Finding a Family

Chapter 34

Eliot's POV
I was taken aback a little bit when I saw her. I couldn't believe I was actually seeing who I was seeing, it took me a minute to even respond to her. "I'm sorry I don't mean to stare it's just....." I began to say. "I know, I'm sure it's surprising to see me given the state I was in the last time you saw me," Amanda said. "The last time I saw you I was putting handcuffs on you," I chucked at her. "Why don't we talk somewhere more private," I suggested.

I invited Amanda into my car and decided the police station would be a good place for us to talk. On our way there Amanda began to open up. "I know what you must think of me. I know that I was a horrible mother to Hannah and I completely understand if you are skeptical of me. But I really want to try to make up for my awful mistakes and do right but helping her get home," Amanda said. "Forgive me if I appear a little cold it's just I'm trying to process all of this, the last impression I have of you is when was when I found Hannah in that house. I remember how scared she was," I replied. "I hate myself for doing that to her," Amanda began to tear up. "I love her but I didn't know how to love her, how to be the mother she deserved. I was too wrapped up in my own addiction," she finished as she wiped away her tears. We remained silent throughout the rest of the car ride. Once we got to the station I found a room for both of us to talk in private. "Can I get you anything? Coffee? Water?" I offered. "No thanks, I'm fine" she replied. "Okay, so what did you want to tell me?" I asked. "The other day I got a call from Sandy and her lawyer. When all this first started Sandy asked me to sue for custody of Hannah so she could have access to her for her research. But I told Sandy that I couldn't do that even if I wanted to because I signed my rights away. But the other day she called me an offered me money to testify on her behalf. She told me she would have a better chance of getting custody of Hannah if her biological mother testified in Sandy's favor,"Amanda said. "What? What did you say to her?" I replied. "Well at first I was going to tell her absolutely not, she belongs with Freddie and Alan but the more I thought about it I thought maybe with this information we could use this to help get Hannah home. So I told her I would think about it," Amanda replied. "Okay, what were going to have to do is have you go talk to her while we have you wear a wire. Do you think you can do that?" I told her. "Yes, I can do that," she replied.

We set up Amanda's phone with a recording device and a couple minutes later I had Amanda call Sandy to set up the meeting. "Okay all you have to do is set up a meeting, we've set up a recording device on your cellphone so we can gather the evidence. Do you think you can do that?" I asked. "Yes," she replied. "Okay when ever you're ready go ahead," I said gently. Amanda picked up the phone and dialed Sandy, "Hello?" the voice on the other side of the phone answered. "Sandy? This is Amanda. Look I've been thinking about what you have said. I could really use the money so I'll do what ever you want in court," she said. "Okay you're going to have to meet with Paul and I so we can prep you on what to say," Sandy replied. "Okay," Amanda replied. "The money" I mouthed to her. "Listen, when would I be getting the money, I could really use the extra cash right now," Amanda said. "You'll get it after you testify and I get custody of Hannah," Sandy replied. "Um I'm really desperate right now. I'm really behind on bills and I could use the money. Could I at least get some of the money before?" Amanda asked desperately. "When you meet with Paul and we'll see what we can do," Sandy replied before she hung up. "Okay that was good, now we just have to have you meet with them, so we can gather more evidence." I have to say I was really impressed with Amanda. I knew she had made a lot of big mistakes but she truly seemed like she was trying to help Hannah.

A couple days later Amanda and I were at the courthouse. Jim was armed with the evidence Amanda and I had gathered over the phone and during her meeting with Paul and Sandy. Today was supposed to be the last day of court, the only ones who were left to testify were Amanda and Sandy. Sandy was up first. After she made her way up to the stand Paul asked his first question. "Can you tell me how you met Hannah?" he asked her. "I first met Hannah when I was an intern in the psych department at the hospital. We were doing rounds and the doctor who was supervising me brought us to see Hannah," she replied. "What were your first impressions of Hannah?" Paul asked. "I felt a lot of sympathy towards Hannah. I could tell she had been through so much and I wanted to help her in anyway I could," Sandy replied. I couldn't help but roll my eyes, anyone could see that Sandy was putting on a show. "I asked my supervisor if I could be assigned to Hannah's case. I wanted to conduct therapy sessions with her to help her develop her language more and process what she had been through," Sandy went on. "What was the outcome of your work with Hannah?" Paul asked. "Unfortunately I never got to know. Freddie and Alan put a stop to Hannah's work with me prematurely. They never gave Hannah a chance to show how much she could grow," Sandy replied pitifully. "Did Freddie and Alan offer an explanation a to why they ended your work with Hannah?" Paul asked. "They just asserted that they had guardianship over her and now they were in charge. I really don't believe they have Hannah's best interest in mind or that they are fit to be her parents. All they care about is having control over Hannah not what's best for her. That's why I wanted custody of her. So Hannah could grow to her full potential and be in a normal loving home," Sandy replied with fake tears in her eyes. Sandy's testimony filled me with rage, especially after I heard what she had said to Amanda while she was wearing a wire.