Stitch by Jaime Lewis

Chapter Twenty-Five

The next morning after seeing their men off to the rally, Mia, Alex, Tenley, Autumn, and Bailey sat around the living room picking at the make-shift breakfast buffet they had set-up for the guys. There were platters of scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage, grits, toast, home fries, and fresh fruit.

Mia wasn’t very hungry. Her stomach was still in knots from everything going on. She did manage to eat some toast with jelly to put something in her stomach so she wouldn’t get sick.

As promised, Sheriff Prescott had his deputy stationed in the driveway.  Mia had felt bad that the guy had been put on babysitting duty, so she had taken him a plate of food, which he thanked her for.

“So, Mia. What’s next for you?” Bailey asked as she sipped on a cup of coffee.

“What do you mean?”

“Well, once all of this over, what are your plans? Are you going back to New York?”

She put her coffee mug down on the table next to her. “I am.” She saw the surprised looks on her friend's faces, not to mention the frowns, and she smiled.  “I am going back to pack my things. Stitch and I talked. I’m going to move in with him, and from there, we’ll look for a place together.”

“What about work?” Tenley questioned.

“Well, I was supposed to meet with the owner of that clinic and shelter that Stitch’s mom volunteers at. He is looking to sell, and I might be interested in taking it over.

“Mia that is awesome news!” Bailey exclaimed.

“Well, nothing is set in stone. I still have to meet with Dr. Katz.”

“I’m sure he’d sell to you.”

“Is a business like that something you can afford?” Alex asked.

“I’ve looked into the process of taking out a business loan. Plus, with the practice also housing a shelter on site, there are grants available as well.  Like I said, I’ll see.”

“Well, it sounds exciting.”

“Where’s Autumn?” Tenley asked, looking around.

“I thought she went to get a soda out of the fridge in the garage,” Bailey said just as Autumn emerged from the bathroom using a towel to wipe her mouth, and Mia suspected she had just gotten sick. She didn’t look so well.

“Damn, honey, you look like death warmed over you,” Alex admitted getting up and heading into the kitchen to find some crackers or ginger ale for her.

“I think I have a stomach bug or something. I’ve been queasy for the last couple of days,” Autumn said, dropping on the sofa as if she had all the energy zapped right out of her.

Mia eyed Alex, who glanced over at Tenley, who then looked back at Autumn with a sly smile.

“Autumn, could there be a possibility that you’re pregnant?”

When Autumn’s eyes widened with a look of shock, Mia could tell the beautiful redhead hadn’t considered that possibility. She knew Autumn and Frost were trying, but from the deer in the headlights look, Autumn hadn’t thought through that scenario.

“Oh, shit!  I don’t know. I mean, there could be a slight chance, but hell, I just went off the pill.  Plus, I wasn’t sick when I was pregnant with Cody.”

“Every baby affects your body differently. Look at me; I was on the pill, now I’m knocked up with twins that already have their daddy’s battle training, going by the punching and kicking my insides take every day.”

“Well, there is only one way to find out,” Alex said, looking at Autumn.

“What’s that?”

“Take a pregnancy test.  And, I just happen to have one with me.” Alex dug through her purse and pulled out a pregnancy test kit.

Tenley gave Alex a funny look. “Do I even want to know why you’re carrying around a pregnancy test in your purse?” Tenley’s eyes shot wide open. “Oh, my, god! Are you and Ace trying to have a baby?”

Now it was Alex’s turn to give Tenley a look. “No….I have to be married first before I’d consider having a baby. And with mine and Ace’s luck at planning a wedding, I’ll probably be the first eighty-year-old woman to pop out a kid.” Everyone laughed, but Mia could tell Tenley’s comment hit a sore spot with Alex.  Again, Mia saw that dawning look in Alex’s eyes.  She would definitely need to drop a hint to her brother to get his ass in gear and marry Alex.

“The pregnancy test was for one of the patients at the clinic. Well, it was for his wife. They have some financial issues at least until he can get his benefits and pension straightened out, so I bought the test for them and some groceries. I dropped the groceries off but forgot about the test.”

Bailey clapped her hands together. “This is so exciting!  Well, go pee on that stick,” she told Autumn.

A few minutes later, Autumn came back. Her face was unreadable.

“Well?” Tenley questioned as she shoved another forkful of home fries in her mouth.

“I think I need to have Frost rework the addition on the house because he’s going to need to build a nursery,” Autumn said that part with a little squeal and was smiling ear-to-ear as she held up the stick that showed pink lines.

Everyone jumped up, were hugging and congratulating her, when suddenly Tenley doubled over and clutched her stomach.

Alex was right by her side.

“Tenley, what’s wrong?”

“The babies…” She took another deep breath and exhaled.

“Ten…what about the babies? What’s going on?”

“I think the babies are ready to escape.”

“Seriously?”

“Oh god, my water just broke.”

Mia looked down, and judging from the slight puddle forming around Tenley’s feet; she told the truth.

“Alex, you need to call Potter. I need Potter,” Tenley said in between breaths, and Mia couldn’t help but be both excited and worried.”

“Should I call for an ambulance?” Bailey asked.

“No, let’s call Potter and see how fast they can get here. Tenley, let’s get you over to the chair.”

“No! I’ll ruin Stitch’s chair.”

“Honey, Stitch isn’t going to care about the chair. If he does, I’ll buy him a new one.”

“At least get a trash bag that I can sit on.”

Mia wanted to laugh at Alex’s subtle eye-roll.  She ran and got the trash bag from the kitchen so Tenley would sit down.

“Mia, can you run out front and let the deputy know what’s going on? That way if we need to get Tenley to the hospital before the guys get back, he could take her.”

Mia nodded and headed outside. It was cold and dreary outside. She heard Stitch say this morning that there was a chance for snow later in the day.

As she started down the porch steps, she caught a whiff of smoke, and she looked around. Not seeing anything, she walked around to the side of the house, and she gasped when she saw a shed near the back of Stitch’s property on fire. The hair on the back of her neck stood up.

She took off and ran toward the deputy’s patrol car. As she approached, the window was half down, and she saw the Deputy was slumped against the steering wheel. His eyes were closed, but she knew on instinct that he wasn’t asleep on his own doing.

She covered her mouth, spun around, and sprinted back to the house.  She didn’t even bother looking around to see if anyone was near. She was almost to the front door when a bullet struck the house just left of the door.  She stumbled through the door, slamming it and locking it.

“Was that a gunshot?”  Alex questioned, getting up and coming toward Mia.

Mia was too stunned to speak.  She felt herself shaking.  She had to warn the others.  Someone was out there.  Oh, god, that poor deputy, she thought to herself.

“Mia, what’s wrong? You’re shaking like a leaf.”

Mia looked at Alex.  God, she wished she had the strength that Alex had.

Mia was nodding her head when she found her voice. “Someone shot at me. The Deputy is knocked out or something, and Stitch’s shed is on fire.”

Suddenly, an explosion occurred nearby, and Alex ran to the kitchen window. When she returned, she started closing all of the window blinds and pulled the curtains closed.

“Bailey, did you get a hold of the guys?” Alex asked, and Mia stood there for a minute in awe as Alex took control of the situation. She reminded her of her brother when he was in commander mode.

“No, I keep getting a busy signal. It’s weird. I can’t even get through to 911.”

“Okay, since we don’t know who or what we are dealing with, our best option is to hunker down here. Autumn, help me get Tenley into the bathroom. Mia gather some blankets and pillows and brought them into the bathroom.”

Just as Mia crossed the living room, the huge picture window shattered, and Mia screamed as she fell to the floor.

Alex came crawling out of the bathroom.

“Mia!”

Mia shook even harder than before.  She couldn’t move.  Alex came up beside her.

“Mia?  Mia, look at me.” She took a few seconds to process Alex’s words. She also saw that Alex had her gun in her hand. Mia needed to be strong and brave. She got through the ordeal back in New York alive.

She went to say something when they heard men talking just outside on the front porch. They said something about going around the back.

Mia’s eyes widened. “Alex, the back door is unlocked.” Before Alex could say anything, Mia leaped up and sprinted for the back door. When she got there, she knew she had to do something.  She gasped when she recognized Claus, Elijah’s employee standing to the right at the bottom of the porch stairs.

She had to protect the others. She wasn’t sure how many bad guys there were out there, but if she could draw some away from the house, it would help Alex and the others. She eyed the woods that led to the trails. With her body still recovering from the incident in New York, she wondered how far she could make it before they caught up with her. Her main concern was her ankle. As long she could run, she could endure the other aches if it meant saving her friends' lives. She tested her ankle by putting weight on it and bounced a little. It was a little sore, but she could do it. She had to do it. The thought sounded good, and before she could question herself, she yanked open the door and took off to the right. As she made her way down the stairs and toward the tree line that led to the trails, she heard the shouting behind her, followed by gunfire, and she prayed the girls were okay and that this plan would work.

◆◆◆

“Stitch! Gather everyone up,” Sheriff Prescott called out just as the team made their way back to the Sheriff’s department. The so-called rally ended up being a dud with only a handful of protestors showing up.

They met the Sheriff by his patrol truck. “What’s going on?” Stitch asked.

“A 9-1-1 call just came in. There was an explosion on your property. I can’t get in touch with my Deputy. There are reports of gunfire. I’ve got other deputies en route now.”

“Fuck!” Everyone scrambled into their vehicles and took off toward the cabin.

Stitch was scared, angry, and felt guilty. He banged his fist on the dashboard.

“Motherfucker! The bastard from the bar must have followed us.”

“That, or he saw you all cozy with Mia and asked around and got your information from somebody. It is pretty easy to check a background, especially with his connections. Think about it, Stitch.  We have a lot of cop friends. This asshole is a detective who most people would assume is a good guy. If he asked, it’s possible someone said something.”

Stitched glanced back at Irish, who was trying to call Bailey.

“I can’t get through.”

“Shit!”

Ace pressed the gas pedal to the floor, and Stitch held on. In record time, they made the turn up the driveway leading to the cabin with cop cars following. The truck skidded to a stop, and Alex emerged from the front door carrying her glock, but it wasn’t so much of her presence that drew their attention. It was the blood all over her.

Ace got to her first, pulled her into his arms, and then started patting down her body and looking her over to find out where the blood was coming from.  She swatted at his hands. “The blood isn’t mine.”

“Whose is it?” He barked, obviously shaken up by the scene.

“The guy who made a huge mistake by trying to attack us.”

“Where is everyone else?” Stitch asked, looking around. He saw the flames shooting from the shed. Just then, the fire department arrived. He didn’t care about the shed; all he cared about was that all the women were safe.

“Autumn and Tenley are inside along with two dead perpetrators.”  She looked at the Sheriff. “Sorry, I tried to warn them, but they fired first.”

“Where are Mia and Bailey?” Irish asked.

“Mia took off towards the trails. I think she was trying to lure the other two guys away from the house. I think Bailey may have been with her. I don’t know for sure, though. She definitely isn’t in the house.”  She looked between Stitch and Ace. “I think it was Dr. Walters. One of the dead inside is the guy from the bar.”

“Dammit!”

“Are you okay?” Ace asked, pulling her into a hug.

She looked at Potter. “I’m fine. It’s Tenley I’m more worried about.”

“Tenley’s hurt?” Potter asked as he took off in a sprint toward the front door.

“Potter!” Alex shouted, making Potter stop and turn towards her. “She wasn’t injured. Her water broke. She’s in labor. She’s in the bathroom downstairs with Autumn.”  He nodded his head and ran toward the house.

As Potter left to tend to his wife, Stitch and the rest of the crew all gathered their weapons and took off on foot toward the trails searching for Mia, and possibly Bailey.

◆◆◆

Mia was sucking air big-time as she made her way through the trails. Even with her running regiment, she still struggled on the incline. Her bummed ankle wasn’t helping as she hopped over branches and slipped on rocks and leaves. She could hear the footsteps of the men following behind her. They were yelling as if trying to intimidate her.

She had tried to pay attention when Stitch brought her up here, but she was so enthralled with what nature had to offer that she may have missed a few things he had pointed out. Mainly when he spoke about where certain trails led to.

She paused for a moment to rest against a tree. She bent over and took deep breaths. Her mind was still on Alex, Tenley, Autumn, and Bailey. She prayed they were okay and that the guys were alerted to what was happening. She looked around and noticed a clearing up ahead. It wasn’t the same one that Stitch had taken her to, as this one wasn’t up as high.

As she cleared the trees, a small area opened up. She heard a gunshot in the distance and prayed it hadn’t hit anyone she loved. She looked around and noticed she had hit a dead end. The only way out was to go back the way she had come, or over the side of the mountain.

She heard the crunch of footsteps as she turned and gasped when she stood face-to-face with Elijah, holding a gun in his hand. He, too, was breathing heavily.

“Mia.”

She shook her head as tears emerged in her eyes.

“How could you? I trusted you. I looked up to you.”

“I could say the same about you. You betrayed me by working with the authorities who sent you to spy on my organization.”

She was jerked back by his comment, clearly confused.

“I don’t know what you are talking about. I never worked for anyone other than you.”

“It doesn’t matter now.”

She took a few steps back into the clearing, being careful not to go too far or she’d go over the edge.

“I don’t want to die,” she told him. “I swear I didn’t know about anything until after the fact.”

“You don’t have to die, Mia. Just come with me, then you and I can put all of this ugliness behind us.”

She shook her head. “You almost had me killed.”

“That was a mistake. Those responsible had mistaken you for Willow. You were never the intended target. I’d never harm you, Mia. I’ve wanted you ever since I first laid eyes on you.”

“Where is Willow?” She asked, sudden realization dawning.

Elijah’s face went blank, then he rubbed his forehead before looking her in the eye. “Willow crossed the line, Mia. She had to pay the price for her betrayal.”

Mia placed her hand over her mouth to cover her sob. He had killed Willow. Oh, God, she felt sick to her stomach.

He took a step toward her, and she moved back. She didn’t have much more room.

“Mia, don’t test my patience. Come with me now.”

In a surprise move, he stuffed his gun in the waistband of his pants then held his hand out to her. Without a gun being pointed at her, she felt a little reprieve.

Suddenly, Stitch’s voice echoed through the trees.

“Mia!”

“Stitch!” She shouted, and Elijah ran toward her. She braced herself for the impending hit. He tackled them both to the ground. She swung her fists, hit him in the face, then got to her hands and knees and tried to crawl away. Elijah grabbed her foot and dragged her backward as he flipped her over onto her back. He straddled her body, and she cried out from the pressure on her still healing ribs.

“Stop fighting me!”

“Go to hell!” She told him and dragged her fingernails down his cheek, drawing blood. He cried out and grabbed her arm and slammed it against the ground. She felt the bone in her forearm crack, and she screamed. He latched onto her throat and squeezed until she could no longer breathe. Her lungs began to burn, and black dots started forming in her vision.  It was the telling moment that she knew she was going to die. Her eyes started to close as death pulled her under its spell. Just as she took her last breath, a gunshot sounded, and then everything went silent. She felt free.

◆◆◆

Stitch knew the direction Mia was in when he heard her call his name.

As he and the others charged up the trails, the group had started to fan out to surround the area. There was no way he was letting this asshole go.  But Mia was his first priority. One of the deputies had taken out the other guy.

Stitch got to the clearing where he believed Mia was, and he became enraged when he saw Elijah on top of Mia choking her. He could see Mia was without a fight and losing consciousness. He raised his gun to take the shot, but suddenly, another shot came from another direction, and a bright red bloom appeared on Elijah’s chest, and he fell over.

Stitch raced to Mia’s side.

“Mia?” He said frantically as he shook her. Not getting a response, he checked her pulse—nothing.

“No!”

He started CPR as the others all came running towards him from all different directions.

Ace knelt beside him and took Mia’s hand.

“He was choking her,” Stitch said before giving Mia another breath of air.

“Got a pulse,” Ace said right before Mia started sputtering and coughing. Stitch pulled her into his arms and held her close. He buried his face in her hair and cried.

He felt Mia move, and when he looked down into those brown eyes staring back at him, he almost lost it again. The others had all taken off their coats and laid them over Mia to keep her warm until help arrived.

The paramedics arrived and secured Mia to a backboard and loaded it onto one of the deputies ATVs.

Stitch never once let go of Mia’s hand. She was quiet through the whole process, probably in shock and exhaustion. The paramedics splinted her arm, but other than her arm and bruising, she appeared to be okay. She squeezed his hand, and he bent down, so he was face-to-face with her.

“The others…are the others, okay?” She asked him. Her voice was rough and raspy.

He smiled. “Everyone is good.”

“What about Bailey? I think she followed me.”

Stitch’s smile faded as he looked to Ace.

“Ace, did anyone confirm Bailey’s whereabouts?”

Ace looked at the Sheriff, and he radioed down to some of the deputies who were at the cabin processing the crime scene.

When one of the deputies radioed back saying no, that she was not there with the others, Stitch saw the panic in Irish as he pulled his phone out. Stitch knew he was trying to call her.

Ace tried to calm him.

“Irish, if she is up here, she may have just gotten lost.”

“Yeah, I’ve my deputies starting to search. We’ll find her.”

The Sheriff then looked over at Elijah’s body that was now covered with a white sheet.

“Who fired the shot?”  The Sheriff asked, turning back to the group.

The guys all stood there looking at one another as if waiting for the other to confess. Stitch knew the shot couldn’t have come from anyone on the team because of their location.  The shot had come from the other direction.   He looked at the Sheriff.  “Are you sure it wasn’t one of your guys?”

The Sheriff shook his head slowly, then as if right on cue, there was rustling in the bushes to the right of them, followed a woman’s mumbled curse.

“God damn, fucking thorns. Jesus, by the time I find my way out of here, I’m going to look like freaking cactus.”

They all stood there wide-eyed as Bailey emerged from the thick brush, shaking her hair out and pulling out vines that were stuck to her clothing, all the while carrying a huge ass rifle that was slung across her small frame.

Stitch looked closer. If he wasn’t mistaken, the rifle resembled Irish’s sniper rifle.

When she had finally pulled the last vine from her shirt, she looked up, and Stitch wanted to laugh at the look on her face and the faces of the others.

“Oh, thank god. Can someone please take this thing?” She asked as she pulled the strap of the rifle over her head.  Irish was there in an instant, taking the rather large weapon from her shaking hands. When nobody said anything, she said, “What?” Irish’s eyes widened at first, but quickly narrowed as he found his voice.

“Why in the hell do you have my rifle?” When she grinned and her cheeks pinkened, Stitch wanted to laugh out loud. Hell, even he knew nobody ever touched Irish’s rifle unless there was a damn good reason. For a while, until Irish found Bailey, the team was beginning to think that the only marriage Irish would have would be to his rifle. Stitch just shook his head as the little sprite batted her eyelashes at her husband.

Sheriff Prescott stepped forward and rested his hand on the butt of his gun. Stitch didn’t miss the amusement in the Sheriff’s voice when he spoke to Bailey as serious as the situation was.

“Darlin, would you like to explain why you are hiding out in the bushes with your husband’s rifle?”

“Well, when the bad guys came into the house, I saw Mia slip out the back. I knew she was trying to protect the rest of us by leading those two guys away from the house. I knew Alex could take care of herself and Tenley and Autumn.”

“So, you decided to follow her.” Irish blurted out.

“Christ, don’t get your flippers in a twist, husband of mine.” Stitch was biting his cheek to keep from laughing, but the coughs covering the laughter he heard from the others didn’t go un-noticed. He even saw Mia crack a smile.

“Anyway, I couldn’t let her go off by herself without backup. I didn’t know where you guys were or when you’d be back. I remembered when Irish brought me up here for a weekend, and we had spent a lot of the time hiking the trails. I wasn’t really sure where Mia was leading them, but I remembered Irish taking me up to a deer stand that overlooked Stitch’s property. You could see almost any spot from that vantage point.”

“Sweetness, do you care to share how you even know how to shoot my rifle, let alone hit a perfect shot?” Even though Irish pretty much growled out his question, Stitch could also hear the pride in his tone. He knew deep down Irish was proud of his wife, but on the other end of the spectrum, she had taken someone’s life, and they all knew the toll that could take on a person.

Stitch saw her lip start to quiver. Shit, he hated tears. Especially tears that belonged to his and his team’s women.

“Are you mad at me?” She asked Irish just as the first tear breached her lower eyelid and slid down her cheek. Irish was a hard man. They all were, but Irish more so than the others and probably due to the fact he had racked up an impressive kill list, though he would never admit it or be proud of it.  But, doing so, it takes what is inside to get through the guilt of having to take another life. But, seeing now how his face melted as his wife stood there asking if he was mad at her showed the true man Irish was. He was a true softy at heart.

Irish grabbed the front of her sweater and pulled into a crushing hug.  “No, baby. I’m not mad at you. I’m damn proud of you for your quick thinking. Without you there to help Mia, we could be dealing with a whole other situation.  But, you never answered my question. How do you know how to handle my rifle?”

“Well…Alex and I have been going to the shooting range the nights we have kickboxing. I expressed my interest in learning to shoot, whatever that is called. I told Alex I wanted to learn to shoot the same type of gun that you have. She laughed at me at first, but then she thought it was a great idea. I tried asking you, but you kept telling me that it was too much for me.”  Stitch heard Ace groan at the mention of Alex’s name. Alex loved handling all types of weapons and could probably handle with ease any weapon put in front of her.

“We will be talking about yours and Alex’s extracurricular activities later. I’m just glad you’re safe. I was so damn worried about you.”

The Sheriff chuckled. “You guys are some lucky bastards, I tell ya.  My men and I will handle this scene. You all head to the hospital. Potter and Alex took Tenley. From what I heard, she was in labor, and as my deputy put it, the woman can give a sailor some competition when it comes to her language. Frost and Autumn are waiting for you guys at the cabin.”

Stitch took Mia’s hand as the ATV started to move.

“What do you say we go say hi to the newest members of Team 2 and then head home?”

She smiled, “Home sounds good.”