Ridge and Lucas are back! Thank you, Paul Gray, for suggesting the idea of a prequel. While this isn’t an actual prequel, but a current day story with flashbacks to give more details about Ridge and Lucas’s younger days and how they ultimately met each other. Ridge, Blake and Ollie will have a case to solve as you learn more about their past. Thanks to all my faithful readers who have given such positive feedback to these characters. I hope you enjoy the latest Ridge and Lucas adventure.
Blake, Ollie and I had just finished bringing home a 7-year-old little girl. It didn’t take long to find her once we learned about the drawn-out custody battle between her divorcing parents. Her mother was so determined to keep the little girl from seeing her father, that she tried to hide her with another relative. I always find these cases sort of ironic, usually the parent trying to keep the other away ends up losing custody and in some cases spends time in jail. We had already heard the dad had filed a restraining order against the mother and it appeared he had a fairly solid case.
As I was working on my final report for this case, I thought back to my own childhood. This little girl had parents fighting over who got to raise her, and I had people fighting to get rid of me when I was her age.
I still remember that day like it was yesterday.
***
Ridge Flashback.
“Ok honey, you behave for grandma, mommy will come back to pick you up in a couple of days.”
It was a few weeks after my 7th birthday and those were the last words that I ever heard my mother say as I watched her get in the car with my latest “uncle”. Tom, Ted, or Todd, whatever his name was, he never liked me hanging around anyway. I had overheard him and mom talking several times about finding someplace for me to go, so that they could “get on with their lives”. While they had never physically abused me, I knew I was not wanted. I just tried to be quiet and keep to myself whenever they were home, I would go to my room and entertain myself with the few toys that I had. Those few toys and my clothes were now in the suitcase that was sitting next to the front door of my grandmother’s house in Augusta Georgia. I stood near the door and watched them drive away, mom’s brother was standing there shaking his head.
He quietly said to my grandma, “you know she’s not coming back to get him, right?” He didn’t think I could hear him, but I did.
Grandma said, “I told her no longer than a week, she’ll be back.”
He again shook his head, “believe what you want mom, but the only way she comes back is if the latest loser she’s with dumps her or she needs more money.”
My uncle left shortly after that conversation, that would be the last time I would see him until my grandma’s funeral. After he left, I sat quietly on the end of the couch, grandma took her seat in her chair. She had her mug of coffee, as she set that on the end table, she picked up her crossword puzzle book.
She said, “don’t bother me when my programs are on, there is bread and lunch meat in the fridge, you can make yourself a sandwich at lunch time.”
I quickly learned that The Price is Right was on at 9, Judge Judy at 10 and The People’s Court started right after that. News came on at noon and several talk shows after that. She did help me make my sandwich the first few days, but I was soon able to handle that task for myself. Grandma gave me a blanket and a pillow, and my bed was the couch. My suitcase was tucked in the corner and every morning I folded my blanket and stacked it with my pillow right next to that suitcase. Grandma wasn’t mean to me, but she also never really showed me any love either.
I went outside while grandma watched her programs. I had seen a boy about my age playing in the yard of the house next door. He was playing basketball in his driveway, and as soon as he saw me, he invited me over to join him.
As I walked over, he said, “hey, I’m Tommy Willers, you want to play basketball with me?”
I smiled, “sure, I’m Drake Ridgeway.”
He laughed, “Drake? That’s a funny name, are you a duck or something?”
I shrugged, “I don’t know, my mom picked my name, she didn’t ask me for my opinion before she gave it to me.”
He laughed again, “we will have to think of a better name for you. I know, I’m just to call you Ridgeway.”
I nodded, “that’s fine with me.”
By the end of the week, Tommy had dropped the way and was calling me Ridge.
I never did really like my name, but I didn’t mind Ridge, it sounded kind of cool. Tommy and I quickly became friends, and his mom was very good to me. She talked to my grandma and soon I was eating lunch with Tommy almost every day, she was even giving me some of Tommy’s older brother’s clothes that he had outgrown. I think she understood the situation and felt sorry for me. I was actually relieved when school started that fall, Tommy’s mom helped grandma enroll me in school, and Tommy and I were soon walking to the bus stop for our first day.
Tommy introduced me to his friends and for the next couple of years, things were actually pretty good. Grandma left me alone for the most part, and I didn’t bother her. I had a roof over my head and food to eat and some good friends. I had just turned 10 and Tommy and I were going to be in 5th grade when school started in a month. I came into the house after spending the afternoon with Tommy, I went into the living room. I saw grandma’s mug on the floor surrounded by spilled coffee, her puzzle book at her feet and head tilted forward.
I ran to Tommy’s house and got his mom, she had me wait there while she checked on Grandma. She kept me there as the ambulance arrived and carried grandma away. I stayed with Tommy as my Uncle Gary and Aunt Barb came to town and planned grandma’s funeral. I hadn’t seen my uncle since that day mom dropped me off, and I had never met Aunt Barb, my mom’s younger sister. I had no idea what was going to happen to me after the funeral, secretly I was hoping to stay with Tommy. His mom gave me a sympathetic look, as she told me not to get my hopes up. By the time the funeral was over, I was informed that I would be moving to Atlanta with Aunt Barb.
I soon learned that Aunt Barb was very superficial, her and her husband Bob, lived in a fancy house in the suburbs of Atlanta. She was more worried about her social standing or how much money she had than anything else. I was trying to figure out why she was willing to take me in as I said goodbye to Tommy, the only friend that I ever had. Once I moved in, I did finally get a bedroom of my own, but I still felt no love from my family. I overheard Barb talking to Gary on the phone several times, I learned the only reason Barb took me in, was because she was worried that Grandma had left my mom something in her will. She figured if she did, it would now go to me, since no one had seen or heard from my mom in three years. After six months the estate was settled, from what I understood it wasn’t much, the small house in Augusta, an old car and a few thousand dollars that grandma had in the bank. So as soon as Barb had no more use for me, we were sitting in a social workers office, and I was placed into the foster care system. I was what they referred to as “hard to place”, I was over 10, most families wanted younger kids. Once you were past 8, your chances of being placed dropped considerably, and chances of being adopted were virtually non-existent. As soon as you were a teenager, adoption was not even an option any longer. Placement would probably only happen if you had a younger sibling, and they would try to push you off as a package deal.
***
I was shaken out of my daydream by a knock at my door.
Blake poked his head in, “we have a missing four-year-old, parents think he was kidnapped.”
I quickly followed Blake out the door as I thought to myself, damn, another kid. It’s bad enough when it’s an adult, they at least have a chance to defend themselves, but kids are so defenseless. We drove to the address that dispatch had given us.
Blake and I arrived at 5976 Sycamore Street about 20 minutes after we left the station. We found Dan and Lisa Grove, both inconsolable, Lisa was crying as Dan had his arm wrapped around her. The patrol officer that was first on the scene introduced us.
I said, “Mr. and Mrs. Grove, I am detective Ridgeway and this detective Robbins, can you please tell us what happened?”
Dan took a deep breath, “Lisa and I were weeding in our flower beds, I was in the back yard, she was in the front. Our son, Isaac was playing as we worked, he was going back and forth so we were both keeping an eye on him. About an hour ago, I came around front to help Lisa and asked her where Isaac was. I thought he had walked around to be with Lisa, she thought he was in back with me. We both checked the rest of the yard and when we couldn’t find him, we checked with our neighbors, no one had seen him. That’s when we called you.”
The patrol officer told me that they currently had six other officers searching a four-block radius for Isaac. They gave us a description of Isaac, Lisa sent a current picture to my phone. Blake and I took notes as we asked the Groves all the usual questions. They were in their early thirties and Isaac was their only child. They both had good jobs and had taken the day off to take advantage of the spring weather to do some work around their modest home. It was clear they weren’t wealthy, but they weren’t struggling either.
It quickly became apparent that this was going to be a tough case. The Groves lived in a nice, safe neighborhood, they had no real enemies, and they weren’t rich enough to be targeted for ransom. My first thought was a random abduction, which was the toughest to solve and probably the easiest to pull off. Especially when the parents were preoccupied and thought the child was with the other parent.
After we asked the Groves all our questions, Blake and I split up and talked to all the neighbors to see if they had seen anything unusual. It was starting to get dark, and I was sure if Isaac had wandered off, we would have found him by now. I had sent a text to Lucas to tell him that I would be late, he of course, told me he would bring dinner to the station. I smiled to myself, I really don’t deserve him, he is the best. Blake and I finished up the last of our interviews.
I checked in with the Groves, I said, “we have the entire neighborhood searched, and we have patrol cars in the area that will continue to keep an eye out for Isaac. We have issued an Amber Alert, our next step is to find why Isaac was taken. I know it’s hard, but try and get some rest, and if you can think of anyone who would want to take Isaac, please let me know.”
Both Dan and Lisa’s parents were sitting with them, none of whom had any idea why anyone would want to take Isaac. I asked them to call me if they thought of anything, and I would call them in the morning with an update.
Blake and I drove back to the station, Blake asked, “what do you think, Ridge?”
I shook my head, “I’m afraid it’s a random grab.”
He said, “yeah, me too. Those never end well. What do you think about the parents, you think there are telling us everything?””
I thought a moment, “I didn’t get a bad feeling about them, but I think they may have some information that might help us though. I think they are too upset right now to know what that is.”
Blake nodded in agreement as we drove the rest of the trip in silence.
My mind went back to the Groves, seeing two sets of caring grandparents there supporting their children in their time of need. That is something I never had in my life, the only grandparent I ever knew, died when I was 10. Even though she never really was that caring sweet grandma, the three years I was with her were the most stable time in my childhood. My mind drifted back to the years after grandma died.
***
Ridge Flashback.
My first stop in foster care was with the Millers, Harold and Cathy. They were in their mid-forties and were unable to have children of their own. They were mostly used in emergency situations when a child is taken from a dangerous home, so it was clear that they were not interested in keeping me long term. I was there for 9 months.
My next home was with Jim and Lisa Clark. Lisa was having a hard time with empty nest syndrome. Her youngest son had just left for college, and she thought that a foster kid would fill the void. Jim was not as convinced and was less than enthusiastic about me being in their home. In one of their many arguments, I heard him say, “I just got two moody teenagers moved out of this house, I don’t need to have another one move in.” I lasted a little over a year there, then six months each in the next two homes. God, I couldn’t wait until I was 18 and I could decide where I wanted to go. It’s not like I was a troublemaker, I always kept quiet and helped with any chores they gave me. I never caused problems in school and got good grades. Granted I wasn’t an A student but got solid B’s and C’s.
I was sent to live with Joe and Dianne Michaels. They already had a daughter, Elizabeth and a son, Doug. My social worker told me that the Michaels agreed to take me, as well as three other younger kids. A brother and sister, Jon and Jenna. Their mother was just sent to a drug rehab facility, they were scared to death the first time that I met them. I did my best to comfort them and told them that I was once in their shoes. Young Cody was also joining us, he had just lost his parents in a bad car accident and had no other family. When we arrived at their house, we were immediately taken to the basement where they had set up two bedrooms. One with bunk beds for me and the other two boys, and one for Jenna. They also had a couch and small TV in the main room, and it became clear, as soon as the social worker left, that we were to remain in the basement unless we were told otherwise. On our first night, Jenna was so scared, I let her stay in our room so she and Jon could be together. After a few days, Jon and Jenna moved into the second bedroom and Cody and I stayed in the other. Boys and girls were not supposed to share a room, but the Michaels and our social worker never checked anyway. Dianne would bring our meals downstairs, we never at a meal with the family the entire time I was there. I guess they were fulfilling the requirements and providing us with our essential needs, but they certainly didn’t go above and beyond. For Christmas, we each got a new shirt, socks and underwear. I could hear Doug playing his new video game I saw Eliabeth was carrying around her new iPad. It didn’t bother me, but I could tell the younger kids were a little upset.
Over the next months, I overheard a few conversations, and it was clear that they were only letting us stay so they could get paid for taking care of us. From what I knew, they received a monthly check to cover our expenses, I knew they were not spending even half of it on us. When the school year was coming to an end, I heard them talking about taking a vacation. I was not surprised that their plans did not include us. I was called upstairs on the morning that they were leaving.
Dianne said, “we are going to be gone for a week, you need to watch the others. I have left enough food in the fridge and pantry, and you better not mess up the house while we are gone.”
I just nodded, I had basically been taking care of Jon, Jenna, and Cody anyway.
Joe handed me an envelope and said, “here is some money, it is only for emergencies. I want receipts and change when we get back if you need to use any of it.”
An hour later, they finished loading their car and drove down the street.
Jon asked, “so, they just left us here alone?”
I nodded, “I guess so bud.”
Jenna asked, "what are we going to do?”
I looked at the envelope in my hand and smiled, “how would you guys like to go to McDonalds for lunch?"
It was the first time I saw them with such big smiles. We walked to the nearest bus stop and went downtown and found a McDonalds and I let them order anything they wanted. After we ate, we walked the few blocks to our case worker’s office. I told her what was going on and that the younger kids deserved a better family to stay with. She quickly made some phone calls, and I gave the kids a hug before they were taken to their new home. I hoped they would be treated better, they were good kids.
My case worker asked, “what am I going to do with you?”
I shrugged, “I don’t care, I’m just tired of moving every year.”
She said, “we have a group home that you can stay at. We usually only put problem kids there.”
I sighed, “that’s fine, I only have a couple years of high school left, then I will be out of your hair.”
The group home was an old dorm building from a small college that had closed many years ago. It was a three-story building, they had the youngest boys on the first floor and the oldest boys on the third. As boys aged out, they would rotate the next group up a floor. I moved into the second floor, the building wasn’t full so we each had our own room, but each floor shared a main bathroom with showers as well as a dining hall on the main floor. I quickly learned which guys were the troublemakers and how to avoid them. Since the summer was just starting, I was able to get a part-time job at a local gym, cleaning the machines, sweeping the floor, just general clean-up. I worked three or four days a week and would be able to work on weekends when school started again. The job came with a free membership, and I was regularly working out when I wasn’t working. I was actually liking my new living situation, I had my freedom and spent all my time working and when school started, doing my homework.
After I turned 16, I was moved to the third floor and the first time I took a shower with the older guys, some strange thoughts started to bother me. Up until then, I had never really given my sexuality much thought. I went back to my room after my shower and brushed my teeth and shaved. My beard was coming in and I was finding myself shaving more frequently. That’s when I looked more closely at myself in the mirror, there was hair growing on my chest and legs. Since I was now working out, my chest was becoming more muscular, I was becoming a man, unlike the boy I was when I first moved in here. The rest of the guys on the third floor were doing the same.
The guy that most stood out to me was Carter Newsome. He was a little older than I was, maybe six months, he also lived on the second floor when I moved in but had moved to the third a couple months before I did. I got a very good look at him one night when we were the only ones in the shower. I finished cleaning at the gym and had done my workout and lost track of time. Curfew at the home was 9pm and when I finished my workout, I realized that I didn’t have time to shower at the gym, so I hurried back to the home. I arrived just in time to sign in without being late, I went to my room, undressed, wrapped a towel around my waist and went to take a shower.
Cater turned to look at me when I walked into the shower, we exchanged head nods as I hung my towel up and stepped under the running water. I was suddenly overcome with those strange feelings again. I wasn’t supposed to think another man was good-looking, but I was. As I soaped up, I kept stealing glances at him. He was about 5’10”, same as I am, he had sandy blonde hair and blue eyes. I had never really talked to him before, other than a hello as we passed each other in the hall. I watched the water run off his perfect chest and across the ripple of his abs. I pried my eyes away for a moment, but soon I couldn’t resist and turned back for another peek. I was treated to the sight of the most glorious ass on this planet. It was round and firm and I felt my cock spring to attention. I quickly turned away to hide my excitement as he turned to face me. His dick was just as impressive as the rest of his body. It was about 4 inches soft and hung neatly over two egg sized balls, shit, why was this turning me on. I turned away from Carter to finish my shower, I needed to get back to my room and get some relief. I turned my shower off and grabbed my towel to dry off. Carter also turned his water off and began to towel himself off. I slowed down so he would finish first, so I could try to keep my erection under wraps. He walked out of the shower first and as he did, he just threw his towel over his shoulder instead of wrapping it around his waist. I quickly wrapped myself in my towel and followed him down the hall, watching each cheek rise and fall with every step he took. Damn, that was one sexy ass. His room was a few doors down from mine and I sighed as he stepped into his room and shut his door. I quickly got into bed and began to stroke my aching manhood. It was getting close to 10pm and I knew, Chad, the night supervisor would soon be coming around for our nightly bed check. We didn’t have to be in bed at 10, but we needed to be in our rooms. A few minutes later, I heard a knock and my door opened, Chad, smiled as he said, “have a good night, Ridge.” I smiled back and as soon as the door was closed, I resumed my stroking. As I was closing my eyes to bring the image of Carter back into my head, I was startled when I heard my door slowly open again.
Carter stepped in and quickly closed the door behind him, he was still naked, he then started to walk toward my bed.
His tone was hushed as he said, “I saw you checking me out in the shower, and I know you want to suck my dick. Well, here it is.”
I looked at that magnificent cock as it slowly grew hard, and the large mushroom head turned purple as it filled with blood. I looked up to see Carter grinning down at me, “go ahead, touch it. You know you want to.”
He was right, I did want to touch it, to be honest I wanted to do so much more than touch it. I slowly let go of my own hard cock and reached out to touch another guy for the first time. Carter was standing there with his hands on his hips his erection pointed at me. I wrapped my fist around Carter and gave him a gentle tug and watched a small dab of liquid formed on his piss slit. The more I stroked Carter, the bigger his cock and the drop of liquid got. He put his hand on my head and pulled me closer, “lick it off”, he demanded. I couldn’t help myself and complied, then just dove in with both feet and sucked him in until I gagged when his dick hit the back of my throat. I soon found my rhythm as Carter’s precum lubed my throat. He now had both of his hands on my head and was fucking my face. My first taste of cock was intoxicating, I knew I would be wanting more. I must have been doing ok by the sounds Carter was making. Carter increased his speed, pumping in and out of my mouth faster and faster. I was jacking my cock as I sucked, Carter’s breathing quickened, and he let out a final groan. He held me tight as I felt his cock swell and he started to fill my throat with his love juice. I felt my own dick pulse and my hand was covered in jizz.
Carter kept his dick in my mouth until his spasms stopped and I had completely licked him clean. He released his grip on my head and backed up, his softening cock falling on top of those newly drained nuts. Carter tussled my hair as he turned around and said, “thanks, I needed that. I’ll be back every few days for a repeat performance.”
***
I noticed Lucas’s car as we pulled into the station parking lot, causing me to smile, he could always cheer me up.
To be continued…
