Chapter 2 - The Push
A deep groan rolled through the cliff.
The rescuer—who still had not given Emma his name—looked upward.
“Small slide,” he said. “We move now.”
The helicopter specialist lowered a secured harness, but Emma grabbed the man’s wrist.
“No.”
His eyes returned to hers.
“What did Michael lie about?”
“We’ll talk when you’re safe.”
“I’m not going anywhere with you until you tell me who you are.”
Another tremor moved beneath them.
Loose stones skipped across the ledge and vanished into the ravine.
The man’s jaw tightened.
“My name is Daniel Hayes.”
The name struck something inside Emma.
Not a memory.
A feeling.
She had heard it before, years ago, whispered during an argument between her adoptive parents.
Daniel positioned the harness beside her.
“We need to stabilize you first.”
Emma shook her head.
“Michael said no one would come.”
Daniel froze.
“What exactly did he say?”
Emma closed her eyes, and the final moments before the fall returned with brutal clarity.
She and Michael had driven into Rocky Mountain National Park that morning for what he called “one last peaceful day before the baby.”
Their marriage had been strained for months.
Michael controlled their money. He monitored her phone. He insisted she had become paranoid whenever she questioned unexplained withdrawals from their joint accounts.
At the overlook, he had suddenly asked about a letter she received from a law firm.
Emma told him she had not opened it.
He smiled.
Then he took her phone.
“Give me the envelope.”
When she refused, Michael’s softness disappeared.
He shoved her against the railing.
“You were supposed to stay ignorant.”
Emma fought him.
The railing was already damaged.
It snapped beneath her weight.
But Michael caught her wrist.
For one hopeful second, she believed he was saving her.
Then he leaned close.
“No one is coming for you.”
He peeled her fingers from his hand one by one.
Emma fell.
A lower outcrop broke the drop, but she rolled onto the ledge, tearing her dress and slamming her shoulder into the rock.
From above, Michael looked down at her.
She screamed his name.
He only said, “They’ll think you slipped.”
Then he walked away.
Daniel’s face went still as she finished.
Not shocked.
Not confused.
Furious.
“You’re sure he mentioned a letter?”
“Yes.”
“From what law firm?”
Emma opened her eyes.
“Bennett, Shaw and Pierce.”
Daniel looked toward the helicopter.
The professional calm in his face turned dangerous.
May you like
“That letter was from me.”
👉 And the document Michael tried to steal was worth far more than Emma could imagine.
