Remington Steele Fan Fiction
Steele After YouNC17Remington and Laura are targets for murder
Remington and Laura were spending a quite evening together at Laura's loft. After a wonderful dinner at Che Ramonista and dancing afterwards they went back to her place for a nightcap. "You know Laura, I think I might be turning into something very foreign to me." Remington gazed at the champagne flute he held.
"And what would that be?" Laura sipped seductively from hers.
"I think I may be becoming a workaholic!" He helped himself to more Dom 76.
Laura laughed and held out her glass for a refill, "You know Mildred and I weren't going to say anything, we didn't want to break the spell." She was of course referring to the last case they had just wrapped up. Apparently a client desired Remington Steele Investigations to find a fraud in a regional 9-ball tournament held in Las Vegas. The local tournament for the LA area had gone off without a hitch as usual. After the tournament though the prize money, $25,000, had turned up missing, without a trace.
The winner had agreed to keep quite so that the World Nine Ball League wouldn't suffer any embarrassing press. However the Board was anxious to get the money back as quickly and as quietly as possible. Monica Price and Jayson Erickson had approached the agency with their problem. Laura and Remington had agreed to take the case. After all, their caseload had been rather stressful lately. Mostly dealing with murders and double crosses, they looked forward to something that didn't hint at violence. Plus they could take a low-key approach to the case, and as a bonus, they could get out of LA for a weekend.
The case was solved by tournament time Sunday evening. Remington however had a deuce of a time with his role. He was undercover, infiltrating all the players at the tournament. He ended up playing 15 rather stressful and draining games before he was eliminated. Then the social time spent in the casinos with the players for his fact finding mission didn't leave him with any down time all weekend. He and Laura didn't return to LA till Monday afternoon, after the lid was blown Remington went to his suite, exhausted, and slept for 12 hours.
That case was quite possibly the hardest Remington had ever worked on a role, which of course didn't involve any illegal activity. Back in LA and in the swing of a normal routine, they were all too happy to spend some time alone. Their current cases weren't terribly pressing. Most of them were in Mildred’s expert hands. Or fingers actually. Computers were wonderful.
"I hope this doesn't become a trend." Remington downed his drink.
" I agree."
Remington looked at Laura, surprised at her reaction. "Why Laura, I would have thought you would have been happy that I was taking such an active part in the investigating."
Laura smiled, "normally I would however after that case I was ready to paint Las Vegas every color of the rainbow and you fell asleep on me!" Laura placed her glass on the table.
"Ah well I do apologize for that Laura. But I am sure we could, oh say make up for lost time." Remington closed the distance between them on the couch.
"I'm sure we could." Laura leaned in playfully.
"Then again I might fall asleep on you, literally." Remington lowered his mouth to Laura's to kiss her. After a few moments Laura disengaged herself.
"I hope so." Laura was toying with him now knowing exactly what he meant. However it was different now than it was a few days ago with him. ‘Why did I just say that?’ she thought to herself. They were home now in LA, not wild Las Vegas. Laura was ready to cross that line then but not now. She was back in her sane mode. Her desire for him was always present but it seemed only when they were away from her safe, familiar surroundings, was she ready to yield that to him.
Hearing her last statement Remington leaned in again. This time he brought his arms around her and pulled her close. Feeling strangely comfortable, Laura lent herself over to their kiss.
Remington began to kiss her neck and moved from one side to the other, and soon Laura was lost in his warm embrace. ‘Uh-oh’ she thought, ‘I cant let this get out of hand.’ Remington hadn't let his hands roam. Yet. Remington’s senses were on high alert, they always were when he and Laura shared intimate moments. That way he could sense her slightest attempt to disengage. He had thought so far he was OK, and then all of a sudden he felt it. That old familiar feeling of Laura ever so slightly withdrawing. He lowered his head and sighed. "I guess that's my cue to leave, eh?" he turned his eyes up to look into Laura's.
"I didn't realize it was that obvious." Laura looked down avoiding his gaze.
"Lets just say I have had plenty of practice."
"I'm sorry." Remington cupped her chin to raise her head to meet her eyes.
"I am too." He smiled. He wasn't mad. Frustrated yes, mad no. " but we've been through this before, I'm sure it won't be the last." He didn't mean that as a bad thing but Laura took it that way. She brought her hand up to scratch that crinkle in her nose she always got when she was frustrated.
"I can only let myself go so much. You know," she became deadly serious, "I don't expect you to play this game forever." the ‘game’ she referred to was her inability to let them get physical, to trip that light. Remington gave her a light kiss.
" I won't," he kissed her again "and neither will you." He got up off the couch and began to walk towards the door. Laura followed. "After all, Laura, you can only resist my charms for so long." he began playfully, "soon you'll stop pulling away and I’ll be right here, the same place I have been for four years. I'm not going anywhere." He stopped a few feet from the couch. He turned to face Laura.
" I think I really believe that, but" she trailed off.
"Oh Laura." He gathered her up in a hug. "I can't lie to you, this is terribly frustrating, but I know the end result will more than make up for it." Laura closed her eyes and hugged him back. She breathed in his scent and had a thought.
"Stay with me tonight." it was almost inaudible. Remington pulled away slightly to look at her. "I don't know if it's you leaving I am truly afraid of. I might genuinely be afraid of us period."
Remington pretended to understand. Truth was he hadn't really understood Laura's reservations at all. He felt he had paid his dues when it came to her. "Do I have to sleep on the couch?"
" No, but nothing is going to happen if you do stay. I just need to know what it feels like to have you beside me." ‘What exactly am I doing?’ Laura didn't loosen her hold.
"Well I can't imagine myself saying no. Although I had other images in my head when I found myself in your loft the morning after so to speak." Remington smiled down at her. He pulled her close again, kissing the top of her head.
Laura was all smiles at his warmth and affection, "thank you."
Remington woke up in Laura's bed. Not exactly the way he had imagined of course, he still had some clothes on. He rolled over a bit to find Laura still asleep. He placed his arm over her and held her flush against him. Laura stirred, slowly awakening to his touch. "Mmmmm, morning Laura."
She snuggled even closer, "morning."
"Well did I fulfill you wildest fantasies?" Laura laughed at him.
" I think I answered a few questions last night." Laura turned on her back so she could see him. "I enjoyed you next to me."
"I enjoyed being here"
"Maybe, next time, it will be different." Remington knew what she meant but he wasn't holding his breath. Instead he was content, at least for now, to just stay put.
It was Thursday morning when Remington entered the doors to see Mildred seated at her desk. "Morning Mildred."
"Morning chief. Miss Holt needs to see you."
"She in her office?" He began to head over to her door.
"No she isn't in, she said to go over to her place. I guess she tried calling you but you had already left."
"Ahh OK. Call Fred will you I’ll leave my car here." he turned to head out the doors.
"You got it boss."
Remington met the limo downstairs. "To Miss Holt’s Fred."
"Yes sir."
Pulling up to Laura's building, Remington looked out the window to see a bevy of LAPD cars, a ladder company and two ambulances parked out front. His stomach dropped. "Uh Mr. Steele, this is as far as I can get."
"Not a problem Fred, I’ll walk from here. Go ahead and go back to the office. We can use Miss Holt’s car."
"Very good sir." Remington climbed out of the limo buttoning his suit jacket and donning his shades. He looked around him and saw 6 marked LAPD cars, 2 incognitos, 4 LA County Sheriff's cars with the ladder company's hook extended up to the third floor. Beginning to get a sinking feeling he hurried up to Laura's building. He came to a 'Police Line - Do Not Cross' around the ground extending about 30 feet from the building. The tape closed in pieces of concrete and glass that had fallen from up above. Sidestepping the mess Remington approached the front of the building. There were several officers and detectives standing around. Immediately one came up to him.
"Mr. Steele." one said as he approached and extended his hand.
Remington shook it, "Detective Jarvis, I see you and your boys are hard at work." Remington was still surveying the damage of the building. He took of his sunglasses and placed them in his inside suit pocket.
"We got a call from a tenant that there was a small explosion on her floor. It was in a storage area but on the same floor as Miss Holt’s" Jarvis and Remington started up the entrance stairs. "Bomb squad and Battalion 16 are on its way to survey the damage. Tac Team 8 has secured the crime scene. Apparently the danger is over. All nonessentials have been cleared from their residence."
"And Miss Holt?" they began to ascend the stairs to the third floor.
"She is upstairs with detectives Martin and Sains. Seems Miss Holt might have been the target today. You sure piss off a lot of people Steele."
"Yes well our line of work doesn't really boast customer satisfaction all the time now does it?" They entered Laura's loft. "Laura are you all right?"
Laura crossed over to Remington, "Yes thanks for coming. I received a note under my door this morning. A little cryptic but succinct non the less."
"Uh-huh, from who?"
"Don't know, it wasn't signed." Laura held out her hand to Det. Sains, he passed a Ziploc type bag to her. Laura handed it to Steele.
He read from the note "Don't look back I'm not there. My past is as explosive as you." He handed back to Laura, "Definitely not Keats, eh?"
"We'll take this over to the station and run it for prints." Martin informed Jarvis.
"Good. Any guesses on what's going on Steele?" Jarvis began.
"Well I haven't been keeping up on the latest releases from your fine prisons but I could venture a guess."
"Miss Holt suspects it might be an old acquaintance of yours known as the Major."
"My thoughts exactly, detective. However this isn't exactly his style. I mean I can't see him targeting anyone but us. I don't think he would waste his time blowing up a room in a building."
"That thought crossed my mind too, Mr. Steele." Laura piped in, "but then again the Major isn't playing with a full deck, and after his last failed attempts who knows what his thinking might be."
"One of the friendly reindeer Santa's?"
"I don't know but we need to find out whoever it is, and fast."
"Yes well we have ticked off quite a few criminals the past few years eh? Detective, Miss Holt and I will delve into past cases to see what we can come up with."
"Right." Jarvis said. "I’ll check my end to see who and what is either out on bail or parole." With that Jarvis and Martins left Remington and Laura to themselves.
"Miss Holt at the risk of sounding precocious, I think staying together might be the best thing right now. And I don't think here is the safest place to do that."
"Somehow I think I agree. Let's go back to the office and see what we can dig up. I think it's going to be a long night Mr. Steele." with that Laura went up to her bedroom to collect some essentials in an overnight bag.
Back at the office Laura, Remington and Mildred started in on all the past cases that ended up with someone going to the big house. The list was quite extensive. Mildred had brought in file after file for them to peruse while she ran checks on current whereabouts of almost everyone they had put away. Laura was sitting on the couch in Steele’s office poring over case files when she finally leaned back in frustration. "This could take months! I mean we have a good idea of where to look but how do we know who we are dealing with when they don't make an attempt to kill us again."
Remington looked at Laura wearily, "well Laura I can safely say that that is fine with me. I think one attempt a day is quite enough."
"You know what I mean." It was then that the phone in Steele’s office rang.
"Steele here. Uh-huh. Absolutely. Thank you detective." Steele hung up the phone. "No prints off the note."
"No surprise there."
"Jarvis said that the bomb squad found traces of something that was out of the ordinary for explosives. Some type of odorless gas in the device left an odd stain on the wall. The lab boys don't think it was an explosive really but more of a slow, timed release poison. Apparently something went wrong and an explosion occurred."
"But the note mentioned ‘explosive’. If it was an accident then we have moved back another step in solving this." Laura leaned back and closed her eyes. "If just one thing would go right!"
"Yes, I feel your frustration. However we need to keep alert and level if we are going to crack this. Right now though we have two choices."
"I'm all ears." Laura looked at him for his revelation.
"Chinese or Italian? I'm famished."
It was sometime later when the three finished their meals. Mildred began cleaning up the styrofoam containers that had once held food. "I gotta tell you chief, I got bubkas on anyone on parole, released or even furlough." "Well Mildred if it makes you feel any better, Miss Holt and I are at an impasse ourselves."
"Yes Mildred it seems the chances are slim as far as anyone we put away doing this outright. I think we can assume we might have another Lilly Martin on our hands." Remington could see the distraught running through Laura's features. She hated this part of her work, the not knowing. Waiting bugged her. Since it was them waiting for their lives to be destroyed, well that made it much, much worse.
"Call it a night Mildred."
"If it's all the same to you two, I'm going to stick around here and keep at it. Plus with Herman downstairs I feel a little safer here."
"Mildred, Jarvis said he could have some off duty officers at your place. Please, go home and we'll deal with this more tomorrow."
"Maybe I have exhausted all I can do tonight. I’ll try some contacts in the morning."
"There you go Mildred." Remington picked up the receiver and dialed Jarvis’ extension. "I’ll see to it they are waiting you for you." After he let Jarvis’ people know what they needed, Remington dialed Fred."
"Ok Mildred," Laura said walking with her to the outer office, "we'll give it another go in the morning." Remington was soon to follow, putting on his suit jacket he addressed Mildred,
"Fred is all set to take you home Mildred, and he'll pick you up in the morning. You don't mind leaving your car here do you?"
"Not at all" she said gathering her things.
"Splendid. Let's call it a night shall we?" All three exited the office and headed towards the elevator. They entered and Laura pushed the garage button. "We'll drive you to the front to meet Fred."
"Fine, the less I am alone the better." Suddenly the elevator lurched.
"I have a bad feeling about this Mr. Steele." Just as Laura finished speaking the elevator stopped completely and went pitch black.
"Dammit" Remington tried the emergency phone. "It's dead." A fait emergency light came on over their heads but offered little light. Soon a hissing sound could be heard.
"I don't like this." Laura looked upwards to see a faint stream of smoke come through the overhead vent. Remington was still punching the buttons on the panel when Laura said, "there is something coming through the vent."
"What? Damn." Remington made a futile attempt at prying the doors open. ‘Damn, damn, damn." He quickly shed his coat and gave it to Laura. "Here you two stand in that corner, slow down your breathing, don't talk and put this over your faces."
"But," Laura began.
"Just do it!" for Mildred’s sake Laura did what he said. Meanwhile Remington had begun to scale the side of the elevator so he could reach the top. He began punching at the grate. He was quickly getting nowhere. He found a rail by the grate to grab onto and began to swing his body up and kick at it. After 5 tries it finally gave way and swung outwardly open. He could feel himself get dizzy and he was coughing so hard that he felt like he was having convulsions. He managed to get through the opening and stood on top of the elevator. He quickly located a canister that was still spewing smoke. He made a grab for it but quickly pulled away from its burning heat. He yanked a kerchief from his pocket and tried to cover his mouth and nose as best he could. He took aim at the offending canister and kicked it. It had been secured to the roof of the elevator. He kicked it a few more times before it finally came loose and went toppling down the shaft. He quickly lay down on the roof and bent his head over the side to breath in some needed fresh air. He then dropped back down into the car to check on Laura and Mildred. "Are you two OK?"
In-between coughing Laura managed to a weak yes. Remington then went back to the doors and tried again to pry them open. The smoke in the elevator hadn't dissipated any and he felt as if his lungs would burst. "Laura, can you two manage to help?" Slowly Mildred and Laura got up out of their corner and helped with the door. "We just need it cracked…" With all three struggling at the door it managed to open an inch or two. Remington worked his right foot into the gap and soon his right leg was in and he was pushing from a better leverage point. When he opened it enough he told Laura and Mildred to go through. They both edged through the gap and Laura helped Mildred make the two-foot drop to the floor. When they were cleared Remington, who was losing the battle with the doors dropped down himself.
All three were on their knees gulping in as much fresh air as they could. "Come on, come on ladies" Remington began ushering them away from the elevator over to the emergency stairs exit. If one accidental explosion had occurred today……… A loud blast rocked the now empty elevator as Remington shoved Laura and Mildred into the stairwell.
"The landlord is really going to be mad now." Laura said nonchalantly as they continued down the stairs.
Mildred was sitting in an ambulance receiving oxygen when Jarvis found Laura and Remington. "Same M.O. Have you got any leads yet?" "No." Remington said still coughing. "We are at a loss."
"Whoever it is sure did a number in the parking garage. Concrete ate most of the blast. Fires down there stabilizing it. Quick thinking Mr. Steele. You saved their lives."
"Yes but I think we need to get at this so no one has to save any more lives eh, detective."
"Well if I need anything else where can I reach you."
"You have my number Jarvis, stay in touch" Remington was more than sarcastic. Jarvis nodded his head and moved away.
"You don't have to be so mean to him."
Remington let out a big sigh, "I know I know. I'm just a little frustrated." He looked at Laura. "You sure you don't want to go get checked out?"
"I'm fine. Physically anyway. I signed the release. I just want to get out of here."
"Fine." Remington looked inside the ambulance. "Mildred, you going to be OK?"
Mildred gave him a thumbs up. She removed her mask so she could talk to him. "Sure chief. I just want to go home."
"OK then. Fred is still here. He's ready when you are."
Mildred had begun to leave the ambulance "Great. You two OK?"
"Fine, fine. We'll see you in the morning then OK" Remington gave Mildred a kiss on the cheek.
"Tomorrow"
"Let's try to get your car ." Luckily Laura had parked about as far away from the elevator as was possible today. An officer let them down after Jarvis’ OK. Before getting in the car Remington popped the hood and inspected it. "Looks fine." He shut the hood and got down to look under the car. "Better safe than sorry eh?" He smiled at Laura and opened the passenger door for her. He climbed in behind the wheel and with little hesitation started the engine. He looked over at Laura who had her eyes closed and he sped away from the garage.
It was well after midnight when Remington pulled the Rabbit into the Rossmore lot. He shut off the engine and looked over at Laura who looked to be resting peacefully. "Laura? Sweetheart, we’re here," he said in a little more than a whisper. She didn’t stir. He reached over and smoothed her hair out from in front of her face. "Laura."
She slowly opened her eyes, "sorry I must have dozed off. Where are we?"
"My place. You OK?"
"Yeah, um, yeah." she looked over at him and smiled weakly. "Think we’re safe here?" Concern was in her voice.
"One way to find out, unless you want to go somewhere else."
"Um, no. I don’t think so." Laura’s mind was reeling with the day’s events. "If you think we’re safe that’s fine" she opened the door and got out.
They took the stairs as a precautionary measure, in silence. Remington hesitated and finally opened the door. He swept through each room, and checked the balcony. After fifteen minutes he announced to Laura he felt they were safe. "You want something to eat?" He hovered over the couch where Laura sat.
"Huh?" She was lost in thought, "oh, uh, no. I don’t have much of an appetite right now." Remington sat beside her.
"That’s fine." he placed an arm around her and pulled her close. He held her silently for a few moments. He then led her over to the door to his bedroom. "Go in, take a shower. You can wear some pajamas of mine if you’d like, they are in the drawer over there."
"Thanks." Laura’s voice was timid. "A shower sounds good right now." She absentmindedly went into the room and headed towards the bath. Remington closed the door. He stood there for a moment and then sighed loudly and walked towards the kitchen.
He opened the refrigerator but saw nothing he wanted so he got out some wine a poured himself a glass. "I don’t know who you are but your end is near." he was speaking to no one in particular. He was equally as frustrated as Laura. After finishing his glass he headed back into the living room. He hovered around the phone thinking of all his old cronies he could call. Could anyone of them help? At this point he was too exhausted to compile a list. He flopped down on the couch and shut his eyes. He didn’t know how long it was before he felt hands on his shoulders.
"Mr. Steele," Laura’s arms began to encircle his neck from behind.
"Hmmmm" was all he could get out. Laura lowered her head to his neck to breath in his scent. She whispered in his ear.
"The shower is free." she kissed him lightly on his neck. Remington opened his eyes to the feeling of Laura’s arms being removed from his neck. He turned around in time to see her retreat through the bedroom door wearing only the top of a pair of his pajamas. He followed behind and continued into the shower.
He was quick to finish, and dried himself off. He found the other half of Laura’s outfit and donned it before he stepped into his bedroom. Laura had turned the lights down already and Remington quietly slipped into bed beside her. He lay on his back and looked up at the ceiling into the darkness. He thought Laura was asleep so he was pleasantly surprised when she rolled over to him and put her head on his chest. He put his right arm around her and held her to him. He kissed the top of her head and she looked up at him.
"I’m exhausted but afraid to close my eyes."
"It’s ok Laura, we’re safe here." He held her close. He just let her rest against him but he knew she wasn’t asleep.
"I, uh, I think we had a very close call this evening. It makes me think about things."
"What things?"
"Unfinished things. Between us." Laura rose up on her arm so she could look at him.
"I realized that maybe I should stop running from you. Or at least slow down enough to catch my breath. I care, very much, about you. I want to get past this so we can, well, so we can have more of whatever it is we have now."
"Difficult to pinpoint, eh?" He smiled at her and reached with his left hand to bring her to him. He kissed her lightly at first then became more aggressive, after a moment she pulled away to speak.
"We both want the same thing, I think, we just have different ways of getting there." She leaned back into the kiss. She was possesive this time, more aggressive. Eventually she pulled Remington on top of her. Remington showed no qualms about letting his body cover hers. He let his right hand roam down her body and let it rest at the end of his shirt she wore. He started to kiss her neck and let his hand finally move under the shirt and he let it rest outside her panties on her hip. He decided that was as far as he would go, he certainly didn’t want to pressure Laura into relieving herself of what little she had on.
Laura was lost. She caressed Remington’s back as she slightly arched under him in response to his kisses. She let her hands wander down to his backside. Remington felt her hands on his ass and decided to explore Laura farther. He let his lips wander down the v of her shirt until he came to a button.
"What to do, what to do" he thought. He decided to work his way back up to her mouth. He was almost there when Laura let her hands slide below his waistband to touch him. "Laura, is this what you want?"
" I want it, I need it." she opened her eyes to look at him, "I told you that I have been thinking about this, about us. I have wanted this since I met you, I was just afraid. But almost losing you made me more afraid."
"I have waited so long for you to say that Laura." he let his hand wander back up from her hip and caressed her hair out of her face. "I feel the same way. We have connected in ways more than mere lovers ever could. I feel like I know you better than anyone I have ever known."
"I haven’t made that easy either. I needed to be sure. I needed a push. Today wasn’t exactly the push I had in mind though. I was scared today, more scared than I have ever been, but when we got here I no longer felt afraid."
Remington knew what she meant. She wasn’t only not afraid of another attack, she was no longer afraid of him, his intentions, or them as more than business partners. " You are a strong woman Laura, I think that’s part of the attraction. The challenge as it were. I gather strength from you and hope you do from me."
"I do, I think I always have. My emotional connection with you is more than I have had with any man. Now I want more. I want to feel everything I can with you. No more missed opportunities as it were."
"Laura I know, believe me I know. I was afraid today of losing you. I don’t want to ever feel that again. I love you Laura, I’m in love with you. I know you feel the same way but nothing would please me more than hearing it from your lips." Laura closed her eyes and a tear sqeezed out. "Don’t cry sweetheart," he leaned down and kissed her tears away.
"I love you too. More than I have ever loved anyone before. I want to show you how much I love you. I want to make you feel what I feel." Laura pulled him down even closer as she kissed him deeply. Remington again let his hand wander down to her hip. This time he didn’t stop there. He worked her panties down with one hand. When he deposited them on the floor by the bed he resumed his assault on her by unbuttoning her shirt. Meanwhile Laura was inching his pajama bottems off until she freed him and kicked them off the bed.
Remington pushed his shirt of her exposing her breasts. He caressed her with both his hands and mouth until she arched into him so far he thought she would throw them both off the bed. He worked her out of the shirt and sent it the way of her panties. "You are beautiful, Laura." Remington looked her up and down. He couldn’t believe she was finally naked in his bed. He went back to the task of readying her for him and was happy to see she was responding to his every touch. He positioned himself over her and looked deep into her eyes as he slowly entered her. Both of their wildest fantasies about this moment were far surpassed by the real thing. At that moment Remington’s breath was taken away by the pure sensations of pleasure he felt inside the woman he loved.
Laura was so far gone in all her emotions of love and pleasure she couldn’t even speak. Slowly they began to move together increasing their pleasure. It was a long time after they both came before Remington rolled off Laura, neither wanting it to end. He pulled her close and held her as they both drifted off to sleep.
The sun wasn’t up but apparently Remington was. Laura cocked her head to see if she could hear any sounds coming from the bathroom. The clock flipped one minute and she heard not a peep. No light from under the door either. She thought about staying in bed, Remington had almost exhausted her. She smiled and got up thinking that even though she would love to sleep, perhaps coaxing him back to bed would give her a second wind. She walked out into the living room and flicked on a low emitting lamp. He wasn’t there. She checked the balcony door and found it locked. Since it could only be locked from the inside she didn’t venture out any farther. She found the dining room empty as well. That left only the kitchen. She could see a faint light from under the shut door. Again she smiled, secretly hoping he was in there making something fabulous. After all they worked up quit an appetite. She slowly opened the door. She didn’t see him anywhere, but somehow she could feel him there. "Rem?" She had barely uttered it before her bare feet stepped in some liquid on the floor. When Laura looked down she couldn’t believe her eyes. Her hand shot to her mouth to suppress an automatic wave of nausea. She knelt down to look at him. Remington was lying on the floor, robe half open, eyes closed and blood pouring from somewhere in the back of his head. "Oh my god. Remington? REMINGTON!?" She shook him furiously to no avail. She reached up on the wall behind her and fumbled with the phone. Frantically she dialed. The voice that met her was calm. "9-1-1, what’s your emergency?"
"Yes help please I need an ambulance." She could barely recognize her own voice. Where did the unflappable Laura go?
"Calm down ma’am. What’s the emergency?"
"My," boyfriend? Lover? Partner? What was he? "He’s hurt, lying on the floor, he’s bleeding."
"What’s your name ma’am?"
"L-Laura" She stammered.
"OK, Laura. Where is the blood coming from?"
"From his head I think." Laura couldn’t tear her eyes away from him.
"Did he fall?"
"I-I don’t know, I woke up and just found him laying here." Laura could hear faintly over the line a keyboard being typed on and pages being flipped.
"Ok Laura, I need your address."
"The uh- Indus-" not my address idiot, HIS "The Rossmoor Building."
"Laura I need you to see if he’s breathing."
"I can’t tell."
"yes you can Laura, lean down and put your ear by his mouth, do you feel anything or see his chest rising?"
"N-No, nothing."
"Ok Laura now I need you to feel for a pulse, put your fingers on his Adam’s apple and slide them down until you feel a groove. Do you feel anything?"
Laura hoped she was doing this right, "no."
"Laura, do you know CPR?"
CPR? Why would she have bothered? "No I don’t."
"I am going to walk you through it Laura. I want you to tilt his head back into a neutral position and pinch off his nose. Give him two breaths. Can you do that Laura?"
"Hold on," Laura placed the phone down. When she took his head in her hands to tilt it back her left one was covered in blood. She gave him two breaths and noticed out of the corner of her eye that his chest raised for each one. She picked the phone back up, "ok I did it."
"You’re doing great Laura. Now I need you to put one hand on top of the other palms down and interlace your fingers."
"OK" Laura looked at her hands in front of her.
"Now right between his nipples I need you to go down about 2 inches. Now place the palm of your bottom hand there ."
" Yes ok" Laura did as she was instructed.
"Ok Laura I need you to push down on his chest. Keep your elbows locked and use your body weight. It will feel weird and you might hear or feel his ribs crack. That’s Ok.
You have to breath in his mouth twice after every 15 compressions. OK?
"I think, I think I can do that."
"You have to Laura, you have to breath for him now. You have to pump his heart for him. Go ahead and put the phone down and start. I have the fire and rescue trucks on the way, I‘ll stay on the line if you need me." Laura let the phone drop from where she had it cradled between her shoulder and ear. The few minutes Laura did CPR felt like hours, the knocks on the door startled her.
"Open up please, LA Fire EMS." Help had arrived. Laura knew it was too late though. Instead of getting up to get the door she sat back on her haunches and screamed.
The muffled sobs Remington heard in the darkness woke him up slowly,not sure what the sounds were. It was the scream that made him bolt upright. He quickly grabbed Laura and cradled her to him. "shh, shh Laura, it’s ok, it’s ok. Come on sweetheart, wake up."
Laura found herself through watery eyes in the arms of Remington, he was there with her in the bed. Not on a cold hard floor. She wrapped her arms around him and hugged him close burying her head in his chest while she continued to sob. Remington stroked her hair and her back while gentle rocking her. "it’s ok luv, shh, bad dream, that’s all, it’s ok." he continued to comfort her until completely exhausted, Laura fell asleep in his arms.
Around six, Laura awoke this time to find herself in Remington’s arms. Slowly she began to move from his embrace. He mumbled but didn’t wake. She freed herself and crept into the bathroom. Finding one of Remington’s discarded dress shirts she put it on. Looking at herself in the mirror the events of the last 36 hours reeled through her head. She quickly gathered some things out of her overnight bag and went back out into the bedroom to grab her toiletries bag. Remington was lying on his side, head buried in a pillow with one eye open. Laura melted at the site. She crossed over to the bed and sat down. "Morning" "Morning," he replied propping himself up on one arm. "I was, uh, worried about you last night."
"I think I had a nightmare." Although she couldn’t recall the particulars.
"You were rather upset whatever it was." He sat all the way up now and moved closer to her, wrapping his arms around her. "I’m sorry."
"Why are you sorry?" she placed her hands on his arms encircling her.
"I just feel like this whole bloody thing is my fault. No Remington Steele, no one chasing us."
"Well before you were you I put Descoine away but he blamed you. This is nobody’s fault. We do our job and do it well. We can’t help it if half our clientele want us to catch socio and psychopaths."
Somehow her reasoning amused him. "I know I just feel so damn helpless. I say we start from the beginning and piece this together, while we still can."
"I agree. I was going to get ready and head over to the office early."
"Sounds good." He paused, an awkward silence between them for a few brief seconds. "Laura," he turned her to face him, "last night was absolutely wonderful."
"I didn’t realize being on the receiving end of a death threat would mean so much to you," she smiled, trying to break the ice. Unsure if she was ready for this step. Yes. She was. She had decided that a long time ago.
"Really Laura, you mean the world to me. Last night, minus the death threat part, was more than I could have ever imagined." he gazed at her with those eyes that made her melt. She felt the same.
"I feel the same." she gave him kiss. "I made that decision long ago, I wish I had done it sooner." she pressed her forehead to his.
"Can’t argue with that," he pulled back to look at her, "thank you".
Laura smiled. He had done it. He had melted the ice from her heart. He had done it years ago actually. "Thank you, too." She kissed him again. This time neither wanted to part. Reluctantly she pulled back. "As much as I would like to continue this conversation, I need to get a shower."
"Coincidentally, so do I," he replied flashing that lopsided grin. "Shall we?"
By 7:30 they were both in the office. Mildred was already there behind her computer. Along with an out of uniform officer from LAPD.
"Morning chief. Morning Miss Holt."
"Good morning Mildred. Early morning for you."
"Didn’t sleep much. Thought I could get more done here. Jarvis had and officer with me last night and when a new one came on at six I figured I should just come on in. Miss Holt, Mr. Steele this is Sergeant Law.
"Ah, pleasure my good man." Remington extended his hand.
"Likewise," he nodded towards Laura, "Miss Holt."
"Sergeant" she took his hand.
"John, please."
"Ok, John." Laura couldn’t help but giggle at his moniker.
"It’s ok, I get it a lot. Is there anything I can do to help?"
"Yeah," Mildred spoke up, "keep us alive till we get to the bottom of this."
Remington and Laura had each gone into their respective offices. Laura laid down her purse and went to the connecting door. She opened it to find Remington standing over his desk looking down.
"It seems we had a visitor."
"What is it?" She crossed over to the desk. He picked up a white envelope with her name on it.
"I think it’s safe to say it’s from a secret admirer." He held it up towards the ceiling but the fluorescent lights yielded no clue as to what was inside. "Shall I?"
"Be my guest." Remington went behind his desk and opened the main drawer and pulled out a letter opener. Making quick work of opening it he found that inside was just a simple piece of white paper, folded in half. He removed it a looked up at Laura. "What’s it say?" He unfolded it and read aloud.
"Not even the pretty detective can solve this."
"That’s it?" Suddenly it dawned on Laura that she was the target. The events in her building should have clued her in to that. Now she had the proof.
"That’s it," he handed it to her and she looked at it letting the words sink in. "Laura I think now might be a good time for a vacation." he was only half joking.
Laura folded the paper back over and crumpled it in her hand. A look of determination on her face. "Another clue that goes no where. You stay here with Mildred and help her out. I am going to see about something." She turned to leave. Steele came out from behind his desk and gently grabbed her by her arm.
"Wait a minute. You aren’t going anywhere by yourself."
"We can’t duck our heads in the sand forever. Besides I am going to the courthouse, I’ll be safe there." he reluctantly let go of her arm, but stepped closer.
"I don’t like this Laura, but I guess there’s no talking to you when you get this stubborn." he smiled and she smiled back. "Be careful. OK?"
"Of course." She leaned up and met his lips for a kiss. She went quickly out the door.
A few minutes later Remington went into the outer offfice, "Anything new Mildred?"
"Not yet Chief, but I have a few leads I am checking on. Miss Holt said she’d call if she dug something up."
"No doubt. What are you fishing for?" He leaned over her shoulder to look at the screen.
"After I got home last night I got to thinking, if everyone you and Miss Holt ever put away was still away, then I think we may be barking up the wrong tree."
"Ah, so you think this wasn’t related to a past case."
"No. You can bet your sweet bippy it is. What we didn’t do was exhaust all possibilities of what happened to those people once they went in to the Cold Steel Bed and Breakfast. Give me a few minutes boss and I can explain it better."
"OK." He straightened up. "I’ll be in my office, I have a few calls to place."
Never looking up from her work Mildred answered, "Gotcha Chief."
Laura ascended the courthouse steps and entered the building. Looking on the wall directory she saw that Estates and Wills was located on the 8th floor. Laura entered the elevator and got off on that floor. She entered 815 and approached the clerk behind the desk. "Hello, I was wondering if you could help me find out if someone might have changed their name."
The overweight clerk looked over his glasses at Laura with less than passing interest. "Yeah. Matter of public record. Those books over there have the entries from the last year for this county." Laura glanced over at the book, which seemed to be a million pages thick.
"Thank you." Laura headed over to the stand and began to flip through the pages. Unfortunately the book was not in alphabetical order. It went by dates. She knew this was an enormous undertaking but it was her only shot.
Remington was worried about Laura and had even contemplated calling in some favors from his old days. He sat at his desk eyeing the phone. He decided he would call Murphy Michaels instead. If the person responsible was after Laura then maybe this case pre dated his employment. He went into Laura’s office and went through her Rolodex until he located the number. He went back into his office and sat down wondering how Murphy would receive his call. He wasn’t above asking for his former foe’s help on this one. Just as he was about to dial he heard Mildred bellow, "Bingo! I got it Chief!" He leapt out of his chair and went to see what exactly she had. "Look! Look at this." She put a printout in Steele’s hands. He looked at it and frowned.
"Laura might be in trouble. Call Fred, let’s go."
"Where?"
"County Courthouse."
"I’ll take you. Lights and sirens tend to expedite things." John spoke up from the waiting area.
"Good man, let’s go."
45 minutes later Laura was no closer to whatever it was she had hoped to find. Then she noticed a man standing behind her. Thinking he was waiting for her to finish with the book, she turned around to explain she might be a while. When she recognized the man’s face her mouth dropped open.
"Fancy meeting you here Miss Holt. I knew you were good but I was sure you wouldn’t have gotten this far. In fact I would have bet your life on it." he pressed the muzzle of a .38 into her side, using his body to block anyone’s view in the room from it. He escorted her out of the room, into the hall, and into the elevator. "You know you should have died after I rigged that elevator. In fact you all should have. I hadn’t counted on all three of you being in it but it was a bonus I wouldn’t have minded."
"Nice to see you too Zweigenass."
"Hoff, Zweigenhoff. Good to see you haven’t lost any of your charm. Surprised to see me?"
"Actually I would be surprised to see any convicted murderer out side a jail cell."
"Surely you remember that there was no trial Laura. Plea-bargained. No murder charge. Plus time off for good behavior." he smirked, pressing the gun harder into Laura’s side. The elevator doors opened and they exited.
"Clever of you to change your name. Changing it while incarcerated right before your release, knowing that the paperwork would take months to catch up. You get released under your new name, and no one notifies us until it’s too late."
"Exactly. See I knew you were smart. Operative word here being were. Let’s go." They went through the doors into the open air.
Laura’s mind was racing. She was actually more preoccupied about the events that had transpired rather than what was to come. She mentally kicked herself for not checking every single possibility. Mr. Steele had sometimes chastised her thoroughness, but not being thorough might just be what got her killed. At the bottom of the steps Laura broke from her reverie and decided not to go down without a fight. She suddenly stomped her heel onto Zweigenhoff’s foot. He no sooner bent down in agonizing pain and Laura was off. He shrugged off the pain and raced after her down the sidewalk, hearing sirens in the distance. He couldn’t shoot her because she was dodging in and out of the lunchtime crowd. She cut across the courtyard and it seemed as if the sirens were approaching from all directions.
From the unmarked car, Remington could see Laura running across the lawn. "There she is mate." John stopped the car near the curb and Remington jumped out. He was running perpendicular to Laura and spotted Zweigenhoff. Coming at him on a blind side Remington made a flying tackle the Raiders would have been proud of. They tumbled onto the ground and Remington had the upper hand. Zweigenhoff’s gun had been knocked clear in the hit. "Show’s over, mate" Remington pulled back and delivered a crushing right blow that knocked the former Detective out cold. Several officers placed Zweigenhoff at gunpoint. Remington got up holding his surely broken hand. Laura had come back to see him dispose of her would be captor.
"Laura are you ok?" She took his hand.
"Yes, thanks to you. How did you figure it out?"
He winced at her probing his hand.
"It was Mildred actually, she was convinced she was missing something. How did you know?"
"I wasn’t sure. The note tipped me off that we were overlooking something. Pretty detective? He used that line before, I just couldn’t place it. If he hadn’t showed up here I might have spent days trying to figure out where I had heard it before. Until I did I was searching through a name change book blind. We would have been sitting ducks."
"We’re ok now, we’re ok." he looked down at her and she looked years younger. "What say we take a vacation, eh?"
Later that evening Remington and Laura were lounging by his fireplace. Remington was nursing his badly bruised but not broken hand. "At the risk of sounding redundant, I just want to thank you again."
"I’m the one who should be thanking you. A few more minutes and he would have caught me, or shot me."
"I think now is as good a time as any to maybe expand on what happened here last night." His smile was mischievous. "Perhaps you can thank me properly."
"Maybe show you how grateful I am?"
"Maybe just how great you are." his smile widened as he drew her close.
"I thought I showed you that last night. Repeat performance Mr. Steele?"
"Absolutely Miss Holt. With many curtain calls to follow."
THE END