His assistant. Twenty-three. New in town. Sweet, awkward, blushes if you compliment her shoes.
“I know how it sounds,” he said quickly. “But I swear it was never like that. She’s just a kid to me. I’ve only ever looked out for her.”
“She said it was life-or-death, that she had no one else here. I thought maybe a panic attack, or something with her sister. I figured I’d be gone twenty minutes.”
His voice shook a little.
“When I got to her building she buzzed me up. It felt strange, but she sounded terrified. When I walked in, she was holding two babies. She said, ‘Please, just hold them for a second,’ and before I could ask anything she ran out the door.”
I stared. “She just… left you with them?”
“Yeah. I thought five minutes. An hour later she still wasn’t back. They were screaming. I was pacing her apartment, trying to decide whether to call 911.”
The anger in my chest softened, just a little. I could see him, panicked, bouncing two crying newborns in a strange living room.
“She finally came back crying. Told me they were her sister Greer’s babies. That Greer’s boyfriend—the father—was threatening to take them and disappear overseas. That he was violent, had a record, and Greer was too scared to go to the police because he always found out.”
He looked up at me, eyes glassy. “Astrid begged me to take them somewhere safe, just for one night.”
“I know.” His voice cracked. “But I was holding two screaming infants in a freezing car and I panicked. I didn’t know how to explain without sounding insane.”
He rubbed his face. “I got a motel room. Bought formula at a gas station. Barely slept. Kept telling myself I’d come home in the morning and tell you everything. Then I got scared you’d think the worst.”
I sat down slowly across from him. The babies were quiet now, one tiny hand curled around his own nose.
“Call Astrid,” I said. Continue reading…
