Chapter 10 #2
“I wish I was wrong.” About that, and about not committing to her. But he’d spent the past few days in physical therapy and was no closer to getting back to work on the oil rigs. If he even had a job to go back to…
And Jasper Whitlaw, or whoever he really was, wasn’t the only one who needed money.
Lakin needed it, too; her business loan hadn’t come through yet.
The last thing she needed was someone else wanting something from her instead of giving it.
While Troy couldn’t help her financially, he could keep her safe.
“We need to call the police,” he said.
“Over a relative asking me for money?”
“You don’t even know if he’s a relative,” he reminded her. “Someone needs to check him out.” Troy would do that, or at least talk to the man, if she’d get out of his way. But Whitlaw was probably long gone by now. He would be back, though; Troy had no doubt about that.
“I’ll call Eli,” she said.
“You were supposed to call him days ago,” he reminded her.
“I…” Clearly, she dreaded making the call. Maybe she’d hoped that Whitlaw would go away, that he’d abandon her again like when she was three.
But the man wasn’t going anywhere until he got what he wanted. Money… Or more?
“Call Eli now,” Troy told her. Even though he wished he could help her with Whitlaw, he didn’t have the resources that Eli had. All that really mattered was that someone investigated the guy. “Call him now.” He stepped back and gestured for her to return to her desk.
But when she did, she didn’t reach for her phone. She glanced instead toward the back office where Spence had gone. “I will call him. I promise I will,” she said, “but after I leave work.” Evidently, she didn’t want Parker and Spence to overhear her conversation with the ABI lieutenant.
But Troy believed the more people who knew about Whitlaw, the more they could keep an eye out for the opportunist or whatever else he might be. “Lakin, the man could be dangerous,” he warned, especially if he was the person who ran Troy off the road.
“He’s not going to get any more money out of me if he hurts me,” she pointed out. “He’s not going to hurt me.”
That was really Troy’s biggest concern: her safety. But he also hated seeing her as upset as this man made her.
“Just promise me you’ll call Eli as soon as possible,” Troy urged.
“I will, once I’m done working…” She peered around him as the outside door opened again.
Troy tensed. Had the man returned already?
But the guy who walked into the office was younger than Whitlaw. He wore the name brand adventure gear of someone with a lot of disposable income. The watch on his wrist advertised his wealth as well.
“Mr. Seller,” Lakin greeted the man.
“Eric, please, Lakin, do I have to beg you to use my name?” he asked and chuckled. Then he looked at Troy standing over her desk and grinned. “So the boyfriend is home from the oil rigs.” He thrust out his hand toward Troy. “Good to finally meet you.”
Troy shook the man’s hand but just nodded.
“You should be down on your knees,” Seller said, “begging this woman to become your wife.”
Troy sucked in a breath at the unsolicited advice.
“If you don’t, I’m afraid you’re going to lose her to someone else,” Seller warned him.
“I trust Lakin,” Troy said. And he did. He’d never had any reason to doubt her love or her loyalty to him.
Unfortunately she no longer believed the same of him.
He hadn’t called her when he was hurt, and now she didn’t think he loved and needed her as much as he did.
The problem was that he didn’t want to need her too much.
He didn’t want to be like Jasper Whitlaw, a drain on her emotionally and physically.
Seller chuckled. “Even trustworthy people get sick of waiting around.”
“I don’t think this is really any of your business,” Troy said, bristling with anger.
Lakin stood up. “Please, Troy, just leave. I need to help Mr. Seller.”
Seller gave him that infuriating, condescending grin again. Troy’s hand tightened into a fist that he was tempted to swing at the smug, rich guy.
“Hey, Troy,” Spence said, stepping out of his office. “Let’s go for that beer you promised me.”
“I didn’t—”
Spence wound his arm around his shoulders and started pushing him toward the outside door. “Right now.”
“But—” He didn’t want to leave Lakin alone with this man any more than he wanted her left alone with Jasper Whitlaw.
“Lakin’s going to be a while yet, and you and I have some catching up to do,” Spence said.
Troy hadn’t had a chance to talk to his sister’s fiancé much yet, but he’d rather put it off for another time. Spence wasn’t giving him a choice, though, as he guided him toward the door and out into the parking lot.
“Come on,” Spence said. “Hop in my truck. You know you’re only going to piss off Lakin more if you stick around and get into it with a client.”
Troy sighed, knowing her cousin was right. He had already pissed off Lakin when he hadn’t called her after his accident. If he didn’t want her to break up with him completely, he had to make sure that he didn’t upset her any more than he already had.
And Parker was walking up to the office now with what looked like a couple of fishermen, so she wouldn’t be alone with Seller. And once the office closed for the day, she would call Eli. Lakin kept her promises.
When Troy moved around to the passenger’s side of Spence’s vehicle, he noted the collection of cigarette butts on the ground in the empty spot next to it. Somebody had either cleaned out their ashtray in the parking lot, or they’d been standing there for a while.
Watching Lakin?
* * *
Since Hetty’s brother had been back in town, Spence had noticed the tension between Troy and Lakin.
Hetty had even mentioned it to Spence along with her concern that her brother was going to blow it with Lakin.
Spence had managed to stop him this time from swinging his clenched fist at a client, but he didn’t know what else he could do to help ease the tension between them.
“What’s going on with you and my cousin?” Spence asked once they settled onto stools at the bar.
Troy groaned, but Spence wasn’t sure if it was because of Lakin or because of his back. Hetty had also filled him in on the nearly fatal accident her brother had had while working on the oil rigs.
“She’s mad at me for not reaching out when I was in the hospital,” Troy said.
“Hetty and your mother aren’t exactly thrilled with you over that, either,” Spence warned him.
Troy smiled. “I can deal with them being upset with me.”
“Really?” Spence asked. “Because Hetty’s got quite the temper.” He’d set it off a lot before they finally realized how they really felt about each other.
“Does she get mad because you try to protect her?” Troy asked.
“Yeah,” Spence said. But he wondered if they were still talking about Hetty now. He studied the younger man’s face. The poor guy looked miserable and a little scared. “Is everything okay with Lakin?”
“I told you she’s mad at me,” Troy said.
“Yeah, I can see that, but…” Spence sensed now that something else was going on.
“We were talking about my sister,” Troy said. “And of course she’s going to get pissed off if you try to protect her. Hetty prides herself on being able to take care of herself.”
“She does, and she can,” Spence heartily agreed. “She’s tough and independent and so damn beautiful…” God, he loved that woman.
Troy groaned again. “Maybe let’s not talk about my sister,” he said. “Not if you’re going to get all mushy about her.”
Spence grinned. “I’m definitely all mushy about her,” he agreed. “But you and Lakin…”
Troy’s shoulders slumped as if he was carrying a heavy burden. “What about me and Lakin?”
“You two have been together for so long.” Spence couldn’t imagine them not being together. They’d always reminded him of his aunt and uncle; Lakin’s parents had met and fallen in love in high school. Like they were going to last…
But a lot of people had lost their lives lately, proving that anything could be cut short. Lives and love.