Chapter 190
Chapter 190:
She looked up at Cailin — at the blood soaking through her sleeve, at the exhaustion carved into her face.
And she saw an opportunity.
Charla’s expression shifted. The fear drained away, replaced by cold calculation.
“You shouldn’t have saved me,” Charla whispered.
She didn’t climb in. Instead, she braced her feet against the outside of the car and wrenched Cailin’s arm. Hard. She used her full weight to drag Cailin toward the open door.
“You’re coming with me!” Charla screamed.
Cailin lost her balance. She pitched forward, her upper body flying out into the void.
Gravity grabbed Cailin. The world spun — sky, ground, lights — a kaleidoscope of vertigo.
Rоm𝖺𝗇cе аո𝗱 𝗉ass𝘪𝘰𝘯 o𝘯 ѕ.𝘤𝗈m
She slammed her free hand onto the doorframe, fingers clawing at the wet metal. Her nails broke, but she held on. She was hanging half out of the car, staring down at the dizzying drop.
Charla still had her other arm, hauling her downward.
“Let go!” Cailin kicked out blindly.
Her boot connected with Charla’s shoulder. Charla grunted, her grip loosening.
Cailin kicked again — harder. This time, her heel struck Charla’s face.
Charla shrieked and released her to clutch her nose.
Cailin scrambled back into the car, gasping, her heart hammering like a trapped bird. She curled into the corner, shaking uncontrollably.
Charla remained on the maintenance walkway outside, blood streaming from her nose, staring at Cailin with pure venom.
Then she looked down.
The ride jolted. It began to lower — slowly, grinding.
They were coming down.
Charla wiped the blood from her face and surveyed the police lights below. She had lost the knife. Cailin was still alive. The plan had failed.
Unless.
Charla’s eyes found a maintenance platform on the ride structure, perhaps fifteen feet below them now. Not a fatal drop — but enough to break a bone. Enough to look like a murder attempt.
“You pushed me,” Charla said, a smile spreading slowly across her bloody face.
“What?” Cailin whispered.
“You pushed me!” Charla screamed at the top of her lungs.
And then she jumped.
Not a fall — a leap. She aimed deliberately for the maintenance platform below and hit the metal grating hard.
Crack.
A scream of genuine agony tore through the night. Her leg was twisted at an unnatural angle.
“She pushed me! She tried to kill me!” Charla wailed, her voice echoing across the empty park.
The Ferris wheel ground to a halt as Cailin’s car reached the bottom. Before the gate even opened, police were swarming.
“Hands where I can see them!” an officer shouted, leveling a taser at Cailin.
Cailin stepped out with her hands raised, still trembling. “She jumped. She tried to stab me first p>
“Liar!” Victoria English was screaming, clawing past the officers. “Look at my daughter! Look at her leg p>
Hilliard pushed through the line. He looked at Charla being loaded onto a stretcher, screaming in pain. Then he looked at Cailin — blood soaking her sleeve, hair wild, shaking in the rain. To anyone who didn’t know Charla, she looked like the aggressor.