Page 50 of The Unknown Colton
“Are you trying to scare her?” Parker asked. “And what are you doing here? You don’t have a reservation, and we’re completely booked.”
Which was a lie. There had been a few cancellations, probably because of the serial killer scaring away some of their clients.
Seller held up his hands. “I’m sorry. I should have called ahead to make sure there was availability. I just had some downtime and came up for a quick fishing trip.”
“You must have a lot of downtime,” Parker remarked. “You’re here a lot.”
Had any of Seller’s visits coincided with when those women disappeared? Lakin wanted to ask, but she didn’t want to accuse one of their most frequent guests of being a serial killer. Although she suspected that her brother shared her suspicions. Parker moved even closer to them.
“I really enjoy my time in Shelby,” Seller said. “I like to visit as often as I can. Let me know if you have a cancellation today. I’ll take myself to that coffee shop in town for now. I can see that I’ve made you both uneasy. That was never my intention.”
Lakin wasn’t so sure about that.
Apparently neither was Parker. He didn’t say anything else to Seller, just watched him until he left the building. Then he turned toward her. “Are you okay? I can refuse his business from now on and keep him away from you.”
“I love you for offering to do that,” she said. “But he’s a great client.”
“Not if he’s creeping on you,” Parker said. “I don’t like how he was talking to you.”
“Neither do I,” she admitted. “But I’m just going to ignore him from now on.”
“I don’t think that’s a good idea, either,” Parker said. “We should talk to Eli about him. The comments he made about those victims…” He shuddered.
She nodded. “I agree that Eli should check him out.” She didn’t want anyone getting hurt becauseshe had been too naive to believe someone she knew could be dangerous. She had a feeling that Seller wasn’t the only person she knew who could be, though.
Parker nodded. “I’ll give our big brother a call—”
“Wait,” she said.
“You changed your mind? You think Seller is okay?”
“No. I just want to talk to you for a minute,” she said. “I’ve been meaning to do it…” since she’d bought the hotel.
“What’s going on, Lakin?” Parker asked with concern.
“I’ve been wanting to start my own business for a while now,” she said.
“This is your business, too,” Parker said, gesturing with open arms. “This is our family business.”
“This is your business now,” she said. “Since Dad and Uncle Ryan retired, you’ve taken over. You’re the one who’s made it more successful than it’s ever been.”
He shook his head. “No. That’s been all of us working hard together.”
She smiled. “I love working here, but I want to do what you’ve done. I want to take something and put all my energy into rebuilding it into what I want.”
“Like what?” he asked.
“Like the Shelby Hotel.”
“I thought that recently sold at auction,” he replied.
“It did,” she said, “to me.”
“That’s great, Lakin!” Parker hugged her, then pulled back. “But damn, that place needs a lot of work.”
She nodded. “I know. That’s why I’m going to need to devote all my time and energy to it.”
“You’re leaving?”
