Remington stood at the window of the well-appointed bedroom, fingering the heavy bars which precluded an escape from that venue. It was better than the room in which he had awakened earlier, but a cell was still a cell. There was at least one guard posted in the hallway beyond his door- the redoubtable Hank, bruised chin and all.
Harmon had banished him here, insisting that Remington was his "guest", and had yet to answer his question regarding how he could help Harmon retrieve the two million pounds that Daniel had conned him out of- not to mention delivering Daniel himself into the man's less than gentle care. Sitting down on the bed, Remington sighed. "Oh, Daniel. You've really done it this time man, old man." Those final words held new meaning. He was talking about setting his own father up to be killed by a known crime figure. "Think," he muttered softly. Surely there was something in his bag of tricks that would get them all out of this relatively intact.
The door to the hallway opened, and a man that Remington hadn't seen before stood there, Hank at his back. "Mr. Harmon wants to see you," the man said.
Remington followed him down the stairs, aware of Hank following them. Once in the study, Harmon greeted him. "Ah, there you are. Pour our guest a drink, Billy," he told the man who had summoned Remington. "Have a seat. We have a lot to talk about-" As Remington lowered himself into the chair he'd used before, Harmon finished speaking. "Harry."
<Don't let him see that he's rattled you> Remington thought, looking at his host with what he hoped was the right amount of surprised confusion. "I beg your pardon?" He took the drink Billy gave him, and then watched as the bodyguard went to stand just behind and to the right of Harmon.
"Come now, Steele. You didn't really think that I wouldn't ask around about you, did you? Any number of Chalmers' old friends were only too happy to tell Billy about Chalmers' former protégé Harry who had become the world famous detective Remington Steele."
"Ancient history," Remington said. "I'm no longer working that side of the street, Harmon."
"Be that as it may, my sources tell me that Chalmers was practically a father to you- took you in off the streets. For him to have done that would mean that you're rather important to him, wouldn't you say?"
"Well," Remington said, trying to shrug off the man's supposition.
"And that kind of friendship tends to linger, even if you ultimately- drift apart?"
"Harmon-"
"So- our previous- arrangement is null and void. I'm willing to wager that Chalmers will do almost anything to get you out of here alive- even deliver himself into my hands."
***
"You're sure you've told us everything?" Laura asked Daniel. "You haven't left anything out?"
Daniel shrugged, wincing at the pain it caused. "Not that I can recall, Laura."
"Okay, let me get this straight," she said, beginning to pace the room under the watchful eyes of Nathan and Daniel. "You conned Jason Harmon into buying seven paste diamonds for two million pounds, and when he discovered he'd been had, he sent his men after you. They caught up with you, beat you up and were about to kill you when something distracted their attention just long enough for you to get away- yet they shot you three times before you lost them."
"That sounds right," Daniel told her.
"I see. And then, realizing that you were close to your brother's estate, you decided to drop in and pay him a visit."
"That sums it up nicely," he said.
Laura stopped pacing and confronted him. "Where's the money?" she asked.
"The money?"
She looked at Nathan. "Did he have any money or diamonds on him when he arrived, Nathan?"
"Just the clothes on his back," Nathan confirmed, his eyes narrowed as he looked toward his brother. "Oh, Daniel."
"You didn't have the money or the diamonds on you when you arrived," Laura pointed out. "And if Harmon's men had gotten them, I don't think he would be quite so anxious to find you. So where are they?"
"You're talking about my retirement fund, Laura," Daniel sighed. "I was really going to do it this time. The South of France, a villa, . . ." he sighed again, his voice trailing off as Laura turned to look at him.
"And *I* am talking about your son's *life*," she reminded him. "Maybe if you give Harmon back the money you stole from him, he'll be willing to let you - and Remington live."
"I doubt it. He wants his pound of flesh."
"Where is the money!?" Laura demanded to know.
"In a tree- between the road and the house. There's a knothole in the trunk-"
"I know where that tree is," Jarred said from the doorway, drawing the attention of his father, and Laura, and Daniel.
"Jarred, were you eavesdropping?" Nathan asked in a tone of marked disapproval.
"I just happened t'be passin' by on my way t'see Mother," he told his father defensively, "and couldn't help but overhear." His attention turned to the man in the bed. "Was it an oak tree, Uncle Daniel?" he asked. "With a wide double trunk and the knothole about so high?" he held his hand just above his head.
"That sounds right," Daniel confirmed.
Jarred looked at Laura. "I used t'hide things there. Called 'em my treasures."
"Can you show me that tree, Jarred?" Laura asked.
"Of course."
"Let's go, then." To Daniel and Nathan, she said, "We'll be right back. And if there's anything else you haven't told us, Daniel, I'd suggest you come clean. Or else Harmon won't be the only one you'll have to worry about."
Nathan watched her leave with his son. "She's a strong woman, isn't she?"
"Very strong," Daniel agreed. "Strong enough to keep Harry in line, certainly. I really think that she's the best thing that ever happened to him."
"What about your finding him?" Nathan questioned. "To have your son with you, Daniel-"
"And yet not have him. Having to pretend that I wasn't his father, but simply a kindly man who wanted to help the boy rise above his humble beginnings and aim for something far better-" Daniel broke off and shook his head. "Your son's the lucky one, Nate. At least his father has always been there for him. Unlike-"
"Not that old saw again, Daniel, please. Father-"
"I was going to say unlike myself and Harry."
"Oh," Nathan said. "You were there for him, Daniel. Only he didn't know it." Nathan's smile was crooked. "Actually, you might have had the better deal. Harry-" he shook his head apologetically. "I'm sorry, Daniel, but I simply can't call him that. Remington probably came to you with things that he would never have taken to his father. His loves, his dreams and his plans. I don't have that with Jarred, I'm afraid. He and I don't- connect."
"Perhaps you're trying too hard," Daniel suggested.
"Perhaps. I just didn't want him to turn out like-"
"Like me?" Daniel finished.
Before Nathan could answer, Laura and the young man returned. Laura was carrying a black pouch and a stack of pound notes that had been wrapped in a blood stained handkerchief. "A bit chewed around the edges," she told Daniel, dropping the money and the pouch onto the bed beside him. "But otherwise intact. And I think this belongs you to as well?" she said, holding out the ruined square of fabric.
Daniel visibly recoiled from the object. "Really, Laura." He shuddered at the memories the blood stains evoked. "Just- put it in the dustbin, if you would." His hand fell on the money, and he gave a regretful sigh. "So much for retiring," he said. "But if it will get Harry back safely-" he held it out to Laura.
"What about the diamonds?"
He tipped the pouch onto the blanket that covered his legs. "See for yourself."
"There are seven of them?" Jarred noted, then smiled uncertainly at his father.
"I thought you were going to check on your mother?" Nathan asked.
"I was, but- considerin' that I helped find those, I just wanted a look-"
Daniel picked up one of the stones and held it up to the light. "Jarred, isn't it?"
They boy nodded and came closer. "Aye, that's me."
"Here you go."
The boy's blue eyes widened as he took the stone from Daniel. "A- diamond?"
"Daniel-" Nathan began, but Laura shook her head, picking up another of the gems to inspect it.
"They're paste," she told Nathan. "Aren't they, Daniel?"
"All but two of them," he admitted. "You've a good eye," he told her.
"I've had a good teacher," she replied.
"It's not real, then?" Jarred asked, some of his delight vanishing.
"Oh, it's real enough that you could probably pawn it off on some unsuspecting person," Laura told him, taking the gem from his hand to inspect it and handed it back once she was satisfied about something. At last she found the two real gemstones and held them up. "You conned Jason Harmon into buying seven paste diamonds with *two* real diamonds?"
"It wasn't difficult. That man has no knowledge of gemstones."
"Then how did he catch onto you so quickly?" Laura asked.
"Bad luck."
"You, Daniel?" Nathan asked. "Bad luck?"
"It's been known to happen, Nate," Daniel told him. "Every con man's luck runs out- sooner or later."
Laura watched as Daniel's gaze slid to Jarred, as if he were trying to make a point to his brother's son. Jarred's gaze fell to the glittering object in his hand as he considered Daniel's words. A telephone rang elsewhere in the house, a shrill, eerie sound that brought chills to Laura's spine as she heard it. "Carol will get that," Nathan told her. "The line doesn't ring through to the rooms."
She nodded, and moved away from the bed, rubbing her arms to ward off the sudden chill she felt. "We need a plan," she told them. "A sure fire way to get into that house and rescue Remington."
Maeve appeared in the doorway. Her eyes were red-rimmed as though she'd been crying. "There's a man on the telephone," she said, her gaze locked on the man in the bed. "He wants t'talk to Daniel."
Jarred went over to his mother as Laura picked up the telephone and handed it to Daniel. "You're on, I believe," she said.
Jarred showed Maeve to a chair and remained at her side, his hand on her shoulder, as Daniel put the phone to his ear. "Hello?" he said.
"Chalmers. So you are alive."
"So they tell me, Harmon," Daniel replied, waving aside Nathan's attempt to check his pulse. "What can I do for you?"
"You bloody well know what you can do for me. I want my money back- and the diamonds that you used to con me."
"I'll be more than happy to return the money, Harmon, but the diamonds -."
"If I can't convince you, perhaps someone else can," Harmon said, and nodded at Hank.
Remington sat into the extension that Hank held to his ear. "Hello, Daniel."
Daniel's fingers tightened on the telephone. He saw Laura's fingers curl into her palms as she fought not to grab the telephone out of his hands. "Uh- Remington. I-"
"Might as well make it Harry, old *friend*," Remington emphasized gently. "Harmon's onto our- past history."
"Are you all right, Harry?"
"For the moment. But I want you to tell your friend Eve Trent to keep out of this, okay? She's the one who got you *into* it in the first place-"
Daniel frowned, about to ask what he meant, when Harmon came back on the line. "That's enough, I think," he said. "I want my money, Chalmers. And the diamonds. And my pound of flesh -out of your hide. Be here by dawn- or you'll be attending your friend's funeral instead of him attending yours."
Harmon hung up the telephone and looked at Remington. "Who is- Eve Trent?" he asked.
"Daniel's latest- partner," Remington told him. "It was her idea for him to run the con on you, while she stayed out of it and let him take the risk. That's probably who he was seen with at Dr. Martindale's. The woman's a damned leech," he declared bitterly. "Refuses to let go of him."
Harmon's eyes narrowed as he studied Remington, as if trying to decide if he was telling the truth. "And do you think she'll let him come here alone?"
"I doubt it."
Harmon smiled, and Remington repressed a shiver. Perhaps this hadn't been such a good idea after all.
***
Daniel replaced the receiver, frowning. "What did he say?" Nathan asked.
"How was Remington?" Laura asked.
"He sounded fine," Daniel told her. "But he said something that I don't quite understand."
"What was that?"
"He told me to tell- Eve Trent, to keep out of this, since she got me into it in the first place."
"Eve Trent?" Nathan repeated, confused as well by Remington's reference.
But Laura's slow smile spread across her face. "North by Northwest," she said.
"I beg your pardon?" Nathan said as Daniel put his head back against the pillows.
"Cary Grant, Eva Marie Saint,-"
"I know the movie, Laura," Nathan said. "What I don't know is what it has to do with all of this? *Who* is Eve Trent?"
"Eve Trent," Daniel sighed, "is the name of the character that Eva Marie Saint played in the movie." He looked at Laura again, shaking his head. "Good lord, you've learned *too* well from Harry, my dear. But Nathan has a good question. What does it have to do with the problem at hand?"
"Remington has just given us our m.o. on this case," she informed him, her mind already spinning into gear.
"M.O.?" Nathan questioned.
Seeing that Laura was too caught up in her thoughts, Daniel answered. "Modus operandi, Nathan. It means-"
Nathan lifted his hand, watching Laura pace the room. "I understand Latin, Daniel."
Laura turned to where Jarred stood with his mother. "Jarred, that photo you saw of Daniel and Remington-"
Jarred looked down at his mother before he answered. "Yes?"
"Do you remember if I was in it as well?"
"I- can't quite recall," Jarred told her.
"Go and get it, Jarred," Nathan told his son, but his eyes were on Maeve.
Maeve patted the boy's hand where it lay on her shoulder, and looked up at him. "Go on, Jarred. You know where it is."
"Laura, I'm still at a loss to understand what you're planning," Daniel said.
"Don't you see? Remington gave me a way to get into that house. He's apparently told Harmon that I'm your partner- or rather, that Eve Trent is. And by telling you *not* to bring me, he's telling to do just the opposite."
"So you're going in there as Eve Trent- with Nathan pretending to be me? And once you're in- what next? How are you going to gain Harry's release- and keep me- Nathan, that is, alive?"
Maeve rose slowly from the chair as Jarred returned. "Nathan? What is he talkin' about? Surely y'can't be thinkin' about goin' in his place?"
"Yes, Maeve," Nathan said calmly. "I am."