One of my favorite topics for RS stories are the moments in between, prowling around the screen moments we have, to explore and expound on questions raised in them. If it isn't already clear to readers, this story is set late in season four, perhaps directly before the events of Bonds of Steele.
While this isn't as strong as I would like, I am concerned that I will not finish at all if I don't keep plugging along, I'm going to go ahead and post this chapter. Please have confidence that I do have a goal I'm working towards, and Jenna's voice of encouragement whispering in my ear.

Without taking time to reply Laura quickened her step as she hurried toward the rear of the building which housed The Dusty Bookshelf. Pausing at the corner, she flattened herself to the rough brick before risking a glimpse around the edge. Just as Steele had warned her, a darkly clothed figure was hunched over the lock set of the back door.

"Laura? Laura?" The walkie talkie squawked loudly in the stillness of the alleyway.

Laura grimaced before stealing another look around the corner. The would-be thief had ceased their work on the lock and seemed frozen for a moment, staring in Laura's direction, before taking slow measured steps away from her. Heaving a brief sigh of frustration, Laura pivoted around the corner and called out, "Hey, hold it right there!"

The individual had several long strides on her, but having committed to the chase, Laura's practiced sprint soon closed the gap between them and with a gracefully arched leap, she tackled the man, bringing both of them to the pavement. Though her prey grunted as he absorbed the brunt of their fall, he rolled to his back, pinning Laura beneath him. A blow from his elbow landed on her ribs, knocking the breath out of her, and in that moment the man rose and might have delivered another blow had not Steele's shocked cry as he entered the alley, startled him into a stumbling retreat. Steele rushed to Laura's side, kneeling to assess her injury.

"I'm fine, Mr. Steele!" She huffed breathlessly, "Go after him!"

"You sure?" Steele asked, his eyes dark with concern and anger. At her brief nod he was up and running in pursuit of Laura's assailant. At the end of the alleyway he stopped short. A dark sedan roared to life, tires squealing and spraying loose gavel as it screamed away from him. His squint at the car's filthy rear license yielded no information.

With a quiet, "Damn," Steele turned to walk briskly back to his partner, now rubbing her bruised side as she struggled to breathe evenly.

A terse shake of his head answered her unspoken question.

"Well, Mr. Steele, all we've learned tonight is that someone still wants something from this bookstore, but I don't imagine they'll try again tonight."

Wrapping an arm protectively behind Laura's back, Steele guided her toward the street, peering down at her with concern. "You couldn't have waited for me to get down off the roof before pursuing the burglar, Laura?"

"If you hadn't radioed me while I was entering the alleyway he wouldn't have heard me coming and tried to run away."

"Not to point out the obvious, Laura, but he did run away, and then sprayed the dust from the road in our faces. Are you implying that was somehow my fault?"

"No, of course not, but I didn't really have a choice as to whether or not I would pursue him once he'd heard your radio transmission. That's when he started to run."

"You hadn't responded to me, Laura," Steele replied coolly, "I was descending from the rooftop as rapidly as I could, and wouldn't have needed to communicate if I'd known you were safe."

"I WAS safe, and I was coming - quietly, I might add - to check on you. I'm far from helpless, Mr. Steele."

Realizing this was not the time to point out that, despite the utmost respect he had for her abilities, she HAD in fact been over powered by their target, Steele's eyes flicked up and down her form before he tried another tact. "I'm well aware of your capabilities, Miss Holt. Perhaps our surveillance would have been more effective if we'd done it together? Without being forced to rely on these ridiculous radios."

Steele pulled the offending piece of equipment from where it was clipped on his pocket, holding it disdainfully in the increasingly chilly air between he and Laura.

"You would have liked that, wouldn't you. Having a chance to grope me while we "watched" the bookstore? " Laura made air quotes as she spit out the words. "I seriously doubt that would have resulted in any more success determining who is targeting Mr. Standusty's bookstore, or why."

The two glared at one another, pausing as they reached the Rabbit. Without further comment, Laura jerked the car door open and climbed in, where she sat without moving until Steele climbed stiffly into the passenger seat.

"'Grope' you, eh? What a quaint way of describing the romantic interludes of our relationship. If that is really the way you feel, I'm definitely doing something wrong." Steele's jaw flexed as he sat starring out the front window of Laura's car.

Laura's shoulders dropped and she turned to her partner, her brown eyes lingering on his profile. When he didn't move, she turned to face the dash once more, mirroring her partner's unflinching focus on the street outside the bookstore. Finally she let soft words trickle into the silence in the car.

"I know I've said this before. I wish I had a name to call you, a name other than Mr. Steele, or Remington."

After a unsteady sigh, she continued, her voice so quiet, Steele almost wondered if she meant for him to hear her. "I believe in a man who doesn't even exist. I've wrapped an entire detective agency around working with him, and then spend nearly every evening in his company. I'm the one who can't always remember what is business and what is pleasure."

It was Steele's turn now, to break his unseeing view of the street outside the car, and to glance at Laura's profile, at the suspicious shimmer of tears trembling in her eyes. "I'm very fond of the name you've given me, Laura. If I'd a better one to share with you, believe me, I would. We're making the charade work, aren't we?"

Through his smile was tentative, Steele reached out with a sure hand to take Laura's hand in his. "Let's go home. Get a bit of sleep, and go at this thing again in the morning with clear heads, eh?"

With a nod Laura seemed to gather herself, blinking rapidly to clear her eyes before slipping the key into the car's ignition. As the Rabbit puttered to life she managed a brief smile for Steele.

As they pulled away from the curb, Steele glanced out the window. The lovers who had been making use of the bus stop bench had left, and in their place sat the vaguely familiar face and figure of a slender young woman with dark hair, apparently absorbed in reading a book. Looking into the door side mirror, Steele saw the woman close the book, stand, and watch them as they drove away. His hand slid without volition to the place where letter was secreted in his inside suit coat pocket.

RSRSRSRSRS

Laura had barely set foot in the office in the morning when Mildred rose excitedly from the desk. "You aren't gonna believe this, Laura! Jarvis called first thing this morning before I'd even had a chance to make coffee. Says he has a lead on the guy who attacked me yesterday! He wants me to come down and take a look at a couple 'a suspects!"

"That's odd. I thought you didn't get a look at your attacker." Laura looked puzzled.

"Oh, I didn't, but Jarvis thinks maybe seeing the guy will jog my memory. I'm willing to give it a shot. Hey! Any luck with the stake out last night?"

Shaking her head, Laura admitted, "Someone showed up, but he managed to get away from us."

"Well at least you and Mr. Steele got to spend time together, right?" Mildred said with a wink. "You must'a had a pretty late night for you to be coming in so late this morning. You're usually here before me."

"I stopped by the bookstore to make sure things were secure this morning, before coming here." Though she wasn't willing to acknowledge Mildred's teasing comment, Laura's brow furrowed for a moment before she could shake off the memory of the previous evening's discord."Any luck coming up with a literary source for the phrase on Mr. Standusty's note?"

"Bupkis, Miss Holt," Mildred said with a shrug and upturned palms.

"Go ahead and see if Jarvis has come up with anything helpful, Mildred" Laura said with a sigh. I've got a couple of leads I want to follow up on from here. Maybe by the time Mr. Steele drags himself in here, one of us will have come up with something."

"You got it!" Mildred grabbed her handbag from her desk drawer. Hesitating before she left her employer, she patted Laura's hand between her plump palms. "Don't you worry, Miss Holt. I don't know what went on between the two of you last night, but I've seen the way Mr. Steele looks at you. He may have been a con man and a cheat, but there's nothing he won't do for you. It's all gonna work out in the end."

"Why don't I find that more comforting?" a spluttering Laura muttered to the disappearing form of the older woman.