Not Quite Broken: A Callaghan Family & Friends Romance

by Abbie Zanders

  “Confirmed,” Sean said, looking through a pair of high-powered binoculars. “Far back corner, still as a buck sensing danger.”

  “Hello?” Taryn called out loudly, beginning to walk around the building. “Anyone here?”

  “Can I help you?”

  A man stepped out of the bay, wearing dirty blue overalls and wiping his hands on a rag. A ball cap kept most of his face in shadow. Medium height, medium build. Clean cut, short brown hair was visible between the edge of the cap and his collar. Nothing about him suggested danger, yet Brian’s innate senses were vibrating with warning.

  “Careful, ladies,” he whispered softly into the comm set. “Something doesn’t feel right.”

  Sean sensed it too based on the way his body tensed like a tightly coiled spring. “Ian, what do you have on JD Auto?”

  “Purchased by one Joseph Dalton approximately six months ago,” came the immediate reply. “Listing mentions a two-bay garage and house on the property. Looks like it’s been vacant since the last owner died twenty years ago.”

  “Twenty?” Sean muttered. “Looks more like fifty.”

  “What about the owner?” Brian asked.

  “Got the background check running now.”

  “We seem to be having some car trouble and saw your sign. Can you take a look?” Taryn’s voice came through their earpieces as she moved forward with the plan.

  “I suppose I can do that,” the guy answered reluctantly. He shoved the rag into his back pocket.

  “Can I use your bathroom?” Nicki asked.

  “Don’t have a public restroom.”

  “In that case, mind if I find myself a private bush? No way I can hold it till we get there, especially not since you keep getting us lost.” Nicki stuck out one hip and stared pointedly at Taryn.

  “Hey, I didn’t make you get the supersized Caffeinator, now did I? And is it my fault the GPS decided to crap out? I don’t even know where the hell we are. Just be glad we found this place.”

  The guy didn’t look happy with the request, but nodded. “Go on around back, but be careful. Lots of snakes around here,” he warned.

  “Thanks for that,” Nicki muttered.

  Taryn popped the hood and stood back while he took a look.

  “You’re really off the beaten path. Guess you don’t get a lot of business out here, huh?” she said conversationally.

  “I get enough. You’re not from around here, are you?”

  “It’s that obvious?” Taryn laughed. “Not even close. We’re on our way to Lake Hanlon. Please tell me it’s not much farther.”

  “Not if you’re a crow,” he responded, closing the hood and stepping back away from the car. “It’ll take you a good hour on wheels, though.”

  “That’s not too bad, I guess. We’re supposed to be meeting some friends up there. They rented a cabin for the whole week, but me and Nicki, we had to work over the holiday... Sorry, TMI.”

  “No problem. You’re good to go.”

  “Already?”

  “Yep. Just a loose hose.”

  “Oh, I wish I knew about that kind of stuff! Nicki said we should take one of those powderpuff mechanics classes at the community center, but mechanics just aren’t my thing, you know? Anyway, what do I owe you?”

  “Nothing.”

  “You sure?”

  “Yep.” The guy looked back toward where Nicki had disappeared around the side of the building, his lips thinning and turning slightly downward.

  “Hey, you wouldn’t happen to have a map, would you? Like I said, we lost our GPS signal a while ago and I have no sense of direction.”

  His frown deepened. “No, I don’t. Just make a right when you get out to the road. You should pick up the signal again before long.”

  Luckily, Nicki reappeared from the side. She looked paler than she had before.

  “Sorry about that, but believe me, it was urgent.” Nicki put special emphasis on the word ‘urgent’.

  “You all right there?” he asked.

  “Yeah,” she answered. “You weren’t kidding about the snakes.”

  Because he was watching so closely, Brian saw the guy visibly relax. “They’re more afraid of you than you are of them.”

  “I highly doubt that. Are we good to go?”

  “Yep, it’s all good,” Taryn answered, shooting the mechanic an appreciative look. “He said it was just a loose hose.”

  “Glad it wasn’t something more serious. Thanks again!” Nicki practically pushed Taryn into the car. “Come on, let’s go before I have to pee again! And this time, I’m driving.”

  Nicki backed up, then swung the car around and headed back the way they came.

  “She found something,” Sean said unnecessarily. He turned to go, but Brian hung back, continuing to observe for a few minutes more. The mechanic watched the women as they drove away. The moment their car was out of sight, he turned and started walking at a brisk pace away from the garage, toward the back where Nicki had gone.

  “What’s behind the garage, Nicki?” Sean asked softly as he jogged back toward their vehicle.

  “A lot of junkers,” she said gravely. “Ian, we need a satellite image, as up close and personal as you can get. I didn’t get a great look, but I swear I saw a primer gray Jeep tailgate among the wreckage.”

  “Fuck. On it. Anything else?”

  “Yeah. Ian, get everything you have on this guy. Was he married, have kids, where was he before he came here—a full bio.”

  “Nicki, what is it?” Taryn asked with concern. “Your hands are shaking.”

  “There’s a house back there, too, and someone was watching me from a window.”

  “Was it Tori?” Brian asked.

  “God, I hope not.”

  The way she said that made his blood run cold. “Why? What did you see, Nicki?”

  “I – I don’t know. I only caught a glimpse of the face, but ...”

  “But what?”

  “It didn’t look human.”

  Chapter Thirty-Four

  Brian reached into the back of the SUV and pulled out an additional handgun, as well as another knife, tucking them both into protective sleeves. After only a moment’s deliberation, he selected an M24 sniper rifle and a handheld taser as well. The guns were to disable. The taser was to make the fucker know pain.

  “What the fuck are you doing?” Sean’s large, heavy hand on his shoulder temporarily impeded his forward progress.

  “What does it look like I’m doing? Tori’s in there and I’m going to get her the fuck out.”

  “We don’t know that.”

  “I know that,” Brian said, pointing to his gut, “here.”

  “Then you should also know that you can’t go in there half-cocked, guns blazing. If Tori is in there, that’s the fastest way to get her killed. We need intel. We need a plan.”

  “We don’t have time for that. You saw that guy. He suspects something.”

  “Which is another reason why we need to be smart about this and not give him a reason to accelerate the timeline, feel me?”

  In his head, Brian understood what Sean was saying. His heart and gut, however, were a different story. “I’m not leaving her.”

  “Brian—”

  “Sean. Are you seriously telling me that we’d still be standing here if it was Nicki we were talking about?”

  Sean exhaled. “No, we sure as fuck wouldn’t. All right. You get all that, Ian? Looks like we’re staying.”

  “Roger that. Stay cool until we know what we’re dealing with here.”

  “I will, if he does,” Sean said, shooting Brian another warning look, “but we’ll engage if necessary.” Brian nodded. The assurance was appreciated.

  They were still strapping on weaponry—the Callaghans had some very cool toys—when Nicki jogged up. “Hey, save some for me.” She reached past Sean and grabbed a belt with black nylon sheaths, each one containing a small throwing blade. Sean didn’t seem at all surprised.

  “
Where’s Taryn?”

  “I sent her back to the Pub. Don’t worry, baby. I’ve got your six.”

  He grinned and leaned over to kiss her forehead. “Knew you would. You okay?”

  Her browns pinched together. “Yeah, it was just weird. Caught me off guard, that’s all.”

  “Could it have been Tori you saw?” Brian asked past the constriction in his throat.

  “I don’t think so,” Nicki said. “It—he—she—was too small. Like a child.”

  “Jesus H. Christ. Ian!”

  “Working as fast as I can, man.”

  When they had turned their bodies into mini armories, they worked their way back up the hill. They agreed to spread out, creating a triangle around the house and garage. Sean would take the point nearest to the driveway, ensuring that no one would be coming or going without their knowledge. Brian took the point behind and to the right of the garage where Nicki had seen the cars. Nicki got the position at the apex, closest to the house. Brian expressed concern that she was so close, but Sean just grinned and said she was a damn good chameleon, able to blend into the background and only seen when she wanted to be seen. Brian was doubtful until he turned around and she’d disappeared.

  “Told you,” Sean chuckled. Then he was gone, too.

  It had been years since he’d been on a mission, but it was like riding a bike. The soldier in him took over, calling up years of training, discipline, and experience. The anxiety he’d been feeling began to fade, replaced by grim determination and a need to see Tori safe.

  Tori was here. He could feel it. Brian closed his eyes and opened his senses, smiling when he felt it—that slight tingle of awareness that he always felt around her. He hoped she could feel it, too, and knew that she was no longer alone.

  He found the automotive graveyard Nicki had mentioned easy enough. Decades’ worth of vehicles were there, forgotten or abandoned. Some were nothing more than rusty carcasses; others were more recent, the polymers and plastics of the last few generations not succumbing to elements quite as quickly.

  Wanting a better look, Brian scaled a large evergreen, the branches forming a near-perfect ladder. He ignored the pull on his back and legs; the pain felt good after a few weeks of being idle.

  Pulling out a pair of binoculars, he scanned back and forth over the junkers in a systematic, grid-like pattern. It wasn’t long before he found what he’d been looking for: a chunk of primer gray. It did look like the tailgate of Tori’s old Wrangler, but there was no license plate to say for certain. The heavy weight in his stomach was enough for him.

  “Scoping out the junkyard.” Brian spoke quietly, knowing he could be heard even though his voice was little more than a puff of air. “What were the makes and models of the other missing vehicles?”

  Ian responded seconds later. “Dark blue Honda Civic, white Ford Fusion, bronze Kia Sportage, black Camaro.”

  Brian scanned back and forth, his heart pounding when he spotted glimpses of dark blue, white, bronze, and black not far from where he had spotted the tailgate. From his vantage point, he couldn’t say for certain they were from the missing vehicles, but it seemed likely, especially since they appeared to be relatively new additions. They didn’t show the signs of having been exposed to the elements for years like some of the others did.

  “I think we have a winner.”

  “Heads up,” Nicki warned through his ear piece. “He’s coming out of the house. I’m going to take a closer look. Let me know if he starts coming back.”

  Brian turned his gaze in the direction of the house. Sure enough, he saw Joseph Dalton walking back toward the garage. The man didn’t appear to be enraged or angry. His steps were brisk but not overly so. When he got to the front, he stopped and looked around as if ensuring that he didn’t have any more unexpected visitors. Seemingly satisfied, he re-entered the same bay he’d been working in before. Brian took that as a good sign.

  “Pulling back. We’ve got movement in the house,” Nicki relayed.

  “Confirmed.” That from Sean. “Picking up a child-sized heat signature moving around the first floor. Looks like he or she is going from window to window. Were you seen?”

  “Not a chance,” she said confidently.

  “What about Tori?”

  “Not picking up any additional signatures on the first or second floors.”

  “There is a basement. You can’t see it from where you are, but the ground slopes away around back. There’s maybe a foot or two of foundation exposed.”

  “Access?”

  “One visible window, too narrow for extraction purposes, but may be useful for communication. Also a set of exterior bulkhead doors near the northwest corner. Might need jaws of life to get them open, though. They don’t look as if they’ve been used in years.”

  “All right, boys and girls, listen up,” Ian said, cutting into their conversation. “Joseph Dalton, age thirty-four. Wife and son were in an auto accident about six years ago. The wife died at the scene, but the son, then two, survived but sustained significant, disabling injuries, including extensive burn scarring along the entire right side of his face and body.”

  “Jesus,” Nicki whispered. “That poor kid.” Brian’s gut clenched, remembering Nicki’s earlier description of the face she’d seen in the window.

  “Dalton has been steadily moving his way east. He’s moved ten times in the last six years, rarely staying in one place for more than six months. He picks up properties in remote areas, usually dilapidated places that have been on the market for a while and fallen into disrepair and fixes them up. He stays mostly under the radar, using his truck and his mechanic skills to get by.”

  “Nothing you’ve said so far screams serial killer, bro.”

  “’So far’ being the operative phrase,” Ian continued. “Here’s where things get interesting. I cross referenced those prior known locations with a national crime database and guess what? Every one of those places had one or more reports of missing women during the times he lived there.”

  “Fuck. Me.”

  “The patterns are similar, too. Victims tend to be single women that won’t be quickly or easily missed. When they do show up, they’re not easily identifiable.”

  “Right, so what’s the plan?”

  “Backup’s mobilizing now. We’re getting Tori and the kid out tonight.”

  Chapter Thirty-Five

  Tori lay on the bed, arms pillowing her head as she stared up at the dirty window. She’d stared at it for hours on end and had seen nothing other than the change from dark to light and back again.

  That filthy window was her only connection to the outside world, the only reminder that beyond her prison, life went on. The depressing thing about that was, she knew that her disappearance wouldn’t make much of a difference in that world. With no family, few friends and her introverted tendencies, that was just the way it was. People would see her face on the news and shake their heads, maybe comment on how sad it was, then go on with their lives.

  What made her chest ache the most, however, was thinking about Brian and how he was handling it. Even if he hadn’t wanted to pursue a relationship, he did care. In fact, having all this time to think led her to believe that it was precisely because he did care that he had put distance between them. It wasn’t that he didn’t want her, but rather that he didn’t want a serious relationship.

  After what happened at the lake, simple friendship was no longer a possibility, and therefore, he’d felt he had no other choice but to walk away. She didn’t agree with that choice, but she did respect it and trust that he’d made the right decision for him. She had no idea what kind of demons he was dealing with; she wasn’t sure anyone did.

  She wished she could have helped him with that, because despite her best intentions, she had fallen in love with him. She wasn’t sure when her feelings had gone from like to love. Most likely, it had been a slow progression, building a little more each time they were together.

  The moment she knew fo
r certain was very clear: the night at the lake. Not when she had taken him inside her body, but afterward, when he had carried her into the cabin and spent the rest of the night on the dock. The fact that he’d walked away wasn’t surprising; she had prepared herself for that, knowing it was a possible outcome. No, it was how much it had hurt that had been the real shocker.

  She guessed Brian had come to a similar revelation about the same time, because that had been the turning point. He’d put more and more distance between them ever since, right up until the night she left. That too, had cut deeply—the fact that he had been compelled to lie instead of telling her the truth. She deserved better than that.

  At least he had apologized, and when he had, she had seen true regret in his eyes.

  That might have been the end of it, had she not gotten into this mess. They both would have continued on their separate paths, maybe thinking about each other with fond, yet wistful memories. It would have been sad, and it would have been unfortunate, but sad, unfortunate things were part of life. Knowing what she did about Brian, however, and the big, golden, chivalrous heart he guarded so closely, he had probably found some way to blame himself for her disappearance.

  He would rationalize that she wouldn’t have been taken if he’d accepted her invitation to visit the PGC, or if he had told her about Maggie’s party earlier, or any of a dozen different possible scenarios. Guilt—whether justified, perceived, or imagined—was a bitch to live with.

  She had even played a similar version of the “what if” game herself a time or two. What if she had waited until morning to leave? Or had decided to take a different route? Or had fought for that special connection between them instead of simply accepting his decision?

  The biggest one of all: what if she hadn’t pushed things farther than he’d wanted to go? Would they still be friends?

  There were no answers, of course. Nothing was to say that if either one of them had done things differently it would have worked out. In fact, she might be in an even worse situation than she was now.