by Rick Polad
Mrs. Peters came out five minutes later, gave us another enthusiastic greeting, and led us down the hall to her office. It was decorated with less baby and more business. On the way to her office we passed two rooms, one with file cabinets and another a bathroom. At the end of the hall was the back door that led into the alley. We sat on a much more expensive couch.
Mrs. Peters also offered coffee, and we again declined. She opened the file in front of her and pretended to read whatever was in it. She was wearing a dark blue suit that didn’t look like it was off the rack. A white blouse had a frilly collar that was pinned with a cameo brooch. She had blond hair curling over her shoulders and wore small silver earrings.
“I see you are having trouble having a baby,” she said with a pasted-on sad face that quickly changed to a broad, reassuring smile, like it was flowing out of a faucet with as much sincerity as an ice pick. “I want to assure you that we here at From Us to You can help. We have hundreds of satisfied clients.” The faucet turned off as she very seriously said, “But we are very discerning about our placements. We want to make sure the babies get a good home.”
I felt like I was buying a used car. This one we just got in is perfect for you! I was careful not to look at Rosie… I wouldn’t have been able to keep a straight face.
She went over the information in the file and asked more questions, most of which we didn’t answer. We made it clear that we just weren’t sure about adopting, especially with someone we didn’t know. She kept the attention on us.
“I see you work with kids, Mrs. Blaine. What exactly do you do?”
“I’m sort of a social worker with a private firm. We counsel kids who have had some minor trouble with the law and are going through the court system. We try and find alternatives to their lifestyles.”
“Well, that’s wonderful. I’m sure that’s very rewarding, but if you get a child are you going to quit your job and stay home?”
We hadn’t thought about that question, but Rosie handled it well.
“We’ve given that a lot of thought. The child would come first, but my work is flexible and so is Spencer’s. We’d be able to co-parent.”
“I hope that works out for you. What do you do Mr. Blaine?”
“I’m in real estate investing. That’s why my time is flexible.”
She nodded. “You both take all the time you need,” Mrs. Peters said. She didn’t seem to care what I did. “This is just a first meeting to get to know each other. I assure you you’ll feel comfortable with us quickly.” She did a lot of assuring. “Feel free to ask questions.”
I did find the process interesting, both as to how a woman could give up her baby and how the whole process worked.
“Where do you get the babies you offer up?” I asked.
“That’s an excellent question. There are a lot of mostly young women who find themselves in… shall we say trying circumstances. I’m sure I don’t have to explain.”
“No, but where do they come from?”
“I can’t be specific, but we’ve built a very good reputation. We get referrals, some from clinics and hospitals and some from satisfied clients.”
“One thing we’re concerned with,” Rosie said, “is trouble with the woman giving up the baby. You hear stories about women changing their minds. What if someone came after us to get her baby back?”
More reassuring. “I assure you, Mrs. Blaine, that wouldn’t be a problem. We—” Her intercom buzzed. “Yes, Sarah?”
“Mrs. Peters, the… um… couple is back. They’d like to see you.”
“Please tell them I’m in an interview. If they’d like to wait, I’ll see them when I’m done.”
She turned back to us. “Where was I?”
“We were talking about someone changing their mind,” I said.
“Oh yes. We screen our mothers very carefully for… well, psychological issues. That does happen, but it has never happened here. I can assure you of that!” She was very emphatic, but not very reassuring.
I’d had enough of Mrs. Peters and asked where the washroom was. I gave Mrs. Blaine a kiss on the cheek and said I’d be right back.
Rosie kept Mrs. Peters occupied so she wouldn’t see me turn the wrong way down the hall. The alley door had only a lock on the knob and a pretty simple one at that. I didn’t see any security alarms or any obvious cameras in the hall. I walked back up the hall, passed Mrs. Peter’s office, and found the bathroom. After a few minutes thinking about babies, I flushed the toilet and ran some water. On the way back, I stopped briefly in the room with the file cabinets. There were three, four-drawer cabinets. None of them were locked, but maybe they would be at the end of the day. Even if they were, the locks were pretty standard and simple.
Rosie was talking about not being able to decide between a boy and a girl when I walked back into the office.
“How about you, Mr. Blaine? Do you have a preference?”
I shook my head. “No. Do we get a choice?”
“Well, you do, but you may have to wait longer.” She laughed. “We can’t guarantee the supply, you know.”
I assured her I knew.
“Did you find the bathroom okay? You went the wrong way.”
“I did. Just a bit confused.”
“Good.” She smiled, sat up in her chair, and folded her hands on her desk. “Do you have any further questions? Would you like us to start the process?”
I took Rosie’s hand. “We’re not sure yet, Mrs. Peters. We’ll have to talk about it. I’m sure you understand.”
“Oh, I do. This is a big step.” She handed me her card. “Please call if you have any questions. We look forward to seeing you again.”
“I do have a question,” I said. “We haven’t talked about money. How much is it, and if we do decide to go ahead, how is the payment handled? I assume you need a deposit.”
“Yes, we do, but only two thousand dollars. The total is twelve thousand.” The cost of babies had gone up. “The balance would be due when you get the baby.”
“And do you handle all the paperwork with the state?”
“We do. I can assure you we make it very easy for you.”
“That sounds great,” I said. “We’ll be in touch.”
The couple was sitting on the green couch, she with red eyes and he looking concerned.
***
Rosie wanted to get in a swim before dinner, so we changed and found the pool in a large room with a wall of windows on the north side. About eighty feet of a kidney shaped pool gave Rosie a good workout. My workout was setting the back of the lounge chair at the right angle and turning pages in a book—Crime and Punishment.
We had dinner in the restaurant at the hotel and turned in at ten for a nap. I set the alarm for midnight.
Chapter 7
We took the rental car and parked a quarter block down from the agency. At one a.m. there was very little traffic, and the neighborhood was dark except for a few streetlights. The sky was still cloudy so there was no moonlight. I stayed in the car for ten minutes just watching the neighborhood. We saw no one, and only two cars passed us. Rosie stayed with the car. She wished me luck, and I took the long way back to the alley.
With no lights, the alley was even darker than the street. I blended in with black sneakers, jeans, and a black hooded sweatshirt. There was a faint smell of fresh blacktop in the air, but it wasn’t coming from the alley... it had seen better days. I imagined the alley going on through blocks of neglected neighborhoods. Weeds were growing out of cracks, and there were potholes that were easy to walk around, but I remembered driving had been a challenge. I heard a cat somewhere in the distance, but other than that it was quiet.
I took my lock picks out of my pocket as I turned in from the alley to the back door. There was a single light above the door, but it was out. I grabbed the door knob to start working on the lock, and the knob turned. Someone had forgotten to lock the door.
I quietly let myself in and stood in the hallway listeni
ng. I heard nothing. I was looking for anything interesting, but hoped to find a folder on Stosh and his payments. I wanted to look in the file room and Mrs. Peters’ office. The file room door was open. Mrs. Peters’ door was closed and locked. I started with the files.
The file cabinets weren’t locked. The one closest to the door was labeled “Operating Expenses.” The second was labeled “Accounts,” and the third had no label. Except for the cabinets and a mahogany credenza against the outside wall, the room was empty, but it wasn’t a very big room. There was no window. I didn’t want to chance a light so I had brought a small flashlight that I could hold in my mouth.
I thumbed through the drawers in the accounts cabinet. The first file in the top one was marked “Birth Mothers.” Each folder had a name at the top and a name on the file under the stick-on label on the tab. Some had more than one name. I figured the name under the tab was the adopting family, but I had no idea why some had more than one name… perhaps references. I decided to go back and look through some of those folders once I found a file for Stosh.
The second and third drawers from the top held files starting with one labeled “Adopting Family.” They were in alphabetical order. Powolski was in the third drawer. I pulled out the file and looked at the three names under the label. I was about to open the file when I felt a blow to the back of my head, and my knees buckled.
***
I woke up with a throbbing headache in a bed under a sheet and a thin grey blanket in what appeared to be a hospital room. By the bright light coming in the window I knew it was daytime, but I had no idea whether it was morning or afternoon or even what day it was. I struggled to remember why I would be in a hospital room. I heard someone clear their throat, turned my head, and saw him sitting in a chair with a smile on his face like he had thoroughly enjoyed the play. I tried to roll my eyes, but they didn’t roll far.
“Chief Iverson. Fancy meeting you here.”
“If I’m going to have to keep saving your butt, you’ll have to put me on retainer.”
“When I don’t feel like a truck hit me we’ll argue that point. I know what I’m doing here… but what are you doing here?”
He folded his hands over his stomach. “Got a call from Detective Lonnigan. Something about breaking and entering and a hospital, and since I hadn’t seen you since that little incident in the factory, here I am.”
I tried to sit up in the bed but didn’t get far before my head told me to lie back down.
“I assume there’s a story here,” he said.
“There’s always a story, Chief.”
“Well, since I went out on a limb for you, I’d love to hear it. But given that there’s a cop sitting in your room, perhaps you should do some editing.”
I massaged the back of my head as best I could while avoiding the lump. “And what limb would that be?”
He was still smiling. “That would be the one where I vouched for you and the Green Bay police released you into my custody without filing charges for breaking and entering.”
I took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “Oh, that limb.”
He nodded. “And I guarantee you I’m better with that custody thing than your pretty detective. That bathroom stop at the gas station trick isn’t going to work.”
“Thanks for the warning. I’ll think of something else.” I wondered why I wasn’t under arrest. “No charges?”
“Yeah. I eat breakfast once a week with Chief Snark and the county sheriff. I was able to introduce some doubt into the incident. When the police got there, you were unconscious on the floor with a lump on your head. They were able to deduce that you didn’t hit yourself. So someone else was obviously there. The police were called by a resident across the alley from the agency. But they weren’t called because of you. So someone else was in the building before you.”
“Makes sense to me. But if I wasn’t charged, why am I in custody?”
He smiled. “Well, it’s more in theory than actual. Actually, it’s all in theory. Snark needed to do something along some punitive line to appease the badge in his pocket. I have questions, but first, I’m so sorry about the lieutenant. My deepest sympathies.”
“Thanks. Sometimes life isn’t what you were expecting.”
He nodded. “As I remember, you’ve had more than your share of those.”
“Yeah.”
We were both quiet for a minute.
“How did you get in?”
“Back door. It was unlocked. I thought I just got lucky.”
“Well, maybe you did. I was able to convince Chief Snark that you had entered but you hadn’t done the breaking. Perhaps you were investigating the person who had done the breaking.”
“And he bought that?”
He shrugged. “Breakfast buddies go a long way. And what’s not to buy? It’s true. You didn’t break in did you?”
“No.”
“And you could have been investigating the person who did, right?”
“Right, if I knew who that was.”
“Just so we’re clear, none of us believe you were there because of the other person. But they can’t prove you weren’t, so you got me.”
I nodded and rubbed my neck, trying to make the pain go away. I stretched my neck forward.
Iverson leaned forward. “I vouched for you. Snark asked me to keep an eye on you pending further investigation.”
“Further investigation of what?”
“Perhaps whoever else was in that office.” He stretched his legs out. “So, Manning. I gotta ask… why are you so far from home?”
I had been inching up slowly and had made it to sitting up in bed. “Is the cop still in the room?”
“Maybe.”
“Well, when he’s not, let me know.”
He laughed.
“Snark?”
He laughed again. “Yup, Chief B. Snark.”
“B? How bad is your first name that you have to initial it when your last name is Snark?”
“Don’t know. But he won’t tell.”
The door opened, and Rosie came in.
“Look who’s awake,” said Chief Iverson.
Rosie smiled. “Well, that’s a step in the right direction.”
As soon as the door closed it was opened again by a nurse who came in, took my temperature and blood pressure, pronounced they were both back to normal, and said the doctor would be in shortly.
I asked if I could leave after that. She said it would be up to the doctor. I wanted to say no, it would be up to me, but my still throbbing headache reminded me that maybe it wasn’t.
I closed my eyes and tried to remember what had happened. But closing my eyes made my head worse, so I put the remembering on hold. I looked around for a clock, but there was none.
“Is it morning or afternoon?” I asked.
“Three in the afternoon,” said Rosie.
“Is it still Sunday, or did I miss a day?”
“Still Sunday. But you—”
She was interrupted by the doctor who smiled and put on his cheerful bedside manner. Easy for him… he didn’t have a splitting headache. He took a gadget out of his pocket to look into my eyes. I knew he was looking for signs of a concussion and that was something he probably had to do, but I told him the light wasn’t going to help my headache. He agreed, but said if I wanted to get out of there it had to be done. I hung on to that thought.
After torturing me, he felt the lump on my head, poked a few other places, and told me I could go but shouldn’t drive for at least three days. He asked if I had someone who could stay with me.
Iverson laughed. “He won’t be able to get rid of us.”
“Okay,” said the doc. He wrote something on the chart, rehooked it on the bottom of the bed, and wrote a prescription for pain pills. “No driving, no alcohol, and try and get some more sleep. Stop at the desk on your way out and sign out. Good luck, Mr. Manning.”
I thanked him and slowly swung my legs over the edge of the bed.
“You want help getting dressed?” asked Rosie.
“If you’ll just get my clothes from the closet I’ll do the rest.”
As she laid my clothes on the bed, she said, “The captain called your cell phone while I was driving over here. He said to tell you it will be this week, maybe Thursday… he’ll let you know.”
I nodded. “Did you tell him about our escapade?”
“No. I thought it best not to.”
“Good.”
No one was making any attempt to leave, and I didn’t feel well enough to be modest, so I took off the gown and started with my pants.
Rosie stood next to the chief, and they watched me get dressed.
“I should charge admission,” I said.
“If it’s more than a buck, I’m leaving,” said Iverson.
Rosie just watched.
Not feeling like bending over, I said, “I could use some help with my shoes.”
“I’ll help if you answer a question,” said Rosie.
“And that would be?”
“What’s Thursday?”
I took a deep breath and said, “The day after Wednesday.” I got a dirty look from Rosie and looked at Iverson. “You?”
“Me too. What were you doing in the agency?”
“Nice… I’ll answer that, but not here.”
As Rosie was putting on my left shoe, she asked if I was hungry.
“Starved.”
“Chief. Will you join us for dinner?”
“He has to,” I said. “I’m in his custody.”
“Well, I’m not gonna be real strict on the custody thing. I figure you’re not a flight risk.” He turned to Rosie. “Is he buying?”
“Yup. You have a suggestion?”
“I do. Just across the river from your hotel is the Titletown Brewpub. It’s in an old train depot. You’ll like it.”
“We need to go back to the hotel first,” I said. “I think a hot shower will help my head.”
Chief looked at his watch. “How about we meet there at six?”
I nodded as I rubbed my head. “Rosie, if you’ll get the car, I’ll meet you at the front.”