"Nathan, you can't take his place," Maeve insisted ignoring Jarred as he returned with a dark covered book. The boy paused as he sensed the undercurrents within the room.
"Maeve," Nathan began, but the woman turned and ran from the room.
"Mother-" Jarred said, turning as if to follow, but his father stopped him. "I'll go after her," he said. "It's time she and I had a talk about this." Dropping a hand onto Jarred's shoulder, he said, "Stay here."
Once he was gone, the young man's eyes remained on the empty doorway, as if debating whether or not to disobey his father's orders and follow them anyway. Laura moved forward. "Is that the scrapbook, Jarred?"
"Aye," he said, still watching the doorway as he held it out toward her.
Laura pulled a wheeled table over and placed the book on it before opening its cover. "Good Lord," she told Daniel. "Look at this." Rolling the table closer, she indicated the photos of Remington inside. "Pictures, newspaper articles- "
Daniel glanced at the book, frowning. "She's known where Harry was for years," he told her. "At least since he became your Remington Steele, I should think. Look at this." He indicated a photo of Remington, Laura, and another man that Laura recalled only too well. "This is the first news photo they took of Harry as Steele, isn't it? Four years ago?"
Laura nodded, and her gaze moved to Daniel. "How would you know that?"
He smiled. "I have a- small collection of my own," he confessed. "Not that I would have ever let Harry seen it. He might have gotten the impression that I approved of his spending so much time playing at being a private detective."
"And you couldn't have that, could you?"
"Of course not," Daniel said. "Admit it. You enjoyed our little - sparring matches as much as I did, Laura."
She just smiled and kept flipping pages in the book until she found the one photo she was looking for. "Famed American Detective Remington Steele Prevents Assassination," the headline read. The photograph beneath it was of a smiling Remington and Daniel flanking the Earl of Claridge, with Laura standing just behind them and to the right, talking to Inspector Lombard of Scotland Yard.
But there was no mention of Laura or the Inspector in the caption below the picture. "American private detective Remington Steele and his British associate, Daniel Chalmers are thanked by the Earl of Claridge for saving his life," Laura read aloud.
"No mention of Steele's loyal assistant, eh, Laura?" Daniel asked in a teasing tone.
"Associate," Laura corrected automatically, and realized that she'd fallen into his trap when his own smile widened. "I'm used it. But in this case, it might be for the best. Less likely that Harmon will have noticed me if he's seen this photo." She looked at Jarred. "Jarred, could you find your sister for me? I need to borrow a few things." The boy nodded, his features troubled. Laura went over to place a hand on his arm. "Things will work out, Jarred. Your mother's just upset- what with everything that's happened."
He nodded again. "I'll go find Carol," he told her, and left the room.
***
Nathan found Maeve in the kitchen, and winced as she slammed a cupboard door. "Maeve," he said softly, and met her angry gaze squarely when she turned from the coffeemaker to look at him. "It's the only way."
"Only way t'do what, Nathan Martindale? T'get y'self killed?"
"That's not my first intention," Nathan told her.
"Why, Nathan?" she asked. "Why take the risk?"
"Daniel can't possibly stand up to this at the moment, Maeve. You know that as well as I do. Would you prefer that I release him to go with Laura? He wouldn't survive it- And I couldn't do it. Not as his doctor- or his brother."
"I don't want him dead- but I don't want you dead either."
"But it would solve your dilemma, wouldn't it, Maeve?" Nathan asked. Maeve turned to look at him, her expression uncertain. "Eliminate the need to choose between he and I?"
"T'choose between- What the devil are y'talkin' about, Nathan?" Maeve asked.
Nathan placed his hands on her shoulders, forcing her to keep looking at him. "Oh, Maeve, I've known from the first that you were in love my brother." She shook her head as if to deny his words, but Nathan didn't stop. "I could see it that first day, when you opened the door of your flat and saw me. You thought I was him. You weren't afraid- you were overjoyed. Delighted that he'd come back so that you could take your sister's place and make up for what you'd done to him."
"Nathan-"
"Tell me I'm wrong, Maeve. Tell me that you weren't in love with Daniel then- and that you're not in love with him now. I saw your expression when you opened the front door and saw him here. And your concern while he was hovering between life and death-"
"He's your brother," Maeve insisted. "The man that my sister loved and gave up her own life in order to give him a son. Of course I didn't want him t'die." She placed her hands on his chest. "Nathan, it's you I love. You're my husband. The father of my children."
He took her hands in his, holding them tightly as he stared down at the gold band on her left hand. "I tried to tell myself that for a long time, Maeve. And I succeeded, for the most part. But when you opened the door the other evening and he was there, I knew that I'd been lying to myself all these years. I'm not the brother you wanted. But I was there, and a willing substitute, and you might have convinced yourself otherwise, but if you're honest with yourself now, you'll know I'm right."
"You're not right, Nathan. Not at all. You're so blinded by your own guilt about Daniel that y'can't see what's right in front of you."
"*My* guilt?" Nathan questioned, surprised by her accusation. "What the hell do *I* have to feel guilty about?"
"Y'know that he's right about your father. Nathan, you've told me stories from when you were younger- and about how he turned on you when he no longer had Daniel t'beat down. The man was ill. Mentally ill, I mean. Y'told Daniel that he was wrong about it, but I know that you weren't bein' entirely truthful."
"Don't try to turn this back to my father, Maeve. We're talking about *your* feelings for Daniel- not mine. I'm going with Laura in morning," he told her. "And no arguments."
"Nathan-"
"If Harmon succeeds- I want you and the children to leave with Daniel. He'll see that you're taken care of." He slid a hand beneath her heavy hair to curve around her neck. "But know that I've loved you from the moment I laid eyes on you that morning, Maeve. And even knowing that what I felt for you wasn't fully returned, it hasn't mattered. Because I still love you. And I always will." He pulled her closer to give her a kiss the likes of which he hadn't given her in a long time. Maeve's arms went around him and she returned the kiss. When it finally ended, Nathan said, "I have to get back so I can be in on whatever Laura's planning." He turned and went toward the door.
"Come back to me, Nathan," she said in a quiet voice.
He paused in the doorway, debating whether or not to look at her, and then continued on to Daniel's room.
"What about this one?" Jarred was asked Daniel as the two of them pored over the scrapbook.
"Oh, yes, I remember Harry mentioning that case," Daniel told the boy. Both of them saw Nathan return to the room at the same time.
"Where's Mother?" Jarred asked, sounding concerned.
"In the kitchen," Nathan told his son. "Why don't you go and see if she needs you?"
"Okay. Later, Uncle Daniel."
Daniel nodded, but his eyes were on his brother. "Is everything all right, Nate?" he asked. "If Maeve's concerned about your taking my place, I'm sure I could manage-"
"No," Nathan.
"It's my fight, Nate," Daniel said. "Not yours."
"We're brothers, Daniel," Nathan said. "And while I might not always have remembered that fact, it's something I can't entirely ignore. I'll go. Maeve will be fine. I just- if anything happens- If I don't -" he met Daniel's gaze squarely. "You'll see that she's taken care of, won't you? She and the children? I know that Carol's a grown woman, and Jarred thinks he's grown up- but-"
"Nate- nothing's going to happen," Daniel insisted. "You'll come back to your wife and family. I have every confidence in Laura and Harry's ability to pull this off."
"Promise me, Daniel."
"I promise," Daniel repeated dutifully, knowing that his brother wouldn't let it drop if he didn't. And he meant the words as well. If something did happen, he'd do whatever was necessary to take care of Nate's family.
"Thank you." Nathan looked around. "Where is Laura?"
"Upstairs with Carol. Something to do with her plan, I believe. She wanted to insure that Harmon wouldn't recognize her from this photo."
Nathan glanced at the photo in question, nodding. "Not much there to recognize," he commented. "A bit- in shadows, isn't she?"
"That's how it usually is," Daniel told him, flipping back through the various news photos in the book. "See? Unidentified female, assistant- "
"Probably makes it easier for her to go undercover. Remington's face would be easily recognized, whereas Laura-"
"Could slip in undetected, unnoticed. But don't sell Harry short, either. He's more than capable of using an alias if need be."
"Well?" Laura asked from the doorway, posing there for effect. "What do you think?"
Nathan's jaw dropped at the transformation. Daniel's brows lifted, and he smiled in approval at the portrait she presented. Short, tight skirt, high heels, paired with a plain white blouse of which several buttons were undone. Her hair was piled on top of her head. "Perfection, my dear. Absolute perfection. What about an accent? If Harmon realizes you're American, he might become suspicious." As an afterthought struck him, his voice took on a pleading tone. "And *not* that perfectly awful creature you invented at the Duke of Rutherford's, if you please. You're supposed to be my partner who somehow managed to convince me to make a foolhardy attempt to con Jason Harmon out of his ill gotten gains, not some little guttersnipe."
Laura fell easily into an English accent. "How about this, then, Daniel?" she asked. "Will that do?"
"Well enough to fool Harmon, I should think," Daniel nodded in approval. He smiled at Laura's reaction to his faint praise.
"What's that?" Nathan asked, seeing the box that Laura was carrying in one hand.
"Your make up," Laura told him.
"My-?"
She placed the make up kit on the table and opened it to survey the contents. "You won't convince Harmon that you're Daniel if you walk in there without one single bruise on your face, Nathan," Laura pointed out, at which Daniel touched his own face.
"She's right, Nate. But will makeup be enough to do the job, Laura?" he wondered.
"I think so. Besides, what other choice do we have?" Laura asked, then pointed at a nearby chair. "Sit," she told Nathan.
Nathan sat down and let her begin working on applying makeup to his chin and eye. "I'll just concentrate on a black eye and bruised chin, since that seems to be the worst of Daniel's bruises," she told them.
"Visible ones, at lest," Daniel commented, pressing a hand to his chest as he shifted position to get a better view of Laura's handiwork. "You might apply a bit more-"
"Stop kibitzing," Laura told him, continuing to work. "We still have to talk about what happens after we get into Harmon's house."
"We return the money and you and Remington find some way to get us all out alive, I would think," Nathan said, only to have Laura sigh deeply.
"Don't talk," she warned, picking up a rag to clear up a mistake. "It might be best if you just let me do the talking," she told him. "After all, Remington specifically said that you *shouldn't* bring me, so he'll probably pretend to be displeased that I'm there at all."
"I think what she's trying to say, Nate, is that she's going to play it by ear," Daniel said.
Her smile was grim. "I was trying *not* to say that, Daniel," she told him. "But you're right. Too many- jokers in the deck on this one." She put down the brush she'd been using. "There." Looking at Daniel, she asked, "What do you think?"
He studied Nathan's face. "Almost makes me want to wince," he told her.
Laura picked up a hand mirror and held it in front of Nathan. "See?" He started to put a hand to his darkened chin, but Laura grabbed it. "Uh-uh. Now. How long will it take to get to Harmon's from here?" she asked Daniel.
"Half an hour, I should think. Perhaps a bit longer."
She glanced at her watch. "Then we'd better get going," Laura told Nathan. "Besides, it never hurts to get there early and get the lay of the land." Fastening the make up kit, she said, "You'll have to drive over there."
"I can handle that much, I think."
"I'm sure you'll do just fine, Nate," he said. "Just follow Laura's lead. She won't steer you wrong."
"I will. And you remember your promise."
Daniel nodded, grasping his brother's hand in silent agreement. "Take care."
"I'll meet you out at the car," Nathan told Laura. "I have to speak to Carol and Jarred before we go."
Laura nodded, and watched him leave the room, then looked at Daniel. "Your promise?"
"It's between he and I, Laura," Daniel told her, taking her hand. "But bring him back safe, okay? Both him and Harry?"
"I will."
He pulled her closer for a light embrace, ignoring the pain it caused. "And you as well. I don't think Harry would forgive me if anything happened to you as a result of my folly."
"Someone has to keep you in line, Daniel Chalmers," she told him. "Try not to worry too much, okay?"
"You're asking the impossible, my dear."
Laura gave him a brief kiss on the cheek, then left the room to find Nathan.
Daniel lay there, his eyes closed in a silent prayer. He wasn't by nature a religious man, but at times like this, when so much was a stake, it paid to cover all the stops. "They've gone?" he heard Maeve ask from the doorway.
Opening his eyes, Daniel took note of his sister-in-law's red-rimmed eyes. "Just now. Nathan didn't speak to you before they left?"
She shook her head. "No. He's not planning on coming back, Daniel," she told him.
Wanting to comfort the woman, Daniel extended a hand to her. "What are you talking about? Of course he'll be back."
"No. He- He thinks that I - that we'll be better off without him," she said, her eyes locked on their hands.
"Where would he get an idea like that?" Daniel asked. He felt Maeve's shuddering breath. "Maeve?"
"He thinks- He thinks that I'm- in love with you, and wants t'take himself out of the way," she explained.
Daniel felt a strange catch around his heart, but ignored it. Instead, he used his other hand to lift her chin so that he could see her eyes. Blue eyes, so like her sister's. So like Harry's. "And- is he right, Maeve? Are you in love with me?"