Once Laura recovered from the double
shock of finding someone in her house and being doused with cold
water, she asked, "What are you doing here, Chalmers?"
"I WAS making coffee," Daniel replied, ruefully glancing
down at his wet shirt and trousers.
"No, I mean HERE. INSIDE my house? I thought you were going
to wait outside-"
"And lurk about, waiting for one of your neighbors to call
the police about a suspicious man?" Daniel asked, then shook
his head as he ineffectually dabbed at his shirt with a dishtowel.
He had a point, she realized. "How did you get in?"
"I picked the lock," he told her, nodding toward the
back door. "You know, Laura, you really should consider upgrading
your locks. They're woefully lacking for an attractive young woman,
living alone. A novice could have picked that lock in the blink
of an eye."
"I should have known," Laura sighed, watching him for
a moment. "You're never going to dry those that way. Follow
me," she said, turning to lead him toward the guest room.
"Stay here."
Daniel remained there for only a moment until she returned with
a black silk robe and thrust it toward him. "Here. I'm going
to my room to change out of these wet clothes as well. I'll put
your shirt in the dryer and we can hang the slacks to let them
dry."
"Thank you," Daniel said, contemplating who the owner
of the robe might be. It was far too large for Laura's small frame.
He had a good idea that it belonged to Harry. He had always favored
silk. Making up for too long without the finer things, Daniel
supposed as he began to undress. His thoughts turned toward Laura
Holt, wondering just what her angle was in asking him into her
home. If what he had heard was true, she had a great deal to lose
by trying to play mediator between he and his son. And the robe
seemed to bear out what he had heard.
When he returned to the kitchen, Laura was putting the mop back
into the closet where the clothes dryer was hidden. He handed
her the wet garments. "I could have cleaned up the mess,
you know."
"That's okay. I put coffee on. Why don't we go into the living
room when it's done and talk there?"
"And what are we going to talk about?" he asked. "I'm
not sure I like the idea of your involving yourself in all of
this, my dear. Harry won't thank you for it. And I don't want
you to jeopardize your relationship with him on my account."
Laura looked at him for a moment, then went to get some cups.
"Relationship? I just work for him, that's all," she
insisted.
"You call him Harry," Daniel pointed out. "How
did you find out about him?"
Laura filled the cups with coffee. "Cream or sugar?"
she asked.
"Neither." He took the cup she offered. "Are you
going to answer my question?"
"I'll answer it if you'll answer one for me," Laura
suggested, leading him out to the living room. She sat down, noticing
the tailored jacket folded neatly over the back of one of the
chairs.
"It depends on the question, Laura," Daniel said, watching
her.
"Why did you abandon Harry?"
"Didn't he tell you? I simply didn't want to be saddled with
a wife and child and left them."
Laura shook her head. "I don't believe you. If that were
true, then you wouldn't be in touch with him now. You wouldn't
be constantly trying to find some way to get back into his good
graces."
Daniel studied the pattern of the hardwood flooring for a long
moment before answering. "I was in prison when Harry was
born, Laura," he admitted.
Laura remembered something she'd found in her research into Harry's
past, and the related search for Daniel's records as well. Daniel
had been in prison twice, but Harry had only known about once.
"What about when you got out? Why didn't you find him?"
"I TRIED," Daniel insisted. "God, how I tried.
But he'd already been put up for adoption- and they didn't keep
very good records of such things at the time. Especially not in
Dublin. And even if I had found him, no court would have granted
me custody. I was a convicted felon, fresh out of prison. But
I did try, my dear. For nearly a year, I followed every lead I
could get my hands on. And for years after that, I searched the
face of every child for some familiarity to his mother. But it
wasn't until a young boy tried to pick my pocket in Brixton one
day that I saw what I was looking for."
"He tried to pick your pocket?" Laura questioned, smiling.
"Tried. Would've succeeded if I hadn't been a cannon myself.
He had the smoothest touch of anyone I'd ever seen."
"Cannon?"
"Pickpocket. Took me almost a week to convince him to come
and stay with me, to let me clean him up, teach him how to talk-"
"How to work cons?" Laura suggested. "How to steal
paintings like the "Five Nudes of Cairo"?"
"It was the family business, after all," Daniel told
her, then his eyes became serious again. "It was the best
way of surviving. The only way I knew, at any rate, and since
Harry already had the natural gifts, it made sense to show him
the ropes."
"Why didn't you tell him the truth then?"
"You've seen the results of my having told him at all,"
Daniel pointed out. "Harry had built up a terrifying anger
toward his missing father. On more than one occasion, when I would
simply mention trying to find him, Harry made the comment that
he'd shove a knife in the man's belly if he ever saw him."
Daniel ran his hands over his face. "I lost many a night's
sleep over that, believe me. I couldn't risk his running away
again."
"So why DID you tell him?" Laura asked.
"Because I thought he needed to know. I thought he was ready
to accept the truth. I was wrong. And I'll probably live the rest
of my life estranged from my only son because of that mistake."
He took a deep breath. "Now. I've answered several of your
questions, Laura. Are you going to tell me how you found out about
Harry?"
"I investigated his background," she told him.
"I see. Quite resourceful of you. So- Harry's told you all
about his colourful past, then?"
"Not quite all," she confessed. "But enough that
I can put lots of it together. Except for his anger at you. It
doesn't make sense. Why won't he just ASK you the same questions
I did?"
"He's hurt. He feels betrayed by a person he learned to trust.
I keep hoping that he'll lose some of that anger, that the hurt
will lessen, but-"
"What about the money he pays you?"
"Can you keep a secret, Laura?" She nodded. "Every
penny of what he's given me has been put into an account in his
name. I can't touch it. He'll get it back- when I'm gone."
"So that's why you keep calling and coming around. You're
building a nest egg for Harry with his own money-"
"And in the process giving him a chance to accept me again,"
Daniel confirmed. "But this time is a bit different, I'm
afraid."
"Why?"
"I really need Harry's help- and I'm afraid he may already
be involved."
"What do you mean?"
"A few years ago, a friend of mine and I were hired by a
gentleman to steal a rather large diamond for him. He paid us
half the money up front, the other half was payable on delivery
of the gem. We stole the diamond, but before we could deliver
it to him, he wound up in a bit of trouble-"
"Prison?"
Daniel nodded. "Practically. He was in jail awaiting trial
on tax evasion charges- no bail. Nasty problem. At any rate, we
kept the diamond safe- until the man I'd stolen the diamond with
suggested that we use it to make some money while it was in our
keeping."
"A scam," Laura guessed.
"When you put that way- yes. Horace would contact a buyer
for the diamond, then set the buyer up with me as the current
owner. We would negotiate a price, allow the gem to be authenticated,
and then switch it for a copy after we got our money. "
"And it didn't work?"
"Oh, we pulled it a couple times with no problem," Daniel
informed her. "Until this last time. Horace and I went to
New York City- met a gentleman there who was most interested in
the diamond. We got a quarter of a million for it- but somehow
in the switch, Horace mixed up the copy with the real one- and
wasn't able to tell at a glance which was which. There simply
wasn't time to verify it."
"So he left the real diamond and brought the paste one back
to you," Laura finished, wincing at the thought. "So
now this man's got the real diamond."
"It gets worse. The man we originally stole it FOR was released
from jail two days later," Daniel said.
"He wasn't happy that you'd lost his diamond, was he?"
"No. He- killed Horace. And he made rather- graphic predictions
about my future unless I get it back. "
"So how do you think Harry can help you?"
"The diamond is scheduled to go on display here in Los Angeles
in two days."
"Here? IN Los Angeles?" Laura paled. "The Halifax
Diamond," she whispered. "Oh, Daniel. No. Tell me that
you didn't-"
"No. I wasn't aware that Mr. Cosgrove had hired the Remington
Steele Agency to provide security for the diamond while it's here
until I picked up a newspaper at the airport."
Laura laughed, but it was a nervous laughter. "That's where
Harry and Murphy were when you came to the office today. Going
over plans for security with Mr. Cosgrove. Harry's NOT going like
this Daniel. Not at all."
***
Steele smiled as he left the podium, the award under his arm.
The Superintendent of Police announced another speaker, and Steele
kept going, past his seat, heading toward the men's room.
He took a sharp left and exited the hall, taking a deep breath
as he did so. Boring. Tedious. He hated these meetings. Oh, they
were good for the Agency's image, so he attended, accepted the
awards, and got out as fast as he could. Glancing at his watch
as he waited for Fred to pull the limo around, he thought that
perhaps the evening could be salvaged after all. The idea of going
back to his apartment wasn't very pleasant, if for no other reason
than Daniel had probably left a dozen messages on his machine.
The timing of his father's visit was troubling as well, considering
what the man did for a living. It wasn't bad enough that he was
having to watch people he DIDN'T know away from the diamond. But
having to keep an eye on Daniel -
"Where to, Mr. Steele?" the chauffeur asked as he closed
the driver's door.
"Miss Holt's, I believe, Fred."
Steele was deeply grateful for the man's discretion. No matter
what happened, nothing seemed to ruffle Fred's calm exterior.
The mobile telephone rang, and Steele picked it up, bracing himself
to hear Daniel's voice. "Steele here."
"Just checking in, Boss," Murphy told him. "Everything's
quiet. The security guards just made their eight o'clock rounds.
Nothing on the monitors."
"Make sure that they don't shut down that system for ANY
reason, Murphy. Impress that on them."
"I think they understand," Murphy assured him. "I
didn't really think you'd be in the limo. Did the dinner end early?"
"No. I left," he confessed. "I'll see you tomorrow,
Murphy."
"If anything happens, where will you be?"
"Not sure yet. I'll let you know. But nothing had better
happen," he warned. "The Agency's reputation is riding
on this job, Murphy. If we lose that diamond, we might as well
close the doors and turn in our licenses."
"I know. Give Laura my regards," Murphy said, and Steele
could almost see the grin through the phone.
***
"WHY?!!" Laura demanded to know. "WHY did Mr. Cosgrove
come to the Steele Agency, Daniel? You're sure you didn't point
him in that direction?"
"Quite sure, my dear," Daniel told her. "It throws
a bit of kink into my plans. I had hoped that Harry might- help
me get it back somehow."
"AUGH!!!!!!!" Laura moaned. "This is a nightmare.
There is no way in-" she stopped as she heard a car door
outside the house. Moments later, a knock on the door sent her
eyes to Daniel's. "You'd better get into the kitchen,"
she told him, shoving the coffee cups into his hands. "Go
on," she urged as there was another knock.
Taking a deep, calming breath, Laura moved to the door and opened
it. "Harry. What are you doing here?"
"I thought you'd be glad to see me," he said, noticing
that she was standing in the doorway, blocking his entry. "Is
something wrong?"
"Wrong? What are you talking about? I thought you were going
to be at the awards dinner all evening?"
"I got bored," he explained. "Ran out of napkins
to doodle on," he confided, looking into the house behind
her. "I thought we might watch a movie-"
"And I thought you decided that we shouldn't see each other
outside of work?" she countered.
"I might have been wrong about that- why don't we discuss
it-?"
"I was just about to go to bed," Laura told him, yawning.
"It's been a long day, and I'm really beat."
"All right," Steele said. "I guess I'll go home,
then." He pulled her into his arms and gave her a long kiss.
Lifting his head, he looked into her eyes for a moment, then stepped
away. "Good night, Laura."
"G-Good night," she replied in a shaky voice. She watched
him get into the limo, waited for it to pull down the street before
she closed the door.
"That was a bit close," Daniel said from the doorway.
"TOO close," Laura agreed. "Let's go see if your
clothes are dry and then we've got to figure out how to get out
of this mess."
***
Steele sat back, thoughtful, then sat forward. "Drive around
the block, Fred, and drop me off down the street from Miss Holt's
house, please." He waited until the car stopped, then got
out. "Take the rest of the night off, Fred. I'll call a cab
later."
"Yes, sir, Mr. Steele," Fred replied.
Steele tapped the top of the car twice, and it slid quietly away
down the street. Remington stood there, contemplating Laura's
house. If Laura's nervousness hadn't tipped him off, there was
one item that would have made him suspicious: a man's jacket over
the back of a chair.
If Laura was seeing someone else,
fine. That was her prerogative. They were free agents, after all-
no hold on each other. But he was going to find out who that someone
else was- and why Laura hadn't been honest with him about it.
To Be Continued---