“We could just go—” He glanced back at the part of the fence he’d kicked in, but it was on fire now. “Never mind.” He clasped his hands together, and she used the extra step to pivot over the top of the fence.
Cole climbed over and dropped down into a patch of ferns.
The fire still raged, but the fire truck was here to put it out, and Cole would leave them to it. If the rain started up again, that would help. Someone had obviously used accelerants.
He couldn’t have been more relieved that Jo was safe. But this wasn’t over yet. She took off running in the early morning light.
“Where are we going?”
“To the bridge. Martin is trying to make it look like I died in the fire and that Pop was so distraught he threw himself from the bridge.”
“That old bridge.”
“What other bridge would I be talking about? We have to hurry. They could already be there by now.”
He’d never seen Jo run so fast. Cole kept up with her, followed her. She knew the way. He had to focus on avoiding trip hazards in the dense foliage. He could barely see as it was.
Jo didn’t shout or call out after her father. Which was good. If Martin had a gun on him and tried to force him over the bridge, their silent approach would be the advantage they needed. The rush of the river grew louder as they drew near.
Jo suddenly stopped and pressed behind a tree. Breathing hard, she tugged him with her. “They’re on the bridge. Cole, you have to take a shot. You have to take Martin down before he kills Pop.”
“I thought you said he would try to force him off the bridge.”
“He’ll try, but Pop isn’t going to jump. He wants the bullet to prove that he didn’t commit suicide, that someone shot him, so there’s an investigation into his death that will lead to Martin.”
“Stay here.” Cole crept forward, formulating the best way to get Ransom off that bridge and safely away from Martin. The river beneath the decommissioned bridge covered the sounds as he moved.
But neither could he hear the exchange between Jo’s father and Martin. He didn’t have a rifle with a scope, and it was far too dark for him to try to shoot the gun out of Martin’s hands. But he didn’t want to kill the man who had so much to answer for.
Cole got up on the bridge behind Martin. “Put the gun down, Martin. It’s over.”
“Stay out of this,” Ransom said. “This is between Troyand me now. Step off the bridge. I want Troy to know firsthand what it feels like when your life is being held up by substandard materials and engineering and too many careless mistakes.”
Gunfire rang out at the same moment Ransom dodged the bullet Martin intended for him. Ransom moved from the bridge and hid.
Cole could not shoot someone in the back. “Drop the weapon, Martin.”
Cole rushed forward.
“Cole, don’t,” Jo said behind him, her voice shaking. “Just step off the bridge. Come back to me.”
“Jo, please. Stay back. It’s too dangerous.” What was she thinking?
“You’re in imminent danger if you stay on that bridge.”
Ransom appeared on the far side, but he hadn’t stepped back on the bridge.
No way was Cole allowing Troy Martin to walk away. Cole closed the distance to Martin, who had put his gun down and lifted his hands up. He expected this guy to fight tooth and nail for his survival. After all, he’d committed heinous crimes to save himself. Cautiously, he approached, prepared for anything. Martin turned, an evil smirk on his face. He held a detonator in his hand.
“I’d rather die than let you take me.”
Cole didn’t believe that for one second. He’d destroyed too many lives to save his own skin.
But Martin pressed the trigger in his hand. An explosion rocked the bridge, destroying the north end. A loud crack resounded, and the boards beneath him shuddered. Cole braced for the rest as he looked down.
A horrific sound met Cole’s ears as the bridge crumbled beneath both him and Martin. He tried to grab Martin, but the man twisted free at the same moment Colegrabbed at anything that wasn’t crumbling and falling beneath him.
Jo screamed. She’d come out onto the bridge too and now grappled with the rickety beams, barely hanging on.
