Page 106 of Jay Bird

Willow had once begged him too. But eventually, she had learned. She had learned when to remain silent, when to smile, when to lower her eyes. He had believed she understood what was expected of her.

Apparently, he had been wrong. And that mistake continued to eat at him. Not because she had escaped. Because she had fooled him.

For three years, she had fooled him so completely that he had never seen her betrayal coming. And now, because of her, he was standing in a basement in Italy instead of his home in Morocco.

Chen would make sure she paid for that too.

The sound of the heavy metal door opening behind him pulled his attention from the woman.

“Sir.”

Chen glanced over his shoulder. His head of security stood just inside the doorway, his expression giving nothing away. He didn’t look at the woman restrained in the center of the room. After years of working for Chen, Liu knew better than to concern himself with what happened down here.

“What is it?”

“We may have something on Willow.”

That got Chen’s attention. He turned fully toward him.

Liu rarely came to him with possibilities. After the failures of the past several weeks, he knew better.

“Did you find her?”

“Not yet, but it is more information than we had yesterday. I wanted confirmation before bringing it to you, but I thought you would want to know.”

Chen stared at him. Liu took the silence for what it was and continued.

“After going further back into Willow’s life as you asked, we found that Willow didn’t have many close relationships before she disappeared. Her father was dead. Her relationship with her mother and brother was strained. She had acquaintances, coworkers, people she saw socially. But there was one person who we found she was close to.”

“Who is that?”

“Mia Chambers.”

The name meant nothing to Chen. “Who is she?”

“She worked with Willow at a veterinary clinic in New York.”

Chen’s eyes narrowed. “And?”

“According to what we’ve uncovered, they were close friends. Someone who Willow might turn to for help.”

Chen turned away from Liu and walked toward the stainless-steel sink. He washed his hands slowly, considering the information.

“A friend she hasn’t spoken to in more than three years is your lead?”

“I also want to mention that Willow and Mia Chambers both worked for Dr. Walters, the puppy smuggler who was friends with Demetri.”

Chen reached for the towel hanging beside the sink as he considered what Liu was telling him. Demetri was the one who told him about Willow and how she had stumbled onto stuff that didn’t concern her, and that she needed to be taken care of.

“Do you have information on this Mia Chambers?”

Liu nodded. “She actually goes by Mia Watson now. She married about two years ago. She owns her own animal clinic in Virginia Beach. According to one of our contacts, her husband is active-duty military, a Navy SEAL, though we are still working to confirm that.

The towel stilled in Chen’s hands. That was something to keep in mind.

“That’s not all. Riley, the FBI agent that Willow helped escape. She also lives in Virginia Beach and now works for the Virginia Beach Police Department.”

Chen threw the towel in the trash can and turned back to Liu. “Two women connected to Willow, both living in the same city?” His eyes narrowed as the pieces began falling into place. “That’s not a coincidence.”