Daniel considered pretending exhaustion to avoid having to answer his former protégé's question. It wouldn't have been far from the truth, actually. But he had to know how much Nathan had said. "There didn't seem to be any reason to tell you that I had a brother, Harry," he said now. "After all, I hadn't seen him in twenty five years. And after that meeting, I had little reason to believe that we would ever see each other again. Fate, however, had other plans, apparently. How are things going for you in Los Angeles, Harry?" he asked, hoping to change the question. "Still enjoying playing the great detective?"
"Don't try to side track me, Daniel," Remington warned as Laura returned with the glass of ice. "It won't work. Nathan implied that you were looking for me-"
"I'm sure that I was in my delirium," Daniel explained, deliberately misunderstanding. "I'd lost quite a lot of blood. I was seeing things, people, that I couldn't possibly have seen-" His voice trailed off as he recalled one of those people.
"I'm not talkin' about now, Daniel, I'm talkin' about twenty years ago, when you found me in Brixton," Remington clarified, his accent slipping subtly, as it tended to do whenever he was under stress or angry.
Laura held out some ice chips for Daniel, and he thought he saw suspicion, if not knowledge in those brown eyes. "As I recall, you found me. You picked my pocket, remember?" he said, letting the ice cool his throat.
"Of course I remember, Daniel. I've often thought of that as one of the turning points in my life. The day I met you changed my life, got me off the streets, gave me the opportunity to learn what I'd need to know to someday become who I am now. But your - brother made it sound as if you hadn't just picked me out to help. You know, I've always wondered, why me? Why, of all the boys in Brixton, why you picked me out to take under your wing. I never asked the question- too afraid of the answer, perhaps. But I'm askin' it now, Daniel. Why? Why not take Paulie or Lucas- or any of those other boys? Why me?"
Daniel pushed Laura's hand away and tried to sit up, wincing as the movement sent a wave of pain through his entire body. "I saw the potential in you, Harry. The intelligence, the thirst for-"
"That's bull shit, Daniel," Remington declared baldly. "And you know it. I need to know the truth, Daniel. *Was* there a reason you chose me? Something more personal?"
When he opened his mouth to speak, Daniel began to cough, and the pain washed over him again. Laura placed a hand on his arm, and looked across the bed to where Remington stood in frustration. "Go get Nathan," she ordered.
"We'll finish this later, Daniel," Remington promised, and all Daniel could do was nod in agreement.
Once he was gone, Daniel's coughing subsided a bit, as he struggled for breath. "You should have told him, Daniel," Laura said in a quiet, matter of fact tone.
"Coward," he managed through the pain. "Couldn't risk-" He paused as another spate of coughing brought more pain. "Damn." He drew a deeper, pain-filled breath. "Lost him once. Didn't want it to happen again." He grabbed her wrist as she moved away. "Laura- you could tell him- "
Laura shook her head sharply. "No. It's your place to tell him the truth, Daniel. I'm not going to get between the two of you on this. You can't expect me to."
"Won't matter anyway," Daniel said, releasing her wrist. "Once Harmon finds out I'm alive, he'll kill me."
***
Remington told Nathan that Daniel needed his help, but instead of following the doctor back to Daniel's room, he opened the front door and left the house. He needed to think. Perhaps a walk might clear his head, he thought, setting off down a path. "Dammit, Daniel," he muttered, finding himself kicking at a small stick before him. "What the bloody hell are you trying not to tell me?"
"Who are you talking to?" Jarred said, causing Remington to stop in his tracks and look up to where the boy was half bent over the engine of a Land Rover that had seen better days.
"No one," Remington told him, moving closer. "Myself," he corrected.
"You do that too, eh?" Jarred questioned with a grin, then turned his attention back to the engine.
"What's the problem?" Remington asked, peering into the compartment while maintaining a safe distance to keep any stray grease or oil from his suit.
"Just trying to get her running," Jarred explained, grunting as he loosened a bolt. "A neighbor gave her to me to fix up."
Remington nodded, watching the boy work. "Good at this sort of thing, are you?"
"Not really," Jarred admitted, grinning. "But I figure the best way to learn is to roll up your sleeves and do it."
"Good idea," Remington agreed. "Does your- father help you work on it?"
"Da?" Jarred said, then laughed. "Not likely. He doesn't know a carburetor from a fuel pump. What about your father?"
Remington shook his head. "No idea. I've never met my father," he said carefully, watching the boy's face for a reaction. Remington wasn't disappointed.
Jarred's blue eyes narrowed in surprise. "But, I thought that-"
"What did you think, Jarred?" Remington prompted.
Suddenly the boy was intensely interested in the innards of the engine before him. "Nothing. Could you hand me that spanner, please?"
Remington picked up the tool and held it out, watching in silence again. "I wouldn't take that off just yet," he said.
"Why not?" Jarred asked, looking sullen now.
"You need to release the pressure on that line first."
"Which line?" Jarred asked.
"That one," Remington said, removing his jacket and rolling up his sleeves. "Here," he said, reaching past the boy to open the valve.
"Thanks," Jarred said, looking impressed. "You know about engines and the like?"
"A little," Remington hedged. Actually, he had only cursory experience with the internal workings of the internal combustion engine. But he could fake it long enough to gain Jarred's trust- and maybe get at the truth.
***
Leaving Daniel in Carol's capable hands, Laura left the room with a tired looking Nathan. "You need to get some rest," she suggested.
"I know. But ever since he showed up-" he ran a hand over his face. "I never thought I'd see him again, you know. He was on a self destruct course twenty five years ago."Lifting his eyes heavenward, he told Laura, "I said some horrible things the last time we were together. I said he was a coward, and a liar,- and worse."
"What happened?" Laura asked, and then backed down. "I'm sorry. I don't have any right-"
Nathan smiled at her, taking her hand in his. "I think you have every right. We met then much as we did this time. I was fresh out of medical school- I'd come here to London in the hope of finding my errant twin to tell him of our father's passing and that I intended to share the money I'd been left with him. I worked in a free clinic in Whitechapel. Some of Daniel's 'friends' brought him in after he'd gotten the worst of a brawl at a pub." Laura could tell that he hadn't thought much of his brother's friends by the way he said it. "You wouldn't have recognized him. I almost didn't, and I'd grown up with him. He was buried so deep in whiskey and self-pity that I didn't think he'd ever find his way out."
"Self-pity?" Laura questioned. She'd never thought of Daniel as the kind of person who would indulge in that particular emotion.
"I tried my best to pull him out of it, and to discover the reason for his downward spiral- when I did-" he shook his head. "There are times when I wish I hadn't. But then, I wouldn't have met Maeve, or had Carol, or Jarred." He looked at Laura. "Why don't we go into the parlour and sit down? This will take a few minutes."
***
Remington dropped the steering box into the growing pile of parts beside the vehicle. "Hope you know how to put this back together," he told Jarred with a grin. "I've never been very good with - jigsaw puzzles."
"I'll manage," Jarred assured him with an answering grin. "And I'd be willin' t'bet that you'd be better at puttin' it back together than you want me to believe."
"It'll give you something to keep you out of trouble," Remington suggested, moving with Jarred to the bench where some hand cleanser and rags sat waiting to be used.
"No chance of that happenin' around here," Jarred said, rubbing the cleanser into his hands and arms. "Just once I'd like t'go to the big city." He looked at Remington. "Must be excitin' bein' a big-city detective and all."
"Sometimes," Remington agreed. "It's mostly routine, really."
"Wouldn't be for me," Jarred said. "If I was t'get t'Los Angeles someday, do y'think you'd be able t'put me up? Just til I could find a place t'live and a job?"
"Have you talked to your father about this, Jarred?"
Jarred's expression darkened. "No. He wouldn't understand. He *never* understands anything that I want t'do." He tossed the rag onto the bench.
"Maybe he just worries that you'll turn out like his brother," Remington suggested slowly, meticulously finishing wiping the grease from his arms and hands. "I get the impression that they don't get along."
"That's an understatement," Jarred declared with a soft snort of derision. "You're lucky that my father didn't find you when he looked for you in Ireland."
"And why is that?" Remington asked, hiding his surprise that Nathan Martindale would have reason to look for him at all.
"He would've turned y'against your father," Jarred said. "Filled your head with all sorts of horrible things that his wayward brother did-" Suddenly the boy's eyes were as big as saucers. "I didn't mean- I didn't -"
Remington placed a hand on the boy's shoulder. "It's okay, Jarred. You only confirmed what I think I've always known but never acknowledged. The question is, now, what am I goin' t'do about it?" he sighed, unconsciously slipping back into the brogue of his childhood.
Jarred looked a bit sheepish as he said, "I guess it means we're cousins."
"That it does, Jarred," Remington agreed, but his smile was already fading. "That it does."
***
Laura shook her head after hearing Nathan's tale. "Have I shocked you?" he asked, watching her reaction.
"No. I mean- I suspected the truth, but- "
"How do you think he'll take the news?" Nathan asked. "That Daniel's his father?"
"I wish I knew. I know he's been searching for his past, some- clue as to who he really is, but to find out that it's Daniel- "
"If I'd known that Daniel had remained the coward and not told him, I wouldn't have said anything. You know that, don't you?"
"I know."
Nathan rose from the chair where he'd been sitting. "I think I'm going to try to get some sleep now. Carol will wake me if Daniel needs attention. Shall I show you to your room?" he asked. "Maeve went into town to pick up a few things. She hadn't planned on having any patients on the premises- or guests. Especially family."
"No. I think I'm going to try and find Mr. Steele- Remington."
Nathan hesitated in the doorway. "Laura, -" sometime during his recounting his and Daniel's stormy past, they had become Laura and Nathan. "Is Daniel still in danger?"
"He could be. If Harmon finds out that he's alive - Remington told me that Harmon isn't very pleased that Daniel tried to scam him."
Nathan nodded, and then went toward the stairs, climbing them slowly. Laura watched until he vanished from the landing, then she opened the front door and left the house, listening for any clue as to where Remington might have gone. As she walked along the path, she kept an eye out for anything unusual, anything that might hint that Jason Harmon suspected his quarry had escaped its fate.
But the only person she met was Jarred, heading back toward the house. "Miss Holt," he said, smiling, and Laura thought she detected a glimmer of nervousness in his blue eyes.
"Jarred. Have you seen Mr. Steele?"
"As a matter of fact, I have. He went down that way, toward the lake. Said he needed to think."
"Thank you."
"He's in a strange mood, Miss," Jarred said as she moved past him. "I'm not sure it's a good idea for you t'be-"
"Don't worry, Jarred," Laura assured the young man, who she now realized reminded her a bit of Remington, with his dark hair, lean frame, and blue eyes. "I'm an old hand at handling his moods." She looked around as the sound of a car engine broke the silence. "Sounds as if your mother's back. She might need some help."
Jarred nodded and continued on to where Maeve was parking the car, leaving Laura to continue down the path he'd indicated.
She found him on the edge of a small lake that reflected the deepening blue sky above. He was standing there, looking out, hands stuffed deep into his pockets. Laura joined him, waited for him to speak first.
"How is he?" he asked after several minutes of silence.
"Resting. Nathan gave him something for the pain- apparently he'd refused it before."
"Sounds like Daniel," Remington mused ruefully. "Hates pills and such almost as much as I do." He kept looking at the lake as he said, "Like father like son, I suppose, eh?"
"Rem-"
He finally looked at her as she placed a hand on his back. "Yes. I know. Oh, not the details. But young Jarred let something slip and it merely confirmed my suspicions." He drew a deep breath.
"How do you feel about it?"
"How the hell am I supposed to feel?" he asked, and Laura winced at the rawness of his voice. "I find out that the man I trusted more than anyone else in the entire world has been lying to me all these years? That he's my father, for God's sake? The man who left me to fend for myself-"
"The man who found you in Brixton and got you out of that life," Laura reminded him in a quiet voice.
Remington sighed. "Dear God, Laura. I wish I knew where to go from here. What to do. How I feel about all of this." He reached down and took her hand. "But I do know one thing."
"What's that?"
"I'm glad you're here. Right now, you're the only sane thing in this whole insane business," he told her, pulling her into his arms.
"If you want to talk-" Laura offered, then felt him shake his head against hers.
"Not right now. Right now, I just want to stay here with you in my arms."
"I think I can manage that, Remington," she told him.
***
Daniel opened his eyes and blinked once- and then again. It was an apparition. It had to be. He thought he'd seen her when the door had first opened to Nathan's house- or the house he'd hoped belonged to his brother. The woman who stood beside his bed now had a smile that was a familiar to him as that of his son's, and blue eyes that had haunted his dreams for thirty-odd years. "Hello there, Daniel," he heard her say in a soft brogue.
Reaching out a hand, he hesitated to touch her face, fearful that the apparition would vanish. But when his hand touched warm flesh, he trembled. "Meg?" he asked softly, afraid to break the spell that had brought the only woman he'd ever loved back to him from the grave . . .