Chapter 1 - Eight Minutes to Lose Everything
I didn't know her name.
I didn't know she was rich.
I didn't know the gold crest around her neck belonged to one of the most powerful families in Boston.
All I knew was that she was freezing.
I got her under the awning of a closed bookstore and called an ambulance.
She kept refusing.
“No hospital.”
“You need a doctor.”
“No.”
“Why?”
Her eyes moved toward the street.
“Because they'll find me.”
“Who?”
She didn't answer.
Instead, she looked at my phone.
“You need to go.”
“My manager already told me I’m fired if I don't show up.”
“Then go.”
I shook my head.
“I can't leave you here.”
Her eyes softened.
“You're going to regret that.”
“I probably already do.”
She smiled weakly.
“You're funny.”
“I’m terrified.”
That made her laugh.
Then her expression changed.
“You said you have a daughter.”
I stared.
“How did you know?”
She looked away.
“Because you have the same look I had when my son was little.”
“What look?”
“Fear.”
I didn't understand.
Before I could ask, an ambulance arrived.
The paramedics examined her.
Broken ankle.
Severe hypothermia.
Nothing life-threatening.
As they loaded her inside, she grabbed my hand.
“What's your name?”
“Megan.”
“Megan what?”
“Carter.”
She nodded.
“Thank you, Megan Carter.”
Then she whispered:
“Don't trust the man who fired you.”
I froze.
“How do you know about Frank?”
But the ambulance doors closed.
It drove away.
I stood beneath the rain.
My phone buzzed.
Frank again.
Don't bother coming in tomorrow. You're fired.
I stared at the message.
Then another appeared.
And don't expect a reference.
I closed my eyes.
Everything I'd feared had happened.
I had lost my job.
I had no savings.
My daughter needed shoes.
The electric company wanted money.
And rent was overdue.
I walked home in the rain.
When I opened my apartment door, Ava was sitting on the couch.
She was eight years old.
Her homework was spread across the coffee table.
She looked up.
“Mommy?”
I forced a smile.
“Hey, baby.”
“You're wet.”
“I know.”
“Did you help somebody?”
I stopped.
“How do you know?”
“You always get wet when you help people.”
I laughed.
Then I cried.
Ava ran into my arms.
That night, after she fell asleep, I sat at the kitchen table.
I opened my laptop.
I began searching for jobs.
Then my phone rang.
Unknown number.
I answered.
“Hello?”
A man's voice said:
“Are you Megan Carter?”
“Yes.”
“My name is Adrian Whitmore.”
I frowned.
“I'm sorry, I don't know you.”
“You saved my mother tonight.”
My heart stopped.
“How do you know?”
“Because she's sitting beside me.”
Silence.
Then I heard the old woman's voice.
“Megan?”
“Yes?”
“I'm sorry.”
“For what?”
“For what happens next.”
The line went quiet.
Then Adrian spoke again.
“I need to meet you.”
I swallowed.
“Why?”
“Because my mother says you saved her life.”
I almost laughed.
“She was going to be fine.”
“No.”
His voice hardened.
“She wasn't.”
May you like
Then he said something that made my blood run cold.
“And whoever was following her tonight may now be following you.”
