Page 56 of The Unknown Colton
And he was out there, somewhere in Shelby, stalking Lakin.
Kansas swore, then added, “I’m really sorry.”
Eli still didn’t say anything, but a muscle twitched in his cheek from how tightly he’d clenched his jaw. And Kansas knew if something happened to Lakin, Eli wasn’t going to forgive her any more than she was going to forgive herself.
As they neared RTA, other sirens blared and lights flashed. Kansas had called the local police, knowing that they would reach the location given for Lakin’s cell sooner than she and Eli would. But it wasn’t just the local police already on the scene, an ambulance was as well. Had someone been hurt? Kansas prayed that it wasn’t Lakin. But if not her, who? So much of their family worked at RTA. Even her dadand her uncle stopped by frequently despite having “retired” from the adventure business they’d started when they first moved to Shelby. When they’d fled from family tragedy to start over.
But had family tragedy found them again?
* * *
Troy flinched as the EMT pressed something against the stinging skin on his cheek. He wasn’t sure if a bullet had grazed his face or one of the tree branches he’d jumped into for cover. But he didn’t care about himself.
“Are you really all right?” he asked Lakin again. He tried to see her around the paramedic treating Troy in the back of the ambulance.
Once the emergency vehicles had pulled into the parking lot of RTA, the shooting had stopped, and Troy wasn’t the only one who’d rushed out of a hiding place. Fortunately Lakin had been hiding, too.
“Like I already told you, I’m fine,” she said. “He never took any shots atme. I didn’t even know he had a gun until I heard the shooting start.”
“Who was it?” Kansas asked just as Bobby Reynolds opened his mouth. Probably to ask the same thing. Clearly Lakin’s cousin and brother weren’t willing to leave this investigation in the officer’s hands.
Lakin shook her head. “I never saw more than a shadow. He was standing by my SUV when I clicked my key fob to unlock it. Then I set off the alarm.”
“That was smart,” Kansas said.
“But then I couldn’t see anything with the lights flashing,” Lakin said.
“You couldn’t tell if it was Jasper Whitlaw?” Eli asked, appearing beside Kansas.
“Where were you?” Troy asked the ABI lieutenant. “I wouldn’t have left her if you hadn’t said you were meeting her at the office.”
“That was my fault,” Kansas said. “I thought one of our techs could get DNA off that photograph, but he wasn’t able to after all.”
“So he couldn’t get any DNA to see if it matches…” Lakin said, her voice soft with obvious disappointment.
“He’s not your father,” Eli said.
She nodded. “I know that Dad is—”
“That’s not what I meant,” Eli interrupted her. “He can’t be your biological father because he was in prison for assault. He was serving a two-year sentence during the time you would have been conceived and born.”
“He’s been in prison,” Troy said, his gut churning with fear for Lakin. Just as he’d suspected, the man was dangerous as well as a liar.
Eli nodded. “More than once. He’s been in and out a lot for assault. And he just got out recently.”
“And came looking for me,” Lakin remarked. “Why? Since I’m not his daughter, what does he want?”
“I don’t know,” Eli said.
Troy had an idea. Money. But when he’d mentionedthat before, Lakin had gotten upset with him. And he didn’t want her to be upset with him again, especially not when they’d come so close to losing their lives.
“What are you going to do to keep her safe is the real question,” Troy said.
“We don’t know that the person who shot at you is Jasper Whitlaw,” Eli pointed out.
Troy had given the lieutenant some other potential suspects. But he couldn’t see Billy Hoover waiting all these years before trying to take him out. Unless he was so damn drunk he wasn’t thinking straight. And Seller…
Did a guy as rich as that do his own dirty work? And why would he go after Troy anyway? Why would anyone? Unless it was just because he was in their way, standing between them and Lakin.
