Page 54 of The Unknown Colton
She’d already proven when she’d been abandoned at three years old that she was a survivor. She was strong.
She drew in a deep breath, stepped outside and locked the office door behind her. It was just a shortdistance from the office’s porch to where her SUV was parked, but night had fallen like a black blanket. The porch light bore only a small hole in it. She pulled out her key fob and flashed her lights on, and that was when she sawhim.
Not his face. But his height, his broadness. A man stood out in the darkness. Waiting for her…
With where he was standing between her and her SUV, she wouldn’t be able to get into her vehicle. And if she turned around to unlock the office door, he might have time to run up and force his way inside with her before she could lock the door behind herself again.
She clicked her key fob again, turning on the vehicle alarm. Hopefully the blare of the horn and the blinking lights would draw a guest from their cabin or catch the attention of someone driving by.
She didn’t wait around to find out. She ran.
The man ran after her; she could hear his feet pounding the ground behind her. She might have screamed, but she wasn’t about to waste her breath. She needed all of it as she ran for her life.
* * *
Eli glanced at his phone to confirm that Lakin had read his text. She’d given it a thumbs-up because, of course, she would. She wouldn’t argue with him and insist that he tell her what he’d found out about the man claiming to be her father, not like Troy would.
Or Kansas.
His cousin stood next to him in the lab, intentlywatching the tech, Scott Montgomery, process the photograph. Since Eli had shared the situation with Kansas, she was as worried about Lakin as he was. She’d suggested they run more tests on the old snapshot.
“I’m sorry,” Montgomery said. “I can’t get enough DNA off the photograph to process, let alone compare it to anything left at the other crime scenes.”
Kansas cursed.
Eli swallowed his. “Thanks for trying.”
Scott nodded. “No problem. I really wish I was able to do more.”
“We know,” Kansas assured the man who smiled shyly back at her.
Eli figured the tech had a crush on her. But he suspected he wasn’t the only man Eli worked with who had one on the beautiful state trooper.
“You really think this guy could be the serial killer?” Montgomery asked.
Eli shrugged. “I don’t know. But I hope not.” It would make sense, though, since the killings hadn’t started until after Whitlaw’s release from prison. That was why Eli had agreed with Kansas that the trip to the lab to try to pull DNA off the photograph was more important than meeting with Lakin. Eli could help her more by putting Whitlaw back in prison than by filling her in on what little he’d learned about the man.
But this trip to the lab hadn’t given them any newinformation and definitely no connection between Whitlaw and the Fiancée Killer.
As much as Eli wanted to find and stop the serial killer, he wasn’t sure that he wanted it to be Whitlaw. The man was focused on Lakin right now. And not for the reason he claimed. What was his real connection to her?
More important, what did he really want from her?
* * *
Troy knew he shouldn’t have left Lakin alone at the RTA office. When Parker got the text from Eli that he’d canceled on her, Troy rushed out of the bar and back to RTA. He didn’t wait for Parker. He was too worried.
And for good reason. When he drove into the lot, he saw the lights flashing and heard the horn blaring on her SUV. Either someone had tried to break into it, or she had deliberately set off the alarm. Either way she was in trouble.
The second he threw open the door to his truck, he heard her scream. It chilled his blood. And then he started running.
She must be trying to get back to her cabin. He headed that way, yelling her name. He wasn’t just calling out to let her know he was coming, but also to whoever might be chasing her.
Unless they’d already caught her…
He heard other running footsteps, but he couldn’t see anything. Not even a star or a sliver of moon litthe way. What had happened to the lights in the other cabins? Were they all vacant?
“Lakin!” he called out again, trying to figure out where she was.
