Katherine sat as still as possible in the waiting room chair.
After her mom had dropped that bombshell on her and Chip, Katherine had been terrified. The FBI? Why in God's name did the FBI have information on her? And James Reardon… he had definitely been the man that she and Chip had called and she had hung up on. Chip had confirmed it. How could this be a coincidence? How could this same man, from the FBI, have information both on her and Chip?
Katherine's mom had asked if she wanted to meet with this man. To find out what he knew.
Katherine almost said no. She almost didn't want to know. But she had to. She just had to know. So she said yes.
And now, here she was. Sitting in a molded plastic chair at the FBI's office in Ohio. Her stomach was just a complete knot of nerves at this point. And she could tell that she wasn't the only one feeling this way.
Her parents and brother sat in the chairs beside her, equally as stiff and equally as obviously nervous. Jonah was doing that thing of his where he rubbed his arm when he was nervous, and Mom and Dad were awfully quiet. It's not every day that one meets with the FBI, after all.
There was, however, one person missing: Chip.
Katherine simply couldn't think of a way to explain to her parents why her friend who she'd met less than six months ago needed to be at this incredibly private and personal experience. Chip had suggested she tell her parents the truth.
Katherine had thought about it for a minute, at least. But she vetoed it. If her parents knew the type of things they had been getting up to, she would be grounded for life.
She had promised a very disgruntled Chip to tell him everything she learned, but that, rightfully, wasn't quite enough for him. She knew his parents weren't going to go to the same lengths that hers did, and she didn't blame him for wanting to go with her. But it was just too risky.
Jonah had barely been allowed to go, even. Only after Katherine un-characteristically vouched for him did their parents relent and agree to him coming with them. Okay, after the vouching and after a lot of pouting from Jonah. But still.
Now, Katherine sat in the waiting room, staring blankly down at her phone. She had swiped it from Jonah in an attempt to create some familiar sibling bickering to ease the mood. Jonah didn't bite, though, and just let her have it. This was not going well.
Suddenly, the door slammed open, and Katherine almost jumped out of her skin. A man holding two bottles of Coca-Cola started to walk over to them, and Katherine got very nervous. What did he want? Was that Coca-Cola actually poison? What was-
Wait. He was wearing a maintenance staff sweatshirt. He worked here. Katherine relaxed a little bit.
"Hey, any of you want a Coca-Cola?" the man asked, "The darn vending machine gave me two and I only asked for one."
"Kath likes Coca-Cola," Jonah blurted, pointing over at her. Katherine blinked and held up her hand for no reason.
"Oh, good," said the man, "I keep asking people and nobody else seems to like it. You want the extra one, miss?"
He held the bottle out to her.
"If the machine's malfunctioning, you should call the company," Dad suggested, "And, erm, if you're giving that, we should really pay for-" He started to reach into his pocket for his wallet but the man cut him off.
"Naw, don't worry about it," sad the man, "I've put money in that useless thing and not gotten anything back, so it's pretty much already paid for. Enjoy the Coke, miss."
He handed Katherine the drink, and she took it gratefully. She was rather thirsty, and her throat was dry from all the nerves. But she couldn't help but be suspicious. Why now was she getting a free drink? As her Mom said, "nothing in life is truly free." What was the cost of the Coca-Cola?
Katherine looked down at the bottle. The lid was still attached to the plastic ring. Okay, so it didn't seen tampered with at least. She still found it a bit odd.
Still, though, she opened the bottle and took a sip. Tasted normal. And she wasn't choking and gasping for air, so that was good.
By the time she had finished the bottle, the door opened yet again, and a man in a prim and proper suit stepped out.
"Mr. and Mrs. Skidmore?" he called, and the family stood up. "Ah, there you are. I'm James Reardon, the one you're meeting with. Please, come with me."
The Skidmores followed him down a dark and closed off hallway with no windows. Creepy, but okay. What was also creepy was the silence that accompanied them. Nobody seemed willing to say anything, least of all Reardon.
Finally, though, they reached a door that had light behind it. So they weren't being taken to get murdered, Katherine thought amusedly. Good to know.
"Have a seat," said Reardon as he walked behind the desk and took a seat himself. There were only three chairs, though, and Katherine snatched the third one before Jonah could. Scowling, Jonah retreated to the corner to grab an extra chair, before settling it pointedly far away from Katherine's. Katherine almost laughed in spite of herself.
As soon as everyone was settled, Reardon cleared his throat. "I thought it was important to have this meeting," he said in a smooth and easily controlled voice. "When I got your call, Mrs. Skidmore, it was obvious that you had been given information that was… not appropriate."
Mom blinked, but then sat up straighter. "What do you-"
Reardon cut her off with a hand. "Let me finish," he said, as if he were the only one allowed to talk. Mom obliged, though. "I want you to know that we definitely aren't hiding information that you're entitled to. However, a certain level of… shall we say, care, needs to be taken in matters of national security-"
Dad interrupted him with an incredulous, "How is Katherine's background a 'matter of national security?'" Katherine agreed with his sentiment, though she supposed she could have been, like, the daughter of a crime-lord or something. But that chances of that were infinitesimally small.
Reardon's eye twitched, but he kept his voice calm and even. "That is not what I said. As far as I can see, your daughter's adoption was normal and routine. But you have to understand… there were a few government agencies involved with the case beforehand, and we require a certain level of secrecy to operate properly." Reardon sighed. "Honestly, you never should have been given my name."
"Hold on," said Dad, narrowing his eyes. His voice was no longer polite or well-mannered. He seemed to be losing his temper, and when Dad lost his temper, things went south really fast. "You're saying the FBI was involved in Katherine's life somehow before we adopted her? And that you aren't allowed to tell us what exactly that connection was?"
Katherine anxiously watched Reardon's face to see how he would react to Dad's accusation. Reardon didn't so much as twitch.
"Calm down, sir," said Reardon soothingly, "I know that the whole 'FBI' title is a bit scary- but we weren't involved. In actuality, it was the Immigration and Naturalization Services… although, I cannot tell you any more than that. I apologize."
He smiled patronizingly over the desk at them. Katherine's mind whirled. Immigration… Naturalization… did that mean-?
"Are you saying Katherine was born in another country?" Mom asked shrewdly.
Katherine flinched and despite herself said firmly, "I'm American!"
"You are, dear, you are," said Reardon, still in in that stupidly soothing voice. Katherine grimaced at being called "dear" by him. "Your paperwork is indeed in order. I personally checked." He smiled widely, and Katherine couldn't help but find it threatening. 'Yes, you paperwork is in order… for now, at least.'
So… Katherine might not be American after all. What did that mean for her? For her family?
Mom seemed to be having similar thoughts. "Was Katherine born here or not?" she asked bluntly.
"Does it matter?" Reardon asked, raising an eyebrow. "Would it change anything?" Katherine saw right through that. He was twisting their words to make it look like they wouldn't want her anymore if they found out she wasn't born in America. That wasn't true.
"Of course not!" Dad said quickly, "Not to us, at any rate… but it might matter to her."
And it did. Katherine wanted to know where she was from. She wanted to know everything she could. Her nerves were gone. Now it was only curiosity.
She opened her mouth to ask something, but Reardon cut her off. "Here, have hypothetical," he said calmly, now smirking as though he'd won something, "Imagine there is a baby smuggling ring. You know, people in poor countries have babies they can't afford, people in rich countries want babies they can't have. You know how it goes."
Dad flinched a bit. Reardon continued.
"It's a bad, bad thing. Rich people want what poor people have, and they'll do anything to get it… illegalities don't matter to them."
"We didn't do anything illegal!" Mom practically spit at the man.
Reardon's smirk only grew, if that was possible. "I wasn't accusing you," he said, "Guilty conscience, perhaps?"
Mom scowled at him, all pretenses of politeness and manners gone. "We adopted Katherine through a well-respected adoption agency," she said coldly. "Not through any smuggling rings."
Katherine had never seen Mom so upset before. So offended.
"Of course not." Reardon chuckled, as though he found this funny. "This is hypothetical, remember?"
Mom sat back in her chair, though it clearly took great effort on her part. Katherine saw her reach down and grip Dad's hand tightly, so tightly her knuckles turned white.
"So, again, hypothetically," Reardon went on, "the smuggling ring gets too greedy. They take risks; they get caught. And now the government has a surplus of illegally smuggled babies from other countries. What do they do with them? Do they deport them with the smugglers, or do they keep them?" Reardon leaned back in his chair and thoughtfully stroked his chin, as though actually pondering the question.
Deport… that meant to send back to another country, didn't it? Katherine had seen too many stories of children or teenagers who had been brought to America as babies being sent back to the countries they were brought from, because they were "illegal." Was Reardon threatening her with this?
Katherine's stomach churned. She did not like this at all.
"What country?" she asked numbly.
"Excuse me?" Reardon responded, appearing shocked that she dare speak to him.
"What country was it that I came from?" Katherine clarified. "I know what you're saying. I'm from a smuggling ring that got caught, and the government decided to send me to an adoption agency instead of deporting me back to who knows where. But what country? I just… I want to know."
Katherine was surprisingly not too fazed by the prospect of being from another country. She had always know she came from strangers, so what did it matter where the strangers themselves came from?
"I can't tell you," said Reardon, and Katherine can't even say she was disappointed. She had expected that.
"Who can, then?" she asked. If he couldn't tell her, then maybe somebody else could…
Reardon just shook his head. "Nobody, I'm afraid."
Her stomach churched again. So she would never know where she came from… Either he was lying, or he was telling the truth, and both options were equally horrible.
Katherine closed her eyes and buried her face in her hands.
"My daughter's question was perfectly reasonable," said Mom coolly. She had calmed down quite a lot, it seemed. Thankfully. "I don't see the reason for the secrecy. Smuggling busts are public news, aren't they?"
"No, not always," Reardon denied, "Sometimes, they are kept quiet… and, well, I can't reveal the reasons for that without revealing the secrets behind them, now can I?"
Mom and Reardon stared each other down.
"There are… ways for American citizens to get the information they want," Dad interjected, "Ways to find information they think should be public."
Now Dad joined the staring match. Katherine thought on his words for a moment. Were… were they threatening to sue? Mom and Dad weren't the type to do that at all… and yet, they were willing for her.
"You could," Reardon said lightly, "but I pray you reconsider. Yes, her documents seem fine now, but… well, we could go back one day and find some discrepancies. Have you folks heard of that Vietnamese girl who got deported recently? She was only fifteen, lived her whole life in the U.S., didn't know a lick of Vietnamese, but…" Reardon just shrugged. "She wasn't here legally. She'll be fine, I'm sure."
"Are you threatening us?" Mom ask slowly. She reached over for Katherine's hand and gripped it tightly. "Katherine is our daughter! You will not take her away from us!"
"Is she your daughter?" Reardon asked, "What if her real parents show up one day and want her back? What will you do then?"
Birth parents, Katherine mentally corrected. She was about to correct him out loud too, but then the churning in her stomach got worse, and she felt very ill.
"I- Bathroom!" She managed, standing up and stumbling over to the door.
"Oh, for heaven's sake!" Reardon snapped. Jonah and Mom, both pale themselves, watched her with worry in their eyes.
Much more sympathetically, Dad said, "Kath, aim for the trashcan over there-"
"No!" Reardon interrupted, as though her puking in there would personally kill him. Bathroom is two doors on the left! Now- just go!"
Katherine didn't need to be told twice. She hurried down the hallway, two doors on the left, and threw open the bathroom door. She fumbled with the lights and located the toilet, before leaning over and hurling. Everything from the Coca-Cola to whatever she'd eaten for lunch came up. She stood up and flushed the toilet.
God, her mouth tasted awful. Katherine breathed in and out for a moment, then turned back to the sink and washed her hands. She still felt clammy and ill, but at least she no longer had the urge to hurl.
When she was confident she could go back in there, she opened the door and immediately froze. Outside was a man.
"Sorry," the man said, "That wasn't supposed to make you throw up."
hello everyone, i am SO SO SO SORRY. i missed that one month promise by like three months and im really sorry, i have no excuse. i was pretty busy, but not busy enough that i never had time to write. my computer was having difficulties but im about to get a new one so hopefully the wait wont be as long next time. im sorry again. i hope you enjoy the chapter either way!