The police read Stan and Nick their rights, then handcuffed the men and were leading them toward the doors as Edward and Jessica came in. Laura saw her father's expression, saw the tears on Jessica's face, and knew what had happened.
"Mrs. Hobbs, some tea, please," Laura ordered, and went to the liquor cabinet to pour a glass of brandy for her sister in law.
Lt. Cumbie stood watching. "Would you like to explain what's going on here, Mrs. Steele?" he asked.
"In a moment, Lieutenant," Laura said, putting him off as she carried the brandy to Jessica. "Here. Drink this."
"I don't want-"
"Drink it, hon," Mildred said quietly. "It might help." She had tears in her eyes as well, and Edward moved to put an arm around her shoulders.
"Nothing will help," Jessica said in a sad voice. "He's gone. Tony's gone, Laura," She said, looking up at last. "He's really gone."
"Who's gone, Mrs. Steele?" Cumbie asked.
"Tony Roselli," Edward answered. "He was staying in the garage apartment. Apparently those two rigged it to explode when he went inside."
"Hey," Stan said. "We didn't do anything."
"You're lying!" Megan said in a cold, tear-filled voice that caused all eyes in the room to turn toward her. "I heard you and your friend talking in the woods. You did something to hurt Uncle Tony."
Laura moved to pull her daughter close as Agatha came down the stairs. "It's okay, honey," Laura told Megan quietly while Cumbie had his men take Stan and Nick out to the waiting police car.
"I'm sorry, Mrs. Steele," Agatha apologized. "I tried to keep her in the room, but after she heard the explosion-"
Laura nodded and gave Megan another hug. "Go back upstairs with Agatha, okay? Help with your brothers." She watched as Megan and Agatha went back upstairs.
"Do you know who hired them?" Cumbie wanted to know.
"Philip Cameron," Jessica answered clearly.
"Excuse me?" Cumbie asked. "Did you say-?"
"Philip Cameron had Tony killed," Jessica clarified.
"Why would he do that, ma'am?"
"Because Tony came to town with evidence that Cameron's selling drugs," Laura answered. She saw his doubtful look and shook her head. "I know it's hard to believe, Lieutenant. But it's true."
"I should have believed him," Jessica sobbed. "If I had-"
Edward looked at Mildred. "Why don't you take Jessica upstairs so she can lie down, Mildred?"
"I don't want to lie down," Jessica insisted.
"Come on, honey," Mildred said in a soothing voice as she helped Jessica to her feet. "You'll feel better once you've rested."
"I want Cameron," Jessica said to Laura. "I don't care what it takes, I want that bastard to pay for what he's done."
"Do you have this- evidence, Mrs. Steele?"
"We had it, but Cameron threatened to kill the children- if you check, the telephone here is out-" she watched as Cumbie picked up the closest telephone and listened. He frowned and replaced the receiver. "We had to turn it over to him. But we have another source- we don't know where she is at the moment. Mildred- Miss Krebs- sent her into hiding earlier."
Remington entered the house, smelling of smoke, streaks of soot on his shirt and face. He took one look at Laura and gathered her into his arms, returning her embrace with one of his own. "Where's Jessica?" he asked.
"I sent her upstairs with Mildred," Edward explained. "Still no sign?"
Remington shook his head negatively, keeping an arm around Laura as he turned to Lt. Cumbie, who asked, "When you get that evidence, Mrs. Steele, let me know. I can keep those two on ice for forty-eight hours."
"Thank you, Lieutenant," Laura said.
"Yes," Remington echoed, shaking the detective's hand. "Thank you." He took the glass of brandy that Edward poured for him once the police had gone. "The garage is a total write off, I'm afraid."
"Harley's not going to be very happy," Edward noted, but he was shaking his head. "Dammit, Remington, I can't believe that Tony would be that stupid. He had to have known-"
"He *did* know," Laura recalled, and looked at her husband. "He was there when Megan told us what those two were planning. Remember?"
Remington and Edward looked at each other. "Why don't we go take another look around the grounds, eh, Edward?"
"You think he faked his death?" Edward asked.
"To catch Philip Cameron? What do you think?"
"You know, I'm gonna have to get a better plan, I guess," Tony said from the doorway. He looked worse than Remington, covered with soot and smoke.
"Tony!" Laura cried, rushing to throw her arms around him before backing off with a guilty glance in Remington's direction.
Remington joined her, slipping an arm around her waist to pull her close to *his* side, as if silently reminding her that it was where she belonged. "Antony, old man, don't get me wrong, but why aren't you dead?"
"I figured Cameron's men would report back to him that I'm dead. Without me, and without that evidence, he should leave all of you alone- just until we can retrieve that CD from Haverly's daughter tomorrow," Tony explained. "Tell you the truth, I'd forgotten all about what Megan said about those two until I was climbing the stairs to the apartment. That's when I found the trip wire. Almost hit it then."
"You set it off deliberately," Edward nodded.
"There was no other way."
"What was so bloody important in that apartment that you had to get in there?" Remington asked.
Tony smiled, putting his hands into his pockets as he looked around. "Where's Jess?"
***
Mildred was sitting on the edge of the bed in the spare room when the door opened. Jessica was laying on her side, facing the windows, so she didn't see Mildred's eyes widen in shocked surprise.
"I don't know what I'll do without him, Mildred," Jessica was saying. "I should never have let him go to New York. My stupid pride got in the way. I never stopped loving him. And I never had a chance to tell him."
Mildred rose slowly from the bed, and Tony sat down in her place, waiting for the door to close. Jessica heard the soft click, evidently, because she turned around and gasped. "Tony?" Her hands framed his face. "You're alive? This isn't a dream?"
"No," he assured her. "It's not a dream, Jess. I'm alive. I set that bomb off to put Cameron off the scent, but I needed you to convince those two and the police that it was for real. Can you forgive me?"
"Forgive you? I'm the one who should be asking forgiveness," Jessica insisted, throwing her arms around his neck.
"You haven't done anything I need to forgive." He pulled her arms down and took her hands in his. "You're not wearing Cameron's ring," he noticed.
"I took it off after he dropped me back at the loft."
"Good. Because that means you can wear this," he told her, pulling a familiar velvet box from his pocket and handing it to her. "It's the reason I had to get back into the apartment. I left it there this morning, didn't want to carry it with me."
Jessica opened it and stared at the ring that he had bought for her before he had gone to New York. The ring that she had refused to accept. "You kept it."
"You thought I'd pawn it, maybe?"
Jessica's eyes filled with tears.
"I know it's not as big as the one Cameron gave you, but-"
"It's perfect," Jessica insisted, placing a hand to his lips to stop him.
"You know, it would look a lot better on her hand than in the box." Jessica held the box out to him, and he removed the ring, placing it on her left hand. "I love you, Jess. Took me a long time to realize just how much- took almost losing you. But I plan to spend the rest of my life showing you just how much I love you- if you'll have me."
"Oh, yes, Tony. Yes, yes, yes," Jessica sighed, laying back on the bed, pulling him with her.
***
"Uncle Tony's alive?" Patrick said, and started to run from the room, but his father pulled him back.
"He and your aunt Jessica are busy- talking, I believe," Remington said.
Megan and Daniel exchanged a knowing grin that wasn't missed by their parents. "Now," Laura said, "Off to bed, Patrick. You too, Daniel."
The boys gave Laura and Remington another hug and left Megan's room. The girl sat on her bed, watching her parents, chewing on her lower lip. "Everything worked out, right?" she asked.
"That doesn't negate the fact that you could have been seriously injured or killed out there tonight, Megan," Remington pointed out.
"Those men had real bullets," Laura added. "If we hadn't come up that drive when we did-"
"But I knew you were coming home," Megan told them. "That's why I ran in that direction. I heard those men on the phone. Someone told them that you and Uncle Tony were on your way."
Remington moved to sit beside his daughter. "And if we hadn't come up the drive at that moment?" he asked. "What then?"
"I know these grounds better than they do. I could have hidden somewhere. Really."
Remington threw up his hands, looking at Laura. "She's your daughter," he commented.
"Too much so, apparently," Laura agreed. She moved to sit on the other side of the girl. "Megan, believe me, I understand how you feel. You don't like sitting around doing nothing when you think you can help, or make a difference. But you're only-"
"I know. I'm just a kid." Megan sighed. "How long?" she asked.
"How long?" Remington repeated.
"How long am I grounded for this time?"
"First things first. You owe your Aunt Katherine an apology for worrying her. Sneaking out of the bathroom that way-"
"I'll apologize," Megan promised.
"And if you're good for the rest of the Christmas break, I'll find some of my old criminology textbooks for you to start studying."
"Laura-" Remington said, frowning.
"Really?" Megan asked, her eyes wide.
"Really. Now get into bed. It's almost Christmas Eve."
As they left Megan's room, Laura shrugged when she saw Remington's questioning glance. "Look at it this way: If you can't beat 'em, join em. And make sure they know what they're doing."
Remington chuckled and pulled her close. "I love you, Mrs. Steele."
***
The household was awakened early the next morning by a loud knock on the bedroom door. "Yes?" Remington called out, not pleased that his morning in had been disturbed.
"There's a gentleman at the gate, Mr. Steele," Mrs. Hobbs replied briskly. "Says that he has an important package for you."
Remington grabbed his housecoat and threw it on. "Let him in, Mrs. Hobbs. I'll get the door." He glanced at Laura. "Stay here."
"No way," Laura said, tying the sash of her own robe.
Remington sighed and they went downstairs together. He peered out of the window beside the door and frowned as he opened it.
A uniformed courier stood there, a small package in his hands. "Mr. Remington Steele?" he asked.
"Yes," Remington acknowledged.
The young man held out a clipboard. "If you'll just sign here on line two, please?"
"How'd you get unlucky enough to be working Christmas Eve?" Laura asked the young man.
"Boss hates me," he shrugged, glancing at Remington's signature before handing him the package. "There you go. Merry Christmas."
"Merry Christmas," Laura replied as Remington closed the door, looking at the package. "What is it?"
"It's from Justine Haverly," he told her, opening the package to pull out a CD case and a slip of paper.
"The CD," Laura breathed.
Reading, Remington groaned. "Oh, no."
"What?"
"I'm sending this to you because Miss Krebs left a message for me last night about the hard copy being destroyed. I'm sure you will know what to do with it in the event of my death," he read.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Laura wondered.
Remington frowned. "The charity breakfast," he recalled. "Damn!" He turned and ran back up the stairs as Laura followed.
***
Philip Cameron turned off the cell phone with an angry movement. "Let's not bother with Miss Beecham's loft, Clarence," he told the driver. "I'll be late for the breakfast if I'm not careful."
"Yes, Mr. Cameron," Clarence replied as Cameron sat back in the seat, his expression thoughtful. Jessica wasn't home. She had known that he expected her to attend the charity Christmas Eve Breakfast this morning. Where the hell was she? He clenched a fist, knowing the answer. She was at Steele's. Probably mourning Tony Roselli.
***
Laura watched as the speedometer on the BMW climbed past eighty. "Remington- "
"Jessica said that the breakfast was schedule for ten," he told her, pointing to the digital clock on the dash. "I have the uneasy feeling that if we're late, Justine Haverly will pay the price."
"You don't think she'd force Cameron's hand in public, do you?"
"Mildred said that she was in a strange mood last night. She misjudged her father because of Cameron's lies. I think she might be willing to let Cameron kill her to take him out- much like Tony was trying to do. Only she'll really be dead." His foot pressed harder on the gas.
***
Cameron knew that Steele wouldn't risk being drawn into the fray- those bogus accounts would be enough to keep him on a leash. But if they had told Jessica the truth, Cameron wasn't sure what the result would be.
"Mr. Cameron?" Clarence said, and Cameron realized that the driver was standing beside the car, his hand on the open door.
"Thank you, Clarence." Cameron got out of the limo and started toward the building- only to stop as a young woman approached him.
"Mr. Cameron?" she asked.
"Uh, yes," he admitted, looking at her, then around at the sidewalk, thinking that he should have brought his security people after all. He'd been so worried about Jessica- "Can I help you?"
"I'm Justine Haverly, Mr. Cameron," Justine said.
"Haverly," Cameron repeated.
"John Haverly's daughter. You remember my father, don't you, Mr. Cameron? He spent ten years in prison for something you did."
The sound of tires squealing on pavement as a car came to a stop close by wasn't enough to draw Cameron's eyes from the young woman before him. "Why would he do that, Miss Haverly?"
"Because you found out that he accidentally killed a man in college and threatened to take it public," Justine replied. "I have a message for you from my father," she declared as a gun appeared in her hand.
Cameron looked down, his eyes wide in surprise.
Laura and Remington leapt from the car and ran toward the spot where Cameron and the woman were standing. "No!" Remington yelled, but he heard the shots and saw Cameron's body jerk backward, coming to rest against the side of the limo before he slid to the ground.
Several people screamed as they realized what had just happened, and Cameron's driver moved toward Justine, but she lifted the gun, shaking her head. "No."
"Miss Haverly," Laura said, keeping her distance. "I'm Laura Steele. Drop the gun, please-"
"I can't. There's only one thing left for me to do-" She bent her elbow and pointed the gun toward her chest.
Remington made a flying leap, hoping to stop her, but he was too late. As he grabbed her arm, she pulled the trigger. Her dark eyes widened, and then became glassy.
"Oh, God," Remington said softly, lifting himself off of the dead woman's body as it lay on the sidewalk. "Oh God."
***
They returned to the house in a somber mood. Mrs. Hobbs greeted them at the door, informing them that the others were in the living room. Jessica greeted them from where she sat with Tony. "Are you all right, Remington?" she asked.
"I think so," he assured her, glancing down at the bloodstained shirt he was wearing. "I suppose I should go change before the children-" he looked around. "Where are the children?"
"Upstairs with Agatha," Katherine said. "Making ornaments for the Christmas tree." She waved toward the huge fir tree sitting in one corner, waiting to be decorated.
"WE heard what happened," Mildred told them. "It was on TV. Justine Haverly really-?"
"Oh, indeed, Mildred. I guess she just didn't see any reason to continue once she had gotten revenge for her father's death."
"I feel so responsible," Mildred sighed. "If Sid and I hadn't gone to her, she would never have known the truth-"
"It wasn't your fault, Mildred," Edward insisted in a gently voice as he placed a hand on her shoulder.
"What are you going to do with the information, Steele?" Tony asked.
"Turn it over to the police, I suppose. I know that Cameron's dead, but it might help explain why Justine did what she did. I'm going to change."
"Before you do, Remington," Jessica said, causing her brother to stop in the doorway. "I have a question for you and Laura-"
"A question?"
Jessica looked at Tony, who took her hand in his. "Tony and I don't want to wait- and I rather like the idea of getting married on Christmas- does your offer to let us use the Gazebo still stand?"
***
At three o'clock the next afternoon- on Christmas Day, Jessica and Tony were finally married, with their closest friends and family gathered in the garden of the Steele house. For once, even Abigail put aside her barbs to enjoy the day.
After the ceremony, Remington found himself alone with Tony, watching as Jessica spoke to Laura and Megan. "She's quite a lady, my sister."
"Yeah. Look, Steele-"
"No, Antony, let me. I know we haven't always seen eye to eye- and I've put up more roadblocks to your relationship with Jessica than anyone else- but I just want you to know that I think she made the right choice. I guess, what I'm trying to say, mate, is- welcome to the family."
Tony looked at him, expecting a punch line- or a punch, even. Then he smiled and laughed, and wasn't surprised when Steele's laughter joined his. "Who would have thought all those years ago that we'd be brothers-in-law?"
"Not me, certainly."
"What's the joke?" Laura and Jessica asked, joining their husbands.
"No joke," Remington assured her. "Where are you two going on honeymoon?" he asked. "I know a wonderful little hotel in Mexico- Ouch!" he said as Laura's foot connected with his shin. "I was going to suggest Las Hadas," he insisted.
"I think we'll pass on Mexico," Tony said.
"I don't really care where we go," Jessica told them. "As long as we're together."
***
Late that evening, with the children tucked in bed dreaming of the gifts that Santa had brought them, Remington and Laura sat in the living room, watching the twinkling lights on the Christmas tree.
"What are we going to do about the garage?" she asked
"The insurance will cover most of the loss- but this time, I think we'll make the apartment all electric."
"That's probably a good idea," Laura agreed. She snuggled closer to him. "It turned out to be a nice Christmas after all, don't you think?"
"Ah, but it isn't over yet," he said, turning her into his arms for a long kiss.
The End