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"Okay?"
I smiled. "Thanks, Jack."
Fifteen minutes later, Qui
As Qui
They proceeded to the door. A tiny woman with a dark ponytail answered their knock. From my vantage point down the road, I could only make out her size and hair color. Their voices, though, were clear, courtesy of the two-way earpieces.
"Leslie Keyes?" Qui
"Yes?"
"John Turnbull and Derek Walker, federal agents with the Department of Intrastate Regulation and Enforcement."
Qui
When I'd expressed skepticism – after I'd stopped laughing – Qui
Leslie Keyes certainly bought it, saying, "Yes, yes, of course" when Jack asked if they could come inside and ask a few questions. I watched the door close, then steered out to find a safer place to sit and listen.
Chapter Thirty-nine
Leslie led Qui
"I don't want to sit on this. Some little guy wouldn't be too happy if I broke it." Another rattle as he laid the toy on the table. "Boy or girl?"
"Boy. My friend's son. They were over yesterday. He must have left that there."
From the tautness in her voice, she was lying. Yet her response wasn't what we'd expected. Presumably, the Byrony Agency would have made the adoption as legal as possible. Legal enough to pass a federal inspection, though? Maybe she wasn't sure.
"Don't call her on it," I said. "Play it out."
"But you do want children, correct?" Qui
A moment's silence, then, "Yes, we did. Is that what this is about? We're no longer with them, and we paid our bills – "
Qui
"No, no, of course not. I just meant – "
"We're here on a routine check of the agency's procedures," Jack said.
"The agency? Have they done something wrong?"
"No, as I said, it's a routine check."
"Why?" Qui
"Concerns? Not at all. They were wonderful. We just decided to pursue other options. But we'd recommend them, and we have. A great agency."
I said, "Okay, take it down a notch. She's already spooked and you don't want to push her into full-blown panic."
Jack took over. "Like I said, it's a routine check only. Private adoption can be a very tricky area, Mrs. Keyes, and we have to be absolutely certain no one – from the birth mothers to the agency to the prospective parents – misuses the system."
"Prospective parents? You think we misused the system?"
"At the moment, our investigation focuses entirely on the Byrony Agency."
In the moment of silence that followed, I could picture Leslie, looking from one "agent" to the other, not believing their "routine check" line. That was fine. We didn't want her to.
Qui
After ten minutes, I swore I could hear her heart pounding against her ribs. Then, as they reached the end, I did hear a sound – the distant fussing of a baby.
"Ignore it," I said quickly. "Unless the baby starts crying, pretend you don't hear anything. If it's Destiny, she'll fuss for a while before wailing. Finish up and get out of there. If she cries, you'll have to call Keyes on it, and I'd rather you didn't."
As Qui
"There's one right here on the main level," she said finally.
A low chuckle. "In a house this big, I hope so."
A few flustered words. Obviously, she'd mistaken Jack's request for a ploy to go upstairs, maybe investigate the gurgling and whimpering. That wasn't his intent at all. He just wanted to lay a bug.
While Jack was gone, Qui
When Jack returned, she bustled them to the door.
"Oh, I left a card on the table," Jack said. "In case you need to contact us."
She thanked him and hurried them outside. By the time she realized the card wasn't on any table, they'd be gone.
The guys drove over and parked near me at the minimart. Qui
"Has she -?" he began.
I motioned Qui
"They found Miranda's rattle and I know I shouldn't have lied – we have the papers – but I wasn't taking the chance, Ken. I won't lose her – "
A moment's pause.
"I'm not panicking," she snarled, sounding a lot less flustered than she had with Jack and Qui
A sharp intake of breath as he presumably cut her short.
"Damn it. Right. Okay I'll meet you – "
Pause.
"I'll be right there."
A click as the phone returned to the cradle.
"He told her to shut her mouth," Qui
Jack watched the house through binoculars as we listened to footsteps pattering up the stairs, a baby crying, then Leslie quieting her as she came back down.
More noise, then the slam of the front door.
"Who's got the most experience tailing?" I asked.