Disclaimer:
Remington Steele and its characters are owned by MTM. No copyright infringement intended. For entertainment purposes only.
Set after Season 4. Bonds of Steele and Season 5 are not in my universe.
IS STEELE HALLOWEEN?
Chapter 1:
The night was dark and cold, even for that time of the year. The neighborhood children were already in their homes, exhausted after a busy day running from door to door until every resident on the street had made his contribution to each kid's treasured bags. The silence was deafening. The quietness was peaceful. Every year, the end of the day turned out the same way.
Inside the house, a big pumpkin with bright eyes rested beside the front door. Just looking through the side window, the bowl full of candies on the entry table could be appreciated. But it looked suspiciously full.
Expanding the sight, the house had all its lights on although it was pretty late for a weekday. But nobody was behind the windows. There was no movement inside. It looked empty.
All around, Halloween was coming to an end. But in that house, it wasn't started. Yet.
Frances was struggling to convince the kids to save their candies for the next day, sadly for her, without success. Donald was lying on the couch watching a basketball game after a hard day at work. Every mother taking her kids to see Dr. Piper lately had told them to behave on Halloween because if not, the dentist would be angry at them. After the threaten was done, the kids opened their mouths slightly terrified, just wanting to be out of Donald's reach as fast as possible.
Consequently, that put the doctor in need to have the work done in a flash. He could be in a Flash Gordon's disguise the next year, he thought. But maybe trying to be a superhero, instead of a dentist would terrify the kids more.
Once Mindy and Laurie Beth were already in bed keeping their pumpkins full of candies beside them, luckily ready to fall asleep, Frances got out of the bedroom, and leaning on the door, sighed exhaustedly.
Half of the work was done. More than half, in fact. She had been the one at home opening the door to all the Halloween wanderers, handing them their rewards; but at the same time, keeping an eye on her own children asking for their sweets all along the street. The next hard task on her schedule was to convince Danny to turn off the light. He was with his friend Mike, and they were enjoying the Halloween night, the same as they enjoyed the afternoon. They were watching a terror movie in the playroom. When Frances came in, the two boys were on the couch, sitting suspiciously close to each other, their eyes glued to the TV screen. She only had to say, "Kids" and they jumped as if a ghost had entered the room.
"Mom! You scared us!" cried Danny.
"Scared you? I never thought I had such an ugly face!" said Frances, motherly joking. "And I thought you told me that you two were old enough to watch that terror movie without getting scared."
"Well, we weren't expecting you coming into the room, Mom. That's all. We are in the middle of the movie. The vampire is almost in the girl's room…" Danny said a terrifying excitement all over his face.
"Ok. Just call it a night. It's late, the day was long, and you two are going to have a nightmare if you go on watching this movie. Just turn off the TV and go to your room."
The boys obeyed the order, not without whispering a disapproving comment. Once in Danny's room, they lay down on their beds and started to talk about all the exciting things that had happened through the day. Before turning off the light, Mike went to the kitchen to call his mother.
The next day, Frances started her organized routines for breakfast; put down the Halloween material and stacked it in its boxes; took care of the laundry and other domestic tasks, and life started to run as always. But when she brought Mike home later in the afternoon, nobody answered the door. That was unusual. Suzanne was supposed to be at home at this time, she thought. She peered through the side window. Everything looked as frozen in Halloween. The lights were on, the candies were on the table, and all the ornamentation was still in place. It was odd. She decided to make a visit to the next neighbor's house to ask about Suzanne. Nobody seemed to have seen her.
Laura was ready to leave the office, after a long paperwork day. Mr. Steele had been out since lunchtime, attending one of his favorite tasks: Public Relations. There was a convention at The Huntington Sheraton, and with his charm in full swing, he would be able to recruit some potential clients to the Remington Steele Agency.
"I think I'm finished for today, Mildred. Please, don't forget to leave these papers at the post office on your way out."Once delivered, the Wellington's butler case can be considered closed, thought Laura.
Just when she was getting her belongings, ready to leave, the phone rang. "Miss Holt," said Mildred through the intercom. "Your sister wants to talk to you. She seems pretty worried."
"Frances?" asked Laura sighing, a gesture of tiredness appearing on her face. The day full of paperwork had been long, but a worried phone call from her sister was the worst way to end it. "Put her on the phone, Mildred." She put her things back on the desk, sat on her chair, and with all the patience that she was able to find at that point said, "Hello Frances."
After her panicked sister's retelling of the facts, Laura asked, "Why do you suppose she is in trouble, Frances? She could be out doing something, at some neighbor's house, running some errands, you know. The fact that she is not at home exactly at the time she asked you to bring her son back is not a sign that something happened to her. Listen to me; we are going to wait until tonight. If at 9:00pm, she is not at home yet, call me at Mr. Steele's place. Yes, Frances, we are going to have dinner together at his condo. Yes, he is going to cook. I don't know. It'll be a surprise." Just feeling that the conversation was slipping from its boundaries, with Frances exercising her detective training, Laura decided to cut it off. "Look, Frances, I am in a hurry. Call me later. Bye." She put the phone in the cradle and looked at Mildred, who was leaning at the door frame staring at her.
"Everything all right, honey? She sounded distressed." Asked Mildred
"It's nothing critical, Mildred. Danny's friend's mother is not at home, and it seems for Frances that it's a huge drama. She thinks the woman is in danger or something like that. She must be doing some errands or busy at her office, and didn't remember to inform my sister of her schedule and that she was going to be home late. Sometimes Frances is not able to understand the reality of women trying to survive the work field. Mildred, don't forget about the post office. See you tomorrow. Bye." And gathering all her things together again, she left the office. On her way home, she stopped to buy some wine, following the directions Mr. Steele had given her, exactly. He was cooking tonight and wanted the perfect wine to go along with his masterpiece. Nothing was left to Laura's choice. But she was okay with that. He was playing one of the roles that he loved most, and she will be the one enjoying the result of his performance. They would spend a wonderful evening, enjoying a delicious dinner, sided by perfect red wine. Maybe even a chocolate dessert if she was lucky, and who knows, the evening could surprise them with an end in front of the fireplace. Not bad at all. The elevator arrived at the garage, and she was right on the way to her romantic evening.
The wine selection wasn't easy. The winery didn't have the one Mr. Steele wanted, and she was left to follow the wine store owner's recommendation. Laura spent more time than she was supposed to at the store and arrived at the loft in a hurry. She made herself presentable in a flash, and hurried to his place, to be there in time. That meant a lot of driver's rules conveniently being left out for the ride.
Mr. Steele was putting the last touches on his creation when the doorbell rang. He went to answer it, a dishtowel on his shoulder. When he opened the door, Laura was standing there wearing a beautiful black gown, sparkles floating all over it, and her hair down. She looked exquisite. Both of them stared at each other for a second that seemed too long.
"Good evening Mr. Steele," Said Laura. "Can I come in? I brought the wine," she said showing him the bottle in her hands. "Were you able to produce the other half of the dinner in such short notice?" she asked with a mischievous smile.
"Good evening, Laura. Come in! Mmm, you look stunning! Allow me." And making a gesture for her to come in, he took the bottle from her hands. "Mmm… Not my original choice for our menu, but I think it will work. Did you select it?"
"Actually, I didn't. The store owner did. It wasn't easy without knowing what was on the menu, but he said this one is pretty much like the one you asked for."
They were sitting at the romantically settled table, tasting the delights he had in mind for the evening and entangled in a pleasant chat lightened by candlelight between the first and second course when the phone rang. Both faces changed from a pleasant expression to a disappointed one, and without a word, he went to answer the damn thing. It was always the same. Just when they were enjoying a romantic tete a tete, an interruption was in order. And with their luck, the call would be an "ending an evening of pleasure" one, as always. "Steele here. Hello Frances!" He said pretending to sound happy to hear her voice. "Yes, Laura is here. Yes, we are having dinner, yes I did it, yes…" he answered smiling. At that point, Laura realized he was enjoying the conversation with Frances. Feeling that her sister was again playing detective, this time with Mr. Steele as a source, Laura stood up and walked fast to the phone. Without warning, she took the receiver from him, and said, "Hello again, Frances. I realize your carpool partner is not at home yet." And giving him an explaining look, she whispered, "Danny's friend's mother wasn't at home this afternoon, and my sister thinks she is in trouble…" Yes Frances, let me write her name. And looking at him she whispered, "Give me a pen, Mr. Steele! Suzanne Austin. Ok. Frances, I'm going to call Detective Jarvis and ask him if he knows anything about her. But I warn you, there is nothing else to do until tomorrow when I can have Mildred running a search on her. Yes. I'll call you." And with that, she put the phone down and sighed. "It looks that our dessert will have to wait, Mr. Steele."
"It will have to wait?" He said looking disappointed. "Ok. I can wait if you promise it would still be our dessert later!" he answered sketching out a dazzling smile, putting his arms around her waist, pulling her towards him.
"Maybe Jarvis could wait for us just for a moment," said Laura looking straight into his eyes, giving up with the temptation of a kiss.
And when they were in the middle of the way towards a romantic encounter, he realized something and suddenly straightened himself, "Suzanne Austin? That's the name of the woman who was supposed to be the principal speaker at the convention I attended today. She didn't appear. The host didn't know how to apologize to the attendants."
"You didn't say anything about that earlier, Mr. Steele. Why didn't you?"
"I was trying to keep the romance flowing, Laura. I was successful until your sister's interruption. Remind me of that in your next family reunion, please. I'd have something in mind to repay her for the favor then." He set her free from his arms.
"Enough talking about my sister. What was your convention about, Mr. Steele?"
"Kidnappings and Disappearances. How to avoid being a target."
"Oh, that's great! The one teaching how to avoid the dangerous situations has been the target. And all in the same day. Let's visit Jarvis tomorrow. With Frances on the other side of the phone line, waiting for the first opportunity to torture us, we don't have a chance to think about dessert tonight, Mr. Steele. Let's go for the minor collateral damage. Put the rest of the dinner in the fridge. We have a Halloween visit to make to Tarzana."
"It's going to be a long night...and I don't particularly like the book I've started... " Said, Mr. Steele.
"North by Northwest, 1959", retorted Laura.
"Hmm, you are getting better every day, Miss Holt."
"Just wait and you will get an idea about my excellence, Mr. Steele."
"I'm sure I will, Miss Holt, I'm sure I will."
They worked together getting all the left outs to the kitchen, and once they were already safe in the fridge, she gave him a peck on his mouth, turned on her heels, and walked out of the apartment, Mr. Steele following her steps.
"I'll be following you until I get my dessert, Miss Holt." He told her as a warning.
"I count on that, Mr. Steele," she answered, smiling.