The Baby Scheme

“Okay, I won’t. What’s going on?”

She found another chair and stuck it beside the desk. For heaven’s sake, she didn’t see a coffee cup or an empty potato-chip bag anywhere. How could a person function among such neatness?

“A guy at work sneaked in a program to capture my keystrokes,” she explained. “Anything I write shows up on his computer.”

Kevin stopped poking around, although, since the device wasn’t online, he had nothing to fear. “He stole your story?”

“You got it.”

“That explains why some other guy’s byline was on your story about the mayor?”

Alli nodded.

“Is he the reason you got fired?” he asked.

“Bingo.” She filled him in about the assistant managing editor boosting his nephew’s cause and the managing editor wanting to put his stamp on the news operation. “Basically, they didn’t believe me because they didn’t want to.”

“How come you don’t sound angrier?” Kevin inquired.

“Because it wouldn’t do any good.”

“I never thought of you as the passive type.”

In Alli’s experience, most guys would have leaped to her defense, maybe even tried to take over her problem, or gone the opposite route and assumed she was at fault. She liked the way this man waited for her response without trying to put words in her mouth.

“I’m not passive. I’m realistic,” she told him. “My mom spent ages being bitter after Dad dumped us.” That was a rather personal detail to reveal to someone she scarcely knew, but she’d learned that being open about the past helped take the sting out of it. “Finally she figured out that living well is the best revenge. She’s been much happier since she let go of her anger.”

Kevin eyed her suitcase. “You call this living well?”

“Hey, I landed in a nice place, didn’t I?” Alli quipped. “Anyway, I plan to take the laptop in tomorrow to have it debugged.”

He tapped one finger on the desktop. “I wouldn’t be in such a hurry.”

“Why not?”

“We might be able to make creative use of this situation.”

“You have a devious mind.” She grinned. “That raises all kinds of interesting possibilities.”

“Let’s save it in case we really need it,” Kevin said. “In the meantime, I’ve got an old laptop I was keeping for spare parts. It’s slow but it still works, and I cleaned all my files out of the hard drive.”

“You’re letting me stay in your house but you don’t trust me with your files?” she said.

“I have a responsibility to protect my clients from unauthorized intrusions, even accidental ones.” Kevin shut her laptop and set it aside. “By the way, you should put password protection on this thing. That will keep your colleague’s paws off it in the future.”

“He’s not my colleague anymore. And thanks. I’d love to borrow your laptop.”

“I’ll drag it in from the garage later. Also, you should put your car in there in case our shooters decide to cruise around looking for it,” he said. “Now, let’s listen to Dr. Abernathy.”

“Sure.” From her bag, Alli produced the minicassette and recorder. “I made a transcript if you want a copy.”

“I’ll take one later. First I’d like to hear him for myself.” He turned on the tape.

As Kevin listened to the recording, he half closed his eyes in concentration. At this angle, she noticed the sharpness of his cheekbones and the strength in his jaw. He looked like the kind of man a woman could depend on, or maybe the kind she believed she could depend on until push came to shove.

Alli would never make that mistake. Not about any man.

KEVIN LIKED THE WAY Alli handled the interview on the tape. Her supportive comments and well-thought-out questions encouraged the doctor to trust her.

His own police-style approach had its strengths, but warming up reluctant subjects wasn’t one of them. Also, he conceded, an attractive young woman had to be more appealing to a guy.

Alli got under way by saying she was writing a story about local people who’d adopted children from Central America, then proceeded to cite the doctor’s good reputation in the community and praise his desire to help infertile couples. Put at ease, Abernathy related how he’d never considered becoming involved with adoptions until he took on a younger partner eight years previously.

“Dr. Graybar volunteers at the El Centro Orphanage. After we’d been partners for a while, he suggested we find homes for some of the children,” the man informed her in a deep, reassuring tone.

The doctors had started slowly and informally. As demand increased and they began serving referrals in addition to patients, they’d hired a full-time adoptions coordinator.

“That side of our practice just kept growing,” he said. “There’s a lot of need in our community and among the children of Costa Buena. Of course, we try to help patients have children of their own, if that’s what they’re seeking. Providing first-quality medical care has always been my primary mission.”

Doctors Abernathy and Graybar were obstetrician-gynecologists, not fertility specialists, he explained, but they conducted initial workups and offered low-tech treatments that sometimes took care of the problem. More difficult cases were referred to nearby Doctors Circle, a women’s medical center whose staff included internationally known fertility experts.

However, some patients decided to go straight for adoption, fearing the fertility treatments would prove a costly and frustrating ordeal. Others returned a few years later, still childless and more desperate than ever to become parents.

“I was glad to offer them a range of options,” he continued. “Frankly, I’m happy to leave the whole high-tech infertility business to others, but Randy’s more aggressive. He felt we should keep up with the latest procedures so we wouldn’t lose our most challenging cases and, in addition, he wanted to ‘market’ adoptions to a larger clientele. Those were his terms, not mine.”

“Wouldn’t that tax the resources of a two-man office?” asked Alli’s taped voice.

“I thought so. He disagreed. That’s part of the reason I decided to retire about six months ago,” the physician conceded. “Randy and I didn’t see eye to eye on a number of issues, although I certainly respect him. I enjoy playing golf and taking trips with my wife, and this way he can find a new partner or partners who think the way he does.”

“Has he found someone?” she asked.

“He’s interviewed a few, but I don’t think any of them have worked out.”

Listening between the lines, Kevin wondered why Dr. Graybar couldn’t find a new associate. Did his setup make other doctors leery for some reason?

“Let’s talk more about the adoptions,” Alli said. “Did you run into any problem areas?”

“Quite the opposite.” Her subject waxed lyrical about the outcomes. He took pride in the fact that they’d been able to place some special-needs youngsters as well as to find babies for what he half humorously referred to as special-needs parents.

“There’s so much demand for adoptions that agencies often rule out people who would make fine mothers and fathers,” he explained. “Sometimes they’re over forty or have a chronic health condition or perhaps a minor criminal record that’s long in the past. We tried to look beyond that. Even so, all our parents had home studies, so you can be assured we weren’t placing children in unsuitable situations.”

Alli asked how much money the adoptions brought into the partnership. “It’s quite lucrative,” Dr. Abernathy admitted, “although there were additional expenses for us, like hiring a counselor. Most of the fees went to the orphanage and officials in Costa Buena.”

Kevin wondered how big a part the money had played in Dr. Graybar’s push to expand the clientele. He had no objection to anyone turning a profit, but he was receiving a questionable impression of the younger doctor.

Kevin made a note to examine the man’s financial background and to check out the counselor, as well. Both of them had entrée to the adoption records, which meant either could be involved with the extortion.

As the tape continued to roll, Alli probed for more details about the orphanage. However, Abernathy claimed his partner had been the one who maintained contact. The prospective parents also saw the facilities, since they had to travel to Costa Buena and complete paperwork before bringing their children home.