Broken: Taylor

by Hildie McQueen

  “Sometimes. You?”

  “Not sure.”

  He took drink from his glass. “Okay. Satisfied? Any more questions?”

  The evening was headed downhill.

  His phone buzzed. It was Felicia of all people. What the hell?

  Allison lifted a brow. “No, I can’t say I’m satisfied. But I will be once I eat this little darling.” Pizzas were slid in front of both of them and Allison began eating with gusto.

  Apparently, she was not fazed by the situation. On the other hand, he could not eat. His cell continued to vibrate and guilt settled in his gut filling up most of the space.

  Allison getting up to use the ladies room and the asshole at the other table slipping a piece of paper into her hand topped off the evening.

  Taylor blew out a breath and pulled out his cell phone. It was then he looked across the restaurant and noticed Felicia was there. What the hell was she doing there?

  So yeah, they’d left on “friends only” terms, but it still felt odd to be out with another woman with her in the same place. And she did have relatives there, but still.

  “Shit.”

  Chapter 5

  Allison returned and looked at his barely touched pizza. “Not hungry?”

  “I shouldn’t really eat all this. But the one slice I had was great.” He tried his best not to look to where Felicia sat with another woman whom he recognized as her cousin.

  Had she come to check up on him? Probably not. She had relatives in Laurel Creek and came often.

  The town was too damn small.

  Allison had obviously pondered what she’d said while gone from the table. “Look forget everything. We don’t have to talk about what happened. It’s all right. The more I think about it, the more I realize what a mistake it was to think something could develop between us.”

  She emphasized the words with hand gestures and for a moment he was lost in the bounce of her curls and jingling of bracelets.

  Although Felicia was deep in conversation, she kept glancing over. It was obvious she was trying to figure out the situation. Not because of jealousy, but more to size Allison up and decide if she was good enough for him.

  They finished the rest of their meal. Their conversation flowed easily, without any more references to what had transpired between them the day before.

  Allison even made him laugh several times with stories of contrary customers. He had to admit, she was a delight in more ways than one. Spending time with her this evening almost made him forget the pain and issues from his injuries.

  Although he pictured what a relationship would be like with her, it seemed each time a picture of him moaning through the night and barely able to function every morning ruined any illusion. So yeah, in many ways he was an idiot for not pursuing this woman. At the same time, the stark reality was she deserved much more. A whole man.

  The boxed up pizza leftovers between them a was sign the meal had definitely ended.

  “Thank you for dinner,” Allison said stretching.

  He slid out of the booth and shrugged on his jacket. While she put her own overcoat on, he took the pizza boxes. “I’ll walk you home.”

  Once outside on the sidewalk, Allison took the top box. Their gazes met for a moment before she looked away first. “Have a good night Taylor. I’ll see you around.”

  Before he could say anything, she pressed a kiss to his cheek.

  “Look Allison...”

  She shook her head. “Nope. Don’t say anything. Like I said, I get it.”

  A slight drizzle started, the weather adding to the fast descent of his mood as Allison crossed the street and went into her place. He stood planted to the spot until the light upstairs came on.

  The loud exaggerated grunt was meant to irritate. Taylor glared at Tobias, who placed the free weights into place and then posed like a super hero. “What do you think? I could be Captain America, right?”

  “How about Captain Moron?” Taylor pushed up the next five repetitions ignoring Tobias, who obviously had something to say by the way he hovered.

  Taylor finally placed the bar back on the stand and remained laying on the bench to wait on whatever Tobias had to say.

  “You okay Cuz?”

  “Yep. You?”

  “Aren’t you supposed to go to Wyoming? To get stuff?”

  In this family, not only was it impossible to keep secrets, but they also interfered when one decided to ignore things.

  “Yep.”

  “Janice called Mom. She’s pretty angry. Said you weren’t answering her calls.”

  “My phone was lost for a couple of days. I don’t know what the damn hurry is.” He gave up and sat. Placing his hands on his thighs, he bent forward and let out a long breath.

  Tobias didn’t give up. “I can go with you if you want me to. I know you don’t want her to get rid of all the stuff before you at least get a chance to look.”

  His ex-wife had sold their old home and was moving to Canada. Taylor didn’t blame her for wanting to move on. As a matter of fact, he was glad for her. But damn if he wasn’t sure how to gather the strength to go through what had been their children’s belongings.

  “I’m sick of all this shit.” Taylor got to his feet and stalked to the door. Unfortunately, Tobias was on his heels. When he swung around they almost bumped chests.

  Taylor pushed him away. The asshole barely budged. “What is it with everybody suddenly trying to fucking babysit me? I’m a forty-six-year-old man. I don’t need this shit. I’ll do what I want, when I want.”

  Of course Tobias was not at all phased by his tirade. “Yeah, so that would be cool if not for the fact others are counting on your ass to get the shit done.”

  “Janice can fucking throw all the shit out. I don’t care.”

  “Bullshit. You care. Whatever has crawled up your ass is making you say things you don’t mean.”

  “Get out of my face Tobias. I swear, I’ll...”

  “What? Hit me?” Tobias bumped chests and huffed. “Like you could beat me.”

  Taylor swung.

  Unluckily, his cousin was faster. The bastard punched him in the gut so hard Taylor doubled over and blew out air before falling to one knee, arms wrapped around his mid-section.

  Taylor got up and tackled Tobias. They tumbled past the doorway and into the kitchen.

  Before they could get up, the dogs pounced on them. Tails wagging furiously, the younger Lab, Scamp, took a hold of his jeans leg and of course the huge older Lab, Duke, decided his arm was a great toy.

  “Ouch! Shit.” Taylor swatted at the dog. “Stop Duke, I mean it.” The Lab obviously thought it was a big game, barked and bit down on his t-shirt tugging it upward.

  In the meantime, Tobias got another good punch in.

  Taylor swung and missed, landing the hit to Tobias’ shoulder.

  “Get your damn dogs off of me.” Taylor shook his foot, but Scamp hung on.

  He glared at Tobias. “What the hell is wrong with you?”

  His cousin gave him a droll look and whistled. The dogs immediately released their hold on Taylor and ran to the kitchen expecting a treat. Taylor sat up, but stayed on the floor. He was winded and at the moment wouldn’t be averse to laying down exactly where his butt was planted.

  He needed space. Had to figure out where to go and get away from everyone and everything.

  “I want you, and everyone else, to get out of my face about shit. I’m...” What was he going to say? Constantly in pain? Too old for mothering?

  Unfortunately, Tobias was like a dog with a bone once he got his mind set on something.

  “Look dude. Whatever the hell is wrong with you, just come out with it. Stop trying to convince everyone you’re okay. I know your ass is in pain constantly. I hear you moaning at night. Can’t imagine what it’s like for you. But you got us. You got family, and we’re worried about you.”

  Taylor ground his teeth. “What if I told you I was too tired to give a shit about much? There
is nothing more than this boring ass routine every fucking day. Wake up. Convince my busted ass to get out of bed. Go through the motions and work through the damn pain. Repeat.”

  “Then I’d say join the damn club. Guess what? The rest of humanity does pretty much the same thing too. It’s not like most of us jump out of bed and tap dance to the shower.”

  “You don’t get it.” Taylor stood and walked toward the hallway, hoping to get to his room. But Tobias had a jump on him and blocked the way out of the kitchen.

  “Nope you don’t get away from this that easy.” The guy crossed his arms, biceps bulging. “I think we need to go on a road trip. We’ll go down and visit Janice and keep going for a bit. Maybe camp or something, get you some fresh air.”

  Taylor almost laughed. “Get plenty of fresh air, I work outdoors moron.”

  “Okay...then we can go stay at one of those resorts in Cabo San Lucas.”

  Taylor hitched a brow. “Should we buy matching pink trunks?”

  “Don’t be an ass. I’m trying to help.”

  “I know. Shit. I’m sorry.” Giving up on escaping, Taylor pulled back a chair and sat. “Maybe I do need a vacation. The bad thing is, I’m going to be there.”

  “Yeah, I know. Man, you gotta take care of whatever it is that’s wrong.”

  “Look at you, all Dr. Phil and shit.”

  “Fuck you. I’m better looking.” Tobias yanked off his shirt and flexed.

  “You’re an idiot.”

  Chapter 6

  It was a beautiful night and after dinner, Allison decided it would be best if she took a walk to stop from going directly to bed too early.

  She felt safe outside at night there in Laurel Creek. The street which she lived on was lined with tall lampposts every fifty feet or so, which kept visibility high. After she pulled on a hoody and running shoes, Allison bounded down the stairs and out to the sidewalk.

  Once outside, she took a deep breath of the cool air, loving the way her lungs expanded.

  “Hi Allie!” Tori called out from across the street as her friend rushed back inside the pizzeria. How the woman worked all those hours baffled Allison. Tori seemed to be at her restaurant from late morning until it after it closed at ten o’clock at night.

  Three blocks down the main road, she crossed the street to go back on the opposite side. This would be her new routine. Finish the day with a leisurely walk. Catching sight of people through windows and whoever was out either walking their dogs or on their front porch felt therapeutic.

  She would definitely feel better to get fresh air and exercise instead of going straight upstairs. Most evenings ended with a meal and entire evening in front of her computer watching videos or catching up on social media. There was plenty of time for that later.

  So yeah, she’d probably still end the evening with the laptop, but today it would be after getting much needed exercise.

  Movement out of the corner of her eye caught her attention just as she walked back toward her shop and home. A narrow side street was darker than the sidewalk and Allison hesitated just as someone jumped out of the shadows and for a second looked toward her. The person, a man, then raced in the opposite direction and disappeared into the darkness.

  Interesting.

  Curious, she took a step to where the man had been, but reconsidered. She’d seen too many scary movies where people died from being nosy.

  Still something bothered her, so Allison looked across the street just as the door opened and a pair of tiny dogs rushed out into the fenced-in yard. Both stopped at spotting her and began barking, their small bodies bouncing with each sound. Yap. Yap. Yap.

  Deciding it was all right to investigate since she was within view of the yappers and whoever owned them, Allison took a couple of steps into the darkened area only to stop at seeing what looked to be a human hand.

  It could be someone seriously hurt, or a passed out drunk the other man had robbed of whatever meager belongings. She wasn’t stupid enough to go closer in case the drunk decided to jump up and kill her.

  So instead, Allison yanked the phone from her pocket and called the police.

  Turned out, it was worse than she imagined. The person lying on the ground was dead.

  Whoever the dead man was, had been stabbed multiple times and from what she overheard had crawled to the spot in an effort to get away from his attacker.

  Pausing in conversation, the officers would look to her as if she held some sort of secret.

  Eric Hamilton came to where she sat on a bench outside the hardware store and patted her shoulder. In truth, Allison was not upset or frazzled. She hadn’t see the person up close, so she’d been spared the sight of blood and gore.

  However, understandably since she’d seen someone beside the deceased, the police insisted she remain there for the time being. Meanwhile, the forensics team from the larger nearby town was analyzing the crime scene.

  It was after nine at night now and the curious folks who’d come to find out what happened had gone home. The only ones still lurking were the people across the street. Allison didn't blame them. A murder had occurred just feet from their front door.

  Other than the yappers yapping, most everyone spoke in murmurs and Allison rubbed her eyes wishing she were home with a laptop and cup of tea.

  “They’ll need to interview you,” Eric informed her.

  “Again?” Allison sighed. She’d not complain. Hell at least she could complain. The man, whoever it was who’d died, did not have that privilege anymore.

  “Yes, it’s best to get as much information as possible while it’s all still fresh in your mind.”

  She waited patiently until another officer came. The older man, with wisps of gray at his temples, met her gaze with understanding. Either he was well practiced at giving the impression of a well-meaning friend or he was a kind person. Either way, his presence brought a sense of trust.

  He pulled out a pad and pen and lowered to sit next to her.

  “You were walking in this direction,” he said, motioning toward her house. “The man who you saw, would you say he was young?”

  Although he asked many of the same questions Eric had asked originally, this officer had a way of bringing out more information. Finally, after what seemed like an hour later, the detective thanked her and returned to the crime scene.

  “Are you alright?” Leah finally arrived. Allison had called her best friend after realizing it would be a while before she could go home. Perhaps pretty selfish of her since Leah lived about thirty miles away, but then again, Leah would have been upset if she’d not called.

  Behind Leah, Luke walked up, his bulk making everyone take notice. As they neared, the man looked from side to side, reminding her of a secret service agent, always aware of his surroundings.

  After serving in several war zones, Luke who suffered from PTSD was always on alert. Truth be told, Luke actually made her feel safe and secure whenever he was around.

  She looked past Luke to see two other men approaching. Tobias and Taylor walked side by side. The twins, Luke and Tobias, combined with their cousin Taylor made an impressive wide-shouldered wall of muscles.

  Eric’s gaze locked on Taylor. “Hey Cuz, can I talk to you for a minute?”

  It was then Allison recalled Taylor had been a homicide detective and with his experience, Eric could get some help to solve the murder faster.

  After a quick glance in her direction, Taylor nodded and walked a few feet away with Eric.

  Whatever happened now? She yawned and looked to her friend.

  Leah lowered to sit on the street bench next to her. “Eric probably called Taylor. This is horrible. Who got killed?”

  Allison shrugged. “I don’t know. They covered him with a blanket. I know it’s a male because I overheard them say “male victim” several times.”

  “My goodness.” Leah studied her face. “Are you okay? I bet shaken.”

  “Not really. I feel bad that this happened, but I didn’t r
eally see much. I thought it was someone passed out or hurt. Never thought it would be someone who was dead.”

  “Hopefully they’ll catch who did it. Maybe you should stay with someone for a few days.”

  “Why would I do that?”

  Leah gave her an incredulous look. “Seriously Allie, what if the guy recognizes you? You did see him after all.”

  “But I couldn't make out his features. He was a bit of a distance away.”

  “What if he thinks you got a good look at him?” Leah frowned. “I would come stay here with you, but I have to go to Billings in the morning to work for a week. Big contract.”

  “You can stay with us,” Tobias chimed in.

  “Good idea,” Leah said. “You’ll be safe there.”

  “I’m safe here. I’m sure it was some sort of misunderstanding and the guy’s gone now.”

  “People don’t get stabbed eight times over a “misunderstanding””, Taylor said, his gaze flat.

  “I don’t see how it has anything to do with me. I can’t go anywhere.” She looked to Tobias. “Thank you for the offer to stay with you, but I have a bunch of orders to fill. Too much work.”

  “Okay. I’ll stay at your place then.” Tobias crossed his arms, not giving her an option.

  “You are taking the cows to Butte.” Taylor gave Tobias a challenging look. “I’m not doing it.”

  Allison stood. “I don’t need a body guard. I’m sure no one wants to stab me eight times.”

  Taylor frowned and moved closer taking her arm. “You saw the killer. The killer doesn’t know you didn’t get a good look. He probably doesn’t want an eye witness who can identify him.”

  “Oh.” Allison’s heart began a drum roll type rhythm and she gasped. “I hadn’t considered it that way.”

  “You’re scaring her,” Leah snapped at Taylor. “Don’t be so damn mean.”

  “Oh goodness, you think he’ll come after me?” Allison attempted to snatch her arm free while covering her mouth. She scanned the street and turned to look back toward the darkened street. Bulky jacket, tall and fast is how she’d described the assailant. Someone who could easily overpower her.