George laid out the whole tale, as much as he knew, emphasizing that Pia’s boss, Zachary Berman, had come on to Pia sexually. He explained that Pia had become convinced that something weird was going on where she worked at a research company called Nano, and had put herself in danger by trying to find out what it was. The only thing she knew was that it somehow involved the Chinese because she, and the other doctor friend, had had a run-in with a stricken Chinese jogger who was also associated with Nano. Then when she apparently found out what it was, she had disappeared. “She texted a friend to say she was on her way to his apartment to explain what she learned, but never showed up. Since then no one has seen her. Myself and this other doctor friend are convinced she’d been kidnapped by her boss.”

“When did all this take place?”

“A few days ago. Monday morning to be precise.”

Burim glanced up at his colleague. “Sounds like the same thing as two years ago. Jesus Christ, the girl is impossible.” The colleague nodded. Burim looked back at George. “My daughter reminds me of my wife. She was a firebrand, too. And that is not a good thing. She pissed me off big time when I was struggling to get started. Neither of them showed me no respect.”

“Pia’s had a hard life. She was in those foster homes . . .”

“Careful, college boy.”

George swallowed hard but continued. “Those places made it very hard for her to connect with people. She doesn’t trust anyone, including me. She doesn’t have many friends; in fact I only know of two, myself and this other gay doctor.”

“Oh, please!” Burim said, raising his hands above the table. “I don’t want to hear about that.”

“The point that I’m trying to make is that besides myself and this other doctor, there is no one else to sound the alarm about Pia disappearing. Listen, if you are truly interested in getting to know her, it’s going to take years. If that’s what you want, it’s not going to be easy. It was never going to happen overnight like you wanted. You’ll have to be patient.”

“Why should I bother?”

“Because she’s your flesh and blood. She’s family. That’s why you went to save her last time. That was a pain in the ass, too, I expect, but you did it. Pia’s not the kind of person to bow down and say thank you in a situation like that. She has a lot of pride; that must mean something to you. She wouldn’t speak to me or see me for almost two years after I tried to help you.”

“Is that right?”

“Absolutely.”

Burim nodded. “Flesh and blood. She looks just like her mother, you know.”