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Sitting at his desk, Lt. Jarvis rubbed
his hands across his eyes as he struggled to keep them open. He'd
be glad when he went back on days. Nights were going to be the
end of him.
"Lieutenant?" Betty said hesitantly, tapping on the
door.
"Yes, Betty?" he asked, looking up to see a uniformed
man behind her. But it wasn't a police uniform. It identified
him as a courier.
"This guy's got a package for you. Insists that you have
to sign for it."
Jarvis' mind cleared a little as he rose to come around the desk.
The courier held out a clipboard. "Sorry about this, sir."
"No problem. Need to see some ID?"
"If you wouldn't mind. Gotta make sure you're the guy I'm
supposed to deliver it to."
Jarvis pulled out his wallet, showing it to the man, who nodded,
then handed over the brown envelope. "Thanks." Once
Betty and the man were gone, Jarvis closed the door to his office
and opened the package. After reading the first two pages, he
stuffed it back inside, and picked up his coat. As he passed Betty's
desk, he told her, "I'll be at Remington Steele's office,
Betty."
"You're scheduled off duty in an hour -" she said, but
he was already out the door.
**********
Mildred looked up as Laura and Remington Steele entered the office,
searching their faces. "Everything okay this morning?"
she asked.
"Just fine, Mildred," Remington assured her.
"Getting better," Laura said at the same time. "Any
calls?"
"Just your mother - and Monroe called for you, Mr. Steele.
I thought you two were going to spend the day packing up the apartment?"
"That's on the schedule for this afternoon, Mildred,"
Laura assured her. "Oh, and I wanted to compliment you on
your acting job yesterday - I had no idea that you already knew
the truth -"
Mildred glanced up at Remington. "I'm sorry, Mrs. Steele,
but- I promised the Chief, and -" The telephone rang, and
glad of the distraction, Mildred grabbed it quickly. "Remington
Steele Investigations - Just a moment, Mrs. Piper." She looked
up at Laura. "It's for you -"
"We haven't finished this discussion, Mildred," Laura
warned, turning as she gave Remington a little smile that told
him the same thing. "I'll take it in my office."
Remington took a deep breath as she closed her door. "That
woman has a diabolically fiendish mind, Mildred," he commented
darkly.
"What do you mean, Mr. Steele?"
"Only that I don't think I'm finished paying for not telling
her the truth."
"I told you that you needed to tell her, Mr. Steele,"
Mildred said. "You're lucky she didn't strangle you. Estelle
said that she would have in Mrs. Steele's place."
"Estelle?"
"We had dinner last night- I explained everything to her."
"Saves me from having to do it. Thank you."
"Well, I figured you had enough on your mind." She nodded
toward the door. "How are things? Really?"
"Things will work out," he assured her. "And I
want to thank you for keeping your word about not telling Laura
the truth. I know it wasn't easy for you -"
"No, it wasn't. And please don't put me in that kind of position
again, Chief. I don't like lying to Mrs. Steele."
"I'll do my best," he promised, smiling. "But I
do need you to do something for me - "
"What?" she asked uncertainly.
"Keep an eye on Laura. As long as Antony's on the loose,
I would feel better if -"
"Has something happened, Mr. Steele?"
He quickly filled her in on Max Grumby's death, and gave her the
note he'd left. "Jarvis has agreed to pick Antony up - but-
"
"What did Mrs. Steele have to say about this?" Mildred
wanted to know.
"She wants to hear his side of things," Remington said.
"I'm hoping that the report that Lt. Jarvis is expecting
will give her more reason to believe that note." He saw an
envelope on the desk, frowning at the return address. "What
is that?"
Mildred picked up the large packet, putting it in her desk. "Oh,
nothing. Just something I sent for-"
"The return address was Ireland," he said. "What
did you send for -"
"I'm thinking about going back for my next vacation,"
she told him. "It's just brochures and such - I didn't even
bother to open it."
Remington looked as if he were trying to decide whether or not
to believe her when Laura returned. "What's going on?"
she asked, seeing her husband and Mildred facing off.
"Mr. Steele just told me about Max Grumby's death,"
Mildred said, changing the subject.
"What did Frances have to say?" he asked Laura, making
a mental note of which drawer Mildred had placed the envelope
in.
"Oh, she wanted to discuss an idea that mother had about
the wedding - I told her it was fine -"
"What idea?"
"Mother was going over the ceremony - and realized that there
wasn't any family on your side - "
"Not much we can do about that, Laura," Remington told
her. "Daniel's dead- and I've no idea what other family I
might have -"
"Mother came up with an idea -" She leaned against Mildred's
desk. "Mildred can to do it."
"Me, Mrs. Steele?"
"Excellent idea," Remington said approvingly. "I
don't know why I didn't think of it myself."
"That is, if you agree, Mildred."
Mildred met that blue gaze. "Are you sure, Mr. Steele? I
mean, we're not family -"
"Nonsense, Mildred. I'd be honored if you'd represent my
family at the wedding," he insisted, coming around to place
his arms around her shoulders. "You're probably the closet
I'll ever come to having an aunt or such- Of course, if you'd
rather not-"
Mildred lifted watery eyes to his. "I'll do it, Mr. Steele."
He squeezed her shoulders gently. "That's my girl."
The doors opened and they turned to find Jarvis there. "Am
I interrupting something?" he asked.
"Just more wedding arrangements," Laura assured him.
"What brings you here so early, Jimmy?"
He waved the envelope in his hands. "This. I finally got
that report from Tony Roselli's superiors, and I thought the two
of you might want to see it."
"Why don't we go into my office?" Remington suggested.
"Mildred, luv, could you bring some coffee?"
"Right away, Mr. Steele," she assured him, putting her
handkerchief back into her purse.
In the office, Jarvis sat down heavily. Laura could see that the
strain he'd been under, the loss of sleep, were beginning to catch
up with him. "Nice friend you've got there," he commented,
referring to Tony. "You said he told you he was in South
America before he came here?"
"That's right," Remington said, taking the papers Jarvis
handed to him.
"He wasn't?" Mildred asked, doling out the coffee.
"His bosses have been looking for him for almost a month.
After he was cleared of the problems in Ireland and London, he
went back to Ireland, then accepted a new assignment. He didn't
complete it."
"Why not?" Laura questioned.
"He was supposed to be working with the Irish consulate,
looking for a list of IRA members involved in several bombings
in Ireland." Remington frowned as he read the report, while
Jarvis continued. "Anyway, to make a long story short, he
tried to run down the Irish ambassador's assistant - nearly killed
the man."
"Tony?" Laura questioned, her tone frankly filled with
disbelief.
"The description of the assistant, tall, dark haired, blue
eyed, early thirties - sounds a lot like Steele. According to
his report that he gave later, Roselli seemed to take an instant
dislike to him for no apparent reason. He didn't think anything
about it until he was crossed the street in front of the embassy
and Roselli's car was bearing down on him."
"The snake," Mildred commented, deciding, upon seeing
Laura's expression, that a hasty retreat back to her office might
be in order.
"He's *certain* it was Tony?" Laura asked. "I mean-"
"There were twenty witnesses, Laura," Remington informed
her, handing her the report. "Antony vanished without a trace
- his people barely avoided a major diplomatic incident, but they've
agreed to turn him over to Irish authorities to stand trial for
attempted murder."
Laura read the words on the paper, shaking her head. "I can't
believe that he would-"
"He's lost it, Laura," Remington insisted. "Can't
you just accept that? And accept that until he's off the streets,
-"
"I still say that Tony wouldn't hurt me," she claimed.
"And if he's been out of touch with his people, how did he
get the message to come here?"
"That's in the report as well," Jarvis explained. "Apparently
there's a minor security leak in the department. Someone that
Roselli probably has something on. They're trying to plug it up."
Remington watched with concerned eyes as Laura rose to pace the
room. Catching Jarvis' eye, he asked, "Have you had any luck
tracing him?"
Jarvis shook his head negatively. "Not yet. He's good. Guess
he'd have to be in order to survive as long as he has in that
business. I've increased the patrols around this area and Rossmore
- if anyone spots him, we'll get him. At least there was a photo
in the report. As soon as I get back to the station, I'm going
to get it out to the patrols so they'll know exactly who to watch
for." He stood up. "And speaking of the station, I'll
be going." He paused, looking at Laura, who was now at the
window, as if trying to decide what to say. "See you, Laura."
She nodded, but didn't speak, and Remington decided to escort
him from the office. "Thank you."
"Didn't really do anything-"
"You confirmed my suspicions about the man. That's enough."
"You take it easy, Steele. He's already tried to finish you
off by proxy. Won't do much good if he gets a shot at the real
thing."
"He won't," Remington assured him, shaking the policeman's
hand as they parted. Turning back toward his office, he paused
at Mildred's desk.
"She still doesn't believe it, Chief?"
"Not yet, Mildred." He glanced toward the office again.
"Hold my calls."
"Sure." She watched with troubled eyes as he entered
the office and closed the door behind him.
"Say something, Laura."
"I just can't believe that I could have misjudged him so
terribly. He seemed harmless enough- "
"Because he was trying to impress you. He never seemed very
harmless to me." She drew a deep, shuddering breath, and
seeing it, Remington pulled her into his arms. "Come here,"
he whispered. "It will be all right. The police will find
him and he'll be sent to Ireland to stand trial for what he did."
"He really does hate you, doesn't he?"
"He's not thinking clearly, Laura," Remington reminded
her. "And because of that, I can't be certain that he won't
turn on you. He's obsessed - and people like that are difficult
to second guess."
"I know. I think I'm going back to the apartment to finish
packing. I told Frances that we'd have it all ready to move tomorrow
morning -"
"I'll go with you," he decided. "No reason for
me to hang around here at the moment."
"I thought you had a final fitting on your tux today,"
Laura pointed out.
"At one," he reminded her. "Plenty of time to take
some things out to the house before that."
As they entered the reception area, Mildred finally caught Laura's
eye. Putting on his overcoat, Remington heard Laura suggest, "Why
don't you close up shop early today, Mildred? Bring some of your
things over to the apartment after lunch?"
"I might just do that, Mrs. Steele," Mildred said. "Enjoy
yourselves." Once the couple was gone, she pulled the envelope
with the "travel brochures" from its hiding place and
sighed. She wanted so much to open it. But she'd promised Mrs.
Steele that she would wait. Sighing, she placed it on her desk
and turned back to the computer and the background checks that
she was processing for MultiCorp.
**********
Remington left Laura at the apartment after lunch, departing just
as Mildred arrived to help. As they met in the hallway, he said,
"Keep an eye on her."
"I will, Chief. Roselli won't get past me." She knocked
on the door, waving at him as the elevator doors closed. Laura
opened the door to let her in, glancing down the hall. "He's
gone," Mildred assured her.
"Did you bring it?" Laura asked, her eyes filled with
excitement.
Mildred reached into her purse, pulling out the manila envelope
that had garnered Steele's earlier attention. "Right here."
Laura took the package, surprised to find that her hands were
shaking. "Do you have any idea, Mildred, how much this envelope
holds?" she asked. "I'm so nervous-"
Mildred watched her for a long moment. "Aren't you going
to open it? I mean, what if it's something he won't like?"
Laura looked at it, then held it back out as her courage faltered.
"I can't. You open it, Mildred."
Taking it, Mildred went to the desk in the corner and found a
letter opener, then removed the contents. "There's a letter
-"
"From who?"
"Sean O'Malley," Mildred told her. "And the bill's
here too - Mrs. Steele, it's marked 'Paid In Full'."
Laura took the letter, began to read aloud.
"Dear Mrs. Steele,
Enclosed you will find the birth records you asked me to research.
You will notice that there are two of them. The oldest, is, of
course, the original, and tracing it was the reason for the delay
in completing my job. The second is the amended birth record,
legally filed two years ago by the man listed as 'Father' on both
documents. Consider them my wedding gift to you and Mr. Steele.
Sincerely,
Sean O'Malley"
Mildred had been looking at the two certificates, and now she
held them out. "You're *not* gonna believe this, Mrs. Steele,"
she said in a quiet voice.
Laura took the papers from her and read them - and smiled.
**********
After finishing with his tailor, Remington decided to drop by
the office to retrieve something he'd bought for Laura. It was
dark, deserted, and after pulling his gift from its hiding place,
he started to leave. He was passing Mildred's desk when he recalled
the envelope. Sitting in her chair, he opened the drawer that
she'd put it in - only to discover that it wasn't there.
A search of the other drawers and files revealed nothing either.
Moving to Laura's office, he checked her desk and the file cabinet-
even the little cubby hole she used for hiding things from him.
The envelope with the Irish address and postmark was nowhere to
be found.
Remington sat at Laura's desk, his expression thoughtful. She'd
taken it with her, of course. To Laura. What were the two of them
up to now, he wondered. Patting his coat pocket to make sure he
still had his gift, he decided to go back to the apartment and
see what he could dig up there.
**********
Mildred dropped the suitcase she'd brought up on the bed, watching
as Laura neatly packed some things in another suitcase. "Mrs.
Steele, about - my not telling you the truth -"
"Don't worry about it, Mildred," Laura said. "I'm
not angry."
"But - Mr. Steele thinks -"
"Mr. Steele is thinking *exactly* what I want him to think,"
Laura told her, not missing a beat in her packing.
"Then - you've forgiven him?"
"Of course I have, Mildred. But I'm not about to admit it
to him - and I expect you to keep my secret just as you kept his."
Mildred's eyes sparkled with laughter. "He's right. You *do*
have a diabolically fiendish mind."
"Self preservation, Mildred," Laura insisted as the
telephone rang. "Why don't you unpack your case while I get
that in the living room? It's probably Harry. Or Mother."
She picked up the receiver on the third ring. "Hello?"
"Hello, Laura," Tony said.
Laura looked toward the bedroom, keeping her voice low. No reason
to upset Mildred. "What are you doing calling here, Tony?
Aren't you in enough trouble-"
"Look, I don't know what you've been told, but I can explain
everything- just meet me -"
"I don't think so, Tony. Did you really try to run down an
assistant Irish ambassador?" she wanted to know.
"The guy had it coming. He was a double agent, Laura, but
no one wants to believe that, since his father's so highly respected.
Meet me?"
"No. I can't, Tony. Look, I'm flattered that you think you're
in love with me-"
"I *am* in love with you," he corrected her. "And
that's not going to change."
Laura sat down on the sofa, still speaking softly. "Tony,
I'm in love with - Remington. I think I always have been."
"Then what was that about in Los Angeles? Or on the train
to Ireland? You enjoyed kissing me, Laura."
"Kissing you and loving you are two different things, Tony.
You know that. I'm sorry, Tony. I'm sorry if I led you to believe
that there was any chance of a future for us -"
Tony's voice was calm when he spoke again. If Laura hadn't felt
so guilty, she would have thought it was *too* calm. "Then
there's nothing I can say to change your mind? To stop you from
marrying him Saturday?"
"We're already married, Tony," Laura informed him gently.
"That first wedding was valid."
"But- you told me-"
"And I thought it was the truth. But it wasn't. Remington
and I were legally married before I ever met you -"
"He lied to you, didn't he? Told you it was fake and all
along he knew the truth - Laura, you can't really intend to stay
with him after that -"
"I intend to stay with him for the rest of my life, Tony,"
Laura said.
"Then I guess I've got no choice," he told her.
"What do you mean?"
"I can't stay here in Los Angeles - go to that wedding Saturday
and pretend to be happy that you're lost to me. I'm leaving town,
Laura. Today. Now. I thought I'd give you one last chance to come
with me. To start over- "
"I don't want to start over," Laura told him. "I'm
happy with my life the way it is."
"Then this is goodbye. I won't be back."
"Tony -" She heard the key turn in the door lock. Harry
was home.
"Good luck. I think you're gonna need it"
The line went dead, and Laura hung up. "Who was on the telephone?"
Remington asked.
"Tony," she told him, knowing his reaction before he
even looked at her.
"The *nerve* of the man. How *dare* he-" He picked up
the telephone that was still warm from her hand.
"Who are you calling?" she asked.
"Jarvis. I'm going to have him put a tap on the line-"
"That's not necessary," Laura insisted, putting her
hand over his to return the receiver to its cradle. "He's
leaving town. Today. He just called to say goodbye and to- wish
me luck."
"Right." He took off his coat, tossing it onto the nearest
chair. "And if you believe that, my dear, I have some nice
waterfront property to sell you in the Sahara."
Laura shook her head. "I believe him, Harry," she said
quietly as Mildred came from the bedroom.
"Oh, Mr. Steele. But- if you're here, who was on the telephone?"
she asked, looking at Laura.
Remington turned away glancing at the desk as he did. "Ask
Laura," he said, noting that the letter opener that he invariably
kept in a holder was lying on the polished surface. Idly, he picked
it up and returned it to where it belonged, before turning toward
the kitchen.
Laura watched him go, frowning. "Mrs. Steele?" Mildred
asked, "Was it your mother?"
"No, Mildred. It wasn't." She flinched slightly as Remington
rattled a few pans. "It was Tony."
"He called *here*?" Mildred questioned. She looked at
Laura. "Mrs. Steele- "
"I'm going back to the office to pack a few more things,"
Mildred decided, showing her the empty suitcase as there was another
noise from the kitchen. "If I were you, hon, I'd go in there
and talk to him."
"I don't know what to say, Mildred."
"You can start by telling him how much you love him - the
rest will take care of itself." She gave Laura a gentle shove
in that direction. "I'll let myself out."
**********
Remington placed a cup on the counter as the kettle began to whistle.
He wanted something stronger than tea, but he wasn't about to
let Antony Roselli turn him into an alcoholic. Pouring the water
over the tea, he stood looking down into the tinted water. When
Laura's arms circled him from behind, he straightened.
"I love you," she said softly.
He turned in her arms to put her head on his chest. "And
I love you. More than I ever thought possible. So much so that
I worry sometimes that it can't possibly be real - "
"Believe me, it's real."
"Oh, Laura, my love," he said, drawing a shuddering
breath. "I know my jealousy over Antony troubles you, but
-"
"Let's just forget all about Tony, shall we?" Laura
suggested, standing on tip toe to place a soft kiss on his chin.
"Even if he does stay, he knows that stopping the wedding
Saturday won't make any difference, since we're already married
-"
"How did he find out about that?" Remington asked, scowling.
"I told him, hoping it would make him realize that he didn't
stand a chance."
"He doesn't?" Remington asked, only half joking.
"No. He never did. You're the only one I want to spend the
rest of my life with, Mr. Steele," she whispered, her breath
soft and warm against his neck. "The only one I want to be
the father of my children," she told him, loosening his tie
and unfastening the top button of his shirt, "my partner,
my lover, my friend."
Remington cupped her face between his hands and looked into it
for a long moment. "Don't ever leave me, Laura. Without you,
I'd be lost." His lips met hers, coaxing them apart. It didn't
take much coaxing as Laura opened beneath him, her tongue meeting,
jousting with his.
When he lifted her into his arms, Laura said, her head on his
shoulder, asked, "What about your tea?"
"Damn the tea. I need you," he said roughly, carrying
her through the living room and into the bedroom.
**********
"What are you and Mildred up to?" he asked later as
he held Laura's body close, feeling her heartbeat begin to slow
along with his.
"I don't know what you're talking about," Laura said.
"I didn't know we were 'up' to anything."
"Has she mentioned anything about taking her next vacation
in Ireland?"
"Oh, the travel brochures," Laura improvised.
"Yes. The travel brochures. The ones that Mildred brought
over here for you to look at."
"What?"
"Laura, I should think I've learned *something* from working
with you all this time. The last time I saw the envelope with
the Irish postmark was when Mildred put it inside her desk. I
stopped by the office before coming home and decided to look for
it."
"Why did you stop by the office?" Laura asked.
"I'll explain that later."
"And *why* were you going through Mildred's desk looking
for private mail?"
"Because it wasn't addressed to Mildred, love. It was addressed
to the agency."
"That doesn't mean anything. Did you find them?"
"No. The envelope isn't in the office. So I decided that
she took it with her - no doubt to bring the envelope to you."
"To me? Why would I want to look at travel brochures from
Ireland?" Laura asked, her fingers sliding through the dark
hair on his chest. "I have my own bit of Ireland right here."
He smiled, but refused to allow himself to be distracted. "Because
they weren't brochures. The return address was that of a genealogical
research center in Dublin."
"You read a lot for not having seen that envelope for long."
"I'm a quick study," he told her.
"It was just some information that Mildred sent for, that's
all. She's tracing her roots, I think."
His look was openly skeptical. "In Ireland?"
"It's possible," she insisted. "Now. You were going
to explain why you went back to the office, I believe."
Remington knew that she wasn't telling him the truth, but there
wasn't much he could do about it, so he smiled. "I got something
for you a few days ago - Forgot all about it until this afternoon
when I passed a jeweler's shop leaving the tailor."
"A jewelry shop?"
He nodded, dropping a kiss onto her nose. "Stay here."
"I will," she promised, enjoying the sight of his nude
backside as he slid out of bed and walked into the living room.
Of course, the show as he returned was even better, she thought
to herself, blushing as he noticed her examination. He held out
a long velvet box. "What's this?"
"Just a little something I bought just before your father
returned. As I said, I'd forgotten all about it."
Laura raised the lid slowly, gasping at the diamond tennis bracelet.
"Oh, Harry. It's -" Carefully lifting it from the white
satin, she held it against her wrist. "You really shouldn't
have."
"An investment paid off better than I'd hoped," he explained.
"Do you like it? I mean, I know how you feel about my trying
to buy your affections with shiny baubles-"
Laura let him fasten the clasp around her right wrist, then slid
her arms up around his neck. "There aren't enough shiny baubles
in the world to pay for the way I feel about you, Harry,"
she told him. "Not even Royal Lavulite."
"Then it's a good thing I didn't follow through with my original
plan," he commented. When she gave him an uncertain look,
he grinned that devil may care grin that she knew so well. "I
knew you'd probably accuse me of finally stealing them."
Laura laughed as his lips found the juncture where her neck met
her shoulders, and the laughter softened into sighs as the room
became quiet once again.
To Be Continued . . .