Knock! Knock!

    Laura hopped out of bed and rushed to the door.  Maybe it was Mr. Hansinger, she’d left the hotel and room number with his secretary in case he got back into town before her flight left.

    “Who is it?”

    “Laura, open up.  It’s me, Tony.”

    “Tony?”

    “Hey, gorgeous.”

    “Tony, what are you doing here?  How did Mr. Hansinger get in contact with you?”

    “Can I come in?”  He asked looking her over.

    Laura hadn’t realized she wasn’t wearing her robe.  She was wearing a chemise and her hair was hanging loose.  She looked very sexy to him.

    “I’m sorry.”  Laura stepped aside to let him in.  She watched Tony walk over to the bed and sit down.

    “How did Mr. Hansinger get in contact with you?”  She repeated.

    “Mr. Hansinger?”

    “Your client.”  Laura finally realized how his eyes lingered more on her bottom portion then her face and eyes.

    Looking down, she gasped when she realized she wasn’t wearing her robe. “Tony, excuse me for a minute.”  She stepped over to the bathroom blushing.  It was a good thing Remington was in Los Angeles.  If he walked in on this scene, he would surely kill Tony...and maybe her.

    A few minutes later Laura returned wearing a t-shirt, a pair of jeans and her hair in a ponytail.

     “Okay, Tony. Talk.”

     "You put your hair up.”  He said disappointed.

     “Forget my hair.  Talk!  What are you doing her?  Where is Mr. Hansinger?  What was so important?  And, why haven’t we heard anything from you in the last 72 hours?”  She watched, as Tony stood then walked over to the window.

     "Laura, what would you say if I told you I love you?”  He looked back at her and continued when she didn’t respond.  “If I told you Mr. Hansinger is a guy I have been doing business with for the past three years and now wants to hire me full time.  That the house you saw yesterday was the one I brought from him, so you and I could build a home together.”

     “Tony, I would say you better be joking.”

     “Laura, I told you I wasn’t going to give up on you.”  He watched as she studied him to see if he was telling the truth.

     “Please tell me you aren’t serious.”

     “You can leave him.  We can start over here in North Carolina.”

     “I can’t leave him.  We have a daughter together AND I LOVE HIM!” She started pacing.

     “Laura, we can have kids too and I know you love me.”

     She stopped and glanced at the clock.  9:25 a.m.  She was going to miss her flight.  There was no way she could check out and make it to the airport in time to catch a 10:30 flight.  Looking at Tony, she walked over to the phone.

     “We don’t have time to talk about this now.  I have to call Remington and let him know I will be missing my flight then reschedule.”

     "Laura...”

     “Tony!  This is not going to happen okay?  I have a husband and daughter back home that I love.  I made my decision in London and you need to respect that.”  Laura said firmly.

     He took the phone out of her hand.  She froze almost afraid of what he would do next.  She was relieved when he said:

     “You still have time to make your flight.”

     She looked at him warily.

     “The hotel did an express checkout on you, so all you have to do is call down and tell them you’re gone.  I have my car downstairs so I can drive you.”

     He noticed she wasn’t convinced.  “I promise Laura I will get you back to Steele...and Tracy.”

     “Okay.  Let me call him.”  She started to dial.

     “No time.  Call the front desk and tell them you are checking out then pack.”

     “Okay.”

 * * * * * * * *

     “What time did she check out?”  Remington listened to the clerk as she told him Laura was no longer registered and that she couldn’t give him the checkout time.

     “Can you tell me what cab company took her to the airport?”

     The clerk had told him that she worked in a busy hotel and could not keep track of all the guests who checked out and what cab company they used.

     “Thank you.”

     He hung up and looked out the window.  Mildred walked in.

     “Boss, chill.  Laura will be home soon.”

     “Mildred, I can’t shake this feeling of doom.  I was okay when I talked to her this morning, but since six something I have had this awful feeling something is wrong.”

     “Boss, Laura can take care of herself.”

     “I know Mildred.  I know.”   He offered her a smile.

     “Do you need some more time before I send in Mr. Farrelly?”

     “No, you can send him in.”

     “Okay.”

     “Mildred, have you heard anything from Anthony?”

     “He left a message on the office’s machine that he will be back in two days. Told me to tell Laura not to be mad about him not calling in.”

     “What did you come up with when you did the search on Mr. Hansinger?”

     “Nothing unusual.  He wanted Anthony to investigate some new business associates.  That’s his trademark.  He never closes on a deal until he has a background check done.”

     “Okay. Send Mr. Farrelly in.”

 * * * * * * * *

     “Laura, will you please say something?”  Tony said driving down the hill faster than he should.

     “Will you slow down?”  She commented reaching for her seat belt.

     “I promised I’ll get you back home to Steele.”  His words were forced and bitter.

     They were quiet for a moment then Laura had to know.

     “Why Tony?  Why?... Now, there is no way you can continue at the agency.”

     “Laura, do you know how hard it was for me to watch you with him.  To watch you leave with him almost every day, knowing you two sometimes made love in your offices...during business hours.  Do you know what it was like to hear you moan and groan from his touch?”

     “Tony I really thought you were cool with us being friends.”

      “Laura, I told you how I felt in London.  You knew I had...have strong feelings for you.  I love you Laura and you love me.”  He demanded speeding up a little.

     “Will you please slow down!”  She adjusted in her seat feeling very uncomfortable with the speed he was going.   He was already going 35 mph above the speed limit.  “We are going to get in an...”

     Before Laura could finish an eighteen?wheeler came around the corner and Tony lost control of the car.  She screamed and held her arms up in front of her face.

 * * * * * * * *

    The agency’s door opened and a tall blonde walked in.  She stood in the entryway looking at the small crowd.  She saw Mildred who was holding a baby and Abigail who was sitting on the couch with a brunette with curly hair and two girls and a boy sitting beside her.  The baby Mildred was holding had to be the child she heard Michael and Laura had.  She looked down then looked up again and saw Daniel and another short man standing by the door she believed was Laura’s office.  Everyone had looked as though they had been crying except for the two men.  But, Daniel looked like he lost his best friend...or son.  She recalled when she’d heard the news from Chalky that Daniel was Michael’s father.  She was pleased and wondered about it at one point or another.  Especially when she and Daniel hooked up with that little hoax involving the Earl.

     But, where were Linda and Michael?  Michael had to be alright.  When Daniel called her in Monte Carlo, he told her to get to Los Angeles as soon as possible.  That Michael needed her.  When she didn’t find them at Michael’s apartment, she decided to try the agency.

      “Daniel.”  She said walking over toward him.

      “Felicia.   Excuse me Donald.”  Daniel embraced Felicia then pulled her to the side.

      Daniel noticed Mildred and Abigail looking over with curious eyes while Frances was busy tending to her youngest daughter.

      “What’s going on Daniel?”  Felicia asked noticing the older man looked tired and worried.

      “Laura was killed in a plane crash.”  Daniel watched as Felicia took in the important news.  She was pretty good at hiding her reactions, so he couldn’t tell how she was taking the news.  “Harry is a wreck.”

      “What happened?”  She asked looking over at the baby who was starting to cry.

      “She went to North Carolina for a case.  The plane she was coming back on crashed.  There were no survivors and no bodies were recovered.”

      “Are you sure she was...”

      “Anthony Roselli.  One of Harry’s workers investigated things.  She was on the flight.”  He sighed then coughed.

      “Felicia, you and Harry...well...I have tried to get through to him.  To get him to talk...to open up, but he has already erected a thick wall around himself. Abigail is talking about taking Tracy back to Connecticut.”

      Felicia looked over at Mildred and the baby.  “That will completely destroy Harry, but if he stays withdrawn, no Judge will argue with her.”

      “So, why don’t you charm her out of idea ‘til Michael recovers himself?”

      Felicia looked over at Abigail and the brunette she was sitting beside.

      “I tried to talk to her, but she is grieving over her daughter’s loss and she’s not thinking clearly.”

      “What do you expect me to do?”

      “Felicia, you are the only other woman beside Laura that had a way with my boy.”

      Felicia saw the pleading in his eyes.  It couldn’t hurt to talk to Michael. She didn’t have an idea what she was going to say, but she couldn’t say no to Daniel.

      “Where is he?”  She followed Daniel glaze to Remington’s office.

      Felicia walked over to the door and tapped on it twice.  When she didn’t get a reply she walked in.  Remington was standing in the dark looking out of the window.  She decided to leave the lights off since there was enough light from the window.  She walked over to him and placed a hand on his shoulder.  He looked at her and she could tell he had been crying.  It startled her.  Out of all the years she had known him, she had never seen him shed a single tear.  Not even the time when they thought Daniel was killed.  She knew he cared for Laura, but she really didn’t know it was this deep.

      Looking him over using the light shining in, her eyes confirmed what Daniel had told her.  Michael was a wreck.  His eyes had lost all life.

      "I’m sorry Mic...Remington.”  She embraced him.   She noticed there was no life in his hug either.  “What can I do to help you?”

 * * * * * * * *

      “Doctor is she going to be okay?”  Tony stood at the window of Laura’s hospital room.

      “I believe so.  She has no internal bleeding and nothing is broken.  The lab is still working on some blood work for me.”

      “Why won’t she wake up?”

      “Her system is in shock.  It...She needs to rest.  We did find a little swelling in the brain area but nothing out of the norm.  Once the swelling goes down, she will gain consciousness then we will know what damage has been caused from it.”

      “Damage?”

      “Wrong choice of words.  But, Mr. Micelli, I must prepare you.  There was a forceful impact when your car hit that 18-wheeler.  She could suffer from a minor case of amnesia or a more permanent case.  We won’t have an answer until she gains consciousness and is in stable conditions.  She is resting comfortably and I’m happy with that at the moment.”

      Tony looked at Laura.  Well, at least she didn’t have tubes running around and out of her body.  He couldn’t believe it.  He came out of the accident without a scratch.  Laura on the other hand wasn’t so lucky.  All he wanted to do was to make her happy, to be the man in her life.