woman at his side. "You know what to do once Laura and I are gone?"
"Yeah. I hope Miss Holt's okay, Mr. Steele."
Remington gave her another hug. "So do I, Mildred." He looked up as Danny Williams returned.
"Miss Krebs mentioned that you and Miss Holt were here on a drug smuggling case, Mr. Steele?"
"Yes, that's right. Our client stayed here and when he and his wife returned to Los Angeles, their house was burgled. The only thing that was touched were some clothes in the closet---" Remington's voice trailed off. "You found heroin in the coathangers."
"I was going to tell you about it last night," Mildred explained, "but there wasn't time, with Miss Holt being kidnapped and all…"
"The bellhop," Remington realized. "Joe."
"And his friend Mac," Mildred agreed. "They're in it together."
"No wonder Joe wanted my cases out of the hotel before you started searching," Remington told Danny. He glanced at his watch. "I have to get back outside. DeMoray should be returning Laura any moment."
Danny nodded in agreement, and waited for Remington to open the door. "But Mr. Steele- once this is over, we need to have a little talk. I'm curious as to how he was able to blackmail you into stealing those gems."