Chapter Twenty-Four
Jay Bird leaned back in his chair on Bayside’s patio deck, stretched his legs out beneath the table, and took another drink of his beer while half listening to Snow and Nails argue over something so fucking stupid he’d stopped paying attention five minutes ago.
Whatever it was, Nails was convinced he was right, Snow was equally convinced Nails was an idiot, and the rest of the team had apparently decided the safest option was to sit back and encourage both of them.
It was a pretty typical afternoon with the guys.
The late summer sun was still high enough to throw plenty of heat across the deck, although the breeze coming off the ocean made it comfortable.
Bayside was busy, but mostly with locals, and the sound of conversation mixed with music coming through the speakers and the occasional crash of waves beyond the dunes.
Jay Bird should have been enjoying the rare downtime. Instead, he was staring at his phone again.
Willow: I put a former cop on his ass.
A grin pulled at his mouth.
He had already given her shit about needing video evidence, but he couldn’t deny how damn proud he was of her.
When she had first told him she wanted to take Nova up on the kickboxing lessons, he had supported the idea completely.
Anything that gave Willow back another piece of the confidence Chen had stolen from her was worth it.
What Jay Bird hadn’t expected was how seriously she had taken it. Then again, he should have known.
Willow might have been timid at times, especially when she found herself in unfamiliar situations or around men she didn’t know, but beneath all of that was one of the strongest women Jay Bird had ever met.
She had survived three years with a monster, escaped while carrying a two-year-old child, traveled halfway across the world with practically nothing, and somehow found her way to Virginia Beach.
She had fought like hell to get her life back, and now she was learning how to fight in an entirely different way.
His gaze drifted to the last message he had sent her.
Jay Bird: Proud of you.
Her response had been simple.
Willow: Thank you. Have fun with the guys.
He smiled again.
“Jesus Christ.”
Jay Bird looked up to find Aussie staring at him.
“What?”
“Nothing.” Aussie lifted his beer. “Just checking to make sure that’s actually you sitting there.”
Jay Bird narrowed his eyes. “Drink your fucking beer.”
“Oh, I am. I’m just not the one staring at my phone smiling like a teenage girl.”
Playboy barked out a laugh.
Bear shook his head. “You just can’t help yourself, can you?”
“Nope,” Aussie replied proudly. “This is a very rare moment. We’ve all taken shit from each other, and I’m not about to let Jay Bird get away without taking it too.”
Jay Bird slid his phone onto the table. “I could help you swallow that beer bottle.”
“Now, there’s the Jay Bird we know and love,” Aussie teased, holding his beer up.
The guys laughed, and Jay Bird flipped Aussie off before reaching for his beer.
The funny thing was, Aussie wasn’t wrong. Jay Bird was happy.
It still surprised the hell out of him how things had changed. And how fast it occurred.
Jay Bird picked up his phone again and looked at Willow’s name on the screen. He loved her.
The realization didn’t come with panic or some dramatic revelation. It simply settled into place as though it had been there for a while and he had finally stopped being too stubborn to acknowledge it.
He loved Willow, and, Jesus, he loved that little girl too.
“Fuck,” he muttered.
Bear glanced at him. “Problem?”
Jay Bird shook his head, unable to stop the smile pulling at his mouth. “No.”
For once, there really wasn’t.
His phone rang. Jay Bird glanced at the screen, expecting Willow. Instead, Mia’s name appeared.
Something about that immediately felt wrong.
Mia rarely called him. She might text him about something involving Willow or Lily, but she had Stitch for everything else.
Jay Bird answered.
“Hey, Mia.”
The sound on the phone made him sit upright. She was crying.
“Jay Bird—”
His chair scraped against the deck as he stood. Every man at the table went silent.
“Mia, slow down. What’s wrong?”
“It’s Willow.”
His stomach dropped.
“What happened?”
“I don’t know. We heard screaming outside in the back parking lot, and by the time we got out there—”
Jay Bird’s hand tightened around the phone.
“Mia, where the fuck is Willow?”
Mia started crying harder. “They took her. And Lily.”
The world around Jay Bird disappeared. He could still see the guys staring at him, but everything sounded distant.
“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.
Jay Bird shook his head. “This isn’t on you. Tell me what happened.”
“Someone heard Willow screaming and ran to get me.” Mia pressed a trembling hand against her mouth. “Anna Grace and I were in the back. By the time we got outside, they were gone. It happened so fast.”
“Did you see them?”
“Not in person, but the cameras caught everything.”
Her eyes filled again.
“Jay Bird...it was Chen. I saw him.”
His jaw clenched. “Show me.”
“Jay—”
“Show me, Mia.”
Derek stepped beside him. “We’re all watching it.”
They gathered around a police officer who had pulled the footage onto a tablet.
Riley was already there, along with Bravo team. More members of Alpha team were arriving by the minute.
The officer started the video, and Jay Bird watched as Willow and Lily walked out of the rescue center.
Willow was smiling as she walked with Lily beside her and Ellie tucked securely beneath one arm.
Then Willow stopped.
Even without audio, Jay Bird saw the exact moment she saw Chen. Then Liu stepped into view, followed by another man who appeared behind Willow, and then a third.
Jay Bird’s hands curled into fists.
Willow grabbed Lily.
One of the men came at her. And Willow fought.
Jay Bird stared at the screen as she broke the first man’s grip so quickly that the bastard actually stumbled. Another caught her from behind, and for the briefest second Willow froze.
Jay Bird’s chest tightened as he watched her freeze, knowing exactly why. But then she moved.
She shifted her body, drove an elbow into the man’s ribs, and broke free.
“Holy shit,” Bear murmured beside him.
Jay Bird barely heard him. His entire focus remained on Willow. She was trying to get Lily back toward the building.
Jay Bird’s vision nearly went red when one of the men grabbed Lily.
Willow went after him with everything she had. She kicked him, hit him, and managed to get Lily away.
“She fought like hell,” one of the officers said quietly.
Yeah. She fucking did.
Jay Bird watched her run toward the building with Lily in her arms, and for one desperate second, even knowing the outcome, he found himself hoping she would make it.
But she didn’t, as a man tackled her from behind.
Jay Bird took a step toward the screen.
“Easy,” Derek warned quietly.
Jay Bird ignored him and kept watching the footage.
Willow protected Lily as she hit the pavement and then immediately started fighting again. She kicked one man away, struck Liu hard enough to stagger him, and broke another man’s grip.
It took all three of them to get her down.
Jay Bird’s breathing became heavier when he saw one of the men jab her with a needle.
“No.” The word came out before he could stop it.
He watched as her movements gradually slowed.
Jay Bird stared at the screen while she continued fighting even as the drug began taking effect. She was still trying to crawl toward Lily when a familiar figure stepped into view.
The rage Jay Bird had been holding back broke loose.
“I’ll fucking kill him,” he stated, looking at Chen’s face on the screen.
He started moving, but Bear caught his arm before he could get far.
Jay Bird jerked away. “Don’t fucking touch me.”
“Jay.”
Derek stepped directly into his path.
“Move.”
“No.”
“Derek.”
“Look at me.”