Just a short little, one day to write story for those asking that we continue to move forward in the AU Series. This story takes place primarily after Corn Fed Steele, as Remington and Laura address her allowing Preston Hayes's outright flirtation with her in front of Remington and the repercussions of Laura not setting the man down firmly.
The Alternative Universe Series
Toss the Twilight Zone experience of Season 5 into the proverbial trash can. These stories pick up after Steele of Approval. While Approval still exists, more importantly these stories look at season 4 as most of the viewers saw it - Laura and Remington had crossed that line, imbuing that Season with the "Mr & Mrs Steele" feeling that most experienced.
To get the most out of my stories, I recommend reading them in the following order:
Steele Forsaken (Part 1 of 3 in the A Holt New Beginning Series)
Steele Mending (Part 2 of 3 in the A Holt New Beginning Series)
A Holt New Beginning (Part 3 of 3 in the A Holt New Beginning Series; Takes place during and after Steele Searching)
Holt the Presses (Takes place during and after Steele Blushing)
The Holt Truth (Takes place during and after Forged Steele)
As usual, I do not own the characters. I simply borrow them.
Chapter 1: Prologue
At Agritech, an attractive, stylish and petite blonde assistant escorted Remington and Laura into the offices of Preston Hayes. He gave the woman a quick double-take when he noticed her gaze upon him, and with the slightest of frowns dismissed her, focusing instead on the man seated in front of them. In his early thirties, with sandy brown hair and of average height and looks, the man immediately set his eyes on Laura before the introductions were even made.
"Mr. Hayes, these are the investors from Los Angeles. Remington Steele and Laura Holt," the assistant announced, then discretely left the room. In his chair, where he remained sitting through the introductions, Hayes threw out his hands to either side of him, laughing and grinning widely at Laura.
"Laura Holt!" he repeated her name, enthusiastically as he stood and walked around the desk to stand in front of her. "Remember me?" The comment drew Remington's focus fully on her, as she struggled to place name and face in another time. She looked at Hayes blankly, obviously not recognizing him.
"Uh…"
"Preston Hayes." Still nothing. "Stanford."
"Oh," Laura uttered, still uncertain who he was. Remington turned to face her more fully, his eyes darting back and forth between the pair, clearly not amused.
"Kappa Sig? You wouldn't go out with me?" Recognition dawned, the memory of their meeting long ago drawing a blush across her skin. Disgusting, Remington muttered to himself silently, unable to disguise his distaste for the surprise reunion… or her reaction when she giggled girlishly at the man and they shook hands a little too enthusiastically for his taste.
"Oh, yes. You're the senior who tried to kiss me in the quad that night," she reminisced as she looked away from him. Remington rolled his eyes and then averted them.
"It's a- Stanford tradition," Preston filled in Remington, drawing his attention back to the display.
"Rah," Remington answered unenthusiastically, leveling a less than happy look upon his associate. At his response, Laura drew a deep breath and with a quick glance in his direction, gathered herself together.
"So, um, what keeps you here in Iowa?" Laura inquired speaking like the professional woman she was, no longer the girl in knee socks.
"Well, Agritech recruited me right out of B school," he answered, then quickly tried to turn the conversation back to a personal level. "So, how're you doing?"
"Well—" Laura began, only to be interrupted by a sneeze brought on by her hay fever. Remington saw the opportunity to turn the conversation to business and took it.
"Mr. Hayes, as much as I hate to interrupt this… touching reunion," he gave Laura a disapproving look on the last two words, as she turned her head away from him, smiling smugly, noting his jealousy has been stirred, "we're private investigators. We also happen to be major investors in Progressive Farms. We're here to help locate our swine." Throughout Remington's summary, Laura continued to flash her dimples at Hayes, clearly flattered by the attention he'd shown her.
"Oh, great!" Preston answered, as he returned to his chair behind his desk and Laura and Remington took their seats in front of it. "I don't think pigs top our sheriff's list of priorities. Agritech isn't exactly popular in this county.
"We noticed. How come?" she asked.
"Well, the bank's been foreclosing on a lot of small farms around here, and we've been buying them up. So the farmers sort of blame Agritech, too."
"We got the impression it was a little bit more than that," Remington pointed out, gesticulating with his hands.
"Well, they'd like to think so. Every time there's an accident of nature, the farmers point the finger at us."
"Accidents of nature?" Laura wondered.
"Yeah, well, there've been a couple of fires, some floods. Nature." Remington looked disbelievingly in Laura's direction, not unmissed by Hayes. "Look, we don't have to drive the farmers under. Simple economics is taking care of that. It's sad. I feel for them. But agri-business is the future of farming."
"Absolutely," Remington agreed, redirecting the conversation again. "About the swine?"
"We figured some disgruntled farmer probably stole them as revenge against us. They're still around, that we know. About the only thing the Sheriff could do right after the theft was to set up roadblocks. So we're confident the pigs are still somewhere in the county."
"And the clock is running down," Steele noted.
"Yeah. In twenty-four hours," Hayes pointed his finger and mimicked the sound of a gunshot, "you can kiss those porkers goodbye." He laughed, as though it were amusing as Laura joins in while she stands.
"Maybe you can afford to, Preston," she told the man, suddenly serious, "but we can't. We need to start at the scene of the crime."
"It's locked up," he informed her. "But I'll give you the key," he laughed, taking the key out of his top desk drawer and bringing it around the desk to her, determined to pick up where he'd left off. "Are you busy for dinner tonight, Laura?" As Laura looked at the man open-mouthed, Remington reached around her to take the key from Hayes as he stood.
"Swine before pearls, Preston," he said quickly, reminding the man of the business at hand while grasping Laura by the waist and guiding her to the door of the office. "Rah," he called to Hayes, condescendingly, becoming all the more irritated as Laura giggled quietly again and waved to the man before they left.
Once out of the office, he dropped his hand from around her waist and put noticeable distance between them, remaining mum as they walked towards the enclosure where the pigs had been taken from.
