Spliced

by Robin Leigh Miller

  Careful not to wake her, he eased off the bed, grabbed his jeans and headed to the bathroom to clean up. He disposed of the condom, hung the towel up and righted her bathroom all the while trying to ignore the intense emotions threatening to overtake him. He never thought he’d miss having her in his head, but he did. He needed her there and had tried several times to push his way in only to come up against her impenetrable wall.

  God, he had to be the biggest fool walking the earth. She’d damn near made herself ill because of him and now he wanted her to undo all the work she’d suffered through. What kind of ass did that to the woman he… Ridge slammed his fist down on the sink and stared at himself in the mirror. Loved, damn it. He loved her more than what? Anything.

  He loved her and he was no fucking good for her. The thought of walking away again made his chest clench with pain and his gut twist with fear. How the hell did he get out of this one?

  You don’t, he heard loud and clear in his head. Ridge muttered a curse. That was his conscious talking, not Avery. She’d kept him sane in the desert simply thinking about his next visit. She treated him like a man and not a temporary trophy like the other women he tried to lose himself in. Avery Easton had to be the perfect woman and he couldn’t stay with her because she deserved a perfect man.

  Ridge turned his head slightly and glared at the ugly red scar on his face. The doctors had told him the redness would fade with time, but the jagged scar would remain, forever.

  Avery doesn’t see it, his pain-in-the-ass conscious told him. It was right, though. He’d never once caught her staring at it, or trying to avoid looking at it like so many others, especially her friend Cindy. That shouldn’t surprise him. Avery’s personality didn’t allow her to focus on physical faults. She saw the person inside first. Ridge rubbed the tender tissue and remembered her warm touch had been when she’d cradled his cheek in her palm.

  He abandoned the mirror and snatched his shirt off the floor, tugging it on rather violently. He wanted to go in her room, wake her up and spill every flowery, nauseating word he could think of to explain his emotions, how much passion he carried for her, but he couldn’t get past his inability to take care of her. Facts were facts and he had one blazing fact that kept eating at him. He couldn’t support her the way a man should. Not now anyway.

  He’d have to start seeing some shrink to deal with the issues still plaguing him from the war. He’d have to start therapy on his leg to regain the strength in it and then, only then, would he consider going back to school or learning a trade, and all of that could take a couple of years. He couldn’t expect Avery to wait around for him to pull himself together. It wouldn’t be fair.

  Caught between doing what was right and giving in to his need for her, Ridge made his way downstairs and glanced around the kitchen. He’d never seen such a filthy mess before. Avery really did lose it and all because of him.

  He grabbed the broom and continued sweeping the filth into a pile. Stone had been right. She did look like a junky in detox, or at least the ones he’d seen on television. Her eyes were sunken, her flesh pale and the circles under her eyes looked more like bruises. He didn’t pretend to understand the connection they shared, but if after a short while he suffered the side effects of lost contact, she must have wallowed in hell for the last ten days.

  It was bad enough she’d been stuck with a broken-minded jerk, but at least she still had the contact her mind had become accustomed to. Then he’d gone and ordered her to stay out of his head and she’d taken it to heart. Lack of contact to her must be like cutting off a drug her body craved. He wasn’t sure that wall she put up would ever come down, or if it should.

  Ridge loaded the garbage into a bag, tied it up and put it aside before turning his attention to the dirty dishes in the sink. He rinsed and chipped away dried-on food the best he could before loading them into her dishwasher. Once he had that finished he hunted for some air freshener and sprayed the place thoroughly.

  Avery would be humiliated once she realized how bad things had gotten, but he’d make sure she understood it lay at his feet, not hers. None of this would’ve happened if not for his lack of restraint. It could have all been avoided if he’d kept his cock in his pants back in Dover. Ridge tucked the spray can in the back of his jeans and grabbed the garbage bag. He knew she kept her cans out back, so he took the short hall to the back door.

  When he stepped back into the kitchen his skin prickled like it had in the desert when a gun barrel was trained on him. The atmosphere of the room changed as well. He wasn’t the only person in the house aside from Avery. Ridge glanced toward the sink where he knew she kept a gun hidden. He listened carefully for thirty seconds for any sound, any indication of movement inside the house.

  “Avery,” he shouted in his head. As he moved toward the sink he pushed hard against the barrier separating them. “Avery! Wake up! We have trouble.” Ridge reached beneath the sink and pulled out her Glock. He checked the clip and felt a sense of pride that she kept it loaded.

  Holding the gun out in front of him, Ridge crept toward the stairs. He needed to get to her, now. Ridge made the turn out of the kitchen and a burst of pain and multicolored lights exploded in his head. He dropped to his knees, shook his head to clear his vision and saw a man standing over him with a metal bar.

  “You’ve become a real nuisance, ya know that?” the man said and swung the bar again.

  Ridge dropped, rolled across the floor and came up on his knees, wobbling unsteadily. He aimed the gun but at this point he had no clue which figure to point at. Damn it, there were three of everything.

  “You and that cop have made my business here difficult, and I don’t like difficult,” he said, stalking around the room.

  Ridge blinked rapidly, trying to focus. The guy knew he couldn’t see straight and he wanted to play with his prey before finishing him off.

  “What business do you have with her?” Ridge asked, sweating bullets and trying not to vomit from the pain throbbing in his head.

  “I’m not sure that’s your concern,” the intruder said, lifting the bar.

  “She’s my concern,” Ridge told him, keeping as close attention as he could on the weapon in the man’s hands.

  “Yes, so I heard. In fact, I believe half the neighborhood heard the two of you screaming in blissful pleasure.”

  White hot fury ripped through Ridge’s gut. The man had listened to them? Where the hell had he been hiding?

  “I hope it was as good as it sounded, because it will be the last time you fuck her. Once I get what I’m after, she’ll be buried next to her no-good brother.” The man lunged forward and swung the bar.

  Ridge squeezed the trigger and fired off one round, hoping and praying it found its mark, before he took another blow to the head and fell backward onto the floor. Darkness pulled at him. Blinding pain paralyzed him and still the only thing he could think of was Avery. Ridge caught a blurred glimpse of the man heading up the stairs.

  Surely Avery had heard the shot. She would hide, or would she? Damn it, Ridge thought, rolling to his side and trying to pull himself up, she’d come running thinking he was in danger. He clawed his way to the stairs, fighting nausea and the need to pass out. Inch by agonizing inch he tugged his limp body up the stairs and when he heard Avery scream, a burst of energy poured through him.

  “Let her go,” he growled, pushing to his feet and stumbling toward her bedroom door.

  He heard thumps, Avery’s gasps and curses and when he stepped into the room, saw her sitting on the floor with her knees pulled to her chest. The intruder was rummaging through her drawers and pulled out his own gun, pointing it right at her head.

  “You are one tough bastard, aren’t ya? Come any closer and she’s dead now, not later.” He pulled out a pair of shorts and tank top, tossed them to her and said, “Get dressed, we have something to discuss.”

  Ridge took in the scene, Avery naked on the floor quivering with fear, tears pouring down her face, and was
that a fucking bruise on her cheek? Adrenaline pumped into his system. No one, absolutely no one, touched her with violence and got away with it.

  “You’re going to die a very horrible death,” Ridge threatened the man.

  “I don’t think so,” he said, pointing the gun toward Ridge. “I’ve been doing this a long time and I’m still here, where there are many unsolved murders across this country and in others by my hands.”

  A hired killer. Ridge latched onto that piece of information. “Who the hell wants Avery dead?” he snarled.

  “Me,” the man said simply. “It’s not that I want her dead, she’s simply collateral in a messy business. You can thank her brother for her misfortune. If he would have kept his nose out of my business, she’d still be sleeping peacefully and dreaming about that glorious sex you two shared.”

  Again, the mention of him hearing her screams and seeing her precious naked body sent murderous venom through Ridge’s body. Avery winced as she quickly tugged on her shirt.

  “I don’t understand,” she sobbed, looking at Ridge with pleading eyes.

  “You will, in good time. Right now we have to get the hell out of here. I’m sure your neighbors heard that gunshot lover boy here alerted them with. I don’t have time to play games with the cop, not today. Come on, Avery. Let’s go.” He stepped toward her and reached down, gripping the tender flesh of her arm and squeezing.

  “You aren’t taking her anywhere,” Ridge warned. If the man left the house with her there wouldn’t be time to find her.

  The man sighed as he tugged Avery close to his body. “Ya know, I’ve had it with you. I simply don’t have time.”

  Ridge saw the gun rise and aim at his head. Avery screamed and Ridge ducked out into the hall a split second before the man fired a round. He scrambled down the hall hoping to make the bottom of the stairs before the intruder could get another shot. Too late. He felt the burn on his arm before he heard the actual shot itself. The impact toppled him over and he rolled the rest of the way down the stairs.

  The last he heard before plunging into darkness was Avery screaming his name.

  * * * * *

  This couldn’t be happening. It had to be a nightmare. Avery kicked and clawed at the man holding her, the man who’d pretended to be nice on the plane. He grabbed a handful of her hair, jerked her head back and slapped her hard across the face. The sting made her flesh ice cold before burning like fire. Her head spun and her vision wavered.

  “Don’t make me knock you out,” he warned her.

  “Why are you doing this, Mike?”

  “Shut the fuck up,” he snapped, jerking her head back again and then dragging her toward the front door.

  Avery ignored the pain in her scalp and turned her head. Ridge lay on the floor, blood matted in his hair and seeping from his arm. He didn’t move, and as far as she could tell wasn’t breathing. It was time to wake up now. She didn’t like this dream.

  Mike dragged her outside to his car parked in front of her house, opened the front passenger side door and shoved her in. Before he could close the door she screamed as loud as she could and received a hard punch to the head that left her dazed for two seconds before everything went black.

  * * * * *

  Ridge heard distant voices and he immediately reached out for Avery mentally like he’d been doing every day for over a week. This time there wasn’t any wall, only complete darkness. A nothingness so fucking cold and empty it terrified him.

  “Avery!” he shouted, sitting up.

  Two men jolted back away from him.

  “Easy, Gates. Take it easy. You’re hurt.”

  Ridge turned and found Stone kneeling next to him in his trooper uniform. He didn’t care who the others were. “He’s got her, Stone. He fucking took her.”

  Stone’s eyes went hard. “I figured as much when we got calls about gunshots and found you lying in your own blood and Avery missing.”

  “You were right,” Ridge said, grabbing Stone by the shirt. “Cale does have something to do with this.”

  Stone frowned. “Tell me what you know.”

  The two men on his other side began dabbing and touching his head. Ridge pushed them away.

  “Easy, Gates. Your head looks like it was used for batting practice. Talk to me and let them do their job. Don’t want what’s left of your brain to spill out. Now go on, talk to me.”

  “He said Avery was collateral in a messy business. That she wouldn’t be in this mess if Cale had kept his nose out of his business. He’s going to kill her. He told me once he got what he wanted, he’d fucking kill her.”

  “We’ve got an alert out on his car. Every cop in thirty miles is looking for it. What else can you tell me?”

  “Nothing, fuck, I don’t know.” Ridge fought the dizziness and ignored the pounding in his head. Nothing mattered but finding Avery right now.

  “Could Cale have sent Avery something important and she doesn’t know what it is?”

  Ridge shook his head. “Maybe, I don’t have a clue.” He rubbed his temple and jolted when pain shot through his arm.

  “The bullet grazed you,” one of the paramedics explained. “Deep flesh wound but nothing serious.”

  “The safe,” Stone muttered.

  “What safe?”

  “Avery has a hidden safe downstairs. That night of the break-in the only thing she worried about was the contents of that safe. She had an envelope from her brother. Do you know what was in it?”

  Avery had a safe? “Insurance paperwork, personal letters, stuff like that. I have to find her, Stone. I can’t sit here and do nothing, I have to find her.”

  “I know. Give me a second.”

  Stone turned and spoke with two other officers who quickly disappeared into the basement. “Do you have any idea what Avery would use as a combination?”

  Who the fuck cared? He needed to find her before that bastard killed her.

  “Think, Gates. Clear your mind and think. What that man wants could be in her safe and if we’re going to save her we need it. Now think about the numbers she would use for a combination.”

  Ridge’s mind scrambled. “Her birthday, Cale’s, the day she opened the store, it could be anything.”

  Stone shoved a small notebook at him. “Write the dates down. Month, day, year. Anything you can think of.”

  Ridge scribbled numbers. Stone took the pad and ran downstairs. As soon as the paramedics finished patching him up, Ridge went looking for him. There at the far end of the basement stood Stone and two others in front of a large safe built into the wall.

  Ridge pressed the heels of his palms against his forehead. They were wasting time. Whatever was in that safe wouldn’t find her. Hell, he didn’t have a clue where to look either. He reached down that thread of connection and barreled through into the darkness. She couldn’t be dead. Dear God, he wouldn’t survive if she died, too. His life, his love, his very soul. He’d put a gun to his head if he had to.

  “Avery!” he shouted into the emptiness. “Answer me. You fucking answer me, baby. Avery”.

  He felt a slight movement, very faint but enough to give him hope. Over and over again he silently shouted her name until all at once the darkness lightened and her presence along with pain and gut-clenching fear filled him. Hers or his, he didn’t know and didn’t give a damn. They were one and if she experienced fear, he’d tear the world apart to make it go away.

  “Where are you, babe? Tell me where you are so I can come get you.”

  Nothing. No response. The darkness began to creep back in and it terrified him.

  “No! Stay with me. You stay awake and tell me where to find you.”

  She stirred again and he heard his name, a faint, barely there sound but her voice, her presence. With it came extreme, excruciating pain that made him double over and swallow the rising bile. Ridge fought through it and tried to concentrate on where her pain came from. The bastard would most definitely die a horrible death for causing her harm. If it w
as the last damn thing he did on earth he would send the fucker to hell.

  “I know you’re hurting,” he told her gently. “Baby, you have to give me some clue as to where you are.”

  Muttered static filled his mind and then a jolt coursed through his body as if he’d grabbed an electric fence. His nerve endings tingled and the faint smell of burned flesh filled his senses. That smell triggered a panic attack, tossing him back into the desert on the day he’d lost so much. His heart raced frantically, a loud roar filled his ears and a cold sweat broke out all over his body.

  His throat closed up and his muscles quivered until he dropped to the floor on his knees. Not now. He couldn’t do this now. Avery needed him. Even as he fought to stave off the attack, he heard the screams of horror, saw flashes of unimaginable scenes.

  “Gates!”

  Not now. He would not allow this to happen now when Avery needed him the most. He’d screwed up once not being there for her, he wouldn’t let it happen again.

  “Gates! What the hell’s wrong with him?”

  “Avery.” He repeated her name over and over, focusing, trying to replace the horrid images in his head with her infectious smile and beautiful laugh. If he had Avery he could get through anything.

  “Ridge.”

  His name sounded in his head as a sob. That’s all it took, her tearful, terrified voice. It ripped him out of the attack so violently he straightened his spine, sucked in a harsh deep breath and fisted his hands.

  “Gates, you okay?”

  “Tell me where you are, Avery. Tell me now before he hurts you again. I promise I’ll tear him apart.”

  “Farm house. Old farm house.”

  “Talk to me, Gates. What can we do to help?”

  Her presence and will seemed so weak her thoughts came through on only a timid whisper. Ridge turned, pinned Stone with a hard glare and spoke through his dry, still constricted throat. “Are there any old farm houses around here, probably abandoned?”