Chapter 16
Amanda sat uncomfortably across from Beth Stein, the social worker for The Family Heart Adoption Agency. Beside her, Francine sat on the edge of her seat, her lips pressed together tightly, trying to hold back her sharp tongue. In her lap were a small collection of pamphlets about the agency, the staff and a questionnaire.
"Ms. Keane, I need more information from you in order to determine if you are a candidate for our agency," the stern woman stated firmly.
Amanda sighed, "All right, what do you need to know." She could feel the babies begin to move within her body.
"Let's start with the obvious question. Why are you giving your child up for adoption?" Mrs. Stein questioned her.
"As I said before, I am not in a position to give this baby everything it deserves," Amanda replied.
Mrs. Stein tapped her pen on the desk, "And what exactly do you mean by that?"
Amanda glanced over at Francine, shifted in her seat, and said softly, "I simply don't have the financial means to give the baby everything it needs or will need. I know there are families out there that can do that."
"And how does the father of the child feel about all of this?" Mrs. Stein continued.
"He… he… he doesn't know about the baby," Amanda stuttered. She shifted slightly and unconsciously rubbed her belly with one hand.
"What do you mean he doesn't know? You didn't tell him?" Mrs. Stein snapped.
Amanda shook her head and looked at Francine again. "What Ms. Keane is trying to say is she isn't sure who the father is," Francine inserted.
Mrs. Stein folded her arms and sat back. "Explain," she demanded.
Amanda groaned inwardly before she said, "It happened after a night of drinking at a bachelorette party. I'm not sure who he was."
Mrs. Stein leaned forward onto her forearms on the desk. "Ms. Keane, should we assume you have a drinking problem then?"
"What? No," Amanda immediately responded.
"And should we assume that your child may be born with some sort of reliance on alcohol as well? Is that why you are so quick to put our child up for adoption?" Mrs. Stein continued her admonishments.
"No!" Amanda snapped.
"Why would you even suggest something like that?" Francine questioned angrily.
Mrs. Stein sat back again and eyed the two women, "Well, with Ms. Keane's advanced age, lack of stability, drinking issues… all the dots connect."
Francine stood swiftly, "We thought after all the good things my cousin told us that this was a caring and loving facility, that you would be willing to help but I know she was clearly mistaken."
Mrs. Stein folded her arms across her chest and asked, "And how would your cousin know anything about us?"
"Because her daughter, Tina Chandler, spoke highly of you before she was… before that horrible incident occurred," Francine dangled the victim's name.
With a stone face, Mrs. Stein stood slowly and stated, "We do not discuss any clients, past or present, with anyone, family or not. Now, I don't think you're a good fit for our families, Ms. Keane. Good luck to you."
Amanda followed Francine into the hall before turning back to Mrs. Stein, still standing at her desk. "Mrs. Stein, I'd just like to say one thing. You don't know me and you certainly don't know anything about me. All you know is what you assume after just a few minutes' interview and well… you know what they say about assuming anything." She stormed off before the tears started streaming down her cheeks.
Outside, Amanda stopped and took a few deep breaths in an attempt to calm her frayed nerves. "I'm so sorry, Amanda," Francine apologized. "I had no idea that would happen. I never would have-"
Amanda reached out and touched Francine's arm to silence her, "It's okay. You didn't know. I think I'm more upset with the thought that that woman might treat other women the same way. I know the truth and I know Lee loves us very much but there really are women out there who have no one. If that's the face of this organization, well, I feel very bad for them."
Francine put her arms around Amanda and gave her a gentle squeeze. "You are one hell of a woman, Amanda. Let's get back to the agency and write up our findings for today." They drove to the agency, laughing about the latest Fred Fielder and Abernathy stories.
In the Q Bureau, Lee was pacing angrily. When he heard the rattle of the keys in the door, he jerked it open. "Where the hell have you been?" he demanded.
With wide eyes, Amanda glanced at Francine. "We were working on-" she began.
"Working? As in, out in the field?" Lee roared.
"Lee, it wasn't like that," Amanda tried again.
"Oh, so explain to me what it really was like because maybe I don't understand. I mean, two agents, one of which is supposed to be on light duty only because she's oh… say… six months pregnant with TWINS I might add were working somewhere not in the building. But that's not out in the field, I guess," he snapped.
Francine stepped further into the office and held her hand up, "Scarecrow, you need to take it down a notch. I simply asked Amanda to help me. She was never in any danger."
"Never in any danger? Francine, that's a crock and you know it. We're in danger any time we walk outside, for crying out loud!" he debated.
"What I mean is, all she did was accompany me to two offices to help with a couple of interviews," Francine clarified.
"Interviews, huh," Lee sat on the edge of his desk, his lips pursed tightly together waiting for more information.
Amanda dropped her purse on the desk and held out the pamphlets they had collected. "See. That's what we did. Just get more information about the two adoption agencies in question. Nothing more," she tried to assure him.
Lee snatched the papers from her hand and flipped through them. "Fine. How did you get this information?" he questioned. Amanda sat on the couch and smoothed her skirt nervously without offering an explanation. Lee looked at Francine for an answer.
"I asked Amanda to pose as a potential client," Francine stated softly.
"You did what?!" Lee snapped.
Louder, Francine repeated herself, "I asked Amanda to pose as a potential client. I thought-"
"You thought what? That you would use my wife as a mark?!" he shouted angrily.
"No. I just figured if Amanda posed as a potential client, we'd be able to get more information than if we went in there flashing badges," Francine insisted.
"Oh really? So putting my pregnant wife on display, pretending to be… to be… what exactly? An unwed mother? Just so you can get in the door?" Lee shouted louder.
Amanda stood and put her hand on Lee's arm, "Lee, just calm down. All we did was talk to the agency counselors they have screening the mothers. Nothing more."
Lee scrubbed his face with one hand, the muscle in his cheek twitching wildly. "And what did you learn?"
Amanda squared her shoulders and stated, "Well, we learned two of the victims definitely went to the agencies and both women reacted when we mentioned their names. Francine and I were going to go over all the pamphlets we received."
Lee shook his head, "And what story did you give to these counselors?"
"That Amanda wasn't sure who the father was and she wasn't in a position to take care of the baby," Francine admitted.
With a sharp nod, Lee stated, "I see." He clenched his jaw tightly as he swept his gaze from Francine to Amanda. "And you were okay with this?"
"No," Amanda insisted. "But I understood why Francine needed me, Lee. She wasn't going to let anything happen to me. It was just a simple way to get in the door without raising any red flags. You would have done the same thing if it were you."
"Amanda, I never would have used my pregnant wife as bait," Lee stated firmly before he stood and opened the office door.
Amanda watched him and quickly asked, "Where are you going?"
Lee turned in the doorway, "I need to cool off, so I'm heading down to the shooting range."
"Lee?" Amanda called to him.
"Let it go, Amanda," Francine reached out to touch her. "He's right, I never should have asked you to go."
Amanda gave her a weak smile, "No, you're wrong. I knew the risks but I also know it's important to find the people who murdered these young women. And the only way to do that is to get information. Now, I can't go running around, chasing the bad guys, like you and Lee and Tom can do. But I can talk to people and I can use the computer to confirm what we find. So, I did what I knew I could do. I may not have liked the scenario because it meant I had to lie to those women but if it helps find who's responsible then I would do it all over again."