"Well Det. Jarvis? Did you interview Justin Williams and if so, does he have an alibi for the night his Uncle was killed?" Jimmy Jarvis sat his mug of coffee down on Mildred's desk and stood up to stretch. He'd been working too many long hours lately and it was starting to catch up with him. "Yes Mildred, I've had a chance to interview Mr. Williams. He claims he was out of town with his girlfriend, a Miss Shelley Cassidy. I've got Joe going over now to ask the lady a few questions about that weekend." We are also checking the hotel that they stayed and the rental car agency about the car they rented. I'll know something more later today or tomorrow. Now, if there's nothing else to go over tonight, I'm going to call it quits." Mildred stood up and walked Det. Jarvis out. "Sure thing Jimmy, you look like hell, I imagine you feel just as bad." Jimmy grinned as he headed out the door. "Gee thanks Mildred. Oh by the way, when are the Steele's do back?"
Mildred looked concerned as she shrugged her shoulders. "Beats me Jimmy. Mr. Steele told me he'd call to let me know when they arrived in the Bahamas. They should have made it there by now so I suspect he'll be calling some time soon." "Well tell them I said hello will you Mildred?" Sure thing Det. now go home!" Mildred yelled as she shooed him out the door. Bridgette looked up at Mildred and frowned. It's not like them to not call and let us know they arrived safely." Mildred sat down on the couch in the reception area and put her feet up on the table. "I know honey. Even when they don't want to be disturbed, their meticulous about calling in, at least once." I don't know, I got a bad feeling about this. I think we'll give them a bit more time Bridgette, but if they don't call within the next hour or so, I'll call their hotel to make sure they are ok." Mildred stood up and went back to her office to look for the Steele's travel itinerary.
It was dark but he could hear a faint dripping off in the distance. It sounded like water, maybe Laura had left the water on. No, it was getting louder now and Remington could feel pain from somewhere. As his head began to clear, he realized that he wasn't dreaming. This was real! He slowly opened his eyes, a pain shot across his head. He closed his eyes and tried to fight off the light headedness he felt. He opened his eyes again, this time he attempted to focus. Slowly he tried to move his head. Dear god, it was all coming back to him now. They were in an airplane. The last thing he remembered they were in a nosedive and the Captain was telling them to brace themselves because the plane was going down. Remington could here water but it was dark in the cabin so he couldn't tell its origin. He looked over at Laura, she was unconscious. "Laura! Laura wake up, Laura you have to wake up sweetheart we have to get out of here!" Remington shook her but she didn't move.
His hands were shaking as he felt for a pulse. He touched her neck and waited. "Laura god, no, don't leave me, please be alive." He concentrated on finding a sign that she was still alive. He felt a pulse and he felt himself let out the breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding. Just then he felt a slight jerk and he heard more water pouring into the cabin. Remington knew they didn't have alot of time. He began pulling at his seat belt in an effort to free himself. He struggled with it for a few seconds before it finally released him. He slowly got up, not sure of his injuries. His head felt like it was splitting open and he had some tenderness in his ribs but nothing felt broken. He kneeled down and began trying to pull Laura free His could feel the cold water around his legs getting higher. He frantically began pulling but her seatbelt wasn't budging. "Laura? Laura wake up! Laura can you hear me?" Remington swore as he realized he'd have to find something to cut Laura's belt with.
He made his way over to the bar cart. It was hard to walk since the airplane was at an awkward position, tilted to the right. Remington tried to hold on to anything still bolted down. He felt his way along until he came to the cart. It was turned over but he managed to hold it up long enough to wrench the drawer open. He gingerly dug around trying to locate something sharp. He felt a wooden handle and inched his way up it. He felt steel and knew he'd found a knife. He pulled it out and made his way back to Laura's seat. He quickly began cutting through her seat belt. The water was up to his thighs and rising. He felt the belt give. He slowly eased Laura into a standing position. He knew he couldn't carry her since he'd need a hand free for balance. He pulled Laura as close to himself as he could and pinned her to him with his left hand. He would have to drag her along but there was no help for it.
Remington made his way to the cockpit door. It was locked. He banged on it yelling for the captain. There was silence. Cursing he made his way back to the seat and sat Laura down. He went back to the door and began pushing on it. Each push sent sharp pains through his head but he kept on until he'd broken the door in. Water was in the cockpit so he couldn't push the door all the way open . He had to enter sideways but he was able to squeeze into the tight space. He saw the captain, his head was resting on the steering column, Remington felt for a pulse, he didn't find one.
Sparing no more time on the dead captain Remington squeezed back out the door and went to get Laura. He would have to arouse her, they would need to swim and he couldn't get them to safety on his own. He felt his way along the walls looking for the latch to the overhead compartment. He found it and pulled it open. He felt around until his head grasped a metal box. He pulled it out and dug through it until he found a small glass bottle. He opened it and sniffed. Grimacing he went to kneel beside Laura. He waved the bottle under her nose twice before Laura jerked violently and began to cough. "Laura, Laura wake up! Laura you've got to come to." He slapped her face a few times in quick succession as Laura opened her eyes. "What..." "Laura, we're in danger, the plane has crashed and we've got to get out of it right now. The cabin's taking on water and we've got to swim for it. I need you to swim Laura, I can't get us out of here alone. Do you understand?"
Weakly Laura nodded her head. Remington helped her up and over to the emergency door that wasn't under water. He tried to turn the lever, it wouldn't move. "Move Dammit!" Remington turned it again and felt it giving. He turned it as hard as he could and pushed, the door opened. Remington opened the compartment closest to the door and found a plastic box, he also found the life jackets. He put one on and helped Laura into a second one. Remington turned and grabbed Laura. "Laura, we've got to go, are you ready?" Laura was more lucid now and was able to grasp the full situation. "I'm ready." "Good, now there's enough room for us to jump together Laura so on three we jump got it?" Laura nodded. He grabbed her hand and they got into position. He took the plastic box and threw it into the water. "Ok Laura jump!"
Laura held her breath and leaned forward she felt her feet leave the floor and encounter air. She squeezed Remington's hand as hard as she could and prayed. A few seconds later they hit the water and went under. Laura lost hold of Remington's hand and frantically began searching for it. She began kicking and moving her arms in an attempt to get to the surface. It seemed to Laura to take forever as she swam. Her lungs were burning for air but she knew she had to keep going. She opened her eyes in an effort to see how far she had to go. She could see the water getting lighter and knew she was almost there. Her heart hammered in her chest as she continued to stroke. Finally she reached the surface. Laura broke through the water and gasped for air. "Remington? Remington, where...where are you!" Laura tried to scream. She whirled around in the water and she began to tread water to stay afloat. "REMINGTON!!!" Laura managed to scream. "Laura, I'm here, don't move I'll come to you." Laura sighed as she heard his voice. Tears began sliding down her face and quickly melded with the water around her.
Remington swam as fast as he dared to reach Laura. He didn't want to tire himself out too quickly since he hadn't assessed how far they were from land. He finally made it to Laura's side. He spotted the plastic box and pulled it toward them. "Laura here, grab on to this. Laura do you hear me?" Remington spoke louder. Laura could barely here him, she felt so cold and tired. Her teeth were chattering as she answered him. "Yyyess, I..he..hear you." Remington swore softly and helped Laura hold on to the box. "Laura, you've got to stay with me ok?" He quickly looked around him to see if he could spot land. He noticed that the airplane had almost made it to shore but had crashed several hundred yards out. He felt certain that they could make it to shore. He felt a sudden burst of hope that they just might make it out of this thing alive.
He began kicking and told Laura to kick as well. "I can see land Laura, its a bit far but I know we can make it. Hang in there Love, we can do this, together ok?" Upon hearing that they were close to land Laura perked up. She was still shivering but she knew physical exertion would help get her blood moving. Laura began kicking and soon they were propelling themselves forward.
"What!! What do you mean they haven't checked in yet? Weren't they supposed to arrive three hours ago?" Mildred was pacing the length of her office. Bridgette was getting dizzy but she was following Mildred's every move. "Can you at least tell me if Flight 759 from Washington National Airport arrived? What? Well can't you call to find out? Of course I'll hold." Bridgette looked up at Mildred expectantly but Mildred mouthed the words "not yet." A few minutes later the hotel receptionist was back on the line. "I'm sorry to keep you waiting Ms. Krebbs. It appears that Flight 759 did not land at the airport as scheduled. I'm sorry but I don't have any additional information for you. You may want to call the Airport they left from to find out more." "What!! Are you telling me the flight didn't arrive?" The receptionist calmly repeated what she'd told Mildred. "Yes Ms. Krebbs, the flight never arrived." Mildred looked ashen as she thanked the woman and hung up the receiver.
Bridgette was on her feet helping Mildred sit down before she fell down. "Mildred, what's going on?" Mildred looked up at Bridgette. "The boss and Mrs. Steele's jet never arrived Bridgette." "Well Mildred, let's not panic yet, call the Airport in DC and found out what happened to it. Maybe it got delayed or something." Mildred nodded and called information to get the number. Twenty minutes later Mildred's worst nightmare had come true. "What do you mean you think it was a distress call. You don't know for sure? Well I suggest you find out buddy and right now! I don't want to here maybe I want definite answers!" Mildred was beyond caring how rude she sounded. She wanted to know once and for all where the Steele's were.
"Uh Ms. Krebbs, my name's Hank Richardson, I work for Airport Traffic Control. "I'm sorry to tell you this Ms. Krebbs, but we did receive a distress call from the captain of that jet. Apparently the plane was experiencing engine trouble when it flew in to a storm. The other engine failed and the plane went down. I don't know if there were any survivors Ms. Krebbs. All attempts at contacting the captain have proved futile. There is a device on the plane that is used for tracking its whereabouts in situations like this. We have the coast guard in route now to find the plane. At this time there isn't any more that we can tell you. "Again I am sorry Ms. Krebbs."
Mildred murmured something incoherent and hung the phone up. She felt the tears welling up in her eyes and was powerless to stop them from falling. For the first time in fifteen years Mildred felt scared. Truly scared and alone. She looked at Bridgette and briefly recounted what Mr. Richardson had told her. Bridgette sat down and shook her head. "No Mildred, it can't be. They couldn't have crashed." Mildred looked at the young girl. She reminded her of Laura when she'd first came to the Remington Steele Agency to audit Mr. Steele. How long ago that was Mildred thought. No, Mildred's mind screamed. Don't you dare give up and act as if they are dead. If they are out there you damn well better find them. "You're right" Mildred said to no one in particular. Mildred jumped up and ran into Laura's office. She began rummaging through Laura's file drawers. Bridgette came in right behind her with a puzzled look on her face.
"Mildred what in the world are you doing? What are you looking for?" Mildred was on a mission as she searched Laura's office. "A map Bridgette, I'm looking for a map. We know that the plane went down before they reached their destination right? So it had to have gone down somewhere near Florida or in Florida right? I want to see what's out there. Bridgette, go call Mr. Richardson back and have him tell you exactly where he thinks there plane went down. We need a name Bridgette, the closest city they were near before they crashed. Then get on the phone and book us on the next plane to that city. We'll head for the Coast Guard's office once we're there. Either way we are going to help track them down Bridgette. I can't sit here on the other side of the country and just wait. I have to know what's going on. As soon as we know something, we will call Mrs. Holt, Daniel and the rest of Mr. & Mrs. Steele's family and let them know whatever we find out." "Sure thing Mildred" Bridgette said as she turned to exit the office.
Bridgette gasped as she looked up. Mildred heard the exclamation and also looked toward the door. Justin Williams was lounging against the door jam with a gun pointed at Bridgette's chest. "I'm sorry ladies but I'm afraid you aren't going anywhere at the moment. You see we need to have a little chat about my Uncle Thomas and the whereabouts of his twenty-two million dollars."