Chapter Three

On their way home, Laura and Remington dropped by Mildred and Amanda's to pick up Cristofer. "What happened to you two?" Amanda asked, seeing that they were still quite damp from being caught in the rain.

"Let's just say we had a 'little' disagreement," Remington said with a chuckle as he strode across the floor to pick up Cristofer from the carpeted floor where he had been lying upon a blanket.

"Where's Mildred?" Laura inquired.

"She went shopping at the mall. She's been gone a little over three hours," answered Amanda.

"Has Cristofer been a good boy?" was Laura's next question.

"Ohhh yes, he's been such a little angel. He napped nearly all morning, then had his lunch. Since then he's been playing all afternoon," Amanda replied.

"He's a great kid," Remington boasted proudly as he looked at his adorable son.

"Da- da!" Cristofer cooed, grabbing Remington's tie in his little fist and pulling on it. Although the child nearly choked him, Remington just chuckled. He smiled and hugged Cristofer close.

~*~o~*~

They were exhausted from a long day so they ordered out for a pizza that evening. Remington's favorite food was pizza and he was quite eager for their supper to arrive. Finally it did and they settled down to a nice relaxing meal.

"Mmmmm... Laura, this is wonderful!" Remington groaned as though he were in the throes of ecstasy. He was obviously quite pleased with the taste of the pizza.

Laura carefully peeled off the topping. She sucked off the sauce which clung to the crust. Then she picked out the hamburger and pepperoni, eating each and every morsel. She gave the remains to Remington who accepted the mutilated piece of pizza as he appeared to be starving.

"I think our next step is for Mildred to check out a few leads on the computer," Laura stated as her mind wandered back to the case.

"Yes, maybe her efforts could give us a lead," Remington agreed. "So, darling... what's on the schedule for tonight?"

"Well, we'll watch 'Moonlighting,' then we'll go to bed."

"I think the latter seems more appealing."

"I thought that's what you'd say." Laura gave him a cheeky smile as she ruffled Remington's dark hair.

"Watch it, Laura. Don't touch the twenty-seven dollar hair-do," Remington warned as he reached over, pinching her fanny.

"Ow!" Laura yelled. "That's not fair!"

"All's fair in love and war, eh?" he said with a devilish smirk.

Laura let out a squeak when he pinched her again. She was fed up with his antics, so she threw a half-eaten piece of pizza into his hair.

"You're a glutton for punishment, eh, lambchop?" Remington teased as he dropped a piece of pepperoni down her top. It slid into her cleavage.

"Aaaa!" Laura gasped, wiggling vigorously in an attempt to get the pepperoni to fall out.

"Is this a hint that you'd like to dance? I could put on some hula music," Remington suggested, watching her with a naughty grin.

"Ohhh!" Laura shouted, an angry look upon her face. "Sometimes you can be a huge jerk!"

At that moment, Remington reached up to remove the crust from his hair. "You know, Laura, this is definitely a crusty situation," he joked. "Perhaps you and I can get down to the 'crust' of this case."

"Perhaps a little more cheese would do the trick."

"I don't know, darling, things could get a little messy. What do you think?"

"I think we should clean up this mess and-."

"Go to bed," Remington interrupted, raising one eyebrow in a most provocative manner.

"You lose! Watch 'Moonlighting!'"

"Laura!" Remington groaned as he jerked her close, giving her a passionate kiss.

"Control yourself, Mr. Steele," she commanded as she gazed into his gorgeous blue eyes.

"I could," he responded with a definite pout. "But it really isn't much fun."

~*~o~*~

After a blissful night of lovemaking, they had breakfast the next day at the ice cream parlor on Ocean Boulevard. "Rem, do you realize how close we are to where we were married?" Laura asked.

"Yes, darling," he replied in between large gulps of his peanut butter milk shake.

Laura was eating chilled lemon pie, covered in thick, delicious whipped creme. Cristofer was with them, cooing away in his infant seat.

"Ma-ma!" he yelled out as he threw his stuffed cat onto the floor.

Just then, Mrs. Bouvier entered the ice cream shoppe. She was in the presence of a tall man, wearing a white suit and a tall white hat. "That isn't Mr. Bouvier?" Laura whispered to Remington.

"Very good, Laura. You're getting better at this, you know," he responded teasingly.

Mrs. Bouvier and her companion sat down at a table not far from them. The man ordered a cherry float, but Betsy didn't get anything.

"So what happened?" the man asked.

"I was followed by people from the spa," explained Betsy.

"Was it Steele and his wife?"

"Yes, it was Steele," stated Betsy.

"Does he know about the project?" the man demanded.

"I don't think so."

"Next time you see him - blast him. Do you got that?" the man commanded in a growl.

"Yes, Kinton," Betsy agreed.

Fearing for their safety, Laura and Remington snuck out the back without being noticed. Laura had Cristofer in her arms. They left for Amanda and Mildred's apartment.

~*~o~*~

After leaving Cristofer in Amanda's care, they hurried to the office. When they arrived, Mildred was sitting at her desk, typing methodically.

"Mildred, may I ask... what are you doing?" Laura inquired.

"Paperwork," answered Mildred.

"Since when do you do paperwork?" asked Laura. "I always have to do it."

Remington interrupted their conversation. "Mildred, there are some things I need you to check out on the computer. Give me what you can on a man by the name of Kinton."

"Not until I get a raise," Mildred said flatly.

"Ohhh come on, Mildred. We don't got all day," Laura said in exasperation.

"I'm serious. Either I get a ten-dollar-an-hour raise or I quit this lousy job," Mildred said in a growl.

"We'll see about that raise," said Remington. "Now, look up what you can on Kinton."

"Sorry, I don't want to," Mildred said stubbornly.

Laura and Remington looked at each other in total disbelief. Never once in all her years of employment had Mildred spoke to them in that manner. "I'll look it up myself," Laura said with a sigh as she headed over to the computer.