Steele Trusted.
Laura nudged Steele, "Did you hear that?" she whispered.
"I told you. It's the obvious route."
They flattened themselves against the wall and waited. There were light footsteps approaching, a stealthy walker in soft shoes. The passageway was narrow. As the intruder came towards them, they both seized her. Steele held her firmly while Laura turned on the light. The thief struggled to get free, then froze, staring at Steele. "Fabrini?" she relaxed, "Thank God! I thought I was caught." She sounded English.
"You are." said Laura, but she recognised the name and looked to Steele for an explanation.
Steele was looking at their captive. "Kate?" He released her.
"What are you doing here? We can't both have planned the same job for the same night. Did Dad send you?"
Steele looked her up and down. "No, but you know he wouldn't want you doing this."
"I know, but I had to. I'll explain later. We'd better get out of here. Apparently they have good security."
"The best." said Laura.
Kate took Steele's arm, "Come on! One can wander around, three can't. I don't suppose you've already got the necklace? I'd make a good offer for it. I know this must be your patch and I have no right to be here, but I didn't know, and I need the necklace."
"What for?" asked Steele.
"To settle a debt."
"We're the security." he said, sounding apologetic.
"What?"
She looked at Laura. "I'm Paul's friend, I swear. Don't turn me in."
"We have no choice." said Laura.
She glanced at Steele, hoping he would agree. He frowned. "We have to get her out. We can sort this out, but not here."
"We were here to catch any thieves."
"We were here to prevent a theft. We've prevented it. Do we really have to sacrifice a young girl who's made one very bad mistake?"
"Our clients would say yes." said Laura, "And in six hours, I have to report to them."
"Give me two hours." said Steele.
"To do what?"
"Convince you."
Kate hugged him. "I knew you'd help!"
Laura sighed. "Let's go back to my office and talk about this." She went round the corner to Murphy, "Something's come up. Stay here and call us if anything happens."
"Right." said Murphy.
Kate didn't attempt to run away. She walked quietly beside Steele. Once they got into brighter light, she looked about eighteen.
Steele let Kate into the car first. As he was about to get in, Laura said, "She's a bit young to be a former lover. What were you? Her babysitter?"
"Not exactly." he said. They got into the car. Laura started the engine. Steele turned to look back at Kate. "Kate, is there a word for what I am to you?"
"Kidnapper?" said Kate.
He nodded. "I knew you'd know. That expensive education wasn't wasted after all."
Laura was horrified, but they both laughed.
"It's not as bad as it sounds." said Steele, "I'll explain at the office."
"Explain now!" said Laura, "Preferably in a way that makes it very clear I'm not in a car with a man who abducts people."
"Oh!" said Kate, "Paul, I didn't mean to cause trouble for you."
"Well, perhaps you'll tell Laura what happened."
"How much does she know?"
"She knows enough that there's no harm in telling her the truth." he said.
"And you trust her?"
"With my life." said Steele. He looked at Laura and smiled.
Kate seemed happy with that. "Well then, there was a heist that went wrong. Dad did it with all his best and most trusted friends. One of them decided the reward meant more than friendship. Dad was arrested. It wasn't exactly a first offence and he knew early release wasn't likely. My mother had died a few years before, so I was sent to live with my uncle, who immediately sent me to a boarding school in Surrey."
She glanced at Steele before continuing. He nodded.
"I hated it there. I only stayed because I had letters from Dad there and I missed him. He couldn't say much in his letters, but we had a code. The first letter of each word in the third sentence. Even then, he was cautious. He never told me he was going to escape, but I guessed when he said things were improving. For three letters, the message was the same, 'Trust Fabrini.' Last thing he said before his trial was that he knew it wasn't Paul Fabrini who had betrayed them. That was the only thing he was sure of."
"Why was he sure of that?" asked Laura.
"Fabrini couldn't do it. He'd never betray a friend. Besides, he could have betrayed Dad many times over for far bigger rewards and never had. After the shock of the betrayal, all that kept Dad going was his love for me and his certainty that Paul had been a true friend. It drove him nuts at times, trying to work out who had betrayed him." She looked around the car park. "We are safe here, aren't we?"
"Yes," said Laura.
"If I get arrested, it'll break his heart."
"The time to think of that was before you broke in."
"I didn't break in, that implies a lack of finesse."
Laura saw Steele smile and realised that Kate must be quoting him. "You taught her this?" asked Laura.
"No! Laura, what do you take me for?"
Laura ignored the question and nodded to Kate, "Go on with the story."
"One night, Paul got in through my window. The only good thing about that school was that it had rooms, not dorms. There he was, standing by the window, telling me Dad had sent him. I thought he was going to tell me Dad was out and had left the country. 'Where is Dad?' I asked. He said, 'Heading for the airport. Pack what you need and I'll take you to him.' I stuffed as much as I could in a small bag and he put me over his shoulder and carried me through the window and down to the ground. We ran across the grounds and then out over the wall. It was the most exciting thing that ever happened to me."
"You stole a kid from a school to send her into hiding with her father?" said Laura.
"You'd rather I'd let her lose him altogether? I couldn't do it." said Steele.
"He was wonderful!" said Kate, "A true professional. I was shaking, I just kept thinking any moment we'd be stopped. I'd only be sent back to school, but I was scared that Paul would end up in prison. I said he shouldn't take a risk like that for me and he just smiled and said, 'We'll be fine.' He said that even when we heard on the radio that I'd been reported missing and that somebody had seen a man in the grounds. We changed cars twice. Paul was very well-prepared. At the airport, I was worried they'd know my passport was a fake, but Paul said, 'That was made by a friend of mine. It'll get you through.' He turned out to be right."
"He's an artist, that man." said Steele.
"Is that where you got all your passports?" said Laura.
Steele said nothing.
Kate went on, "He took me to where Dad was waiting. I'd asked in the car how much he was going to be paid and he said, 'I don't think your Dad can afford to throw money at me right now.' Dad hugged me, then Paul and he said, 'Fabrini, I can always depend on you.' He gave Paul an envelope filled with money. Paul just pushed it back into his hand and said, 'Buy me a drink sometime.' Then he looked at me and said, 'You'll like Rio. Wonderful place!' That was the last thing he said to me. I had such a crush on him." She blushed and looked at Steele, "Still do, actually."
"I know what you're thinking." said Steele.
"I wouldn't bet on that." said Laura, who wasn't entirely sure herself.
"You're thinking our responsibility is to our client."
"That is how these things generally work."
"But this girl's father could have made things easier for himself by telling the police about me. He didn't. He kept me out of prison. I owe him."
"Maybe, but I don't." said Laura.
"No harm was done. The necklace wasn't stolen. We did what we've been paid to do. She's not a thief."
"Appearances are against her there." said Laura.
"Look, I can take her to her Dad, have a word with him. I can make sure she doesn't try again."
"I won't!" said Kate, "Paul, you know I'd never have done anything if I'd known this was your patch. Security or not, old rules apply. After all you did for us, I'd never try to ruin things for you."
"You see?" he said to Laura, "A chip off the old block! She's just like her father."
"And this is supposed to reassure me?"
"She's not a bad person. Do you really want to send her to prison?"
Laura looked at Kate. The girl looked anxious. "No, I don't, but I'm a private detective. There are rules."
"I know." said Steele quietly. He sounded as if he understood. He sounded as if he hated asking this, but was going to ask it anyway. "Laura, in my old life, there were also rules."
"Maybe the time has come to choose between your old life and your new one."
"No contest. I want to be the man you want me to be. Tell me, though, would he destroy a young girl's life because it's more convenient than finding out why she did something stupid?"
"You're using him against me?"
"Against you? No. I'm asking you to bend the rules instead of breaking a life. If she goes to prison, do you think she'll come out a decent, law-abiding citizen? Why make her a criminal? Why take away her chance to choose a better path?"
Laura groaned and put her head on the steering wheel. "Why do you do this to me? Why do I ever listen to you?"
He put a hand on her shoulder, "Because you're my friend."
"But not your accomplice. How many more people from your past are going to turn up, asking me to bend the rules?"
He got out of the car and walked away. He went behind a pillar and Laura turned to Kate. "I don't want to turn you in, but my job is not about protecting thieves."
"I know, but you're protecting Paul, aren't you?"
"We work together."
"In a detective agency. Does the boss know Paul used to be the best thief in London?"
"Mr Steele knows more about Paul's past than I do." said Laura carefully.
"Then you're both protecting him. I'm glad. He's a good man." Kate looked at her hands. "I know I shouldn't have gone after the necklace. I'm not a professional. I only knew what to do because of my Dad's stories and a little bit of education in picking locks. He taught me when I was a kid. It was just a father-daughter thing. He never intended me to use it. I'm all my Dad has. If I go to prison, he'll blame himself. Paul said to me that night in the car, 'You're all he's got left, don't let him down. It's a big, lonely world out there.'"
Suddenly, Steele was back. "Laura, what if I ..."
"Get in the car." said Laura.
He got in. "I can ..."
"We're going to the office. There we can discuss how we're going to deal with this mess."