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

seeing you don’t, it really doesn’t make any sense for you to be here.”

Vargas took a seat on the sofa and immediately reached for the lady's black hoodie recovered from the warehouse and brought it up to his nose.  Elijah thought that seemed a little weird. When he made eye contact, Elijah raised his eyebrows.

“I don’t think I will ever get that sweet scent out of my nose.”

Elijah couldn’t disagree.  It was sweet, just like Mia, who wore the same aroma.  She was both sweet and beautiful.  He was worried about her.  Hell, he knew the city wasn’t a safe place to live, much less for a beautiful woman like Mia. He had been both shocked and startled by her brother's visit. His authoritative demeanor was on display while he and his fiancé met with him.  Now, Alex, she was knockout herself.  With those green eyes and tight little body, Demitri could fetch a fortune for her.

“Now that you’ve had your fix, do you want to tell me why in the hell you risked being seen by coming here?”

Vargas held up the hoodie.

“I thought you might be interested in knowing its owner.”

Well, now that was a revelation he wasn’t expecting.

“You’ve piqued my curiosity.  Do tell.”

“I don’t have a name; however, I do have a picture.”

“What?  How?”

Vargas held up his phone, and as soon as the picture came into view on the screen, Elijah felt the blood drain from his face.

“Christ Elijah, you look like you just saw a ghost.”

“That’s Mia!”

Vargas gave him an odd look, and then he too looked taken back. “The doctor chick that works for you that Marlon talks about all the time?”

Vargas had never seen Mia, so he didn’t know what she had looked like.

“Oh fuck…this isn’t good.”

The squeezing sensation inside his chest was almost too much handle.  He closed his eyes. This could destroy him.

“Where did you get this? Who knows about this? Her?”

“From Jules’ phone. The stupid fuck snapped a picture while she was unconscious. He left it in the warehouse, and I found it while I was wiping it down. He doesn’t know I have it.”

“How?  How did this fucking happen?”

“They said that was the chick you had instructed them to get rid of.”

“Not her!” Elijah shouted. “Willow. Willow was the one.”

“I swear, Elijah, I didn’t know who she was. They already had her at the warehouse when I arrived to facilitate the equipment and crates' movement. When I walked in, and they were touching her, I told them to leave her alone.  I assumed she was one that you had told them to take care of.”

“Then what the fuck happened to her?” Elijah asked, pointing to Mia’s injuries.

Vargas grinned.  “She broke Oscar’s nose.”

“Mia was responsible for that?”

“That’s what set him off,” he pointed to the picture of Mia battered and bruised. “That was the outcome. He just lost it. He threw both her and the chair. The problem was he didn’t realize that when the chair broke, it left her arms and legs free. We, myself included, thought she was out cold. Unbeknown to us, she wasn’t. She climbed out the fucking window while I had them help me move the crates. I drove all around the docks looking for her but she was no where to be found.”

“Well, where the fuck could she be?  Her own family doesn’t even know where she is.”

“What?”

“That big hulking guy and gorgeous brunette you passed coming in was her brother and his fiancé.”

“No shit. What are they saying?”

“Nothing, because they haven’t heard from her since that night. That’s why they were in town. They were meeting with that Detective McDonnell, the one that questioned me the other day. If she escaped and isn’t around town and hasn’t contacted her family, where could she be?”

“Hard to say. She may have gotten scared and fled. Or, she could’ve run into some trouble around the area.  You know the trash that hangs out around the docks. Especially at that time of the night. A woman as beautiful as Mia wouldn’t want to be caught dead around those streets.”

Elijah couldn’t peel his eyes from the picture displayed across the phone screen. She was out there somewhere, and what scared Elijah was how much she knew and if it was enough to bring him and his operation down. As much as he would love to have her as his own, his priority was his business. If that meant sending Mia to the same fate as Willow or worse, then it was what would be done.

“I need to find her, Vargas.”

Vargas grinned.  “Marlon mentioned you had your eye on her.”

“I want her, but if she connects the dots and it leads back to me, I could be ruined. I need to find her first.”

“You said that McDonnell was working the case?”

Elijah nodded.

“I know him, and I can do a little digging around the office and see what he has.”

“As long as it doesn’t look suspicious.”

“Never.”

“Then do what you need to do, but let’s keep this between us.”

“Done.” He then held up Jules’ phone. “What do you want me to do about Jules?”

Elijah thought hard.  That was a tough call, because right now, he needed that asshole for the next few weeks to facilitate scheduled shipments.

“Nothing just yet. I need a little more time to tie up some loose ends.”

Elijah turned and faced the window.  A winter storm was due to hit the area tomorrow morning. The clouds were moving in, giving the sky a dreary look, like his current mood.

“I will find her, Vargas.  I know she is out there.”

“Well, I will leave you to your business.  As soon as I connect with McDonnell, I will be in touch.”

“Thank you, Vargas.  And, remember, this stays between you and me.”

Vargas got up and made his way out of the office.  Elijah continued to stare out the window.

“Where are you, Mia?” He mumbled as he took Mia’s hoodie and took another sniff of the garment.

He would wait until Vargas called later with any