Crossed Roads
(Steele, Scarecrow and The Beast)
By Thomas Mc


Part 8: Storm Clouds Gathering - Intersection

Morning NY (Day 2)

Catherine approached Rita at her computer terminal as soon as she got into the office. "Good morning Rita. How are you doing today?"

Rita glanced up at Catherine. She recognized that cheerful tone. "Morning Cathy, what do you need from me this time?" She remarked with an amused smirk on her face.

"You know me way too well." Catherine chuckled.

"I just know that tone and that look. You get it anytime you want me to look something up for you without going through channels or when you need the information in a hurry. I can also see that piece of paper you have in your hand." She held out her hand. "So hand it over and tell me what you want."

Catherine handed over the photocopy she had made of the driver's license Vincent had given her. At the top was written the name Peter Blair followed by two question marks. There was also a serial number followed by a gun's make and model.

Rita looked at it. "John Abbot." Then she read the name written at the top. "Peter Blair? Which one are you interested in?"

"Actually, I want to know about both of them. There's no real hurry on it." She pointed to the serial number. "I also want a history on that gun."

"You want a quick ID check or a full work-up?" Rita glanced up at her. "Since you said there's no hurry, I suspect you want a full workup."

"I want as much as you can find out about them. I suspect that Peter Blair may be an alias." Catherine responded. "The man has been going by the name of Peter but he was carrying that ID. I want to know which is real."

"This may take a while. I have about two hours worth of stuff to enter for Joe. I'll get on it as soon as I finish that. I'll let you know what I find." Rita turned back to her terminal and continued typing.

"Thanks Rita, I owe you one."

"You owe me a hundred, but who's counting." She responded without looking up.

Catherine walked away smiling. If anybody could dig the truth out of that machine, Rita could. She had turned out to be even better at it than Edie had been before she left. That got Catherine thinking about the first friend she had made in the DA's office a little over two years ago. She wondered what Edie was up to now as she went back to her desk and continued working on the Burton case. There was little she could do on the apartment shootout until Rita got her the information she needed.

~ o ~

Laura was pacing the room. The time differential between New York and L.A. was maddening but she couldn't just call and wake Mildred up because of her own impatience. She glanced over at Remington who was patiently examining the items they had brought back from the apartment. She admired his ability to remain unruffled no matter what the situation. Well there were those few times when he had thought she had been hurt. He certainly got ruffled then. The thought made her smile.

Remington had been carefully examining the four Passports that he had found in the apartment. "If these are forgeries, they are very professionally done; I simply couldn't tell they were forgeries." Remington remarked. "In fact I would swear that they are the real thing if they didn't all have the same face." He looked up at his wife pacing the room and smiled tolerantly.

As soon as Laura figured that Mildred was at the office she called.

"Mildred I need you to find out everything you can on the following names." . . .

"John Abbot . . . Peter Blair . . . Paul Cartwright . . . Jim Donavan." . . .

"Everything you can dig up. I suspect that they're fake." . . .

"We're fine here. Things are starting to get interesting." . . .

"Let us know as soon as you find out anything." . . .

"Yes, Mildred, We'll be careful." . . .

"OK, bye."

"If there's anything to find, Mildred will find it. She's a wizard on that computer of hers." Laura commented hopefully.

Back at the office Mildred started researching the names as soon as she hung up. She started with John Abbot. She was soon conscientiously digging in. She didn't know how much they wanted so she dug in as deeply as she could.

~ o ~

1:30 pm - Washington DC

Lee and Amanda were discussing a new case related to the nebulous spy ring they were hunting when Billy called. "I need you both in my office immediately. We've got a hot one." Then he hung up without waiting for a response.

"What's up Billy?" Lee asked as he and Amanda entered Billy's office.

"Close the door, Scarecrow." Billy replied.

Lee sobered immediately as he closed the office door. This sounded serious and Billy looked worried.

"We just got two hits on an old cover ID that has been retired for seven years. Both of the inquiries came within an hour of each other." Billy picked up a folder and looked in it. "The first of the inquiries was from the New York City District Attorney's Office. Their computer operator was pretty persistent and got a lot deeper than he should have." He consulted the folder again. "The other inquiry came nearly an hour later from the Remington Steele Detective Agency in Los Angeles. Their computer operator also dug a lot deeper than normal. Two inquiries that were a lot more determined than any normal background check, coming from opposite ends of the country. I find that very disturbing." He again consulted the folder. "Even more disturbing was that we also got a hit on the agent's real name from that same detective agency."

"What about the agent?" Lee asked.

Billy replied, "He disappeared, dropped out of sight six years ago."

Something about the way Billy was looking at him made Lee nervous. Was this agent connected to him somehow? "Who was it?" Lee asked.

"Paul Cartwright"

"What?" Lee exclaimed in surprise. "I thought he was dead, killed in that car bombing." Amanda could see a hint of old pain reflected in Lee's eyes, much like the time they became involved in the old OZ network.

Billy shook his head. There was a hint of pity in his eyes. "I'm sorry Lee but only a very small handful of people knew he was still alive. It had to be that way. There was evidence of a possible traitor in the agency back then."

Everyone was startled when the office door swung open and Dr. Smith swept into Billy's office. "What's this I hear about Remington Steele sniffing around one of our agents, Billy?"

Billy replied. "We are already on it Dr. Smith."

Dr. Smith shot back without skipping a beat. "I don't like outsiders playing in my pool when I didn't even know it was open. I want to know what's going on. Let's not get caught with our pants down. Hop to it kiddies and keep me informed." He turned and swept out of the office.

They all watched him leave then Billy continued, nodding at the door Dr. Smith had just exited. "This has top priority. I want you on the next flight to New York. We might as well start there. Find out why the DA wants information on that alias and why Remington Steele is also in New York. Francine has the details." Billy started to open his door then stopped. "I almost forgot. We also got a hit from the DA on an old agency weapon serial number. It was the one assigned to Paul." He pulled the door open. "Get me some answers."

~ o ~

3:30 pm

As Catherine was shuffling through the Burton case files that afternoon her phone rang. It was the young detective from yesterday. He told her that someone had apparently entered apartment 13C last night and turned it upside down. He told her that nothing obvious was missing but there was a drawer with an empty false bottom discovered. Catherine thanked him and hung up. That was an interesting development. She kept wondering what might have been hidden in that false bottom that someone had found.

It was an hour later that Rita came to her with the results of her search. The rest of the afternoon was spent going over what she had found. Catherine decided to wait until morning to hit Joe with this bombshell. She placed the folders in her file drawer and got ready to head home.

~ o ~

As Lee and Amanda settled into their seats on the airplane he raised the armrest between them. Amanda accepted the tacit invitation and shifted up close to Lee as he put his arm around her. They had been secretly married for over two years now. Lee was certain that Billy and Francine knew about it but they continued to pretend ignorance. But somehow he and Amanda always ended up on missions together and their days off also seemed to, coincidentally, always occur at the same time. That had to be Billy and Francine's doing.

As the plane took off Amanda laid her head on his shoulders and they quietly talked about the everyday inconsequential things that married couples talked about. The last time they had been to New York was eight months ago on that Dimitri Benko affair and it wasn't long before the conversation wandered around to that subject. In all that time Dimitri had never turned up despite an intensive search for him.

"It's almost as though the earth opened up and swallowed him whole." Lee mused. "I keep wondering what that creature was doing there that night."

"You still believe what you saw was real, don't you?" Amanda had her doubts but she had not been there and she no longer tried to convince him that it was a mask he had seen.

"I know it was real. I did a little research shortly after that incident and I discovered something very interesting." He paused. "There have been sporadic reports of some kind of lion like creature going back almost twenty years. They all seem to center around the Central Park area." He shrugged. "Maybe I was hallucinating, but if so I'm not the only one."

Amanda caressed his chest. "If you say you saw it then I believe in you." She thought a moment. "But where does it disappear to?"

Lee shook his head. "Where did Dimitri disappear to?"

~ o ~

Soon Lee and Amanda arrived in New York and were taken to their hotel. Lee was amused to notice that though they had separate rooms, they turned out to be adjoining. Billy, or Francine, didn't miss a trick.

After unpacking they sat down together to plan how they would attack this problem. They wanted to keep a low profile while they figured out exactly what the situation was. They decided to set the Remington Steele matter aside and concentrate on the District Attorney's office since Steele was a moving target and the DA office wasn't hard to find. The first thing they would have to do is find out whom in that office had wanted information on that particular alias. Then maybe they could find out why. Tomorrow would be a busy day.

~ o ~

That evening Catherine went straight 'Below' without even stopping by her apartment. She wanted to see Vincent and check on that enigmatic guest that he had down there. Both guests were still unconscious so she ate dinner with Vincent and spent the evening just enjoying his company.

When she finally went home she had a hard time getting to sleep. Rita's report had given her a lot to think about, and a lot to worry about.

~ o ~

As Laura and Remington lay together in bed they talked about what they would do next. It was finally decided that they would return to the apartment building and interview the tenants of the apartments near where the shootout had occurred.

Laura was so wound up that it took her several hours to finally fall asleep.

~ x x x x x ~

Continued in Part 9


"Beauty and the Beast" and its characters are owned by Witt-Thomas Productions and Republic Pictures. "Scarecrow and Mrs. King" and its characters are owned by WB and STM. "Remington Steele" and its characters are owned by MTM Productions and the NBC Television Network.

No infringement on copyrights is intended. This story is the property of the author and is presented merely for the enjoyment of fans. Original concepts and story elements may be used by other authors as long as appropriate credit is given.

V.12.04.06