She glanced over her shoulder to see him running toward her from the house. God, he was close.
He was pointing a gun at her head.
She had to get to the gun hidden in the pines.
No time.
She dove down to the ground even as a bullet whistled past her head.
Another bullet. A different sound…
The thunk of a bullet against flesh. She looked back to see Molino stagger, blood blossoming from the wound in his chest, the gun dropped from his hand, but he was still coming.
'Run, Megan,' Harley called from the pine trees. 'He's too close to you. I can't get a good shot.'
'Cheat me. You're trying to cheat me.' Molino was on top of her, his hands closing on her throat. 'Steven won't let you cheat. Butcher you…'
Another shot. Molino flinched as the bullet hit his arm.
Megan pushed desperately and he fell off her and to the side.
But he grabbed her and rolled her over to only a few feet from the edge of the cliff. 'Butcher you. Butcher all the… freaks.'
She fought desperately, panic surging through her. He was going to push her over. He shouldn't have been this strong. But it was as if the bullets had not even touched him. If she'd only been able to reach that gun hidden in the pines.
No gun.
But she had another weapon.
'It won't be in time,' she gasped. 'Your Steven can't help you. My mother killed him.' She freed one hand and reached out to him. 'Do you know what it's like to go mad? Talk to Steven. I'm going to touch you, Molino.'
He froze and stared at her hand as if it was a cobra arched to strike.
'Are you afraid? You should be. You killed my mother and she wants you dead. Even if I'm not a Pandora, she can act through me. After all, I'm a freak. You know all about freaks, don't you?' She caressingly touched his cheek.
He screamed, his eyes rolled back in his head. 'No!' He scrambled backward. 'Freak. Monster.'
'You're the monster.' She crawled closer to him. Only two more feet and he'd be over the edge. 'You're going to die, Molino. Do you think madness and suffering follow people into the grave? I hope so.'
'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
