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"Good morning, Bernice,"
Remington said brightly as he entered the office the next morning.
The woman looked up from her desk and smiled. "Mr. Steele."
She followed him into his office with a cup of coffee, watching
as he nodded appreciatively over the newspaper waiting on his
desk. She placed the coffee before him, along with several message
slips. "There you go."
"Thank you," he said, glancing at the messages, then
putting them to the side. "Is Laura in yet?"
"She and Mildred left for Mrs. Jameson's half an hour ago,"
Bernice told him. "She told me to remind you that you're
supposed to meet her at Mr. Baxter's at ten thirty."
He glanced at his watch. "Plenty of time," he decided,
tapping his fingers on the desk. "Bernice, has Laura mentioned
anything to you about who my secret admirer might be?"
She stopped, looking at him. "I don't think . . ." she
started to say.
"I'm not asking you to betray a friend's confidence, you
understand. I just thought she might have mentioned something,
let something slip," he said.
"No, she hasn't said anything, really. Other than I think
she's really a little worried - and I probably shouldn't have
told YOU that much. Look, Mr. Steele, you're right. Laura IS my
friend. And I'm not going to rat on her, okay?"
"I understand, Bernice." His eyes were on her. "I
would think that you'd know that I could be trusted not to take
it any further and endanger your friendship with Laura."
Bernice met that blue gaze, and her own eyes fell. "You're
right. I do know that."
"Thank you for the newspaper and the coffee," he told
her with a smile. "And would you mind having Fred meet me
downstairs in, say, fifteen minutes?"
*****
Laura was waiting on the sidewalk outside of the Baxter Gallery
when the limo came to a stop. "I was beginning to think you
were going to be late," she said.
Remington frowned. "I'm early, actually," he said, glancing
at his watch. "Yes. It's only twenty after." He bent
to talk to Fred. "I'll ride back with Miss Holt, Fred,"
he said, then tapped the roof of the car twice. "How did
things go with Mrs. Jameson?"
"Mildred's still going over the books. She thinks she's found
something, but she's not sure exactly what it is yet."
Steele nodded, looking at her strangely. "What's wrong?"
"Just wondering if you'd gotten anymore deliveries this morning.
I don't see any new cufflinks or anything," she commented.
"No. Seems my secret admirer has decided to take the day
off. Or at least the morning. Perhaps she's busy," he suggested.
"Or maybe she's decided that it's not necessary to ply me
with flowers and gifts to get my undivided attention."
"One can only hope, Mr. Steele," she murmured as he
opened the door into the museum for her.
*****
As they returned to the office after an early lunch, they met
a delivery man leaving. "Oops," Remington said as he
pushed open the glass doors to find Bernice and Mildred looking
at yet more flowers and a large package- again tied with that
blue ribbon that was becoming the sender's signature. He glanced
down at Laura, then frowned as she turned on her heel and left
the office. "Laura-?" he called after her, but she was
already in the elevator.
With a sigh, Remington continued into the office. Mildred watched
him with worried eyes. "Mr. Steele, you're still certain
that -?"
"Yes, Mildred, I am. She probably forgot something in the
limo," he said, taking the card from the flowers and reading
it. Lifting the package onto Bernice's desk, he tore the paper,
revealing a movie poster for The Maltese Falcon.
"Ooh, Mr. Steele," Mildred said, her eyes wide as Remington
gazed at the handsomely framed artwork for one of his favorite
movies. "There's something written on it," she pointed
out, frowning.
Remington hefted the frame higher, then smiled. "It's Bogart's
autograph," he told her. "How in the world did she find
this, I wonder?"
"It probably wasn't easy," Bernice said. "Something
like that would be pretty hard to come by. I doubt Bogart signed
very many of them."
"Yes. This calls for something VERY special," he decided.
"Mildred, could you-," he stopped, realizing that making
calls for him was no longer Mildred's job. "Excuse me. Bernice-
would you call and make a reservation for two at Che Rive for
this evening? And tell Claude to pull out all the stops."
"Yes, sir," Bernice told him. "Right after I put
those flowers in some water. IF I can find another vase around
here."
"Look in the bottom file cabinet drawer in my office,"
Mildred suggested as Remington picked up the poster and started
toward his office with it.
Remington placed the poster on the sofa, then stepped back to
admire it as Mildred came in with the flowers. "I wonder
where Miss Holt went?" she asked.
"No idea," he said, his attention still on the gift.
"You know Laura. She'll turn up, Mildred."
"I needed to fill her in on what I found out at Mrs. Jameson's."
He turned to look at her. "You found something?"
"I think so. Looks like that slimeball Taylor set up a dummy
corporation and transferred funds to it a little at a time over
the last fifteen years. I've got a computer check going to find
out where he's stashed the company's assets. I'll know more once
I get the report."
"Good work, Mildred," he said, going to the desk and
sitting down.
"So, how did last night go? Any luck in locating your secret
admirer?"
"Really, Mildred. That wasn't my mind at all last night.
Laura and I had simply wonderful evening, right through finishing
a magnum of champagne at my apartment after the movies."
"Sounds interesting, Boss," Mildred told him with a
grin.
It had been, Remington mused. Right up to the moment that Laura
had decided it was time for her to return to her loft. "Oh,
it was, Mildred. It certainly was."
*****
Laura caught up with the delivery man on the street as he was
about to get back into his truck. "Excuse me," she said,
noting the name of the delivery company. It hadn't been the same
one the last time. "You just made a delivery to Suite 1157,
I believe?"
"Yeah, I did. Remington Steele."
"Could you tell me where the delivery CAME from? What florist
shop?"
"The flowers came from `Flowers and More'," he told
her. "The package I picked up at `Movies To Go'."
"Thanks," Laura told him, handing him a ten dollar bill.
As she turned back toward the office, she saw another courier
entering the building, and with a sense of dread, followed him
into the elevator. He got off on the eleventh floor just ahead
of her, and she tailed him into the office, entering just in time
to hear him hand an envelope and small box to Bernice.
"For Remington Steele," he said.
Bernice took the package. "Thank you," she said, eyeing
Laura. "Where did you disappear to?"
"Just trying to track down proof that Mr. Steele's sending
these things to himself," Laura told her.
"And did you?"
"Not yet," Laura told her, turning and entering her
office. "Where's Mildred?" she asked Bernice as the
secretary entered, still carrying the box and envelope.
"In Mr. Steele's office," Bernice told her. "We
didn't have a chance to talk this morning," Bernice said.
"How did your evening go?"
"All right, I guess. If you don't count his constantly looking
at EVERY woman we passed, pretending to wonder if she might be
his Secret admirer. The hostess at Guido's hovered so much that
I almost suggested she join us. If that woman's Italian, then
I'm Sophia Loren," Laura muttered. "And then the girl
at the ticket window. We already HAD tickets, he didn't have any
reason to talk to her, but he did anyway. And the woman who sold
the popcorn-," she shook her head. "Except for those
things, it was a perfect evening!"
"Couldn't you be over reacting just a LITTLE, Laura?"
Bernice questioned.
"ME? Over reacting? I'M not the one who's getting gifts,
remember? I'M not the one who is pretending to be embarrassed
by all the attention. What could I possibly be over reacting TO?"
The connecting door to Remington's office opened, and his head
appeared. "Ah. I thought I heard your lilting voice,"
he said, smiling at her, only to lift a brow as he saw her angry
expression. "Have I done something?"
Laura grabbed the box from Bernice's hands and shoved toward him.
"Here. These are for you. ANOTHER gift from you secret admirer."
She picked up her purse. "If you'll excuse me, I have some
things to take care of."
Bernice followed her out of the office. "Where will you be?"
"I'll call," Laura told her as the glass doors swung
silently shut behind her.
Bernice found Mildred with Remington in Laura's office. Remington
was reading the contents of the envelope with a concerned frown.
"What's that?" she asked.
"A letter from my secret admirer," he told her. "She's
arranged dinner for the two of us, says she'll have a car at my
apartment at seven to pick me up."
"Are you going to go?" Mildred asked as Bernice returned
to the reception area to greet a client.
"Of course I am. Apparently Laura's gotten tired of the cat
and mouse game and ready to own up to what she's been doing. No
doubt that's where she's gone now. To finalize her plans for the
evening," he told her, the opened the box to reveal a key.
"The key to her heart, perhaps, Mildred?"
Mildred shook her head, about to say something when Bernice returned.
"Excuse me, Mr. Steele, but Mr. Mason is out here, and he's
INSISTING that he talk to you this time."
Laura and he had met with the man the previous afternoon, and
Laura had tried to make the well to do attorney that the agency
didn't handle setting up permanent security systems in homes.
"Show him into my office," Remington said. "I'll
speak to him," he said, slipping the key and envelope into
his pocket as he turned toward the door. "Care to join me,
Mildred?"
"I'm waiting on that report, remember?" she asked, turning
toward her own office. "I'm sure you can handle him, Chief."
"Hmm, yes," Remington agreed uncertainly as he opened
the door and entered his office to face the well known attorney.
*****
When Laura hadn't shown up by four, Remington began to pace the
office like a caged panther. Bernice had stuck her head into the
office a little earlier, saying she was leaving for the day. Nodding,
he pulled the neatly typed letter out and read it for the fourth
time as Mildred came in. "Found it!" she was saying,
waving a paper before her.
"Found what, Mildred?" he asked.
"Mrs. Jameson's money. It's in an account in the Grand Cayman
Islands. That's probably where Taylor's disappeared to."
Remington looked over the report. "Probably. Have you checked
with the airlines to see if he's taken a flight out?"
"There's no sign of him at all. It's like he just dropped
off the face of the earth, boss. Should I call Mrs. Jameson with
this?"
Remington nodded as he read the letter once more. "Probably.
But you might want to wait for Laura to return and look it over
first."
Mildred moved to his side. "What's wrong, Chief?" she
asked, seeing his deepening frown.
"I don't know, Mildred. Do you remember something you said?
About an invitation to a nice, intimate little dinner?"
"Sure. What about it?"
"The more I read this, and think about it, the more I begin
to wonder if it IS Laura who's been doing all of this. Perhaps
attending this meeting would be folly. I mean, if it IS someone
who's plotting to get revenge over something I or the agency have
done, I'll be walking into a trap."
"But you have to go, Mr. Steele," Mildred insisted.
"She's expecting you. If you don't show up," she was
saying, but her voice trailed off as Remington pinned her with
a look.
"You know something, don't you, Mildred?"
"No," she denied.
"Yes, you do. You're not a good liar, Mildred," he reminded
her. "Now out with it."
Mildred swallowed heavily. "I don't know what you're talking
about, Mr. Steele," she insisted as he backed her across
the room, until she sat heavily in the chair beside the sofa.
"I don't know anything."
"Mildred, unless you tell me, I'm not going to meet my secret
admirer tonight."
*****
Bernice paid the young woman behind the counter. "Thank you.
You'll make sure it's delivered to the address before seven?"
"Yes, ma'am," the girl said.
As she left the wine shop, Bernice smiled- but the smile froze
as she heard Laura's familiar voice. "What the hell do you
think you're doing, Bernice?"
To Be Continued . . .