Page 8 of The Unknown Colton
Like she missed him…
So damn much that she ached for him. Why hadn’t he come inside the office earlier today? Why had he just driven off again without even a wave in her direction?
She blinked against the sudden rush of tears, and as she refocused, she noticed that her door wasn’t shut tightly. A crack showed between it and the jamb. While she hadn’t always locked her door, ever since hearing about the serial killer, she made certain that she closed and locked it.
Unless…
Was it Troy? She didn’t see his truck parked anywhere, but maybe he’d hidden it to surprise her. But she didn’t feel the way she usually felt when he was near; she didn’t feel any tingling awareness of him.
She felt only fear.
* * *
Hired assassins. Dead bodies and a serial killer. As Hetty brought Troy up to speed on what had been happening in Shelby, he was horrified and worried.
That morning Mitch had alluded to a lot happening lately in Shelby, but the lawyer hadn’t had time to go into detail. He’d left for court right after his meeting with Troy. Troy wished Mitch would have filled him in on all this; he wouldn’t have decided to catch up with his sister before seeing the woman he loved. The woman he was so damn worried about now.
Lakin lived alone in her little cabin that was too far from the other ones at RTA, too far away for someone to hear her cry for help, for someone to rescue her if she needed it.
Scared for her safety, he jumped up from his chair at the table he and Hetty were sharing at Roasters. Even this late in the day, the café was pretty busy with people using laptops or reading books while sipping from their bright blue Roasters coffee mugs.
“I need to check on Lakin,” he told Hetty. While he’d wanted to give himself some time to figure out how to tell Lakin what happened on the oil rig, he wished now that he’d rushed right in to see her, to hold her, to assure himself that she was all right. That was all he wanted to do now, make sure that she was safe. He started toward the door.
“Hey,” Hetty called after him. “You should have been worried about Lakin before this. You should have been worried about losing her.”
Losing her?
Because he’d never been good enough for her? He’d known that for years; that was why he hadn’t proposed yet. He wanted to be able to buy her a big engagement ring as well as that business she wanted to run with him. He wanted to be able to make all of her dreams come true.
Was that what Hetty was talking about? That Lakin was going to realize he wasn’t good enough for her? Or that he might lose her to someone like the serial killer going after women in Shelby?
Right now he just wanted to make sure Lakin was safe, so he didn’t bother to ask his sister to clarify. Instead, ignoring the twinge in his back, he hurried out of the café and hopped in his truck. Speeding back to RTA, Troy silently cursed himself for leaving earlier without talking to her.
While he appreciated his sister apprising him of everything that had happened while he was gone, she’d wasted her breath warning him about losing Lakin. He’d been worried about losing her ever since their first date.
But then he’d only been worried about losing her to someone who had more to offer her than he did. Now he was worried about all the other horrific ways that he could lose her.
He hoped Dawn Ellis was found soon. Hopefully she wouldn’t be another victim of the serial killer.
A serial killer in their safe community. Hired assassins who’d shot Hetty.
What the hell was happening in the place he’d always considered the safest? While crime and chaos ruled in other areas, Shelby had always been quiet and controlled with nothing more than petty thefts and drunken disorderly conduct around town.
But now…
Now he just wanted to see Lakin, to hold her, to make sure that she was safe. He was so impatient that the truck tires squealed as he turned into the parking lot of RTA. Jumping out of his truck, he limped across the porch of the RTA office, pushed open the door and stepped inside, calling out, “Lakin! Lakin!”
Parker poked his head out of his office and grinned at him. “Hey, Troy, I’m damn glad to see you’re home!”
The Coltons had always been so friendly and accepting of Troy even when they had to know that Lakin, with her beauty and intelligence, could do better than him. But that was the kind of people that they were. Lakin had once shared that their family motto wasbelieve.
The motto had originated because of some tragedy from their past. But it meant that whenever someone told them something, they would believe them until proven otherwise. So maybe they believed he would make Lakin happy…until he proved them otherwise.
“I’m damn glad to be home,” Troy said. And he was happy now that he was back if only just because of everything that had been going on while he wasgone. Not to mention that he should just be damn happy that he was alive at all. “Where’s Lakin?”
While he usually would have talked with Parker about RTA business and life in general, he’d already spent way too much time away from his love.
“Ouch,” Parker said with a hand to his chest. “Thanks for making it clear I’m not the Colton you were hoping to find in the office.” Instead of being offended, Parker chuckled. “I totally get it. I’m not the Colton who would like to be in the office.”
