Chapter 2 #3
“I see that.” Genna dropped onto the sofa, wishing she’d thought to pick up a bottle of wine.
“Any news on that serial killer?” her mom asked, not hiding her worry. “I hate that they haven’t caught him yet.”
“Me, too,” Genna answered. “But the police and FBI are actively searching for him.”
“But what about you? Are you being careful?”
“Yes. Me and every other woman in Shelby.”
They chatted a few more minutes. Her parents told her how much they loved their rental house, the tropical weather and the Hawaiian culture. “I do miss the beautiful wildness of Alaska,” her father admitted. “But not the cold.”
After the call ended, Genna wandered around the house where she’d grown up. Since the move had been more of an experiment, her parents had taken very little with them. The furniture and artwork made Genna feel as if she’d stepped back into the past.
This had been comfortable at first. Now, she found it stifling.
Since her parents had needed a house-sitter and she’d been looking for a place to stay, the situation worked.
For now. Though, lately, Genna had found herself aching to paint a wall here or there, add some color, brighten the dark rooms up.
With wood-paneled walls, wood floors and dark furniture, the house often felt somber and stifling.
The exact opposite of the colorful life her parents were now living in Hawaii.
Though they’d told her she could use the master bedroom, that had felt weird.
Instead, she slept in her old bedroom, which her parents had blessedly changed into a generic guest room.
Here, she’d decorated to her own taste, bringing in items she’d salvaged from the home she’d once shared with her ex-husband.
The one thing she really wanted to do was to have an alarm system installed.
Once, Shelby had been relatively crime free.
But with this serial killer on the loose, and being a single woman, she felt the need to protect herself.
She knew she’d certainly sleep better at night once she had some kind of protection.
She just hadn’t gotten around to calling someone to come out and do it.
Genna had even considered getting a dog. Something big with a loud bark. But she wanted to adopt and didn’t want a puppy. So far, she hadn’t made time to make the trip into Valdez to check out the animal shelter.
Despite telling herself she wouldn’t be in any danger from the Fiancée Killer, the truth was that no one had figured out what exactly his type might be.
So far, four bodies had been found. Each of them had been clothed in a little black dress, a fake diamond on their ring finger.
They’d been strangled before being partially buried with the head and left hand always visible.
Thinking about this scenario kept Genna, and likely most of the women of Shelby, up at night.
As all women everywhere did, living in a larger city, she’d always stayed super aware of her surroundings, kept her keys in her hand when walking to her car, and if she thought even remotely that someone might be following her, she never went directly home.
That had all been in a larger city. Honestly, coming home to Shelby, she’d thought life would be different. The way she remembered it being. But the Fiancée Killer had changed all that.
Like everyone else in town, Genna hoped he or she would be caught soon. Sooner or later, a mistake would be made and it would be over. Until then, all she and everyone else could do was be careful.
The rest of her first week at RTA went by quickly.
As she got used to the various aspects of her position, she started to relax.
She expanded the customer satisfaction survey that Lakin had instituted and made sure to ask each guest about their experience.
On the rare occasion that a problem arose, she made sure to take care of it with courtesy and kindness.
Though the tour guides were in and out, she got to know several of them. As Friday approached, she found herself looking forward to hanging out with them for a meal and a drink.
Except for Parker. Though on the surface he acted friendly, she could sense him going out of his way to avoid being alone with her for any longer than absolutely necessary.
She understood, sort of. She guessed she must have bruised his ego when she’d told him she’d never given him a second thought after their torrid night together.
A bold-faced lie to be sure, but she knew a man as hot as Parker would have had no shortage of females vying for his attention.
To be honest, she’d been surprised that he’d even remembered their one-night stand.
As for Genna, she wondered if she’d ever be able to forget it.
Luckily, her job kept her too busy to dwell much on Parker.
Tuesday and Wednesday had been a flurry of guests, meeting other guides, and making sure everything ran smoothly.
Reservations were coming in for winter as well as for next spring.
She had to update the software, make sure each tour group wasn’t overbooked, and handle the schedule months in advance.
She loved every freaking second of it.
As she became accustomed to the routine, her confidence grew. She’d always loved customer service work, especially here. The guests were universally in a great mood, excited about their adventure to come. And since RTA did exactly as they advertised, Genna had yet to have an unsatisfied customer.
Lakin’s notes in the computer helped Genna identify repeat customers and some of the personal details enabled her to ask about their children or pets. Genna loved the way some of the guest’s faces lit up when she mentioned their family.
All of the guides seemed friendly, too. With RTA so busy, often with back-to-back groups leaving for different adventures, she’d met most of them. Even if their interactions were necessarily brief, most mentioned how much they were looking forward to their planned dinner out on Friday.
Despite her full days, her entire body knew every single time Parker was near.
She didn’t understand it, but her nerve endings would prickle, her skin would flush, and despite trying not to, she was uber aware of his movements.
If he happened to glance at her, she felt the heat of his gaze all the way to the soles of her feet.
Hopefully, that would be only temporary. She was bound to get used to being around him eventually.
At the end of every workday, even though the sun wouldn’t fully set until almost seven, she appreciated how one of the male guides always hung around the place to make sure she wasn’t alone.
The last tours usually came in around six and once she’d finished processing everyone, it would be time to close for the day.
They’d had to figure out her schedule, because she couldn’t work twelve-hour days every day of the week.
Since she lived fairly close to the building, she volunteered to do split shifts, but in the end, she’d decided to base her daily schedule on what tours they had booked.
Their slowest days seemed to be Mondays and Thursdays, so she said those would be her days off.
Everyone seemed relieved and Parker and Spence promised to make sure her desk was covered when she wasn’t there.
Teamwork, she thought. Always a good thing. Now she just needed to figure out how to think of Parker as just another coworker and she’d be all set.