Stitch by Jaime Lewis (inspirational books to read .TXT) 📕

McDonnell. She walked through the living room, noting that the place was neat and tidy. Just the way Mia kept her place. As Alex went to walk down the hallway toward the two bedrooms, she stopped at the console table in the hallway and smiled at all the pictures Mia had displayed. There were pictures of everyone—her family, her brother’s team, and even some of Alex and Tenley.  But the one picture that stood out was the one of Mia and Stitch. Alex remembered taking the picture.  It had been on Christmas, and they weren’t even looking at the camera. The way they both gazed into each other’s eyes, you could see the chemistry was there. It was a special moment between them.

Moving along, Alex pushed open the door to Mia’s room. Mia had asked her to pick up a few things since they were coming. As Alex made her way toward the closet, the hairs on the back of her neck stood up. She knew that feeling well and knew she wasn’t alone. There was someone in the room with her. The only spaces large enough for someone to hide were the bathroom or the closet. Her heart started to race as she thought about how she should play this out. She saw a large duffle bag next to the bed. She grabbed it and went to Mia’s dresser and acted like she was pulling some clothes out to pack, but really she was texting Ace from inside the drawer.

Before she got a reply from him, the atmosphere in the room changed in a flash. Trusting her intuition, she took the bag and retreated from the room. She was midway down the hall when she heard the floor creak behind her. As she turned, all she got a glimpse of was a large hand coming at her. Grateful for her quick reflexes, she ducked just in time. She tripped on the bag she had dropped, which gave the guy an opportunity, and he took it. Wrapping his arms around her from behind, he lifted her feet off the floor. He was huge; about Ace’s size. Using the wall in front of her as leverage, she pushed her feet against it and sent both of them backward and onto the floor.

The guy lost his grip, and she turned the tables on him and pounced like the fearless lioness she was. She couldn’t claim a victory as he rolled them across the floor until he had her pinned under him. She wrapped her legs around his ribs and squeezed with all her might. He was breathing heavily, and his face had turned red. She managed to get her right arm free and swung, hitting him in the jaw, stunning him. Taking the opening, she scrambled to her feet and got into a fighting position. Hopefully, Ace could hear what was going on and would barge in any second.

“Who the fuck are you?” He asked, breathing heavily as he too rose to his feet. She would have ran for the door, but he stood between her and it. She didn’t miss the heavy English accent.

“I should be asking you the same question.” She wiped the blood from her lip when something on the floor where they were wrestling caught her attention. She realized it was a police badge at a closer examination, though she couldn’t make out what it said. She looked up at the hulking of a guy. “You’re a cop?”

He started to speak when the door burst open as the cavalry arrived led by Ace, although they were a little late to the party. Ace took one look at her, and his expression went from concern to rage in two seconds.

◆◆◆

Ace and Detective McDonnell had just entered the lobby of Mia’s apartment building when he received a cryptic text from Alex that read, “I’m not alone.” He cursed and showed the message to the detective, and they took off up the stairs taking two steps at a time. As they rounded one of the landings, his phone rang with a call from Alex. He answered, putting it on speaker as he continued to climb the stairs. Instead of hearing her voice, the sounds of a scuffle was heard, followed by glass breaking.

Ace’s adrenaline was pumping as he pounded up the remaining two flights of stairs. The entire time he could hear her putting up a fight. He was going to kill whoever laid their hands on her. As soon as they made it to Mia’s apartment, he didn’t waste a second as he kicked the door in.

“You’re a cop?” Alex asked as Ace and Detective McDonnell filled the doorway. The guy, who was a pretty big dude and physically fit, turned and raised a gun, stopping Ace in his tracks.

“FBI, freeze!”

Ace slowly raised his hands, showing he wasn’t armed. At least it appeared that way. His gun was tucked in the waistband of his jeans, concealed by his shirt and he had a second one strapped to his ankle.

He took a quick glimpse at Alex to make sure she was okay and became enraged when he saw the blood oozing from her lip.

“NYPD!” Detective McDonnell shouted from beside Ace with his weapon drawn and aimed at the stranger inside the apartment.

Nobody moved a muscle as the tension in the apartment escalated.

“Identify yourself,” McDonnell ordered to the stranger.

“Terek Larkin, FBI. My shield is on the floor, and my identification is in my back pocket.”

Ace saw the shield on the floor.

The so-called FBI guy lowered his weapon, and Ace heard the click of the safety being engaged and felt a little less apprehensive. He took Alex’s hand and tugged her towards him. He stood in between her and Larkin, acting as a shield just in case. His hand went to her lip, where the blood continued to seep from the laceration, and he used his thumb to wipe away what he could.

“You okay?” Ace asked while putting some pressure on the cut