Nathan came from his office to find Maeve standing beside the rear door of the entry hall, looking out. "Maeve?" he said quietly, noting her deep concentration.
She jumped, obviously startled by his appearance. "Nathan. I didn't hear you coming down the hall. How's Daniel?" she asked.
"Resting. Remington was right- he tired himself out, I'm afraid. A good night's rest, though, and I think he'll be okay." He moved closer, peering out into the darkness as well. "What are you looking for?"
"Laura went t'find Remington. He's been out there for three hours."
"He had a lot to think about," Nathan reminded his wife. "His talk with Daniel- finding out about-"
"About me," Maeve finished for him. "You might as well say it, Nathan. This is all my fault. If I had made other choices, -"
"Other choices," Nathan repeated slowly. "Yes. I'll go out and see what's keeping them, shall I?"
"Jarred is with her," Maeve told him, reaching out a hand toward her husband, only to stop as he tensed at her touch. "Nathan, what's wrong?"
"Nothing," he assured her. "It's just- been a long day, that's all. Meeting Remington-" he shook his head. "I still can't bring myself to call him Harry as Daniel does. Father would be-"
"I think he'd be pleased," Maeve said. "I know I never met your father, but from what you've told me about him, I think he would like knowin' that one of his sons called *their* son after him."
"You don't understand, Maeve," Nathan said. "It would have been one thing for me to have given my son the name Harrison. But for Daniel to have done it-"
"Then you're admitting he's right?" Maeve questioned. "That your father *did* hate him?"
"Of course not. Father- Father was just a man who had trouble showing his feelings, that's all. Daniel always felt things too deeply." He frowned. "I think I'll go out and join them. Care to come along?" he asked, almost as an afterthought. Right now, what he really needed was to be alone.
"No. I don't think the lad wants t'see me just yet. If you find him, tell him that I've gone to bed, so he won't have t'worry about it for this evening. And that his supper's in the oven if he's hungry." She sighed, her gaze into the night regretful. "I hope someday he'll find a way t'forgive me for what I did." She gave him a kiss on the cheek, and then moved toward the stairs, leaving Nathan standing in the open doorway.
He remained there for a moment, and then went outside, meeting Laura halfway back to the house. "Laura," he said, looking behind her in the still bright moonlight. "Where are Remington and Jarred?"
"Jarred's still in the garden," she told him. "I have no idea where Remington might be."
"What do you mean?"
"Jarred and I searched the area twice- even extended the search into the surrounding area. He's - gone."
"Gone?" Nathan repeated. "Where?"
"Your guess is as good as mine. Jarred offered to keep looking while I went back and checked to make sure he hadn't circled back around to the house."
"He wouldn't have- left, would he?"
Laura put on a brave front, as she said, "No, I'm sure he's just walking- maybe he went down the road and lost track of time. He tends to do that sometimes when he's troubled."
"Maeve's worried about him."
"I'm sure he's at the house," she said.
"I'm going to go see if I can't find Jarred. For some reason, I feel a need to spend a few minutes with my son."
She smiled. "Good idea. A boy needs his father."
"Maeve said to tell Remington that she left his supper in the oven when you find him."
"I will," Laura said, moving toward the house, fighting a growing feeling of impending disaster. Where the hell was he? She wondered.
***
Maeve touched her daughter's shoulder to get her attention. "I'll sit with him for a few minutes," she whispered, nodding toward the bed where Daniel lay sleeping.
Carol nodded and rose from her chair. "I'll be in the kitchen having some tea, if you need me."
"We'll be fine," Daniel assured Carol, surprising both women.
"And here I thought you were asleep, you old faker," Carol teased gently.
"Just resting my eyes," Daniel told her, his gaze on Maeve.
"He's supposed to rest, Mother," Carol explained.
"I'll see that he does, lass," Maeve said. "Go have your tea."
"Has Harry spoken to you yet?" Daniel asked once the nurse was gone.
"No. I'm not sure he wants to. And I couldn't blame him."
"Maeve-"
"I know. I promised Carol not to upset you. And I won't. Did the two of you have a good talk?"
"I think so. It was a lot for him to take in, but- Harry's stronger than he likes to give himself credit for. He'll survive this. He's very adaptable. He's had to be. And he's got Laura."
"I thought I sensed something there," Maeve noted. "Is it- serious, do you think?"
"It appears so. Certainly it's lasted longer than any of Harry's other relationships. I've never known him to hang around this long without a-"
"Payoff?" Maeve suggested as Daniel hesitated. "I would imagine that he's quite the ladies' man. After all, he's your son, isn't he?"
"I thought we were talking about Harry?" he said. "And where would you have heard something like that about me?" he asked.
"Meg told me about how all the ladies were taken by that charm of yours," Maeve recalled. "But that she was the one you wanted to be with."
"I don't remember any other women from that time," Daniel confirmed. "Only her."
Maeve looked down at her hands clasped on the metal bed-rail. "I was more than a bit jealous of her at the time," she admitted slowly.
"Jealous?"
"I'd never known anyone who loved me that much. According to my sister, you were perfect- She had such plans, Daniel," she sighed. "Plans that I -"
Daniel covered her hand with his. "You had nothing to do with her death, Maeve. I spoke to the doctor, remember? She should never have had a child."
"But I broke my promise to her," Maeve insisted. "Her last words begged me t'take care of her son until you came for him. But I couldn't-" Daniel's hand slid away, and Maeve forced herself to smile as she used a handkerchief to wipe the tears from her eyes. "Look at me. Tellin' you that I wouldn't upset you and then doin' exactly that. You haven't forgiven me anymore than he has, have you?"
Laura entered the room, only half hearing Maeve's question as she looked around. "Linda," Daniel said, sounding strangely relieved to see her. "What a delightful surprise." He looked toward the still empty doorway. "Is Harry with you?"
"No," Laura said, biting her lip as she frowned.
"Linda?" Maeve questioned. "I thought your name was Laura?"
"It is," Laura confirmed, giving Daniel a warning glare that had always worked on his son. "Remington's not here?"
"No."
"I thought you went out t'find him," Maeve said.
"I did. He wasn't out there," Laura told them. "He - um-" she hesitated uncertain. "He seems to have disappeared."
***
"You like Remington, don't you, son?" Nathan asked Jarred as they returned to the garden to try once more to retrace the other man's steps. He had come out to talk to his son, only to be forced to listen to a seemingly endless litany of his nephew's accomplishments.
"He has such an exciting life, Da," Jarred insisted. "Those clippings that Mother has in her scrapbook say it all -"
"What scrapbook?" Nathan asked, frowning as the waning moonlight reflected off of something on the ground near the outermost hedgerow. "Hello, what's that?" he asked.
"I, uh-," Jarred began, then, "What?"
Nathan knelt and picked up the item. "It looks like a cufflink," he said, inspecting the gold and silver piece of men's jewelry. The scrapbook was momentarily forgotten as he made out an "R" inscribed in the metal.
***
"You don't think he's run away, do you, Laura?" Daniel asked, concern for his son making him forget to play their little game for once, Laura decided. "Over all of this? He's not very good at staying when things get tough-"
"Maybe Harry wasn't," Laura reminded him. "But Remington Steele's learned that little trick with some practice. He didn't run away," she insisted.
"Who are you trying to convince, my dear? Me? Or yourself?" Daniel wanted to know. "I knew he took it too well. He was too calm. Harry would have yelled and thrown things-"
"He didn't leave because of you, Daniel," Maeve insisted tearfully. "It was because of me. Because he couldn't face me knowing what I did. Dear Lord," she cried softly, crossing herself. "Be with him and bring him back t'us."
"He hasn't run off!" Laura said again, and this time even she heard the desperation in her voice. Taking a deep breath, she continued, "Jarred and Nathan are out searching the grounds for him. He probably just wandered off and got lost- or fell and hit his head. Or-"
"You're grabbing for straws, Laura," Daniel told her as Nathan and Jarred entered the room. "Nate! Did you find him?"
"No, we didn't," he admitted slowly as he held out the cufflink toward Laura. "Do you recognize this?" he asked her.
Laura took the link and moved to the light beside Daniel's bed, inspecting it. "It's his cufflink," she confirmed. "I gave them to him last Christmas." She looked at Nathan. "Where did you find this?"
"Near the road- under the hedgerow. Could it have fallen out?" he asked.
Laura worked the mechanism, shaking her head. "Too tight. He was always complaining about how tight they were, made them hard to remove."
"Then what was it doing under that hedge?" Jarred wondered.
"Maybe he took off his jacket and rolled up his sleeves?" Maeve suggested hopefully.
"No, he wouldn't have done that," Laura told them. "It's too cool out there for one thing." She paced toward the window, thoughtful. "You found it by the road, you say?"
"Yes."
"Dear God," Daniel moaned, as his eyes met Laura's. "Harry's been kidnapped."
"Kidnapped?" Maeve said, fear in her blue eyes.
"Who would kidnap him? No one knew he was here," Nathan reminded them.
"But someone *is* looking for Daniel," Laura reminded him. "And if they saw you, Nathan, - they might have mistaken you for Daniel, then decided to kidnap Remington to try and get information- or to use him as ransom for Daniel if they recognize any connection between the two."
"How would they know?" Nathan wondered. "No one outside of this house knows that he's Daniel's son."
"The newspaper articles," Jarred reminded them, and then swallowed heavily as all of the adults turned to look at him. "The photos in the London paper when Remington and Uncle Daniel saved the Earl of Claridge last year," he said.
Daniel put his head back onto his pillow. "He's' right. I kept that article myself," he told Laura. "Harmon has him."
***
Remington winced, lifting a hand to his aching head. He frowned as his shirt cuff flapped open. It even hurt to frown, he realized with a soft groan, becoming aware of his surroundings. He was in a small, damp room, with no windows. The only light came from a bare light bulb suspended from the wooden ceiling by a thin wire.
He rose slowly from the narrow cot and surveyed his cell, doing a cursory search for his missing cufflink as he tried to recall what had happened. He'd been about to return to the house when his attention had been caught by the arc of a cigarette thrown onto the ground beyond a hedge. Remington had ducked into a shadow, and edged his way closer to whoever had been smoking that cigarette, only to have someone try to grab his arms from behind. He'd freed himself- had that been when he'd lost he cufflink? He wondered. He'd gotten his attacker backed against a tree and had been about to deliver a final punch to the man's midsection when the lights had gone out with a blinding flash of pain.
The door was, of course, locked from the outside. Remington felt for his identification and lock pick, but both were gone. Hearing the sound of a key in the rusty lock, he dived for the cot again, draping himself across it nearly the same as when he'd woken up.
"You better hope 'e comes to soon, 'ank," one of the men said as he lifted Steele's arm across his shoulders. "You 'it him pretty 'ard."
"What was I supposed to do, Carl?" Hank asked, taking Remington's other arm. "Let him beat you to a pulp then ask him nicely to come with me?"
"Might've been a better choice, mate. 'e isn't gonna wait much longer for 'is answers. I've never seen 'im this determined t'find someone. You'd think Chalmers 'ad actually taken 'im for somethin'."
As they dragged Remington the room and up the stairs, he forced back the nausea he felt rising with each bump up the steps. This had something to do with Daniel, apparently. And he had a pretty good idea what that something was.
He remained limp as a dishrag until they reached the top of the stairs, then he suddenly sprang to life, surprising Hank and Carl. He hit Hank in the stomach, knocking him off balance and sending him back down the steep stairway into the cellar, and then grabbed Carl and swung him hard into the nearest wall, where he slid to the floor, stunned and out of breath.
Remington gathered himself to take flight, but the sound of a gun being cocked made him freeze and lift his hands in surrender. "Turn around," a man instructed. "Slowly, Mr. Steele," he added as Remington did as he was told, and found himself face to face with Jason Harmon.