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It took him a while to find the place. Felicia had vacated
many of her old haunts and this was to be expected. Thieves had
places where they could be found; it was necessary to be available
for clients and to close deals, but it was not a good idea to
frequent one place too often or too long. Sometimes, like this
time, they went back to a place they had abandoned long ago. This
time it was a cozy little restaurant the two of them had sometimes
visited in the past. Glancing around at the soothing decor, he
noted that it had not changed a bit over the years.
As he headed toward the alcove, a man stood up and blocked his
path. He was huge; not as tall as Steele, but much wider, and
he did not look like the type to be messed with.
"You have an appointment with her?"
So some things had changed after all. He took a deep breath, then
quietly held out one of the cards he had taken from his wallet.
The bodyguard glanced at it. His cold gray eyes flicked over Steele,
but then he stood aside.
Remington stepped into the alcove to a more remote area of the
restaurant where the better, more secluded tables were located.
He headed towards Felicia's table.
"Why, Michael! This is a surprise!" There was a smug
look on Felicia's face that belied those words. "Couldn't
you get Nora's permission to take some time off?"
He said nothing but sat down opposite to her.
"A drink?"
"No, thank you."
"Oh, but you must have something, darling."
She signaled a waiter standing nearby and ordered for Remington.
The waiter hurried off.
"Do you remember the last time we were here?" she moted.
"It was after that wonderful heist we made with the McClintock
diamonds. Do you remember them? There were six of them, each more
perfect than the last. Can you imagine the work that went into
fashioning them?"
"And the blood that was shed over them through the centuries-
"
"Really, Michael; you never used to be so stuffy. Hanging
around with Dora has had a bad effect on you. I really must speak
to her about that."
"You leave Laura out of this." Steele's voice had suddenly
gone very low.
"Oh, I won't hurt the little minx. I just want to give her
a talking to about trying to rule your life. And I will inform
her that she can't order me about as she has apparently been doing
to you. Honestly, Michael, I..."
Steele caught Felicia's hand where it rested on the table and
pulled her sharply toward him. "I think we've had enough
of your whining about Laura, Felicia."
They stared at each other for a moment. Felicia's face had gone
rigid and her eyes flashed.
"What are you going to do about it?" she whispered,
her eyes flicking from him to the bodyguard, whom Steele noted
was now standing at the door of the alcove. "You couldn't
get out here alive if you tried anything."
Felicia had changed if she thought he would make such a ruthless
move. Or maybe she just didn't know him very well anymore. Maybe
she never had. He released her and she leaned back glaring at
him.
"I don't know what he's worried about, " Steele remarked
glancing at the guard. "I'm not a cold-blooded murderer."
Felicia scowled and nodded at the guard, who moved away.
"Hugo can be very protective," she said, recovering
her poise somewhat. "What do you want, Michael?"
"Isn't it obvious? I want to know how to get Carlton Holt
out of your clutches. We haven't had any meaningful conversation
about that since I first saw you in my office."
The waiter came with their drinks at that moment and Felicia waited
until he had left before she spoke.
"I thought it was quite simple. We want the necklace.Holt
insits he doesn't know where it is and we're inclined to believe
him." She smiled grimly. "Apparently Raymond thought
he could get away with lying to us. He should have known better."
Steele kept his eyes on her, trying to read her face, searching
for anything she wasn't telling him. "What exactly did he
tell you?"
"He begged a lot." She took a sip from her glass. "You
haven't touched your drink."
"I'm not thirsty. What did he say?"
"Tried to get me in with him. He said I would get some of
the profits."
"You didn't believe him?"
"You don't know Phillip, darling. You can't believe him most
of the time. Besides, you would have to be a fool to try and cross
our bosses."
"Raymond was."
"Idiot!" she hissed contemptuously."He not only
thought he could get away with it, he tried to bring in an outside
partner as well. When he told me Holt was his partner, I disposed
of him." She gazed coldly at Steele. "Holt gave us a
little trouble tracking him down, and then when we caught him
we found that he didn't know where it was."
"How do you know he doesn't know? He wouldn't tell you anyway."
"There are many ways to get men to talk, Michael, and we
have experts who can discover all we need to know very quickly."
Looking at her impassive face, Steele repressed a shudder as he
wondered what they had put Laura's father through. They had to
get him out of there, wherever he was.
"Seems strange that Holt shouldn't know where the jewels
are since they were supposed to be partners," he said in
a calm voice.
"Clearly, Raymond was trying to double cross him as well,"
said Felicia nonchalantly.
"He had no other partners?"
"None that we know of."
She glanced shrewdly at him but he kept his face expressionless
as his mind raced. Some of the speculations he had come up with
at the hotel were becoming clearer and the ghost of a plan was
forming in his mind.
Felicia and her group might have the resources, the connections
and some of the answers but he and Laura had something they didn't:
information. If what Felicia told him was true, they did not know
Eric Simpson was really Raymond's partner and not Carlton Holt.They
did not suspect him of hiding the necklace as Steele did. That
meant that Simpson knew where it was and it was in his best interests
to keep that fact hidden. The Hand were not easy on traitors.
Raymond's death was proof of that. Unless Simpson was extremely
stupid or one of the coolest customers Steele had ever come across,
he must be almost out of his mind with fear.
Steele clenched his fist beneath the table. There was a chance.
He wasn't absolutely sure what their next move should be, but
instinct told him that he and Laura still had some cards that
had not come to light yet.
Felicia was still staring at him. He focused on her. "So
you want Laura and me to find the Heart of the Ocean."
"If it's not too much trouble. Who else but the great Remington
Steele could find it for us? I would hurry if I were you. The
Hand can become remarkably impatient."
"Of course," he said coldly, standing up.
"We'll keep in touch," said Felicia smilingly picking
up her drink again. "Oh, and Michael?" He paused. "Give
my compliments to Mrs. Steele. Tell her Daddy's been asking for
her."
Before Steele could speak, Hugo was at his side indicating that
the interview was over.
"Hugo will show you out."
"Don't bother," said Steele and marched out of the alcove.
Once outside he headed for a phone. Laura was surely awake by
now and he wanted to tell her not to worry.
*******
Laura tapped her foot impatiently and glanced anxiously at the
door. Her patience was wearing thin. Her relief when Remington
had called earlier had been great. She had awoken to find that
he was gone. At first, she wasn't worried, but then she had discovered
that he had left his wallet and the Hand's cards missing.
She didn't have to be a detective to know that Remington had gone
on some errand that had something to do with the case, but she
did not know where he had gone.The possibility that he was in
danger had left her with a sick feeling. She couldn't afford to
lose anyone else she loved. She had been too relieved to complain
when he phoned but now she had time to think about it and she
needed to know what he was up to. She glanced at her watch. It
was after seven. He had told her to meet him here, so where was
he?
A moment later he strolled into the room and her heart skipped
a beat. She had not been away from their room for long. He could
only have had about twenty minutes to change his clothes, but
he looked as if he had been getting ready for hours.
He was wearing one of those expensive, well-cut suits that fit
him so perfectly and which he wore so easily. As usual with his
debonair air and easy charm, he out-classed every other man in
the room.
As he came toward her, two women sitting deep in conversation
at a table stopped talking to watch him pass. They were obviously
intrigued by him and Laura allowed herself to feel a moment of
pride of possession. Remington didn't even notice the two admirers.
His eyes were fixed only on Laura.
"You look marvelous," he murmured, kissing her hand
and keeping his eyes on her at the same time.They might have been
the only people in the room.
Laura privately congratulated herself for wearing her new dress.
Its rich wine colour set off the highlights in her hair and it
fit like a glove.
They ordered and Steele had a slight attack of deja vu. It was
the second time he had been sitting at a table in a restaurant
with a woman that day on the verge of having a difficult conversation.
"So where have you been?" Laura asked him.
"I had something to do," he said without looking at
her.
"Where? Why did you take the cards? Remington?" She
was getting impatient.
He realized that trying to evade her questions was a waste of
time. He put down the menu, mentally bracing himself. "I
went to see Felicia."
The silence hung between them for several seconds.
"You what?"
"Laura," he said hastily, "listen before you say
anything else." Laura folded her hands on the table.
"Explain."
"I needed to find out what exactly was going on," he
told her seriously. "You may not have noticed, but you two
never seem to meet before you're at each other's throats. I'm
not blaming you!"he added before she could protest. "But
I thought I could learn something useful if I saw her alone and
I did, Laura. I've come up with something. There's a chance we
could save your father if we play our cards right. I might not
have learned what I did if I had not gone."
She realized that blaming him was useless and she squelched her
jealousy. She trusted him and she knew that things were over between
him and Felicia. He was gazing anxiously at her now as he waited
for her approval. She reached across and took his hands in hers
and smiled. "I understand." He visibly relaxed."So
what did she tell you?"
He explained everything Felicia had told him while she listened,
her brow furrowed with concentration.
"So the Hand don't suspect Simpson is involved?"
"They would have killed him by now. They didn't suspect him
as you did. What made you think he was involved?"
"He seemed too nervous over the phone. I might have thought
it was just shock because of Phillip's sudden death, but Daddy
mentioned to me that they had been partners. It occurred to me
he might be worried because he thought he might be next. Maybe
the Hand did not know and don't know yet. It was just a hunch,
really."
"And I know your hunches. I'd trust them any time. I think
Simpson may know where those jewels are, Laura. He can't get rid
of them till this blows over."
"Then we've got to go talk to him."
"And I know how we can set up a meeting." He pulled
a card from his pocket.
"I have a friend who's good at..creating these. Simpson's
holding a big party tomorrow night for friends and business partners
of the museum. A lot of big shots in the museum world that Simpson
doesn't know personally are coming. He believes in establishing
lots of connections, apparently. This is an invitation for a Mr.
and Mrs. Faulkner. Jewel collectors, I believe. What say we go,
Mrs. Steele?"
Laura reached out to take the invitation from him. "Is it
black tie," she said airily, "or semi-formal?"
To be continued...