Chapter Sixteen
Chen zipped up his pants, ignoring the woman restrained in front of him. The room was dimly lit and quiet. The way he preferred it.
No windows, just concrete walls. No sounds from the house above reached this far below ground.
The recessed lights cast a cold glow across the room, illuminating the drain set into the center of the floor, the stainless-steel sink along one wall, and the locked cabinet beside it.
Everything was exactly where it belonged.
His gaze returned to the woman. Her wrists were secured above her head, her face streaked with tears. She trembled despite the coolness of the room, watching him with the wide, frightened eyes Chen had seen countless times before.
Usually, he enjoyed that look. Tonight, it only irritated him. Because she wasn’t the woman he wanted standing in front of him.
Almost two months had passed, and despite the money he had spent and the men he had sent searching, no one had found Willow. There had been no sightings. No financial trail. Her name hadn’t been used. Nothing that tied her to her old identity. It was as though she and the child had disappeared.
Chen’s jaw tightened.
He didn’t have concrete evidence, but he was certain that Willow was behind the raid on his estate in Morocco.
A few weeks ago, one of his contacts had warned him that American federal agents, working alongside international and Moroccan authorities, were preparing to raid his estate. The warning had given Chen just enough time to leave the country, taking only the people and possessions that mattered most.
By the time the FBI and the others descended on the mansion, Chen was already gone.
He had abandoned Morocco for Italy, relocating to another property he had kept carefully separated from his other operations. The villa was secluded, heavily guarded, and every bit as luxurious as the home he’d been forced to leave behind.
Willow hadn’t merely escaped him. She had disrupted his business, cost him men and money, and forced him from a home he considered his favorite.
His gaze drifted toward the wall where restraints hung neatly from individual hooks. Upstairs, his Italian villa was immaculate and elegant. Guests drank expensive liquor and admired the art on his walls, never imagining what lay beneath their feet.
Down here, appearances were unnecessary. Down here, people learned obedience.
Chen slowly walked toward the woman, and she immediately pulled against the restraints. She was weak after what she had already endured. But she had served her purpose.
“Please.” The word echoed through the room.
He stopped, his expression hardening.
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.”
“No, sir. I don’t believe it is. If Willow managed to get out of the country and back to the United States, I would bet my bank account that is where she headed.”
A slow smile pulled at Chen’s mouth.
He would give Willow credit. How she managed to evade him with no credit cards, a valid ID, and no use of her Social Security number, all while traveling with a two-year-old, was commendable.
At first, Chen had believed that she was still hiding somewhere overseas. But she had found someone to help her, someone who knew how to move her without leaving a trail. Then everything changed.
And an FBI agent certainly fit that description.
Chen’s jaw tightened as he considered the possibility. Riley already owed Willow her life. Helping Willow disappear would be an easy way to repay that debt.
Perhaps he had been searching for Willow in all the wrong places.
“Find out everything you can about both women,” Chen ordered. “If Willow is in Virginia Beach, I want to know.”
Liu nodded. “I’ll handle it.”
“And Liu.” Chen waited until the man met his gaze.
“Be careful. If Mia’s husband really is a Navy SEAL, the last thing I want is to draw his attention before we know what we’re dealing with.
” His expression hardened. “Men like that tend to come with friends, and I have no interest in involving the United States military in this any more than it already is.”
Understanding crossed the other man’s face, and he nodded and left the room.
Chen waited until the door closed behind him before turning back toward the woman. His mood had improved considerably.
He stopped directly in front of the trembling woman. He studied her for another moment, but in his mind, it wasn’t her face he saw. It was Willow’s.
He could picture those brown eyes staring back at him. Could imagine the fear she would try desperately to hide when his men finally brought her home. Because they would find her, he did not doubt that.
The world was large, but Willow could only hide in so many places. Eventually she would make a mistake. And when she did, Chen would be waiting.
Chen had spent weeks imagining her return, and he knew exactly where she would spend her first night back. He would bring her downstairs himself and make certain she understood the cost of betraying him. Of humiliating him and believing she could just disappear.
His mouth curved into a slow smile. Willow had never experienced the dungeon. During her three years with him, he had never had reason to bring her down here.
She had always feared what existed beneath his home without ever seeing it.
Soon, she wouldn’t have to wonder anymore.