Beautifully Broken Pieces (Sutter Lake, #1)(82)

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.