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Prologue
“I wish you’d stay out of it.”
“I wish you’d stay out of it.” He glared at Lana, sitting in his passenger seat. “You don’t even know what you’re getting involved in.”
“I know more than you think.”
He shook his head. They’d been arguing about this for a month. So often that people thought they were a couple. It was a thought that wouldn’t have disturbed him had it not been for what he knew about her and what she was doing. It was stupid of him to think he’d manage to change her mind, but he couldn’t bear the thought of letting her continue on this self-destructive path.
“I’m trying to help you.” It would be his last attempt at convincing her.
“I want you to stop helping, period,” she yelled, then lowered her voice. “You should slow down.”
He eased his foot off the pedal as he took the first curb. He hadn’t ever known Lana to be loud, and chalked it up to the situation she’d put herself in.
“I’m just saying, he’s no good for you and you’re going to regret—”
“Pull over.”
He exhaled. “Will you calm down? I’m not going—”
“Pull over,” she said, cutting him off again.
He was getting furious, but tried not to let it show. Once again, trying to be the bigger person in the situation. Before he knew what was happening, her hands were on the steering wheel. She pulled hard to the right. On instinct, he pulled the other way, slamming on the brakes. She pulled once more to the right and between the water on the winding road, the steering wheel battle, and the braking, he lost control of the car. The last thing he saw was the tree right before he slammed into it. His seatbelt caught the impact of his body propelling forward, and the airbag slammed him back into his seat.
It took him a moment to recover and look over at where Lana had been sitting. He expected to find her sitting there, but her door was ajar and there was no sign of her. His heart pounded in his chest. Had she flown out of the car with the impact of the accident? He scrambled with his seatbelt, but managed to get it off. His door opened with a creak as he stepped out. His entire body seemed to shake as he walked around the car in search of Lana. He could hear water ru
“Lana?” he called out. His breath caught when he spotted her near the edge of the waterfall. His pace picked up slightly, as fast as his injured leg let him. The gorge was miles high and he didn’t need the crashing sound of the water as it cascaded to tell him the only thing that would cushion her fall if she fell . . . if she jumped were rocks.
“Lana?” He called out her name again, his voice desperate. Could she not hear him above the sound of the ru
She glanced back at him, a haunted look in her eyes, and then she jumped.