CHAPTER FIVE

The front door was opened and closed slowly so no one would be disturbed and a pair of wet and muddy shoes was left outside.  He glanced at a clock on the way to the staircase.  It was 2:25am and he was sure everyone would be asleep.  Quietly making his way up the stairs, he stopped when he reached the bedroom door.  He hesitated before taking hold of the knob but turned it ever so gently, just enough to make sure it would open but without making any noise.  He peered through the door before completely going inside and closed the door behind himself.  Trying not to make a sound, he walked over to the bed where Laura lay sleeping. 

He bit the inside of his lips as he looked down to where she slept, still clutching the pillow in her arms.  Despite the fact that the moon provided the only light in the room, he could see the lines of mascara from the tears that had run down her face.  He lowered his head and closed his eyes, wanting nothing more than to wake her with a kiss and hold her forever.  He opened his eyes and turned, walking to the closet and slowly opened it just as quietly as he had the bedroom door.  He took a pair of pants, a sweater, a new pair of shoes, a few other items and his coat and made his way to the bathroom to change from the cold, wet clothes he had been wearing. 

Leaving the others draped over the bathtub, he carried his shoes and started walking back to the door but stopped.  Walking over to one of the tables he took a single rose from an arrangement and an envelope from the pocket of his pants.  He looked back to the bed and saw Laura shiver in the chilly room.  He reached for a throw blanket and placed it over her carefully without waking her before leaving the rose and envelope on the table beside the bed.  With a deep breath, he turned and left as quietly as he came and wandered back into the darkness.

Laura awoke the following morning praying that the previous day had been nothing more than a dream.  As she sat up on the bed she realized that everything was real, too real.  She heard a knock on the door and Mildred’s voice coming through.  “Miss Holt, are you awake?”

“Yes Mildred, come in.”

Mildred came in with a tray of coffee and a plate of toast.  “How you doing honey?  You didn’t eat anything yesterday so I thought you could probably use this.”

Laura’s expression hadn’t changed since the previous night and Mildred too could see the trail of mascara on her cheeks.  “Oh, hun… Everything will be okay.  You’ll see.  Now here, try this.”  She put the tray on the bed and held up the plate of toast.

Laura shook her head no.  “I don’t think I can eat right now Mildred.  I’m not hungry.”

“But you need something to keep your strength up.”

“What for?” 

Mildred couldn’t bear to see and hear Laura so defeated and thought of anything she could say to make it easier for her. 

Laura continued, “Oh, and thanks for covering me up last night.”

Mildred looked at Laura with confusion.  “I didn’t cover you up last night.  I didn’t come up here at all after you walked away from me downstairs.”

“Well if you didn’t, then who did?”

Mildred’s eyes grew wide as she asked, “You don’t suppose the boss did it?”

Laura looked down at the blanket.  “He wouldn’t have just come in, cover me up and leave again.  Would he?”

Mildred looked to the closet and saw the open door.  She looked inside and saw empty hangers.  Looking in the bathroom, she saw the clothing on the tub and hurried inside to grab them.  She came back out holding his pants and shirt.  “He has been here!”

Laura immediately started looking around the room for any other trace of his having been there.  Her eyes locked on the nightstand where the rose and envelope had been placed.  She reached across the bed and grabbed the envelope.  She hesitated before opening it and with good reason.  Inside she found the key to his penthouse in Los Angeles, a cassette tape and his Remington Steele passport.  She looked at Mildred with desperation in her eyes and asked her to find a cassette player.

When Mildred returned Laura placed the tape in the machine and slowly pushed the play button.  She was expecting to hear his voice but instead the tape played a single song.  Laura lowered her head as she listened to the words:

“You’re my angel, you’re my shelter, you’re my home.  Don’t let me go now, without a chance to let you know.  If you could look through my eyes, you’d see what I see, you’ll find there’s only you.

I need your strength to hold, your touch to soothe my soul, and if you let me go, here’s what I am, I am a broken man.

You’re my reason, you are my courage, you’re my heart.  You are the daybreak that holds me sweetly through the dark.  Please let me look through your eyes to cry these tears.  You’ll find they’re only for you.

I need your strength to hold, your touch to soothe my soul, and if you let me go, here’s what I am.  I am a broken man.

I know I should’ve told you all that you mean to me.  If you leave me I won’t survive, you’re my life, don’t say goodbye.  Forgive me please.  I’m down on my knees.  This time I’ve let it show, cause this broken man, he needs you so.  I’ve waiting too long to let you know I need your strength to hold, your touch to soothe my soul, and if you let me go, please understand all that I am, is just a broken, I’m a broken man…”

Laura looked up with tears running down her cheeks.  “We have to find him Mildred.”

“I know Miss Holt.  But where do you think he could be?  He couldn’t have gone far without his passport.”

“Need I remind you who we’re dealing with Mildred?  He could have another dozen passports by now and who knows how many new names!”  She wiped her eyes and got off the bed.  “I’m going to take a shower and get dressed.  You try to find anything, anything at all that might give us a clue of where he might have gone.”

“You got it… Hey, maybe he’s gone back to the pub I found him outside of yesterday.  Finnegan’s in Glen Cree!” 

"Great!  Start with that and I’ll be downstairs in a few minutes.  We’re going to find him Mildred.  I’m not going back to Los Angeles without him!”  Laura grabbed clothes from the closet and disappeared into the bathroom.  Mildred closed the door behind herself and went in search of the nearest telephone.

Within an hour the two women were in a car on their way to Glen Cree.  Laura’s depression over his leaving had turned to determination.  She wasn’t leaving Ireland without her Remington Steele.  Unfortunately, they had no luck at Finnegan’s Pub so they started walking the streets.  They quickly found themselves on the same road Laura was on the day before. 

Mildred stopped to rest for a minute in front of an antique shop.  Laura looked at the shop and cringed.  “What’s wrong honey?”

“Nothing Mildred.  I was just thinking about what an idiot I’ve been.  Why was I so incredibly stupid yesterday?  I know he wouldn’t blatantly want to hurt me and that he thought he was protecting me by not telling me about Immigration.  This whole thing would have been perfectly fine if Tony had never shown up.  I should have listened to Mr. Steele and let the chips fall where they may.  I never should have kissed Tony.  I shouldn’t have done it in Los Angeles, I shouldn’t have done it London, I shouldn’t have let it happen here.”

“You let it happen here!”

“It wasn’t intentional Mildred.  It just happened.  Then he got it into his head that there was something between us and to make him feel better, I kind of, sort of, let him think that I care about him.”

“You let him think you care about him?”

By then Laura was rambling and didn’t pay attention to Mildred’s comments.  “Then when he was holding me yesterday, right here in front of this store, I told him that I love him.”

Mildred’s mouth nearly hit the ground.  “You told that weasel that you love HIM!!”

Laura nearly looked perplexed when she looked back at Mildred.  “No Mildred, I told him that I love Mr. Steele.”  She raised her arms and then dropped them back to her side.  “Now if I could just tell Mr. Steele that, everything would be fine.”

“Word of advice honey.  When we find the boss, don’t mention the kissing the Italian stallion part.  We’re gonna keep that one just between us gals.  Understand?”  Laura nodded her head in agreement and the two began walking again.

They stopped in each pub they found.  Laura would show the men his photo and ask if they had seen him.  No luck at all until they wandered into the last bar they could find.  Exhausted, Laura and Mildred sat down at a table and with dwindling hope, asked the waitress if she had seen Mr. Steele. 

“Him? He’s over there.”  She pointed to a table in the corner on the other side of the room where two men were sitting. 

Laura leapt from her chair and started walking towards the table.  By the time she fought her way through the crowd of men throwing darts, he was gone.  The second man was putting on his jacket when Laura grabbed his arm.  “The man who was with you, where did he go?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about lady.”

Laura took his photo out of her purse.  “This man.  He was with you a minute ago, you gave him something.  Where is he?!”  She was quickly becoming angry at his aversion to telling him Mr. Steele’s whereabouts.  She grabbed the man by his collar and began shaking him, still shouting, “Where is he?”

“Okay, okay… Take it easy lady.  I gave him a passport.  He said something about settling an old score with someone named Felicia.  Last he knew she was in London.”

Laura let him go and forced her way back through the crowd.  She grabbed Mildred’s coat sleeve and said, “He’s on his way to London.  Let’s go!”   Mildred jumped out of the chair and followed Laura out the door.

They were halfway to the airport when Mildred asked, “How do we know he’s going to be there and even if he is, how will we know?  What’s the name on his new passport?”

Laura looked at Mildred.  “Damn! I was so determined to find out where he was I didn’t ask for the name!  He’s bound to be there Mildred.  You and I both know that Mr. Steele would never take the long way around anything.  Remember the shortest distance between two points is always an angle.”  Mildred nods in agreement and they continue driving.

Meanwhile at the dock, Mr. Steele and his new identity were boarding the ferry back to the train station, where he intended to return to London to await Laura’s arrival.  He silently laughed as he sat down.  He knew she would be looking for him, that’s why he went to the last pub in Glen Cree.  He made sure she would see him and then slipped out the back door before she could reach the table.  He had Laura right where he wanted her. 

Laura and Mildred scoured the airport looking for Mr. Steele.  With no trace of him, Laura immediately went to the counter.  “I need two tickets on your next flight to London.”

Mildred looked at her curiously.  “Miss Holt…”

Laura kept talking.  “No I don’t care whether it’s first class.  I just need to be on that plane.”

“Miss Holt…”

“What is it Mildred?”

“There’s a little glitch with this plan of yours honey.”

“What?”

“How do you plan on getting back into London when neither one of us has our passports?”

Laura looked at her with an annoyed expression.  She turned back to the ticket person and told him to change the tickets to a later flight.  Laura turned to Mildred and walked away shaking her head and muttering under her breath.  It took two-and-a-half hours to get back to Ashford Castle, pack up their belongings, thank the staff for their hospitality and return to the airport.

Remington walked up to the registration desk of the St. John Hotel.  The clerk recognized him from earlier in the week.  “Mr. Steele, nice to see you again.”

“Thank you my good man.  I need a bit of a favor from you.”

“Of course Mr. Steele.  How can I be of service?”

“I need the honeymoon suite again.  Mrs. Steele should be along shortly but I don’t want her to know that I’m in the hotel.  If she checks with you, you haven’t seen or heard from me.”

“Of course, Mr. Steele.  If there anything else?”

“Yes, I’ll need the bed covered in roses, three or four candelabras with fresh candles and a bottle of Dom Perignon, 1976 if you have it.”

“A special evening planned Mr. Steele?”

Remington flashed his best smile.  “One can hope… One can only hope…”  He took the key and headed off to the suite.

Covering all of his bases, Remington figured Laura had taken the bait and should be arriving in London at any moment so he had the hotel send a driver to Heathrow.  When Laura arrived and saw the chauffeur standing there with a sign reading Steele, she immediately thought it was meant for him.  “Are you waiting for Remington Steele?”

“No madam, I’m waiting for Mrs. Steele.”

Laura looked thoroughly confused.  “I’m Mrs. Steele.  But how could you possibly know that I was flying into Heathrow today?”

“The management said they received a call notifying them of your arrival and I was sent to retrieve you and your travel companion with the instructions to bring you back to the St. John Hotel.”  He loaded the luggage into the limousine and proceeded to drive back to the hotel.

Laura and Mildred walked to the front desk.  “Mrs. Steele, Ms. Krebs.  Welcome back to the St. John.  Your rooms are ready and we’ll have your luggage sent up straightaway.”

Laura was still confused.  “How did you know we were coming back?”

“I received a call instructing me to prepare your rooms.  Is there a problem, Mrs. Steele?” 

“Maybe Mikeline called and told them to expect us.”  Mildred said.

Laura nodded in agreement.  “You’re probably right Mildred.  Let’s go up the rooms and settle in.  We’ll meet in my suite and figure out where to start looking for Mr. Steele.”

“Right behind you.” 

The ride upstairs seemed to take forever as the elevator stopped on nearly every floor.  When they stepped out, Laura looked at Mildred.  “I’ll see you in about an hour” and walked to the suite she and Mr. Steele had earlier occupied.  Walking to the bedroom, Laura was surprised and annoyed to discover the door was locked.  She called the front desk and was assured that someone would be there to assist her momentarily.

Mildred opened the door to her room and went inside.  Before she could turn on the light, a hand reached around and was placed over her mouth.  “Shh, Mildred.  Don’t make a sound.  It’s just me…”

The hand was removed and Mildred spun around.  A look of joy and relief came across her face when she saw Mr. Steele standing there.  She hugged him, then pulled away.  “Do have any idea of what we’ve gone through trying to find you?  Why didn’t you stay at the castle when you were there last night?  Miss Holt and I have been frantic worrying about you!”

“I know, I know, I know Mildred and I’m sorry but I had to do it.  It’s the only way I’m ever truly going to know for sure that Laura wants to be with me.”

“But how did you know she would come looking for you?”

“Mildred… You know Miss Holt.  She’s an absolute bloodhound when it comes to tracking down people.  She wouldn’t rest until she found me and well, she’ll either kill me or insist I come back to Los Angeles.  Either way Mildred, I just had to know.  Now do me a favor.  Go out on the town and stay away for the evening.  Not that I don’t love you or anything.  I just want Laura to myself, okay?”

“I don’t know if I approve of your methods Boss.  She’s gone through hell in the last 24 hours but you two are meant to be together.  I just hope she doesn’t opt for the killing you part.”

“You’re a love Mildred.  Now here’s some money, you go have a good time, eh…”  He flashed his smile and winked at her before crawling out the window and into the bedroom of the honeymoon suite.

Laura answered the door to the bellman with her luggage.  “I don’t know where you’re going to put that.  The bedroom door is locked.”

The bellman walked to the door and inserted his pass key.  He placed the luggage just inside the door and left, even refusing Laura’s attempt at tipping him.  Out of the corner of her eye she saw a flicker of light coming from the bedroom.  She curiously walked towards the door and then stood in the doorway in utter awe.

The bedroom was lit by 30 burning candles placed around the room.  A bottle of champagne was chilling beside the nightstand.  The bed was covered in lavender rose petals, producing an incredible scent.  She walked in a little further still in awe of the room’s appearance.  Then a voice came from behind her. 

“Am I forgiven?”