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Now, despite how dangerous his world is, I know that he is a safe place in the storm.
He’ll take care of me and our child with everything in him. What more could I possibly ask for?
“I want to raise this baby with you,” I say clearly. “I want… I want you.”
He smiles and opens his mouth. But before he can speak, a vibration cuts through the room.
Timofey grunts in annoyance and reaches around my back to pluck his phone off the nightstand. Then he goes rigid.
“What is it?”
He raises his eyes to mine. “Noelle.”
24
PIPER
Timofey answers the phone and puts it on speaker.
“Hello?” I recognize Noelle’s voice immediately. It’s high-pitched and breathy, but I’d know it anywhere. “Hello? Is anyone there?”
“Unless you have my son, we have nothing to talk about,” Timofey grinds out.
I have a lot to talk about with Noelle, but I bite my tongue. Now is neither the time nor the place. Getting Benjamin back is the most important thing.
“I don’t—” Noelle’s voice cracks. I can tell she’s close to tears. “I don’t know where he is. The numbers I had before are all disconnected. No one is answering me.”
“Try harder.”
She whimpers. “I did everything I could. When I asked where they were taking him, the boss guy told me it was dangerous for me to know anything.”
Timofey and I look at one another. “Give me the name of theboss guy.”
“Um… Krenshaw or—”
“Kreshnik,” I gasp.
“Piper? Is that you?”
I look at Timofey, and he nods. I wrap my hand around his wrist and lean in. “It’s me, Noelle. Whatever you know, you need to tell us.”
“I don’t know anything! Really! Kreshnik told me not to call anymore. After I got Timofey’s voicemail, I called every number I’d been using to stay in touch the last couple weeks, but they’re all disconnected. They must have been burner phones or something.”
Timofey bites the inside of his cheek, holding back what I know must be a string of curse words a mile long. “Did you meet with anyone face to face?”
“Everything was over the phone.Shit.”
I can hear traffic in the background like she’s walking down the street. Even after everything, I’m worried for her. Will the Albanians come for her?
“Did they tell you what they had planned?” I ask. “Did they say what they were going to do to Benjamin?”
There’s a long pause before Noelle speaks. When she does, her voice is soft. “Piper, you have to know that I had no idea what they had planned. I knew you wanted to get Benjamin away from Timofey, so I didn’t think I was doing such a bad thing, you know?”
“Bullshit,” Timofey growls. “You’re just trying to rationalize your heartless choices.”
“You don’t have to believe me, but it’s true,” she insists. “I thought I was saving a baby and myself at the same time. Win-win. I didn’t know they had other plans for him until I handed him over. Things got so out of control.”
My stomach bottoms out, but it’s nothing compared to the physical pain I see written on Timofey’s face.
