The thought barely formed before Mom locked her arms around my waist. Dad and Ethel each seized a limb, dragging me toward the window.
Half my body hung over the ledge of the sixteenth floor. Freezing wind howled up and tore through my collar.
I was seconds from being shoved over when Mom let out a sharp gasp.
"Wait! There's a patrol car right below us!"
"The officers are already out of the car. If we drop her now, it'll look suspicious!"
They hauled me back inside in a panic.
Ethel glanced down at the street, her expression dark, but she refused to give up.
"Then we move her. The bathroom faces north. Nobody will see her fall from that side. What are you standing around for? You want to wait until the police come upstairs and let Abigail tell them we tried to kill her?"
Our parents caved again.
My heart, still hammering from the near-death seconds before, seized all over again.
Too many disappointments had piled up over the years. I'd long since stopped hoping for anything from this family. If I wanted to survive, I had to prove I was worth more alive.