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Mildred pulled her car to the side
of the street as she and Bernice saw the ambulance at the same
time. "Oh no," she said.
"Isn't that Mr. Steele over there?" Bernice noted.
Both women were out of the car immediately and running to his
side. "Mr. Steele?!"
He was about to get into the ambulance when he heard Mildred's
voice. He turned, seeing her concerned face, as well as Bernice's.
"Mildred. Bernice. Where have you two been? Laura and I have
been trying to call all evening."
"Sorry, Boss."
"We were looking for you and Laura," Bernice explained.
"Trying to find out why you and she left the hotel so early."
"We've got to get going, Mr. Steele," a paramedic told
him. "She's lost a lot of blood."
"Blood? Who's hurt?" Mildred asked.
"Laura was shot," Remington told them, getting into
the ambulance. "Saving me. Meet us at Good Hope, okay? I'll
explain everything there, once I know she's okay."
Lt. Jarvis came up to Mildred. "You want to ride with me,
Mildred?" he asked.
"Sure. Com'on, Bernice. Oh, you two haven't met, have you?"
Mildred said, noticing the look Jarvis sent her friend. "Bernice
Foxe Simmons, Homicide Detective Lt. Jimmy Jarvis," she said,
introducing them as they got into his car.
"Mrs. Simmons. Bernice- Wait a minute. Didn't you used to
work for Steele?"
"I did- and I DO. You want to explain what's going on to
us?"
"I'll tell you what I know- but it's not much. Steele was
supposed to be meeting me to fill ME in ."
*****
Remington refused to leave Laura's side once they reached the
emergency room- until the doctor assured him that he thought she
was going to be fine, that the bullet would be easily removed
in surgery and probably hadn't done any major damage. "We'll
give her some blood and stabilize her before surgery, but the
best thing for Miss Holt right now is rest, Mr. Steele. We'll
let you know before we take her upstairs."
Remington dropped a kiss on Laura's forehead, ignoring the looks
that passed between the nurses in the room then left to find the
waiting area, and Mildred. At the moment, he needed her sympathetic
shoulder more than ever.
"How is she, Mr. Steele?" Bernice asked, having seen
him before the others.
Remington put an arm around Mildred's shoulders, found himself
holding onto Bernice's hand. "The doctors think she'll be
fine. They're going to take her up to surgery to remove the bullet
once she's stable."
"Thank goodness."
"Are you okay, Mr. Steele?" Mildred asked, looking up
at him.
"Just a bit shaken, that's all. And worried about Laura."
Jarvis watched as the three of them sat down. "Okay, while
we wait, you can fill me in on what's going on- and why Pete Dawson
would want to kill you."
"Mrs. Jameson hired us to find out if her missing accountant
had been stealing from her- and if he had, where the money might
be. We thought it was because wherever the money was, he would
be there as well."
"I knew she was making noises about the man having stolen
from her, but there was no evidence of foul play, and all the
department could do was look for Taylor and go from there."
"That obviously wasn't what Mrs. Jameson was concerned about.
She wanted the money. With or without Taylor attached to it. Laura
and Mildred went over there this morning," he glanced at
his watch. "I suppose it would be yesterday morning, now,
and while Mildred went over the books, Laura had a look around."
"Did you find the money, Mildred?" Jarvis asked.
"He diverted two million to a bogus company in the Cayman
Islands," Mildred told him. "Sweet set up, really. It's
no wonder he got away with it for as long as he did. But there's
no sign of Taylor having gone to the Caymans."
"There's been no sign that he left town at all," Jarvis.
"Laura doesn't think that he left town. She seems to think
that Mrs. Jameson discovered that he was stealing from her and
hit him with a lamp that was on the desk in her study. She noticed
that the desk had been recently moved after having been in the
same location for a long time."
"Really, Boss? Miss Holt noticed all that? The only thing
I noticed was that Mrs. Jameson needed more than just two maids
to keep that house clean. There was dust everywhere."
"Laura noticed that as well. Especially that there WASN'T
any dust on the lamp on the desk yesterday morning, which, to
Laura, indicated that it hadn't been there very long."
"Did you find anything at the house?" Jarvis asked.
"There's a stain of some kind beneath the desk- and we found
the ledger that Taylor was apparently working in when he was killed-
the page he was making entries to is stained with what might be
blood."
"That's still a lot of circumstantial evidence, Steele. And
as much as I respect Laura's instincts, it's not enough."
"Then how about a confession from Mrs. Jameson and Dawson
themselves?" he asked, then related those tense moments in
the study before Laura had thrown the lamp across the room. "The
only way out was to take her car. Only there wasn't enough gas
in it to get very far. We were going back to the Rabbit when McNally
found us."
"Mrs. Jameson called and reported the car as being stolen,
said that she'd recognized the thieves." Jarvis sighed. "I'll
see if I can't get a warrant to search the garden and house, Steele.
Might be a break that Mrs. Jameson had that heart attack in a
way. She won't be able to get rid of the evidence in CCU."
"No, but Dawson might try. He's already tried to take me
out before I could tell you all of this."
"I've got an APB out on Dawson- and on the car he was driving."
"He'll probably go see Mrs. Jameson," Mildred said.
"Got that covered too, Mildred," Jarvis assured her.
He stood up. "You'll let me know what happens?" he asked,
his brown eyes on Steele. "With Laura?"
"Yes. Thank you."
"I'll go get to work. See you later. Nice meeting you, Mrs.
Simmons."
"Bernice. I'm a widow."
"Oh," he said. "Bernice."
"He's cute," Bernice said once the boyish detective
had gone. "Reminds me of someone," she paused, thinking.
"Huck Finn?" Remington suggested, then looked up, and
his smile faded as he saw the doctor in the doorway.
"We're about to take Miss Holt into surgery, if you'd like
to see her for moment."
"The ladies as well?" he said. "They're practically
family," he said, then a thought struck. "Frances. I
have to call Frances, let know," he told Mildred.
Mildred placed a hand on his arm. "I'll take care of that,
Boss. After they take Miss Holt up to surgery."
He nodded, then led the way into the examining room, where Laura
had been transferred to a gurney for transport. He hung back as
Mildred and Bernice spoke softly with the drugged woman, then
moved forward as they left the room. "I'll call Frances,"
Mildred said again. The doctor looked at the nurses who were hovering
nearby.
"Let's give Mr. Steele a moment here, ladies, if you please?"
Steele gave the man a grateful smile as he took Laura's hand.
"Hey there. They're going to take you upstairs and fix you
all up."
"Afraid," she said slowly, softly.
"No reason to be. You'll be fine. You have to be. I won't
let you leave me alone. Not now, Laura. Not now that we've found
each other at last." He dropped a light kiss on her dry lips.
"I'll be here when you wake up," he promised.
"Always," she managed through the drug induced haze.
"Always here."
"Forever and ever," he said, glancing up as the nurses
and doctor returned. As they wheeled her out, Remington looked
at the man. "Take good care of her, Doctor."
"I will, Mr. Steele. Don't worry. She'll be fine. We should
be in surgery for about an hour- probably less. You and the ladies
are welcome to wait upstairs in the surgery waiting area."
"Thank you." He watched the gurney disappear into an
elevator, then turned to find Mildred and Bernice. Bernice was
sitting where they had been earlier, but there was no sign of
Mildred. "Where's-?"
"She's calling Frances," Bernice told him. "Laura's
strong, Mr. Steele. You of all people should know that. And she's
healthy. She'll come through this just fine."
He placed a hand over hers as it lay on his arm. "Thank you.
For this to happen now, when things were just starting to look
up." He managed a small smile. "Thanks, in large part,
I understand, to you."
"Mildred had the idea, I just took it a step further, that's
all. As long as it gets you and Laura together, that's what matters."
She looked at him. "Did it?"
"We're-closer," he told her as Mildred returned. "Did
you reach Frances?"
"She and Dr. Piper are on their way down. I told them to
meet us upstairs."
"You and Bernice go on."
"Where are you gonna be, Boss?"
"Looking for the man who did this."
"But- he's after you, too," Mildred reminded him.
"Why not just let the police handle it?" Bernice asked.
"He hurt Laura. Could have killed her. I want this one."
He gave Mildred's worried face a quick peck on the cheek. "I'll
be careful," he promised.
*****
He called Jarvis from the office, found that the detective was
already at the Jameson house with a warrant, Jarvis having gotten
a judge out of bed to sign it. "Hope you're right about this,
Steele," he said over the telephone. "If you're not,
my career is history, and your agency might as well close its
doors."
"Laura was sure of it, Jarvis," Steele assured him.
"Any leads on Dawson?"
"Not so far. I've got guards around Mrs. Jameson's room and
around here. Not sure where else he might go. We did check that
account in the Cayman, though. It's been closed. The money's gone."
Steele frowned as he hung up the telephone. He went to the drawer
of his desk and pulled out the agency's gun, and then out to Mildred-
no, Bernice's desk and found the bullets to go into it. He deliberately
kept his mind off of what Laura was going through at the hospital.
The only thing he thought about was finding Pete Dawson, and making
him pay for what he'd done.
*****
Remington took a taxi to St. Mark's Hospital, where the policeman
guarding Mrs. Jameson's room assured him that they hadn't seen
Pete Dawson, but that the old lady had been asking for him. "Has
she said anything else that you've heard?" Remington asked
the man.
"Not really. She's not very lucid. Her doctors say that it's
just a matter of time. She DID say something a little strange
earlier, though, come to think of it."
"What's that?"
"When the nurse was coming out earlier, she muttered something
about being sorry for something,- seemed to be asking the nurse
to forgive her for abandoning her. The nurse didn't have any idea
what she was talking about."
"Hmm." Remington caught sight of someone down the corridor
that was just a bit familiar, and said his good-byes to the officer
before moving on. "Phil. Pittsburgh Phil, isn't it?"
The short little man with curling hair looked at him with narrowed
eyes. "Steele. You got someone in the hospital here?"
"Not here, no. Waiting for someone who owes you some money?"
he asked the loanshark/bookie who spent most of the time at the
race track.
"As a matter of fact, yes, I am, if it's any of your business.
The chauffeur of that old lady down the hall owes me big. Owes
a lot of other bookies, too. Thought I'd come down here and wait
for him to turn up, since everyone knows how close he is to the
old lady."
"Plays the ponies, does he?"
"Yeah. And he couldn't pick a winner if his life depended
on it." Phil frowned again. "What's your business in
all this? You're not gonna get in my way again, are you? I'd hate
to have the boys rough you up again."
Remington lifted shoulders. "I'm looking for Pete Dawson
too, Phil," he confided. "He shot my partner. She took
a bullet meant for me, and I don't like people shooting the people
I care for. If you see him . . ."
"I'll make sure there's enough left so you can get your pound
of flesh, Steele," Phil promised.
"Thanks." He went to the telephones near the door and
called the surgical waiting area. "Mildred? How is she?"
"She's still in surgery, Mr. Steele. Frances and Dr. Piper
are here," she told him. "They're asking about where
you are."
"Still in surgery?" Remington questioned, glancing at
his watch. "The doctor said an hour. It's been just over
that."
"Which is why you need to get back here, Chief. Any luck
finding that creep?" Remington's attention was caught by
Pittsburgh Phil and his men leaving the hospital. "Chief?
Mr. Steele?" Mildred called.
"Uh, sorry," he said, as he strained to see which direction
the car they were in took away from the hospital. "Not yet.
But I think I'm beginning to get an idea of what happened. I'll
be there as soon as I can, Mildred."
"Be careful."
"I will." He hung up as Jimmy Jarvis came into the hospital.
"Jarvis."
"Steele. What are you doing here?"
"Waiting for Dawson to show up. Did you find anything?"
"Yeah. We did. We're waiting on a positive ID, but it's most
likely Taylor. You said that Laura thought he'd been killed by
a blow to the head from a lamp?"
"That was her theory, yes. Why?"
"His throat was cut," Jarvis said. "Not very cleanly,
either." Remington winced. "Now, I don't quite see Mrs.
Jameson as having done that, do you?"
"No, but I think I know who did- and why. Or, at least part
of the reason. You up to a drive?"
"Where to?"
To Be Continued. . .