Chapter 29

Eighteen hours later, Amanda was lying in a hospital bed, Lee by her side. "Yes, Mother, I'm all right. The doctor said the pain shouldn't last too much longer but I have to be a little more careful," she repeated again. She closed her eyes and pinched the bridge of her nose in frustration as she continued, "No, Mother, I'm not in labor. I explained that. It's just Sciatica. Yes, I know your Great-Aunt Dori had it, too." Amanda nodded several times before she lied, "I'm sorry, Mother, the doctor just came in, so I think I'll be able to leave soon. I'll tell Lee. Okay, I love you, too." She dropped the phone on the receiver with a loud groan. She turned to Lee and said, "Mother asked me to remind you to pick up the dry cleaning on the way home. Mother said she would have gotten it herself but she was so worried, she forgot all about it and she said she needs her blue blouse for tomorrow."

Lee exhaled, "Glad to see the home front is still operating smoothly."

"Amanda, you were saying how Lee got there just in time?" Billy encouraged Amanda to finish.

Amanda smiled at Lee, patted his hand and announced, "That's right, he got there just in time. Poor Camilla was in the final stages of labor and I don't know what I would have done if he wasn't there." Lee cringed slightly as he recalled the details of the previous day.

Billy began laughing softly, "Please, go on."

"Well, just a few minutes after Lee got there, Camilla's water broke all over Lee's pant leg," she began to explain. Billy's laughter began to get louder as she continued, "Then I had to send him into the other room to get towels and a bulb syringe only he didn't know what that was, so I had to explain it to him. And poor Camilla, everything was happening so fast."

"Poor Camilla, what about my shirt?" Lee lamented only half-seriously.

Billy frowned, confused and asked, "What happened to your shirt?"

"What didn't happen to my shirt?" Lee replied with a sweep of his hands. "That'll never come out, I'm sure."

Amanda patted his hand again and assured him, "Don't worry. It's only a little bit of blood and fluid. I'm sure I can get that right out."

"Blood?" Billy laughed louder. "Fluid? Scarecrow?" His laughter became a full roar until Amanda added, "Yes, sir. He was a great midwife. Camilla thinks so, too. She was so happy she and her baby were safe, she's naming him after Lee. Well, sort of. Owen Lee Cintas. Has a nice little ring to it."

"Okay, okay, enough about what happened yesterday. I'm just glad the doctors said your condition isn't serious. After all, your mother would never let me hear the end of it, if it was," Lee tried to change the subject.

Beside the bed, Billy chuckled loudly again, "Sounds like Dotty is still worried."

Lee reached up to take Amanda's hand in his, "With good reason. Amanda should never have gone to that store alone."

"Sweetheart, we had no idea the manager of Maggie and Tuck's was involved with Dr. Schuster. You can't protect me everywhere I go," Amanda tried.

"Why the hell not?" Lee snapped quickly. "If I had been with you or if you had taken your mother, none of this would have happened."

Amanda squeezed his hand tightly and said, "And you wouldn't have been out helping Francine and Tom, so you never would have found that house when you did. Poor Camilla could be…well…we won't even talk about that."

Billy pursed his lips before he added, "Amanda's right. We never would have known, even with all the intel we found on Dr. Schuster, that Glennys Martin was the real mastermind behind all of this."

"Were you able to find Dr. Schuster?" Amanda asked.

Billy nodded, "We did, trying to board a plane for France. Turns out he left his passport at the office and when he made a stink at the gate, they arrested him on the spot. Saved us a lot of trouble trying to track him down. When will people learn?"

"Did he tell you why?" Lee questioned. He was still angry with himself for not protecting Amanda better and even more angry at Francine for asking for her help in the first place.

"I guess Ms. Martin found him at the International Adoption Summit last year. She was promoting the new store for the company when they got to talking. He had made a comment about how certain governments were shutting down international adoptions both in and out of the US. One thing led to another and they found a few buyers for black market babies. Dr. Schuster had access to medical records and mother profiles," Billy explained.

Amanda shook her head sadly, "But how does that go to murder?"

Billy shrugged his shoulders, "Your guess is as good as mine but I will say one thing. I'm glad they're off the streets and they can't harm anyone ever again. I don't see a judge allowing them the chance to see the light of day any time soon."

"Well, I'm glad I won't have to worry about Amanda being off on her own, alone again, because it's not going to happen," Lee stated firmly.

Amanda twisted her head in his direction, "What do you mean, 'it's not going to happen'?"

Lee raised his eyebrows and declared again, "It's not going to happen."

"Lee," Billy tried to get his attention, however, Amanda's angry retort drowned out his soft tone. "What are you going to do, keep me hostage in our home? Give me an armed escort everywhere I go?" she demanded.

Lee released her hand and stood up, "If I have to, then yeah."

"Amanda," Billy tried again.

"I'm not incapable of-" Amanda defended until Lee cut her off.

"If you weren't so incapable, then how did Schuster get you into the car? And then what…did he bribe you to drive over to that house? And maybe…just maybe…he offered you candy to lock you into that room with that poor girl?" Lee questioned sarcastically, his voice rising nearly an octave.

"Lee!" Billy snapped but the pair were oblivious to his presence.

Amanda pushed herself up into a higher sitting position as best she could before she yelled back, "Oh well…I suppose you would have done better with a gun pointed at your stomach?"

"See! That's exactly what I'm talking about!" Lee pointed at her angrily. "If you weren't alone, none of this would have happened! He never would have tried to take you on by himself. You'd be home right now, safe and sound, where you belong!"

Having heard enough, Billy barked out a sharp, "Scarecrow, that's it!" Amanda and Lee's heads snapped in Billy's direction simultaneously. "Now, I have heard some pretty stupid things in my career, but that is by far the stupidest!" Lee's mouth gaped open and closed like a fish out of water. He was completely at a loss for words as Billy continued to reprimand them.

"And you, Amanda! We all know how capable you really are, however, I think you are forgetting how often you find yourself in trouble for no apparent reason," Billy stated.

"But, sir," Amanda stuttered.

"No, I never want to hear this nonsense coming from the two of you again otherwise, I'll be forced to terminate your partnership. Permanently!" he added forcefully.

"Yes, sir," Amanda replied softly followed by a sheepish, "Sorry, Billy" from Lee.

"Now, I'm going to leave you two alone to work through this, but if I hear one more accusation or anything resembling one, that's it!" Billy informed them as he stormed over to the door. "Not going to happen," he muttered before adding loudly, "The only thing that's not going to happen is you two working together if you don't figure this out." He pulled the door open and stared angrily at the two of them. "And one more thing!" he added. "I'm glad you weren't hurt Amanda and I'm glad we got that riff-raff off the streets. I'll expect to see you in the office tomorrow Scarecrow and that's an order."

Lee nodded, "Yes, sir. And I'll be sure to have both my report and Amanda's all finished." Billy left the room leaving Lee and Amanda alone. Amanda picked at a small piece of lint on the sheet. Lee ran his hand through his hair and looked at his wife. "Amanda…I'm sorry. Billy's right. I was acting like a jerk just now."

"And I should have paid more attention to your feelings," Amanda replied softly as she reached up to touch his arm.

"You know I didn't mean any of that stuff, right?" Lee asked nervously.

Amanda rubbed his hand with hers and assured him, "I know. You say things like that when you get scared and I know you were scared. I was scared, too. But I knew you would find us in time and you did and we're safe just like I knew we would be. And Camilla's safe and her baby is safe…all because of you."

Lee sat on the edge of her bed and took her hands in his. "I don't want to think about what could have happened if I wasn't there to find you. I'm just glad I did." He leaned forward and brushed his lips against hers. "Now what?"

"Now? Now we go home and we start preparing for the girls. And I don't offer to help Francine in the field for a while," Amanda teased.

"You promise?" Lee asked sweetly.

"Only if you promise not to hold me captive," Amanda replied with a smile.