"He'll make a play for the gems
between the airport and Mr. Hepplewhite's house," Laura decided
as she paced the office. "The question is, where will he
do it? And how?" Hearing fingers on a keyboard, Laura turned
to find Mildred sitting at the computer. "What are you doing"
"Trying to locate HIM," Mildred explained, pausing to
look at her. "We should at least know where he's staying,"
she said, returning to her task. "Maybe even talk to him,
try to convince him not to do this."
Laura turned to pace across the room again. Did she really WANT
to see him again? "Mildred," she started to say, but
Clarice entered the room, giving her a reprieve.
"Miss Holt, you left a note on my desk for me to remind you
about your appointment with Mr. Hepplewhite?"
Glancing at her watch, Laura grabbed her coat, glad of an excuse
not to have to go with Mildred. "Thank you, Clarice. If you
find him, Mildred, tell him that we're onto him and that he can
go back to wherever he's been these last twelve years," she
said as she breezed past a confused Clarice to leave the office.
Mildred shook her head, fully aware of what was going through
Laura's mind. She'd worked with the woman too long not to be able
to read her like a book. She was scared. Scared that if she saw
him again she wouldn't be able to maintain that anger that she
was holding onto. The computer beeped at her, signaling an end
to the search she'd set in motion. "Aha," she muttered
as Clarice returned to the outer office. "Gotcha." She
continued onward, emboldened by her success.
***
Mildred straightened her hat as she entered the Wilshire Arms
Hotel and approached the desk with a purposeful air. "Excuse
me, I'm Muriel Groggins from the International Traveler's Society.
One of your guests has just been awarded an all expense paid trip
to the destination of his choice- Mr. Harrison Chalmers?"
The clerk looked down his thin nose at her. "Indeed, Madame?
I'm sure he'll be quite honored."
"I'm here to deliver the news in person- could you ring his
room and let him know I'm here?"
He turned to glance at the wall behind him. "He's left word
that he's not to be disturbed, Ms. Groggins. I'd be glad to take
a message for him," he offered, pen hovering over paper.
Mildred hid her frustration. He hadn't indicated which room Harry
was in. Damn. She'd have to try another method. "No, no,
thank you anyway. I'm sure he'll be down before long. Thank you
for all your help."
"Anytime, Madame," the clerk replied and returned to
whatever he had been doing before her arrival.
Mildred turned away, searching her mind for another way, and as
her eyes fell on the florist shop, she smiled, recalling something
Laura had taught her.
***
Harry examined the plans he'd managed to get of Hepplewhite's
estate once again. Getting INTO the place would be child's play.
People were always in and out of Hepplewhite's mansion. Gaining
the necessary ID would be a simple matter. Getting out once the
gems had been stolen, now, THAT was an entirely different story.
What he needed was to get into that house and scope it out first
hand.
He frowned as someone knocked on the door. "Who is it?"
he called out, thinking that the flight attendant he'd had dinner
with last night was on her way back to New York.
"Delivery for Harrison Chalmers," a male voice answered.
Harry stuffed the plans into the desk drawer went to the door
and opened it to find the delivery person almost obscured behind
a spray of roses. "I wasn't expecting any delivery,"
he said, taking the flowers from the young deliveryman as a woman
appeared from behind him. "Mildred." He quickly gave
the young man a tip and watched him down the corridor before turning
his attention once again to the woman who had been more like a
mother to him than anyone had ever been.
Her eyes held anger, uncertainty- and pleasure at seeing him again.
"Hello, boss. I mean, Mr. Steele. I mean- I don't know WHAT
to call you anymore," she whined miserably.
"How about Harry? It's my name, after all," he suggested,
then pulled her into his arms with a soft laugh. "Oh, Mildred,
it's good to see you. Come in. Come in."
Mildred entered the room, looking around for signs of incriminating
evidence. "Harry's your name? Your REAL name?"
He nodded, taking the roses from her and setting them on a table
before indicating that she should sit in one of the nearby chairs.
"Once I discovered that Daniel was my father, it was a simple
matter to trace down my birth certificate. Harry Chalmers. Harrison
just sounds better on the letter head, though, don't you think?"
he asked with a twinkle in his eyes. "Oh, Mildred,"
said with a sigh as he reached out to take her hands in his. "I've
missed you."
"Sure," she said with a doubtful snort. "Missed
me so much that you didn't bother to call or even send me a postcard
saying you were alive for twelve years."
"You're upset with me for leaving and not saying goodbye,
aren't you?"
"Yes," she answered truthfully. "I thought we were
closer than that."
"We were, Mildred," he said softly. "Which is exactly
why I couldn't tell you what I was planning to do. I knew what
your reaction would be- and I knew that Laura needed you to be
with her- to help her once I was gone."
"And what about you? Who did you have?"
"I learned a long time ago not to count on having other people
around, Mildred. But it's nice when they're there," he said
with a smile. "You look wonderful." He grinned at her
blush. "It seems that Laura's success had trickled down."
Mildred met his gaze. "She misses you. Oh, she would never
admit it, but she does."
"And I miss her. There's not a day that goes by that I don't
think about her, wonder what she's doing. But as long as she's
happy- she IS happy, isn't she, Mildred?"
Mildred studied his face, heard the quiet desperation in his voice
as he asked the question. "She says she is. Boss- Harry,
why are you here in Los Angeles?"
"Ah, I was wondering when you were going to ask- Let me ask
a question first, though. How did YOU know I was here?"
"Lucas Hepplewhite told Laura that he believes someone is
going to try and steal the gems he's expecting. From his description
of the would be thief, Laura put two and two together and came
up with you."
Harry rose and walked to the window. "I saw her last night
with Hepplewhite. I was afraid she'd agreed to take the job. I
really thought that the last thing she would do is agree to protect
those gems again."
"She was going to turn him down- in fact, she HAD turned
him down. But he met her here last night at the award ceremony
and convinced her to take the case. I think she would STILL have
said no if he hadn't brought you into the picture."
Harry looked heartened by her words. "Really? Couldn't resist
the challenge, eh?"
"She- sent me here to tell you to give it up, that we're
onto whatever it is you're planning."
He could tell there was more that she didn't want to say. "What
else did she say, Mildred?"
"Oh, well, she said that you should go back to wherever it
is you've been these last twelve years."
"Really? Sorry, Mildred, I can't do that. I've contracted
to do a job- and I'm going to carry through with it."
"Even though you know that it could destroy everything Laura's
worked so hard to build? Mr. Steele- Harry, if you steal the Royal
Lavulite while she's responsible for its safety,--" she began,
but Harry touched her arm.
"I don't plan to do that, Mildred. I just wonder what Laura
will think when she finds out that she's working for the man who
arranged for the original theft of the gems all those years ago."
"Mr. Hepplewhite?" Mildred questioned, her tone filled
with shocked disbelief. "He wouldn't hurt a fly, Mr.- Harry."
She shook her head. "I'm sorry. But you're always going to
be Mr. Steele to me."
"It's okay, Mildred. But Lucas Hepplewhite isn't what he
appears to be. Do you have any idea how the man made all that
money?"
"Inherited it?" she asked.
"I suppose you could call it that. He was part of the SS
in Germany in the forties."
"That sweet little old man-was a Nazi?"
"I'm afraid so. He managed to evade the trials after the
war by turning in some of his "friends", but he'd gathered
a tidy little nest egg for himself during the war by hiding various
works of art and other valuable items. Over the years, he's built
that into an even larger fortune by dealing in stolen artwork.
All the while maintaining that air of being a kindly old gentleman."
Mildred's eyes widened. "Laura was meeting him this morning
to discuss the case," she told him. "Could she be in
danger?"
"Not unless he discovers that she knows the truth about him.
I want you to promise me that you won't tell her what I've just
told you, Mildred."
"But- if you're right, then we can't let him have those jewels."
"No, *I* can't let him have those jewels," he corrected
her. "It's my job, remember?"
"You're going to need help- and I can get you the information
you need to pull this off."
"At Laura's expense?" Harry asked, shaking his head
gently. "I won't ask you to choose between us that way, Mildred."
"But- Harry--."
"I've already come up with a plan, Mildred. It doesn't involve
Laura or the agency. I gave her my word once that I wouldn't make
an attempt to get the jewels as long as they were under her protection.
I'm going to give you the same promise."
Mildred looked at him. "You're going to try to get into that
house? It's like Fort Knox, Harry. A fortress."
"As I said, I've already got a plan. Now, do you have to
get back to work immediately?"
"No. Why?"
"I thought we might have lunch together- for old times' sake.
Catch up on things."
Mildred smiled. "And I know just the place."
Harry paused. "Uh, Mildred, preferably somewhere I never
visited as Remington Steele."
"You got it. Just leave everything in my hands- Harry."
***
Laura tried not to stare openly at the opulence of Lucas Hepplewhite's
mansion as they ate lunch on fine china plates in a formal dining
room, replete with long table and an army of servants awaiting
their merest glance. The man was a rich as sin, she decided, listening
to him talk about why it was so important for him to get the Lavulite
safely into this house.
"My late wife was from South Africa. Her father owned the
land where the gems were first discovered. But he was a poor man,
unable to hold onto what was his, and the government took the
gems from him."
"Surely he was compensated for their value?" Laura asked
as she sipped the excellent wine from his personal wine cellar.
Harry would do well to forget the gems, Laura thought to
herself, her gaze falling on a Monet hanging on the far wall.
There were enough paintings here to set a good thief up for some
time. What am I THINKING? She asked herself. She had been
hired to protect the Royal Lavulite, to get it from the airport
to this house and nothing more. Planning heists for HIM was the
last thing she should be doing. Damn him, anyway, for coming back
into her life at all, complicating things again.
Lucas waved a blue veined hand in dismissal. "A paltry sum,
not nearly what the gems were actually worth, you understand.
He died a broken man, in debt, having gone through that money.
I met Lisle when she applied for a job as a secretary for one
of my colleagues there. I fell in love with her the moment I saw
her. She was like- like an angel. But even after we married, the
shadow of her father's death was still there, hovering over her,
making her unhappy. I knew that the only thing which could make
her happy again was to hold the Royal Lavulite in her tiny hands
once again." He sighed, his eyes filled with unshed tears.
"But, alas, it was not to be. She died before I had the chance
to attain them for her."
"So now you want them as a - tribute to the memory of the
woman you loved," Laura said in a gentle voice.
"Can you understand now why it is so important to me for
them to arrive safely?"
"I think so. And the Laura Holt Agency will do everything
it can to insure that they do, Mr. Hepplewhite."
He covered her hand on his arm with his. "Lucas, please."
He put his napkin on his plate. "Now, if you have finished,
I will show you where the gems will be housed once they arrive."
***
Mildred laughed as the man across from her in the diner's booth
finished telling the story of one of his "retrievals".
"Sounds like a close call, Harry."
"I guess my luck's still holding," he agreed as Mildred's
pager went off. "Someone's looking for you."
"Hmm," she nodded, checking the message. "Laura.
I guess I'd better call her," she said, starting to rise.
Harry put a hand on her arm and stopped her as a small cellular
telephone appeared in his other hand. "Use this."
Mildred eyed him uncertainly. "I've been trying to convince
Laura that we needed these, but she insists on sticking with beepers.
You're sure you don't mind?"
"Business expense," he told her. "Go on. Call her."
Mildred dialed the agency's number. "Clarice?" Mildred
saw Harry's brow lift at the unfamiliar name. "Miss Holt
just paged me." To Harry, she said, "Receptionist. Twenty
something, purple fingernails, thank goodness she just bleaches
her hair and doesn't -Oh, Laura. How did the meeting with Mr.
Hepplewhite go?"
"Very well, Mildred, I think I know how we're going to handle
this. Did you make contact with Mr. Chalmers?"
"As a matter of fact, yes, I did."
"And did he agree to leave Los Angeles- WITHOUT the gems?"
"Well, not really." She heard Laura's sigh.
"Mildred!"
Mildred tried to ignore Harry's knowing grin. "He says he's
not going to go after the gems while they're in your jurisdiction,"
she said. "He gave his word."
"His WORD?" Laura repeated, and Harry winced as he heard
the raised voice. "Mildred, I think we need to talk. Get
back to the office. NOW." Click!
Mildred disconnected the call. "She's just a LITTLE upset."
"Understandably," he said, taking the telephone from
her and putting it back into the inside pocket of his jacket.
Mildred looked at him. "You're not going to just leave again,
are you?"
"Not without saying goodbye," he promised, rising as
she did and placing a kiss on her cheek.
He walked outside with her, then grabbed a taxi, giving the driver
Lucas Hepplewhite's address. It was time to face the lion in his
den.
TO BE CONTINUED