Chapter 1: The Woman at the Bottom of the Cliff
The first thing I heard wasn't silence.
It was the sharp crack of helicopter blades.
Daniel had calculated everything.
The weather.
The isolated trail.
The height.
The impact.
What he hadn't known was that the valley below wasn't empty.
It belonged to Blackstone Ridge Rescue—a private wilderness search-and-rescue training facility operating on land owned by my family's foundation.
I hit the tops of several pine trees before crashing into one of the massive inflatable emergency airbags rescue crews had positioned for a high-angle extraction exercise.
The impact shattered my left arm.
Three ribs cracked.
My head slammed hard enough to leave me unconscious.
But I was alive.
"Female victim!" someone shouted.
"Pulse!"
"We've got a pulse!"
Voices echoed around me.
"Neck stabilized."
"Get the trauma kit."
"Call the helicopter now!"
Forty minutes later...
I opened my eyes inside the emergency trauma unit.
Everything hurt.
Machines beeped steadily beside me.
A doctor leaned over.
"Mrs. Carter?"
I blinked.
"You survived something almost impossible."
The memories returned all at once.
Daniel.
The overlook.
The strangers.
The push.
I grabbed the doctor's wrist.
"My husband..."
The words barely came out.
"He tried to kill me."
The room went completely still.
The sheriff standing near the doorway looked at me carefully.
"Can you prove that?"
I slowly nodded.
"My phone..."
One of the rescuers handed it over.
"I activated emergency recording."
Months earlier, after finding the insurance documents, I had installed an app that automatically began recording whenever I pressed the side button three times.
The audio was still there.
Every second.
Daniel laughing.
One of the men asking,
"You sure she'll die?"
Daniel answering calmly.
"Gravity never leaves witnesses."
No one in the room spoke.
The sheriff quietly removed his hat.
"I think," he said, "your husband just signed his own prison sentence."
Meanwhile...
Daniel stood at the top of the cliff.
He checked his expensive watch.
"They should've called by now."
One of the hired men finally radioed.
His voice sounded strangely shaken.
"Boss..."
"What?"
"...She's gone."
Daniel smiled.
"Good."
A long pause followed.
Then another sentence.
"But..."
"...we've got a problem."
The radio went dead.
Daniel frowned.
For the first time that day...
May you like
He felt afraid.
