Page 51 of The Unknown Colton
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.”
Even if he promised no more oil rigs, he couldn’t promise no more danger. Nobody could. But Hetty rushed off again before he could point that out toher. Hell, not too long ago she’d been shot. She knew as did everyone who watched the news that Shelby wasn’t safe at all anymore.
Once Lakin had a free moment, Troy told her about his conversation with Eli.
She nodded, unsurprised. “He texted me earlier. He’s going to come by later this afternoon and fill me in,” she said.
“Good.”
“That means that you don’t have to babysit me,” she said. “You must be bored sitting around all day watching me.”
“Never,” he said. And it was true. He missed her so much when he was gone that he could never see enough of her to make up for it. Maybe Hetty was right; maybe it was time that he gave up working on the oil rigs. But what could he do in Shelby that would make enough money to help his family and Lakin with her business?
“Seriously, Troy, you don’t need to be here,” Lakin said. “There are a lot of people coming and going, and Eli will be here soon.”
“Sounds like she’s trying to get rid of you,” Parker remarked when he stepped out of his office.
“That goes for you, too,” she said. “You’ve been hovering.”
