Page 4 of Broken: Taylor

The airon his face was just what he needed. Taylor’s four-wheeler crested a small hill and his great-great-grandfather’s cabin came into view. The home had once belonged to Marcus Hamilton, his namesake. It was the only structure that remained mostly intact.

Although his family called him Taylor, his first name was actually Marcus. His mother had always called him by his middle name and it had stuck.

Eric came up on his right. “Think someone’s in there?”

“Nah. The door is hard to open and unless she’s industrious, there is nothing in there that makes it remotely accommodating.”

“This window is broken,” Eric said inspecting a small side window. “Didn’t Tobias empty it not too long ago?”

Taylor nodded. “Nope. He hates snakes and a mama snake decided it was the perfect home for her family.” It was hard not to laugh at the memory of Tobias running out and doing some sort of freak-out dance after spotting the nest of snakes.

They pulled up and cut off the engines. Taylor allowed Eric to go first. Although he’d medically retired from law enforcement, he was not in the mood to play cop.

“Stay back,” Eric said, holding his hand up. “Someone’s in there.” The change in his cousin was obvious. All cop. He put his hand on his weapon and stood to the side of the door. “Police. Come out.”

The perpetrator turnedout to be a raccoon, which wasn’t at all impressed by Eric’s tone. They decided to let it be and turned back to the stables.

Taylor could tell by his cousin’s grim face, the guy was worried about the girl.

“You know at sixteen, she’s old enough to know better. If the girl wants to disappear and not be found, there isn’t much that can be done.

“I know. Just hate to go back and tell the parents she’s gone. My guess is she probably left in the middle of the night. Someone had to have picked her up. She could be anywhere by now.”

“I better get on.” Eric met Taylor’s gaze for a long beat. “Go to that appointment.”

Taylor nodded, knowing he’d call and cancel. So yeah, he had to go eventually and be seen so that the prescription would be refilled. However, he’d go when it suited him.