Stitch by Jaime Lewis

Chapter Nine

Memories were being made at Ace and Alex’s house. After a short, simple, but beautiful wedding ceremony for Irish and Bailey, everyone had gathered around the three tables to enjoy the Thanksgiving feast that Alex had prepared.

Stitch looked around; he guessed there had to be close to fifty people in the house. How in the hell Alex managed to cook the amount of food she had was a wonder to him. But, then again, that was Alex. The woman could manage any task put in front of her.

All was quiet in the world, at least where he and the team were concerned, so that in itself was a blessing. Thanksgiving was his favorite holiday, so he was thrilled to be able to spend it with his family and friends who meant the world to him. The only downfall was Mia’s absence.  He had been looking forward to spending time with her in person.

Over the course of the year, he had fallen in love with Mia. Some people may say he jumped the gun, but he knew that Mia was meant for him deep in his heart. Ever since he found out she was spending the holiday with Ace, he’d been excited to sit down with her and cut through all the red tape keeping them apart, as well as discussing the best course of action in telling her brother. They were all adults, but Ace was very protective of Mia.

He grinned to himself as he watched everyone enjoying the food in the company of friends and family. A moment as such was what Thanksgiving was all about. Being able to celebrate with those you are thankful to have in your life.

“Honey, have you heard anything from Mia yet?” Charlotte, Ace’s mom, asked her son, which got Stitch’s attention. Anything about Mia these days got his attention.

Everyone was a little concerned about Mia’s whereabouts. Stitch could also tell Ace was annoyed with the text she sent him. Ace wiped his mouth with a napkin and shook his head. “No, I haven’t, and I don’t know whether I should be pissed off at her or concerned. The whole thing is just uncharacteristically, not like her.”

“Is there anyone we can call and see if they could check on her?  At least to put our worries at ease.”

Ace turned his scrutinizing eyes on Stitch, and Stitch suddenly got a funny feeling in his gut, especially when he saw Alex’s eyes widen as if she just had an “oh shit” moment. She almost pulled it off and tried to cover her expression when she picked up her glass of wine and took a drink.

“Have you heard anything from my sister?” Ace asked him, and suddenly Stitch found himself the center of attention as everyone paused mid-conversation to hear what he had to say.  Christ, could this get any more awkward?  He put his fork down and thought about how to respond.

“Why would you think I would know?” He replied, raising an eyebrow, wondering what was really behind Ace’s line of questioning. Ace glanced at Alex, and Stitch swore he saw the corner of Ace’s lip twitch, and he certainly didn’t miss the twinkle in Alex’s eye either.

“Well, you do talk to her, right?”  Ace questioned.

There was no way Stitch could lie. It would be disrespectful, and Ace wasn’t just a teammate; he was a close friend.

He licked his lower lip. “Occasionally,” he answered vaguely.

“When was the last time you spoke with her?”

“When she was here last, right after the incident with Bailey.” Stitch locked gazes with Bailey across the table from him. “Sorry, sweetheart, I didn’t mean to bring that up.”

The new bride smiled and winked at him. “That’s okay, Stitch.”

“That was weeks ago. Did she happen to mention anything to you then?”  Alex asked, joining in on the interrogation, because it was beginning to feel a lot like it.

“No, but I could see she was stressed out. I asked her about it, and she vented a little. But you know Mia, she just smiled and said she’d get through it.”

Alex touched Ace’s hand. “Remember what I told you this morning, Ace. Maybe she really is burnt out and just needed some relaxation and not the craziness of being around all of us.”

“Okay, I can understand that, but she could have at least called and told us that. But, no, she just sends a fucking cryptic text message then shuts her phone off.”

Sienna, Irish’s six-year-old niece giggled, and Ace looked at her and winked, “Sorry, sweetie, mark one down for me.”

Irish looked between Ace and Sienna. “That’s one, what?”

Ace grinned. “I was telling Sienna that was one for her swear jar.”

Stitch couldn’t help but smile either. Sienna had a swear jar, and for each swear word someone said, the person had to put a quarter in her jar. She had to have earned a few hundred dollars just in the short time she’d been living with Irish.

Sienna giggled again and looked at Irish with the most adorable face Stitch had ever seen. She was a beautiful little girl, and if you didn’t know she was Irish’s niece, you would think she really was Irish and Bailey’s biological daughter. She had both Irish and Bailey’s blonde hair and blue eyes. Stitch was so happy that Irish and Bailey had officially adopted Sienna.

“Uncle Ace gave me five bucks.”

“For what?” Irish asked, looking back at Ace.

“For my swear jar, silly. I also got five bucks from Uncle Potter, Uncle Diego, Uncle Frost, Uncle Skittles, Uncle Stitch, and Uncle Dino.” She said, gasping for breath at the end. Then she scrunched her little nose up and looked at Ace. “What did you call it again, Uncle Ace?”

Ace smiled. “An upfront payment.”

She looked back at Irish and crossed her arms in front of her chest, appearing all sassy. “It’s called an upfront payment.”

The room erupted in laughter at the shocked expression on Irish’s face. Apparently, he was unaware of his daughter’s “savings”account.

Ace lifted his beer to his lips. “We all figured with the amount of cuss words spoken between us, five dollars each should suffice the swear jar, at least for tonight.”

Irish looked between Sienna and the guys.

“How long has this been going on, and how often do you give her money?”

Stitch chuckled and slapped Irish on the back. “Pretty much every damn time we all get together and the kids are around.”

“Holy shit! That’s like every fucking week. Why am I just hearing about this?” Irish said, making eye contact with Bailey, and it made Sienna giggle again.  She looked up at her daddy with hyer baby blue eyes.

“Daddy, you need to pay up.” She told him as she held her little hand out.

“Fuck me…” He muttered under his breath as he tried to find a quarter in his pocket, but apparently, he said it too loud because Sienna’s eyes lit up again, and Stitch knew what was coming. “Oh, screw this.” Irish turned to Bailey. “Do you have five dollars?” He asked, and everyone in the room laughed as Irish handed over five one-dollar bills to Sienna, and she stuffed it into the little pocket on her dress.

Stitch was reaching for his drink when he felt his phone vibrate in his pocket. He was surprised to see Sheriff Prescott’s name flashing on the screen. He was a good friend and a former Marine. Why the Sheriff was calling him now was a bit alarming. His first thought was something was wrong with his cabin as the Sheriff kept an eye on it for him.

Not wanting to be rude and take the call at the table, he excused himself and went out onto the back patio.

“Sheriff Prescott,” Stitch said, answering the call.

“Hey, Stitch. Happy Thanksgiving.”

“Happy Thanksgiving to you as well.  What’s going on?”

“Well, I have a little situation up here in Sugar Bend.”

“And, you’re calling me, why?” Stitch asked as he leaned against the deck’s railing.

“Well, I just met an interesting friend of yours.”

Stitch chuckled, thinking what friend of his could be in Sugar Bend, considering most of his good friends were inside Ace’s house having dinner.

“Does this friend have a name?” He replied sarcastically because the only friend Stitch had in Sugar Bend was the person he was currently on the phone with. The name his buddy spoke next had him reeling back the laughter and going on instant alert.

“Does a Mia ring any bells? She claims you gave her a key to your cabin.”

Stitch stood up straight and looked through the house's window where all of Mia’s family and friends were enjoying the holiday. A million questions went through his mind. The main being, why in the hell would she be at his cabin when she was supposed to be here with her family? The hair on the back of his neck stood, alerting him that something was wrong. It was the same sensation he got when he was out in the field on missions right before things went to shit.

“Your silence tells me she is indeed a friend.”

He licked his lower lip and pinched the bridge of his nose.

“She is, and yes, I did give her a key. But the funny thing is she’s supposed to be here in Virginia Beach with her family. She sent her brother a very cryptic text early this morning saying she ran into trouble and might not make her flight. We’ve all been a little concerned, to say the least, considering she hasn’t answered any of our calls or texts.”

“Her brother?”

“Yeah, Ace is her older brother.”

“Shit…” The Sheriff cursed in a tone that Stitch knew well.  Whatever the hell was going on had the Sheriff upset.

“What’s going on, Blake?” Stitch was already walking back toward the back door.

“Listen, I don’t have a lot of time before Mia comes outside.  I’m at the bus station here in town, and I just happened to run into one of the townsfolks who mentioned there was a young lady on her bus that possibly needed some assistance.”

“Assistance? Damn it, Blake, what are you saying?”

“Look, I don’t know all the details because she’s not really talking, but she is claiming that she was involved in a car accident up in New York.”

“A car accident?” Stitch noticed how the tone in the Sheriff’s voice indicated he wasn’t buying that story. “You don’t believe her?”

“No, but I’ll give her credit for trying. Her injuries are definitely not from a car accident.”

The word injuries made Stitch stop his forward movement, and his body became rigid.

“What type of injuries are we talking about?” He asked in a low voice.

“In my opinion, it looks like she was involved in a fight.”

Luckily Stitch was standing close to the house and grabbed onto the windowsill. Mia was one of the nicest, sweetest people in the world. Who in the hell would have hurt her?

“How bad is she, Blake?” He asked, gaining his composure back, although he was very concerned. Christ, Ace was going to bust a fucking gasket when he heard about this. Why hadn’t she called someone if she was actually in trouble?

“Pretty bad. She’s got bruising on her face, she’s favoring her left side, and she’s got a pretty bad limp, maybe an ankle injury. Not to sound mean, but she is a mess.”

“Fuck!” Stitch yelled out, running his hand through his hair.

“I told her that I’d give her a ride up to the cabin. She was planning on catching a cab.”

“Does she need a hospital?”

“She doesn’t want to go. Personally, I think she needs to be checked out.”

“Thanks for calling, man. Do me a favor, can you please let her know that you’ve spoken with me and that we are on our way? I’ll give you a call when we get close. If her condition changes before we get there, take her to the hospital. Even if you have to drag her kicking and screaming.”

“No problem. I’ll hang around until you guys get here.”

Stitch disconnected the call and stood there watching through the window as everyone sat around the table, smiling and laughing. It was exactly where Mia was supposed to be right now. He needed to talk to Ace. They needed to get to Mia quickly.

Suddenly, Alex’s head popped up in the window; she was at the sink rinsing off dishes. Stitch tapped on the window and smiled when she jumped. It wasn’t often you could scare or frighten a woman that went head-to-head with a terrorist. His smile died when he thought of Mia and the trouble she could be in.

He pointed at Ace, and she nodded her head in understanding. She walked over and whispered into Ace’s ear. His eyes shot to the window, and Stitch motioned for him to come outside. Ace wiped his mouth with his napkin and set it aside on the table before giving Alex a quick kiss. He wanted that. He wanted a woman he could cater for and love. He wanted Mia.

Ace walked outside and closed the door behind him.

“It’s fucking cold out here. What’s up?”

“That was Sheriff Prescott on the phone.”

“Blake from Sugar Bend?” Ace asked, and Stitch nodded his head as he bit the inside of his cheek. He was still pissed that someone hurt Mia and that she didn’t call someone. “What did he want?”

“Apparently, your sister is on her way to my cabin.”

“My sister, Mia?” Ace asked as he stood and crossed his arms in front of his chest. Stitch could see all of the questions forming in Ace’s head.

“I don’t have a lot of information, but she’s in trouble, Ace.”

“What do you mean she’s in trouble?” He asked in a low voice but one that meant he wanted answers, like yesterday.  Unfortunately, Stitch couldn’t give him much, which he knew Ace wasn’t going to be happy with.

“Blake thinks someone attacked her. She is injured. He doesn’t know the extent of the injuries, although some are visible.  She tried to tell him she was in a car accident.”

“He didn’t believe her?”

“No.”

Ace paced the deck.  His heavy footsteps against wood planks echoed in the quiet night. After a couple more paces, he stopped and stared at Stitch with his hands fisted at his sides.

“What are her injuries?”

“Blake said they’re pretty bad.  He thinks she needs to go to the hospital, but she’s against it. He is taking her to the cabin.”

“I don’t understand. Why in the hell didn’t she come here? Why didn’t she call me? Or better yet, why didn’t she go to the police?” He shook his head.

Stitch shrugged his shoulders. “I can’t say what her reasoning was for not calling, but if you think about it, why would someone run and not contact anybody for help?”

Ace stared at Stitch. “You think someone may be after her? Shit, it’s a three-hour drive to your cabin.”

Just then, the back door opened, and the rest of the team walked out along with Derek and Tink. Tink was a former SEAL himself and one of Alex’s uncles. Stitch and Ace explained to them what they knew.

“I can get you guys there sooner,” Tink interjected into the conversation as he stood off to the side, listening. Tink owned an elite security business working black ops missions for the government.

“How?”  Stitch asked.

“Did you forget my company owns two helicopters?  I can call and have one fueled and ready by the time we get to the helipad.”

“If someone is after my sister, then she could be a sitting duck up in the mountains all alone.”

“Then let’s go,” Tink stated, pulling his phone out and making the call.