Edward and Tony entered the office to find Mildred and Sid already there, an open cardboard box on one corner of Remington's desk, the top of which was covered by papers. "Hello there," Edward said, and waved the printout and computer disk under her nose. "Look what we found."
"What is it?" Mildred asked.
"Proof that Cameron's not a candidate for "Man of the Year", Tony told her.
"Come on," Edward said, dragging Mildred by the arm toward the reception area and the computer on Terri's desk.
"But-" she began, looking at Sid, who shrugged in response. "What about what we found?"
"Did you find Haverly's daughter?" Tony asked as Edward turned the computer on and slipped the disk into the drive.
"Yes, we did-" Mildred started to say, but was interrupted as Remington and Laura entered the office.
Remington returned his cell phone to his pocket. "There's still no answer," he confirmed with a worried look at Laura.
"No answer where, Steele?" Tony asked.
"At home. We've been trying to call since we left Cameron's," Laura explained, and held up a half burned piece of paper. "Wait until you see what we found."
"Get at look at what *we* found," Tony returned, shoving the printout of the bank withdrawals and deposits in their direction. "Cameron paid someone off today- right after the Doc was killed. And Edward's got a computer disk full of information-"
Laura held up the paper in her hand as Remington eyed the printout. "Well, *this* was a hand written confession signed by Dr. Aaron Fletcher. It's half burned, but we *found* it in a waste basket in Philip Cameron's study."
"We found a list of what looks to be names and places," Edward told them. "All tied to 'deliveries' and payoffs into various accounts." He indicated the computer screen.
"Is Philip Cameron's signature on any of that?" Mildred asked, and waited as Laura examined the remains of the letter, and Tony looked at the printout.
"No," Remington admitted. "But-"
"But nothing. You want proof that the guy's a scumbag? Follow me." She turned and went into Remington's office.
The others exchanged a look, then followed her to the desk. "What's all this, Mildred?" Laura asked, picking up one of the papers that Sid had just finished sorting out.
"The papers John Haverly sent to his daughter before he was arrested and put in prison fifteen years ago." As they picked up the papers, Mildred told them about the visit to Justine Haverly's and the discovery of the existence of the box. "Miss Haverly said we could go and get the box once we'd gotten into the CD," she explained. "Sid and I told her to wait until we left, then go and stay in a motel for the night, just in case Cameron's people decided to pay her a little visit."
"Good lord," Laura sighed. "He documented everything. Even- Even Margaret Cameron's death as a result of a drug overdose."
"She was going to go to the authorities," Sid told them. "Nothing he could do would stop her. The only thing Cameron could do was to make her an addict, dependent on him for her fix. He explained her losing weight and looking so badly to the public by saying she had cancer."
"Just as we suspected," Tony commented angrily.
"Where did you find the papers, Mildred?" Edward asked.
"After he picked up the papers from his daughter, Haverly took them to a friend who could scan them into his computer and then burn them to a disk. He password protected the disk so that even his daughter couldn't break the code, and then took the box to a warehouse that Cameron owned." Mildred looked at Laura and Remington. "Remember when that guy hid those papers in the building where your old loft was, Mrs. Steele?"
"Of course. But- how did you know where-?" Laura asked
"We got lucky. The building hadn't been converted like yours was. Sid and I went right to it."
"I knew we should have just left it to Mildred," Edward declared, putting an arm around her shoulders. "You're a miracle worker."
"Sid here's the one who lost the tail we picked up on the way back," Mildred told them.
Remington picked up the telephone and dialed the number for the house. "Still nothing?" Laura asked as he frowned and hung up.
"No. And I've got a feeling that something's wrong."
"Did you try Agatha's cell phone?" Edward suggested.
"She keeps it turned off when she and the children are at home," Laura explained.
"And Kitty won't have one of the bloody things," Remington added.
Laura looked at her husband. "Why don't you and Tony and I go out and make sure that things are okay out there while Dad goes to get Jessica?"
"Why Edward?" Tony wanted to know.
"Because if Cameron's having her watched, they won't think twice about her leaving with Dad. He was going to give her away at the wedding, after all."
"Oh," was all Tony said.
"We'll all regroup at the house and decide what we're going to do with the information," Laura continued.
"I know what I'd do with it," Sid told them. "My old editor over at the Trib would love a story like this." He grinned. "Might even get a byline out of it myself."
"All in good time, Sid," Laura said as the telephone rang.
Remington picked it up. "Steele here."
"You don't know me, Mr. Steele," a man said, "but I believe that you're in possession of some information that I've been paid to recover."
"Indeed?" Remington asked. "And who's paying you?"
"Surely you of all people understand the need for discretion, Mr. Steele. I want the box that your Miss Krebs and Mr. Blake recovered earlier."
"Box?"
"The box of papers that John Haverly hid before his death. One of my people saw them with it, but he lost them."
"Why not just come up here and get it, then?" Remington asked.
"I'd prefer a less direct approach."
"Such as?"
"I think you and your wife should return home as soon as possible. It would be a shame for your children be hurt, don't you think?"
Remington's fingers tightened on the receiver as his eyes met Laura's. "The children?"
"Surely you've noticed that you can't call your house. The phones are out. And the house is rigged with an explosive that will destroy it- and, regrettably- your family if you don't do precisely as I tell you to do."
Laura moved to stand beside Remington, her hand slipping into his free one. "What do you want?"
"I told you. The box. I want everyone out of that office within five minutes, Steele. Leave the box in the corridor in front of the doors. Once it's in our hands, I'll call my men off."
"Very well. You'll have the box. But if you harm my children or anyone else, I'll find you."
"I don't want anyone else hurt either, Mr. Steele," the man assured him evenly. "You have five minutes." The line went dead.
Remington hung up the phone. "He wants the box."
All eyes fell upon the ordinary looking cardboard box sitting on the edge of the desk.
***
Remington was the last to leave the office, placing the box Mildred and Sid had retrieved from that warehouse against the agency doors before turning toward the elevators. He looked around, certain that he was being watched, but there was no sign of anyone else.
Finally he reached the others, who were holding the car for him. "I still don't like this," Laura told him as the doors closed.
Putting an arm around her shoulders, Remington nodded. "Neither do I. But what choice do we have? He says he has the children- I won't chance that he's bluffing."
"What now?" Sid asked.
"You go home," Remington said. "We'll talk tomorrow."
"But-"
"I promise, Sid," Remington said, holding a hand to stop the little man, "if we go public, the story is yours."
"I wasn't worrying about the story, Mr. Steele," Sid insisted, then sighed. "Well, not completely. I just thought you might need some help-"
"I think we can handle things from here on out, Sid," Laura said. "Thanks anyway."
The doors opened, and they hesitated for a moment before entering dark the garage. "There's a reason I don't like this place," Mildred commented. "Too dark and too many places for people to hide."
Sid got to his car first. "Night, everyone."
Sounds of "Night, Sid," chorused and echoed eerily through the concrete structure.
Edward pulled Mildred toward his car. "We'll see you at the house," he told the others.
In Remington's car, he handed Laura the cell phone again. "Try Agatha's number."
She dialed, and then frowned, shaking her head. "It's turned off."
"Damn."
"Maybe they don't know the phones are out," Tony suggested.
"Or else Cameron's men are in the house and keeping Agatha from the phone," Remington continued grimly, pressing the accelerator to speed the BMW on its way.
***
Mildred stayed in the car when Edward went up to get Jessica. She looked around the dark streets, watching for anything out of the ordinary. Glancing into the rearview mirror, she saw the flicker of headlights as they were turned off, and peered into the darkness, trying to see where they had come from. When Jessica and Edward returned, she noticed that Jessica looked shaken.
"He told you?"
"About the children being in danger? Yes."
"I meant about what we found."
"It won't do much good now," Jessica reminded her.
"We've got a tail," Mildred told Edward as he started the car. "Black sedan parked down the block. They parked just as you went upstairs."
Edward glanced into the mirror as he pulled away from the curb, and accelerated away. "Let's see if we can lose them, hmm?"
"Buckle up, Jessica," Mildred warned their passenger.
"You're taking losing those papers better than anyone else, Mildred," Edward noted, turning a corner at a high rate of speed before merging into the traffic flow, keeping one eye on the mirror.
"That's not the only copy," she reminded him. "Remember that CD?'
Edward glanced at her. "Ahh. Was everything there?"
"I'm not sure. But it was enough. Haverly's confession named names."
Edward sighed. "I think we lost the tail." He turned a corner to get back on course for Remington and Laura's house, keeping an eye out.
***
"I don't know where I put that stupid telephone," Agatha said again with a deep sigh. "I know that it was in my handbag this afternoon."
"Maybe someone got into the house and took it," Patrick suggested, his eyes moving around the living room.
"It's possible, I suppose," Agatha agreed, then patted the child's shoulder reassuringly. "But we've searched the house and there's no one here at the moment but us." She looked around at Patrick's brother and sister, their great Aunt, and Mrs. Hobbs. "Mr. and Mrs. Steele will be back shortly, I'm certain. Until then, we'll just wait here."
Megan met Daniel's eyes, then spoke. "I'm going to the bathroom."
"Don't be long," Agatha said. "Would you like your aunt or Mrs. Hobbs to go with you?"
"That's okay," Megan said. "I'm not a baby."
"No," Katherine agreed, "you're not." She rose slowly, leaning on her cane. "But all the same, I think I'll accompany you."
Megan sighed and led her aunt from the room. At the door to the restroom, she paused. "Are you going in with me, too?"
"There's no need to be impertinent, Megan," Katherine said gently.
Megan's eyes fell. "I'll be out in a minute," she said, and closed the door, opting not to chance turning the lock. She hesitated for a moment, then went to the sink and turned it on. Standing on the wicker clothes hamper, Megan lifted the window and threw a leg over the sill to escape the house, dropping behind the carefully maintained hedge.
"Megan?" Katherine called softly after a few minutes. She tapped on the door. "Megan." At last Katherine opened the door. "Meg- " her eyes fell on the water running in the sink and then on the open window, and she sighed. "Oh, dear."
***
Megan skirted the lawn, heading toward where she had seen the lights. Most of them had been around the garage area- including one in Harley's apartment. She ducked into the underbrush on the side of the path as she heard someone coming.
"How much longer are we going to be stuck out here?" a man asked.
"Hell, I don't know," his companion replied. "Just till Macintosh calls."
As if on cue, a cell phone began to ring. "Hello? . . . Yeah . . . Good. We'll make sure everything's ready," the man said. "How long? . . . Got it." He turned off the phone. "The Steeles and Roselli are on their way."
"You sure it's set up?"
"All he has to do is open the door."
"Let's get going, then."
"What about the nanny's cell phone?"
"She can get another one," the first man said.
Megan's hand fell on a stick of wood, and an idea began to form. It was dangerous, but she didn't want these two to get away. Her other hand gathered a few pebbles from the ground, and she tossed them across the path to land in the bushes.
"What was that?" one of the men asked, pulling a gun from his pocket.
The other man drew a gun as well, looking in the direction that the sound had come from. Megan saw her chance and stood up, swinging the stick of wood. She struck one of the men in the side, sending him to the ground in pain, his gun flying into the brush.
The other man started to shoot, then stopped as he saw Megan standing there. "It's a kid, Stan. A little girl!"
Stan was writhing on the ground in pain. "I think she broke my hip!" he said. "It hurts, Nick!"
Nick glanced at his friend, giving Megan the chance to turn and run toward the house again, dodging a bullet by diving behind a tree.
A second later, she took off again, this time toward the driveway.
Remington drove the car slowly down the drive, watching for signs of anyone waiting for them. Suddenly he braked as Megan dashed out into the road ahead of him.
"Watch out!" Laura called.
"Good Lord," Remington breathed as he stopped the car a hair's breath from his daughter.
Megan ran around to meet him as he got out of the car. A bullet flew through the air, causing them to duck as it shattered the back glass, narrowing missing Tony as he exited the car. Laura came around, telling Megan. "Stay here."
"But mom-"
"Stay here, Megan," Remington said firmly as he, Laura, and Tony moved into the brush.
It didn't take them long to find Nick and take him down. Megan ran up behind them. "Who are you working for?" Tony asked, his arm across the man's throat as he lay on the ground. Nick just glared at Tony, didn't answer.
"His name is Nick," Megan said. "His friend Stan is on the path to the garage," Megan informed her parents. "And I think they did something to the garage apartment. I heard them talking."
Remington disappeared for a moment, and then returned, dragging Stan along with him, ignoring the protests of pain. "I think the brat broke my hip!" he insisted, limping.
"You'll have more than a broken hip if you call her a brat again," Remington warned, dropping him onto the ground beside Nick.
"Who are you working for?" Tony asked again. Still no answer, and so Tony grabbed Nick by the lapels of his jacket and hauled him up. "Okay, so why don't we go over to the garage apartment and check it out?"
"No," Nick said quickly. "I'm not gonna talk."
"Then you'll talk to the police," Remington told the men, grabbing Stan from the ground. "To the house."
***
"Megan, thank goodness!" Katherine said when the door opened and her great-niece entered. "I was worried."
"I know, Aunt Kitty," Megan said. "I'm sorry."
"I'd be more likely to believe that if you looked a little more contrite, Megan," Remington said as he dropped Stan onto the sofa. "Antony, would you find some rope or something so we can make our guests a little less comfortable?"
"There's some rope on the back porch," Mrs. Hobbs told Tony. "I'll show you where it is."
Daniel and Patrick gave their mother a relieved hug. "Where's your cell phone, Agatha?" she asked the nanny, who looked embarrassed.
"I don't know. It was in my purse this afternoon-"
Remington looked at Stan and Nick- "Any ideas, gentlemen? Or would you rather the police find the lady's stolen property?"
"It's in my jacket pocket," Stan told him. "Or it was. The kid probably shattered it when she hit me."
"*You* hit him, Megan?" Daniel asked.
Megan grinned, proud of her action, but the grin faded as she saw her parents' faces.
Remington nodded, holding out his hand. "Slowly," he admonished. The phone was indeed damaged. "It's seen better days, Agatha," Remington said, handing the remains of the telephone into her hands.
"Why don't you and Agatha take the children upstairs, Katherine?" Laura suggested gently.
Megan looked disappointed. "But-"
Remington silenced his daughter with a look. "Go to your room, Megan. We'll talk about this later." He exchanged a glance with Laura as the children and their nanny went upstairs.
Mrs. Hobbs was returning with the rope, but she stopped in the entry to open the door as someone knocked. Edward, Mildred, and Jessica entered. "What's that for, Mrs. Hobbs?" Edward asked the housekeeper when he saw the rope in her hands.
"Mr. Steele asked for it to tie up the two men that Miss Megan found outside."
"Megan?" Edward questioned as he and the two women joined Remington and Laura.
"Thank you," Remington told Mrs. Hobbs as he took the rope and started tying the two men back to back.
"Long story, Daddy," Laura told her father.
Jessica looked around. "Where's Antony?" she asked.
It suddenly dawned on Remington that the other man hadn't returned with the housekeeper. "Where is Antony, Mrs. Hobbs?"
"Oh, well, Mr. Roselli asked me to tell you that he was going over to check out the garage apartment," the housekeeper explained nervously.
Remington noted the look exchanged between Stan and Nick. "Damn." He finished the knot. "Laura, call the police, if you will. I think it's time these two made their acquaintance, don't you?"
"Sounds good to me," Laura agreed, taking his cell phone from him.
"Let's go, Edward."
"I'm going with you," Jessica told her brother.
For a moment, Remington looked as if he might refuse, but finally he nodded. "Okay. But stay back."
They were within sight of the garage when a fireball erupted, sending a shower of sparks into the underbrush, destroying the top portion of the garage. "Oh my God," Remington breathed, and slipped an arm around Jessica's shoulders.
"Tony?" she called out. "Tony!" Jessica screamed, trying to escape Remington's hold on her arms. "No! Noooo!"
Remington gathered his sister close as Edward stood nearby, shaking his head in disbelief. "Shh," Remington whispered, his eyes on the fire that was threatening to engulf the bottom of the garage as well. "It's okay, Jessica. It's okay."
"No," she cried softly. "It's not okay. I never - had a chance - to, to tell him-"
"I know. And I'm sure he knew as well." He looked up at Edward. "Would you take her back to the house, Edward? I'm going to have a look around the area."
Edward nodded and drew the sobbing woman close to lead her away.
Remington moved closer to the inferno as the sound of sirens reached his ears. The police were here. He only hoped Laura would have called the fire department as well.
"Antony!" he called out, not expecting a reply. But he felt that he had to try. The fire trucks pulled up to his left and he moved toward them to speak with the men who were getting out and setting up their hoses. They would need to know that Antony was missing- and he'd last been seen heading for the garage just before it exploded . . .
To Be Continued---