FAMILY STEELE: STEELE MY BROTHER'S KEEPER (PART 6)

By: Phaedra Phelan

E-mail: PrissyBNY@aol.com

Summary: Remington and Laura work on a case that endangers his newly discovered relatives, and almost costs them something that is priceless to them.

Disclaimer: This "Remington Steele" story is not for profit and is for entertainment purposes only. The author and this site do not own the characters and are in no way affiliated with "Remington Steele," the actors, their agents, the producers, MTM Productions, the NBC Television Network, or any station or network carrying the show in syndication or anyone in the industry.

* * * * * *

The last Saturday in November of 1988 found Remington and Laura Steele still trying to absorb into their lives Jonathan and Joanna Singleton, the children left orphaned in the Mothers' Milk case. This was in addition to learning to function as new parents of their own twin daughters. The house that had seemed so spacious was suddenly full of activity with the addition of the Singleton children. All of this was taxing Remington and Laura just a bit, but they were rising to the occasion and, with the help that they had, were making it work.

They sat watching the older children play while Laura nursed the twins. Remington stood up, walked to the windows of their living room and surveyed the city of Los Angeles in the valley below. His soft faded blue linen sport shirt, cuffs rolled back to reveal the silky black hair on his forearms, hung casually outside a favorite pair of comfortable jeans. He was relaxed, refreshed by the brief break they had taken from the office after solving the Mothers' Milk murder cases.

"The house has plenty of room-if we need it in the future," Laura said.

"I don't doubt that we will, do you?" Remington said, smiling at her, his eyes dancing the way they did when he was thinking only of her. "You seem to be getting this motherhood thing well in hand, love."

Laura flushed slightly and smiled at the compliment from Remington. This day she had put on her favorite old khaki shorts and a simple light olive tee shirt, but in her husband's eyes she might as well have been wearing the most expensive designer garb. The olive-colored shirt brought out the hazel overtones in her eyes and was most complementary to her freckled complexion. She was wearing no makeup and she was braless, her infant daughter sucking happily at her breast. Her thick hair was longer than Remington could ever remember seeing it and he could not keep his eyes off her.

"I think that by now I should be used to you staring at me-but I'm not." She paused and continued, "You have such beautiful-blue eyes."

The words were simple but they went straight to Remington's heart.

"Thank you, love. I can't help looking at you today. Everything about you-so lush and voluptuous after the pregnancy-your beauty new and different in a way that is rather amazing."

Laura smiled, secretly reveling in the knowledge that Remington was totally hers, captive to her personal sexual allure for reasons that neither of them completely understood except to know that it existed as something almost palpable between them.

Remington came over to the sofa where Laura was nursing Chlöe and sat down beside her. He lounged at ease next to her, his arm stretched across the sofa behind her, one hand in her long hair, the other resting on her bare thigh.

"Laura-being with you, surrounded by these children-our children-being a family man-a father. I so much wanted to be a part of a family when I was a little boy. I know how precious it is."

"It is precious, isn't it?" Laura said, passing Chlöe to him and taking up Cassie who smacked her tiny lips in anticipation while Laura cooed softly to her as she brought her to her breast.

"Thank you, Laura."

Laura raised her brows in a question.

"For being willing to carry our children, to nurse them like this. For not being one of those vain conceited women who is more worried about stretching her belly or breasts or having a few broken veins in her legs than exploring all the marvelous aspects of her femininity."

"You are a very good father, you know." She watched Remington gently kiss Chlöe's tiny forehead, as he rocked her in his arms.

"Jonathan wants us to be his mommy and daddy."

"I know. I hope they decide to let us keep Jonathan and Joanna. They need us. I see him and I think of you-a little boy all alone, afraid that if he so much as spills his milk, he will be sent away."

Laura's eyes met Remington's and he leaned toward her, lifting her long hair away from her face so that he could kiss her cheek and then her lips.

At that moment young Jonathan ran into the room and to Remington and caught his large hand with his little one.

"Can we go for a ride-please?"

"Where do you want to go, Laddie?"

"Can I go see my daddy?"

"We cannot see him anymore right now, Jonathan." Remington said the words gently as he stroked the boy's fire red hair. "Maybe we do need to go for a ride and talk about this." He sighed, resigned to the task ahead of him.

"I'll be fine here," Laura said. "You know you're going to have to trade that Mercedes sedan in for a van so that we can put all the required car seats in for four children."

"It gets complicated, doesn't it?" Remington said as he and Jonathan left her and went to find Joanna, leaving Laura with the little baby girls.

Laura sat for a long time, enjoying her children, thinking about what Remington had said to her. She luxuriated in the quiet of the large house after the twins finally fell asleep, walking from room to room, imagining it ten years down the line-filled with their children. She knew in her heart that she would carry again for Remington Steele. When the time came, there would be more children. She put her hands over her belly remembering the satisfaction, the fullness of pregnancy and she smiled to herself. During those last months when her belly had grown so huge she had felt like the fat Cheshire cat from "Alice in Wonderland," just grinning with contentment all day long, luxuriating in her womanhood.

For now, she needed to put some finishing touches on Jonathan and Joanna's room. She bustled about trying different things till she was satisfied with the setup.

Laura was tired. The case, the demands of motherhood, the late night work, the intensely passionate sessions with Remington had all combined to exhaust her and she went into the kitchen, made a sandwich from leftover turkey breast and sourdough bread loaded with mayonnaise. After eating that, she got into her bed and fell fast asleep. That was the way Remington found her when he came home several hours later with two sleepy children in his arms.

After putting Jonathan and Joanna to bed, Remington came to Laura, saw that she was still sleeping soundly, drew the covers over her and went back into the kitchen to make supper. He cooked for them more often than not, and this evening he broiled lamb chops and made a large salad as a change from the seasonal fare of the previous day. When it was finished, he went to waken Laura.

"Darling . . ." he touched her and she stirred and turned toward him.

"Don't you want to eat. I made something for us."

Laura was dazed and sleepy and Remington began to kiss her all over her face.

Laura laughed softly as his kisses brought her to full consciousness in his arms.

"My, my, look at us here." Remington drew up her tee shirt to gaze at her breasts that were so full they looked ready to burst. "Shall I bring the wee ones to you first?"

Laura nodded and Remington went to get the babies, bringing them along with diapers in hand because they were both soaked through. She watched him as he deftly changed the little ones and then handed them over to her to nurse them. He was altogether helpful with the babies, happily sharing the work involved, all of this much to Laura's amazement.

"You look quite fetching in bikini panties and tee shirt."

Laura just smiled and continued to nurse the one baby while Remington held the other. Then she exchanged babies and nursed the other.

"By the way, I traded the Mercedes sedan for a Volvo wagon while we were out."

"You did!" Laura was thrilled.

"Don't you want to know what color it is?"

"You're the car buff. I don't care what color it is. I know I'll like it if it accommodates the children."

"It's blue. I stopped by to tell him we would be needin' something larger. Turned out he had just gotten in a 1984 wagon-complete with car seats. Some Swedish producer with a raft of children had gone back to Europe. We have started quite a brood here, Laura."

"I guess we have," Laura said as she gave him Cassie to put down into the crib with Chlöe and started to pull her tee shirt down over her bare breasts.

"Please, don't cover them, Laura." Remington said the words softly as he turned back to her after putting down his child.

Laura pulled the tee shirt completely off and Remington shed his clothes and got into their bed with her. Laura drew him into her arms and he lay there, kissing her breasts over and over, then her neck, her cheeks, her lips, absolutely intoxicated.

"I think you need some attention, love." Laura said.

"Yes, but I fear I tax you too much. I am so very carnal, Laura. You have the wee ones, this house, the-family business. I must recognize that you need your energy. I know you're often tired these days and that sometimes the last thing you need is me on you like a wild man."

"You forget how I am, don't you. I love knowing that you want me-that it's me that you hunger for, that I bring you pleasure. I do bring you pleasure, don't I?"

Laura's confidence in his passion for her only aroused him further.

"Lord, yes! You, you-love me."

Laura kissed him-his neck, his chest and breasts, his hard belly, sensing the depth of his need, skillfully caressing him all the while.

Remington's eyes turned darkest cobalt, pupils dilated wide open, as he writhed back and forth, his back arching again and again, unable to lie still as she pleasured him.

"Oh, sweet Jesus! Yes, Laura!"

When finally they came together, the intensity of their joining was shattering, with Remington sweeping her up in the power of their union together, joyfully giving himself to Laura and at the same time taking her for himself, as the soft early evening darkness gradually enveloped them.

"God in heaven! Dear God in heaven!" Remington cried out, when the spasms of the acme came, squeezing Laura so tightly that she would later have bluish bruise marks on her midriff and hips but not even remember when she received them.

Laura was helpless-inarticulate sounds escaping from her lips, a brilliant kaleidoscope of pink and blue lights exploding inside her head, as she was held suspended with Remington in their own special moment of rapture just before she began the free fall of complete and total surrender, total release.

Finally they lay quietly in the contentment of the afterglow, laughing softly, whispering words of such intimacy as only slipped from their lips in moments such as this, stroking one another's face, one another's hair, kissing tenderly again and again and finally falling asleep in each others arms.

The phone awakened them at around eight p.m. It was Harriett and she was very upset, frightened.

"Remington, Peter didn't return to the loft after his appointment today."

Remington took the phone to speak to his sister.

"I'm so scared, Remington. I thought that he shouldn't even go to that appointment, but he was determined to keep it."

"Appointment? What appointment?"

"With those people about his medical license. They kept calling us even after he said that he wasn't interested in their plan. He went to the appointment to finally let them know. But he should have been here hours ago."

"We'll-I'll be right over. Stay there, and don't let anyone else in."

Remington turned to Laura, his concern evident.

"There's something going on with Peter. We've got to get over there. Bundle up the twins. I'll get the other children. We might as well see how four children fit in that thing."

Laura was up, pulling a pair of jeans onto her slender hips and a sweatshirt over her bare bosom. When she raised her arms to pull the sweatshirt over her head, Remington saw the bluish bruise marks on her torso.

"Dear God, Laura, I hurt you. I bruised you."

Laura regarded herself in the mirror as Remington stood behind her holding her like she was the rarest china doll.

"I never felt it. I guess we got carried away. I understand. I know you didn't mean to hurt me." She turned around and caught his cheeks in her two hands. Remington's blue eyes were full.

"Forgive me my-my tourbillon, darling," Remington said, his head bowed. "I try hard not to do this to you, but I lost myself completely today."

"Tourbillon?" Laura said.

"Rapture beyond reason, an ecstasy so intense . . . sometimes I do not realize my strength. I love you so much, Laura."

"The same thing that caused me to do this?" Laura asked softly, touching the spot near his clavicle where there were several tiny scars from instances when she had bitten him when her passion for him was so deep that a kiss had not been enough.

Remington nodded.

They were both overcome for the moment, reeling as memories of their earlier joining charged through their minds. Remington held Laura close to him, his eyes closed, his mood deeply reflective.

"We'd better go see about Harriett, love," Laura said, kissing her husband tenderly and then setting about wrapping up the twins, collecting diapers and other paraphernalia.

"Thank goodness I don't have to bring formula," she exclaimed as she saw the collection of necessary things.

"Just be sure to bring enough nappies. We don't know what time we'll get home."

Remington went to get Jonathan and Joanna. He carried the sleeping children to the car, fastened them in and then put the twins into the infant carriers and they were off to the loft.

"I'll call Esperanza when we get over there and ask her to come and help with the children," Laura said. "She had today off but she will gladly come."

"Good idea."

"By the way, I love this station wagon."

"Why, thank you, Laura." Remington then fell silent, anxiety for his sister and her husband preoccupying his thoughts.

On reaching the loft, they gathered up the children and went into the building..

"Now you see what I always told you about this place. All these steps and four children? Good Lord!"

"I see what you mean," Laura said as she struggled to carry the two infants up the stairs while Remington handled the two older children.

Harriett was near hysteria when she opened the door.

"I don't know what to think. He never is late. He always calls."

"Where are Sean and Chlöe Ann?" Laura immediately missed them.

"They went with Daniel and Frances for the holiday weekend. They will all be back on Tuesday."

"When did Peter leave here, Harriett?" Remington was quite disturbed at this whole turn of events.

"It was at three o'clock. His appointment was to be at four o'clock."

"You have the address?" Laura asked.

"Yes, here it is. I found it here on the kitchen counter."

Harriett handed a piece of paper to Laura.

"I'm going outside to look around here, Laura."

Remington pushed the loft door open to leave and there was Peter, bruised and bleeding and out on his feet.

Harriett screamed and ran to her husband.

"Call 911, Laura. Peter has been hurt."

Peter was struggling back to consciousness. "They want-money. When I accused them . . . of extortion, they went berserk . . . beat me up like this."

"That's the way the extortion game usually works, Laddie. These boys don't take 'no' for an answer."

"They-they still want money-know where I am. Next time they said . . . worse for me."

"They have this address?" Laura stated as a fact.

"Yes."

"Then you must move out of here till this mess is settled. You'll come home with us."

"Good idea," Remington said. "But we must have Peter checked out first."

The ambulance came for Peter. Remington looked at Laura, a question in his eyes.

"Go along with them, Remington. Harriett needs you. I'll wait here for Esperanza and send the children home with her. I'll meet you at the hospital."

Remington and Harriett went along with Peter, but not before Remington kissed Laura.

"Darling, be very careful. I really don't like leaving you here alone."

"I'll be just fine. You go along now. Your sister needs you. Besides, I know how to take care of myself, remember?"

"That never stops me from worrying about you." Remington kissed her lightly again and was gone.

After they left, Laura sat down and nursed her babies. Jonathan and Joanna had fallen back asleep and the loft was quiet except for the cooing of Cassie as she lay next to her waiting her turn. As Laura fed her babies, gently rocking them all the while, she reflected on the place that held so many memories of her life with Remington Steele. This was where she came after her house was blown up, after that night when she had offered herself to Remington, and he had so gallantly refused.

This loft fairly vibrated with recollections of Remington-the night he had come to her so completely distraught after she rejected his first proposal of marriage-when she took him into her arms, and they both came to terms with the deep need they had for each other. After that it was not unusual for Remington to come knocking at her door well after midnight seeking relief and comfort in her bed, till finally she told him to simply use his key so that her neighbors would not be so aware of his comings and goings. Thereafter she often wakened to find him in bed with her, his arms around her or simply lying close to her. He would usually leave her before dawn and she would waken to her empty bed, longing for him to still be there. That was when they both learned that their need was not only sensual-that it was a deep emotional hunger that went much deeper than sexual relief. There were nights that Remington lay in her bed and simply held her, or talked to her or sat up half the night watching old movies on television while she slept.

It was the evening of the day that they had finished the Bright Age Cosmetics case when they had finally said good-bye to the Mssrs. Harimoto, Itasuro, and Takahamo, and Daniel and Frances had gone home to Tarzana all settled down. Laura had loved the way Remington took things in hand with Frances and Daniel. She found herself so exasperated with Frances at times and Remington just absorbed it all, seeming to calm her and Frances as well. When Remington took her home to the loft, he followed her upstairs, without a word.

They spent the rest of the evening preparing dinner. Then they sat down to watch a tape of "Spellbound" on television while they ate the simple delicious meal of pasta with fresh mushrooms along with tender filet mignon steaks and crisp watercress salad, chasing it all down with liberal amounts of a rich and vibrant cabernet sauvignon. Actually they both got quite high before the evening was over and they forgot about the movie and found themselves in each other's arms on Laura's sofa. Laura's inhibitions disappeared completely and she was all over Remington, touching him, kissing him passionately all over his face, her hands pulling his shirt out of his pants so that she could feel his bare flesh.

"You know that I do, Laura." Remington's eyes seemed to turn an even deeper blue as he sat his plate aside and came and stood by her bed. "By the way, are there any of Wilson's pajamas still around? I don't think that it would be wise for us at this point for me to sleep with you au naturel unless you have other objectives in mind here."

Remington brushed her lips lightly with his before he turned over and tried to go to sleep.

That time seemed so long ago as she looked down at the baby at her breast, smoothed her hair, held her tiny foot in her hand, her own eyes misting as she marveled at the beauty of the two black-haired baby girls that she and Remington had made together.

By the time Remington and Laura got past the crisis in their relationship after the case at the Sensitivity Spa, they rarely spent a whole night apart. Although most of the time they simply shared the warmth of a bed together, many of those nights their need overwhelmed them and they made passionate love to one another. Things came to a peak when Remington and Laura went to New York City for her friend Susan's wedding. It was the first time that they had gone on trip this long together and Remington was surprised when Laura asked him to accompany her there. He remembered the frustration of the weekend trip they had taken to San Francisco the previous year when he had wanted Laura so much that it literally hurt and yet they couldn't seem to get anywhere. Of course things were different between them now-very different-even though Laura had not be willing to take his marriage proposal seriously.

"No, you didn't," Remington murmured as he picked her up in his arms.

* * * * * *

After a while Esperanza came and she and Laura piled the children into the station wagon. Esperanza was driving the VW Rabbit now so Laura put her into the Volvo to send them on. She noticed the black car with the shaded windows parked across the street and realized that they may have been being watched all the while.

"Esperanza, take my children home. Don't stop anywhere till you get them home. Comprenda?"

"Si, Señora Laura. Everything okay?"

"Just go home with my children, Esperanza. Don't wait for me."

The Volvo pulled off and Laura walked deliberately back to the Rabbit, got into it, and started it, and eased off. The black Lincoln did the same. They were right behind her and Laura knew that they were up to no good. There was no way she could outrun them in the Rabbit, out maneuver them perhaps but not outrun them. She swore softly. She should have realized that they probably thought she was Peter's wife and would try to grab her to exert leverage on Peter. She decided to use her head instead of a heavy foot on the accelerator and pulled over to the side of the street. The car pulled over and cut her off, and immediately two men jumped out of it and came to opposite sides of the Rabbit.

"Get out of the car!" The driver of the car shouted.

"Sure, guys, what's going on?" Laura laughed as she was pulled unceremoniously from her car and shoved into the other one. "I think you must be mistaking me for someone else."

"You're with Rourke and we're taking you with us for insurance. And the price just went up to twenty thousand." The man on the passenger side of the car gazed at Laura. "Hey, you ain't a bad looker. We might have some fun with you before this is all over." He glanced down at her Stanford sweatshirt. "I like college girls," he said, putting his hand on her thigh and rubbing it.

Laura realized that she was in very imminent danger of personal assault from that moment.

"Look, I don't know who you are but I just run a baby-sitting agency and I went there to tell my girl what to do with the Rourke kids."

"Well, we are taking you to the boss."

"The boss?"

"Don't talk. We have to bring him someone and it might as well be you."

They drove in silence as Laura's mind whirred, trying to figure just where this was all going.

After about thirty minutes they turned into the driveway of a large house in Beverly Hills and Laura was unceremoniously ushered into the garage and locked in. It was completely dark inside and Laura was quite disoriented.

After about half an hour the door opened, and the two men who had abducted her came in with the man who was apparently the head of the operation. He was tall, thin and fair and quite ascetic in appearance and there was no compassion whatsoever in his expression.

"Who are you?"

"My name is Myrtle Groggins. I am just a babysitter. I don't know what this is about."

"What do you know about Peter Rourke?"

"Dr. Rourke? I know that he hired me to do a job-take care of his children. I really don't like what just happened to me. Who are you anyway?"

"You don't need to know that." He turned to the men with him. "Why did you bring this woman here. She obviously is not connected with this matter. This was a very stupid move. Get rid of her. And don't make any more foolish mistakes. Now, dump her somewhere and get back here pronto."

The men shoved Laura back into the Lincoln town car and sped out of the driveway.

The one called "Al" swore. "Now, what the hell are we going to do with this broad?"

"Well, like I said, I like college girls. We don't need to get rid of her right away." He looked at Laura, summing her up. "My name's Jake. What's yours again?"

"I'm-Myrtle, Myrtle Groggins."

"Hah, that's a funny name." He came close to her. "But you are my type, baby."

"Well, I like big guys, too."

Laura realized that she was going to have to con these unprincipled men to the point that they would lower their guard. She had to play along with them.

At that moment she felt Jake's hand under her sweatshirt against her bare breast. He jerked in response and Laura fought the urge to recoil as the stranger fondled her breasts and leaned over to claim her mouth.

"You're pretty hot stuff, ain't ya?"

"Oh, yeah! But you're into the territory of my night job now, buster."

Jake pulled Laura's hand over to his trousers. They were open and he drew her hand onto his excited flesh.

"Hey, Al, this girl's hot. We gonna get in the back. Pull over up here."

"Wait, where's my purse? I must have left it in the car. We don't have condoms. I'm a businesswoman. No condoms-no deal."

Laura forced herself to squeeze the man's parts so he could only think of one thing.

"Stop up there. There's a drugstore. You can get what we need," Laura said.

The man called Al pulled the car into the parking lot of the strip mall and stopped.

"You get 'em, Al. Jake and I will be busy."

"Oh-all right." Al grumbled.

"Don't worry, you'll get your turn too," Laura said sweetly.

"Now you're talkin," Al said, getting out of the car.

Jake was fumbling with the fastener to Laura's jeans.

"We need the back seat for this, baby." Laura caught his hand in hers.

Jake opened the door and they got out. As he was about to open the back door, Laura clung to him, touching his exposed parts as he stood with his back against the car. She sensed it when the man's knees weakened under him and suddenly found his testicles and yanked them as hard as she could. Then she thrust her knee sharply into his groin.

Jake cursed, cried out in pain and crumpled against the Lincoln town car as Laura sprinted away from him. From the corner of her eye she saw Al coming out of the drug store and she knew that she had very little time.

Laura ran into a Ralph's Supermarket at the far end of the mall and ran straight to the back of the store to the butchers' area where the workers prepared and packaged meat. There was a tall older black man working there.

"Please, please, call the police. A man tried to-to rape me-in the parking lot. He's chasing me."

Without a word the man picked up the phone in one hand to call the police while holding a fierce-looking cleaver in the other.

"Thank you, thank you," Laura said.

"Ain't nobody gonna mess with you as long as I got this thing in my hand, lady."

Laura ran to the sink, frantically washed her hands in hot soapy water and then rinsed out her mouth with soapy water as well. She had to get the awful scent of the man off her.

"I'm sorry, miss. Is there something I can do?"

"The toilet," Laura said, almost gagging.

The butcher pointed her to the employees' toilet and Laura ran into it and gagged and vomited, revulsion at the contact she had had making her literally sick. She stayed in the toilet till she heard police sirens at the rear of the store.

Laura gave them a description of the two men and the first four numbers from the plate of the Lincoln town car.

"Please, just take me home. My husband should be there soon. My children are there."

"Where's your car, lady?"

"Don't worry about it. My husband will pick it up. Please just take me home."

As they went out of the supermarket, Laura looked for the Lincoln town car but it was gone. She found herself shaking uncontrollably as she sat in the car on the ride to her home, her mind assaulted with the danger of the situation she had just escaped. She felt so violated and, at the same time she felt that she had been disloyal somehow to Remington in not resisting the man even though she realized that there was only one way to handle the situation in which she had found herself.

When the police drove up to the Steele's house, Remington was just arriving as well. He was alone.

He ran to Laura, very alarmed at the sight of the police car.

"Laura, darling, is everything all right?"

"Yes, yes," Laura said and then broke down in Remington's arms.

"Someone assaulted your wife, sir, . . . attempted rape. She handled herself pretty well but she's real shaken up. Here's our number . . . and the number of the rape crisis center. Call us, no matter what time, if there is any other problem."

"Thank you, officer. Thank you for bring my wife back to me."

Remington kept his arm around Laura and helped her into their house.

"Laura, darling, what happened?"

"Oh, Rem, I was so scared-so scared. They were going to rape me and then kill me. They took me to their-their boss and he told them to get rid of me. He's a wicked man."

Remington took her to the sofa and sat down with her.

"Is everything-all right, Laura-with . . ." Remington was almost afraid to ask.

"He touched my breasts. I let him. I had to let him think I was going along with it. I was between these two big men. I knew that they were going to take me somewhere and rape me. And then-then the one kissed me. I washed my mouth out with soap after. It felt so dirty. He-he took my hand and put it on his-his pitiful shaft." She looked at both her hands in disgust and rubbed them on her jeans. "I washed them but . . . Oh, God, it was horrible."

"Take it easy, Laura. Just tell me what happened." Remington's blue eyes were like flint, as he listened to Laura recount what happened.

"I got him to stop-to go get condoms. I was praying that they didn't have any on them. When the one went into the store, I got uh-Jake to get out of the car-so we could get into the back seat. That's when I got hold of him. I tried to tear it-all his-his stuff off-and then I kneed him and he let me go."

Remington was seething as he visualized his wife in such a situation. The fact that Laura had often gone under cover and pretended to let men come on to her had been a sticking point with him from the beginning of their association together. Just the thought of another man touching her intimately had driven him crazy even before they were committed to each other. Now the thought that a man had touched her breasts, made her touch his genitalia, even kissed that mouth that he loved so, absolutely enraged him. At the same time he realized that the distraught woman in his arms needed comfort rather than condemnation for putting herself in such a dangerous situation.

"Damn him!" Remington held Laura as she began to shake uncontrollably in his arms.

"When he touched my breasts, I felt so violated, Remington. My body is yours, every part of me. My breasts belong to you and our babies. I don't want another man to ever touch me. He kissed my mouth. It was so awful."

"You did the right thing. You did the con and took him off guard."

"But he was trying to unfasten my pants! I was almost raped!" Laura was on the brink of hysteria.

Esperanza came into the living room at the sound of Laura in distress.

"Is everything all right with Señora Laura, Señor Steele? I put the babies all to bed."

"It's all right, Esperanza," Remington said, smoothing Laura's hair. "Laura had quite a time of it, but she's safe now. We'll fill you in later. Could you bring me a brandy for her, por favor? "

Esperanza's brown eyes registered her concern, but sensing that this was not the time to inquire further, she brought the drink and withdrew.

"Why did you let Esperanza leave you, love?"

"I-I saw the car with those men in it and I thought that they were going to stop us. That's why I just threw my purse in the Volvo and sent Esperanza on. The children-our children were in danger, Rem." Laura gulped down the brandy and broke down again.

Remington took her up onto his lap as if she were his child and rocked her while she cried softly into his chest.

"I'm sorry. I didn't want him to touch me."

Remington moved to kiss her mouth and she turned away.

"You don't want to kiss me after him."

Remington turned her face back to his and held it there.

"You are my wife and I love you. Nothing changes that. Do you understand me? Nothing!"

Laura nodded and Remington kissed her mouth, tentatively at first, but then thoroughly and completely, opening her mouth to his, tasting and gently exploring it, claiming her mouth again as his. Then he helped her up from the sofa and led her into their bedroom where he undressed her, walked her into the shower and turned it on for her. Laura just stood numbly letting the hot water course over her body. Remington undressed and showered with her, bathing her with the fragrant perfumed soap that she loved. Afterward he dried her off and put her long-sleeved cotton nightgown on her and led her to bed. Laura just turned her face into pillow and wept silently.

Remington got into bed with his wife and lay close to her, his arms around her.

"It's all right, old bee. You're safe. You're with me. Nothing has changed. Nothing could ever change us, Laura. I know you were frightened to death. And when I find those blackguards, I will try to kill them. Just don't close me out from your pain. You are part of me. Your pain-it's my pain."

Laura turned to him and put her arms around his neck and they both began to cry together, Laura sobbing and huge silent tears slipping down Remington's cheeks as he held her.

"I was so scared-so scared. I love you so much. Oh, Rem, I realized that I had not been touched by any other man since that day you walked into my office over five years ago. If I had been raped, would you have ever wanted to touch me again? "

"Yes. You are a part of me. You are my wife and you are my life. No one can take what we have, Laura, no one. Even were you to stop loving me, I could not stop loving you."

Laura stared at Remington as if the depth of what he felt for her finally got through to her, and a sob caught again in her throat.

"Darling Rem, I love you so much."

The impasse broken, Laura clung to her husband, who just held her in his arms till she finally fell asleep.

After midnight Remington awakened, realizing that Laura was not in their bed. She was sitting on the sofa quietly nursing one twin while she held the other ones tiny foot in her hand, whispering softly to her.

"Are you all right, Laura?" Remington asked.

"I'm fine, Remington. I'm just fine."

"I'm here if you need me."

"I know. Thank you for being here, for being you."

Remington closed his eyes and thanking God that his wife seemed as if she were going to be all right, and his own eyes filled now as he turned his head into his pillow and reflected on the events of the day.

"What ever happened to Harriett and Peter? I was so consumed with what happened to me that I forgot to ask."

"Oh, they kept him for observation and Harriett stayed with him. I'm sorry. I completely forgot, darling."

"We have to find those people, Rem."

"We'll start to sort it all out tomorrow, Laura. For now let's just be thankful that we are all safe, that our children are safe. The rest will be taken care of."

"I am so hungry."

Remington sat up on the side of the bed-glad to hear that her appetite had not fled completely.

"I'll make you your favorite snack, love." He got up and went into the kitchen to make peanut butter and raspberry jelly on hot toast for her.

When Remington returned with sandwich and a large glass of cold milk, he dropped down beside Laura on the sofa while she ate, holding Chlöe up in his arms and Cassie across his lap on her tiny round belly. The babies were contented and sleepy and Remington took them and put them back in to their crib.

When Remington finished putting the babies to bed, he saw that the stress of the day's events had finally overtaken Laura again and she had fallen asleep on the sofa. He picked her up in his arms and put her in their bed and lay down beside her.

Remington's mind rolled back to early on at the agency when he first realized that Laura had put herself in a situation where a man could paw over her to set up a case. He had been incensed-unable to restrain himself from breaking up the scenario. The thought of another man's hands on her had driven him nearly mad even before they had an understanding between them. When they were on that diamond-smuggling case in Mexico, and she had let that gangster smear suntan lotion all over her body while he could only fume at distance, he realized that he wanted no other man's hands ever touching this woman. Even that escapade in the Vintage case when she had led those middle-aged execs on a romp offering pieces of her clothing as prizes, cavorting through the winery in only a satin teddy, had left him feeling quite uncomfortable.

Remington had never before cared what the women he was involved with did when they weren't with him. He had always known that monogamy was not their strong suit and it certainly had not been his before Laura came into his life. He had had his share of burlesque dancers and other women of dubious occupation who generously shared their wares with others without it bothering him at all. His only concern had been protecting his own health when involved with them and so, when he became so proprietary about Laura, he knew that something new had happened to him. He had fallen in love with her.

After they first kissed, he knew that he wanted no other man to share what he experienced the first time her lips opened under his and he tasted the clean sweetness of the inside of her mouth. He had been well aware that Laura had not by any means been a virgin when they first came together. There had been Wilson-and others before him. But the years of abstinence since becoming involved with Remington had left her almost virginal in many ways, her body so unaccustomed to being used by a man, her passions never tapped into completely. He had brought her the gift of sexual fulfillment the first time they came together in that motel room when they were both in such need of one another. All of her restraint had melted away when they finally came together as man and woman, and she had proved to be a partner equal to all of the incredible passion and experience that Remington brought to their relationship.

Remington for the first time in his life had given all of his soul to a woman. The primeval cry of need and longing that he uttered when they came together that first night revealed all of his vulnerability to Laura. And the man who had viewed intercourse as a technical exercise that brought mere physical release without psychic overtones found himself crying out in ecstasy to his God from the very depths of his being at the apex of their first experience together.

The sensual aspect of their relationship had truly run the gamut from playful rollicking sexual adventure to coming together in tears, from wildest ravishing ecstasy to quiet comfortable connection. Sometimes they rocked gently together for hours whispering their inmost feelings to one another till unable to hold off the exultation and surrender of the climax any longer. Other times the excitement carried them so quickly that it was like being struck by lightning together. And every time it happened for them, it was a mystery that they were solving for the very first time. When the resolution came-the incoherent babble, the crying out to their Maker, the final spasms and convulsions, the psychic phenomena-the impact and power of it inevitably left them stunned and surprised. All of their coming together physically was something so special between them that the thought of anyone else intruding upon that was impossible for Remington to contemplate-much less to assimilate as a real possibility.

Now as he lay beside Laura, knowing that she had almost been raped because he wasn't where he should have been made him almost physically sick with remorse. Though it was true that her intelligence and courage had enabled her to escape her captors, she had been traumatized as never before since Remington had known her. He moved closer to Laura, gently drawing her into the circle of his embrace and finally fell into a deep but troubled sleep.

In the early morning hours, Laura wakened from a nightmare of the events of the previous day. In the dream she was in the parking lot of the mall, running from the men who had accosted her and they were closing in on her.

"Mr. Steele! Help me! Help!"

"Dear Lord!" Remington murmured. "I'm here, love. I'm here."

But Laura fought him as he tried to waken her, beating his chest with her fists, calling him every vile word that was in her subconscious mind. Remington fought the urge to catch her tiny hands and restrain her, accepting the rain of blows to his chest, but when she threatened a very personal part of his anatomy, he thought it best to shake her gently and bring her back to the reality of the moment.

"It's me, Laura! It's me, your husband! It's all over, darling."

Laura was hyperventilating, completely out of herself and then she came around and went limp on Remington's chest.

"Remington, did I? Oh, I'm so sorry . . . I must have been dreaming."

"I dare say that you were. But it's over, Laura. You're safe."

"Did I try-to hurt you?" Laura's voice was quivering as she recollected the nightmare that she had just experienced.

"You beat me up with your fists, which I accepted; but when you described in very unladylike terms what you were going to do to another vital part of me, I thought it best to waken you."

Laura reached for him, touching him gently, cradling his parts loosely in her hand.

"Yes, it's all still there, love. It belongs to you more than to me. If anything were to happen to you, it would serve only the most basic bodily functions, Laura. My life is bound up in yours, and no matter what happens to us-I love and I want only you."

"Do you want me now?"

"Only if you want me, darling. My wants are of no consequence right now. You may take whatever you want from me, Laura, and I will gladly give it, but I will not take from you this night."

Laura turned on the light beside their bed so that she could look in to the blue eyes of the man that she loved so much. He was beautiful, his face shadowed with an overnight's growth of beard, his hair mussed from sleep, his own scent mingled with the faintly exotic scent of sandalwood filling her nostrils. She threw back the sheet and stared at him as if she were seeing him for the first time-the leanness of body, the adornment of silky black hair that emphasized and punctuated his manly beauty. She knew that his pajama bottoms were probably on the floor next to the bed where they usually ended up. (He was as hot at night as she was cold and while she usually started out in her beloved soft cotton gowns, he was hard pressed to wear even pajama bottoms.)

"See, where we are here, Laura. This is not some tawdry dirty thing we share. We are here in this bed that you have made so beautiful for us, amid these silken and down bedclothes and feather beds and pillows. This is our marriage bed, our special place where we come together and love one another's flesh in so many marvelous ways. This place has no relationship to what you narrowly escaped last evening."

Laura took off her gown and Remington stared at her transfixed and then closed his eyes-unable to withstand the sight of her like this. Even when he closed his eyes, Remington still saw her-the luxuriant chestnut hair tangled and wild, her eyelids heavy as her sensual nature reasserted itself, her freckle-splashed flesh now flushing deeply as she began to kiss him all over, adoring him with her lips and her hands.

"God in heaven!" he groaned.

"Open your eyes, love," Laura whispered.

Remington gazed at Laura. He was already in ecstasy as Laura got astride him crying out his name as he cried out hers in response.

* * * * * *

The next morning Remington and Laura went to the office even though it was Saturday of the holiday weekend, leaving their children in Esperanza's capable hands. They had to get to work on this case that had affected their family in such a devastating way. They felt a very deep need for intimacy and Remington stayed close to Laura, touching her frequently, stealing tender kisses, catching her hand and drawing her close, gently patting and rubbing her shapely derriere. He realized all too well that Laura needed him to reassure her now that nothing had changed because of the near-rape that she had experienced.

"In spite of the fact that I am enjoying being alone with you in this office, Laura, I think that we are going to have to call someone in to help us with this."

"Mildred took the holiday weekend away with her sister. I'll call Alessandra and see if she can come in. And Hector?"

"We may need him. I think that he was going, let us say, 'courting,' but he may be able to be on call." Remington smiled.

"Courting?" Laura's interest was high. "Hector?"

"Yes, it seems that his encounter with our young widow, Miriam Hollingworth, had quite a dramatic effect upon him."

"You're kidding!"

"Well, I was there when they met and I assure you that the widow. Hollingworth and Hector shared one of those special moments-when two souls connect. I guess that he tried to let it go-not wanting to take on the readymade family, not expecting to find someone outside his cultural experience. He told me that he had finally telephoned her and she had invited him to come to her house for dinner today. So there we are."

"Hector . . . he was just a teenager when I met him. Now he is a man and thinking about becoming a family man as well."

"Yes, I believe that he has been quite smitten. You know how that affects a man, I dare say." Remington pursed his lips, smiling the smile that produced the deep dimples that Laura found irresistible and kissing her cheek lightly.

Laura leaned against him, unable to handle the desires for him that asserted themselves. Remington just held her tightly till they could calm down and concentrate on the matters at hand again.

"Okay," Laura drew a long breath. "I'll-I'll call Alessandra. She can help me try to run down this license plate number. I wish that I could remember more than the first three letters. It started out K-I-T. There are so many of them. We have to match these letters with the cars registered to this company, Certification Professionals. It could be registered to an individual or to the company. We don't have a list of enough of the personnel. This is where Alessandra comes into the picture. For all her ditzyness, you can't beat her when it comes to sifting through data and finding out what you need to know."

"Even though those goons who threatened you were just operatives hired to do the dirty work. I do plan to get my hands on them, Laura." His eyes were like blue steel as he contemplated what Laura had narrowly escaped.

* * * * * *

Alessandra Henry arrived within the hour and went to work on the matter of finding the car that matched the registration information that Laura had furnished among the cars from Certification Professionals.

"Alessandra, thank you for coming. I know that you probably had plans for today."

"I am glad to do this. Mr. Steele told me what happened last night. I know that you are a courageous woman, but I am just so thankful that you are safe."

"I am as well. I was scared, Alessandra, so scared." Laura's eyes filled and her secretary realized what a close call she'd had.

Alessandra hugged Laura as she cried on her shoulder till Laura wiped her eyes and sat back in her chair.

"You know that the only real issue between him and me about this line of work has been that he never wanted to see me in a circumstance where a man could take advantage of me like that. When we first started-working together, we had such conflict over that kind of thing. He didn't want me to even pretend to be interested in any other man-for any reason. He actually broke up a couple of setups early on when he just couldn't tolerate another man touching me in a sensual way. Now I have not even used that approach for a very long time as a concession to him."

"He was jealous. That would be naturally expected if he cared for you, wouldn't it?"

"When that creep was pawing me, all I could think about was him, and how he would be affected by my putting myself in a situation where something like that could happen to me."

"It'll be all right. You have a husband who loves you so very much. We all see what is between the two of you. I only hope that one day I find someone who will be as special for me as Mr. Steele is for you."

"I hope so as well, Alessandra. I really do. I never dreamed that I would find anyone like him. It's kind of unbelievable."

Remington came into the office where the two women were and Laura was struck again by the beauty of this man that she had married. He was wearing casual clothes-a tan cable knit sweater over a comfortable blue oxford cotton button down shirt open at the neck and soft faded jeans, no socks, deck shoes, unshaven and stunning.

"I think that I am going down there and check out this address that Peter had. It's a day when there probably is no one there-a good chance to ferret out some information. I wish that you would come along, Laura. You are so good at picking up important clues in situations like this."

"Sure, I'll come. Alessandra can follow up on this here without my help."

"If Hector should happen to call in, tell him where we are going,

Alessandra," Remington said as he and Laura left the office.

* * * * * *

It was nearly three o'clock on when the limo drove past the plain building on Crenshaw Avenue that housed the offices of Certification Professionals. Remington and Laura surveyed the setting and had Fred drop them off about a block away and then walked back to the building.

They went into the small dingy lobby and found the listing for the business on the directory. There was no doorman or attendant of any sort for the locked door to the interior of the building so Remington made short work of the lock while Laura acted as lookout. They made their way up the stairs to the second floor and likewise let themselves into the small suite of offices that had evidently been shut down for the weekend.

"Well, this is obviously just a front. There are no tests being given here for any certification." Remington surveyed the file cabinets and computers in the innermost office. "I'll wager our questions will be answered in here."

"Let's get going," Laura said as she headed for the computer.

As Remington leafed through the files in the cabinet, he saw one marked "Transportation." It contained motor vehicle registration forms and copies of chauffeurs' licenses for the cars and drivers for the office. There was one for a Lincoln town car.

"What did you say the first three letters were of that license plate, Laura?"

"K-I-T," Laura said as she stopped what she was doing and came over to where Remington was.

"Well, here we have the car-Lincoln town car, license KIT599." He handed the sheet to Laura.

The sheet underneath had a photo on it and Laura saw it and caught her breath in sharply. The man's name was Jacob Brewster and it was unmistakably clear that he was the man she had had the encounter with. Allen Johnson was the other man and copies of his license information and photograph were likewise in the same file folder.

"So we know that those blokes were working for the same outfit as the one that was extorting Peter. And we have the addresses. That is one piece of the puzzle."

"The director's address also was in the computer-a Dr. John Williamstock, Ph.D. His is a Beverly Hills address. Here, this is the man they took me to last night. I'd never forget those cold gray eyes. Okay! Look at this list. These are contacts in one of the biggest organized crime families in the LA area. Apparently this was just one of many small businesses that the mob was using as fronts."

"Peter had no idea of who he was dealing with." Remington swore emphatically. "The only way we can get these guys-the ones on the top-is to get Peter down here to draw them out and get them to talk."

"You mean wire Peter and then use that evidence to nail them?" Laura asked.

"Definitely that's what I mean. They don't really know where you fit into all of this-Jake and Al were apparently low level operatives taking advantage of an opportunity to satisfy their baser appetites. Let's get out of here and see if we can set up something with Peter as bait."

Remington and Laura let themselves of the office, went down the back stairs and out of the back entrance to the building, making their way through the alley to where the limo was parked on the adjoining block.

"Fred, take us home for now. I have to contact my brother-in-law before we make the next move."

"Brothers-in-law seem to always complicate things, don't they?" Laura said, remembering the Bright Age case when her own brother-in-law, Daniel, had been kidnapped.

When they arrived home, Peter and Harriett were already there. Peter looked a little unsteady still but he was on his feet, and he was ready and willing to help resolve this nasty business. Harriett was not so sure that she wanted him involved.

"You don't know anything about this, Peter. I think that you should just stick to what you really know how to do and leave the detective business to Remington and Laura." She paced nervously back and forth.

"He needs to do this. If you are going to live here, he has to know how to avoid situations like this in the future. He could have been killed, Harriett, and Laura was very nearly raped. What would that have done to your life and mine, eh?" Remington's voice was firm and his sister knew that he was right.

"When do we move on this, Remington?" Peter asked.

"The sooner the better. Over the weekend if possible when they may not expect to take care of this sort of business. I am going to call this 'Doctor' Williamstock and tell him that I have you ready to take care of business, and see if he will set up a meeting. Excuse me while I take care of that."

Peter Rourke sat down. His hands were shaking.

"You aren't up to this are you," Remington said.

Peter looked quite pallid. He was dizzy and his head was still aching and now nausea overcame him and he began to perspire profusely.

"Harriett, come and help me with Peter," Remington said. "He's still not well. Laura, it's Peter. He's ill."

Harriett ran into the room and immediately went to her husband's side and Laura came, carrying one of the twins.

"I'm so sick, Harriett. I think I need to go back to-to hospital." He passed out completely right there.

"He's had some complication. We've got to get him back to hospital." Harriett's eyes were full of fear now as Remington dialed 911 for help.

In a matter of a few minutes an ambulance was at the house preparing to take Peter to the hospital.

"You go with them, Laura. Harriett is in no condition to handle this if a crisis comes up. Take Esperanza so you will have help with the twins. I am going to find these people. I'm damned tired of this case and I am going to break it today."

"What are you going to do? You can be hurt too." Laura protested.

"I am going to this Williamstock's place and find out who we are dealing with here."

"Please get Hector. I will be so nervous for you to go alone. He should be home from his date by now."

"All right. I'll take Hector." He paused for a moment. "I won't take any foolish chances. I have too much to lose, darling. You just go on. I don't like the way Peter is looking. If anything happens-I don't want Harriett alone."

Remington kissed Laura tenderly and nodded.

"Oh, God!" Laura whispered, her eyes filling as she gathered up her babies and their things and prepared to follow Harriett and Peter to the hospital.

As Remington picked up the phone to call Hector, it rang. It was Alessandra Henry on the line.

"Oh, Mr. Steele, I am so glad that I was able to get you. I have just broken through on that phony-licensing scam. The key was your Dr. Williamstock. He was formerly of the office of the registrar of Ohio University in Athens, Ohio, but he was fired because of irregularities in testing procedures that were traced back to him. In short, he was altering test scores of students-for a fee. Fired in disgrace, he made his way out here and set up shop using the knowledge he had of the academic system to snag prospective victims of his scam."

"And once he had a mark, he apparently did not take 'no' for an answer."

"That seems to be the modus operandi, Mr. Steele."

"Well, I am going to call Hector and we're going to head out there for an, uh, interview of our Dr. Williamstock right now."

"Oh, Mr. Steele, something else is coming up here. He apparently has gone out of town for the Thanksgiving holiday. My Sabre computer shows him on a flight from LAX to Honolulu right now. He lands tomorrow morning at 9:00 a.m. Honolulu time. He won't be in Los Angeles tonight."

"It's just as well. Peter has fallen ill again and I should go to the hospital with Harriett to see just what the outcome will be. Thank you very much for working so hard today on this, Alessandra. Why don't you go along home and get some rest. You deserve it."

"Thank you, Mr. Steele. And Mrs. Steele-Laura-she's all right?" Alessandra and Laura had become quite close and she was quite concerned about the close call that Laura had had the previous evening.

"I hope so. It will take some time before she calms down completely, but thank you-for asking, for caring. We sometimes forget how dangerous our line of work can be for distaff members of the office group."

"We know that you try to care for us in the best way possible. Sometimes things just happen and no one is to blame, Mr. Steele."

"I can't help feeling that I could have done something to prevent her being traumatized as she was."

"Well, she can be glad that she has someone who loves her as you do to help her forget the experience. I'll be at home if you two need me for anything else, Mr. Steele."

Remington put the phone down and stood for a moment in quiet reflection.

"You're coming with us now, Remington?" Laura waited with a question in her eyes.

"Yes, Williamstock is out of town-on his way to Honolulu. I guess that it's a good thing."

"A good thing he's not in town?"

"Yes, because if I had found him and his goons tonight, I swear that I would have tried to kill someone for what they did to you." His blue eyes were like cold steel, his voice brittle as he spoke.

"Then I'm glad he's not around." Laura caught Remington by his arm and drew him close. "Don't you know that all that matters is that you and I are here, together, alive?"

The two of them stood staring at one another, their minds and hearts connecting with startling impact. Harriett found them like that.

"Are you coming, Laura?" she asked.

"Actually both of us can come along, Harriett." Remington said. "Esperanza will hold down the fort here. Come along."

They all left the house for Cedars-Sinai in the limo.

* * * * * *

When they arrived at the hospital, they were ready to prep Peter for surgery-waiting for Harriett to sign the consent.

"The symptoms point to a blood clot that probably developed as a result of the blows to the head that he sustained. We've got to get in there and clean that mess up," the kindly surgeon said. The doctor's name was Stanley, James Stanley, and he seemed as competent as he was kind.

As she regarded the x-ray the doctor was showing them, Harriett started to cry on her brother's shoulder. "Oh, Rem, my husband is going to die."

"It's going to be all right, old girl. Don't count him out too fast. He's as strong as an ox. He'll pull through this." Remington patted his sister in an effort to calm her.

"Harriett, come and sit down over here. I'm going to get some coffee for us. We are in for a long night here."

Laura left her husband and sister-in-law and went to the hospital coffee shop. She knew that Harriett needed Remington to comfort her through this ordeal. Laura was still rattled from her own experience of the previous evening and found her hands shaking as she pressed the elevator to go to the coffee shop. The near rape had left her nervous and lacking in her usual confidence, and suddenly just going for coffee alone caused her to be irrationally fearful. She forced herself through sheer strength of will to stay on the elevator and complete her errand.

When Laura got back to the emergency waiting area, Remington and Harriett were not immediately in evidence. They had gone to see Peter before he went up to surgery. Laura sat down and tried to calm herself. That was when she looked up and saw them-the two men who had kidnapped her the evening before. Jake was limping-hardly able to walk-being assisted by the one called Al.

Laura could barely suppress a scream and doubled over in literal pain in her stomach. At that moment Remington and Harriett came back into the waiting room and, upon seeing Laura bent forward in pain, Remington ran to her side.

"It's them, Rem. It's them-at the admitting desk." She was shaking uncontrollably.

"The ones that tried to force themselves on you?" Remington was already assessing the situation.

"Yes, yes. I am so scared."

"Look after Laura here, Harriett. I have to take care of a matter."

Remington walked over to the two men who were talking to the screening nurse.

"These men will not be needin' your service this evening, nurse."

"Hey, wise guy, move it. We got a problem here," Al said menacing Remington.

"I wonder how your mate got that injury to his equipment there. That is the problem, isn't it."

"So what! You the doctor?"

"No, but I am the husband of the woman that you tried to assault."

Jake blanched, but was unable to move. Al got between them and lunged for Remington, but Remington ducked his punch and Al next tried to go for his gun.

By this time the people waiting in the area all hit the floor as they realized that a general mêlée had broken out.

"He's got a gun, Harriett screamed.

Remington wheeled and hit Al as hard as he could with his fist, sending him slamming into a gurney piled with equipment. The noise drew the attention of the police who were on duty and they immediately came to Remington's aid.

Remington grabbed Jake in his collar and the man's legs went limp.

"That was my wife you tried to rape, you blackguard," Remington said between clenched teeth.

"I'm-I'm sorry, Mister. I'm sorry. She-she nearly killed me. Please-please, I'm so swoll up-I can't walk."

"If you ever come near my wife again like that, I'll fix you so you'll never piss again, you worthless piece of garbage." Remington hissed the words and then released Jake who fell to the floor in a heap.

"We have this matter in hand now, sir. What happened?" one of the policemen asked.

"I'm Remington Steele of Remington Steele Investigations and this is my wife Laura Steele."

Laura was as white as a sheet in the face of the men who had abducted her and threatened to violate her.

"These men assaulted my brother-in-law last night. He's in surgery now for removal of a blood clot resulting from that attack. They-these kidnapped my wife last evening and in the course of her ordeal this piece of human refuse tried to rape her. She escaped rape by both of these men only by using the age-old defense that a woman uses in that situation-ergo, the injury this goon sustained to his-parts."

"No problem. We'll take it from here. Bring a wheelchair for this perp and we'll read 'em their rights," the policeman said.

"In addition these men work for a con man, a certain Byron Williamstock, who is on an American Airlines flight to Honolulu right now. He's the mastermind of a confidence scheme that we were working on."

"Not to worry, Mr. Steele. We'll have bunco cops out there to intercept him. You'll have just to come downtown tonight to make a full report." He turned to his partner and told him, "Take these men away."

"But, I'm sick," Jake protested.

"You're sick all right. We'll take care of you." The policeman returned to his conversation with Remington Steele. "So you're Remington Steele. I've heard a lot about you, sir. And you, Mrs. Steele, you know how to take care of yourself real good for a little lady, don't you?" The burly blond cop smiled warmly at the Steeles and shook their hands before taking his prisoners away.

Remington and Laura faced each other and Remington just touched her her cheek with the back of the tip of his finger in an affectionate gesture.

"I wanted to kill that man, Laura, for touching you. But it was over. He may never use a woman again in life. You did him in pretty good."

"I had always rehearsed what I would do in the event I was threatened with rape, but this was the first time it actually happened. Should I be sorry that I injured him like that?"

"He got what he paid for, darling, Remington said, smiling wryly. "I just thank God that you are safe." Remington gathered Laura into his arms and hugged her for a long moment.

Just then Dr. Stanley came out to Harriett and they all gathered around him to hear his assessment of Peter's condition.

"Mrs. Rourke, your husband is going to be fine. We took additional x-rays and the clot appears to be shrinking. We're going to treat his brain swelling medically and I believe we can avoid surgery. I don't want to go inside his head if it isn't absolutely necessary. He is regaining consciousness now and should be able to come home in a couple of days."

"Thank you, Doctor. Thank you." Harriett fell upon Remington and Laura and they held her, patting her, smoothing her long black hair as she cried tears of relief.

"We have to go to the police station to report all of this, Harriett."

"I'm not going home. I'll stay the night with Peter."

"All right, Little Sister, but we'll send Fred for you as soon as you want to come home."

Remington kissed Harriett's cheek and they left her at the hospital.

It was nearly two a.m. when Remington and Laura finished filing all the reports necessary for the case and got into the limo for Fred to drive them back home.

"Our Dr. Williamstock will be quite surprised when he steps off that plane in Honolulu and into the arms of the police," Laura said. "He should be landing about now."

"Absolutely. And the police are going to stake out that office for the next several days. They should easily prove Williamstock's mob connection."

"There is the inevitable money trail," Laura added. "I'll be happy to let the police close out this one. It came a bit too close to home for me."

"I dare say, Laura."

Laura was still quite jittery and Remington, sensing this, reached for her hand and held it in an attempt to calm her.

"Do I sense an inordinate case of nerves, darling?"

"Yes. I should be calming down now, but this whole case seems to have just rattled me so. Even now, knowing that Jake and Al have been captured and are on their way to being put away, has not calmed an almost irrational fear that seems to keep overwhelming me."

Remington kissed Laura's palm and rubbed her hand between both of his in characteristic fashion.

"I think that we will have to lay down some ground rules for ourselves that will protect both of us and reduce some of the anxiety and apprehension that is built into the business that we find ourselves in."

"What kind of ground rules, Rem?"

"For starters, I'm not going to leave you alone when we are in these crisis or near-crisis situations. I should never have left you alone at the loft night before last."

"But you knew I had the twins. You had to go with Harriett."

"That is true, but I must realize that my first responsibility is to you, Laura, and to our children. I should never have left you unprotected in view of what had already happened to Peter."

Remington felt the full weight of what had happened to Laura and had clearly reflected on the situation at length. Laura looked into his blue eyes in the darkened limo and she knew that he was determined to protect her in the future-no matter what.

"Laura, when they kidnapped you in London, it was right out of Uncle David's house, right from under my nose. I couldn't have prevented that. But the other night I should have sent Harriett along with Peter and stayed with you and our wee ones. That was a tactical error on my part that nearly resulted in the direst of consequences."

"I don't blame you for what happened."

"You don't have to. I blame myself, darling. Forgive me for my lack of discretion."

"Rem, I love you so much. I know that you care for me-for our children. I see that every day."

"Then let me take care of you, Laura. I know that you are a brilliant woman, tremendously competent and more experienced in this work that we do than I am. On the other hand, I know the streets. I have lived in the streets, Laura. I know things about that seamy underbelly of humanity that perhaps you have not contemplated. When I saw those gangsters at the hospital and thought of those creeps taking turns on you, it made me sick to my stomach."

Remington felt Laura shudder in his arms and he knew that she had felt that same fear.

"You don't have to always be strong with me, Laura. You can be as soft and vulnerable as you want to be and I promise that I will not take advantage of your vulnerability. But I am going to shoulder my responsibilities to you and our girls."

Laura started to cry now, releasing the deep-seated anxiety that her experience had brought home to her and Remington simply held her in his arms, cherishing her tenderly as she let her feelings out.

"Oh, Rem, I was so scared."

"I promise you, Laura, that if something like that ever happens to you again, it will be because I am unconscious or else dead and unable to come to your aid. Do you understand me, love?"

"Yes-yes," Laura whispered. "I needed you so much then, Rem. I'm never afraid when you're with me-no matter what we come up against."

"I know-and it will not happen like that again. We are a team. I'll not leave you alone like that. There are too many new factors in our lives now and we must consider all of them."

Laura clung to Remington, her arms tight around him and he felt her need, her dependence on him as he never had felt it before.

"Dear God, help us," he whispered in a prayer for strength as they reached this new level of interdependence in their marriage.

Fred dropped them at their house and they stood for a moment in the soft early morning darkness before going inside the house to check on their children.

The babies were sleeping soundly, snuggled close together in their crib.

"They'll be waking up in another hour or so," Remington said, "looking for their mum. This is what life is really all about, Laura-us-our children."

He calmly and deliberately unbuttoned Laura's blouse so that he could kiss her soft bosom as he embraced her, and Laura reached inside his sweater, pulling his shirt out of his jeans, craving the comfort of his warm flesh against hers. She shivered ever so slightly, as the stubble of his two-day's growth of beard brushed the delicate tissue of her breasts.

"Is something the matter, Kitten?" Remington asked, as he felt her tremble in his arms.

"No, nothing is the matter...nothing at all," Laura said, lifting his head so that their lips could meet.

END