"You can't be serious," said Tony when Louis remained in zombie mode.
"I'll take your silence as a yes, Louis, and you," she lifted her gun and pointed it at Tony. "With you, there's no need to wait. The woman that's corrupted your mind and turned you against your family can die now."
Angel span with the gun. Gasping in horror and fear, Abbie mimicked Gray and took a step back. And with the same result.
She screamed as the ground disappeared from beneath her, and with her eyes fixed on Angel's victorious smile, she dropped towards the ocean.
Twenty-Eight
Abbie fell.
The sea was only thirty feet below. Abbie had only a couple of seconds to get this right.
Back on the balcony, when Angel had met Abbie's eye, Abbie had formed her plan. She could see rage in Alice's eldest daughter. She knew Angel believed Alex and Tony had betrayed her and could see, for a twisted individual such as Angel, only one outcome would suffice as punishment.
Angel had pointed the gun at Tony but was always going to shoot Abbie. Getting shot was never fun. When the force of the bullet would throw you from a cliff into an ocean that wanted to smash you against the rocks, it became even less appealing. There had to be another way.
Abbie could have turned, jumped from the cliff, and almost guaranteed her safety from the initial fall. But Angel would know she was probably alive. Pedro wasn't far away. A team could be sent to retrieve her.
The alternative was far riskier. Pretending to be caught unawares by the shot and collapsing down the cliff face would deter Angel from sending a search party.
Why? Because it was dangerous. Toppling this close to the rocks meant almost certain death for anyone caught unawares by the fall.
Abbie had not been caught unawares. Her chances still weren't fantastic.
Abbie fell. She was on her back. Instantly, she pulled her legs in, kicked them out, and angled her head down.
Her feet hit the cliff.
Then her head hit the water.
She'd managed to angle her body so she didn't smack the water as a plank, which would have been hideously painful. But neither had she nailed the pencil dive.
A spasm of pain shot through her neck, and her cheeks burned as though someone had landed an almighty slap across both sides of her face.
Down she sunk, but the tide was already dragging her towards the rocks. She kicked out, hoping to swim. Her foot must have slipped into a gap between the rocks because something smashed her ankle, and pain raced up her leg.
The tide came again. Abbie kicked with her other foot, but the water was like a hand. It grabbed her body and spun her, hurled her towards the cliff. Turning, Abbie lifted her hands. Her palms hit the rocks. She released a silent scream as her right hand came into contact with something jagged, unrelenting.
Her chest came to the cliff. One ankle still throbbing, Abbie raised her legs and kicked away. She needed all the strength she could muster to keep beneath the water but swim along the rocks. With the pain in her face, her lower leg, her hand, it was tough to keep going. She looked on the bright side. With a bullet in her intestines, she would have stood no chance.
She thought about Gray and Ariana but pushed them from her mind. Even at full strength, she wouldn't have dived to the ocean floor to see if she could find them. Several minutes had passed since they had fallen. Gray would never have survived. If Ariana hadn't escaped the water's clutches by now, she would have drowned. Alice would want her daughter retrieved, even if there was only a lifeless corpse to return. Abbie wouldn't risk her life for the dead.
On she went. Keeping close to the rocks but fighting the tide. It was draining. The exertion was made more difficult by the lack of air in her lungs and her injuries.
Abbie's chest was pounding, her head beginning to swim. Some subconscious force was begging her to take a breath, though there was no oxygen to inhale.
The water pulled Abbie into the rocks again. This time it was her shoulder that took the brunt of the blow and the pain.
It was agony, but it woke Abbie up. She'd been drifting but forced herself to focus. To carry on.
Her lungs were going to explode. No way would she allow herself to drown.
Using what felt like the last of her strength, she angled up. The tide bashed her leg into the rocks, and she screamed. Water flooded her throat; panic sensed its opportunity to set in, to take dominion of her body.
This would have been a pyrrhic victory for panic, seeing as Abbie would have died shortly after. Luckily, she fought it. Choking on water, dying of suffocation, Abbie forced herself towards the surface, kicking, kicking, kicking. She was never going to make it.
The world began to fade. The pain started to dim... it was all over.
She broke the surface. Opening her mouth, she stole a massive dose of air and immediately collapsed back beneath the water.
The tide attempted to drag her down. It wanted her to see the ocean floor. But the oxygen boost had revived Abbie's mental faculties and added to her strength. This time, she wasn't going close to giving up.
Ignoring the pain and exhaustion, she kicked and kicked and broke free of the water.
The tide still wanted her. She turned as it dragged and shoved her against the cliffs.
Above the water's surface, this was easier to handle. Abbie's knees bashed the rocks, and more pain shot through her legs, but Abbie ignored it. Still weak, she clung to the cliff, holding herself up. Taking in deep breath after deep breath, Abbie waited for her head to clear.
Looking up, Abbie could make out the balcony and the point from which she'd
