A car ride tells a lot about someone, but and interview tells you even more
Isabella hopped down from the chair. I looked at he. She was small and thin. Her hair was tied in a messy bun and her shirt was a little worn. She grabbed her suitcase and took out her stuffed panda.
I looked at it. She hugged it close to her and zipped up the case and stood it up.
"Lets go," she said to me in a soft voice.
Peter got the case and I picked her up in my arms. She was light and soft.
"You can call me Bella… If you want"
"Okay. I will."
We walked to the car and Peter put he case in the trunk.
"Do you want to sit on my lap or on the seat? We don't really have a car seat." I asked.
"What ever works." Bella replied.
She sat in the middle in the back next to me. I put my arm around her and she fell asleep.
I wish Kate had told me about Bella. Bella was a blessing in my world. I thought that I had lost Kate and Bella, but, I hadn't. She held her panda close to her.
Peter put on his Bluetooth to keep quiet and to not wake Bella.
"Dianna it's me." He said into the headpiece. "I have an update on our case. Turns out that Neal has a daughter. I don't know how, but I will talk to them."
Peter listed to what Diana had to say. I stopped listening.
I kissed the top of Bella's head and rested my head against the set. And fell asleep.
We got back to the office and I carried her.
I sat down at my desk and held her sleeping body close to me.
Diana came over to me.
Bella woke up.
"She' beautiful. She looks just like you." Diana smiled at me.
"What's your name?" Bella asked
"Diana Barrigan,"
"Isabella Sara Caffrey," Bella smiled at Diana. When I looked to see, I saw my smile. Not just any smile, but my Charm Smile.
I laughed and Bella laughed with me. Peter got up and came over to us.
"I see that you have met Diana. Come on, we need to get things sorted out. Hughes is waiting for us."
I got up and put Bella on the floor to walk with me. I held her hand as we walked up the stars.
We walked into the conference room and sat down.
Peter looked at me with a slight smile.
Hughes began to talk in a calm voice to Bella who sat on my lap.
"How did this all start?" Hughes asked.
"When my mom passed away, she told me that if anything happened to her to go to Neal. Well I was trying to find him but before I could I was placed in a foster home to a man named Allen Charman. It might be an alias; I'm not sure. Anyway, he had me smuggle a bunch of artifacts to different countries."
Hughes looked at her passport.
"Very extensive. You have been to all these places?" he asked.
She looked at me and nodded.
"Can I go on with the story?" Bella asked.
Peter nodded.
"Well, Allen said that if I told anyone what he was up to, that he would kill me. He also said to not get caught by TSA. Well I did. When he saw that I got caught, he ran. The TSA agent gave me a full body pat down and saw that I had the diamonds."
"Where were they going to?" I asked.
"Myanmar. A currier was going to meet me when I got off the plane and take me into the hotel where I was supposed to stay. The next morning I was to return to Charman and give him a half of a million dollars. But now he is desperate to get the half a million and me. I think he works for a guy named Robert Roux."
Hughes looked at me and then at peter.
"Damn it!" Hughes growled.
"What!" Peter and I said at the same time.
"Roux is one of the biggest child smugglers and to get mixed up with him is not a good thing." Hughes explained. "Your foster parent was Allen Charman?"
"Yes," Bella answered.
"Well, I will get some information on Roux in the mean time peter I want you to get a DNA test to make sure that Bella and Neal are really related."
I looked at Hughes.
"That's really not necessary." I started but peter cut me off.
"Neal, we are doing to help you and to get you full custody of Bella. We have a lab on the 15 floor and we will do it there."
"Okay." I mumbled.
I got up and peter walked with me down the stairs.
I hope you are enjoying the story. The next chapter will be up in a bit. R&R!