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I regain my senses, my balance, and my purpose, then spin around in search of Ava. Blinded by the torrential rain and the black-out, I don’t see her. But she can’t be far.
Dizzy, I take a few staggering steps to the left when I trip again and go sliding across the hard wet surface, this time landing spreadeagled on the ground and smashing my face. Stars circle my eyes as red-hot liquid pours from my nostrils. It hurts so much. Tonguing the metallic tang, I think I’ve broken my nose. The knife still in my grasp, my left hand clutches a hard, slick small object.
One of the pool table balls.
Goddamn Ava! She booby-trapped me!
Once again, I manage to rise. It takes all my strength to conquer the relentless forces of the storm. Regain my balance. Winded, I feel dizzier, more unsteady than before.
Though I can’t pinpoint my location nor see beyond the mile-high cliffside property, a sudden wave of vertigo sweeps over me.
I swallow it back. I can’t let my fear of heights get in the way of my mission.
Adrenaline pumps through my veins.
And some greater force consumes me. Pure unadulterated hatred.
Then a flash of lightning…
I see her.
FIFTY-SIX
AVA
“Ava, you’re going to pay!” Marley cries out.
Shit. She hasn’t slipped and cracked her head. Or fallen into the pool and drowned.
As she claws her way to me, the final scene of my plan plays out in my head. One of us, or both of us, is going to end up dead.
Narrowly having escaped the flying umbrella, I reach the end of the property. My heart racing. My breath aflutter. All that separates me from the mile-high drop is a veil of rain. And a few inches.
The rain pounding, the wind howling, I stand still as a statue waiting for her. Holding my breath. The iron poker hidden behind my back, I hear footfalls.
She finds me.
Illuminated by the sliver of moonlight, a blood-streaked Marley stands before me. In her drenched, sullied sweats, the hood of her black sweatshirt pulled over her head, she looks frightening. Fearless to my fearful. The rain beats down upon us. We’re about three feet apart. Her left hand is lodged in a pocket, the other hidden behind her.
“Give me my baby! My Miabel!”
“Don’t shoot,” I shout, raising my palm, my voice loud but calm. I’m not sure if she still has the gun. “Give me a second to get her out of the carrier.”
Marley’s waterlogged eyes don’t blink as she watches me loosen the side straps. Keeping one hand on the baby, careful to support her head, I pull the carrier over my head. With both hands, I hold the baby close to my chest.
“Give her to me! Now!” she roars.
I stare her in the face. “Yes, Marley, she’s yours.”
The whites of Marley’s eyes go wide as I hurl the baby into the air.
FIFTY-SEVEN
MARLEY
I scream as I scramble to catch the tiny airborne lifeform. Terror seizes every cell of my being.
Letting go of the knife, I fall to my torn, burning knees and manage to save my baby in the nick of time. Just before she lands on the hard, slick ground and cracks open her skull.
