Laura looked up to see how Remington had reacted to Mrs. Martindale's statement, but his attention was wholly focused on something down the corridor. "Good Lord," she thought that she heard him murmur as he moved away, and Laura realized that he hadn't heard the woman's comment about her son meeting his cousin for the first time.
"Mrs. Martindale-" she began, but the woman smiled and took her arm, turning her toward the room into which Remington had vanished. "There's time, lass. And my name's Maeve." She bent her head closer. "He's too caught up in his concern for Daniel at the moment. Which is as it should be, all thing considered."
But Laura refused to let the subject go. "You said that Mr. Steele- Remington . . . was . . . is-"
"Aye, and he is."
"Then you're -" Laura began in a quiet voice that didn't carry past the doorway, through which she could see Remington standing beside a hospital bed. Dr. Martindale was adjusting some tubing that ran into his patient's arm, and looked up to meet Laura's gaze, causing her to lose track of her thoughts momentarily.
Medium height, dark hair mixed with grey, - "Daniel," she whispered, but she wasn't looking at the man in the bed. Dr. Martindale could have been Daniel Chalmers' mirror image except for the dark rimmed glasses he wore.
And Remington had noticed as well. He was looking from the man in the bed to the doctor, and Laura heard him ask, "I'd like an explanation, Doctor. Who *are* you?"
Martindale finished with the IV, and then placed his stethoscope on Daniel's chest. "He's my brother," he admitted. "Twin brother, actually."
"Daniel's never mentioned a brother," Remington said as Laura joined him. "He's never mentioned *any* family in all the years I've known him."
"Which isn't surprising when you know that until he wandered in here and collapsed, I hadn't seen him in twenty-five years."
"How is he?" Laura asked, asking about the man in the bed. His face showed the results of a vicious beating. There were bruises around his eyes, swelling them, and around his jaw and cheekbones as well.
"I believe I repaired most of the internal damage from the gunshot wounds and physical beating. He was lucky." Martindale shook his head. "But then, he always was. Had more luck than anyone I've ever met."
"You're not English," Remington finally noted.
"Neither is he," Martindale said. "We're Canadian."
"Has he regained consciousness?" Remington asked.
"Not yet. He very nearly died. If he hadn't found this place when he did-"
"Dr. Martindale-" Remington began, and then paused. "What was your first name?"
He smiled. "Nathan."
"What did the police say?" Laura asked, frowning as she saw the look that passed between Nathan Martindale and his wife. "You *did* notify the authorities, didn't you?"
"No," Maeve said, moving to her husband's side. "Considering Daniel's line of work, we thought it best not to involve the police."
"I run a small, private clinic/hospital here, Miss-"
At his inquisitive pause, Laura responded. "Holt. Laura Holt."
"Ah. The valued associate," he said, and seeing Laura's surprise, added, "From the London papers on the occasion of your last visit. Since I had no way of knowing what Daniel was into when he was injured- I worried about drawing attention to him, in case whoever did this found out and came after him to finish it."
"He was running a con," Remington admitted, gently touching his mentor's hand, missing the look of disappointment that crossed Nathan's face at the admission.
"Why don't we go and have some coffee?" Maeve suggested in a soft voice. When Remington started to shake his head negatively, she said, "I'll call Carol to sit with him."
"Carol?" Laura questioned.
"Our daughter," Nathan explained. "She's a trained nurse. She'll let us know if he needs us."
Going to the door, Maeve called softly. "Carol."
The dark haired young woman wearing a nurse's uniform smiled warmly at Remington and Laura as her mother made the introductions. "Carol, this is Remington Steele and Laura Holt," Maeve explained. "We'll be in the parlour, having coffee, if anything happens."
Carol took the clipboard that her father had been holding and went to check on her patient. "Hard to believe," Remington murmured, drawing Nathan's attention. "I was just commenting that it's difficult to believe that she and the boy are brother and sister."
"Jarred's a good boy. Bit of a dreamer, though."
Laura looked at him. "You sound as if that disappoints you."
Nathan glanced at Daniel. "He reminds me a lot of my brother at that age," he said, turning and leaving the room.
Remington lingered for a moment, watching the brunette as she gently went about inspecting Daniel's sutures and bruises and vital signs. Then, apparently deciding that his friend was in capable hands, he joined Laura and the others in the hall.
"I'll go and get the coffee," Maeve told them. "I'll join you in the parlour in a moment."
"I take it that you and Daniel didn't get along," Remington commented as they entered the sitting room.
"As I said, it's been twenty five years since we last saw each other. I don't really know him anymore. He's a stranger. A man who would have died if I hadn't obeyed my Hippocratic oath."
"I appreciate what you'd done for him, Doctor," Remington said. "I'll see that he's out of here as soon as he's well enough to be transported elsewhere-"
"You'll do no such thing," Maeve said as she entered the room carrying a tray that contained an insulated carafe, four cups, and a plate of cookies. Putting the tray onto a table, she turned to look at the two men, hands on her hips. "Really, Nathan. The lad's come all this way, and the first thing you do is show how disagreeable you can be. Daniel's more than welcome to stay here as long as necessary, Remington," she said, pouring the dark liquid. "Now apologize to the lad, Nathan."
Nathan looked a bit sheepish as he took his cup and saucer from her. "I should apologize, I suppose." He ran a hand through his hair. "It's been a long forty eight hours."
Maeve's blue eyes were filled with love as she looked at him before handing a cup of coffee to Laura. "He won't admit it, most likely, but he's refused to leave Daniel's side since he fell at my feet in the front hallway. It was like seein' a ghost from the past when I opened that door," she explained, handing Remington his cup.
"You'd met Daniel before, then, Mrs. Martindale?" Remington questioned, for once refusing the offer of something to eat as she held out the plate of cookies.
Laura watched as another glance was exchanged between husband and wife. It looked to her that Maeve was uncertain how much to say. "It was a long time ago. Daniel spent a bit of time in Ireland and we met then. When Nathan came to the village a few years later, I thought he'd returned- took him a bit of time to convince me that he wasn't Daniel."
Nathan sipped his coffee, his expression thoughtful as he peered through his glasses at Remington. "When did Daniel find you?"
"Find me?" Remington repeated. "You make it sound as if he had been looking for me."
"Dear God," Nathan declared, putting his cup and saucer down, splashing lukewarm coffee onto the highly polished wood. "You don't know." Removing his glasses, he cleaned them with a handkerchief that he pulled from his pocket before putting them back on. "He doesn't know," he said to Maeve.
"Know what?" Remington asked, frowning. "What the bloody hell are you going on about, man?"
"Nathan," Maeve said in that quiet voice. "You might as well continue it- since you've brought it up."
Nathan shook his head. "It's not my place to tell him. It's *his*," he insisted, pointing toward the room down the hall. "I always knew he was a coward. But I hoped-"
Laura listened to him, watched as he paced across the room, running a hand across the back of his neck, trying to fathom out what he should do. Laura had a good idea what was going on- but until she had more evidence, she wasn't about to speculate. She had a feeling that Remington was going to need her help more than she had ever thought possible.
Jarred ran into the room, out of breath. "Da! Carol needs you," he exclaimed in an urgent tone.
Suddenly Nathan was no longer a man angry with his wayward brother. He was a doctor with a patient that needed his help. "Stay here," he ordered Remington, leaving the room.
As Remington moved to follow, Maeve shook her head. "I wouldn't. Let him do his job, lad. He'll send Carol for you if Daniel's awake. Now sit down and have some more coffee."
Remington's blue eyes studied the woman "Mrs. Martindale-"
"Maeve, please," she said, lifting the carafe to refill his cup.
"Maeve, then," Remington acquiesced. "Before I went into Daniel's room, you were saying something about Jarred meeting his cousin-?"
"Did I now?" Maeve Martindale appeared to consider the idea. "Oh, yes. Jarred's going to pay a visit to his cousins in Ireland soon. He's been gone so long; it will be like he's just meeting them for the first time. Perhaps that's what you heard," she suggested, concentrating on her cup of coffee.
Remington sat back with a deep sigh, watching her, as Laura watched them both.
****
Down the hallway, Nathan examined the readout on the monitor beside Daniel's bed, and then lifted his patient's arm to check his pulse. Eyes on his watch, he said, "I can tell that you're awake, Daniel. You might as well open your eyes." As he lowered Daniel's arm to the cover, he looked up to see his brother's eyes were indeed open. "How do you feel?"
"Like I was hit by a truck," Daniel commented, "Several time over," he added, wincing as the bruises on his face made themselves known. He frowned, wincing again. "Nathan?"
"You didn't expect to see me?" Nathan asked, nodding silently at Carol, sending her on a mission.
"I hoped I'd found the right place- but I was in pretty bad shape. Couldn't be sure- Guess I hoped I'd be lucky."
"Well, as usual, your luck held. If you'd knocked on anyone else's door, you'd be dead right now."
"I knew you'd make things right, Nate. You always had that knack."
"Then you knew I was here. How long have you known?"
"Saw an article in the newspaper awhile back. About a Canadian doctor who had a small, private hospital/clinic in the outskirts of London."
"I remember the article. That was over a year ago. Why didn't you contact me before?"
"The last time we saw each other, -" Daniel began, "You made it quite clear that you wanted nothing more to do with me."
Nathan winced as he recalled the angry words they had exchanged on that damp September night. "If I remember correctly, I called you a stupid fool for losing your best chance at happiness and a normal life."
"Normalcy is relative, Nate," Daniel said with some difficulty.
"I'll give you something for the pain -," he said, reaching for the IV tubing.
But Daniel shook his head. "No." The movement caused him to take a deep breath, causing even more pain. "Damn. Just a little. Enough to- dull it a bit," he acquiesced.
As he worked, Nathan asked, "When did you find him, Daniel?"
"Find him?" Daniel repeated, closing his eyes to give the medicine a chance to get into his system.
Nathan glanced at the doorway to make sure no one was there to overhear. "Your son." Daniel's eyes opened, wary now. "And why in Heaven's name haven't you told him the truth about who you are and who he is?"
The wariness was replaced by fear. "How would you know that I hadn't? Unless- Nate. You didn't-"
The entrance of Remington, Laura drew Daniel's attention. "Daniel. Thank God you're awake," Remington said, coming over to the bed.
"Harry," Daniel croaked through a suddenly dry throat.
"Harry?" he heard Nathan question incredulously, and sent his brother a warning glance before trying to clear his throat.
"Can he have some water?" Laura asked.
"I'll have Carol bring in some ice chips. Just a few, mind you," Nathan said. "I'll leave the three of you alone for a few minutes. Don't tire him out, Remington- or should I call you Harry?"
"Nate-"
"Remington will do," the younger man assured him. "Daniel's one of the few that still insists on using that name."
"You look terrible, Daniel," Remington said once Nathan was gone.
"Thank you. And you look more than a bit all-in yourself. Not worrying about me, I hope?"
"Of course not," Remington insisted. "I know you can take care of yourself. At least, I always thought you could. I tried to warn you off this thing, Daniel. If you'd listened to me-"
"Spare me the 'I told you so's, my boy," Daniel sighed. "Please."
"What happened?"
As Laura listened, she moved toward the door, hoping to meet Carol with the promised ice chips. But there was no sign of the dark haired young woman, only her father, standing with his back to the wall, taking deep, calming breaths.
"I don't know, really," Daniel told Remington. "I think that someone tapped my cover, ratted me out to the mark. Everything seemed to be going swimmingly, and the next thing I know, he and what he euphemistically calls his 'security people' were taking me for the proverbial 'long drive in the country'."
"Who was the mark?"
Nathan saw Laura and straightened, then continued on to find Carol. She watched him disappear into a room, and then returned to stand at Remington's side as Daniel answered.
"Jason Harmon. I doubt you've heard of him-"
"Harmon? Oh, Daniel," Remington groaned.
"Then you *have* heard of the man?"
"You forget, Daniel, that Mr. Steele- Remington- and I are on the *other* side of the fence." She ignored the look of surprise that both men sent her way as she used the name. "We get alerts on international criminals all the time. Including Jason Harmon," Laura reminded him. "The man's organization has been linked gun-running, drugs, prostitution- he's got his finger in every pie out there!"
"Which made him a potentially lucrative mark," Daniel pointed out. "All of those pies make him a great deal of money."
"You're never going to change, Daniel." Laura shook her head in disgust. "I'm going to find that ice," she told them. "I'll be right back."
"I seem to have a knack for upsetting Linda, don't I?" Daniel noted, managing a painful smile. It was a moment before he realized that Remington wasn't smiling in return. "What's wrong, Harry?" he asked.
"Daniel," Remington began, confusion written on his face, "why didn't you tell me that you had a brother?"