As soon as the helicopter landed at Calais, Remington found a telephone and called his apartment. The line rang several times, and the machine didn't pick up. Frowning, Remington hung up and dialed Laura's number.
"Hello?"
"Hello, Laura. I don't have much time,-"
Laura sat up as she heard Daniel come down the stairs. "Remington? Where are you? We've been worried about you."
"I know," he said apologetically. "I didn't have a chance to call before now. I'm in Calais-"
"Calais?" Laura repeated. "France?" She was relieved that he was safe, and offered a silent prayer of thanks. Looking up, she saw Daniel close his eyes as if doing the same thing.
"Have to take the long way home, I'm afraid, to evade Valmont's men. If things go according to plan, I should be back in Los Angeles in a little over ten hours. Should put me home around- one, I think."
"You sound tired," Laura said softly.
"I am. Haven't gotten much sleep these last few days. Has Daniel explained what's going on to you?"
"Most of it," Laura told him.
"Does he know where the real Monet is?"
Laura looked at Daniel. "Yes. We're going to retrieve it tomorrow morning."
"Don't do anything til I get back. I need to talk to Daniel -."
"He's right here," Laura said.
"In your loft? It's the middle of the night there."
Laura smiled at the worry in his voice- and heard a tinge of jealousy as well. "Would you have preferred I send him to a hotel for the night?" she asked.
Daniel held out his hand. "Let me speak to him." Laura held out the telephone. "Harry, my boy. You've nothing to worry about as far a Linda's concerned." Laura rolled her eyes at his slipping back into the "Linda" mode. "You've managed to give Valmont the slip?"
"Took a bit of doing, but yes. How are you?"
"Much better. You know how hard headed I am, Harry."
"Well, yes- uh, Daniel- did you really keep the Monet after stealing it for someone else?"
"Yes, Harry," Daniel replied.
"Oh, Daniel-" Remington sighed, revealing his disapproval.
"But it wasn't at all the way you're thinking. Clyde Davenport ASKED me to keep it for him- he was terrified that Valmont might somehow tie him into the robbery. I double-crossed no one." Daniel heard someone tell Harry that it was time to leave.
"Look, I have to go. The commuter flight to Paris is boarding. Tell Laura that I-Tell her I miss her."
"I'll tell her, Harry," Daniel assured his protégé with a smile in Laura's direction.
"And watch your backs. I have the uneasy feeling that Valmont's not going to give up just because he wasn't able to get his hands on me."
"We will, Harry."
"Bye."
"Good-bye." Daniel hung up the telephone. "He asked me to tell you that he misses you," He said. Seeing the expression on her face, he tried to smile. "I don't know about you, but I seriously doubt that I'm going to be able to get back to sleep, Laura."
"Me either-why do you do that?"
"Do what?"
"Call me Laura to my face, but whenever you're talking to Remington, I'm 'Linda'."
"Ah. Perhaps because it wouldn't do for me to give in too easily, where you're concerned. Harry would wonder about the reasons for it."
"And you don't want that?"
Daniel smiled at her. "I'm sure you're aware that Harry adores a challenge. The more I try to turn him away from you-"
"The more he turns TOWARD me," Laura realized. "Why you old-CON MAN!" she said, but there was a smile on her face. "It's a game. Just another game with you, isn't it?"
"Speaking of games, do you have any cards about? I thought we might play a hand or two of poker- you DO play poker, don't you?"
"Pinochle's more my game," Laura told him. "But I know enough to hold my own in poker. In a FAIR game, that is."
Daniel placed his hand over his heart. "You have my word of honor- if you're willing to trust it-"
Laura went to the kitchen and dug out a deck of cards, then went to the table and pulled out a chair. "Let's see, shall we?" she suggested, shuffling the cards as Remington had taught her to.
Daniel watched her for a moment, then sat down across from her. "This ought to be very interesting," was his comment as she dealt the cards.
Mildred put her key into the lock to open the Agency's doors, then froze as she looked through the glass. Without turning the key, she pushed on the door, and gasped as it opened. "Miss Holt's not gonna like this," Mildred commented, stepping over papers and potted plants to get to her desk and dig out the telephone. Dialing the number, she waited for Miss Holt to answer.
"Hello?" she said with a hint of laughter in her voice.
"Miss Holt?"
"Good morning, Mildred," Laura said.
Mildred could vaguely make out the sound of a man's voice in the background, muttering something about "I can't believe it. It's impossible. Three heart flushes in a row?"
"Are you okay, Miss Holt?"
"Yes, Mildred- what's wrong?"
"I think you'd better get over here to the office pronto."
Laura surveyed the scene before her with a deep scowl as Mildred looked in Daniel's direction. "I thought you were in the hospital?" she asked.
"I was."
"It's a long story, Mildred," Laura added. "But I think it's safe to say that Daniel's being here has something to do with THIS," she said, extending an arm to include the office's current state. She looked at Daniel. "They obviously thought that the painting might be here."
"And they've no doubt searched Harry's apartment as well," Daniel agreed.
"Mine's probably next on the list."
"Wait a second," Mildred broke in, "who are THEY? And what painting are they looking for?"
"The Monet that Mrs. Davenport had stolen, Mildred," Laura said in partial explanation. "Daniel's the one who originally stole it for MR. Davenport."
"And now the man that I stole it FROM has tracked it down and wants it back," Daniel finished.
"I must be missing something here," Mildred said. "I thought Mrs. Davenport's Monet was already stolen night before last?"
"It was," a man said from the doorway. Laura, Daniel, and Mildred turned to look at him. He was around Daniel's age, Laura guessed, but there was a harder glint in his dark eyes. "But it was a copy." He pulled a gun. "And now Mr. Valmont wants the real thing, Daniel."
Daniel smiled tightly. "Jonathan. What a surprise. I thought you'd retired."
"I had. Got an offer I couldn't refuse to come back to work. Besides, retirement's not all it's cracked up to be. Rather boring, actually."
Laura took a step forward. "Now look here- whoever you are-"
The gun came to bear on her, and Daniel grasped her arm, pulling her back to his side. "I wouldn't Laura. Jonathan was always a rather- good shot."
"This is a place of business," Laura reminded him. "There will be clients coming in here soon- "
"Then we'll just have to go someplace a bit more- private, won't we?" Jonathan suggested with a cold smile that matched his eyes. "Unless you'd like to tell me where Valmont's painting is right now, Daniel. Save us both a little time."
Laura turned to Daniel as he moaned and started to collapse. "Daniel!" She and Mildred managed to drag him to the sofa. "He's ill," Laura told Jonathan. "He's recovering from a head injury. By all rights, he should be in the hospital!"
"He's going to be in the morgue if he doesn't tell me what I need to know," Jonathan told her.
"Mildred, go get a wet cloth, will you?" Laura asked, and Mildred started for Remington's office, only to stop as they heard the bolt drawn on the gun.
"Don't move. No one goes anywhere. Tell you what, why don't you and Miss Holt help Daniel into that office? We can continue our discussion there."
"Mildred and I can't carry him!" Laura insisted. "He's too heavy!"
Jonathan sighed, motioning for Laura and Mildred to step away as he approached Daniel. Keeping the gun on them, he bent down to check Daniel's condition. Daniel moaned, muttering something, and Jonathan bent closer to hear the words. "Painting-"
Laura seized the distraction and picked up vase, bashing Jonathan over the head and sending him to the floor. Daniel was up in a flash. "I'd suggest, ladies, that we get the hell out of here."
Not giving them any choice, he grabbed Laura's hand, puling her behind him, and Laura grabbed Mildred's.
Once downstairs in the parking garage, the three of them piled into the limo and told Fred to "just drive for awhile."
Laura looked behind the car, trying to spot anyone that might be following them. Finally she sat back. "I take it that you and Jonathan have a thick and stormy past?"
"We did a few jobs together in the early days," Daniel admitted. "Until he turned more toward violence than I liked. Actually, his talents aren't in the realm of art theft."
"Really? And just where DO Jonathan's talents lie, Daniel?"
"He was one of the best hit men in Europe for some years."
"A hit man?" Mildred questioned, sounding a bit faint. "We just confronted a world class hit man?"
"You said he'd retired," Laura mentioned. "Why would Valmont hire an ex hit man to steal the Monet?"
"Probably because he's the one who originally stole it for Valmont."
"This is getting confusing," Laura said with a grimace of distaste. "Have we picked up a tail, Fred?"
"Not that I can tell, Miss Holt," Fred assured her.
"Take the long way to the airport, then."
"Yes, Miss Holt."
"The airport, Miss Holt?" Mildred asked, feeling terribly lost.
"To meet Mr. Steele's flight from Paris," Laura explained.
"Paris? But I thought he went to London."
Daniel gave Mildred's hand a comforting pat. "Allow me to explain, please, Mildred."
He was just finishing the explanation as the limo came to a stop before the terminal. "So Mr. Steele had to go to Paris to get home safely," Mildred repeated. "But you said he wasn't due in for hours yet-"
"What better place to hide out than in a place filled with people?" Laura suggested, as Fred opened the door for her. "Come along."
In the terminal, she studied the arrival boards. "The next flight from Paris is due to arrive in four hours." She sat down in a chair. "Might as well make ourselves at home," she told Daniel and Mildred.
"Laura, why don't we simply go and get the original-"
"And risk someone following us? Put yet another person in danger? Is that what you want, Daniel?"
"Of course not, but-"
She patted the chair beside her. "Then sit down." She looked around, and picked up a magazine from the table nearby. "Read."
Daniel took the magazine, and sat down with a deep sigh before looking at the magazine's cover. "Law and Justice Quarterly." Daniel sighed again, tossing the magazine in Mildred's direction, opting instead for a copy of "Art Today" that was in the seat beside him.
None of them really noticed the arrival announcement for the flight from London, until Daniel sank down in his seat and pulled the magazine closer. "Good Lord," he said.
"What is it, Daniel?" Laura asked, frowning.
"You see that man just going through customs? Short, heavyset? Balding?"
Laura and Mildred both sought out the man he described. "Yes. What about him?"
"THAT is Archie Valmont."
Laura brought a magazine up as well, occasionally peering around it to watch Valmont. "Oh my God," she said, as a realization struck her. "The limo. If he notices the license plate-"
Mildred picked up her purse. "I'll take care of it, Miss Holt," she said. "I doubt he'll even notice me." She walked right past Valmont as he waited to be cleared through customs, going to a bank of telephones. Her insides were shaking, but she made it to the telephones and dialed the mobile number for the limo. "Fred, it's Mildred. Miss Holt wants you to get the limo away from the terminal for at least an hour…No, it doesn't matter. As long as it's not there in the next five minutes…Bye." She hung up, and watched as Valmont walked toward the exit. Crossing back to where Laura and Daniel were sitting, she sat down, grateful to be off of her legs that were threatening to give out. "He's going to move the car," she told them.
"Very nice, Mildred," Laura praised. "Quick thinking."
"Crazy," Mildred added. She saw the way Laura was watching Valmont as he left the terminal. "What are you thinking, Miss Holt?"
"Someone really should follow him- see where he goes."
Mildred stood up again. "You got it."
"No," Laura decided, standing up. "You stay here with Daniel and wait for Mr. Steele. I'll follow Valmont."
"Laura- if he captures you,-" Daniel began, but Laura smiled at him.
"Then I'll just have to make sure that he doesn't, won't I?" She looked at Mildred. "Keep an eye on him. Don't let him out of your sight."
"Be careful," Mildred called after her, then sat down beside Daniel. "You'd better hope nothing happens to her, Chalmers," Mildred said. "Because you'll have to answer to Mr. Steele if it does."
"Believe me, Mildred, I'm painfully aware of that fact," Daniel assured her.
Keeping out of sight as Valmont hailed a cab, Laura flagged the next one in the queue. "You see that cab that just left?"
"Sure, lady."
"Follow it," Laura said, handing him a hundred dollar bill. "But not too closely."
"Anything you say."
Valmont went directly to the Plaza hotel, and Laura continued to follow him, managing to stay just out of his sight, dodging behind potted palms and support beams. He signed the register, and Laura heard the desk clerk instruct the bell man to carry Mr. Valmont's luggage up to the VIP suite. Valmont asked if he'd had any calls, but the clerk shook his head. "Be sure to put any calls through immediately," Valmont instructed the man.