Stone blinked a few times, pinched the bridge of his nose and seemed to be thinking. “Yeah, just outside of town. It’s been abandoned for about three years. Why? And what the hell just happened to you?”
“Panic attack,” he answered, pushing himself up and to his feet. “He’s got her at that farm house, Stone. Where’s her gun?”
Every cop in the basement turned. They’d have to shoot him full of holes to stop him, but he was going to bring his Avery home.
“You know I can’t let you have that,” Stone muttered, carefully glancing throughout the room. “Come on, let’s go upstairs and we’ll talk.”
Stone grabbed him by the arm and all but dragged his ass up the stairs. Ridge kept his mouth shut. They went through the kitchen and out the back door where Ridge’s motorcycle was. Stone surveyed the area carefully, making sure no one was around.
“I can’t let you have her gun, too many eyes. You still have yours?”
Ridge nodded once. He was losing her again. Her will was slipping back into darkness and he feared she might not come back. “I don’t have time, Stone. He’s hurting her and she can’t hold on much longer. How do I get there?”
“You psychic, Gates?” Stone asked, glaring at him.
“No, and I don’t have time now to tell you how I know all this. Are you gonna help me or not?”
Stone cursed quietly once and then gave him the directions to the farm house. “I’ll give you ten minutes and then I’m right behind you, understand?”
Ridge nodded and ran for his bike. The jarring made his head spin and nausea roll through his system but he quickly shoved it away. He straddled his bike, opened the satchel he kept tied to it and reached in. His gun sat safe and secure along with an extra clip. Ridge kick-started the bike, revved the motor and tore out of the yard toward Avery.
“I’m on my way, babe. Hold on a little bit longer.”
* * * * *
Avery moaned, floating somewhere between darkness and the cruel reality that had become her life. Her body ached, her head wanted to explode and right now she didn’t care if she took another breath. Things didn’t make sense. Why did Mike want to hurt her? What had she done?
God, nothing would piece together in her mind. The moment he’d dragged her into this house, Mike had tied her securely to the chair and then without a word proceeded to torture her. Within seconds of securing her arms behind the chair, he’d pulled out a Taser and sent what had to have been a thousand volts of electricity through her body.
Her nerve endings no sooner settled and she caught her breath and he hit her with it again. Spasms ripped through her muscles like they were trying to tear away from her bones. After the fourth jolt she lost consciousness only to have water thrown in her face and sent through another heart-exploding session.
Avery lifted her head slightly and swallowed hard. She quickly glanced around the room. Mike had gone. She was alone. Now would be a good time to try to escape, if she could. Only one problem. She couldn’t make her muscles move. He’d sufficiently turned her body into jelly.
Okay, she’d have to think of something else. Make him talk. Yeah, find out exactly what the hell was going on. Maybe, just maybe, she could buy herself enough time to regain some strength and work her hands free. It was all she had left.
No one knew where she was. No one would miss her for days, except Ridge. Tears filled her eyes instantly. Ridge. Her last vision of him lying on her floor, his head bloody and his arm bleeding, sent more pain stabbing through her heart than the fucking Taser ever could. He was dead. Mike had killed him because of her and she didn’t even know why.
Silent sobs shook her body. She’d been so desperate for him that while Mike tortured her, she thought she heard him in her head. Impossible. She’d seen him, beaten and not moving. No one could survive that. There had been so much blood she couldn’t imagine his skull wasn’t shattered.
Avery took a deep breath and quickly regretted it. Even her lungs seemed to be useless at the moment. She saw a table at the other end of the room with a few instruments laid out. More of Mike’s toys, and they didn’t look very healthy for her. God, she was really going to die today and couldn’t manage to work up one single care.
Cale and Ridge were gone, the only two people in her life who mattered more than anything else. What did she have to live for now? Avery let her head fall forward so her chin touched her chest. She only hoped the bastard killed her quick.
A creak sounded as Mike pushed open the door to the room. She heard his heavy footfalls coming toward her. Each step meant certain death and each thud of his expensive shoes pissed her off.
“Time to wake up,” he said with a cheery voice as he grabbed the back of her hair and jerked her head up.
Avery didn’t fight it, no use. It would cause her more pain. But when she captured his gaze she shot him as much hate as she could with her eyes. Little help, but it was all she had left.
“Oh, good. You’re up. Let’s get down to business.” He released her hair, but Avery held her head high. “Your brother has something of mine.”
“My brother is dead,” she said, shocked at how gruff and gravelly her voice sounded.
“Yes, I’m aware. That doesn’t negate the fact that he took something of mine and I want it back.” Mike walked to the other end of the room and ran his hands over the few cold steel instruments he had laid out.
“And I’m supposed to know where this thing is,” she said, watching him carefully.
“No, I’m pretty sure you don’t know where it is, but I’m also sure you have it.” Mike picked up what looked like a saw, only short and wide. The gnarly teeth glinted in the light from the single bulb hanging over them.
“What’s that supposed to mean?” she asked, knowing what he’d do with that saw. She’d seen them before. They were used by surgeons to cut through bone.
“When your beloved brother died, they packed up all his belongings and shipped them off to you—standard procedure. He had on his person my property when he went down in Afghanistan. So, as soon as he was hauled into the hospital, they bagged up everything he had with him and held it, until it all arrived at your house.” Mike pointed the saw at her. “Get where I’m going with this?”
“You’re the one who broke into my house and destroyed his belongings.” Instead of fear, Avery allowed her hatred to build and simmer from the center of her chest until it filled her entire body. If she could get one shot at him before he killed her, she promised she’d make it a good one.
Mike chuckled. “I tore that house of yours apart and couldn’t find it, but I know it’s there.”
Avery shook her head. “You’re insane.” He’d touched and ransacked everything. If she had it he would have found… Oh, no, he didn’t see everything. He never found her safe. Whatever it was he wanted so badly had to be inside her safe.
“No, my dear Avery, I’m not insane. Simply eager to get back what’s mine.” Mike turned, put the saw down and picked up what appeared to be an oversized ice pick.
“You went through my home thoroughly. If you didn’t find it, it isn’t there.” As far as she knew the only people who were aware of her safe were Cale and Stone. With only one still living, she held the cards in this game of death. “What is it I’m supposed to have, anyway?”
“You don’t need to know that,” he said with a smile.
“Come on, Mike. You’re going to kill me anyway, at least let me know what it is I’m dying for.” Call it morbid curiosity, but she wanted to know exactly what to smack her brother upside the head for when she met him on the other side.
Mike cocked his head to the side and studied her. “I don’t usually care if my victims know why they die, but I like you, Avery. You have a lot of guts and I respect that. Okay,” he said, nodding. “I’ll give you this.”
Great, he liked her. She couldn’t imagine how the bastard treated people he loathed.
Chapter Seventeen
Mike actually appeared to be
eager to tell his story as he pulled a chair in front of her and sat. His close proximity sent chills down her spine and stark raving fear through her gut, but as long as he talked he wasn’t electrocuting her or gouging her eyes out with that sharp implement he held. Maybe, just maybe, one of her neighbors had seen him throwing her in his car and called the police. Stone would check it out and find Ridge.
Avery swallowed the tears that threatened again. She couldn’t cry. Not now. She had to keep it together and figure a way out of this.
“See, I’m a businessman, I like making money,” Mike said, sitting back in his chair and folding his right leg up, resting his ankle on his left knee.
“Don’t we all,” she replied, realizing some strength had returned to her arms.
“Yes, but most people make their money—how should I put this?—with morals. Me, I don’t care how I make it, as long as I make lots of it.”
Avery worked her wrists behind the chair, trying to loosen the rope. “Okay, but that doesn’t explain why you want to kill me.”
“I’m getting to that. The best way to make a load of money is by selling a product that is desired most earnestly by a consumer.”
Good God. Did he really think he sounded professional? He sat there looking all regal and smug. She wanted to claw his face off and feed it to a cat. “That’s the way business is usually done.”
“So it is. My brother and I sell these products to the highest bidder. Our goods are top notch and high-tech. Not easily obtained and deadly as hell.”
The room shifted and Avery’s heart stuttered. “You’re an arms dealer,” she whispered, hardly believing she’d somehow gotten caught up in something like this.
“Very good.” Mike smiled brightly as if he was actually proud of her for understanding so quickly. “A few months back my brother and I were contacted to supply some of our best stock. Money was no object so naturally we boarded a plane and went to meet our new clients.”
Maybe it was because her brain had been shorted out from all the electricity he’d sent through her, or the shock of sitting and having a conversation with an actual arms dealer, but Avery couldn’t seem to see the connection with her and Cale. By the excited look on Mike’s face, she’d soon find out. God, don’t let Cale be in cahoots with this bastard.
“My brother met with one facet of the organization while I met with another farther away in the country. Everything should have gone smooth and I can’t put my finger on where it all went wrong.” Mike’s eyes went distant for a moment before he shook his head.
Avery continued working her hands and wrists. She swore she could feel the rope slacking. If she could just get one hand out the other would follow easily.
“Mind telling me who these people were? I mean, it’s not like I’ll be able to do anything about it.”
“Well, we went to Afghanistan, which should tell you all you need to know.” A sly smile spread across his lips.
Avery froze as a greasy, slimy sensation oozed its way through her. “Taliban.” The word barely whispered from her lips but Mike’s face lit up. How could she have ever thought this piece of garbage was handsome? “You’re a traitor.”
Instead of getting angry, he chuckled. “I’ve been called that so many times it doesn’t faze me anymore. I provide a service to the party willing to pay. That’s all. If not me, someone else.”
Panic made her heart quiver. “Please don’t tell me Cale worked with you.” She wasn’t sure she could handle that. Not her brother, not the man who’d worn his uniform with so much pride.
Mike waved his hand. “Let’s not get ahead of ourselves. Let me finish the story. See, my brother Stan was taken into this town for his meeting. He was assured of no military interference. What I came to discover later was intelligence picked up on some communications between us and the Taliban. They never do get that right.”
Avery listened intently. Waiting for that one word that would prove her brother wasn’t a traitor to his country. All the while she continued to work her hands. She almost had enough room in the rope to pull one free.
“Apparently they put out their best and brightest all over the country, listening and watching, waiting for any indication of our presence. The Taliban claimed they had security in hand, that the town was under their control. As I’m told the meeting was nearly finished, a deal in place, when a group of Americans came crashing in.”
Even with her mushy, slow mind Avery put it together. Cale had been the best and brightest, as Mike put it. He’d found the Taliban and the dirty Americans. Relief swift and sweet crashed over her. She knew Cale had walked the right side of the fence.
“The head of this little platoon searched my brother and took from him a small notebook full of contacts and secure numbers.”
“A notebook?” She’d seen a notebook in the envelope. Could that be it?
“Yes, I’m afraid Stan didn’t put much faith in technology. He chose to keep his information written down. He said that way it was always with him and not lost in cyber space. Your dear Cale also did some bodily harm to Stan as I’m told.”
Avery saw icy fury fill Mike’s eyes. So, she’d not only pay for Cale taking the notebook, she’d pay for his brutality as well. “I wasn’t a part of any of that.” She could hear the slight hysteria in her voice but was helpless to stop it.
“In my world, Avery, blood is blood. I regret it. Believe me, I honestly do, but it’s how things are done.”
Avery feigned distress, letting her head drop forward as she pulled her hand free of her bindings. “I don’t have any notebook, Mike. I swear. Everything they sent me was in those two boxes and you shredded it all.” She let some tears fill her eyes and looked at him. “Besides, if the military sent him in to retrieve the information, then they probably took it off his body right away.” All lies, but hell, her end was coming quick. She had to do something.
“No, Avery. You have it in that house of yours. I understand your lies, I do. I would do the same if I were in your position, but that information is worth so much more than your life.” Mike got to his feet.
Real panic set in now. She didn’t want to die. That realization hit like a fist to her head. She wanted to live. “If you kill me you’ll never find it.”
Mike knelt in front of her. “Yes, I will. I’ll buy that simple house of yours after your death and take it apart stick by stick until I find where you hid it.” He cupped her cheek and gave her a look of sad compassion. “Nothing you say can stop this. Tell me where it is and you’ll die an easy, pain-free death. Continue with the lies and I’ll amuse myself with your screams.”
He meant it. The evil no longer lurked in his eyes but flared bright and clear. She had one chance, but she wasn’t sure she had the strength to fight him. “Ridge, help me.” It was a futile cry—he couldn’t help anyone now.
Raw fury filled her at once combined with determination and a strength that made her jerk in the chair. Her head filled with his presence, making her dizzy.
“Brace yourself, babe. I’m coming in.”
It couldn’t be. Yet his voice sounded so clear and strong.
“So be it,” Mike said, raising the sharply pointed object.
“No!” Avery pushed herself back, tipping the chair and crashing to the floor. She tugged her hands free of the bindings and heard the door crash open.
“Don’t move, Gifford!”
Ridge’s voice sounded like sweet music and his anger infused her with adrenaline she needed to move. Avery looked past Mike and almost cried out in relief. Ridge was alive and he’d come for her.
“Really?” Mike said, turning toward Ridge. “Doesn’t anything kill you?”
Ridge had his gun trained on Mike. Avery gathered her wits and worked the ropes, trying to free her ankles. The anger coursing through her system gave her the extra boost she needed to make her sluggish fingers work. As soon as her legs were free she scrambled away from Mike and to the far end of the room.
“He said Cale took
a notebook from his brother in Afghanistan. He thinks I have it now.”
“You do,” Mike shouted.
Inside Avery’s head she could sense Ridge scrambling to put pieces together. He appeared to be confused, like he should know something but couldn’t pull it out of his mixed up memories.
“He took it the day of the explosion,” she said, hoping it would help Ridge make sense of it.
Mike began to move slowly. Ridge kept the gun pointed at his head.
“Cale didn’t take anything,” Ridge growled.
“He did,” Mike said, taking another step closer to his table of instruments. “What he took belongs to me.”
“Americans,” Avery said to Ridge through their link. “He said Cale took something from the American meeting with the Taliban.” God, did any of it matter?
“Get out of here, Avery,” Ridge ordered.
“No, I’m staying with you.”
“Stone’s coming. He’s right behind me. Go wait for him.”
“The cop, too?” Mike whined. “The two of you have been nothing but a thorn in my side. Really, Avery. I don’t see what you want with either of them.”
“Go,” Ridge barked in her head.
Mike lunged for Ridge. Avery heard herself scream but didn’t actually feel the sound come from her throat. Everything happened so fast. Ridge fired a shot. Mike knocked the gun out of his hands and then the two men where exchanging blows.
Fists flew, blood sprayed and Ridge’s loopy brain faded. He wouldn’t last like this. Avery spotted the gun where it had skidded across the floor and landed. She ran for it only to have Mike kick it away before her fingers could grasp it.
Avery had had enough. She found the pointy spiky thing Mike had been about to use on her, picked it up and positioned herself behind him. Ridge was getting punchy, unable to focus or see clearly. She had to end this.
Raising the spear with both hands, she plunged it down into Mike’s shoulder. It came to a jarring stop when it hit bone. Mike yowled like a wounded animal, staggered backward and knocked Avery to the ground and then fell on top of her.
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