THE BRIDGE
The Mercy Bridge was empty at 1:00 PM.
The sun was high. The water was blue. It looked almost peaceful.
Vance parked at the crest. Pulled Maya from the back of the SUV.
Her wrists were still bound. Her ankles were still bound. But she could see.
Danny was in the back seat. Kaela beside her. Rachel in the front.
All of them alive.
“You said you wouldn’t hurt them.”
“I lied.”
He pushed Maya toward the railing.
“You’re going to climb over. You’re going to jump. And then I’m going to tell the police that you kidnapped these women, brought them here, and killed yourself out of guilt.”
“No one will believe you.”
“They’ll believe me. They always believe me.”
Maya looked at the water.
She looked at Danny.
Her daughter’s eyes were wide. Tears streaming down her face.
“Mom. Don’t.”
Maya turned to Vance.
“You want me to jump? Fine. But let them go first.”
“No.”
“Then I’m not jumping.”
“You don’t have a choice.”
“Everyone has a choice.”
She reached into her pocket.
The small recorder.
The one he hadn’t found.
She pressed play.
His voice filled the air.
“You’re going to climb over. You’re going to jump. And then I’m going to tell the police that you kidnapped these women—”
He lunged for the recorder.
She threw it over the railing.
It fell toward the water.
But the recording was already backed up.
To the cloud.
To every news outlet.
To her editor.
“You lose,” she said.
Vance stared at the water.
Then he smiled.
“We’ll see.”
He pulled out his phone.
Pressed a button.
Danny screamed.
The car’s engine ignited.
Not the ignition. Something else.
A fire.
Kaela pounded on the windows. Rachel tried to open the door.
They were trapped.
“Let them out,” Maya screamed.
“After you jump.”
She looked at the water.
She looked at her daughter.
She looked at Vance.
And she made a choice.