Steele Curious

Episode 1

by Nancy Eddy

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"It's agreed, then," Daniel Chalmers told the man before him, shaking his hand briskly. "Send for your things-"

The man looked uncomfortable. "THAT could be a problem Daniel. I'm not in London alone-"

Chalmers' dark eyes took on a knowing look. "You sly old dog, Mitchell. But I thought you'd sworn off the fairer sex after your marriage ended so badly."

"It's nothing like that, Daniel. When I left LA, one of my girls decided she wasn't going to let me leave alone- OR leave her behind with her mother. So she ran away and managed to somehow trace me down in San Francisco. I still don't know how she managed to do it," he said with a shake of his head. "Anyway, when I called her mother to tell her that she was with me, Abby decided that she'd be happier with me than in LA."

"So it's one of your daughters," Daniel said. "Which one?"

"Laura." Mitchell Holt grinned. "She's almost seventeen, and still fascinated with Europe -"

"Your sixteen year old daughter traced you to San Francisco from Los Angeles? She must be a remarkable young woman."

"She is that- and more. Anyway, you can understand my problem about staying here while I do the job-"

"Not at all," Daniel insisted. "I'm sure your Laura will be much more comfortable here than in that hotel. And she'll be quite safe, I assure you." When Mitchell still looked uncertain, Daniel sighed, placing an arm around the man's shoulders. "Mitchell, old friend. Have I EVER attempted to con you?"

"Not to my knowledge," Mitchell admitted. "All right, Daniel. I'll go get Laura."

He and Daniel turned to toward the door. "Excellent. And I'll have Mary prepare some rooms for the two of you. I must admit that I find myself looking forward to meeting this young lady."

Mitchell's cab passed through the gate and Daniel was about to close the door when he saw a second cab pull into the drive. He waited until it pulled to a stop before the house, watching as the black haired young man got out and went to help the driver get his cases from the boot of the car. "Harry?" he asked, coming down the steps.

The younger man looked up, a smile lighting his dark blue eyes. "Daniel." The two men embraced, then Harry handed the driver his fare plus a sizable tip before picking up his cases and moving toward the house.

"This is an unexpected pleasure," Daniel told him, taking one of the cases. "I thought you were still in the Riviera."

"Nothing going on there now - and I thought it might be a good idea to lay low for a while," he admitted.

Daniel grinned. "I hope you were successful -"

"More than I'd hoped." His gaze moved to the gate at the road. "Who was that I passed on the way out?"

"Mitchell Holt."

Harry frowned. "The security man? Installing a new system, Daniel?"

Daniel's smile widened. "There've been some minor thefts in the area of late. And one can't be too careful nowadays, can one?"

Shaking his head, Harry returned the smile. "Of course not. Where was he going? He usually stays here-"

"He's going to He had to go and collect something."

 

"I thought I saw him in the Riviera a while ago - with a rather attractive young lady -" Harry said speculatively.

 

Daniel sighed. "Who happened to be his sixteen year old daughter." When Harry frowned in disbelief, Daniel smiled. "Why don't we go inside and I'll tell you all about it?"

 

 

Laura Holt stood on the balcony of the hotel suite, her eager gaze taking in the sights of London that she could see from her perch. She still had to pinch herself to make sure it wasn't a dream, that she was REALLY here in London. And that before that she'd been to Paris, and Rome, and the French Riviera.

Memory of that last location returned, and with it the memory of being at dinner with her father in a really fancy restaurant, wearing a new gown that she'd BEGGED him to buy for her. She's worn her hair up, and felt all grown up in the room full of dinner jacketed men and fancy dressed women.
She had been laughing at a story her father had been relating about a job he'd worked on once for a Countess in Bern when her eyes had locked with those of a dark haired man across the room. Laura had almost choked on the drink of spring water that she'd taken. She'd never seen eyes that blue - even from here they looked like sapphires in that handsome face.

Her father had noticed her distraction, and started to turn, but Laura had stopped him with another question about his work. She was fascinated by the fact that the father that she had always thought was simply an "insurance salesman" was really a security expert, hired by the rich and famous all over the world to set up security for their homes and trips. She had never suspected the truth, knew that her mother would never have been able to accept it.

Laura didn't regret leaving with her father- or, rather, following him. It had been really pretty easy to track him down to San Francisco, she remembered, grinning as she heard the hotel room door opening. "Laura?"

"Out here, Daddy," she called, waiting for him to join her in the late afternoon glow.

Mitchell put an arm around his daughter's shoulders. "What are you doing out here?"

"It's a wonderful view. How did the meeting with Mr. Chalmers go?"

"I got the job -"

"That's great!"

"But it means that we have to move out to his place for at least a week-"

"Out of London?"

"On the outskirts. He's got a big place- stables -"

"Would he let me ride?" she wondered.

"I'm sure he would."

"When do we leave?"

"How soon can you be packed?" he asked, looking down into her excited face.

"Is ten minutes too long?"

"Make it twenty," Mitchell told her, letting her go back into the suite toward her room. He shook his head. He was going to have to make a decision soon - about her schooling. They had discussed it, and she had insisted that she was NOT going back to Los Angeles to live with her mother during school. Mitchell had checked out several girls schools in Switzerland, but he wasn't certain she would like that idea - unless he mentioned that the Swiss made some of the best chocolate in the world.

Mitchell was determined that Laura was going to finish school, go to college - do whatever it took to achieve her dreams. Even if those dreams WERE a bit far fetched for a slip of a girl like Laura. He knew she could do it, of course. But it wouldn't be an easy road for her. Sighing, he went to his room to pack for their trip out to Daniel's estate.

 

 

"Mr. Chalmers lives HERE? But - it's a mansion, Daddy."

"I told you he had well over a hundred acres, remember?"

"I know, but- I never expected - and he lives here alone?"

"There are some servants, and the occasional business associate that drops by."

Laura turned to look at him. "What kind of business is he in?"

Mitchell thought quickly. "Investments and acquisitions," he answered at last, hoping she hadn't noticed the hesitation. It didn't take his daughter long to see through a lie. He only hoped that by the time she realized what Daniel's REAL line of work was, the job would be finished and they would be long gone.

 

Daniel opened the front door as Mitchell picked up their cases and started up the steps. Laura grabbed hers, holding it in front of her as the man approached. He wasn't much older than her father, she decided. And there was something about him that set her internal alarms to full alert. But she smiled at him as her father introduced them. Daniel took her hand, bowing over it.

"You're even lovelier than I thought you would be, my dear." He took her case. "You're going to have every young man in Europe chasing after her in a few years, Mitchell."

"I know," Mitch returned with a half grin. "That's what I'm worried about."

"Oh, Daddy," Laura said, knowing that she was blushing. Daniel Chalmers laughed softly and led her into the house with her father close behind.

"Just leave the cases, Mitchell," he instructed. "Mary will have one of the servants take them upstairs." They moved to the drawing room, where Daniel poured Mitchell a drink, then one for himself. "Spring water, my dear?"

"Thank you." She moved around the room, openly curious about the paintings on the walls- even the seemingly valuable other items. As her father spoke with Mr. Chalmers, she leaned closer to a painting, then gasped. "Is this REALLY a Monet?"

Daniel smiled. "It is," he told her, joining her to point out the others in the room. "And that's a Rembrandt, and over there-"

Laura's eye caught on a pastel of the harbor in the Riviera. "Who painted that?" she asked, moving over to examine it. The signature was so small -

"The only value to that one is sentimental, I'm afraid. It was painted by a young man I know -a business associate."

"He should take up painting," Laura commented. "He's very talented."

"Not one my better attempts," an amused voice said from the doorway.

Laura turned quickly, only to find herself staring into a pair of sapphire blue eyes that she didn't think

she would EVER be able to forget.

 

To Be Continued....

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