Now, when her mind was spinning ridiculous stories about the mob being in her diner, it didn’t seem like much of a win.
Even though she told herself that her thoughts were ridiculous, she remained on edge, and she sped through the remaining work. All the prep had already been done, so other than sweeping and mopping, all that was left was counting the till down, which didn’t take long at all.
After slipping the day’s receipts into the office, she locked it behind her and waited for Walt to join her before they headed out front. They always walked out together, but tonight she was more grateful than she usually was that she wasn’t going out into the dark night alone.
Once she was in her car, she immediately locked the doors, watching as Walt started up his old car and pulled out before she followed him. She still felt uneasy, which was stupid as hell. If those guys really had been the Russian mob like she was imagining, then didn’t that mean the diner, not to mention herself, were off limits? Her uncle owned it, after all.
Snorting at her thoughts, she pulled up to the bank, slipped the cash bag into the deposit slot on the wall, and honked at Walt as they parted ways. Her uncle wasn’t the mafia, and neither were the
guys in the diner. She really needed to get a grip on her overactive imagination.
She drove to the hotel, thankful it was in a slightly better area of town. Her uncle bought it about ten years ago, at the same time he bought the diner. He’d wanted to pay for her college tuition, but she didn’t want to take any handouts. She wanted to work for what she had, so she compromised, letting him set her up in jobs at both businesses. He kept a portion of her paycheck to cover her room at the hotel.
He hadn’t wanted to do any of it, but she refused to work for him or live at the hotel if he didn’t. He’d grumbled for weeks about her being too stubborn for her own good, but he eventually gave in.
Hell, she probably was too stubborn, but she didn’t want charity. Sergei raised her after her mom split when she was ten, and she already owed him for how generous he’d been with her. Most bachelors wouldn’t want to take on the responsibility of an adolescent girl, but he’d stepped in without a complaint after her mom flaked, making sure she had everything she needed and most of what she wanted.
Exhaling, she shook herself out of her thoughts as she pulled to a stop and shut off the engine. Grabbing her purse, she walked to the door of the hotel, pausing with her hand wrapped around the handle as a strange sensation brushed down her spine.
It felt like someone was staring at her, and it was like a physical touch to her skin. It wasn’t evil or sinister, but it still made the hair on her arms stand on end. Slowly turning, she scanned the semi darkened parking lot with narrowed eyes, but she didn’t see anything suspicious.
There was a couple walking down the street on the other end of the lot, holding hands as they made their way to the restaurant next door. There were cars passing down the street, but no one else was nearby. That she could see, anyway.
Her eyes landed on a car parked in the corner, and she cocked her head as she stared at it. It looked like one that had been at the diner earlier, but there was no one in it, and no way to know for sure from this angle if it was the same one.
But surely it wasn’t. There was no way the same one belonging to the creepy men earlier was in the hotel’s parking lot. That would be one hell of a coincidence, and she wasn’t sure she believed in coincidences like that. Not after the way she let her imagination run wild earlier.
Shaking her head, she forced those thoughts out of her mind as she opened the door and slipped inside. What she needed was a long, hot shower, followed by about ten hours of sleep. Maybe then, she could get her imagination under control.
Colton straightened with interest as a pretty brunette got out of her car at the hotel. She looked just out of place enough to pique his curiosity. It wasn’t uncommon for people to be coming and going from a hotel, but one who was wearing what looked like a waitress uniform was.
He let his mind wander as she walked to the door, wondering what her story was. Was she coming to visit a friend? Maybe having trouble with something at her home, or even coming off of a break up, so she was staying at the hotel short term?
The truth really didn’t matter, he supposed, but it was something to occupy his mind as he searched for any sign of Justin.
A moment later, she hesitated with her hand on the door, stiffening as she turned her head. He slid down in the truck seat, but her gaze passed right over him before coming to rest on the car parked in the corner. Eyes narrowing, he studied her as she froze, a hundred emotions flashing across her delicate features, too fast for him to pick any of them out.
He was just about to get out of the truck and ask her if she knew the car, or its owner, when she turned around and walked inside the hotel. Letting out a curse, he sat back in the seat, not willing to leave his spot long enough to chase her down. He couldn’t risk leaving and missing Justin.
But knowing that he couldn’t risk it didn’t make it any easier for him to stay in his truck. That car was the closest lead he had to finding Justin, and if she knew anything about it, he needed to know. He wasn’t going anywhere though, not unless his cousin showed up, so he’d be there when she came back out again.
Exhaling heavily, he scanned his surroundings again as his mind raced. But he was no closer to solving the riddle of what the hell was going on than he’d been in the beginning.
Everything had seemed fine for the last few months. Better than fine, actually. Better than it had been in years. When he first came back from Enforcer training, Justin tried to put on a normal, happy façade, but it wasn’t long before it started to unravel.
It happened slowly at first, so slowly that Colton hadn’t noticed it. Or maybe he’d been too selfish, so desperate to believe that things could go back to how they’d been before his cousin’s dreams were crushed, that he willfully ignored the signs that not all was right.
Justin said that he’d known there was a chance he’d be rejected, after all. And Colton had gone to Enforcer training, just like his cousin asked—he hadn’t finished, but Justin didn’t know that. He’d enjoyed the training, more than he thought he would. But he couldn’t shake the sense that he was training to work for blind idiots, and it’d been too weird without his cousin.
So, he’d packed up early and headed out, taking the long way home so Justin wouldn’t know he bailed on completing the training. Like his dragon pointed out, he didn’t want to make his cousin feel like he was keeping him from his dream.
Justin seemed a little down when he got back, but that was to be expected, so Colton decided to act like everything was fine, ignoring the signs that his cousin was cracking more and more with every passing day. After a year had gone by, he hadn’t been able to ignore it any longer, but nothing he did or said helped. And the following five years hadn’t gotten any better as Justin continued to spiral.
But then a few months ago, he completely turned around. He started showing signs of life again. Something had him excited and willing to try to live again, but no matter how much Colton pestered him, he wouldn’t tell him what was going on.
And then he disappeared.
That was a month and a half ago and Colton hadn’t rested since. Every second of his time was spent worrying, tracking, making call after call, trying desperately to find Justin. Just vanishing without a word wasn’t like him. Even in his darkest moments, he found it in him to try to force a smile to reassure Colton. He wouldn’t disappear without a trace, if for no other reason than he knew it would worry him.