I had spent a year working on an oil pipeline in Alaska but finally, I was on my way home to my beautiful wife.

The lights were on in the lounge but Lisa wasn’t there. I made my way to the kitchen and stopped in the doorway. An unusual surprise was waiting for me.

I took a step closer and paled… There was a bassinet with a baby on my kitchen table! The child looked back at me with that astonished look babies have, and I stared back just as astonished.

Then I saw a folded paper on the table next to the bassinet. I picked it up and unfolded it. The note addressed to me in Lisa’s elegant script read:

“Kyle, yesterday I found this child on our doorstep with that note attached. I always suspected you cheated on me during your business trips… But saddling me with someone else’s byblow is too much! I’ve filed for divorce and hope never to see you again.”

I was in shock. What the hell is going on? I would never… But inside was another sheet of paper with a message in a handwriting I didn’t recognize.

“Kyle, I hope this letter reaches you. I don’t have much time, and I have nowhere else to turn. This baby, her name is Ellie. She is yours, though I know you won’t believe me at first. I swear on my life that I am telling the truth.

Two years ago, I was working as a nurse at the field hospital near your job site in Alaska. I know we never spoke much, but I watched you. I saw your kindness, your patience. I knew you were a good man.

Then, something happened. A man, one of your coworkers, was in trouble. He had gotten involved with dangerous people, and they were threatening him. He asked me to help him hide something, and before I knew it, I was caught in the middle of something terrible.

Ellie is not my child. She is his. But those people who were after him—they are after her now. He made me promise that if anything happened to him, I would bring her to the only person he trusted: you.

Kyle, please, protect her. Keep her safe. She is innocent in all this. I have no choice but to disappear now, but I know you will do the right thing.

I’m sorry. Please forgive me.”

My heart pounded as I reread the letter, my hands shaking. This made no sense. I didn’t even know this woman, and now she had left me with a baby and a story that sounded like something out of a crime thriller.

I looked down at Ellie. Her tiny fingers curled into a fist as she yawned, oblivious to the chaos around her. She looked so peaceful. So small.

I had no idea what to do.

The first thing that came to mind was Lisa. I needed to talk to her, to explain that this wasn’t what she thought. But she had filed for divorce. She wouldn’t listen to me now.

I needed help.

Grabbing my phone, I called my best friend, Mark. He answered on the second ring.

“Hey, man! You back in town?”

“Mark, I need you to come over. Now.”

Hearing the urgency in my voice, he didn’t argue. “I’m on my way.”

I sat down at the kitchen table, staring at Ellie. Who was her father? Who were the people after her? And why had this woman chosen me to take care of her?

Fifteen minutes later, Mark walked in, took one look at the baby, and froze. “Dude. What did you do?”

I handed him the letter. As he read, his eyes widened. “This is insane.”

“Tell me about it.”

Mark rubbed his face. “Okay. First things first. We need to find out if any of this is true. Maybe this is some kind of scam.”

“What if it’s not?” I asked, looking at Ellie again. “What if she really is in danger?”

Mark exhaled. “Then we figure out how to keep her safe.”

I felt something shift inside me. Just yesterday, my life had been normal. Now, I had a baby in my arms, a marriage falling apart, and a mystery that could get me killed.

And the biggest question of all: Was I ready to be this child’s protector?

What would you do if you were in my shoes?