Page 12 of Jay Bird

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?

The large man who had followed Riley must have seen the panic on her face because he stopped several feet away rather than coming any closer. He held one hand slightly away from his body, his posture deliberately nonthreatening.

“Easy,” he said calmly. “Nobody’s gonna hurt you.”

Willow wanted to believe him. She really did, but the truth was she had heard those kinds of promises before, and none of them had ever meant what they were supposed to.

Lily lifted her head from Willow’s shoulder and peeked toward the strangers with huge brown eyes.

The big man looked at her, and Willow immediately turned slightly, shielding her daughter with her body.

Lily buried her face against Willow again. “Momma,” she whimpered shakily. “Bad man.”

Willow flinched, her heart breaking a little more each time Lily whispered those words. Bad man. That was what she had come to call Chen.

Willow rubbed her daughter’s back, trying to calm the tremor in her own hands as she whispered, “He’s not here, baby,” though she could only pray it was true. “You’re okay, Lily,” she added softly, pressing a kiss to Lily’s hair.