“It’s pouring,” Jessica groaned as they stepped out of the restaurant but kept dry under the large canopy out front. “Should we cancel the next spot on the birthday tour? I’m not dressed for this weather. These shoes are suede.”

“I like that idea,” Mathew beamed. “Let’s call it a night. I have the best present right here.” He grabbed Jessica by the waist and pulled her in close.

“We were going to walk,” Libby reminded them. “You’ll need to call the car service and have them pick us up here.”

James reached for his phone and began to dial as a wet, disheveled female bumped into him. The phone went flying and landed with a sploosh in a puddle. “Shit,” he called out, bending down and snatching up the phone.

“I need help,” the voice called from beneath a mess of soaked hair.

“What’s the matter?” Monroe asked, closing in on the woman and losing his breath as she looked up at him. “Aria?”

“I need help,” she repeated, still standing outside the canopy, drenched by rain. “I want to know the truth. I want to know what really happened when I was three.”

“Okay,” Monroe said, frozen for a moment by shock. “Get out of the rain.” He took her hand and led her under the canopy.

Libby sprang right into action. “James, give her your coat,” she said, practically yanking it off of him.

With a stumble he was free of it. “If my arms are still in there, can I have them back?”

“She’s soaked and cold,” Libby said, as she draped it over her shoulders. “How did you get here? How did you find us?”

“I used the money Monroe gave me to book a ticket to Europe,” she explained, never taking her glittering eyes off of him. “I was all ready to go. Then I heard them call for a flight here, and I realized that was the plane I wanted to be on. I got to town found the big building with James’s name on it and begged the receptionist to tell me where you all were. Please don’t be mad at her; I really was relentless.”

“We’ll get her a fruit basket in the morning,” James assured her.

Aria grabbed Monroe’s hand and continued on desperately, “You said you’d do anything to help me. I just wasn’t sure I wanted it. Now I know I can’t live my life like this anymore. You gave me the opportunity to hide. It’s what I thought I wanted, until I realized it meant I’d be giving you up too. So help me.”

“We will,” James said, tucking his soaking wet phone away.

Aria shook her head as though she were just now realizing there was anyone else in the world besides Monroe. “I don’t want to put you all through this. I have no idea where it will take me, what I will find out.”

James tipped his chin back confidently as though he wouldn’t take no for an answer. “Every one of us,” he said, gesturing to the five people who had formed a circle around her, “has a skill that might help. A contact that could be useful. Or a shoulder to lean on. Even if you think you can convince the rest of us not to get involved, you are too smart to believe you can get Libby to mind her own business.”

Libby looked at James fondly. “I’m taking that as a high compliment,” she said with a smile.

Mathew looked at them all skeptically. “Before you volunteer me or my contacts, I think we should know exactly what is going on here. What truth are you looking for, and how much trouble are we going to get in by trying to find it?”

James laughed, “You’ll have to forgive Mathew. Essentially the only way any of us have stayed alive and out of the poor house is because he’s the human equivalent of a yield sign. Let’s find somewhere dry and warm, and you can tell us what’s going on.”

“Tomorrow,” Libby said, stepping into the rain and hailing the first passing cab. She opened the rear door and gestured for Monroe and Aria to get in. “Let them be tonight.”

Monroe still couldn’t believe Aria was here, soaked to the bone, desperate for his help. “Come on,” he said, tossing his arm over her shivering shoulder and leading her to the cab. “I’ll warm you up.”