Wanted: Father for Her Baby: Keeping Baby Secret / Five Brothers and a Baby / Expecting Brand's Baby. BEVERLY BARTON
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she won’t understand.”
“Then I shouldn’t tell her. Moran thinks it best not to tell her.”
“Moran doesn’t have anything personal to lose by not telling Leenie.” Kate said. “You do.”
“Do I?”
“You tell me.”
“I’m willing to bet that once Andrew is back in her arms safe and sound, she’ll be willing to forgive me for just about anything.”
“Don’t count on it. If she ever finds out—”
“If I ever find out what?” Leenie’s voice rang out loud and clear from the other side of the room.
Frank snapped around to face her. A wide-eyed Kate glanced from Frank to Leenie and then back to Frank.
“Is it something about Andrew?” Leenie asked, hope in her voice.
Frank grimaced. “Nothing concrete.”
“What does that mean?”
Frank looked at Kate, wanting her to say something—anything—to defuse this ticking time bomb before it exploded. One of them had to give Leenie an explanation. Kate looked at him, her expression telling him that she thought it should be him.
Hell, now what was he supposed to do? “It means that the FBI have a lead in the case, but—”
“What sort of lead?” Leenie entered the living room, her face freshly washed, her eyes slightly swollen.
She’d been crying, Frank realized. And now she was approaching him, all but begging him with every look, every move, every word to give her a thread of hope to cling to. “A blue-eyed, blond infant has been put up for adoption in Memphis. His general description fits Andrew—”
“We have to go to Memphis right now,” Leenie said emphatically. “Where do they have him? Has Special Agent Moran sent someone to get him? Oh, Frank, this is wonderful news. Andrew is safe and—”
Frank grabbed her by the shoulders. She gasped as her startled gaze met his.
“We don’t know that it’s Andrew,” Frank said.
“But it might be.” She offered him a fragile smile. “It has to be.”
“We’ll know soon enough.” He squeezed her shoulders, then eased his hands down her arms, caressing and comforting.
“How soon? Tonight? First thing in the morning? How long do we have to wait?”
“It could be a while.” His gut instincts told him that this was not going to go well. Leenie was in no mood to listen to reason. Hell, who could blame her?
She jerked free of his hold and glared at him. “How long is a while? And why do we have to wait? If it’s Andrew—and I have to believe that it is—why won’t the FBI bring him home to me immediately?”
Frank let out a sigh of relief when Kate injected, “Things are never that simple with the feds. There are procedures to follow, agendas that have to be—”
“No, I don’t want you to explain.” Leenie held up her hand in a stop signal. “I want Frank to tell me why he isn’t moving heaven and earth to get his hands on Andrew and bring him home to me.” Narrowing her eyes to slits, she skewered Frank with her angry glare.
Frank cleared his throat, then took a step toward Leenie. Easing backward, she held both hands in front of her, a gesture that warned him not to come any closer.
“Dammit, Slim, don’t you think I want that baby to be Andrew? Don’t you think I want to drive to Memphis and be the one to go in there and tell those slimeballs that I want to adopt the baby and then get him away from them as quickly as possible?”
“Then why don’t you? Why can’t we pose as the people wanting to adopt Andrew, then—”
“Moran will send in a couple of federal agents,” Frank told her.
Leenie nodded. “All right. And if the baby is Andrew?”
“If these people supposedly representing the birth parents have the baby with them, they’re not going to release him immediately to the adoptive couple. A price will have to be agreed on and a second meeting set up to sign legal documents and exchange cash for the infant.”
“What are you not telling me?”
Frank swallowed. Damn! She wasn’t going to let this go until she knew everything. “It’s complicated. The feds have a major case going on, something they’ve been putting together for quite some time. In order to bring down the ringleaders of the infant abduction ring, they can’t do anything that might tip off these people and that includes grabbing this particular infant before the time is right. The entire procedure could take several days, maybe even several weeks.”
“I see.”
No, she didn’t. She didn’t see, didn’t understand. And she hated him. It was all there in her eyes, in the cold, distant expression.
“Leenie…”
“The FBI has its own agenda and if Andrew gets lost in the shuffle, too bad. He’s just one baby out of hundreds, right? What difference does it make if they lose him as long as they save all the others?”
“That’s not the way it is.” Frank held out his hands to her.
“Yes, it is. You don’t have a problem going along with Special Agent Moran’s plans, do you? You see the big picture, whereas I see only the little picture. Andrew. My son is all that matters to me. Call me selfish and uncaring of other people’s feelings, but all I want is my baby! And if Andrew meant a damn thing to you, he would be all that mattered to you.”
“Leenie, give Frank a break,” Kate said. “His hands are tied. Moran is in charge and no matter how much Frank and I would like to rush in and grab this baby—be he Andrew or not—we can’t. We won’t. If we did, we might not only jeopardize the child’s life, but we would definitely jeopardize the bureau’s operation that is on the verge of—”
“To hell with the bureau’s operation. I want my baby! And I’m going to get him.” She glowered at Frank. “With or without your help.”
Frank glanced at Kate. God help them, Leenie was irrational.
When Leenie ran into her bedroom, Frank turned to Kate. “What do I do now?”
“Be patient and understanding.”
“Should I go in there and—”
“No, leave her alone. Let her calm down. I’ll check on her in a little while.”
Two minutes later Leenie came barreling out of her bedroom. Wearing a black winter coat and carrying her black shoulder bag, she stormed past Kate and Frank on her mad dash to the front door.
“Where are you going?” Frank called to her.
“Where do you think? I’m going to Memphis!”
Frank groaned. Damn it! She’d completely lost it. She wasn’t thinking straight. She had no idea where Moran was or where the meeting tomorrow would take place.
“Leenie, come back,” he told her when she yanked open the front door.
Ignoring him completely, she rushed outside. Frank ran after her, catching up with her on the sidewalk. When he grabbed her arm, she turned on him, a snarl on her lips and maternal rage shining in her eyes.
“Don’t do this,” he said. “Slim, pull yourself together. You have no idea where to go in Memphis. And Moran is not going to tell you or me or Kate. Whether we like it or not, all we can do is wait.”
“No, dammit, no!” She hurled herself at him, her fists pounding against his chest. “I want my baby. I want Andrew.”
He allowed her to