Page 146 of Jay Bird

“Who took them?”

“We pulled up the cameras. Jay Bird, it was Chen.”

His heart slammed against his ribs. Something inside Jay Bird went frighteningly cold.

He barely remembered ending the call. The next thing he knew, his keys were in his hand, and Derek was standing directly in front of him.

“What happened?”

“Chen has Willow and Lily.”

The joking atmosphere vanished instantly.

Derek’s expression hardened. “Where?”

“Mia’s clinic.”

Jay Bird was already moving. So was everyone else.

The drive to Mia’s veterinary clinic and rescue center should have taken longer. Jay Bird couldn’t remember most of it.

By the time he pulled into the parking lot, there were several Virginia Beach police cruisers positioned around the property, and another unmarked vehicle had just arrived behind them. Jay Bird barely had his SUV in park before he was out.

His eyes immediately found Willow’s car, and he headed straight for it.

“Jay Bird!”

Someone called his name, but he ignored them.

Willow’s SUV sat exactly where she had left it. The driver’s door was closed, but when he yanked on the handle, it opened.

Her water bottle sat in the cup holder, and Lily’s small pink blanket was tossed across the back seat. Crumbs were scattered in the car seat, the kind of ordinary mess that made the SUV feel lived-in and unmistakably theirs. Everything looked normal. Everything belonged to them. Except Willow and Lily weren’t there.

Jay Bird gripped the top of the open door and fought against the rage building inside him.

He had known something was wrong.

At the aquarium, he had felt it. Tink had already warned them that someone was digging into Mia and Riley, and every instinct Jay Bird possessed had told him Chen’s people were getting closer.

He should have listened to it.

“Don’t.”

Jay Bird turned sharply.

Derek had stopped several feet away.

“Don’t what?”

“Don’t start blaming yourself.”

“You don’t know what I’m thinking.”

Derek gave him a hard look. “Yeah, son. I do.”

Before Jay Bird could respond, Mia hurried toward them with Stitch at her side. Her face was streaked with tears, and Stitch kept one arm around her as though he was worried she might fall apart completely.

“I’m sorry,” Mia whispered.