Chapter 1 - THE RED BUTTON
Jason slammed the control lever downward, and the chain above me screamed.
The safety sling dropped several inches.
My shoes hovered over the pale vapor rising from the industrial tank beneath me.
“Apologize,” Jason said, smiling. “Or keep going down.”
I wrapped both arms around my seven-month belly as tightly as the straps allowed.
The baby kicked beneath my torn beige shirt.
Alive.
Still alive.
Michael stood beside the tool cabinet with his phone raised.
His face had gone pale, but the red recording light remained on.
Tyler stood behind him, no longer laughing.
I stared directly at Michael.
“Don’t stop recording.”
Jason’s smile disappeared.
He stepped away from the control box.
“Give me that phone.”
Michael backed up.
“I think this has gone far enough.”
“You don’t get to think.”
Jason lunged toward him.
For one second, the control box was unguarded.
I swung my body left.
The sling twisted.
The chain rattled above me.
I swung again, harder.
Pain tore across my ribs.
My right foot struck the red emergency stop button.
The hoist jerked to a violent halt.
The straps cut into my shoulders, but I was no longer descending.
Jason spun toward me.
His face changed.
Not fear.
Calculation.
Then bright headlights swept through the workshop windows.
An engine stopped outside.
Tyler looked toward the bay door.
“Jason.”
The side entrance unlocked with a heavy metallic click.
A silhouette appeared beyond the opening.
Jason froze between me and the control box.
Michael kept filming.
The door moved inward.
The stranger stepped into the light.
Tall.
Gray coat.
One gloved hand holding a black folder.
Jason whispered a name I had not heard in eleven years.
“Daniel?”
My heart stopped.
Daniel Cross had been declared dead before Jason ever met me.
The stranger lifted his face.
May you like
It was not Daniel.
But he was wearing Daniel’s wedding ring.
