Page 27

Sister Margaret took a step closer to study the necklace, and then her eyes softened and her mouth turned into a sad smile. “Oh, child,” she cupped my face and whispered, “amen.”
“Amen.” I repeated.
“Come, dear, not here.” She looked at the other ladies. “Sisters, it’s all right. It’s time.” They dispersed and a moment later joined us baby free in an office that looked to be little more than a storage room. Sister Margaret and Sister Clara pushed a cabinet along the wall to reveal a hidden door.
“The Cartel likes to keep tabs on our financial records. They want to know how many children, particularly boys, we have and their ages,” Sister Maria explained as the other two ladies unlocked the door. “They’re always looking to expand their army.” She clucked her tongue. “We don’t work for them. We work for the Lord, and he blessed us with this room to secure our valuables. The Sunday collections from the church next door, any valuables the children may have brought with them, also the identities of the children, and any other important documents we need to keep from prying eyes.”
“Please come in.” Sister Margaret pointed to a chair. “Forgive our mistrust, but you’re the second person to ask about Talya Canos and her baby this day.”
A heavy weight dropped into my stomach, and I fought to stop the panic that washed over me. Were the Cartels a step ahead of me already?
“Who else was here?”
“We have a rule here. If you’re male and want to speak to someone, you must wait until the father can join us.” Sister Margaret dug through some documents in her desk. “We’ve had too many close calls to handle the opposite sex alone. We simply explained that Father Antonio would be at the church tonight, and they can ask their questions then.”
“Fair enough.” I was happy whoever it was had accepted her explanation. Maybe I still had time.
Sister Margaret seemed to have found what she was looking for and put a file on the desk. She leaned back in her chair. “Talya was frightened.” She put a hand to her chest. “She thought she was being followed and begged us for help. She said she might need to leave the child in our care.”
“Did she say who was after her?”
“No, but in our experience, when a woman runs from her home with an infant, it generally means she’s afraid of the father.” I nodded. It made sense, statistically. “Talya asked to spend a few nights here, then one night she left her son with Sister Clara and left. We weren’t sure if she was coming back, but the next morning she returned, thanked us, took the child, and left. That was the last time we saw them.”
“Did she ever say anything that might lead to where she went? Or mention anyone she was meeting?”
Sister Margaret glanced at the others, and I knew there had to be more. Sister Clara gave a slight nod, and then the others followed suit as if in silent agreement. “She did ask us to hold on to this.” Sister Margaret placed a hand flat on the file she had pulled out of the drawer. “And this.” She picked up a tiny stuffed rabbit with floppy ears and handed it to me.
“She left his stuffed animal?” She really must have left in a hurry.
“I think she was more interested in making sure this,” she pointed to the file, “ended up in the right hands.”
“All right, what is that?”
“Her instructions were that someday someone might come for it.”
“Who?”
“I’m not sure, but you, Ms. Winter, might be that person.” She seemed to weigh her decision then slid the file and bunny over to me. I set the tiny stuffy on my lap and flipped open the file.
“Holy shit.” My eyes popped open. “Sorry.” I gave an apologetic smile then went back to reading the document. “Wait,” I studied the birth certificate, “the child’s father is listed as Eric Noah?”
The sisters looked at one another, and Sister Clara nodded.
“Yes, we looked into the man,” Sister Margaret added. “He apparently held a position in the Cartel to the north.”
“Yes. I definitely know him. He was Martin Castillo's right-hand man.” I sure as shit had heard about that hit. Wow, the infamous human trafficker Eric ‘the Tunnel to Hell’ Noah was the boy’s father. That said a lot.
“I believe they are both deceased,” Sister Clara chimed in.
“Eric Noah’s body was never found,” I mumbled as I absorbed the information then gave an involuntary shiver. “I’m shocked you know as much as you do.” I looked at Sister Margaret.
“We may live in an orphanage, my child, but in these times, we keep ourselves educated about the Cartel. It has served us well.” Sister Margaret put a hand on my knee. “These are dangerous men.”
“No doubt. The only thing is if he’s the one she was running from and I’m correct on my timeline, maybe Eric Noah didn’t die in that explosion, and…”
“He could be still alive,” Sister Maria finished my sentence, “and is looking for his son.”
“Sister, you’re absolutely sure Talya never said anything that might point to who this birth certificate was left for?”