Chapter 1 - THE EDGE
Emma Mercer realized her husband intended to kill her only when his hands struck her back.
There was no warning.
No final argument.
No confession.
Michael simply shoved.
Hard.
Emma’s boots lost their grip on the ice.
For one impossible second, she remained upright at the edge of the mountain, arms flailing, nine-month-pregnant body fighting gravity.
Then there was nothing beneath her.
“MICHAEL!”
She fell.
“OUR BABY!”
The world became white.
Snow.
Rock.
Sky.
Emma struck an icy shelf below the main cliff.
Pain ripped through her side.
She screamed.
Her hands immediately covered her enormous belly.
“Baby…”
Movement.
A kick.
Weak but there.
Emma sobbed.
“Please.”
Thirty feet above, two figures appeared.
Michael.
And Ashley.
The woman Emma had spent two years believing was her husband’s harmless business associate.
Ashley looked down.
Her face went white.
“She’s alive.”
Michael said nothing.
Ashley grabbed his sleeve.
“What if she’s alive?!”
Michael’s expression did not change.
“Not for long.”
Emma heard him.
That hurt almost more than the fall.
“Michael!”
He stepped away from the edge.
Emma screamed until her throat burned.
“PLEASE! SAVE MY BABY!”
No answer.
Snow thickened.
The icy shelf beneath her groaned.
Emma looked down.
A black ravine disappeared beneath drifting snow.
The ice cracked.
“No.”
Another crack.
She held her stomach.
“Hold on, baby.”
Tears froze against her cheeks.
“Mommy’s here.”
Then she heard something through the storm.
Rotors.
Emma looked upward.
A military helicopter emerged through the snow.
She began screaming.
“HELP!”
A rescue line descended.
A man in winter rescue gear came down through the blizzard.
Silver hair visible beneath his helmet.
Strong shoulders.
Commanding movements.
Emma tried to crawl toward him.
The ice broke.
Her body dropped.
She screamed.
A hand caught her wrist.
Emma slammed against the frozen cliff face.
Her legs hung over nothing.
The rescuer grunted as the cable swung.
“DON’T LET GO!”
Emma grabbed his arm.
Her other hand remained pressed against her belly.
“MY BABY!”
More ice collapsed beneath them.
The man tightened his grip.
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Emma looked into the terrified eyes of a stranger fighting to keep her alive.
And for reasons she could not understand, his face seemed more frightened than hers.
