Chapter Two
Willow stood on the sidewalk across from the kickboxing gym and stared at the building as though the front door represented the most terrifying thing she had faced in the last three weeks.
Which was ridiculous considering she had not only escaped from Chen Pham.
But she had entered several countries, crossed an ocean with a two-year-old using a fake identification, stolen cash stuffed into a diaper bag, and no real plan beyond putting as much distance between herself and Morocco as humanly possible.
She had stayed in places she wouldn’t have considered stepping foot inside three years ago, changed transportation whenever she thought someone might be following her, and learned that twenty minutes of sleep while sitting upright with a toddler sprawled across her chest could technically qualify as rest if a person was desperate enough.
Yet somehow, walking through the front door of a gym in Virginia Beach had her feet glued to the pavement.
Lily shifted against her shoulder, and Willow immediately tightened her hold.
“I know, bug,” she whispered, pressing a kiss to the top of her daughter’s head. “Mommy’s tired too.”
Tired didn’t even begin to describe it. Willow was exhausted and running on fumes. But over the last three weeks she couldn’t afford to let her guard down.
She did not doubt that Chen was looking for her. There was no way in hell that Chen had just shrugged and decided to let her go.
She had betrayed him by helping others escape, knocked him out, tied him up, stolen his money, and then disappeared with the daughter he had considered his property, whether he had ever shown Lily affection or not.
She had humiliated him, and Willow wasn’t sure if that was worse than betrayal.
If she knew anything about the man who had controlled her life for three years, it was that he wouldn’t stop until he found her.
That knowledge had dictated every decision she had made since the moment she had climbed into that taxi.
She hadn’t traveled directly anywhere. She had changed routes whenever possible, paid cash, avoided cameras when she could, and never stayed in one place longer than necessary. She had been terrified to ask for help because she knew how far Chen’s influence reached.
She had seen police officers, government officials, businessmen, and others with enough money to buy whatever loyalty they wanted to sit across tables from him.
Trust had become a luxury Willow couldn’t afford.
If it hadn’t been for the woman she had met on the train from Marrakesh to Casablanca, she wasn’t sure she and Lily would have made it out of Morocco at all.
Willow still didn’t completely understand why the woman had helped them.
She had been elegant, probably somewhere in her sixties, dressed in clothing that spoke of money without flaunting it.
Willow had initially tried to avoid her, keeping Lily tucked close while choosing a seat where she could watch both ends of the train car.
The woman had watched her anyway, not in a rude or intrusive way, but with a quiet, careful attention that made Willow feel seen in a way she wasn’t used to.
She had noticed Willow’s bruised face, the way she flinched whenever a man walked too close, and the fact that Willow kept checking behind them at every stop.
Eventually, she had asked, “Are you running from someone?”
Willow hadn’t answered because she didn’t need to. Whatever the woman saw on her face was enough.
Willow never learned exactly who she was or how she possessed the connections she did, but it became obvious very quickly that she wasn’t someone accustomed to hearing the word no.
A few quiet phone calls had opened doors Willow hadn’t known existed, and somehow the woman had helped Willow and Lily navigate their way out of Morocco without asking for anything in return.
When Willow asked why, the woman told her that one time, many years ago, someone had helped her.
That was all there was to it. No questions Willow couldn’t answer, no demands, no expectations, no promise that she would ever have to repay it.
Just one woman quietly choosing to help another, as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
Without her, Willow couldn’t even bear to think about where she and Lily might be right now.
She pushed that thought away and focused on the building across the street. This was the place she’d been told Riley might be.
Getting that information hadn’t been easy. During the journey back to the United States, Willow had managed to access the internet several times. She had searched Riley’s name along with every detail she had picked up from hearing Chen talk about her.
Eventually, Willow had found enough pieces to point her toward Virginia Beach.
Once she arrived, she took another risk and went to the local police department. She hadn’t told them everything. She wasn’t ready for that, and the sight of uniforms still made her nervous after spending three years watching Chen buy loyalty from people who were supposed to uphold the law.
She had told them she was a close friend. Somehow, they believed her, and after several conversations with officers, she found herself in front of the gym.
Willow glanced at the sign above the gym. Please be here.
If she wasn’t there, there was someone else she could contact—Mia Chambers.
Seeing Mia’s name pop up on the screen during one of Willow’s internet searches had made her pause.
For a moment she had just stared, unable to process it, like her mind refused to accept what her eyes were telling her.
Mia was alive. Not only alive, but building a life of her own.
She ran her own veterinary practice now, something Willow could picture so clearly it hurt.
She could see Mia in her scrubs, with her hair pulled back, smiling and cooing over all of the animals like she always had.
For three years, Willow had wondered what happened to the friend who had never shown up for drinks the night before Willow was kidnapped.
She had imagined every terrible possibility, especially once she realized her kidnapping had somehow been connected to what she had uncovered at the veterinary clinic.
Willow knew Mia’s older brother, Ace, was a Navy SEAL and had been stationed in the area. Mia used to talk about him occasionally at work, usually while complaining that her overprotective older brother still treated her as though she were sixteen.
Willow intended to find her, but first she needed help, because she wasn’t sure how much longer she could keep going on her own.
Most of the money she had taken from Chen was gone. It had bought transportation, food, clothes, lodging, and everything Lily needed along the way.
More frightening was how exhausted she had become. She couldn’t remember the last time she had eaten a full meal. Her body had healed from the worst of Chen’s final beating, although her back remained tender in places and the bruising had taken nearly two weeks to fade completely.
Sleep was the biggest problem. Willow felt ready to collapse.
For the past three weeks, every noise and every set of footsteps outside a door had her grabbing Lily and preparing to run. She had changed hotels after spotting a black SUV in the parking lot. She had gotten off a bus two stops early because a man had looked at her too many times.
Maybe none of those things had been connected to Chen, or maybe all of them had been, but Willow couldn’t afford to guess wrong.
Lily stirred again. “Food, Momma.”
“I know.” Willow rubbed her back. “We’re going to get something soon, okay?”
“Snack?”
A tired smile pulled at Willow’s lips. “Yes, baby. A snack.”
Lily seemed satisfied by that answer.
Willow looked back at the gym. She could do this. She had already made it this far, and all that was left now was to take the final step and walk through those doors.
Before she could take a step, the front door suddenly flew open, and Willow froze in place as a woman came running out, with a man close behind her.
Willow’s heart began racing as she instinctively stepped back, tightening both arms protectively around Lily.
The woman was moving quickly, her attention locked directly on Willow, while the man behind her was enormous.
There was no other word for him. He was intimidating.
Tall and broad-shouldered, he carried himself in a way that made Willow’s body react before her mind could catch up, her instincts flaring as if she were still trapped inside one of Chen’s compounds instead of standing on a public sidewalk in Virginia Beach.
“No.” She backed up again.
Lily sensed her fear immediately and wrapped both arms around Willow’s neck.
“It’s okay, baby.” Willow’s voice shook despite her attempt to control it. “Mommy’s got you.”
Then Willow looked at the woman again, her breath catching as recognition hit her. She knew that face.
The hair was different, but Willow would have known her anywhere. There were no bruises now, no fear hollowing out her features, none of the raw desperation Willow remembered from those final moments before she’d helped her escape.
“Riley?”
The woman stopped short, and her entire expression shifted in an instant. “Willow…”
Relief hit Willow so hard her knees almost buckled.
Before Willow could move, more people began coming through the gym doors. Lots of men and women spilled out in a steady stream that felt like too many all at once.
Willow immediately retreated another step.
Her mind knew they were probably Riley’s friends, but three years of captivity had trained her body to see something else entirely—people surrounding her, men blocking escape routes, hands reaching for Lily.
Willow quickly glanced over her shoulder, scanning the sidewalk and the street beyond, her mind already racing through every possible escape route. Where could she run?