Chapter 15
Leaving Troy lying alone in her bed had been hard.
After last night, after being that close to him again, Lakin wanted to stay curled up in his arms with her head on his chest. But she knew that eventually they would have to talk, and every time they spoke lately, she was disappointed that Troy was so uncertain about their future.
He should know that it didn’t matter to her if he wasn’t able to work again; she loved him for who he was, not for the money he might make someday. Maybe he knew how she felt, but he was just too proud to accept her unconditional love if he couldn’t give her what he wanted to in return.
She blinked hard to focus on her computer screen, and a sigh slipped out along with all her frustration.
She was too much in limbo right now, waiting to find out if Troy would recover fully, waiting for her business loan, waiting to find out if Jasper Whitlaw was really her biological father so she could get some answers about her past.
She cared the least about Whitlaw. He’d waited more than twenty years before finding her, so he didn’t care about her. She couldn’t trust whatever he told her. And the past didn’t matter as much as her present and her future.
If she and Troy even had one…
“You look very stressed for someone so young,” a voice remarked.
Startled that she wasn’t alone, Lakin jumped, making her chair creak. A hand touched her shoulder, maybe just to steady her, but she jumped up from her chair at the unwelcome contact and so that Eric Seller wasn’t standing over her anymore like he had been. “Are you okay?” he asked.
She shook her head. “I didn’t hear you come into the office.”
“You need one of those bells that ding when the door opens,” he suggested.
Usually people didn’t slip in so silently, so it had never been an issue before. Although Jasper Whitlaw had the other day.
“Do you need something?” she asked. She hadn’t even realized that he’d signed up for another tour. But then she’d been distracted lately and not really doing her job as well as she should. She needed to talk to Parker and give her notice.
“I was just thinking about you, Lakin, and wanted to make sure that you’re okay,” he said.
Instead of reassuring her, his words made her more uneasy than she usually was around him. “I’m fine,” she said. “No need to worry about me.” And definitely no reason to make a special trip to Shelby.
“I’ve seen all the news about some serial killer targeting single women in this area,” he said. “So naturally I thought of you.”
“I’m not single,” she said.
“You’re not married,” he said. “Or even engaged. You could be a potential target.”
She shivered. “With some of the victims not even identified yet, nobody knows if they were single or not. So are you just trying to scare me?” she asked. And it was working since she wondered how he knew something that hadn’t been disclosed in the press.
His eyes widened as if in surprise. “Oh, I guess I just assumed that they were all single. And I think, that with you looking similar to previous victims and being alone so often, you need to be extra careful.”
“I am,” she assured him or maybe she was warning him.
He glanced around the office. “Really? You’re all alone here. Even that boyfriend of yours isn’t hanging around…” He took a step closer, as if he’d been waiting for the opportunity to get her alone.
She opened her mouth and considered releasing a scream but instead she shouted, “I’m not alone!” And hoped like hell she was telling the truth because she wasn’t sure what Seller was trying to do.
“Lakin!” Parker exclaimed, appearing suddenly in the doorway of his office. “What’s going on?” He looked from her to Seller. “Is there a problem?”
Seller shook his head and stepped back from her desk. “No problem at all. I’m just very concerned about your sister.”
“Why?” Parker asked with his usual bluntness.
“Just seems like Shelby is a dangerous place for a single woman,” Seller said.
Parker snorted. “Lakin isn’t single. She’s been with Troy Amos for most of their lives, and he will make damn certain nothing happens to her.”
“Really?” Seller asked. “I understand that he isn’t usually around that much.”
Lakin nearly screamed now—with irritation, not fear. “I can take care of myself,” she assured them both.
“But there’s a serial killer on the loose,” Seller said. “His other victims probably thought the same thing you do, that they could take care of themselves.”
Other victims. Was he saying that she was going to be next?
“Are you trying to scare her?” Parker asked. “And what are you doing here? You don’t have a reservation, and we’re completely booked.”
Which was a lie. There had been a few cancellations, probably because of the serial killer scaring away some of their clients.
Seller held up his hands. “I’m sorry. I should have called ahead to make sure there was availability. I just had some downtime and came up for a quick fishing trip.”
“You must have a lot of downtime,” Parker remarked. “You’re here a lot.”
Had any of Seller’s visits coincided with when those women disappeared? Lakin wanted to ask, but she didn’t want to accuse one of their most frequent guests of being a serial killer. Although she suspected that her brother shared her suspicions. Parker moved even closer to them.
“I really enjoy my time in Shelby,” Seller said. “I like to visit as often as I can. Let me know if you have a cancellation today. I’ll take myself to that coffee shop in town for now. I can see that I’ve made you both uneasy. That was never my intention.”
Lakin wasn’t so sure about that.
Apparently neither was Parker. He didn’t say anything else to Seller, just watched him until he left the building. Then he turned toward her. “Are you okay? I can refuse his business from now on and keep him away from you.”
“I love you for offering to do that,” she said. “But he’s a great client.”
“Not if he’s creeping on you,” Parker said. “I don’t like how he was talking to you.”
“Neither do I,” she admitted. “But I’m just going to ignore him from now on.”
“I don’t think that’s a good idea, either,” Parker said. “We should talk to Eli about him. The comments he made about those victims…” He shuddered.
She nodded. “I agree that Eli should check him out.” She didn’t want anyone getting hurt because she had been too naive to believe someone she knew could be dangerous. She had a feeling that Seller wasn’t the only person she knew who could be, though.
Parker nodded. “I’ll give our big brother a call—”
“Wait,” she said.
“You changed your mind? You think Seller is okay?”
“No. I just want to talk to you for a minute,” she said. “I’ve been meaning to do it…” since she’d bought the hotel.
“What’s going on, Lakin?” Parker asked with concern.
“I’ve been wanting to start my own business for a while now,” she said.
“This is your business, too,” Parker said, gesturing with open arms. “This is our family business.”
“This is your business now,” she said. “Since Dad and Uncle Ryan retired, you’ve taken over. You’re the one who’s made it more successful than it’s ever been.”
He shook his head. “No. That’s been all of us working hard together.”
She smiled. “I love working here, but I want to do what you’ve done. I want to take something and put all my energy into rebuilding it into what I want.”
“Like what?” he asked.
“Like the Shelby Hotel.”
“I thought that recently sold at auction,” he replied.
“It did,” she said, “to me.”
“That’s great, Lakin!” Parker hugged her, then pulled back. “But damn, that place needs a lot of work.”
She nodded. “I know. That’s why I’m going to need to devote all my time and energy to it.”
“You’re leaving?”
Tears stung her eyes at the thought of no longer working with her brother in the family business, but she nodded. “Yes, but I’ll keep working here until you find my replacement.”
“Nobody will ever be able to replace you,” Parker said and hugged her again. “What about Troy? Will he be helping you?”
More tears rushed to her eyes, but she blinked them away, too. “I don’t know.”
“He was hurt on that damn oil rig,” Parker said. “He’s not going to go back, is he?”
“I hope not,” she said. “But I think he will if he can.”
“And leave you again? Leave you to do all the work at the hotel alone?”
“You know I won’t be alone,” she said.
Parker chuckled. “No, Dad is always looking for a new hobby.”
“He helped me buy it,” she admitted. “I’m going to pay him back, though, as soon as my business loan gets approved.”
“I’m glad he has something else to think about,” Parker said.
“Other than RTA?”
“Other than the Fiancée Killer.”
She shuddered at the mention of the serial killer.
“You really need to be careful,” Parker said. “The way Seller was talking…”
“I know,” she agreed. “And I will be.” But like Seller had pointed out, the serial killer’s victims probably all thought they were being careful, too.
* * *
Troy was beyond pissed that Eli wouldn’t tell him why he knew Jasper Whitlaw was dangerous. After his frustrating conversation with the ABI lieutenant, he left Roasters and headed straight to the RTA office…and walked into another tense conversation between Lakin and Parker.
They both assured him that everything was fine, but he had his suspicions, especially when they confirmed he had seen that Seller guy leaving. Troy was glad he’d given the man’s name to Eli.
The office got busy after that, and neither Lakin nor Parker had time to talk. Neither did Hetty when she rushed in for a minute before leaving for a flight. All she said was, “Mom and I have been talking about you.”
“That’s nothing new,” he replied with a chuckle.
“Do us all a favor,” she said with a glance at Lakin who was on a call and hopefully not listening. “Stay here in Shelby. No more oil rigs. No more danger.”