Jewel of Steele

Part Eight

by Claudia Crepeault

A Remington Steele Round Robin
copyright 1998 by the Remington Steele Chatboard

DISCLAIMER: This story is purely a work of fiction and is in no way associated with REMINGTON STEELE, MTM, the actors...yaddah, yaddah, yaddah...we all know the drill. This is purely a bit of fun for the latenight RS Chatboard crowd.

As soon as the door closed, Laura broke the kiss. Immediately, she released herself from her husband's arms, walking a little more into the room. Steele knew she was still upset.

"That woman!"

Steele looked at her. Her eyes were mad, her face was inflamed, and so was her voice. Upset?? No-rather, ENRAGED!!!

"That-that-that bloody peroxided doll!!"

There were times though he couldn't believe how Laura could turn so passionately mad. He remembered seeing her an inch like this only once, a few years ago, back at the sensitive spa, when they were asked to tell each other hidden frustrations regarding their relationship.

Those lighted, brown, burning eyes- He realized there were times she could get so intense she scared him to death. When Laura was angry, it just seemed she was blinded. She would have made a perfect murderer.

"All the women in the world, and it had to be HER!!!" Laura had just partly yelled this time, and Steele naturally noticed she was slowly cooling down. "All the bars, all the hotels in the world, and she had to walk into MINE!"

"Casablanca, Humphrey Bogart, Ingrid Bergman, Warner Brothers, 1942 "

Remington realised he had just pumped a movie quote.

A loud, disturbing silence suddenly got into the room. Laura was facing him, so passionate, so beautiful, just a few inches away from him.

"You just can't help yourself, can you?" she asked, amazed. She looked into his deep blue eyes, HER pieces of sky, and then took a deep breath.

"I'm so sorry", she said, turning around and sitting on the bed. "I'm sorry I let my emotions blind me like-"

"Laura, please!" This was more than he could stand from her.

"Don't talk like this. I hate when you apologize for not being rational!"

"Sorry, but I have to! I could have easily killed her! When I saw Blondie, that-that pomp girl in OUR bedroom, it drove me out of my mind! Being turned down by you and me all the time wasn't enough for her-"

"Laura-"

"I'm sure she couldn't help herself from intruding into our home. I bet she looked everywhere, that she sat there, even taking the liberty of laying on our bed. Who knows how long she has been waiting here?" Laura paused. "Maybe she even spent the night here, in our bed!!!"

"Laura," Steele asked, for the second time.

"That bi***! When I'll lay my hands on this necklace, I'll strangle her with it "

"Laura please! Would you stop for a bloody minute? She was just few minutes ahead of us because ovbiously she's been spying on us all the time. She was send by The Hand to watch over us like a shadow. She got here an hour before us at the most. It's rather a short time for a nap, don't you think? "

"How dare you protect her, Mr. STEELE!"

"May I remind you we are dealing with the most powerful criminal organization here, and that they have a valuable hostage, your father? If we want him alive, we'll have to collaborate. I know it's not the easiest thing. I know it has always been war between the two of you, but right now we need Felicia. No matter what she does; no matter how bitchy she is to you and me!"

Decidedly, those "mother-to-be-hormones" were contagious, Steele thought.

"Even I couldn't believe some words she said to you earlier, but we have to cooperate. Felicia is on the thin edge too, Laura. If we fail in recovering the necklace, they will kill her too. She remains the only lead we have to your father, so please get a grip on yourself. "

Laura's voice raised again.

"Get a grip on myself?? The lady here is a murderer, she almost wrapped you twice since we left Los Angeles, she threatened me, she kidnapped Daddy, and all you want me to do is to get a grip on myself??"

"Laura, don't you understand she can simply sell me to The Hand as Philip Raymond did with your father? "

That was it. Remington realized he had just been carried away. Since they had both left Los Angeles, he had turned this deadly thought in his mind. The more he had thought about it, the more it seemed he couldn't escape them. No, the Hand couldn't risk to be known that well by a great detective, by a powerful agency, who could threaten them for years ...

He saw extreme concern on Laura's face. She was scared now, he could see it, but it was a different fear. A "rational" one.

"What was that supposed to mean?" she asked.

He knew he couldn't hide anything from her anymore. He loved her. No more secrets, he had promised. "Felicia is that kind of woman Laura. As soon as she'll get the necklace, she may run away with it, and believe me, she's damn good at vanishing. That's the main reason she got into the Hand, not because she is a good thief Laura, but because she can disappear without a trace! They may send some fellows after her, but they'll first take care of us, take my words for it!"

Laura was now speechless. She couldn't move either. She wasn't mad anymore. She wasn't feeling anything but her heart loudly beating against the sides of her head.

Steele came closer, held her in his arms, and kept talking." When we give them back the jewel, we become a possible treat to their organization,because we will have an tidea of how they operate. They are worldwide Laura, and that means we can easily relay them to some crimes back to the States.No-they can't risk letting someone as famous as Remington Steele guessing about their next operation. This means it's a lot more risky that we both thought it was.No matter what happens, we will have to stick to their rules. "

He took her face in his hands, and looked in her eyes. Those disarming blue eyes- Suddenly she felt in peace-She loved him so much.

"No, Laura, I'm not protecting Felicia. I never did and I never will. I thought she loved me a long while ago. I thought I meant something to her, until she let me down. Remember the Five nudes of Cairo? She had it in her hands, and when she heard the alarm and the guards coming, she hit me, knotted the precious wrapped painting around my neck and ran away. Interpol never found her. When I woke up, I was the one who had to deal with the authorities. I was the one sent to prison because she had vanished. I don't understand what's going on in this woman's head, but she's a fighter, Laura. If she can't have me, nobody will; you could end your cat fight just by having me killed.But, then she would win-again. "

She couldn't believe what she had just heard. "Not a chance," she said. Laura released herself and walked over to the fireplace.

"What do you know about this necklace?" she asked him, her mind focused on him.

"Well," Steele began. "The heart of the Ocean is a rare, priceless necklace, mostly made of sapphires.You have one big stone right in the middle of it.But that precious stone itself isn't that priceless. It's the pearls that surround it that give the necklace such value. These pearls, six at all, each about the size of a grape, are the purest ones ever put on a piece of jewely. "

He paused.

"Originally, there were 12 pearls. They were part of another treasure, the Anja Collection, but for unknown reasons, it became scattered. Half of the treasure ended up in Russia, at the beginning of the century. The Tsar used the pearls for a necklace for his wife and named it the Heart of the Ocean, because-"

"...because the sapphires were so blue they looked like pieces of the sea," Laura interrupted

"Precisely, Laura. However, the Tsar was murdered in the Bolshevik revolution of 1917. Russians killed the Tsar and stole everything they found, including the precious necklace. Later, during the Second World War, it was stolen again from a very wealthy Russian businessman and ended up in Germany. Many years later, it was found in Berlin and returned to Moscow, where it was placed in a museum. "

"And what happen to the 6 remaining pearls?"

"Nobody knows-But the Anja Collection was basically an Indian treasure, found by some British soldiers during a war at the end of the 19th century. When the fellows got back home, they divided the the pearls six ways.When they died, each of their families inherited the pearls. Maybe the Hand got all six pieces back from various thieves, and now wants the necklace back to complete it. Having each of the 12 pearls and the sapphires, who knows where it might lead them? They could name their price!"

"But what the hell my father had to do with all this? There is no need to keep him prisoner since WE are now looking for the necklace his friend failed to deliver. "

"Laura, you know what I think about this case? I think Eric Simpson is playing a double game. I think he's a Hand member,and that he wants the necklace for himself. However, The Hand suspects he's double crossing them, and they are planing to get rid of him. Simpson asked Philip Raymond to find the necklace for him, using the museum he directs as a cover. The Hand somehow found out about his plan, so they sent some members to get rid of the guy on a night they knew Raymond and Simpson would meet."

He stopped. No movie quotes? Good Lord, she had done an incredible job of turning him into a detective! "Keep going!" she ordered.

"Felicia knew Raymond was the guy to question, so she got into his house and asked him the truth. Philip knew the Hand too well, so he told her everything; probably that Eric Simpson had asked him to get the necklace, and that he had it delivered it to the museum. Simpson and Raymond were then supposed to meet around six o'clock that same day, in order for Raymond to get paid. Felicia killed Raymond, then waited for the first man to come by at six."

"My father-"

"That's right, Laura, because Raymond had forgotten about his dinner appointment with Carlton !Maybe Simpson was about to go to Raymond's house when he saw Felicia. Don't forget he knows her, since he's a member of the Hand. So he simply never showed up that evening. Your dad, however-"

Laura sat on the couch

"Interesting theory, Mr.Steele-So you think the necklace is hidden somewhere in the museum."

"Indeed, Miss Holt; probably in the safest room.Since Simpson knows he's a target, he has the necklace in a safe place while he plans his escape. I must say, I won't be surprised at all if he vanishes with Felicia. Remember, she followed your father to Los Angeles; since the first place he went was our office, our agency gave her the perfect cover she needed. She arranged the kidnapping, then contacted us and forced us to recover the necklace she already had. As soon as we get our hands on the empty box, they will both be thousand miles away, leaving us to the Hand-"

"But they can't kill us! They can't be on us if they lose two of their members and their jewel. That doesn't make any sense!"

"You're absolutely right, Laura," Steele said, before getting closer to her. He gently took Laura's face in his hands and then kissed her."Aren't you exhausted my love?" he asked after a while. "What would you say if we would rest these minds of ours and lay ourselves down for an hour or two?"

He was right; she was tired. They may have had an important case going on, but they had just taken a long flight and she had a baby to think about.

She laughed. Then they kissed again, passionately. Remington took her in his arms, and headed for the bed. He held her close and caressed her hair while she rested on his chest.He waited for her to fall asleep, whispering tender words, kissing her face. As soon as he knew she was sleeping, he slowly moved from her, and quietly left the room.

Before silently closing the bedroom door, he took a last look at Laura, who hadn't moved an inch. "Please don't worry, my love. And please forgive me-"

He closed the door, and prayed for Laura to find his wallet next to her, hoping she would noticed the two black embrossed cards, their only pieces of evidence, were missing. He had someone to meet. Putting the cards back in his pocket, he headed for the city.

To be continued...

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