The front door was just closing
and Remington sighed in relief as he noted the faces of his friends
and family gathered in the entry way. "Good riddance to bad
rubbish," Katherine was saying.
"Let's just hope she stays gone," Mildred said.
"I hope the two of you didn't do anything rash," Remington
told them.
"We didn't have to, Mr. Steele," Mildred told him. "One
look at Mrs. Morgan, and the -" she stopped upon seeing Remington's
frown. "Felicia couldn't get out of the door fast enough."
"Katherine? You've met Felicia before?"
"A few times," she admitted. "I hardly think this
is the proper time to discuss it, dear. Your guests are waiting."
"Later, then," he told her. "Come along, Laura."
An hour later, everyone was gone, and Remington closed the doors
of the gallery, entering the code to lock them and start the alarm
system, before joining Laura and the others in the parlour. "I'd
say it was a successful evening, Remington," Jessica said.
"Everyone was very impressed with the gallery."
"Especially Felicia, I'll bet," Mildred commented dryly.
Remington waited until the young maid finished in the room and
went toward the kitchen before responding. "About Felicia,
Katherine-"
"Daniel introduced us."
"When was this?"
"Oh, just after you left him to go out on your own, I think.
One of the times that he came to call during my marriage. He brought
her to me, asking me to help her learn how to dress, carry herself-
I suggested a charm school." She laughed softly. "Really,
I believed she was a hopeless case. Did you know that she was
born in the East End?"
"Felicia? She always said she was from-"
"I know. It was a struggle for her to lose that accent."
"You evidently succeeded in what Daniel asked of you,"
Laura commented. "Felicia's- very sophisticated."
"I can't take all of the credit. Some of it was Daniel's
influence, other things she picked up on her own."
"Fascinating," Remington said. "I had no idea that
Daniel and Felicia had ever met before I introduced them."
"That was all part of Daniel's plan, I'm afraid. A plan I
knew NOTHING about until he came to take Felicia away for the
last time."
"What plan was this?"
"He knew that he couldn't very well follow you everywhere,
but if he could find someone that COULD-"
"Felicia? Daniel sent her to keep tabs on me?"
"Apparently. He taught her everything he knew, just as he
had you, and sent her off to find you and- worm her way into your
good graces. I told him it was wrong, that if you ever found out
you would be furious, but he insisted that he had to be able to
find you again after having lost you once."
Robert stood. "Well, if you will forgive an old man, it's
very late, and past my bedtime."
"You're welcome to stay the night here, Robert," Remington
said, not for the first time.
"I'll be fine," he said. "Are you ready, Katherine?"
She looked at her nephew. "Call me tomorrow if you have anymore
questions, dear."
"I will." He accepted her good night kiss, as did Laura.
Jessica and Tony rose as well. "We'd better go too. I have
an early day in court. It was a wonderful evening, Remington.
Good night, Laura."
"Bye," Tony said.
Mildred was the last to leave. "You haven't forgotten that
you have an appointment to interview another nanny tomorrow at
nine?"
"Another one," Laura groaned. "I'm ready to give
up on this quixotic little quest," she declared. "How
many will this make?"
"Ten."
"Eleven," Remington corrected, breaking his reverie.
"The prison guard," he reminded them.
"Of course. How could I have forgotten HER?" Laura wondered,
unsuccessfully trying to hide a yawn. "Excuse me."
"That's my cue to leave," Mildred decided. "See
you in the morning."
Alone, Remington remained on the sofa for a long minute, his head
back, eyes closed. "I should have known that he'd sent her.
She knew too much about me to have been a complete stranger as
she claimed. And I fell for her flattery, her-" he wisely
chose to stop there.
"As Katherine said, Daniel didn't want to risk losing track
of you again."
"At least it explains how he always knew where I was."
He smiled. "It must have driven him crazy when I decided
to stay on here as Remington Steele."
"Not at all," Laura contradicted him. "As long
as you were in Los Angeles as Remington Steele, he always knew
exactly where to find you. He didn't need to have the piranha
following you anymore."
"Laura-" He took a deep breath, then stood, holding
out his hand to her. "I don't know about you, but I think
I'm going to let Mrs. Hobbs lock up when she leaves once the cleaning
crew is finished. I'm exhausted."
"Let's check the system again, Remington," Laura suggested
as the started toward the stairs.
"Why?"
"I'd just feel better doing it, with HER in the area."
"Really, Laura. Felicia wouldn't-" he stopped upon seeing
the concern in her eyes. "Very well, my love. I'll go and
check it again. You go on upstairs. I know you're tired. I'll
be right up," he promised, kissing her hand at the bottom
of the stairs.
He went to the gallery doors, noting the blinking red light that
indicated that the system was operating properly. Then he went
to tell Mrs. Hobbs that he and Laura were calling it a night,
and that she was to make sure the house was locked before she
and the others left.
Laura smiled as he entered the bedroom. "Is it set?"
"Of course. And Mrs. Hobbs has her instructions. They'll
leave via the rear kitchen door. All the others are locked."
He unbuttoned his shirt, then removed the diamond-studded cuff
links that she had given him before the party. Looking at them
glitter in the light, he smiled at her. "I don't think I
thanked you properly for these," he told her.
"I knew you'd get around to it sooner or later," she
said, watching him as he neatly folded his trousers, returned
the jacket to a hanger. She felt a slight twinge of guilt that
she had left her evening gown laying across the back of a chair.
But that guilt vanished as Remington slid between the covers to
rest his hand on her abdomen.
"I never want you to doubt how much I love you, Laura. I
could never be bored with you."
"Are you sure you don't sometimes wish for the excitement
of your life before you met me?"
"Let's see. Always on the run, never using the same name
for more than a short stretch of days, living out of a suitcase,
never knowing where I would be tomorrow, or the next day, or the
day after that-" He shook his head. "Why would I POSSIBLY
miss something like that? I much prefer being here, with you and
waiting for the birth of our children. Nothing in my old life
is real compared to what I have now." He drew her against
him. "The luckiest day of my life is the day I walked into
those offices and met you."
"You thought I was a secretary."
"I knew better," he said. "Surely you don't think
I'd neglected to do my homework on Remington Steele Investigations.
I knew you were more than a secretary. I just wanted to see your
reaction when I said what I did." He kissed her forehead.
"I can understand Robert when he says that Lily saved him.
Because you did the same thing for me."
"With you fighting every inch of the way."
"An epic battle-but one I was doomed to lose," he sighed,
his hand moving to grasp her breast. "From the moment I saw
you, I knew I couldn't leave."
"Remington," Laura said, her hand tangling itself in
the dark wiry hair of his chest.
"Yes, my love?"
"You talk too much," she told him, her hand moving lower,
her eyes shining.
Remington closed his eyes as she wrapped her hand around him,
then lowered his head to waiting lips.
He awoke with a start, glancing over at Laura. She was sleeping
soundly. The clock beside the bed revealed that it was nearly
three a.m. What had awakened him? He decided that it must have
been the wind, and closed his eyes, only to open them again. He
HAD heard a sound. Laying still, he listened, but it didn't come
again. Rising from the bed, he drew on his robe to go to the window
that overlooked the garden. There was a light in the gallery.
Not the ceiling lights, but a flashlight. He could see the reflection
on the dark glass. Someone was down there.
His jaw tightened as he glanced back to the bed. He would go down
and check it out without bothering Laura. She'd likely start up
about Felicia again if he woke her. He opened the door quietly,
then closed it behind him again before heading for the stairs.
The doors to the gallery were still closed, the security system
still showing to be armed. But that wasn't possible if someone
were in there, Remington thought to himself. The only thing to
do was turn it off and go inside. Perhaps the flashlight had simply
been a reflection of some sort, he mused, pressing the buttons
in the proper sequence and waiting for the light to turn green.
When it did, he placed his hand on the doorknob, turning it. As
it opened, he heard a noise behind him. Before he could turn around,
he felt something connect with the back of his head, and then
everything went dark.