Narrow Escape by Christy Barritt

CHAPTERONE

Natalie Whitehurst hearda noise and shot up in bed.

She glanced at her clock. It was barely past midnight.

Everything should be quiet at this hour. Her crew knew better than to wake her up.

Wasting no time, her feet hit the floor, and she tugged on a thick sweatshirt before grabbing her phone and her gun. She pulled on her work boots as she rushed toward her camper door.

Gripping her Sig, she threw the door open.

The inky black desert greeted her.

She thought she’d be used to this barren wilderness by now, but she wasn’t.

The darkness felt piercing, to say the least.

She climbed down the three metal steps from her trailer, stepped onto the dusty ground, and peered around. Cold late January air surrounded her, and she repressed a shiver.

No signs of movement caught her eye.

In front of her stood the partially built lodge she’d been charged with constructing for Vanishing Ranch. The project had broken ground two months ago, so they were just getting started.

She flipped on the flashlight atop her gun and shone the beam around her. “Hello?”

She hoped the sound had just been one of her workers. She had twenty men on her crew, and they were all living onsite in either modular homes or campers during construction.

Her boss had set up the lodging so the guys didn’t have to travel back and forth more than thirty minutes each day. Everyone on her team lived in the Tucson area, not out here in the desert of western Arizona.

Maybe one of them had a little too much to drink and wandered outside his camper.

In Natalie’s time working here, that hadn’t happened yet. But that didn’t mean it couldn’t.

She paused and continued listening.

No other sounds filled the night.

But she hadn’t imagined the noise.

Something had clanked, followed by a thump then a shuffle.

She took another step forward, her muscles still on edge.

She’d been in the military. Had gone into war zones. She knew how to handle herself in turbulent situations.

But that didn’t mean she wanted any trouble out here.

She’d taken this job precisely to get away from any turmoil. But, in truth, her turmoil was all inside her—and it was hard to escape from that.

The noise sounded again.

Almost as if something had fallen over.

In the lodge.

What if vandals had come out here? Someone had left some graffiti on their work trailer a couple of weeks ago. If the troublemakers came back again, Natalie wanted to catch them red-handed.

By the time she called the county sheriff, whoever was inside could be long gone.

Natalie didn’t want to wake up Charlie Soldier, her boss at Vanishing Ranch—and not just because the horse sanctuary was a mile away. Natalie had been entrusted with this job, and she tried to hold her own out here. She would call Charlie if it was an absolute emergency.

She walked toward the lodge and crossed the concrete at the front of the building.

The slab had been poured, the plumbing roughed in, and the framing was done. Just last week, they’d begun to plywood the walls and roof. This week they were working on some sheathing.

So far, they were making excellent time. But they still had a lot more work to do before this place was finished.

As she opened the door and stepped inside, the familiar scents of sawdust from freshly cut wood and gas from some of the equipment onsite surrounded her.

Darkness as thick as the desert soil closed in around her.

She realized she’d lowered her gun and jerked it back up.

The beam of her flashlight shone through the room, illuminating small dust and dirt particles in the air.

Though she could only see a few feet in front of her, she knew an unfinished, high-ceiling lobby stood before her.

And possibly an intruder.

“Who’s in here?” Natalie tried to sound strong, but she heard the strain in her voice.

She was rattled. She knew how quickly things could go south.

As she waited for a response, she rubbed the small tattoo on her ring finger with her thumb and lifted a silent prayer.

But there was no reply.

A few seconds later, a new noise sounded from the west wing. A soft thud.

Almost like a muffled footstep.

Still gripping the gun, Natalie skirted some of the expensive equipment that had been left out—valuable equipment that could be stolen if vandals got brave.

She paced toward the sound, ready to act if she needed to.

Surely, whoever was inside had heard her call out. They wouldn’t be taken by surprise.

But would she?

Her throat tightened at the thought.

She crossed the lobby and stepped toward the hallway, toward the wing of guest rooms. As she reached the first doorway, she cautiously turned toward it.

She scanned the unfinished space. It was roughly the size of a moderate hotel room, complete with its own bathroom. When the project was finished, the room would be fantastic.

As she shined her light on the plywood walls and wires dangling from the ceiling, a shuffling sounded behind her.

The next moment, someone tackled her. Pain ripped through her as her body collided with the wall.

As her gun flew from her hand, her head began to spin.

She had no time to compose herself before the shadow lunged at her again.

* * *

Joshua Madden hadn’t been able to sleep.

He’d been sitting outside his trailer in a camping chair, drinking a bottle of water and watching the dark desert, when he’d heard something.

He figured it was his boss, Natalie Whitehurst, checking the work at the lodge.

He’d been watching her since he’d arrived five days ago and knew the woman was a perfectionist. She often liked to inspect the worksite after hours to make sure all the construction tasks had been done correctly.

No one else on the crew did that.

In fact, most of the crew did the minimum expected of them and then returned to their trailers for the evening to relax and enjoy themselves. The nearest town was too far away to visit after hours, although the other guys did try to make trips on the weekends when they could.

Doing construction work out in the desert wasn’t easy or ideal, but the pay was good.

That’s why most of the crew had signed on.

But not Joshua.

No one could know his real reason for taking this job.

Not if he wanted to survive.

His muscles tightened at the thought.

He heard another noise and glanced toward the sound. Natalie opened the door to her camper and turned on a flashlight.

Wait . . . if she was just leaving her camper now, then what had that noise been?

He stiffened, trying not to jump the gun.

Instead, he watched Natalie a moment.

Beautiful Natalie with her honey blonde hair, smattering of freckles, and slim figure. If he had to guess, she was in her early thirties. At first glance she looked more like the type who might want to work an administrative job, yet she was out here.

Although she held her own, he’d still been shocked she was the general contractor on this project. Not that women couldn’t do these types of jobs. Not at all.

But usually, they chose other professions.

Natalie seemed tough but kind. Most of the guys on the crew respected her—although Joshua suspected that, at first, they’d probably had their doubts. However, from what he had observed so far, Natalie had earned their regard.

Joshua took another sip of his water, and his muscles tightened as he watched Natalie walking toward the lodge. Something about her tense, hunched stance sent up alarms.

This wasn’t just an inspection or a secret meeting, was it?

She thought something was wrong.

Joshua stood. He’d planned to keep his distance and stay out of trouble, but he couldn’t ignore the bad feeling in his gut.

Although Natalie seemed capable of handling herself, he didn’t like the idea of a woman facing danger alone.

He flipped on the flashlight on his phone and walked toward the lodge.

Just as he reached the front door, he heard shuffling inside. Then a shout.

A crash cut through the air.

Heavy footsteps echoed in the barren space.

Wasting no more time, Joshua darted inside and shone his flashlight around.

He didn’t see anyone in the lobby.

So where were those noises coming from?

As he heard a moan, he sprinted toward the sound.

He stopped in his tracks when he spotted two people wrestling in the hallway.

They slammed into the wall, backed up, and hit the other side.

Though it was dark and hard to make out anyone’s features, one of them was taller than the other. Bulkier.

One man. One woman.

“Get away from me!”

Joshua recognized Natalie’s voice.

The next instant, the man backhanded her.

Instincts kicked in, and Joshua dropped his phone as he lunged toward them. “What do you think you’re doing?”

The assailant froze—but only temporarily.

Then the man shoved Natalie toward Joshua.

She slammed into him, nearly knocking Joshua off his feet.

The intruder darted in the opposite direction.

Joshua gripped Natalie’s arm as he stared at her through the darkness. “Are you okay?”

She touched her bloody lip before nodding. “I’m . . . fine.”

“Then I’ll be back.”

“Joshua, no . . . you don’t have to.” Concern laced her voice.

He barely heard her.

Instead, he sprinted after the man.

But the guy had a head start.

By the time Joshua reached the back of the lodge and rushed outside, the man had jumped onto a motorized dirt bike. Seconds later, the bike’s buzz filled the air as the vehicle zoomed into the darkness.

Joshua stared after the intruder, knowing there was no way he could catch the guy now.

Just who had that man been? What was he doing inside the lodge?

If someone had come to steal equipment or tools, they would’ve needed to bring a vehicle to transport them, not a motorcycle.

Joshua didn’t like the possible implications of this, and he prayed that tonight’s intruder hadn’t been trying to find . . . him.