Page 75 of Keeping Amanda
Not really expecting anyone to pick up, just like the last several times she’d called, Amanda was busy getting a treat for Rain out of the cute little jar Nash had come home with a few days ago, when the ringing in her ear stopped and someone actually answered.
“Hello?”
“Oh my God, Desmond? It’s Amanda.”
“Mandy? Oh! It’s so good to hear from you! Are you all right?”
His voice had instantly lowered, but Amanda was relieved to be talking to someone, and that Desmond wasn’t pretending she was a vendor or some random person calling to donate to the school. Hopefully that meant no one was listening and they could talk freely.
“I’m all right. Areyou? I’ve been trying to get a hold of someone for ages and no one’s been picking up. What’s going on? Are the kids okay? I’m so worried about everyone!”
“Things are bad,” Desmond said, making Amanda’s stomach roll. “Blair, she’s… I don’t know how to tell you this…but she’s gone.”
“Gone? Gone where?” Amanda asked.
“We don’t know. Let me back up,” Desmond said. “After you left, she was like a completely different person. We thought itwas because she was worried about the rebels coming back or something, but I don’t think that was it. She stopped taking care of herself…showering, washing her clothes, even leaving her room or office much. She began to mumble to herself a lot and basically ignored everything about running the school. I stepped in to make sure bills got paid and the children were fed.
“Then she moved Bibi into her room. And she wouldn’t let anyone in to see the little girl. She claimed she was teaching her personally and taking care of her, but the few times anyone saw her, the girl looked just as disheveled as Blair. It was if she were a dog with a bone, possessive and aggressive if anyone dared question what she was doing. She’s been moody, secretive, and downright mean to everyone, kids included.”
“Holy crap, Desmond. And now she’s gone? Where’s Bibi?”
“She took Bibi with her. Disappeared in the middle of the night. Didn’t even take anything. All her suitcases are still here, all her personal things. We’re all extremely worried about Bibi. I don’t know what switch flipped in Blair’s head, but it seemed she couldn’t even take care ofherselfbefore she left. How can she care for a four-year-old?”
“Does she have her passport?”
“We think so. We haven’t been able to find it anywhere. We also found a copy of paperwork that Blair had filled out, including forged signatures, saying that Bibi was legally hers. We think she might be trying to leave the country. We’ve called the police, but they don’t seem too interested in helping us figure out where they might have gone.”
Amanda’s heart was beating a million miles an hour. She felt panicked and absolutely helpless to do anything.
“Something is wrong with Blair. She’s not right in the head. Right before she left, it was almost as if she didn’t even recognize me, and I’ve worked with her since she first arrived here. But Mandy…there’s something else.”
“Oh man, what?” she asked.
“Some of the other volunteers heard her mumbling your name. Pacing back and forth in her room and talking under her breath. They heard her saying things like, ‘the plan should’ve worked. Should’ve known they would fuck it up. Mandy should be gone for good. Bibi’s mine. She’ll never get her.’”
Amanda was literally at a loss for words. She had no idea what to say to that. She’d had her suspicions, of course, that someone at the school was behind the kidnapping, but to hear confirmation that it had been Blair, the woman who’d hired her, who she’d shared so many personal talks with, was heartbreaking.
“Desmond, she’s…she’s not well. A friend of Nash’s found out that Blair’s been in and out of mental hospitals. It’s likely that she’s gone off her meds or had a break in reality or something.” Amanda told Desmond everything she could remember from the conversation she’d had with Nash about Blair. She’d kind of felt sorry for the woman at the time, but now? Knowing she’d disappeared with little Bibi? It was hard to feel sorry for her at all.
“Well, hell,” Desmond cursed. “I don’t want to think Blair was behind everything these poor kids suffered, but with everythingelsethat has happened recently? I don’t know what else to believe.”
“How are all the kids doing now?” Amanda asked, feeling heartsick about Bibi and Blair, but worried about everyone else as well.
“They’re really good. We’ve kept most of what’s happening from them. But I’m worried about what will happen next. Without a director, we might have to close. I don’t know what will become of the children who live here. Blair might have lost her mind, but she was a great fundraiser. Had a lot of connections back in the United States and even here in Guyana. Without that money…” His voice trailed off.
Amanda closed her eyes and sank into one of the chairs at the small kitchen table. She didn’t know what to say. How toreassure Desmond that everything would be all right. How could it be? Without funding, the orphanage would surely have to close. Thinking about what would happen to Michael, Sharon, little James, and all the other kids was enough to have tears leaking from her eyes.
“Be careful, Amanda,” Desmond said, sounding stern. “If Blair was the one behind the kidnapping, and if she was hoping you would disappear forever, you could be in danger.”
“I got a threatening letter,” Amanda admitted. “It’s written to look like it’s from the people who kidnapped me and the kids. It was postmarked from Venezuela.”
“It could have been from Blair,” Desmond said. “As I said, she’s been secretive and holed up in her room or office with Bibi. She knows a lot of people. And if she somehow arranged for the kids and you to be taken, then she has connections to people in Venezuela. It wouldn’t have been hard for her to have a letter mailed for her, in that case.”
Damn. He was right. But it was so difficult to believe thatBlairhated her so much she’d go to the extremes that she had to…to what?Killher? That was truly crazy.
“Watch your back,” Desmond told her. “Blair could be anywhere, and while things are uncertain here, they’re also much calmer. The volunteers and older kids aren’t quite so on edge with her gone.”
“I’m going to see what I can do to help the school,” Amanda said, needing to concentrate on somethingotherthan a woman she’d seen as the grandmotherly type having gone off the deep end, attempting to kill Amanda just for bonding with the child Blair had chosen as her favorite. “Fundraisers, things like that. Those kids need that school. The orphanage. They need stability, and you and the other volunteers have given them that. I don’t know how, but I’ll find a way to get some funding so you don’t have to close.”
