Page 61 of Jay Bird

Mia nodded. “Yeah, but I’m okay.”

“I can see that, but what happened?”

Mia glanced toward Camden, who had successfully reached the grass and was now inspecting it with great seriousness.

“It’s a long story, and I’ll give you the shorter version because the full one requires a significant amount of alcohol”

Mia took a deep breath. “I’d been grabbed because of things happening around the clinic. I managed to escape, ended up at a cabin that belonged to Stitch, and eventually Ace and his team got involved.”

“Stitch’s cabin?”

Mia smiled faintly. “Yes, thankfully Stitch had given me a key to his cabin a few months before. He knew I had been stressing out with my board exams and offered it for me to use to relax.”

“Was that when you and Stitch got together?”

Mia smiled. “Yeah. But he and I had been dancing around each other for a while before that.”

“Wow.”

“Yeah, wow.” Mia’s expression sobered. And you were right about Dr. Walters.”

Willow looked at her. “What do you mean?”

“Everything in that envelope you gave me. All of it was true. He was involved in illegally bringing puppies into the country, falsifying health records and documentation, then profiting from the sales. There was a much larger operation behind it than we realized.”

“I knew those records didn’t make sense. I wanted to talk to you about them that night. That’s why I was so desperate to meet you. I kept thinking maybe I had lost my mind, and that there had to be some innocent explanation.”

“Unfortunately, there wasn’t. He was behind it all.”

Willow stared across the backyard. Three years ago, she had stood in Central Park, quietly questioning whether she had been overthinking a few suspicious files. Now, she found out that she had been right all along.

“There was someone else involved,” Mia continued. “A man named Demetri.”

Willow went completely still at the name. “Demetri?”

Mia noticed immediately. “You know the name?”

“I heard Chen mention him several times.”

“When?” Mia asked.

“I don’t remember exactly. Maybe my first year with him.” Willow searched through memories she ordinarily tried not to touch.

“Chen was talking to one of his men. He said something about needing to thank Demetri for sending me his way.”

Mia’s face lost some of its color. “Jesus.”

“What?”

“Demetri was connected to Dr. Walters.”

Suddenly, all of the pieces started falling into place.

“So, my kidnapping wasn’t random.”

It wasn’t really a question, and Mia’s silence was answer enough.

Willow looked toward Lily. Her daughter had dropped to the grass and was now trying to sit on the ball instead of kicking it.