Iris Johansen - Pandora's Daughter

"Get away from me." He scooted closer to the edge. "Don't get near me."

"But I want to touch you. Let me do it. I want to hold your hand." She lunged forward with her hand outstretched.

He screamed and fell backward over the cliff.

But he grabbed her arm as he fell.

She was sliding, slipping, pulled over the edge after him. "Steven…" Molino gasped. "He won't let me die. We're going to-"

He screamed as his grasp on her arm loosened and he fell.

SHE WAS SLIPPING!

Megan's nails dug frantically into the narrow crevices in the rough stone.

Don't fall. Don't let Molino win.

Her feet were braced on a slight dirt outjutting on the sheer wall, but the dry dirt beneath her shoes was crumbling, giving away, as she scrambled to get a purchase where there was none.

Her fingers were tearing, bleeding.

"Hold on." Harley's face was peering over the cliff above her. "I'm scooting as far as I can on my belly. I'm going to grab your right wrist and try not to unbalance you."

Hope.

He reached down once. "I can't reach you." He wriggled closer. "Grady's running like hell from the house. We're not going to let you fall, Megan."

If they could get to her in time.

She slipped another inch down the cliff as the dirt continued to crumble. Her arms pulled taut, but she held on.

"God in heaven, just a few inches more…" Harley was straining down toward her. He couldn't reach her. He tried once. Twice.

On the third attempt his hand clamped on her right wrist. "Got you."

The earth hillock crumbled entirely away from her feet.

She was falling!

"Help-me." Harley was holding her by one wrist as she dangled over the abyss. "Grab. I can't do it alone."

Her fingers closed blindly on his wrist.

"Megan, give me your other hand." It was Grady kneeling beside Harley and reaching out to her. "Don't you dare fall."

"Shut up." She gasped. She reached out with her left hand. "I'm doing the best I can."

"And it's a good best." He leaned over and grabbed her left hand with both of his. "It's a damn wonderful best. Now hold on a little longer while we pull you up."

Her arms felt as if they were being jerked from the sockets as the two men pulled her slowly up the cliff. It took at least three minutes before they were able to get her entire upper body on solid ground.

"My God." Grady voice was hoarse. He was suddenly holding her, rocking her. His heart was beating as hard as her own. "My God."

Life. She had been so close to losing it, losing him.

She was holding him with all her strength as she lay there, eyes closed, trying to get her breath.

"Okay?" Grady whispered against her cheek.

She opened her lids to see Grady and Harley kneeling beside her. She pushed Grady away and then pulled him back again. Not yet. She didn't want to let him go. "No, I'm scared and I'm feeling very vulnerable right now."

"You should feel vulnerable," Harley grinned. "Flying isn't most people's strong point." He crawled to the edge of the cliff and looked down to the valley. "It certainly wasn't Molino's. He's lying down there like a broken Chucky doll." He got to his feet. "But in the movies evil Chucky always came back from the dead." He turned and moved toward the road. "I think I'll go down to make sure that there's no way he'll bounce back."

Megan knew what he meant. "I know he's down there." She stood up and moved to the edge of the cliff. "But I want to see for myself."

Grady was beside her, steadying her. "Molino's no Chucky. No one could survive that fall."

"I know that with my mind. But Molino has been the bogeyman for too long. I can't believe he's not going to always be there in the shadows." She stared down at the bottom of the cliff. There he was, lying spread-eagled on the rocks.

A broken Chucky doll, Harley had called him.

Monster.

Someone was coming out of the brush and walking toward Molino. Venable? Harley?

No, Renata. She should have known Renata would have the same instinct as Harley to be sure that Molino was dead.

"Satisfied?" Grady asked.

She nodded. "I think I am. I'm pretty numb right now. I can't sort out how I feel. I'll worry about it later." She didn't want to think of death. She had been too close to it for too long. She needed hope and life. "Get me to Bellehaven. I have to check on Phillip and Davy."

"DEAD?"

Renata looked up from where she was kneeling beside Molino to see Harley walking toward her. She nodded. "Broken neck, one shot in the chest, one in the arm, and his head must have hit the rocks. We don't have to worry about him any longer."

"You didn't have to worry about him at all." He stopped beside her. "I was on my way to confirm his death." He smiled. "Oh, that's right. That would have meant you had to trust someone besides yourself."

"I think I would have-I'm just used to doing as I've been trained." She got to her feet. "And it was Molino. That's why I didn't come running after you and Grady pulled Megan back over the ledge. I had to get down here and make sure. There couldn't be a mistake."

"I don't make many mistakes, Renata," he said quietly.

"No, you don't." She stood looking at him. "Of course you could have done better shooting the bastard."

"I was almost a thousand yards away. And she was too close to him."

"Well, on the whole, I suppose you did very well today."

He chuckled. "Lord, I feel as if I've been awarded a gold medal." He tilted his head. "Except I've never seen a judge who was as beat up as you are. You look like you've been rolling in dirt, that blasted wound is bleeding again, and you have a bruise on your cheekbone." He reached out and touched her cheek. "Molino?"

"Condon, one of his men." She took a step back so that his hand fell away.

"Cousin Mark should have taught you to take better care of yourself."

She shrugged. "Mark says the first rule of safety is to do the job and not to get involved. I didn't play by the rules."

"For which Megan is no doubt very grateful."

"Why? I should have found Molino before he got his hands on her. I did a lousy job."

"Oh, yes. I can see it was entirely your fault."

"I would have done better if I hadn't let emotion throw me off-kilter." She turned and headed for the path leading up to the cliff. "I've got to go see Megan and then call Mark and tell him about Molino."

"Just look at you. You're even limping."

She glanced over her shoulder to see Harley watching her with a frown. "I'm fine. Mind your own business."

"It is my business." He moved after her. "Megan wouldn't like it if I let you try to make it up the cliff alone. You know how softhearted she is. She's gone through enough today. Let me clean you up before she sees you." He slid his arm around her waist. "Come on. You've leaned on me before and it wasn't so bad."

Why not? She was hurting and experiencing a hollowness that could be… loneliness. It was probably the last time that she would need to take help from Harley or any of them. She'd be on her own again.

"You're right; Megan is much too softhearted." She leaned against him. "But I wouldn't want to make her feel bad…"

"HOW IS HE?"

Megan turned to see Renata standing in the doorway of Phillip's hospital room. "Not good." She shrugged wearily. "Or maybe he's not so bad. They still have all kind of tests to make, but the specialists here don't believe his condition deteriorated irreparably while Molino had him. It's just that I was hoping Gardner was right and I'd be able to see some sign of him coming out of it."

"No luck?"

She shook her head. "But maybe it will come later. Who knows if Phillip understood anything about what was happening to him. Maybe he suffered some kind of shock that caused a setback."