She was in a bedroom again, and it was dark. Sitting up in bed, she saw the crib in the corner and Ro knew which world this was. Carefully, she slid out of bed and went to look at Zee. Sleeping, all snug in bed, sugar plums probably dancing in his head.
How could she help this one? There was no way she could let those parentals give him to that group. There had to be something. If he was older, Ro knew she could have simply ran away with him, but she couldn't do that to a kid as young as this Zee. There was no way she, in any world or form, could care for such a little guy.
Someone had to do something, though.
And then, there was someone. Bennett. This Bennett was nice, cared about them. Surely he'd do something. She'd call him.
Her, willinglycalling Bennett, for help. Welcome to the Twilight Zone. Cue the funny music.
With one last look at Zee, made sure he was all tucked up, Ro slipped out of the bedroom and down the dim hallway. It took her a few missed turned, but eventually she was downstairs, and then into a kitchen. Daring a risk, she flipped the light on and started going through drawers as silently as she could. Bennett's number was bound to be written down somewhere. I mean, if she was half the trouble she was anywhere else, his number was probably on speed-dial.
With that thought, she quickly went to the vid-phone and checked the numbers. None were there, but there, in the recently called list, there it was. Right there.
She was about to press the redial when she noticed the names above his, the contact of Brothers' Day and whatnot. And then, almost mocking at how it was sitting in the open, on the shelf next to books was a data pad. Ro picked it up and started to scroll, reading as fast as she could, and it made her eyes widen and her temper raise.
Oh, Zee would still be under the Paulnos' care, officially, but this group was going to pay more money than Ro would ever see in her life so he could spend time at their "camp" and "school". And if Ro remembered anything about fostering, unless it was an official adoption, the Paulnos could get some sort of stipend for caring for him. Except they wouldn't be. They'd be double-dipping.
She slapped the datapad off and without a thought dialed Bennett's number, even before she could remember she was essentially calling her enemy. Except here, he wasn't.
However, there was no answer at his line. It was his office line, and Ro was somewhat surprised that Bennett didn't live to work. Now she didn't know what do to. She had to tell him, now, because she might never get a chance. She couldn't risk just leaving a message, because he had to see this now, before the Paulnos could deny and call her a liar.
Her eyes ran across the room until she remembered herself. Quickly, she punched in the code for the directory on the vid-phone, then asked for a listing of Bennett. It returned a list of over twenty, and Ro struggled to remember Agent Bennett's first name. It only came to her when she remembered his son's name was James Jr., and she shorted the list to James Bennett. The results were narrowed to three, and now Ro was faced with a conundrum. Which Bennett was her Bennett?
In the end, she closed her eyes and randomly picked one. There were only three, and she'd just disconnect if it was the wrong one.
She stood nervous, shifting her feet and twisting the pad in her hands as well as looking over her shoulder, suddenly fearful of being found out, when she was so close. Uncountable rings later Ro was seriously getting worried, and she almost disconnected before a face finally appeared. But when it did, she almost laughed with relief.
It was her Agent Bennett, gruff and angry, angry at her. He looked like he had just gotten out of bed, which was probably the case. "Ms. Rowan! Do you know what time it is?" he snapped at her.
"Umm, no," she admitted, but then she quickly interrupted. "You've got to do something! They're going to give Zee to Brothers' Day!"
"What are you talking out, Ms. Rowan?" he snapped.
She waved the datapad. "It's right here! Those jerks are going to send him away, so they can get a whole lot of money! It's right here!" she said, holding out the pad as her proof.
Bennett was looking at her with sharp eyes. "Ms. Rowan, do you know what you are accusing the Pau—"
"I've got proof, right here. See! They even signed it!" She flipped it on and pressed it against the vid-phone screen. "You can't let them do that to him!"
He was quiet for a moment before he said in a very steely voice, "Ms. Rowan, kindly remove the datapad from the screen."
She did so, looking at him. This was it.
He was looking so like her Agent Bennett, even in the night clothes and frumpled hair. Cross and angry. But Bennett was always fair and did what was right, and he really only was looking out for her well-being, even though he was totally wrong about how dangerous Zee was. "Ms. Rowan," he finally said, his fingers tap-tap-tapping, "I'll be there in fifteen minutes. Please stay put."
She deflated with relief and managed a weak smile. "No problem."