Chapter 14
Bobby Reynolds came by the hotel to check out the attempted break-in, but he wasn’t too concerned. “Teenagers break into this place a lot,” he said. “Looking for a place to hang out.”
Lakin wished she could believe that, but it all felt too coincidental that it happened so recently after her cabin had been broken into.
And why would teenagers be breaking into abandoned buildings during the daytime when they should be in school?
Of course she’d been a good student who didn’t skip classes, so maybe she was being naive about teenagers.
Or paranoid about the break-ins. But she didn’t argue with the officer.
Troy, on the other hand, wanted Bobby to track down Jasper Whitlaw and check his alibi.
Bobby warned him against making accusations with no proof. He also refused to have the cigarette butt tested for DNA since a broken window wasn’t a high priority case. “Leave the policing to the police,” he cautioned.
Lakin definitely didn’t argue with that. Neither did Troy, though she didn’t expect him to stop trying to protect her. Fortunately he also helped her secure the hotel again so no damage should come to the place.
Despite Bobby claiming teenagers had broken into the building before, she and Troy didn’t find much damage inside.
The roof, while old, hadn’t even leaked.
It really wouldn’t take much for her to fix it up and get it going.
She could renovate a couple of rooms and the lounge and start on a small scale, if she couldn’t secure that loan.
She was going to make it a success. Even Troy believed that. If only he would help her…
But she didn’t want to beg him to build a future with her. If after ten years he couldn’t commit, then, she told herself, she didn’t want him.
Only she did.
Once they were back in her cabin, she found herself lingering in the living room with him instead of going into her bedroom and locking the door.
As frustrated as she was with his stubborn determination to return to work on the oil rigs, she was also frustrated from denying herself the passion that always burned between them.
If he left again, she didn’t want to regret not being with him. Even if it might be their last time.
“Thank you for helping me board up that window again,” she said.
He nodded. “I’m sorry that’s all I can do to help you at the hotel.”
“That’s not all you can do,” she said. “It’s all you’re willing to do.”
“Lakin, it’s not that I’m not willing,” he said. “I just don’t know what the future holds for me, not after the accident.”
“Nobody knows what the future holds, Troy,” she pointed out. “We just have to have faith that everything will work out for the best.”
“But it doesn’t all work out for the best,” he said. “My dad died. Your aunt and grandparents were murdered. Bad things happen all the time, and we don’t know when or where or how they’re going to happen.”
She shivered at the reminder. “You’re right.
” And because of that, she was even more determined to take what was right in front of her, while he was still here.
She’d already nearly lost him when he fell off that rig and then the side of the mountain.
She didn’t want to lose him because of an accident.
Or something that maybe wasn’t an accident.
“I’m sorry,” he said again.
“Me, too,” she said. She reached out then, sliding her arms around his broad shoulders. “I’m sorry I’ve been locking you out.”
“I understand why you’re mad at me,” he said.
“I don’t even think I’m mad anymore…” She wasn’t sure what she was now. Maybe resigned. The next time he left, he wouldn’t be coming back to her even if he returned to Shelby in one piece. She wasn’t going to wait around for him any longer.
“You’ve forgiven me?” he asked, his green eyes brightening.
She didn’t want to dash his hopes like he’d dashed hers. Instead of replying, she kissed him, sliding her lips seductively back and forth across his mouth.
He clasped a hand in her hair, holding her head to his, and kissed her back. Deeply. Passionately.
Her pulse raced as heat flushed her entire body.
She wanted him so damn badly. Despite all the years they’d been together the passion between them had never cooled.
It burned as hot as ever, maybe even hotter now than before.
Because of the danger, because of knowing how close she’d come to losing him, Lakin wanted him more than she ever had.
As she pressed her mouth hungrily to his, she tugged him back toward her bedroom. This time she wasn’t locking him out; she might just lock him inside with her, to keep the rest of the world out.
He lifted his mouth from hers, panting for breath, and asked, “Are you sure, Lakin?”
She nodded. She was sure that she wanted to make love with him, but that was all she was sure of at the moment. She wasn’t sure that they had a future. But she didn’t want him going back to the oil rigs without being with him again, even if it was the last time.
Once in the bedroom, he kicked the door shut. And then he dragged off his clothes. He was so muscular. His biceps bulged, his ab muscles rippled, and his chest thumped, his heart beating as fast as hers.
Needing to press her skin against his, she undressed quickly, too, until she was as naked as he was. His erection pulsated, as if begging for her attention.
But before she could reach for him, he was swinging her up in his arms.
“Troy!” she exclaimed, worried that he was going to hurt himself.
He grimaced as he carried her the short couple of steps to the bed. When he laid her on it, he followed her down. She wasn’t sure if it was because he wanted to be close to her or if it was because he was hurt.
“You shouldn’t be overdoing it,” she said. “Are you all right?”
“Frustrated,” he said. “It’s been killing me to lie out there on the couch, aching for you.”
She didn’t want him aching because of her, though. She wasn’t petite. She was five nine with an athletic build. But Troy had always picked her up like she was light. Until today.
“Are you really all right?” she persisted.
“I will be,” he said. “Once I’m inside you, once we’re as close as we used to be.”
Physically they could be that close again, but she wasn’t sure about emotionally. But then he was touching her, sliding his hands and mouth all over her, and she couldn’t think at all. She could only feel the passion burning inside her, making her tremble.
She touched him, too, running her hands and mouth over him. But before she could slide her lips around his erection, he pulled back.
“I’ll go too fast,” he said. “I want to take my time.”
Maybe he knew, too, that this might be their last time. Their last chance to be this close. Maybe that was why he gave her so much pleasure, moving between her legs to make love to her with his mouth and his wicked tongue.
She squirmed against the blankets as he drove her wild with desire. The tension was so tight inside her, and then he moved his hands to her breasts, stroking them. She cried out as she came.
Then he was inside her, thrusting slowly, building the tension inside her again. But he knew how and where to touch her to release that tension. And she came again, screaming his name.
Then his body tensed and shuddered and he cried out her name.
And, “I love you.”
She loved him, too, but she couldn’t say those words right now, not when their future was so uncertain.
And it wasn’t just Troy going back to the oil rigs that could end their relationship but whoever was following her around and breaking into her cabin and the hotel.
That person could end their relationship and maybe their lives.
* * *
She didn’t say it back.
For the first time since they had exchanged I love yous as teenagers, Lakin didn’t say it back to him. Even though they’d made love and both stayed in her bed afterward, Troy felt like he was still shut out. Not out of her bedroom but maybe out of her life and her heart.
Long after Lakin had fallen asleep, he lay awake, worrying that his sister was probably right. He was going to lose Lakin if he didn’t make a commitment to her and their future.
Maybe losing her would be the best thing for her. She could have a better life with someone like that rich customer who’d also warned him about losing Lakin. Was that because he wanted her for himself?
And what about Whitlaw? What did he want from her? Just money or something more?
Eventually Troy must have fallen asleep because he awoke to sunlight slanting through the blinds to shine in his eyes. He blinked and squinted, trying to focus. But he didn’t need to see anything to know that Lakin was gone. The bed was cold beside him.
Maybe she’d already left for work, or maybe she’d gone to Roasters. He didn’t want her going there alone. That was where Jasper Whitlaw had first accosted her.
She’d given the photograph to Eli. But what had her big brother found out about Whitlaw? Was the older man even in town still?
Troy needed to make sure Lakin was safe. He dressed in a hurry and headed off to the coffee shop. But when he pulled into the lot, her SUV wasn’t there.
Maybe he’d just missed her. But what about Jasper Whitlaw? Had he been hanging around?
Troy was sick of waiting for this guy to show up and harass her again. He wanted to find the man and make him leave town. So he parked his truck and rushed into the café.
“Hey, are you here to pick up Lakin’s order?” the barista asked him.
“Did she place an order?” he asked. Maybe she was on her way.
“No, but she usually comes in every morning, and I haven’t seen her for a few days.”
Because Lakin didn’t want to run into the man who claimed he was her father.
“There was an older guy here the last day she was in,” Troy said. “He gave her a photograph. Did you see him that day? Have you seen him around town?”
The barista’s eyes widened and then narrowed.
“Older guy, looks kind of homeless? I have seen him hanging around here, but that was more before he talked to Lakin. I haven’t seen him often after that day he gave her something.
Then she drove off with her coffee mugs on the roof of her vehicle.
I picked them up and washed them for her. ”
“That was very sweet of you,” he said.
“Lakin is sweet,” the young woman said. “One of my favorite customers.”
People were naturally drawn to Lakin’s kindness and her beauty. He was lucky that he hadn’t already lost her to someone who could give her more time and attention. Fortunately for him Lakin was as loyal and loving as she was beautiful.
Troy leaned closer to the counter. “Will you let me know if you see that guy around here again? Or anywhere?” he asked. “I really want to talk to him.”
“No.” The deep voice that answered wasn’t the barista’s.
Troy turned around to find Lakin’s oldest brother, Eli, standing behind him. His arms were crossed over his chest, and he didn’t look happy.
But Troy wasn’t particularly happy with him, either. Lakin had reached out to him for help, but things were still happening, like that broken window at the hotel.
Officer Reynolds might believe it was teenagers, but Troy didn’t. Lakin was in danger, and Troy felt like he was the only one doing anything to protect her. He was afraid it still wasn’t enough…
* * *
Eli was apparently at Roasters for the same reason that his sister’s boyfriend was, and it wasn’t for the coffee although it did smell damn good in the café.
“No,” he repeated. “If she sees Jasper Whitlaw around again, she’s going to call me.” He passed the barista a card as she handed a coffee over the counter for him. He laid down some bills and turned toward Troy again. “Do you want anything?”
Troy stepped away from the counter. “Not coffee. I want answers.”
Eli sighed. “Don’t we all?” He had so many questions and not just about Whitlaw.
“So you haven’t found out anything more about that man who accosted Lakin?” Troy asked.
Eli had, but he intended to tell Lakin first and definitely not in a public place. “I know he’s dangerous,” he said. “And that you shouldn’t be looking to confront him.”
Troy sucked in a breath, looking like Eli had punched him. “So Lakin really is in danger.”
“I don’t know that he would hurt her,” Eli said.
“He won’t be able to get money out of her if he does.
” Though he wasn’t certain that was all Whitlaw wanted from her or why he’d turned up in Shelby when he had.
“But I don’t think he would hesitate to hurt you if you get in his way,” Eli warned the younger man.
He’d always liked Troy Amos; the guy was a hard worker who clearly worshipped Lakin.
If something happened to him, Lakin probably wouldn’t get over it.
“I don’t care what he does to me,” Troy said. “I just want to make sure he doesn’t hurt Lakin.”
Eli figured it was already too late for that.
Whitlaw’s sudden appearance with the photograph had stirred up a lot of emotions for Lakin and a lot of questions about her past. Eli understood that only too well; the Fiancée Killer was stirring up a lot of memories and nightmares for him and undoubtedly for the rest of his family, too.
The last thing any of them needed was someone trying to hurt another one of their family.
“I’m on it,” Eli promised him. “I’m looking for the guy, and when I find him, I’ll make sure that he knows he’s not getting anything out of Lakin.”
“You might want to check out a couple of other guys that seem to keep turning up around her,” Troy remarked.
Eli felt a smile twitch his lips. “Lakin is beautiful. I’m sure there are a lot of guys who keep turning up.”
Troy looked again as if Eli had struck him.
“Didn’t it occur to you that other men might find her attractive?”
“Of course,” Troy said. “I’m not talking about that kind of attention. I’m talking about her old school bully, Billy Hoover, showing up here and other places unexpectedly. And then there’s some RTA client, Something Seller, that seems a little too interested in her.”
Eli tensed. The thought that the serial killer could be targeting someone in his family was keeping him awake nights.
Why else were the murders so similar to his aunt’s death?
But who in Shelby really knew about his aunt Caroline and his family’s reasons for moving here from California all those years ago?
“I’ll check into them, too,” Eli assured him. “But you need to stay out of this.”
Troy shook his head. “Not until I know she’s safe.”
Troy Amos obviously loved Lakin a lot, so much so that he was more concerned about her life than his. But if he really knew Lakin well, he would know that she wouldn’t want him getting hurt because of her.
And Eli had a feeling that, as determined as Troy was to protect her, he probably was going to wind up getting hurt or worse.