Page 17 of The Unknown Colton
But then she said begrudgingly, “You can sleep on the couch.”
Before he could even turn around, he heard the door to the bedroom close and then lock.
He’d shut her out when he hadn’t called her after his fall, but he’d done so out of consideration. He hadn’t wanted to worry her until he knew what hewas facing. But she was shutting him out now, and he wasn’t sure why.
Was she just too angry to forgive him yet? Or was she completely over him?
Another body was found.
Will stared down at the text on his phone, but the sudden rush of tears blinded him for a moment as he thought of Caroline. Of how he and Eli had found his beautiful sister sitting with her killer, both deceased, on the couch in the home where Eli had grown up, where he’d once felt so safe. It hadn’t been safe for any of his family that day. His parents had been murdered in their bed. And his dear sweet baby sister had been strangled to death at seventeen.
But it wasn’t her body that had been found today. It had to be the woman who’d been reported missing: Dawn Ellis.
Poor Dawn and her family. Her poor family.
Will knew all too well the devastating heartbreak they would be suffering. He and his brother had suffered like that. On that one horrific day, they’d lost so much: their parents and their beautiful younger sister. All taken from them much too soon and much too cruelly.
“What is it?” asked Sasha, his beautiful wife.
He jumped a bit, startled by her sudden appearance. She’d been out in her studio, the one he’d built behind their house for her pottery. She was so damntalented. And beautiful. Her once light brown hair was silvery gray now, making her blue eyes even brighter in her delicately featured face.
“Eli sent a text,” Will said.
“It upset you,” she said.
“I think they found that missing woman,” he said.
Eli was pretty careful to not give him too many details, but the ABI lieutenant always gave Will a heads-up so he wouldn’t be surprised, like they’d both been surprised on that horrible, tragic day.
Sasha released a shaky sigh. “She’s dead.”
Will nodded. “I think it’s her.” Unless there was another victim. Two of the bodies that had already been discovered were yet to be identified. Somewhere, their families were probably hoping they would be found alive. But a killer had made certain that wasn’t possible.
“Eli will catch him,” Sasha said, and she slipped her arms around Will’s waist.
He wound his arms around her, too. He wasn’t sure if he was offering her comfort or taking it. Or both. “I hope soon,” he whispered. He didn’t want anyone else to suffer the way his family had, the way the families of these recent victims had to be suffering.
“I need you to be careful,” he said as he pressed a kiss to the top of her head.
She tipped her head up and smiled reassuringly at him. “I do not fit that profile. I’m not a young woman with brown hair.”Her smile slipped away, probably with the realization he’d come to a while ago.
Lakin and Kansas were young dark-haired women. While his niece was armed and prepared to defend herself, Lakin was more vulnerable, if just because of her open, trusting heart. And she was alone so much; Troy was gone for work more than he was in Shelby. Will loved Troy like one of his children, but he wished the man would settle down with Lakin, especially given the current circumstances.
“We should have Lakin move back home for a while,” he suggested. Then he could keep an eye on both her and his beautiful wife.
Sasha nodded and released a shaky breath that was warm against his throat. “Yes, that would be good.”
If Lakin agreed…
But he had a feeling that if Lakin moved, it wasn’t going to be back home. It would be into the new enterprise she was starting. He felt a rush of excitement for her over that and was glad she’d reached out to him for help, though it was their little secret for now.
He didn’t know if that was because she wasn’t ready yet to tell Parker that she was leaving the business or because she wasn’t ready yet to tell Troy what she’d done.
But at this moment the most important thing was to keep her safe.
CHAPTER 6
Guilt gripped Lakin for making Troy sleep on the couch. His back was injured, and he was too long for the sofa. While it was better than if he’d tried to sleep in his truck like he’d threatened, she should have given him her bed. But she would have been tempted to share it with him if she hadn’t closed and locked the door between them.
