Chapter 5 - The Meeting At The Cliff Was A Trap
The message arrived Saturday morning.
Come alone if you care about Lily.
Location attached.
North overlook.
Claire’s heart dropped.
Lily saw the map and started crying instantly.
“Don’t go, Mommy.”
Claire called Daniel.
No answer.
Called Vanessa.
Nothing.
Called Maya.
Voicemail.
Claire should have waited for police.
She knew that later.
But fear moves faster than procedure.
She drove.
Lily begged not to go.
Claire promised she would keep her safe.
They parked near the overlook.
Wind battered the car.
Claire reached back to unbuckle Lily.
Then the passenger-side rear door suddenly opened.
Vanessa.
Claire had barely turned before Vanessa pulled Lily out.
Everything happened too fast.
Claire lunged after them.
Vanessa ran toward the cliff.
By the time Claire reached the open rock, Lily was already trapped against her stepmother.
Then came the threat.
The rescue.
The slap.
The shove.
The fall.
And Daniel’s smile above them.
But Claire and Lily did not hit the ocean.
Twenty feet below the cliff edge, a narrow rock shelf caught them.
Claire struck hard on one side.
Her ankle twisted brutally.
Her shoulder slammed into stone.
But Lily remained in her arms.
Still crying.
Still alive.
May you like
That sound was the most beautiful thing Claire had ever heard.
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