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

before continuing. “She’s in bad shape, Alex. I mean, no woman or man, for that matter, should have to go through something so horrific.”

From the expression on his face as he stared at her, Alex knew his thoughts were heading back to Afghanistan. She slid her hand down his side and pinched him through his shirt.

“Stop!”  She demanded.

“Stop what?”

“I’m not stupid, Ace. I know what’s you’re thinking about.  Remember we talked about that, and we both agreed to put that time behind us. Now, Mia is your sister. You’ve looked after her, her entire life, well, when your career permitted. You were the big brother that probably every little sister wanted to have. Someone they could count on protecting them and guiding them through life.”

He ran his hand through his hair. “Yeah, and look how that ended up for her.”

“Ace, Mia is a grown woman with a good head on her shoulders. You can’t always be there, nor will you ever be. Life happens, and unfortunately, not all of life’s experiences are warm and fuzzy moments. You of all people know how cruel people in this world can be.”

With his silence, she took that moment to hug him, resting her cheek against his chest, listening to the sound of his heart beating.  “I needed that,”  he said softly into her hair, rubbing his hand up and down her back. She savored moments like this and wished she could stay in his arms forever.

“You needed what? I didn’t do anything?”

He gently gripped her chin, tilting her face towards his, and gave her a soft smile.

“That hug, and for you being the rock of our family, the team, hell the world. I feel like I don’t tell you that enough. Thank you for being here and helping. I know you sacrificed your Black Friday shopping to be here.”

She pressed her hand against his cheek. “Ace, I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else.  Mia is like family to me already and a wonderful friend.  I’m here for both of you.”  He bent his head and kissed her.

“I love you so much.”

“I love you too.” She said with a grin. But she was starting to freeze her ass off standing outside, although Ace’s large muscular body infused some heat into her.  It was colder up in the mountains compared to the beach.

“As much as I would love to stand here and stay in your arms, do you think we could possibly move this indoors? I’m kinda getting colds” she said as her teeth started to chatter.

He chuckled and grabbed the bags from the back of the Jeep while she closed it up and locked it. When she turned and started walking, Ace slapped her hard on the ass, making her yelp. She rubbed her butt cheek and glared at him.  That made him laugh harder, and all she could do was smile.  Hearing him laugh and seeing a smile on his face meant she had done her job.

◆◆◆

Stitch stood in the kitchen with Alex while Ace spent some time upstairs with Mia. He pulled a beer from the refrigerator and held one up for Alex, but she refused.

“I have a feeling I’m going to need to be the sober one once we get back home. Ace already mentioned he wanted to swing by Bayside on the way home. Plus, isn’t it a little early to be drinking?”

He shook his head as he popped the top to the bottle of beer and took a nice long slug of it.

“I still can’t believe that Mia could’ve possibly been pulled into a human trafficking ring,” Alex said as she took a seat at the kitchen table and sipped her coffee.  She had gotten to see Mia for a few minutes when she got to the cabin, but Mia was still sleeping. “I mean, you hear of that happening, but you never expect for it to happen to someone you know. It is crazy scary.”

Stitch brought his beer over to the table and took a seat across from her.

“Tink and Derek have been talking to some big shot Detective in New York that Tink knows. The hope is they can get some leads after the missing persons report is filed. According to the detective, they have some leads on some possible groups who they believe are connected to human trafficking. They haven’t ruled out other organizations or gangs either who could’ve had beef with one of Mia’s friends, and they were using her to set an example or make a point.”

“Well, hopefully, they can find out something, and fast. How are you holding up?” She asked, holding his gaze, and he shrugged his shoulders as he traced the rim of the beer bottle with his finger. He wasn’t really in the mood to talk about himself and his feelings right now. Just like Ace, he felt guilty and somewhat responsible for what happened to Mia. He had thought about it last night while he watched her sleep.  He did the one thing he never did: he played the “what if” mind game, and it had totally fucked with his head.

“Stitch, I’ll tell you the same thing I told Ace earlier; you can’t blame yourself. You don’t know who she hung with up in the City and who may have had their eye on her. You have to live in the moment.  Just be there for her and help her heal. Hey, at least she was smart enough to know your cabin was a safe house.  Be thankful that she at least got away and is here with you now.”

Stitch ran his hand over his unshaven face. “She means so much to me, Alex. It killed me to sit there last night and listen to her moan in her sleep as if she was reliving the beating she took, and then when she woke up in the middle of a nightmare, she clung to me, and I felt so helpless because there wasn’t a damn thing I could do