Page 2 of The Secret

I looked up and down the corridor to see if there was someone standing there, waiting to claim this infant… But no. And I couldn’t hear anyone trying to hold in their laughter as they pissed themselves at what they thought was the most hilarious prank they’d ever played. Although this was a stretch, even for my friends.

I didn’t know anyone who’d just had a baby, and I also didn’t know anyone who’d be willing to part with their child even to make one of my very real nightmares come true. I had one other neighbor on this floor, an actor, each of us taking one side of the building, and as far as I knew, he didn’t have a child. He was also currently out of the country filming his latest movie.

Rafe bent down and lifted out something I hadn’t noticed - a thick brown envelope tucked into the side between the baby and the car seat; an envelope with my name on it.

“Okay, this isn’t fucking funny anymore. Which one of you two is responsible?”

But I could tell by the looks on their faces that they were just as horrified as I was. And the ball-shriveling, New York February cold we’d just walked in from had nothing on the icy chill spreading through my chest and rattling my bones.

We stood there, all three of us, in a state of shock; the type of shock you only experienced when you find an abandoned baby on your doorstep.

“Barclay, stay here,” I ordered, running to the elevator, pressing the buttons as fast as I could, hoping it would sense the emergency and arrive in seconds - which it did.

The elevator dropped, following my stomach which was currently located somewhere in the Pits of Hell. This had to be a joke, it had to be. And yet, even as I willed it, the tiny voice in my head was saying it wasn’t. That baby had been left for a reason.

Fuck. Who leaves a fucking baby?

And how long had it been there? I’d been gone all day.

I raced out of the elevator doors before they’d had a chance to fully open, and over to the concierge desk where the evening porter was on duty.

“Kevin, did someone come and ask for me today?”

He stopped typing into the computer he was using. “Yes, sir, about an hour ago. She said she was a friend of yours and had to drop a package off. I remember because she had a baby with her.”

My eyes widened in horror. “And you let her up?”

The apartments in this building started at the low tens of millions, bought by the wealthy to ensure not only privacy, but the utmost security which they needed in their lives, and allowing someone up without permission would cause a major uproar among the residents. Aside from my movie star neighbor, I knew of at least ten more A-list Hollywood types who owned apartments in this building, as well as many of my colleagues from the world of finance. I was probably one of the youngest residents, but I bought it for its old-world English charm and incredible views over Central Park. And no one socialized in this building anyway, so it didn’t really matter.

“No, sir, of course not. You weren’t home. I asked her if she wanted to wait or leave it with me, but she said she’d come back. My apologies, I forgot to tell you when you walked in.”

“Well she fucking got up somehow! Her package was a baby. She left her fucking baby. How could you not notice?” My voice bounced off the cavernous vestibule of the building, making my anger seem even more pronounced than it was which was saying something, because I was on the verge of breathing fire and summoning a cloud of brimstone to rain down on their heads.

The blood drained from his face so quickly I was genuinely worried he might collapse.

“Wh… What?”

“There’s a baby on my doorstep,” I repeated slowly, so he didn’t miss a single word.

A hidden door opened behind him and out walked Graham, a second porter, and the one who was usually in charge, having clearly heard my shouting. To be fair, my current volume levels could probably raise the dead.

“Evening, Murray. Is everything okay?”

“No, everything is not okay. I want to know how a woman with a baby got up to my apartment and left it outside.”

“Left her baby?” His reaction mirrored Kevin’s. “Are you sure?”

The expression of incredulity my face was currently sporting told himyes, I was fucking sure.

My phone had been buzzing in my pocket the entire time I’d been shouting, and I reached in to turn it off only to notice Penn’s name.

“Hey, man, where did you go? You need to get back here.”

“I’m in the lobby, trying to find out how the fuck someone got up to my apartment without a pass and left a baby outside my door.” I was answering Penn, but all my animosity was directed straight at Graham and Kevin. “But it’s clearly because the security here is as efficient as a chocolate fucking tea pot.”

“Get them to bring you the security tapes, it’ll be on there. But you need to come back.”

“Okay.” I hung up and pointed to the cameras discretely placed around the building. “I want that footage. Now. Bring it up to me.”

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