Stitch by Jaime Lewis (ebook reader online .txt) 📗

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