Chapter 1 - THE THING THAT SURVIVED
Brandon froze when he saw the USB drive between my fingers.
Margaret’s smile vanished even faster.
For several seconds, neither of them moved.
I was still lying on the paved courtyard beneath the balcony.
Every breath sent pain through my ribs.
My left shoulder felt wrong.
My mouth tasted metallic.
But the tiny black USB drive in my hand was intact.
That was all that mattered.
Brandon gripped the balcony railing.
“Give me that.”
I almost laughed.
“You’re going to have to come down here and take it.”
Margaret grabbed his sleeve.
“Brandon.”
He turned toward her.
“What?”
“Don’t be stupid twice.”
Twice.
The word stayed with me.
The first stupid thing had been pushing me.
What did Margaret think the second would be?
Coming downstairs to finish what he had started?
I slipped the USB back into the inside pocket of my jeans.
Brandon disappeared from the balcony.
I knew exactly where he was going.
The stairs.
I tried to stand.
Pain ripped through my right side so sharply that my knees gave out.
I hit the ground again.
“Come on, Claire.”
I whispered my own name because I needed to hear another human voice.
“Move.”
The courtyard gate was twenty feet away.
Twenty feet might as well have been twenty miles.
Then I remembered the gardeners.
Tuesday afternoon.
Miguel and Tomas usually worked behind the west hedge until four.
I filled my lungs.
“HELP!”
The word came out weaker than I wanted.
I tried again.
“HELP ME!”
A door slammed somewhere above.
Brandon was coming.
I dragged myself toward the gate.
My palms scraped against the stone.
Behind me, the terrace doors opened.
“Claire!”
His voice sounded different now.
Not angry.
Terrified.
I looked back.
Brandon ran into the courtyard.
Margaret followed more slowly.
Brandon stopped six feet away.
His eyes went straight to my pocket.
“You need an ambulance.”
I stared at him.
“You just threw me off a balcony.”
“You slipped.”
Margaret spoke from behind him.
“Exactly.”
I looked at her.
She had already built the lie.
That fast.
“You were hysterical.”
She continued.
“You were waving that phone around.”
Brandon nodded.
“You backed into the railing.”
I almost admired them.
I was bleeding in their courtyard, and they were rehearsing statements.
Then the side gate opened.
Miguel stepped inside carrying hedge clippers.
He stopped.
His face changed.
“Mrs. Carter?”
Brandon turned.
For the first time since the fall, real fear appeared in his eyes.
Miguel dropped the clippers and ran toward me.
“What happened?”
Before I could answer, Margaret said it.
“She fell.”
Miguel looked up at the balcony.
Then at me.
Then at Brandon.
I grabbed Miguel’s wrist.
“He pushed me.”
Brandon stepped forward.
“She’s confused.”
Miguel pulled out his phone.
“I’m calling 911.”
Brandon moved toward him.
Margaret caught his arm.
“No.”
She whispered it.
But I heard.
So did Miguel.
He backed away.
The emergency operator answered.
As Miguel gave the address, I watched Brandon.
His eyes stayed fixed on my pocket.
I knew then that the fall had not ended anything.
It had started a race.
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If Brandon reached the USB before the police did, I might not survive his next attempt.
And what he still did not know was that the USB was not the only copy.
