He eased the rope off just a fraction so she could speak. “Who?”
The rope tightened again. “Don’t fuck with me, woman. Iwillhurt you. Where’s Sharp?”
Sharp…Gordon.
“Hos…pital,” she choked out. “Room two-five-eight.”
The rope tightened again, and suddenly she couldn’t breathe at all. Not a single breath. Pain cut through her chest, the panic making her heartbeat roar between her ears.
His breath was hot against her ear as he growled, “That asshole owes me money. And if I don’t get it fromhim, you better believe I’ll be back to take it from his family.”
Terror clawed at her insides.
Air. She needed air! It felt like her chest was going to explode. Like the rope around her neck was going to cut her in two and suffocate her at the same time.
Then suddenly, the rope disappeared.
She dropped forward, sucking in huge gulps of air, her hands going to her aching throat. Tears burned her eyes, and even though she could breathe, it still felt like she was choking.
She stumbled out of her car, her chest heaving, fear alive in her bones.
Someone stepped toward her. Another man. He was big, but everything else about him was a blur. She was about to scream when he spoke.
“Hey, are you okay?”
She collapsed into his arms, and he caught her.
“How the helldid you guys get this done so quickly?” Colt asked as he looked at the finished office. There was fresh paint. New carpet. A big window, which gave a view of the mountains. They just needed the reception desk and some more furniture for the attached office and they’d be done.
But it wasn’t just the office that was finished—the entire park would be ready to open in the next month.
He hadn’t been here nearly as much as he’d wanted to be, but he’d tried to make up for that in the last week since his dad had been arrested.
“I’ve got a great group of guys,” Randy said, crossing his arms.
Noah’s gaze ran over the mountains outside. “I can’t believe we’re doing it.”
“You’dbetterbe doing it after all that work.” Randy chuckled. “We’re still waiting on your signage, but most things are ready to go. The zip line. The mountain bike trails. The cabins. You still organizing a food truck?”
“I haven’t advertised yet, but I will,” Noah answered.
“What about staff?”
“We’ve spent the last few weeks interviewing,” Colt said. Not that there’d been too many candidates. In the small town of Amber Ridge, there were only so many people looking for work.
“We’ve got enough to get us started,” Noah confirmed.
“Am I still meeting the new receptionist today?” Colt asked.
Noah looked at his watch. “She’s due any minute. I’m going over the website she’s started building with her.”
At that exact moment, a short blonde stepped in. She looked young, but that was expected. How old had Noah said she was? Twenty-two?
A smile widened on Noah’s face. “Addison, hey.”
“Hi, Noah. And please, call me Addie.”
“Addie, meet Randy, the man responsible for the magic of this park coming together so quickly. And my partner, Colt.”
