Page 44 of The Unknown Colton
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Troy was too late to catch this intruder, just as he’d been too damn late at her cabin. The only thing left behind, besides the splintered boards pried from the window, was a cigarette butt.
He stared down at it and at the boot prints left next to it. The prints were similar to the ones he’d found in the woods when her cabin had been broken into. “It has to be Whitlaw,” he said.
“Why?” Lakin asked. “What does he have to gain by breaking into places I own?” She gestured at the back of the building where the window had been broken. The wood was even more weathered than on the front. “There’s nothing to steal in there. Or in my cabin.”
“Maybe he’s just trying to scare you,” Troy said. “So that you’ll give him what he wants.”
“Money.” She snorted. “Joke’s on him. I’m broke after buying this place.”
Troy flinched, not with pain but with regret. He had some money saved up that he could give her, but he wasn’t sure how long he would be without work. He’d already lost weeks of wages. In trying to get some compensation for that, he was probably going to lose his job, too. While he didn’t have many expenses of his own, he also didn’t want to have to borrow money from anyone.
“I know that was my choice,” she said. “But I didn’t want to lose this place. I can see it so clearly, how amazing it can be.” She smiled as she stared at the building. “I think I’ll call it Suite Home.”
“Sweet?”
“S-u-i-t-e,” she spelled out. “Each room will be a suite with a little kitchenette and a spa-like bathroom. There will also be space for a work area and of course a very nice bed.”
He could see it, too. “It’s going to take money to make all those changes.”
Her smile slipped away.
And he could have cursed himself for dimming her excitement.
“It’s all about money with you, Troy.” She glanced down at the cigarette butt.
“It’s all about money for a lot of people,” he said.
“Well, Whitlaw isn’t going to get any more out of me,” she said.
“You paid him?” he asked with alarm. “When? Have you seen him again?” He should have stuck closer to her.
“I haven’t seen him since that day you found him in the office with me. That was when I gave him forty bucks,” she said. “That was all I had in my wallet at the time.”
“It’s not all the money that the Coltons have,” he pointed out.
Her father had helped her buy the hotel at auction; he would help her pay off that creep, too. But giving Whitlaw any money probably wouldn’t get rid of him. It would just make him greedy for more.
“I’m not asking my dad for any more money,” she said. “The bank is waiting on the professional appraisal of the hotel, and then I should be approved for my business loan.” But she looked more nervous than confident. “I’m going to make this place a success.”
He nodded. “I know you will, Lakin.”
“Do it with me,” she implored him. “Be my partner.”
His chest ached with the urge to say yes. “I just need another year on the oil rigs, and then I’ll have enough money—”
“No!” she exclaimed, her voice sharp. “You can’t be serious about going back to work on them. Putting your life in danger again?”
He might not be able to go back to work there if he was fired. “I have Mitch helping me with something that could make the workplace safer from now on. All the safety harnesses will be regularly inspected and any ones with the frayed ropes like mine would be thrown out.”
“How is Mitch helping you with that?” she asked.
“He filed a lawsuit against them in civil court,” he admitted. But after his mother’s civil suit had failed years ago, he knew not to get his hopes up again. “All I really want is the wages I lost when I was in the hospital and then a safer workplace going forward for my coworkers and for me.” It was too late to help his dad, but Troy wanted to make sure nobody else lost their life like he did. Or got hurt like Troy had.
“It’s not safe for you to go back there,” she said. “Especially because you’ve sued them.”
He snorted. “I may not be able to go back,” he said. “My supervisor already made that clear to me.”
