Stitch by Jaime Lewis

Chapter Twenty-Three

It was a quiet ride back up the mountains. It was like a damn convoy coming up the mountain. Stitch and Mia rode with Ace and Alex, while  Potter, Tenley, Frost, Autumn, Irish, and Bailey all followed in their vehicles. Potter had wanted Tenley to stay behind because of her condition; however, she was adamant that she was going, come hell or high water.

Diego, Skittles, and Dino stayed behind to keep an eye on things in town. Derek and Juliet, with help from Tink, were keeping an eye on all the kiddos back home. Stitch had told everyone to stay in town and not get involved, but just as he suspected, not one of them budged, making comments that they were a team and would fight as one. Moments like that were why he loved his brothers in arms. Even off the battlegrounds, his team stuck together as one force to be reckoned with.

Stitch looked down at Mia who was sound asleep with her head in his lap. He couldn’t stop running his fingers through her silky, raven-colored hair. The image of her with that haunted look on her face plagued him. He was familiar with flashbacks and how they could wreak havoc on a person, but he prayed he would never have to see that look again on her beautiful face for as long as he lived. It was heart-wrenching to watch when there was nothing he could do.

There were so many people milling around the area where Mia was, so it was hard to say who could’ve been wearing the cologne that Mia had smelled. Before they left, Paul said that he would pull videos from the cameras and see if he noticed anything. Derek and Tink were in contact with Detective McDonnell. According to McDonnell, the case was being turned over to the Feds because of the legalities involved. They were closing in on Dr. Walters as a suspect of a huge puppy trafficking operation that now expanded to other states. He hadn’t told Mia that part yet.

Ace glanced at him in the mirror as he drove. Stitch knew Ace was worried about Mia. He’d been quiet since they got Mia into the car and started making the trek up the mountain. Alex had tried to make small talk, but she had given up when it was apparent Ace wasn’t in the mood for conversation.

Once they arrived at the cabin, Stitch carried Mia straight up to the bedroom and tucked her into bed. She was out cold.  With all the excitement and sudden movements, she had overdone it a little, and both Ace and Stitch thought it was best that she take a pain pill, which meant she wouldn’t be waking up any time soon.

As he walked out of the bedroom, he almost collided with Ace.

“You okay?” Stitch asked, knowing it was a stupid question because he knew his friend was anything but okay.  He could see the turmoil etched in Ace’s expressions. The only other time he’d seen Ace this torn up was when Alex had been rescued and was fighting for her life.

Ace appeared to think before he spoke.  “I don’t think I ever want to see that look of fear on my sister’s face again.” Ace glanced over Stitch’s shoulder into the bedroom. “I know she’s asleep, but I just need to see she is okay.”

“Go on in.” The last thing Stitch wanted to do was stand in between Ace and his sister. Especially at a time like this. He was quite sure if he had a sister, he’d want to be as close to her as he could to keep watch over her.  “What are the others doing?”

“Alex, Autumn, and Bailey are making up the beds in the other rooms.  Tenley is pitching a fit because Potter won’t let her help.” Ace snorted a laugh. “On my way up the stairs, I heard Potter threatening to tie her to the chair.”

Stitch raised one of his eyebrows. He found it hard to believe that anyone could tie Tenley down, although it would be Potter if anyone could accomplish that feat. Ace must have seen the question Stitch was asking himself because he smirked. “Tenley was refusing to listen to Potter, so he picked her up and put her on his lap. She isn’t going anywhere.”

Stitch just shook his head. “Who would’ve thought Potter would be so pussy-whipped.”

“Shit, who thought any of us would be. Hell, we are all dropping like flies.  If the trend continues, there won’t be any bachelors on the team.”  Ace then shook his head. “In all seriousness, I want to thank you again for everything you’ve done for Mia.”

“You don’t have to thank me, Ace.  I love your sister and would move heaven on earth for her.”

“I know you would, and that is why I am so damn happy for the both of you.”

Ace’s phone rang with an incoming call. He looked at it, then glanced at Stitch. “That’s strange; it’s Paul from Bayside.”

Stitch didn’t move from where he stood. Paul wasn’t a very talkative man, so his calling wasn’t to just shoot the breeze.  He just listened to the one-sided call.

“Hey, Paul, what’s up? He’s there, at the bar? Yeah, I know him, and he is legit.  Really?”

Stitch heard the floor creak behind him and saw Alex moving in with her phone to her hand, and judging from the expression on her face, she wasn’t coming to deliver good news.

She looked at Stitch.  “Who is he on the phone with?”

“Paul.”

“He must be calling Ace about Terek.” She looked up at Ace. “Terek just called me; you need to call him. But before you do, I need to show you something.”

Ace finished up and disconnected from Paul. Alex hit some icons on her phone, and the video surveillance from Bayside appeared. Both Stitch and Ace looked down at Alex.

“What?  I had Paul send me a couple of the video feeds. I wanted to take a look myself and see if I saw anything or anyone hanging around Mia.”

“And,” Ace asked.

“And…see for yourself, and you tell me.”

Stitch leaned in to view the feed. Alex was able to manipulate the video a little more, but Stitch didn’t recognize anyone. Ace, on the other hand, had. He looked back at Alex.

“Is that who I think it is?”

Alex nodded. “The guy that we passed coming into the clinic when we were leaving?”

Stitch asked them about the guy, and they explained. Stitch hardly believed in coincidences, and he stood his ground in this instance as well. What are the odds a guy seen at Dr. Walters office was at the bar in their small community?

“So, are we all saying this has to be the guy? Can we call Paul and see if the douche is still there?”

“Hang on and let me call Terek,” Ace said and dialed his phone and put it on speaker.

“Hey, Terek.”

“Hey, man. Alex wouldn’t say, but please tell me you guys have Mia someplace safe.”

Stitch looked at Alex, and she just grinned and shrugged her shoulders.  He shouldn’t be jealous of the guy, especially when he was only trying to help Mia out, but he couldn’t help it. Even though he knew the reason behind their breakup, he still wasn’t happy with how it all played out.

“Mia’s safe. We left the beach and headed up into the mountains; what’s wrong? I just got a call from the owner of the joint we hang out at. He said you were just there.”

“Yeah. Look, things have taken a turn in the case I’ve been working on.”

“What does that have to do with Mia?”

Terek explained about being ambushed and what he had overheard.

“Shit! Are you okay?”

“Just a minor flesh wound. I my damn phone just started working about  thirty minutes ago or I would’ve called sooner. Look, from what I heard, Dr. Walters is looking for Mia. He has to be in Virginia. The police went to his penthouse to arrest him, but he’s gone. His staff said he left with four bags. The police also picked up the two guys who abducted Mia. They confessed to everything and gave up a lot of information on Dr. Walters. Mia wasn’t the intended target. It was Willow, the receptionist from the clinic. When Elijah found out that the guys had picked up the wrong woman, Claus, Elijah’s second in command, apparently got rid of her.”

Ace swallowed hard. Shit, he knew that Willow was Mia’s friend.

Terek continued, “I found out Elijah has some inside help at the NYPD. One of them is in your town.”

“I think I know who you are talking about. There is a guy we just saw on a video at the restaurant we frequent, and he is the spitting image of a guy Alex and I saw at Dr. Walters office.”

Ace described him, and Terek agreed it could be the same guy.

“He’s supposedly attending a law enforcement conference.”

“Yeah, I know about it. It’s over in Norfolk. A bunch of our friends from Virginia Beach PD were attending. Actually, we saw some of them tonight.”

Stitch felt the goosebumps crawl along his skin. He met Ace’s glare, and he knew Ace was thinking the same as he was.

“Terek, this is Stitch.  Are you still at the bar?”

“Yeah, I’m sitting in my car in the parking lot.”

“Alex is going to call Paul right now. Go back in there. He can pull up the video feed from tonight. There was an incident earlier. Mia suddenly had a flashback, and it wasn’t pretty.  She was able to tell us that it was a cologne someone was wearing that set it off.  Can you take a look at the feed and see if it is the same guy you are talking about?”

“Sure.  Whatever you guys need.”

“He is wearing a ball cap with an American flag on the front. You’ll see him walk behind Mia.”

“Okay.  I’m on it. Let me get in there, and I’ll give you guys a call back once I take a look.”

“We appreciate it.”

Ace hung up, and Stitch ran his hand thru his hair.

“Ace, with Elijah looking for Mia, we can’t let our guard down.”

“I know Stitch, I know.  If they come, we’ll be ready.  The good thing is that we aren’t still in town.”

“Yeah, but it only takes one person to say the wrong thing, and we could have trouble on the doorstep.”

“Well, let’s just hope that doesn’t happen.”

Within five minutes, they had their answer, and it wasn’t good.  The man in question at the bar was Brice Vargas, a detective for the NYPD and an inside informant for Dr. Elijah Walters. An arrest warrant had been issued for him as well.

Trouble was by the time Terek took a look at the video and walked around the bar searching for him; he was long gone.

Now, the team had to sit tight and wait.