Chapter 1 - Three Voices in the Rain
Noelle had made it halfway to the bus stop when a black SUV rolled beside the curb.
She kept walking.
The SUV kept pace.
Rain ran down the back of her neck and soaked through the thin black shirt she had worn under her diner uniform.
Her apron was still crumpled in one fist.
Her final paycheck was still inside Rosalie's.
So was the cheap blue umbrella she had bought three weeks ago.
She didn't care.
All she could hear were three tiny voices.
Mama.
Mama.
Mama.
The rear passenger window slid down.
"Ms. Bishop."
Noelle recognized the man immediately.
Reyes.
One of Damian Marchetti's men.
Broad shoulders.
Close-cropped black hair.
A scar running from the corner of his jaw toward his ear.
He had stood behind Damian's right shoulder in the diner.
Noelle didn't slow down.
"If Mr. Marchetti wants to threaten me, tell him to get in line."
"I'm not here to threaten you."
"Then you're wasting gas."
"Get in the car."
She stopped.
Rainwater streamed off her hair.
"That sounded an awful lot like a threat."
Reyes looked toward the front of the vehicle.
"I need you to come with us."
"No."
"One of the babies won't stop screaming."
Her anger vanished so quickly it frightened her.
"Which one?"
The question came out automatically.
Reyes noticed.
His eyes sharpened.
"The girl."
Noelle hated herself for asking the next question.
"How long?"
"Since you walked away."
Something broke loose inside her chest.
She looked through the tinted glass.
Nothing.
No stroller.
No Damian.
No babies.
"Where are they?"
"Still inside."
Noelle took one step backward.
"Then why are you out here?"
"Because Mr. Marchetti told me to bring you back."
"And if I don't?"
Reyes studied her.
For all his size, his answer came quietly.
"Then I go back alone."
That surprised her.
Men who worked for men like Damian Marchetti weren't known for respecting the word no.
Noelle looked toward Rosalie's glowing sign at the end of the block.
She should keep walking.
She should go home.
She should lock the door of her apartment and never think about those children again.
Except she knew she would think about them.
Tonight.
Tomorrow.
Every day for the rest of her life.
Three babies.
Two boys and a girl.
Exactly what she'd delivered.
Exactly the ages hers would have been.
Exactly—
Stop.
Coincidence existed.
Babies babbled.
Toddlers called strangers Mama.
Hazel eyes weren't fingerprints.
Dark curls weren't DNA.
And grief was a liar.
Grief could make a desperate woman build a cathedral out of coincidences.
Noelle turned toward Reyes.
"I'm not getting into that SUV."
"Fine."
"I'll walk back."
He nodded once.
She hated that he didn't argue.
They returned to the diner in silence.
The moment Noelle opened the rear entrance, she heard the crying.
Not ordinary fussing.
The little girl was shrieking until her breath broke.
Noelle froze.
Her body knew that sound.
Her body reacted before her mind did.
Her breasts had dried up more than a year ago, but a phantom ache tore through her chest so violently she gripped the doorframe.
"Noelle?"
Reyes's voice came from behind her.
"I'm fine."
She wasn't.
She pushed into the dining room.
Every customer was still pretending not to stare.
Denny stood behind the register, red-faced.
"What the hell is she doing back here?"
Damian Marchetti turned his head.
That was all it took.
Denny stopped speaking.
Damian stood beside the stroller.
The two boys were quiet now.
The girl was not.
Her face was crimson.
Tears soaked her cheeks.
Damian held her awkwardly against his chest, one powerful hand supporting her back while the other tried to stop her from twisting.
Nothing worked.
He looked less like a feared crime boss now.
He looked like a father who had run out of answers.
Noelle stepped closer.
The little girl's eyes found her.
The crying stopped in the middle of a breath.
Silence.
Then the child lunged so hard toward Noelle that Damian had to tighten his grip.
"Mama."
Noelle's knees almost gave out.
Nobody in the diner moved.
Damian stared from the girl to Noelle.
"Take her."
Noelle looked at him.
"What?"
"Take her."
"I don't think—"
"Please."
That word changed everything.
Damian Marchetti did not look like a man who said please often.
Noelle lifted her arms.
The little girl came to her as if she had been waiting all night.
Small arms locked around Noelle's neck.
A warm cheek pressed against her shoulder.
Noelle closed her eyes.
The sensation was so natural it was unbearable.
She swayed once.
Then twice.
The little girl sighed.
A tiny body that had been stiff with panic went soft against her.
"Oh, sweetheart."
Noelle barely heard herself.
"It's okay."
One of the boys squealed from the stroller.
The other reached toward her.
Noelle opened her eyes.
Damian was watching.
Not with suspicion now.
Something much worse.
Fear.
"What are their names?" she whispered.
Damian hesitated.
"Matteo."
He pointed to the boy holding the stuffed rabbit.
"Luca."
The second boy.
Then his eyes moved to the child in Noelle's arms.
"Emilia."
Noelle stopped breathing.
Damian noticed.
"What?"
She shook her head.
"No."
"What?"
"Nothing."
His voice hardened.
"You reacted."
Noelle couldn't answer.
Because fourteen months ago, alone in a cheap apartment with swollen ankles and a secondhand baby-name book, she had written three names on the back of a grocery receipt.
Miles.
Lucas.
Emily.
Not identical.
Not proof.
But close enough to make the room tilt.
She handed Emilia back too quickly.
The little girl whimpered.
Noelle stepped away.
"I have to go."
Damian blocked her path.
He didn't touch her.
He didn't have to.
"What hospital?"
Her pulse jumped.
"What?"
"You said you had a pregnancy tragedy."
"Denny said that."
"What hospital?"
"St. Catherine's."
For the first time that night, Damian Marchetti lost all expression.
Not anger.
Not menace.
Nothing.
Reyes moved beside him.
"Boss?"
Damian looked at him.
"Their records."
Reyes went still.
Noelle's throat tightened.
"What about their records?"
Damian didn't answer.
She stepped closer.
"What about their records?"
His jaw flexed.
Finally, he looked directly into her eyes.
"My children were born at St. Catherine's."
The room disappeared around her.
Rain rattled against the windows.
The fryer hissed in the kitchen.
Somewhere, a spoon hit a plate.
Noelle heard none of it clearly.
"That's a big hospital."
Her voice sounded far away.
Damian didn't blink.
"Same night."
Her lips parted.
"No."
"Fourteen months ago."
"No."
"April seventeenth."
The grocery receipt.
The hospital bracelet.
The clock over the delivery room door.
Noelle remembered every second.
April seventeenth.
2:13 a.m.
2:18 a.m.
2:26 a.m.
She backed into a table.
Damian caught the edge before it tipped.
"Noelle."
"My babies died."
His face tightened.
"I'm telling you what they told me."
"What time?"
He said nothing.
"What time were yours born?"
"Reyes."
Reyes already had his phone out.
His thumb moved over the screen.
Noelle grabbed the back of a chair.
Her nails dug into the wood.
Reyes lifted his eyes.
"Medical file says first infant delivered at 2:13."
Noelle made a sound that wasn't quite a gasp.
"Second at 2:18."
She shook her head.
"Stop."
"Third at 2:26."
"Stop."
The entire diner seemed to sway.
Noelle remembered a nurse shouting.
She remembered bright light.
She remembered someone saying Baby A is out.
She remembered another cry.
Then another.
Three cries.
Alive.
She remembered them.
She had spent fourteen months convincing herself she had imagined those cries because the hospital told her all three babies had died.
Her hand flew to her mouth.
"No."
Damian took one step closer.
Noelle looked at the stroller.
Matteo was chewing the ear of the stuffed rabbit.
Luca was staring at her.
Emilia was reaching for her again.
Noelle began to cry.
Not neatly.
Not quietly.
Something tore open inside her.
"I heard them."
Damian went still.
"I heard them cry."
Noelle's knees buckled.
He caught her before she hit the floor.
She shoved at him.
"Don't touch me."
He released her instantly.
"I heard all three of them."
She pointed toward the stroller with a shaking hand.
"They told me I was confused from the anesthesia."
Nobody spoke.
"They said the first one didn't breathe."
Her voice cracked.
"They said the second had catastrophic complications."
She swallowed a sob.
"They said my daughter never made it out of surgery."
Emilia began whining.
Noelle stared at her.
"They wouldn't let me see them."
Damian's expression changed.
A terrible realization moved behind his eyes.
"What?"
Noelle wiped her face with the heel of her hand.
"I asked."
Her breathing hitched.
"I begged."
Her voice rose.
"I screamed until security came."
Denny shifted uncomfortably.
Noelle didn't care.
"They told me there was too much trauma."
She laughed through her tears.
"They said it was kinder if I remembered them the way I'd imagined them instead of seeing what happened."
Damian slowly turned toward Reyes.
"Call Hale."
Reyes didn't move.
"Now."
Reyes stepped away.
Noelle looked between them.
"Who's Hale?"
Damian's eyes returned to hers.
"My family attorney."
"Why?"
"He handled the placement."
Noelle stared.
"The placement?"
Damian's face looked carved from stone.
"They were adopted."
Her entire body went cold.
"What?"
"My wife and I had been approved for a private adoption."
Noelle shook her head.
"Your wife?"
"She died eight months ago."
The words held a pain Damian clearly had no intention of displaying.
He continued.
"We had expected one infant."
His voice was controlled now.
Too controlled.
"The attorney called the morning of April seventeenth."
Noelle's stomach turned.
"He said a mother had died from complications after delivering triplets."
"No."
"She had no immediate family willing to take them."
"No."
"The placement agency wanted to keep the children together."
"No."
"Sofia and I said yes."
"No!"
Emilia started crying again.
Noelle slapped both hands over her ears.
"Stop saying that."
Damian's face hardened with something that looked almost like self-disgust.
"I didn't know."
"You expect me to believe that?"
"Yes."
"You're Damian Marchetti."
Her laugh came sharp and ugly.
"You know when a container arrives at your docks before the ship captain knows."
His men went still.
"You know which judge is cheating on his wife."
"Probably."
"You know which police captain takes cash."
"Almost certainly."
"But you didn't know where three newborn babies came from?"
The accusation landed.
Damian didn't defend himself.
That frightened Noelle more than an excuse would have.
"I trusted Sofia."
His voice dropped.
"And I trusted Victor Hale."
Reyes returned.
His face was different now.
Pale.
"Boss."
Damian turned.
Reyes held out the phone.
"Hale isn't answering."
"Go to his house."
"Already sent Tomas."
"And?"
Reyes glanced at Noelle.
Damian saw it.
"Say it."
Reyes lowered his voice.
"House is empty."
Noelle's skin prickled.
Damian's eyes became black.
"How empty?"
"Closets cleared."
Reyes swallowed.
"Safe open."
"Documents?"
"Gone."
Damian slowly looked at the triplets.
Noelle felt the truth approaching before anyone said it.
Not the whole truth.
Just enough to make the next breath impossible.
Reyes continued.
"Security system shows Hale left forty-three minutes ago."
Damian's jaw tightened.
"Before or after I told you to pull Bishop's records?"
"After."
Noelle gripped the chair harder.
Someone was running.
Because three children had called a fired waitress Mama.
Damian took out his phone.
His voice became ice.
"Lock every airport."
Noelle stared at him.
"Every private runway."
His men moved immediately.
"Train stations."
Another order.
"Bus depots."
He looked at Reyes.
"And find out who at St. Catherine's was working maternity on April seventeenth."
Noelle's legs felt numb.
Damian turned toward her.
For the first time since she had learned his name, he didn't look dangerous.
He looked terrified.
"If those children are yours," he said, "someone stole them from you."
Noelle looked at Emilia.
Then Luca.
Then Matteo.
Her voice came out barely above a whisper.
"And gave them to you."
Damian's phone buzzed.
He looked down.
Whatever he read drained the remaining color from his face.
Noelle saw one line before he angled the screen away.
PATIENT NOELLE BISHOP.
STATUS: DECEASED.
Damian lifted his eyes.
"Noelle."
Her heart slammed once.
"If your hospital file says what I think it says, Victor Hale isn't running because he's afraid of me."
May you like
Rain hammered the windows harder.
"He's running because somebody just found out you're still alive."
