Author's Note - Dear Friends, Hi and thank you for
bearing with me thus far. This work has been largely experimental
but wholly a labor of love. Unfortunately, study has kept me from
writing as fast as I would have liked. I just thought I'd take
this opportunity to clear up any confusion that may have arisen.
I'm sure many of you were wondering how I was going to turn a
pregnancy story into the Bonds of Steele re-write I claimed
I was doing in my original Author's Note and, as you can see,
I've done it through dream sequence. (Dreams of Gold, get it?)
Just as a guide, the factual premise and some of the dialogue
is straight from Bonds but the majority of dialogue is
original. As a general rule, I have only written out dialogue
for the scenes I have changed or created. If anyone has any questions,
or even just wants to discuss something, feel free to e-mail me.
I encourage and appreciate feedback, it may even make me write
faster for you guys. Thanks again for sticking it out, I hope
you've enjoyed the ride, see you at the finish! --- SteeleChic
:o)
. . . Laura trudged through the office doors, looking like
something the proverbial cat had dragged in, and more than
slightly annoyed at Remington for his little disappearing act.
Someone was onto them at Unidac, obviously they'd gotten a bit
too close to something, but to what? The only thing they'd uncovered
was quite literally nothing, empty files on non-existent employees.
And on top of Unidac, Laura had Remington's mysterious doctor's
appointment to wrap her brain around. When she saw the gauze bandage
on his arm, a testament that he had indeed visited the doctor,
she was almost ready to drop it but then Mildred surreptitiously
mentioned that Norman Keyes and Estelle Becker had
been asking for him and wondered if he was in any trouble.
The motive behind her question had been twofold. Mildred wanted
to know whether Remington had come clean with Laura yet and, if
he hadn't, how much did she already know or suspect?
Added to that, in quick succession, his tuxedo was delivered and
a phone call came in from an Ilsa Lund, on which Laura eavesdropped,
silently fuming. Did he think she'd learned nothing from him about
classic movies in the last four years? Ilsa Lund indeed! But after
a veiled conversation about moving something up, details to be
taken care of and anticipation, Remington sailed out again amid
vague excuses about doctors, and Laura was left with fewer answers,
more questions and a second mystery to solve. She moved to go
after him.
Mildred leapt in front of her frantically. He hadn't told her!
Somehow she had to find a way to fix this debacle without breaking
her promise and it was now or never. She had to find out exactly
what Miss Holt knew, plant seeds of doubt and stimulate Laura's
thinking so that she'd figure out what was going on and put a
stop to it. Those two kids belonged together and Mildred had taken
it upon herself to do whatever she could to help them see that.
"Oh, no you don't!" Mildred blocked Laura's path, her
mind working a mile a minute trying to find a way to at least
give Laura a shove in the right direction.
"Mildred, I'll lose him," Laura complained.
"You've got a minute. Fred has to bring the limo around,"
Mildred countered, still stalling. Find out what she knows
then you'll know what you have to tell her. "Now give!"
"All I know is that this morning when Mr. Steele said he
had a doctor's appointment, I saw him get into a car with Clarissa,"
Laura said in a rush, anxious to get by.
"So that's why all the questions," Mildred said,
feigning realization. OK, so Miss Holt knew he was seeing
Clarissa, but shouldn't she be a bit more upset? Time to stir
the pot a little, "And we saw that he really did get blood
tests," she lingered over those words, "But what's
the boss doing with a college tutor?"
"Mildred, Clarissa's no tutor," Laura told her disdainfully,
"She's never even been to college."
"But Bernard says she's the most popular girl on campus,"
Mildred mused, objectives forgotten in her momentary confusion.
"And off too," Laura revealed, "Clarissa's the
kind who will be popular with anyone, for the right price."
Suddenly it dawned on Mildred and the realization left a bitter
taste in her mouth. If she'd thought their situation couldn't
be any more distasteful, she'd been proven wrong.
"You're kidding? That sweet, lovely - What was my nephew
doing with a hooker?"
"He's her tax advisor," Laura explained quickly to avoid
further questions. "The question is what's Mr. Steele
doing with her?"
She still hadn't figured it out. Time to stir the pot a little
more.
"And with blood tests and a tuxedo?" Mildred added,
crossing her fingers behind her back.
Laura's eyes narrowed sharply and focused on the woman in front
of her, "Mildred," she began in a warning tone, "What
do you know?"
Mildred edged away from the door and backed towards her desk.
She wasn't going to tell, she'd promised, "Oh nothing Miss
Holt, only what you do, and that Norman Keyes and Estelle Becker
have been asking for the boss," she turned up the heat and
stirred some more.
"Mildred!" Laura's tone was dangerous as she advanced
on her friend, "Spill it! Come on, does this have something
to do with Keyes and Estelle Becker? Who is she anyway?"
The look on Laura's face was ominous. Suddenly reminded of the
fact that he was the boss but she was in charge, Mildred squeaked
out an answer, "INS."
"INS?" Laura repeated, then with growing alarm, "Blood
tests, tuxedos, Clarissa . . . Oh NO!" Laura was crestfallen
for a matter of seconds, her eyes clouded with fear and pain,
which quickly turned to anger, but not before Mildred had picked
up on it.
"Oh, no!" Laura said again, "You don't mean
he's - oh, I don't have time for this now! Of all the times for
him to . . . This is just like him -!"
Since she'd figured it out, Mildred decided there was nothing
stopping her now, so she interrupted.
"Honey, he's marrying her today. There isn't much time, if
he's not hitched by 6pm they'll deport him."
Laura was silent, taking all this in, a million-and-one emotions
coursing through her.
"He wanted to tell you," Mildred continued, "Really
he did. He just didn't know how. He didn't want to jeopardize
the agency."
Laura remained unmoving. This wasn't the reaction Mildred had
hoped for.
"Go find him!" she ordered, "Now that you know,
you have to stop him."
"How?" Laura wondered, finally able to string two words
together, "That's always been part of our problem - he could
never tell me."
"But a relationship is feelings, not words," Mildred
offered softly, "Honey, I've watched you two play all sorts
of games for three years now, and it's still just as obvious to
me now as it was from day one. You think not saying it means you
feel it any less? You think you're calling his bluff by asking
for commitment?" Mildred shook her head gently, "The
truth is, your heart is already gone. You can't protect yourself
by not saying the words, either of you. If you let him go now,
it's gonna hurt just as much, so don't you think it's worth the
risk?"
Laura stood dumbfounded again. Mildred was absolutely right, and
that thought scared her, but she couldn't let him go without a
fight. That had never been her style. She grabbed Mildred and
hugged her impulsively. Kissing her on the cheek, Laura took off
out the door.
She stood across the street from the County Courthouse, arms folded,
pacing nervously as she tried to figure out just what to say to
him.
"Come on, Laura, think!" she muttered to herself, "You're
the one who always wants to talk, who puts so much importance
on words."
She hid slightly as Remington emerged. Too late! "Dammit!"
she cursed, getting back into the Rabbit and pulling out after
him, when suddenly, a sedan cut her off and the man she would
come to know as Lyle Andrews, of Unidac, demanded she speak to
him about the case or else he'd call the FBI.
By the time Laura had finished arguing, she'd already lost sight
of Remington, so she got into Andrews' car resignedly.
They had barely begun talking about the case when Andrews mentioned
a mane that he couldn't possibly know unless he was somehow involved
in the secrets, and indeed, the murder that had gone on at Unidac.
Alarm bells began ringing and Laura leapt from the car, slipping
and sliding down a bluff and onto the beach, making good her escape.
Laura limped back into the office, looking even more the worse
for wear, and, after calling out in the vague hope that he would
be there and not already off somewhere getting married to a call
girl, found it empty. Not even Mildred was there, a fact that
was more than a little unusual.
This day was just getting lousier and lousier. Glancing at the
clock, she saw it was almost 3. Dammit, time was fast running
out and, thanks to the intervention of Lyle Andrews, she'd lost
Remington and had no idea where he might have gone, or how to
go about finding out.
Fear clutched at her heart and a horrible lost feeling washed
over her. She stood, bewildered, in the middle of the office,
not quite knowing what to do, until the telephone snapped her
back to reality.
"It's all falling apart," Laura muttered, snatching
up the receiver, "Yeah? I mean, Remington Steele Investigations."
"This is Starbright Jewelers," the caller announced,
in a voice that was far too chirpy for Laura to handle at that
moment.
"Hooray for you," she snapped, without thinking.
"Is Mr. Steele in?" the voice asked, slightly put off.
"Are you kidding?" Laura scoffed.
"Well," the jeweler continued archly, "would you
tell him that there's no problem, we're sending the rings over
to the church as discussed. There'll be a small extra charge,
of course, but -"
"Wait a minute," Laura interrupted frantically, things
suddenly looked a little brighter and she silently thanked the
Lord for the phone call, "What church?"
The jeweler faltered, "Uh, the Little Chapel of Perpetual
Happiness . . ."
"AH!" Laura cried jubilantly, fairly shouting down the
phone, "The Little Chapel of Perpetual Happiness!"
She slammed the receiver down and grabbed her purse, about to
run out the door, only to snatch the phone back up when it rang
again. Annoyed at the hold up she was none too pleased when she
answered.
"Now what??!!"
"Miss Holt?" came Mildred's soft enquiry.
"Mildred, where are you?" Laura asked in genuine wonder.
"In the Unidac mail room." Mildred replied.
"What are you doing there?" Laura was incredulous.
"Somebody called the cops on Alessandra," Mildred told
her, "but it's OK, I put the body where it'll be lost for
hours, if not days."
"Where's that?" Laura asked, aware that time was of
the essence.
"Priority mail," Mildred sounded very pleased with herself.
"Bring Alessandra back here and wait for me," Laura
ordered, seeking to end their conversation.
"Where are you going?" Mildred asked anxiously, "Have
you spoken to Mr. Steele?"
"I've got him, Mildred," Laura told her, anger superseding
any earlier fear and hurt, "The Little Chapel of Perpetual
Happiness!"
Laura looked at her watch for what seemed like the umpteenth time.
It was after 3!
"Oh," she murmured, stepping on the gas, "Get me
to the church on time," she pleaded out loud, "Hmm,
My Fair Lady, Warner Brothers, 1964, Rex Harrison and Audrey Hep
- oh, my GOD!" she muttered.
She pulled the Rabbit to an abrupt stop outside the chapel, savagely
ripped the keys from the ignition and slammed through the doors,
just as the Minister was asking if there was anyone who objected.
Is there anyone who objects?!?!
"YOU'D BETTER BELIEVE IT BUSTER!!"
Using anger to mask her fear was always something Laura had been
good at, so, uncaring of the fact that all eyes were on her, she
marched down the aisle and launched herself at Remington, but
before she knew what was happening, he had her bailed up in a
side room closet while he continued with the wedding.
While she never thought there would come a day when she was glad
to see Norman Keyes, Laura was certainly relieved when she heard
him and Estelle Becker charge down the aisle next, demanding that
the wedding be stopped. She had managed to pile up some furniture
and squeeze through a transom, only to see Remington and Clarissa
locked in a passionate embrace, and Estelle Becker endorsing their
union with a teary smile.
Eyes widening in shock, Laura lost her balance in her haste to
strangle Remington, and fell. Thankfully though, she could still
hear Keyes protesting, but the Minister ignored him and jumped
ahead, until Mildred came to the rescue with a trademark interruption,
this time never at a more opportune moment.
Desperation and jealousy combined had given Laura added strength
and she burst through the side door, in time to hear Mildred's
frantic proclamation.
"Alessandra's been shanghaied!"
So the three of them piled into the limo, Laura never gladder
to have had a case interrupt them. If anything, it bought her
more time, but it was only putting off the inevitable . . .
To Be Continued---