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ADELE

“What do you want?” Adele said, this time her voice loud, deeper.

She didn’t wait for an answer. She charged the strange figure in her path, roaring as loud as the thunder.

As she bolted forward, mud sucking at her feet, lightning flashing, the form stayed rooted. Fear, adrenaline seemed to slow time to a crawl. The person ahead of her raised his arms, yelled something. But she didn’t stop, kept moving until they came crashing together.

He didn’t yield and didn’t fight. Strong hands held her back, and her warrior’s yell died in her throat. The moment, the man came into focus.

Miller. For a moment, clear as day, she saw the face of her husband wearing that amused grin he used to flash at her when he thought she was being silly. She wanted to pummel him, to hold him tight, to rage, to weep.

But it wasn’t Miller. He hadn’t followed her here. He wasn’t as Agent Coben suggested, looking for a way to connect with her. He didn’t care. He’d left her, left their children, and never looked back.

“Easy there, tiger.” The voice was a grumble, barely audible in the weather.

Wild Cody stood drenched, still holding her wrists. She sagged with relief.

“You’re a badass, Adele Crane.”

“What are you doing out here?” she yelled against the rain.

“I thought you were calling for help,” he said. “I thought you were in trouble.”

“What happened to every man for himself ?”

He lifted his palms to the falling rain. “Well, I guess I’m as full of shit as everyone else around here.”

She almost laughed. Then the screaming started again.

“Let’s go,” she said, running toward the sound down a path that led to one of the other structures.

The roof of the farthest casita had collapsed, just as she suspected it might when she’d explored it last night. She had been able to tell, by the water stains and the constant dripping, that there was already standing water trapped above the ceiling and that heavy rain and more water might finally collapse the rotting wood. Buena Vista was the biggest by far and clung to the edge of the cliff, once upon a time, she was sure, offering the best view. It was mere feet from the rim, the volcanic lake glittering below.

Why do we have to try to own it? Her father used to marvel at houses built on the coasts, near the forests, on the cliffs. Don’t they know they don’t belong there?

Adele stood at the side open entrance where the doors used to be.

“Who’s there?” she called into the darkness, her voice taken by the wind.

Faintly, she heard an answer, gave a worried glance at the roof, then back to Cody, and raced inside with him behind her.

The floor was a pool of murky water pouring downhill to ward the cliff edge. She took the rope from her pack and with Cody’s help wrapped it around a pillar that didn’t seem quite secure but was their only option.

She tugged at it, and it seemed to hold. Then Cody fastened the rest of the rope around her waist, tying an expert knot.

“Where are you?” Adele called. The ceiling above them was gaping, water pouring down.

“Oh, my God, thank God. Here! The balcony! I can’t hold much longer. Please.”

Malinka.

Adele backed herself into the flow, with Cody holding the rope, watching the water pour over her feet, up to her calves, and getting deeper. She could only pray that the pillar would hold and that Cody was strong enough if it didn’t. Another flash of lightning, a hard crack of thunder that made the ground shake. Something got hit. Almost instantly she smelled smoke.

She backed toward the edge, keeping her gaze roving—the water, the ceiling, behind her.

There.

Malinka clung to what was left of the porch railing, water rushing past her, her body dangling over the edge.

“Adele!”

“I’m coming!”

She edged with the current toward Malinka. Just a few more feet. That’s when she saw that the whole porch was detaching from the house, about to plunge over the edge of the cliff and take Malinka with it.

Adrenaline still pulsing, Adele got on her knees and started reaching for Malinka, relying all her weight on Cody and the failing pillar.

“Can you reach for me?”

“I can’t ,” said the girl, panic clear on her pale face.

Adele could just see the top of her head and her eyes. Both of her hands grasped the wrought metal of the railing that was mostly missing. The entirety of her body weight was dangling. There was no way the girl was strong enough to pull herself up. And doing so might cause the whole porch to fall away.

Think. Think!

She rushed back against the current to Cody. “I can’t reach her.”

He untied the rope from the pillar, then grabbed another from his pack and tied it around her waist. “I’ll hold on to you. You throw her this.”

Was he strong enough to hold both her and Malinka against the rushing current of rainwater?

“Please! Adele! I’m falling.”

No time to decide.

Adele ran back to the porch, lay flat on the casita floor in the floodwater and flung the rope, Cody holding tight to the one that was attached to Adele. The lifeline draped over the side, the water rushing past her and over the edge.

“Reach for it!” Adele yelled.

“I can’t.” Horror and desperation pulled the girl’s voice taut.

Adele made her voice stern, like she was talking to one of her children. “Malinka, listen to me. You have to reach for it.”

Adele edged closer, feeling Cody’s strong grip on the rope. The porch creaked, the gap between it and the casita yawning wider, the structure groaning, water rushing.

“Just one hand,” she yelled again. “Malinka, please! The porch is falling.”

Malinka let go of a scream, and Adele saw one hand disappear, then she felt a hard tug on the rope around her waist. She grabbed onto it, felt Cody pulling her back.

“I got it,” Malinka called, her other hand still grabbing the metal railing.

“Okay,” Adele yelled. “Now the other hand. And I’ll start crawling back.”

She prayed that the knot Cody tied would hold. That she was strong enough to pull Malinka’s dangling weight back from the precipice. That Cody was strong enough for both of them.

What were the chances the girl could hold on to the rope? In the rain?

Maybe. Maybe she could do it if she was really a climber. Adele’s father had always said that extreme survival often came down to being able to dangle by your fingertips. The full-body strength that was required to do that was very rare. It wasn’t just about hand strength. It was upper body. It was core.

Malinka’s other hand disappeared.

She imagined the girl falling, listening to her anguished scream as she plummeted to her death. Instead, the rope jerked hard. Adele felt it dig into her waist and back, pulling tight, burning her skin with friction. She reached forward to grab the rope with both hands, bringing her hips back to stabilize herself.

“I got it!” Malinka called over the edge, voice high with strain.

“I’m pulling.”

Adele used all her strength, feeling the rope jerking as the girl tried to climb. The porch whined, wanting to fall. If it did, they were both going over. This was it. She saved Malinka, or they both died. Right here in this place, right now.

She thought of Violet and Blake, everything that had been taken from them. Her heart nearly burst with grief, anguish. Her kids. Her babies. How was she getting back to them from where she was right now?

Fight. Win.

Another surge of adrenaline; she pulled harder.

Then Malinka let out a scream of effort, and Adele saw the top of her head again. She was doing it. Then she was slipping, her weight pulling Adele with her.

“I can’t!” she wailed.

“Malinka! Yes. You. Can.”

The voice boomed in the night.

It wasn’t Adele. It was Cody. She almost sobbed with relief as he sat on top of her pinning her beneath his weight, stabilizing her. Then he reached over her head and grabbed for the rope. They both pulled together with all their strength.

The top of Malinka’s head. Then her shoulders. Them pulling, Malinka climbing, wailing with effort.

Then had her.

They almost had her.

When the porch finally gave way, it fell with a final groan, the cracking of wood and plaster, then crashing over the cliff edge.

Adele closed her eyes, screamed with despair.

Cody yelled something, but she couldn’t hear him. She was sobbing, thinking of the girl, her mother whoever she was. The incalculable loss of a vibrant, young life.

“Adele,” Cody yelled louder. “Help me. We got her.”

The porch was gone, but Malinka still clung onto the rope. With a final heave, the girl was inside the casita. She climbed into Adele’s arms, where they clung to each other for a moment, weeping. Adele felt like she was holding Violet, keeping her close. “You’re okay, kiddo. You’re okay.”

“You came for me,” Malinka said, looking up at her, tears streaming, eyes grateful. “You saved me.”

“We gotta get out of here,” said Cody, standing. “Like now before this whole place goes over.”

Adele looked up at him. He stood tall and rugged, and she’d never been so grateful to see anyone in her life. She took his helping hand up and then helped Malinka stand.

“Where are we going?” Adele asked as they followed Cody down the path.

“Follow me,” he said.

With an arm around Malinka’s shaking shoulders, she followed Wild Cody into the night.