I tore one of the vests out of his hands. “Don’t ask stupid questions.” I would be back on active duty next week anyway, and no one, not a single person on this planet, could keep me from looking for Taylor.
Tuck grunted in response, but I took it as his acceptance. We made our way to my truck and took off for Pardue’s land.
We were mostly silent during the drive. I took the time to go over every single piece of evidence in my mind, every gut feeling and hunch, trying to see anything I might have missed. I came up with nothing.
As we got closer, I glanced at Tuck. “Think we should check out the house first?”
Tuck’s jaw worked as he pondered. “Probably wouldn’t be a bad idea.”
“We don’t have a search warrant. We’re not even on duty.”
“Don’t need a warrant if we have probable cause.”
“True.” The idea of hearing a scream had me clenching my teeth together and gripping the steering wheel harder.
I made the turn toward Frank’s house. The tires crunching gravel announced our arrival. There would be no element of surprise here. Hopefully, that didn’t shoot us in the foot. I parked at the front of the rundown cabin, my eyes searching the area. “His car’s here.”
Tuck’s gaze scanned the front of the house. “Don’t see him, though.”
“Let’s go see what we can find.” Tuck and I bumped fists the way we always did before SWAT missions. A routine that had always brought good luck before.
We both slipped from the car, neither of us attempting any sort of covertness—that ship had sailed. We strode up the porch steps, eyes taking in every detail possible. I pounded on the front door. The only response was the whispering of the leaves in the wind. I knocked again. “Pardue. It’s Walker. I need you to give me a minute.” Nothing.
I shot a sideways glance at Tuck, whose gaze was focused on the ground. He crouched, touching a finger to something. His hand went to his weapon, and I knew he’d found something. I followed suit, unsnapping my holster, my hand circling the grip of my gun. “What is it?”
Tuck stood, lifting his finger so I could see. “Blood.”
My chest tightened with a painful squeeze. Please, God, don’t let it be Taylor’s blood.
Tuck’s eyes were already following a trail I could barely see. “It leads away from the house.”
I tried to feel relief. We had a clue. A direction to head in. I felt nothing but sheer panic. “We need to call this in. Get some crime scene techs out here.” I would take all the help I could get, I wasn’t an idiot.
Tuck was already moving, though. “Just let me see where this leads before you have twenty guys here messing up my trail.”
I gritted my teeth. “Fine. Hurry up.” I’d give him five minutes, and then I was making the call.
I watched Tuck in silence, my insides rioting at having to wait to do something, anything, to help Taylor. He moved carefully, eyes tracing a path invisible to most. Within a few minutes, we’d made it to one of the paths that headed away from the cabin and into the woods. “They went this way. You can call the team in now, but you and I should push on. More people will just get in my way.”
He didn’t need to tell me twice. Nothing could have kept me from following that path. I pulled out my phone to call the chief as Tuck studied a map on his GPS device.
Chief answered on the first ring. “Where are you?”
“At Frank Pardue’s. Tuck and I found traces of blood on the front porch. You need to get a team out here now.”
“We’re on our way. Stay put.” Frustration rang out in the chief’s tone. I got it. I really did. But that didn’t mean I was going to follow his orders. There was too much at stake.
“Can’t. Tuck’s found a trail. We gotta follow it.”
“Goddammit, Walker! You’re not working this case.”
“I know I’m not. I’m just a civilian out looking for his girl. We’ll be on public land. You can’t stop us.”
Chief let out a series of colorful curses. “At least tell me the direction you’re headed in. I’ll send the rest of the SWAT team after you.”
That I could do. Backup was always welcome, just as long as it didn’t hold up my progress. I quickly explained which path from the property we were heading down and in which direction.
“Just be careful.” There was emotion in the chief’s voice. I knew he saw me as a second son, knew he was worried, but I had to keep going.
“Will do. Talk soon.” With that, I hung up. “Let’s go.”
We headed down the trail, which was just wide enough for an ATV to pass through, going slowly so Tuck could make sure we were following the right tracks. How he knew, I had no idea, and I wasn’t going to slow him down to ask.
For the next hour, we kept up the painstakingly meticulous pace. I was pretty sure I had ground my teeth down to nubs. Suddenly, Tuck jerked to a halt, holding up a hand to stop me. His eyes darted away from the path before us, and his gaze moved to the woods on our left. He scanned the trees. I strained to hear any sounds that seemed out of place. Nothing jumped out.
Tuck turned back to me, speaking in a hushed tone. “They veered off the trail here.” His brows pulled together in a combination of concentration and worry. “There are a series of caves about five hundred yards off the trail in that direction. That has to be where he took her.”
A riot of emotions erupted within me. Hope that we were close. Fear that we were too late. Terror at what the asshole might have done to Taylor in the hours that he’d had her. I pulled my gun from its holster. “Let’s go.”
The great thing about working with Tuck was that we required very few words to communicate. Let’s go was all that was needed. We both understood that Tuck, as the tracker, would take the lead. We knew that as much silence as possible was necessary. And finally, there was a soul-deep understanding that we would do whatever it took to get Taylor home safely. I trusted Tuck with that most of all.
Our movements up the mountainside were quicker now that Tuck had an idea of where to go. Before long, we had made it to the edge of the tree line, halting so that we would still have cover while we decided our next move.
There were three cave openings before us. Two smaller ones and a larger cavern, but any of the three could easily hide people. I glanced at Tuck, looking for his take on where we should start. He pointed down towards the outskirts of the forest. About twenty yards away was a camouflage ATV.
My heart picked up its pace. They were here. I sent up another silent prayer, begging for Taylor to be all right, promising anything I could think of in exchange for her return, safe and whole. A muttered curse coming from the middle cave had my gaze shooting to the opening, and my body going on high alert.
The cave itself was dark, and I couldn’t make out who was speaking. I could only see a form striding back and forth near the mouth of the cave, the person muttering to themselves. My eyes jumped to Tuck. There was only one way to do this. Full out assault. In the thirty feet separating us and the cave’s mouth, there were no trees or boulders to provide cover.
I jerked my head in the direction of the cave, and Tuck gave one swift nod of assent. We took off at a dead run. Ten feet in, the figure’s head swiveled in our direction. I raised my weapon. “Don’t move, this is the Sutter Lake Police Department. Show me your hands.”
Of course, the guy did the opposite, tearing off back into the cave. He moved with a speed and agility I didn’t think Pardue would possess at his age.
“Fuck!” I pushed my legs harder. “I don’t think that’s Pardue.”
“No shit, Sherlock,” Tuck retorted, matching me stride for stride.
“Any clue who it is?”
“Not a one.” We slowed as we reached the cave, each hugging one of the walls so no one could get the jump on us. “We need to be prepared for the possibility of more than one assailant.”
I gripped my gun tighter. The last thing we needed in this equation was another unknown. We crept down the na
tural hallway the cave formed, letting our eyes adjust to the lack of light.
“Walker and Tuck to the rescue, huh?” The mocking jeer echoed off the stone.
I froze, betrayal and disgust coursing through my veins. My gaze sought Tuck’s from across the cave. The whites of his eyes flashed with a ferocious rage. We both knew the owner of that voice. Had shared beers with him. I had told my sister what a great fucking guy I thought he was. Had practically shoved her in his direction.
I had to tamp down my fury, get control so that I could get Taylor out of here. Get her to safety. Then, I could lose it.
“You’re too late. I’ve already started my game, and you can’t play.”
My entire body locked. I refused to think about what that might mean. I had to press on, and I couldn’t let Bryce get in my head. I motioned for Tuck to keep moving.
A light shone from somewhere ahead, a flashlight on its side I realized, illuminating a cavernous room at the end of the cave. Ominous shadows danced along the walls, but I only had eyes for one thing. Taylor. Her eyes were closed, and even in the dim light, I could tell she was deathly pale. My heart stopped beating until I saw her chest rise and fall.
Bryce had pulled her against him as he leaned against a boulder in the corner of the cave. One arm held her to him, while the other held a knife to her throat. Taylor’s eyes fluttered, and she let out a low moan when Bryce jerked her against him.
In that moment, I knew I would kill Bryce. There was no way I would let him out of the cave alive. A fire raged within me, my insides burning with the need to get to Taylor. “There’s no way out of this, Bryce, not unless you put down that knife and let us take you in.”
Bryce let out a dark chuckle. “I don’t think so, hero boy. Either both of you put down your guns, or I will slice this pretty little throat in front of me.”
I forced myself to ignore Bryce’s taunt and checked my angles. There was only one option. A headshot. A target that was half-hidden behind the girl I loved more than life itself.
Tuck’s footsteps sounded to my right. “I need you to be real sure if you take a shot, Walk. Because if you miss and hit a cave wall, we could have several tons of rock coming down around us.”
A hysterical yet excited giggle came from Bryce. “Maybe we’ll all die together. That would be a good ending to this little story. Do it. Come on, Walker, end all our misery.”
Bryce was completely gone. There was no talking him down, even if I didn’t want him dead. My eyes darted to Taylor’s face, leached of all color. It was now or never. I breathed in slowly, holding the air at the top of the inhale. Blood roared in my ears as the whole world slowed. I squeezed the trigger.
The crack reverberated off the stone of the cave. Bryce’s head snapped back as he flew back into a boulder. Tuck and I sprinted forward as Taylor’s body crumpled to the ground.
Tuck went for Bryce, knowing I needed to go for Taylor. “He’s dead.”
I already knew it, but I still felt a minor release of tension at the words. I rolled Taylor to her back. “Fuck! Get the flashlight! I need light!” Because what I hadn’t been able to see while Bryce held her against him was that the front of her dark t-shirt was covered in blood. A t-shirt, I noticed absently, that was mine. My chest burned.
Gingerly, I pulled the material away from her middle, the cotton tacky with blood. Tuck shined the light on her stomach and cursed. Her butchered flesh stared back at me, taunting me for not quite being quick enough.
Tuck grasped my shoulder. “We need to get her outside so we can call in a chopper.”
I nodded. I slipped a hand under Taylor’s knees and the other behind her shoulders. Tears stung my eyes. She was so light. My little short-stack. She had to make it. I said the words to myself over and over, willing each sentence into her as though I could make the statement true just by the ferocity of my belief. Tuck led the way out, shining the light to guide my path.
Fading light shone from the mouth of the cave. I gently laid Taylor on the ground while Tuck immediately pulled out his sat phone and began barking orders into it. I quickly stripped off my bulletproof vest, then peeled off my t-shirt. Tuck threw me a water bottle that had been clipped to his pack.
Again, I lifted Taylor’s blood-soaked shirt. I poured water over her wounds, hoping I would be able to better see what needed tending. What emerged had me fighting back rising bile. A crude X marred her beautiful skin. Blood seeped from the gashes, and I pressed my shirt to the wounds.
Taylor’s eyes fluttered again as she let out another low moan.
“Taylor, baby, open your eyes. Come on, Short-stack.”
Her eyes cracked open, just slightly. Her beautiful blue-gray depths were dulled by pain. “Walker?”
“I’m here. I’m right here, and I’m not going anywhere.” Taylor’s eyes started to close again. “No you don’t, stay with me.”
Her lids opened once more, just barely, and just long enough for her to say, “Love you.”
Then there was nothing.
44
Taylor
It was the sound that brought me around. That faint beep, beep, beep, that drew me back to the land of the living. The closer I got, the more aware I became of the pain. My head throbbed as if a heavy-metal drummer were practicing on my skull. And there was a hot, burning sensation emanating from my belly.
My eyelids felt as though they carried five-pound weights on their lashes, but I so desperately wanted to open my eyes. After several fruitless attempts, I was finally able to crack them open. The movement felt like something was scratching against my tender irises.
The light in the room was blinding. I blinked several times, trying to get my eyes to adjust. Slowly, my vision returned, the room going from blurry to focused. The sounds became clearer. The hum of an overhead fluorescent light. The beeping of a heart monitor—a heart monitor. Hospital. I was in the hospital. Why?
Suddenly, memories slammed into me, stealing my breath. I gasped against the shocking intrusion, fisting my hands in the blankets on the bed. The back of my hand stung at the action, the IV line that was connected there pulling. I was okay. I was safe. But what about everyone else? Liam? Walker?
My memories of Walker in the cave seemed hazy at best. Was it even him? Or had my mind concocted the whole thing? The hopeful delusion of a girl who thought she might be dying.
My gaze searched the room. Empty. I was alone. The thing I had fought so hard to be, was now the thing I hated more than anything. Tears stung my eyes. It was too late. Too late to make amends with my friends. And too late for Walker.
I didn’t blame him. He thought I’d slept with another man. I’d pushed him too far, one too many times.
My chest heaved. I tried to control the motion since it only caused my pain to flare, but I couldn’t seem to catch my breath or control my sobs.
The door to my room swung open. Walker strode in looking like a fierce avenging angel from some post-apocalyptic novel. His clothes were rumpled, his face smeared with dirt, and he was pissed. “Jesus, get a nurse, would you?” he called over his shoulder.
My heart rate sped up, my sobs only worsening.
Walker’s face morphed from angry to concerned in a split second. “Short-stack, you’re safe. It’s okay. Everything’s fine now.” He grasped my cheeks in his hands. “Breathe with me, just breathe.”
But I couldn’t. What was happening? He was here. Why? “You’re here.” The words came out as a croaky rasp.
Walker’s brow creased. “Of course, I’m here. Come on, baby, breathe with me.”
“Liam?” I asked with a wheeze.
“He’s fine, he’s just down the hall. Everyone’s okay. Just breathe.”
My eyes drank him in as my breathing finally began to slow. He bent and placed his lips firmly against my forehead, staying there for several moments. I soaked up the warmth of his lips against my skin. I wanted to stay in this moment forever. I didn’t care about the pounding in my head or the burning in my st
omach as long as I had Walker’s lips on my skin. If I could hold onto that, I could handle anything.
It was that thought that had fresh tears spilling over. “I’m so sorry. So, so sorry.”
Before Walker could respond, a nurse bustled in. “Well, hello there, Miss Lawson. Glad to see you awake.” She eyed me and Walker. “Sorry to interrupt the lovers’ reunion, but I need to take a quick look at your vitals.”
She made notes of the readings on different machines and checked the various tubes I was connected to. “Everything looks good. Can you rate your pain for me on a scale of one to ten?”
I bit the inside of my cheek. “Maybe a four?”
The nurse gave me a gentle smile. “I’m pretty sure you’re lying, but we can wait for another dose of pain meds if you’d like. Just press the call button when you’re ready, or I’ll be back to check on you soon.” I nodded in agreement, and she turned to leave.
As the door closed with a quiet snick, my eyes found Walker’s again. They seemed pained. Did he dread telling a girl in a hospital bed that their relationship was over? My stomach churned.
Walker sank down into the chair next to my bed. He gently took the hand that was free of the IV between his own. My eyes stung with tears again. “I really am so sorry—” I didn’t know what else to say, couldn’t seem to find adequate words to convey everything I felt, all I had realized.
Walker shook his head and then lifted my hand so that my palm rested against his rapidly beating heart. “I’m the one who owes you an apology.”
My eyebrows rose. “What are you talking about?”
“I knew you were scared, terrified really. I never should have let you push me away. I left you alone, and you were taken.” A single tear crested over his bottom eyelid. “And I didn’t find you quick enough…”
Walker’s words trailed off as I shook my head vehemently, wincing at the pain the action caused. “You found me. I’m alive because of you.” More of the moments in the cave had begun to come back to me, and I knew if Walker hadn’t gotten there when he did, I would likely be dead.
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