Stitch by Jaime Lewis

Chapter Six

“Is tonight’s shipment still on schedule?” Elijah asked Claus as he sat at his desk, reading over the stack of paperwork in front of him and making sure everything was aligned for the cargo to leave. He hated to leave the gala early, but a lot was riding on this shipment, and he needed to make sure it went off without a hitch.

Claus looked up from his phone and pushed off from the wall.  “As long as your dipshit cousin comes through with the documents in time, we’ll make it.”  He walked over and took a seat across the desk. Claus played multiple roles within Elijah’s business network and was the only person who Elijah trusted with his life and business.

Elijah studied the pictures scattered across his large desk. He hadn’t been lying when he told Mia he had to leave to meet a client. It just wasn’t a client that Mia thought of. The so-called client was a member of the puppy trafficking ring that Elijah had formed a few years ago. The guy was meeting Elijah at the clinic to pick up the puppies that were in the kennels. Some were the same puppies that Mia had helped examine. He felt awful lying to Mia, but there was no way she could know the truth. It was best she just believed the puppies were abandoned and eventually adopted out.

Elijah had a turn-key operation that made him millions. Each week, puppies arrived from various foreign countries. Elijah would match each canine with forged birth and vaccination documents before being shipped to eager buyers across the country. The buyers were clueless about the puppy’s background. The papers provided to the new owners verified their puppy was born in a small town just outside of the City.

He had a warehouse across the Hudson River in New Jersey. The warehouse's interior mirrored a large scale kennel that included two exam rooms stocked with various veterinarian supplies and equipment. Within the last three months, Elijah purchased several warehouses in coastal states near seaports, with hopes of expanding the trafficking business to include shipments to overseas. In fact, his first overseas shipment was tonight’s shipment.

Last night had been a close call with Mia when he and Demitri brought the Blue French Bulldogs to the clinic to examine. There were times when he brought a litter to the clinic after hours to give them an exam, and it wasn’t unusual to find abandoned puppies in the city, so using that cover worked for his explanation to Mia.

Puppy trafficking was a growing business, and it was Elijah’s main source of income.  He didn’t become a multi-millionaire by just owning an animal clinic. The clinic was a front to cover his ass while he conducted business.

With Mia being hired on at the clinic, she’d been able to cover many of the hours he would have had to work, letting him focus more on the business currently at hand.

He sat back in his chair and reached down to adjust himself. Just thinking about the gorgeous doctor made his dick hard. He couldn’t get the image of her in that white dress out of his head. The material clung to every delicious curve her body offered. He couldn’t resist touching her silky, smooth skin every chance he got. She was enticing. Not only was she beautiful, she had a brilliant mind.  He was twenty years her senior but damn if that would stop him from sinking his dick into her when he got the chance.  And he would eventually. He laid some groundwork at the gala by sticking by her side most of the night, along with the few hints he dropped here and there in conversation.

He pictured her splayed out naked, against his satin bed sheets. She had a set of legs he would love to have wrapped around him while he pounded in her petite body. He itched to run his fingers through her jet-black hair as those big brown eyes framed by thick black eye-lashes gazed up at him in lust. He was a dominant lover who enjoyed delivering a little pain to his women. But with Mia, he needed to tread carefully and not come on to her too fast. The last thing he wanted to do was scare her off. With the profit he was bringing in, he couldn’t afford to lose her at the office. Eventually, once his bank account hit a magic number, he’d shut it all down and live the rest of his life jet-setting around the world. And if he played his cards right, he would have a stunning woman to keep him company.

Usually, Claus handled all of the shipping logistics, but because of a tip from a source inside the NYPD, he had to change tactics with the puppies' storage and movement. The police had beefed up their patrols along the docks, specifically the rows of warehouses, due to an uptick in crime in the area. Just last week, the cops exposed a massive crack cocaine ring in a building two blocks over from his warehouse. He wasn’t willing to take the chance of getting caught, so that was why there were currently sixty puppies in the basement of the clinic. A truck was on its way to pick them up and take them to the shipyard to be loaded onto a cargo ship. The ship had a secret compartment in the bottom of it where the puppies would be stowed during transport. Once the ship was off the coast of Portugal, it would anchor, and the puppies would be offloaded and transferred to a private boat then taken to a location where they would be inspected before being put on the market.

He looked at his watch and again wondered where in the hell Marlon was. The ass-hat should’ve arrived by now. Marlon had a connection to a guy who handled all of the paperwork needed for the puppies. The guy was instrumental in keeping the business flowing without having to worry.  Knowing Marlon, he probably had his hand up some woman’s dress.  Marlon never went a day without fucking someone.

Elijah was also aware of the way Marlon had been eyeing Mia lately.  Every visit to the clinic, Marlon made sure he got the opportunity to see Mia. His blatant actions were starting to piss Elijah off. If Marlon continued to show an interest in Mia, he would have to step in and give Marlon a warning to back-off.

He was ready to tell Claus to get Marlon on the phone when the back door opened and then slammed closed. “About fucking time,” Elijah mumbled under his breath.  Only it wasn’t Marlon’s voice he heard. Instead, a woman’s voice penetrated the quiet office space. He looked at Claus, who was already up and out of the chair, walking toward the doorway.

Elijah couldn’t make out what the woman was saying. He motioned to Claus to stay quiet as they both stood in the doorway and listened. It was difficult to hear, given they were at the opposite end of the hallway. The woman mumbled again, and Elijah nodded his head in the direction of the reception area. Claus went first, and Elijah followed close behind. Since nobody should have been in the building this time of the night, both he and Claus had their hands on their firearms. As Elijah entered the waiting room, he almost faltered the same time his jaw hit the floor.

He recognized the ass that was bent over the reception desk. His cock hardened at the sight of her backside, pressing against the silky material.  Mia stood out like a million bucks. He wanted nothing more than to keep her bent over that desk and fuck her until she came screaming his name. She was literally testing his patience.

Getting his thoughts under control quickly, he cleared his throat. Mia jumped and shrieked. She turned, holding her hand over her heart.

“Elijah! Holy shit! You scared me.”

He saw he truly frightened her with how wide her eyes were and how fast she was breathing.

“I’m sorry. I was in my office when I heard the door and came out to see who it was.” She glanced over at Claus as he holstered his weapon. Mia knew Claus carried a weapon, so her seeing it hadn’t been a complete surprise.

“What brings you by? I thought you would still be at the gala.”

She dropped her hand and huffed dramatically. He fought back his laughter because she looked so flustered. It was cute.

“I ran into your cousin as I was leaving, and he insisted that I drop these off to you tonight. I didn’t see any lights on and thought you had left already, so I was writing you a note and going to leave everything on your desk. But since you are here, these are for you.”

She passed him the two envelopes, and he gritted his teeth to hide his anger. How in the hell could Marlon be so stupid and irresponsible to put something this important in the hands of an innocent?  Hell, all it would have taken was for the envelope to open, and his little operation would have been exposed. He’d be facing jail time for probably the rest of his life.

He handed the envelopes to Claus, who turned and walked back toward the office. Elijah knew he’d start finalizing the paperwork so they’d be ready when the truck arrived. They only had a small window of time to get the puppies loaded on the ship.

He turned back to Mia. “Thank you, and I’m sorry that my cousin dumped his responsibilities onto you. That was irresponsible of him.”

She waved him off. “It’s fine. It actually gave me a legitimate excuse to leave the gala.”

He frowned. “Didn’t you enjoy yourself?”

“Oh, I didn’t mean for my words to insinuate I had a bad time. I definitely enjoyed meeting everyone you introduced to me.  Plus, it allowed me to get all dressed up,” She said as she smiled.  “I’m just really tired.” She followed up, and now he wondered if he had been working her too hard.  The last thing he wanted was for her to be unhappy and ultimately drive her away. An idea hit him. She was planning on spending the Thanksgiving weekend with her brother—maybe offering her a few extra days of vacation would be beneficial. He wasn’t sure where her brother lived as she kept her personal life well-guarded. He did overhear her talking to Willow, the receptionist, and thought she mentioned her brother was in the military.  It would be easy to get details out of Willow, though with the information he uncovered today, Willow’s time at the clinic was limited.

Suddenly, the sound of a door banging behind him had him spinning around, and his eyes widened as one of the larger puppies jumped through the doorway leading up from the basement. The whining and grunts of puppies traveled up the stairs. Claus came running out of the office and scooped up the small white and gray puppy before heading to the basement and closing the door behind him. Elijah’s heart raced as he tried positioning his body to block Mia’s view, but it was too late.

“Elijah, was that a dog?” Mia asked, trying to look around him, but he reacted quickly, placing his hands on her waist and pulling her back in front of him. He played it off as he glanced over his shoulder, hoping the few seconds would give him enough time to make up a justified excuse. “That little rascal was one of the puppies of the client I met here tonight. I have the litter downstairs in the spare kennel. I want to run some additional tests on them tomorrow.”

She tilted her chin up at him and gave him a questionable look.  “You have them in the basement?  I thought you said there was nothing down there but storage. Why didn’t you use the kennel in the backroom?”

“They have symptoms of Parvo, and without knowing for sure, I didn’t want to put the other animals in the other kennel at risk.”

“Oh no.” She stated, and the look on her face told him she had bought the story. She relaxed a little, and he had to hide his smile because she hadn’t pulled away from him.

“I think we caught it in time. With a little TLC, they should be fine.”

She looked up at him and smiled, and he used the opportunity to pull her in closer. He heard her intake of breath as their chests met, and it aroused him. They were so close, and her light and sweet perfume drew him in. He couldn’t stop himself as he lowered his head and pressed his lips against hers. As he started to kiss her deeper, she tightened up and immediately pulled away from him.

“Mia…” He started to say, but she shook her head and took another step back, closer to the door.

“Why did you do that?”

He closed the distance between them and clutched her chin. “I’m not going to lie; I’ve wanted to do that since I first laid eyes on you.”

“You shouldn’t have. I mean, we can’t. It’s unprofessional.”

“Not if we both want it.”

As much as he would have liked to stand there and convince her that what they could have between them would not be unprofessional, he was pushing it on time by her being around. The sooner he got her out of the building, the less chance he had getting busted.

“Mia, just think about it. You have a long weekend coming up. Try to relax, and we will talk when you get back.”

He took her hand and led her to the door. As he pushed the door open, he brought her hand up to his lips and smiled at her wide-eyed and shocked expression. The woman was too smart not to realize they could be a power couple together. She would be foolish to turn him down.

“Let’s get you home so you can get a good night's sleep, and I will see you tomorrow.” He gave her a little nudge. As she walked toward the waiting car, she glanced his way one last time before getting in, and he waved. She didn’t wave back before she closed the door. He watched as the car pulled out of the parking lot and down the street. Once it was out of sight, he took a deep breath. That had been too close. But, on the plus side, he discovered Mia was just as sweet on the inside as she was outside. She tasted so good that there was no way in hell he was going to let her slip away.

“Sorry about that, boss,” Claus said, walking up to stand beside Elijah.

“No worries, I think we’re okay. We just need to come up with part two to the story by tomorrow morning, because I can assure you that Mia will check on those puppies as soon as she walks through those doors,” Elijah said as they walked back inside.

“I’ll call our contact across town and make arrangements to make it look like we transferred the litter over there.”

“That would be a good idea. There is another potential problem I need you to deal with.”

“What’s that?” Claus asked, raising a questioning eyebrow.

“Willow.”

“I mentioned it to Demitri the other night. She’s been poking her nose in places she shouldn’t. I received a notification that someone tried to access a password-protected file I keep on my desktop. When I checked the log, it showed Willow’s credentials were signed on to my computer in my office.”

“What would you like for me to do?”

Elijah pondered the question for a moment. She’d been an employee for a couple of months now, but his gut warned him that something was off with her.  He always trusted his gut. He shook his head.

“I don’t trust her,” He admitted. “There is something about her that strikes me odd. Have Oscar and Jules take care of her.”

“Done.”

Elijah hated to think any of his employees weren’t loyal, but something didn’t sit right with Willow, and he wasn’t willing to chance it.  She needed to go away.

◆◆◆

The next day, Mia was dragging ass. It had been after midnight by the time the car dropped her off at her apartment. She thought about going straight to bed but nixed that idea when she took down her hair and felt all the goop her stylist used to make her hair stay in place for the evening.  After washing and rinsing not once but three times to get all the product out, it had been well past one in the morning when she slipped into bed. Once she was settled under the covers, her mind wouldn’t shut off.

Elijah had crossed a line that had Mia questioning her future at the clinic. He had made it clear what his intentions were, and she wasn’t on board with them. She had a lot to contemplate. She loved her job, but if Elijah didn’t respect her wishes, she’d be forced to leave.  Normally she’d call her brother when she needed to bounce things off of him, but she wasn’t so sure he was the best person to debate with on this one. He’d tell her to quit tomorrow. She rolled over and sighed. The long weekend couldn’t come quick enough. She just needed to get through one more day, and then she could breathe a little easier. She smiled, knowing Stitch could probably ease some of the worries floating around inside of her head. The thought of him on her mind, she closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep.

When Mia arrived at the clinic, she went straight to the kennels to check on the Blue Goblins. As she entered the back room, she frowned when she saw most of the cages were empty, including the large bottom one where the French Bulldogs were.

Willow walked in, and Mia stood up.

“Do you know what happened to the Blue Frenchies that were here?” Mia asked her.

Willow nibbled her lip nervously. “Dr. Walters had them transferred to the rescue organization first thing this morning.”

“And that’s a bad thing?”

Willow looked around, again seeming nervous. Her behavior was off, and Mia wondered what was going on with her.

“Willow, is everything alright?”

“I don’t want to talk about it here. Are you free tonight after work to meet me for a drink?”

“Sure. I just need to finish packing, and I really want to get in a run. Would eight o’clock work?”

“Yes, that works.”

Willow then handed Mia an envelope.

“What’s this?”

“Don’t open it here. Bring it with you tonight.”

“Ok,” Mia said but wanted to question her further on why she was acting so secretive. She hoped everything was okay.

She walked into the breakroom and smiled when she saw her friend and co-worker Danny sitting at the small table eating his usual cheese and mayonnaise sandwich with a bag of sour cream and onion chips. How a person could eat the same exact food for lunch every day was a wonder to her, not to mention boring.

Danny was her only “real” friend in the city. The two had met when she was interning at Dr. Vineberg’s practice. She and Danny had hit it off immediately. Their personalities were similar, although he was a little more outgoing than her.  He was quite the character. He reminded her of a surfer dude with bleach blonde hair. He attracted women everywhere he went, but unfortunately, Danny wasn’t interested in what they had to offer. He was more interested in his male counterparts. It always made her laugh when women would hit on Danny, and then he’d tell them that he was a fruit loop in the middle of cheerios.

Danny was also the only person besides her family who she had allowed in her apartment. He would apartment-sit for her when she traveled out of town, and sometimes he would crash there. She didn’t mind. He was a neat freak, so she never had to worry about him messing up the place, plus he was a master in the kitchen. So, when he did spend the night, she could count on a gourmet meal for breakfast.

She plopped down in the chair.

“Hey, sweet cheeks.”  He said, smiling before taking a drink of water.

She unzipped her lunch bag and pulled out leftover baked chicken and mashed potatoes from two nights ago.

“So, how was Dr. Walters today?  Has he asked you to come to his office for an important meeting?” Danny asked using air quotes. He smirked, knowing it annoyed her that people were beginning to think she and Dr. Walters saw each other outside of the office. Thank goodness nobody had seen him kiss her last night, although she did confide in Danny.

“Sorry to disappoint, Danny Boy, but I haven’t really seen Dr. Walters, much less spoken to him today.” And, what a relief if was. After his blatant show of possession last night, she had been a little worried about how he would act at the office in front of the other staff. He had told her last night they would talk when she returned from Thanksgiving, but it didn’t mean he wouldn’t try today, so she had hoped to avoid him at all costs.

Danny shocked her by placing his hand over hers. “Hey, you know I’m just messing with you, right? I know there’s nothing between you two.”  She must have given him an odd look because he quickly followed up with, “The look on your face gave you away.”

That didn’t surprise her. She definitely didn’t have a face for poker.  She’d be broke before the game even began. Her mom and sisters always used to tease her that her face gave away her emotions.

She shook her head and smiled at Danny before stabbing a piece of chicken with her fork and shoving it in her mouth. Once she swallowed, she noticed he was still staring at her.

“What?”

He held up his hands in surrender. “Nothing.  Nothing at all, but you do seem a little uptight today. Maybe a little late-night action could release some of that pent-up stress.”

She couldn’t help but laugh out loud at the way Danny gyrated his hips in the chair while making inappropriate sounds.  But that was why she loved him. He could turn the shittiest day into a glorious one just with his personality.

She cocked an eyebrow. “I take it you’re heading to Knots tonight?”  Knots was an okay club not too far from her apartment. They played good music, and most of the patrons seemed normal.  She had learned quickly that her idea of normal wasn’t normal in New York City.

Danny played with his soda can. “I’m leaning towards it. Jasper said he would meet me there.” He waggled his eyebrows, making her laugh again.  Jasper was Danny’s on-again, off-again boy toy. “So, do you want to meet me there?  Oh, you can wear that new sparkle and shine dress you bought last week. You totally rocked it in the dressing room,” He made a face then said, “Scratch that. Don’t wear it because then all the men will flock to you, and I’ll be left to slim pickings.”

“I can’t tonight.”

“Hot date?” He asked. She never told Danny about Stitch. So he had no idea that she wasn’t in the market for a guy.

She shook her head. “No, I need to finish packing, and I promised Willow I’d meet her for a drink.”

Danny put his sandwich down and wiped his mouth with the napkin. “Speaking of Willow, have you talked to her today?”

“I did this morning. That was when she asked if I could meet her tonight for a drink. She mentioned she wanted to talk with me about something.”

“Did she seem off to you?”

“By off, do you mean acting nervous like something or someone was going to jump out and scare her?”

“Yeah. Weird, huh?”

Mia shrugged her shoulders. “I’ll find more out tonight when I meet up with her.” Mia didn’t tell him about the envelope that Willow gave her. It definitely piqued her interest.

“Well, if you change your mind about Knots, I’ll be there all night.”

“We’ll see.” She replied and finished up her lunch so she could get back to work. She planned on leaving the office on time.

◆◆◆

Mia breathed heavily as she slowed her pace to a recovery jog. It was chilly out, but a good run always felt refreshing and was exactly what she needed after the last few days. She had a lot of stress she’d been carrying around, and the cardio workout helped to defuse some of it.

She came to a bench along the pathway and stopped to stretch her legs out. She needed to get back into her running regiment, but with the amount of hours she spent at the clinic, she’d be lucky if she got two days of exercise in. During her run, she decided to use the upcoming break from the office to ponder her future at the clinic. Sure, the money was good, but she now felt awkward around Dr. Walters, which wasn’t how she wanted to feel every day. The rest of the day at work, everyone had stayed super busy, so Elijah hadn’t had much spare time to talk to her. She hoped he realized that she meant it when she said he shouldn’t have kissed her and that it couldn’t happen again.

Claus had come into the office and stayed the afternoon, which was unusual. He seemed very focused on Willow the entire time, which was odd. Mia then wondered if that was why Willow wanted to talk to her. Maybe there was something between the two of them. Now that would be interesting, considering they each came from a different end of the spectrum. Willow was a sweet, kind, and shy person, whereas Claus was hard and very abrupt.

Her phone chimed, and she rolled her eyes as she pulled it from her armband. Terek had called her three times earlier in the day and sent her two text messages. She wasn’t in the mood nor the right mindset to deal with him. She’d wait to call him back until after the holiday.

She swiped the screen, expecting to see another message from Terek but smiled when she saw the text was from Alex.

She shook her head as she read the text. Alex seemed just as excited as Mia was about getting together for the long holiday weekend. She laughed at the meme of a turkey holding a countdown clock showing the time remaining until Mia’s plane arrived in Norfolk.

She was so engrossed in texting Alex back that she hadn’t seen the man in the black ski mask approaching from behind. As she rounded the corner of the block her apartment building was on, the guy made his move. He grabbed her around the waist and lifted her off her feet.  She screamed, but he quickly clamped his hand over her mouth to muffle her cries. She kicked her legs and fought with him as he pulled her into the dark alley between her building and the building next door. Frantically she looked around, searching for anyone to get their attention, but the only thing she saw was a van sitting idle about twenty yards away, and her eyes widened in fear. She flung her arms up and hit the guy in the head. His hold loosened, but he didn’t release her. When his hand fell from her mouth, she screamed for help. He lifted her again, and the van pulled up beside them, and the side door flung open.

“Get her in the fucking van.” Another voice shouted, and Mia turned to try and get a look at him, but the guy holding her moved his hand from her mouth to her throat and squeezed.

“Make another fucking sound or try to fight me, and I’ll break your pretty fucking neck.” He spoke close to her ear with a prominent New York accent, sending a jolt of fear through her and making her still. She was thrown into the van and landed on her side. The pain momentarily stunned her, but that hadn’t stopped her from trying to escape. As the big guy went to climb in behind her, she kicked him in the chest, and he fell backward into the alley. She scrambled on her hands and knees toward the door on the other side, but his partner was too quick and pounced on her, slamming her face down onto the metal floor.

“Get the fuck into the van!” He shouted to the other guy. Mia’s head spun from the blow. Before she could focus, a blunt object struck the back of her head, and she fell victim to the darkness.

◆◆◆

Mia’s muscles seized, and she shivered as another bucket of ice water was dumped on her. It was the third time in the last hour or so.  She had a massive headache, and if her body shook any harder, she’d knock over the chair she was sitting in. She was blindfolded which caused her to be surrounded in darkness. The hoodie she had been wearing had been removed along with her shoes and socks, leaving her in a long-sleeved running shirt and black running pants. Her teeth continued to chatter, and she felt the goosebumps crawl along her skin. Wherever they had taken her wasn’t heated. She could feel cold air blowing in from an open door or window.  The place had a musty, earthy smell that reminded her of a warehouse or basement. God knew there were plenty of warehouses in the city. That thought scared the daylight out of her. Who would find her in a warehouse? How would the police know which warehouse to search? She started to hyperventilate until a hand slapped her in the face. Her head rolled to the side. Everything felt as if it was happening in slow motion. Besides the pain in her head, she felt nauseous.

“Damn, are you sure this is the one the boss wanted?” A deep snarly voice said to the right of her. She envisioned the voice came from the big dude who had grabbed her initially. What had he meant by was she the one the boss wanted? Had someone been watching her? Had she been targeted? Another gust of wind blew in, and she caught a whiff of someone’s god awful cologne. It wasn’t one she was familiar with, but it was strong and pungent. Her stomach started to churn. She gagged and felt the bile rise.

“Shit! She’s going to puke.”  Another guy said.

“Well, you’re the dumb fuck who hit her in the fucking head instead of just using the damn needle.” It was a different voice from the other two, and she started to wonder how many guys were surrounding her.

“I did give her the drugs.”

“Yeah, after you had already knocked her out, genius.”

She swallowed the acidy bile, and she took a deep breath. No wonder she felt the way she did. Not only had the asshole hit her in the head, he had injected her with some sort of drug.

The fear of everything hit her. She had to be brave. If she wanted a chance at escaping, she needed to be smart.

“I don’t know what you want with me.”  She said in a low, shaky voice.

She felt a hand slide up her inner thigh and her body tensed up. Why is this happening to me?

“She’s got some muscles on her.” The guy said, and she tried closing her legs but couldn’t due to the ties shackling her ankles to the chair.

“Please stop.”  She whispered.

“What was that, honey? You want more?” He laughed, and she shook her head.

“Hey, hands off the merchandise. You know the rules.”

“Oh, come on, man.” He cupped her breast, and she reacted by jerking her head and ended up smashing the guy in the nose.

“Fuck!”

The others laughed at him.

“Dude, I think she broke your nose.”

“Yeah, real fucking funny.”

She wasn’t prepared for the blow she took to the stomach, knocking the air out of her. Then a backhand landed across her face, and her cheek exploded with pain. Her chair wobbled slightly, then suddenly she was airborne. She and the wooden chair slammed into the floor, causing the wooden chair to splinter on impact. Her body felt numb, and she wondered if she had broken any bones. She was in too much pain to even try to move, so she just laid still. The blindfold she was wearing had slid down a smudge giving her a little visibility of where she was.

Three guys were huddled on the other side of the room. Two of them looked to be tending to the guy’s nose she had broken. She lifted her head and saw an open window just above where she laid. No wonder the place was freezing.

She stole another glance at the guys who seemed oblivious to her presence. Maybe they thought she was knocked out. She weighed her options. Did she stay, or did she try to make it out of the window?  Before she could decide, she heard footsteps approach, and she tensed, waiting for another round of punches, but it never came. Instead, a hand slid over her ass, and she tried to keep calm, but then his hands slipped between her legs, and she clamped her legs together, trapping the hand between her thighs. Her head was yanked back when the guy grabbed a handful of her hair. She swore a chunk had been ripped from her scalp.

“You know you broke my buddy’s nose.”

“Maybe next time he’ll know to treat a lady with respect.” Mia had no idea where her brazenness had come from, but it felt good to say that. She wanted to say a lot more but was interrupted.

“Bitch, respect is the last thing any lady deserves.”

He hit her face several times, and she tasted the blood as her lip split open.

“Please, stop!” She screamed as he kicked her hip. She tried to curl herself into a ball on the floor, praying for the torture to end.  He didn’t stop as she took blows to her shoulder blades and other areas of her back. She bit her lip to prevent from crying out in pain. Tears leaked through the material covering her eyes as she lay there, helpless on the cold floor.

“Knock it off, asshole!” Someone shouted, and the man stopped, but not before giving her one last hard kick to the back of her thigh.

“Hey man, we were just following the boss’s orders.” The guy chuckled. “We may have gotten a little carried away, but we wanted to have a little fun. It would be a shame not to fuck the little beauty before we had to off her.”

Mia heard a grunt.

“Why did you punch me?”

“Just shut the fuck up. The boss is not going to be happy with what you’ve done. Go load up the truck.”

“What about the bitch? We can’t just leave her.”

The guy looked over where Mia laid motionless on the floor. “She ain’t going anywhere. Come on, we’ve got a shit ton of materials to load, and I don’t want to be here all night.”

She heard a few mumbles, then footsteps followed by a door slamming.

She panted hard, and each breath was as painful as the previous one.

The material tied around her head had slid up a little more, and she saw there was no one around. She waited a little longer to listen for any sign that the men were still inside the building. She took another peek under the slit of her blindfold and confirmed the coast was clear, but there was no telling when they would return. If she had a chance to escape, now was her moment of opportunity. She couldn’t hesitate.  It was now or never.

She slowly rolled and tried sitting up, which was a hard task with her hands still tied together. It was a small movement, but so painful. She ached all over. She channeled a phrase her brother used to say to her when she needed a good push.  “If you want something bad enough, you’ll do whatever is needed to succeed.”

Repeating those words to herself, she reached up with both hands and grabbed hold of the window sill above her, and pulled herself up. She didn’t waste time as she slid the remainder of the window up. She shivered as the cold air hit her wet clothing. She wasn’t sure which way would be easier on her body to get out. She didn’t have a lot of options, nor did she have much time to debate it, knowing she could have company any second.

She pushed past the pain and slid onto the window ledge, then swung her legs over the side. She tried to push the blindfold off her head, but it was tied too tight. She was lucky she had a little bit of vision. When she looked down, she hadn’t realized how high up she was. She estimated she was maybe ten to fifteen feet above the ground. She bit her lip, knowing the landing would hurt, and there was a high probability she could break something. The only thing she had going for her was the cluster of bushes below to help break the fall.

She didn’t give herself any time to think about it as she held her breath and shoved off the ledge. She overshot her intended landing zone, and as soon as her feet hit the loose gravel, she toppled over onto the ground and cried out in pain, immediately grabbing her ankle. In the distance, she could hear the sound of water and realized she was near the river.

She heard the engine of a car, and her heart hammered in her chest. She needed to find cover. Just as she got herself up onto her knees, a set of headlights rounded the corner and were headed straight toward her.

“No, no, no.” She whimpered as she tried to crawl across the gravel. The tiny chards of rocks dug into her skin.

The headlights grew brighter, then suddenly she was blinded by them when the person clicked on the high beams. She felt so weak and was in too much pain to continue, and she collapsed to the ground just as the vehicle skidded to a stop inches from her. The car door opened, followed by heavy footsteps that grew louder with each step. “Oh, dear god.” She whispered.

A hand touched her cheek, and she flinched.

“Fuck!” A guy with a heavy English accent stated.

He was right next to her head. She could feel the warm puffs of air as he spoke in her ear.

“I promise I won’t hurt you. I’m going to get you out of here.”

The rope around her wrists loosened, sending her blood flowing to her numb hands and fingers. She couldn’t see a damn thing because the material had slipped back down, covering her eyes.

“Please, help me.” She rasped out as the man gathered her in his arms and started walking. A burst of warm air hit her skin. He lowered and placed her on what she assumed was the backseat of the vehicle before covering her with a blanket.

She reached up to slide the blindfold off, but he stopped her.

“Sorry, love. You need to leave that on,” He told her, pulling her hands away from her face. She didn’t understand. He had helped her. Why couldn’t she see him? Her body went rigid. Unless he was part of the crew that had kidnapped her. Before she could fully panic, she felt the pinch to her neck, and within seconds she was fast asleep.

◆◆◆

Mia slowly awoke. She felt groggy, her mouth felt like it was full of cotton, and her head pounded, making it painful to open her eyes. Fighting through the discomfort, she pried her eyes open enough to focus on her surroundings. Even though the room was dark, it had a familiarity to it. The blanket covering her was soft like butter, reminding her of the Vera Bradley throw blankets she kept around her apartment.

She laid there for a moment, trying to get her bearing. As she stared up at the ceiling, she focused on a large dark spot that resembled a similar water spot she had on her ceiling when a pipe in the apartment above hers busted and water leaked through. She suddenly realized why this place felt familiar—it was her apartment. Had everything that happened been a dream?

She shot up off the couch and cringed, feeling the pain all over her body. She fell back into the plush leather and moaned. She reached over and flipped on the lamp that sat on the table next to the couch.

She had so many questions—questions she knew she didn’t have the answers to. The last thing she remembered was that a good Samaritan had found her, and being wrapped in warmth. How had she ended up back in her apartment?

The fear she had experienced before came roaring back. Could the person be in her apartment right now? Who were they, and how did they know where she lived? She had lost her cell phone when she was picked off the street, and she didn’t have any identification on her. Her body trembled in a combination of fear and adrenalin.

With no landline and no cell phone, she had no way of calling anyone. She looked at her watch and saw it was three o’clock in the morning. She hadn’t been too far from her building when she had been abducted. Not knowing the range of operation between her phone and smartwatch, she tried to send her brother a text through the watch. It just spun, indicating she was out of range. Then she spotted her laptop on the coffee table. She could send a message to him through his email and send a private message to Alex through Facebook.

She reached for the laptop and noticed there was a note taped to it. Handwritten was a warning for her to get out of town as fast as she could, that she was in danger.

Fighting through the pain, she stood up. Where was she supposed to go? Her flight wasn’t due to leave until ten o’clock. Could she go to the police? Another option was to leave for the airport and just wait until her flight left. At least she would be in the public eye. Police were always stationed at the airport; she could seek help there.

Her ankle was bruised and swollen. She could hardly put any pressure on it, but she managed to limp to her bedroom. She needed to change out of the wet clothes and get shoes. And she needed to do it as quickly as possible. After what she went through, she wasn’t taking the stranger’s warning lightly. She didn’t want to be in the apartment any longer than she had to be.

She tried to clean up her face the best she could, but she was a mess. Her eye, cheek, and lip were all swollen and bruised. She changed into a pair of sweats and a long-sleeved t-shirt. Her ankle was too swollen to wear regular shoes, so she opted for a pair of flip-flops. It would have to do for now. She pulled her suitcase into the living room. She also had a backpack that she used for work she would take with her and her purse.

She stepped wrong, and her ankle gave way, and she fell into the coffee table, causing some magazines and papers to fall off.

“Shit!” As she started to gather the items to place back onto the table, something shiny under the table caught her attention. She looked closer and realized it was a key. And not just any key; it was the key that Stitch had given her to his cabin. She grabbed it and threw it in her purse.

Suddenly, the heating system kicked on, and the popping sound made her jump. With every creak she heard, she became more terrified. Just as she went to stand, there was a knock on her door. She didn’t move a muscle and stared at the door. When the doorknob jiggled, her heart rate sped up. Were they coming back for her?

She panicked. She grabbed what she could carry, her backpack and purse, and as fast as she could move, she headed toward the window in her bedroom. She unlocked it, pushed it open, and was hit by a cold burst of air, but she didn’t let it slow her down. She crawled out onto the rickety metal fire escape, and slowly and carefully made her way down the eleven flights.

When she made it to the bottom, she started walking down the block and then flagged down the first cab she saw.

Once she was safe inside the vehicle, she told the driver to head to Newark Airport.

As the cab drove through the city’s quieter streets, Mia leaned her head back against the seat and tried to process what in the hell was going on. She thought back to everything, but she just couldn’t shake off a comment one of the guys made. The “boss” had sought her out.

A sickening feeling hit her gut. If she had been targeted, it was possible whoever was responsible for her abduction and beatdown could be tracking her. After all, someone close to the situation knew to warn her. Could they know her travel schedule and that she was going to visit her family? Tears hit her eyes. She couldn’t put her friends and family in danger. She could never forgive herself if someone were injured or worse because of her. Her head hurt even to think, but she was facing a dire situation.

Nobody would expect her to take a bus. She could pay cash and probably get away using an old fake ID she still had from college. She dug through her purse to see how much cash she had on her.  She counted two-hundred-twenty-seven dollars. Bus fares weren’t that much. She could surely afford a one-way fare. As she folded the money and tucked it in her wallet, she noticed the silver key she had thrown into her purse. It had landed in one of the side pockets. But the way it was positioned and stood out is what had caught her eye. Any other time she threw something into her purse, it fell into the deep black hole at the bottom and would sit there until she cleaned her purse out. This particular key had landed in the smallest side pocket, standing straight up, so when you open the bag, you couldn’t help but see it. She began to wonder if it was a sign. Could this key be the lifeline she needed to help her escape and ward off any danger to her family?

Stitch’s cabin would be empty right now since he was spending Thanksgiving at Ace and Alex’s. It’d be the perfect place to seek shelter until she could contact her brother. She’d look for one of those pay-as-you-go phones at the bus terminal.

With a plan in mind, she put it into motion. She tapped on the plexiglass, separating her from the cab driver.

“I changed my mind. Please take me to the Newark bus terminal instead?” She instructed the driver. With the nod of his head, he took the exit leading out of the city, and hopefully, taking Mia one step closer to safety.