Chapter 2 - THE SPLIT-SECOND MIRACLETime seemed to stretch, bending under the immense pressure of life and death.
Victoria’s SUV roared forward, tires churning up dust and loose stones as it closed the distance toward Daniel’s exposed back. He couldn't turn around; if he released his grip on Elena’s wrist for even a fraction of a second, the plunging sedan would plummet into the rocky sea. He was completely vulnerable—a sitting target for his stepmother’s murderous resolve.
Elena saw the oncoming headlights cutting through the dim twilight. Her eyes widened in absolute terror.
"Daniel! Behind you!" she shrieked.
Just as Victoria’s bumper was a mere three feet away from striking Daniel’s spine, a deafening roar pierced the air from the opposite direction—a sound like a low-flying jet engine.
SCREEECH—BOOM!
A matte-black military-grade recovery truck slammed into the side of Victoria’s SUV at nearly sixty miles per hour. The massive impact sent Victoria’s vehicle spinning violently away from the cliff edge, smashing hard against a massive boulder and shattering every window into a million glittering shards.
Victoria screamed as her head slammed against the steering column, her airbag deploying with a violent pop that knocked the wind completely out of her lungs.
From the driver’s seat of the recovery truck, a towering figure kicked open the door and stepped out onto the asphalt. It was Marcus, Daniel’s fiercely loyal head of security and a former special forces operative. He casually cracked his knuckles, his expression as cold as ice.
"Going somewhere, Mrs. Vance?" Marcus called out, his voice dripping with venom. "Traffic laws are strictly enforced on this private road."
Back at the edge, the sudden jolt of the nearby crash caused the hanging sedan to lurch violently downward another foot. Metal groaned in protest, and a shower of loose rocks rained into the dark abyss.
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"Daniel!" Elena cried out, sliding further down the tilted dashboard as the car tilted at a terrifying sixty-degree angle. "The cable... it’s snapping!"
Daniel planted his boots deeper into a crevice in the rock, ignoring the searing pain tearing through his shoulders. With a primal roar born of pure adrenaline, he yanked upward with all his remaining strength, pulling Elena and the baby toward the safety of the ridge just as the sedan broke free of its last remaining twig-like root and vanished into the darkness below.
