Chapter 7 - The Bridge
Beatrice’s kidnapping changed the rules.
Until that moment, Warren and Marcus had used intimidation while preserving deniability. They wanted Elena frightened, discredited, and isolated.
Taking Beatrice meant they were running out of time.
Marcus sent coordinates to the abandoned Graystone rail bridge outside the city.
Ruiz recognized the location.
“My brother disappeared there.”
“Then Marcus chose it deliberately.”
“He’ll have shooters.”
“He’ll also expect me to know that.”
Elena placed copies of the cassette tapes inside a military bag. The originals remained hidden in the underground chamber.
Ruiz inspected his pistol.
“You’re not going alone.”
“Yes, I am.”
“They’ll kill Beatrice.”
“They’ll kill her sooner if they see police.”
“I’m not police to them. I’m compromised.”
“You’re also emotionally connected to the bridge.”
Ruiz stared at her.
“You think I can’t control myself?”
“I think Marcus expects you not to.”
The words angered him because they were true.
Elena handed him a tracking device.
“Follow from a distance. Do nothing until I signal.”
“What’s the signal?”
“You’ll recognize it.”
The Graystone bridge stretched across a dry ravine filled with rusted machinery and weeds. It had been closed for fifteen years, but the old service road remained accessible.
Elena arrived before sunset.
Marcus stood halfway across the bridge.
Beatrice knelt near the edge with her hands bound.
Warren was not visible.
Four armed men watched from elevated positions.
Marcus spread his arms.
“Captain Ward came without an army.”
“I don’t need one.”
“You brought the tapes?”
Elena raised the bag.
“Release her.”
Marcus laughed.
“You don’t negotiate very well.”
“I learned from my father.”
“Your father lost.”
“Then why are you still searching for what he hid?”
Marcus’s expression changed.
Elena continued walking until she was twenty feet away.
Beatrice’s face was bruised, but her eyes remained sharp.
“Sorry about the trouble,” Beatrice said.
Marcus struck the back of her chair.
“Quiet.”
Elena held up the bag.
“The tapes first,” Marcus said.
“Beatrice first.”
He drew a knife.
“Perhaps you need motivation.”
Elena’s voice became colder.
“If you cut her, you’ll never know which tapes are real.”
Marcus paused.
“You made copies.”
“I made several.”
“Where?”
“Safe places.”
“That child isn’t a safe place.”
Elena’s fingers tightened around the bag.
Marcus smiled.
“You soldiers always believe leaving family behind makes them protected.”
“If your men approach Lily, Warren loses everything before sunrise.”
“You bluff well.”
“So did my father.”
At the far end of the bridge, a black vehicle appeared.
Warren stepped out.
He walked toward them using a silver-handled cane Elena had never seen before.
“Enough,” he said.
Marcus frowned.
“She brought copies.”
“Of course she did.”
Warren stopped beside Beatrice.
“You should have sold the house, Elena.”
“You should have stayed away from my daughter.”
“I protected Lily.”
“Someone entered her room.”
“Not on my orders.”
“Marcus threatened her.”
Marcus looked at his father.
Warren’s disappointment was obvious.
“You were told to frighten Elena, not involve the child.”
“She wasn’t cooperating.”
“Violence is what incompetent men use when planning fails.”
Marcus’s face reddened.
Elena saw the fracture between them.
“Who entered Lily’s room?” she asked.
Warren looked toward the ravine.
“The same person who killed your father.”
“You said my father was betrayed by someone he trusted.”
“He was.”
“Nolan Price?”
“No.”
“Gabriel Ruiz?”
Warren’s eyes flickered.
Beatrice suddenly moved.
She threw herself sideways, knocking Marcus’s legs against the railing.
Marcus grabbed the rail.
Elena hurled the bag toward him.
The cassettes scattered across the bridge.
Marcus released Beatrice and lunged for them.
Elena ran forward.
Gunmen raised their weapons.
A shot cracked from the hills.
One gunman dropped his rifle.
Ruiz had begun firing.
Elena cut Beatrice’s restraints.
Marcus tackled Elena from the side.
They struck the bridge floor.
He drove his forearm across her throat.
“You should have worn the gloves,” he growled.
Elena hooked her foot behind his knee and twisted.
Marcus rolled, but he kept hold of her arm.
The bridge railing groaned beneath their combined weight.
Warren shouted, “Marcus, stop!”
Marcus ignored him.
He lifted Elena and tried to throw her over the edge.
Beatrice struck his injured hand with her cane.
Marcus released Elena and turned toward the old woman.
Elena drove both palms into his chest.
Marcus stumbled backward.
The rusted railing broke.
For one suspended second, he stood at the edge with surprise on his face.
Then he fell.
His hand caught a steel cable below the bridge.
He hung over the ravine.
Elena dropped to her stomach and grabbed his wrist.
Marcus stared up at her.
“You should let me go.”
“I’m not you.”
Warren rushed forward to help.
Together, they pulled Marcus onto the bridge.
Ruiz emerged from the shadows with his pistol raised.
“Move away from him.”
Warren slowly lifted his hands.
Ruiz looked over the edge where his brother had fallen years earlier.
“Did you bring Gabriel here?”
Warren said nothing.
Ruiz pressed the pistol against Warren’s chest.
“Tell me what happened.”
Marcus began laughing from the ground.
“You still think Gabriel was the one who fell?”
Ruiz turned toward him.
Marcus wiped blood from his mouth.
“Your brother never went over that bridge.”
“Witnesses saw him.”
“They saw a man wearing his jacket.”
“Where is Gabriel?”
Marcus looked at Elena.
“He’s been closer to her daughter than any of us.”
A red laser appeared on Ruiz’s chest.
Elena saw it first.
“Down!”
A shot struck the bridge.
Chaos erupted.
Warren dragged Marcus toward the vehicle.
Elena shielded Beatrice behind a support beam.
Ruiz fired toward the hillside.
When the shooting stopped, Warren and Marcus were gone.
On the bridge floor lay Warren’s silver-handled cane.
Elena picked it up.
The handle twisted open.
Inside was a narrow strip of paper containing an address.
May you like
Fort Granger Elementary School.
Lily’s school.
