Page 3 of The Unknown Colton
“Eric, call me Eric,” he said with a weary sigh. In every interaction they had, he pleaded with her to use his first name.
While she did with other clients, she felt odd doing it with him, like he wanted that familiarity a little too much. Like it meant more to him, likeshemeant more to him, than she should. And she didn’t want to give him any encouragement. So instead of complying, she just smiled again.
He chuckled. “I don’t know if you’re shy or if you just don’t like me,” he said.
“I assure you it’s neither,” she said. “And I’m sorry you’ve felt that way. I guess I have been preoccupied because I’ve been very busy.” Or at least she pretended to be whenever he came into the office. But instead of taking the hint and leaving her alone, he usually waited and messed with the personal items she kept on the reception desk. Like the framed pictures of her and Troy.
He glanced around the café. “Are you here with the boyfriend?”
She shook her head.
“Is he still just a boyfriend?” he asked. “Or has he finally proposed?”
Heat rushed to her face, but she was irritated more than embarrassed. Everyone seemed very interested in her love life today. Or maybe Seller had already been in the café and overheard what Billy said to her. Maybe he was just piling on like the kids used to do on the playground.
The question unsettled her, though. The press had given a name to the person responsible for the gruesome murders of those women: the Fiancée Killer. The bodies had all been staged with a fake engagement ring on a finger.
“Troy and I are both very busy,” she said. Then she moved to step around him, but Seller stepped in front of her again. Blocking her from leaving, like Billy Hoover had blocked her from entering the café moments ago.
“Nobody should be too busy for love,” Seller said, his head cocked to one side, as if he pitied her.
“And nobody is,” Lakin replied with a smile. No matter how busy she and Troy were, she still loved him. She always would. She just wasn’t sure howhefelt now, especially when so much time had passed without hearing from him during his last stint on the oil rig.
Seller arched an eyebrow and smirked as if he didn’t believe her. If he wasn’t such a regular customer, she would have shut him down like she hadBilly Hoover. Instead she just smiled, sidestepped once again and walked away.
Maybe Seller was the one who’d been watching her earlier. Or perhaps he was watching her now as she left. Either way, she had that creepy sensation again, that chill racing down her spine.
Someonewas watching her.
With a serial killer running around the Shelby area, murdering young women, the idea of being watched scared the hell out of Lakin. The Fiancée Killer had to be stalking his victims before he chose them, figuring out when they would be the most vulnerable. Once he chose them, he abducted them.
That was probably what happened to poor Dawn Ellis who’d been reported missing just a couple of days ago. Lakin hoped against hope that that wasn’t the case this time, that Dawn would be found alive.
But until this murderer was caught, like Fay, the barista, had advised Lakin needed to be extremely vigilant…so that she didn’t become the serial killer’s next victim.
* * *
In his entire twenty-six years of living, Troy had never been as scared as he was five weeks ago when he fell off the platform on the oil rig and then felt nothing. One moment he’d been in excruciating pain from hitting the water and then nothing. Instant paralysis. He probably would have drowned, too, if not for his coworkers jumping in to save him.
If only he’d lost consciousness, too, but he’d beenall too aware of what he might be facing. He’d chosen to face it alone; he hadn’t allowed anyone to contact his family or Lakin.
He would deal with whatever he had to deal with on his own. He hadn’t wanted anyone to make sacrifices for him like he knew Lakin would, despite all the dreams she’d had since they were kids. So he’d spent weeks in the hospital waiting for news, for feeling, for anything but the panic that pressed down on him.
And then…
Feeling returned. At first it had been just tingling, but then that tingling had turned painful, like all his extremities had been asleep or frozen and were returning to wakefulness with a vengeance.
While Troy had been reluctant to get his hopes up, the doctors had been cautiously optimistic. The swelling that had caused the nerve damage in his spine had gone down, and the paralysis he’d experienced had proven not to be permanent. He still had some tingling in his hands and feet, and he couldn’t move as fast or carry what he normally would’ve on the job. He might never recover enough to work on the oil rigs again. And he had to take it easy while the contusions to his back continued to heal or the swelling could return and cause paralysis again.
And next time, the doctors warned, the nerves might not recover as quickly as they had the first time. Or they might not recover at all. And he would be permanently paralyzed.
He moved slowly and stiffly as he pushed open the driver’s door of his truck and stepped into the parking lot of Rough Terrain Adventures, the Colton family business. The main office was actually a large cabin with a metal roof and a big porch. An enormous garage sheltered their vehicles and equipment, and several cabins behind it housed family, like Lakin, or were rented to guests.
This place was usually his first stop when he came home. But this morning, he’d stopped to see a different Colton. Mitch Colton wasn’t part of the family business—he owned and operated Shelby’s local corporate law practice. Troy had asked for Mitch’s advice with the situation with his employer, with the safety issues on his job. He wanted to address that situation as much for his coworkers as for himself. Mitch had promised he would take care of it.
But Mitch wasn’t the Colton Troy reallyneededto see.
He missed Lakin so damn bad. He needed to feel the power of the wide smile that lit up her whole face and made her dark eyes glow. He needed to touch her silky dark hair and her soft skin. To kiss her sweet lips.
