Laura watched from the front window
as Harry drove Felicia's car through the gate the next evening,
her expression reminding Daniel of a lost child. He poured her
a glass of spring water, then took it to her to get her attention.
"What shall we do this evening?" he asked.
She turned to look at him, an impish grin on her face. "Well,
I guess you *could* teach me how to play poker," she suggested.
Daniel shook his head. "From what Harry told me, you could
probably teach *me* a thing or two about the game," he commented.
"How long have you been running that little scam?"
"It's not a scam," Laura insisted. "Can I help
it if people think that a girl couldn't *possibly* know how to
play a *man's* game like poker? Daddy -" she paused a moment.
"Daddy taught me how to play years ago. Said I was very good
at it."
"Mitchell did enjoy a good game of cards. I should have warned
Harry, I suppose. With your aptitude for mathematical probability,
you were most likely a natural for the game."
Laura looked at the carpet. "What did Harry tell you- exactly?"
she wanted to know.
"Oh, just that he was completely taken in by that innocent
air of yours and lost his shirt."
Drawing a relieved breath, Laura smiled again. "So I guess
we're *not* going to play cards." She sat down. "Why
don't you tell me the story about how Daddy saved your life?"
she asked.
Daniel refilled his glass of brandy. "Fair enough. What would
you like to know?"
"How long did you know Daddy?"
"Oh, goodness. Nearly fifteen years, I suppose. He'd been
'retrieving' various items for your government for almost two
years at that point."
"How did you find out about him?"
"We broke into the house of a Countess with some evidence
of wrongdoing by an American ambassador. Your father was there
to get the evidence, I was there to steal her jewels. I entered
the room just as Mitchell got the safe open. We each got what
we were after -"
"Why didn't he stop you? Turn you in?"
"Because he would have had to explain why *he* had been there.
Exposing me would have exposed his own activities and created
a slight problem for your government."
"I suppose you're right," Laura mused thoughtfully.
"So you teamed up?"
"Not officially, of course, although Mitchell *did* attempt
to recruit me. Politics is such a dirty business- especially the
international variety - And Mitchell never touched a penny of
my take from a job. Mitchell had occasionally had difficulty getting
into a particular gathering or locale to do his job. He quickly
discovered that I was able to get in almost anywhere - and he
could crack a safe even faster than Harry can. Never met anyone
quite as gifted as those two in that area."
"So you joined up because it was mutually beneficial."
"I suppose so. But we developed a friendship - he told me
all about his wife and daughters -" Daniel smiled, placing
a hand over hers. "Especially about his Laura." She
returned his smile. "Ten - no, eleven years ago, I gained
access to the home of a particularly noxious little man who had
come into possession of a list of American and British agents
and operatives in Europe and Asia. He was planning to sell it
to the highest bidder. Your father was sent in to retrieve the
list. I'd had a few dealings in other areas with the man, so gaining
access to his home wasn't difficult."
"What were you after?"
"Le Clerc had a set of perfectly matched star sapphires that
*he* had appropriated from another source. That source asked me
to get them back - for a modest fee, of course."
"Of course," Laura repeated, a half smile on her lips.
"But something went wrong?"
"Not at first. We got inside without incident, Mitchell had
the safe open in seconds - I was keeping watch on the main door
- Suddenly someone I'd never seen before appeared from a hidden
panel across the room - and he asked Mitchell to hand over the
list."
"He was betrayed? But who knew you were going there?"
"We had no idea. The man didn't see me, I was behind him
as he confronted Mitchell with a gun, waving him away from the
safe when Mitchell refused to give him what he wanted. I moved
nearer - and somehow managed to bang into a table- alerting the
man to my presence. He turned, firing his gun, and Mitchell did
precisely what Harry tried to do the other day- he knocked the
gunman aside. Harry didn't get there quickly enough. Mitchell
did. The bullet hit my shoulder- not life threatening, by any
means, but enough that I needed help to get away."
"What about the list?"
"The gun man recovered before either of us and grabbed it,
running away. Mitchell and I barely escaped before the police
arrived. I directed Mitchell to a safe place where I could recover,
but he refused to leave me. He removed the bullet, but I was quite
ill for several days - an infection that almost killed me- would
have done if he hadn't insisted on staying with me. But his loyalty
had a very high price, I'm afraid."
"He lost his job?"
"Not totally. Twenty four hours after the list was stolen,
an American agent turned up dead - and another was missing. Since
Mitchell hadn't checked in, his superiors began to wonder if he
hadn't gone to the other side with the list."
"They thought he was a double agent?"
"I'm afraid so. When I was finally well enough for him to
leave, he tried to explain what had happened, but doing so exposed
my part in the entire affair - and Mitchell was placed on leave
until things were cleared up. He went back to Los Angeles, to
his family, to rethink his options."
"I remember that summer," Laura told Daniel. "He
told us that he'd decided to take his vacation time that he'd
been saving. We were supposed to take a long trip, but he and
Mother argued - so we stayed home. How did he prove his innocence?"
"I felt somewhat guilty for all that happened - and I did
some digging, finally uncovered the name of the man who had betrayed
Mitchell's actions that night. From there, it was an easy jump
to the name of the man who had stolen the list- the *real* double
agent. Turned out to be a colleague of your father's. Once he
was in custody, they apologized to Mitchell, and offered him his
job back -"
"But he said no."
Daniel nodded. "He was burned out, tired, wanted a legitimate
job instead of always having to look over his shoulder, worry
about getting caught, perhaps killed. So we talked, discussed
his options, and finally he decided that with all his experience
getting around alarm systems, he'd be good at designing systems
that were virtually impenetrable. He took the money that he received
when he left his previous position and became his own boss."
"And so was able to spend a little more time at home with
us - until the problem with Mother became so terrible -"
"Laura, it wasn't *just* your mother's fault, you know. Mitchell
and I talked occasionally about his marriage - he was trying to
wait until you and your sister were older, had left the nest -
things just didn't work out that way. You and your mother and
sister were very important to Mitchell - I envied him that, and
I told him so, many times."
Laura looked up at him. "You've never had a family? Never
been married?"
Daniel rose to refill his almost full glass. "No. I've never
been married." He looked at her. "It's getting late-
and you've got an important day tomorrow," he reminded her.
He saw her glance toward the front window again. "Harry will
most likely be late getting home. Too late for you to wait up
for him."
"I really hope you haven't planned anything special, Daniel,"
Laura said. "I told you that I'd be perfectly happy with
just you, Mary ,and Harry tomorrow."
"But it's your birthday," Daniel insisted. "And
we have to do something to put a smile back on that pretty face."
Laura rose and returned her glass to the bar before standing on
tiptoe to kiss his cheek. "Good night, Daniel."
"Good night, my dear. Pleasant dreams." He watched her
go, admitting to himself that he rather liked having Laura around.
Tomorrow wasn't going to come any too soon for his peace of mind.
The longer she was here, the harder it was going to be to let
her go. And he was already regretting his telephone call to Abigail
Holt.
**********
The rain that had been threatening all evening began to fall around
midnight, and Laura was still awake when she heard the sound of
Felicia's small car. Turning, she glanced at the clock to see
that it was almost three in the morning. She punched her pillow,
turning over, closing her eyes. Now that she knew he was home,
maybe she could get to sleep.
The sound of a soft, feminine laugh brought her eyes open. Felicia?
She sat up, looking toward the door, hearing Harry's "Shhh."
The sound of a door closing brought Laura from her bed toward
her own door, which she opened cautiously. Harry's door was still
partly open, and she heard the sound of Felicia's voice, muffled,
from several doors down.
Jealousy fired through Laura, and she returned to her bedroom,
barely remembering not to slam her door behind her. She threw
herself onto the bed, refusing to cry. Harry was a free agent,
after all, she reminded herself. He could go out with whoever
he pleased - She rolled over, staring at the ceiling. Some birthday
this was going to be, with no Daddy, and the sophisticated Felicia
treating her as if she were a child. Turning over, she punched
the pillows again, this time with more force, before settling
down for the night.
To Be Continued------