Cody reached his hand slowly to his waist and unbuckled his seat belt. “Here’s the plan. We’re going to carefully open our doors, then jump as far as you can. Be ready to grab onto anything you can to haul yourself up to the road. Got it?”

My “yes” was barely audible as it floated from my mouth.

I unbuckled my seat belt, unlocked the door, then together we counted down:

Three. The age of my youngest child.

Two. The number of children waiting at home for me to get out of this alive.

One. The number of breaths I took before I leapt as far as adrenalin would carry me, until my body slammed against rock and broken asphalt. The impact shot a grunt from my throat. Dirt stung my eyes. Sticks jabbed my legs. Sharp pebbles cut my hands. But never had dirt and sticks and pebbles felt so good. I clawed my way up the hill, nails digging into the earth, the keratin ripping as I hauled 134 pounds of bone, fat, and muscle to the safety of the flat road. My cheek scraped against the ground, and my forehead throbbed like it had split open. But I was alive!

The car wobbled beside me, blocking my view of the driver’s side.

“Cody?” I screamed. “Did you make it?”

Only the long call of a whippoorwill answered. I waited for a reply. Any sign that he had survived.

“Cody?” I called again.

The car’s rear shocks squeaked ominously as the nose tipped a little further, then leveled out again. My arms had moved past pain as I pushed myself up, rose to my feet, and stumbled my way around the trunk of the car.

Cody was nowhere to be found. I ran to the car, but it was too dark to see inside it. A rustle of leaves somewhere along the ground joined my heavy breaths.

Then a voice, just below my feet as Cody yelled, “I’m okay!”

I dropped to my knees and grabbed at his wrists, anchoring my feet and legs to drag his body weight up the cliff. One last tug propelled him to my side.

We were safe…for now. Or else we were in very real danger.

Chapter 18

Chapter 18

Marin

I hadn’t seen Felicity for two days. While the bruises she had left on my arms were fading, her vitriol toward me was fully charged. She refused to speak to me, and I couldn’t blame her. I only heard bits and pieces from Cody about the investigation into the dead body the police had found. No one else would utter a word. Too many suspicions were growing, too many secrets unearthed, too many harsh words exchanged. Pain feasted on the family like a flesh-eating bacteria.