Steele In The Know4 Part 5

Steele In The Know4
Part 5

In the study, Remington watched through narrowed eyes as Daniel poured himself a glass of scotch before offering one to him. Remington shook his head no, remaining where he was, unmoving. Daniel walked to the window, looking out. "How long have you known who I really am, Daniel?" Remington asked at last, when he realized that Daniel was making no effort to begin the discussion. "Oh, since- before we met in Brixton," Daniel told him, still not looking in his direction. "That time you tried to lift my wallet, remember?" "I DID lift your wallet," Remington said. "And stop trying to change the subject. You've known all this time and never said a word," he accused. "Not even this last year when you KNEW how much I wanted to find my father, to find out who the bloody hell I really am!" Daniel took a deep breath as he looked into his glass. "Tell me, Harry, if you had been suddenly confronted with your father- your REAL father- say, even- ten years ago, what would you have done?" Remington frowned; wondering what this had to do with anything. "Ten years ago? Probably told the bugger to go take a hike. But this is NOW, Daniel. I'm ready to-." "Are you, my boy?" Daniel asked, turning at last and looking at him. "Really? Oh, I know you were pleased when you thought that the Earl might be your father. But- what if the truth was much closer to home?" Remington's frown deepened as Daniel paced across the room to refill his glass. "What if it turned out to be someone already close to you? Someone you trusted to always tell you the truth?" Remington's chest was so tight that he wasn't sure he could breathe. His mind was refusing to process the information it was being given. "Daniel, what are you trying to say?" Daniel returned to the window. "I've never told you about the most exquisite woman to grace my life, have I?" He shook his head. "What she saw in me, I'll never know. I was too young, too callow to accept what could have easily been mine, a much different life than the one I wound up with." He sighed deeply. "Instead, I got involved in a wildly impossible caper and ended up in prison for my trouble. While I was in prison, I discovered she was with child- my child," he admitted, glancing quickly at Remington, then away again. "She died in childbirth- and my son was put up for adoption. By the time I was released, there was no sign of him- no way to trace him." Remington still refused to accept what his mind was telling him. He grinned, laughed nervously. "I'm all for a good joke, Daniel, but-," his words stopped as he saw Daniel pull a familiar item from his pocket. The pocketwatch. The one that had been sent to Remington with a note, "Your father always wanted you to have this." The one that had been stolen, and returned by Remington himself- and that Katherine had told him- had it really been just yesterday? - was missing again. His laugh fell away to silence as he searched Daniel's face. "You told the Earl that you thought your father had stolen this. You were right. But this time, it was given to the thief by the Earl- to give to the thief's son." He held it out, and Remington took it automatically, opening it to listen to the tinkling notes of "When Irish Eyes Are Smiling" before closing it and wrapping his long fingers around the hard metal case. Eyes blazing, Remington glared at the man before him. "All these years. All these years, I've wondered who my father was, where he was, and all that time you were right there beside me. My GOD, Daniel." All the lies, he thought. From the one person he'd trusted more than anyone else in the world except for Laura. "Harry-," Daniel began, but Remington shook his head. If he didn't get out of here, away from Daniel, he wasn't sure what might happen. Throwing the watch at Daniel, where it bounced off his chest and to the floor as Daniel flinched but didn't move, he said, "Take your watch. I don't need your bloody watch. I don't need anything. Not from you." With those words, he turned on his heel and walked out of the room, deciding to take the rear exit. He was in no mood to talk to anyone at the moment, including Laura or Murphy. He needed to be alone, to come to terms with Daniel's betrayal. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The study was empty when Laura and Murphy returned, the only sign of anyone having been there was a half drank glass of scotch. "I KNEW I shouldn't have left them alone," Laura fretted. Murphy put an arm around her. "They might have gone for a walk," he suggested. "To talk about-," he stopped as Laura shook her head. "No. I have a bad feeling. Maybe Remington's upstairs," she said, heading toward the hallway. Murphy sighed and followed. Old habits died hard, he decided. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Remington wasn't in their room, so Laura grabbed Brian O'Casey as he passed. "Have you seen Mr. Steele?" she asked the butler. "No, I haven't, ma'am." "How about Daniel Chalmers?" Murphy asked when Laura's worried frown deepened. "Now, Mr. Chalmers I have seen. He's in his room. Packing his suitcase, he is. Asked me t'have a car brought round for him." Laura grabbed Murphy's arm. "Where's Daniel's room?" she demanded. "East Wing," he told her. "Look, why don't you let O'Casey take you there? I'm going to look around for Steele." He smiled at her, trying to be reassuring. "Don't worry. He's around here somewhere. Probably pouting." He nodded at the butler, then watching them head toward the East Wing of the castle, then started searching the castle. The trouble was, he had no idea what he was going to say to the man if he DID find him. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Laura shooed O'Casey off when he pointed out the half open door of Daniel's room. As quietly as she could, she pushed the portal further open, to see Daniel placing clothes from the chest and into his suitcase on the bed. He seemed smaller, somehow, less self-assured. Older. But pity was the one thing Laura knew he wouldn't want- especially from her. So she took a deep breath and spoke. "So that's it? You're just going to drop in, say, I'm your father, and then leave again?" She saw Daniel sigh deeply before he turned to take another load of clothes to the bed. "I suppose so. It's the way Harry wants it, Laura." "You know, I've thought you a lot of things over the years, Daniel Chalmers, but I've never considered you a coward. Until now." "Laura, Harry as much as told me to get out of his life. If that's what will make him happy, then that's precisely what I'm going to do." "He took it badly?" "That's- putting it mildly, my dear. He was furious. Just as I knew he would be. It's the reason I put off telling him for so long. I didn't want to risk losing what we had. If that makes me a coward, then-," he shrugged. Laura came forward, her expression softening. "No. It doesn't. It just means that you love your son a great deal," she said, placing a hand on his arm. "And I'm NOT going to just let you walk out of his life AGAIN, Daniel. So you might as well put those clothes back where they were." "Laura, don't get into the middle of this. I beg you. I doubt you've ever really seen Harry when he's angry. He hides it very well these days, but that angry young man that I first met in Brixton is still very much alive." "Brixton," Laura repeated, sitting down on the edge of the bed. "He's mentioned that- evidently it's not a very nice place." "Especially for a young boy, all alone in the world. It still amazes me that he survived at all." "How did you meet him?" Daniel sighed. "You never stop asking questions, do you, Laura?" "One of the hazards of being a private detective," she told him with a smile. "You know, when Harry first called me and told me about you, I told him he was making a mistake, becoming involved with a private detective." "And do you still feel that way?" "No," he admitted, taking her hand in his. "I think it was probably the best thing that could possibly have happened to Harry. Whether he realizes it or not, you saved him for a very- lonely existence. Gave him a name, respectability, a place he could call home. I always knew that he had too much of a conscience to be completely happy as a con man. I can't tell you the number of times that he would make a big score- and then turn around and give it to some needy soul." "He has a big heart." "Something I'm afraid I've taken shameless advantage of at times," Daniel admitted. "Such as when you needed his help to get rid of Hoskins? Or when you lured him into pretending to be Reggie Whitewood, Duke of Rutherford to save your neck?" "Those are two of the times, yes," Daniel admitted, unable to keep from smiling at the memories. "He didn't want to go that last time," he told her. "He tried to tell me that he had changed, that he didn't do that kind of thing anymore. But when someone took a shot at him, he realized that unless he went back to England and convinced them that he WASN'T Reginald Whitewood, he was a dead duck." Laura shook her head. "And you did your very best to keep him from proving it. Why were you so insistent that Harry should have a father in the peerage, Daniel? The Duke of Rutherford, the Earl?" "Oh, we had planned the little scheme with the Duke years before he became Remington Steele," Daniel told her. "The Earl- well, that was a mistake. I gave the watch to an old friend to give to Harry. I had no idea that he would trace it back to the Earl- much less think that the Earl was his father." "Yet you were willing to let him think that the Earl WAS his father rather than telling him the truth." "Perhaps because the Earl was the father that Harry deserves. Not an old con man with nothing to give him." "Come on, Chalmers. Self pity isn't your style." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Murphy was in the courtyard when Mildred and Mickeline returned from town. "I'll just go get someone t'help us w'these boxes," the little Irishman said, leaving Mildred and Murphy at the car. Seeing the expression on Murphy's boyish face, Mildred frowned. "What happened?" "Chalmers told Steele the truth." "And?" she prompted. "Laura's upstairs, trying to talk Chalmers into staying- and Steele's out here somewhere, walking, I think. He's not in the castle." "Have you checked down by the lake?" Mildred asked. "That's where I was heading when you came back." "Tell you what, why don't I go find Mr. Steele and you go help Mrs. Steele convince Daniel to stay around a little longer. Tie him up, if you have to. But don't let him go." "Why don't you go help Laura?" "Because I'VE got experience in handling Mr. Steele," she reminded him, stuffing a box of groceries into his arms and turning him toward the house. "I'll find him." Murphy shook his head as he walked toward Mickeline and the others. She probably would find him. And convince him to come back and talk to Daniel. In the short time he'd known her, Murphy realized that Mildred Krebs could accomplish anything she set out to do. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ He was standing beside the lake, hands in his pockets; eyes fixed on some far distant point that Mildred couldn't make out. She paused, watching him, wanting desperately to take him into her arms and comfort him. To mother him a little. But, like Laura had earlier, she knew that pity wasn't something Mr. Steele would want. So she pasted a bright smile on her face. "Oh, Mr. Steele. There you are. Mickeline asked me to tell you that Cook's going to fix something for us to eat." He didn't say anything, just stood there. "Boss? What's wrong?" "I suspect you know what's wrong, Mildred. I've just had a birthday." "So why aren't you jumping for joy? Isn't that what you've wanted?" "Oh, yes. I've been wanting my father to just breeze into my life- to tell me that the last twenty years have all been a huge lie." "Has it, Mr. Steele?" she asked. When he didn't respond again, she decided to take another tack. "You know, you're right. Who needs him? I mean, who does he think he is, coming back into your life this way just when you've gotten it all together? Where was he when you needed him? You're doing the right thing, Boss. You don't need him." Remington's smile contained no humor, and he shook his head. Part of him agreed with her words. The angry part of him. The part of him that remembered what it was like to be alone, without a real friend in the world, having to fend for himself on the streets. "Tell Cook I'll be along later, Mildred. Make sure Laura gets something to eat." He turned to leave her, but stopped as she put a hand on his arm. "Oh, Mr. Steele. Is this the way you want it to go down?" she asked softly, her dark eyes meeting the pain in his. "He WAS there for you once he found you again," she reminded him. "As much as he could be, anyway. As much as he felt you would let him be. Surely that counts for something." Remington covered her hand with his as something began to uncoil inside of his chest. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "I still can't believe that you would turn your back on him, Daniel. Walk out of his life again without a second look." "I never turned my back on him the first time," Daniel said. "I was in prison when he was born. By the time I was released, he was so far into that damned system that no one could find him. I found myself looking at the face of every child I saw, searching for my son. After awhile, I gave up, tried to believe that he had found a good home, a better life than I could have given him. Then one day, a young man picked my pocket in Brixton. I had no idea who he was until I caught up with him. One look into those eyes and I saw his mother. And I KNEW that he was my son." "Harry. So that's his real name?" "After a fashion," Daniel admitted, wincing slightly. Seeing the grimace of pain, Laura frowned. "Daniel?" "If you'll excuse me, Laura, I need to finish packing." Laura shook her head, rising to pick up an armful of clothes from the suitcase. Her hand hit something cylindrical, plastic, and she pushed the clothes aside to pick up the bottle of pills. Reading the label, her eyes widened in shocked concern. "Here. I think this is what you need, isn't it?" He nodded, taking the bottle and removing the cap as she went over to pour him a glass of water from the bar. "Yes. Thank you." He popped the pill into his mouth, then swallowed it with some water before handing the glass back to her. "I don't want Harry to know, Laura." "I won't keep it from him, Daniel. He has a right to know that you're ill." "It's nothing," he insisted, passing her to return the pills to his case. Laura whirled, and things began to go dark again. "Ooh," she said, groping for the bench at the end of the bed. Daniel caught her as she fell- just as Remington appeared in the doorway. "Laura?!" he called out, rushing to take her from Daniel, all else forgotten in his concern for his wife. To Be Continued...

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Original content ©1999 by Nancy Eddy