Chapter 17
Noah ran his fingers over the harness as he studied every inch of it. The waist belt. The leg loop. He was looking for frayed stitching or signs that something wasn’t right.
There was nothing. Good.
The park was reopening tomorrow, even though no one had been arrested. But who the hell knew how long that would take?
He was damn frustrated. Hell, frustrated didn’t even touch the surface of what he felt.
He tugged at the buckles, making sure they cinched smoothly before checking that they released without catching.
Everything was exactly as it was supposed to be. But then, the equipment had already been checked a dozen times by both him and Colt. Yet he’d still gotten here early to check it again this morning.
When he reached the carabiners, he clicked them open and closed, listening for that clean snick.
Leaves crunching beneath shoes sounded from the forest behind him.
“We’ve checked all that.”
Noah didn’t bother looking over his shoulder at Colt. “I’m checking it again.”
More footsteps sounded before a hand touched his shoulder. “Hey. The equipment’s fine. It was a targeted attack. It’s not going to happen again to the public.”
“We don’t know that. And it shouldn’t have happened in the first place.”
“You’re right. But it did. And we can’t change that.”
Finally, he rose to his feet and looked at his friend. “I should have checked the equipment that morning.”
“You can’t do everything yourself. It’s why we employ other people. Our only crime is that we trusted the wrong person.”
“What if we trust the wrong person again?” Because Rhett had to be the person responsible. They’d done the check on Cass, and there were no red flags. Buck wouldn’t have done this to himself.
“It could happen.” Colt lifted a shoulder. “But what are we supposed to do? Not trust anyone?”
Yeah, that was exactly the way Noah was leaning. “Can I ask you something?” It wasn’t on the topic of the park, but the question had been in his head every damn second of every day since that appointment with Toby.
“Anything.”
“Do you think it’s fair to Addie to start a relationship with her after what happened to me?”
Colt frowned. “Why wouldn’t it be?”
“My therapist thinks I should do more work on myself first. And I keep going back and forth on whether he’s right.
On one hand, she helps me. And fuck, I care about her so much.
But there have been a couple of times where…
” He stopped, his heart suddenly thumping violently in his chest at the memories.
“Where what?” his friend asked quietly.
“I almost hurt her during flashbacks. I thought I was back in the military. The first time, I put my fingers around her throat. At the bar, I shoved her. Then the first night she stayed at my place, I was having a nightmare, and I just jumped up and grabbed her. She didn’t even touch me.”
A rustling noise sounded near the trees, and Noah and Colt shot their heads up as Jules stepped out.
The older woman cringed. “Sorry. I, uh, was just looking for a photo of mine. I lost it. I think the wind blew it out of my van into the forest. Have you seen anything?”
Noah shook his head. “I haven’t, sorry, Jules.”
“Me neither,” Colt said.
“That’s okay. Thanks.” Jules gave them a tight smile before walking away.
“Can I tell you what I think?” Colt said, once it was just the two of them again.
“You probably will anyway.”
“When you’re with her, you’re more relaxed than you are with anyone else.”
“Yeah, she’s good for me. But am I good for her?”
Colt lifted a shoulder. “That’s her choice. It sounds like you haven’t scared her away just yet. Maybe she can handle you.”
Handle him…like he was a weight. A burden. Colt hadn’t meant it like that, but it didn’t make the thought any less real.
His phone vibrated with a text.
Addie: Don’t kill me, but I was going crazy at home so I decided to pop into work for a bit. Just got here. But don’t worry, I’ll lock the doors.
“Dammit.”
Colt stepped closer. “What?”
“Addie just got here.”
“Why?”
“She doesn’t like working from home.” He shoved his cell back into his pocket.
“Come on, let’s get this stuff packed away and you can go see her.”
Noah lifted the harnesses. When he dropped it back into the box, a wooden plank at the bottom rattled.
What the hell?
He looked closer to see that the edges were warped. Then he reached inside, and sure enough, with a tug, it lifted off.
He cursed when he saw what was underneath.
“What?” Colt glanced over his shoulder. “Shit!”
Noah pulled his cell from his pocket and hit Jesse’s name.
His cousin answered immediately. “Noah, hey, I was just going to call you.”
“Colt and I found the battery acid.”
There was a heavy pause. “Where?”
“Under a plank of wood in the storage box beside the climbing wall. It’s a small container, a couple ounces.”
“Jesus.” Wind blew over the line. “Okay. I’m coming down there now. Also, I was calling to tell you that we can’t find Rhett.”
Noah straightened and put the call on speaker. “What do you mean, you can’t find Rhett?”
Colt stepped closer to the phone before Jesse continued. “We went to his house this morning. He wasn’t there, and his roommate told us he hadn’t come home last night.”
“Why were you looking for him?” Colt asked.
“Buck called us because he remembered something.”
Noah’s chest tightened. “What?”
“The morning he, Rhett, and Cass were setting up, the chalk bag was missing. He and Cass left Rhett alone with the equipment for about ten minutes to find it.”
The fuck? “Why didn’t Cass say anything?”
“According to Buck, the two of them have been in an on-and-off relationship. So, she—”
“Could have been covering for him,” Colt finished, scrubbing a hand over his face. “What a fucking mess.”
Another staff member they couldn’t trust. Just what they needed.
Noah opened his mouth to respond when a sudden scream pierced the air. It sounded far away, but both Noah and Colt’s heads jerked up.
“What the hell was that?” Colt asked.
“Addie.” Her name had barely left Noah’s lips before he was running.
Addie shoved her phone back into her pocket. There was no way Noah was happy she was here and not locked in his house. But she’d been going stir-crazy at home. Literally, if she’d sat there and looked at the same four walls a second longer, she would have completely lost her mind.
It sounded dramatic. It wasn’t. It was an accurate account of what would have happened.
A few other cars were scattered throughout the lot. Noah’s truck. Colt’s Audi. Jules’s red convertible. Even Cass’s Ford.
With Buck injured and Rhett no longer an employee, everyone was going to have to pull longer hours. Addie had already canceled quite a few sessions.
It sucked. But it wasn’t forever. They’d find the person behind the tampering. They’d hire more staff. Everything would be okay.
She crossed the parking lot to the cabin.
Even though there were people around, the door was locked. Not a surprise. Noah and Colt were the only ones who might need access to bookings and computers.
She stepped inside and locked the door behind her. The second she entered her office, a stench thickened the air. It wasn’t strong but definitely noticeable, kind of like spoiled meat.
Argh. What was that? Had she left food somewhere?
She scanned the room but didn’t see anything. Maybe in the kitchen.
Quickly, she dropped her bag to the desk before reaching for the window lock.
She frowned. It wasn’t locked.
How long had it been unlocked? She never opened the windows, because she didn’t want to turn into an ice block. Which also meant, she rarely checked it.
Wait.
She ran her fingers over the lock. Broken. Someone had broken the lock.
The knock on the outer door made her jump. She gave one more glance at the unlocked window before she made her way into the front area to see Jules and Cass outside. She unlocked the door. “Hi.”
Jules smiled and stepped inside. “Hey, Addie.”
Cass followed, only to stop and wrinkle her nose. “What the heck is that?”
“You can smell it too?”
“Can I smell death warmed up? Yes.”
Addie frowned. “Something must have been left to spoil in the kitchen.” She turned and headed back into the office, the click of Jules’s and Cass’s steps close behind her.
She tugged open the door to the kitchen—only to freeze.
Every muscle in her body, every inch of skin, it all went cold, and a buzzing filled her ears. The smell was so thick now that, for a moment, she thought she’d be sick. Or maybe that was because of the vision in front of her.
Rhett.
Cass’s horrified scream cut through the air like a blade, and Jules’s gasp was nearly as loud. Addie opened her mouth but no sound came out. It was like her very voice had been stolen.
Rhett lay on his back and his sweatshirt was soaked in blood. Blood that had spilled onto the white tiles beneath him. But it was his eyes that made her want to lean over and throw up her breakfast. They were open and completely empty.
Dead. Rhett was dead.
“What’s that?” Jules whispered.
Addie followed her gaze to the wall beside him.
That’s when her knees buckled.
Someone caught her before she hit the floor, but she didn’t look away from the sentence. Each word was written in blood. Rhett’s blood.
You should have heeded my warning.