Chapter 5 - The Story Michael Told
The helicopter lifted Emma from the ledge.
Daniel rose with her, one hand stabilizing her harness while the secured rope carried them upward.
He never let her spin.
He never allowed her body to strike the cliff.
Inside the helicopter, the silent flight specialist helped place Emma on a stretcher. Daniel secured her neck, checked the baby’s position through the blanket, and attached oxygen.
“Where are we going?” Emma asked.
“A medical center in Estes Park.”
“No.”
Daniel looked at her.
“Michael will be there.”
“You need emergency care.”
“He’ll finish what he started.”
Daniel’s face hardened.
“He won’t get near you.”
As the helicopter banked away from the cliff, Daniel spoke into his headset and requested law enforcement at the hospital.
Then the pilot relayed a message.
A pregnant woman had been reported missing by her husband forty minutes earlier.
Michael Carter told park rangers that Emma had become emotionally unstable after an argument. According to him, she had run from the vehicle near a dangerous overlook.
He claimed she had talked about harming herself.
Emma ripped off the oxygen mask.
“That’s a lie.”
Daniel replaced it gently.
“I know.”
“He’s making me look suicidal.”
“He planned this.”
The pilot continued transmitting the report.
Michael said Emma had suffered anxiety throughout her pregnancy. He produced prescription bottles from her purse and text messages in which she appeared distressed.
Emma’s eyes widened.
“I don’t take anxiety medication.”
Daniel understood immediately.
“He planted it.”
“And those messages weren’t mine.”
The helicopter specialist handed Daniel a tablet showing a news alert. Emma’s disappearance was already spreading online.
The headline described a distraught pregnant woman lost in the mountains while her devastated husband begged rescuers to bring her home.
A photograph showed Michael crying beside a ranger’s vehicle.
Evelyn Whitmore stood behind him, one hand on his shoulder.
Emma stared at the screen.
Michael’s grief looked perfect.
His hair was disheveled.
His jacket was torn.
There was blood on one sleeve.
“He cut himself,” Emma whispered.
“To make the struggle believable,” Daniel said.
Another detail appeared in the article.
Michael claimed Emma had taken his phone and run.
That meant he planned to deny having hers.
Daniel leaned closer.
“Where exactly was your phone when you fell?”
“In his coat pocket.”
“Was the recording automatic?”
“I activated emergency video by pressing the side button five times.”
“Would it upload?”
Emma thought of the safety settings she had installed for students at her school.
A copy should have been sent to her private cloud account.
But there was a problem.
“Michael changed all my passwords last week.”
Daniel’s eyes narrowed.
“He knew about the emergency function.”
Emma turned toward the window.
Below them, park vehicles moved along the mountain road.
One black SUV was heading away from the search area.
May you like
Michael’s SUV.
👉 While rescuers celebrated finding Emma, Michael was already racing to erase the only recording of her attempted murder.
