Chapter 12

Lee ran his hands through his hair nervously. This just totally complicated everything. He had no idea why Lauren was just grabbed, no idea where they could have possibly taken her and in the midst of her kidnapping, her infant son was left behind.

"Amanda, what are we going to do with… him?" Lee gestured toward the baby. He had never spent much time around children, never mind infants. He was feeling very uncomfortable.

Amanda bounced the baby for a few seconds, checking to make sure he was okay. "Lee, he has a name…. Remember…. It's Charlie. And as far as what we are going to do with him, well that's a decision we need to make fast. I don't want to turn him over to the local police. They'll just put him in Child Protective Services. We can't do that to him… or to Lauren."

Lee looked at his wife, "You're right. I don't want to send him to CPS either. That's not fair to Lauren. After all, she probably doesn't even know why she was grabbed."

Amanda just smiled at him, then turned her attention back to Charlie. "We can't all fit in your car. He needs to be in his seat. Why don't I follow you over to the hotel in Lauren's car. Then we can go through it, see if there is anything in here or her purse that might give us a clue as to who those men were."

Lee realized she was right. "Ok, I'll meet you at the hotel and then we can figure out what to do with him," Lee nodded his head toward Charlie.

"Charlie, his name is Charlie," Amanda sounded annoyed.

"Sorry... Charlie," Lee replied.

Amanda leaned back into the car to buckle Charlie back into his carseat. Standing up, she carefully closed the door. "Lee?" she called as she opened the driver's door. Lee stood and looked at her over the top of his car. "Thank you." Lee smiled back as he slid himself into his car.

The drive to the hotel was quick and uneventful. They parked near the rear of the hotel, out of sight of the street. Amanda climbed out of Lauren's car and immediately took her purse, the diaper bag and a backpack that was on the front seat and put them on the trunk. She peeked into the back seat where she could see Charlie, sound asleep. She motioned to Lee to get closer quietly. Lee started to roll his eyes but as soon as he saw Amanda's face he made a conscious move to stop.

"We should go through the bags inside, but maybe before we take him out we can check the glove box and the console in the center. Maybe there's something in there," Amanda pointed toward the front seat.

Lee nodded in agreement, "Good idea. I'm not going to wake him if I sit in the front, am I?"

Amanda looked at the baby again then back at Lee, "I think you might be ok for a few minutes anyway. He looks like he's out pretty good. My boys used to have that same look when they were babies."

Lee looked at her and peeked at the baby. "What look is that?" He had no idea what she was talking about.

Amanda smiled, "See how his mouth is completely relaxed but then his lips are moving just a little bit? Now watch his eyes…. They should move around then flutter partially open before they close again."

Lee tilted his head for a moment, then turned his gaze to the baby. Sure enough, his motions were exactly as Amanda had described, right down to the little movement of his bottom lip. "So, I'm ok to sit up front?" he confirmed.

"As long as you're quiet, yes. I don't know how soundly he sleeps so the quicker we can get him inside, the better," Amanda explained.

Lee opened the passenger door and instead of getting inside the car, he removed all the contents of the glove box as well as the center console, which turned out to be very little. Nodding toward Amanda, he took everything and dropped it into the front pocket of the backpack. He closed the door as quietly as he could, making sure it was closed tight.

Amanda watched Charlie, trying to decide their next move. She had no idea if he would wake up when they brought him inside and then what. Taking a chance, she opened the car door and carefully unbuckled the seat belt, weaving it through the slots on the sides to separate it from the seat. Turning the seat, she was able to lift the two out without jostling him too much. Outside of the car, she placed the seat on the middle of the trunk so it wouldn't move. She closed the back door quietly, making sure all the doors were now locked.

Lee stood, transfixed watching her. He couldn't believe she was able to extricate both the baby and the seat out of the car without waking him up. Quietly he asked, "Do you want me to carry him up and you get the bags?"

Amanda raised an eyebrow at Lee, "Do you think you can? I forgot how heavy they get in those seats."

"Do I think I can? Amanda, I'll have you know I've carried plenty of grown adults out of places I won't even mention and you're asking me if I can carry a baby in a car seat up to our hotel room? Please," he scoffed at her.

Amanda nodded, "Okay, don't say I didn't warn you. It's a long way up to our room." She collected the diaper bag, backpack and her purse and began to walk away.

Lee muttered, "Warn me… Yeah, I'll warn you…."

Once they reached their room, Lee was finding it awkward juggling the position of the car seat while he tried to unlock the door. "Amanda, how did you do this with a toddler? This is nearly impossible." Lee announced.

Amanda didn't say a word, she just slipped her arms under the seat and cradled it as Lee opened the door then flexed his harms to try to bring back the circulation. Placing the seat down on the middle of the bed, she checked on Charlie and sure enough, he was still sleeping.

"Well, it looks like he transitions well, so that's a plus," she stated. She dropped the backpack on the small table in the room.

Placing the diaper bag on the bed, she opened it to check for formula, diapers, wipes and any other necessities for the baby. Shaking her head, she said, "Lee, I'm going to have to go to a drug store. There are only a few diapers in here." She then pulled out a small canister of powdered formula. She opened the top and commented again, "And formula it looks like. Glad she isn't breastfeeding. That would have made this very difficult." She found a few small, clean bottles inside the bag as well. Checking the pockets she didn't find any medications or creams that made her think Charlie was sick in any way.

"Why don't you make me a list and I'll go to the store. You can stay here with …. Charlie," he tried to emphasis the baby's name for her.

Amanda shook her head in disbelief. "Really. You are going to go to a drug store to buy diapers, wipes and baby formula? Do you have any idea what you're doing?"

"Amanda, it can't be that hard, I mean diapers… what, a small size? And how many different kinds of formula are there?" Lee thought he was so smart.

Amanda just laughed, "You have no clue. I'll go to the store. It will only take me a few minutes, I saw one at the end of the block. I can even walk there. You should call Billy about that plate number. And then we need to decide what to do next."

Writing down what little she knew about the license plate, she handed it to Lee. She gave him a kiss on his cheek, patted him on the arm and said, "I'll be back in about 20 minutes."

Lee looked at her, then at the sleeping baby. "Amanda, what do I do if he wakes up?"

Amanda just smiled as she closed the door, "Pick him up."

Lee ran his hand through his hair as he nervously watched her close the door. "Ok, little guy, just stay asleep until she gets back and you and I will get along just fine."