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

was the youngest. I’ve been so preoccupied with other things that I didn’t even notice.”

“You’re too hard on yourself, man. You live a busy life, and so does Mia. I almost didn’t see her struggles at first, either.”

“Well, maybe now you can help us convince her to move to Virginia Beach.”

Stitch grinned and took a drink from his bottle. “That was the second discussion I planned on having with her.”

Ace gave him a sideways look.  “What is the first?”

“Telling her that I love her. Especially now that I got her big brother's stamp of approval.”

Ace laughed.  “You are such an ass.”

The two shook hands and guzzled down the rest of their beers before calling it a night. Tomorrow they would put plans in motion to hunt down the individuals responsible for Mia’s assault.

Chapter Twelve

The next morning, Stitch sat in the recliner chair he and Ace had moved upstairs and into his room last night. He was serious when he said he would be there for Mia no matter what. With how serious her injuries were, she wasn’t going to be able to move much on her own. Doctor O’Neal hadn’t been lying when he said that she would feel a lot worse before she felt better.

Overall, she seemed to have had a pretty good night. She only woke up twice. Once because of a nightmare, and the second because of the pain. The latter had been just three hours ago, and he had given her another pain pill so he was anticipating she would sleep for another couple of hours.

Ace, Tink, and Derek were downstairs making plans. Ace had called Alex last night and explained what was going on, but she had been sworn to secrecy as they didn’t want everyone to know in case someone did come snooping around. The fewer people who knew, for the time being, the better and safer.

Stitch had felt bad for Ace because, at the crack of dawn, Ace received a phone call from a very irate Charlotte Chambers. Apparently, the Colonel’s little chat with her last night hadn’t gone over too well, and she was demanding to see her daughter. Ace explained to her that for the sake of Mia’s safety, this was the way it had to be for a little while, but that he would set something up for Mia and her to speak. That had seemed to cool her britches for the time being.

He looked at his watch. Alex would be arriving in about thirty minutes or so. She had offered to drive his Jeep up to the cabin so he and Mia would have transportation once everyone left later in the day. She was also stopping at a store to pick up some clothes for Mia, considering she only had what was in her backpack, which Stitch thought was only two or three outfits.  He didn’t have a timeframe on how long they’d be staying, but he figured it would be more than two days. She would especially need warmer clothes, considering snow was in the forecast.

Once they knew the cabin was secure, Ace, Alex, Derek, and Tink would fly back to Virginia Beach. Ace wasn’t thrilled about leaving his sister and even tried to come up with excuses, but in the end, he knew it had to be done to smoke out whoever was after her. At least Ace knew he could count on Stitch to look after her and keep her safe.

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Alex was a bundle of nerves as she drove up the long driveway to Stitch’s cabin. Any other time she would be smiling and happy to get away for a few days in the mountains. Stitch always let the team stay at his place when he wasn’t using it. It was a nice retreat away from the bustle of daily life.

Unfortunately, this trip wasn’t about pleasantries and fun times. Based on what Ace had told her last night, her friend and future sister-in-law was in some serious trouble.  As the team would call it, it was FUBAR.

She parked the Jeep right in front of the steps to the front porch and turned the engine off. She hopped out and started gathering the bags of clothing and other items she picked up for Mia. As she was bent over, trying to consolidate some of the bags, a set of strong arms came around her waist and pulled her backward. She squeaked in surprise but didn’t even have to turn to know it was Ace, as he lowered his head and kissed her neck.

“Hey, sweetheart.” He said in his deep raspy voice of his that still to this day turned her into a big pile of goo.  Turning in his arms, she snuggled into his chest and hugged him. She felt how tense his body was, and all she wanted to do was to help ease his pain. When they spoke last night, he had opened up to her about him having a hard time dealing with Mia's injuries.  From Ace’s description, it sounded pretty bad. Alex knew Ace was beating himself up and felt somewhat responsible because he hadn’t been in touch with Mia recently. She had to remind him that it wouldn’t have mattered if he had spoken with her or not because nobody could have predicted what had happened to her.

She pulled back and looked up at him; he was staring right back at her.  His blue eyes held so much emotion. It wasn’t often she saw this side of him. The side that was hurting and needing comfort. When he did, she made sure she was there to support him with whatever he needed, and she always would.

“How’s Mia?” She asked, sliding her hands up his chest to his broad shoulders. He squeezed her tighter around the waist.

“Stitch said she woke up a few hours ago and was in a lot of pain. He gave her another pain pill, and she fell back asleep.” He took a deep breath and released it