Chapter 5 - The Last GripEthan pushed again.
Ava’s body slid through the open door.
For one terrifying second, half of her remained inside the helicopter while her legs hung over empty air.
Then gravity took her.
She fell outward.
Her hands shot upward and caught the exterior safety rail.
The metal struck her palms with brutal force.
Her entire body swung beneath the open doorway.
Wind ripped the breath from her lungs.
Seven months pregnant, suspended thousands of feet above the Pacific, Ava held on with everything she had.
One arm screamed with pain.
Her abdomen tightened as she curled instinctively around the baby.
Ethan crawled toward the doorway.
His black suit jacket snapped violently in the rotor wash.
He looked down at her.
His face was no longer handsome.
Greed had transformed it into something grotesque.
Ava’s fingers slipped across the metal.
Ethan reached toward her hands.
She stared into his eyes.
“You still don’t understand,” she gasped.
His expression faltered again.
“Understand what?”
Ava glanced deliberately at his luxury watch.
It vibrated once.
Hard.
Ethan looked down.
The screen flashed without displaying readable text.
A tiny indicator beside his seat began blinking faster.
His confidence cracked.
“What did you do?”
Ava said nothing.
Ethan grabbed her fingers.
He crushed them against the rail one by one.
Pain exploded through her hands.
Ava screamed.
Her right hand slipped free.
She hung from the left.
The ocean rolled beneath her, blue and merciless.
Ethan raised his fist over her remaining fingers.
Ava’s free hand moved toward the lower edge of her blazer.
Near her waist, hidden beneath the tailored fabric, rested a small metal pull tab.
She had only one opportunity to reach it.
Ethan struck her hand.
Her fingers opened.
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Ava fell.
👉 As Ava dropped toward the ocean, the object hidden beneath her blazer became her only chance of survival.
