Chapter 13

Amanda walked the short distance to the drug store. It didn't take her long to find the same brand of formula that was in the diaper bag. The diapers were a different story. There were a few more choices from when her boys were little. Approximating his weight, Amanda chose a brand she knew as well as extra wipes. Taking her purchases to the front register, the young girl behind the counter began to ring her up. "Aw, you have a little one? How old is he?" she asked.

Amanda blushed, not sure how to answer her. Deciding she could tell her a little white lie, she rambled, "Just about 4 months. He's with my husband back at our hotel. Didn't pack enough supplies. Last time I trust him to do it."

The girl laughed, "I'm sure. We hear that a lot. Are you here on vacation?"

Amanda smiled, "Sort of. My husband and I are working but trying to squeeze in some time too."

"Well, enjoy your stay," the girls said, handing back Amanda's change. Taking her purchases, she walked back toward the hotel.

At the hotel, Lee had called Billy, using the encryption code he had suggested. In the code, he gave him the number to the hotel, the partial plate number and the make of the vehicle. Hanging up the phone, he looked over at the baby, still sleeping. He paced back in forth at the end of the bed, trying to decide what to do next. They couldn't go investigating with an infant in tow, especially where said infant's mother was kidnapped. Running his hand through his hair again, he made a decision he hoped would be the right one.

Picking up the phone, he dialed Harry's number. Harry picked up the phone on the 3rd ring, sounding out of breath. "Harry, It's Lee."

"Lee, my boy, I didn't expect to hear from you this soon. Tell me, did you find her? Did you find Lauren?" Harry sounded hopeful on the phone.

"Yeah, Harry, about Lauren. Listen, we… we need you to come to Virginia Beach. We need your help with something. You're the only one that can do this," Lee explained. He didn't know what to tell him about Lauren's kidnapping or about Charlie. I should have waited for Amanda. She's better at this than I am.

Harry's tone changed immediately, "Lee, is something wrong. Did you find her? Tell me, please."

"Not over the phone. I need you here… we need you here. How fast can you be here?" Lee said firmly.

"Christina took the car, she won't be back until tomorrow morning. Noon, at the earliest?" Harry said.

Lee shook his head, trying to figure out what they were going to do until then. Realizing he had no other options, he conceded, "Noon, I'll book you a room. You're going to need it."

Harry was worried, "Lee, please, be honest. Is she ok?"

Lee couldn't lie to him so he simply replied, "I don't know, Harry, I don't know. See you tomorrow at noon." Hanging up the phone, he looked at Charlie again who was just beginning to stir in his seat. "Just hang on a little longer. Amanda will be here soon. I hope."

Lee was startled when the phone in the room rang. Charlie's eyes opened wide as he stared, a confused look on his face. Not sure what to do, Lee picked up the phone quickly, hoping the baby would fall back to sleep again. "Stetson."

"Lee, its Billy, listen I got a match on that partial plate you gave me. You lucked out. Only one Plymouth Renault in black with that plate number in the entire state of Virginia. Its register to a Max Tsipkin." Billy rattled the information off.

"Wow, that's great… wait, where are you calling me from? I thought we agreed to keep this out of the Agency," Lee was confused and slowly becoming distracted by the look on the baby's face. "No...no no no no no" he started as Charlie scrunched up his face to start crying.

"I'm at the payphone down the street… Lee what is that? What's going on?" Billy thought he could hear what sounded like a baby crying but the street noise was making it hard.

"Ah, Billy… what's the address… " Lee was shuffling from the bed to the table, trying to figure out how to stop Charlie from crying any longer and to still be able to write the address down. Figuring a few more seconds of crying wasn't going to hurt him, Lee leaned on the table and wrote the address Billy gave him.

"Lee, is that a baby crying?" Billy asked.

"Yeah, I gotta go…" Lee said half into the phone. As he was hanging up, he heard Lee say "Charlie, I asked you to wait, buddy…."

Billy looked at the phone, then hung it up shaking his head.

Lee looked at the little screaming bundle in front of him, trying to figure out how to stop him from crying. Out loud Lee muttered, "What did Amanda say… oh oh pick him up, pick him up…. How?" He ran his hands through his hair again. Nodding, he started repeating, "It's ok, it's ok, we've got this. You can do this, Scarecrow"

He carefully pushed the button to release the seat straps holding Charlie down. Then he pushed the straps over his little shoulders and ever so gently, he slipped his hands behind him, cradling his head and lifted him out of the seat.

Charlie was still crying, louder than before. Bouncing him just a little, Lee wasn't sure what to do next. Finally, he held the baby closer to his chest, patting his back. Charlie was still crying but definitely not as loudly as he had been. It was at this moment, Lee heard the key in the door and Amanda coming inside with the bags from the drug store. Lee looked up at her, trying to comfort the baby but at the same time wanting to hand him over as quickly as possible.

Amanda dropped the bags on the bed and stood, watching Lee. She could clearly see by the panicked look on his face he had no idea what he was doing.

"Amanda, can you take him, please?" Lee was practically begging.

She just smiled at him, "No, I think you're doing just fine, Sweetheart."

Lee started pacing, still gently bouncing the baby, patting his back, "A-man-da… please... "

She just ignored him, unpacking the items she had just purchased. She organized everything on table, purposely avoiding eye contact with Lee.

"A-man-da…." Lee was whining now. What he didn't realize is that his pacing and bouncing had quieted the baby.

"Lee, listen… he stopped crying. You did a good job, Scarecrow." Amanda smiled at her husband. This was the last thing she had ever thought she would see, Lee Stetson, pacing a hotel room comforting a baby. They hadn't discussed having children together as he was barely comfortable with her boys and they were teenagers.

"Oh… hey, he did," Lee grinned, looking down at the infant now. "Were you able to get everything he needs?"

Amanda nodded. She picked up the diaper bag to place it on the table as well. Running her hand into the outside pocket, she found a slip of paper. Reading it, she commented, "This must have come from his daycare. They made a note of the times of his bottles during the day and how much he ate so that's helpful. From the looks of things, he's going to get hungry soon."

Lee transitioned the baby into the crook of his arm, carefully guiding his head as he did. "You better now, Charlie? I know it's hard, waking up in a strange place with a couple of strangers. It's happened to me more times than I want to admit," Lee had a running monologue with the baby.

Amanda stifled a laugh. "So what did you do while I was gone?" she asked.

Lee sat carefully on the bed, leaning back against the pillow, "I called Billy. He found us a match even with the partial plate you got. Turns out we got lucky. Only one black Renault in all of Virginia. The address is on the table."

Amanda nodded, noticing the paper beside her.

Lee continued, "And I called Harry."

Amanda picked her head up immediately, "Harry?" What did you tell him?"

"Nothing, I told him I needed him here… we needed him here. I didn't tell him about Charlie. I figure we need a babysitter right? I mean, we can't exactly bring Charlie with us to check out that address and I, sure as hell, am not going alone," Lee stated. Then he added, "Besides, maybe he can give us a few answers too. Like who VFD is for starters."

Amanda nodded, "I guess you're right. Maybe he'll have an idea why those men took Lauren. You don't think she in any real danger, Lee, do you?"

Lee looked down at the baby, then back up at Amanda, "I'm not sure but I think she'll be okay. They're looking for something, so I don't think they'll hurt her. They're not professionals from what I can see."

Amanda smiled at Lee. He was looking very comfortable sitting on the bed with Charlie in the crook of his arm. "At least he's safe," she lifted her chin toward Charlie. "We should probably call down to the front desk and order a crib for the night. He can't exactly sleep in his seat. That's not very comfortable."

"If that's what you think is best. Listen, Amanda, I'm going to defer to you on anything for him. I… ah… I have no clue what to do with …." Lee just looked down at the contented child in his arms.

"Yeah. I can tell," Amanda just laughed. If only Francine could see him, she would never believe it.