Stitch

by Jaime Lewis

  “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 to stop the bleeding.

  He hadn’t realized how bad he was shaking until she covered his hand. It was weird because as soon as her hand made contact with his, a sudden calmness overcame him. “I’m okay,” she told him as he continued to stare into her emerald eyes. She repeated the words. This time a little slower, trying to get her point across. “I’m okay.”

  “You scared the shit out of me. When I heard…” She cut him off by getting up on her tiptoes and kissing him, hurt lip and all. He pulled her close and hugged her as their lips stayed pressed together. She gave his waist a little squeeze and pulled away, and he stared down at her. Her eyes glistened, but he recognized the look and her expression and knew she was telling the truth.

  The FBI guy reached into his pocket and pulled out his identification, and handed it to McDonnell. Once he confirmed it was a legit ID, he lowered his weapon and holstered it.

  “What is your business in this residence, Agent Larkin?” McDonnell questioned.

  “I’m checking up on a friend.”

  “Mia Chambers is a friend of yours?”

  “You could say that.”

  “What the fuck does that mean?” Ace interjected into the questioning, which drew a scowl from Detective McDonnell.

  “Maybe I should be asking you three what you’re doing here?” The agent countered, and that just pissed Ace off.

  Ace went to reply to the pompous ass, but McDonnell beat him to it.

  “Spare me the sarcasm, agent.”

  “Wait, did the bureau contact you?”

  “Bureau? No, why would the bureau contact me?” McDonnell asked.

  “About Mia.”

  “What about Mia?”

  Ace folded his arms across his chest. He slowly started to get frustrated as they were getting nowhere with this guy.

  “Look, all we’re doing here is spinning our wheels. Why in the hell would the bureau contact the NYPD regarding my missing sister?” Ace asked the agent. Instead of another sarcastic response that he was expecting, the guy surprised him when his demeanor took on a whole different approach.

  “You’re Mia’s brother? Wait…She’s missing?” He then turned toward McDonnell. “I thought the bureau had contacted the NYPD about what happened to Mia last week.” His eyes moved back to Ace. “I thought for sure she would go to you. I warned her to leave.”

  “You know what happened to her?”

  The agent ran his hand down his face and genuinely looked upset.

  “Okay, I think we all need to take a breath and maybe have a seat and discuss this,” McDonnell stated and motioned to the kitchen table.

  Agent Larkin turned to walk into the kitchen but clutched his side and moaned.

  “Fuck!” He popped his head up, looking towards Alex. “Where in the hell did you learn to fight? I think you broke a few of my ribs.”

  Alex grinned, and Ace couldn’t help the proudness he felt.

  “I had some good teachers growing up,” she replied.

  “Okay, now that we’ve established that you got your ass kicked by a girl, let's get back to the subject at hand. Everyone have a seat,” McDonnell ordered.

  Once they were all seated, McDonnell started the discussion.

  “Agent Larkin, this is Marcus Chambers, Mia’s brother. Obviously, we are somewhat here for the same purpose, but it seems there is a lot more to Mia’s case that’s not being disclosed.”

  McDonnell looked at Agent Larkin. “Let’s start with a basic question. How do you know Mia?”

  Ace watched him, and for a second, he thought the agent was going to feed them a line of bullshit, and he had been prepared to call him out on it.

  Larkin tilted his head and cracked his neck. “Mia and have a past.”

  “Oh shit!” Ace heard Alex whisper next to him, and he looked over at her.

  “What?” He asked, and Alex grabbed his hand and gave him a warning look. It was a look he was familiar with; she was about to drop a bombshell.

  Alex looked at Larkin. “You’re Mia’s ex?”

  As the guy nodded his head, Ace’s nostrils flared. Son-of-a-bitch! Mia didn’t mention him by name much. When Ace found out he was a Green Beret, he nicknamed him the Green Beret, and when Mia would talk about him, she referred to him as the Green Beret to be sarcastic.

  He looked over at the guy and glared at him. So this was the asshole who had disrespected his sister. The fucking Green Beret. He felt even better now that Alex gave him a good beat down, although he now wanted a crack at him.

  As if sensing his anger, Alex squeezed his hand and reigned him in. “Ace, now is not the time to deal with that. Let’s focus on the real reason we’re here.”

  Alex turned toward Agent Larkin. “Agent Larkin, I’m confused. Mia said you worked as a Director of Security for some Fortune 500 company.”

  Ace thought the guy would want to play games, but he surprised him.

  “That’s my cover. Mia had no clue I worked for the FBI. Look, I can’t go into a lot of detail due to the assignment I’m working on, but I’m concerned about Mia.”

  “Why?” Ace asked.

  “Because I was there last week and saw the whole thing unfold. I witnessed Mia get pulled off the street.”

  Ace felt as if he’d been punched in the gut as all the air left his body. His head felt like it was literally spinning.

  “Agent Larkin, can you tell us what you know or saw? Why didn’t you help her, or call for help when it happened.”

  “I did. I mean, I called the bureau.” Larkin raked his hand down his face in frustration. “Because of my current assignment, I couldn’t just call the police, so I called my supervisor at the bureau and explained to him what was happening.”

  “What the fuck actually happened? Why didn’t you help her when she was attacked?” Ace raised his voice.

  “I was too far away. I couldn’t have made it to her in time. Look, let me start at the beginning with what I know. At the gala that Mia attended last week, she and I ran into each other. It was awkward since that was the first time we were seeing each other since we had broken up. But what made it even more uncomfortable was that I acted like she was a complete stranger. The people I was with that night are criminals. And if they knew that Mia and I had a connection, they would start asking questions, and it could have led to my cover being blown, and put Mia’s safety in jepoardy.”

  “Wait, she was with her boss all night. Are you saying that her boss is one of the criminals you’re talking about?” Ace asked.

  “She was with him, but as far as him being a criminal…he hasn’t ever been charged with anything, but he is under investigation which I’ll get to in a minute.”

  McDonnell agreed. “I was suspicious of him when I interviewed him. More so when three of his supposed employees
showed up while I was there.”

  “Who were they?” Agent Larkin asked.

  “Marlon Zurek, Oscar Torres and Jules Gudotti.”

  Ace saw the tick in Larkin’s jaw. “I know of all three of them. Oscar and Jules do ‘side work’ for several employers around the area, if you know what I mean. It is all about the money for them. Marlon, on the other hand, prefers to reap the benefits from his cousin’s work, without putting in too much work.”

  “I saw him talking to Mia right before she left the gala. When I questioned her afterward outside, she mentioned that Marlon wanted her to give Dr. Walters an envelope, and he was adamant that she get it to him that night. I knew something was up. I told her to watch her back.

  “I was concerned, so I called a buddy of mine back in Washington and asked him to dig a little deeper into Dr. Elijah Walters. It didn’t take long for him to get back to me. For the last year and a half, Dr. Walters and his clinic have been under investigation for smuggling.”

  “Ace, Tink was right. Mia was targeted for human trafficking,” Alex said to him.

  But Larkin interrupted. “No, Alex. Dr. Walters isn’t dealing in human trafficking. But he is under investigation for puppy trafficking.”

  Alex covered her mouth as if shocked. Ace was aware of people smuggling dogs, but he didn’t realize how big an operation it was until Larkin started explaining. He was shocked to learn how much money is made from an operation as such.

  Larkin continued, “After finding out that information, I wanted to talk to Mia. I couldn’t tell her anything because it’s an ongoing investigation.”

  “So why are you telling us?” McDonnell interrupted, and Larkin gave him a serious look.

  “Because I care about Mia, and I want to find those responsible for hurting her. And I trust you to keep this on the down-low.”

  With the nod of the detective’s head, Larkin continued, “The next day, I tried calling and texting Mia to talk to her again, but she never responded. I was concerned and knew she normally goes for a run in the park between six and seven, so I waited to see if she would show. I watched her from afar.”

  Ace saw the pain etched in Larkin’s face as he continued.

  “I was a couple of blocks away standing next to my car when I saw it all go down. The dude snatched her so fast before he dragged her into an alley. I jumped into my car. I got to about a block away and the van peeled out of the alley. I followed them across the bridge into Jersey. The driver took the exit leading to the docks area. By the time I exited, I had lost them. I kept driving up and down each street, searching for a glimpse of the van. Along the way, I ran into a few individuals who I know from those streets. One of them said he had seen one at the far end within the last hour, so I headed in that direction. That was when I made the call to my supervisor. He warned me to back off before I blew my cover and assured me he would escalate the incident to the NYPD.”

  “But you didn’t back off?” McDonnell stated more than he asked.

  Larkin looked right into Ace’s eyes as he answered, “No, I couldn’t turn my back on her. On the north end, I made a turn and realized it was a dead end. As I was putting the car in reverse, something moving in the road caught my eye. At first, I thought it was an animal. I flicked the high beams on and moved a little closer, then realized it was a person. She was in bad shape when I got to her. I quickly picked her up and put her into my car.”

  Larkin paused and looked as if he was battling with himself.

  “I couldn’t take the risk of her knowing it was me. I spoke to her using an English accent, and then I gave her a drug to make her sleep. I feel awful about it, but it was the best for the both of us.”

  “Were you the one who left her the note?” Alex asked.

  “Yeah. I honestly thought she would head to her family.” He looked at Ace. “I came back later after I took care of a few things, and she was gone. I thought she would head to you. But now you’re here saying she’s missing.”

  Ace could sense the concern in both Larkin’s expression and body language. Although he was very grateful for Larkin being concerned for Mia’s safety and diligence in finding her, it still didn’t mean he was letting the douche off easy.

  Ace spoke up and looked at Larkin. “Before we go any further with this discussion, I need to know something. Why did you feel you needed to be concerned for Mia when you were unfaithful to her?”

  “There are some things I need to explain to her about the night….”

  “The night she caught you with your pants down, literally.”

  “Ace…” Alex warned him.

  Larkin shook his head. “It’s not what she thought.” He blew out a breath. “It was a set-up to look like I was cheating on her so she would break up with me.”

  “Oh, please.” Ace stated and rolled his eyes.

  “Seriously. If my cover ever got blown, I didn’t want to put Mia in some evil people's crosshairs because she was dating me. I swear to you, I didn’t cheat on her. Yes, it looked that way. The woman with me that night is a colleague of mine, and she was in on it.”

  “Why didn’t you just tell her you didn’t want to be with her anymore instead of making her feel like she wasn’t good enough? Although, she was at your place to dump your ass.”

  Larkin appeared taken back by that little tidbit. “What?”

  “She went to your place to break things off with you. She knew there wasn’t a future for the two of you.”

  “Well, that explains the distance she’d been putting between us.”

  Ace nodded in agreement as if the guy was a true dumbass.

  Larkin gave Ace an odd look. “If you don’t know where Mia is, then I’m very concerned for her safety. Criminals are connected in this city, and if Mia was targeted, she could be in grave danger.”

  Ace looked at McDonnell for guidance on the subject. He wasn’t going to jeopardize Mia’s case by opening his mouth.

  McDonnell’s eyes traveled to Larkin, and he pinned him with a stare, “What is said in this apartment, stays inside this apartment.”

  “Understood,” Larkin stated. “And before you ask, I’ve already checked the place for bugs. It’s clean.”

  McDonnell nodded. “Mia is safe.” Both McDonnell and Ace explained the series of events leading to where they now were in the investigation. McDonnell also made it known that the bureau had never notified the NYPD.

  Larkin looked at Ace for confirmation, and Ace nodded his head.

  “Do you have any leads?”

  “There are several directions we are looking, one being she could’ve been a target of human trafficking considering what Mia heard about “their” boss having an eye on her.”

  Larkin appeared to suddenly take on a sickly look, and Ace wondered what had brought that on.

  “Man, are you okay? You look like you are going to vomit.”

  Larkin took a couple of deep breaths.

  “I’m assuming you haven’t checked the dock area in Jersey where I found Mia.”

  The detective shook his head. “We haven’t had reason to look over that way. Since she was abducted in the city, our focus has been on warehouses near the water here.”

  Larkin looked Detective McDonnell in the eye. “You may want to expand that to include the docks and warehouses across the river. Lots of activity taking place over that way.”

  Larkin turned his attention to Ace. “Where is Mia now?”

  “As Ace mentioned, she is safe, with her boyfriend, far from here,” Alex stated, and Ace wanted to laugh at Alex getting a dig in at Larkin. She hadn’t liked the guy since the night Mia called and told her what he had done. But the question Larkin asked next had Ace wanting to ask a few questions himself.

  “Boyfriend?”

  Ace smirked. “Yeah, boyfriend.”

  “Well, as long as it isn’t her boss, then I’m happy she’s happy.”

  “She’s very happy, but why would you think she would date her boss?” Ace asked, looking conf
used and a little disgusted.

  “Oh, shit….” Alex mumbled next to him, and for the second time within the same conversation, he looked down at her wide eyes and knew there was something that she and Mia had been keeping a secret. All he did was quirk an eyebrow, and she started spilling.

  “The night of the gala,” she gave Larkin a look as if she was asking him for confirmation, and from the expression on his face, Alex had hit the nail on the head. Now they just needed to clue him in.

  “What happened the night of the gala?” Ace questioned.

  “She came with Dr. Walters. All night he was glued to her as if he was staking a claim to her. I’ll admit it pissed me off.”

  “That isn’t all,” Alex spoke up, and Ace could see she was battling something internally when she let out a frustrated sigh. “I promised Mia I wouldn’t tell anyone.”

  “Alex, whatever it is, you need to tell us.”

  “She called me the next morning on her way to work. After the gala, she stopped by the clinic to drop some papers off to Elijah, which I’m now guessing is whatever Marlon gave to her.”

  “Hold up,” Ace said, shaking his head. “I don’t understand. She was with her boss all fucking night. Why didn’t she just give him the papers then?” Detective McDonnell agreed with Ace.

  “Fuck!” Larkin shouted.

  “What?”

  “Marlon.” Alex nodded her head, but Ace’s head was starting to spin with all of these new developments.

  “Right, but according to Mia, Marlon was adamant she drop it off at the clinic that night on her way home. That’s when…” Alex paused and bit down on her lip. It was a stall tactic.

  “When what?” Ace pushed.

  “He kissed her.”

  Several “whats” echoed in the room, and Ace had even more questions. Most he would save for his sister. Did she have a thing for her boss? What about Stitch? Fuck!

  Alex spoke quickly, “It was unwanted. Mia pushed him off and told him he shouldn’t have done that. He told her that it was bound to happen and that he’d wanted to kiss her since the day he first saw her.”