Beautifully Broken Pieces

by Catherine Cowles

  With that, he rose. “I’m going to take a shower and get dressed. Why don’t you do the same, and then I’ll make us some breakfast. Maybe you’ll be ready to really talk then.”

  I bit the inside of my cheek but nodded. Liam’s and my talk last night hadn’t really been a true discussion. It had quickly devolved into us taking shots and me yelling about what a good-looking, pushy bastard Walker was.

  I sat on the floor for another few minutes, breathing in and out, the air feeling harsh against my lungs. I knew it wasn’t the air causing the sensation, it was the harshness of the truth. I played the last two and a half years back in my mind. My friends had been amazing. So incredibly supportive. But had I given any of that back? I wasn’t sure.

  That uncertainty gutted me. I had no idea what my future held, but one thing was for certain, I needed to repair my friendships. It was clear that Liam was messed up about something, and I had barely noticed.

  But Liam was here now. In Sutter Lake. A place I knew held peace and the power of restoration. I would be there for him and support him in whatever ways he needed. I was done getting stuck in this pity spiral. I thought about how good it had felt to help Noah learn to read. It was selfish, but helping others, getting some outward focus, that was the way forward.

  I pushed up from the floor and headed for my shower. I stripped off the massive t-shirt I was wearing. Walker hadn’t been looking at me closely enough, because if he had been, he would have realized that the shirt was his. Wearing it to sleep helped me feel close to him, even when he wasn’t next to me. My heart clenched with a painful spasm.

  I stepped under the spray and let the steaming water pound down on my body. I wished it could wash away the many mistakes I’d made over the past two years, clear away the hurts I’d caused. But the only one who could do that was me.

  Turning the dial, I switched the water off and stepped out of the shower. I made quick work of drying myself off and slipping on some yoga pants. I bit the inside of my cheek as I looked at my t-shirt options. My fingers trailed over the worn cotton of another of Walker’s shirts. I couldn’t resist it. I pulled it over my head, taking time to inhale the familiar scent of his detergent and a lingering hint of his cologne. I squeezed my eyes closed, attempting to relieve the pain. It didn’t work.

  I toed on a pair of sneakers and headed out into the living room, steeling my spine in preparation for my talk with Liam. It was time for me to do some major apologizing and some real listening.

  The main living space was silent. I didn’t see him in the kitchen and, poking my head out, I noticed he wasn’t on the porch either. I listened harder. There were no sounds of the shower still running in the downstairs guest room. “Liam? Are you getting ready?” Nothing.

  I knocked on his door. “Liam?” Still nothing. I slowly pushed open the door, not wanting to catch an eyeful. The bed was empty, filled only with rumpled sheets and scattered pillows. I peeked in the bathroom. The shower floor was wet, so he had been in there.

  I made my way back towards the kitchen in search of my phone. Maybe he was more pissed than I thought and left. I had a lot to make up for. I rounded the corner, and my heart plummeted to my toes.

  Lying sprawled out, face-down on the floor, was Liam. “Oh my God, Liam!” I ran to him and crouched at his side. I felt for a pulse. All the air in my lungs whooshed out of me when I felt the rhythm against my fingers. Carefully—oh so freaking carefully—I rolled Liam onto his back.

  With one hand behind his head, I leaned over so that my face was right next to his mouth. I breathed another sigh of relief when his breath tickled my cheek. Not dead. His heart is beating. His lungs are inflating. He’s not dead. I leaned back and, for the first time, felt a sticky substance on my hand. I pulled it carefully from behind his head and gasped. My hand was covered in blood.

  My entire body shook as I rose and reached for the landline on the wall. Red smears appeared on the nine and one. I tried to even my breathing. Everything would be okay. Help would come. What the hell had happened? My eyes searched the kitchen in front of me. Had he tripped and hit his head on the counter? How long had he been lying here?

  “9-1-1, what is your emergency?” was all I heard before a hand covered my mouth, and an arm encircled my waist, yanking me away from the phone. My heart raged against my ribs, beating wildly out of control. Was this what it felt like to have a heart attack?

  I kicked back, trying to get at my attacker. I couldn’t get purchase. And whoever this was, wore leather gloves, so my attempts to bite the hand covering my mouth were in vain. I screamed louder against the gloved hand, hoping—praying—that the operator would hear me.

  A moan sounded from the floor. Liam. Shit. Fuck. Please don’t let this asshole kill Liam.

  A face pressed against mine, lips moving against the shell of my ear as I felt a prick in my side. “You should have left Sutter Lake like you said you were going to. I really didn’t want to hurt you, but now I have no choice.”

  The world began to go wobbly. But the voice… The voice tickled the memories at the back of my quickly fading mind. I knew this person.

  41

  Walker

  I opened and closed my fist, wincing each time I flexed my hand. I really hoped I hadn’t broken it. After puking my guts out on the side of the road like a total pussy, I’d found my mad. Making a quick trip home to brush my teeth before heading to the office, I’d also found the time to punch a hole in my wall. Fuck. I’d need to patch that tonight.

  Opening my bottom desk drawer, I poured a couple of Tylenol into my open palm and tossed them back with stale coffee, grimacing at the lukewarm liquid. My desk phone blared to life. “Cole,” I barked. My entire office was giving me a wide berth after I had torn through here earlier, so I knew it had to be important.

  “Walker, it’s Harry. We had a weird call into dispatch…” He let his voice trail off.

  “Okay?” I asked, completely unsure why this warranted a call to me.

  “See, no one spoke when I answered.”

  “You know where the call is originating from, just send a unit out there to check it out.” Harry had been on the job for almost twenty years, he knew the protocol. What the hell was up with him?

  “That’s the thing, it’s coming from the guest cabin on your family’s ranch.” The world seemed to dip into some weird slow motion at his words. The guest cabin. My ranch. Taylor. Before I could find my voice, Harry kept talking. “Now, I think I’m hearing a low moaning in the background. I sent a unit out there, but I thought you should have a heads-up.”

  Of course, I should have a heads-up. Harry should have gotten to the point fucking quicker. “Thanks, let the unit know I’m on my way.”

  I tore through the office, not unlike I had that morning, but this time, my panic was at an all new level. What the hell was going on? I skidded to a stop at my truck, fumbling with my keys and cursing myself as I yanked open the door. Flipping on the sirens, my tires squealed as I swung out of the parking lot.

  I don’t think I’d ever made it to the ranch so quickly, even when I had gotten a call that Jensen was in labor. My mind ran through every possible scenario. Fuck, what if Liam had a temper and had hurt Taylor? He didn’t seem the type, but I didn’t really know him. I’d kill him if he touched a hair on her head.

  Gravel flew as I slammed on the brakes and threw my rig into park. I ran towards the house, taking the steps two at a time, identifying myself as I entered.

  “We’re in here, Walker.” I heard Kelly call from the kitchen.

  I thundered down the hall, skidding to a stop at the sight in front of me. Hank was supporting Liam as the musician sat up, looking dazed as Kelly, donning gloves, pressed gauze to the back of his head. “What the hell is going on? And where is Taylor?” The small amount of patience I had been holding onto snapped, and I was losing it.

  “We’re not sure,” Hank answered calmly. “Can you tell us what happened, sir?”

  Liam’s eyes strug
gled to focus. “I-I-I’m not sure. I was walking into the kitchen to make breakfast for Taylor…” He trailed off as if trying to remember. “We had a fight. She let Walker think we slept together.” His gaze moved to me now as if he had just realized I was in the room. “I didn’t sleep with her, man. She’s like my sister. We got shitfaced, and she talked about you all night. She’s in love with you.”

  Something in my chest seized and then released. They hadn’t fucked. She loved me. It mattered, but not as much as what the hell had happened to her. “What happened after you went to cook breakfast?” I urged Liam on.

  He looked from me to the stove, searching his memory. “I put the pan on the stove and turned to get something out of the fridge. Then…wham, someone hit me over the head with something.”

  “Most likely with that skillet,” Kelly said, inclining her head to the pan that rested on the counter.

  All of a sudden, Liam’s eyes bugged out, and he started to struggle against Hank’s hold. “He took her! Someone fucking took her! I couldn’t really see, it was blurry, but someone was dragging her out of the house. Fuck! I just laid here while someone fucking took her!”

  My blood turned to ice. There was only one person who could have done it. I went on auto-pilot. I pressed a button on my radio. “Dispatch, this is Deputy Chief Cole. I need to report a kidnapping.”

  After calling it in, I retraced my steps, studying the gravel drive to the best of my ability. It told me nothing. Just as I was about to punch the porch railing, sirens sounded. An ambulance, followed closely by an SUV with its lights flashing. The chief’s vehicle. I gritted my teeth. I was going to have a fight on my hands to stay on this case.

  I pulled my cell out of my back pocket and hit Tuck’s contact. I was going to need help, and Tuck was the best tracker I knew, not to mention he wouldn’t give a damn if I’d been kicked off the case. The line just kept ringing. No answer. I cursed but waited to leave a message. “Call me. Now.” That’s all that was needed, I knew Tuck would respond as soon as he could.

  The ambulance pulled up in front of the house, and two medics jumped out. I pointed at the front door. “They’re in the kitchen, it’s straight down the hall.” The two guys jerked their chins in affirmation and headed inside with a stretcher.

  I clenched and unclenched my fists as the chief strode from his car towards me. “Walk, what’s going on?”

  I opened my mouth to speak, but the words didn’t want to come. It was like, if I spoke them, then the whole nightmare became true. I cleared my throat and focused on my training. “Taylor’s been kidnapped. A friend that was staying with her, Liam Fairchild, was assaulted. EMTs are in with him now, along with Kelly and Hank.”

  Clark gripped my shoulder. “You hanging in there, son?”

  “I’m fine, sir. But you know it’s this psycho that’s been terrorizing our town. We have to call in SWAT.”

  A look of pity filled Clark’s eyes, and my jaw hardened. “I’ll put SWAT on standby, but we have no clue where to send them even if I do call everyone in.”

  I roughly ran a hand through my hair. “Send us into the forest, the same area we know he frequents. It’s at least a place to start.”

  “First of all, you’re still riding a desk, you haven’t been cleared for active duty. So, even if this case weren’t a complete conflict of interest, which it is, you’d still be out.”

  My teeth ground together as my nails dug into my palms. “You would seriously keep me out of this? That girl that’s missing, most likely in the hands of a fucking psycho murderer? She’s the love of my fucking life!”

  The chief drilled a finger into my chest. “That’s exactly why I’m keeping you out of this. Your head isn’t on straight. I promise you, I will work this one myself, and I’ll do you the courtesy of keeping you in the loop.”

  Clark’s words gave me zero reassurance. No comfort. The only thing I wanted was Taylor back in my arms. A chance to make things right between us. My chest burned. I needed that chance. And the only way I knew to get it was to work the case myself. No one would be as diligent as I was. No one would give their blood, sweat, tears—and life, if needed—but me.

  I shook my head at Clark and headed back inside. I needed to see if Liam had remembered anything before I took off to search on my own. By the time I made it to the kitchen, Liam was strapped to the stretcher. “Walker, tell them I don’t need to go to the hospital. I need to be looking for Taylor. We have to find her.”

  I placed a hand on his shoulder. “You got your head cracked open, man. You need to go to the hospital.” I met his still somewhat dazed eyes. “I will do everything I fucking can to bring her back safe.”

  Liam nodded, and the action made him wince. “We need to get him to the hospital,” one of the medics said.

  “Okay, just give me one second,” I said, pinning the medic with my most intimidating stare. He shrank back, giving a small nod. “Did you remember anything else? Did you see anything? Hear anything? Hell, even smell something?”

  Liam’s brows pulled together in a combination of concentration and what I was sure was pain. “He was tall. At least a full head taller than Taylor.”

  My chin rested perfectly on the top of Taylor’s head when I hunched, so the guy was probably around my height, maybe a little shorter. “That’s good. Anything else? Hair color?”

  “I think he was wearing a hat… Fuck!” Liam smacked the gurney he was lying on. “I can’t even help you ID the guy.”

  “You gave me something, and that’s better than nothing.” Liam simply shook his head as if disgusted with himself. “I’ve gotta get outta here. They’re not going to let me work the case the traditional route, so I’m going to color outside the lines a little.”

  “Walk—” Hank started to say at my admission.

  I held up a hand to stop him. “I won’t be alone, but I can’t have guys in uniform with me either.” Both Hank and Kelly looked pissed and worried, but I didn’t have time to reassure them. “I’ll call if I find anything.”

  With those parting words, I took off in a jog, moving out of the house, down the front steps, and towards my car. Just as I was pulling the truck door open, my phone buzzed. I glanced at the screen. Tuck. I hit accept. “Fucking finally. I need your help, man.”

  42

  Taylor

  Cold. Bone-chilling cold. That was the first thing I became aware of. The second was the pounding in my head and an insatiable thirst. I forced my eyelids open. They felt like sandpaper, gritty and harsh against my tender eyes. It took a few moments for them to adjust.

  Where the hell was I? I tried to clear my jumbled brain, my eyes roving around the dark space, looking for clues to jog my memory. Dirt floor. Rock walls. My breaths came quicker as the first taste of panic licked at my skin. No true source of light. Just a low-level ambient sort of glow.

  I squeezed my eyes shut for a brief moment. I held a hand against my chest and imagined it was Walker’s and that he was again showing me how to slow my breathing. My eyes flew open as memories slammed into me. Walker showing up at the house. Me allowing him to think the wrong thing. My fight with Liam. Liam lying helplessly on the floor. A hand on my mouth. And then—nothing. Just blackness.

  I scrambled back in a half-crawl until my back hit the stone wall of what must be a cave. Jagged pieces of rock dug into my skin. My head snapped back and forth in either direction, looking for any sign of movement. Was I alone?

  My heart rattled against my ribs as I fought to control my breathing. Passing out wouldn’t get me anywhere. My eyes strained against the darkness. I could make out basic shapes. The curve of the rock surfaces. My gaze stuttered over a lump on the ground. Was that a rock? I studied the shape for several minutes, trying to make it out while attempting to keep my breath even and slow. I had nothing. No idea what it could be.

  I licked my dry, cracked lips. I had to see what it was. Slowly, I crawled towards the darker shape, not yet trusting myself to stand, let alone walk. I inch
ed closer, and my breath caught in my throat as I froze mid-shuffle. It was a person. Friend or foe? Friend or foe? What if it was my attacker playing some ghoulish game? Or worse, what if there was another prisoner in this chamber?

  I bit down hard on the inside of my cheek, the metallic tang of blood filling my mouth. If someone was hurt, I had to try and help. My arm shook like a leaf as I reached out towards the form. My fingers grasped a flannel-clad shoulder. Nothing. I swallowed hard and gently rolled the person to his or her back.

  I shot back with a gasp, holding onto my scream with everything I had in me. Staring back at me was a man I’d never seen before, his face bleached of any color, eyes open wide, unblinking. A bullet hole sat squarely in the center of his forehead.

  My stomach heaved, but there was nothing for my belly to empty. I hadn’t eaten since the day before. What time was it now? How long had I been gone? Was anyone looking for me?

  My heart cried out for Walker with a ferocity that had me gasping. He was the only thing I wanted in that moment.

  Footsteps echoed off the hard stone of the cave, and I skittered back against the wall. My eyes darted around frantically, searching for some path of escape, somewhere to hide. There was nothing. My chest constricted in a vise-like grip. I couldn’t seem to get air into my lungs.

  The sharp edges of the rocks cut into my palms. I tried to focus on the pain instead of my rapidly beating heart and my inability to catch my breath. A beam of light cut across my body, zeroing in on my face. I threw a hand in front of my eyes on instinct. The light burned.

  “You’re awake. Good.” That voice. It was so familiar.