Luckily, she was still a few feet from the gorge.
She wrestled to get up, and…couldn’t move.
Seriously? Her beat-to-shit body refused to respond, now?
Footsteps sounded through the woods, getting closer and closer.
Hilly lay on the ground panting, and knew there was only one thing left she could do. She’d explored this ravine when she was a kid, and knew that on this side there was a shelf of rock that ran analogous to the top, a mere twelve feet below. If she could crawl the remaining short distance to the brink, then do a controlled tumble over the side, it would hurt. But hopefully she’d send herself down to the ledge without hurtling the rest of the way to the bottom.
There was a good chance she’d make it. Sort of. If she didn’t…
Hilly grimaced. She had no choice. When Cottin found her—and it sounded as if that would happen soon—he’d make sure she didn’t survive any fall he orchestrated.
Hilly dragged her battered body to the edge and peered over. In the dark, she could just make out the prominence of the rock shelf below. It seemed farther away than she remembered, but…
Taking as deep a breath as her battered ribs allowed, Hilly positioned her body alongside the edge and rolled…
Argh!
She hit with an inelegant thud, barely managing to bite her tongue to keep from crying out at the sharp pain she inflicted on her injuries. But the good news, she told herself? She’d at least managed to stick her landing. Grabbing with her good hand at a small tree growing out of the granite, she dragged her body closer to the rock wall, preventing herself from plunging over the side.
Hilly shakily acknowledged that this was good. She was still alive. She managed to draw in a few, shallow breaths.
But there was no time to rest. She needed to make herself invisible.
Cottins had his flashlight. If he shined it down and spotted her, she was doomed.
There weren’t a lot of options for concealment.
Hilly’s best bet would be to snug her back up against the dirt and rock wall behind her, making herself as small as possible in the meager bit of bushy scrub that grew there.
But before that…
What if she could make Cottins think she’d fallen into the ravine?
There was a largish rock jutting out to her right, hanging over the abyss, no more than five feet from her current position. If she could make her way there, somehow loosening the large rock enough to fall, the noise might fool Cottins into believing she’d gone over.
It was worth a try.
Gritting her teeth, Hilly scraped her way toward the rock. It seemed to take far too long, her body bemoaning every inch, but finally, sweating profusely, she got her functioning palm on the rock and pushed.
Nothing.
Dammit. Hilly wanted to cry. If she had both hands…
Cottins clumsy tromping from above moved closer and closer. She was running out of time. Hilly grimaced to sit, but when she was finally upright, she spun around on her ass, putting both feet against the rock.
Hilly heaved.
The rock budged.
She bit back a whimper and shoved again. This time, she knew it was close to tumbling.
Hilly braced one arm behind her, and with all the remaining strength in her body, she thrust one last time.
The stone teetered for a split second…
…then fell with a series of clamorous bounces, ending with a loud, satisfying crash far below.
Knowing she had no time to waste to appreciate her effort, Hilly bit the inside of her cheek and shuffled her way back to the rock wall, managing at the final moment to tuck herself under some overhanging greenery where she folded in half and made herself as small as possible.
“What the…?”
She heard Cottins’ growl from above, and a beam of light cut through the dark, raking down over the ledge where she was wedged.
Hilly closed her eyes and held her breath. Not that it would do any good. Cottins would either spot her or he wouldn’t…
The light tracked from side to side, and eventually a jubilant laugh sounded from somewhere above her.
“Well, looky there.” Cottins’ triumphant sneer reached Hilly’s ears. “The cunt managed it all by herself.” He laughed almost hysterically. “Fell over the edge without my help. All the better, bitch,” he yelled down toward her supposed dead body. “Now, nobody can blame it on me. It’ll look like you were despondent after setting your boyfriend on fire, and in your grief, took your own life.”
Hilly wanted to groan at the reminder that she didn’t know what had happened to Cisco, but she didn’t dare twitch.
Cottins had taken her bait, but he had yet to move on. As far as she could tell, he still stood above her, gloating. She wished he’d disappear so she could figure out how to get herself off the ledge. Going up was going to be a lot more difficult than coming down, but she wasn’t about to let that stop her. She’d gotten herself this far; she’d managed the rest. Cisco would be so proud…
Hilly suppressed another sob.
When she got out of this, she’d make sure Cottins paid.
