Chapter 6

"Miss Peters is indeed to be a part of our little drama," said Trevelyan, as he pulled a spare armchair up to the coffee table for Marisa to sit in.

Marisa confirmed, "I'm afraid I am, Laura – although not entirely willingly." She was dressed in a tan colored, tweed suit with a three-quarter length pencil skirt, a cream turtleneck sweater, and brown suede boots; a tan scarf around her neck made her look even more as if she had just come back from a walk across the Irish countryside.

"What exactly does your scheme have to do with Miss Peters, Trevelyan?" asked Remington.

"If my 'scheme' is to succeed, Steele, the question that needs to be answered is: why would you agree to provide secret information to the KGB?" Trevelyan replied. Remington noticed that the impeccably-mannered British agent had stopped addressing him as 'Mr'.

He continued, "If we are to have you 'selling' the computer disks to the Russians, we need to allay any suspicions that they might have about your involvement. So why would you engage in conduct that appears, on its face, to be treasonous? You are, after all, Remington Steele – the renowned private investigator. Would you do it for money? – unlikely, since you and your wife are affluent, perhaps even wealthy. We can rule out straightaway some sort of ideological motive – there's no evidence to suggest that you're sympathetic to the Communist cause." Trevelyan gave a thin smile now. "You might be coerced, of course – I think that we almost all can be coerced in some way or another – but that would require the Russians to expend time and effort discovering and exploiting your weak spot."

Tony looked at Steele as he said, "I'm sure we mighta found a way to coerce Mr and Mrs Steele, but that wouldn'ta been the right thing to do to my friends, would it?"

"Quite so," said Trevelyan. "No – the reason that you and your wife would apparently provide top secret information to the Soviets is personal – to help a friend. You would exchange the Star Wars computer disks for information about the whereabouts of Miss Peters' father, Robert Peters. And that is why we have, ah...insinuated Miss Peters into the mise en scène of our production."

Laura, who had barely calmed down since earlier, now spoke to Marisa. "So that's why you're helping Tony and Mr Trevelyan – for information about your father? I can understand your motives."

"Laura, please believe me: I wouldn't have wanted to involve you and Remington this way, by emotionally blackmailing you."

"Miss Peters is being accurate," said Trevelyan. "She has little choice in this matter."

"How so?" asked Laura.

"In Ireland, Miss Peters attempted – with the help of your friend Mr Chalmers – to hand over an American intelligence agent to the Russians. That can be construed as treason, or something as close to it such that it makes no difference. Miss Peters violated your country's Espionage Act. Mr Roselli and I simply pointed that out to her."

"Yeah, and I got a very personal reason for reminding her about that," added Tony, subconsciously rubbing the back of his head.

"Do you find it hard to live with yourself, Mr Trevelyan, given the way you use people?" asked Laura, disliking the suave Englishman more than ever.

"I wouldn't agree that I use people, Mrs Steele. I am like a skilled watchmaker; the various strands of an espionage plot are like the springs and cogs of a watch – I merely put all the pieces together and wait for the mechanism to begin working. I said that Miss Peters had little choice, not that she had no choice; she is free to either assist us or to face prosecution for her actions in Ireland – that is her choice."

"You're quite a piece of work, aren't you, Trevelyan?" said Remington coldly.

"Don't feel any undue sentiment towards Miss Peters, Steele; not only will she avoid prison if she helps us, but she will also obtain concrete information about her father's whereabouts – something she has been attempting to do for over two years. Miss Peters has a lot to gain from this enterprise."

"He's right, Remington," said Marisa. "I wouldn't have wanted it to have happened this way – using you both and perhaps endangering you both – but if this comes off, I should be able to get some information on what's happened to my father. At least if I knew if he was alive or dead...it's the hope that kills you, you see..."

With a great effort, Laura suppressed her temper until it was merely a simmering, low level disgust. "So if we became a part of your 'enterprise', what exactly would the plan be?" she asked.

"Continue your security audit…" answered the English spy. "Watch Farndale – the Russians are watching you and will know you're onto him. Farndale will successfully 'copy' the computer code in a day or two, and your agency will then 'steal' it back from him, in order to return it to Defense Analytics. As patriotic citizens, you will intend to reveal the breach of security to DAL, report Farndale and call in the FBI – effectively shutting down the company for some months. If I've read him correctly, Petrossian will try and forestall that by quickly obtaining the disks from you."

"Who's to say what he might do, eh?" asked Remington. "As Laura pointed out before, he might simply kill us, or torture us or something, to get hold of the disks."

"Perhaps. But I don't think so – you're both too well known, and too capable, for that to be likely. In any case, Steele, we – that is, the CIA – will be keeping a discreet eye on you. We shan't let you come to any harm. But I do not think violence is Petrossian's style, so I believe he will try to bargain with you. All you will have to do is to appear reluctant, but eventually to cut a deal – the disks for information about Robert Peters."

"If he believes us, of course."

"You're hardly amateurs, are you? It will be your job to appear convincing and believable to Petrossian so that he does not suspect a trap. Remember, he's a Russian – at heart, he'll believe that everyone, however seemingly principled, is willing to compromise those principles."

Apparently having nothing more to say, Trevelyan simply stared at the Steeles impassively. He seemed unaffected by the tension of the meeting – Laura thought him much too cold blooded for her liking.

Tony asked, "So, what's it to be? Are you in? Laura?"

Laura kept her face impassive, even though inside she was still seething, and disappointed that he was a part of this scheme. He was using her, and Remington, for his espionage plots, just as he had before – even though he was supposed to be a friend. "We need to caucus, Tony. Let us think about it."

Trevelyan stood up, as if now bored by the conversation. He nodded acknowledgment to Laura and Remington, and as Tony stood also, said, "Of course, Mrs Steele. Mr Roselli and I shall await your answer. Let me thank you both for your hospitality this afternoon. It was a rather excellent Scotch, Steele – although it would have been better served with water, rather than in the American way, with soda. You can rest assured, you'll hear from us."

"Goodbye, Laura; 'bye, Steele..." Tony said, as he followed his English colleague out of Remington's office.

Laura, Marisa and Remington remained seated after the two men had left; none of them said anything, each lost in their thoughts about what had just transpired.