"I don't KNOW what I'm going to do yet," Tony was insisting as Remington came within earshot of the trio. "I need time to think."
"Take your time, Tony," Walters said, placing a hand on the younger man's shoulder. "But I don't have the luxury. If I don't leave now, your friends in the CIA won't let me. We went through too much to keep from happening five years ago."
"Why not tell Laura about what happened five years ago, Antony?" Remington asked, grabbing Walters from behind.
"Remington!" Laura said in relief and worry as Tony pulled the gun from his pocket.
"Let him go, Steele. This is between you and me. John doesn't have anything to do with it."
"I'll let him go- as soon as you tell Laura why you helped a Russian sleeper agent fake his death five years ago, and why you never told your superiors about it."
"What are you talking about, Remington?" Laura asked.
"You don't know what you're talking about, Steele," Walters said. "Put down the gun, Tony, and I'll tell them everything."
When Tony hesitated, Laura took a step toward him, easily able to read his thoughts in his eyes. "Getting rid of him isn't going to change the way I feel, Tony." Tony didn't move. "He's your cousin, Tony," Laura reminded him, and both men looked at each other in silent denial of her words. "You can't kill him in cold blood. Now put down the gun and tell me what's going on here."
"For the record, its step cousins," Tony said, and handed Laura the gun.
"Something for which I'm exceedingly grateful," Remington said, releasing Walters. "I wouldn't waste any time, gentlemen," he warned. "The CIA is at the cabin. I don't know how long Lt. Jarvis can hold them back."
"Oh, damn," Tony ground out. "You told them about-"
"I was looking for Laura," Remington reminded him. "If you hadn't kidnapped her, there would have been no need for me to talk to Sheldon Quarry about you OR Walter Johnson."
Laura eyed Walters warily. "You were a Russian sleeper agent?"
"Until five years ago, I was John Walters, living in Iowa, waiting for my control to alert me that I was needed for a mission," Walters admitted. "But when the call came, it was simply that I was to return to Russia."
"You didn't want to go?" Remington asked, suddenly confused.
"No. I'd been living as an American too long, forgotten much of the Russian that I'd spoken until I was ten years old. I was happy here. I didn't want to go back."
"Why not simply defect?" Laura suggested. "Turn yourself in to the authorities?"
Walters' smile was grim. "And what do you think would have happened, Mrs. Steele?" He lifted his hand to stop her response. "Let me tell you. I would have either been put into an American prison and interrogated mercilessly for any state secrets I might possibly know, or I would have been killed by my own people for attempting such a thing."
Things were becoming clearer for Remington. "So your friend Antony came up with a fool proof plan whereby he killed you, and you became someone else."
"I contacted Tony," Walters admitted, "His being a known agent made it easy for me to do that. After I explained my problem, he joked that it was too bad that someone else couldn't kill me off first."
"And you never told anyone else about this, Antony?" Remington asked Tony, who was looking down the path behind them.
"No. But it's beginning to look as if I'm going to have to do a LOT of explaining if I don't get out of here now," he said, nodding in the direction of the men coming toward the lake. "Let us go, Steele."
"Tony," Laura asked, confused, "why are you running away? Once you explain what happened, I'm sure that your former employers will understand-"
"They've never understood my methods," Tony insisted. "Forget that I always got the job done, if I didn't do everything strictly by the book, they were ready to give me a reprimand. I can just imagine what they'll do if they get a chance to get me on this." His eyes moved toward the gun in Laura's hand.
Remington saw that glance, and tensed, leaping forward as Tony made a grab for the gun. The two men wound up in the dirt, finishing what they had started in an Irish village over a month ago. "You're not going anywhere, Roselli," Steele said. "Even without this mess with Walters, you're still guilty of kidnapping Laura."
"I didn't hurt her," Tony reminded him, blocking Remington's attempted right cross. "She'll tell you herself- oof!"
Laura, the gun forgotten in her hand, followed them down the hill toward the edge of the lake. She felt satisfaction in hearing Tony's grunt of pain as Remington's fist connected with his stomach. But when Remington hit him again, sending him into the water, Laura began to worry. Remington didn't show any sign of letting him go. In fact he was holding Tony under the water. "Remington, stop!" she called out. "Let the police handle -"
Before she could finish, someone grabbed the gun and slipped an arm around her neck. "The police aren't going to handle anything, Mrs. Steele," Walters told her. "Let him go, Steele," he ordered.
Remington was just pulling Tony to his feet using his collar, and when he saw Walters holding a gun on Laura, he released Tony, his hands remaining in the air.
Tony stepped out of Remington's reach quickly, his eyes on Walters. "Don't hurt her."
"No one is going to get hurt if Mr. Steele does as he's told," Walters said calmly. "I'm trying to get us both out of here alive, old friend. Keep your hands up, Mr. Steele, and walk into the lake." He released Laura. "You too."
As she moved past him, Tony grabbed Laura's arm. "Laura-"
She paused. "You start running now, Tony," she told him, "and you'll be running for the rest of your life." She pulled away from his hold. "Now, if you'll excuse me, my husband is waiting."
Jarvis and the two CIA men came over the hill in time to see Laura and Remington standing the lake, hands over their heads, as John Walters held a gun toward them.
Agent Jackson lifted a radio. "Are you in position?"
"I'm here," a voice came back, and Jarvis' eyes immediately began searching the trees.
Jackson motioned to his partner to move away, and then started toward the lake with Jarvis.
"Say goodbye, Tony," Walters said as Tony hesitated to join him. "Mrs. Steele has made her choice."
"And so has Tony," Laura pointed out. "You don't have to do this, Tony."
"She's right, Tony," Jackson called out, his hands out, revealing a lack of weapon. "We just want to talk to you and your- friend."
"You forget I know how this works, Mark," Tony replied. "I spent the last two years trying to get back into the old man's good graces, and where did it get me? An early pension and a kick out the door into the cold."
"Put down the gun, Walters," Jackson said. "Slowly. We don't want anyone to die here today."
"It's not that easy," Walters said, shaking his head. When Tony looked at him, Walters shook his head, his gun still on Remington and Laura. "I can't risk being caught, Tony."
"You don't know anything," Tony reminded him. "You were a low level sleeper."
"Is that what he told you?" Jackson wanted to know. "He's one of their top agents, Tony. At least, he was until you supposedly killed him five years ago."
Tony looked confused. "You lied to me?"
"I needed help to get out of a bad situation," Walters confessed. "And it wasn't all a lie. I WAS being recalled back to Russia- and I didn't want to go. Enter you, a gung ho, fired up CIA operative who needed a big notch on his gun to get his career jumpstarted."
"Why you son of a--" furious, Tony leapt at Walters.
Laura moved forward, concerned, and Remington grabbed her arm, hoping to keep her out of harm's way. The gun went off, and Tony froze, falling to the ground as another shot rang out.
But this one came from the direction of the top of the ridge, and hit John Walters directly in the heart. He dropped the gun as he fell close to Tony. Jackson cautiously came over and kicked the gun further away as he knelt between both men and picked up his radio. "We need that ambulance. Two men down."
Laura ran from the lake's edge, followed closely by Remington, going to her knees beside Tony. "Tony?" she said, and was relieved as he opened his eyes.
"Sorry," he managed to say, wincing in pain. "Guess I'm not as good a judge of character as I thought, right? I'm sorry, Laura. Made lots of mistakes. Tell Eileen I'm sorry, too." He glanced to where Remington's hand lay on Laura's shoulder. "Take care of her," he said, brown eyes meeting blue. "Or I'll come back and -" he winced again, and his eyes closed.
"Tony?" Jackson reached out to place a hand to the pulse in Tony's neck, and then shook his head in answer to Remington's silent query.
"Come on, Laura. There's nothing more you can do for him." He pulled her into his arms and held her tightly, feeling her fight against the tears he knew she wanted to shed. But his gaze moved to Tony's body on the ground, and he frowned. Had he just seen Tony's chest rise and fall? His eyes narrowed, and then lifted to Jackson.
Avoiding that gaze, Jackson rose as well. "You two might as well go home. If we need to talk to you, I think we know where to find you."
"Thank you."
"I'm just sorry it ended this way. Tony was a good agent. Just got a little sidetracked, I guess."
"Happens to a lot of us," Remington commented as Jarvis joined them.
"I'll drive you both back to LA," Jarvis offered. "Are you okay, Laura?"
Laura nodded, her expression somber. "I'll be all right," she assured him.
As they turned the corner that would take them back to the house and the car, two paramedics came rushing around the bend. "Excuse us," the said as they moved past the three people on the path. Remington hung back as long as he could, wondering why the medics were in such a hurry to reach two dead men.
The house was overrun with CIA agents, searching for anything that Walters might have left behind. Jarvis opened the back door of his car for Remington and Laura, then got behind the steering wheel and started the engine.
Remington kept his arm around Laura. "Are you sure you're okay?" he asked.
"I'm fine," she said once more, an edge in her voice this time, and he knew she was telling him the truth. "You know, I think I had just about convinced him to let me go when everything got crazy." She rested her head on his shoulder. "He told me that Eileen is- was his aunt."
"Oh, Good Lord," Remington sighed. "Eileen. I need to let she and Mildred know you're okay."
She looked up at him. "She and Mildred?"
"They were at the office when we left. Getting along like old friends. She's been keeping Mildred supplied with coffee while she helped me track you down."
"Oh. They've been there all night?"
"Yes." He rubbed her shoulder. "I'll call them from the apartment, let them know you're okay. And I have to find someway to tell Eileen about Antony."
"You'll find a way," Laura told him, then fell silent again. "Tony- tried to tell me that you would go back to Ireland with her if she asked you to."
"And leave you?" Remington shook his head as his eyes met hers. "Actually, she's talking about moving here to Los Angeles so that we can get to know each other."
"Hate to interrupt," Jarvis said, "but I wanted you to know that I put in a call to the station. They've already notified Mildred and Eileen that Laura's okay."
"What about Tony?"
"I thought you'd prefer to do that yourself. Were you two really cousins?"
"STEP cousins," Remington reiterated. "His uncle was married to my mother."
"Oh. You want to go to Rossmore?"
"Please. And thank you, Jimmy," Remington said sincerely.
Laura looked at her husband in surprise, mouthing the word, "JIMMY?" When Remington shrugged, smiling slightly, she said, "Yes. Thank you for helping Remington."
"I couldn't let someone break up the best PI team in Los Angeles, now, could I?" Jarvis asked grinning in the mirror.
Remington unlocked the door to the apartment and then followed Laura inside. The moment that the door closed behind them, Laura turned toward the bedroom. "I'm going to take a bath," she said, her voice dull and lifeless again.
"Not yet," Remington said, pulling her into his arms. "Right now, I need to hold you for a minute. These last few hours have been hell."
"I feel like it's my fault, somehow. If I hadn't-"
"Hadn't what?"
"Hadn't let Tony think he stood a chance-" she hesitated, uncertain of how much more she should say.
"When did you do that?" Remington asked, looking down at her.
"In Ireland," she admitted slowly. "After we escaped from the Russian Embassy. He- kissed me- I told him that if I hadn't met you, then maybe there might have been a chance, - that it had taken us too long to get as close as we were, that I couldn't just throw it away- I should have been firmer with him. Made him understand that I loved you-"
"Come here," he said, pulling her close again. "None of what happened was your fault, Laura. He knew how things stood between you and I- and he made the decision to ignore it. He was willing to use anyone in his little game- my mother, you- even John Walters. You've no reason to feel guilty."
He held her tightly, feeling the sadness in her body. The tears would come later. He knew that as sure as he knew the sun would set in the west and rise in the east. Once Laura had come to terms with Tony's death, she would cry. His lips met hers in silent promise that he would be there for her if she needed him, and was pleasantly surprised when Laura deepened the kiss, sliding her arms around his neck. He needed her as much as she needed him, and he slipped an arm beneath her knees to lift her into his arms and carry her toward the bedroom.
He only took one step before the telephone began to ring.