Chapter 16

Remington pulled up to the curb in front of a row of houses. He jerked the parking brake up and studied the neighborhood. Lining both sides of the street were nearly identical homes, all of them had cream-colored stucco exteriors with red-tile roofs. The only distinguishable differences were the colored flags or mailboxes mounted by the dark wood doors.

"Well, this looks like the place." Laura broke the silence. "Shall we, Mr. Steele?"

"Yes, yes… let's see if Mrs. Virtan is in attendance." Remington reached for the door handle but Laura's hand on his shoulder stopped him.

"Just remember, Rem, I'm here. And no matter what she has to say, she doesn't need to be part of your life. You can simply walk away." Laura offered him a soft smile.

"Our life, Laura. And I know that. But Daniel felt she was important… important enough to leave clues that, in actuality, I may never have found if Drew hadn't sent those boxes. So, with that being said, there's a part of me… a small part… that wants to run like hell and never look back." Remington bit his bottom lip and blinked several times.

Laura cradled his jaw in her hand, her thumb caressing his bottom lip. "There's still time."

Remington pressed his lips to the pad of her thumb before stating, "I need to know, Laura. I need to know everything about Daniel I can learn because this might be my only chance. I couldn't get it from him, so why not his sister? Or maybe I have more family out there… cousins, perhaps. We found my family in Ireland. Why can't we do the same here?"

"I see you have more questions than answers, Mr. Steele. And I have to agree with you. Why not?" A grin slowly spread across her face, deepening her dimples until her dark eyes sparkled playfully.

Remington lifted an eyebrow. "What's going through your mind, Mrs. Steele? You have that glint… a glimmer… in your eye."

Laura tipped her head to the side and laughed. "I just remembered Paddy and Alex will be arriving next week. Lady Catherine is coming tomorrow. It looks like our schedules are rapidly filling up with visits from your family for a change."

Remington nodded. "It's strange, isn't it? And now that your father has returned, your mother is living at the Rossmore, and Francis and her brood are close by, we have more family dinners than we ever thought imaginable. I like this life."

"You don't miss the danger… the excitement… of a score? Collecting finder's fees?" Laura teased.

"Let's not get carried away, Laura. Although family does bring a certain level of joy to our lives, finder's fees are quite another thing," Remington declared as he finally pushed the car door open and stepped outside.

"I guess you're right, Mr. Steele," Laura agreed and met him on the sidewalk. Together they approached the small home.

Remington pressed the doorbell and waited as the chimes echoed throughout the house. After a minute, he pressed the bell again before knocking several times.

"She's not there," a small voice called out from their left.

Remington looked around and noticed a young boy about eight, dressed as a cowboy, staring at them. He jerked his thumb toward the house and asked, "You know Mrs. Virtan?"

"Miss Collette? Yeah, she gives me candy to help her with things. But don't tell my mom," the boy stated.

"What's your name?" Laura asked softly as she ran her hand down her belly.

"Hoppy. Well, my real name is Bradley but I wanna be a cowboy when I grow up." Hoppy whipped out his play pistol and fired off several cap rounds.

Remington smiled. "Just like Hop-Along Cassidy, eh?" He shot a sideways glance at the door before asking, "Do you know when Miss Collette will be back?"

Hoppy shook his head. "No, she's on another adventure. She asked me to put her mail in the back so no one would know she wasn't there."

"An adventure? What kind of adventure?" Laura's eyes widened.

Hoppy shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know. She said she was going across the pond but I don't know what that means. We don't have any ponds around here."

"Did she say what she was going to be doing on her adventure?" Remington tried.

"Well… she did say something about her brother… and a letter. She had me give the postman this big thick envelope a few days ago. I don't know what was in it but she said it was very important. She didn't have time to go to the post office before she left." Hoppy held his hand up to indicate the thickness of the envelope.

"Bradley?!" A shrill voice cut through the air.

"Uh-oh. That's my mom. I gotta go." Hoppy scrambled over the small wall separating the yards and disappeared from sight.

"That was interesting," Laura announced.

"Cause for Alarm," Remington stated before turning and walking back to the car.

Laura followed him, confused. "What was that?"

"Cause for Alarm. Loretta Young, Barry Sullivan, MGM, 1951, I believe." Remington stopped and held the door open for Laura.

"Isn't that the movie where the husband is bedridden because of a heart condition and he believes his wife and doctor are trying to kill him?" Laura frowned, her mind spinning.

"Very good, Laura," Remington applauded as he slipped into the driver's seat.

Laura shook her head. "I don't understand the connection."

"The young wife, Ellen Jones, befriends a young neighbor, much like our little friend there, Hoppy. And her husband outlines, what he believes to be a full conspiracy to murder him, in a letter which he mails in a thick envelope," Remington explained.

"Just like Hoppy described," Laura added as she searched for any sight of the boy.

Remington started the car and began to steer away from the curb. "Now, we don't have any idea what was in Collette's envelope or where it was going, but–"

"And there's no murder plot that we know of." Laura placed her sunglasses on her face and leaned her head back.

"There's no actual connection, per se. Merely trying to ease the thoughts bouncing around my head at the moment, Laura," Remington admitted.

"I have an idea. Let's see if Mildred can track down Mrs. Virtan's passport." Laura smiled widely as he maneuvered the car toward Los Angeles.

Remington bobbed his head. "Excellent plan, Laura. Now, I say we stop for a bite to eat before we head back to the office."

"Sounds like a perfect plan, Mr. Steele."

Remington propped his elbow on the door and began gnawing on his thumbnail as he drove. Nervous energy coursed through his body as his mind whirled. Why is Collette in England? Is she looking for Daniel? For someone or something else? Remington knew he wouldn't have any real answers until he met her face to face.